Slayers: A Heart of Darkness
Disclaimer: I do not own The Slayers in any way, shape or form.
Darkness, movement…then warmth and comfort wrapping her up tightly, a solid surface beneath her back. Bright green eyes blinked open, the raven haired woman groaning softly as she tried to gain her bearings.
"Where…am I?" She murmured aloud, sitting up slowly in case she was hurt in any way. She moved a bit, finding she was on a bed…and naked. The woman pulled up the blankets, looking around to see she was in a cabin of sorts, though she neither knew how nor why she was there in the first place, least of all why she hadn't any clothing. The room she was in wasn't very big, around ten feet on a side or so, with a slanted roof and very little in the way of furniture. Just as she was about to search around for clothes she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"Oh, so you're awake," a voice observed cheerfully from her right, the girl nearly jumping out of her skin in shock. A man, not much older than she from his appearance, with short purple hair and bearing a staff with a red stone set on top, was sitting in the chair beside the bed, a bundle of clothes in his lap. What really bothered her, though, was the fact she hadn't seen him come in which, since there was only one door, was kind of creepy. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh, no," she assured him, offering a weak smile. "Um…who are you?" The man smiled cheerfully.
"Why, I am Xellos, the Mysterious Priest!" He exclaimed, his cheerfulness starting to bother her…then there was the whole mysterious priest bit. She tried to think of her own name to give him in return, but the girl wasn't able to, her mind blank except for the past five minutes. Seeing her expression, though how she didn't know since his eyes were shut, the priest looked concerned. "Are you alright, miss?"
"I can't remember anything," she replied, almost whispering it. "My name, everything, it's all a blank!" Xellos frowned slightly.
"Oh, dear, it sounds like you have amnesia," he murmured speculatively…then he grinned. "How perfectly wonderful!" The girl blinked at his exclamation.
"How is it wonderful?" She asked, not getting why he thought so at all. The priest chuckled lightly at her words, his smile widening a touch.
"Well, to start you no longer have a past, which means you have nothing to burden you or tie you down," he informed her cheerfully, his tone grating on her nerves a bit. "With no name you can create a new persona, a whole new you with a wide open range of possibilities in front of her…you can do anything and everything you possibly want, with no one to tell you not to or try to persuade you otherwise." He touched a gloved finger to the tip of her nose briefly. "That is what makes it wonderful, so now all you need to do is pick a name." The girl thought about that, looking at the far wall as she did so.
"I think…Claire, yes, Claire is my new name."
0o0o0o0o0
Lina looked up from the map, seeing a hole in the side of a cliff face, supposedly the entrance to the ancient ruin the map spoke of. Gourry stood beside her, hand resting on the hilt of the Blast Blade (is that the new sword he gets?) as he waited for her to confirm this was where they needed to be.
"Well, according to the map," Lina began, rolling it up carefully, "this is the entrance." She strode forward, stopping in front of the archway, crimson eyes having noticed something. "Odd," she murmured, scrubbing at the rock to reveal a set of runes beneath layers of dirt and dust. "I've never seen letters like these before."
"It's written in ancient elven," Gourry told her confidently, brushing off another section on the other side, Lina staring at him in shock. "It's a dead language now, so I'm not exactly surprised you don't recognize it." The sorceress walked up to him, turning him around so she could look into his blue eyes.
"How the heck do you know what these symbols are?" She asked quietly, eyes narrowed at him. The swordsman swallowed nervously. "Well?"
"Uh, hey, shouldn't we be getting inside?" He asked in a desperate bid to change the subject. Lina sighed, turning and heading in.
"Don't think I'm letting you weasel out of telling me how you know that," she called back over her shoulder, using a Lighting spell as she headed into the darkness beyond the entrance. Gourry sighed, glad for the reprieve as he followed after her quickly, not wanting to be left behind.
0o0o0o0o0
The newly dubbed Claire managed to get dressed after Xellos left the room, dressed in a brown leather tunic, gloves and matching boots, with a forest green shirt, cloak and pants along with it. The priest had also provided a strip of thin leather to tie her hair back in a simple ponytail with, as well. She looked herself over, using a small mirror to study her delicate looking features. She headed outside, Xellos waiting for her, sitting on a stump, legs crossed with his staff across his lap.
