Death Emperor
As Lina approached the Macabre Tombstone, nothing seemed to be amiss. It was jut an ordinary gravestone. Lina read the inscription on the tomb, "Here lies the souls of all of those who have died throughout the ages. Do not disturb their rest, if you wish to live long."
While she was reading, she felt something sharp cut into her back. As she fell to the ground, she heard the words, "Warrior, I shall now test your strength," coming from behind her. The last thing the young sorceress saw before blacking out was the blurry image of a violet-eyed humanoid dragon with short black hair. * * *
Some time later, she awoke in a cave with reddish walls. The only odd thing was the entrance seemed to be a hole in the roof. Lina knew that was no problem for a sorceress like herself. So she immediately yelled, "Raywing." But nothing happened.
"You can't use any of your powers anymore," a voice stated, "They are essences of life, while we are in the home of the dead."
Lina turned around to see the dragon she'd seen above ground. Now that she could see him more clearly, she made out his features much easier. He had on light brown pants and a plate or armor made out of a dark brown metal. His shoes were white with brown soles. An orange tail with spiky yellow scales on top came out of his pants. The color of his arms, ears, and what appeared to be a neck frill but was attached to the top of his head were the same as that of his tail. Golden hoops were on each ear. His face was the color of a human's but the mouth and nose were more like some type of animal.
"It's good to see you've awoken, you've been sleeping for two hours," he informed her.
Lina yelled, "Listen mister, you better tell me who you are, where I am, and why I'm in this wacky cave to begin with."
"My name is Leon, Dragoon servant of the Dragon Emperor Kronos," he said, "You are in the Underworld. I brought you here in order to test your strength."
"You mean, I'm. . ." Lina started. But then, Leon nodded his head. 'It can't be. I'm way too young to die. Oh, Gourry, Jerin, Jared, I'm sorry.'
"Come," Leon demanded, "You may be able to return to the living world. But first, I must see what you're capable of. You can still hold onto nonliving and dead objects, but you are unable to touch a living person unless it's with a weapon. Use your sword and pass my test."
* * *
In order to go to the bottom levels of the Underworld, it was necessary for Lina to receive something called The Baptism of Flame. She was forced to ask for the help of the Wisdom Olbohn, who ruled the Underworld. With it, she and Leon descended into the depths of the Underworld.
Sometime later, Lina and Leon came to a room. Inside was a monster called Hitodama. It looked like a flying face surrounded by a white mist. Lina grabbed Dragon's Breath, and ran at the monster. Even though her swordsmanship was small when compared to Gourry's, she could still hold her own. It was as if her idea to not use her magic while fighting with Gobi that time really paid off. Besides, she could still use the magic in the ring she purchased in Geo, as well as any of the instruments. Soon the demon went down.
"Amazing," Leon exclaimed, "You aren't even using your regular style of fighting since you're primarily a sorceress."
"How did you know?" Lina asked.
Leon replied, "I had to look into your mind to see if you were a worthy candidate. Now, we must go and see my master."
* * *
When they arrived at the bottom, they saw a blond man with red eyes standing before them. He had on a sand colored turban with a red jewel on it, as well as a red robe with a yellow stripe by the opening. His belt was gold with a ruby on it, and he wore leather boots.
"Master Kronos," Leon began, "I've finally found the other warrior. She is a sorceress, but was able to beat Hitodama without her powers."
"Good work Leon," Kronos congratulated. Then he turned to Lina. "I brought you here to see if you would like to help me. You see, a long time ago I was the Emperor of Dragons. But then three others coveted my power. They stole the three Mana Stones from me, and cursed me to wander the Underworld as a human."
Leon continued, "That's where you come in. I need a partner to help me hunt down those dragons and find the Mana Stones. If we come into contact with thee of them, and then have a certain Dragon spell cast on us, we can return to life. We must also send some power to Kronos, who will be able to revive instantly. Then he can bring us back. Either way, you must cooperate, because if you are down here too long, you will fade away into the form of a Shadole, and have no conscious will."
Lina thought that something smelt fishy about all of this. But she didn't want to become one of those crazy creatures. So she said, "Sure I will. Just as long as I can come back to life in the end. I have someone waiting for me back home."
Leon thought about what she had said. 'She is just like me. Only, her loved one must be more understanding than mine. I know I'll hear from her while doing this. She isn't just gonna let me go through with this, no matter what my reason.'
With that, Lina and Leon returned to the surface. Only, as a half spirit - -as pre-Shadole dead are often called - - Lina still couldn't access her magic. She was thus forced to live with using only her sword, ring and instruments in battle. Hopefully it would all be resolved soon. 'And then, I will be able to return home and spend some time with Gourry and the twins.'
- - - -
Well, here's an exciting twist. Here marks the part where we'll be checking in with both Lina and Gourry in turn, as each is going to be going on different quest sets. Oh and Leon is a character in Tales of Destiny who was forced to join the side of evil for the sake of a woman he cared about - - mostly as a mother figure, but, depending on who you ask, she may also be something more too. Kronos was the ancient King of Atherians who perished in a war 1,000 years prior to the game. Lina's section is mostly going to be meeting ToD characters. In this section also, each Dragon has at least one Dragoon to serve them and fight for them. Kind of a tradition in the world.
