Hello, hello, and hello again!! Frosty is back again! The third chapter of Hourglass is up and running, and boy am I excitied! I don't believe I've ever been this happy to type in wordpad before. All well, anyway.......Let the story begin!
After the tricksy priest makes his debut, it's time for questions and even more secrets. As the story of Vrupur is told, the trio begins to grasp the horror it left in the minds of the townspeople. A peaceful day ruined forever by a mysterious girl cloaked in silver and black, who weilded a power that did nothing but utterly destroy the spirit of calm in Vrupur. Lina becomes intrigued, Gourry is confused, and Xellos......is Xellos.
Reminder Note: Just a quick little check-up to remind you that this is taking place before the gang heads to the Temple of the Claire Bible;therefore, as far as they know, Xellos is still a human. An extremely odd human, but a human. And Martina is still around ready to invoke nonsense. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Slayers and I am not making profit from this in any way. This is merely for fun.
Chapter Three: Blood-Splattered Tale
The western sky was awash in gold, navy, violet, and ruby. The bloody sun was setting over the mountains, bathing everything in distorted crimsons and yellows. The farmers hurried along with the dying light, putting away their tools and equipment until the dawn of the morrow. The village children, who had been running wild all day, slowly headed towards their homes, reluctant to stop playing for the night. Smoke rose from chimneys as wives and mothers prepared a hot dinner over a roaring fire for their tired families. Life was retiring for the evening, ready to embrace the cold of the night and the twinkling of the stars.
The last of the sun's rays gleamed in through one of the windows of the tavern, setting off the light of the already burning candles. The mess from earlier in the day had been cleaned up, the dishes washed, and the table repaired. It looked as though it had never even happened.....
The bar-keep had hoped it would have stayed that way, but all was lost when the devils came in again and sat down. Polishing a shot-glass from the farthest corner of the bar away from the terrible twosome, the bar-keep kept a wary eye on his remaining occupants. The red-head had come in with her blonde companion and another male about 15 minutes ago. They sat down at the table the girl and blonde man had broken earlier, ordering two ales and a glass of water. They all had been silent when he returned with their drinks, and they hadn't spoken a word since. To be honest, the silence scared the man more than the chaos this morning.
The bartender nearly dropped the glass he was holding when Lina slammed her mug on the table.
"Okay! A few questions, Xellos. (1.) What are you doing here? (2.) What do you know about what happened outside? (3.) Where's that stuck-up, green-haired leech at?!" at even the mention of Martina, Lina growled, scanning around the bar as if the former princess would pop out any minute. And when she did, Lina would be waiting, fireball in hand. Xellos sweat-dropped as Lina's half-mad eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Now, now, Lina. Miss Martina isn't that bad, really! She's in the city of Gasphon as we speak, shopping I believe. I told her I was going to check out a rumor about a problem in Vrupur, so she said she would wait until I returned. Something about not wanting to walk out this far into the country, I think she said. The reason why I'm here I just told you. There was mention around the city that some tragedy had occurred in the mountain village nearby, so I came to investigate. But of course, all the ruckus had gone by the time I got here. That is, until you two arrived! You sure know how to make a scene." The trickster priest smiled his usual I-have-a-secret sort of smile, eyes still closed in good humor.
"So, you don't know how that dried blood ended up all over the sidewalk, eh?" Lina said, disappointed. It was a sad day when even Xellos didn't have a heads-up on the situation. The priest winced slightly, apparently not too comfortable with his own lack of information either.
"Well, obviously, a brutal fight is how it ended up there. But between who and why, I haven't been able to discern. As I'm sure you've realized, the people of Vrupur do not give up details easily." the priest took a dainty sip from his glass, mulling over the events of the day. No, he had learned somethings, just nothing that really mattered. Xellos could be.....persuasive, when the need called for it, but this little town had even him stumped. They wouldn't divulge anything willingly. This only caused his interest in this matter to greaten, as he was sure it had Lina's as well. If they could just find somebody....
"You folks be wanting to know that badly, huh?" all heads turned towards the raspy voice at the end of the bar. The bartender slowly put down the bottle of whiskey he had been drinking, and looked at the foreigners with glazed, gray eyes. "I been hearin' all day that ya'll have been pokin' 'round. What exactly you be wantin' to find?" His accent came out stronger after he had a few drinks in him. He was born and raised in Vrupur, but never in all his years here had he ever had a week such as this, and frankly, he was tired of it all. What was the point of keeping quiet now?