"Ready to set out then, Miss Claire?" He asked, getting to his feet. The girl nodded, offering a small smile in return for his constant cheerful one. "We'll be heading south, towards the capital of this country, called Seyruun." Claire looked thoughtful, the name a bit familiar.
"What's it like there?" She asked, curious. The priest looked thoughtful.
"Well, it's a large city, filled with a wide variety of people, the city itself dotted with libraries and temples to the gods," Xellos began quietly, frowning slightly. "It's also known as the White Magic Capital, because that is the main focus of study there." Claire gave him a blank look.
"Magic?" She asked after a few moments, the priest smiling at her again.
"Yes, it a force capable of most anything," he informed her in that cheerful way of his. "There are three branches, including white, black and shamanism." He seemed to be glad that they were on a new topic. "White magic is mainly for healing and dispelling undead spirits," he went on, ticking them off on the fingers of his left hand, his staff tucked under his right arm. "Black magic focuses primarily on destructive, offensive spells, while shamanism has a wide variety of offensive and defensive spells." Claire nodded in understanding.
"Can you use magic?" She asked, considering he was a priest. He nodded in reply, taking his staff back in hand, twirling it a bit.
"Why, yes, I am," he replied merrily. "I happen to be quite a proficient sorcerer…a fact I'll be able to prove quite soon." Claire didn't understand and even told him so. "Well, we happen to be surrounded by a group of creatures known as trolls."
"I take it that's bad?" She asked, already knowing the answer, a half dozen, large humanoids with no hair, tusks and varying colors of skin stepping up to encircle them. Brandishing an assortment of clubs and axes, the creatures prepared to attack. "Oh, great."
"Indeed," Xellos agreed, readying his staff. "Don't worry, Miss Claire, I'll handle them in no time." The priest twirled the staff in his hands, energy gathering around it. A black bolt of energy leapt from it, immolating one of the trolls on contact, the rest leaping to the offensive, roaring in rage and bloodlust. Xellos ducked under the swing of an axe, his staff colliding violently with his attacker's skull, the troll reeling back in pain, giving the priest an opening to light it ablaze. Two of the remaining four came at him from behind, clubs aimed for his head. Claire was about to cry out a warning, but Xellos simply vanished, the trolls stunned as they looked this way and that, trying to find where he went. "Fireball!" The priest cried from behind them, the two brutes destroyed instantly by the blast. Unfortunately for Claire, the remaining two went for her. The girl turned and ran, the monsters in hot pursuit, Xellos not far behind. Suddenly she tripped, landing flat on her face, the trolls bearing down on her fast.
"No!" She cried, having rolled onto her back in time to see them swinging their weapons…then her world went red.
0o0o0o0o0
Xellos stared in shock, a rare thing for him, as the trolls were completely annihilated in a blood red blast of energy, the trees around them ablaze.
"My goodness," he murmured, eyes narrowing at the sight before him. "How terribly intriguing…"
0o0o0o0o0
Lina and Gourry stood in a four way intersection, Lina studying the map carefully while her sword wielding companion kept a lookout.
"Well," the sorceress began, sounding a bit uncertain, "from what I can tell we should go right in order to reach the crystal chamber." Gourry nodded slightly in understanding as his long time companion lead the way.
"Hey, Lina," he said to get her attention. "Do you think there will be any traps down here?" Lina scoffed at his question.
"Of course there will," she replied lightly. "This is an ancient elven ruin, at least if what you said about those markings was true." The swordsman chuckled weakly. "At any rate, we should-ah!" She had stepped into thin air, the floor having opened up in front of her. Gourry leapt after her as she fell, catching her by the wrist, his other hand grasping the ledge above.
"You okay?" He asked, not in the least bit strained by her negligible weight. She nodded, looking down at the spike filled bottom and thanking her lucky stars Gourry had caught her. "What would you do without me?" Gourry joked to lighten the tense situation, pulling her up so she could climb up past him. Lina hoped she wouldn't have to find out, using a Levitation spell to get them over the gap.
