There's a certain pride that comes in living in a fifty mile wide sprawling city that was previously best known as being a large smoking crater. Looking at Sairaag from afar, which was really the only way to grasp the sheer scope of the city-state/empire, you'd never know it had been wiped off the map on two separate occasions.
Instead, you'd marvel at the sheer effort it must have taken to expand it to six times its original size, much less rebuild it in the first place. Not only was it a big city, but it was a big MODERN city... full of shining metal and brass construction, towering buildings rivaled only by the urban landscapes of Darata, and elegant architectures to make Sailoon weep in jealousy.
Ductwork and sturdy tubing connected every building, piping all manner of things to and fro -- working plumbing, electrical power, steam pressure for various machines, and endless reams of paperwork. Most of that paperwork flowed to the center of the city, to the Imperial Palace, where everything 'got done'... although there could be little doubt what the core of the city truly was, at first sight.
The palace itself wasn't much of an affluent and aesthetic royal palace. Instead, it was a huge, sprawling lump of monolithic buildings, so connected by skywalks and tunnels and sub-buildings as to become one whole congealed structure. Despite the seemingly random construction of it, it remained airtight and secure; one of the few places in the city completely lacking in windows. Or doors.
Nobody walks into the palace. You're either summoned, or you have no business being there. If employed there, you're assigned a hidden entrance, one of dozens available -- and if you compromise the security, you can bet that the next time you walk in, that entrance will be sealed behind you, which isn't a problem as you'll likely not be walking out again.
And if you were a small, rag-tag band of adventurers trying to break in to rescue a cohort and send the place to the big real estate lot in the sky, the best way to proceed would be to walk up to it, turn around, walk away, leave the city and take up a peaceful life as a potato farmer instead.
Lina Gabriev had absolutely no plans to pick up a hoe when her husband was inside that blasted place. However, she was not stupid enough to just blast a hole in it, climb in, and go looking. As much as she wanted to get this over with and run back to the comfort of her old home (as old habits die hard), she knew this was going to take careful planning. Forethought. Reconnaissance.
She didn't trust 'Inverse' to handle that end of things. The younger Lina may be powerful as a god and as resourceful as, well, Lina Inverse, but she was NOT accustomed to this period in history, and wouldn't mix as well for a little undercover work. So, while the 'adventuring party' stayed at an inn on the fringes of Sairaag, having checked in at night and in disguise to avoid the bi-hourly announcements of their arrest warrants, Lina Gabriev was off doing a little footwork. Which also happened to involve consuming very large dinners -- once again, old habits die hard.
"You know, information about this place is hard to come by," Lina said, engaging in conversation with a fellow trademan, while she enjoyed her bowl of Sairaag-style sweet and sour noodles. "All I heard was that they had some very fat government contracts up for hire to develop weapons. I didn't hear there was a magical ban, or I wouldn't have wasted five days getting here."
"Ah... you may want to keep your voice down, miss," the merchant said, looking around. "While I'd like to believe myself very worldly, many here have a bit of a fear of magic -- "
"It's a justified fear, Myron," her other companion said, looking quite bitter. He was far older than the merchant, and wearing far shabbier clothing. (He owned this restaurant, and had come out to find out exactly who was eating an upwards of 17% of the kitchen in one sitting, and got sucked into the gaping maw of Lina's discussion.) "I don't mean anything personal against you, miss, but I trust something I can hold in my two hands and understand to some weird, arcane power from a time long forgotten. Especially a power stemming off those blasted Mazoku, or off some crazy shamans. Give me a good, solid gun any day over some fire spell, I say."
"Mel, you don't know how a gun works any more than you do a fire spell," Myron the Merchant(tm) joked... but kept his voice low, so as not to be overheard. "If anything, you'd have to study for years, with hard magical training just to toss a small fireball. ANY idiot can pull a trigger. Which do you think is safer?"
"Anyway," Lina said, wanting to get back on topic, "I'm not willing to go away empty handed. There's got to be SOME way to talk to someone in the palace about getting a weapons contract; if I can't make the stuff, I know some mechanists and blacksmiths back home. Maybe I can pick up the percentage. Do you know anyone?"
"There was that Roy fellow who frequented the taverns I frequent, but I haven't seen him lately," Myron said, thinking back. "He worked for the military. The army and the government keep to themselves... this is your first time here, right?"
"That's right. It's sort of a research trip too."
"You don't need to worry about the government," the merchant said, a bit proudly. "Everything works transparently. All we have to worry about are our own affairs. They make sure the power and water keep going, and that crime is kept suppressed, and we take care of the whole living to day to day and prospering thing. It's actually quite an easy life."
"And we deserve it, too!" Mel added. "I remember the first time the city was destroyed... the first hardship. I was lucky enough to be off getting supplies for the restaurant; I come back and I hear about how Lina Inverse destroyed the city. And something about some demon or another, but I didn't pay much attention to the local mythology. It was a very hard year, trying to rebuild the city again... and during one month when I was off giving a lecture at culinary school in Sailoon, I come back to find the Mazoku showed up and destroyed the city AGAIN. Nothing was left! Everything we'd built back up was wiped clean. I tell you, if not for Elizabeth Balderdash leading the reconstruction efforts, I'd have bee forced to leave my homeland long ago..."
"I'll be the first to admit, she's done wonders for Sairaag," Myron conceded, again watching his volume. "The city is prosperous again, and life is easy. No small amount of work went into that, and without her organizational skills and new technologies, we'd never have recovered. But things aren't ALL well outside of the city. I don't like to really talk about this, since it goes against everything we hear in the news, but... Mina, where are you from again?"
"Zeifelia," Lina said, recognizing her 'stage name' immediately.
"Right. Well, the news here is talking about how we're working diplomatically to help move them under the Sairaag umbrella, and all that. But I've BEEN out and about, on trade routes, and it sounds more like a military action waiting to happen. Just like Sailoon. Mel, how'd the news put it?"
"That Queen Amelia and some pagan wizard named Noisemacher or something had destroyed the diplomatic envoy we sent. Religious and magical zealots were ruling the city and refused to accept Sairaag's proposal of alliance. Honestly, and the magic lovers call US close minded? At least we don't worship any beastly gods who sacrifice virgins or -- "
"The way I heard it from a friend of a friend is that we were trying to take over their city with siege equipment," he continued. "Military annexation. We were the ones leaning on them, not the other way around. I know it's hundreds of miles away, and I wasn't there personally, but -- "
"That's ridiculous," Mel scoffed. "We're not a hostile country. We work, we live, we love our families, and we're not at war with anyone. There's nothing in the daily news about any wars, so why would anybody think that?"
"I'm just saying the world SEES us as this big, growing thing that's eating up everything in its path," Myron protested. "I'm wondering if we're being told the whole story. Mina, what do you know about it? You're on the outside; whereas most of these people never leave the city. How do you see us?"
Lina gave pause. She could either tell the truth, and risk drawing attention, or...
"I don't know. I'm just trying to make money," Lina lied. She took one last forkful of noodles, chewed quickly, and swallowed. "I think I'd better get moving. Time is money, and I've got to find SOME way to talk to the military and see if I can make any contracts. Hey, what about the smitheries on 32nd and 6E Street? I heard they produce firearms for military use -- "
"You don't want to go there," the merchant quickly warned.
"Huh? Why?"
"Smells bad," Mel added. "Industrial sector. Lots of smokestacks. I really wish they'd push harder for the pollution legislation; it wasn't so bad in the first few years, but it's getting nasty now."
Myron scratched his head, nervously. Which Lina immediately picked up on; this guy was NOT good at lying. "It smells terrible, yeah. But I just meant that those guys were on contracts for years. Nobody gets a NEW contract, and the shipments just get piped by ducts over to the palace after being filled, anyway.... it's a closed system. Everything relating to the government is a closed system. You'd be wasting your time, Mina."
"Okay, okay, I got it. I'll look elsewhere," Lina lied again. "Mel, I'll be back for breakfast, so you'd better replenish your stocks!"
Mel groaned, his age showing as he scribbled down a supply requisition order to replace all the food she'd just eaten, and rolled it into an empty metal tube drawn from his apron. He walked over to the nearest tube slot, stuffed it up, and with a hissing FWOOMPH, it was off to his supplier. "I should have never switched to all you can eat," Mel grumbled. "You're as bad as Lina Inverse!"
She decided to take it as a compliment. Of all the things she hadn't been like lately, Lina Inverse was one of them. And now, here she was, sneaking around in disguise and walking that bleeding edge of danger, far from home... it was frightening. Beyond frightening to one like her. But something like fear was not going to stop her, not anymore.
Honestly, she could understand where Mel was coming from... the comfort of an established life. Your needs taken care of, without a single cause to leave your home, to ever find out about the world outside your walls. For the last few years, Lina had LIVED that life; secluded and protected.
But the secluded and protected had no idea what was going on around them. They didn't know why she was in town, or what powers she brought with her... and knowing how her.. companion's adventures typically ended, in a very explosive way, she started to worry. Even if they were almost guaranteed evil would be vanquished and the world would be saved, the numbers were starting to tick in her head of who would have to be sacrificed to get to that wonderful happy ending... the gods typically demanded blood, and odds are, they'd be getting it soon.
Just a few days ago, Lina learned that a god hell-bent on the extermination of gods just like her was plotting to taking over the world and was nearly unstoppable.
Her reaction to the recent turns of events was thought out well in advance. She had a particular methodology to how she approached crisis situations, and it had never failed her before -- here, it was the ideal solution to the problem. It was exactly what the situation called for. So, with determination, with every fiber of her being, she proudly raised her fork high, plunged it into a pork chop and gnawed a large portion of it off.
"WHOOO, this is GOOD stuff!!" Lina Inverse declared, holding her succulent meat cut high, in appreciation. "Man, Sairaag may be loaded with whackos who want to kill me, but the cooking is STILL some of the best you'll ever find! Hey, you gonna eat that? Not hungry?"
Penny Gabriev looked up after a few moments, the questioning tone interrupting her train of thought. Her plate indeed was fairly full... and given she'd inherited at least some of her mother's ravenous appetite, that was cause for alarm.
"No... I'm not hungry," Penny replied, pushing the plate a few inches away -- right into Lina's waiting fork. "Sorry, I'm just..."
"I know, I know," Lina said, having perfected the master skill of talking while eating without grossing out your companions (much). "You're worried about Zoamel, and about your father. Hey, me too! I've traveled with both of them long enough to care about them and want to help them... but that's no reason to let a perfectly good steam pressure cooked Sairaag dinner go to waste! Hey, do you want to hit the steam heated onsen around the corner after dinner? They've got a piped in waterfall!"
"How do you do it, Lina?" Penny asked. "We've been waiting around several days here, while who knows what is happening to them... I've been on edge the entire time. And here you are, chowing down and cracking jokes and enjoying this like a vacation!"
"Yeah, so?" Lina asked, polishing off Penny's prime cut of pork. She left the rest, however; no need to deprive the young girl of her nutrition. "Your mother says we can't just go busting in and blowing stuff up, much to my annoyance, so we have to wait around. Why wait around in worry and despair when you can live high on the hog, so to speak, and exploit the city you're about to detonate?"
"I guess that makes sense, but... I just can't imagine my mother acting like that," Penny said. "She's too professional to act like that. And she is you, right? I mean, some of you. Sort of. If what Xelloss told you was right..."
"I've given it a lot of thought," Lina said. "It was the last piece of the puzzle, really. All this time I was running around thinking 'I'm Lina Inverse, I'm a human, I want my life back.' But it's not my life... it's hers. Once I've got that, the rest is easy. Let me put it this way -- in the middle of the enemy's stronghold, you see me here, eating and drinking and enjoying things, right?"
"Right..."
"It's the same thing," Lina said, leaning over to smile confidently at Penny. "I'm not the sort of person to dwell on the negatives. Lina Inverse's life belongs to your mother. Once we split off, I lost all right to it... now, I'm Lina Inverse, the goddess of destruction, greed and accidental salvation. I've decided to accept that, because, hey -- what other choice do I have? This is what I AM; I'm what she was, personified. This is what the world needs. I have to work with it as best I can, and right now, the best way to do that is to have dinner. What I am is what asks for that. So, even in the face of incredible danger, I am what I am... sometimes relaxing, sometimes fighting, always me. That's what Lina Inverse is."
"...I don't think I fully follow that, but I get the idea," Penny decided, after working it over a few times in her mind. "You know... it's funny. When we first started out this quest, I wanted to BE you. To become a legendary heroine, stomping bandits, the whole deal. It sounded so exciting and romantic and powerful..."
"Hey hey, you're gonna make my ego swell here."
"It's true!" Penny defended. "And for awhile, I was so blinded by how amazingly cool you were that I didn't really understand... I can't be you. We're different people, and each time I tried to be you, I messed it up. Once I stopped trying to emulate you, I think I started seeing things differently..."
"And now you're the best Penny you can be, like I'm the best Lina I can be," Lina said. "Wow, I'm just loaded up on warm and fuzzy feelings right now just thinking about that. Of course, it's a shame to lose a Lina- fangirl, but I can cope."
"What? No no... you don't understand," Penny said. "Once I decided to be me and let you be you... I believed in you even MORE. I could look at it from outside, or something, and REALLY appreciate what you are, not just your legend... I mean, look how far you've come in this quest! I don't think anybody else could have taken a missing persons search and ended up challenging a god for the fate of the world. You're everything your legend says you are, and I still believe in that legend just as much as I used to -- the difference is I'm willing to make my own legend now, instead of copying yours. I think you're going to win here. Beat the bad guy, save the princess and make off with the gold!"
"Except that we don't know how to beat the bad guy, there's no princess but two princes, and based on past experiences in Sairaag I don't think anybody's gonna want to pay us for destroying the city," Lina corrected. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Penny. Sure, I think we'll win the day too, but at any time we just try to COAST on that without making an effort we're all gonna be crispy critters. It's cheating to rely too hard on luck, and fate hates a cheater. Got it? Stay focused. Gourry and Zoamel are depending on us."
The very mention of their names put Penny back into her serious mood. "Right. I understand, Lina. I won't let it get to my head." She tugged her dinner plate back... no use wasting food, as she made up her mind to finish off what was left.
"Speaking of letting things get to your head, I'd LOVE to know where your mother is," Lina grumbled. "She's been acting like SHE runs this little adventuring party ever since we lost our menfolk. I swear, if she doesn't get back soon from yet ANOTHER 'fact finding session' I'm just gonna blow a hole in the Palace and go get things done -- "
"Lina, we took a vote on this, and I agree with mother," Penny reminded her, pointing with the Fork of Accusation. "If you want me to play this cool, you play it cool too, okay? I don't want to do ANYTHING to needlessly risk their lives. And try to argue less with mother! We're going to blow our cover if we make a scene."
Lina folded her arms, miffed. "It would've been a draw vote if we had Xelloss around. He's all in favor of stomping this place flat right away. Where does he get off going 'I leave things up to you' and taking off? He could be useful around here! We could send him in as a scout, use him for our all-important first assault wave, use him as a human shield, paint a big target on him and punt him into the fray to distract the army -- "
"Xelloss isn't in tip-top health, Lina. If he wants to sit it out, I say let him sit it out..." Penny said.. hefting the cloth-wrapped 'walking stick' she was carrying. "Besides, I have this. That and my faith in you are all I need."
"Cute," Lina said, obviously without meaning it. "Hurry up and finish your meal. Sitting around relaxing and livin' large is nice, but on second thought, I'm sick of being cooped up; let's go run some errands."
The master manipulator sat hunched over his chessboard. The pawns were in play, the knights maneuvered into position. Each piece, carefully sculpted and painted to represent a puppet in his play of fate and destiny... Lina, Lina, Penny, Zoamel, Gourry... Elizabeth, Zelgadis, Science... the great game of the gods was about to begin, as ancient as the dawn of time, as endless as the rolling sea --
An errant wing knocked his Queen over.
"Do you mind? I'm attempting to have a dramatic moment here," Xelloss said, quite perturbed. He picked up the chess piece and put it back. "You could have broken this. Do you know how hard it is to carve a 1/16th scale Lina? Her little stick legs break if you do it wrong. If you nicked her, I swear, no more dead rats for dinner."
Xelloss sat back on his makeshift seat of an overturned tree trunk. He had a wonderful view of Sairaag, from this vantage point... even the monolithic Palace, smack dab in the center. It was the perfect angle for what he had planned. Most importantly, nobody would bother him here, and he could relax and enjoy the fireworks to his heart's content; if only his former master would calm down.
The bird flapped around, deliberately getting all up in his area, to the point where Xelloss decided Enough Was Enough. His eyes actually opened.
