Phibrizzo sighed and rested his chin in his palms. This was incredibly boring. The Slayer and all those others had been in the church for at least an hour. He muttered, "This sucks. What's keeping her? I wanna kill the Slayer." He looked up at the waning moon in the sky above. It wasn't quite as red as it had been the previous evening, but he hadn't done any of his work today either. He had to make haste before the barrier between worlds became too strong to break.
Admittedly, Phibrizzo didn't have to kill this new Slayer to finish his work. He was really doing this to spite Xellos. He had seen the loving way that Xellos had looked at her. "Just like a pet," he snickered. He frowned again noting that she still hadn't come out. "This really sucks."
Suddenly, an arm snaked around Phibrizzo's chest and a hand was clapped over his mouth. He grinned wickedly. Oh, this was interesting, a diversion to break up the tedium of the evening.
A voice hissed in Phibrizzo's ear, "Don't scream and you might live to see the dawn." A rough hand began to search his pockets.
Phibrizzo frowned at the sound of tearing fabric. This was a nice shirt and he didn't appreciate this hoodlum damaging it. He reached out and touched his assailant's mind with his own. In an instant, he knew everything there was to know about the man. "Stop Vista," he commanded. "Release me." He felt the hands release their hold on him and he stepped away from his assailant. "That's better. Now show me what you see."
Vista stood, his hands hanging limply at his sides. He was breathing in short shaky gasps as his eyes darted around the area. There were monsters coming out of the trees. "By Ceiphied," he whispered as he recognized one of the demons. "That's my father."
Phibrizzo threw back his head and laughed. "Issues with your father, how dull." He cocked his head and listened to the steady stream of thoughts issuing from Vista. He nodded. "You didn't want to join the city guard like he did. You wanted to be an artist." He snickered. "And now you're a petty thief. I'll bet he's pretty mad now, huh?"
Vista fell to his knees and cowered in the shadow of his father. "Stop looking at me!"
Phibrizzo knelt next to Vista and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He's a stern man, isn't he?"
Vista nodded as tears ran down his cheeks. "Uh huh, I was never good enough for him." He glanced up and sobbed, "Stop looking at me!" In the span of a few moments, he had been reduced to the emotional level of a child by Phibrizzo's ministrations.
"I understand," Phibrizzo said, nodding sadly. His face brightened as he had an idea. "Because I'm such a nice person, I'm going to help you Vista. Stand up."
Vista did as he was told. He closed his eyes and whimpered, "He's still glaring at me! Why won't he stop?"
"My friend, the problem isn't that he's staring at you. It's just that you're far too sensitive about it. If you couldn't see him looking at you, it wouldn't be so bad, would it?"
Vista nodded slowly. The kid's words made sense. He whispered, "What should I do?"
Phibrizzo pulled out his knife and handed it to Vista. He grinned wickedly. "You know if I were in your situation, I'd cut my eyes out. Then you couldn't see him glaring at you anymore." He shrugged and continued, "But that's just me."
Vista smiled. That was perfectly logical. He wondered why he hadn't thought of it himself. He whispered, "Thank you," as he raised the knife to his face with shaky hands.
"Don't mention it," said Phibrizzo.
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"Find something?" Lina asked hopefully as Zelgadis eagerly paged through a book.
Zelgadis scanned the page and shook his head. "Nothing, damn it!" he yelled as he flung the book across the room.
Lina ducked and glared at Zelgadis. "Subtlety Zel, look it up. We're not supposed to be in here you know." She went back to reading momentarily before grinning. She laughed. "I think I've found it. Take a look at this Zel!"
Zelgadis moved around the table and read the passage over Lina's shoulder, "The appearance of the crimson moon takes place only once every thousand years. During this time, the wall between the mortal realm and the underworld grows especially weak."
Lina nodded. "That's why there aren't any Slayers here right now. The dark creatures must be especially active tonight." She nodded and continued, "That explains the dead people that Gourry and Zangulus saw. They were aware of each other but couldn't interact with one another. It's because they weren't really there."
