Slayers: To The End
Escrita por Hotaru!
Disclaimer:
I don't own Slayers, more's the pity. And yes, I know this is getting silly and slightly like a very stupid X-over with another cartoon we all know and love. *grin* So, I'm just borrowing certain aspects and sticking them in here.
Chapter 24
Dwarf Power!
By the time Luna got to the place where the Temple used to be, it was already in shambles. She saw a few Dragons pick themselves up off the ground and groan and dust themselves off.
"What happened here?" she asked the nearest dragon. He looked up, gasped and fainted. Luna sighed. These guys had to toughen up. If they kept getting tongue tied and fainting in her presence, she'd never get any information and nothing would get done. How inefficient. She espied another dragon who looked just a tad bit more in control of herself. She walked over and cleared her throat.
"Yeah?" asked the dragon rudely as she turned around. On seeing who she was, she immediately bowed to show her respect. "How can I help you, Knight of Ceipheed?"
"I am looking for someone who looks like they know what they are doing and who knows what just happened here a few moments ago." said Luna.
"Thank you for coming to aid our plight, O Knight of Ceipheed!" said the dragoness. "A Mazoku came and has stolen the Scroll of Rabula!"
*****
Lina muttered to herself. L-sama was wonderful and all that, but getting told what to do when she wanted to do something else always got her in a bad mood. Take, for instance, now. She had been on her way back to bash her fruitcake on the head and then decipher the rest of the prophecy with him. But no..... L-sama came and told her that she had to go and play secret spy for her and annoy some more Mazoku.... She walked and muttered to herself as she changed her course to the center of Wolf Pack Island. How in the world was she supposed to accomplish this????!
'Find Madabar's reasons.' she thought to herself crossly. 'Phooey."
*****
Zelgadis smiled slightly to himself. He was on his way back to Seyruun. There, he'd see the rest of the group and tell them what had happened. He looked at the remainder of the troops behind him. Most of them had stayed at different major cities to set up a defense. It made more sense than to walk around the countryside in hopes of bumping against a fight.
"Come on, slow pokes!" he shouted to them. "We're almost there and you guys can go and have a relaxing shower or something!" There was a ragged Hurrah! behind him. They were almost at Seyruun. They'd make it by nightfall; he was sure of it.
*****
Amelia sighed. She had finished eating lunch. And she was bored and tired and feeling very... irritated. It was a feeling that Amelia didn't usually feel. Across from her, Gourry was having a blast with his lunch, eating at a slightly slower pace since Lina wasn't here, but still eating a lot and quickly. They had done their speeches. They had said hi to the people and gave them a boost of morale. So, why in the world was she still here?
"Mr. Gourry?" she asked.
"Hm?" he asked as he stopped from his eating for a bit to look at her. "Yeah?"
"What do you think? Should we go back to Seyruun? I mean, there's nothing going on here." said Amelia. Gourry thought a bit and then some more. In the end, he said a very intelligent thing.
"Well, Amelia... if you want to go back, I don't see why not. Aren't you a princess? And I bet Zel will be back soon!" He continued to eat. Amelia thought a little. Then she began to smile. And the smile soon grew to a huge grin. Her eyes glittered. She had come to a conclusion!
"You are right, Mr. Gourry! We will go home! And we will make haste to try to get there before sunset!" said Amelia with stars in her eyes and rosy cheeks. Gourry continued to eat. It didn't matter to him that Seyruun was a day's trip from where they were. They'd get there somehow.
*****
Filia and Sylphiel were back in Seyruun. And they had continued to hold their classes. It was calm. Filia was pleased to see how much they had improved since yesterday. Before she knew it, she'd be saying good bye to her students, bidding them good luck as they went out to help their fellow citizens. Beside her, Sylphiel smiled as she sat on her chair quietly, an intense look in her eye. Her fingers fidgeted with a small stick, and her foot was tapping. Her set of students made sure that they looked very studious. Seeing Sylphiel like that, could unnerve you quite a bit. All of a sudden, the stick snapped, and her students cringed. Filia looked over at where Sylphiel was.
"Are you OK, Sylphiel?" asked Filia as she walked to her. "You've been acting a bit different since we came back."
"Oh, I'm fine." said Sylphiel. Filia nodded and then walked away. She then stopped and looked at her. For a moment, there, she thought she saw a flash of gold in Sylphiel's eyes. But they were gone now. It was probably her imagination. Too much stress... that was the problem.
*****
Naga looked regal and queenly in her all black attire that showed off her cleavage just a bit, but was otherwise, quite modest, except for the really long slits up her legs her dress had. She smiled demurely at the other people as they talked about boring stuff, like the fight between the Dragons and the Mazoku. Boring. She singled her servant who held her royal teapot. No one wondered what the amber colored liquid was. Everyone thought it was tea. Naga and the servant knew better. They others laughed. She laughed also at the rather boring and silly joke some other dude had said. Behind her hand, she yawned. Unlimited liquor was nice, but now that she thought of it, sitting with these old and boring geezers was just not cool. No wonder Amelia wanted to get out. She couldn't blame her, the poor girl.
*****
Xellos looked over the names that Lina had dropped off for him. This was getting quite fun... Very fun. He smiled to himself. Only someone as chaotic as L-sama would have thought of something like this. He leaned his chair back as he contemplated what to do next. The most obvious thing was to find them, but how? Well, he could ask L-sama, but she probably wouldn't tell him and just smile. He looked over the names. Sleepy.... who could that be? It could be anyone! Was it pointing to a characteristic they already had? Or to a characteristic they would acquire once awake? He yawned. He then remembered something else. He dug into his cape and brought out the scroll of Rabula. He wanted to read it, but he should ask L-sama first. So he decided to do that. When he came back from his little trip to the Astral Plane, he smiled. Tonight...
