"I am Vargus, and I have a proposition for you Lina Inverse," said Vargus,
smiling.
"Oh? So you know the name Lina Inverse? Well I don't find it surprising. Word of my beauty and sorcery genius is known across all lands," said Lina, throwing her hair back with a grand flourish of her hands. Thoroughly enjoying her self gratification, Lina threw back her head and laughed haughtily.
"A fifteen year old red haired sorceress wearing a black cape and red dress. Flat chested, average looks, and prone to self congratulation, yeah it's definitely Lina Inverse," muttered Vargus.
Lina's expression dropped, a gigantic sweat drop appearing behind her. Gourry simply laughed nervously, trying to lighten the mood.
"Well, what is it you need? You've obviously been looking far and wide for me," said Lina, trying to retain an air of dignity after her pride had totally been shot down.
"I need a sorceress of your caliber. I am an alchemist for the royal court of Kalazal, the southern kingdom. The princess has fallen under the curse of a wizard. She is at the kingdom as we speak; encased in eternal sleep due to the curse. While she is in death like sleep, we can't be sure of whether she will revive or not. We have reason to believe the neighboring kingdom's wizards are behind this. Why they would do this to the princess, I don't quite understand. The princess is a fair and pure maiden, she doesn't deserve to have this sort of thing done to her..." said Vargus, emotion pouring from his voice as he spoke.
"Well, I really feel for your situation and all, but what can I do? Shouldn't you be talking to the Seyruun wizards? They're all specialists in white magic, I specialize in black," said Lina.
"The best wizards in Seyruun have tried, but none of their spells have been effective. The curse has been unbreakable. The mage community of Seyruun is stumped, as this curse is not one we have on our record books. We only have one option left, and it is a longshot. I've come to ask you to help me locate the Tears of Katarasu," said Vargus.
Lina's expression immediately turned to one of surprise. Gourry, thick headed as always, simply looked puzzled and confused.
"The Tears of Katarasu? Such a thing exists?" said Lina.
"Well, there is no real way of telling. But if we can find that vial, the curse the princess is under would be broken."
"Well do you have any leads as to where the Tears of Katarasu might be? It seems to me like you're just trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"Uhh...Lina...about the Tears of ... what he just said ... "said Gourry in a low voice.
"Don't tell me you don't know about the legend! You're such a lunk head Gourry! The Tears of Katarasu is a special potion that is said to be able to cure any illness, detoxify any poison, and remove any black magic. It's a legend though; no one has ever found it. I'll tell you about the whole legend later when we have more time," replied Lina, bonking Gourry over the head.
"From what the wizards of Seyruun have told me, the best place would be to look through the ancient temple complex of Cephied south of here, past where Phibrizzo's barrier used to be. In those ruins may lie the Tears of Katarasu. After all, it was a temple run by the golden dragons themselves. Now that Phibrizzo's seal is gone, we can freely travel to the south of here," said Vargus.
"Well I'm glad you at least have a place to start. But what am I going to get out of this? Sorcery genius doesn't come for free you know," said Lina, crossing her arms and grinning.
"Well for starters I had brought this," said Vargus, reaching into his robe and procuring a large burlap sack. Vargus shook the sack so that the sound of the gold coins clinking against one another could be heard. Lina's eyes grew to the size of saucers, and her jaw dropped to the ground.
"For...starters...you say?"
"Well I'm sure the king would be so grateful that his daughter was well again that he'd shower you with gifts," replied Vargus, scratching his chin.
"Shower...with...gifts..." said Lina, giggling to herself uncontrollably. "Well we can't leave a princess cursed without trying to help her, right Gourry? That would just be totally heartless! We're on the job Vargus!" said Lina, slapping Gourry across the back.
"Omae na, just a few seconds ago you didn't show much interest," said Gourry.
"A bargaining tactic us shrewd business women know Gourry," said Lina, giving Gourry a wink.
