Slayers: Final
Chapter Eleven
When Hope Shines Brightest. . .
Up in the crow's nest, staring at the deck so far below (and the ground even further still!)feeling the wind tug at your hair, and basking in the warming sun. It almost made me forget about the last few weeks. Made me almost forget about the fights, the pain, the worry and the disturbing image of your sister getting busy with someone she'd practically just met. Instead, all I have been thinking about is how to make things better.
Miss Lina is still broken up about poor Mr. Gourry, though she has been getting better. She still has her vomiting and sobbing fits though. . . . but at least she isn't letting it get in the way of her goals. . . .whatever they may be. She's been locking herself away for long periods of time in the ship's main cargo hold. At first I thought she was just grieving, but then things started to explode.
It's becoming very obvious that Lina is developing new spells with her new found powers. And by the way Cid been working himself up over the repair bill for his "baby", I'd say she's finding at least some success at it.
I leaned back in the crow's nest and put my feet up and over the edge, letting them dangle as I looked up into the blue beyond.
I sighed a little raggedly.
I wish I could develop a spell to erase everyone's troubles away. To make Mr. Zelgadis' problems go away. He hasn't talked to anyone since we left Cid's place a week ago. He hasn't necessarily been avoiding anyone, as he is almost always in plain view. But, whenever I came over to try and make small talk with him. . .he. . .it's like he doesn't even realize that I am there. He just jots away at his map, adding an ever increasing amount of carefully replicated terrain and perfectly penned notes.
He's obsessed with something, and not just his cartography. He still may not realize it, but he is incredibly easy to read, even for me, not the most perceptive girl in the world. It began after we left the temple of the fire crystal and its been getting worse ever since. I'm getting so sick of this!
I hopped out of the nest and slid down a rope. Upon reaching the bottom I headed over to where Mr. Zelgadis usually is these days, the bow of the ship. And sure enough there he was, logging away as if possessed.
I approached him and like the times before, didn't so much as breath differently at my arrival. It still hurts.
"Still mapping away, Mr. Zelgadis?" Which probably sounded to him 'Still breathing, Mr. Zelgadis?', if he even bothered to listen to me at all. Still, he didn't respond.
"Ms. Lina is getting better, you know. At least somebody around here knows how to accept the things life throws at them," I said, oozing a little bit a venom in my words. If understanding and patients doesn't work, maybe sarcasm and belittlement will. "You think you can handle everything all by yourself, don't you? Well look where it has gotten you!" I gestured at his wings even though he still hasn't turned around and faced me, I hope it carried through in my voice.
"Whether you care enough to realize it or not, we are here for you Zel! Not even Lina is rock headed enough to turn away help to the point where it hurts!" I may as well been talking to the deck for all Zelgadis was obviously paying to me. I can't take this! My sadness was quickly becoming anger and I let it. I had to feel something other than sorrow, and I didn't care what it was about to make me do.
I am so very tired of this. . .. My mouth tastes like pizza and orange juice mixed together and my throat is raw. My head feels like 11 and a half monkeys have been playing a drum solo inside. Sometimes I just want to shrivel up and fade away. . .
But I'm NOT going to let that happen. Not while the freaks responsible for Gourry's death are still happily alive. So, to keep the noggin' from soggin' I've been experimenting and tweaking the new powers the Fire Crystal bestowed to us.
I've been keeping the power low, so that I don't completely blow up the ship, and to keep Cid from blowing up on me. My studies have been proving more or less fruitful. I've discovered that you can tweak the spells a little bit. Not as much as you can back home but its better than nothing.
I'm not sure, but I think I've got something big brewing here! I just need more time to study and tweak. Hopefully, those demon-bastards will continue to play keep away like they hav-
The ship bucked and trembled and I landed painfully on my bum but no worse for wear.
"Well speak of the devil," I almost wittily quipped to myself.