*****
Tonight had come...
Zelgadis saw the city. It'd take about half an hour if he used his newly acquired powers and speed fly to the castle. Of course, if he were still a chimera, he wouldn't have to rely on his new powers.... but he didn't mind! He was so glad....
"Yo, listen up." he called to his motley crew of troops.
"Yes sir?"
"I'm going ahead. You guys have fun, and go to an inn. Send the bill to me, I'll cover it. I'll be at the castle if you ever need anything. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at the castle." he said. There was a cheer and a voice in the crowd.
"I bet he's gonna meet with the princess." said the voice. There were some laughs and some wolf whistles.
"Hey, it's not like that!" said Zelgadis, his cheeks turning red.
"Don't worry, Captain!" said someone else. "We think she's cute also!" There were a few laughs. Zel sighed and waved.
"Good bye. I'm leaving." he said. There were a few good byes called out and then Zelgadis was off flying to the castle.
*****
Xellos waited in the library. There was a nice and big mahogany grandfather clock on the opposite wall. Slowly, the pendulum swung to and fro and to and fro as it counted the seconds away. Slice, slice, slice....
He had put on a pair of dark purple, almost black, wire rimmed glasses and was quite content, thinking of how studious and intelligent he must look while reading a book in the library beside a hovering Flare spell beside him. There were similar balls of light all around the room he was in. He had put them up himself. It wasn't fire, so it wouldn't burn anything, and it gave off a nice amount of light. He then looked at the clock. His eyes narrowed. They'd be here soon. Hopefully. Unless, of course, they decided to go to sleep and ignore him for many reasons, such as that it was almost midnight. And he had written notes in purple stationary with a dark violet seal and a silver colored pen with his finest calligraphy (the one that looked so messy and classy at the same time. The one that Lina liked a lot.) And he had signed his name, which meant Filia might not come. And a bunch of other small details like that. He heard some footsteps fast approaching. He smiled and pretended to be totally absorbed into his book.
Filia burst into the room, causing a few flares to move a bit, before drifting back to their places.
"OK. We're here. What do you want, nanagomi?" asked Filia. She had changed from her pjs to her priestess garb. Behind her, Sylphiel looked into the room with a worried and pensive look on her face.
"Simple." said Xellos. "Do sit down." He pointed to a few chairs in the room that made a circle."
"What's this about, Xellos san?" asked Sylphiel.
"Something very important concerning your safety." said Xellos seriously. Filia dusted off the chair and sat down with a 'hmph'. Sylphiel sat down beside her.
"Who else is coming?" asked Sylphiel, seeing that Filia wasn't going to talk to Xellos and Xellos would only answer if spoken to.
"I'm so glad you asked!" said Xellos. "That..."
"Don't say it!" said Filia. "Don't even dare say it!" She was glaring at him.
"But Filia chan!" said Xellos. "I was just going to sat that that is..." Once more, Filia interrupted him.
"Xellos. I am not in the mood for your little games now. I don't want to know about it." She was still frowning at him. It was all his fault. If he hadn't written that note, she'd be in bed and sleeping and dreaming about a nanagomi free world. But no... she was here. She wouldn't normally have come, but Sylphiel convinced her. Xellos sighed. And then he looked at Sylphiel.
"Perhaps four." said Xellos. Sylphiel nodded. "That is hard to tell." There was silence.
"Oh..." said Filia. "you mean, you weren't going to say that it was a secret?" She sounded a bit subdued and unsure.
"That is...." started Xellos. Filia controlled her urge to hit him. And hit him hard. With her sharp and pointy mace. And see him crumple to the floor. "... a secret." finished Xellos with a goofy smile. Filia decided that she wasn't supposed to be nice to nanagomi anyway. A hard and blunt object flew through the air and hit him on the head.
"Ouch, Filia! What did I do this time?" asked Xellos as he rubbed his head. Filia looked surprised. She stared from her mace that was still in her hand to the bruise on Xellos's cheek, to the wand with the huge crystal on the floor to an innocent looking Sylphiel. She sat down and put her mace away. Xellos looked at the instrument that had hit him, to Filia and then to Sylphiel. There was a confused look on his face and then, understanding dawned on him. He did a bit of fancy footwork that ended up flipping the wand into the air, where Xellos caught it and presented it with a flourish to a happy Sylphiel.
"Oh, thank you, Xellos san!" said Sylphiel. "I am so sorry my wand slipped."
"And incidentally hit him..." said Filia under her breath.
They were silent, each in their own little world. Filia mentally went through some training courses to improve her speed and reflexes so that next time, she could get a hit in. Xellos grinned to himself as he thought on how he'd present his new discovery to the others. Sylphiel smiled. She felt a bit better. But she was still very tense. Her fingers nervously twirled her wand around and around. After a few moments, there was another set of fast footsteps. Xellos looked up.
"Ah," he said. "The others are here. They have come."
*****
Five minutes later, everyone had settled down. Amelia had run in breathlessly with Gourry trailing her. Then Naga burst in, followed by Zelgadis.
"Ah! So you have finally come and joined us." said Xellos happily. "Good, good. The group is now complete, except for Lina chan, but she's busy at the present moment."
"So, why are we here?" asked Gourry.
"Well, you tell me," said Xellos. Gourry scratched the back of his head and lightly bit his tongue while looking at the sky trying to think.
