Hell's Breaking Point
Chapter XVII : Rekindled Hope
Disclaimer : I don't own...
Lina : UUUUSSSSS!
...thank you very much Lina...
Japanese Words:
Mazoku : Evil race/Monster
Ne-chan : Big sis
To-chan / To-san / Oto-san : Father
Ka-chan / Ka-san / Oka-san : Mother
-chan is used to put more affection in the calling
'…….' Is for Phibby's thoughts
…… Is for Gourry's thoughts
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"Ragna Blade...?" the boy whispered the name with a shock expression while still trying to regain his strength from casting his previous and first Dragu Slave.
"Yes," Phibrizzo grinned even wider, amused by the boy's sudden lost of his usual emotionless facade, "..have you heard of it?" he asked teasingly.
The boy cast his gaze downwards, "Yes. But I heard that the only one who can cast it is..." his eyes darkened suddenly, "...Lina Inverse..."
"Ah! But we will change that. Now, stand up," The boy followed his master's command obediently, "Stretch out your hands and outwards as if you're holding a broad sword," The boy stretched out his hands.
Taking a precautious step, Hellmaster moved away from the boy until he's satisfied with the distance between them. Although a part of him was anticipating a negative result from his 'slave', he couldn't help but feeling a little giddy at the moment, "Now I'm going to recite the chaos words for the spell. Chant it correctly,"
Confusion and suspicion suddenly sparked in the boy's eyes but as quickly as they came they quickly disappeared. ...It doesn't matter... Nothing matters anymore... The boy thought with his eyebrows furrowed before closing his eyes shut.
"Lord of the dreams that terrify. Sword of cold and darkness, free yourself from the heaven's bonds,"
The boy copied the first, two sentences of the chaos words.
Black sparks started to form between the boy's hands as the chaos energy started channeling through the physical world. Hellmaster's lips curved into a maniacal smile. He was overjoyed with the outcome of his little experiment, overjoyed until he ignored the sudden change in the boy's expression; from calm to the painful expression the boy was now wearing. At the moment, nothing else matters to the Mazoku except for the completion of the Ragna Blade.
"Become one with my power, one with my body, and let us walk the path of destruction together,"
'If he can complete this spell...then... Now, to finish the incantation' Hellmaster's eyes suddenly snapped wide open '...no!'
The black sparks started to deteriorated, spark by spark.
The boy clenched his teeth even harder as controlling the power of chaos was too much for him to bear. Casting a superior level spell is one thing, but to force him to cast such spell after his first Dragu slave , now that's just pure insanity!
...but...
The boy's eyes narrowed as his face contorted into anger.
But he has to do this. He has to show those people, to prove to them that he's even stronger than any of them. To prove that he's not a weak and helpless boy anymore. His face returned to his previous expression as he pushed away his dark past out of his mind and focusing more on completing the spell.
Because there's no turning back now...
"Hello!" but there's always those pesky obstacles...
The boy yelped in surprise as he stumbled backwards, away from the sudden-appearance of a familiar priest. The action made him lost his concentration on the spell completely making the deteriorating black sparks between his hands disappeared instantly.
"Xellos!" Hellmaster spoke his name icily, obviously furious at him for interrupting his plan.
Xellos just kept on grinning as he switched glances from Hellmaster to the surprised boy and back to the furious Hellmaster, "Now, now Phibrizzo-san. You don't want me to feed on you negative emotion now, do you?" he spoke in his usual cheerful manner.
"Well then, you'd better enjoy it since it will be your last feast!" Hellmaster snarled threateningly as his right hand reaches the sword's hilt.
But the action brought no fear to the Beastmaster's general. This is new. Hellmaster Phibrizzo has always been calm and yet now... I guess, being in a human body has brought a great deal of burden to him... Calmly, he replied, "I was just joking. I didn't come here to disturb your secret and devious plan," he smiled as one eye slit open, "I have information about Lina-san,"
The name made Hellmaster regained his composure.
Xellos grinned at his sudden change of behavior, "She's now in Zefielia. Seeking help from her older sister to find a method to destroy you without harming Gourry-san. Ah, speaking about Gourry-san!" he waved a hand at the blonde man in front of him, "Hello, Gourry-san! How are you?"
(...terrible... Wait! Lina's with her big sister...? ...Lina has an older sister...?)
"The Knight of Ciephied?"
Xellos nodded, "Yes, and it seems that she's very familiar with the Spirit Disintegrator legend,"
(...the street...generator...?)
Hellmaster grew quiet for a while as he processed the information, "Cht! Now I have the Knight my way. She never made any moves before, why now!"
The priest shrugged his shoulder, "Well, I don't think she'll lend Lina-san her strength. I think the most, she will probably give her an advice or two. But still, any help from the Knight herself should not be taken lightly," he spoke in a serious tone on his last statement.
