Some time--and a lot of arguing with Amelia-later, Lina and Xelloss were
ready to go. Amelia sullenly sat by and watched them depart. "Take care,
Lina-san," she called. "Don't let those monsters take advantage of your
justice-loving heart."
"Oh, she won't," muttered Xelloss dryly. He and Lina walked at a brisk pace out of the city, where, once outside the city limits, Xelloss wasted no time wrapping his arms around Lina and teleporting with her to their final destination. Teleportation was like nothing Lina had experienced. There was a fleeting moment of nonexistence and then a terrible disorientation. But in the end, she found herself standing on a grassy plain, instinctively clinging to Xelloss a little more than she cared to admit. In the distance Lina could make out tents erected at regular intervals.
"The servants of my minions," Xelloss explained. "Those who can't just return to the Astral Plane when they want to rest. I'll go explain to them about the current situation. And I'll make a trip to the Astral Plane to clear your presence with the monsters. It'll only be a moment." Without waiting for a response, or a protest, Xelloss released Lina and disappeared. Only moments later, a monster emerged from the Astral Plane. And it wasn't the trickster priest.
A second later, another emerged. They were big, hulking monsters with blue and red skin pigments. Their fierce eyes glinted evilly when they spotted Lina, standing alone and unprotected-or so it seemed.
"Well, look who it is." One of them laughed derisively, "The little girl who leads the humans. Funny such a squirt should be giving us so much trouble. But now I think she's in over her little head. I guess this will put an effective end to the war." The monsters exchanged smirks and began advancing on Lina.
"Who's a little girl?!" Lina growled forebodingly, tugging at her gloves and absently wishing she had her bracelets with her. Oh well, it just meant she'd have to cast L-magic instead, if it came to that, draining though the spell was. Then again, it might not be necessary. It was impossible to judge at first glance how strong the monsters were.
"Man, I'm gonna seriously give Xelloss a word about this, next time I see that jerk - I don't care what his stupid excuse is." Just imagining the priest shrugging and admitting to his minions' disobedience - or him having betrayed Lina - just made her more angry. Her hands slipped to her side as a light formed between them, "Elemekia. Lance!" she shouted, shooting the spell directly at an advancing monster before casting a hasty Levitation and leaping into the air, calling to mind her L-magic unconsciously - the words just forming in her mouth as she watched. The magic leapt from her body and rushed into the first monster, a rather bluish dolt. He cried out in pain and dropped to the ground below, losing control of his flight.
"Damn Xelloss, that traitor! What is he thinking bringing her right to our camp?!" The other teleported in and out of sight, appearing behind Lina and knocking her aside with a mighty fist. As Lina fought to keep her balance and concentration, the monster on the ground leapt up to join his brother and the two attacked hastily. But not hastily enough.
Before Lina could cast so much as a fireball, the monsters stopped dead in their tracks. The blue monster's eyes grew wide and he gave a twitch. Then, quite suddenly, his body seemed to collapse in on itself. It was a very strange and disturbing sight, ending with a small pile of melted monster on the grass. The other monster gave a groan and Lina looked up to see him pierced through the midsection with a meter long stick of black magic.
"What a pity," Xelloss' voice came out of nowhere. "It would appear that it was they who were the traitors after all." The mazoku priest slipped back into sight from the Astral Plane, frowning slightly. "I told them not to harm you, but it seems they didn't know what was good for them. Ah well, good riddance, I suppose," he murmured darkly.
"Yeah, uh-huh. Good riddance," Lina grumbled, lowering herself gently back to the ground and pushing her hair behind her ears, "I've come to understand that monsters seldom do what's good for them - no matter what's on the line." She was half teasing and half serious and shrugged.
Xelloss continued, "Well, I doubt anyone else will be fighting over the chance to be killed by me, so we should be relatively safe. Perhaps they didn't realize I was serious. . ." Xelloss shook it off and turned to Lina. "Shall we, then?" he asked, offering his hand. He didn't wait for rejection; instead, he took Lina's wrist and began to direct her towards a clump of trees which, as Lina noticed for the first time, seemed to be completely dead. It was as though winter had fallen over this one patch of land. The trees were leafless, the grass brown and shriveled, and no other life whatsoever adorned the area.
"There, you see it for yourself. But don't go too close." Xelloss gestured towards the area which also seemed to be slightly more heavily shaded than the surrounding earth, as though the sun was being filtered through a screen. Apart from this, there was no way to tell the thing apart from regular land. It didn't even have a magical aura. "You can see the border of it advancing by watching the grass die. So long as your feet touch green, you should be safe." He turned to appraise her reaction. "Well," he said cheerfully, "go do your thing."