As Lina approached the Macabre Tombstone, nothing seemed to be amiss. It was jut an ordinary gravestone. Lina read the inscription on the tomb, "Here lies the souls of all of those who have died throughout the ages. Do not disturb their rest, if you wish to live long."
While she was reading, she felt something sharp cut into her back. As she fell to the ground, she heard the words, "Warrior, I shall now test your strength," coming from behind her. The last thing the young sorceress saw before blacking out was the blurry image of a violet-eyed humanoid dragon with short black hair. * * *
Some time later, she awoke in a cave with reddish walls. The only odd thing was the entrance seemed to be a hole in the roof. Lina knew that was no problem for a sorceress like herself. So she immediately yelled, "Raywing." But nothing happened.
"You can't use any of your powers anymore," a voice stated, "They are essences of life, while we are in the home of the dead."
Lina turned around to see the dragon she'd seen above ground. Now that she could see him more clearly, she made out his features much easier. He had on light brown pants and a plate or armor made out of a dark brown metal. His shoes were white with brown soles. An orange tail with spiky yellow scales on top came out of his pants. The color of his arms, ears, and what appeared to be a neck frill but was attached to the top of his head were the same as that of his tail. Golden hoops were on each ear. His face was the color of a human's but the mouth and nose were more like some type of animal.
"It's good to see you've awoken, you've been sleeping for two hours," he informed her.
Lina yelled, "Listen mister, you better tell me who you are, where I am, and why I'm in this wacky cave to begin with."
"My name is Leon, Dragoon servant of the Dragon Emperor Kronos," he said, "You are in the Underworld. I brought you here in order to test your strength."
"You mean, I'm. . ." Lina started. But then, Leon nodded his head. 'It can't be. I'm way too young to die. Oh, Gourry, Jerin, Jared, I'm sorry.'
"Come," Leon demanded, "You may be able to return to the living world. But first, I must see what you're capable of. You can still hold onto nonliving and dead objects, but you are unable to touch a living person unless it's with a weapon. Use your sword and pass my test."
* * *
In order to go to the bottom levels of the Underworld, it was necessary for Lina to receive something called The Baptism of Flame. She was forced to ask for the help of the Wisdom Olbohn, who ruled the Underworld. With it, she and Leon descended into the depths of the Underworld.
Sometime later, Lina and Leon came to a room. Inside was a monster called Hitodama. It looked like a flying face surrounded by a white mist. Lina grabbed Dragon's Breath, and ran at the monster. Even though her swordsmanship was small when compared to Gourry's, she could still hold her own. It was as if her idea to not use her magic while fighting with Gobi that time really paid off. Besides, she could still use the magic in the ring she purchased in Geo, as well as any of the instruments. Soon the demon went down.
"Amazing," Leon exclaimed, "You aren't even using your regular style of fighting since you're primarily a sorceress."
"How did you know?" Lina asked.
Leon replied, "I had to look into your mind to see if you were a worthy candidate. Now, we must go and see my master."
* * *
When they arrived at the bottom, they saw a blond man with red eyes standing before them. He had on a sand colored turban with a red jewel on it, as well as a red robe with a yellow stripe by the opening. His belt was gold with a ruby on it, and he wore leather boots.
"Master Kronos," Leon began, "I've finally found the other warrior. She is a sorceress, but was able to beat Hitodama without her powers."
"Good work Leon," Kronos congratulated. Then he turned to Lina. "I brought you here to see if you would like to help me. You see, a long time ago I was the Emperor of Dragons. But then three others coveted my power. They stole the three Mana Stones from me, and cursed me to wander the Underworld as a human."
Leon continued, "That's where you come in. I need a partner to help me hunt down those dragons and find the Mana Stones. If we come into contact with thee of them, and then have a certain Dragon spell cast on us, we can return to life. We must also send some power to Kronos, who will be able to revive instantly. Then he can bring us back. Either way, you must cooperate, because if you are down here too long, you will fade away into the form of a Shadole, and have no conscious will."
Lina thought that something smelt fishy about all of this. But she didn't want to become one of those crazy creatures. So she said, "Sure I will. Just as long as I can come back to life in the end. I have someone waiting for me back home."
Leon thought about what she had said. 'She is just like me. Only, her loved one must be more understanding than mine. I know I'll hear from her while doing this. She isn't just gonna let me go through with this, no matter what my reason.'
With that, Lina and Leon returned to the surface. Only, as a half spirit - -as pre-Shadole dead are often called - - Lina still couldn't access her magic. She was thus forced to live with using only her sword, ring and instruments in battle. Hopefully it would all be resolved soon. 'And then, I will be able to return home and spend some time with Gourry and the twins.'
- - - -
Well, here's an exciting twist. Here marks the part where we'll be checking in with both Lina and Gourry in turn, as each is going to be going on different quest sets. Oh and Leon is a character in Tales of Destiny who was forced to join the side of evil for the sake of a woman he cared about - - mostly as a mother figure, but, depending on who you ask, she may also be something more too. Kronos was the ancient King of Atherians who perished in a war 1,000 years prior to the game. Lina's section is mostly going to be meeting ToD characters. In this section also, each Dragon has at least one Dragoon to serve them and fight for them. Kind of a tradition in the world.