Necros: A War of Zoids
By THE Xenomorph aka familyghost
Synopsis: A world with a secret past is about to get a wake up call from the metallic warriors.
Chapter 5: Tsurellis – Necromantic Playboy
As the Liger Zero ran past a series of wards Nami noticed that the areas surrounding the wards flashed a brilliant purple and then hardened into a wall. Her first thought was that she was trapped. Then the group stopped near the large square building and her second thought was that they were lost. She just could not picture a necromancer living inside a giant plain looking box. Soon the ground beneath the zoids shifted and lowered.
"What's happening?" Nami panicked.
"Easy, underground elevator for Zoids." Frank reassured her.
As the elevator lowered itself into the ground Nami noticed that the "plains" that made up the elevator were quite fake, almost made up of cloth or something similar. Then as the elevator bottomed out she saw a large zoid in front of her, a large lizard that stood tall upon two legs, massive cannons were strapped to the back and left arm. It was also badly damaged. As she climbed out of the Liger she was greeted by Lycus and a strange man she assumed was Tsurellis.
"Nami, this is my former student and friend; Tsurellis." Lycus said in an annoyed tone. "Don't listen to anything he says unless it's about magic or zoids."
Tsurellis took on a look of mock offense. His pale copper complexion, silver hair and golden-orange eyes just lent to his bizarre appearance. He also wore a suit of current fashion in a neighboring country that Nami recognized from a traveling merchant, a great contrast to Lycus' flowing robes. "Honestly, Lycus you wound me."
"I really will wound you if you play your games with her." Lycus glared at his former student.
"Ok, ok, no need to get snippy." Lycus smiled. "A pleasure to meet you." He crossed his arms both in front of his waist and behind his back as he bowed to Nami. "I hope you'll enjoy your stay here, however brief it may be."
"You mean we aren't staying here, safe behind the purple walls?" Nami asked.
"Temporary blockades, my dear." Tsurellis sighed. "The mages will crash through them in a day or so."
"We're stocking up on everything and loading it into the Gustav as we speak." Lycus said. "Well, Tsu's servants are anyway."
"Gustav?" Nami blinked.
"Transport zoid. Normally to slow of any use in the situation, however this is a Metal Empire Zoid so speed is not an issue." Lycus nodded to a large blue domed zoid with giant boosters attached to it. "One of the oldest zoids in existence, still have no clue how DM got such a relic to work."
"Who?" Nami asked again in confusion.
"A friend." Lycus said sternly, a warning not to push it further.
"Whose crypt we will be heading off to in the next few hours." Tsurellis commented.
"It's not a crypt Tsurellis." Lycus growled, "Crypts are for the dead."
"Oh right, because someone who never practiced necromancy or lich-craft can always stay alive past natural age induced death." Tsurellis rolled his eyes in disbelief.
"Trust me." Lycus gave a sly smile as he walked away with a confident stride.
"You'd never guess he was near death when Shade brought him in." Tsurellis slightly held back a laugh and then turned to Nami and clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"What's wrong?" Nami asked.
"Well, while I may not have ever ridden a zoid I was around long ago enough to at least have some knowledge of what they would have worn." Tsurellis sighed. "And my dear; peasant clothes of a maiden were no where in that selection. Not to mention they hardly suit the heir of Sanguri."
"Well what am I supposed to wear then; boys clothes?" Nami asked.
"No, I can make a nice jumpsuit for you in only a few hours, now follow me so one of my servants can take your measurements." Tsurellis grabbed Nami by the arm and drug her into the house.
Inside the house Tsurellis took her to a room divided by a large curtain and placed her on one side. Within a few minutes a ghostly white woman appeared and began taking a tailor's tape and measuring everything about her from her inseam to her bust and shoulder width. All the time Nami was screaming at the woman to stop poking her.
"Oh Nami, what colors are your favorite?" Tsurellis called from the other side of the divider.
"What?" Nami asked angrily.
"What colors would you like this new suit to be?" Tsurellis asked.
"I don't know!" Nami yelled as the ghostly woman accidentally poked her again. "Surprise me!"
"Oh!" Tsurellis seemed happy. "Noru, the measurements please." The ghostly woman passed through the divider and handed a parchment to Tsurellis. "Nami, please stand as still as possible, crafting spells are quite tedious to repeat."
"Crafting spell?" Nami asked as she felt her body freeze in fear. Then she heard Tsurellis begin to rasp out a series of magikal syllables and soon she felt her clothes melt away, but as she watched they were slowly changing into something else. A blue hue took shape around her legs down to her ankles where a black form was taking shape tipped in purple. Her arms and hands were also covered in black, her stomach was blue like her legs and her palms were purple too. Then she saw a division of a glove and boot on her left and right sides. Soon a medium length skirt of black and blue swirled stripes appeared. Then all at once the colors solidified into a strange feeling cloth. She had new clothes.
"Well what do you think?" Tsurellis asked.
"I have new clothes." Nami stammered as she walked out from behind the divider.