"No, I will NOT be aiding them," Xelloss retorted to the latest round of squawking. "You don't understand. You NEVER understood anything, Zelas- Metallum. It was always me with the brilliant ideas, it was always me pulling the strings years in advance to achieve the effect we wanted in the later decades... while you got all the credit. But I don't mind. 'tis the life of an underling. But in return, I expect you to listen to me when I tell you, this is what must be done. We will stay RIGHT here, waiting for the real prize -- "
The bird whapped its wings in the air madly, knocking over a few pawns.
"Yes, you'll be restored to your former glory," Xelloss sighed. "I promised that. Please, have some faith! Aren't I the most loyal of your minions? Not to mention the only one still alive and walking and not sucked into the gaping maw of Sairaag's destiny? So I say we stay RIGHT here. Now make yourself comfortable. Or don't, for all I care. But leave me alone. I still have some time left to ponder the future of the Mazoku, and make the final preparations."
The aging Mazoku studied his board... studied the city. Carefully, he selected his Queen's Bishop, Lina Gabriev, and made the move.
Not that it actually prompted Gabriev into action in some weird magical mind control sort of way, it just made the whole exercise feel so much more entertaining to him. A good way to kill time, before the killing began.
Finding the steelworks was just as easy as Mel had stated; Lina Gabriev simply followed her nose.
Of course, she could have followed her eyes as well. Thick black smoke pumped out of the tall stacks in the industrial sector; the smell of molten metal was thick in the air, as the blacksmiths in this neck of the woods did a little more than just mint horseshoes. Street traffic also dropped to a nil, since nobody really came here on foot -- and nothing got shipped to or from here on carriage.
Briefly, Lina wondered where all the raw materials and/or finished products were coming from/going to, until a sound like a suit of armor rolling down a hill alerted her. Strung between buildings were massive round pipes, ductwork, funneling who knows what to and from... mostly to, specifically, the Imperial Palace.
An engineering marvel aside, Lina was pretty sure nobody here was going to talk to her, nor did she want to talk to anyone. Army guards had been posted at every street corner, and would cleanly spot her if she tried to do anything more than 'just pass through'. The cloak she'd picked out did a great job of concealing her features, as well as making her look like the most suspicious person in a ten mile radius.
Making a scene was not a good idea. So, Lina Gabriev chalked this lead up as a Dud, and turned about face, to get away from this area just as quietly as she had entered.
A plan that failed miserably when the building behind her exploded.
The concussion wave knocked her cleanly off her feet, and into a wall. Not being the spring chicken she once was, she staggered a bit, vision blurring; that warm and runny feeling down her forehead was probably blood. She could hear just fine, though, hear the gunshots and sword clatter and other telltale signs of a battle... and a fairly large one, to boot. Who would be battling out here, anyway? Workers of the world revolting against the bourgeoisie or something?
She didn't panic. Everything about her wanted to panic, to instinctively run for home, but she stopped listening to that little voice several days ago. She put Gourry firmly in mind, and made her decision to stand.. perfectly.. still, and let her senses recover before doing anything rash...
A plan that failed miserably when someone grabbed her. She kicked back, hard at crotch level, getting disoriented as she then turned to face her attacker a little too quick. Too amateurish, Lina, your skills aren't as sharp as they once were, she thought -- right as someone clubbed her over the head with the handle of a rifle, and that was the end of her fun investigative jaunt.
A nearby teletype printer sprang to life. Compressed air from one of the many ducts running into the palace translated into blocky, nasty looking letters, hammering out one after another on the paper tape. The smell of machine oil and bad printer's ink wafted up from the device as the news came in.
Zelgadis tore the tape off the printer. He was not surprised by the word from their forces, but that failed to comfort him. He folded up the tape, so as not to have the rough paper snag on anything, and marched a quarter mile down to have a little chat with his companion.
She was, however, too busy torturing Gourry to pay much attention.
He folded his arms, waiting patiently for Elizabeth to get done whatever nonsense she was up to. The machine she'd placed Gourry in was silly even for her design aesthetics; some odd mismash of power conduits from the core, wiretaps and spiky bits of metal. It served no constructive purpose whatsoever.
"This serves no constructive purpose whatsoever," he said, deciding the words needed public airing. He had to repeat them again, louder, to get her attention.
Elizabeth took off her insulated work gloves, letting the controls rest. "On the contrary," she stated, calm as can be for someone engaging in such activities. "This research will enable us to extract information more efficiently from our prisoners in the future. True, he knows nothing we need to know, but his willpower is remarkably high -- "
"I'm fully aware of Gourry's capabilities," Zelgadis bit off, more than slightly annoyed. "This will only serve to enrage both Linas further than they already are. We should be offering him in exchange for a peace treaty with them."
"The core has calculated a projection of Lina's fifty most likely rescue strategies, and has determined that they will all fail," Elizabeth spoke. "Her power as a god is strong, but the power from the core has reinforced our defenses sufficiently. She will pose no significant problem."
"Perhaps if you weren't so busy running the numbers and engaging in frivolous experiments, you would be able to pay more attention to affairs of state," Zelgadis accused, holding out the tape. "There was another successful bombing campaign in the steelworks. Weapon production is going to drop ten percent for the next week. Ever since you foolishly gave them a new leader, they have been -- "
"I did NOT give them a new leader."
"Your soft spot allowed him ample escape opportunity," Zelgadis quickly replied... and then allowed himself a frustrated sigh, a rare emotional signal. "Elizabeth, what is the matter with you? You've been distracted and unfocused. I'm going to go so far as to say you're not as sure of yourself as you have been, and don't bother disagreeing; it's the truth."
"I have no doubts," Elizabeth said, voice dropping a few degrees. "Everything is going according to plan. I have faith in our success, in your cure, in our ushering in of the new order. I will admit... I am disappointed in my brother, and what became of him. But I will get over that. What other 'affairs of state' did you want to bring to my attention?"
"There are reports of Lina Inverse and company already being here. They bypassed the checkpoints on the railways and roads -- "
"Yes, I know," Elizabeth said, with a smile. "Before you ask, I am doing nothing because they need to be demoralized. Let them think we know nothing. When they come, we will crush them, humiliate Lina Inverse, and possibly catch her once and for all. The same goes with the rebels; we will destroy them in one blow. What little damage they do to us is unimportant in the long run. The core systems have planned all of our moves well in advance, of course."
"Of course," Zelgadis said, with distaste.
"Are you doubting our technical edge, Zelgadis?" Elizabeth asked, curiously. "I've never seen you disagree so directly with me in previous efforts. Do you doubt the strategy programs of the core?"
This gave him pause.
"Of course not," he said, feeling it was obvious enough. "The core has proven invaluably useful. It's never let us down before... and I believe it will continue to aid me."
"Then do you doubt me, perhaps? Haven't we been lovers long enough to understand how we handle situations?"
The chimera smiled widely. "Of course not, Elizabeth. I trust you to the end of my life. Perhaps I am making too much of this. Sorry for bothering you."
Elizabeth Balderdash allowed a curt nod, and then immediately returned to her work. She pushed a lever, funneling more power into Gourry's (previously) unconscious body. Zelgadis watched on, tracing the glowing conduits from the machine, back to the wall... eventually, those connections would go back to the core.
Did he doubt the core? Of course not. Not when it held the key to his cure. His sister would indeed be proud of him, wherever she was. Soon, the research would be complete, and all the power he sought as a child would become untainted.
The Imperial Palace of Sairaag is powered by the Core. The Core is a big cylinder full of swirly glowing blue mist. This is all humans see, and the extent of their understanding. Partly this is out of ignorance of what the Core actually IS -- partly it's an inability for human eyes to see the true contents of the Core. It wasn't designed for the convenience of mortals... or for immortals.
Zoamel Gustav, at that moment, was feeling very inconvenienced. He had inconveniently lost all track of the passing of time, and the passing of space. Split seconds had passed since he felt the irresistable pull of the 'Eradicator' disk. Years had passed since he felt the pull. He felt the pull in the future, the past, the present. He felt himself in the disk, in the Core, walking around in his memory, any number of places...
Overall, he felt tired. And he was getting weaker just being here. Wherever here was.
It was impossible to keep a coherent train of thought. Every time he tried to think about why it was impossible, he lost track of what he was thinking of. Any number of potions and herbs can paralyze the human body, but to paralyze the essence of a god is another matter --
Psst.
The sound (if you could call the virtual symbol that was represented by a sound, since sound did not carry in the Core and there was nothing physical to emit the sound) shook him out of his trance.
The trick is to focus on the others, not on the whole. Look for the parts and don't let it overwhelm you. Come on, hurry up. If you go nodding off for a few hours you might miss all the fun.
Zoamel Gustav pulled hard, like a man hauling the moon down from the sky with a bullrope, but eventually got enough of his wits about him to stay cognizant of his surroundings. It was an etherial blue mass... a jelly so thick he could not move. But he could see others... other entities, recognizable by essence pattern if not by visuals. He could feel their shapes.
"Focus on me," a young-feeling shape said. "Keep focused. There's only a few of us who are strong enough to resist the draining and stay awake. As much as it sickens me to say it... I need your help."
He had a feeling, but the begrudging admittance confirmed it.
"Ace Champion," Zoamel addressed, his thoughts linking to the other god's thoughts. "So, you were captured by your own allies. I am not surprised, as you -- "
"Skip the taunting," Ace said. "Normally I'd approve, but we have to work fast. Things are happening outside. Big things. Here, feel... feel these guys, I'll link you to them through me. Keep FOCUSED."
A half dozen weakened gods filtered their way into Zoamel's perception. Some of the older ones were too fuzzy, too gone from prolonged power draining, but all of them were clinging to each other like a life raft in a shipwreck. There were others here... many, many others, but they drifted in sleep, unable to wake and realize they were prisoners...
"Yo, Zo," a gruff voice echoed. "See the bleepers got you too, huh?"
"Drake?"
"Yeah. And those others, they's some Mazoku that got bagged a long time ago. Couple random Bard-gods, a few weather deities, Lord Dynero... just the ones that could keep their heads... thought I was dead, 'till Ace, that little bleephead, explained things. Like him or not, he's got things figured out."
"I knew they'd make a move on me," Ace explained. "So I made sure I had an ace up the hole, so to speak... there's an innate flaw in the Eradicators that keeps ME conscious if I'm ever trapped. From there, I rallied the troops, and started resisting. I hate cooperating... but I do not lose. Ever. And I won't now. Do you feel that?"
Ace redirected Zoamel's attention to a small, almost unnoticeable conduit in the Core. Unlike the others, which sucked power off to various tunnels and cables, this one powered a small machine built right into the core.
"That's where Science issues orders," Ace said. "We've coopted it. It just takes a SLIGHT push to change the pulses, and it ends up displaying instructions it never meant to. We don't change the mind of a god, we just change the words his voice speaks in the physical world. A nice hack if I do say so myself..."
"Science hasn't detected you?" Zoamel asked, suspicious.
"Not yet. We've been careful. But if we're lucky, we won't have to worry. We've prompted it to instruct Sairaag to ignore the rebels, to torture Gourry Gabriev, that sort of thing... it may be ruthless, but this will make it easier for the rebels to attack, and to make it more dramatically correct for Lina to come and blow this place up. Once the hold Science has on us is broken, we all go free. And don't you get on my case about cooperating with my rivals; this is a one time deal only. Understand? Now, will you help us? The more we have, the easier this will be."
It was a dangerous plan, like all of Ace's gambits... a large payoff, but an incredible amount of risk. Ace always pulled through on such chances, simply because of what he was, but in this situation, the rules would be different. He didn't believe they could keep up the ruse long... and the consequences could be harsh, if Science noticed and tried to suppress and destroy them. It only needed their energy, not their SELVES... only a fool would support such a plan without thinking it through...
A brief flicker of memory, of Penny's face, was all Zoamel needed. Because with that memory, he felt a link -- a link outside of the Core, to strong belief, to faith and love and hope. To a weapon made in the name of love and vengeance, made in his name, to free him. To complete his quest in the name of his believers.
If she believed in him that strongly, he would believe in her, and support her in any way he could.
"Very well."
For no reason she could grasp, Penny felt very, very good for a moment. Like a warm hug, or a confident hand on her shoulder, a pep talk she couldn't hear...
Lina waving around a gun big enough to put a hole in the continent prompted her to dive for cover and completely lose track of that feeling.
"Now, THIS is what I'm talking about!" Lina said, hefting the bizarre metal contraption up to one shoulder, peering through the stained glass sighting scope. "One of these, you could blast a ship out of the water, or torch a castle from a mile away, and they'd never sense it coming with magical defenses! WOOHOO! How much money do we have left?"
"...five gold, six silver, a copper, a farthing, and nine pieces of eight and one of these weird red gold coins from some foreign country," Penny said, thumbing through her purse. "I was never very good at economics. I don't think I inherited it from mother..."
"So about 8.158 gold," Lina calculated with practiced ease. "And the price tag on this iiiis.... 8,158 gold. Hmm. We're off by a few decimal places. Rats."
"Can't you just go wave wave poof and.... beat The Bandits?" Penny asked, swapping in the Safe To Use In Public words, although the shopkeeper had ducked under his counter for safety when Lina began her hands-on window shopping a few minutes ago. (He also had his fingers in his ears, just waiting for Lina to accidentally blow up the shop while she played with the inventory.)
"We're not talking about ordinary bandits here," Lina explained. "I've got to approach this like I'd approach any fight. When I feel totally outmatched, I go look for bigger, badder spells. And since there's a decided lack of those sorts of things around here, I've got to make do with big metal phallic things that blow stuff up real good. Odds are The Bandit Chief is stronger at this sort of thing than I am... what with all of The Hostages it has. I want an equalizer."
"But how can you kill a... a... 'Eternal Bandit'?" Penny asked, forgetting what the code word for 'God' was. "I mean, I thought it was impossible..."
Lina flipped the barrel of her cannon open, examining the ammo chambers. She could probably fit her whole arm into those things. "TECHNICALLY, it's impossible. Even the Hostages weren't killed. I haven't worked out those details yet, okay? First thing we do is rescue the others, then we'll worry about how to stop this whole thing. I'm figuring, though, if we can show this city just how technology can fail them, they'll lose faith in it... and what better way than to demolish the one thing that's been a constant in this city?"
"The Palace?"
"You catch on quick," Lina said. She spun the barrel, and put the cannon back on the wall -- too small, too small. "That, plus freeing the Hostages and whacking the ringleaders, may be enough to take this 'Bandit Chief' down a few pegs... at the very least, it'd be a good start. I'm gonna win here. I know it. I just don't know HOW yet. Until I do, it can't hurt to arm ourselves to the nines. Ooooh! What does THIS one do?"
Penny took a few steps back, as Lina fetched a nasty looking six barreled explosive shell launching shoulder mounted mortar cannon. "Lina, watch it! You don't even know how to USE that stuff!"
"What's so hard?" Lina asked, hefting the weapon. "You just point it and pull the little switch and stuff goes -- "
"BOOM," the building across the street said.
"Yeah, boom," Lina agreed. "Although it might not be useful against the deity that spawned this stuff, we can at least do entertainingly large amounts of property damage, right, Penny?"
"...speaking of which," Penny said, a big bead of sweat comedically sliding down the back of her head, as she pointed out a window, "I think this just turned into a low rent district. Take a look."
Lina turned to see, and sure enough, one of the many weapon shops in this district was indeed on fire, with most of its inventory going BOOM POP POW BANG up into the air like so much combustible, volatile chemical based ammunition in a firearms shop on fire. The front window of their shop had been blown in a few feet by the concussion, and the shopkeep was probably running for the hills by this point... but most importantly, soldiers were flooding the street, swiftly reacting to the disturbance...
With a swift yank to the front of her dress which threatened to make it highly inappropriate to wear in public, Lina pulled Penny to the ground, before one of the soldiers could see inside the blown glass window of their shop.
"Lay.. low.." Lina whispered. "If they spot us, they might notice who we really are. Keep cool. ...Penny, get your pointy blade stick thing DOWN!"
"What?" Penny asked, before realizing she was still holding up wrapped weapon, like a big 'ol waving flag for the soldiers to take note of.
"You there, in the shop!" a mechanically amplified voice boomed, as soldier's boots rattled, moving into position. "Stand and put your hands behind your head! You are wanted to help the Empire of Sairaag in information retrieval regarding this incident!"
"...sorry," Penny mumbled.
"You're still pretty new at this, aren't you?" Lina rhetorically asked. "Look, it's fine. I've got a plan. Or at least an impulsive idea. Stay DOWN. Got it? Good..."