Zelgadis crossed his arms and walked over to a nearby window. He gazed out at the moon and mused, "That still doesn't account for the murders. Someone from this world has been doing that. And I'm sure that there's a good reason that he's committing these crimes now. You don't seriously think that this is some kind of coincidence do you?"
"No, not really, I suppose that the closeness of the two realms would make any rituals that much more powerful. But that still doesn't tell us what this guy's trying to do." Lina groaned and slammed her head down on the tabletop. "This is so frustrating! Why can't things ever be easy?"
Zelgadis was about to answer when something distracted him. His sensitive ears had detected the faint sound of shouting and clashing steel in the hallway below. "Something's up," he muttered. "Let's go Lina."
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Zangulus stood up on wobbly legs and shook his head. He glanced at Martina and said, "Martina, that was-"
"The greatest thing that you've ever experienced?" Martina asked as she looked in a mirror while running a brush through her extremely disheveled hair.
Zangulus sighed shakily as he eyed the whip lying next to her. He muttered, "No, I was going to say terrifying," as he recalled the events of the past few minutes with a shudder. "You didn't have to hit me so hard you know."
Martina chuckled and sauntered over to Zangulus. She adjusted his hat on his head and whispered in his ear, "I'll have to remember that next time."
"Yeah, and another thing," Zangulus said as Martina adjusted his cloak around his shoulders. "What's a Zomo Gustav?"
Martina blushed. "I'm sorry?"
Zangulus coughed embarrassedly. "Zomo Gustav. You kept saying Zomo Gustav earlier."
Martina laughed nervously as she pushed Zangulus towards the entrance to the tent. She quickly said, "Well, it's getting late and I have to close up. Thanks for stopping by."
"But…" Zangulus protested.
"No buts! You have to find your friends, remember? They said something about going to a church." Martina quickly kissed Zangulus and shoved him out of the tent. She winked at him before closing the flap. "Bye, now."
Zangulus stared at the tent for a moment before shaking his head confusedly. He wandered off in the direction of the church.
Martina watched Zangulus leave from inside the tent. She clasped her hands together and smiled. "At last the wise and just Zomo Gustav has seen fit to bless me with a mighty specimen of a man worthy of becoming my husband!"
Zangulus trembled as he felt a sudden chill. "Now what?" he muttered as he looked around nervously. As far as he could tell, he was alone on the dark street. A moment later, he shrugged and continued on his way.
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"Mr. Gourry," Amelia gasped, "Was that supposed to happen?" She glanced over her shoulder at the pursuing Vrumugun. He was closing the gap between them.
Gourry looked down at the sword hilt that he was carrying. "I don't think so." When Vrumugun had attacked him, he had blocked with the sword only to have the blade neatly cut from the hilt. He briefly wished that he had his sword from home or another sword or heck, even a dagger would do at this point, but of course, he wasn't really that good with a dagger, so maybe he should go back to wishing for his sword…
Amelia shrieked and jumped onto Gourry's back to avoid being sliced neatly in two by their pursuer. She grabbed two handfuls of his hair and spurred him on. "Run faster, Mr. Gourry!" she yelled.
Gourry huffed, "I'm not a horse you know!" He sprinted up the last couple steps and emerged into the central cathedral. He tried to leap over a pew to put some breathing room between himself and Vrumugun, but didn't take Amelia's added weight into consideration. As he leapt, his foot caught on the top of the bench, sending him and Amelia crashing unceremoniously to the floor.
Amelia shook the cobwebs out and turned to face the point of Vrumugun's sword. She whispered, "Oh my," as their assailant raised his sword overhead. She glanced down and saw that Gourry was trapped beneath her and quite stunned on top of that. He wouldn't be any help.
Lina and Zelgadis burst into the cathedral from a door on the opposite side of the room. They both gasped in shock at sight of Vrumugun threatening Gourry and Amelia.