"Yes, and you look quite fetching in them if I do say so myself." Tsurellis smiled with pride as he took in his latest fashion statement. "Blue and black are typical the Zero Squad's colors, but I added in some purple for the new heir."
"Zero Squad?" Nami asked.
"Your ancestor's Zoid Squad." Tsurellis smiled. "Oh you look so gorgeous in that. I wish my camera still worked. And I had film."
Nami was busy slipping her gloves and boots off to inspect them. "They're not cotton."
"Nope, well not entirely." Tsurellis admitted. "Synthetic fibers, fireproof and tear resistant."
"Wow." Nami blinked.
"Believe it or not Nami, but our world was once a scientific haven of wonder, then it fell into a cataclysm and once again began to build itself back up, but then another thing happened and... well, you can guess." Tsurellis smiled. "Now lets go show Lycus, I bet he'll be speechless."
"Hold on, how do I get the rest off and how do I wash it?" Nami asked. "And where's Tari?"
"Oh your sister's around here somewhere, probably taking care of that rat problem I have." Tsurellis smiled. "Don't worry though her familiar should be able to crush them."
"Why would I be worried about my sister killing rats?" Nami asked.
"Um..." Tsurellis held back. "No reason."
"NAMI!" At that moment Tari came charging into the room. She too had clothes similar to Nami's but she wore red with gray as opposed to blue and black. "I knew you'd make it."
"Tari, what's this about killing rats?" Nami asked as she broke free of her sister's hug.
"Oh nothing, Tsurellis just had a bunch of rats in his wine cellar and the poison wasn't killing them so he asked if Shay and I could kill them." Tari smiled
"Who?" Nami asked.
"Shay's my familiar!" As Tari spoke a small blue light flew out of her jumpsuits pocket. "She's a fey."
"Oh goody..." Nami sighed. "So Lycus really is teaching you?"
"Mmmhm." Tari smiled.
"Oh great..." Nami forced a smile. "How nice."
"Oh, come on Nami..." Tari frowned, "I want to learn this, Necromancy is fun!"
To this Tsurellis couldn't help but chuckle and Nami gave him a glare that could kill. "I'll be checking on the Gustav now."
As Tsurellis left for the Gustav he couldn't help but note that Nami could have a very commanding prescience, it reminded him of the first and only time he had met her ancestor. He almost felt a shiver down his spine at the memory of the commanding warrior and scientist.
When he finally made his way down to his former mentor his discomfort had faded and he was once again smiling like his normal self, but with a surprise.
"Out with it." Lycus said without looking up from a ledger he held.
"I got her a pilot's outfit." Tsurellis smiled.
"Lovely, now how much more of your junk do we actually need?" Lycus asked.
"Just because you live like a hermit doesn't mean I can't enjoy the finer things in life." Tsurellis defended himself.
Lycus merely read off the list. "Thirty crates of fabric and crafting supplies?"
"We are going to need flags and clothes you know." Tsurellis smiled. "Speaking of which shouldn't you be getting into your old uniform?"
"That was another life Tsurellis, I was a different person then, in it." A visible pang of worry and fear passed through Lycus as his former student watched in concern.
"You know I still remember the stories you told me when I was a child with Nyla." Tsurellis smiled. "I just wish she hadn't gone down that path."
"Your sister made her choice, you did what you had too." Lycus said with out a hint of emotion, then in a comforting tone he added; "You did the right thing."
"I know, oh but that was so long ago." Tsurellis sighed.
"We never forgot those we care about." Lycus smiled.
The sound of metallic doors sliding open alerted the necromancer's to Nami and Tari's arrival. When Lycus peered up from his ledger he was in shock at the form fitting jumpsuit that Nami wore, his jaw was even hanging open.
"Told you he'd be speechless." Tsurellis smiled.
Both Nami and Lycus turned beet red at the realization.
"And they're a cute couple." Tari smiled, a glare from her teacher silenced her. "Sorry Lycus-Sensei."
"Come on, we're almost finished." Lycus said. "Get in the Zero with your sister, you'll be safest there."
"OK." Tari smiled as she and her sister walked off.
"We have to leave the other stuff behind." Lycus turned to Tsurellis. "Wraith reported a König Wolf with dual sniper rifles."
"I saw the wreckage the revenants brought in." Tsurellis said. "Poor Buster Eagle."
"He's taking the König here by the way." Lycus said.
"Fine by me." Tsurellis said, "Not my style anyway."
"All right then, go get in that snail." Lycus smiled.
"I'll be in one of the Brigades." Lycus said.
"Speaking of, those Barrigator's are a bit big, aren't they?" Tsurellis noted.
"Special designs DM made before the incident." Lycus said, "Twenty percent size increase for a better cockpit and if need room for a passenger, albeit very little room."
"So to the north then?" Tsurellis smiled.
"To the north." Lycus agreed as Wraith appeared and handed him the sword Frank and Ash had retrieved. "Let's get out of here before they realize we're planning to leave."