"Xellos! Xellos!" Lina called out for the priest hopelessly as Gourry dragged her through the graveyard. The old priest who had done so much for her without any thought of reward was gone. Had she ever thanked him for anything that he'd done? He'd tried to teach her the proper way to live. In response, she'd slept through his sermons. He'd taken her in after Luna died. She'd repaid that kindness by running away. He'd turned the other cheek and given her a place to stay when she finally came back to Sairaag. That time, she'd paid him back with her stubbornness and insults.
"Lina, come on!" Gourry growled. He tugged on her wrist insistently, almost pulling her off her feet. She gave him a pained look causing him to curse himself under his breath. He hated to hurt her, but she was dragging her feet and he had a job to do. "Take Lina through the cemetery to the tomb," he repeated to himself. "Go through the passages that lead out of the city." His face lit up as he spied a mausoleum, strangely out of place amidst the modest headstones that adorned the rest of the graves. "That has to be it."
"Gabriev!" Gaav roared as he strode out of the inferno that had once been Xellos's sanctuary. "Stand and defend yourself, traitor!" The Demon Dragon King hefted his blade menacingly as he quickly closed the distance between himself and his prey.
Gourry spared his former captain a single angry glance before drawing the Sword of Light. A few quick slashes later the crypt no longer had a door. The scent of death assaulted his senses as he sheathed the blade. "Let's go, little girl," he said in a tone that implied that he would brook no complaints from his companion. He quickly picked Lina up and slung her over his shoulder before plunging into the foreboding darkness of the tomb. "We've got to move quick."
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"Got t' take care o' Amelia," Jillas whispered as he hid in one of several barrels stacked right outside the door to the acrobat's wagon. As luck would have it, the barrel was very cheaply made and he had no trouble seeing through the cracks between the boards. It would be incredibly easy to watch anyone coming or going from the wagon. He grinned and congratulated himself on his good fortune.
"These the ones?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Jillas's ears perked up at the sound of voices just outside of his hiding place. He yelped in surprise as he felt himself lifted from the ground.
"Hey, did you hear something?" the first man asked.
"Probably just one of the animals. Always yipping and hollering about something or other you know."
The first man grunted in exertion and complained, "Jeez, what's in these things?"
"Nothing. Damn things won't even hold water," the second voice explained. "That's why we're using them in the act."
Oh, right! The, uh, um…" There was the sound of fingers snapping as the man tried to pry the name of the act off the tip of his tongue. "Oh, the Flaming Murder Saw of Doom, right?" He chuckled and said, "I love that one."
"Flamin' murder saw o' doom?" Jillas repeated, his one good eye bugging out in terror. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Got t' take care o' Amelia for th' boss." That meant not screaming and blowing his cover. No matter what happened, he would not give himself away. Suddenly, his sensitive ears detected the sound of crackling flames and the cold noise of steel on steel. "Mummy! Th' flamin' murder saw o' doom!" he yelped, as he kicked the top off the barrel and leapt to freedom.
When he looked around, Jillas found himself standing a scant foot away from a cooking fire. Sitting next to it was a grizzled chef sharpening a couple of knives. Without batting an eye, the old timer said, "Hello there, young fella. Fancy a hotdog?" while holding up a skewer containing several wieners that he'd been roasting.
Jillas took a step back and stared at the chef for a moment before totally panicking. "Ye plannin' te toss me into th' flamin' murder saw o' doom!" he shrieked as he turned tail and bolted in what he thought was the direction of Amelia's wagon.
The chef watched the frightened little man flee for a few moments before turning to the two confused men that were still holding up the barrel. "You guys reckon he doesn't like hotdogs?"
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Lina listened, straining to hear anything in the inky gloom. She thought that maybe, just maybe there was some water dripping in the distance, but other than that there was only the sound of her hurried breathing. They'd gone into the tomb and there had been stairs, just as Xellos had said. Going down the stairs they had found… nothing. Sunlight had never touched this dark place. She swallowed nervously and whispered, "Gourry, I can't see," in what she thought was the direction of her protector. She didn't like the dark at all. "Use the Sword of Light."
