Chapter 2. The swamp of memories
Along the bolder of the Kingdom of Dilse, lay the county known as Man's End. As ominous as the name sounded compared to its actual meaning, it was one of the last places where a traveler could find human civilization this far to the north: The hazardous steeps of the Kataart Mountains could already be seen in the distance. It was a beautiful rangy region, with almost constantly clear skies, lush forests, well-kept fields, and locals known for their kindness and friendly demeanor.
"I said turn back!! Are you two deaf or just completely insane?!" inquired one of these friendly locals.
The pack donkey next to the middle-aged merchant gave a cry of discontent, and took a nervous step back. The man turned to it with a bit of regret on his face, and patted the donkey on the head. "I'm sorry Martha, but these adventurers won't listen to me at all," he murmured, running a hand through his short graying hair, and shot a nasty look towards the people who stood before him on the road: A diminutive sorceress and a dark-haired priest.
"Look, we just wanted to ask about some directions," said Lina, visibly annoyed as well. "We heard that a new branch of the Sorcerer's Guild was recently founded in the area, but no one could give us the exact location of it, so--"
"No-no, you're not going to fool me!" The merchant interrupted her. He gesticulated wildly, which caused his baggy clothing the flail about like some bizarre sail. "All of you adventurer-types are only interested in the swamp! But I swear, I won't tell you a word about it!" He pointed to the east. Approximately six miles away, the valley created by three encircling hills was almost completely covered in fog.
"Swamp?" The sorceress blinked, looking into the direction the man was pointing with confusion. "As far as I know, there are no marshes around here--"
"That's exactly the problem! This one appeared overnight two weeks ago! That is why I'm telling you to stay away from it, for Ceiphied's sake!!" the man yelled, causing the donkey to panic again. "Oh, forgive me Martha…"
"Oh brother," Lina muttered with a sigh, turning to her companion. "We might as well ask his 'friend', she seems to be the more intelligent of the two."
"Don't be so negative, Lina-san." smiled Xelloss, watching the man's attempts to calm the now considerably disturbed animal with amusement. "We are getting some answers; perhaps not to the questions we asked, but interesting ones all the same."
"Okay, fine." The sorceress shrugged fretfully. "You talk to Mr. Donkey-pal, I'm done with this."
The priest cleared his throat in order to get the man's attention. When he received no response, he took a step forward to make sure his voice was heard.
"Excuse me sir, but may we ask you about--" he started to say, but was cut off immediately by the merchant.
"Just be quiet!! Can't you see I'm bu--" The merchant in turn was cut short by Martha, who, finally fed up with her master's yelling, kicked him into a pool of mud on the road.
"Yes dear, I guess I deserved that," the man said in resignation, his vehemence gone entirely. He then turned to the others, and said, "Please, listen to me. No one who entered the swamp came back! Believe it or not, a few days earlier it even consumed Lina Inverse!"
A moment of silence followed; Xelloss and Lina exchanged bewildered glances.
"L-Lina Inverse?? What are you talking about?!" the sorceress stammered.
"I thought you said you were done with this," the mazoku reminded her with a grin.
"Ah, shut up, will you?" Lina waved her hand irritably in his direction, her eyes fixed on the merchant. "Did you say Lina Inverse?"
"Yes, Lina Inverse herself came to this place. " The man nodded eagerly. "She said that she'll find out what happened to the people in the swamp, but she's been there for two days now! I wouldn't care if adventurers like you would just run to their deaths, but I don't want you to feed whatever is in there anymore! If it grows strong enough, it might be targeting us next!"
"Well aren't you the sweetest thing," grumbled Lina. "Okay, if that makes you feel better, now that we know how dangerous it is, we won't go anywhere near the swamp."
"You won't?" The merchant jumped to his feet, suddenly looking hopeful.
"No sir!" The sorceress shook her head resolutely. "We really hate swamps that make people disappear! Right, Xel?"
The priest scratched his head. "Well, I guess that might be true… in certain special circumstances," he said, choosing his words carefully.
"Thank goodness–! I was really sure you wanted to go there!" The merchant swiped his brow with relief. "But wait – you wanted to ask something else before… about a Sausages Guild, right?"
"No, it was nothing important, thanks for all your help." Lina waved to the man, both as a gesture of denial and also to say goodbye.
"You're welcome… I think. Let's be on our way then, Martha," the merchant said, took the donkey's rein and led it down the road with a spring in his step. The sorceress waited for them to be out of earshot before letting out a small laugh.
"Gullible and stupid." She snickered.
Although...For a travelling merchant, he carried very few actual goods with him, which is kind of odd.
"As usual, accompanying you on this trip proved to be an excellent idea it seems." Xelloss watched the merchant disappear from view as the road headed downhill. "The swamp mystery managed to pique your interest after all, am I right?"
"Not that much," answered Lina. "But holy magic research will have to wait for a while; at least, until I catch the one who's been stealing my identity and give her some well-deserved beating. Who knows what impostors like her have done in my name?"
"But you said you didn't really care about your reputation." The priest raised an eyebrow.
"I don't care as long as I'm the one who's ruining it," the sorceress explained as she left the road and started walking towards the mass of fog in the distance. "But such people can spread rumors about things I'd never, ever do. Like, once I went to a restaurant where the chef told me that he'll make my favorite food, only to put in front of me a huge bowl of-- " Lina shuddered involuntarily, " --snail soup. I'll never know from where he got that idea of all things – the guy was still out cold from my Fireball when I left – but it still gives me the shivers just thinking about it, brr... Stop giggling Xel, or I'll hit you with something."
The two continued walking in the direction of the fog-covered swamp chatting merrily, unaware of the pair of eyes that watched them from the road they just left.
There could have been no doubt about the marshy area's magical origin – the waterlogged terrain, shaped roughly like a circle with a one mile radius, lay in the middle of the valley, looking completely out of place. Around it, the hills were covered with a meadow buzzing with all forms of life; but just a step further were the soft, muddy paths of earth surrounded by deep, reed-filled bogs and dark, withered sallow trees. Behind them was nothing but a white wall -the thick fog obscured all sight beyond a few dozen feet.
"Almost feels like home," said Xelloss jokingly, as he and Lina reached the swamp's perimeter after a few hours of trekking.
"Don't tell me Wolf Pack Island looks like this." The sorceress looked at her companion, a bit taken aback. "Consider it permanently taken off of my 'places to visit'-list."
"I fail to see what is wrong with it," shrugged the priest, gesturing towards the swamp. "A beautiful, natural representation of death and decay. What more can a mazoku ask for?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. " Lina rolled her eyes, and then glanced at the sky. The sun has already lowered a bit; they had about two hours before nightfall. "Look, I don't think we should spend too much time with this; whatever dangers this place has in store for us, it will only get twice as worse after the sun sets. So let's split up and see who can find this 'Lina Inverse' faster."
The mazoku's eyebrows shot up curiously. "Are you suggesting a contest?"
"Why not?" Lina grinned. "The first person to find the impostor and bring her back here wins. And Xelloss…" The cheerful expression suddenly disappeared from her face, replaced by an annoyed frown. "Try not to cheat for a change, okay?"
"Cheat?? Lina-san, I am offended!" The priest put his hand to where his heart should have been to complete his entirely transparent display of faked pique. "I would never lower myself to do something like cheating! I merely… took advantage of some of the rules' more sketchy elements a few times."
"Which means roughly the same thing in my book." The sorceress folded her arms, determined to stand by her principles.
"Unless it is done by you?" quipped Xelloss.
"Exactly."
"I see." The mazoku priest smiled, slowly shaking his head. "Well, Lina-san, the rules are yours to define as always. Shape them in any way you feel appropriate, and I will abide to them."
The sorceress gazed at the swamp thoughtfully for a moment, and then, looking satisfied with what she had in mind, snapped her fingers in a playful manner.
