Lina: HEY!!! WHOEVER YOU ARE!!!
A/N: *Ahem* You may refer to me as Korin(-sama)
Lina: WHATEVER!! YOU LIED! WHERE IS MY FOOD!!!
A/N: What are you talking about? There was a full buffet right before the last chapter..
Lina: *taps foot impatiently* /Well/?
A/N: *snaps fingers* Now I remember! I showed Gourry where it was before when he asked where breakfast was. Erm… Why don't you ask him?
Lina: *Turns to see Gourry with a napkin tucked under his collar and an incriminating piece of drumstick in his hand* Gourry!!! That's MINE!
Lina rushes over to grab the drumstick from Gourry, but suddenly tries to stop in vain when the drumstick vanished from Gourry's grip. With a crash, Lina loses her balance and topples to the ground, letting Gourry break her fall. Lina, blushing, quickly stands up just in time to see Korin, drumstick in hand, on the other side of the room. In horror, Lina watches as Korin happily holds the drumstick to her mouth and takes a bite. Then, as if she didn't want it anymore, she throws it out the window, to the dogs waiting below. . .
A/N: /Any/wayz…. Slayers + characters + anything else that doesn't belong to me are not mine to own, nor will it ever be so. Oh yes umm… the reason why Lina didn't bother trying her usual methods to get into the restaurant (blow away sentries, burn to crisp, etc) was for two main reasons 1) she realized that all of the walls, roads, and buildings were actually thick stones encased in a layer of orihalcon (the armor covered the sentries head to toe in strong orihalcon as well), so most of the spells the she dared to use would be deflected (it's REALLY strong… 2) Lina also realized that the sentries were a pair of mazoku, lower-level, but still mazoku, and remembered being told never to pick a fight with a mazoku if you could help it. About the fire-in-the-mouth bit… hehe… sorry, just having a little fun … sleeping in a mazoku-infested city can do some strange things to people… Alrighty then! I've rambled on for much too long. On with the story! ^_^
The Deal With the MazokuSomething went horribly wrong. Instead of teleporting away, the group bounced off the walls in the form of Filia's golden light/aura. Soon, they came to a rough stop where they were only moments before. The throng of guards was coming towards them at a swift speed, momentarily taken by surprise by the bouncing golden light. First to react, Lina and Zel both put up a temporary shield against the oncoming fray of low-level, but still potentially dangerous, monsters (they all had sharp weapons). Realizing that the teleportation didn't work, and that her power seemed to be at full-power, Filia lent a helping hand and also put up a barrier between them and the mazoku. The soldiers relentlessly attempted to break down the barrier by force, but they had no such luck.
As half of Lina's concentration went to powering her shield, the other half went towards wondering aloud what had happened. She conversed with the others to see if they had any idea.
"It should have worked. I can't imagine what went wrong," Filia murmured half to herself.
Always one to put two and two together, Zel voiced his theory. "If you think about it, this is Dynast's, a Mazoku /Lord/, 'throne room', right? So Filia, being a golden dragon, might have had her powers slowly drained away by just being here."
Gourry, having nothing to do but scratch his head, asked, "Meaning…….What?"
Grimacing, Lina answered, "Meaning Filia is too weakened to teleport us out of here."
As soon as she said this, Filia's barrier seemed to flicker on and off perilously.
Gourry still looked confused, but Filia nodded, understanding. "So what do you suggest we do, Lina-san?"
"We don't have a choice – we'll have to fight our way out of here. Gourry – Since you aren't busy at the moment, make sure Liona and Val are safe. Zel, I'm sure you realize by now that all of these guards are mazoku. So here's the plan: While Filia continues to hold the barrier, you charge up a Ra Tilt and I'll try a Dragon Slave. Then Filia will drop the barrier and we'll hit them dead on, got it?"
Everyone agreed to Lina's plan, or more accurately, they didn't have much of a choice. Gourry put Liona in a sort of "sack" used to carry her whenever they had their hands full with something else while on the move. Gourry carefully put Val next to her and took his sword (regular) out, ready for battle. Lina and Zel murmured their spells while Filia used the rest of her concentration into holding the barrier. When Lina and Zel were both ready, Filia received a 'ready' nod from Lina and she let down the barrier. It appeared that the Mazoku had received an order to retreat not long ago, because when the two spells were released, the closest Mazoku was at least at the doorway.
