LINA: For a thousand years, since the end of the War of the Monster's
Fall, and the resealing of the dark lord Shabranigdo; Mazoku…Shinzoku…and
Ryuzoku have fought continuously. Sometimes the Shinzoku push back the
Mazoku…Sometimes they don't… For a thousand years, a war has been fought,
a war humans usually don't see. With the defeat of Shabranigdo, Phibrizzo,
and the Demon Dragon Gaav, the war has intensified. Mazoku like Dynast and
Zelas Metallium vie for power amongst themselves. Shinzoku like the Fire
and Wind Dragon King search for ways to unite the Shinzoku behind them.
For the first time in a thousand years, this secret war has become chaotic.
It would be the absolute worst time for Shabranigdo to reappear…
Lightning flashed, illuminating the green-eyed woman's features as she stared out the window at the storm on the horizon.
She smiled.
It was almost time…
Faces: Finale!
Chapter Two
Puppets and Masks
"I just think that maybe we should have gone with her," Shadow Lina said dejectedly, staring down at the dinner she was picking at.
Sitting across from her, Naga drained a cup of ale and slammed the empty vessel down onto the table. "Filia is her own woman and can make her own decisions! But where in the Seven Hells am I supposed to get a new Sidekick of Questionable Worth?!"
"Aren't you worried about them, Miss Naga?!" Jeffrey asked in surprise from his seat next to the shadow.
Naga crossed her arms over her breasts and stuck her nose in the air with a slight smile. "After seeing Deus Ex Machina when she's angry, I'd be more concerned with that slimy Mazoku who took Deus Ex Machina Part Deux." She waved for another waitress. "Besides," she continued, "As much as I LIKE Amara, Xellos, and Filia, we still have another mission."
"You mean your friends, Zelgadis and Sylphiel?" Shadow Lina asked.
The sorceress nodded. "We've gotten a little…sidetracked…I admit, but the danger to them hasn't changed."
"Then why are we helping Miss Vanya?" Jeffrey asked. "Isn't that a distraction too?"
"You're not thinking fourth-dimensionally!" Naga chastised him. Jeffrey and Shadow Lina turned to one another and shrugged in puzzlement. Naga sighed and put her head on the table. "What I mean is this: We can REASONABLY deduce that Stony and Sylphiel are NOT on Wolfpack Island, right? And if they were, we'd be hoping they were already dead, not alive, right?" Jeffrey and Shadow Lina nodded. "Right. But it's within the realm of POSSIBILITY that they could be in or around Seyruun, right?" They nodded again in agreement. "So why couldn't we search for them WHILE we help Vanya? Two birds with one stone, AND we get PAID too!"
"Oooooh!" the two replied in realization.
"Good," Naga commented, seeing their understanding. She turned to the waitress and ordered another of everything on the menu. "Now then, as soon as young Vanya returns from getting her messages, we'll head straight to Seyruun."
Vanya Greysword kept her hand on the hilt of her Ishi Ryu katana as she walked slowly down the alley. It had taken awhile, but she had the mercenaries she needed to get into Seyruun's palace. All she had to do now was…
She turned quickly as he appeared out of the astral plane, the stone- grey hair and red patch over his eye identified him easily enough.
"Zero," she greeted, taking her hand off her sword.
"You're late," he commented icily.
"Late or not, I got them," she bit back.
Zero smiled tightly. "A pity that Greywords has already left Seyruun."
A ball of ice plunged into her stomach. "I…missed him?" she asked.
"Gandrav and Lord Scarrin are pursuing him now," he told her. "He left me behind because you and I have another task to perform."
"My TASK," she growled, "Is to kill it."
"Your task is to obey Lord Scarrin as you agreed!" Zero replied angrily. "He has been very patient with you…"
"The hell with you both, then," she muttered as she turned.
"Wait." For some reason, she stopped and turned back to him. He spoke more softly now. "There is a reason we must stay," he said sadly.
"And why is that?"
Zero stared into her eyes. "Because the Mazoku that took your brother has taken another."
"Sylphiel! Sylphiel! SYLPHIEL!" Lina shouted through the door. "I know you're in there! I can hear you breathing! I'm not going to stop pounding until you let me in!" With that, the redhead began pounding mercilessly on the oak door to her friend's room.
She had had it. If she was right, then Sylphiel was just being depressed. If Gourry was right, then there was something else going on. Either way, she wasn't going to find out what was happening or find a way to solve the problem until she got Sylphiel to come out of her room.
And that's exactly what she aimed to do.
She continued to pound on the door for almost five minutes. Her arm was tired, and her hand hurt, but just as she was about to give up, the door opened, and Sylphiel stood there.
"Miss Lina?! What is it?!" she asked irritably.
"Ha! See!? Told ya!" With that, she elbowed her way inside past the shrine maiden.
Shabranigdo turned and glared daggers at the redhead. All it would take is a few moments, and he would be rid of Lina Inverse forever. But if he did, his secret would be out.
And it wasn't time for that yet.
"MISS LINA! MISS LINA!" Sylphiel screamed through the bars of her bird cage. The tiny speck of light that was her only companion floated next to her and blinked rapidly, as if also trying to get the young sorceress' attention.
"She can't hear you. Shut up," Shabranigdo's voice growled from all around her. It was obvious that the dark lord was irritated.
