Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers in any way, shape, or form, and I don't have anything funny to say about it. What I do own are:
1) Starbird (and his whole clan, past, present, and future)
2) Dulak (and the idea of the Daemons, Greybat and otherwise)
3) The Town of Kale (But not the Dukedom of Kalmaart. Also, not Root Beer; also, not Pie for Breakfast (Try it. This has been a public service announcement.))
4) The Original spells included herein (But not the others, of course. I wish I did own Dragu Slave, But Oh Well That's Too Bad Now Isn't It.)
5) Your Immortal Soul (Just Kidding! Phibrizzo owns that. Or his Ghost does. Or Whatever.)
(Yeah, I lied about not having anything funny to say) I also do not own the incantation I use here for the Dragu Slave; it is slightly modified from the one used by Irony-Chan (FanFiction.Net Author Number 92540) and is used without permission, since Irony-Chan's Profile doesn't have an Email address listed, so I couldn't ask. I shall keep you updated on this matter, as I still haven't checked the given homepage for an Email link... Yeah. I'm sure most of you don't care, and, in all probability, neither does Irony, but one can never be too careful.
Whoo. Loooooong Disclaimer.
Slayers: The Starbird Chronicles
Chapter 3: Kale Inn, the Next Morning
Lina woke up refreshed, and, after making her morning toilette (i.e. getting ready), went down for breakfast, her scare from the previous night all but forgotten. She once again snagged a menu from the waiter, and ordered another interesting-looking regional specialty. Well, it's not really a regional specialty in and of itself, but in most places, people don't eat cold apple pie for breakfast. At any rate, once the three whole pies had been brought to the table (along with the recommended beverage, a honey-sweetened fruit tea), the continent's greatest eating machine set to work. After she finished, she sighed with pleasure and, seeing the innkeeper nearby, waved him over. "You know, these 'regional specialties' of yours are pretty good."
"Thank you, miss. If you'd like, I could..." He stopped, seeing the look on Lina's face go from contented to slightly queasy. "Are you okay, Miss?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine... just got a little chill down my spine." Lina shuddered. The innkeeper nodded politely and continued on his way.
This is not good, thought the fiery sorceress. I only get that feeling from a few things, and of those... Loud, clunking steps could be heard, coming down the stairs. It can't be! I've only been away from the others for a little over a week, and this, already? The steps entered the restaurant. Lina stared fixedly at the table. Please let it just be Gaav back from the dead! Or another fragment of Shabranigdo, for that matter! The clunks were now approaching Lina's table, to which she continued to devote her undivided attention, in hopes the terror she sensed behind her would disappear. Even the Lord of Nightmares again would be better than...
"Lina, Darling! It's been far too long!"
Damn. "Hello, Naga. I'm not even going to dignify that second part with an answer." No, wait- She'll think that was a joke...
"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! Lina, you say the silliest things! Now, are you going to buy me breakfast, or do I have to pay myself?" The taller woman rounded the table and plopped herself down in the chair across from Lina, ignoring the nasty glares she was receiving from people whose drinks she had curdled with her fearsome sonic onslaught.
Lina stood and turned away. "Actually, I have an appointment to keep." She glanced at the clock on the inn's wall; it said it was quarter past eleven o'clock. Good, time to visit the shops first. She had, after all, been eating for quite a while, and, having lost track of time, was relieved to find that she still had enough left to offload some of the treasure she had collected on the way there. She continued out the door of the inn and down the street.
The waiter approached the somewhat annoyed Naga, before she could get up to follow. "May I take your order?"
Naga settled back down, thoughts of pursuit forgotten. This inn had good food, and she was sure it would taste even better charged to Lina's tab. She could always catch up with the walking fireball later.
"Thanks! Great doing business with you!" Lina fairly skipped out of the shop near the north gate, the newfound lightness of her cape (Where she stores her stuff - it must be enchanted) echoed in the bounce in her step. First, a tidy profit; now, off to meet someone who, through some cosmic accounting error, was actually considerate. However, no sooner had she reached the appointed area off to the side of the deserted north road than she heard a voice from above. "Greetings, Lina Inverse. I'm sorry I have to do this, but a challenge is no doubt the best way to test your strength." Lina turned around just in time to see the man in the purple cloak jump down from the wall.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Attack me, Lina Inverse. Hold nothing back."
