Layers of dark gray clouds that covered the entire sky had slowly obscured it. Northern winds came down blowing through the lands below heralding the approaching seasons. A tree shed its last leaf which brushed away along with all the others from the ground.
Meanwhile in the icy slopes of the forboding peaks, a figure slowly stirred as its eyes open. Looking down upon the world from his home in the freezing peaks of the Valley of Tears, he stared. Then ever so slowly he took a deep breath and then Old Man Winter breathed down upon the world. Snowflakes dancing on the edge of his breath blanketed the ground with snow.
Snow slowly came down as they seemed to dance along the winds, making their way to the grounds. Every snowflake, each a different kind, was like a little ballerina dancing to the whim of winter.
Somewhere else a person wasn't all too appreciative of the snow or the coldness, the latter he was no stranger of. He stood before a massive field now blanketed in the newly fallen snow of winter. The knowledge of this place was known to few and those who did were rather uneasy of remembering its location.
Sticking out of the snow covered field in even rows were simple grave markers as far as the eye could see. They seemed to stretch on forever, a simple white cross with a name on each one.
A sudden gust of wind caught the stranger by surprise as it blew the hood off the cloak he was wearing, letting his long white hair fly in the wind and exposing his long pointed ears. Signs that he was an elf, but he made no move to return the hood to its place.
Instead, he turned his attention to the field as he muttered, "How many years has it been now? How long has it been since that day? A thousand and thirteen years."
His red eyes glared hatefully at the field as he clenched his fist, "Since you all laid down your life in that ill-fated attack. Since then..."
Slowly he closed his eyes as he thought back to that 'day' even after all these years. He could still remember the hollow echo of his own footsteps down the hall as he hastily ran to catch up with someone he thought he could trust.
"Milgazia!"
The young golden dragon leader turned his head at the sound of his name as he saw a white haired elf come running toward him. "What is it Loht? The Water Dragon King has already requested our presence. The others are already there as well."
"I'm sorry, but...I must speak with you," Loht panted as he paused to catch his breath from his running.
Both Loht and Milgazia were good friends having known each other for some time. Even though Loht was an elf and Milgazia was a gold dragon, both trusted the other very well. Now during the pitch of Kouma War, they were both representatives of each respective race. With the recent raising of the God Sealing Barrier, the war had taken a turn for the worse. The Demon King of the North and Chaos Dragon Gaav prepared themselves for the final assault on the Water Dragon King Citadel in the Kataart Mountains.
"Well, tell me on the way," Milgazia sighed as he turned to go but was stopped as Loht held him back by his cape.
"You must go through with this?" Loht said.
"What do you mean?" Milgazia asked pulling his cape free.
"Don't fall into this pit of madness. You know as well as I do that this is ill-advised and suicidal," Loht protested as Milgazia looked at his old friend wearily.
"This attack is what the Water Dragon King desires," he said flatly.
"Well the Water Dragon King is wrong. A direct assault against the combined Mazoku Force along with a Mazoku Lord and the Demon King will spell disaster to us all. Without the Divine Magic, the troops will be slaughtered and not ever the Water Dragon King could survive such a force either. This is madness!"
"It is not my or your will to decide that. Our duty is only to say what our respective race has decided," Milgazia stated.
"And so you who claim to preserve life will so willingly throw millions away?" Loht demanded.
"You are stepping out of line. Come, I'll waste no more time," Milgazia snapped as he turned and walked onward down the hall to the end.
"Stop, you don't realize what you're doing!" Loht cried as he raced after Milgazia till they both came out onto a balcony overlooking the citadel.
Already standing there was a tall regal man with long blue hair blowing in the breeze, the human form of the Water Dragon King. Surrounding him was the representative of the other races: human, dwarves, gnomes, and others. Loht was about to say something when he was ushered into his position along with the other representative.
Down in the main courtyard of the Citadel, over which the balcony looked down upon, was the huge cluster of soldiers and men from all of the different races. Circling overhead were thousands of Gold Dragon creating a golden shine. They all stood staring up toward the figure of the Water Dragon King as he looked down upon them. The crowd quickly silented as the Water Dragon King raised his hand and turned toward the representatives.
"Speak."
Milgazia stepped forward and bowed. "The Gold Dragons pledge their support."
The crowd and dragons all gave out a huge cheer as the others continued the same process till there was only Loht.
Bowing toward the Water Dragon King, Loht gritted his teeth. "The Elves have pledged their support."
The crowd once again cheered and the Water Dragon King turned to address the crowd before everyone caught Loht's final statement.
"But I will not!"
A wave of gasps went through everyone as they stared at the elf, who stood there glaring at the Water Dragon King. Milgazia was stricken dumb by his friend's sudden outburst.
"I will not participate in this senseless bloodbath," Loht continued the words becoming easier to say with each passing breath. "There is nothing to gain from this battle, but your death. You are only doing this because your pride tells you to challenge them. Even when you know that you will fail and be destroyed! And what more, you are even willing to condemn everyone else along with you! What is it that you see? That I can not? I see only despair!" Loht yelled as he turned around and stormed off.
Milgazia made a move to stop him, but the Water Dragon King shook his head.
And so Loht left that hall and never returned. The battle turned out just as Loht had foreseen with the army being torn apart by the monsters armies. The Generals and Priests of the Mazoku Lords cut down thousands of Gold Dragons. Even the Water Dragon King was utterly vanquished by the Demon King of the North and Gaav despite the sealing of both. The losses of the battle to all sides were immense.
Loht opened his eyes as he gazed down on the field once more. "And in all these years, your deaths have been forgotten. Humanity in its gluttonous glory has corrupted the legends and created a false idol to worship. My brethren have cast a blind eye and fled to their little hideaways. And the Ryuzoku? They live in fear of a mazoku, too scare to act in fear of drawing his attention."
"Is this what you all died for? This is the legacy that you wanted to pass on?" Loht yelled toward the field.
Only the icy wind answered him as it blew by.
Turning away from the field and trudging off, Loht swore, "This will not be allowed to happen again. If the Dragon Kings won't do what is right, then I will! I know the way. I'll shall have the means soon."
His foot crunched through the snow as he made his way to the destination in mind, crossing through the blizzard. Piercing through the heavy winds as the coldness bit at him, he made it to a ruined keep.
The elements have certainly seen this structure in better day as the place was in a state of near dismal collapse. Littered all around the keep were skeletons and shattered weapons, marking the site of a great battle. Loht entered the keep as the wind echo through the empty halls which were stripped of any ornaments or decoration. His journey finally found him in a large throne room with a single throne in the back.
Sitting on the throne, garbed in a black cloak that reached across the floor a bit and a leather armor was bone white skeleton. Its jaw was opened in the impression of a mid-scream as its bone hands dug into the armrest of the throne. Punctured through the central padding region of the leather armor was a large wooden stake.
"Vice, the Lord of the Nosferatu." Loht smiled as the wind blew into the room. Reaching out and gripping the stake, Loht pulled it out.
Black energy came pouring out of the opening left by the stake as it coiled back and started to seep around the skeleton. A faint red glow started to glimmer in the empty sockets of the skull as black energy came pouring out of the openings. Like snakes, they quickly coiled around the body, covering it in a black pulsing cocoon.
"How mildly impressive," Loht muttered as he watched it all.
The black cocoon then exploded into the black bats as they flew in a massive throng through the opening in the ceiling. Sitting on the throne now was a pale figure with steel colored hair, the edges of the cloak on the ground moving like snakes a bit. Vice's eyes were completely black except for his red pupils that glowed slightly.
"What honor do I owe that I'm once again given flesh?" Vice asked as he revealed his fangs.
"I am Loht the Darkling," Loht announced as he did a mock bow. "I've come seeking your aid, ancient one."
Snorting at the proposition, Vice inquired, "And why would I bother working with you?"
"In order to bring my plans to fruition, I require knowledge that only you hold." Loht smiled as he perked Vice's attention. "The knowledge I seek is one that was plucked from the Water Dragon King's mind when he fell. I'm sure a being such as yourself has such knowledge, the knowledge of the Clair Bible."
Vice nodded silently as his mind drifted off to the past.
Post-Kouma War
Merign hastily penned the last word onto the parchment, letting out a sigh of relief at the completion of his work. The light from the nearby candle on his desk flickered a bit, causing some of the night's darkness to sink in. The room Merign stood in was cluttered with piles of notes and books on assorted history and facts. Gazing over what was written, he checked to see if he got all of it correct. Merign let out another sigh as he closed the tome that he had finished.
"A manuscript of the Clair Bible," he read off the cover as he wiped off a bit of the ink that was there. "The fragmented knowledge of the Water Dragon God that I received shall not be lost." Merign smiled as he rubbed his eyes.
Ever since the fateful battle at the Kataart Mountains, when the Demon King of the North and Chaos Dragon Gaav destroyed the Water Dragon King, fragments of the deity's memory spread throughout the land within the barrier. Merign was one so touched by this resulting shock wave of energy released with the being's death. Realizing what he had just learned, Merign quickly poured himself into trying to preserve as much of what he had learned as possible. For not only did he learn much about the world and spells, but also of something frightfully powerful outside of this world.
Though this text may pose a danger to all sides, he can not allow such knowledge to sit idly in his head and be lost. He flipped through the book to the particular page he penned.
"Darker than deepest pitch, deeper than darkest night," he recited as his eye darted across the lines. "The true lord of all, the existence from which all is born and all is returned. One who resides in the sea of chaos. My power my will, my will my power. The... Lo... Lord... of... Nightma..." Merign slammed the book shut as his breath came out in short burst. No, he couldn't finish saying it, what he knew was written. This revelation was too much even for a learned scholar such as himself, who strove for knowledge and lore. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he feared what would happen if someone tried to tap upon such unprecedented power.
"Though the knowledge must be saved, this book must be hidden from the eyes of masses," Merign muttered as he picked up the massive tome. Or else everything will be return to nothingness should anyone try to harness such power. His heart raced as sounds of skirmish could be heard outside in the hallway.
Sounds of fighting echoed as blades clashing was heard quite audibly through the door, as evident as the sound of those same men dying. The noise quickly drew closer and Merign stumbled back as it finally reached the door. Then silence settled, before the door slowly opened revealing a guard standing in the doorway. Merign let out a sigh of relief, but stopped as the guard came slumping down, his murderer stepping over the dead body and smiled.
"Who are you?" Merign stammered stumbling back, accidentally knocking aside the candle on his desk. The candle fell onto a pile of sheets, quickly setting most of the room aflame.