And Lina stood up, facing the soldiers. Her cloak hood had been knocked back, and it was pretty obvious to anybody who had seen her wanted poster exactly who she was.
"BEHOLD! I'm Lina Inverse!" she declared. "Surrender now and I might only set you on fire instead of pasting you across the landscape!!"
The reaction was swift -- one thick hail of bullets. Lina focused, and let them pass right THROUGH her, shredding most of the display cases on the back wall. Whoever trained these guys didn't teach them real well if they were trying lead slugs on her. She did her part and laughed scary-like in the face of the supposed onslaught... it had the right affect, a few of them cringing in shock.
But a few of them also had the RIGHT idea, and the impromptu Eradicators they were armed with (just in case they DID bump into the notorious Lina Inverse At Large) were out and incoming. She flexed her fingers, hoping the new trinkets Penny had made were going to work...
Five discs flew straight and true, and then flew wobbly and false the moment they got close to Lina. They rebounded off the shop walls and came to an ineffectual rest, having never found their intended target.
With slow and deliberate precision, Lina Inverse cracked her knuckles, putting on the grin she usually reserves for a helpless seven course meal trapped in her path. Knees knocked. Minimum waged army grunts began to figure out that they didn't really have anything left they could use against a raging god...
"So, boys," she oozed with satisfaction, "Now that it's been established that you can't hurt me, who wants to play first?"
Moments later, Lina was helping Penny to her feet, and wandering the silent and empty city street. She appraised the damage to both shops, and eyed a few choice bits of hardware, the next impulsive plan coming easily to mind.
Penny was totally speechless, as Lina led her around. "That was... that was..."
"A complete loss of our cover story? Brash and dangerous? Juvenile?"
"INCREDIBLY COOL!"
"Actually, it was, wasn't it?" Lina agreed, puffing up her unimpressive chest a bit.
"You've got amazing style! Every time I tried to do stuff like that, though, I'd just fall on my face or run out of good taunts or they'd attack me before I could finish my introduction..."
"Yeah, well, it helps to be bulletproof," Lina pointed out. "Don't forget that important factor. Only do crazy stunts like that if you can back it up. Now, they're gonna be back with reinforcements, and I don't feel like a running battle. I'm sick of retail pricing; let's just do some impromptu looting and get the hell out of here. Less chance of them finding our hideout that way. You check the bombed shop, I'll take the one we were just in -- "
(Hold on a second, the Inner Lina(tm) asked. Something just occurred to me. There are TWO shops here, right?
Right, that means twice as much stuff to stea -- liberate. To liberate for the cause of love and justice!
Okay, good, but one of them blew up, and the army ran to see what was going on. They blamed you for it, sure, but who REALLY caused that explosion?)
Lina turned her full attention to the smoke-filled shopfront, and saw motion. Simple shifts in the flow of the smoke, but enough to indicate something... or someone... or more likely than not many ARMED someones moving around.
She pushed past Penny, to shield her, and then whisked her hand through the air -- the gesture amplified by sheer will to reach gale-speed winds. The smoke cleared in an instant, revealing many surprised looking looters wearing gas masks in the process of hauling away the shop's stocks. They froze a second, like someone who had just been caught naked with the neighbor's cow, before quickly getting their weapons ready.
Lina charged a fireball the size of both Naga's breasts put together, and was about to hurl it before a voice sliced through the air like an incredibly sharp thing.
"Guys! Cut it out! Everybody lower your weapons!" the leader shouted, waving his arms quickly to signal his troops. He peered across the street at Lina, from behind the mask. "It's Lina Inverse!"
"Wow, this whole 'scaring the opponent into surrender with your terrible reputation' thing is working wonders today," Lina said out loud. "Who're you guys?"
"We're not your enemy," the leader replied, stepping carefully over the rubble. "Gabriev told us you were in town, but when we checked your inn, you weren't -- "
Penny stepped out from behind Lina. "Mother? What about her?"
"She -- "
It's hard to stealthily approach a scene with a thousand men in full armor. Not only is it an obvious thing from any distance, but the sheer sound of all those boots clanking along just cries out 'Hi!' in a malicious sort of way. Lina's ear twitched as she heard the first clattering tones of that familiar sound.
"We can save questions for later, Penny," Lina said. "Look, mister, this is real exciting, but it's time for us to go. Now, give me one good reason why that exit should be alongside YOU guys and not just away on our own."
The leader pulled off his mask, revealing a (mostly) clean face behind the sooty hair and clothes.
"Because if you've seen ANY of the wanted posters in this town," Roy Balderdash explained, "Then you know I'm just as much of an enemy of the state as you are. Screw the past grudges, there are more important things at stake here. If you come with us, maybe we'll have a chance at stopping my crackpot sister once and for all."
Most buildings in the condensed industrial and commercial sectors of Sairaag have one entrance. The entrance also serves as the exit. There are no other ways into the building; windows abound, certainly, but they're meant for looking at the shiny happy sun and getting air into the room and lighting up things.
When the Sairaag army saw the rebels dive back into the ruined store, they assembled in a cluster in front of the building, rifle barrels bristling like a next porcupine quills, issued a few demands, and simply waited for the rebels to come out. They were cornered in the building, after all, and it was like shooting fish in a barrel.
But apparently, the barrel had a hidden bottom, because they were gone. The army moved on to hassle and interrogate a few passers-by just so they could justify their paychecks, then went home, never catching on to how those escape artists kept doing this time and time again...
Lina wished she hadn't found out. There was nothing more unpleasant or uncomfortable than being stuffed into a large tube and shot at hypervelocity through the Sairaag ductwork system. This was meant for non-fragile shipping cargo, not very fragile and delicate beauties such as herself... but it was the only solid escape route, and apparently a time proven one, from the limited information Roy gave her before departure.
Ten intensely bruising minutes later, and her capsule finally shuddered to a halt in parts unknown. The latch popped, and she emerged...
It wasn't a very impressive underground resistance hideout. No dilapidated walls, barely-lit rooms full of hushed men discussing war plans while pushing little die cast figures around on a map, no swarthy dogs smoking and telling dirty jokes while cleaning weapons... a few-dozen late teen and twentysomething boys sitting around chatting didn't count, no matter how much green they wore.
Given the young age of the resistance force, the rebels present almost made it look like a school dormitory, except for the decided lack of underwear and takeout food boxes decorating the scenery. It had to be the tidiest little rebellion Lina had ever seen. Not that she had seen many rebellions in her time, of course.
Roy had gone ahead, and was already 'unpacked' and lounging in a wooden chair. He wasn't pushing die cast figures around a map, but he was frowning at a blueprint, which instantly made him the most authoritative figure in the room.
Penny's shipping container slid into the duct-dock next, shuddering to a halt. She emerged dazed, but in otherwise good shape -- until her mother started patting her down to check for injuries.
"You okay?" Lina Gabriev asked. "They didn't hurt you, right?"
"Uh... I'm fine, mom," Penny said, confusion rising like the almighty tides of the ocean. "Err. Hi. How are you?"
"Fine, except for a headache," the elder Lina said. "One of these kids knocked me out before dragged me here. Fine method of invitation!"
"You were a civvy in the middle of a battle," Roy gruffly replied. "We didn't know it was YOU until after the fact. The Balderdash Resistance Front isn't exactly a crack team of professional soldiers -- be glad you didn't get accidentally shot."
"Be glad I didn't accidentally Dragon Slave you," Lina Gabriev growled lightly. "No good bandit trash..."
"Ah... excuse me, can someone explain why we're here?" Penny asked. "I've gotten a little lost, things are going so fast..."
Lina Inverse surveyed the scene. "Isn't it obvious, Penny? These guys want us to help them stop the Sairaag Empire. That's how this sort of thing happens, I mean; wandering hero gets sucked into political conflict and ends up saving the day with the help of plucky locals. But I was planning on taking care of the situation myself, and given that most of these guys wouldn't pass the 'you must be this tall to ride this ride' limit, I think I should stick to my original plan."
"Zeifelian true to the core," Roy said, with a slight smirk. He rolled up the blueprint for now. "Always with the quippy speeches and remarks. We may have had our differences, but I trust a homelander more than anybody else at this point. They're good boys, but you I know will be a stand-up person when it comes down to -- "
"Excuse me; back up a bit, Roy. Haven't you been trying to kill us lately? Not to mention jumping me and Penny back when you were a two bit bandit thug."
"Water under a burned bridge," Roy quickly said. "I've realized just what a yutz I am. You can consider this my personal twelve step program towards being less of a yutz... my campaign to do something that's actually going to make a difference, namely, get my sister's plans derailed. And yes, you're right, we do want you to help... we know what you are; you're a god. It takes a god to fight a god. We've been able to disturb the normal flow of business, try to slow the growth in Sairaag..."
"Bombings and guerrilla tactics, I know," Lina said. "Basic stuff."
"Trying to sway popular faith to a new tune," Roy said. "Elizabeth had way too much of this explained to me. I know about killing gods. You knock out the support, the rest comes tumbling down. If we can ingrain the idea that machinery fails when you least want it to, through careful sabotage, we'll have a good start. But it's not enough. That's where you come in."
"Humor me. What do you want, exactly?"
"We want, exactly, for you to break the one machine everybody in this town has utter and unswerving faith in," Roy said, getting to his feet. "The Imperial Palace. It's the heart of the city, and without it, nothing would work. The shipping ducts, the broadcast facilities, power and water services... it would be a disaster. But it would also spell the end of the chokehold they have on us, if enough people lost their faith."
Lina Inverse turned to her counterpart, with a big grin. "See? See? Didn't I tell you we should just show up and immediately kick some ass instead of sitting around all day planning? I was right! OKAY! Let's go blow stuff up!!"
"You're forgetting something," Gabriev said dryly. "Two things that go boom if that building goes boom."
"...oh, right," Inverse said. "Ah, Roy? We'll do your dirty work, but we gotta get Gourry Gabriev and Zoamel Gustav out of the building first. Think you can manage that? I'll wait here while you're busy. You got any food around -- "
"Impossible," Roy said, spreading out his blueprint again. "After they got ME out, Zelgadis ordered more security lockdowns. They don't know we use the ductwork to get around, but there's so many armed guards in the place now that we'd get no more than six steps inside before being killed. That's also why we can't just torch the place ourselves."
"Aren't you forgetting? I'm a god," Lina said. "I don't die. It's one of the signing bonuses."
"It won't do you any good," Roy said. "The Eradicators -- "
"Penny cooked up a nice countermeasure to them."
Roy eyed Lina oddly, reluctant to believe that. "Okay... fine. Assuming you're right, it still won't do you any good. The force the god in there puts out is overwhelming to Demiurges. Your powers weaken, and you lose touch with your followers who think you're the cat's meow and can walk on water and be totally immune to bullets. Maybe you won't DIE, but they'll capture you easily enough if you're not careful."
"Sheesh, look at Mr. Negativity!" Lina complained. "You seem to know a hell of a lot about this for someone who I knew as a simple bandit. On WHOSE authority exactly do you know that I'd be walking into that kind of hostile environment?"
"On the authority of Sylpheel," Roy said quietly, sitting back. "'cause she tried it the day we heard about Gourry's capture, and we almost lost her in the process."
"..." was Lina's witty quip retort comeback catchphrase snappy reply.
Lina Gabriev stepped in to take up the helm of conversation. "That's impossible," she said. "Sylpheel is here?"
"Yeah, in the other room," Roy said, plain as can be.
"So you went and dug up her corpse, is that it? Inverse, quit looking confused. Sylpheel's been dead for over three years now. Official news that I heard coming out of Sairaag was that she came down with an incurable disease, but I'd hazard she just disagreed with Elizabeth's tactics."
"You'd hazard right," Roy agreed. "But she's in the next room, if you want to talk to her, either way. And yes, she'll talk back. She's like Lina is, now. Ever since I found out they exist, I swear, I can't swing a dead cat nowadays without hitting a -- "
Lina Inverse looked up, promptly. "Of course I want to talk to her! If she's been in the palace and knows this much... definitely! Take me to her! Gabriev, Penny, you two wait here. I've got immortal matters to discuss."
"ExCUSE me, but when did you get to be leader of this group?" Lina Gabriev asked. "You need to learn to respect your elders, young lady. I don't think we should be rushing into all this -- we barely know these people, and they're claiming they have -- "
"Yeah yeah, we're being impulsive and taking risks, I've heard it before," the young god yadda-yadda'd. "C'mon, Roy."
Mrs. Gabriev stood indignant, as the two made an open and shut door out of the matter, leaving her with the decidedly non-rag-tag rebels, and her puzzled daughter. The fuming frustration fumed away before she waved the fumes away, and became determined... to do something else than fume about it.
"I need fresh air," Lina Gabriev announce. "There's a rooftop balcony upstairs, if I recall. Come along, Penny."
"What? Uh, okay. Sure. Um, mom..."
"Yeah?"
"I don't think you're giving her enough credit," Penny said quietly, unsure of second guessing her mother. "She may act a bit crazy sometimes, but she knows what she's doing, right?"
"Oh, I know her. I WAS her. And where'd it get me?"
"It got you through a few battles with Mazoku Lords and a lot of adventures," Penny supplied automatically. "And it got you a family, in the long run, right?"
Lina froze. Not long enough to look like she hadn't lost her cool; but just long enough to have the following chain of thoughts -- -
Penny didn't know about what Xelloss did to her; she didn't know the only reason Penny existed was because Xelloss forced her to 'settle down'. But if she hadn't been the free, almost random spirit she once was, would she have been enough of a threat to merit that action? Would her future have ended up the same?
She'd always assumed her past was a childhood she had tossed aside in favor of more realistic goals. She didn't know it was a stepping block that lead her straight into that second phase, that one triggered the other. Chaos theory in action... without being the crazy type Lina Inverse now was, would her family ever have existed? It got her a family, in the long run, right?
They'd had problems in the past. Relationship issues, family fights. But now she had a chance to make that all better. If asked previously, she'd say her only regret was being a spoiled brat in her past. Now she knew a different regret; that she hadn't really been mature at all, and frittered away this chance at a different life in her apathy. That changed now. That had changed the moment she knew the truth.
-- so, when she unfroze, she turned a smile on her daughter.
"I guess it did," she agreed. "You're right. Okay... fine. I'll give your new friend some leeway. But the stakes are high here, Penny, not just for her but for all of us. One mistake..."
"She won't make a mistake," Penny said, firmly. "I have faith in her."
This room looked just like the previous one -- tidy, with fresh paint on the walls and not a hint of the seedy underbelly of a desperate resistance force, blah blah blah. But simultaneously existing on that level... it was also holy.
Maybe it was just the way the light came in through the windows, perfect beams slanting to illuminate the room. The few candles kept around for nighttime visits, drippy and currently unlit, as well as the various chairs arranged in rows. This was a shrine, a small church... and at the 'altar' stood a single figure.
A figure in stone.
Lina cocked her head, examining the statue. It had been uprooted from some public structure, obviously; broken, jagged stone still formed its base. A makeshift idol to worship, a flawlessly smooth marble representation of a woman Lina hadn't seen in years.
Sylpheel stood, not in the dignified and regal stance of royalty, or even as an authority in white magic, but as a compassionate human... arms wide to whoever would approach her, eyes soft and expression simple. Whoever carved it might have intended it as a family decoration, but it had to have struck a nerve -- Lina could FEEL the faith from the young soldiers outside. That was what had drawn them together, to resist the new order. Sylpheel had officially become a martyr.
(Not in the sense you believe,) her voice echoed.
"What...?" Lina said, pushed out of her study of the statue by the sound.
Roy scratched behind his ear, not reacting. "She doesn't talk to me. I'm not one of her believers; I just do the directing, they do the believing. Before they busted me out of jail, they didn't have much organization... this Sylpheel person may be a good leader, but she's not a military commander."
"She never was a violent person," Lina said quietly, a bit detached.
"I'll leave you two alone to rap the light fantastic or whatever," Roy decided, adjusting his belt. "We've got a lot of planning to do if you seriously want to invade that place before torching it. I'll be going over the blueprints in the main room if needed."
Lina didn't pay attention to his leave. She was too busy feeling this new force, trying to identify it. Something was odd. It felt so old...
(Older than you imagine,) Sylpheel said. (I have been protecting this city since the first humans took shelter in my land. I have had many forms, constantly shifting and adjusting with the times. I am not the woman you knew named Sylpheel... this is simply the shape that they have believed me in.)
"You don't feel like her," Lina responded, looking the statue eye to eye, as equals. "But Roy said you tried to invade the Palace when you found out about Gourry..."