More than ready to kick some ass, I ran up the ladder well to the deck and found Zel (who looked absolutely torn about something) and Amelia already facing down the. . . two headed dragon in fishnet stockings casually pacing the ship.
I'm serious, stop laughing.
As well as having fishnet stockings the freak wore makeup, excessive makeup on both of her? Its? His? Faces. Whatever the gender, it was definently mazoku. It literally stank of foul miasma.
Find some mitchum, stinko!
Cid and Naga joined us a moment later, both more out of breath than they should've been from just running from their cabin. Cid's pants were on backwards too, it was quite the fashion statement. Yes, I too, am going to wear my pants backwards.
But not really.
The cranium +2 equipped dragon crammed its bulk onto the deck of the ship causing it to dip a little. Wood splintered beneath its man sized toes. Its four eyes glared at us, promising menace.
And here are all of you thinking, "Why, Lina? Why don't you use that new attack spell you've been blowing yourself up over for the last few days?". Well kiddies, the answer is simple: I don't want to die just this yet.
Remember the Dragon Slave? Of course you do. Now what I have in mind is something akin to making the Dragon Slave seem like a bout of explosive diahrea. Not something I want to test fire at point blank range on a flimsy wooden boat that happens to be flying a few thousand feet in the air.
"Ha!" Naga suddenly spouted. "Even with thrice as many heads and twice as much makeup you've still a ways to go before you can match wits with Naga the White Serpent!" The dragon just blinked, more than a little confused.
It seems we've finally found some common ground in Human/Mazoku relations.
"No one can match wits with you Naga," I said and she haughtily threw back her shoulders knocking Cid on his ass in the process, "Only because everyone else is waaaay ahead of you." I continued under my breath.
"Excuse me. . .?" The mighty mazoku boomed in a faux-feminine voice. "Have you seen or heard of a group that has killed off the Beast Master and Valvalis? I've been looking for a while now, but then I remembered something: I have like no idea what they look like! I mentioned this to Lord Krakken but he was all like "Hell if I know, I'd think you'd know them if you see them" So I was like. . . "
And so it went on like that for another few minutes all the while our mouths agape with shock. This was obviously a high ranking demon. Its power was almost overwhelming my senses, but its grey matter. . .not so much.
Cid was first, surprisingly, to interrupt the gabby draggy.
"Miss? I think I know of whom you are referring too." He said and I fervently hoped he wasn't selling us out. . .or else I just might try that new spell earlier than planned.
"You do! That would be like, so awesome! I've been looking fo-"
"Y-yes! And that's why I'd like to help! I know what it is like looking for someone for long periods of time without ever knowing if you are going to find her. . ." He glanced meaningfully at Naga who blushed and acted like a school girl who was caught starring at the popular jock. "Anyways! The man you are looking for, yes a single man, is . . ."
"Is what?" The demon prompted, thoroughly enraptured with Cid for some reason.
"Is a giant of a man, maybe fifteen feet tall, with blonde hair and sunglasses. He wears all red and carries a huge gun. He was last seen some one hundred iles east of here in the mountains."
"The mountains! Ah man!" the drag-on bemoaned. "It's gonna take forever finding anyone in those crags! What did I do to deserve this?" She carried on and on about how nobody loved her (I'm just saying "her" as I don't really know or want to) and how she always got the tough jobs as she lifted off the ship and gullibly flew off in the direction Cid pulled out of his elven arse.
A short while later I was on the bow of the ship looking down at the world below when I heard what sounded like a crash at the stern. Being the nosey snoop I am, I ran to investigate.
"DAMMIT ALL!" Zel screamed, his first words in quite a while I guessed. He was stomping around tearing out some of the railing in a blind rage.
"What is it Zelgadis?" Amelia worriedly asked, she was expertly hopping down the crows nest, using her natural agility to land safely on the deck.
"Another chance gone. . ." Zel spoke, not even looking at her.