"Well then if it's all settled I think we should head out as soon as possible. The sooner we find the Tears of Katarasu the better. I've bought a few maps to show us the way south, and I even brought someone well versed in golden dragon lore and history. Why don't you gather your things, and let's meet at the city square, let's say tomorrow at noon? We'll leave out then, for it will be a long journey from here." Vargus walked over to Lina, handing her the bag of gold.
"It's your show Vargus, we're just the hired help. We'll be ready by tomorrow. Until then, goodbye," said Lina walking away and waving. Gourry was soon to follow behind her. Gourry and Lina walked down the road towards their hotel. Once out of earshot, Gourry leaned down to Lina.
"Do you believe that guys story?'
"We'll there really isn't anyway to tell if it's real or not Gourry, but this sack of gold is definitely real. Besides, you and I haven't been on any adventures for awhile, so this will be a good chance to cut loose for a change."
"I hope you're right Lina," said Gourry, a look of doubt across his face. "By the way you still haven't explained to me what the Tears of Katawhosit is".
"Fine, we'll stop over at that café and I'll tell you all about it. Really Gourry, open a book once in awhile and something may leak into that thick skull of yours," replied Lina, playfully bonking Gourry on the head.
Lina and Gourry sat down at an outdoor café. Lina ordered some tea and Gourry ordered some coffee. Lina's fingered caressed the lip of her cup, as she collected her thoughts.
"Not like you'd remember this story anyway, but here goes nothing. Katarasu was a princess of a kingdom long, long ago. She was very well bred and her family was extremely powerful. Her family started from poor beginnings, but her mother married into royalty and she became the princess. Katarasu enjoyed studying white magic, and healing the sick and blind. She was betrothed to a prince of a neighboring kingdom. It was a political marriage, a means for her mother and father to increase the land holding and power of the kingdom. The prince, Daris, wanted Katarasu not just for political power, but because the princess' beauty was famed throughout the land. Katarasu did not love the man she was betrothed to, however. She had done the unthinkable..."
"The unthinkable, Lina?" asked Gourry.
"She fell in love with a golden dragon named Karzai. As a practitioner of the White arts, Katarasu was also a servant of the gods. She would often visit the temple of the golden dragons to pray to Cephied and to study white magic. While she was there, she met Karzai, a golden dragon and a priest. Katarasu wanted to flee her parents, her royal station, and her betrothed to become a full fledged priestess of the gods and live with Karzai."
"But, what's so bad about that?" asked Gourry.
"Think about it, would you? She can't be with Karzai if she's married to some prince. Katarasu was going to break her betrothal and run away from the kingdom. She tried to break it to the prince Daris nicely, but all it did was make him angry. In his rage, he killed the princess. As she lay dying, she wept because she would never see her lost love again. Daris, realizing what horrible sin he had committed, collected Katarasu's tears and carried them in a flask to Karzai, the golden dragon. Daris told Karzai of what he had done, and presented the tears to Karzai. Daris offered to have Karzai take his life, but Karzai had refused. Instead, he charged Daris with becoming a priest and spending the rest of his life to aid people."
"So what's so great about Katarasu's tears then?" said Gourry, perplexed as always.
"I'm getting to that part Gourry! Anyways, Katarasu's emotions were so strong that part of her essence was present in her tears. At least that's how the legend goes. If Katarasu's tears exist, Gourry, then we'd have some powerful white magic at our disposal! Think about it, any curse, any poison, any disease, any wound, could all be healed with her tears! So, do you at least partially understand the story?"
"Well.....not really, I kind of lost you when you started talking about Kata something and Kar-whosit," said Gourry, chuckling.
"As I expected, no point in trying to explain it to you in the first place. Why do I even bother?" lamented Lina. "Anyways, let's head back to the inn and pack, shall we?"
Lina and Gourry both got up and left for the inn.
In a matter of a few hours, Lina and Gourry had collected and packed all of their personal items and possessions. As Lina was placing her favorite comb into her sack, she stared into the mirror attached to her cherry wood dresser.