"We can't," Gourry said from Lina's opposite side, startling the girl. "It'll lead them right to us. We have to stay in the dark for now." He reached out and touched cool stone. "It's okay though. I found a wall. Give me your hand and we'll follow it for a while." When he reached out to Lina, his hand came to rest on soft flesh and he heard her gasp in surprise. Gritting his teeth in anticipation of a violent beating, he whispered, "I… I'm not holding your hand, am I?" A quick squeeze confirmed his suspicions. He sighed and nodded regretfully. "It's small. Yeah, I was afraid that's what it was." A moment later, he felt pain erupt in his jaw and he saw stars in the darkness.
"If you knew, why'd you have to squeeze me, Jellyfish?!" Lina hissed angrily. "If you think that you're going to get weird on me down here, you'd better think again. Try anything funny and I promise that nobody will ever find your body!"
Gourry had the distinct impression that had he been able to see, he would have found that Lina was looming over him with her hands planted on her hips. "I'll be good," he squeaked in fear.
"Damn right, you will," Lina growled. She felt around in the darkness until her hands came to rest on smooth stone. "Hey, I found a wall!" she exclaimed. "Gourry, give me your hand and we'll follow it for a while. We'll get out of here yet."
"Yeah… good idea," Gourry muttered confusedly. Hadn't he just suggested the exact same thing? This time he waited until he felt her fingers brush against his face before grabbing her hand. "I wonder why they're not following us?" he mused aloud as he glanced back in what he assumed was the direction of the entrance.
"Who cares? It's better for us this way," Lina replied.
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"I am ordering you maggots to get down that hole and bring me those heretics!" Gaav snarled while jabbing his finger in the direction of the staircase. "Afraid of the dark, are you? Are you soldiers men or not?" He grimaced and apologetically nodded at a woman who was glaring at him darkly. "Sorry, Reika. Figure of speech. But as for the rest of you, I can't believe your cowardice!" He reached out and snared the front of one man's uniform. "Proctor, get your ass down there and find me those heretics!" He then flung the hapless man down the stairs.
"Yes sir! Whatever you say, sir!" Proctor said as he stumbled down into the gloom. There was a crash as he apparently hit bottom and then a moment of silence.
"Well, what do you see?" Gaav called down the stairs.
"Nothing yet, sir! But they couldn't have gone far. Wait a second! I see movement. They're coming this way! They're not stopping!"
"Show them your badge, son!" Gaav called down the stairs. "They'll have to surrender if you show them that you're the authority!"
Halt! Halt in the name of-" There was a loud crunch and Proctor's panicked voice called out, "Captain! Captain, they ate my badge!"
"Well, I, uh…" Gaav shrugged and yelled, "Hell, boy! I don't know! Do something! You're an officer of the law. Subdue the criminals!"
There was an inhuman roar from the mouth of the tunnel and the sound of Proctor screaming. A moment later, a loud belch issued from the opening quickly followed by something white and roundish.
The object came to rest at Gaav's feet and he knelt down and curiously picked it up. It was a human skull. He snorted and muttered, "Well, that's assault of an officer if I ever saw it." He tossed Proctor's head aside and turned to the troops. "Alright! Which one of you maggots is next?" Seeing that he was alone all of a sudden, he sighed and stepped into the opening himself. "What a bunch of cowards. You throw one head at them and they scatter like a pack of chickens…" He continued on his tirade, his complaints quickly becoming unintelligible as they echoed off the walls.
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Eris disembarked from the carriage just outside the fairgrounds. Then, she casually strolled in like she owned the place. There was no reason to sneak around. After all, it was a circus, not the heavily guarded home of a minister or anything. Stealth would accomplish nothing except to arouse suspicion.
"Excuse me, Miss?"
Grinning inwardly, Eris turned to face the man that was going to tell her how to find Amelia. "Good morning. Maybe you could help me with something."