"MISS LINA!" Sylphiel tried again. She was rewarded by the dark lord shaking her cage, causing her to fall.
Sylphiel looked up through the bars. Seeing that Lina was not taking any notice, she sighed and settled into wait and think of a new plan.
After giving the room a once-over, Lina turned to the shrine maiden and put her hand on her hips. "Sylphiel, you, Gourry, and I are having dinner together tonight, so hurry up and get dressed!" She made shooing motions with her hands as if Sylphiel were supposed to have known all along that she was having dinner with her friends and was now late.
"Miss Lina," Shabranigdo began, trying to sound as much like the shrine maiden as he could, "I'm really not feeling well, and…"
Lina waved the argument aside and rolled her eyes. "Oh, nonsense. It's time that you got out of this funk of yours and started acting cheerful and annoying again! Now come on!"
"But, Miss Lina…"
"I said, 'come on,'" Lina growled, rolling up a sleeve and glaring threateningly.
"Your friend is very aggressive," Shabranigdo pointed out in amusement. Sylphiel just glared out of her cage in response. "I can't wait to see how aggressive she is after I've peeled the skin from her body and flayed her alive."
Sylphiel stood there and did an impression of Zelgadis, crossing her arms over her chest, looking away, and going, "Ffft!"
Shabranigdo laughed.
Lina watched the shrine maiden sigh and nod her head. She smiled. "Good! See you in our room in ten minutes, 'kay?!" With that, the redhead bounded out the door.
Shabranigdo closed the door behind her and growled.
"Amelia chan?" were the words that accompanied the quiet tapping on her door. She looked up to see Gracia poking her head inside. "Are you in here?"
"Gracia Oneechan? Is something wrong?"
"You've missed two meals, Amelia chan," Gracia told her gently. "I'm worried."
"I'm okay," Amelia told her dully.
"No, you're not," Gracia prodded gently. "This whole Zelgadis business has you terribly upset and depressed." She smiled and sat on her bed next to her. "If I agree to show you something secret," she whispered conspiratorially, "Will you come with me and eat something?"
Amelia blinked. "Something secret?" Gracia nodded with a smile. "What?"
"So where the hell is she?" Naga growled. "I'm TRYING to run a business here."
"I'm sure she'll be along in a moment," Shadow Lina assured the White Serpent as she looked from one side of the street to the other.
Their patience was rewarded a few moments later as they saw Vanya turn the corner. Another man was with them. Shadow Lina squeaked and ducked behind Jeffrey.
Naga grabbed them both and pulled them around the corner into the alley.
"That's odd. I told them to meet me right here." Vanya searched from one end of the street to the other. "Probably off drinking or eating or something," she growled.
Zero turned a glare on her. "Well, WHEN you find them, bring them to me. I'll fill them in and tell them what they must do."
"Fine," the swordswoman breathed. She didn't turn as Zero phased out into the astral plane. Grumbling, she started down a nearby alley…
Only to be attacked a moment later.
Her back struck the stone wall behind her as whoever it was roughly shoved her up against it and pinned her by the shoulders. She blinked as she saw Naga glaring at her, the owner of the arms that were holding her.
"What the…" she began.
Naga's growl cut her off. "Who are you?" she demanded. "And what were you doing with that wizard? No more bullshit!" Standing a few feet away, Jeffrey and Shadow Lina watched the exchange fearfully.
Vanya wasn't accustomed to being treated like that, and she made it known. She reached up and grabbed Naga by the elbows, then brought her head down against the sorceress' nose.
Naga stumbled back, her hands going to her face. Vanya stepped forward and lashed out with her fist, but Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun wasn't the only princess to have learned a thing about hand to hand combat from her father. Naga caught the swordswoman's wrist in her hand and pivoted, tossing Vanya over her hip onto the ground.
Vanya was on her feet in a second, her hands up in a defensive posture. Naga faced off with her.
Shadow Lina took a step forward to help, but Jeffrey caught her shoulder. "You mustn't," he told her seriously. "It's a fight of honor between two opponents. Very strict rules and codes of conduct going back thousands of…"
Before he could finish, Naga had reached down and tossed a handful of sand into Vanya's eyes. The brunette shrieked and covered her face instinctively. Naga rushed forward and put her in a headlock.
Even without sight, Vanya was dangerous. Even in this hold, she could still fight back. She reached up behind Naga's head and grabbed the sorceress by the hair, pulling back hard. Naga cried out. The swordswoman swung her other arm and struck Naga right in the solar plexus. With a gasp, the sorceress released her.
The two fell to opposite sides of the alley, both taking deep breaths and trying to recover. Vanya blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to expel the sand in them. Through her blurred vision, she could see Naga moving toward her. She raised her hands instinctively to ward off the next blow. The sorceress crashed against her, and soon the two were grappling on the ground, rolling over one another as each tried to gain the upper hand.
"STOP IT!" Shadow Lina screamed at them.
Finally, Naga managed to roll on top of Vanya and pin her to the ground. She struggled to hold the thrashing woman. "Stop it!" she growled. "STOP IT!"
"LET ME GO!"
"Not until I get some answers," Naga hissed. "The wizard. Who is he? What's your connection?" Vanya continued thrashing. "WHY IS HE AFTER ZELGADIS GREYWORDS!?" she screamed.
