Happy Holidays, everyone! On the advice of Otaku Girl (something she suggested a month ago), I've decided to post an extra chapter this week. Hope you enjoy it.
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In the hours just after midnight when every sane person would be comfortably asleep, a single candle burned in a window, betraying the fact that Sairaag's residents weren't all totally sane.
Inside the dimly lit chamber, tomes of all shapes and sizes were scattered haphazardly about. Most pertained to the subject of anatomy or surgery. In one corner of the room, a squalid little pallet, it's sheets yellow with neglect, gathered flies. The center of the room was taken up by a large worktable.
Painted on the surface of the bench were several rust brown marks indicating that a spell of preservation had been cast upon it. Decay would never touch anything lying on the table. Strewn out along the surface of the bench were cruel looking cutting tools, their edges marred by rust, but sharp nonetheless. A half eaten plate of chicken lay on one corner. A large black rat nibbled at a drumstick until a gore stained hand shooed it away.
The owner of the hand picked up a drumstick and munched on it while muttering, "And the knee bone is connected to the hip bone. No wait, that isn't right…" The stout little man with wild hair and a bushy gray beard paused in his work to scratch his head confusedly. His arms were coated in gore up to the elbows, which resulted in his leaving a red streak in his already dirty hair. "Damn it all," he muttered darkly, "this isn't going at all how I expected."
The project that he was referring to was a cadaver that was lying on the bench before him. It's body had been cut open from throat to abdomen and the old man was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to add a second heart to the chest cavity.
"Now, you would expect something like this to work," he mused as he referenced one of his myriad medical tomes. "You would think that if one heart is good, two would be better, wouldn't you?" he asked the corpse.
Vrumugun's pale lifeless face stared at the mad surgeon.
"I just don't get it. At this rate my super Slayer will never be finished," he said as he went to sit down on the cot. Something crinkled as he lowered his weight onto it. "Hello, what's this?" he said, pulling Vrumugun's cloak out from under himself. He vaguely remembered tossing it in the corner after stripping it off the body.
A sheaf of papers fell out of a pocket and scattered along the floor.
"Hmm," the surgeon mused as he picked the pages up. "Official reports, how dull," he said in a disappointed tone. He was about to drop the pages on the floor when something caught his eye. "A rogue Slayer," he muttered. Rogues were supposed to be put to death anyway, so there wouldn't be much of an uproar if one were to suddenly vanish. "And who is this rogue?" he asked as he turned the page over. "Lina Inverse. Hmm, where have I heard the name of Inverse before?" He looked up thoughtfully as he stroked his beard. "Of course!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up, "Luna Inverse! One of the most talented servants of the church! This rogue must be related to her in some way and if she has half the talent of Luna, she'd make a fine addition to my project!" The man began to cackle madly and danced around the room. "Now there's just the small matter of finding her…"
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Lina looked at her travel worn clothes laid out on the bed. "Hmm, do I want to wear the burgundy outfit?" She grimaced as she held up Sylphiel's shirt. "Or the kitten print?" She tapped her cheek thoughtfully and muttered, "Decisions, decisions," with a playful grin on her face.
A moment later, the adorable pink shirt went sailing through the air and came to rest in Lina's bag atop her stuffed Zanafar doll. She was almost done packing.
Lina tried to whistle a cheery tune as she began to get dressed. She had never been very good at it and half of her notes came out silently or off key, but it didn't diminish her spirits a bit. On the contrary, it seemed to bring home the fact that after so long, everything was finally back to normal again.
Buttoning up her blouse, Lina stole a quick look at herself in the mirror, marveling at the difference in her appearance. Her once fiery locks had undergone a major change since her journey through Hell. Chalk it up to stress, magic, or divine intervention, but now there were strands of silver intermingled with the crimson ones on her head. She'd pouted when she first noticed the change, thinking that it made her look old, but now she actually kind of liked it. Far from hampering her appearance, the silvery hair actually seemed to compliment her, giving her a pleasant glow that she hadn't possessed before.
Reluctantly, Lina pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. It seemed to diminish the lustrous effect somewhat, but it was going to be warm that day and the last thing she needed on the road was a mass of hot hair on the back of her neck.
