I kind of rushed the last chapter, so I think I made some spelling and grammatical errors, but only a little. I promise you. This chapter will be a lot better. Promise. A blast from the past, a new spell and a wonderfully new concept. Hopefully, you'll probably like it a lot better, but remember that I'm high on sleep, again. As always. Well, I'll start now.
Chapter 2 – Safeguard
With a sigh and a stretch, Lina mumbled, "Good morning, everyone."
"Mornin,' Lina." Cecil replied.
It appeared that everyone else had woken up before her. Gourry was sitting on the floor, Henrietta in a chair and Cecil was leaning on the door.
"You know," Cecil pointed out, "the floors here are a lot harder than the carpeted ones back home."
"Carpeted floors? What's a carpet?"
"Never mind. You wouldn't know. Now, shall we get going? Or do you have something to do today?"
"I have something to do. Me and Gourry have to pick up some gold back at The Golden Dragon. It's just a few blocks away, so if we hitch a ride, or something, we'll get there quick. Do you want to come along?"
"Oh, sure. I dropped off Henrietta there yesterday. She liked the people there, so I'm sure that she wouldn't mind, either. Would you, Hen?"
"N-no...I don't mind at all. I'd love to see...meet them again. One more time, before we leave..."
"It's settled then!" Lina exclaimed, putting on her boots, "We leave after breakfast; I'm starved!"
"Me too!" the so far silent knight said a little too excitedly.
Suddenly, two different sources made loud grumbling sounds. Henrietta and Cecil.
The former laughed nervously, "H-ha...I guess I'm h-hungry too..."
"Me too." the latter agreed, "I suppose it is time for a good meal. Do you have a Waffle House anywhere here?"
"A Waffle House? No, but they should have some good pancakes at the restaurant back there. I think it was 'de Oro,' right Cecil?"
"Yeah. The snapper there was good. Until the lobster attacked."
"Lobster?" Gourry asked, "Isn't that like a crab? How did it-"
"I'll explain later." Lina interrupted.
Cecil and Henrietta left the two behind, leaving an awkward silence as well.
"Well," Lina said, "let's go, Gourry. If you take long, I swear. I'll eat you too."
"A-all right, Lina, settle down."
"Okay. But we're gonna get there before those two; whether they like it or not, this is a race."
She opened up the window and motioned for Gourry to come over.
"Gourry, grab on."
"Where?"
"Anywhere! No, wait, bad idea. Grab my hand."
He did so.
"Levitation!"
Lina jumped out of the window, but instead of falling, she hovered in midair. Gourry dangled from her hand, noticing their two friends below them.
"Hey!" Cecil exclaimed, "What's that all about?"
"Last team to get to de Oro pays the bill!"
"Yeah right! Like we'll let that happen!"
Lina flew off in the direction of the restaurant. Levitation flew at only a running speed, but it was easy to control, and let her fly over buildings with ease. Cecil couldn't catch up to her; after all, the faster flight spells were extremely complex and hard to control.
Lina heard a shout from behind her.
"Ray Wing!"
In a little orb of compressed air, Cecil and Henrietta flew many times faster than Lina was.
He can't use Ray Wing...with that speed, he'll crash! He might hurt someone...mainly my wallet!
Lina stopped moving and copied Cecil, "Ray Wing!"
Gourry was lifted up to Lina's level to be included in the wind sphere. Lina flew much faster now, but it was hard to turn and impossible to stop. Unfortunately, the orb ahead of her dissipated, leaving her two friends levitating towards the door of the restaurant. When she hit the spot that they were at, she quit focusing on her Ray Wing, causing both her and Gourry to fall to the ground. While the sorceress landed gracefully on her feet, the knight landed rather clumsily on his rear.
"Lina, I'll have you paying the doctor when we get my butt put in a cast."
"Who was talking about your butt? I certainly didn't bring it up."
"What are you talking about?"
With a cough, Cecil got their attention.
"Not to spoil your moment, but you guys have a meal to eat and a bill to pay."
Henrietta smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lina. Next time, it'll be guys and girls, and y-you're wallet will be much happier."
"I'm sure." Lina pouted.
The group walked into the Restaurante de Oro and sat down at the corner booth that Lina sat at before. The waiter from last time came over, recognizing one of the customers.
"Oh, you're the girl that came in here yesterday! Bought quite a lot of food last time, so I suspect that you'll have a big meal today, too?"
"Nah. I haven't been working too much, so I guess I'll just have...fifteen pancakes."
"I need more," Cecil ordered, "I'll want...forty-five. Make it fifty, just to make sure."
"I'll have thr-three..."
"I don't know what pancakes are, so I guess I'll have a few sausages. Make that a lot of sausages. And bacon. And some eggs, too"
"All right," the waiter said with a smile, "I'll bring it soon."