Alfred eyed Eris dubiously. Tight black leather? Thigh high boots? It was obvious what was going on here. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but we don't allow your kind on the grounds. We run a family show here."
"My kind? And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Eris asked coolly. "Wait a second, you don't think that I'm…"
Shrugging apologetically, Alfred said, "Oh, you mean that you're not a prostit-"
In the blink of an eye, Eris had pulled a dagger from her boot and closed the distance between her and Alfred. She wrapped him in a chokehold and dragged him into a nearby tent. Once they had a bit of privacy, she hissed, "It figures. An attractive woman wears an outfit that shows a bit of skin and she gets labeled a floozy! For your information, I happen to think that this outfit is very comfortable!"
Alfred was unable to keep his mirth to himself despite the fact that there was a knife being pressed against his throat. "Oh right." He glanced down at the boots hugging Eris's legs and smirked. "Nothing provocative about those things. I'm sure you wear them for 'comfort," he said with a chuckle.
"What? They are comfortable! Listen, my outfit may be a little tight, but I don't wear it because of how it looks. Wearing less means that there's a smaller chance of me getting snagged on anything." Eris pressed the blade a little harder against Alfred's throat and added, "Since you're so hot to tell me what I look like, let's talk about you for a second. At least I'm not wearing a bright pink shirt." She eyed the gaudy colors that he was wearing suspiciously.
"Hey, I know it looks bad." Alfred grimaced as he glanced down at his light green pants and baggy pink shirt. "But, it's a costume for my performance. It's supposed to be… flamboyant."
Eris nodded knowingly. "Oh, okay. 'Flamboyant.' Is that what you want to call it? Because I can think of a couple other words for it." She snickered cruelly and said, "Honestly. Green and pink? Tell me, was your husband punishing you when he dressed you like this?"
Alfred rolled his eyes. "Ouch. You know, that really hurts coming from the modest bondage queen."
"Although I must admit that the material's nice," Eris said while rubbing a bit of the pink fabric between her fingers. "What is this, some kind of cotton blend?"
"Cotton? Oh, please," Alfred said with a smug look on his face. "I'll have you know, this is one hundred percent Zefielian silk, babe."
"No! Get out of here!" Eris said with a grin. "You're pulling my leg, aren't you? That stuff costs an arm and a leg! Where'd you get this?!"
"Actually, I picked it up in Atlas City a few months back. We were doing a show down there and-"
Eris smacked her forehead in frustration. What was she doing? "Alright, that's enough!" she barked at Alfred. "I'm looking for a girl."
Alfred snorted. "Dressed like that and looking for a girl? I should have guessed."
"Not that kind of girl. Amelia. I'm looking for Amelia. Tell me where she is and I'll spare your life." Eris held the point of the knife a scant inch from Alfred's eye as she spoke.
"Sooo, I guess this means you don't want to hear about the shirt?" Alfred muttered as he uncomfortably eyed Eris's blade.
A moment later, Eris hid Alfred's unconscious form under several bales of hay and left the tent. She made a beeline for Amelia's wagon. A quick kill and today's work would be over. Maybe she'd go shopping afterwards. She had to admit, that was a nice shirt.
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Lina and Gourry walked on in silence for what might have been anything from a few minutes to a few hours. It was impossible to tell when the only thing they had to go by was the sound of their footsteps. And those echoed so much that they were impossible to count. It almost felt as if they'd fallen out of time.
That's what Lina was thinking anyway. For his part, Gourry was thinking about how cool the echoes were. If they weren't being pursued, he wouldn't have minded sitting down and belting out some "hellos" just to hear his voice come back to him. Hey, now that he thought about it… "Lina, why are they chasing us, anyway? Didn't we save that High Priest guy from blowing up?"
"Yeah, that's right Gourry," Lina said in a tone of resignation. "That doesn't matter though. We're outcasts. Rezo probably thought that we had something to do with the attack. Now, they're going to hunt us until we're dead."