(Part of my shape is my love for Gourry Gabriev,) Sylpheel explained. (...I feel a great deal of sorrow over these events. I acted foolishly. Now, I cannot even manifest as a moving figure. I'm too weak. The Demiurge of Science punished me for my transgression. He has let me live, for now, since I seem to pose no major threat... for whatever reason, they have not taken strong action against my followers. Yet.)
"Stupid move on their part," Lina said, with a little smile. "I've decided I'm going to help you. But first, I've got to invade that place and bust out Gourry, and Penny's boyfriend -- "
(You mustn't,) Sylpheel warned. (Science is too strong. It has become... unnatural. An abomination.)
"Yeah, a real bad mofo, I know. Gods fight all the time, right?"
(Not like this. Not like this,) Sylpheel warned, genuine fear in the sound of her voice. (You don't understand. Lina... you are a young god. I can feel it in you. A powerful god, but inexperienced. I have existed since before the demon wars, and have survived and engaged in many jihads... holy wars. We struggle daily for our believers, and they struggle for our glory. We clash. That is the way of things.)
"Right, right. I learned a lot about that stuff off Drake and Ace."
(But this is not a normal holy war, Lina. Science... has cheated. He is co-opting his enemies, turning their power into its strength,) Sylpheel explained. (All Demiurges, at one level or another, seek to be the strongest god in the world, the most powerful, the most popular. But no matter how much they wish to humiliate or crush their rivals, none to date have... have annihilated them. Lina, if one god devours all others, what happens to the world?)
"I'd guess... that the whole world would only have one god," Lina theorized. "If they could really gobble up all the Demiurges, and the huge Demiurges like Ceipheed and Shaburanigdo, there'd be nothing left. Except maybe atheism."
(Atheism is actually a very nice person. I used to play games with him from time to time. A little nihilistic, since he doesn't believe he exists, but he has very strong followers.)
"Really? Go figure."
(What Science seeks is not competition. It is not jihad. It is... total control over the belief of man. Its plan is simple, it wishes to be 'the only game in town', a complete theological monopoly. Once it has that... there will be no chance for rivals to pull it down. The balance of the gods leads to no one god dominating for very long. The people always have a CHOICE of what they believe in. But a future with no choice...)
"Bleak as hell," Lina said, grimly. "Humans might end up little more than mindless drones... since there's nothing else to believe in?"
(Yes. At the core... this is not an issue of science versus magic, or tradition versus the present, or something as trivial as that. Any god could have orchestrated this... violation, Science simply was the first to find a way to cheat. This is not just a fight for the safety of you and your friends, Lina. It is a fight to stop a thing that must not be. Something against the laws of nature and the chaos that is order that is the Lord of Nightmares... something that... something unholy...)
"Sylpheel?"
(Yes?)
"You're babbling."
If it was possible, the statue would have blushed.
(I am sorry. I have grown weak, and I barely realize what I am saying sometimes...)
"Hey, hey, everybody has an off day," Lina laughed. "It's okay. You can relax now. Lina Inverse is on the task. You know what I am, and what I do. I'll take care of things, and then you can get back to work helping your people recover from what Science did to them."
(Do not take this lightly, Lina Inverse. I have seen into your future.)
"....hey, whoa," Lina warned, backing up. "Don't jinx it. I don't want to know my future."
(I also have seen that I will tell you, regardless of your protest. I am sorry. You will win the day -- that is obvious. It is what you are. But to do it, a great sacrifice must be done in your name. One to make even a god weep...)
"I don't want to know!" Lina demanded. "Okay? I act in the NOW. I deal with what's in front of me, I handle the situation, I get the job done. I don't think too hard on it. If I think too hard, I could doubt myself, and if I doubt myself -- "
(You fail.)
"Exactly."
(I understand. Pardon my acts. Please... I must rest. I have said too much, I fear.)
"It's fine, it's fine," Lina soothed. She turned to leave, shaking off her doubts, focusing. "Just leave this to me."
(...and Lina?)
"Yeah?"
(Please tell Gourry-sama how proud I am of him.)
The small stairwell up to the roof wasn't as well kept as the rest of the building. Lina had to push at the door to get it unstuck, as someone had slapped a fresh layer of paint over it, which made the door a size too big for its frame. But once there, she was relieved to see the light of day, fresh air... but not to see other people. She was hoping for a quiet moment to think and chat with her daughter.
Someone had gone and built some giant machine on the rooftop. Most of it was covered in a tarp, to prevent prying eyes elsewhere in the city from seeing it, but three people were busy working with it, adjusting controls, tightening screws and so on and so forth...
She paused, something not quite clicking. Or rather, clicking with absolute familiarity. The same thing happened to Penny.
"You again?" Lina Gabriev addressed to Myron, the merchant she had met earlier.
"You AGAIN?" Penny blurted out, on seeing Lord Noisemaker.
"Err, hello," Myron greeted, nervously. "Ah... sorry I hit you back at our raid on the steelworks, but I DID warn you not to go there -- "
"Penny Gabriev?" Lord Noisemaker spoke, in surprise. "How is it you and your companions keep meeting up with me?"
"WAIT! Wait," Lina Gabriev shouted, waving her hands. "I've had far too many confusing things happen to me today to chalk up another one to a massive surprise run-in. Penny, this is Myron, someone I met earlier who apparently was working with the rebels. As for the others, I demand a capsule summary immediately."
"Uh... uh...." Penny babbled, getting her bearings. "Well, that's Lord Noisemaker the alchemist and his Apprentice -- "
"I'm a Journeyman now, actually," the Journeyman said with pride.
" -- and Lina bumped into them a long time ago when I got my Table-chan and apparently they were around in Darata too working on traps and we met them again in Sailoon where they were trying to find a way to stop the Sairaag army and I helped investigate a suspicious bombing and they used the evidence to convince the people Sairaag was cheating and I don't think we've seen them since but I could be mistaken and I think he said he's some member of a group that blends magic and technology but then again I could be mistaken there as well and hey, it's good to see you guys again, what's under the tarp?"
"That didn't exactly help ease my confusion, but I get the idea," Lina Gabriev decided. "Now. What are you all doing HERE? Not you, Myron, I've figured that much out already."
"Ah... miss Gabriev, I presume?" Lord Noisemaker said, still working at orienting himself to the discussion.
"That's MISSUS!"
"Yes, yes. Well... it's quite simple, really," he explained. "After Penny's invaluable assistance which we, ah, took the lion's share of credit for in order to obtain a governmental grant, word of our singlehandedly staving off the Sairaag army got back to the rebel movement here... ah. You're not going to attack us, are you, young Penny?"
"Oh, no, you can keep the glory on that one," Penny said with a smile. "But if I were you, I wouldn't tell Lina Inverse. She might get mad."
Lord Noisemaker paled briefly, considering what a mad Lina Inverse would be capable of. "Yes, well... we won't be requiring your assistance this time, regardless. Sir Balderdash has his doubts, but I believe that superior planning and development of our weapon will rule the day! Things are very much in hand, and our plan for destroying yonder Imperial Palace goes according to schedule."
Lina looked across the city of Sairaag. The headquarters of the rebels were indeed embedded in the suburbs of the city (if any part of the city could be considered 'suburban', given the thick technololgical landscape). The Palace was visible in the distance... with the covered machine 'pointed' right at it.
"You can't blow it up yet, they have hostages," she pointed out, with a sharp tone of 'And if you disagree with me, you will taste my Fist of Death'.
"...ah... as you say," Lord Noisemaker said. "But when the time DOES come, we will be ready."
"So what is this bloody thing, anyway?" Lina asked, walking over and giving the hunk of machinery a nice kick.
"Aaah!" the Journeyman shouted, pulling at his hair. "Careful! We just spent all day tuning the thing! If the Dragon Slave Amplification Cannon doesn't fire right on the first try, we won't GET a second shot!"
Lina's ears perked up. The very words sent memories shooting across her forebrain, as she turned to face the young boy.
"'Dragon Slave Amplification Cannon'?" she pointedly asked, in such a way that needed no further instructions. Information was demanded.
"Um, um, um..." the Journeyman stammered, for even if he had progressed beyond Apprenticehood, something about Lina invoked an Angry Mother response. "It... takes an ordinary Dragon Slave, and not only focuses the energy into a controlled blast capable of targeting the Palace alone, but it multiplies the strength by a factor of four."
Lord Noisemaker pulled out his be-robe'd chest in swelling joy. "Simply superior thinking in practice, my good woman! A union of the technological and the thaumatological. These Sairaag simpletons would never understand the perfection of design and fuction -- "
"So who's casting the Dragon Slave?" Lina asked. "And if you call me 'my good woman' one more time, I'll... I... well, you'll damn well wish you hadn't, that's for sure."
Myron the Somewhat Unintimidating Rebel Warrior cleared his throat in a penitent manner. "Erm, excuse me, Mrs. Gabriev... I've volunteered for the duty. I've been practicing magic in secret for a few years now, and I started studying the spell last month so we could -- excuse me, what are you doing?"
Lina stood on her tip toes, studying Myron through a complicated looking scrying lens. She took an attachment out of a pocket in her robe, and latched it on -- it glowed briefly, lighting up two dots, then chimed.
"You're kidding yourself if you think you've got the magical power to do any real damage," she said. "You barely rate at a two on Harnum's Scale. Assuming you can even CAST the spell, a Dragon Slave from YOU through that thing would barely scratch the Palace. I've done my research. It's made of magic-resistant materials, and it'll take a phenomenal amount of power to cut the armor."
"Ah... I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about that," he pointed out. "Magic is hard to come by here, and since this is the best we have available for the -- "
Lina turned the lens around, facing her. Fifteen dots lit up immediately, glowing brightly enough to hurt Myron's eyes, before the chime sounded.
"You guys," she decided, "Are VERY lucky that I happen to be here. Never send a man to do an Lina's job."
A war council was promptly called.
Lina Inverse was a plan by the seat of your pants, fly off the handle and burn the bridge when you come to it sort of girl... but she DID understand the value of actually sitting down and thinking something out. Sometimes. She'd done this before they all went to face Shaburanigdo. She'd done it numerous times in the past to encourage her teammates, and decide what actions would be taken first. It was a staple of her existence.
All the players were present. Roy Balderdash, makeshift leader of the good guys, took the head seat; both Linas flanked him. There was Penny Gabriev the heroine in training, Lord Noisemaker the innovator of violence, his Journeyman, Myron the weak mage, and the entire assembly of hardy young lads. Table-chan was busy ignoring the serious tone and cavorting around, trying to get attention. They'd even dragged Sylpheel's statue out to observe the preceedings. Everything was in place for decisions to be made which would determine success or failure in the battle to come.
However, this war council was flawed in one vitally important way, which would doom them all to failure.
"What do you mean, there's no food?!" Lina Inverse protested. "I can't kick ass if my nutritional needs aren't satisfied!"
"I'm not going to be launching ANY sort of attack until nightfall," Balderdash replied, rolling his eyes a justifiable amount. "You'll have plenty of time to pig out between now and then, okay? If anything, the sooner we can come to a consensus, the sooner you eat, yeah?"
"Let us decide these matters most serious in a rational and swift manner," Lina spoke, words grave and dire in tone.
"...right. Okay. Now, we've got the ability to pipe up to ten people into the secondary supply docking station of the palace," Balderdash explained, pointing it out on the blueprint. "The primary station is too guarded after we used it to bust me out. It means a pretty long running battle to get to the Core and the Experiment Room, where intelligence says your pals are being held."
"And Sylpheel says the longer I say in there, the more chance of being too weak to fight," Lina Inverse added. "So, here's my plan. We rush in there and kick some ass like a flash of lightning and save the day!"
"THAT'S your plan?!" Lina Gabriev shouted.
"It's worked for me before," Inverse explained. "If I think too hard on it it'll all fall apart. There's no other safe way into the building, right? So we've got no choice. It'll be a knock out drag down high speed brawl, but if I concentrate more on blazing through than cleaning the place out, we can be in and out faster than a butter churn. Roy, can you assure me we'll have an exit?"
"No, not really."
"Works for me," Lina decided. "I'll go in alone, and come out with Gourry and Zomael."
"I'm coming with you," Penny spoke, her first words since sitting down.
"Pen -- "
"You can spare all the reasons I shouldn't be going, I'd probably agree with all of them," Penny said. "Except this is what I WANT to do. Zoamel's in there, and I'm holding his weapon. I'm going to take the bounty he's set on Sairaag's head in his name and complete his quest. If you just bring them both out and we do get rid of the Palace, he'll never get vengeance by his own hand."
"Pointy stick thing, you mean."
"Pointy stick thing, yes. But it's the same thing. YES, I know I'm mortal and MOM, don't give me that look, I know you don't want me getting hurt, but NO, I'm not going to take no for an answer so you both can give up trying to protest it, so it'll be me and Lina Inverse and that's it invading the building itself, okay?"
"Erm... excuse me, Miss Inverse," Myron interrupted, in his humble way. "But... I've been talking with the others, and we want to accompany you."
"You'd only get in the way," Lina Inverse said flatly.
"We're well armed and reasonably trained," Myron added. "We could cover while you lead the attack. This way, we'd also present the soldiers inside with so many targets that it would draw fire away from you. That's a bit morbid, but... we have to do this in the name of Sylpheel. It's already been decided."
Lina Inverse opened her mouth to protest, but then did not. Something flashed back to her; Sylpheel's words, describing the holy war as a natural order of things. People fighting for what they BELIEVED in, rather than being co-opted as Science had done... here, she could feel that belief radiating off Myron. Not mindless sheep with a god directing the slaughter, but someone who felt that faith so strongly that he genuinely wanted this, beyond danger and risk... so he could stand up for his beliefs.
"Okay," Lina agreed. "I'll take five of you guys with me. Make sure they're the fastest runners and brawlers you have, I don't want any slow slugfests. HEAVY armor, as heavy as you can use and still run effectively; we'll be fleeing more than shooting in this fight. Put whatever mages you have available into the mix as well, I doubt they're prepared for magic INSIDE the walls of the fortress."
"...and THAT about covers the first half of our program, but make that four of the guys here. I'm coming with you people as man number five," Balderdash ordered. "I know the innards of that place better than anyone... but Lina, if we're not out after the ten minute mark, I'm leaving instructions to blow the place up anyway. Hell, I already almost died once recently, what do I have to lose? Because if we do stay any longer, they might be able to throw up extra defenses, and the second half won't be possible."
"Acceptable," Lina said. "Knowing me, we'll be out at the nine minute fifty nine second mark, but hey, that's good enough."
"The second half of the plan concerns torching the compound itself," Roy explained. "Noisemaker here has finished tuning the Dragon Slave Amplification Cannon... and apparently Mrs. Gabriev is volunteering to provide the bang for our buck."
"I'm not the sort of person to dive headfirst into a firefight," Lina Gabriev said. "Not anymore. I'm too old for that kind of activity, but that doesn't mean I can't help lead us to victory. While my juvenile counterpart here and my daughter who I think is risking way too much over a boy are off doing their thing, I'll be waiting here... and on signal, I'll pump enough raw black magic at that thing to melt it into slag. Plus, I'll focus the beam so it does NOT destroy Sairaag this time. I've wiped this city off the map more times than I should have, even for good causes."
"Once THAT is done," Roy concluded, "The palace will be annihilated, all the mechanical services this city has become dependent on will fail, the trapped gods should hopefully be freed, and the Demiurge of Science will lose belief by the cartload and be forced to flee. We may have mop-up work to do, but the blow will be crippling enough to make this battle winnable by mortals again. ...good lord. And to think weeks ago the most thought I had to put in on a daily basis was which wallet to lift."
"Everybody's changed," Lina Gabriev said, voice serious. "We've all progressed farther than we expected to when we got sucked into this thing. Maybe it's fate, maybe it's luck, or just drama in action, but... I don't think any one of us will ever be the same again."
"Except Table-chan!" Penny cheered, holding up the Wandering Monster Table. It posed dramatically.
Nobody quite knew how to respond to that.
"...one of these days, Noisemaker," Lina Inverse quietly said, "I'm going to hurt you for making that thing which has gotten on my nerves at a constant rate. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get dinner."
She'd shrugged off offers for group dinning with Penny, with Lina Gabriev, with anyone else. Her excuse was simply that she didn't feel like footing the bill for anybody else's appetites, and she needed to focus on consuming enough protein to power her up for tonight's raid.
The real reason (since Lina usually had two reasons for every action) was more vague. She had a nagging feeling. Nagging feelings were very, very bad in her line of work; it meant something was not right, and if you couldn't figure out what that something was, it would jump up and bite you on the ass at precisely the worst moment.