Vanya suddenly stopped moving, staring up at the sorceress in shock. "How do YOU know Zelgadis?!"
"He and I are friends," Naga answered gently. She was surprised when Vanya's face contorted in rage and she began to thrash about again. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
"If you're friends with that Mazoku scum then I…"
"What the Hell are you talking about?!" Naga practically screamed. She started shaking the woman. "Start making sense!"
"LET ME GO! THIS ISN'T YOUR PROBLEM!"
"THE HELL IT IS! HE'S MY FRIEND!"
"HE'S MY BROTHER!"
Naga was stunned into silence. This was a bad thing. A second later, Vanya was rolling over on top of her, her dagger in her hand and at the sorceress' throat!
"MISS NAGA!" Shadow Lina cried. She held her hands up. "SLEEP!"
Vanya blinked for a moment, then slumped forward, snoring loudly.
Naga pushed the unconscious woman off of her and stood up. Her nose was starting to swell up. She looked down at Vanya and screamed.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"
Shabranigdo picked absently at the plate set in front of him by the waitress. He didn't dare stare at Lina Inverse. He was still cautious of being discovered. The dark lord was willing to play the part of distraught shrine maiden awhile longer.
The redhead and Gourry sat next to one another, directly across from him. The swordsman was staring at him as he picked at his food with the fork. "Something wrong?" he asked in Sylphiel's voice.
Lina must have thought the question was intended for her, because she answered it. "Sylphiel, you have to start taking better care of yourself. Locking yourself in your room all day isn't healthy, especially now with a baby on the way. And the way you're picking at your food, I know you haven't been eating right."
"Thank you, Miss Lina, but I can take care of myself."
"I'm sure you can," the redhead replied. "That's why I'm taking you to see Ritsuko tomorrow."
Shabranigdo went still. "I don't think that's necessary."
"I do."
"It's none of your business," the dark lord growled at her, trying to dissuade her from this course. He wasn't sure if he could keep his identity from a professional healer. They tended to notice fluxes in the astral plane.
Lina glared at her. "You and I both know this is no ordinary child," she whispered. "Ritsuko's the best healer for miles. And you're going to go see her if I have to drag you by the hair kicking and screaming. Got it?"
The dark lord almost upturned the table and blasted them both right there. However, that was not a very Sylphiel-like thing to do. He smiled a moment later as an idea formed. "Very well, Miss Lina. Will you come with me, though? It won't be as scary if you're there."
Seeing that she had won, Lina smiled. "Sure, Sylphiel! Of course."
Gourry continued to merely watch them.
"Oh, WOW!" Amelia gasped as she stared up at it. "It's so COOL!"
Gracia giggled nearby. "It's Huey's wedding gift to me. I think it's so adorable!"
Amelia nodded in agreement as she admire the golem. It looked just like her big sister. "It's incredible," she admitted. "Is it finished?"
"Almost," Gracia told her. "Huey says there's just a bit more work to do, then he can present it at the wedding."
The Second Princess smiled sadly at her sister. "He's very good to you, isn't he?" she asked.
Gracia smiled in sympathy. "There'll be others, Amelia," she told her kid sister. "There are always others."
Despite this, Amelia felt no better.
Gourry stared up at the ceiling. Lying next to him, Lina flailed her arms about restlessly. The swordsman had learned that she could be a very rambunctious sleeper. It reflected her personality in the waking world.
He didn't notice tonight. The ceiling was staring back at him as he ran the events of dinner through his mind. Something was sticking out. There was something not right about the whole thing. It was like a splinter in his mind, driving him crazy.
What was it? She had agreed to see the doctor, so what was wrong? He ran the events over in his mind again. Something about the way she looked? No… Her speech? She had seemed a little irritated, but he could expect that. Her body language?
Her body language…
He had it.
Rolling over, he began pushing Lina. "Oi! Lina! Wake up!"
He was met with a fist to the face as Lina sleepily growled. "No wakey. Sleepy."
"LINA!"
Finally, she sputtered awake. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were merely thin slits, but she was sitting up. "What?" she asked.
"I know what's wrong with Sylphiel!" he told her excitedly.
She stared at him. "Uh huh. Tell me tomorrow." The sorceress began to settle into bed again.
"Lina! This is important! I know what it is!"
She stared at him.
"That's NOT Sylphiel!"
Ritsuko squinted as she continued to write in her journal of the day's activities. She prided herself on keeping meticulous records. Of course, that ate up a good portion of the day, and she often didn't finish until late at night.
The rest of the office was deserted. Her secretary had left for the night. Even the lights were out. She was writing by the light of a lighting spell, one of the few actual spells she knew.
The Healer rested back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She was almost done for the night.
Then the oddest thing happened.
Her lighting spell went out.
She blinked as the room faded into darkness. "LIGHTING." There was no response. Fumbling around in the darkness, she found a candle and a match, and quickly lit both. Walking forward, she covered the candle's tiny flame with her hand, guarding against sudden gusts of air.
Something moved in front of her from one side of the room to the other.
Ritsuko gasped and took a step back. "Who's there!?!"
Her heart fluttered fearfully in her chest. She searched around for a weapon of some kind and found a long, sharp letter opener. Holding it in one hand and the candle in the other, she moved toward the window, hoping to get more light from the moon.