"What are you doing?" Cid suddenly crashed through the Captains Cabin. "You're making the Invincible even LESS safe!"
Amelia ignored the elf. "What chance? What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Zel said in a detatch sort of way that made me wince for some reason.
"Don't give me that. . .that bullshit!" Amelia grated out and I nearly pissed my drawers. What the hell's been going on these last few weeks? Amelia never swears! Much less at "Mr. Zelgadis"!
Zel might've twitched a little but his reply, if any, was cut short by a sudden dragon shaped shadow appearing on the deck. I turned around and wasn't terribly surprised when I saw Puff the Magic Dragon back from her magical journey to Suckersville.
"Are you sure it was east?" the dragon asked.
"Yes!" We all said in unison. If it worked once before, why not a second time?
And it did!
The demon flew off once more in pursuit of the phantom menace. Leaving us to our own problems once more. The way Amelia was looking made me think ol' Zelly boy was better off facing the demon. Yikes!
Amelia stomped around, obviously frustrated and angry.
"Don't you realize that we're here to help! I'm here to help you!" she shouted in Mr. Indifferent's face.
"Don't you know your hurting us!" she continued, pitch increasing to excruciating levels.
You maybe, I don't think anyone can hurt me as much as when Gourry was taken away.
"Where's the justice in all this! Mr. Zelgadis, you are becoming a villain of the worst kind! The kind that hurts your own friends for no apparent reason! We may not know what it is like to have a body like yours but you don't have to take out your frustrations on us. . .,"
She went on like this for a few more minutes, the rest of us sitting back watching the show, taking bets on if and when Zelgadis will finally crack. Or if Amelia will regress even more into making her rant into a justice speech.
Then all hell broke loose.
Krakoooow! An explosion rang through my ears and wooden debris rattled to the deck. I looked up and saw main mast was gone, tumbled over into the clouds. And the source, well. . .do I even have to tell you?
"So!" the demon dragon bellowed, "You thought you could fool me twice!" She shrieked and then proceeded to tear apart the other masts, wildly shaking the ship and generally making me want to vomit.
"Dammit! She's hurting my baby!" Cid screamed while he pulled out his gun and began to unload on the demon.
Instead of just firing one shot and then reloading like Zel's pistol, Cid's could shoot dozens of rounds before he ejected a banana shaped container from the barrel and reload with another. Pretty neat but how does it do against demons?
"Haha! Pinpricks!" the dragon boasted.
Not very much I gather.
"Who are you calling a prick?" Naga shouted while preparing a spell. "Dog of Fire! Show our enemy the meaning of Hell! Ifrit!"
With the completion of Naga's summoning spell, demonic looking, anthropomorphic dog covered in flames popped out of nowhere in mid air just port of the deck. He looked at the dragon with contempt and then promptly fell from the sky disappearing from view. We all looked expectedly (including the perfumed lizard) at Naga who just stood there smiling confidently.
"Ya crazy bitch!" A deep and slightly pissed voice called out from below. "Next time ya do that say something!"Ifrit appeared floating above the dragon, magical fire igniting from his long, goat like horns.
"Oooh, that's different." the demon murmured.
"Hell Fire!" Ifrit roared, releasing his spell, a shower of sparks and embers engulfed the area. And when I say "the area" I meant the ship too! The demon was dancing was playing hot potato and the deck was being burned torn to shreds! Ifrit, his spell complete, disappeared for good this time.
Cid looked as if he was about to cry while Amelia was using the opportunity to sneak up behind the demon using her float spell. Zelgadis looked as if he didn't know what to do, a first for him.
I, on the other hand, was preparing a spell while all this was going on as well. It's not the big one but I think it'll hurt the tranny tyrant at least a little.
"Blizzard!"
Frozen crystal formed around the dragons feet, accidently gluing her onto the remains of the still amazingly flying, but smoking ship.
So my aim isn't that great yet. At least she won't escape anytime soon.