A strange thing occurred when both spells hit the same monster at the same time. The spells combined and after a large flash of light, formed the shape of a large, pitch black, luminescent ball of crackling energy. The ball halted for a few seconds. Breathless, the Slayers watched with surprised curiosity, to see what would happen. Suddenly, the ball exploded in a Dragon Slave-like manner, but to a much larger extent and power. Luckily, Filia cast a barrier bubble around them that saved them from sharing the same fate as the mazoku. Once the smoke had cleared, the Slayers saw that absolutely nothing remained of the city of Dils. There was not a single trace of a mazoku, orihalcon building or castle in sight. In fact, what they saw below them could be described as a very large crater twice the size in length and depth as the aftermath of a Dragon Slave. Two feet from the ground, Filia's power collapsed, along with the barrier, allowing them to land themselves. Filia was very tired, but she reassured them that she would be okay with a few minutes of rest. Lina decided to sit down and regain her energy, and the rest followed suit. Of course, Gourry didn't have much to do this time, but he let down the two toddlers and fed them both a few rations that he had.
Before long, they heard a distant and slow clapping from afar. They all turned their heads left and right, trying to see where it was coming from. Liona was the first to spot Korin, who suddenly appeared in front of her and was walking towards them, hands slowly clapping. Once she was within close-range talking distance, she closed her eyes and smiled happily. "My that was /most/ entertaining. Don't you agree?"
Lina was outraged. She stood up and angrily accused Korin, "You knew about all of this from the start - didn't you?"
Feigning innocence, Korin pointed to herself and innocently answered, "Me? To what extent did you think I had to do with all of this?"
"Setting all the mazoku against us and allowing Amelia to be kidnapped by a Mazoku Lord!"
Korin smiled again and waggled a gloved finger in front of her, in a way very similar to Xellos. She corrected Lina's statement, "For your information, Dynast is responsible for everything mazoku-related in the kingdom of Dils. That includes the army of mazoku and Amelia's kidnapping. Also, it was /your/ fault that she was kidnapped in the first place. You could have easily saved her, if you wanted to."
Zel was starting to get riled up. "Of course we wanted to prevent her kidnapping! But what could we do? This is a mazoku lord we're talking about here. They caught us by surprise, too."
Korin looked like she was going to let out another interesting tidbit, but decided against it. "Think what you will. Well, are you planning on rescuing Amelia anytime soon?"
Gourry suddenly piped up. "Eh? We're leaving already?"
Lina sighed. She nodded before suddenly striking a pose and announcing, "We're off to rescue Amelia!"
A lone wind blows a tumbleweed past them during the period of silence that soon followed.
Korin smirked. Filia asked, "What's wrong Lina-san?"
Lina rubbed the back of her head and chuckled slightly. "Ermm… Does anybody know exactly where Dynast's hideout is?"
Val suddenly said in a ghostly and solemn tone, "Exactly 300 miles north of here – in the North Pole."
Lina and Filia looked at Val as if this was the first time he ever spoke. Well, to be honest, that was the longest sentence that ever came out of Val's mouth, not to mention the most informative as well.
Korin nodded and spoke before anyone else could react to Val's response. "He's right you know. Quite accurate actually. Well, you know how far away it is and where it's located. So how do you plan to get there? I believe Filia is too tired out to teleport you there now."
Lina suddenly had an idea and looked at Korin. "You don't suppose . . . that /you/ could teleport us there, could you, Korin-/san/?"
Korin stroked her chin with her hand in thought. She glanced at Liona's innocent face before looking back at Lina. Then she closed one eye and said, "If you agree to the consequences."
Lina backed away slowly. "What do you mean by that?"
Korin didn't answer as she slowly walked forward and crouched down directly in front of Liona. She smiled gently and asked her in a sweet tone, "Liona-chan? Do you trust me?"
Liona cutely cocked her head to one side and nodded.
Korin smiled more and asked, "That's good. Liona-chan, do you know what your mother is known as?"
Liona nodded again and said, "L-sama."
Korin smirked. She glanced quickly at Lina before asking another question, "Do you know what else She is known as?"
Liona giggled happily and answered, "Mother of Everything; Lord of Nightmares."
Korin smiled and patted Liona's head a little. She whispered, "Good girl. I already know she's proud of you."
Korin then stood up and faced the grown-up Slayers. "Alright. Everybody hold someone's hand so we can make a closed circle. Kids included."
They did as she told them and Korin began muttering the spell. Lina, who was on her left side, heard most of the spell which sounded like, "Mother of Everything, Golden Lord shining like gold upon the Sea of Chaos. I call upon thee, having sworn myself to thee, to transport us to the place that we desire. Chaos Shift."