"Um..." he said. He thought some more. "You wrote in a note that if I went to the library as soon as I read the note that you'd give me some food and a story!"
"Very good!" said Xellos. He snapped his fingers and a plate of food appeared and floated to Gourry. "Now, eat something while I get everyone else settled down and then we'll see about the story."
While Gourry munched happily on fried chicken, and spooned up some rice and potatoes and gravy, Xellos dealt with the rest of the group.
"OK, now that we are all here, does anyone have any questions?" he asked.
"How about why we're here?" asked Zelgadis. Xellos grinned as he absentmindedly noted that he was sitting beside Amelia.
"Oh! Of course, how silly of me." said Xellos. "But let me start this right." He took out a packet of papers from his cloak and cleared his throat dramatically. With another flourish, he made all the lights in the room turn off, except one small lightning ball beside his face that threw eerie shadows on his semi-darkened face.
"Welcome, all of you." said Xellos in a deeper, and much more serious voice. Amelia shivered and got slightly closer to Zelgadis. Gourry munched away. Naga watched with an interested look in her eye. Filia yawned. Sylphiel smiled. "What we are about to do has been started many, many years ago. And the time has come for the beginning of the end to occur."
"So get it over with!" said a voice from the darkness of the room. A waitress still in her lilac waitress clothes walked forward and sat on the chair that Xellos had occupied. Her eyes were hidden behind thick purple bangs.
"Knight of Ceipheed!" said Filia.
"Xellos's sister is the Knight of Ceipheed?" asked Gourry as he surveyed the newcomer. Sylphiel stifled a giggle, nodded towards the Knight and then leaned in closer to Gourry to try to explain it to him.
"Isn't this anti-climactic..." said Zelgadis. "Now, will you get this over with? I would like to get some sleep tonight, you know." Xellos pouted as the whole air of mystery was interrupted and dispelled by the sudden appearance of the Knight. He snapped his fingers and a few more lights appeared.
"OK, since we are all here, I guess I can start speaking now." said Xellos with a bored tone.
"Yes?" asked Luna. "I don't have all night, you know. Some of us have a job." Xellos pouted. This was not the way to reveal something as important and fun as this!
"OK, this is about it. You all have a very important part to play in the Lord of Nightmare's plans to balance the world, whether you accept to do it or not." said Xellos. There was silence.
"Is that the only thing you're planning on telling us?" asked Filia sarcastically.
"No." said Xellos, unruffled. "It'd be quite nice if you were to pay attention and to make noise of interest in the appropriate places."
*snore*
Amelia stifled a giggle as she looked over at Gourry, who had finished his food and decided that the meeting was very boring. Sylphiel blushed and poked him to get him to wake up.
"As it is, I am to give you this." said Xellos after Gourry had woken up and looked as if he were paying rapt attention. Which he wasn't, Xellos knew, but it looked like he was. "He took from his cape a black box with a silver catch. "Please stand up and receive your token when your name is called." From yet another place in his cape, he took out a huge scroll. It was so nice of L-sama to let him do this. He cleared his throat.
"To Ms. Amelia Wil Tesla de Seyruun. For your valiant work in keeping the whole place brimming with happiness and peace, I present you the Token of the Optimistic." Xellos made a face. Amelia positively beamed on hearing that. L-sama had noted her hard work and all her optimism. Oh, she was so lucky! Xellos placed it in her hand and bade her to sit down so that he could carry on and later explain the importance of the tokens.
"To Mr. Gourry Gabriev. To you I present the token of Dopeyness for all your hard work in being able to act clueless in the most serious of situations." said Xellos. He had to admit, L-sama could certainly make anything sound good... Gourry stood up and was extremely proud and happy to receive the token.
"Yeah!" he said as he sat back down besides Sylphiel. He whispered to her. "This is so cool! I've never gotten one before." Sylphiel looked very interested for his sake and shared his joy.
"To Ms. Filia Ul Copt. For keeping spirits up and alert and for providing a community service by letting herself be used as a source of food to Mazoku lest others suffer, I offer to you the Token of Grumpyness." Xellos hid a laugh. Community service? Yeah right. Filia marched up, swiped the token from his hand and sat down with a 'hmph'.
"To Ms. Naga Gracia de Seyruun, to cure your vice and to instill in you a pleasanter attitude so that you will be able to fulfill the work of L-sama, I offer to you the Token of Sneeze." Naga blushed demurely and walked regally to accept her token. She took it and bowed before everybody.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said. She would have said more, but Xellos lightly pushed her to her seat.
"And to Mr. Zelgadis Greyweirs. For your wise choices and wry sarcasm, I offer you the quick way to forgetting your problems. I offer to you the Token of the Sleeper." Zelgadis grumbled, snatched the token and sat back down. He had been expecting this. Hadn't L-sama called him Sleeper after all? Still, why couldn't he have a better sounding name?
"And to Ms. Sylphiel Nes Lahda. To allow you to control you growing tendencies, I offer to you the Token of the Bashful, passed down from the most active families in history and time to now aid you in your time of need." Sylphiel smiled demurely and took the token in her hand. Now, there was silence. Only one was left, and everyone was eager to know which one she would get.
"To Ms. Luna Inverse, also known as the loyal servant of the Dragon God, the Knight of Ceipheed. For you serious demeanor and your cool calculations, I offer to you the Token of the Medic." Luna smiled graciously, and the token floated from his finger tips to her open hand.
