A long moment passed in the ruins of Lina's old home as Alfred and the others stared at each other. Nobody dared make a move.
Finally, Lina cleared her throat and took a small step towards Alfred. "Why don't you give me the knife?" she asked in a soothing tone. "Give me the knife and we'll get rid of the spiders, alright?" There were no spiders to be seen, but Lina knew that she probably wouldn't be able to explain that to Alfred.
Xellos glared at Alfred distastefully and, unnoticed by the others, disappeared into the shadows.
"Give you the knife?!" Alfred said incredulously, "What am I supposed to kill the spiders with?!" He glared at Lina with such venom that she flinched. "You did this to me! This is all your fault!" He pointed his dagger at her threateningly.
"Hold on just a second buddy," Gourry said angrily. He stepped forward and placed himself between Lina and Alfred. He put a hand on his sword and crouched down slightly. One wrong move from Alfred and Gourry would bring a swift end to his life, given the acrobat's delusional state that could happen at any moment.
"Wait Mr. Gourry! Don't hurt him!" Amelia begged. "He's not himself." She turned to Alfred and took a deep breath before asking, "Alfred, why is this Miss Lina's fault?"
"She sent the spider, Amelia!" Alfred bellowed as if this should be the most obvious thing in the world. He glanced down at the large spider, now content to sit quietly on his cheek, and giggled. "Did you know that she's female? The spider I mean." He looked down at the hundreds of much smaller arachnids covering every inch of his body. They all stared at him with their ruby eyes.
"You talked to a boy didn't you?" Lina asked, never taking her eyes off Alfred's dagger. "What did he tell you?"
"That's right," Alfred said with a slow nod. "He'd be really mad if I forgot the message. He said that you're the reason that I'm going to die. And not just me," he said while looking around at the rest of the group, "All your friends too. It will be your fault."
Lina's glared at Alfred determinedly. "Where is he Alfred? I know that he told you."
"He knows," Alfred said, nodding at Gourry. "He was there with the ghosts a few nights ago, an abandoned building by the waterfront."
Amelia quietly knelt down and scooped some small stones up from the ruined floor.
"Gourry, do you remember where that is?" Lina quickly asked the swordsman. Seeing that he was still totally focused on Alfred, she smacked him in the back of the head, "Gourry, pay attention!"
"Huh?" Gourry said, startled by Lina's slap. He nodded quickly and said, "Yeah, I remember. The street where Zangulus and I saw the dead guys right?"
"Thank Ceiphied," Alfred said with a sigh of relief. "He told me that I can kill the spider now." He raised the dagger, intending to plunge it into his own face, when the blade was knocked free of his hand by a thrown rock. "No!" he shrieked as he saw the dagger land a few feet away.
Sensing his hostile intentions, the spider on Alfred's face reared back intending to plunge its fangs into his eye.
Without a moment's hesitation, Amelia hurled a second stone, which struck Alfred between the eyes rendering him safely unconscious. She quickly darted over and snatched his dagger off the ground before turning back to make sure that he was okay.
"That was impressive Amelia," Lina said, her voice full of awe. "How'd you do that?"
"Oh, well you know. You have to be precise when you juggle." Amelia knelt down beside her cousin and checked his injury. "And it's not the first time I've hit him in the face with something."
A small trickle of blood flowed from Alfred's forehead, but it didn't appear that there was any permanent damage. If anything, he actually looked like he was resting comfortably. He was probably relieved to be free of his nightmare.
"Let's go," Lina said. "Xellos can take care of… damn it!" She looked around noting for the first time that the priest was nowhere to be found. "He's never around when I need him!"
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"She'll be coming soon," Hellmaster said. "Then I'll kill her and this whole mess will be done with. A pity you won't be around to see it, eh Sylphiel?" He glanced up at the woman expecting tears or something of that nature. He was somewhat shaken when he saw her smiling.
"Do you find something amusing about your situation?" Hellmaster snarled as he dragged her up the stairs to the front door of his lair. He read her mind to find the cause of her enigmatic smile.
Afraid, Slypheil thought that he, the greatest of Lord Shabranigdo's servants, was afraid of a handful of pitiful mortals.