"Okay. GAAV FLARE!" Lina held out her hands, but no ball of piercing flame was forthcoming. Oh, right. Gaav's dead, so that spell...
"I'll excuse your lapse in judgment; it's only been a
month or so..."
"Don't do me any favors, cloak boy. East
winds that blow have you at their source..." She noticed he was
casting a similar spell. That's probably
a freeze arrow, she thought. But when
I use this incantation, my Flare
Arrow's pretty strong. And there's no incantation this good for Freeze Arrow!
"... Into my hands ignite all their
force! FLARE ARROW!"
"FREEZE ARROW!" The two spells collided, but, contrary to Lina's expectation, her spell was completely canceled.
"How'd you do that, cloak boy?"
"It's not that hard to modify incantations for similar spells. In this case, just use 'north' instead of 'east' and 'condense' instead of 'ignite.'"
"Is that so? FIREBALL!" Her spell went out, but her opponent canceled it with a Freeze Brid. Shades of Vrumugun... wait, Vrumugun was pretty good with ice spells, but not much else. Maybe I should try... VICE FREEZE!"
"BURST FLARE!" The two spells collided with the thunderclap and cloud of mist that they always produce. Okay, so much for that theory. Lina cast Bomb Di Wind into the fog for the dual purposes of clearing the fog and blowing away her opponent. However, when the fog cleared, it revealed the stone barrier of a slightly dented Bephis Press, which he sent crashing toward her. She was so busy dodging the six foot high, twelve foot wide wall that she cancelled the Flare Lance he sent after it with an Icicle Lance only a foot from her outstretched hand. She then tried to distract him with a Vlave Howl, which should have turned the ground to lava. However, he cancelled that with...
"Bogardic Elm? Where'd you learn that, cloak boy?" The spell, which few people knew, normally turned the ground to mud; its main use was against swordsmen and other opponents who depend on their physical abilities in a fight.
"It is a registered spell, Miss Lina. I know most mages
don't bother with it, but I saw it could be used to counter Vlave
Howl, so I learned it."
"Interesting. Of course, you realize I've been
buying time to gather power for this spell."
"Of course. By all means, let it loose."
"You're gonna regret that! This spell is too new for a countering spell to have been developed!
'Hot desert winds have you at their source,
Into my hands ignite all their force;
Source of all power, in thy great name,
Fill the air with arrows of flame!
FLARE BARRAGE!'"
The air was suddenly filled with fifty arrows of burning, reddish light, which sped toward the cloaked man- to be met a little over two thirds of the way there by an equal number of arrows of a cold, bluish persuasion.
"But... That's impossible! They told me Flare Barrage was only registered twenty days ago..."
"By someone who had developed it some six months previously, and whom I knew from before. I will admit, Miss Inverse, that my knowing Freeze Barrage was largely a matter of luck. However, you're holding back. I told you not to."
"You mean you want me to..."
"Yes. Away from the town, of course."
"A fully boosted... Why?"
"I've heard how powerful you can make it; I want
to see it with my own eyes."
"Alright, then. But if you die, what happens? Have you thought about that?" He must be a certified loony...
"The information you came about is real; it's in my bag at the top of the wall, up there. Don't worry, though. I'll be fine."
"If you're sureā¦" She began by casting the spell that activates her Demon's Blood Talismans. Then, she looked up. Her opponent had moved quite a ways away from the town and the road, in the direction of the forest. She turned to him, and began chanting:
"Thou dark beyond the twilight skies,
The shade of crimson blood;
Thy power hid from mortal eyes
In time's onrushing flood
I make my soul a gift to thee
In darkness find rebirth,
And in return grant thou to me
The strength to rend the earth;
These fools who would see my fall
Are nothing, to be less,
For thou and I shall crush them all
By power we possess!"
Lina was dimly aware of her adversary chanting something about the sun and daylight the blue sky and saving the earth... Must be a defensive spell. Then she heard "Cleanse the land," and wasn't so sure. The ball of dark red fire in her hands was telling her to get it over with, though, so she finished.
"DRAGU SLAVE!"
The time for doubt was past, as the red beam of the most powerful Black Magic spell to draw solely on powers from within this world sped toward her doomed opponent, but... He's not going to try to counter it, is he? But as she thought, the red beam was met by another ray of light, this one a scintillating sky blue. The Dragu Slave expanded into its trademark dome, but the blue light grew within it, and the spell - both spells - faded, before the dome grew bigger than forty feet across.