"Ok, now that everyone has their tokens, I can go over with you basic Tokenolgy." said Xellos. He took off his glasses and wiped them against a smooth cloth and then put them back on. He put away the scroll and took another one. He read a bit and then smiled. "This is very simple. To activate the hidden and locked power of the token, you must utter its activation phrase. That allows you to slightly tap into L-sama's power in a safer and more controlled way. The activation phrase for each one of you is different, and only the owner of the token can activate it. Which means you can't have someone else call it out for you, OK?" There were nods and a raised eyebrow from both Filia and Luna. Zelgadis frowned slightly. This didn't sound too good.
"Now, listen carefully while I call out your activation phrases. It is very simple and follows a straightforward pattern of words." At Xellos's words, Zelgadis started to fear the worst.
"You call out either Happy/ Dopey/ Grumpy/ Sneezy/ Sleepy/ Bashful/ Doc Dwarf Power Activate!" said Xellos with a grin. With a flourish he rolled the scroll and put it away. There was a stunned silence.
"You're kidding." said Filia.
"Instructions from L-sama herself!" said Xellos.
"I'm not going about shouting nonsense." said Zelgadis.
"Which one am I supposed to say again?" asked Gourry. He fingered his token. He'd finally have magic!! Yeah! And then he could use his sword and magic! Cool!"
"Yours is Dopey Dwarf Power Activate." said Sylphiel.
"Oh, thank you!" said Gourry. Then he held his token before him and said gleefully, "Dopey Dwarf Power Activate!" There was a storm of colors around him, mostly blues and silvers and golds in the form of a hurricane. When the fireworks left, there was Gourry, looking the same as before, except his sword was flashing blue and gold. "Oh cool!" shouted Gourry. He took out his sword but Xellos stopped him from throwing his first bit of magic into the shelf full of magical tomes.
"Well, it seems to work." said Sylphiel. She took hers and held it to her heart while she closed her eyes. "Bashful Dwarf Power Activate!" Brilliant white and cream light sprouted from the token and surrounded her and then vanished in small trails of stars. Once more, she looked the same, but her weapon had changed and the globe shaped crystal had colors swirling around it. "Wow! I bet my Dragon Slave will be even stronger now!" Then she realized what she said and blushed demurely. Amelia had seen enough. If it worked for them, then it would work for her. Besides, she liked hers!
"Happy Dwarf Power Activate!" she shouted while she posed, her first and middle finger holding the token in between. Another light explosion followed, filling the room with pale pinks and yellows and the light soon vanished in a flurry of flower petals. Her amulets swirled with color. "Wow!" she exclaimed. She admired her new amulets.
Naga too, wanted part of the action. She flipped her coin and threw it into the air, while shouting, "Sneezy Dwarf Power Activate!" Light once more erupted and when the token fell, it landed on a black and silver glove. Naga smiled and danced with glee. "Cool! It even comes with a makeover!" she said as she realized that her lips felt better and her face had been powdered.
"Go on, Filia, Zelgadis. Give it a try!" urged Xellos. "Better get used to it now instead of in battle." Zel and Filia did theirs at the same time. Zelgadis decided to do it normally. He said monotonously, "Sleepy Dwarf Power Activate." and for an extra flourish, he flipped his token also. The others in the room were struck by how his name seemed to fit him perfectly. He had sounded so sleepy and tired when he had transformed. Lights, colors, explosions and a Zelgadis with a different colored pin appeared.
Filia, on the other hand, tossed the coin away and said, "Grumpy Dwarf Power Activate." Another exciting flash of activity and Filia stood there, looking the same as she had before.
"Um, nothing changed." said Amelia.
"Not even her ear covers!" said Gourry. Filia began to feel a bit self-conscious as she tried to figure out which part of her had changed.
"Maybe..." said Xellos. "Filia, how about your mace?"
"Oh, maybe," said Filia. She was about to get it when she realized that everyone was looking at her. "Um, perhaps, you guys could turn around and give a girl some privacy!" Everyone dutifully did and gave her some privacy.
"But you didn't need it before!" said Xellos as he heard the swish of skirts.
"That's because you weren't all looking at me." said Filia. "You can look now."
"Wow, Ms. Filia!" exclaimed Amelia with wonder. "Cool!" Sure enough, the mace had been transformed from a black weapon of doom to a golden weapon of doom with very sharp spikes and hooks.
There was one more person left. Everyone turned to look at Luna expectantly.
"I'm not doing this." said Luna with a serious voice. With that, she vanished.
"Well, that is that, folks." said Xellos. "The party's over. You can just cry out Deactivate when you want to be normal again. See you in the morning." And he too vanished. One by one, the people left and thought over everything that had happened so far.
*****
And far away, in the privacy of her own home, away from preying eyes, a voice was heard whispering.
"Doc Dwarf Power Activate." After a while.... "This is too silly for words. Reminds me of Lina's little magical girl stories."
End of Chapter 24
Once more, I know I'm extremely late in posting this up. Forgive me! Gomen! Disculpen! And all that! I know it's been a terribly long time. I'm trying my hardest to get these out as fast as I can, but well.... It's just a tad bit hard to get everything done when you have three AP Classes to worry about and a piano recital coming up. Ugh!!!! But Oh well... take care people! Thank you for still reading even though I know I haven't been the most punctual of people. So, thanks for all you encouragement. As usual, comments and criticism are extremely welcome as are reviews! So, knock yourself out writing to me. Well, no, not really...jeje... take care, all of you! Thank you so much for reading!
Hotaru
Quotes
"You can't know the happy without knowing the south." -Old Chinese Proverb
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead." -Anonymous
Escrita por Hotaru!