The window was already open.
She looked out past the flapping curtains. Ritsuko never left her windows open.
"Miss Ritsuko?"
The Healer started to turn. "Miss Sylphiel?" Before she could turn completely, she felt a gust of wind hit her, pushing her backwards towards the ledge. She cried out as she fell over the rail, dropping the candle.
As she tumbled, she suddenly felt something grab her ankle, holding her suspended over the street two floors below. Looking up at her savior, she screamed again.
Two glowing red eyes stared down at her as their owner began to pull the Healer up.
"CEPHEID! CEPHEID!" Ritsuko cried in disbelief. She held the letter opener up, a useless weapon, as the eyes pulled her back into her office.
The street was quiet at this time of night. The constables kept vagrants away, and most people had enough sense to be in their warm beds at this hour. Otherwise, someone might have heard the screams.
"CEPHEID! PLEASE NO!"
And perhaps they might have seen the tiny trail of blood dribbling down the brick wall of the office from somewhere on the second floor.
"Okay," Lina began, slugging back a cup of coffee. "Explain to me why that's not Sylphiel."
Gourry was sitting across from her at the tiny table, already wide awake. "It's just not Sylphiel! Remember dinner tonight?!" he asked, expecting her to make the connection.
"What about it?"
"You didn't see it?!" he asked incredulously. Usually it was Lina who caught the tiny details.
"See what?!"
"She held the fork in her left hand!"
Lina stared at him. "And?"
Gourry blinked. "What do you mean, 'and?'!?" he asked. "Isn't it obvious?!"
She began pulling at her hair in frustration. "Start making sense, yogurt brain!"
"Sylphiel never holds her fork in her left hand!" he announced proudly, like a detective revealing the identity of a killer.
The redhead stared at him long and hard for a moment, then stood up. "I'm going back to bed," she declared, making for the bedroom.
"Lina!"
"Gourry, so what?" she asked in frustration. "So Sylphiel's ambidextrous. So WHAT?!"
"But she's not! I know she's not! She's right handed!"
"It doesn't make a bit of difference!" she shot back. She started to rub her temples. "Look, I'm taking her to see Ritsuko tomorrow. If…IF…there's something wrong with her, she'll know."
Gourry stared at her in disbelief. "You don't believe me," he whispered in realization.
"What's to believe?!" she asked sharply. "Just because she ate dinner with her left hand, you're thinking she's some kind of pod person! Or a copii or a shadow or WHATEVER! Maybe her right hand hurt! How do you know?!"
The swordsman looked at her sadly, then started walking.
"Gourry," Lina sighed in exasperation. "Where are you going? Let's just go back to bed, and we'll talk more about this in the morning, okay?"
"We'll talk in the morning," he agreed dully, but continued walking.
Lina watched in sad realization as Gourry picked up his sword from where he rested it near the fireplace and walked out the front door.
Sylphiel sat with her back against the bars of her cage, her legs drawn up to her chest as she hugged herself tightly. Her eyes were wide open in terror, and her breath game in short gasps.
In her whole life she had never seen anything so brutal, so barbaric, and so cruel as what she had seen that night. Even when Rezo had destroyed Sairaag, at least that had been quick. This…this was…
She didn't have words to describe it. She didn't think the proper words existed.
Floating next to her, the tiny light blinked.
Sylphiel shook her head slowly, still unable to speak.
She had begged him. She had begged him to stop, to let Miss Ritsuko go.
After fifteen minutes, she was begging the dark lord to kill her, to end the Healer's suffering, but even then he refused.
It took the blonde two hours to die, and even then, Sylphiel was sure Shabranigdo could have stretched it to two years if he chose.
"How?" she finally whispered. "How does Cepheid allow such cruelty?"
The light blinked at her sympathetically. Unexpectedly, the sorceress received an answer.
"Cepheid has no hold over me, little bird," the eyes told her, appearing in front of her cage.
She just shook her head. "How? How can any living thing be so cruel to another?"
He laughed at her. "I AM cruelty, little bird."
Lina said nothing as she walked down the street towards Ritsuko's office. She hadn't seen Gourry all morning, instead, she had went straight to Sylphiel's room, collected the shrine maiden, and started right out. If Gourry wanted to be a jerk, that was his decision.
She didn't need him.
She didn't need ANYBODY.
Sylphiel followed just behind her, not looking particularly happy, but at least she wasn't protesting. In a way, Lina was disappointed. A good fight would have done a lot for her right now.
She looked up and further down the street and stopped. There was some kind of commotion down there. At first, she shrugged it off and continued walking. As they approached, she began walking a little faster. There was a crowd forming.
She started to run, pushing her way through the crowd.
"Oh, Cepheid," she whispered, and started pushing urgently. The crowd was outside Ritsuko's office. She pauses as she saw a Seyruun guardsman, his face pale and clammy, talk to another. Straining her ears, she heard him say,
"It's like a slaughterhouse in there…"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she screamed at the crowd. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She began shoving people out of the way as she rushed towards Ritsuko's door. "GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!" she screamed madly.
Finally, she was the steps and climbing them two at a time. A guardsman saw her and called after her.
"Wait! You can't go up there!"
She ignored him, rushing past other guardsmen, she pushed her way inside her friend's office.