As he left, the group started to converse.
"Cecil," Lina said, puzzled, "why do you need so much food? You haven't been using too much magic."
"Actually, I was practicing all night. I've been trying to see if this new concept fits into the magic of this time – I mean...place."
"What do you mean? This sounds interesting."
"Well, where I come from, people are said to be enveloped in a psychic energy, known as an 'aura.' Magic is just one of the ways people can use this aura. Kinetics, sorcerers, summoners and all other sorts of people use auras for various purposes. Supposedly, each aura is different, like a fingerprint. If each aura is unique, then maybe every person can use a unique spell, a unique ability. That's what I've been practicing."
"Cool. Maybe you can teach me about these auras some time."
"I'm no expert, but I'd be glad to teach you what I know. Maybe we could find you your personal spell."
"Have you found yours?"
"Of course. It's actually a variation of – oh, look. The food's here!"
Just as he said, the food was there. The restaurant must have been prepared for Lina, because it had only taken five minutes for mountains of pancakes to be delivered. Lina savored every bite, Henrietta slowly ate after poking her food, Cecil inhaled his pancakes and Gourry's meat and eggs disappeared faster than Lina could tell him to save her some bacon.
"Gourry, you pig!"
"I'm not a pig – I'm a perfectly normal human being."
"Shut up, ya friggin' jerk! You're supposed to save some bacon for the lady!"
"Since when was there ever a rule about that?"
"Since right now!"
The two were suddenly distracted by Cecil and Henrietta laughing at them.
"Oh, you two fight like an old married couple, albeit a weird one." Cecil chuckled.
"H-have you two thought about that, yet? You two would b-b-be gr-great together..."
"Sh-shut up!" Lina exclaimed indignantly, "Besides, we have to get to The Golden Dragon. It's going to be noon in three or so hours, so we better hurry up."
"Fine," Cecil said, "ruin our fun. It's just as well."
The group got up, left the money for the meal and stepped outside. After a few minutes of walking the cobblestone roads, Lina noticed something she hadn't before.
"Henrietta, why are you grabbing Cecil's arm like that?"
"It's so she doesn't get lost." Cecil replied, "Didn't you notice before? Hen is—"
Gourry interrupted, "Guys, The Golden Dragon is just up ahead! I told you we wouldn't get lost on the shortcut."
"Yeah," Lina said sarcastically, "the shortcut you happened to make up, which happened to get us there a lot faster. Good for you, Gourry."
The group was silent as they entered the place.
"We'll go on ahead," Cecil suggested, "you guys sit tight for a sec."
Cecil and Henrietta meandered through the unique pots and urns scattered throughout the store. Most were on tables and stands, but occasionally one would be on the floor. They all sparkled like jewels. Eventually, the pair ran into a very unusual employee. His clothes were rugged and seemed more suited to desert travel than a city. He had an eye patch covering his left eye, but above all else, he was covered in red fur. He had the head of a fox, and grinned at the sight of the pair.
"Henrietta!" he exclaimed in a thick Australian accent, "It's good to see ya again, and so soon. I guess your friend here is Cecil, right?"
"That's r-right, Mr. Jyllas. This is Cecil. It's nice to see...meet you again. We have friends in the back, and they need to pick up some money from something they sold. Is it okay if we...er, C-Cecil looks around?"
"Oh, sure. The boss lady wouldn't mind, as long as he doesn't break anything."
"I won't," Cecil assured him, "I'll be sure not to."
Leaving Henrietta in the beast-man's capable hands, Cecil began to walk off towards the counter. There didn't seem to be anyone there, so he rang the little bell on it. To his surprise, the ringing summoned a blond woman that had simply been ducking behind the table. She had on strange clothing, similar to a nun's, except it was white with some gold trim.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Oh, no. I came to pick up some money for some things that some friends of mine left here to be appraised. They're waiting just back there."
"Okay, could you go and get them for me? I'm afraid that I can't give the gold to anyone but the people who sold it to me. You understand, right?"
"Of course, I'll just get them over here."
Cecil didn't actually need to, because, after all, Gourry and Lina – okay, just Lina – were getting tired of waiting.
"That's it," the sorceress whined, "I can't take it anymore! I'm going in!"
"But, Lina...it's only been a minute or two. And the store is kind of big."
"Well, in that case, I'd better make sure that those two didn't get lost, shouldn't I? And you're coming with me!"
She dragged – literally, dragged – Gourry into the shop and wandered through the display tables, occasionally noticing a familiar urn or two.
"I swear, I've seen some of these before..."
Soon, she ran into Henrietta and a familiar face.
"Jyllas? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Oh," Henrietta said, "you know each other?"
