Slayers TIME
Chapter 6- A New Threat?
An interesting thing about story telling: whenever the scene changes to some dark tunnel in a mountain or a secret military complex hidden underground, you can expect one or two things. First, the characters in the scene will be completely new and often shrouded in an air of secrecy. Second, they will always refer to things in the most vaguely possible way, giving the audience something to think about but never really revealing the entire story. It will always seem as if the audience has just entered a conversation only seconds past the introduction, henceforth missing just what the mysterious characters are talking about. It just so happens that our story is not so different. In fact, somewhere in the tunnels of a secret military complex hidden underneath a mountain, two new characters garbed in black (therefore surrounded with an air of mystery) were discussing things in the most vaguely of possible ways.
The two figures paced across the hall towards the council room. The passage walls were as black as their robes, illuminated by torches on the walls. These walls arched upward two stories before culminating on a central line that marked the highpoint of the ceiling. The echoes of their feet hitting the floor echoed a great distance.
"We lost track of them in Seyruun," said one of the figures, a man of middle age with shaggy brown hair. "Our man has yet to report back to us. We suspect he may be dead."
"When was the last we heard of him?" the other said, an older man who was well on his way to being grey.
"The first day of the tournament," the first man said. "He reported in that day, but never again."
"Definitely dead, then," the second said. "He was a reckless one. I had a bad feeling about that one to begin with. He should have known better than to cross Lina Inverse so blatantly."
"His credentials were good. Impeccable, actually. He should have been able to hold his own."
"Maybe she had help. Maybe they're on to her, too."
"Our spies have noted activity in their suspected strongholds. Movement of some or the larger artifacts, as well"
"And their leader?"
"No information, yet. She might be moving around, though. If she gets to them, we can assume almost positively that their path will change. Also with the Princess's capture, we can't be sure how Seyruun will react, either. They might be a bigger player than we expected."
"Any word from Zefielia?"
"No, sir. We're still waiting for the messenger to return." The older man gave the situation a moment's thought before responding.
"When we relocate Inverse, send another agent. In fact, send a few. As many as you feel necessary, even." he finally said. "Tell then to be more careful than the last one. Then tell Trent that he should continue monitoring Siegehaven from his position. I'll tell the council we've been set back to the reconnaissance stage and that we'll be on track again when we find the girl."
"Right," the first man said, beginning to turn around but then halting. "Wait," he called. The older man paused and gazed back.
"Yes?"
"We think there may be some Mazoku intervention."
"How so?"
"In his last transmission, our man did indicate that a certain one of Zellas' minions was running around Seyruun."
"Damn" the older man said. He shook his head bitterly. "Never mind it. The Council doesn't need to worry itself with that. Just do what we decided on. If Zellas wants to get annoyingwell, we'll deal with that when we come to it."
"Understood, sir," the other man said. "Good luck with the council, Hastivah."
"Thank you, Mai. I'll need it."
.
Another thing about story telling: after a mysterious cut scene, the focus normally shifts back to the main characters. Again, this story is no exception. To this extent, we find out heroes still traveling westward towards Atlas. Gourry made cheery conversation, relating a story about the dog he owned when he was little and how his parents made him get rid of it when it got sick. Gourry was, as Lina had put it, always good for uplifting conversation. The boy had a knack for ignoring things that were bad and distracting himself with silliness from his past. He got constantly sidetracked, but his heart was in the right place.
"Dad wanted to make me take it into the back yard and end its suffering on my own," Gourry said, finishing his story. "But I told him there was no way I was doing that. It was around then that I realized that were actually sorcerers who could use white magic roaming around, so I found one and got the dog healed. I guess dad was never one for relying on magic, but I liked my solution better."
It was around mid-morning. The group had been making solid progress all morning before Kreutz came to a realization as to their location. He paused mid stride, looking around and recognizing a familiar landmark. He quickly caught Greven's attention.
"Hey," he called to his blonde companion. "Do you know where we are?"
"On our way to Atlas, smart one," Greven replied sarcastically. At this time, Lina and Gourry also halted.
"I know that, Greven," Kreutz said. "But on this path, don't you realize where we are?"
"No, not really," Greven admitted. "I actually don't know if I've come down this road before."
"Then look over there," Kreutz said, pointing to the north. In the distance, there was an outcropping of stone with a rather distinct design. While this meant nothing to Lina our Gourry, Greven was his with a realization.
"Oh, wow," he remarked. "We're only about a day's journey from Pauling," he said.
"What's Pauling?" Gourry asked.
"It's a town," Kreutz said.