Lina leaned forward, propping her chin on her folded hands, elbows resting on the table. She smiled and stared at the half-drunk man,"I want to find out what everyone's so afraid of. When I was first coming into the valley, I ran into a bandit that was scared out of his mind because of this place. And then when I came into town, you and everyone else jump at shadows. I dunno, let's just say I'm.....curious." Xellos smile widened while Lina spoke, something unseen filtering across his jolly facade. It was gone as quick as it came as the bartender moved down the bar closer to them.
Coming to the edge of the bar, the old bar-keep rested his weight against the aging wood. Regarding the group with heavy-lidded eyes, he spoke quietly, "A bandit, you say? Huh, must be a straggler of Joey's Boys," the bartender concluded, taking a sip from the whiskey bottle nearest him.
"Joey's Boys?" Gourry asked, speaking for the first time since they entered the tavern. He had kinda been tuning the whole thing out, but that one phrase caught his attention. The bar-keep blinked at the swordsman, then nodded.
"Yeah, was a local gang of thugs an' robbers, lead by Joey Tison, the town bad-boy. They lived in camps in the woods outside town, and they'd come by here every week, if for nothing more than swearing an' drinking." The old man had stared down at the wooden floor during the whole speech, eyes far-away in a time long gone.
Lina frowned, not missing the fact that all the words were past tense. "Sir, what exactly happened out there, in the town's square? Did Joey's Boys do that? Is that why everyone's so afraid?" she asked, looking at how the bar-keep rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and weariness. The bar-keep ran a hand through his greasy hair before laying both palms flat on the surface of the bar. He stared out at some point in the wall, though he didn't actually see anything, not in the here-and-now sense anyway.
Taking a deep breath, he began, "Not three days ago, a stranger came through these parts," he returned his gaze to the seated trio, "A young woman, with hair of burnt gold and eyes of steel, dressed all in silver an' black." He put a bit more weight on his palms, leaning forward, "She spoke with a foreign tongue, the likes of which I've never heard....." his eyes glazed once more, staring at the entrance of the tavern, as if he could still see the ghostly specter of the woman from no where. He sighed and lowered his head, but continued, "It was a Friday;Joey's Boys came into town, like they always do, and began running amuck, like they always do...." His eyes were wide and wild when he looked up at them this time, the memory of the event playing out in his mind's eye. In a whispered voice, hoarse and raspy from more than just the whiskey, he spoke, "......only this time they picked a fight with the wrong person."
The loud laughing echoed off the walls of the tavern as scoundrels, pirates, vagabonds and all the rest went out for their day of 'fun' in Vrupur. Swearing, drinking, fighting, and gambling had all the tables packed as the waiters ran around, trying to deliever drinks and not get slugged at the same time. The source of the raunchy laughter was big ol' Joey himself, leader of the gang of bandits known as Joey's Boys. The bar-keep rolled his eyes as he filled another two pints of ale for the bandit king himself. Laughing some more at the bartander's sour expression, Joey's eyes wandered to the end of the bar where the gold-haired foreigner was seated, drinking plain water and trying to make sense of the paper splayed out in front of her.
Smirking, Joey approached the new girl in town, leaning down to see over her shoulder, whispering something vulgar in her ear all the while. Her eyes narrowed and her lips formed a frown, but she made no movement, keeping her attention on the parchment before her. That was, until Joey put his big hand on her shoulder. The sudden 'THWACK' got the whole bar's attention, as Joey went down to the floor, nose and mouth spurting blood, while the foreigner snarled down at him, eyes blazing with rage. She marched out, paper in hand, to get away from all the racket, but Joey didn't give up that easy. Getting to his feet, he and his men pursued her outside the tavern.
The worst mistake, and the last.
They surrounded her, 15 against one, with Joey in the front, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. The girl scanned the area, eyes going wide when she realized there would be no escape. The bartender, as well as several other men of the town, stepped out into the square. They put up with Joey's ruckus, but they wouldn't let things get out of hand. Sadly, because of the thick bulk of the highwaymen, the girl could see nothing except that she was in trouble, BIG trouble, and not the villagers coming to her aid. Maybe, if she had seen them, things might have been different....
