Ramblings of the Doomed
Chapter 16: Tools of Revenge
Eris woke up a bit later than she had hoped to the next day. After resting all night, she was no longer emotionally exhausted. Now her heart burned for revenge. After getting dressed, she went downstairs with the three pictures of Rezo-sama's killers. She put larger frames around each, and created Wanted posters out of them, offering a reward for each. She no longer wore the simple but pretty white dresses she had worn… before. Now she wore an outfit of black leather and metal spikes. It suited her current mood much more.
On her way out, Eris grabbed an apple to eat on the way. Despite the fact that she wasn't hungry, she wouldn't be able to carry out Rezo-sama's revenge if she died of starvation. She saw that Kopii was still fast asleep on the couch with the little kopiis snuggled around him. Once again she considered waking him up. But she figured he'd need all his strength for what he would have to do shortly, so she left him alone.
Eris went straight to the Sairaag Tribune, showed them the paper that said she spoke for Rezo, and made about a million copies of each wanted poster. She needed them brought to her alive so she could kill them herself. Or maybe she would make Kopii do it. Offensive magic wasn't her specialty, after all. But she could definitely help with the torturing.
On her way home, having rented a cart to carry all the posters back, Eris ran into Zangulus. He was just sauntering over to the market to stand around and perhaps get some work when he heard someone shout, "Hey you! Over there! With the weird hat!" Zangulus turned to offer her a rather miffed expression. Eris pulled up beside him.
"Hey! You're the one who got the enchanted sword from Rezo, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Are you any good with it?"
"Only the best," Zangulus said, grinning at his own ego.
Eris smiled. This could prove useful.
"I don't suppose that the best swordsman in the world would like to make some money, would he?" she asked enticingly.
* * *
So Eris and Zangulus returned to her house in the cart. Kopii was gone, but he had left a note saying that he was out making sure everything in Rezo's will was carried out. There should be plenty of money left for Eris and Kopii to live on. He would also get a map showing where all of Rezo's property was.
Eris brought Zangulus inside with the originals of each of the posters. With a spell, she removed one of the Vrumugun kopiis from its tank, and cleaned, dried, and clothed it. Then she compelled it to come upstairs to join them. Zangulus raised his eyebrows, but when he saw the huge red jewel on Vrumugun's head, he realized that it must be one of his friend's kopiis. So this kopii wouldn't know him.
Eris explained to Zangulus and the kopii that she wanted them to find the three people on the posters and bring them to her alive. Believing that they thought Kopii was Rezo, she didn't tell them what had happened the day before. She didn't realize that the kopii already knew. As she spoke, she transmitted the same information into the minds of the other kopii Vrumuguns so they would be prepared as well. She didn't expect the weak sorcerer's kopiis to last very long against people strong enough to kill Rezo-sama.
She had used her magic to locate Lina and her friends, and they seemed to be heading towards Seyruun. So she sent out her two bounty hunters with a load of posters to spread generously around Seyruun and every other town on the way.
Shortly after, Kopii returned. He silently handed her the map of Rezo's property and numerous deeds to it.
"Kopii, I found a good excuse for you to practice your magic," she said, leading him back outside after putting the papers on the table. "I need to spread these posters all over to catch those monsters. I sent out that man Zangulus who you made a sword for and a Vrumugun kopii to hunt them down, but I want to make sure I get them. I want every bounty hunter, hero, knight errant, justice freak, soldier, guardsman, and anyone else out there to be on the lookout for them. Zangulus and kopii Vrumugun are headed for Seyruun, but I need posters everywhere else too. Can you do that?"
"I… suppose so," said Kopii. "It may take a few days, though. I don't know how many times I can do it each day." He had felt strange ever since he woke up. As if he had been partially empty until today. It had to be something to do with Rezo's death. Maybe it was just that he was a step closer to being an individual.
Kopii took a bundle of each poster and teleported himself to the most remote and far-off towns along the barrier. Eris took some and posted them in nearby towns, including Sairaag itself. After about four days, they had covered all the towns, large and small, inside the mazoku barrier.
* * *
Kopii had been pushing himself to the limits of his magic under Eris's guidance. She was trying to make him able to cast as many spells a day as he wanted, just like Rezo could. He was improving, but at far too slow of a rate for Eris. She needed revenge soon! So Kopii would have to find something that would boost his power and endurance considerably. Her machine in the lab would only give him strength for a short time. Maybe she could summon something really powerful to augment his strength. But what to use?