Lina flashed him a quick, half-hearted, glare and took a few steps closer to the supposed 'edge.' "Clarify this, Xel. If I'm standing in an unaffected area, but I reach my hand across the boundary, will it kill me?" She was itching to know if this thing had any substance at all, beyond what was mostly not visible.
"There's only one way to find out!" The mazoku said happily. He looked up. Lina was staring daggars at him. "Just kidding, just kidding! No, it won't kill you outright. It will just suck your energy dry. It absorbs all energy from anything that comes in contact with it. Watch." Xelloss raised his arms and held out his ruby staff. With a startling flash, a burst of black lightning jumped from the staff's tip and raced in the direction of the thing that wasn't a thing. Upon reaching the darkened area, the lightning simply disappeared, as though Xelloss had been shooting rocks into water, their small surfaces becoming lost in the rippling liquid. Except that here there wasn't any liquid, not any ripples, nor any sign whatsoever of a substance. The lightning simply vanished into thin air. "I suggest a magical probe if you can think of one that won't merely get eaten up. Or run some test on it. Use a dead stick or the like if you want to try to make physical contact with it. So long as it isn't in direct contact with your body, you should be fine."
Lina nodded as Xelloss talked and set to work on whatever she could think of, soon forgetting her surroundings and intent on her exertion.
@@@
Some time later, Lina resigned herself wearily and sat upon a mossy stump a few feet away from the shadowy menace. She was fairly certain, after her investigation, that the thing was not a sentient being. It seemed almost to be made of magic itself, except that it gave off no aura of any kind. She had come to the conclusion that it had, in fact, no physical body, which was why the trees and rocks in its path sustained no physical damage, other than death. The thing must exist on a purely magical or astral level.
Xelloss was sitting on a rock watching her idly. For a moment his image flickered and vanished, but it returned again without delay. He stood and approached her. "I have news that might interest you, Lina-san." He said. "Apparently the thing has attacked another area, closer even to your human territories. Enough to have claimed both monster and human lives in the area. Some of the bodies were saved by my people, dragged to a safe distance. It may benefit you to examine these since they will carry the effects and residue of any magic laid on them and yet will pose no danger to your safety."
"Hmm. I hope there's not been too much damage." Lina commented, though with the looks of this thing, that was a hopeless statement. "Let's check it out."
A bit awkwardly, Lina and Xelloss repeated the method of travel from earlier, this time arriving in the capital city of a small border province of Seyruun. Something about it struck Lina as very familiar. As they walked they noticed a distinct lack of population about the city and apart from a few wary eyes, no one came to meet them. A few minutes into their trek, Lina recalled where she had seen this city before. It was the capital of the small territory given to Zangulus and Martina after the former princess and her swordsman husband had proven themselves to be valuable allies by defeating a monster captain in a crucial battle some years ago. Lina had not seen either of the couple since they had moved in to their new home, the castle which loomed directly ahead of Lina at that very moment.
Off the side of the castle, in a stone courtyard were heaped the bodies of several half-mazoku beings. All of them appeared unharmed, but were undoubtedly dead, and being half-human, their physical form remained behind in the material plane. Their eyes stared straight ahead, glazed over and dull. Lina approached them cautiously with Xelloss at her heels.
Just then a young man--a page boy from his dress-approached Lina, panting and trembling. "General Inverse!" he cried in recognition. "You must come save us! Someone has attacked our city! The royal family is in desperate trouble! Please come and help us!" the page gestured excitedly at the castle gates, jumping up and down a bit from excitement and fear.
"Hey, calm down, show me the way," Lina demanded instantly, a million things running through her head, the foremost being the safety of the royal family - Martina, I know we don't really like each other, and we really don't get along, but I sure hope you're okay. I hope you're taking care of your girl, Zangulus. Oh, please be alright.
Upon entering the castle, the pageboy led them down several hallways, through some rooms and into a large bedchamber. Lina noted that he carefully avoided certain dark patches on the stone floor when walking. In the bedchamber was a large, luxurious bed surrounded by incense candles and various nightstands. A beautiful gleaming sword was hung on the wall like a trophy, and the backboard of the bed had been carved into an intricate representation of a strange and monstrous being. A small child huddled beside a closet, apparently asleep. Her cheeks, however, were stained with recent tears.