Disclaimer:
I don't own Slayers, more's the pity. And yes, I know this is getting silly and slightly like a very stupid X-over with another cartoon we all know and love. *grin* So, I'm just borrowing certain aspects and sticking them in here.
Chapter 24
Dwarf Power!
By the time Luna got to the place where the Temple used to be, it was already in shambles. She saw a few Dragons pick themselves up off the ground and groan and dust themselves off.
"What happened here?" she asked the nearest dragon. He looked up, gasped and fainted. Luna sighed. These guys had to toughen up. If they kept getting tongue tied and fainting in her presence, she'd never get any information and nothing would get done. How inefficient. She espied another dragon who looked just a tad bit more in control of herself. She walked over and cleared her throat.
"Yeah?" asked the dragon rudely as she turned around. On seeing who she was, she immediately bowed to show her respect. "How can I help you, Knight of Ceipheed?"
"I am looking for someone who looks like they know what they are doing and who knows what just happened here a few moments ago." said Luna.
"Thank you for coming to aid our plight, O Knight of Ceipheed!" said the dragoness. "A Mazoku came and has stolen the Scroll of Rabula!"
*****
Lina muttered to herself. L-sama was wonderful and all that, but getting told what to do when she wanted to do something else always got her in a bad mood. Take, for instance, now. She had been on her way back to bash her fruitcake on the head and then decipher the rest of the prophecy with him. But no..... L-sama came and told her that she had to go and play secret spy for her and annoy some more Mazoku.... She walked and muttered to herself as she changed her course to the center of Wolf Pack Island. How in the world was she supposed to accomplish this????!
'Find Madabar's reasons.' she thought to herself crossly. 'Phooey."
*****
Zelgadis smiled slightly to himself. He was on his way back to Seyruun. There, he'd see the rest of the group and tell them what had happened. He looked at the remainder of the troops behind him. Most of them had stayed at different major cities to set up a defense. It made more sense than to walk around the countryside in hopes of bumping against a fight.
"Come on, slow pokes!" he shouted to them. "We're almost there and you guys can go and have a relaxing shower or something!" There was a ragged Hurrah! behind him. They were almost at Seyruun. They'd make it by nightfall; he was sure of it.
*****
Amelia sighed. She had finished eating lunch. And she was bored and tired and feeling very... irritated. It was a feeling that Amelia didn't usually feel. Across from her, Gourry was having a blast with his lunch, eating at a slightly slower pace since Lina wasn't here, but still eating a lot and quickly. They had done their speeches. They had said hi to the people and gave them a boost of morale. So, why in the world was she still here?
"Mr. Gourry?" she asked.
"Hm?" he asked as he stopped from his eating for a bit to look at her. "Yeah?"
"What do you think? Should we go back to Seyruun? I mean, there's nothing going on here." said Amelia. Gourry thought a bit and then some more. In the end, he said a very intelligent thing.
"Well, Amelia... if you want to go back, I don't see why not. Aren't you a princess? And I bet Zel will be back soon!" He continued to eat. Amelia thought a little. Then she began to smile. And the smile soon grew to a huge grin. Her eyes glittered. She had come to a conclusion!
"You are right, Mr. Gourry! We will go home! And we will make haste to try to get there before sunset!" said Amelia with stars in her eyes and rosy cheeks. Gourry continued to eat. It didn't matter to him that Seyruun was a day's trip from where they were. They'd get there somehow.
*****
Filia and Sylphiel were back in Seyruun. And they had continued to hold their classes. It was calm. Filia was pleased to see how much they had improved since yesterday. Before she knew it, she'd be saying good bye to her students, bidding them good luck as they went out to help their fellow citizens. Beside her, Sylphiel smiled as she sat on her chair quietly, an intense look in her eye. Her fingers fidgeted with a small stick, and her foot was tapping. Her set of students made sure that they looked very studious. Seeing Sylphiel like that, could unnerve you quite a bit. All of a sudden, the stick snapped, and her students cringed. Filia looked over at where Sylphiel was.
"Are you OK, Sylphiel?" asked Filia as she walked to her. "You've been acting a bit different since we came back."
"Oh, I'm fine." said Sylphiel. Filia nodded and then walked away. She then stopped and looked at her. For a moment, there, she thought she saw a flash of gold in Sylphiel's eyes. But they were gone now. It was probably her imagination. Too much stress... that was the problem.
*****
Naga looked regal and queenly in her all black attire that showed off her cleavage just a bit, but was otherwise, quite modest, except for the really long slits up her legs her dress had. She smiled demurely at the other people as they talked about boring stuff, like the fight between the Dragons and the Mazoku. Boring. She singled her servant who held her royal teapot. No one wondered what the amber colored liquid was. Everyone thought it was tea. Naga and the servant knew better. They others laughed. She laughed also at the rather boring and silly joke some other dude had said. Behind her hand, she yawned. Unlimited liquor was nice, but now that she thought of it, sitting with these old and boring geezers was just not cool. No wonder Amelia wanted to get out. She couldn't blame her, the poor girl.
*****
Xellos looked over the names that Lina had dropped off for him. This was getting quite fun... Very fun. He smiled to himself. Only someone as chaotic as L-sama would have thought of something like this. He leaned his chair back as he contemplated what to do next. The most obvious thing was to find them, but how? Well, he could ask L-sama, but she probably wouldn't tell him and just smile. He looked over the names. Sleepy.... who could that be? It could be anyone! Was it pointing to a characteristic they already had? Or to a characteristic they would acquire once awake? He yawned. He then remembered something else. He dug into his cape and brought out the scroll of Rabula. He wanted to read it, but he should ask L-sama first. So he decided to do that. When he came back from his little trip to the Astral Plane, he smiled. Tonight...