"The Tears of Katarasu? Few of those that have searched for the legendary healing salve have ever come up successful. White wizards have searched far and wide for it, so that they could study its healing properties. With Phribrizzo's seal gone, I guess that means it could be hidden somewhere on the southern part of the continent. I guess fate means for myself and Gourry to return to that place..."
Memories of Lina's adventures in the unknown lands to the south came flooding back to her. Memories of doing battle with Valgaav and the Overworlders, as well as Dark Star came flooding back to Lina.
"I don't really want to go back their again, but if it means I can find that ancient salve of legends, then I'll go down in history as one of the greatest sorcerers! Plus I can get a lot of gold out of this deal too. But while do I still feel this anxiety, deep within me?"
Lina looked at her reflection, her eyes heavy and her expression clearly showing signs of melancholy. Lina stood up, walking towards her balcony overlooking the sea. The stars twinkled brightly in the inky blackness of the night sky, casting their haunting glow on the waves of the sea below. A slight breeze picked up, carrying her long hair with it. Lina's mind turned to her battle with Dark Star, atop the teleportation machine. The dark lord of destruction, Dark Star, was moments away from breaking through the dimensional gate and consuming Lina's world in eternal oblivion. With all her options exhausted, Lina activated her amplifying talismans to summon the forbidden spell, the Giga Slave.
"If I made a single mistake in casting that spell, I could have sunk this entire world into the sea of chaos, ending existence. I don't want to have to be put in that sort of position again," thought Lina, longingly gazing up at the stars.
"Maybe I'm just worrying too much," said Lina, sighing and returning inside. Yawning, Lina went to bed, covering herself up with her velvet blanket and slipping into a deep sleep.
Lina's eye's opened. She could see a sky forever trapped in twilight expand before her eyes. Sitting up and looking around, Lina found herself on an island sitting in a patch of grass.
"Am I dreaming?" thought Lina.
Before Lina an infinite ocean of sparkling water expanded to all sections of the horizon. The starlight cast a brilliant glow over the eerily still water. Looking upward, Lina noticed that the moon could be seen prominently in the sky, five or six times it's normal size.
"Strange, what is this place?"
Lina stood up, and looked around. Everything seemed so surreal to her. Turning around, Lina saw a thick, dark, foreboding forest. The trees were tall, creating a thick canopy overhead, where only trickles of moonlight were able to flow down. Lina walked into the forest with a little trepidation. She could hear something, a very soft sound, almost too faint to hear.
"Music? It...it sound's like a flute."
The sound of a flute echoed throughout the forest, the music seemingly emanating from the trees, the grass, the rocks, even the ground itself. The music was sorrowful, bespeaking of a deep seated sadness and pain. The song haunted Lina, welling up within her being feelings of anguish that Lina had not experienced before. The melody made Lina want to sob and weep with her whole being. Lina fell to her knees, overcome with emotion.
"What is going on here?"
Lina looked forward, into the inky blackness of the depths of the forest. A few moments later, a slender woman clad in pure white robes appeared. The moonlight flowed in from the canopy of the trees, encompassing the women in its eerie glow. The woman seemed to walk towards Lina, a silver flute in her slender hand. Her hair was long, down to her waist, and black as a raven's feathers. Her eyes were the shape of almonds, and were as black as her hair. Lina noticed that the women's face was truly beautiful. The women's features were slender, graceful, and seem to flow together to create her visage. The women's countenance and posture bespoke of royalty. Lina stared forward, surprise and a little fear showing in her eyes.
"Who are you, where is this place?" asked Lina, trembling.
The woman walked forward slowly, her hair being lifted in all directions by the breeze. Kneeling down, she lifted Lina's chin slightly. Lina noticed that the women's eyes were exceptionally sorrowful and full of tears. There was emptiness within the blackness of the women's pupils, an emptiness that shook Lina.
"This is the forest of regret, where all who are unrequited must wander. The one whom you quest to save is here to, lost within the mysterious depths of this place," said the woman, her voice having a strange echo effect.
"Then you are..." said Lina, a look of surprise spreading across her face.