"Alright, here's the deal: We'll take different paths. Should we meet, it will be forbidden to hinder, but won't be necessary to aid the opponent." Lina smirked at the mazoku. "And the most important restriction: Neither of us is allowed to use any ability that a typical human commoner wouldn't be able to pull off. This means no teleportation, no spying from the astral side or anything like that, and no spells."
"Not even spells?" Xelloss looked at the sorceress with a perplexed expression.
"No, not even spells," she nodded, visibly satisfied with the priest's confusion. "Well, the Lighting spell can be an exception, as it's very easy to learn and requires no training to use. Any other questions?"
"None, I think I understand the rules completely." Xelloss stepped closer to the sorceress and opened one of his eyes, smiling confidently. "Not a bad strategy, Lina-san, but do not think that just by attempting to level the playing field you will be able to win this competition."
She took a step herself, looking the mazoku straight in the eye. "You know what I'll say to that, Xelloss?" She leaned forward.
"Do tell me, Lina-san." He mimicked her movement – their faces were so close to each other now that their noses almost touched.
Lina poked his temple with her forefinger and whispered, "You start from the opposite edge of the swamp."
The smile from Xelloss' face slowly faded as her words sank in. "N-Now wait a minute--!" he began to say, but the girl already started marching on the muddy path into the gloomy fen.
"And remember, no teleporting!" she called, glancing back, before her form disappeared in the thick fog.
The priest ran a hand through his hair in both amusement and frustration. "Oh my," he muttered, "and she's the one to talk about cheating!"
He quickly turned around and started jogging along the swamp's perimeter.
After an hour of walking in what she thought to be a straight line and never finding an exit, Lina concluded that the swamp was indeed reluctant to let its visitors leave. The method she wasn't really sure about: She did not notice passing by the same tree or other landmark more than once, which meant she wasn't going around in circles – it had to be something far more unusual.
I hate to admit it, but my chances of finding that imposter aren't that good, she thought, looking around. It was the same thing in endless variations: muddy trails, deep bogs, small thorny bushes and ugly trees. It was a lot more desolate than she initially thought; Lina did not see or hear a single living animal; the entire swamp was wrapped in dead silence. There were also no edible fruits or vegetables to be found, even the water itself was foul. If she knows any magic she could've conjured her own to drink, but without anything to eat--
No sooner had these thoughts formed in her mind, than she spotted a small batch of strawberries next to the path just a few feet in front of her.
What? I swear those weren't there a moment ago!
She ran forward and examined the plants. They looked real enough.
Okay, there's really no such coincidence. Let's see, now if I'd want to something to drink--
She glanced around, and there it was:a huge green leaf on the ground, filled with fresh rainwater. Lina allowed herself a wry smile. This is really something. I have to be careful what to wish for around here.
She then opened her arms and yelled at the half-dead trees, "Give me a feast for three people and a mountain of gold!"
After a minute of expectant waiting, Lina had to conclude that neither the food nor the treasure would appear.
"Figures," she murmured. "And here I was, thinking that people might be never coming out of the swamp because they enjoy themselves too much."
The sorceress turned around to walk further down the path, but skidded to an abrupt halt as she saw the figure of a young woman appearing from the mist before her.
Keeping his eyes on the swamp to his left, Xelloss rushed through the tall grass. It took him quite an amount of willpower to keep his speed in check; regardless of his desire to hustle as quickly as possible, according to the contest rules he had to keep his body within human limits.
"This will most certainly not do," he muttered to himself. "I am giving Lina-san too much lead. By the time I reach the other side of this quagmire--" He suddenly stopped, a mischievous grin appearing on his face. "Then again, if I am a 'typical human commoner', I surely cannot tell where the other side of the swamp is exactly. I just have to decide for myself."
With a satisfied nod, Xelloss turned around and walked into the fog.
Lina watched the woman as she fumbled her way closer, looking completely exhausted. She wore an elaborate sorceress' attire, with intricate golden designs woven into the pleasant-looking but sturdy green fabric; her shoulder pads were adorned with several large gems. One could think, however, that all of these ornate embellishments were simply there to compensate for her average figure, dull brown eyes and hair wrapped in a simple ponytail, and a face that couldn't be better described than plain and featureless, especially in the contrast of her clothing.
Lina was not about to get bogged down by such details, however. Cracking her knuckles, she threw a predatory grin at the girl.
"Suddenly I miss my mountain of gold a lot less," she muttered with glee. "When it comes to wish-fulfillment, this is just as good." Raising her voice, she addressed the other sorceress. "Hey there! Who you might be, I wonder?"
The girl looked around confused, as if she did not notice Lina's presence at all until now. "Oh fantastic, another illusion?" she said with a tired sigh, eyeing the sorceress warily. "My name is Lina Inverse. You better not attempt any hostile action towards me, or you will regret it for the rest of your life!"
'Hostile action'? Geez, if you want to pretend to be me, at least try not to sound like someone who's just graduated from Geek Academy!
"Wow, that's really something!" Lina put her hands together in mock excitement. "I want to be Lina Inverse too! Do you know where can I buy such a fancy shoulder guard which lets me use the name?"
"W-What?" the girl blurted out, not at all expecting such a reaction.
She's a bit on the slow side, huh. Don't worry, I'll get you up to speed...
"Stealing another's identity must be soo much fun!" the sorceress continued, sarcasm much more evident in her voice now.
"I-I'm sorry, I have been walking around in this swamp for a while, so my cognitive abilities are not in the best shape." The girl touched her temple, trying to drive away a coming headache. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you are getting at."
Aargh, she and her cognitive abilities! This woman is so stupid that beating her up will almost make me feel bad... Almost.
"Okay, listen up!" Lina dropped her cheerful facade entirely and glared at the other sorceress. "You are not Lina Inverse. I happen to know that because I am the real one, get it? And I really don't like to see my name used by others!"
"Which means you are going to use force on me?" the girl asked innocently.
Oh, by the gods--!
"YES!!" the sorceress yelled at the top of her lungs.
"So you're really just another illusion then." The fake Lina Inverse nodded. "I might be tired, but don't delude yourself into thinking that I will allow myself to be vanquished by you! I will strike you down, because...How was it again? Victory is always mine!"
Lina's eyes bulged while one of her hands tore into her hair. "Y-You even stole my lines!" she cried in outrage.
The fraud did not answer; instead, she brought one of her hands forward and uttered in a confident voice,
"BURST FLARE!"
"Wha--?" Lina instinctively lunged to the side, just before the roaring pillar of flame struck the spot where she had been standing and reduced a nearby tree to ash.
"I didn't hear you chanting any Chaos Words at all. Not bad." she said, smirking as she regained her feet.
"Hey, you are still alive?" The other girl looked surprised. "That spell always managed to deal with the illusions before!"
"Talking won't get you anywhere," said the sorceress, signaling her opponent to come closer in a provocative gesture. "Show me what you got!"
"D-Don't you dare to m-mock me! I h-have an explosive temper you know!" the fake Lina stuttered. "I-- Ah, whatever! BLAST BOMB!"
That spell, just out of the blue--?!
"No thanks!" As dozens of fiery balls of energy appeared out of thin air around the impostor, Lina took advantage of the spell's delay, aimed for her opponent's eyes, and yelled, "LIGHTING!"
The blinding flash of light distracted the girl just enough to misdirect her spell, causing the swarm of fireballs to crash with a thundering explosion into a deep bog around twenty feet away. It still managed to boil a huge amount of the water in it, filling its surroundings with hot steam, and combined with the thick fog, making it completely impossible to see anything but a wreathing white mass.