"On the road again," Lina quietly mused as she fastened the clasp on her cape. "It's been too long." After an agonizing long month of bedridden recovery, she was finally ready to face the world again. Admittedly, there was no way that she should have recovered from her injuries in a month, but she wasn't complaining.
Sitting on the bed, Lina ran a hand along her formerly broken leg thoughtfully. Sylphiel had told her that even if she ever walked again, it would be with a pronounced limp. The break had been pretty awful. But now…
Lina giggled and wiggled her toes before putting on her boots. "Life is good," she said, dismissing the dark thoughts about her health. There was no time for that! There was too much to see and do.
There was the sound of approaching footsteps and Sylphiel's muffled voice drifted through the door. "Miss Lina, I was just going out to the market and was wondering if you needed anything."
Lina scowled and hastily said, "No, I'm fine! Have a good time though!" The last thing she needed was a lecture from Sylphiel about how she should still be in bed. The woman was like a mother hen. She reached out to grab her sword off the nightstand and accidentally knocked a glass onto the floor, where it loudly shattered.
"Are you all right?" Sylphiel asked concernedly.
"I'm okay!" Lina yelled a little too loudly. "I just broke a glass, that's all." She groaned as the door opened.
Sylphiel entered the room, broom in hand. "Well, I'll clean it up. I don't want you to-" She paused momentarily, noticing that Lina was not only out of bed against her orders, but packing her things. "What do you think you're doing Miss Lina?" she asked, eyeing the younger girl suspiciously.
Lina put a hand behind her head and chuckled nervously. "I thought that it was such a nice day outside that it'd be a real shame to waste it sitting in bed, so I, uh…"
Sylphiel crossed her arms angrily. "You're leaving, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah," Lina said as if it should be obvious. "I've saved the day and my work here is done, so," she said as she hefted her knapsack, "it's about time for me to be moving on. The creatures of the night aren't going to kill themselves you know." She smiled at Sylphiel wistfully. "It's been fun though. Thanks for all your help. Bye."
Sylphiel glared as Lina guiltily skulked past her towards the door. "I can't believe that you're not even going to say goodbye," she said after a moment.
Lina reluctantly stopped at the door and gave Sylphiel a sheepish look. "I thought that I just did," she said quietly.
"You know what I mean, Miss Lina!" Sylphiel snapped. "What about Mr. Zelgadis and Miss Amelia? You're just going to walk away without saying a word to them?"
"Well yeah, that was the plan," Lina said with a hesitant nod.
You… You… I can't believe you!" Sylphiel said, throwing her arms up in frustration.
"Jeez, calm down Sylphiel," Lina muttered. She found that she was unable to make eye contact with the healer. "It's not that big a deal. Zel will be glad to have me out of his hair and Amelia's so busy working at the circus that she probably won't even notice that I'm gone." She quickly stepped out into the hallway in hopes of avoiding any more of Sylphiel's guilt trip.
"And what about Gourry dear?" Sylphiel asked, storming into the hall after Lina.
"What about him?" Lina asked angrily. Sylphiel was really starting to get on her nerves.
"He'll be terribly upset if you leave without talking to him." Sylphiel smiled hopefully as an idea came to her. "Besides, don't you want to see what he's been working on?"
"Honestly, I couldn't care less." Lina forced a grin. "Gourry'll be fine. Cook him something nice for dinner and he'll forget all about me. Anyway," she added hastily, "I don't need some dumb guy who thinks he's my protector following me around and getting in my way."
"Gourry dear is not a dumb guy! He's very sweet!" Sylphiel protested
"So why don't you marry him if you think he's so damn sweet?!" Lina growled. "That's all it is with you! 'Gourry dear' this and 'Gourry dear' that! It's so annoying, I could scream!"
Sylphiel looked incredibly crestfallen. "I-I'm sorry…" she stammered.
Lina rolled her eyes and yelled, "And stop apologizing for everything! I don't want to hear it! Why do you have to make everything so damn difficult?"
"Difficult?" Sylphiel said confusedly.
Lina sighed and shook her head dismissively. Sylphiel wouldn't understand how well Lina had everything figured out. If she left town without anyone knowing, she wouldn't have to deal with all these conflicting feelings.