The stranger, whose silver hair glinted in the flames and garbed in a black banded leather armor, slowly stepped forward through the flames that seem to part for his presence. Blood dripped from his clawed hands. A black cloak with a crimson interior flapped behind him as he finally came before the cowering sage. Suddenly Merign's eyes widen as he noticed through the now dancing flames that moved to encompass the room, that this man had no shadow!
"A Nosferatu?" he stammered in disbelief.
Smiling, Vice looked at the frightened man with his eyes, which were totally black except for the red cornea. "I am one who has committed atrocities like those that you have never seen or could ever experience..."
"You came for the book."
"Perceptive old man, you were one of the many touched with knowledge that is forbidden," Vice smiled as with a mere thought, all of the fire in the room died away. "I'll take that off your hands now," he said as he held out his right hand, blood dripped from the fingers down onto the floor.
The sage tightened his grip on the tome and sputtered, "You will take this only when I die!"
"Very well," the stranger sighed, shrugging his shoulder as he turned his right palm toward the old geezer. The old man was slammed into the wall by an unknown force as the tome fell from his grasp to Vice's feet. The black edges of the cloak coiled along the book as they lifted it up and deposit it onto Vice's hand. "You could have died a more painless death if you didn't resist."
"There is still hope..." Merign coughed as he let sprawled on the floor, blood dripping from his lip.
Raising an eyebrow at the comment, the Vice grinned. "Of course, there is still hope. So far, no one has ever figured out how to kill it, but we can kill the people who speak of it." Vice walked away from the dying men as he gripped his treasure tightly.
Present
"Yes, I know what you are talking about." Vice remarked coldly as he conjured a book in his hand. "But why should I even contemplate an alliance with you?"
"Because my dear Nosferatu, I want you to have the honor of helping to herald a new age, ringing the end of those miserable Mazoku and Shinzoku!" Loht boasted, squeezing his hand into a fist before Vice.
"Interesting," Vice whispered scratching his chin. Revealing his fangs as he smiled, "Please continue."
Loht smirked as his red eyes glint evilly.
"Could you please stop laughing?"
Lina paused from her laughing as she glared at Amelia. "Oh come on, it's not that bad is it?"
"Lina-san," Amelia muttered unplugging her ears. "You've been laughing ever since we left that bandit camp two hours ago."
"It's been that long?" Lina commented as the two both sweatdropped. Gourry remain ignorant of everything. Shifting the huge bag of treasure she was carrying, Lina shrugged. "Why shouldn't I? Look at the loot from those bandits, this must at least be a king's ransom or two."
"Actually from what I calculated, it is exactly three king's ransoms, a prince's ransom, and a daughter of a rich family ransom," Amelia guessed as everyone gave her a weird look. "So now what are we going to be doing, Lina-san?"
Lina gave Amelia a grin that went from one side of her face to the other as she proudly proclaimed, "We are...GOING TO A RESTAURANT AND EAT LIKE KINGS!!" Going back to laughing, she started to run off as she yelled, "Hurry up! I heard the next town has this great restaurant there!"
"Guess that's what make sense," Amelia shrugged as she hurried after Lina.
Gourry, finally noticing that he was alone with the departing clouds of his companions in the distance, hastily chased after them. He was pretty certain that if they were running that fast then it was one of two possible things. Food, or a really powerful thing that blows thing up big has appeared. Gourry really hoped it was food.
Watching this entire episode occurring from a safe location, a tall blue-haired lady's eyebrow twitched. The rainbow color feathered wings on her back were just a few steps shy of full molting as she deactivated the scrying pool. Her green eyes stared back at her as she fingered the ponytail hanging off her left shoulder.
"Those people can't be the ones..." Myria muttered as the pool rippled a little. Lina could easily end up destroying the world a lot sooner than saving it. Her elegant dress trailed behind her as she walked down the long marble hallway of her alcove, along the walls were pictures depicting images of great importance in history.
"Of course she isn't," a black tortoise remarked as he waddled uneasily up to her, trying to keep the glasses balanced on its snout. "Those are just some of his associates that may be needed to serve as canon fodder,"
Myria looked at Merk weirdly.
Brushing off her stare, Merk continued. "You must be prepared for this mission and handle it to the of best of your abilities. Since this is going to be your first mission, I'll assure you that the concept of 'beginner's luck' is a lie. My research has proved conclusively that such a thing doesn't exist. Though there is a goddess of luck. Nice girl. Has a bit of gambling problem. Speaking of gambling I once did a study on it. Unfortunately being a tortoise, I had a bit of problem getting into those establishments. For you see, being an animal and all - "
Myria's mind finally kicked in and drowned out Merk's babbling as she turned her attention back to the pool. When Merk started to go off on a tangent, it would be two hours at the best before he got back on topic.
Watching Lina and her friends run down the path, Myria couldn't help but think about the old days before she had assumed this position. When she was just an ordinary girl being mean to her younger brother as usual. She could still remember the vineyards and wine from her home place and wondered if anyone still remembered her.
Stars marked the sky as night settled down.
The door was shattered to splinters as a large body came flying through it toward the streets. Twisting in midair the body, being Vice, managed to land on his feet as he skid to a stop beside Loht who was sitting on a rock pleasantly. Vice glared a bit as he stood up, dusting himself off while glaring at the exit he had made.
Leaning his chin against his hand, Loht offered, "Now?"
Shaking his head as he walked back into the restaurant, Vice growled. "No."
Sound of yelling from inside could be heard followed by a swift crack as Vice came flying out of the restaurant, grinding to a stop in the grooves he made on the previous trip. Shooting a glance toward Loht, he merely dusted himself off as he went back in.
Loht sighed as he shook his head out and pulled out a piece of wood.
Vice came flying back out of the restaurant and then marched right back in.
Ignoring the repetitive cycle, Loht went to work on the piece of wood, carving it with a knife into a fine wooden sculpture of the Water Dragon King. Admiring his handiwork, he took the knife and drove it into the midsection of the sculpture.
"Now?" he inquired as Vice came to a screeching stop after being booted out of the restaurant fifteen times.
Getting up as he brushed himself off, Vice shrugged. "All yours."
Loht smiled as he stood up and walked into the restaurant calmly as Vice took a seat. In less then a minute, Loht came sailing out of the doorway and landed in a heap before Vice.
"Now?" Vice asked looking a bit bored.
"Now," Loht hissed as he got back up.
The two nodded toward each other as they both stormed into the restaurant together with the sound of scuffling being heard soon after. The patrons of the restaurant came pouring out as the fighting got worse. Finally it died down as Loht and Vile came walking out each, carrying one end of pole with Luna hog-tied to the pole. Gagged and with an extra strong chain binding as an extra measure.
"That was more trouble than I think it was worth," Vice grumbled.
Loht snorted as he shifted the weight of the pole to the other shoulder. "Yes, but she is essential to our plans."
"You mean your plans," Vice corrected as the two walked down the streets with their prisoner.
"This girl does weigh a lot," Loht grumbled as he shifted his shoulder yet again.
Vice merely nodded.
Luna however didn't take it as lightly and started to really shake and curse through her gags.
"Better hurry, the binds are starting to weaken," Vice muttered, picking up the pace.
"Agreed," Loht affirmed as the two pranced down the streets.
"There goes the neighborhood," an old man sitting on the porch remarked as the three went by.
"And the waitress as well," the old lady added.
And the night passed along without further incidents. Except for somewhere, someone yelled about rotten garbage or something, but that was another story.
The sun slowly came over the crest of the mountains as Zel stood by the edge of the lake in quiet meditation. Holding both his arms out before him palm outstretched, mystical energy slowly started to float around him. Doing several slow gestures in the air, he recited the ancient arcane words in his mind.
A blue circle appeared on the surface of the water before him as the magical energy slowly started to flow into it. Flexing his hand together in a sudden movement, the water came rising up in a huge funnel toward the sky.
Holding the water up for a couple a minutes, Zel ceased his concentration to let the water come collapsing back down. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Myria standing on the water before him as the last of the water came splashing down.
"Greetings Zelgadiss Graywords," Myria stated as her feathered wings glinted brightly in the light. "I am Myria, the Magi of the late Water Dragon King."
"What do you want?" Zel asked.
"I see that you are one to go straight to the point," she smiled as Zel merely frowned pulling his hood even more over him. "But the reason that I've sought you is immensely important. The fate of the world hangs in the balance,"
Snorting as he turned to walk off, "If you come to me to help save the world, forget it. Go ask Lina Inverse for that, not me."
"You can't just turn your back on this," Myria protested.
"I'm doing it right now," Zel replied as he walked off waving at her.
"Hey, come back here!" Myria cried as Zel glanced back at her.
Snapping his hand, Myria's face paled as a huge wave of water from the lake rose up and soaked her. Zel chuckled a bit as he walked off leaving the drenched Magi still standing there in disbelief.
"BAKA!"
The force of Myria's cursing echoed across the hallway with such force it shook the foundation of the place. Merk being quite unstable in his walking already was knocked onto his back by the resounding force of the yell. His arms and legs were waving in the air as he desperately tried to right himself to no avail.
"Oh dear," he muttered as he was completely helpless now. "This is really bad. I require outside assistance to help me now. Oh help! Help? Isn't that like Myria to leave me stuck like this...I recall a time long ago when I was stuck in this exact same dilemma. It was when..."
Meanwhile, Myria was busy washing her hair of all icky lake water. "Damn that Zelgadiss! He's going to foot my dry cleaning bill for this."
Meanwhile the magical servants sweatdropped as Myria begin to curse again. The Mistress had came storming into the bathing room completely soaked with lake water and plant forms. For the last fifteen minutes, she had been swearing her head off.
"Does he have any idea how long it takes for me to have my wings cleaned and dried?" she demanded as the servants began to leave before Myria decided to do something damaging. "I'm going to waste that jerk, after he helps me of course." She smiled as the pleasant thoughts of what she should do to him.
Zel didn't even flinched as Myria stood waiting for him at the bend of the road. It had been about a day since they had last crossed paths.
"I told you before I-urk." He choked as Myria seized him by his collar and lifted him up a bit to look at him face to face.
"Listen closely and listen good," Myria ordered as she glared at him demonically.
Zel couldn't help, but swear that he had seen that type of face before.
"You are going to help me. You aren't going to complain. And if you ever pull any trickery on me like dunking me with lake water, I am going to leave a trail of bits and pieces of you from here to whereever Ceiphied is! Do I make myself clear?" she asked with flames dancing around here.
Zel could only nod meekly.
"Good," she smiled dropping him and resuming a nice charming demeanor. "Then we'd better get going now. I'm sure they are already well aware of us and we need to be on the move."
Picking himself up, Zel asked, "And what is it that I'm suppose to do?"
"Cease the possible threat of annihilation to all matter and total disruption of natural harmony."
"What?"