Lina Inverse sat in a small sidewalk bistro, taking in the rays of the setting sun as she worked on her fourth steak. Her cloak was up, and identity concealed... she simply didn't will anyone around her to pay attention to her. A simple enough trick, once she decided she could do it. It let her have a nice, quiet dinner, even if getting the food was difficult.
It didn't, however, prevent all untimely interruptions.
Lina didn't bother to acknowledge his presence immediately. She chewed, swallowed, and chased her beef down with a bit of fruit punch, before finally meeting him eye to eye.
"This really is all your fault, isn't it?" she asked.
The half-visible form of Xelloss sitting across from her pouted. "You say that as if it were a bad thing, Lina. One day, you'll look back on this day, and you'll thank me. You'll say, 'Xelloss, what a guy, there's someone who really knows where it's at and what's going on. What a great guy! Why didn't I have more sex with him when I was a mortal, anyway?'"
"Get over yourself," Lina grumbled, cutting her next bite away from the steak. "What's with the gloomy specter gimmick, anyway?"
"Oh, I can't leave my assigned position, not yet. Sorry. Very secret reasons and all that. But I couldn't let you march off to war without a little last minute encouragement, could I?"
"If you've got a specific place to be, then you STILL know more than you're letting on," Lina decided. "Xelloss, you know, I really hate your guts. I don't care if you're supposedly doing it for 'the right reasons', you've caused me and my other self a lot of pain -- "
"Yes, yes, I've heard this sob story before," Xelloss yawned. "I'm surprised you haven't learned more humility after similar traumatic experiences have yielded world-saving results. This is your JOB, Lina Inverse."
"I KNOW it's my job. I've accepted that. But there are times when I don't have to like it. What's going to happen here, Xelloss? I can't put my finger on it, but something is going to go wrong. It's too cut and dry, too clean a finish for something NOT to go wrong. Sylpheel told me a blood sacrifice would be made in my name."
"Oh, I'm not privy to the future," Xelloss protested. "I just know little things I designed and put into motion. Anything else, I leave to the mother of all things."
"Someone's going to die," Lina said, trying to prompt him. "Maybe Lina Gabriev. Maybe Gourry. Maybe Penny, maybe Balderdash, maybe everybody in the entire damn city. It's happened before. Every time we go up against something like this there's a price to be paid. What's going to happen?"
"I honestly have no idea, Lina -- "
"Then what good are you?" Lina asked. "What good am I, for that matter?? I'm not going to accept this, you understand. I don't care what prophecy or dramatic convention demand of me. I've never kowtowed to the rules before and I don't intend to start now. If I'm a god, and I'm in charge of keeping the world safe and orderly, I'm going to INSIST on a happy ending. Nothing else will be acceptable."
"If anybody can perform such a feat, it would be you," Xelloss noted. "Sometimes, things are out of our hands, however. Perhaps the outcome I seek won't come to be, perhaps it will. Fight with all of your will, with all of your unlimited desire, Lina Inverse. Perhaps then you will win the right to reshape the story more to your liking. Until then... I salute your spirit, Lina Inverse, and bid you farewell."
"What outcome are YOU seeking out of this?" Lina asked, suspiciously.
"Ah," Xelloss smiled, as he began to fade away. "That is a secret."
Lina hmphed, when he was gone. Typical. But she remained resolute, as she finished off her steak, paid the check, and made her way back to the safehouse. She was going to play this in Inverse fashion, Inverse style, and wasn't going to 'trust' that the outcome be to her liking. She would MAKE it to her liking.
And woe be to anybody who tried to stop her.
The Imperial Palace had many store rooms... places where massive cylinders arrived from the pneumatic networks, loaded with weapons, supplies, food, or other materials required for day to day living. They went, for the most part, unscreened. There wasn't very much to worry about, not since the guards posted at each store room were jacked up a notch. Explosives could be detected instantly; people less than instantly, but anybody who popped up out of one of those things would be greeted by a hail of bullets before they could do anything.
A large cylinder slammed into the net at the end of the tube. Guards checked the label on the side, which declared it contained volatile materials, and opened it very carefully before it exploded.
Fires that were not true flames roared through the supply room. They were hot enough to melt the steel walls into deformed slabs of putty. The guards didn't see it coming... but truthfully, that was probably for the best.
Seconds after the room went from still and quiet to blazing inferno it went to still and quiet again, as Lina Inverse walked out of the flames. She quickly applied an ice spell (or her equivalent of an ice spell), to prevent the delivery track from being unusable, and to make the room hospitable for regular humans...
The next few tubes arrived a little too fast and ended up crashing into each other. Penny Gabriev flopped out of her tube with a ringing headache; Roy and his companions were used to this sort of thing and were merely annoyed.
"You could have been a little quieter about our arrival," Roy chided, examining the warped remains of the store room.
"We had no chance of sneaking in, so why not announce immediately and get the element of surprise?" Lina asked. "Ten minutes, right?"
"Ten minutes," Roy replied, drawing his new, rebel-issue gunblade from his back, while pulling out the map. (He made sure it was an extra five inches longer than the one Zelgadis carried. Perhaps he'd turned over a new leaf from his bandit days, but to the male ego, bigger was always better.) "I'll stay in the middle and direct the group around the halls. Lina, you and Penny take front and try to clear the path. My boys will keep us covered from behind. Move fast, no mop-up, just blaze through -- "
"I remember the plan," Lina said, walking right through the open doorway -- and casting twin fireballs to her left and right, on pure instinct. Screams resounded in fine stereo. "Let's go."
Alarms echoed through the metal hallways of the palace. Feet were running, voices were shouting, orderes were being issued. They irritated Elizabeth Balderdash to no end.
She tapped her pen against the clipboard, studying the medical data. Gourry's tests had proven quite useful; the interface she had planned would actually be feasible with these new parameters. Perhaps a few tweaks, and the new weapons would be --
Her door flew open, the military commander of Sairaag feeling no need to announce his entrance. Elizabeth felt quite irritated about this as well.
"Rebels are inside the palace," Zelgadis reported. "Lina Inverse is with them. Every time I get a report about their location, a new one comes in moments later reporting them as farther along in the building. Eradicators seem to be having no effect on Inverse. They came in through the secondary docking station I thought was supposed to be intrusion-proof -- "
"Yes, I know," Elizabeth said. "It would be the most likely entrance point. I suppose they want Gourry and Zoamel back..."
"I told you taking the Gabriev man was a mistake."
"Zelgadis, please," she chided. "Spare me your I Told You Sos. There was no mistake made. We are fully prepared for an armed invasion force. Perhaps a few dozen men will die, but they will never take back what they hope to retrieve. They can do no lasting damage to us this way. Don't you remember the young goddess who came through here recently?"
"With ALL due respect," Zelgadis spoke, almost meaning it, "This is a bit different, Elizabeth. This is Lina Inverse -- "
"An outmoded example of a system given to collapse!" Elizabeth replied, banging her palm on the table. "Do not bother me with these trivialities! She is not the future, and never will be -- WE are the future. We are powerful. We are more powerful than any god on the planet, as science protects us, empowers us! Any gestures by those piddling rebels are unimportant. They have walked right into a hopeless situation. They just don't know it yet."
"And when, Elizabeth, will they know it? When they've waltzed past our inferior internal defenses?"
"You don't understand, Zelgadis," she sighed. Elizabeth gathered up her medical notes... the precious data. Exactly what the situation called for. "You never truly believed; you're too practical, too straightforward. But that's okay... it's what endears you most to me. You WILL see what I mean... come with me. We are going -- "
" -- to the Core," Zelgadis added.
"...yes, to the Core," Elizabeth chimed, stepping out of her chamber door. "Come along."
"Perhaps I'm not as straightforward as you think," Zelgadis spoke behind her back.
Minutes went by. The paths through the palace were not designed for ease of travel; they were designed to accommodate the near endless series of rooms required to support the bureaucracy. Lina had stopped paying attention to where she was, concentrating only on targets, and on Roy's voice as he guided the group in a madcap rush towards Gourry's holding cell.
"We've lost two of the guys," Roy announced, never taking his eyes from his map.
That was a surprise. Lina lobbed a gravity charge ahead of her, knocking soldiers back into the barracks they were flowing from, before looking back... and indeed, where four men were covering their exit with a steady hail of bullets, there were only two.
"Don't give me that look, you know we came prepared for this," Roy shouted back, keeping his tone even despite the raised volume. "Left ahead."
So far, Lina hadn't felt any 'power drain' whatsoever. She could feel something.. HUGE, nearby. Likely the Demiurge of Science. But there wasn't any crippling, halting voice like Sylpheel had described, and for the time being Lina wasn't going to kick a gift horse in the mouth by waiting around to get weak. The plan had been crafted with her gradually sliding power in mind, but if she had it, she was gonna USE it...
The group wheeled around a corner -- into a wall of soldiers.
Lina prepared another shot of that old black magic, but Penny stepped up to the plate first.
"KYAA!" she shouted, swing the purest ivory naginata in a wide, flat arc, swinging from the hip... it left a glowing trail of incandescent light. And it missed the soldiers completely.
Then their pants fell down.
Penny twirled the naginata into a new attack stance, this one that would aim a little higher than waist level. "Beat it!" she ordered, and lo, they did.
"...you definitely take after your father," Lina commented.
"Gosh, thanks!" Penny replied, smiling. "I figured the less folks we have to kill, the better -- "
"We're going to melt the building down into a puddle of molten steel in a few minutes, Penny," Lina reminded. "Even if they started running now they probably wouldn't make it out in time. Don't forget that. This is a war."
...a war, Penny thought. Just as Zoamel had explained to her, so long ago, in Darata. Where things would have to go wrong to make a right...
She dropped her childish impulses, realizing the seriousness. If she wanted to rescue Zoamel, she had to become like him -- do what needs to be done, pay the prices charged...
"But regardless of that, you're right. This isn't as efficient as I'd like," Lina said. "The less we have to do, the better, just to make sure we can get it all done in time. Roy! Where's Gourry?"
"One turn, two flights of stairs up, a turn, we're there," Roy reported, tracing the path with his eyes on the map.
"And where's Zoamel?"
"In the Core. It's one flight of stairs down from here; we're gonna have to backtrack once we've got him. Why?"
Lina stopped her run. "I'm saving us some time," she decided, starting to glow red with a flaming shell of her willpower. "I don't know what Sylpheel was going on about, I've got more than enough strength to take care of things MY way. You guys head to the Core on your own. Penny can take care of things. She's an Inverse, after all. I'll meet you there."
In a blaze, Lina shot through the ceiling above... ignoring all those silly conventional theories about using hallways and stairs and things to get from point A to point B. Roy moved out of the way to avoid dripping hot metal from falling on him.
"...leave to Inverse not to stick to the plan," Roy grumbled. He turned to face Penny. "Well, kid? Can you get us there reasonably unscratched?"
"I can do it," Penny said, with resolve. "I'll remove all obstacles."
Her naginata glowed briefly with spirit, as she spoke the words.
The last thing he remembered...
No. The last thing he CLEARLY remembered was fighting with Zelgadis, in the tunnels under Bimini island. It was a good fight; Zel was just as good as he had remembered. But then his wife said something, and there was a bang, and he THOUGHT he got shot, but everything went black...
He remembered hurting a lot. Someone was doing something to him that hurt like hell, so he deliberately didn't pay much attention to it. Still, he couldn't ignore the exhaustion, the half-delirious state he was in. He'd rest here awhile... just until he could see straight, and walk straight. Then he'd get out of here. Being the captain of the guard had its advantages in knowing security risks of holding rooms, and there would be at least one he could capitalize on.
But not yet. First, sleep. He hoped his wife wasn't upset. Lina... she was so fragile. Tough as nails, but she had a soft spot for her family that she'd never had as a brash young kid. She'd be very worried...
There was a bright light from... somewhere. Gourry rolled on his side on the metal floor of his holding room, to see part of the floor going away, very bright. Like a fire, but it didn't burn him. Somehow, he could tell it was trying not to burn him.
Then the angel floated from the floor. Graceful and beautiful... Gourry smiled weakly, despite his jaw hurting. It was his wife. The color and the shape were right.
"Lina..." he called, as loud as he could (which wasn't very loud at all.)
"Shhh," Lina soothed, picking him up. Somehow, she was able to hold his weight in two arms. "Don't move, okay? You're really torn up here. I gotta get you back so you can be healed by -- "
He silenced her with a kiss.
'Silence' was exactly the right word to describe things after the kiss.
"I missed you..." Gourry said, vision blurred as he tried to make out his wife's expression.
"I... I missed you too, Gourry," Lina said quietly. "...we have to go now."
Everything blinked white, and confident that things would now be just fine, Gourry decided to take that nap. He never doubted for a moment that Lina would save him, somehow.
The sky was quickly turning to night. Figuring it was safe to uncover now in the mask of darkness, Lord Noisemaker had whipped the tarp off of the Dragon Slave Amplification Cannon.
Lina Gabriev felt a momentary twinge of greed on seeing it. She'd always reveled in the discovery of new magic... new techniques, new spells, new summoning rituals. Once she took up a business, she'd made a habit of extending that love into magical relics, staves, scrolls, spellbooks -- things that not only were great to study academically but fetched a pretty penny. (Not her daughter.)
So, the first thing she thought on seeing the machine unveiled was 'I wonder how much I could charge for that thing?'.
The second thought was 'Maybe he'll sell it to me when we're done.'
The third was 'Maybe I'll take it anyway.'
"Mrs. Gabriev?"
"Sold! I mean, yes?"
"We're warming up the cannon now," the Journeyman explained... trying to block Lina's view of Lord Noisemaker giving the cannon a delicate technical adjustment by cursing at it and whapping it with his staff. "Just a few minor glitches to get out of the way before -- "
In a sharp flash of white, Lina Inverse appeared, holding an injured Gourry.
"...take care of him," she said, laying him down. "I've got to get back to work."
In a sharp flash of white, Lina Inverse went bye bye.
"...I didn't know she could do that," the Journeyman said, stunned.
"Neither did I, and likely, neither did she," Lina Gabriev spoke quickly, before running to Gourry's side. She pushed back all her fear, her terror at seeing him in this... very unpleasant state. Fumbling through her cape, she flicked her thumb from pocket to pocket, looking for the item she wanted... there.
Whipping out the scroll, Lina Gabriev started to feed a trickle of power into it, tracing the iconoglyphs with her fingers. She pressed the paper to Gourry's chest, mumbling ancient words... and as the paper faded away, so did his injuries. In short order, Gourry was back in top condition, if completely exhausted and unlikely to wake up before the big show was over.
"BLAST it all!" Noisemaker shouted, giving the cannon another solid kick. "JOURNEYMAN! You bungling dolt, you forgot to install the Wave Bender Disc! No wonder these calibrations are completely off the mark. We've only got a few minutes here, hurry up and fetch it!"
"The... Wave Bender?" the Journeyman asked, feeling his stomach sink down to his ankles. "Ah. Well. You know, it's a really funny story, see, I was going through the bags in Darata for things to pawn when we were hard up for money, and I thought we had a spare somewhere but it turns out that -- "
Lord Noisemaker gave the Journeyman a fierce whap upside the head. "You're officially demoted to Apprentice, you oaf! There's no way we can use the cannon now without taking out half the city with it!! The beam will be totally unfocused!"
"I'm sorry, sir!" the Apprentice whined.
"ExCUSE me!!" Lina interrupted, waving her arms. "What do you mean, blow up half the city!? That's totally unacceptable! If the cannon doesn't work, we're just going to have to pull back and think of another plan -- "
"There's no other weapon powerful enough to destroy the palace," Lord Noisemaker warned. "We've researched this extensively. Unless you happen to have the Giga Slave or something ridiculous like that available, we'll have to go with this and hope that the -- "
"No. NO GIGA SLAVE, no loose cannon!" Lina shouted, putting both men in their place. "Now quit dreaming up worst case scenarios. Let's work the problem. What, exactly, is a Wave Bending Whatsamacallit?"
"It's a circular disk of orihalcon," the Apprentice explained. "We use it to take the spell and warp it at high speed around the orihalcon's null- magic field, like a spoiler on the back of a hydroplane. It has four extendable stubs to latch it into place in the barrel of the cannon, and the energy swirls through the gap, focusing the beam."
"So... you're saying that in order to get this thing to work and save the day, we need a circle of orihalcon with four appendages," Lina repeated.
Lord Noisemaker groaned, and has a seat on work bench. "If only that Inverse hadn't gone and stolen my........."
...all eyes turned on the Wandering Monster Table, which was content to play hopscotch over near Penny's discarded backpack.
The doors to the Core chamber slammed open... falling inward and crashing to the ground. Normally it took a complicated eight hexcode password to engage the hydraulics that opened the door, but Penny found that a good slice from a blade forged from a god worked just as well.