"Oh," Gourry said with a frown. Until they were both dead, huh? "Well, I won't let them hurt you, Lina. Xellos told me to take care of you."
"Xellos…" Lina whispered sadly. "Why'd he have to die?"
"I'm not so sure that he's dead, Lina," Gourry said after a moment of quiet contemplation. After the incident at the church, he thought that he finally understood what the priest had been.
"Gourry, he got cut in half. That would make anybody pretty dead, you know?"
Gourry tugged on Lina's hand indicating that she should stop walking for a moment. "He's not dead, Lina. I promise he isn't. He just went home, I think. His work was done, so there wasn't any reason for him to stay."
"Why do you keep saying that? Don't you know dead when you see it? What, does he have to be chewed up and spit out by a bunch of demons before you admit that he's gone?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess that might do it. Not a sword though. The sword didn't hurt him. Didn't you see what he was, Lina?"
"No, Gourry. All I saw was my friend being cut down because he tried to help me. If you're so smart, why don't you tell me what he was?" Lina growled impatiently.
"Lina, he was an angel."
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Amelia hurried around her wagon, haphazardly tossing her things into a bag. Since Martina had moved out, things were a lot more organized and she had no trouble finding everything that she needed. "We're supposed to be traveling light," she told herself as she tried to choose between a few outfits. Finally deciding that she needed them all, she hurriedly shoved them into the bag and set it beside the other three that were already stacked by the door.
A sudden and insistent pounding at the door caused Amelia to squeak in surprise. Cautiously, she crept over to the door and laid her ear against it. She could hear panting on the other side, as if whoever was out there had run a long distance. "H-Hello?" she hesitantly muttered. "Who's out there?"
The person on the other side of the door suddenly slammed their shoulder into it, knocking Amelia down and breaking the flimsy lock. The door flew open to reveal an exhausted Jillas. He sighed in relief when he saw Amelia and quickly stepped in and slammed the door again. "Beggin' ye pardon, Miss, but we hafta' go," he said as he hastily scooped up her bags in his arms.
"Why? What happened? Where's Mister Zelgadis?"
Jillas stopped what he was doing in favor of figuring out the answers to her questions. "We hafta' go 'cause o' th' trouble. Th' villains tried te feed me t' th' flamin' murder saw o' doom. Um, an' th' boss is busy. We're s'possed t' meet him a litt' later. Come on, then." Amelia's luggage in hand, he turned to find himself face to face with Eris. "'Ello there," he said with a nervous chuckle.
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"An… an angel?!" Lina muttered incredulously. "Why would you think something like that?"
"Well, it makes sense if you think about it. First of all, he didn't breathe. I figured that out at the church when he was telling me to take care of you. That meant that he wasn't human." Gourry scratched his head thoughtfully. "Unless he was holding his breath, but I don't think so."
Lina whacked Gourry on the head. "He wasn't holding his breath! Get on with it!"
"Okay. Do you remember when he said that angels were beautiful people with wings? Well, he was pretty wasn't he? He looked pretty good for an old guy anyway. How old did you say he was?"
"I think he was about sixty," Lina muttered thoughtfully. Xellos had been handsome, hadn't he? Aside from a bit of gray at his temples, which actually served to make him look more regal, not a single mark of old age had marred his face.
On top of that, just before the captain cut him, I saw his wings. Did you see them?"
"I… I didn't see anything. There was too much smoke." Lina was a little overwhelmed by what Gourry was telling her and had to sit down to digest it.
"They were beautiful, Lina. Lovely white feathers with a few black ones here and there." Gourry sat down beside the redhead and took both of her hands within his own. "They filled the entire church when he spread them. It was amazing. I must have been the only one to see them."
"How can that be, Gourry? You said they filled the church, right? Everyone should have seen them."
"I think it was because Xellos let me see them. I know that the rest of them didn't. If they had seen them, I don't think they would have had the heart to kill him." His voice quavered and his eyes filled with tears as he recalled the scene. "Nobody with a shred of decency could kill anything that wonderful." He nodded knowingly and said, "They were invisible. Just like I always knew they were."