"Heh!" the blonde man turned his back against the priest, "...the Spirit Disintegrator... That would surely give them the upper hand...," then he was silent for a while, "Xellos, you're telling me this information following who's order?"
Xellos smirked, "That is of course, a-se-cret!" Hehe, you really have no idea, don't you, Hellmaster Phibrizzo-san...
Hellmaster scoffed at him but did not press the subject, "Oi, kid!"
The boy who was quiet the whole conversation turned to his master.
"Go to Zefielia. Find what Lina Inverse is planning and stop them from getting their hands on that weapon, the Spirit Disintegrator," Hellmaster then gave the boy a deadly glare, "Stop them at any cost,"
The priest perked up, "Oh? Then what are you going to do, Phibrizzo-san?"
Hellmaster scoffed again at nosy priest before continue walking along the road.
"I'll be making preparations in Sairaag," And with that he disappeared from their sight.
Taking his eyes off the road, Xellos turned to face the quiet boy who was now preparing himself to cast a Ray Wing spell.
"Why do you help him even after knowing that he's a Mazoku?"
The boy was silent for a while, "...for power," he finally replied before casting the spell and flew towards his next destination, Zefielia.
Xellos sighed to himself, "Why can't there be more humans like that?" and then he vanished into thin air.
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Zelgadis felt weird and awkward...
He was following Lina's older sister obediently from behind while ignoring the countless stares from the folks of Zefielia. They must be staring at his freakish form or... maybe because he had hauled the unconscious sorceress over his shoulder. It's not because he wanted to but because Luna had warned/threatened not to carry her in his arms. ...well at any rate, if they won't reach Lina's house soon, he's going to drop Lina and put on his hood for protection from the stares.
"We're here," Luna exclaimed in a low tone.
Thank the gods!
The chimera scanned the house in front of him from top to bottom. It was a plain brick house, not too small yet not too big. But the house yard is huge, filled with plants of many sorts. There's also a small area of vineyard, a Zefielia trademark. Besides that, there's also a huge clearing in the middle of the yard. Then there's the bizarre markings. Burn and cut marks to be exact on the ground and on some of the sturdy trees. Zelgadis lift an eyebrow on the somewhat mutilated trees.
Luna seems to know his curiosity, "That's Lina's doing when she was practicing to become a more competent sorceress/swordswoman before she went on her traveling. Honestly, that girl would wreck anything for her own gain," she ended with a sigh.
Zelgadis sweatdrop, No objection there...
"Please come in," Luna spoke as she open the front door for him.
Hesitantly, the chimera let out a "thanks" and went inside. Luna followed from behind.
The interior of the house too was nothing special. Just normal rooms with normal furniture.
"Could you put her on her bed in her room first? It's the second room to the right across the living room," Lina spoke in a laidback manner as she close the front door, "Just lay her down and leave the room,"
Zelgadis blinked a couple of times at her demanding tone, "...okay..." Wow, Lina's room. This he has got to see. Okay then. Second room, second room...
Upon his arrival at the suppose Lina's room; in front of her neatly carved wooden door to be exact, the chimera took his time to relax himself so that he was ready to face any horror concealed behind the door. A couple of long breaths later, he slowly put his hand on the door knob and even slowly turning the knob and even more slowly, push the door.
Zelgadis was, well, kind of disappointed. Lina's room was nothing different than the rest of the house, except for the stacks and stacks of books and scrolls (obviously magic related) beside the over packed-with-books bookshelf on the left side of the room, other than that the room was tidy.
I can't believe how tidy this room is considering how a slob Lina can be...
He was expecting the room to be more...Lina-like but oh, why is he caring anyway! But then he saw Lina's closet. The chimera took a gulp.
I wonder if I'll find any feminine dress in there...? Or perhaps...make-up kits...? ...lipsticks...?
Fighting his curiosity, he shook his head violently.
What am I thinking! If Lina finds out, she'll mutilate me!
Using all his will power, he ignored the closet and analyzed the rest of the room. On the right side of the wall, he spotted Lina's tidy bed and immediately he laid her on the bed. He had thought of removing her shoulder guards and short sword but he decided against it since her sister did say "Just lay her down and leave the room" and somehow he got the feeling that he should probably not defy her command. Quietly, he exited the room and closed the door behind him.
Walking back towards the living room, he spotted Luna sitting on one the sofas.
"Have a seat,"
Hesitantly, he moved towards a sofa beside her and sat down while ignoring Luna's long stare.
For the moment, Luna did not said anything so he took the free time to analyze the woman beside him, secretly that is. The first thing he noticed is her large...rack.
I wonder why Lina's brea-... The hell am I thinking!
Blushing slightly, he tried to figure out Luna's personality.