"Stupid woman," Hellmaster spat as he kicked the door open. "You think I fear Lina Inverse? I could squash her and her companions at any time that I want." He dragged Sylphiel forcefully down the dark hallway until he came to the door leading to the basement.
More visions from Slypheil; the Sword of Light, his injuries, caused by Lina and the others, his cowardly flight from Lina, how had Slypheil gotten so far into his mind?
Hellmaster eyed Sylphiel curiously. "How did you do that?" he muttered. "How did you see?"
Sylphiel stayed silent, that infuriating smile still on her face.
Hellmaster struggled to contain his temper. It wouldn't do to rip the impudent woman to shreds just yet. He yanked the door to the basement open and began to tug her forcefully down the stairs. "Funny, really funny, right Sylphiel? You think that old Hellmaster's just shaking in his boots don't you? Now you listen to me you little bitch! I fear nothing, least of all one of Xellos's pathetic pets," he snarled as the made their way down the stairs into the hot darkness.
Sylphiel gagged at the scent of death that hung heavily in the air. How could it be that nobody outside of the building could smell this stench?
"It doesn't take much effort to convince people to ignore what they don't want to know," Hellmaster said in answer to her unspoken question. They reached the bottom of the stairs and he shoved Sylphiel ahead of him towards a door at the end of a short hallway. "Go in there and wait. I've got work to do. After all," he said sarcastically, "I've got to protect myself from Lina and the others right?"
Sylphiel advanced reluctantly towards the portal, carried by a body unwilling to respond to her commands. Harsh red light spilled out from under the door and the smell worsened considerably as she approached. She reached out and grasped the doorknob. A moment later, she had flung the door open. She squinted at the contents of the large room struggling to comprehend what she was looking at.
Hellmaster was busying himself with a couple of rather ripe corpses at the base of the stairs when he heard Sylphiel shriek. "That's what they all say," he muttered as he continued to work.
The bodies Hellmaster was working with had been a couple of drunks that he had deemed unworthy of being used in his art. They would do just fine for what he needed now though.
Hellmaster forced his knife into the bloated belly of the first corpse and drew it upwards, neatly laying its abdomen open. "Afraid?" he sneered tossing the knife aside in favor of working with his hands. "Afraid?!" he repeated angrily. He plunged his arm into the rotting mess and quickly found the heart. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the soft tissue within his hand.
The hallway appeared to shift and contort. What little light there had been was snuffed out leaving the area to be illuminated only by the inhuman glow of Hellmaster's eyes. The air crackled with dark energy and then there was movement.
A heartbeat, irregular at first, but quickly remembering its old rhythm the heart within the Hellmaster's grasp began to throb with new life.
Hellmaster removed his hand from the body and shook the jellylike blood from his arm. Unconsciously, he sighed with relief as he watched the once dead body begin to stir. He quickly repeated the process with the other corpse with similar results. Moment's later two dead men knelt at his feet.
Hellmaster grinned wickedly. "Grau and Grou," he said while nodding in approval. "Two of Hell's most loyal servants."
The demons stared up at Hellmaster silently, an unearthly fire burning in their eyes.
Hellmaster pointed to the stairs and said, "Go forth and make the mortals despair. Hell has finally come to this sad little world." After a moment's hesitation he added, "And if you happen to see a redheaded Slayer and a blond swordsman kill them quickly."
Wordlessly, the two horrors shambled to their feet and ploddingly made their way up the stairs, dragging their loose intestines behind them.
Hellmaster watched them go with a hopeful look on his face. He'd never been this close to completing his mission before. Even when he'd fought Rezo all those years ago, he hadn't been strong enough to summon his forces to the mortal world. Taking a deep breath, he stiffened up and his eyes slid closed.
For the briefest of moments, Hellmaster was no longer a part of Phibrizzo. He had reached out to touch every dead thing in the city of Sairaag. They answered his call eagerly.
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In the darkness of his crypt, Zelgadis's eyes flew open. He sensed that it wasn't quite dark yet, so why had he awakened? Suspicious now, he stretched his supernatural senses to their limits, trying to discern what had awoken him.
There. A faint scraping sound echoed through the tomb.
"Zolf?" Zelgadis called out hopefully as he donned his cloak. "Is that you?"
The scraping sound continued as Zelgadis hung his sword at his side. Whatever this was, it wasn't Zolf.