Immediately, everyone was encased by a pitch black chaos bubble. Then, just as soon as the bubble appeared, it disappeared, along with the ring of Slayers. Inside, it felt both cold and inviting at the same time, though, how this was possible, was still a mystery. However, the ride was soon over and the bubble reappeared in an ice cold, freezing room. When the Slayers opened their eyes and looked around, they immediately found the room to be completely devoid of objects save the throne and a narrow ice pillar. Hanging from an ice-like whip protruding from the pillar, from her hands, was an unconscious Amelia. Before anyone had anytime to react, the black chaos bubble gathered together in the middle of the circle, to form a fizzling and crackling ball of chaos. As soon as the chaos was completely collected, the ball launched itself straight for Korin, and sent her crashing into the ice cold wall at least 30 feet behind the Slayers.
Korin winced as the ball changed into a black aura that surrounded her, and then slowly disappeared altogether. The Slayers started running towards her when they heard a voice coming from the opposite direction; the throne. "You infidels have dared to barge into my humble abode and then /dare/ to ignore me? You should pay for your insolence. Die."
The Slayers stopped and turned in time to see Dynast himself casting a Dynast Breath. The only thing they could think of doing was splitting up left and right to dodge the spell. Out of instinct, Lina grabbed Liona and Filia grabbed Val right before they split. If they had dodged even a second later, they would have been caught in the spell and might have very well died. Wondering if a non-fatal plan could be possible, Lina attempted to negotiate. In her usual /bargaining/ voice, Lina stated, "Hold on a minute there, buddy. We don't want to fight you if we don't have to. All we want is Amelia back."
Dynast raised an eyebrow and glanced in Korin's direction. She smirked and nodded. Dynast turned back to Lina and said in a laid back fashion, "By all means, we do not wish to fight any more than you do. Here is my offer: We will return this lowly human to you if you join us, Miss Inverse."
Korin coughed and slowly stood up. She grinned wanly and teleported behind Lina. She whispered in her ear, "Do you like Amelia enough to sacrifice yourself for her well-being?"
Without answering, Lina bent down her head and stood up. She chuckled softly in a ghastly way. Then, she looked up at Dynast with her usual determined face. "You're kidding, right? That must be the most unbalanced trade I've ever heard of. Fireball!"
Lina didn't aim at Dynast though. She aimed at the ice "rope" that was holding Amelia. Taking this as his cue, Zelgadis used his lightning speed to catch her and come back to where the Slayers were all now standing.
Dynast appeared to be severely aggravated by this, but coolly snapped his fingers, summoning Sherra, his general. Wordlessly, she smirked and held her special sword before her. Zel got ready to unsheath his sword, but Gourry stopped him. He stepped forward and withdrew his own sword from his sheath. He confidently smiled as he rushed forward before anybody could stop him. As if he were small fry, Sherra loosely held her sword with her left hand and purposely looked the other way as she started to swing her sword in a continual circle in front of her. Her timing was perfect because Gourry's sword charged through the barrier a second after Sherra dodged the blade easily and her swinging blade cut off Gourry's blade without so much as pausing its swing.
As for Gourry, he held his now broken blade vertically in front of him. His eyes became as big as saucers at what he had just seen, as if it was the last thing in the world that he had expected to happen. Lina clutched her forehead with her hand and shook her head in disappointment. She at least expected Gourry to know that a regular blade wouldn't work on a high-level Mazoku-held sword. Korin sighed and thought, "I guess I better give it to him before he goes and gets himself killed. I wouldn't want Liona to watch something as cruel as that."
Korin watched as Sherra once more swung her sword in an apparent attempt to decapitate poor Gourry, but he thankfully jumped out of the way. For now, that was the only thing he could do, especially after Dynast had specifically ordered Sherra to kill him.
Bracing herself, Korin called out to Gourry. She used a spell with her left hand to hold Sherra back while she cast a different "spell" with her right. As everyone's eyes turned to her, Korin drew the basic shape of a sword (a horizontal line crossed by a much shorter vertical line near the end) in the air. A blue light traced the lines she had drawn. Then, she gripped the would-be hilt and a real sword appeared. To anyone's naked eye, it didn't look anything like a normal sword. No, it was, in fact, the Legendary Sword of Light, which was supposed to be with the Overworlders, along with the other four Darkstar weapons.
Everyone in the room couldn't believe what she had done. Lina sputtered, "T-that's the Sword of Light! I thought… Korin! How'd you get that sword?!"
Korin smiled and shook her head. "This is no time to explain. Gourry, catch!"
Gourry caught the sword, surprised but very gratified. Gourry barely had time to position himself before Korin released the spell and Sherra came charging towards him. Now that Gourry had a formidable weapon, he easily sparred with Sherra. They went back and forth all over the room, with an occasion scratch to either side. Soon afterwards, Lina felt that since this might go on for quite a while, she might as well get some information out of Korin in the mean time.
She turned to ask Korin first, about the spell, but immediately saw that she was in no condition to answer any questions. Korin was down on her knees with both arms in front of her, barely holding her up. She looked as if she was vomiting blood, but her hair covered Lina's view. Even if Lina had seen it though, she would not have seen /blood/ emitting from Korin's mouth.