"Arggh!" A trio of arrows, courtesy of Amelia stuck in the back of the lizard's second (or was it first?) head. "You little bitch!" She growled and she began to rock her body, tossing the ship, and us, to and fro, probably trying to dislodge herself.
While she couldn't free herself, she did manage to shake off a propeller! The ship listed suddenly to port and we almost got flung overboard.
This is bad. We haven't done any real damage to it yet! We'll be jelly on the pavement before we killed the thing!
I caught a glint of something shiny in the distance. Another airship? No, it was too small, unless birds got lazy and decided to build airships too. I heard Amelia gasp and thought her injured. Turns out she also saw the glint and was pointing in the sky in shock. With her better vantage point she must've known what it was.
"What is it Amelia?" I shouted her way. Zel, Naga and Cid were pummeling away at the stuck monster, trying to keep her from shaking the continually disintegrating ship anymore.
Amelia looked at me with a bizarre series of facial expressions ranging from shocked to ecstatic.
Ok. . . she must've forgotten her pills or something.
The glint got closer and I saw Xellos. My heart skipped a beat. NO! Not for Xellos, the late bastard, but what he was carrying along in his flight.
Now directly above the dragon Xellos let loose his package of wondrous wonderfulness and he called out words that made me wanna laugh, cry and shout for joy all at the same time.
"Light come forth!"
I settled for getting weak kneed and falling on my ass.
With his command, the hilt in Gourry Gabriev's hands shot forth a pillar of light the length of a broad sword with which he swiftly sliced off one of the bewildered dragon's heads as he descended to the torn up deck.
"G-G-Gou. ." that's all I could get out as I stumbled over to his confidently standing form.
He turned and smiled, "Hey there Little Lady, miss me?"
Before I could choke out a reply, the demon with -1 heads tore herself loose with most of the ship with it. The snarling, whimpering beast flew off and we flew down. Like rocks.
Gourry and I grabbed each other instinctively, holding each other as like this was the end. Amelia may be able to save herself with her float spell but I doubted she could get to us all. Zel is probably putting his wings to good use as well.
It was a strange feeling falling from so far up in the sky. With Gourry in my arms it seemed, oddly enough, like heaven. Like flying without direction, just the feel of the wind and uninhibited freedom. I couldn't have picked a better way to die, I thought and I held onto him all the tighter, burying my head into his chest.
Gourry unwrapped one arm from around me and before I could protest the ruination of the greatest/saddest moment of my short life our fall slowed. . .and eventually stopped.
For a moment I thought we hit ground and were now floating away to the afterlife. I looked up and saw that Gourry was holding onto something. That something was a metal bar and the bar was connected to some kind of vessel!
We were saved! But by who?
The ship gently took off and with Gourry's strong arm attached to it I felt no fear of falling. I looked around and saw that the others were similarly saved as well. From this vantage point I could see that the ships were little more than vertically positioned cylinders with propellers on top. The pilot of each one (four altogether) sat in an exposed cockpit at about the middle of the contraption's body.
I could see Cid and Naga holding on to their ships landing strips, while Amelia and Zel flew by themselves, escorted by the other two flying machines.
With our immediate peril put on hold, I started to run the gamut questions about Gourry's impossible return. But. . .I couldn't speak. I guess I didn't want to ruin the mystery. It was better just remembering him descending from the heavens and back into my arms. That's all I needed to know for now.
We flew west and up, breaking cloud cover and making us cold. I started to shiver and Gourry held on to me even tighter. A storm cloud stood stationary in the distance. Which was odd, as how many storm clouds do you know stay stationary? It was fairly windy up here and the clouds below were definitely moving. We broke for the cloud, presumably our destination.
A voice spoke to me.
"Welcome Lina Inverse. Welcome to the Temple of Wind. . . "
Tom the Mighty's Mighty Notes.
I'll take a stab at fate and saw only one person is going to review this! Talk about late updates. . . .