Zelgadis sniffed the air and noticed that something had changed.
The crypt had always been somewhat musty, given the fact that long dead priests were interred here. But now the smell was stronger and more offensive then it had ever been.
"What the hell?" Zelgadis muttered as he felt something move across his foot. He looked down to see one of the rats he had fed upon the night before staring up at him with dead glassy eyes, or most of it anyway. Apparently, in his frenzy Zelgadis had torn this particular rodent in half. That fact didn't seem to be causing it any distress though.
Zelgadis looked up to see the skeletal remains of priests clad in tattered robes lurching towards him. He barely had time to draw his sword before they were upon him.
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Amelia watched Lina curiously, noting that at times the redhead would stand close to Gourry and chat with him, almost happily despite their current situation, while at other times she'd walk a few steps behind him with a gloomy expression on her face.
Deciding that in this situation true love may need a little help, Amelia tugged on Lina's sleeve during one of the moments that she was brooding quietly. "Miss Lina, what's the matter?"
Lina looked at Amelia, a look of surprise on her face. She muttered sarcastically, "Do you mean besides the fact that we're on our way to fight the most powerful demon in creation?"
Amelia nodded hesitantly. "Well actually, yes." She stole a quick glance at Gourry before leaning close to Lina and whispering, "Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"
Lina tripped over her own feet and went sprawling face first on the ground. Quickly picking herself up, she brushed the dust off her cloak while glaring at Amelia.
"Did I say something wrong?" Amelia asked nervously.
Lina was about to answer when she heard the sound of screaming. Forgetting about Amelia's question, she turned her attention to business. "What's going on Gourry?" she asked while jumping up in a futile attempt to see over the crowd ahead of them.
Amelia being even shorter than Lina was in a similar predicament. She looked around briefly before spotting a low hanging signboard nearby. She sprinted and vaulted off of Gourry's back. A moment later, she was perched comfortably over the now panicking crowd. She shaded her eyes, trying to block the rays of the setting sun and shuddered in horror at what she saw.
About twenty yards down the street, two men were shambling in the direction of Lina and the others. Both looked as if they should have been dead.
The first of the two hunched over as jagged, bony protrusions erupted violently from his back, a moment later, and they had encased his body in a makeshift suit of armor. When he was finally done changing he looked like a hideous white crab. As Amelia watched, he reached out and impaled a fleeing man on one of his jagged spikes.
The other was even more terrible. While the first was a creature of bone, this one's blood was its weapon. Dozens of solid strands of gore shot out of its arms, easily attaining lengths of ten feet or more. A moment later, it was whipping these strands through the crowd, mowing people down like wheat.
"Huh, there's something you don't see every day."
Amelia looked up to see a battered and bruised Zelgadis standing on the roof, coolly eyeing the situation. "Mr. Zelgadis!" she yelled, relieved to see him back after his mysterious departure earlier that day.
Zelgadis nodded at Amelia and said, "Stay there," before leaping from the roof and landing in the street beside Lina.
"Zel, ow!" Lina said as a large man shoved her aside in his haste to flee the area. "What in the hell's going on up there?!" she asked as she took cover behind Gourry.
Zelgadis nodded, "Hell's a good way to describe it. I'd say that the Hellmaster's finally decided to get serious."
Lina was about to ask what Zelgadis meant when the crowd parted to reveal the two demons standing amidst the carnage. "Oh," she said as she drew her sword. "Hey!" she called out, "Why don't you guys pick on somebody your own size?"
"They're a lot taller than you Lina," Gourry pointed out helpfully as he drew the Sword of Light.
Lina smacked her forehead in frustration and mumbled, "Figure of speech, Gourry. It's a figure of speech!"
Grau and Grou stared at the small group of mortals that had foolishly challenged them. They noted the medallion hanging around Lina's neck and the Sword of Light within Gourry's grasp and came to the logical conclusion.
"A redheaded Slayer…" Grau rumbled in a deep voice.
"…and a blond swordsman," Grou finished in a voice like crystal.
Moving as one, the two misshapen creatures charged Lina and the others.
Gourry and Lina glanced at each other and silently agreed upon a plan. Gourry moved to the right while Lina sprinted to the left. As planned the two demons split up in an attempt to kill them both.