"Just you wait!" The impostor seemed to be rapidly losing her cool. "Once I get these stars out of my eyes-- Ahm, I mean once this steam goes away then I'll--" She suddenly realized that even though the blindness caused by the spell was gone andthe swirling hot air has mostly dissipated, she still couldn't see a thing; she was staring into a wall of silver radiance in all directions. Squinting her eyes, she could make out dozens upon dozens balls of light, stacked upon each other, surrounding her in the shape of a cylinder. She tried to break out of it, but the spheres moved along with her, following her every step.
She heard Lina's voice. "Sorry, I think we had enough fun for today."
"W-Why you--!" The girl gritted her teeth, but when she spoke again, her voice regained a bit of her former confidence. "You're pretty astute for an illusion, but I don't think I need to aim this! DRAGON SLA--!"
"Oh, no, you don't!" Lina appeared in the cylinder of light behind her with her short sword drawn, and hit the other sorceress on the back of the head with the handle. The fraud probably didn't even realize what happened; she just collapsed to the ground, knocked out instantly.
Xelloss wandered through the swamp, watching the trees around him with interest: Their forms were strangely curved, as if they were writhing in pain. It was an unnerving sight, but the priest did not seem to mind; he looked at them like a tourist would when encountering intriguing pieces of art at an exhibition.
"Now let's see." He pointed at a group of four sallows in order from left to right. "'L'... 'I'...'N'...'A'." With a horrible creaking noise, the trees adjusted their branches to depict the letters they were assigned. "Perfect!" The mazoku regarded his creation with delight, before making a sweeping gesture towards a nearby bog filled with reed.
They twisted around like snakes, revealing a second message: I know you are here, colleague.
After a moment of silence, the four trees and the reed disappeared, and a disembodied voice filled the air.
"Who are you?" it said. "How do you know about me?"
"My, I never expected to meet a fellow mazoku these days who did not know me yet." He raised an eyebrow curiously. "I am Xelloss, the Priest, in the service of Greater Beast Zellas Metallium. Surely that will ring a few bells."
"Xelloss..." the voice sounded, unsure, as if trying to place the name. "Yes, I think I remember you."
"Your identity was not hard to deduce," Xelloss continued. "I know of very few beings who can manipulate reality to such an extent, and I doubt the gods would create something like this. But I must say that you do not seem to have it under control entirely - someone with enough willpower can easily mold the environment to suit his own needs, as you probably noticed."
"You are Xelloss," the being repeated, no longer paying attention to him. "Yes, and I think you just fell perfectly into my trap."
"A trap?" The priest blinked. "Really? Would you care to elaborate?"
"The trap which you can never escape from!" the voice yelled triumphantly. "This will be the place where you die!"
Lina carefully laid the counterfeit sorceress down on the ground. She had not wounded her seriously, but managed to ensure that she'd be unconscious for a while. Crouching next to her, she studied her face with a thoughtful look, and tried to make sense of what had just happened during their duel.
She is just a twenty-something greenhorn adventurer – and she can cast a Blast Bomb instantly without amplifying her magic capacity at all. She shook her head in disbelief. That's unreal! Even I can't do that after so many years!
"She is one of my chosen." A strange, genderless voice reached the sorceress' ears, seemingly coming from one of the sallows next to her. Taken by surprise, Lina jumped to her feet, and regarded the tree suspiciously.
"Chosen?" she repeated. "Chosen by whom? And for what?"
"To live in her own little world of fantasy, and be tormented by her own demons." Lina spun around nervously; the voice was now coming from a tree behind her back. "Until finally, when her soul gets completely consumed by pain and suffering, she will become one with me."
"Who the heck are you?" the sorceress demanded, stepping closer to the girl's unconscious form.
"I gave her the power she so badly wanted, and led her on the path towards Man's End, into this swamp, which will become her own end as well." The voice continued without answering. "A fittingly sorry end for someone who lives off of imitating others, right? But you are not like her, not at all. You are different…" it added unsurely. "You are the true Lina Inverse, aren't you?"
"Depends on who wants to know," she said, clenching her fists. "When it comes to annoying evil swamp spirits, I tend to say 'no'."
"Yes, you really are the real thing!" Mirthless laughter filled the moor. "Such a rare opportunity for entertainment – and revenge!"
The swamp around Lina disappeared, replaced by a swirling mass of bright, bleached-out colors. From time to time, she could glimpse the forms of buildings, landmarks or people, some of whom might even looked familiar, but they melded back into colorful chaos a moment later, before she could get a good look at them.
This pattern-- It's a bit like what the Illusion spell creates, just a lot bigger!
"I wanted you all to wander around in this place, so I may absorb you slowly--" Unmistakable passion and longing filled the voice now as it spoke. "--but with you two, I will make an exception!"
Lina was about to ask what it meant by that exactly, when suddenly the colors around her solidified, and she found herself somewhere in the past – at a certain time and place she would have never chosen to revisit.
"Prepare to meet your end, Beast Priest Xelloss!" The voice yelled once more. "Your power, your soul, your very self – it all will be mine!"
"Ambitious plans. Unfortunately, you have no chance to fulfill them," the mazoku commented, making no effort to suppress a yawn.
"You might be mocking me now, but your brashness will not last long," the swamp spirit threatened, once again without any effect whatsoever.
"Tell me then," the priest asked good-naturedly, "didn't you feel like there was a certain 'weight' upon you in the last couple of hours?"
There was no response. Xelloss smiled a creepy little smile, and nodded.
"I must admit that it is my fault. The mere presence of my astral body makes nearby weaker mazoku like you uncomfortable; I really can't help it, the difference of power between us is just too great." He opened his eyes and gazed into the fog menacingly. "You still fail to comprehend who I am, don't you? I can easily destroy you or even this entire valley with a thought. Don't you think that it would be wiser if you would try to assist me instead of throwing useless threats in my way?"
After a few more seconds of silence, the voice spoke again, at a slow pace, "Yes, you are right. You might be capable of killing me," it said, then added with unvarnished glee: "But right now, you cannot."
"And what makes you think that?" The mazoku's brows furrowed.
"I can see a bit into the minds of those who enter my realm, Beast Priest." The spirit taunted him. "I can feel their memories of pain, desire and fear and use these to my advantage, but in you I managed to glimpse something else as well: an agreement between you and Lina Inverse." Xelloss' smile wavered for the fraction of a second; that was the only sign by one could have told that he was indeed caught. "Your power is of no use to you right now, and I can see through your bluffs – the truth is the only weapon you can use against me. But that's not something you would prefer, correct?"
"Not at all, my good friend: I might play with words, but I pride myself on never telling a lie," the priest said cheerfully, still confident as ever. "Here is a piece of truth you requested: the fact that I cannot kill you currently does not mean that you can hurt me in any way. I might keep my abilities in check for now, but I am still a mazoku, a noticeably stronger mazoku in fact. How do you plan to end me then?"
"Let that be a secret for now," the voice murmured mysteriously, and the swamp around Xelloss melted away into pitch-black darkness.
Lina found herself in the middle of a thunderstorm which was trapped into a cubical basement room. The floor was covered with arcane symbols of various origins, most notably four glowing concentric magic circles, each of them belonging to a different type of magic. The biggest one was of the shamanistic variety, radiating rapidly changing colors from all ends of the spectrum, then came the white magic carving, glowing with its soothing white light. Inside it was the circle of black magic; true to its name, it seemed to be devouring light instead of releasing it, and the innermost one, a small circle of holy magic, shone brilliant gold.
Inside the holy circle was the manifestation of oblivion itself. Any attempts to describe it would be in vain, as its presence could not have been truly seen or heard. These senses provided an incomprehensible impression which varied from person to person – but its existence could be felt, and that bone-chilling sense of dread was exactly the same for all who dared to come near. It was a foreign feeling to most, but Lina knew it all too well, as she was almost irrecoverably lost in it many years ago. Inside those circles was a tiny drop from the Sea of Chaos.
