"And I say we are lost," Ashen retorted as Lady snorted in agreement.
Paying no mind to the dwarf or his boar mount, Quar affirmed, "I've divined something important for us in this direction."
"Divine this," the dwarf retorted, giving Quar the salute.
"Now that isn't anyway to win an argument," Quar replied, serving only to frustrate Ashen.
"Well I'll give you a closing statement!" he roared as he lunged at Quar.
Arthur and Gourry watched as the dwarf and the priest got into quite a squabble as they kicked up a dust cloud of a fight. The whole problem started when Quar insisted on traveling to Zefilia to a city called Grayfalcon where something important was needed. Ashen, on the other hand, was dead set on going to Kalmaart to handle whatever evil was there. The two had been arguing, more on Ashen's side than Quar's, along the road and it just got worse when the group wandered off the main trade route into a forest. Plus the fact Ashen was having a headache from all the booze he had the previous night.
"Well this is certainly not going to help us any bit," Arthur sighed shaking his head as Gourry nodded.
Shouldn't have drunken that much. Gourry was currently experiencing a whole new level of pain as he was struck with one of the worst hangovers ever. Gourry was used to the regular ones, but this one was ten times worse then any beating he ever received by a Mazoku. Of course the fact that last night, Ashen challenged him to see who could drink the other under the table didn't help anything. Currently he was experiencing the sensation of a thousand Gold Dragons using his head as the dance floor for a swing contest.
"Are you feeling okay?" Arthur asked looking away from the fight to Gourry.
Gourry would have answered, except he was too busy contemplating the idea of killing himself just to stop the pain. Unfortunately, his brain was in no mood to handle the complicated task of taking out the sword and running himself through. This was truly hell.
"Probably drank too much," Arthur muttered as he watched Gourry sit down on a rock, gripping his head in agony. "Well that's the glory of a hangover. Too bad those priests really haven't pioneered a way to get rid of those."
Shutting his eyes, Gourry tried to drown the outside noise out as the dragons dancing on his head decided to go into tango mode.
Arthur sighed as he turned away from Gourry to look at the ongoing fight with Lady sitting there on the sidelines watching. This was going to get them nowhere fast and with Gourry suffering from the hangover, he was getting be a burden. Better to stop this fight to see if Quar could do something about it, he was a priest after all.
Walking up to the edge of the fight, Arthur inquired, "Are you two done yet?"
"No," came the answer.
Great, this was going to be the biggest waste of time now with those two fighting and the One here suffering from a hangover. Well he had been a part of more pathetic groups then this one. He just hoped the Play of Twilight wasn't completed during the time they wasted here.
"Foolish Mortals!"
The trees around them all rustled as the wind blew through them, sending some of the leaves flying off into the breeze. Wood animals immediately cowered before they went running toward their den for safety while the birds all took off in a big swarm above them, temporarily blocking out the sun in their passing. All the stuff to set up something really dramatic.
Ashen and Quar stopped their fight as Arthur looked ahead to address the voice that roared at them. Standing several yards ahead of them covered with red icy mist around it was a massive figure sporting a few pairs of arms and legs. The beast had a maw filled with sharp teeth and a pair of large horns curling forward. Its ruby red eyes look at them with sadistic glee as an aurora of reddish energy surrounded the freakish entity.
"What by my ancestor's beard is that?" Ashen gasped as the figure merely chuckled.
Straightening his disheveled robes, Quar muttered, "It appears to be Ruby Eye Shabranigudo from what I've seen of him in the pictures."
"What? The Demon King himself?" Ashen roared clutching his helmet.
"Well this is certainly an unfortunate turn of events," Arthur sighed shaking his head as the three looked at the Demon King.
"You are correct in your assumption," Shabrandigo declared as it towered over them. "Pathetic whelps, tremble before my presence."
"I'd rather not," Arthur muttered shaking his head.
"What?"
"I don't feel like groveling. If I'm going to die, I'll do it with dignity," Arthur explained.
"Me too," Ashen agreed as he pulled out Lucy. "Well dear, this is going to probably be our last battle but it'll be a good one. You've been so good to me," he said as he stroked the axe.
Everyone just sweatdropped after that little bravado.
Clearing his throat, Quar spoke, "I trust that Ceiphied will see me through this."
"Fools, you honestly think you can stand against the Demon King?" Shabranigudo mocked. "I could destroy you in an instant."
"Then why don't you?" Arthur asked.
"Because I'm feeling generous," Shabby smiled as the three blinked in surprise.
"Isn't that kind of antithesis to you?" Quar inquired.
Glaring at the priest, Shabby wagged his index fingers. "Oh but it isn't. In exchange for all of your money, I'll let you live and even run away before I destroy the world."
"Now that doesn't sound too unreasonable," Ashen remarked as he dug out his wallet.
"Why hasn't Ceiphied come yet?" Quar muttered, too lost in thought to hear Shabby's demands.
"My question is why does a Demon King need money?" Arthur muttered, scratching his chin as he glared at the Demon King.
Sweatdropping, Shabby remarked, "Well that is beyond your mortal comprehension. Yeah that's right. You puny mortals can't understand how my obviously complex mind works."
Ashen, Arthur, and Quar all gave Shabby a funny look.
"You know by the minute, he's getting less menacing," Quar muttered as Ashen and Arthur nodded.
"What are you guys fussing about?" Gourry muttered as he came up behind them.
The Gold Dragons that were dancing on his head had finally moved down to a slow dance so Gourry was feeling a lot less eager to seek death.
"Well we're having problem with a Demon King," Ashen muttered s Gourry blinked and looked at the Demon King.
The Demon King gazed down on Gourry before it squeaked, "Nii-chan?"
Everyone, but Gourry and Quar, facefaulted at that comment. Quar just couldn't do it and Gourry was sporting a rather large sweatdrop.
"What?" Gourry stuttered.
Snapping back up and pointing an accusing finger at Gourry, Ashen snapped, "You're a Demon King's older brother?"
"I don't remember having any younger sibling besides my sister," Gourry muttered scratching his chin as he looked at the Shabby. "Of course my sister is a brat," he sighed as Shabby went on fire.
"What did you call me?!" Shabby roared, spouting fire before going up in a cloud of smoke.
As the smoke cleared, there now stood a young girl around her mid-teens with long thick neon pink hair tied back behind her neck. She ground her teeth as she glared at Gourry with her red eyes. The outfit she was in was a simple blue sleeveless blue dress with a collar white shirt underneath. Walking up to Gourry, she casually elbowed him the stomach.
"That was mean," she pouted, glaring at Gourry.
"Heh, sorry," Gourry apologized, wincing a bit at the pain.
Clearing his throat to get the two's attention, Quar inquired, "Not to be rude or screw up this family moment, but could you please explain what is going on?"
Arthur and Ashen nodded behind him.
"Sorry," Gourry muttered as he placed his hand on his sister's head. "This Elizabeth Theodore Gabriev. She's my sister."
"What?"
"Konnichiwa," she smiled at them.
Arthur shook his head, this was going to be a long journey.