"A little too well."
"Oh," Jyllas said nonchalantly, "you. The boss is in the back, if you want to talk to her about something."
"Wait, Filia? Filia's here? In Bejewld? No wonder the shop's called 'The Golden Dragon.' I guess she finally got what she wanted."
"Who's Filia?" Gourry and Henrietta asked in unison.
"I could understand Henrietta being confused," Lina growled, "but Gourry, we spent...what, a year with her? Remember going to the Outer Lands?"
"Nope. Not in the slightest. Why?"
The rest of the party exchanged face-palms, and Cecil came back to tell Gourry and Lina that they were needed.
"She said," he began, "that only the people who sold the stuff can come to retrieve the money."
With a sigh, Lina replied, "Well, Gourry, I guess we'll just have to go meet her again. If you don't remember her then, I'm sure that a Laser Breath or two will refresh your memory."
The pair walked off, leaving the other three behind.
"So how do you know Miss L-Lina and G-Gourry, Mr. Jyllas?"
"Bad memories, to say the least. Let's just say that there was a lot of collateral damage. So, back to what we were talking about, how powerful is this gunpowder that you were talking about?"
"O-oh, um...it can fire off a single bullet at speeds of at least a hundred miles per hour, but it slows gradually. It can deal a g-g-good amount of damage, but it needs good aim. The bullets are small, but with good enough aim, you can blow a person's h-head into smithereens."
"Interestin'. Now, how much does this cost where you're from?"
"Oh, for me, it j-just costs a few dollars for a keg."
"How much is a dollar in gold-"
The conversation was interrupted by Lina, Gourry and the clerk lady coming back from the counter.
"Boss," Jyllas asked, "where are you going?"
"Oh," the lady replied, "I'm going to be traveling with these people for a while. It's been years since we last saw each other, and I feel that we should at least learn a bit about what we've all been doing this past time. I'm sure you can handle the store, can't you? Besides, Grovos is getting off of vacation next week, so you won't be alone for long."
"A-a'ight. I can handle the shop." Jyllas turned to Cecil and Henrietta, "Ya wouldn't mind getting some of that stuff the next time ya come 'round, would ya? I'd like to tinker with it for a bit."
"S-sure. I-I'll be sure to bring a k-keg or two."
Saying goodbye, the five left Jyllas in the shop.
"So," Lina said, breaking a minute long silence as the group made their way to the town gate, "what were you and mouse-breath talking about back there, Henrietta?"
"Oh, just g-g-gunpowder. He wants to create the most powerful gunpowder in the world. I j-just happen to know a g-good starting point."
"Oh, really? And Filia, how have things been going since we met last?"
"Oh, just wonderful! We're the most popular antique shop within two-hundred miles of Bejewld. How have Zelgadis and Amelia been doing? I heard that after that incident with the ghost Shabranigdo that they went off to Amelia's kingdom."
"Oh, yeah. I just hope Zel has gotten a bit closer to his own goal. And that Amelia isn't bugging him too much. After all, a princess probably isn't a very good companion for a person like him. Have you seen Xellos lately? I still need to pay him back with a good thrashing."
"What?" Filia stepped back, as if horrified at the name "Xellos." "I hate that freak!It would be bad enough if he were just an arrogant, selfish jerk, but he's a monster, too. No! I haven't seen the idiot!"
"Okay...geez. You don't have to get all upset about it. He just seems lie the kind of person who would bother yo, of all people."
"Oh, me?" a mysterious voice boomed out.
It was just then that Lina realized that there was an incredible lack of people near the town gate.
"Oh, hi Xellos." she greeted carelessly.
A figure with purple hair carrying a staff with a a red jewel at the top walked into their view.
"It's not nice to talk about people behind their back, you know."
"Yeah, but it's also not nice to bargain with monsters, especially when you're using a woman's soul as your tool."
"Oh, come now. That was only four times, nothing much. Isn't it wonderful that we cross paths here?"
"Yeah, just terrific. Who sent you? Why are you here?"
"Who sent me? That's a-"
"That's a secret. I get it. But why are you here?"
"Oh, no reason. Just to tell you that you might want to turn the other direction. There's something to be done, and money to be had from it. You like money, don't you?"
"Of course I-" she yelled as she whirled around. This, however, was not something she liked. Why nobody had noticed it earlier, she wouldn't know. In the Sapphire Bay, a creature was sitting there. Well, more like floating there. A giant kraken-like thing was in the bay, with two ships in its tentacles, lifted high, with screaming people falling out.
"Dammit! How come we didn't notice that before? Guys, hurry up! We have to help them!"
Leaving the monster man behind, the group raced towards the bay, hoping to stop the creature before it was too late.