Sparks of electricity flew everywhere. Four steel monoliths, which rose from the circles and leaned slightly towards the center, were glowing red from the heat alone. Three figures lay prone on the floor, apparently forced to remain in such a position to avoid the arcs of lightning around them. The one closest to Lina was a young girl in her late twenties, with smooth, shoulder length black hair, dressed in a priestess' clothing. Her blue eyes scanned the room frantically, and then looked straight at her.
"Are we making any progress, Lina-san?" she asked. Her voice was firm and determined, but her face was marred by worry.
"I'm not really sure Amelia." Lina heard her own voice talking. While she didn't physically age over the years, she still found it sounding strangely immature and right now also quite nervous. "I'm having a hard time keeping this damn crystal ball from losing focus of the room, but the earthquakes subsided a bit, at least where we are now."
Of course, I wasn't really there with them back then, Lina realized.
"Don't worry, we got everyone out of the city safely." She heard a male voice from the same unidentifiable direction as her own. "Phil didn't want to go, but we, uhm, convinced him."
"Thank you Gourry-san." Amelia sighed with relief.
"Listen, just let me get to you!" It was her voice again. "I'm a black magic specialist for Ruby Eye's sake, I can surely help you guys!"
Damn it, why did I have to be so powerless that day! Just like today, in fact--
"We already talked this through Lina, and you're staying put!" snapped another person present, a fair haired man, roughly the same age as his partner. He kept his eyes on center of the room, before throwing a glance in the priestess' direction. "Amelia, stay focused, the white magic circle is losing power too quickly! We cannot afford to make a mistake at this point, and idle chatter will--"
"Ooohohoho!" The third person in the room laughed; a woman who greatly resembled Amelia, but was a few years older, with a figure even more well-developed than hers. Her hair was also longer, her priestess clothes were shorter and more revealing, and even this memory of her laugh made the sorceress cringe. "You should know Lina that I, Naga the White Serpent, never ever needed your help, and that is not going to change now! My sister and Zelgadiss will be more than enough to handle--"
"Look out!!" the man yelled, jumping to his feet. An arc of electricity instantly cut into him, but even with his face contorted by pain he lunged forward, pushing Amelia out of the way just before one of the monoliths, now half-melted, toppled down on her.
Zel had found his cure almost five years ago, but he still forgot he didn't have his indestructible body at times.
"Zelgadiss!" Frightened, the priestess put her hand on the blackened wound on his shoulder, visible from underneath his torn clothing. White magic energy bathed it with white light for a moment, before the man gently but resolutely pushed her hand away.
"I'll live," he breathed. "But we need to leave now; with that monolith gone we can no longer control it at all. I think we still managed to make sure that the explosion will remain inside the palace walls, but--"
"You've got to be joking!" Naga approached them, protecting herself with a barrier of white magic. Her clenched fists were shaking; while she attempted to hide it with her leisurely pace, keeping that spell going against the pressure of the electric arcs visibly took its toll on her. "We cannot just leave the palace of our ancestors to its fate like that!"
"Forget about the damn palace, Gracia!" yelled Zelgadiss, standing up as the approaching barrier enveloped all three of them. Even from behind his angry voice, Lina could hear the roar of the lightning storm suddenly intensifying. The sorceress' heart skipped a beat. "If we don't get out of here right now, then--"
He never managed to end the sentence; with a blinding, silent flash of light, the room, along with much of the Saillune Royal Palace, blinked out of existence – and Lina's surroundings melded back into the previous twisting mix of colors.
"Are you done?" The sorceress demanded in a low, hateful voice.
"Of course not," answered the spirit of the swamp gleefully. "In fact, I think you endured this little time trip a bit too well. Let's speed up the pace somewhat, shall we?"
Lina felt her head spin, as dozens of memories lunged at her all at once. She no longer relived them in real time; the experiences and impressions ran through her mind with dizzying speed, not allowing her any chance to collect herself.
What the--?
She is at home with her family. The delicious smell of roast beef fills the room as she puts the tray on the dining table - the kids drool, and so does Gourry. Lunch progresses peacefully, until--
"Mom, can I ask you something?" A little girl from the other end of the table speaks.
"Shoot."
"Is it bad that you never get older?"
Short nervous silence. "Well, sweetheart, I could file a complaint to the Lord of Nightmares about it, but it wouldn't do much good. That's the way the magic I use works." Question evaded.
"But… What about you and Dad? One of my friends said that you won't be happy if you marry someone who is much older than you, and the gap between you two will just get bigger and bigger!"
Much longer nervous silence.
"Then I guess I need to keep myself in tip-top shape so I won't fall too far behind!" Gourry's laughter eases the situation, but the unanswered question still hangs heavily in the air.
When I get my hands on you, swamp spirit, I'll--
They're heading home from a guild meeting at Sairaag, already late at night. There's a small inn on the side of the road - the owner looks half-asleep as he regards them.
"So it will be a room for two?"
"Yep, and little late night supper would be nice too."
The man yawns, but smiles. "Very well. A room and some food for the little lady and her grandpa."
Gourry slaps his forehead. Her expression darkens. "You've got exactly three seconds to apologize."
"Come on Lina, it isn't worth it--" the swordsman tries in vain.
"Ehm… I'm sorry, is he your father?"
"FIREBALL!"
The inn catches fire, and two spend the night under a tree.
"Why can't we just let them think I'm your grandfather? It doesn't really matter." Gourry murmurs drowsily from under his beard.
"Yeah right, jellyfish. You just want an official reason to treat me like a kid."
"Oh dang, you got me." He is snoring a minute later, but sleep escapes her for hours.
I swear, I'm going to tear you a new one--
Sunlight shines through the window curtain. An old, wizened hand caresses it slowly, carefully, as if touching the sun itself.
"Gourry, get away from there, you'll catch a cold!" She runs to him worriedly. "You've spent way too much time in bed this year already!"
A wry smile. "How many of those mazoku guys did we fight together, Lina?"
A surprised blink. "Well, even I lost count after a while. Why?"
"I'm just asking because it looks like you're still afraid that the sun will suddenly lunge at me and tear me to pieces or something."
"What a jokester. Where have you been hiding all that talent all these years?" She frowns.
He winks. "It's really your fault. I guess I should just sit by a table with a cup of tea and drive you insane with stories about what happened 'when I was your age', but I simply cannot feel like an old man with you around."
She tries to smile, but something gets into her eye and does not let her.
Enough already--!
She sits by his bed all day and night – everything else ceases to exist. Every breath he takes is a small triumph, every glance they share strengthens the slipping grip she holds over her own sanity. As long as he won't give up, she will last as well. She is Lina Inverse after all - and yet, this one battle she cannot win.
"Hey, Lina… It's not a shame if you cry…"
She breaks down. The emotions she tried to seal away for so long flare up: Sadness. Fear. Hopelessness. Pain.
"I said ENOUGH!!"
Lina felt the scream almost sticking in her throat, like it had not seen use for years. The onslaught of memories stopped, and for a moment she found herself kneeling in the middle of an endless green meadow, with clear skies and the setting sun – and then it was replaced by the foggy scenery of the desolate swamp. Her right fist trembled as her fingers strangled the blade of her short sword, cutting through her glove and drawing more and more blood. The sorceress welcomed the pain; it helped her concentrate and kept her in the present.
"Was that you plan?" she hissed. "You were trying to break me by showing me those memories? Let me tell you something: I already had a lot, maybe even too much time to let these things haunt me and to decide what to do with my goddamned life. Yes, Gourry died!" She yelled at wall of fog, tears swelling in her eyes. "My friends also passed away; even my children left me one by one! But what good I'd do to any of them if I keep wallowing in my misery, or if I just roll over and die?! They would never forgive me that!" She gritted her teeth. "The only thing you managed to do is to piss me off, and mark my words, I will find a way to make you pay!"