*****
Tonight had come...
Zelgadis saw the city. It'd take about half an hour if he used his newly acquired powers and speed fly to the castle. Of course, if he were still a chimera, he wouldn't have to rely on his new powers.... but he didn't mind! He was so glad....
"Yo, listen up." he called to his motley crew of troops.
"Yes sir?"
"I'm going ahead. You guys have fun, and go to an inn. Send the bill to me, I'll cover it. I'll be at the castle if you ever need anything. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at the castle." he said. There was a cheer and a voice in the crowd.
"I bet he's gonna meet with the princess." said the voice. There were some laughs and some wolf whistles.
"Hey, it's not like that!" said Zelgadis, his cheeks turning red.
"Don't worry, Captain!" said someone else. "We think she's cute also!" There were a few laughs. Zel sighed and waved.
"Good bye. I'm leaving." he said. There were a few good byes called out and then Zelgadis was off flying to the castle.
*****
Xellos waited in the library. There was a nice and big mahogany grandfather clock on the opposite wall. Slowly, the pendulum swung to and fro and to and fro as it counted the seconds away. Slice, slice, slice....
He had put on a pair of dark purple, almost black, wire rimmed glasses and was quite content, thinking of how studious and intelligent he must look while reading a book in the library beside a hovering Flare spell beside him. There were similar balls of light all around the room he was in. He had put them up himself. It wasn't fire, so it wouldn't burn anything, and it gave off a nice amount of light. He then looked at the clock. His eyes narrowed. They'd be here soon. Hopefully. Unless, of course, they decided to go to sleep and ignore him for many reasons, such as that it was almost midnight. And he had written notes in purple stationary with a dark violet seal and a silver colored pen with his finest calligraphy (the one that looked so messy and classy at the same time. The one that Lina liked a lot.) And he had signed his name, which meant Filia might not come. And a bunch of other small details like that. He heard some footsteps fast approaching. He smiled and pretended to be totally absorbed into his book.
Filia burst into the room, causing a few flares to move a bit, before drifting back to their places.
"OK. We're here. What do you want, nanagomi?" asked Filia. She had changed from her pjs to her priestess garb. Behind her, Sylphiel looked into the room with a worried and pensive look on her face.
"Simple." said Xellos. "Do sit down." He pointed to a few chairs in the room that made a circle."
"What's this about, Xellos san?" asked Sylphiel.
"Something very important concerning your safety." said Xellos seriously. Filia dusted off the chair and sat down with a 'hmph'. Sylphiel sat down beside her.
"Who else is coming?" asked Sylphiel, seeing that Filia wasn't going to talk to Xellos and Xellos would only answer if spoken to.
"I'm so glad you asked!" said Xellos. "That..."
"Don't say it!" said Filia. "Don't even dare say it!" She was glaring at him.
"But Filia chan!" said Xellos. "I was just going to sat that that is..." Once more, Filia interrupted him.
"Xellos. I am not in the mood for your little games now. I don't want to know about it." She was still frowning at him. It was all his fault. If he hadn't written that note, she'd be in bed and sleeping and dreaming about a nanagomi free world. But no... she was here. She wouldn't normally have come, but Sylphiel convinced her. Xellos sighed. And then he looked at Sylphiel.
"Perhaps four." said Xellos. Sylphiel nodded. "That is hard to tell." There was silence.
"Oh..." said Filia. "you mean, you weren't going to say that it was a secret?" She sounded a bit subdued and unsure.
"That is...." started Xellos. Filia controlled her urge to hit him. And hit him hard. With her sharp and pointy mace. And see him crumple to the floor. "... a secret." finished Xellos with a goofy smile. Filia decided that she wasn't supposed to be nice to nanagomi anyway. A hard and blunt object flew through the air and hit him on the head.
"Ouch, Filia! What did I do this time?" asked Xellos as he rubbed his head. Filia looked surprised. She stared from her mace that was still in her hand to the bruise on Xellos's cheek, to the wand with the huge crystal on the floor to an innocent looking Sylphiel. She sat down and put her mace away. Xellos looked at the instrument that had hit him, to Filia and then to Sylphiel. There was a confused look on his face and then, understanding dawned on him. He did a bit of fancy footwork that ended up flipping the wand into the air, where Xellos caught it and presented it with a flourish to a happy Sylphiel.
"Oh, thank you, Xellos san!" said Sylphiel. "I am so sorry my wand slipped."
"And incidentally hit him..." said Filia under her breath.
They were silent, each in their own little world. Filia mentally went through some training courses to improve her speed and reflexes so that next time, she could get a hit in. Xellos grinned to himself as he thought on how he'd present his new discovery to the others. Sylphiel smiled. She felt a bit better. But she was still very tense. Her fingers nervously twirled her wand around and around. After a few moments, there was another set of fast footsteps. Xellos looked up.
"Ah," he said. "The others are here. They have come."
*****
Five minutes later, everyone had settled down. Amelia had run in breathlessly with Gourry trailing her. Then Naga burst in, followed by Zelgadis.
"Ah! So you have finally come and joined us." said Xellos happily. "Good, good. The group is now complete, except for Lina chan, but she's busy at the present moment."
"So, why are we here?" asked Gourry.
"Well, you tell me," said Xellos. Gourry scratched the back of his head and lightly bit his tongue while looking at the sky trying to think.