"I am Katarasu," said the women.
"Oh? So you know the name Lina Inverse? Well I don't find it surprising. Word of my beauty and sorcery genius is known across all lands," said Lina, throwing her hair back with a grand flourish of her hands. Thoroughly enjoying her self gratification, Lina threw back her head and laughed haughtily.
"A fifteen year old red haired sorceress wearing a black cape and red dress. Flat chested, average looks, and prone to self congratulation, yeah it's definitely Lina Inverse," muttered Vargus.
Lina's expression dropped, a gigantic sweat drop appearing behind her. Gourry simply laughed nervously, trying to lighten the mood.
"Well, what is it you need? You've obviously been looking far and wide for me," said Lina, trying to retain an air of dignity after her pride had totally been shot down.
"I need a sorceress of your caliber. I am an alchemist for the royal court of Kalazal, the southern kingdom. The princess has fallen under the curse of a wizard. She is at the kingdom as we speak; encased in eternal sleep due to the curse. While she is in death like sleep, we can't be sure of whether she will revive or not. We have reason to believe the neighboring kingdom's wizards are behind this. Why they would do this to the princess, I don't quite understand. The princess is a fair and pure maiden, she doesn't deserve to have this sort of thing done to her..." said Vargus, emotion pouring from his voice as he spoke.
"Well, I really feel for your situation and all, but what can I do? Shouldn't you be talking to the Seyruun wizards? They're all specialists in white magic, I specialize in black," said Lina.
"The best wizards in Seyruun have tried, but none of their spells have been effective. The curse has been unbreakable. The mage community of Seyruun is stumped, as this curse is not one we have on our record books. We only have one option left, and it is a longshot. I've come to ask you to help me locate the Tears of Katarasu," said Vargus.
Lina's expression immediately turned to one of surprise. Gourry, thick headed as always, simply looked puzzled and confused.
"The Tears of Katarasu? Such a thing exists?" said Lina.
"Well, there is no real way of telling. But if we can find that vial, the curse the princess is under would be broken."
"Well do you have any leads as to where the Tears of Katarasu might be? It seems to me like you're just trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"Uhh...Lina...about the Tears of ... what he just said ... "said Gourry in a low voice.
"Don't tell me you don't know about the legend! You're such a lunk head Gourry! The Tears of Katarasu is a special potion that is said to be able to cure any illness, detoxify any poison, and remove any black magic. It's a legend though; no one has ever found it. I'll tell you about the whole legend later when we have more time," replied Lina, bonking Gourry over the head.
"From what the wizards of Seyruun have told me, the best place would be to look through the ancient temple complex of Cephied south of here, past where Phibrizzo's barrier used to be. In those ruins may lie the Tears of Katarasu. After all, it was a temple run by the golden dragons themselves. Now that Phibrizzo's seal is gone, we can freely travel to the south of here," said Vargus.
"Well I'm glad you at least have a place to start. But what am I going to get out of this? Sorcery genius doesn't come for free you know," said Lina, crossing her arms and grinning.
"Well for starters I had brought this," said Vargus, reaching into his robe and procuring a large burlap sack. Vargus shook the sack so that the sound of the gold coins clinking against one another could be heard. Lina's eyes grew to the size of saucers, and her jaw dropped to the ground.
"For...starters...you say?"
"Well I'm sure the king would be so grateful that his daughter was well again that he'd shower you with gifts," replied Vargus, scratching his chin.
"Shower...with...gifts..." said Lina, giggling to herself uncontrollably. "Well we can't leave a princess cursed without trying to help her, right Gourry? That would just be totally heartless! We're on the job Vargus!" said Lina, slapping Gourry across the back.
"Omae na, just a few seconds ago you didn't show much interest," said Gourry.
"A bargaining tactic us shrewd business women know Gourry," said Lina, giving Gourry a wink.