"Hold on a second, Gourry. Let me see if I have this right. You're saying that the guards were invisible?" Lina muttered quizzically.
"No, the wings," Gourry patiently explained. "The wings were invisible."
Lina shook her head irritably. She could feel the onset of a massive headache. "Gourry, you're really starting to confuse me. Why do you think Xellos's wings were invisible?"
"Because I didn't see yours. Xellos said that angels were beautiful people with wings and you didn't have any. So, I knew that they had to be invisible." Gourry frowned as another possibility came to mind. "Unless they fell off or something. Lina, did you lose your wings?" When Lina was quiet for the next few moments, he began to worry that something was wrong. "I'm sorry, are your wings a sensitive subject?"
"You… You think I'm beautiful?" Lina whispered.
Gourry gave Lina's hands a quick squeeze and was about to answer when his keen ears picked up the sound of something scraping in the dark. "Did you hear that?" he asked as he quickly climbed to his feet. The noise came again, but from a different side. "Something's out there."
Lina didn't answer. Her gaze darted around the chamber, desperately trying to see anything in the gloom. The sound of dripping water that she'd heard when they first entered was gone. Now there was nothing. "Gourry…" she whispered as she quickly stood and wrapped her arms around his waist. He was the only thing she had in the dark and she wasn't going to let him get away. All of a sudden, she felt something slick wrap around her leg and begin to tug. "Gourry!" she repeated, tightening her grip on him.
"Whatever you do, don't let go of me," Gourry instructed as he drew the Sword of Light. He wrapped one arm around Lina's shoulders and held the sword overhead in the other. "Light come forth!"
The blade sprang into being, shedding daylight on a place that had never known anything but darkness. The cavern was huge, its darkest corners barely illuminated by the glow of the sword. Not more than two feet away on every side of Lina and Gourry were hundreds, if not thousands, of grotesque creatures.
The beasts looked to be a bizarre cross between a toad and a man. They had gray mottled skin and four vaguely humanoid limbs. Their heads were three times the size of a man's, horribly out of scale to the rest of their bodies, with large inky black eyes, not unlike a shark. Large drooping sacks of skin hung from their throats, almost dragging along the ground. The most frightening thing about them was their mouths. They all appeared to be grinning, displaying dagger like teeth that were easily as long as Lina's forearm. One of the beasts had extended a long black tongue. That was what had gripped Lina's leg.
The sudden illumination had an instant effect on the beasts. There were audible pops as hundreds of pairs of eyes not accustomed to light exploded. The beasts shrieked in anger and pain as they scattered back into the darkness. Thankfully, the one that had grabbed Lina decided that a meal wasn't worth all the pain and turned to flee with the others.
Gourry raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Huh, well I guess that's explains why the guards didn't follow us." Feeling his companion trembling against him, he glanced down to see a look of near panic etched on Lina's features. "Hey, are you okay?"
Lina stared after the creatures, on the verge of hyperventilating. "They… They… They were going to eat… They wanted to eat…" Visions of the flaming apparition that had pursued her as a child came unbidden to her mind. It had wanted the same thing, hadn't it? "Why does everything want to eat me?!" she shrieked. A crazed look in her ruby eyes, she reached up, snagged Gourry's collar, and pulled him down to eye level. "Do I look tasty?" she asked.
"What?!"
"Answer the question!" Lina yelled, shaking the bewildered swordsman angrily. "I must look tasty. That's the only explanation I can come up with. Do I taste like chicken or something?" She shoved her arm into Gourry's face. "Taste me and tell me if I've got a chickeny flavor. Go on. Just take a small bite though." She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of being nibbled on.
Gourry eyed the trembling woman nervously. "Lina, you're scaring me. I don't want to taste you." He wrapped her in a reassuring hug as he looked around the chamber again. "Well, I guess those were the Fallen things that Xellos was talking about. They seem to be afraid of the light though, so we should be okay." He began to walk with Lina clinging to his waist like glue. "I wonder why they're called the Fallen, anyway. Do you think they're clumsy or something?"