Eris looked up from her research to watch Kopii. He was walking through the cluttered lab with his eyes closed. She noticed idly that he was doing a lot better than he used to. He looked so graceful. Almost Rezoesque… She shook herself mentally and went back to her reading.
The obvious choice would be a mazoku or ryuuzoku. But after her encounters with Milgazia and Xellos, Eris was rather disinclined to trust either race. They hadn't lifted a finger to help Rezo-sama, after all. So she was looking up other creatures of power.
The first things she found was an old story. In days of old, a great swordsman wielding the famed Hikari no Ken had risen up to slay the Demon Beast Zanafaar. This was a misnomer because Zanafaar was not a mazoku. The story said nothing about its origin, but further reading told Eris that it was probably an Overworld creature, or possibly and Underworld one.
Just because a powerful creature was dead didn't mean it couldn't be summoned. Zanafaar was the most widely-researched creature that was not mortal, mazoku, or ryuuzoku, so Eris decided that it might be a good choice. But it would take some preparation. This was an enormously powerful creature, and it would be hard to bind such a beast to a person. So Eris started looking up binding spells. Nothing she was finding looked even remotely strong enough.
"Hey Kopii," she said as he walked among glass tubes on the ground. "Do you know any really strong binding spells? Strong enough to bind something as strong as Shabranigdu to a person?" All the accounts said that Zanafaar was on a level with Shabranigdu when it came to strength.
"I don't know," said Kopii doubtfully. "That'd be hard to do."
"So you have no idea how someone could do it?" Eris asked.
"The only thing I can think of would be to actually summon the Lord of Nightmares and request it. But that's not the safest thing to do either," he said, frowning. "Are you actually thinking of doing that!?"
"I guess it's a possibility," Eris said. "Try to think of something else, though. Besides, you can't actually do that, can you?"
Kopii was silent for a moment. "There is a spell. The Giga Slave. It summons the Lord of Nightmares into the spell-caster's body. It can kill anything and everything you could come up against. But if it goes out of control it can destroy the entire world, returning it to chaos. And it is very hard to control. I don't think I could even cast it at full strength."
"Hmm…" Eris said, and sank deep into her own thoughts. Kopii kept walking around the glass-strewn floor, never touching a single piece.
* * *
Zangulus and kopii Vrumugun made their way to Seyruun fairly quickly, putting up posters in every town along the way. Zangulus had explained to the kopii that he had been friends with the original. The kopii was slightly more antisocial than the original, but after a while he warmed to Zangulus's outgoing friendliness. Unlike Kopii, he felt completely at peace with his original. He asked to be called Vrumugun and said that the others were likely to feel the same way. That was fine with Zangulus. It was much easier than the awkward way he felt he had to avoid any name at all at first.
Upon arriving in Seyruun, Zangulus and Vrumugun met up with the princess who had seen their wanted signs. She had traveled with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev, her body guard, for a while and was shocked to hear that her new friends were outlaws. Zangulus was very annoyed by her sudden rant about brining criminals to justice. But at least she didn't ask about what Lina had done. Zangulus really had no idea, though she sounded like a pretty nasty person.
They captured Lina once, but she escaped. So Zangulus and Vrumugun chased her across the land. They sometimes recruited help from the locals, but they never caught her again. At least twice, Vrumugun was torn apart by a spell. The first time really upset Zangulus. But soon after, a new kopii appeared who felt much the same about things as the last one had. Zangulus had to coax this one into friendliness, but he had expected this. It amazed him to see their differences, though. One loved fish, and another refused to even look at it. One was even almost talkative once he got used to Zangulus. He really missed that one, who hadn't lasted long at all.
But eventually, the two bounty hunters managed to chase Lina's group to Sairaag. They returned to Eris's house, which she had enchanted to make it look bigger and richer than the cozy little cottage it actually was. Eris had been making Kopii sit in her huge chair-machine to give him great strength temporarily. She also controlled him almost all the time, so he wasn't much of a conversationalist any more. Anyway, Lina and her friends were in Sairaag, and it was only a matter of time before they found their way to the house. Everyone in town knew where Eris and 'Rezo' lived, so Lina had only to ask. So the two humans and the two kopiis simply waited. It would not be long now…
Chapter 16: Tools of Revenge
Eris woke up a bit later than she had hoped to the next day. After resting all night, she was no longer emotionally exhausted. Now her heart burned for revenge. After getting dressed, she went downstairs with the three pictures of Rezo-sama's killers. She put larger frames around each, and created Wanted posters out of them, offering a reward for each. She no longer wore the simple but pretty white dresses she had worn… before. Now she wore an outfit of black leather and metal spikes. It suited her current mood much more.