Silence reigned in the swamp; whether the spirit left or just didn't answer, Lina could not tell. She sheathed her sword and slowly stood up, only to notice the other sorceress staring at her from the ground, her expression one of shock.
"Just great, I really hoped to get rid of you for a while," Lina muttered, assuming a defensive stance.
The girl did not seem to want a fight, however. Sitting up, she asked the sorceress with a trembling voice: "Is what you said really true?"
Lina shrugged. "There'd be no point in lying; the guy can apparently read my mind. Being me is not all fun and games you know." she added with a sad half-smile, and then gave a tired sigh. "Look, it would be great to beat you up a few more times, but I'm really not in the mood right now. Let's settle for a truce for now, okay?" She walked up to her, and extended her right hand. "I'm Lina Inverse."
The girl looked at the blood-covered hand in horror, but did not dare to refuse.
"I am Li-- I mean Jane Smith," she said with a perplexed expression.
Jane Smith? A downright average-looking girl with a downright average name.
"So Jane, could you tell me something about what is exactly going on here? What does that spirit want with you, and how on earth can you cast spells like that?" Lina asked.
"The spells?" The girl looked surprised. "I cast them just like you do: By declaring their designations!"
"You don't say," the sorceress deadpanned. "Listen kid, I've been in the sorcery business for a few decades and I know what Power Words are, but I also know that there are other things you need to do before you could say those in order to get an incantation to work!"
"Power Words?" Jane looked at Lina like she had started speaking in a foreign language. "I'm sorry but… what are those?"
She did not notice the murderous look appearing on the sorceress' face until it was too late.
Xelloss turned around to get a good look at his surroundings, but the eyes of his human form could only convey the same thing to him in all directions: Blackness.
"I truly hope your grand strategy does not hang on the fact that I might be afraid of the dark," he noted in a scathing tone, only to realize that he could not hear the sound of his own voice.
"This is not simple darkness, Beast Priest." The voice of the swamp spirit on the other hand was loud and clear. "It is complete void, true nothingness. Light, matter, even space itself – they were all undone. It is the fulfillment of the ultimate goal of the mazoku race, the final dream realized. And how ironic – it is also one of your own greatest fears. What do you think of that?"
"Ironic, perhaps yes, but it is also completely logical," said Xelloss, not allowing the smallest amount of unease to enter his voice despite his inability to hear a word of what he was saying. "Without anything else to feed on, our urge to destabilize and ruin all of creation will turn upon us, and we will destroy ourselves as well. Not a cheerful thought, is it? We take it for granted, but very rarely bother to think about what that actually means: Our race desires destruction, but at the same time we have no desire of dying – Fibrizo-sama was the perfect example of that. Therefore, I find our so-called ultimate goal to be something worth pursuing, but at the same time not worth achieving." His smile widened. "Did that answer your question? But wait, if you can read my mind, you should have known the answer already. It seems your ability has its limits – or am I mistaken?"
"Let us keep the discussion to your limits, Xelloss-san," the spirit retorted. "There is something among your fears which is even more laughable than this."
A ghostly figure appeared before the priest; a young woman in a black and white sorceress outfit, with long reddish-brown hair and crimson eyes. She smiled at him confidently.
Xelloss, on the other hand, lost all of his confidence for a moment and involuntarily took a step back.
"Her?! I am sorry, but I find this outrageously insulting," he protested.
"Insulting?" the voice echoed. "That's true; I hoped you would say 'ridiculous' in which case you would have been lying. But no matter, the point remains the same: You are afraid of this human, Beast Priest. You have become Lina Inverse's little servant, her lapdog and even her lover just to make sure that you two always end up on the same side, because somewhere deep inside you greatly fear the possibility of confronting her."
Losing balance, the priest leaned on his staff as he struggled to stay on his feet, his left hand touching his temple in discomfort.
"Let me help you get a good look at your common past," continued the spirit in an amused tone. "The battle with Garv, Dynast and Dark Star; her victory over Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, more than once in fact. I can almost say that I'm not surprised that you feel you have no chance." Xelloss' grip tightened on his staff. "What is the matter? Perhaps this fact does not go well with your mazoku ego? Go ahead, say that I am lying!"
Xelloss raised his head from his stooping position, and saw the sparkling ghost of the sorceress towering over him, grown to almost three times her normal size. She held a blade of chaotic energy in her hands, raising it to strike.
"Sorry Xel, but that's how you guys work," she mocked him. "Once you fear that you'll lose the battle, you've already lost."
She swung the sword downwards.
The priest raised his left hand and caught the blade between two fingers.
"You again failed to glimpse below the surface, I'm afraid," he chuckled as the veil of silence around him dissipated. "Lina Inverse no longer poses any threat to me. She may or may not have before, but I am certain she does not now. I did not avoid confrontation, merely took it to another level. You say I've become her lapdog? On the contrary my friend, I have become the last pillar of her sanity! Without me she could have never moved on, and would still roam the countryside alone not unlike this miserable ghost replica of yours!" With a violent sweep of his hand, the phantom disappeared without a trace. "I think I understand now: The only thing you are capable of is to take bits of my emotions and memories and throw them back at me. You cannot do anything with them, as you have no thoughts or ideas of your own. You are a burnt-out husk of a being, a mindless parrot, nothing more."
"No! I am not!" The spirit screamed, sounding panicked all of a sudden.
"Tsk-tsk," Xelloss waggled his finger jovially, "for someone who just made a speech on telling only the truth, that wasn't a very nice thing to say."
Like black glass, the darkness around the priest broke apart with a loud clatter. He found himself in the middle of the swamp once more – and glimpsed a familiar figure behind one of the sallow trees.
"You're playing me for a fool, are ya?!" Lina growled, wrestling Jane down to the ground and putting the girl into one of her well-known vicious headlocks.
"I can't breeeathe--!" her victim whimpered.
"Good, then I'm doing it right!" the sorceress replied mercilessly. "Now fess up!"
"I've a-already told you everything, I swear!" Jane pleaded. "I don't possess any other k-knowledge of the phenomenon you speak of! I just say the spell's name, and it works!"
"Just like that?!" Lina lessened her throttling a little.
"Just like that, really!" the girl nodded as hard as she could given her current position. "It all started when I began adventuring as Lina Inv-- I mean, you." The older sorceress snorted in disbelief, but relaxed her grip and let her go.
"And didn't you think it was a little strange that you suddenly became one of the most powerful magic users in the world?" she demanded with her arms folded.
"To be honest it wasn't." Jane answered. "You see, there are hundreds of stories about the deeds of Lina Inverse – and she is described as a completely different person in almost each one of them! So I thought: Maybe these are really all different people, who took upon the name and were granted magical power because of it? After all, Lina Inverse as a single person couldn't have been around for a century! It would make perfect sense!"
"I don't think it makes any sense whatsoever," grumbled the sorceress. "You were just reading a bit too many of those legends for your own good. What are you anyway, some kind of bookworm?"
"I… I originally studied to be historian." The girl replied hesitantly. "I wanted to specialize in the history of adventurers, but my professors told me that it was not a field worth of serious academic study."
I knew it! She really is a geek!
"And so with your hurt pride you decided to become a Lina Inverse-imitator instead?" The sorceress raised a taunting eyebrow.
"It was just a joke at first!" Jane said defensively. "I wanted to spend a night at an inn and signed in as Lina Inverse – and I was given the room for free! When people heard that name, they all became a lot nicer to me, so I used it again a few times."
"If you mean 'nice' as 'fearing for their lives', then yes." Lina muttered mostly to herself.
"Then I suddenly started having these magical powers, and began roaming the world, liquidating bandits and stuff!" The girl's voice was filled with excitement. "I felt almost unstoppable! Well, at least until I came to this swamp. All the legendary beasts I ever heard or read about jumped at me from every corner; I was able to deal with them, but there was really no end to it, and I became increasingly tired, and--" She shook her head violently, as if trying to drive a bad memory away.