The pageboy was jumping around with agitation and it took Lina a moment to notice something that had escaped her before. There were two forms lying on the ground at the foot of the bed. "Oh, dear. Miss Martina." Xelloss said quietly as he regarded the prostrate forms.
"Oh, she won't," muttered Xelloss dryly. He and Lina walked at a brisk pace out of the city, where, once outside the city limits, Xelloss wasted no time wrapping his arms around Lina and teleporting with her to their final destination. Teleportation was like nothing Lina had experienced. There was a fleeting moment of nonexistence and then a terrible disorientation. But in the end, she found herself standing on a grassy plain, instinctively clinging to Xelloss a little more than she cared to admit. In the distance Lina could make out tents erected at regular intervals.
"The servants of my minions," Xelloss explained. "Those who can't just return to the Astral Plane when they want to rest. I'll go explain to them about the current situation. And I'll make a trip to the Astral Plane to clear your presence with the monsters. It'll only be a moment." Without waiting for a response, or a protest, Xelloss released Lina and disappeared. Only moments later, a monster emerged from the Astral Plane. And it wasn't the trickster priest.
A second later, another emerged. They were big, hulking monsters with blue and red skin pigments. Their fierce eyes glinted evilly when they spotted Lina, standing alone and unprotected-or so it seemed.
"Well, look who it is." One of them laughed derisively, "The little girl who leads the humans. Funny such a squirt should be giving us so much trouble. But now I think she's in over her little head. I guess this will put an effective end to the war." The monsters exchanged smirks and began advancing on Lina.
"Who's a little girl?!" Lina growled forebodingly, tugging at her gloves and absently wishing she had her bracelets with her. Oh well, it just meant she'd have to cast L-magic instead, if it came to that, draining though the spell was. Then again, it might not be necessary. It was impossible to judge at first glance how strong the monsters were.
"Man, I'm gonna seriously give Xelloss a word about this, next time I see that jerk - I don't care what his stupid excuse is." Just imagining the priest shrugging and admitting to his minions' disobedience - or him having betrayed Lina - just made her more angry. Her hands slipped to her side as a light formed between them, "Elemekia. Lance!" she shouted, shooting the spell directly at an advancing monster before casting a hasty Levitation and leaping into the air, calling to mind her L-magic unconsciously - the words just forming in her mouth as she watched. The magic leapt from her body and rushed into the first monster, a rather bluish dolt. He cried out in pain and dropped to the ground below, losing control of his flight.
"Damn Xelloss, that traitor! What is he thinking bringing her right to our camp?!" The other teleported in and out of sight, appearing behind Lina and knocking her aside with a mighty fist. As Lina fought to keep her balance and concentration, the monster on the ground leapt up to join his brother and the two attacked hastily. But not hastily enough.
Before Lina could cast so much as a fireball, the monsters stopped dead in their tracks. The blue monster's eyes grew wide and he gave a twitch. Then, quite suddenly, his body seemed to collapse in on itself. It was a very strange and disturbing sight, ending with a small pile of melted monster on the grass. The other monster gave a groan and Lina looked up to see him pierced through the midsection with a meter long stick of black magic.
"What a pity," Xelloss' voice came out of nowhere. "It would appear that it was they who were the traitors after all." The mazoku priest slipped back into sight from the Astral Plane, frowning slightly. "I told them not to harm you, but it seems they didn't know what was good for them. Ah well, good riddance, I suppose," he murmured darkly.
"Yeah, uh-huh. Good riddance," Lina grumbled, lowering herself gently back to the ground and pushing her hair behind her ears, "I've come to understand that monsters seldom do what's good for them - no matter what's on the line." She was half teasing and half serious and shrugged.
Xelloss continued, "Well, I doubt anyone else will be fighting over the chance to be killed by me, so we should be relatively safe. Perhaps they didn't realize I was serious. . ." Xelloss shook it off and turned to Lina. "Shall we, then?" he asked, offering his hand. He didn't wait for rejection; instead, he took Lina's wrist and began to direct her towards a clump of trees which, as Lina noticed for the first time, seemed to be completely dead. It was as though winter had fallen over this one patch of land. The trees were leafless, the grass brown and shriveled, and no other life whatsoever adorned the area.
"There, you see it for yourself. But don't go too close." Xelloss gestured towards the area which also seemed to be slightly more heavily shaded than the surrounding earth, as though the sun was being filtered through a screen. Apart from this, there was no way to tell the thing apart from regular land. It didn't even have a magical aura. "You can see the border of it advancing by watching the grass die. So long as your feet touch green, you should be safe." He turned to appraise her reaction. "Well," he said cheerfully, "go do your thing."