"Prevent total entropy from possibly coming to be."
"I'm not really following what you are trying to say."
"Stop a couple of evil guys from succeeding in their evil scheme and possibly ending all existence. Do I have to spell it out for you?" Myria fumed as Zel shrugged.
"Isn't that a given?" Zel asked.
"Yes, but this scheme is dangerous because this isn't being done by Mazoku. And that in itself makes it really bad."
"Just peachy," Zel sighed as he followed Myria down the path. "So I suspect you are going to tell me what I'm going to need some help to do on this quest?"
"Of course, we got to pick up some help," Myria smiled as Zel's eyebrow twitched.
"Help, like in what?" he muttered.
"Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, and Amelia Wil Tel Saillune," Myria replied as Zel nearly tripped on his own foot. Smirking, she said, "I decided that since you suggest me getting Lina do it, it'd be nice to have her come along as support for you."
"Great," Zel grumbled as Myria chuckled.
Loht removed his hand from the surface of the mirror as the image of Zel and Myria placed there faded away to show his reflection. Sitting behind him on the throne, Vice leaned on the armrest as he waited for Loht's comment.
"So the Magi for the Water Dragon King still lives," Loht cursed as he turned away from the mirror.
"I'm hardly surprised," Vice said as Loht frowned at him.
"And why is that?" Loht demanded.
Smiling a bit, Vice explained, "Because I met that particular one some time ago before my 'death' and I can assure you she'll be trouble,"
"That may be so," Loht growled squeezing his fist. "But I won't let my plans be stopped so close to fruition. All we need now is the final component."
"Which unfortunately is nowhere in sight," Vice commented.
Ignoring Vice's skepticism, Loht said, "Anyway, we need to send someone to take care of the pest. I'm sure you can handle that department, Vice."
"It's already been done." Vice said with a grin.
The patrons of the restaurant, along with many of the waiters and staff members, stared blankly in sheer shock. No one really knew who these three were, but they had suddenly come barging and promptly started to inhale all the food brought to the table. One waiter almost lost his hand when he didn't let go of the dish fast enough.
Amelia watched the sight of Lina and Gourry eating and the resulting fight over food. Ever since that last bandit raid, Lina had been going on a world restaurant tour, traveling to some of the finest restaurants across the lands. So Lina and Gourry were diving into some of the most exotic meals from around the world.
"Oh Lina-san?" Amelia asked as Lina was busily stuffing her mouth full. "Shouldn't we be out try to defeat evil and darkness? You and Gourry have been eating for quite a while."
"Oh come on," Lina said between bites, "Even heroes have to take a break to enjoy themselves."
"I guess so," Amelia remarked. "But all we've been doing is going to restaurants and eating them out of food,"
"And what's wrong with that?" Lina inquired as Amelia bowed her head.
Gourry, taking the initiative, stealthy seized Lina's seasoned bass with exotic spice from her plate.
"Hey that was mine," Lina growled grabbing the fish by the tail.
"You weren't eating it," Gourry protested as the two got into a tugging war.
Amelia merely watched the spectacle silently.
Meanwhile, unknown to everyone in the restaurant, several shady figures had converged on the place. They all wore tattered black cloaks around themselves. Their completely hairless skin was a sickly pale white with greenish tint. Long pointed ears twitched a bit as their red eyes glared at the establishment. Red scarves were wrapped around the lower half of their faces. Long twisted fingernails extended from their thin bony hands.
"The girl and the others are there," one of them whispered. "Don't let any of them escape."
The lead one promptly strode forward as it went to the front door and kicked it right off the hinges to the surprise of everyone inside. The group quickly filed into the place as they scanned the room, eyes falling upon Lina's table.
"There..."
"Kill them all..."
Before anyone could make another move, a piercing whistle broke through the air. Instinctively all of the patrons immediately dove out of the windows, trapdoors, and paintings with portholes behind them. In less then a minute, the restaurant was empty except for three people and the cloak people.
"Wow, that was a really good evacuation system," Amelia declared as Gourry nodded.
"They must had been well rehearsed for such an occasion." Gourry commented.
"Enough of this foolishness!" the lead figure hissed as it glared at them.
"Who are you?" Amelia demanded.
"We are the Dusk Men, sworn to serve our master, Lord Vice the Lord of Nosferatu!" the Dusk Men proclaimed.
"What?" Amelia and Gourry remarked obviously confused.
"He is the ruler of the dragons!" the Dusk Men snapped. Something clicked in Gourry's head.
"You mean he rules over the big lizards!" Gourry proclaimed, causing the Dusk Men to fall to the ground.
"That's not right," Amelia protested leaping onto a table and pointing toward the heaven. "Everyone knows that the ruler of the dragons is Ceiphied!"
Gourry turned to look at where Amelia was pointing.
"Fools," the Dusk Men cursed flexing his sharp nails. "Our ruler is the master of the vampires!"
Gourry and Amelia blinked before they exchanged glance and said, "Why didn't you say so?"
"That was what I was saying!" the Dusk Men protested. "Enough kill them!" he ordered as the rest of the Dusk Men came running toward the trio.
Pointing her finger out, Amelia proclaimed, "The force of Light and Justice will overcome you villainous fiends. With our heart purify by the light, we shall not allow your undead lord to vanquish us, the rising beacon of the sunlight and life!"
"Oi," Gourry muttered as he pulled out his sword, which was an ordinary sword.
"Lina-san, let us deliver fiery justice to these villains!" Amelia cheered on.
Lina for the lack of word was busily stuffing as much food into her mouth as possible. Amelia nearly tripped as everyone froze for a bit. All eyes slowly turned toward Lina, who was busy slurping some soup down.
"Don't mind me," Lina commented as the fighting resumed.
"Feel the fire of Justice. Fireball!" Amelia cast as she hurled the orb of fire into the approaching enemies, creating a massive explosion that leveled a section of the restaurant. "Oops..." Amelia muttered after the smoke cleared and they could survey the damage.
"You're becoming as bad as Lina when it comes to recklessly throwing spell," Gourry remarked before Lina bean him in the head. "Amelia!" he warned as he saw one of them sneaking up behind her.
"Trying to sneak up on the unsleeping eyes of Justice?" Amelia yelled as she dodged the attack and instead grabbed the guy by his arm and hurled him over her shoulder. That unfortunately took him on a path straight through their table.
"My food..." Lina whimpered looking at the wreckage of all of the food. Gourry couldn't comment since after the guy went through the table, he plowed into Gourry as well and the two were stuck in a pile of broken wood, plates, and food.
Amelia quickly backed off as a growing aura of energy started to from around Lina, whose head was bowed down so that her bangs hid her eyes. Looking up with tear-filled eyes, Lina screamed, "Flare Arrow!"
Explosion tore through the restaurants by the numerous incendiary missiles that were bouncing all over the place. The Dusk Men screamed as the blades quickly tore through the lot of them, easily dispatching most of them.
"Are you trying to kill us too?" Amelia asked as she lowered her shield.
Lina merely snorted at the comment.
"She is..." Gourry muttered slightly sizzled from underneath some broken tables.
"They ruined my meal, so they had that coming to them," she justified as Amelia slowly dug Gourry out of the wreckage. "Any ideas on who they were?" Lina asked, as she looked at the still surprising standing restaurant.
"Curse you," the Dusk Men growled as Lina looked at it.
The being had lost most of its upper right region, black substance oozing out of the wound. Walking up to the wounded thing, Lina picked it up by the scruff of its cloak and lifted it to eye level.
"Why the heck are you after us?" Lina asked. The Dusk Men could only chuckle.
"We were order to kill you, by our Master," the Dusk Men told.
"Well he made the mistake of sending his henchmen to take me out," Lina smirked as the Dusk Men merely scoffed. "What are you so happy about?"
"Fool, this is only the beginning," he laughed as he melted away in Lina's hand.
"EEEWWW!" Lina cried looking at the mess on her hand. "Get it off," she cried as she wiped her hand clean on Amelia's white cloak.
"Lina-san..." Amelia murmured looking at the black stain on her otherwise white cloak.
"Um, sorry?" Lina apologized.
Their little conversation was interrupted by bits of sawdust coming down from the ceiling. The entire structure started to shake to its foundation as the sound of loud creaking could be heard. A groan echoed through the building, a groan of dying person. Actually it was the wooden beam support, which gave out. So the ceiling met the floor, sandwiching anyone in between.
Watching the total collapse of the restaurant safely from outside, Zel muttered, "How pathetic."
"Zelgadiss?" Lina cried as she popped her head out of the wreckage at the sound of the voice. Pausing as she noticed Myria, Lina muttered, "Who is she?"
"That's Myria," Zel remarked gesturing to her. He tugged his mask on a bit higher as he noticed the crowd of patrons starting to investigate the rubble of the restaurant and some of the strange people there.
Chuckling a bit, Myria smiled, "Well, my full name is Myria Inverse. I'm your dear aunt."
"What!?" everyone cried rendering some of the folks that were to close temporarily deaf.
Back at Myria's place, Merk was still stuck on his back since his limbs were useless in this sort of situation. Having gotten tired of calling for Myria's aid and droning on about things, Merk finally accept the fact that he was on his own. Being the legendary Black Tortoise, he knew exactly what he should do in just such an occasion. Reminisce about the good old days until some outside source come to help you.
"I can remember a time long ago, when I was considerably younger than I am right now since it was some time ago. For some reason that escapes me I got stuck on my back and couldn't get up. My other colleagues, Blue Dragon and White Tiger, would make fun of me as I struggled. Plus Red Phoenix would always spin me around just for kicks. She was always the kind that would do such things. Of course, after several incidents I learned that I could use my great power to levitate myself out of this predicament. Only problem was that I would always forget it for some reason. It seems that with my age, I've become quite idle minded though my other associates don't seem to suffer from this."
So in the empty halls, the Black Tortoise spilled out his entire life story.
"I believe you sensed the presence as well as I did," Zelas said as she took a silent puff of her smoke.
Kneeling before the Greater Beast, Xelloss nodded, "This presence is one that I haven't sensed since the Kouma War,"
"Investigate it," Zelas simply ordered.
"Hai," Xelloss nodded as he teleported off.
"Do you think this has anything to do with the other incidents?" Dynast remarked as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Could be," Zelas shrugged.
"The Demon King presence has vanished, all of the Mazoku assigned to guard the region were destroyed. As well as the report we have of the disappearance of the Knight of Ceiphied as well," Dynast stated.
"Something isn't right," Zelas growled.
"This isn't like anything the Shinzoku would pull, but I doubt any of us are behind this as well," Dynast complained.
"Well then we just got to keep are eyes and ears open then." Zelas smiled as Dynast glared and teleported off.