She seems quiet polite...in contrast to Lina... But there seems to be some kind of aura surrounding her... I wonder if that's the reason why Lina's so afraid of her...
"First thing first," Luna suddenly spoke.
The chimera waited for her to continue with anticipation.
"I'm tired so don't expect me to serve you any refreshment,"
Maybe Luna is similar to Lina in a way...
"Now," her tone suddenly turned serious, "Tell me everything that had happened from the battle with Hellmaster Phibrizzo in Sairaag up to now,"
...that was awfully direct... Taking a slow breath, he started to answer her.
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Damn it! I thought she's still at her part-time job! Is she off-duty today? Lina thought in distress as she peeped the two's conversation through the keyhole. Afraid that her sister might somehow spot her eye through the keyhole, she removed herself from the door and started to pace quietly in her room.
What to do! What to do! As she pacing frantically back and forth, her sight fell on the window beside her bed, ...maybe I should escape and let Zel handle things here... Yeah! That's it! I mean all he has to do is to ask her about how to save Gourry and... she stopped herself.
Her frightened expression turned into a sad frown, "...Gourry..." Why was she hesitating? Didn't she want to save Gourry as soon as possible? Time is not going to wait for her and yet here she is hiding from her big sister, delaying everything.
That's right... Gourry means everything to me... I'm not going to let Luna scare the shit out off me...this time at least... Lina stood in front of her door, taking one big gulp and braced herself to confront her number one fear; her big sister.
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"Stop,"
Zel blinked, "Huh?" he hadn't even finish explaining everything yet. Heck, he didn't even come to the good part yet.
"It seems that someone finally has the guts to join us," Luna calmly spoke as her lips curved into a playful grin.
The sound of steps caught the chimera's attention and quickly he turned to the source of the sound. To his surprise, he saw Lina standing behind them and then his surprise increased. Why? It was because the sorceress was shaking slightly and her eyes were glued to the floor. Plus, she was currently twiddling with her fingers.
"Hello, Lina-chan," her sister smiled at her.
Timidly, Lina brought up her head and gave her sister a crooked smile, "...I...I'm home, ne-chan..."
"I know that. Come, take a seat," Luna patted the sofa just beside her.
Lina took a gulp and followed her sister's command.
"Now, your chimera friend here told me that you used the Giga Slave to destroy Hellmaster and in the end you lost control of the spell," Luna spoke, never moving her eyes off Lina's face.
"B-but everything worked out in the end!" Lina quickly blurted out her reply, defensively.
"If everything had worked out in the end, then why are you here?"
Because its my home! Lina knew that counter her big sis' words with witty remark is a big no-no and will result to some serious damage (to her), "A...a friend of mine was...was possessed by Hellmaster..." she replied in a timid tone as she brought her hands together and clasped them tightly.
"A friend that is so important to you that you would risk the entire world just to save him?" there was a slight teasing in Luna's voice.
Lina's head drooped lower, "...uh"
"Well?"
"...yes,"
While the two was having their conversation, the chimera listened quietly.
I guess the love for teasing other people runs in the family...
More over, he was amused of how out of character Lina was acting before him.
So, this is how her older sister affects her... Hmmm... I wonder what Luna did to make the act-only-on-impulse Lina this scared...?
If only Amelia was here right now. He could then discuss the matter with the little princess. ...and then use the new juicy information they concoct as a counter-attack measure against any of Lina's wrath...
...heh... ...Damn it! I'm becoming like that damn priest! ...no... No! This is just self-defense!
Luna's smile never faded as she continued her conversation with Lina, "Describe this friend of yours. Is he male? Female? Does he/she has a name?"
Lina's face quickly turned red causing her older sister to let out an amused "Ooooh". In the back of her mind, she had this bizarre feeling that Luna already knows about her "friend"... Oh well, she has no choice but to submit to Luna's teasing...
"It's a he... H-he's name is...Gourry Gabriev. We, we've been traveling together for almost two years now," the sorceress' face grew even redder, if that's even possible, wondering how personal can her big sis's questions get...
Luna's eyes widen at her reply, "Oh! Travelling with a guy for two years. Is he gorgeous? Handsome? Chivalry?" Gods! When will the questions stop!
Damn it, ne-chan! You're just trying to humiliate me in front Zel, aren't you! ...oh, the humiliation! Grrr, if I see even a smirk on his face, I'll...
With her face still facing the floor, she snapped her now narrowed eyes at the chimera's direction. Zelgadis let out a startled yet silent "Eeep", while flailing his hands defensively, thinking that Lina had some how had read his plotting mind. A sweat trailed down his cheek when he saw her grinding her teeth at him...beast-like.
...crap! She's acting like a savage beast again...! he thought in panic.
"Lina-chan, are you angry at my questions?"