Lina flashed him a quick, half-hearted, glare and took a few steps closer to the supposed 'edge.' "Clarify this, Xel. If I'm standing in an unaffected area, but I reach my hand across the boundary, will it kill me?" She was itching to know if this thing had any substance at all, beyond what was mostly not visible.
"There's only one way to find out!" The mazoku said happily. He looked up. Lina was staring daggars at him. "Just kidding, just kidding! No, it won't kill you outright. It will just suck your energy dry. It absorbs all energy from anything that comes in contact with it. Watch." Xelloss raised his arms and held out his ruby staff. With a startling flash, a burst of black lightning jumped from the staff's tip and raced in the direction of the thing that wasn't a thing. Upon reaching the darkened area, the lightning simply disappeared, as though Xelloss had been shooting rocks into water, their small surfaces becoming lost in the rippling liquid. Except that here there wasn't any liquid, not any ripples, nor any sign whatsoever of a substance. The lightning simply vanished into thin air. "I suggest a magical probe if you can think of one that won't merely get eaten up. Or run some test on it. Use a dead stick or the like if you want to try to make physical contact with it. So long as it isn't in direct contact with your body, you should be fine."
Lina nodded as Xelloss talked and set to work on whatever she could think of, soon forgetting her surroundings and intent on her exertion.
@@@
Some time later, Lina resigned herself wearily and sat upon a mossy stump a few feet away from the shadowy menace. She was fairly certain, after her investigation, that the thing was not a sentient being. It seemed almost to be made of magic itself, except that it gave off no aura of any kind. She had come to the conclusion that it had, in fact, no physical body, which was why the trees and rocks in its path sustained no physical damage, other than death. The thing must exist on a purely magical or astral level.
Xelloss was sitting on a rock watching her idly. For a moment his image flickered and vanished, but it returned again without delay. He stood and approached her. "I have news that might interest you, Lina-san." He said. "Apparently the thing has attacked another area, closer even to your human territories. Enough to have claimed both monster and human lives in the area. Some of the bodies were saved by my people, dragged to a safe distance. It may benefit you to examine these since they will carry the effects and residue of any magic laid on them and yet will pose no danger to your safety."
"Hmm. I hope there's not been too much damage." Lina commented, though with the looks of this thing, that was a hopeless statement. "Let's check it out."
A bit awkwardly, Lina and Xelloss repeated the method of travel from earlier, this time arriving in the capital city of a small border province of Seyruun. Something about it struck Lina as very familiar. As they walked they noticed a distinct lack of population about the city and apart from a few wary eyes, no one came to meet them. A few minutes into their trek, Lina recalled where she had seen this city before. It was the capital of the small territory given to Zangulus and Martina after the former princess and her swordsman husband had proven themselves to be valuable allies by defeating a monster captain in a crucial battle some years ago. Lina had not seen either of the couple since they had moved in to their new home, the castle which loomed directly ahead of Lina at that very moment.
Off the side of the castle, in a stone courtyard were heaped the bodies of several half-mazoku beings. All of them appeared unharmed, but were undoubtedly dead, and being half-human, their physical form remained behind in the material plane. Their eyes stared straight ahead, glazed over and dull. Lina approached them cautiously with Xelloss at her heels.
Just then a young man--a page boy from his dress-approached Lina, panting and trembling. "General Inverse!" he cried in recognition. "You must come save us! Someone has attacked our city! The royal family is in desperate trouble! Please come and help us!" the page gestured excitedly at the castle gates, jumping up and down a bit from excitement and fear.
"Hey, calm down, show me the way," Lina demanded instantly, a million things running through her head, the foremost being the safety of the royal family - Martina, I know we don't really like each other, and we really don't get along, but I sure hope you're okay. I hope you're taking care of your girl, Zangulus. Oh, please be alright.
Upon entering the castle, the pageboy led them down several hallways, through some rooms and into a large bedchamber. Lina noted that he carefully avoided certain dark patches on the stone floor when walking. In the bedchamber was a large, luxurious bed surrounded by incense candles and various nightstands. A beautiful gleaming sword was hung on the wall like a trophy, and the backboard of the bed had been carved into an intricate representation of a strange and monstrous being. A small child huddled beside a closet, apparently asleep. Her cheeks, however, were stained with recent tears.
The pageboy was jumping around with agitation and it took Lina a moment to notice something that had escaped her before. There were two forms lying on the ground at the foot of the bed. "Oh, dear. Miss Martina." Xelloss said quietly as he regarded the prostrate forms.