"Amelia," Zelgadis hissed. There wasn't time to reach Amelia before the Slayer's sword fell. He desperately glanced around for a moment before his gaze fell on Lina. "He muttered, "It'll have to do," as he took a step towards her.
Lina took a cautious step back from Zelgadis. "What will have to do?" she asked cautiously. "Hey, watch the hands Zel!" she yelled as he grabbed the front of her blouse.
"No time for that," Zelgadis said as he easily lifted Lina over his head.
"I'll ask you one more time," Vrumugun hissed through clenched teeth, "Where is Lina Inverse?"
Amelia stammered, "I… I don't… Please don't…" as she stared at the light glinting on Vrumugun's sword.
Vrumugun snarled, "Then you die." He was about to bring his sword down on Amelia's head when he heard a voice.
"She's right here!"
Vrumugun's composure cracked momentarily and he blurted, "What the…?" as he looked up to see Zelgadis fling a vehemently protesting Lina across the room. Before he could duck, the screaming redheaded projectile crashed into him rendering him unconscious.
Lina sat up and rubbed her head. Remembering where she was, she quickly glanced down to make sure that Vrumugun was really out. Satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, she shook her fist and snarled, "Zel, you ass! What's the big idea?!"
Zelgadis ignored Lina's insults and knelt down beside Amelia. He gently took her arm and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?"
Lina watched the action for a moment before shouting, "Is she all right?! What am I, chopped liver?!"
Amelia whispered, "I'm fine," as she stared into Zelgadis's eyes. Feeling her cheeks getting hot, she tore her eyes away from him and focused on her fallen companion. "Uh, Mr. Gourry?"
Gourry slowly picked himself up off the ground. He looked Amelia over and sighed in relief when he saw that she was still in one piece. "Hey, where's Lina?" Seeing Lina sitting atop the unconscious Vrumugun, he frowned. "Are you alright?"
Lina glared at Gourry. She muttered, "I told you to leave me alone. I don't need any help."
Gourry picked up the protesting redhead and set her on her feet. "Don't say that Lina. I'm your protector, remember?"
Lina blinked in surprise. "My protector, who says that I need a protector, and when did this happen?"
Gourry grinned and explained, "Last night. Don't you remember? You said that you were scared and I told you that I would protect you. You made me promise."
Amelia smiled and added, "Yeah, and it would be wrong for Mr. Gourry to have to break his promise."
"Last night?! How in the hell do you remember something that I said last night, when you can't even remember what happened five minutes ago? Besides, I thought that you just meant while I slept!" Lina asked. The memory of Martina's prophecy was still fresh in her mind. She whined, "I don't want a protector! You'd just get in my way!"
Gourry gave Lina a stern look. He said, "It doesn't matter how much you complain Lina. I'll stick by you until the end, whether you like it or not. What kind of guy would I be if I let a little girl face the danger alone?"
Lina's face flushed red from a mixture of embarrassment and rage. She hissed, "You… you jellyfish! Did you ever stop to think that if you stick by me to the end; it might be your end? And what's with this little girl garbage? I'm eighteen!"
Zelgadis smirked and muttered, "I suppose you're saying Gourry is a 'beloved companion' Lina?"
Lina glared at Zelgadis and snarled, "Don't you start with me…"
Unperturbed, Zelgadis continued, "Have you considered that maybe a beloved companion isn't necessarily someone who travels with you? Prophecies are often full of misleading information and double meanings."
Amelia nodded. "That's right, and Martina's been wrong before." She frowned and mumbled, "Not any time that I can recall, but I'm sure that it's happened."
Lina cocked an eyebrow at Amelia. "What are you doing here anyway? I hardly even know you."
Amelia blushed and stole a quick glance at Zelgadis. "Well, Mr. Gourry was absolutely crushed when you ran off and I thought that I'd help him." She jumped up on the back of a pew and clasped her hands together happily. "It'd be wrong of me to ignore a noble cause like true love!"
Lina eyed Amelia warily, trying to decide if she was crazy or just melodramatic. She muttered, "True love? What are you talking about?"