Her eyes went wide.
She screamed and rushed back out into the hallway, the noises coming from her were impossible to make out as speech. She just screamed.
The redhead ran headlong into someone and hugged them on reflex. She felt Sylphiel's arms wrap around her and heard the woman speak.
"Is it her?"
Lina couldn't speak. She just nodded and started to cry.
To Be Continued…
Lightning flashed, illuminating the green-eyed woman's features as she stared out the window at the storm on the horizon.
She smiled.
It was almost time…
Faces: Finale!
Chapter Two
Puppets and Masks
"I just think that maybe we should have gone with her," Shadow Lina said dejectedly, staring down at the dinner she was picking at.
Sitting across from her, Naga drained a cup of ale and slammed the empty vessel down onto the table. "Filia is her own woman and can make her own decisions! But where in the Seven Hells am I supposed to get a new Sidekick of Questionable Worth?!"
"Aren't you worried about them, Miss Naga?!" Jeffrey asked in surprise from his seat next to the shadow.
Naga crossed her arms over her breasts and stuck her nose in the air with a slight smile. "After seeing Deus Ex Machina when she's angry, I'd be more concerned with that slimy Mazoku who took Deus Ex Machina Part Deux." She waved for another waitress. "Besides," she continued, "As much as I LIKE Amara, Xellos, and Filia, we still have another mission."
"You mean your friends, Zelgadis and Sylphiel?" Shadow Lina asked.
The sorceress nodded. "We've gotten a little…sidetracked…I admit, but the danger to them hasn't changed."
"Then why are we helping Miss Vanya?" Jeffrey asked. "Isn't that a distraction too?"
"You're not thinking fourth-dimensionally!" Naga chastised him. Jeffrey and Shadow Lina turned to one another and shrugged in puzzlement. Naga sighed and put her head on the table. "What I mean is this: We can REASONABLY deduce that Stony and Sylphiel are NOT on Wolfpack Island, right? And if they were, we'd be hoping they were already dead, not alive, right?" Jeffrey and Shadow Lina nodded. "Right. But it's within the realm of POSSIBILITY that they could be in or around Seyruun, right?" They nodded again in agreement. "So why couldn't we search for them WHILE we help Vanya? Two birds with one stone, AND we get PAID too!"
"Oooooh!" the two replied in realization.
"Good," Naga commented, seeing their understanding. She turned to the waitress and ordered another of everything on the menu. "Now then, as soon as young Vanya returns from getting her messages, we'll head straight to Seyruun."
Vanya Greysword kept her hand on the hilt of her Ishi Ryu katana as she walked slowly down the alley. It had taken awhile, but she had the mercenaries she needed to get into Seyruun's palace. All she had to do now was…
She turned quickly as he appeared out of the astral plane, the stone- grey hair and red patch over his eye identified him easily enough.
"Zero," she greeted, taking her hand off her sword.
"You're late," he commented icily.
"Late or not, I got them," she bit back.
Zero smiled tightly. "A pity that Greywords has already left Seyruun."
A ball of ice plunged into her stomach. "I…missed him?" she asked.
"Gandrav and Lord Scarrin are pursuing him now," he told her. "He left me behind because you and I have another task to perform."
"My TASK," she growled, "Is to kill it."
"Your task is to obey Lord Scarrin as you agreed!" Zero replied angrily. "He has been very patient with you…"
"The hell with you both, then," she muttered as she turned.
"Wait." For some reason, she stopped and turned back to him. He spoke more softly now. "There is a reason we must stay," he said sadly.
"And why is that?"
Zero stared into her eyes. "Because the Mazoku that took your brother has taken another."
"Sylphiel! Sylphiel! SYLPHIEL!" Lina shouted through the door. "I know you're in there! I can hear you breathing! I'm not going to stop pounding until you let me in!" With that, the redhead began pounding mercilessly on the oak door to her friend's room.
She had had it. If she was right, then Sylphiel was just being depressed. If Gourry was right, then there was something else going on. Either way, she wasn't going to find out what was happening or find a way to solve the problem until she got Sylphiel to come out of her room.
And that's exactly what she aimed to do.
She continued to pound on the door for almost five minutes. Her arm was tired, and her hand hurt, but just as she was about to give up, the door opened, and Sylphiel stood there.
"Miss Lina?! What is it?!" she asked irritably.
"Ha! See!? Told ya!" With that, she elbowed her way inside past the shrine maiden.
Shabranigdo turned and glared daggers at the redhead. All it would take is a few moments, and he would be rid of Lina Inverse forever. But if he did, his secret would be out.
And it wasn't time for that yet.
"MISS LINA! MISS LINA!" Sylphiel screamed through the bars of her bird cage. The tiny speck of light that was her only companion floated next to her and blinked rapidly, as if also trying to get the young sorceress' attention.
"She can't hear you. Shut up," Shabranigdo's voice growled from all around her. It was obvious that the dark lord was irritated.
"MISS LINA!" Sylphiel tried again. She was rewarded by the dark lord shaking her cage, causing her to fall.
Sylphiel looked up through the bars. Seeing that Lina was not taking any notice, she sighed and settled into wait and think of a new plan.