On one hand, she wanted to find Gourry and apologize for hurting his feelings. She was sure that she had. The pain in his voice had revealed that to her. She wanted to experience that kiss that they had almost shared a few nights ago and, quite simply, just wanted to be with him. It would be so easy to wait for him to return later on that evening, sit down with him, and somehow try to explain to him exactly what she was feeling.
The simple reality of the situation was that she couldn't allow that to happen. If she wasn't around Gourry, she wouldn't have to worry about him getting hurt. And he almost certainly would, if she stayed. He had none of her experience when it came to hunting the dark creatures. Besides, if she wasn't with him, if she didn't have to acknowledge that she felt something for him, maybe she could avoid fulfilling Martina's prophecy. And why would he want to be with her anyway? He had Sylphiel who was prettier than Lina was. Not to mention more girly. And she could cook. And…
Lina shook her head angrily. That was enough of that. The bottom line was that jellyfish for brains just didn't know what was good for him. But she was sure that she wasn't.
Two sleepless nights spent agonizing over the possibilities and in the end, something that Luna had told her several years ago had decided things for Lina.
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"Lina, you have to learn to simplify things," Luna had said, showing infinite patience with her younger sister.
"What's that mean, Sis?" Lina had asked, her face smudged with ink. She'd been trying to figure out some mathematical equations that Luna had assigned her and had been quite frustrated at that point.
Luna leaned over the table and tapped a spot on the parchment. "Don't try to do everything at once," she had said. "Break the problem down to its components and solve them one at a time." She took Lina's quill and jotted some numbers down on the paper. "See?"
Lina had seen and Sis's advice had worked splendidly.
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Just like it was going to work now. Gourry was needlessly complicating the equation, so the best thing to do was to take him out of it. Or at least, that's what Lina assumed that Luna had meant. She didn't really remember anything about throwing part of the equation out completely, but it was the about the same thing, right?
Lina looked up at Sylphiel determinedly and said, "I'm going." She turned and opened the door meaning to leave. A large flying parcel struck her in the face, knocking her off her feet. "What the hell?!"
"Oh, it's the morning post," Sylphiel said helpfully. She removed the bundle of papers from Lina's lap and undid the twine binding them together. "I do wish that the postman would be more careful," she said disapprovingly as she began to sort through the mail. "Someone might have been hurt."
Lina opened her mouth to say that she was someone, but decided to drop it. While Sylphiel was distracted, she might have a chance to slip away unnoticed. On top of that, she might be able to catch up to the postman and vent some frustration. Her decision made, she crept quietly towards the door.
"Oh, Miss Lina. Don't you want your mail?" Sylphiel asked while holding up an envelope.
"I have mail?" Lina wondered aloud, suddenly forgetting that she was planning to leave. "How can that be? Nobody knows that I'm here." She took the offered envelope and read, "To Miss Lina Inverse. Yeah, that's me. I guess it's not a mistake then." She flipped the envelope over and examined it. "No address or return address. That's odd."
"Maybe it's a fan letter," Sylphiel suggested helpfully.
"A fan letter?" Lina muttered quizzically as she opened the envelope. "Sylphiel, why would I be getting fan mail?"
"Because of all the good that you do!" Sylphiel said enthusiastically.
Lina rolled her eyes. "Yeah. All those good deeds that nobody knows about. Let's see…" She began to read the flowing script.
To Miss Lina Inverse,
I trust that this letter finds you well. I do hope that you'll forgive me for getting right to the point.
Word of your deeds has quickly spread throughout Sairaag and I would like to be the first to congratulate you on your exemplary work in dealing with the Hellmaster. Such a monumental task could not have been easy and I must tell you that you have my utmost admiration.
"You see?" Sylphiel said happily, reading over Lina's shoulder, "It is a fan letter!"
Lina frowned and muttered, "But how does anyone know about that?" She looked at Sylphiel and said, "Only a few people even knew that Hellmaster was here." She sighed and read on.
Regretfully, I must confess that I did not write for the singular purpose of extolling your skill. I have a quandary that might benefit from your expertise. If it pleases you, I would very much like to arrange a meeting to discuss the possibility of offering you employment for which…
"Forget it," Lina said. This sounded like it was going to involve staying in Sairaag and that was definitely out of the question. She balled the letter up and tossed it casually over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Sylphiel asked as she picked up the crumpled parchment. "You didn't even finish reading it!"