On her way out, Eris grabbed an apple to eat on the way. Despite the fact that she wasn't hungry, she wouldn't be able to carry out Rezo-sama's revenge if she died of starvation. She saw that Kopii was still fast asleep on the couch with the little kopiis snuggled around him. Once again she considered waking him up. But she figured he'd need all his strength for what he would have to do shortly, so she left him alone.
Eris went straight to the Sairaag Tribune, showed them the paper that said she spoke for Rezo, and made about a million copies of each wanted poster. She needed them brought to her alive so she could kill them herself. Or maybe she would make Kopii do it. Offensive magic wasn't her specialty, after all. But she could definitely help with the torturing.
On her way home, having rented a cart to carry all the posters back, Eris ran into Zangulus. He was just sauntering over to the market to stand around and perhaps get some work when he heard someone shout, "Hey you! Over there! With the weird hat!" Zangulus turned to offer her a rather miffed expression. Eris pulled up beside him.
"Hey! You're the one who got the enchanted sword from Rezo, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Are you any good with it?"
"Only the best," Zangulus said, grinning at his own ego.
Eris smiled. This could prove useful.
"I don't suppose that the best swordsman in the world would like to make some money, would he?" she asked enticingly.
* * *
So Eris and Zangulus returned to her house in the cart. Kopii was gone, but he had left a note saying that he was out making sure everything in Rezo's will was carried out. There should be plenty of money left for Eris and Kopii to live on. He would also get a map showing where all of Rezo's property was.
Eris brought Zangulus inside with the originals of each of the posters. With a spell, she removed one of the Vrumugun kopiis from its tank, and cleaned, dried, and clothed it. Then she compelled it to come upstairs to join them. Zangulus raised his eyebrows, but when he saw the huge red jewel on Vrumugun's head, he realized that it must be one of his friend's kopiis. So this kopii wouldn't know him.
Eris explained to Zangulus and the kopii that she wanted them to find the three people on the posters and bring them to her alive. Believing that they thought Kopii was Rezo, she didn't tell them what had happened the day before. She didn't realize that the kopii already knew. As she spoke, she transmitted the same information into the minds of the other kopii Vrumuguns so they would be prepared as well. She didn't expect the weak sorcerer's kopiis to last very long against people strong enough to kill Rezo-sama.
She had used her magic to locate Lina and her friends, and they seemed to be heading towards Seyruun. So she sent out her two bounty hunters with a load of posters to spread generously around Seyruun and every other town on the way.
Shortly after, Kopii returned. He silently handed her the map of Rezo's property and numerous deeds to it.
"Kopii, I found a good excuse for you to practice your magic," she said, leading him back outside after putting the papers on the table. "I need to spread these posters all over to catch those monsters. I sent out that man Zangulus who you made a sword for and a Vrumugun kopii to hunt them down, but I want to make sure I get them. I want every bounty hunter, hero, knight errant, justice freak, soldier, guardsman, and anyone else out there to be on the lookout for them. Zangulus and kopii Vrumugun are headed for Seyruun, but I need posters everywhere else too. Can you do that?"
"I… suppose so," said Kopii. "It may take a few days, though. I don't know how many times I can do it each day." He had felt strange ever since he woke up. As if he had been partially empty until today. It had to be something to do with Rezo's death. Maybe it was just that he was a step closer to being an individual.
Kopii took a bundle of each poster and teleported himself to the most remote and far-off towns along the barrier. Eris took some and posted them in nearby towns, including Sairaag itself. After about four days, they had covered all the towns, large and small, inside the mazoku barrier.
* * *
Kopii had been pushing himself to the limits of his magic under Eris's guidance. She was trying to make him able to cast as many spells a day as he wanted, just like Rezo could. He was improving, but at far too slow of a rate for Eris. She needed revenge soon! So Kopii would have to find something that would boost his power and endurance considerably. Her machine in the lab would only give him strength for a short time. Maybe she could summon something really powerful to augment his strength. But what to use?