"What... the hell..." Lina simply collapsed to her knees; the shock of having her greatest weapon rendered useless was too much. The man with the cloak walked up to her.
"I am impressed, miss Inverse. You are even more talented than the stories said." He removed the hood, revealing a handsome face that appeared to be in the late teens, with eyes that looked to be both green and violet and center-parted black hair, cut to around five inches, with white locks in the front. "Cute, too." He extended his hand to her, and she took it with one of her own; the other was busy hiding the fact that she was blushing furiously (Hey, she doesn't get complimented very often, especially not about her looks). The man finished removing the cloak, revealing an outfit of dark green pants, a white, short-sleeved shirt, and black boots and belt. "My name is Starbird." He summoned his pack from the wall, and took out a violet-lined black cape and black-sheathed broadsword, which he fastened to his shoulders and belt, respectively. He then slung the bag over his shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to test you, but I wouldn't want you putting yourself at risk joining me if you weren't as powerful as you're said to be. As for why I'm here to talk to you..."
"You mentioned something about needing help with
something in my area of expertise?"
" Yes. In fact... wait. Someone's coming."
"Where?"
"By air; that way." He said, pointing toward the forest. He muttered what must have been a spell and made a flicking motion with his hand. There was a crash from the other side of a large, heavily foliated tree, as if someone who had been hovering behind it had suddenly lost power, fallen into the tree, and got caught in the branches, which was, in fact, exactly what had happened. However, the thick foliage concealed the identity of the spy...
"Lina, darling... I came when I saw the explosions; I figured I'd find you here. So, be a dear and help me out of this tree..."
... Who apparently had no interest whatsoever in preserving her anonymity (C'mon, who'd you expect? LoN? Luna? Xellos? Okay, maybe Xellos...)
"I assume you know this person. Is she trustworthy?" Starbird walked toward the tree, motioning for Lina to follow as he spoke.
"She's Naga the Serpent. She follows me around like goldfish feces, but I don't think there'll be a problem if she hears whatever you've got to say. Plus, she'll be following me anyway."
"Ah. What shall we do?" He motioned toward the branches of the tree that they had, by this point, reached; specifically, he pointed to Naga's cape, which could be seen where it hung if they stared straight up; no other part of the dark sorceress was visible.
"I could climb up and get her down," Lina offered.
"No, let me." The young man unsheathed his sword. He held it parallel to the scabbard and muttered a short incantation, then swung the sword in a quick, backhand, upward motion. A series of Vacuum blades struck up through the branches and foliage, cutting most of them off somewhat nearer the trunk than was the place where Naga hung. Naturally, there followed a small avalanche of limbs and branches, which both Lina and her new acquaintance managed to dodge, and Starbird caught the taller woman who fell through the rain of branches, somehow unharmed.
"Hello, Lady Naga," he said, standing her up and helping her dust off her cape, all the while somehow managing to avoid doing anything slap-worthy. "I was just explaining to Miss Lina why I called her out here. However, if it's going to be the three of us, we might as well discuss it over Root Beer and Sausages at the Inn."
Lina's and Naga's eyes alike sparkled at the very thought.
Author Note: Whoo. Loooooong Chapter.
1) RE Starbird's Sword: While it's called a broadsword, it's probably not the kind of broadsword you're thinking of. The definition of "Broadsword" used here is "Sword with a straight, single-edged blade and a basket hilt, with the blade not wider than two inches (the "Broad" being compared to a Rapier or Smallsword);" In Starbird's case, the blade's about an inch and a quarter wide and the hilt is very simple. A good example of a broadsword of this type (with a hilt a lot like Starbird's) can be found in the video game "Secret of Mana," though I don't know where to find Illustrations except in the Player's Guide or the "Nintendo Power" Magazine coverage (Volume 62, Page 64, for anyone who'd have the magazine, though I'm sure the pictures are around somewhere online). The definition came from another site whose address I forget at the moment.
2) RE Magic: The stuff in italics for the spells is actually in chaos words, translated for convenience. The stuff in all caps is power words, which trigger the spell woven by the chaos words. Repeat: Lina is NOT casting spells in her head. She's saying them aloud in a different language.