"So?" Lina said with a shrug.
Sylphiel smoothed out the paper and said, "If they took the time to write to you, the least you can do is take a moment to read it." She smiled and offered the letter to Lina. "It's only polite, you know."
Lina sighed and took the paper. "I wonder about you sometimes, Sylphiel."
…possibility of offering you employment for which you would be paid the modest sum of 1000 gold coins with the potential for more if the problem is handled discreetly and efficiently. If interested, you'll find a map on the reverse side of the page. I'll be waiting at the location indicated at midnight tonight. I very much look forward to meeting you in person.
Lina's heart skipped a beat when she read the offer. A thousand? With the potential for more? She'd never even seen a thousand before. Whoever this guy was, he knew how to get her attention. Speaking of which…
Flipping the page over, Lina found the map as promised. "But, there's no signature," she said dubiously. "Something doesn't feel right about this."
"Maybe he just ran out of ink before he could sign it," Sylphiel suggested.
"Uh, I seriously doubt that." Lina frowned. There was definitely something off about the whole situation, but she had a sinking feeling that she knew where she'd be at midnight. The offer was too intriguing to pass up.
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"Do you think she'll like it, Mr. Gourry?" Amelia excitedly asked for the hundredth time that day. She was hammering a nail into the floor and painfully smashed her thumb when she looked up to talk to Gourry. "Ow."
Gourry grinned and gave Amelia the same answer that he always did. "I hope so." He carefully laid a plank in place on the floor and began to nail it down. He really did hope that Lina liked it. Especially, after the way she had acted a few nights ago. It had hurt his feelings when she had sent him away. He must have done something wrong. "Oh," he said thoughtfully, "maybe it was because I tried to kiss her." Although, hadn't she been the one who had instigated it? It was kind of confusing. "Okay," he said after a moment, "I won't kiss her. That should make everything better." Satisfied with his logic, he swung the hammer down and smashed his thumb. "Ow."
A few minutes later, hammers laid aside and bandages applied, Amelia and Gourry leaned against the wall and appreciated their fruits of their labor. Lina's old home, once a burned out husk of a building, was quickly looking like its old self under their ministrations.
Getting the deed to the property and the funding had been surprisingly easy. Zelgadis had been more than happy to arrange for both on the promise that Lina was not to be told of his involvement. Gourry and Amelia had happily agreed.
Amelia took a long drought of water from her canteen and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "So, where'd you learn to do all this?" she asked Gourry, gesturing to the construction. She was a little surprised that he was adept at something besides swordplay.
"Hmm?" Gourry said, looking up from his blueprint. "Ah, you learn a lot of things when you're raised in a small village. Everyone was always helping each other out, building houses, hunting, and stuff."
Amelia smiled. "It sounds really nice. Why'd you leave?"
"I wanted to see the big city," Gourry said with a shrug. "Village life was nice, but it was really boring. What about you?"
"Me?" Amelia asked, pointing at herself.
"Yeah. Where'd you grow up, Amelia?"
Amelia smiled sadly. "Wherever we stopped, I guess. I've been with the circus as long as I can remember. My mom died when I was very young and my daddy..." She unconsciously fingered the ornate ring hanging around her neck as she continued, "Well, I don't know what happened to my daddy. Uncle Christopher told me that he died of the plague, but…" She chuckled and said, "It's silly, but a part of me wants to believe that he's living a happy life somewhere."
"Well, I don't think it's silly," Gourry said as he laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back. "So what's the deal with the ring?"
Amelia's face lit up and she scooted over so that Gourry could get a good look at the gold band. "Uncle Christopher gave this to me when I was five," she explained excitedly. "It used to belong to daddy. Isn't it pretty?"
Gourry nodded. It was rather nice. A modest ruby lay in a fitting etched with strange designs. "What are these?" he asked, pointing at the markings on the band.
"That's Seyruunian," Amelia explained.
"Seyruunian?"
"Yeah. It's a language from one of the old kingdoms. Before Rezo the First came to power a thousand years ago, there was a small kingdom by the name of Seyruun."
"So, what happened to it?"