After giving the room a once-over, Lina turned to the shrine maiden and put her hand on her hips. "Sylphiel, you, Gourry, and I are having dinner together tonight, so hurry up and get dressed!" She made shooing motions with her hands as if Sylphiel were supposed to have known all along that she was having dinner with her friends and was now late.
"Miss Lina," Shabranigdo began, trying to sound as much like the shrine maiden as he could, "I'm really not feeling well, and…"
Lina waved the argument aside and rolled her eyes. "Oh, nonsense. It's time that you got out of this funk of yours and started acting cheerful and annoying again! Now come on!"
"But, Miss Lina…"
"I said, 'come on,'" Lina growled, rolling up a sleeve and glaring threateningly.
"Your friend is very aggressive," Shabranigdo pointed out in amusement. Sylphiel just glared out of her cage in response. "I can't wait to see how aggressive she is after I've peeled the skin from her body and flayed her alive."
Sylphiel stood there and did an impression of Zelgadis, crossing her arms over her chest, looking away, and going, "Ffft!"
Shabranigdo laughed.
Lina watched the shrine maiden sigh and nod her head. She smiled. "Good! See you in our room in ten minutes, 'kay?!" With that, the redhead bounded out the door.
Shabranigdo closed the door behind her and growled.
"Amelia chan?" were the words that accompanied the quiet tapping on her door. She looked up to see Gracia poking her head inside. "Are you in here?"
"Gracia Oneechan? Is something wrong?"
"You've missed two meals, Amelia chan," Gracia told her gently. "I'm worried."
"I'm okay," Amelia told her dully.
"No, you're not," Gracia prodded gently. "This whole Zelgadis business has you terribly upset and depressed." She smiled and sat on her bed next to her. "If I agree to show you something secret," she whispered conspiratorially, "Will you come with me and eat something?"
Amelia blinked. "Something secret?" Gracia nodded with a smile. "What?"
"So where the hell is she?" Naga growled. "I'm TRYING to run a business here."
"I'm sure she'll be along in a moment," Shadow Lina assured the White Serpent as she looked from one side of the street to the other.
Their patience was rewarded a few moments later as they saw Vanya turn the corner. Another man was with them. Shadow Lina squeaked and ducked behind Jeffrey.
Naga grabbed them both and pulled them around the corner into the alley.
"That's odd. I told them to meet me right here." Vanya searched from one end of the street to the other. "Probably off drinking or eating or something," she growled.
Zero turned a glare on her. "Well, WHEN you find them, bring them to me. I'll fill them in and tell them what they must do."
"Fine," the swordswoman breathed. She didn't turn as Zero phased out into the astral plane. Grumbling, she started down a nearby alley…
Only to be attacked a moment later.
Her back struck the stone wall behind her as whoever it was roughly shoved her up against it and pinned her by the shoulders. She blinked as she saw Naga glaring at her, the owner of the arms that were holding her.
"What the…" she began.
Naga's growl cut her off. "Who are you?" she demanded. "And what were you doing with that wizard? No more bullshit!" Standing a few feet away, Jeffrey and Shadow Lina watched the exchange fearfully.
Vanya wasn't accustomed to being treated like that, and she made it known. She reached up and grabbed Naga by the elbows, then brought her head down against the sorceress' nose.
Naga stumbled back, her hands going to her face. Vanya stepped forward and lashed out with her fist, but Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun wasn't the only princess to have learned a thing about hand to hand combat from her father. Naga caught the swordswoman's wrist in her hand and pivoted, tossing Vanya over her hip onto the ground.
Vanya was on her feet in a second, her hands up in a defensive posture. Naga faced off with her.
Shadow Lina took a step forward to help, but Jeffrey caught her shoulder. "You mustn't," he told her seriously. "It's a fight of honor between two opponents. Very strict rules and codes of conduct going back thousands of…"
Before he could finish, Naga had reached down and tossed a handful of sand into Vanya's eyes. The brunette shrieked and covered her face instinctively. Naga rushed forward and put her in a headlock.
Even without sight, Vanya was dangerous. Even in this hold, she could still fight back. She reached up behind Naga's head and grabbed the sorceress by the hair, pulling back hard. Naga cried out. The swordswoman swung her other arm and struck Naga right in the solar plexus. With a gasp, the sorceress released her.
The two fell to opposite sides of the alley, both taking deep breaths and trying to recover. Vanya blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to expel the sand in them. Through her blurred vision, she could see Naga moving toward her. She raised her hands instinctively to ward off the next blow. The sorceress crashed against her, and soon the two were grappling on the ground, rolling over one another as each tried to gain the upper hand.
"STOP IT!" Shadow Lina screamed at them.
Finally, Naga managed to roll on top of Vanya and pin her to the ground. She struggled to hold the thrashing woman. "Stop it!" she growled. "STOP IT!"
"LET ME GO!"
"Not until I get some answers," Naga hissed. "The wizard. Who is he? What's your connection?" Vanya continued thrashing. "WHY IS HE AFTER ZELGADIS GREYWORDS!?" she screamed.
Vanya suddenly stopped moving, staring up at the sorceress in shock. "How do YOU know Zelgadis?!"
"He and I are friends," Naga answered gently. She was surprised when Vanya's face contorted in rage and she began to thrash about again. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
"If you're friends with that Mazoku scum then I…"
"What the Hell are you talking about?!" Naga practically screamed. She started shaking the woman. "Start making sense!"
