Lunacy: (loo-ne-sE) n. Insanity, especially insanity relieved intermittently by periods of clear-mindedness.
Author's Note: Wow! Ok, this took a while… but, I hope you all like it! I would like to point out that this chapter and the last one were written the way they were because I want you to know what's going on in both places. Also, time runs differently between Limbo and the Slayer's world. That's the reason the story seems to jump around so much.
Disclaimer: IdonotownSlayersandprobablyneverwillIsurehatesayingthisallthetimeitsliketheyenjoyrubbingitinmyface…
Thank You's:
S: I'm glad you liked it, here's the next chapter you requested!
Silver Moon Rebel: Sorry that it's a bit confusing… I explained why in my Author's Note at the top of this chapter, I hope it helps! Thanks for reading!
kitsuneonna: Yep! More like a ADnD/Slayers crossover! Like they say, 'When all else fails, write what you know' and that's what I'm doing! I hope you like the various references I've made in this chapter, please let me know what you think!
Willowrose: I'm so happy you like it! I've actually made an outline for the story all the way through chapter 5!
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Chapter 3: Dementia Praecox
The sun was setting over the peaceful city of New Sirag. The day's construction having been halted so that the workers could return home to their loved ones, a good meal, and restful sleep before having to start anew the following day.
As the light sunk beneath the mountains, weary of the day and eager to get it's well deserved rest, the last rays brightened the valley for only a moment highlighting two odd silhouettes.
With no need to sleep Xellos continued to walk, the still comatose Lina hovering along side.
Stopping to observe the death of another day he absently brushed a fallen leaf off of the petite sorceress' body.
"Ne, Lina?" he asked, still watching the dark lavender and crimson colors that mark the introduction of the night, "What do you think about here?"
"This valley is nice and big, not to mention it's pretty close to town," cat-like eyes turning to regard her, "In case we get hungry, that is."
"Well, I guess that settles it then," the priest grinned at her, "We'll stay here."
Xellos continued his march to the center of the vale, "Don't worry," he said inattentively, "I shall make you a nice, big house."
The city of Menifer was magnificent. Lina wanted to look everywhere all at once, Dinh occasionally explaining about an object of her interest. Creatures of all kinds bustled around, like ordinary people going about their daily shopping, peaking the small red-head's curiosity.
"Beautiful, yes, but exceedingly deadly," the Githzerai replied, "Did you notice that her hair is made of snakes?"
Lina glanced back quickly, sure enough at that moment one of the heads lifted itself from the rest and looked around.
"They are quite poisonous, I assure you," he continued, "However, a Medusa's most feared feature is her eyes. To look at them would cause you to turn into a statue, that is why she covers her face the way she does."
The small sorceress' eyes widened for a moment before turning back to Dinh, "Oh…"
Glancing over the market place again, Lina spotted an even more unusual sight. A snug looking, homey shop tucked in between the various outlandish buildings.
Curiosity overcoming her, Lina lightly tugged on Dinh's tunic, "What's that place? It look so out of place here."
The tall native looked over at the shop, "Hmm… That's a very good question, why don't we go take a look?"
"You mean you've never seen it before?" she asked as they turned in the crowd and began picking their way towards the cozy establishment.
"Never," he responded, pushing past a rather large man, "That's not uncommon around here, Limbo is always in a constant sate of flux."
Trailing just behind the Githzerai, Lina glanced at the man they'd just shoved past and her jaw dropped. The 'man' stood at a height that rivaled Gaav's and was wearing a large amount of gold jewelry. He had no hair on the top of his head and instead had a goatee that ended in a twist. The giant wore a short forest-green vest, baggy pants, and slippers that curled at the toes all lined in a brilliant shade of lavender.
Dihn glanced over his shoulder at Lina, "A Djinn, from the Elemental Plane of Air."
"Right," the small sorceress' eyes turned back to their destination, "If you say so…"
Her companion smirked, "They're very nice people, actually."
As they reached their objective the door opened to reveal a woman in a rather skimpy, two piece outfit. She stood as tall as the diminutive sorceress, had ebony black skin, long pointy ears, and a full mane of pure white hair.