"Gourry, I am really not in the mood for your stupid questions." Lina bit her lip thoughtfully before adding, "They didn't seem clumsy. They actually looked pretty capable for a couple of things that just had their eyes popped. Maybe the name's just supposed to be intimidating? Where'd they come from, I wonder?"
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Jillas yelped in fear as he ducked a swift strike from Eris. Her silver blade glinted menacingly in the light, leaving no doubt in his mind of the danger he was in. He quickly tried to scrabble under Amelia's bed, but the Slayer was too quick for him.
Grinning evilly, Eris roughly yanked the howling shape shifter out into the open and raised her knife. "Say goodnight, you filthy little creature." Just before the blade fell, a rickety wooden stool exploded against the back of her skull. She paused for a second; looking a little confused before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over unconscious.
Amelia quickly cast the broken leg of the stool aside and helped Jillas to his feet. "Are you alright, Mister Jillas?"
The look that Jillas gave Amelia caused a chill to run up her spine. "Ye… Ye saved m' life," he whispered, his good eye sparkling with barely contained joy.
"I did?" Amelia said quizzically. Then she figured out what Jillas was getting at. "No! No!" she protested while waving her arms frantically. "I didn't really save you," she explained, laughing nervously the entire time. "I just held the stool up. Gravity did most of the work. So, you don't owe me anything, okay?"
"I'll follow ye t' th' ends o' the earth," Jillas said happily. "Ye an' th' boss, both. C'mere, sis! Big hug!" He lunged forward and wrapped Amelia in a powerful embrace.
Amelia looked down in disbelief as Jillas buried his face in her chest. "That's… That's great, Mister Jillas," she said while awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. "I really appreciate it."
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Gaav swore as he banged his shin against a rock in the dark. "Goddamn dark," he muttered. There was no way he was going to let those two escape even if they did try to intimidate him by eating his right hand man. Wouldn't work. It was the oldest trick in the book and he wasn't falling for it.
Strange. Hadn't there been the noise of dripping water before? And what was that odd scraping noise?
The ringing sound of steel being drawn rang out in the dark as Gaav readied his blade. He cocked his head and listened. There it was again. The scraping noise. Something was approaching. "Stand and fight, Gabriev. I'll give you and the girl a quick death." He began to wave the sword around in the gloom in an attempt to find his opponent.
Then it happened. Something wet snagged Gaav's wrist, making him drop his blade. Before he even had a chance to question this new development, the creatures were upon him. His surprised yell echoed in the gloom for only a moment before all returned to stillness.
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"What do you suppose this place is?" Gourry asked as he looked around the cavern. It was strange. He got the distinct impression that the cave was thousands of years old and yet some of the walls seemed to be freshly hewn. "It's strange, don't you think?" he asked while holding the Sword of Light up to better illuminate their surroundings.
"It is pretty weird," Lina agreed. "I wonder how long it's been since people have been down here?" She pointed to a nearby wall covered with strange markings and said, "Take a look at that." Curious, she broke away from Gourry's side for the first time since they'd gone down into the tunnels. "What do these letters say?" She traced one of the markings with a finger causing it to crumble into a fine powder. "Wow. It's old. Really old."
"It's a tomb," Gourry said after a moment of examination. "Look."
Lina looked at the wall again, noting for the first time that there were hundreds of niches carved into the stone. "Burial chambers," she mumbled curiously. "Who were they?" There had to be at least five hundred of the alcoves carved into the walls around them.
"Hmm," Gourry muttered as he examined the letters with the look of a person struggling to comprehend complex math. "I know what these are!" he exclaimed excitedly after a moment. "I've seen these before!"
"You can read them?!" Lina asked in disbelief.