"And if what he said is any indication, our lovely host had this all planned from the get go." the sorceress added thoughtfully.
"You got that right, Lina Inverse."
"Speak of the devil." She turned towards the voice with a mirthless expression.
"W-Who was that?" Jane looked around surprised.
"Didn't he talk to you before?" Lina glanced at the girl. "He's the one who runs this little charade, the slimebag."
"I've been… thinking about what you told me a little while ago," the spirit continued. "It was one nice outburst which deserved a few drama awards – but it was not the entire truth. You left out one very important detail: Your amazingly naïve and thoughtless reliance on him." The two women saw a figure emerging from the whiteness of the fog.
"Xelloss--?" the sorceress spoke unsurely.
"How did you manage to find me?" the priest saw Lina running up to him, her expression suspicious.
"You could say I was guided here," answered Xelloss with a shrug. "This swamp possesses its own will, as you surely have noticed."
"Tell me about it," she gave a wry smile, before her eyes suddenly took on a mischievous glint. "I wonder what the spirit tried to show you? Your infamous baby pictures?"
"As you know, I have no infamous baby pictures to speak of." The priest scratched his head uncomfortably, but retained his ever-present smile. "Why those of all things? Didn't it occur to you that I may have my own hidden emotions that are worth exploiting?"
"Can't say it didn't," the sorceress turned her back to him and started walking down a path, "but then I imagined the spirit showing you all the horrible things you did in your life, and I couldn't really see you breaking down in tears." She stopped after putting a few feet of distance between them. "You may have your special hidden emotions Xel, but they are pretty damn hard to catch."
"Maybe that's because they are, well, hidden?" the priest offered.
"Or maybe it's because they don't exist." she replied, her voice solemn. The mazoku looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"You still say you aren't her lapdog, Beast Priest?" the swamp spirit's voice whispered in his ear. "She treats you like that, and yet I can already see that you are thinking up some lighthearted comment to ease the situation. Mazoku who actually had some remaining pride have killed for a lot less than this. What about you?"
"Are you trying to make a point?" Xelloss murmured sternly.
"You know Xelloss," Lina continued musingly, visibly unaware of the exchange, "I've been thinking a lot about things recently."
"Let me tell you if you haven't realized yourself: You have become subservient and soft. What happened to the mazoku who would 'gladly kill Lina-san with his own hands'?"
"Nothing happened." The priest answered matter-of-factly. "What I told Filia-san a century ago still holds true."
"I'll believe that when I see it."
Xelloss' lips curved into a chilling smile. He held his free left hand out to the side, his palm open.
"A knife, please." A grotesque curved dagger materialized in his hand. He grasped the hilt and approached the sorceress with large strides.
"I've thought about this so-called relationship of ours." Lina still stared into the mist. "About what it really means. Whether it actually makes any sense at all."
"Fortunately, I don't have to hear that through." The mazoku spoke in an emotionless voice, and without any fuss or fanfare, plunged the knife hilt-deep into the sorceress' neck.
Lina watched the scene with a hard expression. It all occurred just a few feet away and she was able to hear every word that was said, but neither Xelloss nor that disturbingly exact copy of hers seemed to notice her or Jane's presence. Her face remained dispassionate even when the priest ran her copy through with the dagger, while Jane standing next to her screamed in horror.
"And he actually did it." The swamp spirit sounded almost surprised. "I would've never thought that he would go this far, but your knight in shining armor has just shown his true colors, Lina Inverse. I wonder, what will happen to the resolve you displayed earlier without his support?"
The sorceress closed her eyes with a sigh and spoke in a low, barely audible voice, "Xelloss knew that wasn't me."
"How on earth could he know?!" The voice was filled with both scorn and frustration. "With the eternal power of his undying love or something?! You are getting more pitiful by the minute!"
"No," Lina answered with her eyes still closed, a hint of a smile appearing in the corner of her lips. "I know this because he keeps to the rules of our contest. 'It is not necessary to aid, but forbidden to hinder your opponent' - look it up in my head if you don't believe me."
A few moments of silence passed, before the voice let out a hateful scream, this time addressing the priest:
"Y-You!" it yelled. "You really knew it was not her, but how?! I have created this replica from your memories to the finest detail; you have killed the same Lina Inverse that lives inside your mind!"
"That Lina Inverse is quite incomplete," the priest explained as he raised his head and gazed at the invisible sky thoughtfully. "For instance, it would be completely expectable and logical for her to say the things you made her say – but the real one never does, for reasons I cannot truly understand." His expression softened. "And most importantly, even if she did say all these things, Lina-san would never allow herself to be killed so easily. She would realize my intention at the last moment, may already have a plan to counter my own, or something different entirely. I cannot say what, why or how; that is one of the things that make her so… uniquely interesting."
"A real charmer," Lina muttered as she began to walk in the priest's direction. "He knows just what a girl wants to hear: 'She won't let herself get killed too easily.' I'm melting, really."
"You t-think that's humorous?" Jane's stunned voice sounded from behind her. "That s-spirit or something is right: he is a demon! The old legends are teeming with stories like that; he will really put that knife in your back when you are no longer useful or entertaining to him!"
The sorceress stopped. "To be honest, sometimes I also wait for that to happen," she said, her eyes fixed on Xelloss. The mazoku still stood there, his head raised, lost in his own thoughts. "Then we would be even I guess, and I would do what I could to stop him."
"Even?" the girl repeated, unsure what to make of her words.
"Yeah," Lina turned her head back to look at her and smiled. "The truth is that I owe him. Big time."
She reached forward with her hand and felt a weak force field, an invisible barrier of sorts which kept their presence hidden from those on the other side. With a violent push, she made the barrier stretch too long and collapse.
"Ah, Lina-san!" The priest noticed her immediately and greeted her with a pleasant, if a bit strained expression. "My, have you been here all this time?"
The sorceress nodded. "Breaking the spell which has been keeping us apart was almost too easy," she noted. "It seems our favorite mind-reader expected me to attack you or something after the shocking revelations took place."
She took out her pink slipper and hit Xelloss in the face.
"And he was right!" She hit him again; the surprised priest raised his hand in front of his face in defense, but that only caused her to switch targets and start hitting the top of his head instead. "You idiot! Do you know how many times I had the urge to kill you along with your smartass remarks with my own hands?! The difference is, I never thought it would be a good idea to make a live demonstration of it!! Take that!" She kicked her right knee forward, aiming for a particularly sensitive body part – but even though she managed to score a direct hit, nothing happened.
"Now Lina-san, my projection is indeed quite detailed, but you cannot make a mazoku feel uncomfortable with such a thing." The priest smiled at her almost apologetically.
"Then why is your face getting all red and sweaty?" the sorceress asked in the sweetest voice. As if on cue, Xelloss fell face forward into the mud.
"I am coming to hate both the human body and the rules of this contest with passion," he groaned from the ground. "The life of a typical human commoner is indeed hard."
"Serves you right." Lina folded her arms, and then turned to the other girl. "Come on Jane, don't just stand there." She gestured towards the priest, who was currently making a heroic effort to stand up. "Don't worry, he only eats people on Wednesdays."
"But-- It is Wednesday!" she complained in a faint voice and refused to come any closer. Lina slapped her forehead with a groan.
"Would she be the fake 'Lina Inverse' we are looking for?" Xelloss, back on his feet, studied the girl curiously. "Truth to be told, I expected something different."
"Me too." The sorceress shrugged. "But she is the one, and that means I am currently in the lead," she added playfully.
"Perhaps a bit, but not by much." the priest waggled a finger in front of her face. "I think I also managed to uncover something valuable: the identity of the being who is keeping us here." Lina's eyes widened. "I will gladly share this piece of information with you – under certain conditions."