Amelia looked down at the confused Gourry and then back at Lina. "Well, you looked pretty upset earlier and with the way Mr. Gourry was acting, I just thought-"
"Never mind!" Lina yelled. She looked over the strange assembly before her and muttered to herself, "A clueless swordsman, a morose jerk, and an idealistic circus performer." She looked up at the ceiling and whined, "Am I being punished? What could I have possibly done to deserve this?!"
Gourry grinned as he watched Lina's temper tantrum. "Ah, you're just lucky Lina."
Lina was about to make a derogatory remark when she saw what Gourry was holding. Her eyes widened in shock as she whispered, "Is that…?"
Zelgadis noticed it at the same time. He pointed at the hilt that Gourry was holding and asked, "Gourry, where did you get that?"
Gourry looked down at the damaged sword and shook his head. "What, this thing? I found it downstairs. It was just sitting on a table. It's broken though."
Lina watched in utter horror as Gourry casually tossed the hilt over his shoulder. She shrieked, "Gourry, what are you doing?!" as she dove to catch it. She landed face first and empty-handed on the floor. She glanced up to see Zelgadis examining the hilt. She eagerly asked, "So, is that it?"
Zelgadis nodded. "It matches the description in the legends. But there's only one way to find out isn't there?" He held the hilt up and uttered, "Light come forth!"
A beam of pale yellow light sprung from the hilt in the shape of a blade. As they all watched, the light flickered and went out.
Lina hopped up and down angrily. "What happened? What happened?! Let me hold it Zel!" Without waiting for his consent, she snatched the weapon from his grasp and yelled, "Light come forth!"
Just as before, the blade formed but quickly flickered and went out.
Lina growled and frantically swung the weapon around. "Hey, where'd it go? Damn it!" She carefully examined the end of the hilt as she muttered, "Is it broken? This is the Sword of Light, isn't it?"
"Sword of Light?" Amelia asked Zelgadis, who seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on.
Zelgadis nodded and answered, "The legendary Sword of Light. Supposedly, Rezo the First constructed it for use in his battle with the Hellmaster one thousand years ago."
"That's right," Lina said as she shook the weapon in an attempt to get some sort of reaction out of it. "In addition to being a wise priest…"
Zelgadis scowled momentarily, but his expression quickly returned to one of neutrality.
Lina continued, "…he was also a great warrior. He slew the Hellmaster and established the theocracy that still governs this country today. He was by far the most noble and respectable of the High Priests of Ceiphied."
Zelgadis snorted, "Noble and respectable?' Time has a tendency to distort the facts, Lina." He crossed his arms angrily and glared at the floor.
Lina looked at the glowering Zelgadis quizzically. "What's your problem?"
"So professor, what does the Sword of Light do?" asked Gourry.
Lina winked at Gourry. "Glad you asked! Supposedly, the noble Rezo put a part of his own soul into the construction of the sword. The blade is composed of holy energy and sunlight, great for Slayers, bad for vampires." She muttered, "But why was it just stored away in an armory?" She shook the sword angrily. "And why doesn't the damn thing work?!"
"Oh my, look at this rare thing, The Sword of Light!" Xellos stepped out of the shadows of one of the busts of Rezo.
Zelgadis snarled, "It's you!"
"Xellos?" Lina muttered curiously. She looked at the seething Zelgadis. "So, uh, I guess you guys know each other?"
Xellos grinned. "But of course! Zelgadis didn't tell you? We met last night when-mmph!"
Zelgadis clapped a hand over the priest's mouth and hissed, "Just drop it, okay?"
Lina shook her head confusedly. "So, what are you doing here?"
Xellos waved dismissively and said, "Oh you know, just a bit of official business. You missed my sermon this morning, young lady."
Lina chuckled, "Yeah, about that…"
"Never mind Lina, I'm sure that you had a good reason." Xellos looked around at the group and grinned. "Now, I'm sure that you're all wondering why the Sword of Light doesn't work."