"Kind of a resort town," Lina clarified. "It's a lot of rich people who don't need to be near a market because they don't need to work anymore. There are a lot of really nice houses there, if I'm not mistaken." Greven and Kreutz nodded in agreement, grinning at each other.
"What's with you two?" Gourry asked.
"We have place there," Greven said casually. Lina's jaw dropped as she turned to look at her old friends.
"You have a house there?!" she demanded incredulously, stomping up to Greven, jumping up and bonking him over the head. "I thought you guys still lived in Zefielia! I think you're full of it!" she said, her hand still clenched in a fist.
"No, honest!" Greven said, rubbing his head. Kreutz confirmed.
"It's true," he said. "You see, we don't carry a lot of money around with us, but we have investments in real estate all over the subcontinent. The values are always going up, so eventually when we stop traveling, we'll sell all the property we don't want to live on and make a hefty profit. This way, while we do travel, we have houses that we can go to in a few towns."
"How many towns?" Gourry asked
"Fifteen or twenty, isn't it, Greven?" Kreutz asked.
"How do you afford that?!" Lina demanded.
"With all the money that we make from selling our finds," Greven said. "And if you didn't eat so much, you'd be able to afford a few nice houses, too," he added with a smirk.
"You really think I eat that much?" Lina asked. A puzzled looked came over her face as she ran over the budget that eating actually ran her. She looked to Gourry for assistance, but he gave her a clueless shrug. After a little while, the numbers got too big for her to handle in her head and she started to scratch the back of her neck. "Well, uhhwow, I guess I do eat a lot!" she admitted.
"It's a little out of our way, but we should try and get there," Kreutz said. "We'll be able to stock up on food in the town and you can use our bathhouse."
"Your bathhouse?" Gourry asked, a bit confused.
"Yeah. We have one in the back yard," Greven said. Lina gazed at the two of them with a look of wonder.
"Wow, guys, that's actuallywell, pretty cool," Gourry said with a smile. "And that means" he looked to Lina with hopeful eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked her. Lina got over her initial shock and her eyes lit up with happiness as well; she knew where his mind was.
"It means we're only half a day's journey from fresh food and clean beds!" Lina exclaimed.
"Oh, yes!" he agreed. Then, Lina began to frantically shake her head.
"Half a day's too long!" she said. "No way I can wait that long. My stomach needs fresh food now! Are you ready, Gourry?"
"Uh-huh!" he said, bouncing up and down.
"Then let's go!" she screamed. Both of them looked eastward and tore off in a trail of smoke, leaving Greven and Kreutz standing with befuddled looks on their faces.
"She always did have a lot of energy," Kreutz said.
"I guess we'll catch up with them eventually," Greven said.
"With them going at that pace?" Kreutz asked. "How do you figure?"
"Because, my friend, eventually they're going to realize that they don't know how to get there and they'll have to stop," Greven said with a wry grin.
Sure enough, Greven and Kreutz took a relatively leisurely pace catching up with their wayward companions.
.
Royalty has to meet with people all the time. Sometimes they enjoy it. More often then not, it bothers the hell out of them. Every now and then, even, someone shows up that demands meeting with the King or given Monarch is turned back at the gates for appearing too mysterious. It is this stranger that almost always has the most important business with the ruler and they will normally have to go through various antics to actually receive an audience.
In Seyruun, Prince Phil was busy meeting with such a stranger. It was someone who was interested in Amelia's reward, but didn't happen to hear about the Princess's capture until two days after the fact. What this fellow had to do to actually get his audience isn't important, save for the fact that it did not involve cross-dressing. No, he didn't do that unless Lina gave him no other choice.
"I know you're planning an expedition to the new world," the man told Phil. "Now that the monster's barrier is destroyed, I trust such an undertaking would be addressed most promptly by Seyruun out of all of the Kingdoms."
"Your information is correct," Phil responded. "We were in the middle of preparations before Amelia was kidnapped. When she is recovered and this situation is resolved, we intend to return to planning our expedition."
"Then I'll cut to the point. I came here today to offer my services in rescuing Amelia in exchange for passage on a ship to the new world."
"Your request seems reasonable," Phil told the grey cloaked stranger. "Though what was wrong with the reward that I set forth?" The man looked offended.
"My intentions aren't nearly so mercenary," the man responded. "Amelia is a friend of mine, after all. I simply want to be assured a place on one of your ships."
"I see no problem with that," Phil said. "And I must say, I'm happy to have someone of your skill involved in the search. The girl Lina Inverse is on the chase, too. Amelia would be proud to know she has friends like you all."
"So we have a deal then?" the man said, extending his hand. Phil took the offer with a giant hand of his own.
"Of courseMr. Zelgadis."
.