"Um..." he said. He thought some more. "You wrote in a note that if I went to the library as soon as I read the note that you'd give me some food and a story!"
"Very good!" said Xellos. He snapped his fingers and a plate of food appeared and floated to Gourry. "Now, eat something while I get everyone else settled down and then we'll see about the story."
While Gourry munched happily on fried chicken, and spooned up some rice and potatoes and gravy, Xellos dealt with the rest of the group.
"OK, now that we are all here, does anyone have any questions?" he asked.
"How about why we're here?" asked Zelgadis. Xellos grinned as he absentmindedly noted that he was sitting beside Amelia.
"Oh! Of course, how silly of me." said Xellos. "But let me start this right." He took out a packet of papers from his cloak and cleared his throat dramatically. With another flourish, he made all the lights in the room turn off, except one small lightning ball beside his face that threw eerie shadows on his semi-darkened face.
"Welcome, all of you." said Xellos in a deeper, and much more serious voice. Amelia shivered and got slightly closer to Zelgadis. Gourry munched away. Naga watched with an interested look in her eye. Filia yawned. Sylphiel smiled. "What we are about to do has been started many, many years ago. And the time has come for the beginning of the end to occur."
"So get it over with!" said a voice from the darkness of the room. A waitress still in her lilac waitress clothes walked forward and sat on the chair that Xellos had occupied. Her eyes were hidden behind thick purple bangs.
"Knight of Ceipheed!" said Filia.
"Xellos's sister is the Knight of Ceipheed?" asked Gourry as he surveyed the newcomer. Sylphiel stifled a giggle, nodded towards the Knight and then leaned in closer to Gourry to try to explain it to him.
"Isn't this anti-climactic..." said Zelgadis. "Now, will you get this over with? I would like to get some sleep tonight, you know." Xellos pouted as the whole air of mystery was interrupted and dispelled by the sudden appearance of the Knight. He snapped his fingers and a few more lights appeared.
"OK, since we are all here, I guess I can start speaking now." said Xellos with a bored tone.
"Yes?" asked Luna. "I don't have all night, you know. Some of us have a job." Xellos pouted. This was not the way to reveal something as important and fun as this!
"OK, this is about it. You all have a very important part to play in the Lord of Nightmare's plans to balance the world, whether you accept to do it or not." said Xellos. There was silence.
"Is that the only thing you're planning on telling us?" asked Filia sarcastically.
"No." said Xellos, unruffled. "It'd be quite nice if you were to pay attention and to make noise of interest in the appropriate places."
*snore*
Amelia stifled a giggle as she looked over at Gourry, who had finished his food and decided that the meeting was very boring. Sylphiel blushed and poked him to get him to wake up.
"As it is, I am to give you this." said Xellos after Gourry had woken up and looked as if he were paying rapt attention. Which he wasn't, Xellos knew, but it looked like he was. "He took from his cape a black box with a silver catch. "Please stand up and receive your token when your name is called." From yet another place in his cape, he took out a huge scroll. It was so nice of L-sama to let him do this. He cleared his throat.
"To Ms. Amelia Wil Tesla de Seyruun. For your valiant work in keeping the whole place brimming with happiness and peace, I present you the Token of the Optimistic." Xellos made a face. Amelia positively beamed on hearing that. L-sama had noted her hard work and all her optimism. Oh, she was so lucky! Xellos placed it in her hand and bade her to sit down so that he could carry on and later explain the importance of the tokens.
"To Mr. Gourry Gabriev. To you I present the token of Dopeyness for all your hard work in being able to act clueless in the most serious of situations." said Xellos. He had to admit, L-sama could certainly make anything sound good... Gourry stood up and was extremely proud and happy to receive the token.
"Yeah!" he said as he sat back down besides Sylphiel. He whispered to her. "This is so cool! I've never gotten one before." Sylphiel looked very interested for his sake and shared his joy.
"To Ms. Filia Ul Copt. For keeping spirits up and alert and for providing a community service by letting herself be used as a source of food to Mazoku lest others suffer, I offer to you the Token of Grumpyness." Xellos hid a laugh. Community service? Yeah right. Filia marched up, swiped the token from his hand and sat down with a 'hmph'.
"To Ms. Naga Gracia de Seyruun, to cure your vice and to instill in you a pleasanter attitude so that you will be able to fulfill the work of L-sama, I offer to you the Token of Sneeze." Naga blushed demurely and walked regally to accept her token. She took it and bowed before everybody.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said. She would have said more, but Xellos lightly pushed her to her seat.
"And to Mr. Zelgadis Greyweirs. For your wise choices and wry sarcasm, I offer you the quick way to forgetting your problems. I offer to you the Token of the Sleeper." Zelgadis grumbled, snatched the token and sat back down. He had been expecting this. Hadn't L-sama called him Sleeper after all? Still, why couldn't he have a better sounding name?
"And to Ms. Sylphiel Nes Lahda. To allow you to control you growing tendencies, I offer to you the Token of the Bashful, passed down from the most active families in history and time to now aid you in your time of need." Sylphiel smiled demurely and took the token in her hand. Now, there was silence. Only one was left, and everyone was eager to know which one she would get.
"To Ms. Luna Inverse, also known as the loyal servant of the Dragon God, the Knight of Ceipheed. For you serious demeanor and your cool calculations, I offer to you the Token of the Medic." Luna smiled graciously, and the token floated from his finger tips to her open hand.