"Xun izil dos phuul quarthen, lueth dro!" the dangerous-looking woman called over her shoulder before turning to glare at Lina, "Oloth plynn dos!"
As the dark woman pushed past Lina noticed two men dressed in beautiful armor follow after her, both had the fine features of the woman and same hair-skin hues… or lack thereof.
After a few moments of watching them through the crowd Lina looked back to her companion, "And…"
"And, those where Drow… or the Dark Elves. Legend has it that on the Prime Material Plane the other Elves banished the Drow from the surface of the world for being evil."
"Uh-huh," she said as she pushed open the door to the shop.
Looking around Lina noticed that there were only two other people in the small shop. One, the shopkeeper she supposed, was incredibly tall, lanky, and blue. It took the fiery-haired woman a moment to realize that something was off with his hands, they seemed to have an extra knuckle for each finger. The other occupant looked to be human wearing long, blue robes like a priest. On his shoulder sat a small monster with wings.
"The hell?" asked the shocked sorceress, "Is that a Monster?"
Dihn chuckled, "I'm not sure as to what you're referring to, but the man behind the counter is an Arcane, which is an entire race of merchants. They can usually find just about anything."
"The other man is human, from what I can tell," the Githzerai continued, "A mage, by the looks of it and it seems that he has a Homonculous with him."
"A Homon-what?"
"Homonculous," he absently corrected, "It's a created creature that acts in a similar fashion to that of a familiar."
"Oh," Lina looked skeptically at the imp-like creature, "Alright."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT," exclaimed the mage, "I'm not paying five-hundred thousand gold pieces for that… that… thing!"
"Very well then," the Arcane said, rolling his eyes and turning towards Lina, "And what can I do for you, Miss…"
"Inverse. Lina Inverse," she smiled.
"Ah," the merchant smiled, "The infamous bandit killer, dramata, and dragon… never mind, did you find anything that sparked your interest?"
"Quite a few, but I can't get anything," she looked around sadly, "I don't have any money with me."
The Arcane laughed, "That would normally be a problem, however, you can still pay me if you want something. I have ways of transferring people's money for a deal, even if it's on another plane… that is, as long as it actually belongs to them."
Lina's eyes glinted with greed, "How much to teach me how to do that?"
"I can't teach you!" he chortled, "That's something only an Arcane can do!"
"Oh," the crestfallen sorceress replied, "Well, I'll still take a look around anyways."
"By the way," the merchant smiled, "My name's Arcanis, if you need anything just call."
Arcanis turned back to the mage and looked at him impassively.
"Let me see the damned thing again," snarled the man.
The Arcane waved his hand and a large, glass box appeared on the counter. Lina pushed the trinket she held in her hand back onto the shelf in front of her and stared. Inside the container was the most beautiful bird she had ever seen. It was large and had feathers of bright violet, scarlet, crimson and flaming orange. Its beak and claws were of a blue-violet and its eyes seemed to glow a deep, ruby color. All the colors blended together making the bird almost seem as if it were on fire.
Dihn, noticing the look on his new friend's face, leaned down to her ear, "A Phoenix, very rare. I've never actually seen one, they're quite magical."
The mage, having heard the two of them, snorted, "That's the understatement of the year. And I need this damned thing in order to finish my work."
Upon seeing the look of confusion on Lina's face, Arcanis said, "Yes, mages often use their parts for different magical properties. However, since they're so rare they're very expensive."
Her eyes widened, "Wait a minute, you mean you're going to kill it?"
Rolling his eyes, the mage spoke again as if directing a child to the obvious, "Yes. What else would I do with it? It's just so damned much, and I still have to kill it and take it apart!"
Lina walked over to the merchant, "How much was it again?"
Arcanis smiled, "Five-hundred thousand gold pieces."
The petite sorceress had a smug look on her face as she held out her hand, "Deal."
As the Arcane shook her hand the mage looked outraged, "WHAT!"
He turned to the merchant, "HOW DARE YOU SELL THAT TO A LITTLE GIRL! SHE'LL ONLY KEEP IT AS A PET!"