"Yeah, that's right," Amelia chimed in. "Mr. Zelgadis and Miss Lina couldn't make it work."
"That's because you've obviously forgotten part of the legend. You need pure thoughts and a clear conscience to use the Sword of Light." Xellos's expression darkened briefly. "Not coincidently, that's why it was stored away here in the church."
"So you're saying that the Slayers aren't good enough to use the Sword of Light anymore?" Lina thought for a moment before glaring at Xellos. "And what's this stuff about pure thoughts? My thoughts are as pure as the driven snow!"
"Says the girl that extorted 500 gold pieces from me," Zelgadis muttered. He gave Gourry a meaningful look and continued, "Given the stipulations that Xellos just mentioned, I think that someone less… complex would have better luck with the Sword of Light."
Amelia smiled as she realized what Zelgadis was getting at, "Yeah, someone with noble intentions."
Lina muttered, "Yeah, someone who doesn't have to worry about his conscience because he doesn't remember anything for longer than five minutes anyway."
"Hmm?" Gourry looked around at the others curiously. Had he missed something? "Hey!" he exclaimed as Lina casually tossed the Sword of Light to him. "Be more careful!"
Lina shrugged. "Go ahead. Knock yourself out, Gourry." Noting Gourry's blank expression she threw up her hands in frustration and growled, "Just hold the damn thing up and say 'Light come forth!"
"Uh, light come forth?" Gourry muttered.
The sword's reaction was instant. Instead of the pale light that resulted from Lina and Zelgadis's attempts with the sword, an intense yellow beam sprang into existence. The room became as bright as a midsummer day.
Zelgadis hissed in pain and quickly concealed his face with his hood and mask.
"Wow," Gourry said as he stared at the blade. "It feels familiar." He twirled it experimentally and laughed. "This is great! It's got the same balance as my sword!"
"Glad you like it Gourry," Lina said as she shielded her eyes against the brilliant light, "But do you think you could turn it off now?"
"I haven't seen the sword shine this brightly since the days of Rezo," Xellos muttered in awe. He was the only one in the room unhindered by the light emanating from the sword.
"Days of Rezo?" Lina mused. "What are you talking about Xellos? That was a thousand years ago." She could barely make Xellos out through the brilliant light.
"Oh, just a slip of the tongue Lina, pay it no heed. Oh my, look at the time! I've got a lot of work to finish at the church. Bye!" Xellos waved and stepped behind one of the Rezo statues.
"Xellos wait," Lina called out as she ran after the priest. She looked behind the bust where he had disappeared and found nothing but dust. She whispered, "How the hell?"
"Uh, Lina?" Gourry said.
"What?"
Gourry chuckled, "I don't know how to turn it off."
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"Don't you feel a lot better now?" Phibrizzo asked his unfortunate attacker.
Vista was curled up in a fetal position on the ground. He looked up at the sound of Phibrizzo's voice with his empty eye sockets and whispered, "Yes."
Phibrizzo clapped his hands and grinned. "I knew that you would." His grin quickly faded and he sighed, "But now I suspect that there's another little problem isn't there?"
Vista sobbed and mumbled, "My face hurts." He reached up and touched his ruined visage with trembling hands. He whimpered, "See? It hurts so much."
Phibrizzo shook his head and scowled. "It's never enough for you people is it? I bend over backwards to help you and what thanks do I get?" He spoke in a mocking tone, "My face hurts." He kicked Vista in the ribs and snarled, "For Shabranigdo's sake, what do you want from me? I'd tell you to go jump in a lake but I doubt that you'd be able to find one."
"I'm sorry," Vista mumbled.
"Damn right, you're sorry," Phibrizzo growled. He sighed in frustration. "You know what? Why don't you go find that lake and drown yourself? Your whining is really starting to piss me off."
Vista turned his head back and forth desperately wishing that he had his vision back. He sobbed, "Where's the lake? It's dark and I can't find the lake." He turned his bloody face towards the Hellmaster hopefully. "Will you help me find the lake?" he timidly requested.