"Who are you?" Lina remarked unfazed by Myria, having gotten used to meeting odd-looking people popping out of nowhere over the years.
After the previous incident, the group had decided to relocate to a nearby pub. So far, Lina had been thoroughly interrogating Myria as the other three sat in the sideline.
"Myria Inverse, Magi to the Late Water Dragon King," Myria responded as Lina growled in frustration.
"You've told us that already," Lina said slamming her hands on the table causing the cups to shake. "I want to know where you can get the presumptuous claim that you're my aunt."
"And why can't I be your aunt?" Myria asked calmly.
"Well first of all, I can tell you're a fraud. It's the simple fact that there are no such things as Magi," Lina stated.
"What is a Magi?" Amelia inquired.
"Oh a Magi is a special human priestess chosen to be given the essence of one of the Shinzoku to serve as its voice to the lower churches of the humans and elves. Our power is slightly affected by the Shinzoku was serve. Since the Water Dragon is dead, all the power I have is the one that has been passed on by my predecessor. The reason you don't here about the Magi is due to the fact that the Mazoku would hunt us down when the barrier was up and we couldn't fully access the Divine Magic. Oh and the wings are a badge of office," Myria explained.
Scratching his head trying to taking in all of the information, Gourry remarked, "Well she certainly talks as much as you."
"I look nothing like you!" Lina snapped slamming her fist on the table.
"Are you sure you don't have wings?" Gourry asked as he lifted up Lina's cloak to look.
THWACK
Gourry lay sprawled on the ground with considerable lump on his head as Lina sat back down.
"Amelia doesn't look like her father so the fact you don't look alike is a weak case," Zel pointed out as Lina's eyes shot daggers at him.
"He's right," Amelia agreed.
"Okay then, if you're my aunt then how come I never heard about you?" Lina tried.
"I was taken away when I was really young for training. Your father was only a little boy and probably forgot," Myria suggested as stress markd popped up on Lina.
"Alright then, what's the family oath?" Lina questioned confidently.
"Learn a spell. Go to hell." Myria replied back as Lina's jaw dropped.
"How did you know that?" Lina gasped.
"That's a family oath?" Amelia asked Zel who merely shrugged.
"Put the lid back on," Zel remarked.
"What?" Amelia muttered her eyebrow twitching at the weird comment Zel just made.
"That was my family motto," he responded as Amelia nearly fell off her chair in shock.
Putting her jaw back on, Lina muttered, "I don't know who you are, but you did your homework." "But I will not accept that you are my aunt," Lina said pointing an accusing finger at Myria.
"It's not nice to point," Myria commented as Zel and Amelia nodded.
Lina joined Gourry on the ground.
"Well what do we have here?" Xelloss inquired as he walked into the pub and took a seat. "My, isn't this an interesting congregation." He smiled as he looked at Myria.
"Mazoku," Myria stated.
"Magi," Xelloss responded in kind with a smile still plastered to his face.
"So the lackey of one of the Mazoku Lord finally comes to do their master's dirty work," Myria sighed as she took a sip from her cup. "You're under Zelas, right?" she asked.
"That is a secret," Xelloss wagged his finger at her.
Not even slightly fazed, Myria chuckled, "Yup, you're definately the one under Zelas. You're her priest if I've been informed correctly. "
"So found any lead on a cure? Zelgadiss-san," Xelloss asked facing away from Myria.
"None that I wish to share with you," Zel said crossing his arm.
"Great. Now Xelloss is here to?" Lina muttered as she pulled herself back up.
"Hey Xelloss," Gourry smiled.
"It's always a pleasure to meet you," Xelloss smiled as Zel scowled at him.
Standing up, Zel turned to Myria and said, "Let's go."
"Going so soon?" Xelloss asked.
"I'm afraid I don't have time to waste with you," Zel stated as he glared at the Priest.
"Still don't trust me?" Xelloss responded sounding a bit hurt.
"I'm afraid Zelgadiss has a very important quest to do and I doubt he has the time to spend at your expense," Myria smiled as a brief glare passed between the two.
Shrugging, Xelloss sighed, "Well, I can't tell where I'm not wanted. TTFN." He smirked as he teleported off.
Gazing at where Xelloss was, Myria said, "We might as well get going." Standing up, she turned to Lina, Gourry, and Amelia, "You three as well."
"What?"
"It's her idea," Zel stated as Myria smirked.
Meanwhile on Wolf Pack Island, a certain trickster priest of the ruler of the island was kneeling before his mistress in the throne room. His mistress was smoking up quite a storm that totally blocked out the ceiling from being seen.
"What have you discovered, my servant?" Zelas asked as she watched her servant pause for once.
"I've uncovered the energy disturbance, it is a Magi of the Dragons," Xelloss reported holding his arm across hi chest in salute with one hand on his staff.
Zelas blew a puff out as she said, "So another has finally decided to rear its head up? Who does it serve?"
"Presumably the Water Dragon King," Xelloss answered.
"Interesting. Though he's been destroyed, there is still a large enough bastion of his power to have a Magi," Zelas remarked.
"Apparently so," Xelloss agreed.
"So did you eliminate it? Without the Water Dragon King to help it, the Magi power should extremely weaken," She inquired as Xelloss stiffened a bit.
"No, my lady," Xelloss answered bowing his head down a bit.
Zelas raised an eyebrow at the answer but otherwise remained silent.
"Yes, I would presume her power should be weaker. But when I faced her...she radiated far stronger energy then she should have with her affiliation to the fallen Water Dragon King. And what more, this quest she is doing seems a bit unusual," Xelloss explained.
"Intriguing, so what can you tell me about this quest?"
"She has asked the chimera known as Zelgadiss Grayword to deal with an evil that may consume the world."
Zelgadiss...Grayword? Could it be...? No, he's dead. He died all those years ago.
"My lady?" Xelloss interrupted Zelas' train of thought.
"Nothing," Zelas remarked blowing out puff of smokes. "I want you to trail this Magi and find out what is this quest she's doing. Deal with it if it proves a threat to the Mazoku and retrieve anything that could further our plans."
"As you command my lady," Xelloss acknowledged.
"I'll leave it up to you on how to carry out the orders," she added with a smirk.
"I understand," Xelloss smiled, a wicked glint shining in his eye.
"Oh and one more thing."
"Once the Magi has outlived her use, eliminate her."
"Hai," Xelloss smirked evilly as he teleported off.
Post Kouma War
"Why did this happen?" Loht cried as he sunk to his knees, the city before him burning bright, dimming even the very stars in the sky. Lifting his fist up, he slammed it onto the earth repeatedly, drawing blood. "Why was this allowed to happen?"
"There is nothing that can be done," his man stated as he watched from the cliff overlooking their city. "This is the result of greed and jealously," he muttered as he turned away and started to walk off.
"But what about the Church of Ceiphied? Surely it will not stand idle to this?" the albino elf demanded, still unable to tear his gaze from the place that used to be his home ever since he was banished from the elven woods.
"The Church? Hah, they don't really commune to Ceiphied, he's gone and he's not coming back." The man snorted at the thought. "And for the Shinzoku who claim to serve Ceiphied? Other than stopping the Mazoku, they have little reason to care for our lives. We, who are not of the Ryuzoku the Light or the Mazoku the Darkness have no one to guide or aid us," he commented before continuing to walk away from the fire.
Slowly getting up as he glared at the fire, tears streaming down his face, the youth cursed. "If we are alone, then this world has no right to exist either!" Glaring up at the moon, he turned away and ran. He wasn't sure where he was going, all he wanted to do was run away from everything.
Everything was so pointless. How could man or elf exist in this world trapped between two battling sides with no one to protect them or save them from the corruption of either side. This was both of their faults, the Mazoku for causing destruction and the Shinzoku for dragging them into their hopeless ideals.
Present
Lina let out a yawn as the company marched down the road, Zel leading the way for once. The group had a very rough awakening in the morning when a slug decided to enter Lina's sleeping roll. A lot of chaos ensued soon after that and a few people were still sporting bruises from the encounter. Lina was determined to put the situation behind her as the other three trailed after her and Zel.
She couldn't believe that she was even stuck on another silly quest to go and save the world. Even worse, this time she was a second stringer. This was Zel's quest and she had to come along to serve as support, but it sounded more like cannon fodder. Many times, Lina thought about ditching this stupid quest, but one thing stopped her all the time.
Myria.
Her aunt had shown capabilities of being as freaky as Nee-chan. The open demonstration of wasting a mountain to show what would happen if anyone truly disagree with her didn't help matters. Lina started to sense the family resemblance.
"Well, isn't this a pleasant walk?" Myria remarked cheerfully as both Gourry and Amelia merely groaned. Boy, the spirits in the party were quite down. "Lina, ask Zelgadiss how much longer do we have to walk?" she called as Lina grumbled something that should never even be mention, so it wasn't.
"ZEL!" Lina yelled, causing Zel to nearly trip over his own foot as he tore his eyes away from the map he was given by Myria.
"What is it?" he asked stopping so the others could catch up. He was really in a hurry and would like to have whatever this was done with.
"Myria and the others want to know how much longer till we get to wherever it is we're going to," Lina explained as Myria nodded and the other two merely moaned.
Looking at the map for a moment before answering, Zel replied, "Well if we keep our current pace we'll be there by sun down." Rolling up the scroll and placing it into his cloak, Zel started to walk off again until Lina stepped on his cloak, nearly strangling him, but stopping him nonetheless.
"Just before we get in over our heads," Lina remarked trying to hide the obvious stress she was feeling. "Where the heck are we going to?" she demanded, as Zel stood unfazed by her outburst.
Snatching the end of his cloak from underneath her foot, he answered, "How should I know? Ask Myria, she's the one who gave me the map to follow." Everyone, excluding Zel and Myria, went crashing to the ground in a crumpled heap.
As the dust settled, Myria smiled, "Oh, how nice."
"This is your quest! Shouldn't you at least know where we are going?!" Lina screamed popping back up and grabbing Zel by the collar to bring him down to her level.
"Well our destination was always hazy when you led so what's the difference?" Zel stated flatly as Lina dropped him.
"All this is giving me a headache!" she roared as they were interrupted by the sound of bushes rustling.
Emerging from the bushes were several bandits of an assortment of sizes and varieties, but all with a wicked gleam in their eyes as they brandished their swords. Standing at the head of them all, totally shirtless to boot, was a huge muscle man with an eye patch over his left eye who towered even over Gourry. His graying beard was messily trimmed and his left hand was replaced with a wicked hook. Along with the cutlass he wielded, he looked better suited to be a pirate captain than a bandit leader.
Flexing his pecs, to the grimace of most people, he laughed, "Gwahahaha! I'm Nur and you're going to give us all your money right now!"