Lina's eye twitched, "…little… …girl…"
The mage turned back to the sorceress and opened his mouth about to tell the little girl off when Arcanis sneezed.
The fiery-tempered girl blinked.
Then she blinked again, "Where'd he go?"
Sure enough, the fuming mage had disappeared. Dihn and Lina turned to look at Arcanis who was blowing his rather large nose.
"Oh," he said nonchalantly after he finished, "I've really got to get rid of this cold… Oh-well, maybe he'll find another Phoenix somewhere in the Nine Hells…"
Dihn's eyebrows shot straight up, "Lina… I think it's time we left."
Lina nodded slowly, "Uh, thank you… We'll stop by again sometime."
Arcanis waved his hand, "Maybe, I doubt I'll be here if you came back in an hour. But, it was a pleasure to meet you, Lina Inverse. Oh, and here…" he tossed a clear, crystal ball to her, "Don't forget your purchase. A traveling convenience, break it to release the Phoenix, you understand?"
Lina nodded again and smiled, "Yes, thank you again."
As soon as Dihn and Lina left the shop it disappeared.
They looked at each other for a moment, "I guess he wasn't kidding…"
"I'll say," the small sorceress shook her head, "No more exploring for me today, I've had enough with this weird… plane… you live in."
Dihn nodded and they made their way out of the market, through the city, and back towards his house.
Xellos glanced back over at Lina's body, now laying on the grass, to make sure everything was still alright. The walk here had more than replenished his energy, but now he needed it again to continue his mission from the Lord of Nightmares.
Raising his staff above his head he began chanting in an antediluvian language. Tendrils of black energy snaked out from the engaged priest wrapping over and over again around the staff he held aloft.
At the pinnacle of the chant, Xellos slammed the point of his staff into the ground. The vines of power reached out and spread across the vale in which he stood, causing the ground to tremble.
The Mazoku held his ground as he watched the earth split, a large building pulling itself out of the depths. Once the shaking had stopped, Xellos looked at the structure. It was over two stories high and more than a quarter of a mile wide. Six large, stone pillars were spaced evenly at the front, three on either side of a massive door. The whole thing seemed to be made of white marble with black veins, and looked brand new.
"Perfect," the Priest smiled, "What do you think, Lina-chan?"
Xellos waved his hand and Lina's body trailed after him once again, "I'm so glad you like it! I don't know what I would have done if you'd said you didn't!"
The two forms made their way into the temple-like building. There were no decorations anywhere, just lots of open space.
"Whatever," he muttered, "But, you'll need a place to sleep."
Walking to the center of the area, Xellos traced the glowing form of a box in the air. Then he added more lines from the corners, making the two-dimensional image seem three-dimensional. After that he drew another box at the ends of the lines, hooking them too at the points.
The Priest stepped back to survey the glowing form, tapping his finger to his lips, "Now… how do I do this again?"
"Oh-yeah!" and he stepped back up to the luminescent cube and placed his staff over the top.
Liquid darkness poured into the space between the glowing lines, filling it to the brim. Xellos stepped up onto the air and leaned over the topmost part of the box-shape. After taking a deep breath, the Mazoku blew into the fluid, parting the liquid until it all disappeared leaving a clear, glass-like, completely solid box.
The Priest stepped down from the air and admired his handiwork, "I did a good job, ne?"
He smiled at the prone body still floating there, "Oh, don't worry your pretty head about that! Watch the Master at work, Lina-chan!"
Xellos looked around at the open space, judging the distance to find the exact center. When he was satisfied that he'd found it he laid down, crossing is arms over his chest in the form of an X. No sound was heard as the floor beneath him pushed up forming a long podium.
The purple-haired Mazoku lifted from the platform as if hinges were attached to his feet, his arms still crossed.
"Good ev'ning," Xellos spoke in a deep accent, "And, velcome to my 'umble abode… BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
cough -gag -cough
"Sorry about that, Lina-chan!" his voice back to it's normal winy tone, "I couldn't help myself."