"LET ME GO! THIS ISN'T YOUR PROBLEM!"
"THE HELL IT IS! HE'S MY FRIEND!"
"HE'S MY BROTHER!"
Naga was stunned into silence. This was a bad thing. A second later, Vanya was rolling over on top of her, her dagger in her hand and at the sorceress' throat!
"MISS NAGA!" Shadow Lina cried. She held her hands up. "SLEEP!"
Vanya blinked for a moment, then slumped forward, snoring loudly.
Naga pushed the unconscious woman off of her and stood up. Her nose was starting to swell up. She looked down at Vanya and screamed.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"
Shabranigdo picked absently at the plate set in front of him by the waitress. He didn't dare stare at Lina Inverse. He was still cautious of being discovered. The dark lord was willing to play the part of distraught shrine maiden awhile longer.
The redhead and Gourry sat next to one another, directly across from him. The swordsman was staring at him as he picked at his food with the fork. "Something wrong?" he asked in Sylphiel's voice.
Lina must have thought the question was intended for her, because she answered it. "Sylphiel, you have to start taking better care of yourself. Locking yourself in your room all day isn't healthy, especially now with a baby on the way. And the way you're picking at your food, I know you haven't been eating right."
"Thank you, Miss Lina, but I can take care of myself."
"I'm sure you can," the redhead replied. "That's why I'm taking you to see Ritsuko tomorrow."
Shabranigdo went still. "I don't think that's necessary."
"I do."
"It's none of your business," the dark lord growled at her, trying to dissuade her from this course. He wasn't sure if he could keep his identity from a professional healer. They tended to notice fluxes in the astral plane.
Lina glared at her. "You and I both know this is no ordinary child," she whispered. "Ritsuko's the best healer for miles. And you're going to go see her if I have to drag you by the hair kicking and screaming. Got it?"
The dark lord almost upturned the table and blasted them both right there. However, that was not a very Sylphiel-like thing to do. He smiled a moment later as an idea formed. "Very well, Miss Lina. Will you come with me, though? It won't be as scary if you're there."
Seeing that she had won, Lina smiled. "Sure, Sylphiel! Of course."
Gourry continued to merely watch them.
"Oh, WOW!" Amelia gasped as she stared up at it. "It's so COOL!"
Gracia giggled nearby. "It's Huey's wedding gift to me. I think it's so adorable!"
Amelia nodded in agreement as she admire the golem. It looked just like her big sister. "It's incredible," she admitted. "Is it finished?"
"Almost," Gracia told her. "Huey says there's just a bit more work to do, then he can present it at the wedding."
The Second Princess smiled sadly at her sister. "He's very good to you, isn't he?" she asked.
Gracia smiled in sympathy. "There'll be others, Amelia," she told her kid sister. "There are always others."
Despite this, Amelia felt no better.
Gourry stared up at the ceiling. Lying next to him, Lina flailed her arms about restlessly. The swordsman had learned that she could be a very rambunctious sleeper. It reflected her personality in the waking world.
He didn't notice tonight. The ceiling was staring back at him as he ran the events of dinner through his mind. Something was sticking out. There was something not right about the whole thing. It was like a splinter in his mind, driving him crazy.
What was it? She had agreed to see the doctor, so what was wrong? He ran the events over in his mind again. Something about the way she looked? No… Her speech? She had seemed a little irritated, but he could expect that. Her body language?
Her body language…
He had it.
Rolling over, he began pushing Lina. "Oi! Lina! Wake up!"
He was met with a fist to the face as Lina sleepily growled. "No wakey. Sleepy."
"LINA!"
Finally, she sputtered awake. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were merely thin slits, but she was sitting up. "What?" she asked.
"I know what's wrong with Sylphiel!" he told her excitedly.
She stared at him. "Uh huh. Tell me tomorrow." The sorceress began to settle into bed again.
"Lina! This is important! I know what it is!"
She stared at him.
"That's NOT Sylphiel!"
Ritsuko squinted as she continued to write in her journal of the day's activities. She prided herself on keeping meticulous records. Of course, that ate up a good portion of the day, and she often didn't finish until late at night.
The rest of the office was deserted. Her secretary had left for the night. Even the lights were out. She was writing by the light of a lighting spell, one of the few actual spells she knew.
The Healer rested back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She was almost done for the night.
Then the oddest thing happened.
Her lighting spell went out.
She blinked as the room faded into darkness. "LIGHTING." There was no response. Fumbling around in the darkness, she found a candle and a match, and quickly lit both. Walking forward, she covered the candle's tiny flame with her hand, guarding against sudden gusts of air.
Something moved in front of her from one side of the room to the other.
Ritsuko gasped and took a step back. "Who's there!?!"
Her heart fluttered fearfully in her chest. She searched around for a weapon of some kind and found a long, sharp letter opener. Holding it in one hand and the candle in the other, she moved toward the window, hoping to get more light from the moon.
The window was already open.
She looked out past the flapping curtains. Ritsuko never left her windows open.
"Miss Ritsuko?"
The Healer started to turn. "Miss Sylphiel?" Before she could turn completely, she felt a gust of wind hit her, pushing her backwards towards the ledge. She cried out as she fell over the rail, dropping the candle.