Lina's eyes lit up at the sight of bandits as her fingers twitched in anticipation for some good old carnage to take place. However Ameli's eyes also lit up at the sight and after a quick survey of the area, hopped onto Gourry's head.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Gourry asked as Amelia tried to stay balanced on Gourry's head.
After a bit of wobbling around, she finally pointed her finger at the bandits and proclaimed, "Foul villains, who pray upon the weak! I - " Amelia speech was thankful cut off when Lina accidentally kicked Gourry's feet from under him. This sent him and Amelia crashing down onto the ground in a messy heap as Lina turned to take of the bandits.
"I don't know what you're planning, but this is your last chance to surrender," Nur stuttered as Lina was about to cast a spell, when Myria put her hand out.
"Let me take care of this," she said cheerfully.
"But..." Lina started to protest, but Myria calmly walked up to the quite baffled Nur. Lina turned to Zel for some sort of support of something but Zel merely shrugged.
Looking at the large bandit, Myria placed her hands together and said, "Please good sir, may we pass?" Everyone, except for Myria and the Bandit Leader, went crashing to the ground, some for the second time.
The bandit leader blinked at the strange winged girl before him and growled in anger, "No, you can not pass."
Hanging her head down sadly, Myria asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Shrugging, Myria sighed, "Okay then..." Myria held out her palm outstretched as magical energy started to condense there.
What was she doing? Lina winced a bit as the winds around them started to pick up.
"Bomb Di Wind!" Myria cast as the winds from the spell blew away all of the bandits except for Nur.
"What the?" Nur stuttered his knees started to buckle.
"Now will you surrender?" she asked as Nur seethed with anger.
"Die!" Nur roared as he brought down his cutlass.
"Myria!" Lina screamed before she stopped in shock.
Nur's eye widened as he stared in disbelief at the sight before him. Myria was holding his blade back by two fingers as she smiled, "Is this all?" With simple gesture, she snapped the blade she was holding off and tossed it to the feet of the bandit leader, sending him stumbling back a bit.
"Wh-what are you?" he stuttered in fear.
"I'm just a traveling girl," Myria smiled cheerfully pointing at herself with both hands. Sweat drops sprouted on Zel and Lina. "Oh my, what's that over there?" Myria remarked pointing out toward the distance. All heads turned, and the sound of screams followed soon afterward.
"I don't see anything Myr - " Lina jaw dropped at the sight before her.
Nur was battered and fried to an inch of his life as he lay crumpled on the side of the road. Myria was just dusting herself off.
"She's starting to scare me..." Lina muttered as Zel just nodded.
"Lina-san, that was mean," Amelia muttered angrily.
"Oh what?" Lina laughed innocently at Amelia's piercing gaze.
"You tripped Gourry-san to stop my speech!" Amelia accused as Lina decide to ignore what the princess of Saillune was saying.
"Come on now, path is clear," Myria called to them. "We shouldn't waste time, Zelgadiss still needs to retrieve something that will help him on the quest," she smiled as she started to walk off.
"She's a bit weird," Gourry muttered as Lina shook her head sadly.
The group made their way down the path where a bit farther down they came across a bend in the road. Casually sitting on tree stump was everyone's favorite Mazoku Priest. Seeing their approach, including Myria's, Xelloss flashed a cheerful smile.
"Well, how nice to run into each other again," Xelloss smiled as he stood up and greeted them all.
"Oh great, just what we needed," Zel groaned as Xelloss smirked at him.
"What do we need?" Gourry asked. Lina, not interested in explaining, merely whacked Gourry in the face.
"So Xelloss," Lina inquired giving him a careful look. "What are you doing back here so soon? I thought you didn't like hanging around Myria?"
"Oh nonsense," Xelloss laughed as he wagged his finger toward Lina.
"So why are you here?" Lina asked, not letting the question dropped.
"Sore wa himitsu desu," Xelloss smiled, doing his trademark saying as Lina started to roll up her sleeves in order to whack him
Myria commented, "I'm happy to hear there are no hard feelings."
"Well I'm glad there are none," Xelloss smiled.
The two just looked at each other for a calm moment as everything got totally silent.
"This is getting creepy," Amelia whispered to Lina.
"As if that wasn't already obvious..." Lina muttered back. "Alright, I don't care what you're up to, but let's get this show on the road?" she muttered exasperated at everything. Whacking Zel on the back, "Lead on, oh great leader."
The group now comprised of: a hot-tempered sorceress, an intellectually challenged swordsman, a justice-spouting heretic, an obsessive chimera, a cheerfully psychotic Magi, and a Mazoku Priest. This unusual group made their way down the path and they soon walked alongside a large mountain range. The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon as Zel remarked that their destination was close.
"We should set up camp now and start a fire," Myria beamed as she waved for the others to stop. "I say right here is a good spot."
"Good idea," Lina remarked as she stretched herself. "All this traveling is getting tiresome."
Zel conjured a Lighting spell to see in the approaching darkness as he scanned the map. "I'm going ahead, the place isn't too far ahead. You guys can set up camp and I'll be back soon enough with whatever I'm suppose to get with Myria."
"But Zelgadiss-san," Amelia started to protested, but Myria shook her head.
"Don't worry, I'll be going with him too. We should be back in time for dinner," Myria smiled.
"So what are we going to eat?" Gourry commented as they start to set up camp.
"Your minions have failed," Loht stated as he looked through the mirror at the group before him setting up camp. "They are also getting close to 'it'," he added shooting a glance toward Vice he was beside him.
"If you're so interested in eliminating them, then do it yourself," Vice suggested as he turned away and walked to the window to gaze out.
Below him was what used to be the city of Sairaag, dubbed the City of Ghost by many, which now lay in ruins. The city it seemed was cursed with a dark history of destruction by numerous evil entities. Recently it was reduced to a crater lake with the remaining standing ruins within almost submerged underwater. Well that was how it was before Vice and Loht had came.
Now the water that filled Sairaag was a yellowish glow as magical energy coursed through the surface. Numerous black monoliths littered the interior of the crater as they too crackled with energy. Placed across the four-direction points of the edge of Sairaag's crater were long staircases that lead to the floating eyrie where the two villains now resided. Patrolling the air space around them was a horde of lesser demons darkening the sky.
"We still have no luck finding the last component," Vice growled as his fingers dug into the stone sill of the window.
"Perhaps not," Loht smiled rubbing his chin in thought. "I think I may have found a way to kill two birds with one stone." He laughed as Vice looked at him questionably.
The sun had already set by the time Zel and Myria had reached the ruins that the map lead to. Stopping a bit, Zel turned and asked, "I say it's about time you tell me what is this thing that I'm suppose to retrieve."
"I guess," Myria remarked as the wind blew by the two. "This cavern is the resting place of a powerful weapon that you will need. The path toward it will be filled with peril and you must be able to pass a test in order to gain its power."
"Sounds pretty stereotypical. So what's the running count on failure?" Zel inquired crossing his arms.
"Six hundred and five, with only about twelve of them actually surviving long enough to reach the test," Myria stated solemnly.
"Tough odds," Zel chuckled as he turned to face the entrance. "Looks like there is only one way to go," he muttered to himself.
"Quit the manly act and get going," Myria sighed as she kicked Zel into the entrance.
The sound of his startled yell faded as he apparently went crashing down the steep slope in the beginning.
Smiling, Myria briefly scanned her surroundings to be sure that she wasn't being watched as she waited. Catching her attention was a simple black crow that looked at her sinisterly with its glowing red eyes from a branch. A single red plume feather crowned it head giving it a sort of unearthly look to it.
"So what do you want?" She demanded.
Chuckling, the crow replied, "I am merely here to keep tab on you."
"You and your master will not succeed." Myria promised as the crow held out one its wings.
"Don't be so overconfident. We'll have to see if your little pet chimera can actually handle all of the trails that await him." It smirked. "Of course even if he does, he'll won't have you to help him find us."
"What?" Myria gasped as a tall regal albino elf appeared below the crow, his decorative robes blew in the wind.
"It's good to meet you Magi," Loht smiled as he did a mock bow. "I am Loht the Darkling," he addressed himself.
"The Traitor?" Myria stammered taking a step back. "But you were killed after you tried to steal the Clair Bible from the Water Dragon King Clan."
Laughing at the interesting bit of history, Loht explained, "I did die, but I luckily came across an interested benefactor who was able to resurrect me. In exchange for that service, all I had to do was give him the souls of a thousand people."
"That's monstrous," Myria cursed as energy started to crackle around her.
"But necessary for me to complete my plans," he smiled as he conjured several orbs of energy all around. "Now all I need to complete my plan is one thing," Loht said as he looked at Myria. "You."
"This place goes pretty far down," Zel muttered to himself as he picked himself up from the bottom of the drop he took. He paused as he noticed some sort of light up ahead near the end of this passageway he'd been traveling down.
In the end of the passage, he came upon a doorway that was label "Certain Doom" on the sign above it. Next to it was a simple clay pot that was partially covered with cobwebs and dust from the ages. The light from the room was coming from a floating orb of light that was attached to the ceiling.
"Looks like there is only one path to go," Zel muttered before his foot brushed against something partially buried in dust and dirt on the floor.
Spending some time to unearth the object, Zel look oddly at the lid he discovered as his gaze turned to the pot by the door. Taking his family motto to heart, he placed the lid back on the pot. There was a sudden rumbling as a new passage opened up across from the door leading somewhere else. Shrugging Zel walked down the newly discovered path as he left the other doorway behind.
The passage ended in a massive room was designed in a huge circular shaped with a large dome for the ceiling. The light came from the pulsing orb on the top. The floor interesting enough was filled with uplifted marble tiles and had water streaming through the regions between each tile, all leading to the pool in the middle. Now what was it that he was searching for... a sword? Floating motionlessly above the center pool was a sword with a gem hilt, blade pointing downward. Forming a circle around the pool were what were obviously guarding the thing, four-armored warriors all bearing wicked halberds as they faced away from the pool.
"So that sword can help me?" Zel remarked as he started to walk to the pool cautiously.
"Halt!" the armored figure standing closest to him ordered as it and the others turned to face him. "Who dares to intrude upon this sanctuary?" it demanded as it held out its weapon in preparation for battle.
Wraith Guardians, this could be a problem.
People who pledged themselves to guard over something even after death. They weren't something to be taken lightly because of the sheer devotion that they have to their task.
"We the warriors who pledged to guard this artifact demand that you leave. For we have sworn to insure that the forces of evil will not claim it. We'll forever guard it from those who would desire to abuse it," it continued as the other three came up behind it in support.