With an absent wave of his hand the crystalline coffin floated over to the podium and settled down onto the top lightly.
"Now it's your turn," the priest smiled.
Lina's body floated over to him and was about to go into the box when, "Ooops! Sorry, Lina-chan!"
Soft-looking black pillows and lining filled inside of the coffin, "There. That's better, ne?"
Carefully he settled the fiery-haired sorceress into the plush fabric and looked at her.
"Something's still wrong with this picture… Any ideas, my dear Lina?"
Xellos stepped back and took in the whole scene.
"I do believe you're right! We'll remedy that immediately!"
With another wave of his hand, Lina was dressed from head to toe in a wine colored silk dress. Her red tresses were amassed at the top of her head tucked just behind a stunning tiara of diamonds.
Xellos, Mysterious Priest, opened his eyes and grinned looking very much like the 'big, bad wolf' from fables.
Lina could see Dihn's house in the distance as they walked. Though it seemed that they would be there in only an hour, she knew it was an optical illusion. Everything was so flat it made it very difficult to judge any kind of distance for the young sorceress.
"So," came the smooth voice, "What are you going to do with the Phoenix?"
Red eyes glanced over to the Githzerai, "Actually, I haven't really thought about it."
"Don't tell me you only bought it to save it's life?"
"Well…" Lina blushed, "I couldn't very well let it be killed."
"Besides that," the sorceress muttered, "If Amelia ever found out she'd Justice Speech me to death."
Dihn looked at her, "Sometime, you'll have to tell me about these friends of yours."
Lina smiled, "Sure, but first…"
The fiery-tempered girl sat down pulling out the orb that carried the legendary bird of flames.
"What are you doing, Lina?" the Githzerai asked.
"What do you think I'm doing?" she replied, "I'm freeing the Phoenix."
Dihn smiled and sat next to her to watch the display. Clutching the sphere in her right hand she smashed the crystal onto the ground. In an explosion of sparks, glitter, and fire the avian creature burst forth from the orb. The Phoenix seemed to pause for a moment in front of them, it's body spread to show a forty foot wing span, before disappearing altogether.
"WOW!" came a high-pitched voice from directly behind them, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
Lina's companion groaned loudly, "Anyone but him…"
The sorceress turned to see yet another Githzerai standing behind them wearing an oversized, bright orange tunic with lime-green boots.
The two of them stood to greet the newcomer, "Ahanu this is Lina Inverse. Lina this is Ahanu, my brother."
Ahanu extended his hand to Lina, "You're please to make my acquaintance!"
"Huh?"
Dihn shook his head, "Don't try to understand, he's quite insane."
"I'd say that you're all insane," she quipped.
"No," Ahanu responded, "We're all on sane, to be in-sane would be too messy. Then we'd have to get squeegees and turtle wax and those tiny umbrellas so we don't get wet."
"Anyways," Dihn said, looking back to Lina, "Why don't we go in and get some tea?"
Lina nodded as the brightly-colored Githzerai walked past them, "Why don't tea ever go in and get some people?"
The petite sorceress blinked a few times as Ahanu took a few steps and opened the front door to the house, "I thought that was further…"
Pacing his hand on her shoulder he smiled, "Don't worry about it, you'll get used to it."
As the three of them entered the building Lina began to talk about her adventures with the extraordinary group known as The Slayers.
Xellos sat on the roof of the temple that occupied the once vacant valley. The stars shined brightly in the night sky, not a cloud was in sight. The building itself was aglow with torchlight, warm and cheerful, making it look even more like a holy place of worship.
'…Xellos…'
"Yes, Mistress Zelas," the Priest answered promptly, "What can I do for you this beautiful night?"
'…You haven't checked in, in a while…I was worried…'
"My apologies, Mistress," Xellos replied, "I was detained."
'…I've had a rather unusual visitor…'
"Really?" he asked, playing her game.
'…yes…Mother decided to grace me with her presence…'
"Really…" this could either be really good or really bad.