A few hours later, Greven and Kreutz found their wayward partners sitting with their backs half against each other, half against a tree, happiness completely wiped from their faces. Their path was met with a fork in the road, and while it took Gourry awhile to understand the concept behind the expression, Lina knew that if they wanted fresh food tonight, they'd have to stop and wait. As he approached, Greven shot a grin at Lina and started to open his mouth before she held up her hand to stop him.
"Don't," she said. "Just don't say anything." Greven gave a silent nod, knowing very well that Lina wasn't one to be teased while she was already pissed off.
They walked along the ridge of the forest, bringing them off of the main road and onto slightly less beaten trail. Lina's stomach was almost feeling rewarded, however, when the sun began to set and the foursome came over a final hilly ridge. The town was set in a valley that was circled by the forest on the east. Out of the woods flowed a good sized stream which weaved through the north of the town and established itself as the village's western border. Most of the houses were white with well maintained roofs and large windows. Pillars flanking front doors were not uncommon. All and all, it looked like a pretty damn nice place to live. The kind you'd want to retire to. The kind with lots of green grass and stuff.
Kreutz wandered into the lead. He and Greven waved to assorted people as they passed through the main street. They were pretty well liked here. As wealthy as they turned out to be, the adventures always found time to help out their neighbors here with mowing their lawns or shoveling their snow. Good, old fashioned Zefielian boys. Kreutz's mom would have been proud of them.
As they moved down to the end of the main road, they came to a large wrought iron gate that blocked passage through a gap in the giant hedges that otherwise concealed a extravagant brick house. Kreutz waved his hand over the locking mechanism and uttered a few words, unsealing whatever wards the boys has put on the place and opening up the gates.
"This is where you live?" Lina asked incredulously.
"Sometimes," Kreutz said with a shrug.
"Lina, I think we've been in the wrong business all this time," Gourry said.
"Maybe we need to reevaluate our spending habits," Lina admitted with a hand to her chin. "I mean, these Demon's Blood Talismans are nice, but when I think about how much I sold to Xellos for them"
"Get rich quick," Greven said. "Hasn't that always been your motto, Lina?"
"I guess just hording the money and treasures has its advantages, but I'll hand it too you boys, this is definitely pretty nice."
"Wait until you see the inside," Kreutz said with a smile. He led the group up the stone walkway to the large doors that were appropriately flanked with, yup, you guessed it, big white pillars. Whispering a few more magic words, the door unlocked and swung inward. Greven and Kreutz waltzed in, stretching their muscles.
The entry hall was impressive. Two stories high. Large windows stretching nearly to the ceiling. Collections of all sorts of trinkets that Lina's buddies had picked up from robbing bandits or raiding tombs that they didn't feel like selling (classic medieval decorations like suits of armor and sword-and-shield style coats of arms that no properly developed mansion should be without). On the right side of the hall, a wide, white spiral stairway led up to the second floor.
"Jeffery?" Greven called out. "Are you here?"
"Master Greven?" a voice called from the top of the white spiral staircase that dominated the entry hall. Soon, a man in a black tuxedo peered over the edge of the railing. Greven put his hands on his hips.
"Jeffery, what did I tell you about wearing that stupid get up?" Greven asked.
"Forgive me, Master Greven. I didn't know you and Master Kreutz were returning, but it is the standard wear of stereotypical butlers and servants everywhere. I'm just trying to play my part." Jeffery hurried down the stairs to meet them. The group exchanged some confused glances.
"Its okay, Jeffery," Kreutz finally said. "Why don't I introduce our guests? This is Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry. Lina's from Zefielia. She grew up with me and Greven. Gourry is her uhhtraveling companion. He's from Elmekia, I believe. Isn't that right, Gourry?"
"Yup," Gourry said. "It's a good land. The people there are always really nice and it's so easy to find good-" Lina cut him off, bounding up to Jeffery.
"It's so nice to be here!" she exclaimed. "Such a lovely home
Greven and Kreutz have! Now is there any chance you can direct me to the nearest
kitchen? We can have hors d'oeuvres now and then the welcome home banquet latter
tonight and perhaps dessert before we attend the bathhouse and"
"Lina, calm yourself," Kreutz said putting a hand on the red head's
shoulder. "The food's not going anywhere. It'll take a little while to
prepare, though. Why don't you and Gourry go wash off in the mean time?"
Lina stopped bouncing and composed herself.
"Good idea, Kreutz," she said patting him on the back with a thawp. "You always were a thinker, unlike our blonde buddies here," she said, pointing to Gourry and Greven.
"I think I'll clean up, too," Greven said, giving Lina a well timed glare. "I was never much of a cook. I think I can leave that to Jeffery and Kreutz."