"Oh," Amelia said quietly, "it was wiped out in the great war." She smiled and added, "In the long run it was probably better for all of us. After all, it's been relatively peaceful since the holy empire was formed. The old kingdoms were always squabbling over one thing or another." She sighed. "A lot of people needlessly died back then. But, my family still uses the language. Even if Seyruun was one of a bunch of bickering kingdoms, it's still a part of my family's history."
"Wow," Gourry said, looking up.
"Wasn't that an interesting story?" Amelia asked happily.
"I guess so, but I was talking about that," Gourry said, pointing at the dark clouds gathering overhead.
Amelia asked, "What about them?" as the clouds rumbled ominously.
Gourry grinned sheepishly as thick raindrops began to fall on their newly finished floor. "They make me think that we should have put the roof up first."
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"Whacha doing, Sylphy?"
Sylphiel cringed at the sound of helpful enthusiasm that voice. She ceased her sweeping and nervously smiled at Phibrizzo. "Nothing, really."
Phibrizzo eyed the broom and grinned. "Looks like you're cleaning up."
Sylphiel nodded reluctantly. "Just a bit. I was just about finished though." She looked out the window at the downpour and frowned. Why'd it have to be raining? "I don't suppose that you want to go out and play?" she asked without much hope.
"Uh-uh," Phibrizzo said with an emphatic shake of his head. "It's all wet and nasty outside." He grinned and asked the question that Sylphiel had been dreading. "Can I help you?"
Suddenly feeling ill, Sylphiel reluctantly surrendered the broom to Phibrizzo. Ever since coming to live with her, he had tried to help out in one way or another. His parents were gone and she supposed that he wanted to prove himself to her somehow. She really wished that he wouldn't. She hated to admit it, but his help wasn't really all that helpful. What he lacked in skill, really lacked in skill, he more than made up for in destructive enthusiasm.
"I suppose that you can. Now, make sure that you…" Sylphiel gasped when she noticed what the child was doing. "Oh dear," she chuckled nervously as she hastily moved to avert a potential disaster, "Phibrizzo, please be careful."
Phibrizzo was too wrapped up in his task to her Sylphiel. He was sweeping with a great deal of gusto next to a shelf full of bottles and glasses of all shapes and sizes. Every time he whipped the broom across the floor, the handle would miss the fragile containers by inches. He stopped and looked up at the healer. "Huh?" he said as the broom nudged one of the bottles.
The bottle teetered on the edge of the shelf precariously for a moment before gravity took hold and pulled it down.
Sylphiel dove forward and deftly caught the bottle with her fingertips before it could reach the floor. She breathed a sigh of relief and set the container down.
"Wow, Sylphy!" Phibrizzo exclaimed. "That was so cool! Can you teach me to jump like that?"
Sylphiel just smiled and gave Phibrizzo the thumbs up. Who knew that keeping up with a child was this much work?
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Eris looked over her equipment with a cruel smile fixed upon her face. A wide array of silver blades, ranging in length from a few inches to just over a foot, lay on the floor. She preferred lighter tools when hunting if her prey was human or not. Small blades could spill entrails just as well as large ones and tended to be lighter and more easily concealed.
Beside these, less conventional weapons lay. A small wrist mounted crossbow, Eris's own design, rested in a simple wooden box. Beside it, there was a number of small silver tipped darts. An innocuous looking chain bearing a familiar medallion of Ceiphied sat atop the box. A garrote was concealed within the necklace. Small vials containing deadly toxins were carefully arranged in a leather satchel.
Looking over the selection thoughtfully, Eris selected a few particularly cruel looking blades and secreted them within her cloak. After a moment of consideration, she took the crossbow and a vial of one of the more virulent poisons from the bag.
Lina would beg for death before the end, Eris decided. "I hope you see this Luna," she muttered darkly. "Because of traitorous nature, your sister will suffer." She smiled. Luna's attempted betrayal all those years ago had been a bitter pill to swallow for all of the Slayers. The idea that their best and brightest could fall so far had been inconceivable. Now, she could get a small measure of revenge through Lina though.
Checking her equipment one last time, Eris departed and began her hunt.