"As I was saying," she went on afterwards, dusting herself off. "We should be careful." With that they continued on, Lina's magic lighting the way once more. They went deeper into the ruin, descending a flight of stairs and traversing several more maze-like sections before coming into a wide, open chamber, the ceiling high enough to be left in darkness.
"Where are we now?" Gourry asked, looking around curiously. Lina brought out the map, reading a bit in order to figure that out.
"This used to be some kind of grand hall, probably used for worship, or something like that," she told him, rolling it up once more. "The crystal should be in the next room." Then there was a sound in the darkness, like sandpaper over rock. Lina turned at the sound, readying a Fireball in case they were attacked, when Gourry suddenly tackled her to the ground, a jet of flame shooting over their heads. The pair rolled to their feet, back to back, ready for another attack if it came. Lina increased the power of her Lighting spell, the amount of light it shed doubling with a thought. A dark shape moved just beyond the edge of the light, massive in its proportions, the sound of sandpaper over rock echoing as it moved.
"What is it?" Gourry asked quietly, sword at the ready as Lina prepared another spell.
"Only one way to find out…Bram Blazer!" The wave of blue energy lanced towards the darkness, only to be seemingly absorbed. "Damn…how about a Fireball?!" The explosion rocked the chamber, lighting up the darkness for several moments. Glittering scales, a long, sinuous form, leathery wings. Lina stared as the darkness returned once more. "A dragon?!" Gourry looked between her and the shape in the darkness, ready to attack as soon as she gave the word.
"What now, Lina?" He asked, standing just to her right. The sorceress gritted her teeth and made a motion of rolling up her sleeves.
"What now?" She asked in turn, smiling slightly now. "We kick its scaly ass, that's what!" Energy gathered in her hands. "Zelas Brid!" The whip of light lashed outwards, flaying open the dragon's side, the enraged beast retorting with a jet of flame that had them scrambling to dodge, the floor where they had once stood now a molten pool of rock. "Gourry, get its attention for me!" The swordsman nodded, charging forward, sword held high as he dodged left and right to avoid the blasts of fire the dragon launched at him as he approached. Gourry was able to get in close, sword slashing through the scales of its right foreleg, the monster screeching in pain. Lina puzzled over what spell she should use while Gourry kept its attention focused on him, the sorceress knowing she couldn't use something like the Dragon Slave in such a confined space, nor would any of her normal spells have much of an effect, for even Zelas Brid had only seemed to anger it. She could try the Ragna Blade, but it always left her drained of strength, which wouldn't be good if there was something more dangerous in the crystal chamber. "Oh, screw it!" She exclaimed, gathering her strength. "Lord of darkness of the four worlds, I call upon you, grant me all the power you posses!" Her talismans lit up with a fierce red light. "Lord of the dreams that terrify, sword of cold and darkness, free yourself from the heavens bonds." Energy began to swirl around her violently. "Become one with my power, one with my body and let us walk the path of destruction together! Power that can smash even the souls of the gods!" The darkness gathered in her hands. "Ragna Blade!" The sword of the Golden Lord materialized in her grasp, crackling with barely controlled power. Gourry leapt back as the dragon turned, having felt the massive surge of energy. It unleashed a blast of white hot flames, Lina leaping over it, the Ragna Blade held high. "Slash sword of darkness, slash through all!" She cried as she descended, the blade of chaotic energy cleaving through the creature's hardened scales like a hot knife through butter, the dragon not even having time to react before it died. Lina, her strength spent, fell to her knees, breathing hard, sweat beading on her brow from the strain. Gourry knelt beside her, sword sheathed once more.
"You okay, Lina?" He asked, concerned for her, knowing how much that spell took it out of her. The sorceress nodded.
"I'll be fine," she assured him tired. "Let's just get what we came for and head to Seyruun." She got to her feet slowly, allowing Gourry to help her along as they moved to the next chamber. Her Lighting spell illuminated a circular room, which had a pedestal at its center. Upon it was a crystal larger than Lina's forearm, clear and prefect, not a single flaw in its structure.
"Wow," Gourry summed it up perfectly. "You think Zel and Amelia will like it?" Lina smiled at his question. "I think they'll love it…come on, give me that bag."
A/N: The second chapter is done, and, as always, let me know what you think. Laters!