"Great," Zel muttered as he looked at the four. "And how do I get the blade if I'm not anything that you said before?"
"You must beat us all twice at Paper, Scissors, Rock," the guardian replied.
That had caught Zel totally by surprise. He took a step back, his foot slipping off the tile and landed in the watery region in between them. Having a brief moment of flapping his arms, Zel came unceremoniously crashing down with a loud thud.
Wincing at Zel's fall, the armor warrior inquired, "Oh, are you alright?"
"Just peachy," Zel muttered as he picked himself up and shook his soak leg a bit. Letting out a sigh, he muttered, "So let's get this over with."
"Prepare yourself," the guardian stated as he psyched himself up.
A mere three minutes later, Zel had beaten each of the guardians at the game twice. The guardian were surprised that they were beaten so easily and in such record time.
"You have the most predictable patterns," Zel muttered as the guardian were all moping around.
"Such an event is unprecedented, the last time this happened was seventy years ago..." the guardian gasped in shock.
"Actually, I always thought it was eighty," one of the other armored one commented.
Turning its head, another one added, "I always thought it was a hundred?"
"You're probably right."
"Thank you."
"Well is there anything you can tell me about the blade?" Zel asked the armored guardians having no desire to be zapped by any of the possible safety measures this sword could have on it.
"If you desire to remove it from here, you must pass a test of the mind with the sword," the lead armored guardian stated as Zel nodded.
"As usual," he muttered crossing his arms across his chest in thought. "Well, there is no time like the present," Zel remarked, he striding passed the armored figure to the pool. Holding out his hand, he gripped the hilt of the blade and a surge of magical energy suddenly raced into him from the sword.
"So...you desire my power..."
"Who are you?"
"Zelgadiss... Graywords..."
"How did you know my name?"
"Humph, I'm not merely just a sword."
"Are you the spirit of blade?"
"Yes, I am the spirit that resides within this blade. My name is Zavgras and don't you forget it."
"Boy, you're annoying."
"I've been stuck in this cave for some time, give me a break."
"As if."
"Well if we are going to be working together, we better settle a few things. First of all, I'm detecting a large amount fighting above us. You'd better go check it out."
Myria stumbled back as her barrier just barely stopped the blast from one of Loht's energy orb. The bastard of an elf in question was laughing at her expense as he watched her tried to fend off his attacks.
"If you would just come with me peacefully, you'll save yourself the trouble," Loht remarked as he sent another several orbs at her.
"Shove it," Myria snarled as she blasted the orbs away.
"My my, such language. Just like Luna," Loht smiled as he registered the shock on Myria's face. "She proved troublesome as well, but in the end she fell to our might."
"You'll pay for this," Myria promised him.
"I suspect I will," he commented as he noticed Zel come racing out of the cavern. "Oh well, I can always get you later. If you want to find me then come to Sairaag. I'll be waiting there for you."
Loht laughed as he vanished into nothingness along with the bird.
"Are you okay Myria?" Zel asked as Myria nodded.
An explosion drew their attention as Myria gasped, "That came from the campsite."
"Let's go," Zel said as Myria nodded.
"Ugh..." Lina remarked as she took a bite out of the beef jerky stretching it to an amazing length.
"These rations aren't all that good," Gourry remarked, chewing on the dried fruit. "Why can't we eat fish or bear?" he remarked as he finally just decided to swallow the fruit.
"Because there is no river near here and bears aren't native to this region," Amelia explained. "Do you think Zelgadiss-san will be okay?" she asked politely.
"Of course he will," Lina muttered, still chewing on the beef jerky.
The sound of explosions could be heard in the distance, sending tremors through the camp.
"Looks like trouble," Gourry muttered to himself. "Uh Lina, we got company," he added, reaching for his sword.
Everyone spun to where Gourry was staring as a silver haired figure dressed in black banded leather armor strode out of the darkness toward the group. The person wore a mask over his face giving it the virtual impression of a skull, all the way to the dark empty sockets over the eyes and nose. A long black cloak that seemed to twitch at the ends was draped across his shoulder and back.
"My my, all together now," Vice smiled as he held his sword out.
"Who are you?" Lina demanded ready to throw up a shield at any moment.
She hadn't even sense the guy's approach. He had to be very powerful or something.
"His name is Vice, one of the Ancient Nosferatu that have existed for over a millenium," Xelloss said as he turned to the look at Vice who laughed silently.
"Actually it's two millenium to be exact," he smirked as held his sword out to the side, a bluish-black fire surrounded its edge. "Either way, I'd like to see you try to stop me," Vice stated as he studied them all through the empty sockets of the mask.
"Well, I think I'll sit this one out," Xelloss said as he teleported off to the sideline.
Clearing her throat, Lina said, "Okay then, you want a fight, you got one."
"Don't underestimate me child, you won't be the first or the last person I've killed," Vice warned as he took a battle stance.
"Halt villain!" Amelia cried as she pointed an accusing finger at Vice.
"It's not polite to point," Vice remarked as Amelia nearly tripped.
"I know that, so why do you keep picking on me?" Amelia whine.
"Fool!" Vice laughed as he leaped toward the two, swinging his blade at them.
There was a resounding clang as metal struck against metal.
"Gourry," Lina cried.
"I told you I'm your bodyguard," Gourry reminded her as he struggled to hold Vice's blade back with his own.
"You're good," Vice commented as he pushed with more force. "But your blade is too weak!" he stated as he cut through Gourry's sword. The force sending the swordsmen stumbling backward and tripping over Amelia as the two crashed together on the ground.
"How pathetic," Xelloss muttered shaking his head. He might have to interfere.
"This is a joke," Vice remarked as he glared down at Amelia and Gourry. "You fools actually believe you can take us on?" he inquired.
"Of course," Lina smirked as she drew her hand back. "We've taken down Demon Lords and survived. Bram Gush!"
Vice leapt back as he used his sword to shield him from the torrent of arrows of wind that came ripping at him. "I've seen atrocities the like you could never have words for. I've existed beyond your fragile mortal existence, the thought of you even thinking you can stop me is laughable."
"Burst Flare!" Lina cast as Vice managed to cancel out even the highest human castable fire spell. He was really good, her only hope was to use the Laguna Blade. But would she be able to hit him with his agility?
"Prepare yourself," Amelia interrupted Lina's thought pattern as she stood on top of Gourry.
"This is not the time or place," Lina muttered, placing a hand to her face.
"I, the shining light of justice shall defeat you!" Amelia said as Vice merely glared at her.
"Are you going to fight me or are you trying to bore me to death?" he inquired, crossing his arms across his chest and waited.
"I shall imprison you," Amelia said.
"More talking."
"Demona Crystal!"
Vice merely stood there as Amelia's spell coiled around him, sealing in a prison of ice.
"Victory!" Amelia beamed flashing the V-sign.
"Not yet," Xelloss remarked from the sideline as Vice shattered the ice around himself with a thought. "His armor protects him from all elemental attacks and all their sub-types as well," he explained as Vice brushed the bits of ice off himself.
"I'm afraid it'll take more than that to stop me," he chuckled.
"Then try this!" Lina yelled as she let the energy field around her condensed into familiar spell. "Dragu Slave!" she cast as Gourry, Amelia, and Xelloss all put on shades.
"Humph, pathetic," Vice muttered at the approaching spell. Holding out his hand, he released a wave of force that slammed into the Dragu Slave. In a bright flash, both it and the spell vanished, leaving no traces at all.
"What happen to the Dragu Slave?" Gourry asked as he put away his shades.
"He canceled it out with an opposite power form," Lina muttered slowly.
Pulling out his sword again, he traced his hand across the blade's edge, the unnatural fires intensifying. Holding it out, he charged toward them, parting the group in half as he swung his blade toward Lina cutting her across the side. Twisting around, he slammed the pommel of the blade into Amelia, knocking her aside as she attempted to maneuver behind him. Turning to Gourry, he found the swordsman standing before Lina, shielding her from Vice.
"You have no weapon to stop me," Vice laugh as he stared at Gourry.
"Well, I'm her bodyguard and I just can't let you kill her," Gourry retorted.
"Gourry..." Lina muttered as she cast a Recovery spell on her wound.
"Then die with her!" Vice growled as he charged toward them only to stop in his track as Zel came sliding out in front of him.
Touching the ground before him, Zel cast, "Goz Vu Rou!" A massive shadow shot forth from the ground toward Vice, who leaped out of the way.
"It's about time," Lina grumbled as Zel stood up.
"I can't leave you people for a simple side trek without everything going to pieces," Zel remarked dryly. He turned to face Vice. "Well, you seem to be the second big trouble maker here."
"Be careful Zel, he countered a Dragu Slave!" Lina warned as Gourry quickly picked up Lina and took her out of the way. "Hey, put me down, you dolt!" she screamed as Gourry carried her.
Vice looked at Zel for a moment before he muttered, "You're the little hero of this outfit aren't you?"
"So what?" Zel said.
"Since you're here, I suspect Loht didn't succeed," Vice muttered as he noticed Myria walking in on the side.
"It's been a long time Vice," Myria commented as she glared at the Nosferatu.
"What?" Lina and Amelia could both be heard screaming.
"We go back," Myria shrugged.
"Let's finish this," Zel stated as he pulled out Zavgras. "It's time for you to finally die for good."
"You know very much," Vice smiled as he started to radiate energy all around himself. "Let's test your power!" he roared as he went flying with his poised blade surrounded with energy straight toward Zel.
"Look out!" Lina warned.
Zel gripped his blade as he met Vice's charge. The two passed right by each other as they finally stopped several yards apart.
A thin slash across Zel's shoulder as it turned the beige cloth red with blood.
Vice stood there silently as a thing crack appeared along his mask as it split perfectly apart and fell off. Blood slowly trailed down his face as he hesitantly reached up and traced his fingers over it.
"You've wounded me," Vice remarked a bit astonished. "You are one of them, we shall meet again." He hissed as he changed into a bat and flew off.
Zel watched the bat fly off before he fell to his knee gripping his shoulder.
"Zel," Lina said as she walked up to him, her wounds having been healed.
"Yes, what?" Zel said.
"What is that sword you have?" she asked looking at the decorated pummel sticking out of the sheath.
"Oh, this is just the Legendary Blade Zavgras," he muttered placing his hand on the pummel.
"You mean the one that was reputed to have slain over a hundred Mazoku?"
"The same."
"Great! Let me have it."
"What."
"Since the Sword of Light is out of reach, I think that sword of yours is just perfect for me."
"You've got to be kidding."
"I'll give you thirty gold pieces for it."
"I'm not Gourry here."
"Yes?" Gourry muttered, hearing his name called.