Joey's voice boomed out of the square, laughing as he glared at his newly acquired toy. The gang began to close in on the young girl, grinning all the while. The townsmen picked up their knives and scythes, getting in the way of the thugs until a noise stopped them dead in their tracks. A gasp of fear, and then a sort of crackling-crunching sound, that began to steadily grow in volume. Everyone turned their heads towards its source, a black-reddish spark of nothingness between the foreigner's out-stretched hands. As the blackness began to grow, so did a fear gnawing at the back of everyone's mind.
The villagers stood, paralyzed with the highwaymen, as the darkness grew large. Electricity hummed around them, the air became too thick to breathe, the hair on the back of their neck's stood on end, and their spines stiffened and tingled, growing worse with each passing moment. They all had seen magic before, but this was different. No words of power spilled from the girl's mouth;in fact, she looked almost as terrified as the rest of them. At last, the red-black vortex reached it's maxium length, it's crackling became a howling as its power surged.
A blade, it looked like a blade, measuring over six feet in length. The girl needed both hands to hold it, as the energy constantly churned and moved within its shape. But it was its color that was most striking. A deep, wine-colored red energy was the primary weapon, and as it widened, the red got lighter to a bright, blood red along the very edge, with black wisps of power swirling around it everywhere. Heat radiated from it, hotter than any fire on earth. Even the bar-keep, who stood a good 12 yards away, could feel its flames lick his face as though he were right beside it. The foreigner lifted it up high, it's massive power singing through the air, the scent of ozone and burning coming from it.
Nobody could tear their eyes away, no one could move as the blade slowly, oh so slowly, began to swing down....Joey and his boys didn't even have time to scream.
There was silence, a deafening silence until the blade completed its arc. No one actually heard it slice through flesh and bone, blood and tissue. They did hear the nasty 'SPLICK', the sound a liquid makes when it is thrown upon the ground. Then, after what seemed like hours in the time-frozen square, came a thud. Then another, and several more in succesion. But still the silence persisted, holding on to the moment for as long as it could.
Someone screamed.
Air came back into their lungs.
The cold wind pierced their skin through their sweat-drenched clothes.
And in the middle of the village square was....
"Oh no, no, no, nononononononono oh my GOD NO!!!!"
The bar-keep would never forget that scream;or forget why his throat was so raw afterwards.
The candles flickered softly in the tavern, the only source of light now. There was a deep silence, which was ruined when the bartender took a large swig from the whiskey bottle. Gulping harshly, he breathed a sigh and looked back at the trio, currently lost in their own thoughts. He felt a little bit lighter now, after he had told the story. He still couldn't make heads or tails of just why something like that had happened, in Vrupur of all places. Nothing ever happened here, and then this whole thing comes along......'And then they come along.' his thoughts finished as he regarded the newest newcomers one last time before standing straight. He mumbled at the empty whiskey bottles he had left in his wake, and began to stack them neatly under the bar. Glancing at the moon outside, it was apparent that he was supposed to be home hours ago. Sighing, he opened the door to the wine cellar to start replacing the booze for the next day.
"I need to get ready for mornin'. If ya'll want refills, just get 'em yourself." He said over his shoulder, but a voice stopped him before he could get more than his foot into the cellar. Looking back, he blinked at the red-headed girl who had called him.
"Where's........the girl now?" Lina asked quietly, her brows knotting together in concentration. It was no shock to her now just why the Vrupur residents were so scared of every little thing. That would be a pretty intense experience for anybody, even her. The bar-keep stared at her a moment longer before looking back into the cellar.
"During all the screaming and running afterwards, she must have just......slipped away," he swallowed hard. He had seen her, just before everything erupted into total chaos. He couldn't see her face because her loose, curly hair sheilded it from view, but he had stared all the same. Her now-empty hands hung at her sides, her shoulders were relaxed, and her jaw was closed but not tense. For having twelve, burnt-cut corpses at her feet, she looked normal as normal could be. And perhaps it was that, which had terrified him the most. He stepped inside the cellar, closing the door behind him.