"That's fine, Master Greven," Jeffery said. "Master Kreutz can inform me of your journeys while we prepare dinner. Is there anything your guests would prefer?" Ah, food choices. This is what Lina lived for.
"Chicken!" Lina said. "And pork and beefand oh, what the hell! Cook us anything you've got. Dragon would be especially appreciated if you happen to have any!" she winced a moment in remembrance of the last time she ordered Dragon anywhere.
"And you, Mr. Gourry?" Jeffery said.
"Oh, I'll eat anything," Gourry said, laughing. "Just make sure there's enough so that Lina doesn't have to take my food, too."
"We'll make plenty," Kreutz said. "The freezer should be pretty well stocked, if I remember properly. I'm afraid we're fresh out of dragon, though."
"I guess it doesn't really matter," Lina said. "Just as long as there's a lot of it. Now, uhwhich way is the bathhouse?"
"I'll take you guys there," Greven said. "It's just right around back. There're dressing rooms there that you can leave your clothes in. And don't worry, Lina: there're separate baths for men and woman." Gourry let out a chuckle and everyone turned to see what he found so funny.
"What is it?" Kreutz asked.
"Oh, it's just that you couldn't tell if Lina was a guy or a girl as long as she had bathing trunks on, anyway!" Gourry said with a laugh.
"What!!?" Lina demanded, pummeling him quickly in the face. Gourry yelped in pain as he was sent flying into an antique suit of armor. Knocking it over with a clang, he quickly found himself buried in metal.
"I think he said that you're flat, Lina," Greven said, unable to resist the urge to strike. She started to wind up to hit him, too, but he held up a hand and flicked his wrist quickly around, sending out some chi and freezing her fist mid swing. "And if you want to eat, you probably don't want to hit me," he said, giving he what was becoming his trademark wink. Turning, he began to walk to the rear of the house. "Now, follow me," he said. He snapped his fingers and released his hold on Lina, her momentum suddenly flaring up again and sending her tripping to the floor. She jumped up again and Kreutz could have sworn he saw smoke rising from her head before she stomped off after Greven towards the bathhouse with Gourry in tow.
As they passed through the house, Lina noted that it was indeed quite lavish. Whenever the polished marble floors weren't visible, it was because they were covered in deep red carpets that she estimated were probably worth a pretty penny. She highly doubted that her friends actually had such good taste and was proved correct when Greven admitted that they had hired a designer.
The bathhouse was also impressive, taking up a sizable portion of the back yard. The baths were half inside, half outside, so the bather had some choices depending on the weather. The inside was separated into male and female baths. The outside was more of hot tub for social gatherings of both genders. The outside portion flowed seamlessly into the landscaping, proving that with the proper placement of some rocks and vegetation, anything can look natural. It was complete with a waterfall that trickled down from a ledge behind the bathhouse itself.
The interior of the bathhouse was white and grey marble, looking just as expensive as the rest of the mansion. Lina bounded forward ahead of the boys, eager to jump into the water. Greven told her to veer right to end up in the right section. He and Gourry then entered the house, veering right and ending up in the men's dressing room. The door on the far wall slid open to reveal the indoor men's bath. Discarding his clothes, Greven pointed out where the towels were and then settled into the bath. Glad to get his armor off, Gourry was more than happy to jump into the bath as well.
"You thirsty?" Greven asked Gourry, wading over to a panel on the rear wall and sliding it open.
"Sure," Gourry said. Greven pulled out two glasses and a bottle of wine.
"Zefielian vintage," Greven said, pouring the wine into the glasses and handing one to Gourry. "It's good stuff. The grapes and wines of Zefielia are the greatest in the world." Gourry took a sip and smiled.
"It's very good," he said politely. "Do you always keep wine in here?"
"Sometimes I like to drink in the bath," Greven said. "I find it relaxing, sort of like the smoking."
"My grandma always told me that everything's fine in modernation,"
Gourry said, sharing some familial wisdom.
"Do you mean moderation?" Greven asked.
"Yeah, sure," Gourry said with a smile, taking another sip. "And I never got into smoking, but I can still enjoy a good glass of wine."
"Did your family drink it back home?"
"Sometimes on special family occasions. This wine is very good, though. Better than what we drink back home, I think." Greven lifted his glass up as if to cheer, but Gourry responding by looking up, thinking that Greven was just pointing to the ceiling.
"Uhh so how long have you been away from home?" Greven asked, ignoring Gourry's slight lack of culture. Gourry gave it some thought.
"It doesn't seem like too long. It was maybe a year before I met Lina, so two and a half years or so?"