"Well then if it's all settled I think we should head out as soon as possible. The sooner we find the Tears of Katarasu the better. I've bought a few maps to show us the way south, and I even brought someone well versed in golden dragon lore and history. Why don't you gather your things, and let's meet at the city square, let's say tomorrow at noon? We'll leave out then, for it will be a long journey from here." Vargus walked over to Lina, handing her the bag of gold.
"It's your show Vargus, we're just the hired help. We'll be ready by tomorrow. Until then, goodbye," said Lina walking away and waving. Gourry was soon to follow behind her. Gourry and Lina walked down the road towards their hotel. Once out of earshot, Gourry leaned down to Lina.
"Do you believe that guys story?'
"We'll there really isn't anyway to tell if it's real or not Gourry, but this sack of gold is definitely real. Besides, you and I haven't been on any adventures for awhile, so this will be a good chance to cut loose for a change."
"I hope you're right Lina," said Gourry, a look of doubt across his face. "By the way you still haven't explained to me what the Tears of Katawhosit is".
"Fine, we'll stop over at that café and I'll tell you all about it. Really Gourry, open a book once in awhile and something may leak into that thick skull of yours," replied Lina, playfully bonking Gourry on the head.
Lina and Gourry sat down at an outdoor café. Lina ordered some tea and Gourry ordered some coffee. Lina's fingered caressed the lip of her cup, as she collected her thoughts.
"Not like you'd remember this story anyway, but here goes nothing. Katarasu was a princess of a kingdom long, long ago. She was very well bred and her family was extremely powerful. Her family started from poor beginnings, but her mother married into royalty and she became the princess. Katarasu enjoyed studying white magic, and healing the sick and blind. She was betrothed to a prince of a neighboring kingdom. It was a political marriage, a means for her mother and father to increase the land holding and power of the kingdom. The prince, Daris, wanted Katarasu not just for political power, but because the princess' beauty was famed throughout the land. Katarasu did not love the man she was betrothed to, however. She had done the unthinkable..."
"The unthinkable, Lina?" asked Gourry.
"She fell in love with a golden dragon named Karzai. As a practitioner of the White arts, Katarasu was also a servant of the gods. She would often visit the temple of the golden dragons to pray to Cephied and to study white magic. While she was there, she met Karzai, a golden dragon and a priest. Katarasu wanted to flee her parents, her royal station, and her betrothed to become a full fledged priestess of the gods and live with Karzai."
"But, what's so bad about that?" asked Gourry.
"Think about it, would you? She can't be with Karzai if she's married to some prince. Katarasu was going to break her betrothal and run away from the kingdom. She tried to break it to the prince Daris nicely, but all it did was make him angry. In his rage, he killed the princess. As she lay dying, she wept because she would never see her lost love again. Daris, realizing what horrible sin he had committed, collected Katarasu's tears and carried them in a flask to Karzai, the golden dragon. Daris told Karzai of what he had done, and presented the tears to Karzai. Daris offered to have Karzai take his life, but Karzai had refused. Instead, he charged Daris with becoming a priest and spending the rest of his life to aid people."
"So what's so great about Katarasu's tears then?" said Gourry, perplexed as always.
"I'm getting to that part Gourry! Anyways, Katarasu's emotions were so strong that part of her essence was present in her tears. At least that's how the legend goes. If Katarasu's tears exist, Gourry, then we'd have some powerful white magic at our disposal! Think about it, any curse, any poison, any disease, any wound, could all be healed with her tears! So, do you at least partially understand the story?"
"Well.....not really, I kind of lost you when you started talking about Kata something and Kar-whosit," said Gourry, chuckling.
"As I expected, no point in trying to explain it to you in the first place. Why do I even bother?" lamented Lina. "Anyways, let's head back to the inn and pack, shall we?"
Lina and Gourry both got up and left for the inn.
In a matter of a few hours, Lina and Gourry had collected and packed all of their personal items and possessions. As Lina was placing her favorite comb into her sack, she stared into the mirror attached to her cherry wood dresser.