"No, but I have seen them before. Some of the letters were on Amelia's ring." He pointed to a random marking and said, "See? That was on it. So was that one. What'd Amelia call it? Sunny? Sumerian? Supermanian? Oh, I can't remember." He walked towards the wall and handed Lina the Sword of Light. "Here, hold this for a second. I want to take a look at something." As soon as Gourry released his hold on the hilt, they were instantly plunged into darkness.
Lina shrieked in terror. "Take it back! Take it back!" She immediately tried to hand the hilt back to Gourry. A clatter echoed through the chamber as soon as it left her fingers. Her spirit sank when she heard that noise. "You dropped it, didn't you?"
"I dropped it?! I never even got to touch it! Why'd you throw it at me, anyway?" Gourry got down on hands and knees and felt about, frantically searching for the sword. "Why'd you let it go out?"
"I didn't let it go out!" Lina said angrily. "It did it by itself. I'm not that good with it." Scrabbling around in the dirt, she whined, "Come on, where is it?"
"You used it against that Hellbasher guy, right?"
"Those were extenuating circumstances, Gourry," Lina growled through clenched teeth. "I was dying, you know! It kind of put things in perspective at the time."
"Well, we're going to be dying in a few seconds if we don't find it. Do you hear that?"
Lina cocked her head and gasped in fear when she heard the sound of a multitude of feet scrabbling over the rocks. Now that the light was gone, the creatures were coming back. "Find it!" she yelped. "Find it, find it, find it!"
Gourry's hand brushed against something metallic a moment later. He instinctively latched onto it and yelled, "Light come forth!" In his haste, he didn't notice that he was holding the sword backwards. He avoided impaling himself on the blade by a fraction of an inch. Luckily, it did manage to skewer one of the creatures behind him. The beast's mouth had been open wide and it would have bitten the swordsman's head off his shoulders in another second. He leapt to his feet and whirled, his blade ending four more lives before he ended his deadly assault standing defensively over the kneeling Lina.
"I could have done that," Lina pouted. "If only I had my sword. Hey, where is my sword, anyway?"
"If you didn't leave your things lying all over town like you owned the place, you wouldn't have this problem," Gourry suggested as he decapitated another of the creatures. Apparently, they weren't quite as intimidated by the light this time around.
Lina cowered behind Gourry, feeling incredibly useless. There had to be something she could do to help him. "I need a sword," she complained angrily as the throng pressed in around them. They wouldn't last long under these circumstances.
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High above the hustle and bustle of the city streets at the very top of the capital building were the administrative chambers of the ministers of Sairaag. Stone composed three of the walls in the chamber. The fourth was a grandiose stained glass window depicting Ceiphied. The window faced east, allowing the morning sun to bathe the room in a rainbow of colors. A large table dominated the room itself. Normally, it would have been in the center of the room, but Rezo had it moved aside in favor of a simple desk while he was visiting.
It was at that desk that the High Priest was currently sitting, dozing uncomfortably in the midmorning light. Draped across his lap was Lina's sword. He fidgeted as he slept, muttering quietly at times, almost shouting at others. And always he clutched the blade.
In one of the few shadows of the room, something stirred. A vaguely humanoid figure staggered drunkenly out of the dark to stand in the sunlight. Had Diol still been alive, he would have bragged that it was his creation, his super Slayer. However, Vrumugun had become something far more than the sum of a few parts haphazardly stitched together by a mad surgeon.
A tattered tan cloak covered bare flesh. The former Slayer wore nothing underneath. Not that he would have been able to. Diol had changed him just enough that normal clothes would not fit him. Several vestigial limbs sprouted from his body. A woman's left arm had been attached just above his right hip. His right leg had two knees where Diol had attached an extra calf and foot to his creation. After all, four legs would let him run that much faster. Unfortunately, Vrumugun had decided that he was done before Diol had, so he only had three. Three ears were bound to his chest in addition to a nose. His face was the most heavily modified part of his body, however. A violet eye glancing around in random directions was imbedded in his cheek. His cheeks bulged grotesquely; his mouth unable to properly close containing the two fingers that had replaced his tongue; another of the seemingly random "improvements" made by his creator.
