Ok, At first I must to grateful David, Gloria and Vanessa because
encourage me with this story and give my their opinions and sugestions.
And Helena because she's translating this story to English (she's better
than me in English, but perhaps it could to have stranger regards): many
people from Spain and South-America like this fic a lot and they encourage
me to put it in English and now I do so.
Later, this my first attempt of fic really, and it has been pretty
hard for me to write it: I had to informant me about many things like
Amelia and her family's past, or politic map of Slayers World and many
things, so I altered any files while I write this fic ( since August'99
till January'00) in Spanish version. Recently I know other many dates about
names of spells and things, so English version is lightly different than
others in Spanish in the net, but the story is the same exactly.
Another
hand this story is based in anime mainly, but it has many dates from Manga
( the three first tomes has been published in Spain, which are more similar
original novels) ; besides I like serious arguments, so it has humorous
lacks ( greater part at first chapters) but all characters are serious.
Other thing: all character who appear in this story, appear in anime
series, Ovas or Movies, too; so you can find characters like Martina, Vulvum, Bolan "the Brave", Mimi&Meme twin sisters, and other
many people. I
thing Slayers has many interesting and fun characters.
Well, the story is
unfinished yet (English version) and I'm writing second part in Spanish
now. Anyway, I hope you like it.
******************************************************************************************************************
The End of a Long Quest"= Chapter: 1. "Mettings"
Gourry thought that the most surprising thing about the older sister of his
friend, the fearsome and powerful Lina Inverse, was that she looked nothing
like Lina at all, at least in terms of her physical appearance. Granted, he
hadn't really known what he was expecting her to be like. In the
three years that he and Lina had been traveling together, the red-haired
sorceress had spoken little about her sister, and what little she had
related to him had been quickly been forgotten by his pea-sized brain
(along with most everything else she had ever told him). All that Gourry
had managed to retain about Luna, was that she was a strong character, that
she worked a part-time job as a waitress in a bar in Zefiria, and that her
younger sister Lina was mortally terrified of her, as was evidenced by the
massive panic-attack which was now overwhelming the young sorceress as she
and Gourry drew ever closer to her childhood home.
Despite her fear, Lina knew she couldn't postpone this visit any longer. It
had been four years since she had last been in these parts. There were long
overdue family responsibilities she had to attend to. And there was also a
good chance that Luna might be able to tell Gourry where he could find a
magical sword to replace Gorun Nova, which he had given up after the battle
with Dark Star. Provided, of course, that Lina could summon the courage to
ask her for her help in this matter.
"Hello? Is there anybody home?" asked Lina in a timid voice, after waiting
what seemed like forever for her for her knock on the door to be answered.
"Luna?.....Are you there?"
Gourry looked on with interest. In all the years he had known Lina, and in
all the adventures they had been on together, he had never known her to be
this scared. Surely, he thought to himself, Lina's sister can't be THAT bad
of a pers--
The door swung open.
Lina flew backwards from the threshold several feet and
came to land face-first in the dust. From the darkened interior of the
house, there rang out a shrill and unknown voice
"Of
COURSE I'm here, you ingrate! So this is how you repay me for bringing you
up! Running away from home for years at a time, never bothering to visit
me, or even to send me a letter to let me know how you are!"
Lina sat up. On her face was a large, red, fist-shaped welt which she
promptly began to rub
"But Luna! I meant to come back home sooner,
but....I got caught up in a lot of things! I've been busy!"
"Yeah,"
scoffed Luna," I know how busy you've been. Busy attacking band after band
of bandits and looting their treasure. Busy destroying whole cities
wherever you go. You even destroyed Zoana's royal palace!"
"That's
not fair, Luna! You know I've been doing a lot of good as well... After
all, it was I who carried out that mission that Firia had originally
entrusted to YOU...."
"And I suppose you managed to do THAT without
causing any unnecessary destruction, didn't you?"
"Um.......Well.....er...."
"Lina! Are you all right?"
Gourry now rushes over to Lina's side and attempts
to pull her to her feet. Luna's eyes fall upon the blonde swordsman and
quickly look him over from head to foot.