"And so after that you know what happened," Zel remarked placing his hands together before him. He had just spent the good last hour recounting his entire episode in the cave and with Loht.
"That was so great," Amelia commented as she stuffed another chicken wing into her mouth.
After they had managed to pry Lina off of Xelloss for not doing anything during the fight, Xelloss was able to tell them of a roadside inn a little way down. Well then, Lina and Gourry promptly dragged everyone there and rudely awakened the Innkeeper to get some real food. Zel had told them what happened when he left, while Lina, Gourry, and Amelia dove into the food that the Innkeeper brought.
"That certainly was quite a tale," Xelloss commented eyeing the said blade on the table in front of Zel.
"This blade is one of the few weapons that can truly damage the Mazoku by its own power. It even outclasses the sword of light," Zel stated as he whacked a gloved hand that was drifting toward the blade.
"Ouch," Lina cursed rubbing her sore hand.
Glaring at Lina as he placed one hand on the blade, Zel said, "I told you already Lina. You can't have it."
"Oh come on," Lina whined as she finished off her meal.
"Lina, you shouldn't try to steal Zel's sword," Myria commented as she ate her meal at a steadier rate, but still actually eating quite a lot.
"Alright then," Lina sighed as she pulled out some bags of gold. "Name your price!"
"What?" Zel stuttered as he drew the blade close to him.
"I'll give you 5.5 million!" Lina offered dumping said amount of money onto the table.
"No."
"Come on, I bought the Demonblood Talismans for that much."
"Whoever was an idiot enough to sell them to you at that price must certainly have been a nutcase."
Xelloss merely turned his head away.
Grabbing onto Zel's sleeve, Lina begged, "Aw, come on, give it to me!"
Pulling her off his sleeve, Zel said, "NO! And don't you be sneaking into my room to try to steal it while I'm asleep. Just stay out!"
"You really shouldn't tease him, Lina-san." Amelia remarked as Lina merely chuckled.
"Eh Lina, what was with that Ice-guy? How did he turn into a bat?" Gourry inquired as he finished the last of his plates.
Shaking her head wearily, Lina responded, "His name is Vice and the reason he can turn into a bat is because he's a vampire." Leaning back in the chair as she stared toward the ceiling, "Through I don't really know that much about the Nosferatu other than the fact that they're one of the most ancient vampires in existence."
"What!" Amelia cried her eyes starting to fill with tears. "You mean Vice can go around sucking our blood if he wants?" Amelia stammered as Lina shrugged.
"In a way."
"Well, I could tell you something about Vice..." Xelloss smiled as he sat between Lina and Gourry.
"Well?" Lina inquired as she looked at the Trickster Priest with a skeptical look.
"Sore - " Xelloss sputtered as Lina drove her elbow into his head.
"Actually, Vice was also reputably the Lord of all Vampire for a time before he was defeated a few decades back," Myria remarked sipping some tea as Lina started to rearrange Xelloss' face. "He was staked to his throne by a group of really powerful warriors. Apparently Loht freed him by removing the stake," she smiled at their obvious blank stares.
"So he was pinned to a throne with a steak?" Gourry asked holding up a piece of steak in his hand.
"Idiot!" Lina muttered as she took the steak and ate it.
"We should also be worried about his companion Loht," Myria added.
"Who's that?" Lina asked.
"Someone that died a long time ago, but is back now," Myria answered.
"Wow, that's like some of those stories that Daddy use to read to me. The villain from a long time ago is resurrected by an evil source to fight the heroes," Amelia beamed proudly "This isn't some storybook," Lina grumbled shaking her head.
"Resu - ? Rezo! Where's Rezo?" Gourry asked looking around frantically before Lina broke a plate over his head to silence him.
Glaring at the theatrics, Zel said, "I'll be retiring now."
Watching Zel go up the stairs, Lina yawned, "I guess there's no point on going on with our 'leader'" gone." "Well I'm off to bed," Lina said as she went up the stairs.
Everyone else quietly followed until only Xelloss remained sitting by the table with the flickering candle by him.
"So Loht...how did you managed to cheat death?" He wondered as he stared at the fading light. "An ancient vampire. A dead elf returned. The missing Knight of Ceiphied and the Demon King of the North. The Magi. The legendary blade Zavgras. My, what an interesting web you're forming." He smiled as flicked the light the candle light out letting darkness come in. "What are you up to?"
The Innkeeper look tearfully at the huge pile of dishes he had to move and clean, "It's two in the morning..."
Zelgadiss swung the blade down as he practiced with the sword in the solitude of his room. The moonlight bathed the room with a glow through the window as the blade reflected some of the light back. Zel grunt a bit as he continued swing the sword about trying to get a feel for it. Finally he fell to his knee, leaning partially on the sword for support as his breathing came in harsh gasps. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he held the sword up as he examined it in the light.
With a snarl, he turned around and stabbed it into the wood floor. Leaving it planted there, he limped toward the bed both physically and mentally fatigued, collapsing upon the bed. He gazed silently at the ceiling before sleep eventually overcame him. The sword glowed briefly for a moment as Zel slept, but then fell silent again as the night sky passed by.
Loht stood silently on the circular platform as he seemed to be in deep thought. Orbiting around the outer edge of the platform were four large black crystals. Inside three of them were the figure of Luna, the Demon King of the North, and a mysterious old man with glasses. The platform itself had the marks of a magical circle all over it, except for the very center. In the center there was a four-foot diameter hole that was positioned directly above the center of Sairaag.
Pulsing below them was a small lump on the surface of the center of Sairaag, beating slowly like a human heart. The very core of it was pulsing rapidly as energy danced all around.
A solitary bat came flying down from the Eyrie with the four staircases connected to it above the platform. Flapping down onto the platform, it morphed into Vice as he studied Loht silently.
"They are going to Sairaag as you predicted," Vice stated.
Breaking out of his trance, Loht smiled, "Excellent, they are walking straight into our hands. Despite all their fluster and skill, everything is going exactly as planned. Soon the time will come."
"You are pretty confident in this plan," Vice muttered as Loht laughed.
"I have up most faith in this." Loht smiled as he held his hand up before him. "The moment that I've dreamed about for the last millenium will soon come true," he said with his eyes flashing wickedly.
"The boy still has the sword," Vice warned.
Snorting at the warning, Loht asked, "Do you really think that boy can pose a threat to us or even stop us? You've grown soft Vice."
"Don't act so presumptuous. The tides haven't fully turned in our favor and I'm not sure things will turn out the way you want," Vice warned as he turned into mist and floated away.
"Fool," Loht muttered to himself as he wait for Vice to fully go. "Once I'm done, your usefulness will run out. Soon, soon she will be here. And when she comes a bright new age will come upon us!"
Loht's laughing resounded across the platform as the lesser demons flew across the sky.
"Good Morning!" Amelia chimed as she walked down the stairs of the Inn.
Myria and Xelloss both turned to look at the approaching princess who noticed three people obviously missing.
"Hey where's Lina-san, Gourry-san, and Zelgadiss-san?" Amelia asked.
"Well, Lina-san and Gourry-san went out to hit the market square to find a new sword for Gourry," Xelloss remarked as he polish the orb on his staff. "As for Zelgadiss-san, he hasn't come down as of yet."
"Oh," Amelia responded as she pulled a seat out for herself. "So what's our destination going to be?" she asked as she signaled for a meal from the waitress.
"Sairaag," Myria replied quietly as she took a sip from her teacup.
Xelloss raised an eyebrow.
"That's where they're at," Myria added calmly.
"But Sairaag was destroyed. What are they doing there?" Amelia wondered as Xelloss shrugged.
"Most obviously the same thing that lured everyone else there. Zanaffar, Rezo, and Phibrizo were all drawn to it. Must be something with the location," Xelloss smirked.
"You people are thinking about going to Sairaag?" the waitress asked as she placed some plates down on the table for Amelia.
"Well not really, we're just thinking about it," Amelia stammered.
"I wouldn't advise going to that place now. From what I heard from some of the travelers there is a strange pea green fog that has settled over the area so no one can safely navigate through. Even more I heard that some demons have been roaming the area picking off travelers that come too close," the waitress explained.
"Thank you for the advice. We'll keep it in mind." Myria said as the waitress smiled.
"You're welcome and by the way nice wings," the waitress commented as she walked off back into the kitchen.
A few moment later...
"WINGS!"
Sounds of dishes crashing could be heard coming from inside the kitchen.
"Looks like it finally hit her," Xelloss said as Myria glared at him. "But anyway, I must say that all this is getting really interesting." He smiled as a wicked gleam sparkled from his eyes.
Noticing the tell tale signs, Amelia inquired, "Xelloss-san, you're not planning on back stabbing us are you?"
Leaning back in his chair as he contemplated the question, Xelloss commented, "Well that is a good question. I guess the only answer I can give is..."
Tension building.
"That is a secret," he smiled as Amelia slouched and Myria shook her head as Xelloss used his trademark phrase.
"I shouldn't have expected anything else," Amelia muttered to herself as Myria gave her comforting pat on the shoulder.
A sudden chill passed through everyone as they all turned to see Zel standing at the base of the staircase. His mask and hood were up and the only thing that stood out was the new sword replacing his old one. Not speaking a word, he took a seat at a vacant chair.
Looking up a bit to scan everyone from under his hood, Zel remarked, "I suspect Lina and Gourry are off on some other business?"
"Yes, they went to buy Gourry another sword. They should be back soon," Amelia answered.
"Good," Zel commented as he took in a deep breath. "Myria has already told you that Vice and his ally Loht are in Sairaag."
"Yes," Myria said.
Nodding as he reached to pull his hood over his face a bit more, Zel stated, "I'll be frank about this then. I'm going to be the only one going to Sairaag."
"What?" Amelia said standing up. "But shouldn't we be going together? We can prevail over their injustice together," she protested as Zel merely stood up.
"This isn't your affair," Zel snapped as he gave a glare that would make the room cold. "This quest was given for me to do. So I'm going to do it. Alone. That includes you Myria."
"I will not follow you if you request," Myria said.
"Then I do. I don't want any of you getting in my way. This is my battle and mine alone. Make you sure you convey that to Lina. I don't want her help on this one," Zel stated as he turned and walked out of the Inn.
"Zelgadiss-san! Wait!" Amelia cried about to go after him, but Myria held her back.
"Let him go," she said.
Amelia reluctantly sat down as a grim silence settled on the group.
"So how about those Brass Racquets Games?" Xelloss offered as the silence got slightly unbearable.
"Hey everyone," Lina called as the door came flying open.
"Lina-san, Zelgadiss-san left and said not to follow him," Amelia pouted.
Lina and Gourry blinked a bit at the sudden comment.