3) RE 'Her Greatest Weapon': Yes, I know that the Giga Slave and Ragna Blade are stronger, but they're both absolute last resorts. The Dragu Slave is the greatest weapon, because she can use it freely.
4) Note: For the record, I'm trying really hard to keep starbitd from becoming a male Mary Sue character, and I hope it's working; I've cut out several of the more blatant perfectioning, and only left what was necessary for the story. If he seems to be too perfect or too powerful, please tell me; some of it's for a reason, but not much.
Next Chapter: What do you get when you add Naga to Root Beer (Non-Alcoholic), Toss in Lina and an Original Character and some Sausages, and Sprinkle Liberally with Information about the Mazoku? Well, you'll have to wait and... What's that you said? 'A Quest?' Yeah, you're probably right. Buggers.
EXTRA
Or, Stuff You Wish Was On the DVDs
The Starbird Chronicles: Spellbook
This EXTRA is a listing of all the original spells I use in the Story. Any spell not listed here can be found at either Slayers Universe or QP's Slayers page (addresses in previous chapters), some with spelling variations (Slayers Universe lists Freeze Brid as a variant spelling for Freeze Bullet). Of course, small, boring, nameless spells (Like the one Starbird used on the branches or the one Lina used to open the letter last chapter) won't be covered, even though they are Original. The style of these entries is from the Slayers Universe magic resource. Without Further Ado:
Slayers Spells A to Z: The Starbird Chronicles, Chapter 3
Bephis Press (befisu puresu)
Also known as: Befis Press, Earth Spirit Wall
Category: Shamanism / Earth
By calling on the earth spirit Bephimos, a wall of earth or rock of variable size is created, erupting from the ground in front of the caster. This barrier is stronger than most magical barriers, but has the disadvantages of blocking attacks in both directions and obstructing the vision of the caster. Also, the wall can be magically pushed forward, allowing an offensive use of the spell. The greatest disadvantage is that the spell effect travels along the ground, allowing flying and quick-moving enemies to dodge it.
Flare Barrage (furea barajji)
Also known as: Flare Phalanx, Hyper Flare Arrow
Category: Shamanism / Fire
One spell in a group composed of enhanced-beyond-recognition versions of weak spells, Flare Barrage is based on Flare Arrow. The form of the spell is essentially unchanged, but both the number of arrows and the power of each arrow are increased. The weakest variant of the spell creates about twenty arrows, each as powerful as Flare Lance; the strongest known, cast by a powerful Fire-Priest, created one hundred arrows, each as powerful as Vice Flare.
"The Hot Desert Winds have you at their Source; into my Hands Ignite all their Force; Source of all Power, In Thy Great Name, Fill the Air with Arrows of Flame! FLARE BARRAGE!!"
Freeze Barrage (furiizu barajji)
Category: Shamanism / Water
Also known as: Icicle Barrage, Arrow Blizzard
The Ice counterpart of Flare Barrage, Freeze barrage has the interesting side effect of lowering the ambient temperature (unless it's already well below freezing), often creating a diamond dust effect. Useful for long-term food preservation, as it's unlikely to thaw for a few years. While it doesn't cause things to catch on fire, it may give even bystanders mild cases of frostbite; the target is unfailingly frozen alive.
"Cold Arctic winds have you at their source, Into my hands condense all their force; By the magical force of the Chilling Breeze, Strike with Arrows of Ice that Freeze! FREEZE BARRAGE!!"
As for that spell that Starbird used to cancel the Dragu Slave, What it is exactly is a secret. However, I will tell you the incantation.
"Thou Brighter than the Day's Blue Sky
Lit by the Shining Sun,
Thy Power's Shards in Darkness Lie;
They Sleep, Though Not Undone
I Make my Soul a Pledge to Thee,
Its Power Give Thee Birth,
And For Thy Answer, Grant to Me
The Strength to Save the Earth
These Foul Fiends Who Before Us Stand
Are Nothing, to Be Less,
For Thou and I Shall Cleanse the Land
By Power We Possess!"
Speculation as to what the spell is (name or nature) is highly encouraged, as are storyline suggestions and guesses and any other feedback.
Yes, this is my lame attempt to get reviews, since almost no one seems to want to... -__-;; I'm not quite ready to go on a review strike, as I suspect people don't like me or my story enough to put in the effort... I'd really appreciate being told I'm wrong.
Until Next time...