"Korin! Are you okay?" Lina bent down and put a hand on her shoulder."
Korin coughed again and slowly informed Lina, "Never let your guard down. You can't trust anybody but yourself, and even then, sometimes you can't even do that."
With those words, Korin teleported away and Lina's hand hit the floor. Lina quietly stared at the place where Korin had been just moments before. Startled, she saw what Korin had really coughed up. /Black/ Blood. However, at the moment, Lina couldn't even be sure of that, because the blood soon faded from view.
Just then, Gourry and Sherra charged towards each other once more, but this time, the results were different. Sherra's sword had managed to pierce his stomach, while Gourry's had gone straight through Sherra's would be shoulder (just below it, anyway). Both withdrew their swords from the other's body, both looking quite exhausted. Amelia began to stir and soon opened her eyes wide only to be greeted by the sight of Gourry, with a hole in his stomach.
Sherra appeared to not even feel her injury. She smirked and flicked the blood off of her sword with one fling. "You know, if you don't want him to die from my sword's poison, I suggest you either heal him or get him to the nearest person that can." Those words seemed to spring them to life because Amelia and Filia rushed to heal Gourry. As for Lina, she quietly stood up with her bangs covering her eyes. She started to whisper a spell under her breath. Once finished, she looked up at Sherra with a murderous glare in her eyes. Lina charged forward as she cried out, "RAGNA BLADE!!!"
Taken completely by surprise, Sherra barely dodged the first swing, although Lina had been pretty far when she had first cast the spell. Lina chased after Sherra with almost inhuman speed, fueled by a mixture of panic, anger, and feelings of deep revenge and resentment. Perhaps Sherra was not very used to injuries of any kind, because it deeply affected her speed, even with teleporting. After a few missed swings, the Ragna Blade finally hit its mark and Sherra seemed to have been slain (No! _ I kind of liked her…). Lina let the blade disappear from her grasp and breathing hard, turned to see if Gourry was all right. Thankfully, Filia and Amelia had come to the rescue just in time because Gourry was stirring, and not a trace of blood could be seen.
Dynast was horrified at what he had just witnessed. He had been told that Lina Inverse was a force to be reckoned with – not just anybody could have killed the greatest of the five Mazoku Lords – but he had never expected to see such an immense collection of raw chaos energy. Not only that, but his only general had been killed by it. He was sure that if he acted quickly, he could have her restored, but it would take a long time to train her all over again. Dynast looked at the group before him, all happy to see Gourry and Amelia alive (this did nothing to improve his mood, in fact, it made him feel sick to his stomach). Dynast grimaced and noticed, with surprise, that the two little ones were on the outer sides, peering over tall shoulders to see Gourry. He smirked because he had just then noticed a familiar purple aura about to appear in that very room.
Sure enough, Xellos Metallium, general and priest to the great Zelas Beastmaster, teleported in just behind Liona. Filia immediately noticed and grabbed her mace from underneath her skirt. However, in those few moments that she was doing so, Xellos grabbed Liona by the mouth and stomach (one gloved hand on each) and teleported away. Lina, Gourry, and the rest of the Slayers watched, horrorstruck, as Xellos reappeared a few feet in the air with a squirming Liona in his grasp. Xellos spoke a few words before teleporting for a good length of time. "Lina Inverse. It is here that I must say that we are most definitely enemies. Don't worry though. Liona-chan will be in good hands, my master's. Maybe, just maybe, we'll even take her to visit Deep Sea Dolphin as well. . ."
Lina struck the ground hard with her fist in deep frustration. Just three years ago, Gourry had been taken from her by Hellmaster, and he had almost died in front of her. Now, it seemed as if all three of the remaining Mazoku Lords were working together to resort to kidnapping her only daughter for who knows what purpose. Also, Lina had a feeling that Korin was very much mixed up in all this, but whether she was on their side or the Mazoku's side, Lina knew that one thing was certain – she was powerful, and she knew spells that summoned power from the Lord of Nightmares herself.
A/N: Ah…Another chapter finished. Do you like? Will you review? Please? I would have written the names of the Overworlder and Sherra's sword, but I just forgot. Also, take note that I have never read any of the Slayers manga, and therefore know nothing about anything that may have taken place in that storyline. Hmm…In case it isn't apparent the chapter title refers to the deal with Amelia for Lina, basically. Course, another deal will soon come, I'm sure you can guess what it is. I hope I got everything accurate, but I'm aware that at some points, certain characters are pretty OOC. Oh wellz. Please review and thanks again to those that have reviewed my previous chapters. ^_^ Until next time, Ja ne(See ya)!