"It's that way," Phibrizzo mumbled impatiently while pointing in a random direction.
Vista whined, "Which way? It's too dark to see." He sensed the Hellmaster's barely contained rage and immediately regretted asking. He squeaked, "I'm sorry."
Phibrizzo hissed, "Just go straight ahead."
"And then I'll find the lake?" Vista asked hopefully.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?! Just get out of my sight!" Phibrizzo snarled as he kicked Vista again. He growled and sat back down under the tree as he watched the sobbing ruin of a man crawl away.
Normally the Hellmaster would have enjoyed tormenting the man, but he was getting impatient waiting for the Slayer to come out of the church. Which was quite strange, he mused. He had waited a thousand years to complete his task and over the span of a few hours he had lost his temper. He looked down at his childlike body and wondered how much of the boy's natural personality was manifesting itself in his actions. Temper tantrums, visiting the circus, and preying almost exclusively on other children. He wasn't acting like he had in his previous form at all.
The Hellmaster's previous form had been that of a philosopher, he vaguely recalled. What had he been named again? A wicked grin split his face and he whispered, "Lei Magnus. That was my name." His killings had been far more refined than they were in his current form. He had taken hundreds of victims, but in the end he had been caught and killed.
Hellmaster remembered being on hands and knees struggling to hold his slick intestines inside of himself. He had looked up and seen a proud and noble man standing over him. "Rezo," he hissed, now totally lost in the memory. "I lost, but, how?"
Rezo had raised his sword, a Sword of Light, over his head. "You lost because you refused to consider the possibility of your failure," he explained in his soft voice. "Your overconfidence has cost you the day my old friend, and your life." The Sword of Light had fallen then and everything became nothing.
Old friend? Hellmaster nodded as the memory came back. Lei Magnus had been a close friend of Rezo before Hellmaster had taken the philosopher as his host. There had been someone else there that day. He vaguely recalled that there had been two priests presiding over his execution, Rezo and the other one. "Xellos," he hissed. "You were there too. You laughed at me as I died."
Suddenly, a voice spoke from above the Hellmaster. "Laughed at you? Oh my heavens, that's just not true."
Phibrizzo quickly looked up in the tree and snarled, "You!"
Xellos was comfortably sprawled out on a limb above the Hellmaster. He chuckled and said, "The simple truth of the matter is that I've never stopped laughing at you." He nodded in the direction of the church. "It looks like you're about to lose your quarry Hellmaster, Sloppy, as usual."
Phibrizzo looked in the direction that Xellos had indicated and scowled. The Slayer and her companions had already neared the end of the block. How had he let them slip past? He leapt to his feet and glared at Xellos. "Don't interfere."
Xellos shrugged, "I wouldn't dream of it. My master would be most upset if I did anything but watch. Good luck now." He winked at the Hellmaster and disappeared in a flurry of leaves.
Hellmaster snarled as he darted off towards the Slayers. A whirlwind of questions ran through his mind. Why had Xellos pointed out the Slayers? What was he not telling? Why was he so confident? He brushed these questions aside as he closed in on his prey. Xellos had been playing games. He had been trying to make the Hellmaster doubt himself. He snarled, "Well, it's not going to work." He pounced.
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"And vampires are really real?" Amelia asked doubtfully. "But that stuff's just make believe."
Lina nodded in agreement and said, "You're absolutely right Amelia. And swords aren't made out of sunlight either, are they?"
Amelia scratched her head and said, "Well… I guess, but you have to admit that this is kind of hard to believe."
Zelgadis shook his head and asked, "Amelia, have you ever seen Ceiphied?"
"Well, no," Amelia admitted.
Zelgadis nodded and continued, "But you believe that Ceiphied exists, right?"
"Of course!" Amelia sighed, "I see what you're saying, but you have to admit that's a little different Mr. Zelgadis."
"Granted, but-" Zelgadis stopped in his tracks and looked at a young boy standing about twenty feet ahead of them in the middle of the moonlit street.