The two remaining soldiers went in first, taking up flanking positions before Roy and Penny advanced. But there wasn't much in the Core chamber worth noting. The guard who was usually sleeping on duty had been called off to deal with the invaders; only one person remained.
Standing across the way, on the other side of the wide metal catwalk, right in front of the towering Core itself was Zelgadis, commander of the Sairaag army. He didn't seem very worried, as he watched them enter, arms folded neatly; his gunblade remained holstered at his side.
"Hey, Zelgadis, great timing!" Roy called, waving. "You can help us open that bloody ghost trap up and let everybody go that you've enslaved. I'd say the gig is up, but that'd be very cliche of me, so be a dear and give us a hand, okay?"
"...Zeifelian to the last," Zelgadis spoke, the words toned like a deadly insult. "Always with the sarcastic remark, always underestimating the seriousness of your situation. You never understood, Roy. I knew you never would, even if her weak heart thought you could come around to understanding. If only you knew the POWER our new order will bring to the world -- "
Penny, who had learned the value of pouncing the bad guy in the middle of his speech during her travels, issued a simple command. "Shoot him!"
Both soldiers pulled their triggers, having already targeted Zelgadis. Bullets sharpened specifically to cut chimeric flesh flew straight and true --
And were fried by a bolt of blue lightning, stopping well short of their intended target.
"Look out, the Core's armed!" Roy announced, seeking covering position behind the guard's desk.
"...that wasn't from the core!" Penny shouted. "It was from abov -- LOOK OUT!"
Quickly, she rolled out of the way, which did a terrific job of saving her life from the beam of pure blue lightning that slashed right through the group. The two soldiers weren't as lucky; in the blink of an eye, they turned into whiffs of ozone and carbon, and the suspended platform that comprised the 'room' twisted and buckled under the cutting force...
This effectively left Penny and Roy trapped on the platform, with a distance neither of them could long-jump to get back to the door. Easy pickings for the large mecha that had just made its presence known.
Latched magnetically to the core walls, the metal machine seemed cramped in the Core's hollow central spire. It was vaguely human in shape, one hand holding a plasma rifle that had done a great job of wiping out their back and only means of escape; the other locked hard onto the wall, to support its weight.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Roy shouted, over the din of the machine's internal gears grinding away.
"Just a weapon we didn't inform you of during your tenure," Zelgaids spoke. He hadn't moved an inch since they had first arrived. "A machine, powered and directed by the human inside. As you see, your entire quest was for nothing. Elizabeth, kill them."
The mecha targeted the group. Penny briefly thought about running away, but there was nowhere to run TO... which meant only one option left.
She stepped out from around her cover, daring to stare the mecha right where she hoped Elizabeth's eyes were looking through.
"Penny, are you nuts?!" Roy shouted.
"I'm not going out without a fight!" Penny yelled back, twirling her staffblade into the ready position. "For ZOAMEL!!"
She SPRINTED forward -- barely avoiding the beam gun piercing the platform where she stood. Zelgadis actually took a step back, not expecting such an incredibly suicidal maneuver... Penny didn't put any tactics into it, no foreplanning, she just bum-rushed the guy intent on fighting him until someone was dead.
But internally, she knew this was probably not going to work. She had to hope for a miracle. Or rather, pray for one. She only knew two gods, and one of them wasn't going to be able to help... but the other SPECIALIZED in last minute heroic rescues. She put all of her belief into that god she knew and trusted with her life, and pushed HARD, as she simultaneously slashed out at Zelgadis, blade tracing a perfect arc...
The bad news was that Zelgadis avoided the attack, cross-blocking his (now drawn) gunblade against the blade of the staff. Both were stuck momentarily in deadlock.
The good news was that Lina Inverse made her traditional last moment appearance, bursting through the center of the mecha in an electric blaze of glory.
The machine buckled like a belt. Lina blink-teleporting right inside it and exiting via the nearest available weak point, a one million to one chance, had done the job. The legs of the machine dropped, plunging hundreds of feet into the inky blackness below; the torso clung desperately to the walls, prying a bulkhead away in the process and exposing the internal rooms of the palace.
Lina dusted herself off, and studied the trashed machine. "You know, traditionally," she commented, "When you BUILD a mega ultimate super death weapon to use in the last act of the drama, it's not supposed to go splat this soon. Kind of a let down for everybody involved. But, in your case, I'm willing to make an exception!"
"Thank Lina it's Lina!!" Roy groaned. "Let's get your pal out of there and book, we've only got a few minutes!"
"No problem!" Lina said, giving a thumbs up. She turned to face the Core, bathed in its glowing light of a thousand enslaved gods. "I...."
Then she FELT the power of a thousand enslaved gods. Everything about her stopped moving; her cape didn't even finish its flourish she had begun on turning to face the enemy. She was frozen in every sense of the word.
Somehow, though, she could FEEL the battle below. Penny starting to fight Zelgadis, who clearly had the advantage of time and training. Roy, trying to aim a clean shot to pick off Zel, without succeeding. But all of that felt distant, secondary. There was something much more dangerous, much more frightening, and it had a hold on her very essence...
you know what i am.
Yes, I do, she thought.
awareness that cause is futile. i allowed your path of success/at any time stoppable. situation: seeking absolute comprehension of your future procedural task. installation of lina inverse in core power unit now in progress.
The trinkets Penny had made for her, the ones with the magnetic metal that dispelled the Eradicators, shattered. The piercing stone scraped her, hurt her like a burn that dug itself hard into your body and mind. Agony flooded Lina Inverse's soul as she watched, helpless, as robotic arms extended from the core... an Eradicator held high and coming down hard.
you have failed. your actions were predictable. fear is not suggested procedural action; unit lina inverse was never adequate at demiurge role, and resistant continually. exchange offered: eternal peace and rest blended into my reality, if unit lina inverse does not resist assimilation.
NO.
invalid option. preparations complete.
The Eradicator came closer... and then shattered, powdery fragments scattering to the winds as a bullet pierced it through the heart.
Roy Balderdash lowered his gunblade, grinning. No time for a smirk or comment, however; the cutting blue beam was back, and nearly took his legs off.
Lina quickly assessed things, while she had this momentary control over her own body. Her power WAS down; she was in the presence of a force beyond her comprehension, empowered by the stolen faith of millions of people, embodied in the Demiurges that had been trapped by Science. Penny was pressed up against a guardrail, Zelgadis clearly with the advantage. The mecha wasn't damaged enough, and Elizabeth was still able to target Roy with her beam rifle.
This was not going to work. They'd walked right into a situation custom tailored for failure, and now they were all going to die. At least she could have the satisfaction that this palace would be going up with them. She could feel the icy grip of Science resume its hold on her... now, far too weak to resist --
The grip slowed, and halted. A single voice spoke to her, pushing past Science's cold and mathematical speech patterns. A familiar voice, but barely above a whisper, from exhaustion.
'Save Penny,' Zoamel pleaded.
Lina shook out of the grasp and got full control over herself.
"RETREAT!" she screamed, and was in two places simultaneously -- one of her getting a good grip on the back of Penny's shirt, the other snatching up Roy Balderdash by the belt just as he was about to fall off the platform. And then all fou... all three of them were gone.
Zelgadis frowned, shifting from attack stance to normal stance, having nothing to fight. He looked up at Elizabeth, who was just now climbing out of the cockpit of the mecha.
"Something's wrong," Zelgadis decided. "What are they planning now?"
"I assure you, they fled knowing they could not win," Elizabeth replied, floating down to join him, using her personal antigravity belt she'd just invented that morning. "There's nothing left they can do. It's over."
Penny shook free of Lina's grip, as the three arrived on the roof of the tidiest den of rebellion ever known. She turned to face Lina, fire in her eyes -- and met Lina's gaze, which was just as fierce.
"I KNOW you didn't want to leave him behind, but this was his request," Lina informed her. "There's no way in hell we could have busted him out. We're going to have to hope the second half of the plan works, and he escapes after the Core's scrap metal."
Roy tossed his gunblade aside; there'd be no more close infighting now. "Is the cannon ready or not?" he demanded to know. "If we're LUCKY they won't have their defenses up by the time -- "
"Primed and ready," Lina Gabriev announced, standing on the caster's platform. The magic circle hastily inscribed at her feet was already glowing with black power, dripping upwards along her body, and to her hands... the Dragon Slave Amplifier getting warmed up.
The Wandering Monster Table, embedded a few inches into the cannon's nozzle, trembled a bit until a harsh 'hold still' gaze from Lina Gabriev got the thing rock solid.
"Hey, whoa! Why is my poor Table-chan in that thing?! He -- "
"Can't talk, busy saving world," Lina Gabriev quickly spouted. "Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows..."
"I would suggest that everybody get DOWN, now," Roy said, tossing himself flat. "Pull your cape or your shirt over your head or something too, don't worry Lina, we know you've got nothing to show under your shirt..."
"I'll smack you later," Lina warned, before flopping down, taking Penny with her.
"...buried in the flow of time; in Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness..."
"Boy, this is really exciting," the Apprentice said, drunk on adrenaline rush and pure thrill. "Sir, I'm really proud to be here at this historic -- "
Lord Noisemaker knocked him on the back of the head, to get the boy to lie down.
Red light mixed in with the black darkness, forming a spiraling swirl around Lina Gabriev. Age hadn't unsharpened the knife of black magic she toted like a diner's club card; it had only matured it, like fine wine. The ball of swirling, nightmarish energy formed between her hands, ready to let loose...
"...those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!" she completed. She closed her eyes, trusting the cannon to handle the aiming; otherwise, she could go blind at this close range...
"DRAGON SLAAAAAAVE!!!!"
Energy poured out of Lina's hands, a constant stream; this was not a single shot, this was a conduit from the gates of hell, flowing around the Table (which had passed out from shock), focusing, shunting down the amplifying barrel, and coming out the other end as a tight beam of ABSOLUTE WHOOPASS.
People all over Sairaag looked up, as the beam tore through the sky; a shaft of pure red light, not wobbling, not wavering, flying straight for its intended target...
Energy shields slapped up around the palace, but they collapsed like a burst soap bubble the instant the Dragon Slave touched them. The entire compound glowed white-hot, for the barest instant, as the spell knew what area it was going to take out, and got to work at doing just that...
The world went kinda photo-negativey. Sound canceled itself out. Time and space met, shook hands, and then promptly exploded. The Lord of Nightmares looked up and wondered what in the hell was going on up there.
There was no smoke to clear; the smoke had burned itself up. When the LIGHT cleared, however, the palace was gone.
Lina Gabriev smirked, tossed back her hair, and flashed a V sign.
"Victory!" she proclaimed.
Then she noticed that not ALL of the palace was gone.
"...shit," she added.
Zelgadis uncovered his eyes.
He had NO idea what had just happened. It was like his entire world had just exploded, reformed, exploded, and reformed again. He got the sneaking suspicion that reality was lying to him. Time was being quite annoying as well. Then... it all stopped. Everything was right as rain.
Except, of course, that 95% of the Imperial Palace was missing. Everything except for the barest fragment of the platform, and the Core itself, standing tall and true, glowing its blue light into the night sky of Sairaag.
There was panic in the streets, of course. This town knew a cosmic battle when they saw one, and had some in-born primal instinct to get as far away as possible in situations like these.
Elizabeth Balderdash shook her head, trying to clear it... before gaping in horror at a scene that Zelgadis regarded with quiet disdain.
"No.. no! They're abandoning us!" Elizabeth shouted, clutching the twisted metal of the guardrail. "They're abandoning their faith in us! This cannot be!"
"There's no use denying it," Zelgadis spoke. "They've destroyed us. Without the mechanisms of the Palace, this city will not run. Without the fear and comfort the empire provides, the people will not follow us. We may be alive, but it's over."
Elizabeth stared, eyes wide, expression crazed. Her cool and calculated composure had gone away forever; all that was left was her inner madness. "Then... then we'll have to continue without them! We don't need them! We've collected enough of these pathetic GODS to continue!"
"What are you proposing...?" Zelgadis asked.
She turned to the core, arms wide... speaking to the monstrous machine. "Your power is sufficient! The time is NOW! It's earlier than your projections had theorized, but it can be done! Take me! Take me into your being now, merge with me! Through me, through your stolen faith, you can RULE this world as the most powerful god in existence, beyond hope, beyond faith, beyond the Lord of Nightmares!!"
A single voice echoed in the minds of Elizabeth and Zelgadis, a single word. Accepted.
The metal door swung open, exposing the core's brilliant blue mists, the energies. They were trapped and contained, a one way entrance only, but suitable for a man-sized object to walk into that maelstrom.
"Goodbye, Zelgadis," Elizabeth said, taking her first steps toward immortality. "This was always my destiny, from the first day he spoke to me. I have been waiting so long for this. It has been fun -- "
She heard the sound before she felt the pain. She saw the blade before she acknowledged it was cleanly run through her, back to front.
"...you always underestimated me, Elizabeth," Zelgadis spoke, lips so close to her ear. "You never planned to cure me. You stole my sister's techniques and Ace's technologies for your own god complex. But I was the one Science TRULY chose. You were just baited by his machinations into being our tool. You've just outlived your usefulness to us."
He pulled his gunblade out of Elizabeth's back, shoving her to the floor. Without a second look at her, as unimportant to him as yesterday's trash, he stepped forward into the soul-light of Science.
Elizabeth's world began to fade to black. She cursed herself, called herself the fool, the used, the led... the same words her brother had used against her. She thought he simply did not understand... now she knew he understood more than she ever had.
Forgive me, brother, she thought, before closing her eyes.
"...okay, so, the Core's remaining," Lina Inverse summarized. "No big deal. We just took out Science's entire power base. The city's EMPTY now, he's got no more followers! He won't be nearly as strong as he was. We'll go in there, crack the glass, set them free and that's the end of it."
Penny gripped her staff for support... trying to feel Zoamel through it. There was nothing. The ivory had gone cold, the blade not.. SEEMING nearly as sharp as it once was. "Lina, something's wrong here... it doesn't feel like it's over. You remember how you said they shouldn't have shown their ultimate mega final whatever weapon like that, and how you took it out easily?"
"Yeah, so?"
"What if THAT wasn't their ultimate mega final weapon...?"
"You worry too much, Penny!" Lina laughed. She rolled up one sleeve, posing with a leg up on the roof's guardwall. "I'll fly over there, kick some ass, bring back the hostages and have PLENTY of time for a late second dinner!"
Perfection.
Absolute, flawless perfection. Zelgadis hadn't spoken to Science many times... he didn't need the constant ego-stroking Elizabeth did. Once he heard the bargain, he had been sold immediately, and required no further goading. That simple deal had led him to this point.
He stood inside the swirling power, feeling all the gods that were in here with him, but most importantly feeling the touch of Science's intensely REAL power, capable of anything, leader of men, maker of tools, organizer of society, the New Order incarnate...
"I pledge my life to you!" he called out, knowing the words Science wanted to hear. "Become one with me, so that your power can surpass all! And in return... I take back my humanity!"
accepted.
Zelgadis screamed, feeling the power dig into him... the old familiar feel, just like on his sister's table... where the Demiurge of Science secretly directed her hand, to show Zelgadis what it was capable of. The procedure was bunk, but his sister's faith in science made him a believer. A believer in miracles...
The skin emerged first on his chest. The circle that had formed there during the original experiment, which reverted to smooth grey stone unlike the rocky stone of his body, was now soft and pink and very fragile. But the rest of his body tensed and flexed, stone shattering, flesh-muscles bulging beneath his cast off shell. Wire-hairs fell out, true hair grew back in...
In moments, he was human. Just a normal human, before his two plus decade quest had nearly ruined his life. He felt at peace... he no longer had to drive, to push to any limit conceivable for the ONE THING he'd always wanted. He'd achieved his dream. Now, he could just be Zelgadis Greyweirs again.
"...thank you," he breathed, through moist lips.
Then he felt the caress of the wire against his new skin.
you are welcome.
His voice screamed out loud, as the wires and cables of Science dug into his flesh, turning him into a permanent fixture of the Core. He was mortal. He was human. But now, he was the vessel of a god, and that god decided to leave out one important detail: in pledging his life, he had truly pledged his life.
...the ground shook.
That's an understatement. Usually, earthquakes are simple waves rolling through the surface of the world, spreading from a focal point. This was different. This was the ground itself actually shaking, as a whole, not as a reaction to some other force.
Lina Inverse wobbled a bit, before jumping back, to land on the roof. Her eyes widened at the sight...