Eris looked up from her research to watch Kopii. He was walking through the cluttered lab with his eyes closed. She noticed idly that he was doing a lot better than he used to. He looked so graceful. Almost Rezoesque… She shook herself mentally and went back to her reading.
The obvious choice would be a mazoku or ryuuzoku. But after her encounters with Milgazia and Xellos, Eris was rather disinclined to trust either race. They hadn't lifted a finger to help Rezo-sama, after all. So she was looking up other creatures of power.
The first things she found was an old story. In days of old, a great swordsman wielding the famed Hikari no Ken had risen up to slay the Demon Beast Zanafaar. This was a misnomer because Zanafaar was not a mazoku. The story said nothing about its origin, but further reading told Eris that it was probably an Overworld creature, or possibly and Underworld one.
Just because a powerful creature was dead didn't mean it couldn't be summoned. Zanafaar was the most widely-researched creature that was not mortal, mazoku, or ryuuzoku, so Eris decided that it might be a good choice. But it would take some preparation. This was an enormously powerful creature, and it would be hard to bind such a beast to a person. So Eris started looking up binding spells. Nothing she was finding looked even remotely strong enough.
"Hey Kopii," she said as he walked among glass tubes on the ground. "Do you know any really strong binding spells? Strong enough to bind something as strong as Shabranigdu to a person?" All the accounts said that Zanafaar was on a level with Shabranigdu when it came to strength.
"I don't know," said Kopii doubtfully. "That'd be hard to do."
"So you have no idea how someone could do it?" Eris asked.
"The only thing I can think of would be to actually summon the Lord of Nightmares and request it. But that's not the safest thing to do either," he said, frowning. "Are you actually thinking of doing that!?"
"I guess it's a possibility," Eris said. "Try to think of something else, though. Besides, you can't actually do that, can you?"
Kopii was silent for a moment. "There is a spell. The Giga Slave. It summons the Lord of Nightmares into the spell-caster's body. It can kill anything and everything you could come up against. But if it goes out of control it can destroy the entire world, returning it to chaos. And it is very hard to control. I don't think I could even cast it at full strength."
"Hmm…" Eris said, and sank deep into her own thoughts. Kopii kept walking around the glass-strewn floor, never touching a single piece.
* * *
Zangulus and kopii Vrumugun made their way to Seyruun fairly quickly, putting up posters in every town along the way. Zangulus had explained to the kopii that he had been friends with the original. The kopii was slightly more antisocial than the original, but after a while he warmed to Zangulus's outgoing friendliness. Unlike Kopii, he felt completely at peace with his original. He asked to be called Vrumugun and said that the others were likely to feel the same way. That was fine with Zangulus. It was much easier than the awkward way he felt he had to avoid any name at all at first.
Upon arriving in Seyruun, Zangulus and Vrumugun met up with the princess who had seen their wanted signs. She had traveled with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev, her body guard, for a while and was shocked to hear that her new friends were outlaws. Zangulus was very annoyed by her sudden rant about brining criminals to justice. But at least she didn't ask about what Lina had done. Zangulus really had no idea, though she sounded like a pretty nasty person.
They captured Lina once, but she escaped. So Zangulus and Vrumugun chased her across the land. They sometimes recruited help from the locals, but they never caught her again. At least twice, Vrumugun was torn apart by a spell. The first time really upset Zangulus. But soon after, a new kopii appeared who felt much the same about things as the last one had. Zangulus had to coax this one into friendliness, but he had expected this. It amazed him to see their differences, though. One loved fish, and another refused to even look at it. One was even almost talkative once he got used to Zangulus. He really missed that one, who hadn't lasted long at all.
But eventually, the two bounty hunters managed to chase Lina's group to Sairaag. They returned to Eris's house, which she had enchanted to make it look bigger and richer than the cozy little cottage it actually was. Eris had been making Kopii sit in her huge chair-machine to give him great strength temporarily. She also controlled him almost all the time, so he wasn't much of a conversationalist any more. Anyway, Lina and her friends were in Sairaag, and it was only a matter of time before they found their way to the house. Everyone in town knew where Eris and 'Rezo' lived, so Lina had only to ask. So the two humans and the two kopiis simply waited. It would not be long now…