Lina stared intently at the closed door, practically burning a hole through it with her gaze alone. Xellos appeared to be staring at his folded hands across his lap, but anything with him was just a guess. Gourry glanced between the two, before finally deciding to break the tense atmosphere that had settled around the tavern.
"Well..............wow." Gourry said, blinking. He didn't know what else to say. What could one say, after a story like the one they had just heard? Lina blinked and looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time this evening. Xellos chuckled and took a sip from his cup.
"'Wow', indeed, Gourry." the priest said dryly, "That was quite long-winded, wasn't it? He must have been stewing about the whole thing ever since it happened, but I wonder if it all can be taken at face value...." Xellos said, slanting one eye half-way open to regard the cellar door, before closing it again and drinking his water. Lina frowned slightly, but then slowly shook her head.
"No, I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying. It just didn't have an 'untrue' feel to it, if you know what I mean," the sorceress genius said, her mind still deeply thinking everything over. Earlier, when she had first realized just what the dark morter truly was, she had wondered what spell could have caused so much bloodshed. But now, given the description that the bar-keep had talked about...."I think she used the Ruby-Eyed Blade." Lina said softly.
Xellos looked up, giving Lina his undivided attention mixed in with slight surprise. He hadn't been aware she even knew of that spell....
"What's that? A sword?" Gourry asked, magic not being his forte' in the least. Lina sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Yes and no. It's a spell that calls upon the power of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo to form a blade-like weapon out of his energy. I've never seen it performed, but supposedly, it's as strong as a Dragon Slave but designed more for close combat. There is nothing in the world it can't cut through," Lina paused, letting it sink into Gourry's thick skull. The swordsman nodded, understanding dawning on his features.
"Oh, I see............who's Ruby-Pie Shabu-Shabu?" he asked obliviously, while Xellos tried not to choke on his water. A loud 'THUNK' and a cry of pain echoed in the tavern a moment later. Gourry held his now-throbbing head, while Lina stood huffing and puffing in anger, as Xellos calmy pryed his staff from Lina's fingers.
"Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo, you moron!!! The Dark Lord of all dark lords!! Remember, the one who tried to kill us after he was reborn in Rezo the Red Priest!! Geez, you really are jellyfish-for-brains! How could you forget something as important as that?!" Lina heaved a huge, sad sigh as she fell back into her chair. Gourry mumbled an apology before slinking back into his own chair. Xellos snickered slightly, which earned him a glare from the hot-tempered girl.
"Oh well, look at the time! I really must catch up on my beauty rest," the trickster said as he stood up from his chair, "Though this little get-together proved to be quite informative. We'll have to do it again sometime!" He chirped happily, and had spun on his heel to leave when Lina snagged his arm.
"Hold on one minute, Xellos. Just what are you up to? As far as I can see, this has nothing to do with you, so why are you so interested all of sudden?" The sorceress asked, suspicion underlying her tone. Xellos never did anything without there being more to the agenda than what met the eye. He was surely up to something. Xellos looked hurt, and even gave a slight pout to complete the look.
"Why, Lina, your distrust wounds me. I simply came to satisfy my curiousity. If it was anything more than that, it would be..." his smile widened as he waggled a finger in front of her face, "A secret!" And with that, the trickster priest dashed out the door. Lina raced after him, right on his heels almost, but when she stepped outside, the mysterious priest was no where in sight.
"How does he do that?!" the red-head growled, while her blonde companion came up behind her. Glancing at the irate girl, he sighed before pulling her by the cape towards their Inn, ignoring the cursing and kicking all the while. To Gourry, they had had a full day and now it was time for rest. Lina stopped her struggling after a while and simply pouted, but then began to think again about the bar-keeper's tale. 'If it was the Ruby-Eye Blade, then those bandits never stood a chance in hell. It's not a spell for amatuers, that's for sure.' Lina sighed as she glanced up at the stars before Gourry pulled her inside the Inn. 'A girl in silver and black,' She thought, 'I wonder what she's like....'
Somewhere, several miles away, a young, female traveler sneezed. Pulling her silver coat up to her tighter, she looked up at the sky from the tree she was in. 'Great, that's the 10th time I've sneezed tonight. I've officially caught a cold. Great, real friggin' great.'
And it is done!! I felt like this one took FOREVER to finish! But, you lovely reviewers are all worth it!
Reviews make the mind work faster.
frosty