The Core was glowing brighter than the sun, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the entire city of Sairaag was bending and warping around the Core, buildings, steel, concrete, metal structures and ductwork and all the machines that made Sairaag so interconnected pulling together. The solid materials defied reality, they flew in the face of all conventional thinking... as they began to take shape.
The others were shouting typical things, like 'what the hell is that' and 'what's going on' and so on. Lina was transfixed. She FELT what was going on. Science had done the thing she dared not do... it had become mortal. And in being mortal, it no longer had to bother itself with petty things like faith. It was a force of nature, a thing onto itself, and it wanted a new body to get up and walk around with...
Sairaag made for a great body. It had been customed designed for this purpose, the entire city automated and designed around the central palace, just for this day. The great machine in the center of the city flexed its arms, looking very much like a HUGE copy of the simple mecha Lina had to fight not minutes ago. This time, however, it had eyes... two eyes of perfect circles, of the most brilliantly awful red light. Those eyes turned on her.
And she knew that nothing could be done now.
"...guys! SHUT UP!" Lina shouted, willing her voice to overpower them. "I can explain. Science just... MERGED with someone. That means it's infinitely more powerful than it was. Lina! You remember Shaburanigdo?"
"Shaburanigdo!?"
"It's considerably worse than Shabby-kun," Lina Inverse said, with no small amount of dread. "The good news is that it's mortal now. We can KILL it, not just knock away its support like we did before. The bad news is that... I don't think we're capable of killing it. It's the strongest thing in the world right now and it KNOWS it. That's why it hasn't bothered to do anything to us! LOOK!"
Science continued to rise from the wreckage of Sairaag, body forming as each new building was crunched down and reprocessed into his mechanized whole. The god now stood over a thousand feet high.. and kept looking down at them. If it was possible for a machine to be smug, it would be.
"...okay, my brain has just locked up," Roy announced. "I did my part. I am going to go downstairs, and drink myself stupid. I leave the rest to you guys."
Science, now a fully mobile walking giant, gave the group a tiny nod... before turning around, each footfall enough to crack the building's foundations, and starting to walk away. Every footfall warped and distorted the ground... cables and tubes springing up, metal sheets covering the grass. The world around it was changing, all by its willpower, by its unleashed ability to institute the new order...
"What can we do?" Penny asked... her voice small, and afraid. She couldn't tear her eyes off the tin god, knowing that Zoamel was in there, and now there might be no way to get him back...
"...I've got the Giga Slave," Lina Gabriev suggested. "Sure, it'd probably destroy the world if I tried to use it right now, but ... um... I... argh. LINA! This is your job, isn't it?!"
"What?"
"You're the world savior!" Lina Gabriev shouted at her counterpart. "Not me. I'm not the one who's going to save the day. I'm with Roy on this; I've played my part. I helped damage the thing, and Gourry's safe, but I'm not the one who can beat that thing. YOU are. So go destroy it! The whole world is counting on you!"
"It's not that SIMPLE!" Inverse shouted, pointing at the god. "I'm like a flea to that thing! The only way I could possibly get enough power to go toe to toe with a merged Demiurge is........ is..."
Oh, no.
Not that.
She'd SWORN not to do that. Lina Inverse had come to grips with being a god, and on hearing that the answer she'd sought after was an atrocity waiting to happen, she'd sworn never to...
Lina scanned the horizon. She KNEW Xelloss was out there. He knew this was coming, somehow. Sylpheel knew it was coming; a warning was issued, that a blood sacrifice would have to be made in her name. There was no other way.
She turned to her group, and got ready to break the news.
"The only way I could face Science now... is if I do what he did," Lina announced. "I have to merge with a human. I have to use their faith, use it to unchain myself from my believers and become a rouge god -- "
"What, is that all?" Gabriev asked, wanting to get on with it. "Fine! I've done weirder things on my off weekends, and you know it! Get the spell or the ritual or whatever fired up and we'll -- "
"You don't understand! I'd have to take your LIFE to do it," Inverse finished. "It's a sacrifice... but that doesn't matter, it wouldn't work with you. You've got no faith in me whatsoever. Don't try to lie; I know it. You KNOW I'm a god, you know all these things as facts, but you believe in yourself now more than you could ever believe in me. I'm glad for you, frankly, but that doesn't help us. The only person here who's stuck by my side through this whole quest, who understands me and believes in my power is..."
The Wandering Monster Table hopped onto her head. "Demiurge!"
"No, not YOU! You're ruining the moment!" Lina shouted, yanking the thing off her head. She was ready to drop kick it one for all the irritation it had caused her over the last few weeks, but --
Penny rested a hand on Lina's shoulder, stopping her.
"Let's go," she said simply. "I'm ready."
Lina Gabriev exploded. "PENNY!!"
"If I do this," Inverse warned, "You're going to cease to be. After a short amount of time I'll have completely taken over your life. You'll never be with Zoamel again. I don't WANT to do this, Penny! I'm supposed to be the savior, the winner, and I don't want an ending like this! Not when you've come into your own, you've discovered what kind of a person you REALLY want to be! I'd be robbing you of everything you've achieved at my side!"
"Yes! Exactly! Penny, think this through!!" Lina Gabriev shouted, trying to get between the two... and finding her own daughter raising a hand, to block her.
"I know what's involved," Penny said, with a sad smile as she listened to her mother's protests. "But what other choice do I have, if I want Zoamel to be free, and the world I've gotten so fond of to continue to exist?"
Lina Inverse chewed her lip, unsure. "Penny..."
"I've always believed in you, even when I was a little girl," Penny spoke. "I may not be able to BE you, but I can help you save the day. I want to do it. Let's do it."
The two floated away from the building, standing on an invisible floor, as Lina Inverse prepared herself. Penny swallowed her fears, let her devotion to Zoamel and her belief in Lina bubble to the surface, and the pair began to glow...
"You get back here THIS INSTANT, young lady!!" Lina Gabriev screamed, waving her hands, feeling so helpless. "You're grounded! For the rest of your life! You're not going to do this! Don't! Don't leave me! Please, Penny, I love you, don't -- "
A comforting hand fell on Lina Gabriev's shoulder. She turned quickly to see...
"It's her choice," Gourry said softly. Tears ran down his cheeks, but he spoke with confidence, with decision. "We raised her to think for herself, and she's made up her mind. There's nothing we can do. I've never been prouder of her to this very day. And I've never been prouder of you."
"...Gourry..."
The couple embraced, and kept their eyes away from the scene. It was too hard to bear.
Science swept like a wave of reformation and organization across the world. Everything it had programmed, everything it had planned, had now come to fruition. With the human in its heart, and the invulnerable force of its will and technology, nothing would be capable of stopping it.
All variables had been factored, cofactored, studied, analyzed, checked and rechecked. The task was complete. The god took another step towards its destiny.
And found itself blocked.
The figure was tiny. A simple girl, with flowing braided hair, and a bladed staff sharp enough to cut the sky. She glowed with some internal force, a golden light that obscured her face... but Science could feel what this newcomer was.
They were kin. They were the same. Gods beyond reproach, shapers and makers of the universe, tied to no one.
"I am Penny Inverse," the small god declared, shifting her staff into an attack posture. "And I'm going to kill you."
The battle began.
It was not a battle of blades or weapons. No fancy laser beams, no spells, no physical feats to amaze and please the eye. This was a battle of will; the willpower of Science versus the willpower of Inverse. Both wanted differing destinies for the world, and the clash occurred on a higher level than simple reality.
Time splintered in two directions, shattering in wake of the forces that were bending it.
In one timeline, the world was an urban industrial zone, home to automobiles and airplanes and computers, telecommunications to distance its people, flourishing crime with unbeatable weapons, armies with the ability to kill millions in a single shot, and magic as little more than a child's fantasy. A world with one true god.
In the other timeline... everything was the way Inverse wished it. Specifically, back to normal. No sweeping changes, no massive upheaval, just a return to what the world had known and loved and never wanted to let go of. A world of magic, myth, treasure, and people who worshipped any god they pleased...
But that timeline was losing.
Inverse was strong. She could feel herself floating free from the world, an outside agitator, a force onto herself -- but Science had the advantage. It had the combined power of all the gods of the world on its side, enslaved to its yoke, and THAT was the power which became amplified. The battle was just as unbalanced as it was before the merge. Lina had failed...
No, wait, Penny thought. You're thinking too bluntly. We can't just pulverize this thing flat, crush its will. But what we can do is FOCUS our will on the one part that Science cannot do without... and strike there. Every machine has a weak spot, a malfunction waiting to happen.
I wouldn't have thought of that, Lina mused.
The small god twirled her staff, and pointed it straight ahead. She turned the plane of her will from a push-of-war with Science, and twisted it around her staff, before shooting forward. Focused in purpose.
Zelgadis could feel the god of Science taking over his body. He was weak, too weak to resist. He wanted to be strong. He'd asked Rezo to make him strong, and... he became a monster in the process. Now he was weak again, and would die, and there was nothing that could be done...
In his mind, his sister scolded him with the truth he already knew. He'd done the one thing he planned on avoiding... he had become Rezo. He'd sold his soul to a demon just to cure what should have been a trivial ailment. He decided not to live with what he was, and obsessed with it, driving him to burn bridges and forge new pacts with darkness. And now, like Rezo, he was to be destroyed for his sins.
There was an odd kind of peace to it. The whole affair was over now, wasn't it? Did Rezo feel like this, when he was consumed by Shaburanigdo? All his sins washed away in one ultimate sacrifice, losing his life and his soul, but regaining his conscience in the process? There was no way to know.
Zelgadis's vision was fading...
But not so far as to not see the light of day, as Penny Inverse carved a huge chunk out of Science's machine chest. Gears sprung, tubes spurted hydraulic fluid, as she sliced her way to the core... to where Zelgadis hung, his frail body in a network of wires and cables.
Now he understood. He'd signed over his life... which meant if he was to die, Science would die with him. He laughed weakly, and smiled... come, come, he urged in what he hoped was his voice.
Penny Inverse rocketed into the Core chamber, the heart of Science, and swung down hard with the blade --
Only to be stopped. Science had caught on to the plan, and wasn't going to allow it. The blade was a simple thing to halt...
"...no," Zelgadis said. And PUSHED...
Hundreds of gods pushed right along with Zelgadis. Individually they had no hope of resisting, but through Zelgadis, the crack in the armor, they could hold back the tide for one critical moment.
The invisible hand of Science was stayed. The hostages inside the god's heart, mortal and immortals, had given the beast a new struggle to handle. It wouldn't last; but it would last just long enough.
The naginata freed itself, as Zelgadis watched it.
"...the chest," he explained. "The circle there. It's my weakest point. Strike there."
The blade of the staff flared, as a shape in the mists of the Core flared. Zoamel was about to take his vengeance, at long last. Penny was about to save the one she loved. Lina was about to save the world. Zelgadis was about to be redeemed. And the god that called itself Science was about to die. History had narrowed down to this point...
The bladepoint sank true, and all those 'about to's came into being.
"Damn, I checkmated myself again," Xelloss grumbled. "Honestly, I'm just too good to challenge myself..."
He heard the first metallic crack echoing across the plains of Sairaag, and looked up. It was about time, too. For a few moments, he was wondering if Lina would really be able to pull it off after their big zappy spell didn't do the job. He shoved the chess set aside, smiling as he rose to his feet.
The blackbird Zelas-Metallum flapped over, and perched on his staff. Beady eyes were transfixed on the tin god... watching, as it collapsed to its knees, and keeled over. It was crumbling away like a sand castle, machinery and masonry coming unjoined, the spiritual force that had held them tight being present no longer.
Most importantly... the core was exposing itself to the air, and the glass had shattered. The heart of a Demiurge was now simply another machine that shouldn't have been possible in the first place, and the blue mists that were trapped in it now broke loose, winging towards freedom...
"And that, my dear Zelas," Xelloss said, breathing a sigh of relief, "Is death's bell tolling for the god who thought he could become the Lord of Nightmares. And rightfully so. I do hope Lina survived her little fight, however..."
She cracked open an eye. There was no light, no scene, no gravity. A sense of floating inside herself prevaded; the only sound that reached what she presumed to be her ears was a human heartbeat. The pulsing tone echoed like a soothing earthquake or a quiet riot, calming but demanding of attention. The beat was fading.
I didn't want this to happen, Lina Inverse thought. Issac warned me, and I heeded the warnings, but it happened anyway. And now, Penny has to suffer because I wasn't strong enough...
"It's okay," Penny said. She was here too, with Lina Inverse, since they were technically one person now... but her voice was fading along with that heartbeat. "I had to save the world, didn't I? I'm proud I did this. I wasn't imitating you, I was following my own goals. I finally became my own heroine. No regrets.."
"Don't lie," Lina accused, face to face with her other half. "You've got a regret. Zoamel may be free now, but you're never going to see him again. It might have been the right thing to do, but now..."
"...there wasn't any other way..."
"I know. And that's the problem," Lina said. She stood up... she felt her body stand, at any rate. Her stolen heartbeat sounded faster and faster. "I told Xelloss I wasn't going to be satisfied with any ending other than the ending I wanted. And this is not what I want! I thought I wanted to be mortal, so I could live my own life, so I could be who I was... the way things were, with Amelia, and Zelgadis, and Gourry, but..."
Gourry. A memory flashed... a confused, but heartfelt kiss he had for Lina. For someone he knew as Lina. She felt a pull, in that moment, and it was very hard to resist. In a rush she had remembered everything about Gourry, their adventures, their time spent together, the good and the bad and just for that BRIEF moment in the heat her battle she felt...
Connected.
Of course.
"Penny!" Lina shouted. "Don't fall asleep -- don't give into the merge! Issac never bothered to try and break his merge, but that doesn't mean it's not possible! I know how you can break out of it!"
"....."
"Think of Zoamel!" Lina continued to yell, exploring deeper and deeper into herself, trying to find Penny before it was too late. "Find him! You've got a bond with him, and it's the purest form of belief there is. You don't worship him like you do me, you love him! If he's truly free now, he can pull you away from me, and I can leave your body! PENNY, say something!"
"... ..lina.." the quiet voice spoke. Lina could make out a foggy shape, and... pushed it away, hard. Pushed it away from herself, because touching Penny might only make it worse.
"Have confidence in yourself, please!" she begged. "You're not me! You said so yourself: you can't BE me. Be yourself! Find him, go to him, it's what YOU want, not me!"
She pushed herself farther away... and knew it was working. There was someone else here now, a ghostly blue and white shape... feeling the fresh air of freedom, and looking for Penny just as she was looking for him. The moment was critical... Lina had to let go.
It had been a long quest. Everything they set out to accomplish had been accomplished, and more; this wasn't Lina's quest anymore, it was Penny's. Lina's part, saving the world, was now over. It was time to leave, and let the girl live out her life as she saw fit.
Never looking back, Lina sped for the future's horizon. The faithful needed her; she could feel the pull, and embraced it, welcomed it. As long as there were bad guys to take down, as long as large dinners went uneaten and the world needed someone to cleanse its problems now and then, Lina Inverse would be there.
"Goodbye, Penny," she spoke softly. "You've done well."
And Lina Inverse was history.
The stars were out.
Penny blinked her eyes a few times. No stars, stars. Stars, no stars. Cool air passed over her skin, the distant rumblings of collapsing machinery trickling into her ears. It was her body; she felt alive. Truly awake and alive...
A shape eclipsed the moon. Familiar to her, and dear to her...
"I'm free, Penny," Zoamel said quietly, brushing her hair back from her face. "You did it."
"Zoamel..."
They leaned ever closer, the inevitable drawing better than gravity, better than any force in the universe... and...
Fortunately Gourry covered Lina Gabriev's mouth to keep her from interrupting the scene, and the couple finally got to have their first kiss. At least until the Table landed on Zoamel's head in its euphoric glee over the recent victory, and broke things up.
Penny giggled, as the normally graceful and unflappable god looked adorably confused, Table-chan squatting on his head. "Demiurge!" it declared.
"That IS you, right?" Lina Gabriev asked, staring down at her daughter.
"It's me, mom," Penny said, getting back to her feet. "It's just me. Lina... Lina left. She let me go so I could come back to.. to all of you."
"I'm glad I woke up for the real show!" Gourry said, rubbing a hand behind his head and laughing. "Except usually it's me bailing your mother out of bad situations like this, not the other way around -- "
Lina Gabriev tugged hard on Gourry's ear. "ExCUSE me? When did I ever need help from you?! You couldn't even tie your shoes if I didn't remind you how to do a bow knot!"
Zoamel swallowed hard. Although they had defeated the near-omnipotent god of Science, now he had a far more frightening situation to deal with... future in-laws.
Still, they had won. Zoamel looked up at the fading mists... Demiurges winging their way back to their temples, their churches. His vengeance had struck true, and his brethren were free...