"The Tears of Katarasu? Few of those that have searched for the legendary healing salve have ever come up successful. White wizards have searched far and wide for it, so that they could study its healing properties. With Phribrizzo's seal gone, I guess that means it could be hidden somewhere on the southern part of the continent. I guess fate means for myself and Gourry to return to that place..."
Memories of Lina's adventures in the unknown lands to the south came flooding back to her. Memories of doing battle with Valgaav and the Overworlders, as well as Dark Star came flooding back to Lina.
"I don't really want to go back their again, but if it means I can find that ancient salve of legends, then I'll go down in history as one of the greatest sorcerers! Plus I can get a lot of gold out of this deal too. But while do I still feel this anxiety, deep within me?"
Lina looked at her reflection, her eyes heavy and her expression clearly showing signs of melancholy. Lina stood up, walking towards her balcony overlooking the sea. The stars twinkled brightly in the inky blackness of the night sky, casting their haunting glow on the waves of the sea below. A slight breeze picked up, carrying her long hair with it. Lina's mind turned to her battle with Dark Star, atop the teleportation machine. The dark lord of destruction, Dark Star, was moments away from breaking through the dimensional gate and consuming Lina's world in eternal oblivion. With all her options exhausted, Lina activated her amplifying talismans to summon the forbidden spell, the Giga Slave.
"If I made a single mistake in casting that spell, I could have sunk this entire world into the sea of chaos, ending existence. I don't want to have to be put in that sort of position again," thought Lina, longingly gazing up at the stars.
"Maybe I'm just worrying too much," said Lina, sighing and returning inside. Yawning, Lina went to bed, covering herself up with her velvet blanket and slipping into a deep sleep.
Lina's eye's opened. She could see a sky forever trapped in twilight expand before her eyes. Sitting up and looking around, Lina found herself on an island sitting in a patch of grass.
"Am I dreaming?" thought Lina.
Before Lina an infinite ocean of sparkling water expanded to all sections of the horizon. The starlight cast a brilliant glow over the eerily still water. Looking upward, Lina noticed that the moon could be seen prominently in the sky, five or six times it's normal size.
"Strange, what is this place?"
Lina stood up, and looked around. Everything seemed so surreal to her. Turning around, Lina saw a thick, dark, foreboding forest. The trees were tall, creating a thick canopy overhead, where only trickles of moonlight were able to flow down. Lina walked into the forest with a little trepidation. She could hear something, a very soft sound, almost too faint to hear.
"Music? It...it sound's like a flute."
The sound of a flute echoed throughout the forest, the music seemingly emanating from the trees, the grass, the rocks, even the ground itself. The music was sorrowful, bespeaking of a deep seated sadness and pain. The song haunted Lina, welling up within her being feelings of anguish that Lina had not experienced before. The melody made Lina want to sob and weep with her whole being. Lina fell to her knees, overcome with emotion.
"What is going on here?"
Lina looked forward, into the inky blackness of the depths of the forest. A few moments later, a slender woman clad in pure white robes appeared. The moonlight flowed in from the canopy of the trees, encompassing the women in its eerie glow. The woman seemed to walk towards Lina, a silver flute in her slender hand. Her hair was long, down to her waist, and black as a raven's feathers. Her eyes were the shape of almonds, and were as black as her hair. Lina noticed that the women's face was truly beautiful. The women's features were slender, graceful, and seem to flow together to create her visage. The women's countenance and posture bespoke of royalty. Lina stared forward, surprise and a little fear showing in her eyes.
"Who are you, where is this place?" asked Lina, trembling.
The woman walked forward slowly, her hair being lifted in all directions by the breeze. Kneeling down, she lifted Lina's chin slightly. Lina noticed that the women's eyes were exceptionally sorrowful and full of tears. There was emptiness within the blackness of the women's pupils, an emptiness that shook Lina.
"This is the forest of regret, where all who are unrequited must wander. The one whom you quest to save is here to, lost within the mysterious depths of this place," said the woman, her voice having a strange echo effect.
"Then you are..." said Lina, a look of surprise spreading across her face.
"I am Katarasu," said the women.