Vrumugun looked around the chamber for a moment, looking but not seeing with his glazed over eyes. His nostrils flared almost as if he smelled something and he slowly lumbered over to where the High Priest sat. He stared down at Rezo for a moment before reaching out to pry Lina's sword from his grasp. Holding the sword at eye level, his mouth dropped open and saliva coated fingers reached out to scrape a bit of dried blood off the blade.
The effect on the creature was instantaneous. While Vrumugun had worn an expression of utter impassiveness before, an ugly snarl crossed his face after tasting the blood. He roared in fury and flung the sword down.
Rezo's eyes flew open and his hands instinctively flew to his staff. In a second, he was on his feet ready to defend himself. He glanced around the room suspiciously. The scent of death hung in the air, putting him on edge. There was nothing though. Lina's sword lay on the floor before him. The noise must have woken him when it fell. He sighed wearily as he reached down to pick it up. He was so very tired all the time. If the people didn't need his guidance, he'd be more than happy to go to his eternal reward.
Leaning back in the plush chair with a content sigh, Rezo laid the sword back across his lap. He ran his hand along the blade as he tried to get back to sleep. Something was odd. His brow creased in thought, he lifted the sword to examine it. Fresh fingerprints, glaringly obvious upon casual inspection, smeared the blood. "Who?" he muttered quietly, not feeling the least bit tired anymore.
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Next Chapter: The metamorphosis
Notes: Good fun, this chapter. I managed to work a bit of everything in (or at least I hope I did). Action, humor, and just a touch of romance. I even managed to work in a minor revelation about Xellos. And yes, I do consider it minor. As usual, the trickster priest has more than one secret.
My only problem with the chapter is that Lina came off looking a little weak, but she'll shine a bit more in 29 and beyond. I guess there's nothing wrong with her playing the damsel in distress for a bit.
Reviewer Response:
Xelena, welcome back! Thanks for the comments. Your questions have been answered in recent chapters.
Miss Gabriev, after listening to Jillas talk for an hour as he told his life story, everyone has a basic understanding of how he talks. As for Xellos, I don't know if he's coming back, but he'll still have an impact on the story, one way or another. And yep, Diol wanted Lina's heart. I doubt he'll get it now, though.
Otaku Girl, Sylphiel is dealing with the adventure of raising a hyperactive, formerly possessed ten-year-old boy. Exciting enough for her, but not really relevant to the story at this point, so don't expect to see too much of her. Who knows though? She might have a part to play near the end. I haven't written that far ahead yet.
Stara, funny you asked about Gaav knowing Lina's whereabouts. I was actually writing the explanation for that when I got your review (discussed in the next chapter, by the way). Interesting theory on Lina's prophesy. We'll just have to wait and see how it pans out, huh? Never read George Martin, does he have any particularly notable novels?
Colin, long time no see! Glad to see you're still with the story and you'll be happy to know that there's more L/G in the next few chapters.
Ack! A self destructing fan?! I know how to fix this. *pulls out wire cutters* Hmm, which wire do I cut..? Hope you liked the bit of explanation about Xellos, Dragonet. And I am protecting secrets. If I told you what was what, then it wouldn't be a surprise. Not to mention the fact that I'm not always sure when things are going to happen or if they're going to turn out as I planned. So if I were to say, "Lina's going to be a vampire," and it never happened, I'd look pretty dumb, wouldn't I? As for why I'm evasive instead of saying it straight, I dunno, I guess I just like teasing you guys once in a while. It's all in good fun.
I'm too darn good? Well thank you very much! Should I tone down the story a bit in the next chapter? I could put some mistakes in or something if you think I'm TOO good. Just kidding! Thanks for the compliment, ???.
Pogo, thank you very much, as always, for your betaing. The changes to Xellos's death scene were subtle, like you said. Mostly, I expanded his dialogue a bit to try to make his actions a little more sensible and just because it read a lot better the second way.
Thank you all for reviewing and I'll see you in the next chapter!