Phibrizzo waved at them cheerily. "Hi. I believe you were looking for me?"
Lina frowned and said, "You need to go home, kid. It's dangerous after dark."
Phibrizzo nodded. "I suppose you would know all about that, wouldn't you Lina Inverse? Talk to your 'Sis', lately?" He threw back his head and laughed.
"You're him. You're the one who's been doing all the killings," Lina whispered. "Who are you?"
"I am the very fabric of your nightmares. My host's name is Phibrizzo, or if you prefer you may address my by my title. I am the Hellmaster. Know me and despair mortals!" Phibrizzo laughed wickedly.
"Hellmaster?" Amelia muttered. "What's that Mr. Zelgadis?" she asked.
Zelgadis couldn't hear her question. His gaze was locked on the form of Phibrizzo.
Lina fell to her knees in shock. "You're the Hellmaster?"
Gourry drew the Sword of Light and advanced on Phibrizzo. He muttered, "You're the one that Lina talked about."
Hellmaster grinned at Gourry. "That's right Gourry Gabriev."
Gourry shouted, "Light come forth!" and the Sword of Light sprang into existence.
Phibrizzo eyed the Sword of Light warily. He muttered, "I remember that sword. You won't kill me again." He looked up at the determined expression on Gourry's face. He whispered, "Tell me Gourry, what do you fear?"
Before Gourry could answer, Lina was on her feet and running past him. She lunged at the Hellmaster and swung her silver edged sword at his throat.
Phibrizzo grinned and caught the blade between his index finger and thumb. He whispered, "Naughty girl. That won't work," before thrusting his other hand into Lina's chest. He admonished her as he forced his hand past bone and into moist softness, "Honestly, Inverse. I really expected a little bit of fight out of you."
Gourry looked on in horror as Lina's body tensed up. He saw her sword fall from her fingers and heard her gasp in agony as the Hellmaster tortured her. He screamed, "LINA!"
The Sword of Light dimmed.
Phibrizzo grinned as he found what he was looking for. He whispered to Lina, "I think we've got it now." There was a sickening slurp as he pulled his arm free of her body. He contemplated the gory mess he was holding for a moment before muttering, "Is it her heart? Damn, I can never tell when the stuff is still wet." He held the bloody chunk of flesh up for Gourry's inspection. "What do you think it is Gourry?"
Gourry ignored the Hellmaster and instead watched Lina fall to her knees, then onto her face, quite dead.
The Sword of Light flickered briefly and then extinguished altogether.
Gourry dropped his weapon as he screamed Lina's name over and over.
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Next Chapter: Hellmaster triumphant…
Notes: I'd just like to start these notes by saying that I wasn't going to post this chapter until Monday. HOWEVER, certain parties who shall remain nameless have coerced me into uploading early.
How about that for an ending, eh? A lot of dialogue in the middle there. And some action at the end. All in all, a nice balanced chapter if I do say so myself. Oh, and Lina's dead. Sorry about that.
Reader Response:
Pogo would you stop reading my mind please?! I mean honestly, mentioning the SoL early and all the other stuff you've written. Did you know that I had written the Demons for Dummies bit before we had our "for dummies" conversation? Strange coincidence.
Miss Gabriev, you think the truth about Zel's identity has been revealed? All of it? Hardly. And as far as I know, there's not really a Demons for Dummies. Given all the other books though, there may very well be. Paula was the daughter of Calli that Hallas was going to marry. And who said that Martina was a defender of love and justice?
Stara, I was wondering if you were reading this story. You think Gourry's kind of been dumbed down like he was in Try huh? I was watching Try when I wrote this so maybe it rubbed off a bit. I'm back on the first season again so Gourry might get smarter now. Who knows?
Zaber, I hate the heat. That's probably why Xellos took me there right? "Having a great time?" Ugh, excuse me. I have to go and be sick now…
I forgot to mention it last time, but thanks to my overworked, virus infested (her computer, not her), underpaid beta reader Boo-san!
'Till next time!