All's well that ends well.
The grip around the ruby-helmed staff tightened. Xelloss's gloves let a protesting squeak of fine leather, as his fingers flexed... his smile flexing even wider, as he watched part of the mist break off, drawing closer.
"Why, look, Zelas!" Xelloss said, pointing out the approaching comet. "It's the rest of your self! It knows you're here, and it's coming home. And look, Dynast is with you, and all the other nice Mazoku that were trapped by the naughty humans! Free at last, free at last, thank Lina we are free at last!!"
Zelas-Metallum flapped her wings a few times, squawking in delight. She landed on Xelloss's outstretched hand, and spread her wings wide... waiting to accept her glory once more.
"Didn't I promise you this day would come?" Xelloss asked. "Didn't I tell you all my plans were building to this moment? Do you doubt me now, Zelas-Metallum? Do you doubt your poor little underling, your general-priest, who you treated just as poorly as the weakest runt in your litter of demons...?"
With a snap of the fingers, black power poured into Xelloss's hand... as he whisked his hand, grasping the bird who had so foolishly perched there.
"I'm afraid I lied," Xelloss spoke... eyes opening, flaring up with purple in the irises as he stared at his former master. "I led you to the North Pole specifically so you would be crippled, and I could use you as a magnet tonight. Your usefulness is officially over. Goodbye, dear Zelas."
There was a squawk, a wet crunching sound, and Xelloss let the dead bird fall to his feet. Simultaneously, he twisted, raised his staff and let the energies previously trapped in the Core flow to him. The comet plowed right into his body, whirling around the black cone of darkness that was his true Mazoku self... until all that bottled Mazoku astral energy was integrated into his own identity.
Xelloss, now effectively 2.4 Mazoku Lords strong, closed his eyes smiled in relief, and gave a sweeping bow to the scene in general.
"Thank YOU, Miss Lina Inverse," he graciously offered. "I couldn't have done it without you. Farewell."
He folded into shadow, and disappeared.
Slowly, the citizens of Sairaag trickled back into the city.
The term 'city' had to be applied very loosely. There was barely enough left to qualify as a respectable set of ruins. The few scraps of buildings remaining after the disaster were totally unusable. Machines littered the landscape, broken and discarded... a huge pile lurked less than two miles away, where Science had given up the ghost.
Survivors picked through the rubble. Everything they had built up after the LAST time Sairaag was destroyed was gone... again. They wandered absent- minded through the streets, not sure what to do next, not sure if they were dreaming or just having a nightmare.
A group of three walked along the streets, surveying the damage as well.
Roy Balderdash grumbled, shaking his head. "Terrific. We were trying to save the city, and we leveled it. At least the damn god is dead now..."
"Does this mean I'm going to go down another rank?" the Apprentice asked, nudging the remains of a steam powered cart with his foot. "Ah.. actually, IS there a lower rank than Apprentice?"
Lord Noisemaker crouched down, to pick some parts out of the wreckage of the cart that he figured he could use later. "Don't be daft, lad. Nothing's lower than Apprentice. But... I'd be willing to restore you to Journeyman in wake of this. We DID achieve victory, at lea -- "
A club struck the window near Noisemaker's head, shattering it; he threw up his cloak quickly, and stepped back. One of the locals was busy beating on the cart with a stick, frenzied in the pointless action.
"What's the matter with you?!" Noisemaker demanded. "You almost hit me! I'm the one who does the whacking around here, my good man!"
"It's these blasted machines!" the Sairaagian shouted. "They ruined us! Destroy all technology! We should have never turned our backs on the old ways of magic!"
Roy smacked his forehead... then marched over, and yanked the club away from the man, intent on shaking some sense into him. "You putz! That's just as extreme as what got you into trouble in the FIRST place!! The problem isn't technology, or magic, or the birds or the bees or the Mazoku or anything like that; it's when you turn into a bloody zealot!"
He tossed the man aside, continuing as he towered over him.
"What were you planning to do, start up some technophobic group to run around rioting and trashing the city? Oh, that's real smart, let's destroy everything that's already been destroyed, lather ourselves up into a frenzy... better yet, let's form an army and go around the world trashing all the machines and gizmoes and inventions you guys came up with! It'll be the same old story from the other direction. I may be an outsider here, but I've dealt with this city long enough to know the score. What you people need isn't to bank all your faith in one thing or another; there's nothing wrong with technology. Just stop deifying it! If you REALLY want to build this city back up and not have it fall over again, stop relying on one thing or another and just rely on yourselves!!... .. what're you guys lookin' at?!"
Roy turned one hundred and eighty... looking at all the refugees, who had gathered, to listen to him speak. They seemed expectant, as if they wanted him to go on... to guide them.
"...I'm not falling into that trap," he said quietly. "I'm not my sister; I don't want power. But if you people are serious about still living here... oh, hell. I'll do what I can. What do I have at home, a bunch of immature little punk bandits? Noisemaker! How much would it cost to hire you on permanently? These guys are going to need a brainiac like you to make stuff go. I'm no scientist, or magician."
"Ah... well, I suppose we could stay," Lord Noisemaker said. "In exchange for, say, a guildhouse for fellow Thaumatologists -- "
"Good, the more the merrier," Roy said. He rolled up his sleeves. Time to get to work.
Leave a Balderdash to clean up after a Balderdash. But maybe this time, he could avoid the family curse, and make things better for a change.
A middle aged man with a very bad combover spread his arms wide in front of the graven icon, the motions identical to how he had performed them hundreds of times previously.
"O terrible god!" he declared, bowing to the statue as was tradition. "Please do not step on us like the worms we are. Hear our calls, hear our cries, and CURSE our enemies who tremble like pillars of salt in the eyes of your rage!! The curses of the unholy and the damned be on our enemies! Black god of vengeance, above all gods, these are the names of those who will burn forever in the acidic pits of your gallbladder!........"
...and the cult leader tapped his foot, waiting. The statue of the monsterous god gave about as much reaction to the speech as the crowd had. IE, el zippo.
"People," the leader addressed, quite accusing in tone. "We have gone over this time and time again. WHEN you attend the weekly meetings of the Unholy Cult of Zoamel Gustav... you are EXPECTED to intone the names of those you seek to destroy right now! Come on, am I talking to myself up here? Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person here who really CARES about the complete and total annihilation of those who oppress us. MARTY!"
"Here, o terrible leader!"
"Are you calling me a terrible leader?!"
"Ah... I meant it with respect, sir."
"Marty, what's the problem here?" the cult leader asked. "You're the keeper of the List of the Damned. What's the problem? Have you lost interest? You're all faithful, yes?"
"Yes, they are."
"Right. Well, if you are, then... then...... ahh. Who, exactly, said that?..."
"Me," the man spoke, sitting casually on the stone base of his mighty frightening statue. He sat with his chin on one palm, a thoughtful poise. "Your god, Zoamel Gustav."
Everybody went pale. Or at least as pale as a bunch of cultists who thought hooded robes were very fashionable and rarely got out much could get.
"You know in your hearts that it is I," Zoamel reminded them. "I have appeared to you once before, when I set out to destroy our enemies... and I have done so. With the help of our new allies, we've vanquished all who threatened the world itself."
"...ah... very good, sir," the cult leader said, wondering if he should be bowing. But... it didn't feel right to bow to someone who was sitting around as if he was chatting over tea.
"But that was then, and this is now," Zoamel spoke, standing and dusting off his hands. "I've had time to think about the situation. I'd like to ask you, my faithful, one very simple question. Do you REALLY want vengeance? Is there truly malice in your heart, and an unquenchable need to punish the ones who you are upset about?"
"Oh, quite terrible and horrible malice, great lord Zoamel! Our knives dipped in blood will forever -- "
"Marvin, please."
" -- not really, sir," Marvin the Pagan Cultist corrected. "I've been trying to encourage them, sir, but... we're just simple town folk. There's just not very much around here to be angry about. O please don't crush us like maggots beneath thy mighty iron -- "
"What is it you need?" Zoamel asked. "Please... tell me. I've sat in shadow, I've allowed the rituals to continue until they have become meaningless. If I'm truly going to support you, now that I've come to a realization about my relationship with man, I'm going to need to talk with you... one on one. As a true leader, and not simply a figurehead. Charlie? I see you in the back. There's something you want, yes?"
"Ah, it's nothing really," a younger cultist said. "I just..."
"Speak up, son. We're all cultists here."
"I'm very worried about my math test tomorrow, sir."
"You really should have studied," Zoamel warned... but chuckled a bit at the requested, and waved a hand, a brief glow following it. "I will grant you a boon, however, young Charlie. You shall not require sleep nor food nor drink tonight, for as long as you read your textbooks and make up your skipped homework. If you are diligent and true in this path, then victory over your... archnemesis the math test shall be yours."
Charlie's jaw fell. "Th.. thank you, o great Zoamel!"
"Hurry home, you have much to catch up on," Zoamel said, waving him off. "My followers... the Cult of Zoamel Gustav changes from now on. I will break the news to Martina back at the head temple... of that and... other recent developments. I want to work with you, to be the best god that I can be. I promise you I won't hide from you any longer. I can't promise I won't hurt you, as I may be immortal, but I am still capable of error... but I will do the best that I can by you. This is my New Covenant of Zoamel. Let the book begin anew."
"Hail Zoamel!!" Marty pledged. "Hail Zoamel, god of the people! Hail Zoamel, god of wisdom!!"
The faith flowed anew... fresh and pure, unlike the diluted and ritualistic belief from before. Zoamel smiled, and basked in it... this was how it was meant to be. Just as Drake had taught him... to help people, to TRULY help people, you couldn't hide from them.
Of course, the future was unknown to him. He couldn't say it would prove a success. But at least now, he was trying.
Despite being a mature young adult now, who had stood against monsters and gods, Penny still freaked completely out when she opened her bedroom door and walked right into a cobweb occupied by three spiders.
Her room was almost derelect. Lina hadn't bothered to clean it much since Penny had run away from home, a time that felt like years gone by... it would probably take all of tomorrow to get the place presentable.
It didn't matter, however. She was home. Zoamel was off with his followers, her mother and father were sharing some... personal time in a nearby room (and thankfully on a bed with a Silence spell cast on it) and the quest was over...
...and then she noticed the string of tied up bedsheets dangling out her window. They had been a bit rain-soaked and torn, but it was still the very same ladder she had used to climb to freedom, and join Lina on her journey. Penny smiled fondly at the memory... then pulled the sheets back in through the window. She wouldn't be needing them anymore.
Because the NEXT adventure she went on, she'd be walking out the front door. She'd come to a sort of agreement with her mother; she was trusted enough to go out on her own now, as long as she didn't come back with any crippling injuries, cursed magical artifacts, maps to treasures that would take her halfway around the globe, or new immortal boyfriends. Mother had been very specific about these things.
Despite that, the future was wide open to her. For now, she'd sleep. But tomorrow, she'd start her life anew.
...one year later
For the first time in four days, the rains had cleared. There was an accident at the Zeifeilian town hall with a weather control machine and an overzealous farmer, who had been petitioning for weeks to get a little extra rain for his crops; when due process took too long, he broke in and threw levers until the town was a mudhole for the better part of a week.
Penny stepped out of her galoshes, careful to set them by the door before tracking sludge across the clean floor of the shop. She gave a brief nod to her mother, who was busy reading some torrid romance novel where the fair young maiden met a handsome and dashing rouge, and the two carried on a whirlwind romance and eventually destroyed a small country and robbed it dry. (The author was definitely a local.)
"Any luck yet?" Lina asked.
Penny shook her head. "They're still not understanding yet. The branch of the Cult of Zoamel Gustav, God of Wisdom and Sometimes Vengeance is still being mistaken for Martina's primary branch, the Unholy Cult of Zoamel Gustav the Monstrous and Terrible. I don't think we're ever going to be taken seriously at this rate..."
"People's minds take awhile to change," Lina noted, closing her book. "Give it time, okay? You just started the High Priestess gimmick, and respect takes time to build. Took me years to get established as a major mover in the magical goods -- "
" -- it's thaumatological instruments now, mother. Nobody says 'Magical Goods' anymore, it's so old world."
"I'm an old lady, okay? Permit me my delusions," Lina requested. "I'm not hip to the slang you kids use these days, or that sugary pop idol music... Penny, you're blocking the door, move over."
Penny scooted off to the side, in time for a disheveled looking dumpy man to wander into the shop. He quickly made his way to the counter, and slapped more money on the table.
"I need another Bag of Holding," he wheezed.
"S'matter, Matthew, you drop it down a well or something?" Lina asked. "I just sold you one not two hours ago. I don't HAVE another one."
"You don't?! But... but I got robbed!" the man declared, angrily banging the counter. "Those blasted Black Wyvern bandits attacked me on my way out of town! They've got one of those half-Mazoku mercenaries with them, too. I swear, it's too dangerous in this countryside nowadays! An honest merchant can't move two feet without having to deal with some unsavory -- "
"Penny?" Lina asked, looking around the man.
Penny took her ivory staff from the umbrella rack. "Already on it. Be back in... ten minutes."
"What? Err, what?" Matthew asked, looking confused.
"Well, we've got this policy," Lina explained. "If your goods get stolen... we get them back. By force, if required. This shop doesn't tolerate bandits, and we've got the crusaders of the Church of Zoamel Gustav to back that up."
"Zoamel? Oh, thank heavens! I won't have to pay for another -- "
" -- for a slight fee," Lina added. With an evil, evil smirk. "Miracles are not cheap, buster. Now, that'll be... oh, 250% of what you paid. And it'll be an obligatory 50% overhead fee for services rendered, since, well, she's already left, hasn't she? Will that be cash or credit?"
Outside, Gourry looked up from polishing his Captain of the Guard's Official Chestplate, to see his daughter waving at him. Table-chan bounced up and down a few times upon seeing Penny as well, knocking the can of metal polish off its top.
"I'm off to fight evil, dad!" she called.
"Make sure you're home before supper!" he warned. Kids these days, growing up so fast. Although... she didn't LOOK a day older than she did a year ago. Funny, that. He resumed his polishing. It never hurt to look good for the troops, after all.
Penny crouched behind a grassy knoll, looking across the plain towards the bandit encampment. She motioned for the other two crusaders in her wing to stay down, as well as the wing fifty feet to her left. No sense in rushing in right away.
She felt a tap on her shoulder, the usual signal for quietly getting attention...
"Private party?" Zoamel asked, fading into view next to her, lying flat to avoid detection.
"You're always welcome, dear," Penny added, smiling. "It's just the Black Wyverns again. They've got a Half-Maz with them this time, though. I was going to handle him..."
"I'll take care of that," Zoamel spoke. "Xelloss needs to learn not to interfere with my new homeland. Send your wing flanking to the left; they used a different kind of wood for the wall there, which should be easily broken. The other wing can -- "
The ground trembled with a massive explosion, as a pillar of black smoke rose from inside the encampment. Screaming and panic was immediately audible, surprising Penny's troops; she motioned for them to stay still until she could assess things.
"...did something blow up in there?" she asked. "Maybe they have a siege engine and it backfired... it's hard to trust the weapons from Atlas, they're so unreliable..."
But Zoamel was smiling.
"Oh, it's not a machine," he said. "I can feel exactly who it is..."
The entire north wall of the compound shattered. Bandits scattered like frightened bandits, flames quickly consuming the camp, spreading faster than flames technically should.
Out of the flames walked a single figure, cape unsinged. She marched right over to Penny, and dropped one (slightly mauled) Bag of Holding in front of her.
"Give that back to Matthew, okay?" Lina Inverse asked, hitching up her belt a little. "It got a little shredded... ehheh. Kinda overdid things, didn't I? Gotta go, I'm needed in Darata. See you around."
She twirled once, and was gone.
It was experimental as hell. I wasn't sure it was going to work. I mean, a world so distorted that it almost felt like an elseworlds? The largest cast of original characters this side of ReBirth? Who was going to want to READ something like this?
Apparently a lot of people. I'm definitely not going to complain about that.
Thank you to all the readers of Slayers Demiurge. Your feedback has kept me going, even when my 9-to-5 job was getting all up in my area and crushing my will to write. I'm definitely not going to be able to match the speed records I set with Trilogy, as a college brat with tons of free time... but I'm not going to stop writing. I've already got a new project in the works. I won't jinx it, but if you've come this far, you probably already know what it is. If not, just visit the website and educate yo'self.
Maybe it's not my finest work, but I'm damn proud of it, and I'm happy to be writing these words in closing. Thank you for reading this far. Until next time, no matter where you go, there you are.
-- Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne
April 20, 2000
Gaithersburg, MD