Lina had her hands deflecting the seemingly infinite tendrils of Grou. She glanced down at one unfortunate soul who had been sliced neatly in two. It wouldn't do to let her guard down with this one. "So," she said cheerfully as she ducked a decapitating strike, "What brings you to our world? I can tell you that the booze isn't that good, and Sairaag isn't a nice tourist spot."
"Flippancy won't save you from death," was Grou's terse answer. He pulled one of the tendrils from his body and shaped it into a spear before flinging it at Lina with all his demonic strength.
"Yikes!" Lina yelped as she ducked the javelin, which passed harmlessly through the back of her cloak. She muttered, "You're probably a lot of fun at parties aren't you?" as she glanced over her shoulder and saw the weapon strike a brick wall behind her. This did little to slow its momentum and it continued on. She didn't get to see where it finally ended up, as she was forced to defend herself against another onslaught from the demon.
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Hellmaster listened to the screams coming from the street and smiled. "They work quick. Okay, back to business." He turned and opened the door leading to his inner sanctum. He rolled his eyes when he saw Sylphiel curled up on the floor crying. "What now?" he asked mockingly. "You don't like my decorations?" He walked past her and took a seat on a pile of corpses. He looked at Sylphiel and thought for a moment.
Something was not right here. Usually people that saw Hellmaster's work would be ranting and raving, their minds destroyed. All Sylphiel was doing was crying a little. Honestly, he was a little disappointed. Not to mention disconcerted. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing some vital bit of information.
"Hey!" Hellmaster said as he stood. He walked over and gave Sylphiel a hard kick in the ribs. "What are you hiding?"
Sylphiel glared up at Phibrizzo defiantly, causing him to take an involuntary step backwards.
"Oh, you want to play?" Hellmaster sneered. "Fine, we've got time for a game or two before we get to work." With that, he forced himself into Sylphiel's mind.
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"Hmm, you're a tough nut to crack, aren't you?" Gourry muttered as he struck at Grau's throat. The Sword of Light slid along the bony carapace, cutting only a small divot when it should have taken the demon's head.
"Bleed," Grau commanded as he clumsily swung a jagged arm at Gourry. His blow was easily ducked and the demon ended up imbedding its arm up to the elbow in a nearby wall.
"And strong too," Gourry added as he darted in and cut along Grau's exposed ribs with little result. He quickly hopped back to avoid a backhanded swing by the demon. "You'll have to do a lot better than that," he said with a grin. He twirled the Sword of Light in front of himself and beckoned his opponent forward.
As expected, Grau grunted in anger and pursued the swordsman, uncaring that Gourry was leading him into a narrow alley. A moment later he blinked in surprise and looked around. Both of his shoulders were scraping the walls, severely hindering his movement.
Gourry quipped, "You're a real genius, aren't you?" as he stung the demon's hide with a couple more quick blows.
Grau roared in anger and reached out towards Gourry, intending to crush the swordsman's head within his grasp.
Gourry casually sidestepped the almost comically slow grab attempt by his opponent and swung at the inside of the demon's elbow. The feel of soft flesh giving way beneath his blade and Grau's agonized roar rewarded his efforts.
An instant later, Grau's forearm crashed to alley floor and twitched for a moment before laying still.
"Kind of soft around the joints aren't you, huh?" Gourry said with a satisfied nod as he took another step back. "I'll take you apart yet."
Grau glared at Gourry with hate filled eyes. He clutched at the stump of his right arm and grunted. There was a popping noise and splintered bone sprung out of the wound and shaped itself into a new arm. He grinned and took another plodding step towards his opponent.
Gourry nodded, quite unperturbed, and said, "Alright, this might take a little longer than I thought, but I'll still cut you down to size."
Grau grinned, a rudimentary plan slowly formulating in his mind, as he attacked again.
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Zelgadis and Amelia watched both of the conflicts from the rooftop.
Amelia bit her lip nervously and hopped from foot to foot as she looked from Zelgadis, to the battles, and finally back at Zelgadis. "Don't you think-" she started to ask.
Zelgadis cut her off with a raised hand. He muttered, "Let me think for a moment, please." Noting that Gourry seemed to have things well in hand, and that Lina was struggling to find an opening with her own opponent, he made his decision. "Right. Amelia, you wait here. If anything happens to us, I want you to run."