Chuckling to himself, Xellos sighed, "Well, I suppose this will be a great time to gauge their abilities. I better watch. Who knows, I might even enjoy myself."
When the group arrived at the bay, there were very few ships left in the now red-tinged water. What remained of merchants and soldiers were sailing at full speed back to port, afraid for their lives. There were corpses onshore, but not for very long. The lobsters from yesterday were there, ripping apart the bodies of both dead and near-dead people. Screams emitted from the ones that weren't quite dead yet.
"Oh my God..." Cecil stammered.
"Th-they're...all..." Henrietta managed to cry.
"Snap out of it!" Lina scolded them, "It's horrible, but that's why we're here! Let's get rid of these things! Let's kill them all! We'll start with the big one!"
She readied a Fireball in here hand, but Filia stopped her.
"Lina," she warned, "there are still people in those boats there. If you blast the kraken, you'll kill them, too. I'll distract it and see if I can get it to drop the ships."
"No, I'll just get in there a slash it with a Ragna Blade!"
"What happens if you misfire? We can't handle that chance. We need to-"
"Would both of you shut up?" Cecil shouted.
Everyone's attention was on him now.
"Look," he said, "we have to stop that thing, and bickering amongst ourselves will accomplish nothing. I think I have a plan which might work, but I'll need everyone's help for it to work. Lina, I'll need you and Gourry to beat back as many crabs as you can, but after I get the kraken ready, you'll need to cast a powerful long-range spell."
"How will I know when-"
"You'll know. Filia and Henrietta, cover me. I'll be back on that building over there, and I need the two of you to help protect me from any monsters. Filia, if I'm right about what you can do, then don't overdo it. Henrietta, just hit them with the case – there's no need to do anything fancy yet."
"Right." the two said in unison.
"All right then. We start now! Ray Wing!"
He flew up to the top of a building with Filia and Henrietta, leaving the other two behind.
I hope, he thought to himself, that this works. I've only tried it after dark, so it might not be too effective.
When he hit the top of the building, he saw Gourry and Lina doing their jobs quite well on the ground. Gourry with a steel sword, Lina with Fireballs.
"All right. Time to start."
He pulled out a piece of chalk from his pocket and began to draw a circle around himself on the ground. In the meantime, Filia was simply knocking back lobsters who had climbed onto the building with a spiked mace, and Henrietta was hitting them with her suitcase. It just seemed a little weird that two girls with oversized weapons were fighting giant seafood. Ignoring that, Cecil finished the circle, about five feet in diameter, and drew a square in that. In the square, he drew a diamond, and in that, a five-pointed star.
There. It's done. Now to finish it.
"Surrender to the abyssal night, succumb to the murky darkness. Yield to the blackest dusk, but never wake to see the dawn. Lose yourself to the deathly dream! Nightmare Wave!"
He held out his hands, as if he were firing a Fireball, but instead of that, something much more dramatic happened. From his feet, the ground turned dark purple. It spread further and further, eventually spreading to the shore. As it passed the monsters, they fell to the ground, unable to move. It even seemed to affect the people there. To evade the inevitable, Lina flew upwards to dodge the incoming wave. As it passed, Gourry succumbed to it as well. He dropped, asleep. Ignoring her friend, Lina began to get ready for her own spell.
The kraken fell asleep, dropping the boat into the water. It quickly sailed away. As it did so, Lina finished her spell.
"...I pledge myself to conquer...all the foes that stand...before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed, by the power you and I possess! Dragon Slave!"
She thrust out her hands and a crimson beam erupted from and blasted towards the sleeping kraken. It exploded on impact, completely vaporizing the monster. When the beam dissipated, Lina flew off towards Cecil.
"Was that one of those spells you mentioned a bit ago?"
"Oh, yes. Yes it was. Impressed?"
"It's just a massive sleeping spell."
"What if I told you that I can kill anyone under the spell with a single command?"
"Cool! Let's try it on Gourry! No, I'm just kidding! Can you get people out of the effect?"
"Yea, but they'll still be asleep for some time. Why?"
"Well, I was just thinking that you could kill off all the monsters."
"Oh, sure." he snapped his fingers. "All right. Night, swallow these forsaken souls. Grant them respite and eternal rest."
Suddenly, all of the lobsters poofed into a mass of black lights, which then faded out of existence.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Lina said with a shudder.
"Eh? Anyways, I'll go find Henrietta and Filia. You bring Gourry to the inn."
END~
Okay, I admit it – I suck at making up Chaos Words. And the ending was sudden. I was just too lazy and I just kept procrastinating. I apologize. I had to work on chapter 8 for Rumble, one of my other stories, so I just put this aside for a while. Anyways, thanks for reading and please review.