'…It seems that she's put you on the task of keeping a certain sorceress in good health…'
Xellos kept quiet, 'She's teasing me… she may just be playing around… wait, she plays with her food, too…'
'…Don't worry…Xellos…I'm not angry, I just wanted to let you know that I know what you're up to…and…to make sure that you know to keep me informed from now on…'
"Hai, Mistress Zelas," the Mazoku swallowed, "Of course."
'…good…' she purred.
Wiping the non-existent sweat from his brow, the purple-haired priest heaved a great sigh.
'…oh, and Xellos…'
Quickly he sat up straight, "Yes, Mistress?"
'…I like the temple…'
Relief flowed through him, "Arigatou, Mistress."
"After that we just went our separate ways… well, almost," Lina amended.
Dihn poured the tea for the three of them and sat down.
"Filia was the first to leave," she began, "After all, she had Valgaav's egg to take care of and she needed to find a new place to stay so she could raise him."
Lina added some sugar and mixed it around with her spoon, "Xellos left soon after saying that his mission had been completed and wished us the best of luck."
The small sorceress looked thoughtful for a moment, "Actually, that was the last time I saw him. I've heard that he visits Filia from time to time, checking up on Val most likely."
"Gourry, Amelia, Zel and I traveled back home after that. Amelia missed her dad and had finally decided to act the part of a princess. We actually stayed in Sayroon for about a week before Gourry and I left. Zelgadis stayed saying that he wanted to check out some of their libraries."
A small smile crept onto her lips, "Gourry and I kept adventuring for several months after that, killing bandits and taking their treasure. Just like old times…"
Lina leaned back, her eyes showing that she was deep in her memories.
"Old times are for the young at heart!" Ahanu exclaimed, "Don't you agree?"
Ahanu moved to his left and looked to where he'd just been standing, "Are, like, invisible stalkers hard to see?"
The insane Githzerai moved back to his original position, "Why yes, yes they are."
She sat up and smiled, but her eyes held a touch of sadness, "Then we got an invitation to Amelia's wedding, so we went back to Sayroon."
"I was quite surprised to find that she wasn't marrying Zel, but instead a man named Jericho who was the prince of a neighboring kingdom. Everyone was there, well… almost everyone, Zelgadis didn't show up. Though I'm not surprised that he didn't, after all everyone thought that he and Amelia would be the ones getting hitched. But, we did see Filia and baby Val, Martina and Zangulus, and even Syphiel. The wedding was beautiful and I was so happy for Amelia. I could tell that she loved Prince Jericho very much!"
After taking a sip of her tea, Lina continued, "Syphiel invited Gourry and I back with her to her home town, New Sirag, which was still being built. Not being ones to turn down Syphiel's cooking we agreed and headed out almost immediately."
"It didn't take long to get there, but after the first day I began to feel the whole 'two's company, three's a crowd' thing. Gourry wanted to stay in New Sirag to help rebuild and defend the city, so I left on my own. A few weeks later I received yet another wedding invitation, this time for Gourry and Syphiel."
Lina looked down at the cup of tea in her hands, "Again, everyone attended their wedding except for the elusive Zelgadis, master cure-hunter extraordinaire. This time it was a simple marriage ceremony, instead of an elaborate royal ballroom filled with people they had a small, cozy temple."
Her eyes were damp as she took a drink, "I always thought that someone would always travel with me. I guess I just got used to the group being together. It just seemed so… final… when Gourry and Syphiel got married. Those three years we all spent together seemed like a lifetime away and I was just so lonely. I kept hoping that just maybe some other Dark Lord or something would bring us back together again. Once I realized that that wasn't going to happen I…"
Lina tossed her head back and smiled, holding out two fingers in the shape of a V, "I did what I do best! I killed some more bandits and made sure that no one would ever forget the name, Lina Inverse!"
Ahanu looked at her and extended his hand, "I'm Ahanu, who are you?"
Dihn just placed his head in his hands with a groan as the tiny red-head beat his brother into a pool of flesh and bones.
AN: There! I know that took forever and a day, but I hope you enjoyed it! Show your support by sending me a REVIEW! Don't forget that I accept anonymous REVIEWS also! So… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!