"Ok, now that everyone has their tokens, I can go over with you basic Tokenolgy." said Xellos. He took off his glasses and wiped them against a smooth cloth and then put them back on. He put away the scroll and took another one. He read a bit and then smiled. "This is very simple. To activate the hidden and locked power of the token, you must utter its activation phrase. That allows you to slightly tap into L-sama's power in a safer and more controlled way. The activation phrase for each one of you is different, and only the owner of the token can activate it. Which means you can't have someone else call it out for you, OK?" There were nods and a raised eyebrow from both Filia and Luna. Zelgadis frowned slightly. This didn't sound too good.
"Now, listen carefully while I call out your activation phrases. It is very simple and follows a straightforward pattern of words." At Xellos's words, Zelgadis started to fear the worst.
"You call out either Happy/ Dopey/ Grumpy/ Sneezy/ Sleepy/ Bashful/ Doc Dwarf Power Activate!" said Xellos with a grin. With a flourish he rolled the scroll and put it away. There was a stunned silence.
"You're kidding." said Filia.
"Instructions from L-sama herself!" said Xellos.
"I'm not going about shouting nonsense." said Zelgadis.
"Which one am I supposed to say again?" asked Gourry. He fingered his token. He'd finally have magic!! Yeah! And then he could use his sword and magic! Cool!"
"Yours is Dopey Dwarf Power Activate." said Sylphiel.
"Oh, thank you!" said Gourry. Then he held his token before him and said gleefully, "Dopey Dwarf Power Activate!" There was a storm of colors around him, mostly blues and silvers and golds in the form of a hurricane. When the fireworks left, there was Gourry, looking the same as before, except his sword was flashing blue and gold. "Oh cool!" shouted Gourry. He took out his sword but Xellos stopped him from throwing his first bit of magic into the shelf full of magical tomes.
"Well, it seems to work." said Sylphiel. She took hers and held it to her heart while she closed her eyes. "Bashful Dwarf Power Activate!" Brilliant white and cream light sprouted from the token and surrounded her and then vanished in small trails of stars. Once more, she looked the same, but her weapon had changed and the globe shaped crystal had colors swirling around it. "Wow! I bet my Dragon Slave will be even stronger now!" Then she realized what she said and blushed demurely. Amelia had seen enough. If it worked for them, then it would work for her. Besides, she liked hers!
"Happy Dwarf Power Activate!" she shouted while she posed, her first and middle finger holding the token in between. Another light explosion followed, filling the room with pale pinks and yellows and the light soon vanished in a flurry of flower petals. Her amulets swirled with color. "Wow!" she exclaimed. She admired her new amulets.
Naga too, wanted part of the action. She flipped her coin and threw it into the air, while shouting, "Sneezy Dwarf Power Activate!" Light once more erupted and when the token fell, it landed on a black and silver glove. Naga smiled and danced with glee. "Cool! It even comes with a makeover!" she said as she realized that her lips felt better and her face had been powdered.
"Go on, Filia, Zelgadis. Give it a try!" urged Xellos. "Better get used to it now instead of in battle." Zel and Filia did theirs at the same time. Zelgadis decided to do it normally. He said monotonously, "Sleepy Dwarf Power Activate." and for an extra flourish, he flipped his token also. The others in the room were struck by how his name seemed to fit him perfectly. He had sounded so sleepy and tired when he had transformed. Lights, colors, explosions and a Zelgadis with a different colored pin appeared.
Filia, on the other hand, tossed the coin away and said, "Grumpy Dwarf Power Activate." Another exciting flash of activity and Filia stood there, looking the same as she had before.
"Um, nothing changed." said Amelia.
"Not even her ear covers!" said Gourry. Filia began to feel a bit self-conscious as she tried to figure out which part of her had changed.
"Maybe..." said Xellos. "Filia, how about your mace?"
"Oh, maybe," said Filia. She was about to get it when she realized that everyone was looking at her. "Um, perhaps, you guys could turn around and give a girl some privacy!" Everyone dutifully did and gave her some privacy.
"But you didn't need it before!" said Xellos as he heard the swish of skirts.
"That's because you weren't all looking at me." said Filia. "You can look now."
"Wow, Ms. Filia!" exclaimed Amelia with wonder. "Cool!" Sure enough, the mace had been transformed from a black weapon of doom to a golden weapon of doom with very sharp spikes and hooks.
There was one more person left. Everyone turned to look at Luna expectantly.
"I'm not doing this." said Luna with a serious voice. With that, she vanished.
"Well, that is that, folks." said Xellos. "The party's over. You can just cry out Deactivate when you want to be normal again. See you in the morning." And he too vanished. One by one, the people left and thought over everything that had happened so far.
*****
And far away, in the privacy of her own home, away from preying eyes, a voice was heard whispering.
"Doc Dwarf Power Activate." After a while.... "This is too silly for words. Reminds me of Lina's little magical girl stories."
End of Chapter 24
Once more, I know I'm extremely late in posting this up. Forgive me! Gomen! Disculpen! And all that! I know it's been a terribly long time. I'm trying my hardest to get these out as fast as I can, but well.... It's just a tad bit hard to get everything done when you have three AP Classes to worry about and a piano recital coming up. Ugh!!!! But Oh well... take care people! Thank you for still reading even though I know I haven't been the most punctual of people. So, thanks for all you encouragement. As usual, comments and criticism are extremely welcome as are reviews! So, knock yourself out writing to me. Well, no, not really...jeje... take care, all of you! Thank you so much for reading!
Hotaru
Quotes
"You can't know the happy without knowing the south." -Old Chinese Proverb
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead." -Anonymous