"Which are--?" she raised an eyebrow.
"A change in the contest goals, naturally." The mazoku smiled. "I don't think Jane-san's person is an important aspect any longer. The winner should be the one who first manages to leave the swamp."
"Okay, deal." Lina nodded eagerly. "I've got a score to settle with the guy, anyway. So who is he?"
"Saying 'it' would perhaps be more precise." Xelloss leaned closer to her. "Some time ago in the last century, rumors began to spread among my race about of a mazoku who appeared to be trapped in a state between existence and oblivion. It was damaged beyond its ability to heal, its astral body had mostly dispersed, and with it, most of its memories and identity had been lost. For some reason, however, something had remained which continued to struggle to stay alive. In order to accomplish that, it strived to absorb the astral forms of others, and use their identity in place of its own. The problem was, of course, that while it is possible to absorb the power or experiences of those around you, not even this being was able to hold their innermost essence for long. The soul eventually passed on to the afterlife, leaving its memories behind but robbing the creature of what it wanted most: a sense of self."
"And so it had to continuously look for new victims." the sorceress concluded, her expression grave. "But since when can mazoku read minds?"
"We can't." The priest shook his head. "But the very existence of such a being is something that should have never been possible. That is why I had my doubts until now whether the Nameless One, as it is called, is really more than a rumor or legend."
"I am not nameless!!" the voice wailed, sounding desperate. "I possess hundreds of names!"
"None of which belong to you," Xelloss retorted with a cruel grin. "Although I can understand your concern, considering the moment you admit your own emptiness will also be the moment when you will truly die." He turned back to the sorceress. "Well, Lina-san, considering we are dealing with one of my kind, I would normally advise you to relax the restrictions on the use of our abilities a bit – but that would not really help you at the moment, now would it?"
Lina smiled wryly. "You're right Xelloss, I can't use anything stronger than a Lighting spell today, rules or not. Was it really that obvious?"
"You would not have limited your own greatest asset without a reason, so yes, it was pretty obvious from the start," the mazoku answered musingly. "'That time of the month' … it must be frustrating to be--"
"Okay- okay, cut it out already!" the sorceress snapped. "For crying out loud, wasn't a thousand years among humans enough for you to learn that this subject is not something open to discussion--?!" She rolled her eyes. "Eh, who am I kidding, you do that on purpose. Well, don't think that I'm going to rely solely on your help; the restrictions stay the way they are."
"A wise decision." Xelloss' smile widened as he nodded in approval. "But what do you intend to do then?"
"Just watch," Lina said confidently, turned away from him, and shouted into the air, "So you're really the Nameless One?"
"No, I'm not!" came the enraged answer.
"Then tell us your name!" Her question was met with silence. "Well sorry, but if even you don't know, I think the title fits you really well, Mr. Nameless."
"Stop it! I'm warning you--"
"What's your problem?" she interrupted. "Maybe it sounds a bit too empty for your tastes?"
"No, no, no, NO!"
"It looks like someone who is both empty and nameless is living in denial over here," Lina continued in a mocking tone. "Wait, did I say living? I guess that's not really appropriate. Could it be that a mazoku like you is really afraid of destruction, of all things?"
"That… wasn't a very good move, Lina-san," Xelloss winced. The sorceress glanced at him with surprised look.
"You of all people have the least right to speak about destruction, Lina Inverse!" the spirit boomed with such volume that she had stop her ears. "There is one thing I remember clearly and will never forget, that you are the cause of all this! You made me become what I am now, and I won't die until I had my revenge!!"
The thundering voice was followed by a panicked female scream.
"Jane!" The sorceress spun around. The girl was on the ground writhing in agony, her hands flailing about as if she was trying to keep some invisible attacker from coming closer.
"She is mine! I created her and I will be the one to destroy her!" the Nameless One bellowed. "And when we become one, you will face your worst nightmare!"
"No! Stop it, please!" the young girl cried.
Lina ran to her and knelt down, attempting to restrain her hands. "Argh, I'm such an idiot!" she grunted. "I thought he was out of potential victims! Hey Jane, snap out of it!" She tried shaking her and even slapped her face a few times, but to no avail.
"It seems that Jane-san is facing the same situation we were in recently, only she is not faring that well." Xelloss noted, his smile disappearing. "This can be troublesome. The Nameless One probably confronted us in a weakened state, using only our own memories against us. If it manages to acquire her essence, we might not be able repel its onslaught so easily."
Realizing that there was nothing more she could do, Lina turned to the priest. "Xel, to hell with the contest; get her out of here now!"
"Do that and she's dead!" The voice laughed. "Our spirits have become closely connected. If you try to take her body away or attempt to destroy me, her life will end here and now! Not that it matters, hahaha…"
"I'm afraid that is the truth." The mazoku said reluctantly. "This swamp is the manifestation of its presence in this world, its beast form, you can say, and we're in the middle of it. Extracting Jane-san's soul from here would be all but impossible."
"His beast form?" Lina suddenly froze. "Wait, something is not right here. If the Nameless One is too weak currently to use anything but our own memories, how could he create this whole swamp before we or even Jean came here?"
"We've been told that others arrived here before her--" Xelloss trailed off in the middle of the sentence, and gazed at the scenery confused. "No, that would make even less sense. It could have absorbed them already and would not have to bother with her at all."
"And what if we've been lied to?" the sorceress asked as she wiped the sweat off Jane's forehead. The girl's panic seemed to diminish a little; instead of screaming, she merely kept mumbling to herself, but her face was still terrified and was getting paler by the second. "If all that stuff has just been said to drive us away, or the opposite, raise our curiosity and draw us here? That would not only explain everything, but the spirit would have an ally whose memories he can use." She looked at Xelloss again. "I think you know who I am talking about."
The priest's eyes opened in surprise. "An odd theory, but you could be right. And I think I know just the thing to test it fairly quickly." He raised his left hand, and small ripples began to appear in front of them, distorting the air as if it were a liquid.
"What--What is this?" The Nameless One sounded shocked.
"I was able to manipulate you projection through sheer willpower earlier." Xelloss' face became a mask of concentration, but he still couldn't forgo a smug smirk. "If I can tap into your other abilities as well, you will bring the person we want here yourself."
"N-No, stop it!"
The air before them trembled, and two figures materialized out of nowhere. The sorceress threw a half-smile in the newcomers' direction.
"Long time no see, Mr. Donkey-pal."
"Huh--? What… Where am I?" The middle aged merchant looked around, completely disoriented, while the pack donkey next to him let out a nervous bray. After a few moments, he recognized his surroundings and his faced became lined with fear. "Why did you bring me here?!" he shouted at the trees, pointing at Lina. "I did what you asked: I tried driving these adventurers away! It's not my fault they still came here! I haven't even slept for three days, what more do you want from me?!"
"I didn't want to bring you here, you fool!" the spirit shouted back at him.
"Quite true." The mazoku agreed in a dry tone. "We are the only ones who want something from you, and that can mostly be summarized into a single question: What deal did you make with the master of this place?" He regarded the merchant with an ominous look. "I suggest that you answer truthfully."
"He j-just asked if I knew what a swamp looked like, as most of the locals here have never seen one before!" the man sputtered. "He said he w-would grant any wish in return. I did not have any idea what he wanted with this!"
"Well now you do!" Lina marched up to him and yelled into his face. "If you don't call off the deal the girl will die!"
"I… just… W-Well people die all the time!" The merchant shouted back. "If I break the agreement, Martha will… she will--"
"Thanks." The sorceress smiled.
"W-What are you thanking me for?" The man blurted out, confused.
"For being such a total jerk." She grinned now. "This way I won't feel guilty at all when I do this!"