"Just out to seek your fortune?"
"Not really," Gourry admitted. "It was my sword, actually. My family was fighting over it. It was getting really bad and I wanted to make them stop. I figured the best way to solve the problem was to just take it and leave."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Nah, don't be. I'm happy on the road. I needed to get out of the house
and see the world, anyway."
"So that was it for the family occasions, huh?" Gourry nodded.
"And pretty much for the wine, too," Gourry said with a smile.
"And I guess you and Lina don't hit up the bars often?" Greven asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, no," Gourry said. "I don't like bars much, and Lina doesn't take very well to alcohol. She is pretty tiny, after all." Greven laughed.
"Yeah, and the last thing this world needs is someone like Lina on a drunken rage," Greven joked. Gourry laughed, he of all people knowing how true that was. An awkward silence set in and both took another sip of wine.
"So, you and Lina used to begood friends?" Gourry asked, making conversation.
"Yeah, we go back a ways," Greven said. "We used to get in trouble a lot together." Greven laughed out loud as he recalled some a few stories. "Like this one time, she wanted to make some extra money, so Kreutz and I helped her charge admission to a view of her sister in the bath. Oh, man, was Luna pissed. I don't think Lina's ever been the same with her sister, since."
"Is that why Lina's so afraid of her sister?" Gourry asked.
"Among other things," Greven said. "Let's just say that Lina probably deserves all the treatment that Luna gives her. She is quite the devilish one, after all."
"Oh, I know that better than anyone, I think," Gourry said. "She'll do just about anything to make some money."
"Yeah, that's Lina, all right," Greven agreed. He took a sip of his wine and smirked slightly; he decided he'd cause some trouble. "So what's the deal with you two?" he asked. "She denies it, but are you guys an item or something?"
"Nah," Gourry said simply. "I mean, well"
"Oh, come on," Greven goaded. "Guy to guy, you can tell me." Gourry considered the question for a moment.
"I guess Lina's a very special person," Gourry said. "And maybe sometimes she drives me nuts and isn't nice, butI do enjoy being with her a lot and she's important to me, even though I don't know if that means anything." He took a breath and thought about what he just said before he grinned with satisfaction. Greven pondered the answer for a second.
"So do you dig her?" Greven said.
"Dig?" Gourry asked.
"I mean like do you want to get on her?" he asked crudely.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Gourry protested, his skin turn a shade redder and it having nothing to do with the wine. "Hold on a minute. Now I don't remember saying anything like that!"
"Okay, okay," Greven said, backing off. "I didn't mean to put it so bluntly. I guess it's sort of nebulous, then?"
"Nebulous?"
"Like cloudy," Greven clarified.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess, then," Gourry said. As he said this, a familiar voice came from the opening that led to the outdoor (coed) pool.
"Now, what's this way?" came Lina's voice from around the bend. Shortly after, the petite sorceress rounded the corner, her loins concealed by the water but the rest of her rather open to observation. As she realized she had wandered into the boy's bath, Greven and Gourry just stared.
"Ah!!" she screamed, wrapping her left arm over what little she had of a chest. "Fireball!" she shouted, hurling a red ball of flame forward with her free hand. Gourry, unable to protect himself, dove under the water as Greven snapped to his feet and launched a freeze brid at the fireball to cancel it out. The two spells collided and dissipated with a poof. Greven then found himself the new object of observations, his legs being long enough to lift his waist above the water. Letting out a flustered chuckle, he covered his privates and quickly sank back into the water.
"I'm, uhhsorry," Lina said, also sinking into the water. "Just a reflex, I guess. I didn't think this door led into the boy's bath."
"I think maybe it's time to eat," Greven said, his color returning to normal. "Do you want some wineerr, uhhnever mind," Greven said, realizing that it was probably best for his health to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. He gathered up the glasses and wine and replaced them behind the panel. "Lina, we'll meet you outside."
"Right," Lina said, making her way to the outdoor pool and back to the girls' bath. After she was clearly out of sight, Greven gave Gourry a look with a raised eyebrow.
"She really is pretty flat, isn't she?" he asked.
"I don't make stuff like that up," Gourry said, happy to have someone agree with him.
"But, wow," Greven said. "Like, she literally hasn't grown at all in three years."
"Just don't let her hear you say that," Gourry warned. "It might be the end of your life."
They began to climb out of the bath, looking for towels when Greven noticed that there weren't any where he usually kept them. A might concerned, he glanced over to Gourry.
"Did you move the towels when we got in?" he asked. Gourry gave a shrug. A call from the girl's locker room echoed through the halls.
"Where the hell did my clothes go?!"