As she tumbled, she suddenly felt something grab her ankle, holding her suspended over the street two floors below. Looking up at her savior, she screamed again.
Two glowing red eyes stared down at her as their owner began to pull the Healer up.
"CEPHEID! CEPHEID!" Ritsuko cried in disbelief. She held the letter opener up, a useless weapon, as the eyes pulled her back into her office.
The street was quiet at this time of night. The constables kept vagrants away, and most people had enough sense to be in their warm beds at this hour. Otherwise, someone might have heard the screams.
"CEPHEID! PLEASE NO!"
And perhaps they might have seen the tiny trail of blood dribbling down the brick wall of the office from somewhere on the second floor.
"Okay," Lina began, slugging back a cup of coffee. "Explain to me why that's not Sylphiel."
Gourry was sitting across from her at the tiny table, already wide awake. "It's just not Sylphiel! Remember dinner tonight?!" he asked, expecting her to make the connection.
"What about it?"
"You didn't see it?!" he asked incredulously. Usually it was Lina who caught the tiny details.
"See what?!"
"She held the fork in her left hand!"
Lina stared at him. "And?"
Gourry blinked. "What do you mean, 'and?'!?" he asked. "Isn't it obvious?!"
She began pulling at her hair in frustration. "Start making sense, yogurt brain!"
"Sylphiel never holds her fork in her left hand!" he announced proudly, like a detective revealing the identity of a killer.
The redhead stared at him long and hard for a moment, then stood up. "I'm going back to bed," she declared, making for the bedroom.
"Lina!"
"Gourry, so what?" she asked in frustration. "So Sylphiel's ambidextrous. So WHAT?!"
"But she's not! I know she's not! She's right handed!"
"It doesn't make a bit of difference!" she shot back. She started to rub her temples. "Look, I'm taking her to see Ritsuko tomorrow. If…IF…there's something wrong with her, she'll know."
Gourry stared at her in disbelief. "You don't believe me," he whispered in realization.
"What's to believe?!" she asked sharply. "Just because she ate dinner with her left hand, you're thinking she's some kind of pod person! Or a copii or a shadow or WHATEVER! Maybe her right hand hurt! How do you know?!"
The swordsman looked at her sadly, then started walking.
"Gourry," Lina sighed in exasperation. "Where are you going? Let's just go back to bed, and we'll talk more about this in the morning, okay?"
"We'll talk in the morning," he agreed dully, but continued walking.
Lina watched in sad realization as Gourry picked up his sword from where he rested it near the fireplace and walked out the front door.
Sylphiel sat with her back against the bars of her cage, her legs drawn up to her chest as she hugged herself tightly. Her eyes were wide open in terror, and her breath game in short gasps.
In her whole life she had never seen anything so brutal, so barbaric, and so cruel as what she had seen that night. Even when Rezo had destroyed Sairaag, at least that had been quick. This…this was…
She didn't have words to describe it. She didn't think the proper words existed.
Floating next to her, the tiny light blinked.
Sylphiel shook her head slowly, still unable to speak.
She had begged him. She had begged him to stop, to let Miss Ritsuko go.
After fifteen minutes, she was begging the dark lord to kill her, to end the Healer's suffering, but even then he refused.
It took the blonde two hours to die, and even then, Sylphiel was sure Shabranigdo could have stretched it to two years if he chose.
"How?" she finally whispered. "How does Cepheid allow such cruelty?"
The light blinked at her sympathetically. Unexpectedly, the sorceress received an answer.
"Cepheid has no hold over me, little bird," the eyes told her, appearing in front of her cage.
She just shook her head. "How? How can any living thing be so cruel to another?"
He laughed at her. "I AM cruelty, little bird."
Lina said nothing as she walked down the street towards Ritsuko's office. She hadn't seen Gourry all morning, instead, she had went straight to Sylphiel's room, collected the shrine maiden, and started right out. If Gourry wanted to be a jerk, that was his decision.
She didn't need him.
She didn't need ANYBODY.
Sylphiel followed just behind her, not looking particularly happy, but at least she wasn't protesting. In a way, Lina was disappointed. A good fight would have done a lot for her right now.
She looked up and further down the street and stopped. There was some kind of commotion down there. At first, she shrugged it off and continued walking. As they approached, she began walking a little faster. There was a crowd forming.
She started to run, pushing her way through the crowd.
"Oh, Cepheid," she whispered, and started pushing urgently. The crowd was outside Ritsuko's office. She pauses as she saw a Seyruun guardsman, his face pale and clammy, talk to another. Straining her ears, she heard him say,
"It's like a slaughterhouse in there…"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she screamed at the crowd. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She began shoving people out of the way as she rushed towards Ritsuko's door. "GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!" she screamed madly.
Finally, she was the steps and climbing them two at a time. A guardsman saw her and called after her.
"Wait! You can't go up there!"
She ignored him, rushing past other guardsmen, she pushed her way inside her friend's office.
Her eyes went wide.
She screamed and rushed back out into the hallway, the noises coming from her were impossible to make out as speech. She just screamed.
The redhead ran headlong into someone and hugged them on reflex. She felt Sylphiel's arms wrap around her and heard the woman speak.
"Is it her?"
Lina couldn't speak. She just nodded and started to cry.
To Be Continued…