"Well....Who
might THIS be?" she says with bemused interest, as she steps across the
threshold and into the sunlight where Gourry can now plainly see her. His
jaw drops. He lets loose his grip on Lina's arm, letting her fall back to
the ground amid a flurry of threats and cusswords which he pays little
attention to. Gourry couldn't believe it. These two were sisters, but they
looked nothing alike! Luna was MUCH taller than Lina. Her hair was wasn't
red or curly--it looked a lot like Sylphiel's as a matter of fact. But by
far, the biggest contrast between these two ladies was in the shape of
their figures. Luna's was much more....curved......
"You ....Are you really Luna? Lina's sister?" Gourry wondered aloud as he approached the woman in the door way, " But
you...You've got breasts!" To emphasize this point, Gourry reached
forward and placed his hand upon the woman's ample chest. Yup. There they
were alright. There was no mistaking it...
The expression on Luna's face was one he
recognized well. It was exactly the same expression Lina always got on her
face right before she always--
Those two were sisters alright.
Gourry found himself flying backwards into the air in a
graceful arc. This blow made Lina's punches seem like caresses in
comparison. Within moments, the dim-witted swordsman found himself lying
beside Lina with his face-down in the dirt.
'You Jelly-fish brain!," snarled Lina," How
DARE you touch my sister like that! I oughta--"
"All right, Lina," Muttered Luna, a vein on
her forehead twitching dangerously," You'd better start explaining to me
who this idiot is and why you took so long in coming back to visit me..."
"Okay, Luna! I'll tell you... But only if you
promise not to hit me again..."
"I never make promises I know I can't keep!
You're going to tell me all I want to know or I'm going to make you very
sorry you decided to come back....I've got three hours before my shift
begins at 'Lianlanser'. That should give you plenty of time to tell me your
story...Now come in the house!"
Lina jumps to her feet and rushes past her
sister into the doorway of the house, leaving behind her a trail of tears
and dust.
"Hey Stupid Boy!," Luna motioned to Gourry,"
You too. Inside!"
Within seconds, there are two trails of dust fading above
the threshold....
The Inverse Family Homestead was an ancient
building with thick masonry walls and steeply-inclining roofs. It looked as
if it had been opulent at one time, but now it looked a bit neglected and
run-down, probably because the only tenant it had living in it for many a
year was the lone psychotic sorceress now leading our heroic duo through
it's chambers. Luna guided Lina and Gourry to what looked like a living
room, at the center of which, there stood a small round table surrounded by
four enew chairs. Cupping her hands into the shape of a bowl, Luna closed
her eyes and started reciting a spell:
-
"Shining light born in the wind, concentrate upon my hands...."
As she spoke, a radiant ball formed within her fingers and rose up towards
the rafters. Once there, it cast off sparks which set alight all of the
lamps and candles within the room. Gourry, who had been holding his breath
upon seeing this, now let it go with a sigh of relief. He knew this spell
wasn't something he needed to be afraid of. It surprised him that Luna was
also a sorceress just like her sister, and from the looks of it, every bit
as masterful as casting spells. Lighting spells, anyway.
"All right now, sis. Sit down and tell me what's
happened to you...."
Lina let out a sigh as she pulled out a chair
and sat down, carefully arranging her cape to fall over the back of the
chair where it wouldn't get wrinkled. She knew this was going to be a very
long conversation.
"Okay, Luna.... First off, this is Gourry Gabriev and he's
my......"
At this moment, far away from Lina's hometown, a reunion similar to this
one is taking place between two princesses, once former rivals and now fast
friends. Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun could remember the first time she had
come to the kingdom of Zoana on an important diplomatic mission. She
recalled how Zoana's Princess Martina had tried to kidnap her and harm her
friends,-- Miss Lina, Mr. Gourry and Mr. Zelgadiss-- in some mad scheme for
world domination, (or something Really Unjust like that.) Now, however,
Martina was an upright, justice-loving person. having gained a lot of
maturity and wisdom through those many adventures she had had with Miss
Lina and fighting Hellmaster. She was also now a married woman, overseeing
the rebuilding of her own kingdom, and one of Amelia's most dearest
friends. And now, after what seemed like ages, Amelia was journeying back
to Zoana to pay her a royal visit.