Lina's face instantly turned sheer white at Luna's voice and quickly she edged away from her sister, "No! No! I wouldn't dare be mad at you!" she shrieked in a spare-my-pathetic-life manner. Zelgadis eyes popped out of their socket at her respond. ...good god!
Her sister smiled sweetly at her, "Good then. Well, answer my previous question,"
Her face changed from white to crimson again, "...uhhh," secretly, she thanked every god and dark lord she knew for rescuing her from the previous death pit.
"Weeeellll?"
The teasing tone in Luna's voice made Lina twiddled her fingers again, "...he's uhhh...he's..." God, she wished that her heart would stop pounding violently against her chest.
SLAAAAM!
The three of them jolted out of their sofas at the loud sound.
"Lina!"
The sorceress smiled from ear to ear, knowing crystal clear who the voice belongs to.
"To-chan! Ka-chan!" Lina yelled in delight as she sprinted towards the two figures that had emerged from the front door.
"Ohhh! It is you, Lina! We came here as soon as possible once we heard from the neighbors that you were back!" the man with long black hair, obviously her father, spoke with a huge grin as he embraced his youngest daughter, followed by the woman beside him who had already closed back the front door.
"How's traveling?"
"Find anything valuable?"
"Are you eating right?"
"Did you create more new original spells?"
"To-san, ka-san, we've got company," their eldest daughter cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
Shit! I forgot Zel's here too! Lina thought in embarrassment as she withdrew herself from her parents' grasp. An icky feeling washed over her when she saw the chimera smirked at her.
Heh, "to-chan"? "Ka-chan"? she's no better than Amelia and Phil, After feeling content from watching the blushing Lina glare at him, Zelgadis turned his attention to the two new person.
First, Lina's father. The man was indeed something to behold. The tall man, with his beautiful face that matches even the most beautiful woman, looked both young and old at the same time. It's difficult to tell if he's older or perhaps even younger than Gourry. His black hair was long but it didn't match Gourry's hair's length and he didn't have that long bangs that covered part of his face like Gourry. Then he saw the cigarette in his mouth and wondered to himself why it wasn't lit. Other than that the man was plain, just like his clothes except for the cheap fishing rod he was currently holding.
Then it was Lina's mother's turn. Like the father, her mother too was beautiful. But unlike him, her long hair was chestnut brown and was tied into a pony tail. Then there's the comforting smile that she wore. The chimera concluded that she's probably the smile-smile type of person... But wait...! Where did Lina and Luna got their bizarre personality from then...? His eyes quickly darted back to the man of the Inverse house and unconsciously, the chimera took a nervous gulp.
Lina's father suddenly walk towards him, bend a bit so that the two of them were on an eye level and cupped his chin with his right hand.
The chimera's hands were itching to grab his cloth's hood.
"Hmmm, never seen this type of chimera before... So, you're Lina's traveling companion, eh? What's your name?" he suddenly spoke, curiosity glinting in his eyes.
Zelgadis backed away a little, "...uhhh... Z-Zelgadis..." he replied feeling very uncomfortable under the tall man's gaze.
Ms Inverse smiles sweetly, "So, Zelgadis, what is your relationship with my daughter?"
...eh...? both Lina and Zelgadis thought in pure shock.
Luna arched an eyebrow before letting out a sigh.
"Ka-chan! It's not like that! He's just a normal travel buddy!" Lina quickly defended herself in embarrassment.
The chimera was...speechless.
...why is it that every time we bumped into someone new they kept pairing me up with Lina! Me and Lina...? Yeeesh, just the mere thought is enough to scare away kids...
SLAAAAM!
All of them jolted.
Who is it this time that's wrecking our door...? Luna thought with another sigh.
"Lina-san!"
Both Lina and Zelgadis turned to the sound of the voice and gasped simultaneously.
"Amelia!"
To Be Continue...
Author's Ranting :
...Umm, how long was I "offline"...? Hehe, sorry for the very, very, very long update... My life is in chaos right now...
Zel : Oi, when will this Inverse family reunion ends? We're straying very far from our objective (glares at Lina)
Lina : What are you looking at me for? It's my family's fault not mine!
Luna : What was that Lina?
Lina : (laughs nervously) I mean, of course, it's my fault! ...huhuhuu...
Now, now, the plot will continue in the next chapter... Come on now Zel. Didn't you find that family reunion heartbreaking?
Zel : ...stupid is more like it...
Luna : What was that chimera-san?
Zel : (pales) ...I meant, stupendous...
Lina & Zel : (sigh)
On the next chapter, the secret of the hidden legend weapon, the Spirit Disintegrator! R&R please!
Amelia : Umm, I missed a lot of good stuff, didn't I?
Lina & Zel : You're so lucky...