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Zelgadis listened to the rain as it fell upon the roof of his home. It must have been quite a storm if the noise reached him down in his lair. He sat on his throne as still as death, yet unwilling to sleep. Since the incident with the Hellmaster, he found that his dreams had been filled with violence and death. They were incredibly disturbing in their imagery, sometimes involving Lina and Gourry. Sometimes Sylphiel or Zolf. But the worst ones were the ones that involved Amelia. Most of them involved the acrobat, almost as if his subconscious knew that he found those dreams most unpleasant and intentionally tormented him with them.
"What is wrong with me?" Zelgadis asked exhaustedly, not for the first time. He buried his face in his hands and prayed for relief from his personal demons. Suddenly, he reached over his shoulder and began to violently scratch his back, drawing bloody lines in his flesh with his talons. That was another development. He'd be fine for a while and, all of a sudden, it would feel as if a horrible rash had developed on his back. It was maddening.
Then the pain was gone.
Zelgadis cursed and resumed his brooding. He didn't have time for this, especially at this point. The plan was in motion and even though Rezo had caught on a little sooner than he had hoped, it was too far along to stop now. He briefly wished that Zolf were there, but he'd sent his servant away on an important errand that day.
Another problem. There was a grand celebration to arrange. The arrival of the High Priest was tantamount to a visit from Ceiphied himself. Rezo's presence in Sairaag was considered to be a great blessing. It was customary to arrange for a celebration when Rezo made one of his rare visits the city and unless Zelgadis wanted to look bad in front of the ministers, he'd have to do so.
It'd have to be something simple. A gala perhaps. Something that Zelgadis could throw together in a day or so for the purpose of satisfying his social obligations. Give the ministers some drinking, dancing, and easy women and they would be happy. And if they were happy, he would be slightly less irritable.
Sighing heavily, Zelgadis stood and flung his cape over his shoulders with a flourish. He pulled his hood up as he approached the entryway. There would be no rest for him today. There was far too much to do.
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Sylphiel had just finished rearranging the bottles on the shelf behind the counter when she heard the door open. Putting on her friendliest smile, she turned to greet the customer. "Welcome to… oh, dear."
Eris stood in the doorway, crossbow leveled at Sylphiel's chest. "Hello dear," she said with a cold smirk. Noting Sylphiel's frightened expression she chuckled and said, "No need to fret. A little bird told me that Lina Inverse was staying here. If you'd be so kind as to show me to her room, I'll be out of your hair before you know it."
"Miss Lina isn't here anymore," Sylphiel explained. "She left this morning."
"Oh she did?" Eris said, her face frighteningly neutral. "How convenient."
Just then, Phibrizzo ran through the door yelling, "Sylphy, I finished sweeping the back room! What do you want me to-"
With snakelike speed, Eris's arms flew out to grab the child. She snatched him off the floor, held him aloft by his neck, and said, "What a cute little boy," with a cruel grin on her face.
A moment later, Phibrizzo's head was twisted to the side, a dangerous amount of pressure applied to his neck. He looked at Sylphiel with a terrified expression on his face, silently begging her to save him somehow.
"Now," Eris said coldly, "are you absolutely sure that Lina's not here? Because I understand that you may have been mistaken and you might want to check again. Just to be sure, you understand."
Sylphiel shook her head emphatically. "She's not here! Please don't hurt Phibrizzo!"
Eris swore silently. It couldn't be easy, could it? "Then do you know where she's gone? Out with it!"
Shaking like a leaf, Sylphiel struggled to recall what the letter had said. Something about a meeting. There had been a map on the back, she remembered. She knew the area that it had mentioned. Struggling to keep her voice steady, she began to give Eris directions.
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Next Chapter: Clash of the Slayers
Notes: Hope everyone's having a lovely holiday season! Um, let's see… Actually I don't really have much to say about this chapter. We should have some action by the next chapter though.
Reviewer response:
Ah, Miss Summersong! I can't tell you how pleased I am to have you reading another of my fics! Thank you very much for your kind words.
Hello Miss Gabriev. Phibby remembered that Lina helped him. He just remembered that she stabbed him first is all.
Otaku Girl, I expect Lina will be getting better over the next couple of chapters. Martina makes a brief appearance in the next chapter and Zangulus appears in the one after that. You have an older sister who overshadows you, huh? Hmm, well I'm sure that you have a bunch of unique qualities that set you apart from her.
Until next time! Thanks for betaing, Pogo!