She would find that Martina really hadn't changed much since the last time
the two of them had seen each other. However, her new role as a royal wife
had resulted in some small changes in her manner and appearance. Her
clothing was a bit more conservative. She no longer acted as a crazy,
love-struck young girl, but acted more in a manner befitting a ruler. Her
dreams of uniting all of the kingdoms of the world under her own had pretty
much fizzled by now, (which was just as well, since Phibrizzo's death and
the removal of his barrier would've opened up many more lands to conquer
than she would've wanted to anyway.) Some ways in which Martina hadn't
changed: She still spoke in her proud, pompous manner of speech (which
contrasted hilariously with her sweet and squeaky voice). She still
continued to browbeat her father into letting her run everything within the
kingdom, and, of course, she still celebrated her undying love and
adoration for her own personal guardian monster, the patron deity of Zoana,
Zoamelgustar.
"My, there sure are a lot more of those....
things around than there were before," sighed Amelia to herself as she
spied yet another one of those dreadful masks on the palace walls
surrounding her. "How can Martina have such devotion to a monster she made
up herself?"
Shaking her head, Amelia started pacing around the spacious chamber where
Martina's servants had led her to minutes before. Any second now, Martina
would arrive to greet her, both as a fellow princess and as a friend, and,
if past actions were any indication of future behavior, she was probably
going to make some kind of grand entrance
Amelia! At last you've cooooome!"
"Hi, Miss Martina!"
The two girls rushed forward to embrace each
other. Well, what do you know, each observed about the other, this time she
didn't go falling flat on her face...
The girls stood back to look at one another. Amelia had
grown a little taller, noted Martina. But she was still able to fit into
that salmon pink dress which had become her favorite outfit to wear on
official state occasions. The expression on her face still reflected her
cheerful character, but it now seemed more like the face of an adult, of
someone who had been out in the world, had difficult experiences, and had
learned from them.
"Oh Amelia! You have NO ideeeeea how
scared I was when I heard about that golden draaaaagon attacking
your kingdom. And when nothing had been heard from you afterwards, I
thought you were dead for certain!"
"Oh, no.... It wasn't as serious a situation
as you had probably been led to think it was..." Amelia tried to change the
subject, thinking now was not the time to tell Martina about her adventure
beyond the barrier and her battle with Dark Star, "What about Mr. Zangulus?,"
she asked sweetly," Isn't he with you?"
"Oh, of course he is! He's downstairs in the
practice arena, training with his sword..."
"Oh... ," replied Amelia pensively, "Does he
still want to try and defeat Mr. Gourry?"
"No. These days he's just training the Royal
Guard. He doesn't feel as if he needs to defeat Gourry to prove himself
anymore. You should see how my dear Zangulus swings his sword! If he and
that big blonde swordsman were ever to take each other on, I know he'd
prove the victor this time!"
" I don't know if he'd want to fight
Mr. Gourry again. .. You see, Mr. Gourry has lost his light sword..."
"What? How did THAT happen?"
"Oh he just returned it to it's legitimate
owners. It's part of a long story... ."
"Well I've got plenty of time to hear it. Why
don't we tell each other what we've been up to?. I'll go first!"
"Oh.. That's most...gracious of you..."
Martina began talking about life as a married woman,
and about how she had painstakingly restored the palace of Zoana to its
former glory, and about how wonderful it was to be a servant of the great
and mighty Zoamelgustar. When Amelia finally got her turn to talk, she
spoke about the Outside World beyond the barrier and what it had been like
and she was finally about to tell her all about her quest to defeat Dark
Star, when Martina abruptly threw a question her way.
"The other guys...How are they all doing now?"
"Oh... I don't know very much about what
they're up to these days, but I think that Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry are
still travelling together..."
"Oh, I don't doubt that," Martina tried to
suppress a giggle, " I knew a long time ago that those two lovebirds were
going to be inseparable till the end of time."
"Actually, all they're doing now is trying to find a
replacement for the Sword of Light... And Sylphiel... I don't know how what
she's been doing lately , but I'd really like to see her again sometime.