"But-" Amelia began to protest.
"No buts!" Zelgadis said angrily. "I want you to run. And don't look back." He drew his sword and stepped over to the edge of the roof. Taking one last look at the acrobat, he leapt down into the fray.
"Hey, hold on a second!" Lina demanded as Grou continued his onslaught. "This isn't really fair you know!" she yelled as she sliced two more tentacles in half only to have four new ones replace them.
"Fair?" Grou repeated, briefly halting his attack. "What do you think would be fair mortal?" he asked curiously.
Lina thought for a moment before answering. "Well, maybe if you didn't attack me with so many of those things at once," she said while gesturing at Grou's tentacles. "There's not really much I can do against that," she added with an adorable pout.
Grou nodded in agreement. "I see." He concentrated briefly and there were suddenly twice as many limbs as before. "Is this better?" he asked as he resumed his assault.
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Gourry gracefully danced in and out, the Sword of Light a blur as he continued to wound Grau.
Grau roared and swung his right arm at Gourry, totally missing and imbedding it in the wall. He repeated this action with the left with identical results. He feigned helplessness, appearing to struggle to disengage himself from the walls.
Gourry smirked as he stepped in to deliver the killing blow. Without its limbs to protect it, he could easily drive the Sword of Light into its chest. Why was it smiling then?
Grau roared and yanked his arms free of the walls, bringing most of the surrounding structures down upon him and Gourry. While he would be protected from the falling debris, he doubted that the swordsman had the same luxury. He was right.
To his credit, Gourry realized what Grau was planning just before the walls came down. He actually managed to jump clear of the worst of the debris, but was struck by stray brick and rendered painfully unconscious.
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Zelgadis heard the buildings collapse behind him but paid it no heed. His business was with the demon harassing Lina. He leapt high into the air as he drew his sword. He hissed in anticipation as he reached the apex of his jump and began to fall upon the unsuspecting demon below.
Lina saw what Zelgadis intended to do and stepped up her own attack. She rushed in on Grou, leaving herself wide open to attack. She was counting on Zelgadis felling the demon before it had a chance to kill her.
Grou, relying on senses far beyond those of mortals, had sensed Zelgadis's approach moments before. He had felt the pressure of the air on his back caused by Zelgadis's descent. He had heard the hiss of anticipation. Finally, for a split second, he had seen Zelgadis's translucent reflection in Lina's sword.
All in all, Zelgadis's surprise attack was anything but.
Ignoring Lina for the time being, Grou diverted his tentacles upwards and grinned as he felt Zelgadis impale himself upon them.
Lina gasped as she saw Zelgadis skewered. Four of the whips of blood pierced his abdomen in various places. Another had punctured his sword arm, while a final one had been driven through his throat and out the back of his neck.
Zelgadis's body twitched spastically and the sword fell from his limp grasp. A moment later, it clattered to the street below.
Grou flung Zelgadis's limp body aside like so much garbage and turned his attention back to Lina. "Now, where were we?" he asked with a giggle.
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Next Chapter: Zelgadis falls.
Notes: Fun chapter. I really get a kick out of writing action. Well now that Zelgadis is dead, does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement? Maybe Jillas or something.
Reader Response:
Horrendously confused Pogo? Good! That means I haven't given too much away.
Miss Gabriev, I thought that you hated Sylphiel. And now you want her to survive? Make up your mind!
Otaku girl, another victim of arachnophobia huh? Glad to know it creeped you out.
CT, you liked the strangulation bit? Cool. I thought it was pretty funny myself.
Xelena, you read 7 chapters in one sitting?! You're a real glutton for punishment, huh? Just kidding. Glad you're enjoying it.
Zaber, you realize that I'd die if I ever woke up with a spider on my face right? *shivers* You'll never catch me in a place where spiders get to be as big as your hand either.
Boo, thanks for your hard work on the betaing. I know the fragments are tough to deal with, but I'll do better I promise.
Masaki I meant it. There's no such thing as an expendable character. And Sylphiel is a favorite of mine. Honestly people! She is! Um, can't say that I've ever read "Faces: Finale". Maybe I'll get around to it sooner or later.