Lina punched the merchant in the face, breaking his nose. He staggered a few steps back until his spine hit the trunk of a tree, and he slumped to the ground unconscious.
An inarticulate shriek filled the air.
"Noooo! I almost had you!" the Nameless Once cried, its insane fury making the words barely comprehensible. The form of the entire swamp scenery, along with the trees, bogs, and even the fog and the earth itself lost its solidity, and appeared to melt for a moment, before evaporating into a brown-grayish mass of smoke, and finally dispersing into the air."I will get you, Lina Inverse! I swear, one day you'll be mine!"
A sudden, chilly gust of wind smacked their backs, muting the echoes of the spirit's voice, and as the last traces of the swamp's illusion grew faint, the valley's lush green meadow appeared once again. Behind them, the last rays of the setting sun painted the horizon a beautiful red-orange hue.
The sorceress glanced to the side. Jane now breathed easily and evenly, and even showed signs of gradually regaining consciousness. As the wind quieted down a bit and the familiar sound of crickets replaced the swamp's previous dead silence, she slowly let out the breath she's unconsciously been holding.
"I was hoping for a friendly troll or two, but it seems we got more than we bargained for in the end," she said with a chuckle and sat down in the grass.
"There is nothing really wrong with such an unexpected challenge…" Xelloss commented as he lay down next to her and gazed up at the darkening sky, where the brightest stars were already visible. He hesitated on the last word. "--usually."
The sorceress looked at him pensively. Once again, like some many times in her life, she would have given up a lot of things to know exactly what was going through his head at that instant.
A shrill, female voice rang through Lina's head, shattering her thoughts. "You!!"
For an odd moment, she thought that perhaps the Nameless One had returned, but standing there instead was a stocky woman with graying hair and baggy, expensive looking clothes, who wasn't even yelling at them, but at the unconscious merchant on the ground. "Get up this instant Fenrick, or I'll make sure that you stay like this for good!"
The man's eyes snapped open immediately, and his expression became the very essence of panic.
"Ehe… H-Hello, dear… Martha, I can explain, really…" he stuttered, trying to scurry a bit farther away at his back from the woman, but she stuck to him like glue.
"Explain?!" she fumed. "I should be the one who'd need to explain things: Like how on earth could I have ever married such a despicable, insufferable piece of trash like you! Perhaps it would be better if I made myself a widow right now!"
That possibility obviously did not sit too well with the merchant, who finally jumped to his feet, and started running as fast as his feet would carry him towards the nearest hill.
"Come back here and take responsibility, Fenrick!" the woman screamed, and swiftly took pursuit.
The priest and sorceress watched the scene with a mixture of bafflement and hilarity on their faces.
"The donkey – it was the guy's wife?!" Lina suddenly found herself in an unstoppable fit of giggles.
"I don't quite comprehend his motivation," Xelloss said thoughtfully. "If he wanted to get rid of his wife, there surely were safer and more reliable methods to do so, and the Nameless One would have probably granted those as well. Or perhaps this was necessary in order to humiliate her?"
"Maybe, but I don't think so." With some effort, the sorceress collected herself enough to reply. "Remember how he talked to her when we first met? He was hollering at us, but never at her. I think the poor devil does love his wife in a way – he just wanted to be the one who called the shots for a change."
The mazoku shook his head. "This human emotion of love; just when I think I am fully able to grasp the concept, something like this happens which turns it upside down. At times like these I don't think I will ever be able to understand it at all."
"Funny thing for you to say, Xel." She winked at him. The priest pointedly ignored the comment and looked around, as if searching for something.
"Don't look now, Lina-san, but Jane-san is just about to leave the valley as well." He pointed with his staff into the distance.
"What?!" Lina spun around; the girl was indeed missing from the spot she saw her a minute ago.
"It seems she came to rather quickly and ungratefully decided it would be safer for her to be a bit farther away from us." Xelloss said, sounding amused.
"That unappreciative twit!" the sorceress punched the air in frustration.
"Should we go after her?"
Lina looked to be torn between anger and fatigue for a moment, before she dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. "Let's just forget about her," she said irritably. "I think she's gone through more than enough to learn her lesson."
She tried to make out the girl's form in the direction the mazoku was pointing, but it was getting too dark for a human to see anything that far away. Xelloss must have used his astral senses to locate her, she realized, which in turn caused another topic to come into mind. "So, about the contest," she turned back to the mazoku, "I guess it's a draw, right? We did 'leave' the swamp together after all."
"Yes, I suppose you can say that." The priest's staff popped out of existence, allowing him to cross his arms. "A draw yet again. Did you ever wonder, Lina-san, about why do our contests almost always end up in a draw?" he asked quizzically.
"Beats me." The sorceress shrugged, and jokingly patted him on the back. "But hey, if you think about it, it wouldn't be as fun if we knew in advance who's supposed to be better, right?"
"True indeed." Xelloss shared a knowing smile, and stood. "So then, should we be on our way too, or would you prefer to spend the night here?"
"No, we should go; I need to get my hand treated. I won't be able to cast Recovery for at least another day." Lina looked at her right palm, which was still bleeding heavily. She hadn't yet had the time to put even a makeshift bandage on it. Might as well do it now. She tried standing up to get the necessary supplies out of her cloak, but found that her legs could barely support her weight. Xelloss caught her by her shoulder just before she fell back.
"Thanks, Xel." said the sorceress, leaning on his companion for support. "I think I lost more blood than I thought."
"In that case," keeping Lina on her feet with his right, the mazoku gestured towards the horizon with his free left hand, "I do know a shortcut to the nearest inn." he offered. "And in return--"
"In return you can spend the rest of the night in the company of a beautiful sorcery genius like me," she interrupted with an impish smile. "Last offer, no bargaining."
"Always the strict businesswoman I see." Xelloss chuckled, and the pair disappeared, leaving the picturesque landscape of Man's End behind.
Meanwhile, in a different place, not to mention on a different plane of existence, two giants stood face to face. While in reality, they could not have been farther away – both took extensive precautions because of the impossible nature of such a meeting – they saw each other clearly, and both waited for the other to speak, and bring things to a close.
Seconds, minutes, perhaps even hours passed; negligible time for those who measured it on the scale of centuries, if at all, but still grating for both sides. Neither of them desired to be the first to talk, knowing the stakes at hand: The outcome of this negotiation could change the world forever.
It was the being of chaos that first lost his patience.
"Well, out with it! Do we have an agreement?"
The other, his antithesis in almost all mortal terms, stayed silent. This silence was different though. It was even heavier, weighted down by the magnitude of the choice.
Finally, the being of order let out a mental equivalent of a sigh, ridding herself of her remaining doubts in the process.
"It has to be done." she said, her voice resolute. "As you said, we have an agreement."
His smile was one of victory.
"Very well, then. You know what to do."
And with that the meeting was over, the participants disappeared from each other's view, going their separate ways, while the world slept unaware of the terrible consequences their deal had in store. Their ignorance would not last long, however.
To be continued…
-o-
Author's notes:
Sorry for the lateness everyone, I had to learn the hard way that release schedules are not my forte - and I have similar problems with the predicting the chapter size too. ;) I can only say that the next one will probably come out in the current year - maybe? :)
Again, my biggest thanks goes to Kaeru Shisho for beta reading and general encouragement. :) Many thanks to all the people who reviewed the previous chapter too. I truly feel honored, and your feedback does mean a lot.
This chapter also contained one thing many of you might have found strange: Xelloss' reaction to one of Lina's particularly painful attacks. :) I am working with the assumption in this fic that Xelloss (unlike most mazoku) creates a completely lifelike human body to move around in – this has its advantages, but it also has apparent drawbacks. Here, he didn't feel pain in the strictest sense; his body simply refused to cooperate, and because of the contest rules he wasn't allowed to fix it.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Until next time! :)