She's been so unlucky. Her home town, Sairaag and the Holy Tree Flagoon
have both been destroyed. Her parents are dead, and Gourry doesn't love
her.... It's so sad!" Amelia let out a heavy sigh. Martina had barely known
Sylphiel and so wasn't much aware of her personal misfortunes, but
likewise, she too, sighed and cast her eyes downward where they fell upon
Amelia's crossed hands.
"Uh....Amelia... Did you lose one of your
bracelets?"
"Huh?" Amelia
had been blindsided by the question," Oh! My bracelet! Uh, it's um......er...."
She was aware that her cheeks were getting warmer. Oh no! She was blushing!
She hoped Miss Martina hadn't noticed it, but that hope was dashed once she
saw the broad smile spreading upon the face of the curly-haired princess.
"Heh. I know what happened to it...You didn't
lose it, did you?"
"Wh-what was that you said, Miss Martina?"
"Oh, Nothing... Nothing at all....Oh, I just
remembered, I've got something very important to tell you..."
"What is it?"
"I think I know where your sister is..."
The red glow on Amelia's face quickly faded, and was
quickly replaced by a look of utter astonishment.
After traveling through all of the ancient kingdoms beyond the Demon's
Barrier, on the trail of one false clue after another, Zelgadiss finally found himself standing in the center of Sadgria City, a
bustling port which lay at the foot of the Uulgum Mountains. He was
extremely uncomfortable, not only by the large number of people crowding
this cities' dark and dusty streets, but also by the fact that Sadgria was
the center of most of the Bounty Hunter activity in this region. He knew
that if he removed his mask, he was liable to frighten the people who
milled about him, but if he kept it on, he was just as liable to draw the
eye of every bounty hunter within the city limits. (Who else, they would
figure, would be wearing a mask at all times, but a wanted criminal with a
price on his head?…An this idea wasn't stupid, really) If he were lucky,
everyone in this town would look at the mask, think he was a leper and
leave him alone. If he were even more lucky, the person he had come
to this town to see would have it within their power to grant him his
long-sought-for cure. Zelgadiss wasn't going to hold his breath,
though....Not yet...
He now made his way down a long series of congested side
streets to an inn standing by the waterfront. Inside the inn were the usual
unwashed rabble one could expect to find gathered in such a place--drunken
sailors and mercenaries, holding their tankards of alcohol aloft and
singing bawdy songs, as if they were all the best of friends and had known
each other a long time. The bar reeked of alcohol and other things (things
that Zelgadiss thought were best not thought about.) He managed to
find an open space in the corner of the room and there he sat, in a
low-backed chair, waiting, hoping the shadows would conceal his features
from the rabble; that they'd be too absorbed in their own unsavory pursuits
to notice him. Time passed. After what seemed like an eternity in that
stifling, stench-filled air, a strange man with watery eyes walked up to
the chimera and bowed to him in greeting.
"The mistress has been waiting for you.
Follow me, please."
Zelgadiss stood
up and with a sigh of relief and a pounding heart, followed the strange
little man out of the back door of the inn, towards a small guesthouse. A
tall curtain served as the door to this small, rather unassuming structure.
With a dramatic gesture, the strange little man drew it aside.
"Go on in"...
Zelgadiss had seen many things in his life. He
was intelligent, adept at magic, and had a wide range of experience in the
ways of this world, but nothing he had seen up till now could prepare him
for the bizarre spectacle which awaited him beyond that curtain. As soon as
the chimera's eyes were adjusted to the dim interior of the guesthouse, he
saw before him a woman lying upon a richly upholstered divan. She was no
older than he himself was. --A seductive smile was on her face, and a glass
of wine was balancing precariously on the tips of her fingers. She was
surrounded by boxes and chests filled with jewels, diamonds, cold coins,
and magical objects like orihalcon objects, potion bottles, powders, roots,
and spell books. But by far, the most compelling feature of the entire room
was the woman who lay sprawling in the center of it all. Just who was she?
There was no doubt in his mind but she had to
be a sorceress. In his life, Zelgadiss had seen a large number of
sorceresses and they all dress a certain way, with long capes, shoulder
guards, and magical gems pinned to their usually tight and revealing
outfits in an unique color. This one seemed different, however. There was
something...disturbingly familiar about the way she looked. She was as tall
as Gourry, and extremely voluptuous, with long, shapely legs, wide hips and
quite possibly the largest set of breasts he had ever seen. (It was a good
thing Lina wasn't here to see them, lest her already lagging self-esteem
take a nosedive. Not that Zelgadiss cared anything about his friend's
strange and stupid complexes..)
The sorceress wore a low-cut black bikini with a
matching thong (which seemed to do only a half-hearted job at covering up
the most intimate areas of her body). She wore black boots and gloves,
sorceress gems, and a heavy cape which cascaded from two enormous spiked
shoulder pads. Those pads reminded Zel of those he had once seen on Ellis,
that star-crossed madwoman of Sairaag. But as strange as it may sound, the
one person the reclining figure really reminded him of more than any other
was...oddly enough...Amelia. The same blue eyes, arched eyebrows and black
hair. Even the same sproingy lock pointing out at the top of her head.. But
surely, inside, Amelia was nothing like this vulgar temptress....Though if
she were.....
Zelgadiss found himself thinking rather
ungentlemanly thoughts which he quickly fought to suppress. This was no
time for.....those kind of thoughts. He had important work to do. He
stepped forward to greet the woman, who was quick to notice him, with his
face hidden under a hood and obscured by a strange-looking mask and all.
She seemed annoyed by this disguise of his, clicking her tongue as she
lifted herself to a sitting position. Zelgadiss, sensing her apprehension,
lifted his hood and tore the cloth from his face. He waited for her to rear
backwards, repulsed by his monstrous appearance as so many others had been.
But instead, all she did was lean with a look of keen interest on her face.
Strange. He looked like a monster, but what
type of monster was something she couldn't quite put her finger on. He
seemed young and his body (what little she could see of it) was
well-proportioned and athletic, with a triangular torso, a thin waist, and
long legs. His skin was ashen-colored, and there appeared to be stones
embedded into it's surface, especially around the man's eyes and chin. His
hair was shiny, like silver and rigid like wire and fell in sharp wisps
over his long, pointed ears. His plain white outfit and the gem on his
chest identified him as a sorcerer....So... THIS was the man who had
traveled from far away lands just to meet with her.
Before Zelgadiss knew what was happening, the young
woman lifted one of her hands to her mouth and let out a laugh--
"Oh-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!!!!!"
Zelgadiss
immediately clapped his hands to his
ears. Every silvery hair on his head stood on end. It was as if her laugh
was filling the entire world. Never had he heard anything so jarring, so
painful to listen to. Even Xelloss' irritating jokes and his "It is a
secret's" were preferable to listen to than this ear-shattering outburst.
Thankfully, it lasted only a brief moment, whereupon the woman rose to her
feet and pointed.
"I know who you are! I've seen you
before...Although I don't remember your name..."
"I wasn't aware that you'd seen me before,
Miss Naga."
Naga rushed over to a box sitting in one of
the corners of the room and threw it open. Zelgadiss could see the royal
crest of Seyruun emblazoned upon its lid. Inside were some old papers,
which the woman rifled through and shoved aside until, at last, she pulled
out what appeared to be an old poster with a picture of his face on it and
the word, "Wanted" printed at the top. In the picture, his face was twisted
into a cruel grimace, showing a pair of long fangs poking out from behind
his lips.
"As I remember," began Naga as she dangled the
poster in front of the chimera."-- there was once a large price on your
head, "Dark Warrior"......"
"That was a couple of years ago. And the
person who was offering the reward only wanted to capture me in order to
settle a personal vendetta she had against me. Don't tell all that you know
of me is from that ridiculous poster. I can't see why someone like you
would collect those things."
"Well," replied Naga," I'm always searching
for ways to make a lot of money. I saw many these wanted posters of you
hanging around a while back, and I thought I could get my hands on the
reward money...even though many of them really weren't offering that much
for you.... Would've been hardly worth my trouble to catch you and bring
you in..." Naga began to roll up the aging paper in her hands, "The truth
is, you've surprised me. When I heard a guy named Zelgadiss wanted to see
me, I had no idea it would be the guy from this old poster, or that you'd
be a chimera. What's with you anyway? Why do you have a human name? And
what is it you want with me?"
Zelgadiss wasn't comfortable with sharing
intimate details of his life with a woman like this, but since he wanted
her help, he felt he had no choice but to tell her something.
"I wasn't always like this. I was born a
human. And all I want to do now in life is to go back to being a human, if
I can... I need your help to recover my true body."
Wow. This guy's full of surprises,
thought Naga. From the looks of this fellow and from the fact that he had
become a wanted man and was searching for magical objects, she thought all
he really wanted was power. But all he wanted was to become human again?
Naga scratched her head. A thought came to her.
"Hey, you said you were born a
human?... You wouldn't happen to be that 'Definitive Chimera' that Diol was
trying to create, are you?
"Diol? Who is he?"
"Oh...You're not then... Okay... Diol was just
some crazy sorcerer who was trying to create the world's most powerful
chimera in order to fight demons with it. He tried using a 'friend' of mine
as a host body for this experiment but she wasn't too keen on the idea. She
and I soon put that weirdo in his place."
Zel sighed. He wasn't too thrilled to learn
that there were humans other than Rezo, who were capable of making chimeras
out of humans, but he couldn't think about that now.
"So," he continued, "Now that you know who I am and
what I want, will you agree to help me?"
The conversation had switched gears a little too
abruptly for Naga's taste, but she went with the flow.
"It depends on two things," she said, drawing her
face close to Zel's " First, what must I do to help you, and second (and
most importantly) --what will you pay me?"
Zelgadiss looked about the room, running his
eyes over the riches which filled it. This sorceress was fond of such
things, obviously, so her price was apt to be high. He couldn't repeat the
mistake he had made when he first met Lina, while he was trying to buy the
orihalcon statue with the Philosopher's Stone in it from her. He had told
Lina to name her price, which she did. A ridiculously high sum he had no
chance of ever affording. He'd have to use a different strategy in this
case with this sorceress, lest the same thing happen...
"I don't have enough money with me to pay the
price which I think you're going to ask of me, so...instead, in exchange
for your help I'll offer myself as a servant to you...To use in any way you
see fit." He shivered at the thought of serving under someone, the way he
had, for half his life, served under Rezo. But if this was the only way he
could attain his cure, he would have no choice. He continued with his sales
pitch:
"Moreover, I hear you are a specialist in golems and
in their creation and I myself am part golem so there's a good chance
you'll find it easy to help me..."
"Ohhhh." Naga bent forward and examined his
body. It WAS made completely of stone! And so nicely shaped, too! What kind
of a sorcerer would've been capable of doing a job as perfectly as this?
"Hmmm. You're right when you say I'm a
specialist in golem invocations. I also know how to do ice spells pretty
well. But when it comes to chimeras, I don't know anything. I was kind of
turned off by that subject after that little run-in I had with Diol..."
"Well?" Zelgadiss was starting to get a little
annoyed," Do you think you could help me at all? Or did I come all this way
for nothing?"
Naga frowned. She really didn't want anything
to do with this guy now, yet she would've hated to have just let him go and
perhaps miss out on the opportunity to get herself a great servant.
Especially if this guy was capable of helping her get her hands on a lot of
money.
"You know... Maybe I can't do anything for
you, but near the vanished city of Sairoog, there used to be a Sorcerer's
Guild which specialized in chimeras and cloning... I think a servant of
Rezo's used to live there. Maybe she can help you..."
"No she can't. The sorceress you're talking
about is dead. And the Guild's been destroyed as well. This information is
useless to me!"
"Well, maybe if I look hard enough around
here, I may be able to find something--"
"Unless you have a copy of the Claire Bible on
hand, don't bother looking. It's the only thing that can help me now."
She stared at him, mutely.
So this was yet another dead end.
"It was a pleasure to meet you...Goodbye!..."
Zelgadiss replaced his mask, threw his hood over his head and stormed out,
leaving a shocked sorceress behind him, looking on.
"The Claire Bible?"......
Without a word, Zelgadiss left the guesthouse, passed
through the inn, and slipped out onto the streets, unnoticed, like a
shadow...