"What!" Lina yelled smacking her fist into the side of the door from damaging it. "That idiot ran off without telling us!"
"Actually he told us, but you two weren't here," Xelloss pointed out.
Grabbing a seat, Lina growled, "Just like him to go around ditching us."
"We should go after him," Amelia said.
"Why should we? If he wants to be manly and leave all of his friends hanging then so be it. It's not like I ever try to go about something by myself," Lina snapped crossing her arm.
"What about during Hellmaster?" Amelia inquired glaring at Lina.
Sweatdropping, Lina justified, "That was different."
"How?" Amelia asked as Lina desperately tried to think of reasons. "We both could face certain doom. In both we had to fight against someone greatly stronger than us. Plus in both we had to go to Sairaag!"
"Zel's going Sairaag?" Lina questioned as Amelia nodded. "Why is he going there?"
"Because that's where Loht and Vice are," Myria explained as Lina started to dig her hand into her scalp.
"All right, how much have you've been talking about while I was gone?" she demanded as Xelloss stood up. "Where are you going?" Lina asked looking at him.
Smiling at her, Xelloss replied, "To deal with some business now."
"Hey - " Lina protested as Xelloss teleported off. "Great now he's gone as well,"
"I guess there's just one thing left for us to do then," Myria sighed. "We'll just have to go to Sairaag to get to the bottom of this."
"But Zel said - "
Wagging her finger at Amelia, Myria smiled, "I said that we were going to Sairaag, not following Zelgadiss."
"Oh I get it," Amelia smiled as Lina groaned.
"And you're coming to," Myria added flashing an evil face at Lina.
Twitching a bit, Lina stammered, "Hai."
"Alright then let's got Sairaag!"
"Right!"
"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!"
Everyone froze as all eyes turned to the snoozing Gourry who was beginning to drool a bit on the table.
Squeezing her fist as a stress mark appeared on her head, Lina growled, "Get up Gourry, we're going!"
CRACK
"You really shouldn't be so mean to him," Myria muttered.
"Who cares," Lina remarked as she looked toward Amelia. "Come on Amelia, we got to purchase some equipment before we go."
"Equipment?" Amelia asked.
Vice rested in his coffin in a secret chamber inside of the eyrie, he could feel his power slowly being replenished from the native soil of his homeland within the coffin. Closing his eye, he let his conscious drift away from his body. Reaching across the land, he could feel the presence of his minion. The one that he had set there in order to distract those bothersome kids long enough for Loht to get what he wants.
Those kids...
It had came as a surprise to him that they were the ones he sought. After being wounded by the first with that accursed sword, he soon discovered the identity of the others. Fate was smiling on him to deliver them to him. Yet he must be wary least he should fall to these miserable brats, but that was laughable.
His minion would rough them up enough. Enough for the final component to be retrieve at least. Then they'll come here and in these walls, he would spill their blood. Just like how they were responsible for his spilled blood.
For now he will rest. It will be sometime before dusk would come.
After putting some considerable distance between him and the others in case they might have tried to follow him, Zel briskly walked down the road. It would be about another hour or so before he would reach the province of Sairaag. In the distance, he could already make out the pea green fog that had enveloped the entire valley.
Soon this will be all over. I'm going to do this by myself. I don't need anyone else for support. This task was given to me and it won't matter to anyone if I die.
Zel paused from this contemplation as he saw a figure up ahead on the road. The figure was kneeling in wait as it stared at Zel with a sword buried to the hilt on the ground next to it. It was dressed in the exact same outfit that Gourry had worn when Hellmaster possessed him. A sense of déjà vu came stirring up in Zel.
"So you're here to stop me?" Zel asked as he gripped his sword.
"..." Dark Knight said as it reached for the hilt next it and pulled it free from the ground.
Sprouting out of the hilt was a huge blade forged of pure flames whose edges flickered as the color scheme danced between white and blue. Pointing the blade straight at Zel, it stood there as the wind blew the two capes in dramatic fashion.
"Guess, there's no avoiding it," Zel sighed as he pulled out Zavgras as it gave out a low hum.
"Beware of that sword," Zavgras' mental voice spoke to Zel. "It is forged of pure flames. It is called the Eternal Flame and the heat it projects can easily melt metal. Luckily I'm capable of withstanding such heat."
"Thanks for the tip," Zel muttered dryly as he and Dark Knight charged at each other.
Sparks flew as the two blades clashed against the other, the two combatants twisting and turning, testing the other's defense. The ground below the two was quickly scorched black from the bits of fire that dropped from the Dark Knight's sword.
Leaping forward, the Dark Knight swung his blade at Zel but only nicked the end of the cloak as Zel evaded it. Skidding to a stop, Zel grabbed his cloak and tore it off as it started to catch on fire from the attack.
Letting out an inhuman scream, Zel lunged forward, managing to shatter one of the Dark knight's bracers as the Knight tried to block the swing. Both combatants leaped back as they took a pause to survey the other's damage.
"This is going nowhere," Zel panted as he prepared for the next pass.
"You're going to have a tough time beating him," Zavgras muttered dryly.
"No one's invincible, I'll find his weakness," Zel retorted as the Dark Knight merely stood there with his blade ready.
"That'll take some time since he's a Spirit Wraith as well but created from the ancient forbidden ritual Zin-Carla. This ritual allows you to embody a dead corpse with its departed spirit to serve as tool for you. These creatures are usually linked to a master, who controls them," Zavgras lectured as Zel groaned.
Glaring at the knight, Zel called, "Vice is this you're doing?"
"Of course, I'm afraid Loht is to busy to deal with you." A floating orb with an eye spoke in Vice's voice. "And until dusk comes, I'm afraid I can't play with you either. Though I'm sure my little puppet here will do for now."
"You're so unoriginal!"
"Oh? And why is that?"
"This whole Dark Knight thing is just a pathetic imitation of what happen during the Hellmaster incident!"
"Well then you're in for a bigger surprise then."
"What?"
"But enough small talk, let's make this show interesting. Burn him!"
The Dark Knight raised its blade overhead and swung it down as a huge sphere of fire larger than even Gourry came rolling straight toward Zel. Leaping out of the way, the orb zoomed by Zel as it slammed into the nearby woods and engulfed it in fire.
"Such power," Zel muttered as gazed at the forest before he twisted back to look at the Dark Knight.
"Fire Discs!" Dark Knight spoke as it swung its sword and unleashed several discs of flames straight toward Zel.
"Balus Wall," Zel cast as he blocked the attack.
The two glared at each other for a brief moment as they simultaneously begin their next move on each other. Each registered that the only end to this would be the utter annihilation of the other. A fight to the death with only wits and steel to prove the victor, with no interruption from the outside.
"I found him!" Gourry cried as he walked up behind Zel.
"What are you doing here?" Zel asked as his shoulder started to shake.
"Oh, we were going to Sairaag and on our way we saw this big firework display. So they sent me here to see if it was you," Gourry beamed proudly. Holding up a new sword, Gourry smiled. "And look at this, it's a new sword I bought at the market place since my last one got broken," he added.
"This isn't the time for this," Zel muttered as the others came running up. "Amelia what are you doing with that?" he asked as he saw the Saillune Princess trudging up to them.
"Gourry-san's spares," Amelia panted gesturing to the massive knapsack she was wearing that was filled with all sorts of swords. "Lina-san thought that we should bring them just in case one of Gourry's sword should get broken again."
"So what kind trouble have you gotten yourself into?" Lina inquired as Zel pointed toward the Dark Knight, who was just standing there. "Whoa nostalgia," Lina muttered as the Dark Knight brought back old memories.
"A Spirit Wraith, Vice must be really eager to delay us if he would create one of those," Myria commented.
"Why?" Amelia asked as she tried to balance the weight she was carrying.
"Well even for an Ancient Nosferatu, the ritual to create one of those is extremely draining on one's power. Especially if done alone as Vice probably did. That spell technically requires five high level necromancers to pull it off," she explained before her eyes caught sight of the flying eye orb.
Following where Myria was looking at Lina smirked, "Well show's over Vice. Flare arrow!"
The arrows of fire ripped through the floating eye orb as it exploded in a big flash of light. Its destruction seemed to affect the Dark Knight as it clutched its head in one hand, screaming inhumanly. A black aura started to surround it as rocks began to be lifted up by the sheer emanation of the power.
"Looks like the bad guy is going loco," Amelia muttered as the winds picked up.
"He looks like a tough one," Lina muttered rubbing her chin. "So we're counting on you Gourry," Lina smiled as she whacked Gourry. Zelgadiss tripped and the other two merely sweatdropped.
Gourry stumbled forward from Lina's blow as the Dark Knight came charging straight toward him. A loud clang broke through as the two blades met and the two fighter leaped back from the clash.
Gourry paused a bit before he turned to face the other and muttered, "Ah Lina? The sword broke."
Everyone, excluding the Dark Knight and Gourry, went crashing to the ground.
"What, but we just bought that?" Lina exclaimed as Gourry shrugged, tossing the useless blade aside. "Throw him a new one, Amelia!" Lina ordered as Amelia pulled out a sword from her knapsack and tossed it at Gourry.
Leaping aside to dodge one of the Dark Knight's attack, Gourry twisted in mid-air as he caught the blade and unsheathed it. So the battle began anew.
Four blades later...
"What is with those blades?" Lina demanded digging her hand into her hair. "They're breaking faster than toothpicks."
"Maybe because the other guy is using the Eternal Flame?" Zel offered from where he sat cross-legged contemplating.
"Eternal Flame?" Lina questioned.
Pointing at the flaming blade that Dark Knight was using, Zel explained, "It's a magical sword that has a blade forged from pure fire. It is capable of releasing waves of fire in different forms and can cut through metal like a knife through butter."
"Magical blade," Lina muttered looking at the fight and sword juggling. "Hey, Gourry if you beat that jerk, you can get his sword to use! So win one for the visiting team!" Lina cheered as Zel and Gourry sweatdropped.
"A little help please?" Gourry begged as he grabbed a new sword again.
Twenty blades later...
Myria sighed as she muttered, "It's already in the late afternoon, can we please finish this?"
"Yes let's," Lina begged getting bored by the repetitiveness of this all. Except for the instance where Gourry missed catching one of the swords and was beaned on the head.
"Then why don't you do something?" Zel suggested.
"And fast," Amelia cried as she tossed out another sword. "We've already used half of the blades already."
"Fine," Lina growled standing up. Holding out her hands, she begin to chant with her talismans glowing. "Lord who controls the darkness of four worlds, I beseech thy fragments; by all of the power thou possesseth, grant the heavens' wrath to my hand; unleash the sword of dark, freezing nothingness; by our power, our combined might, let us walk as one along the path of destruction! LAGUNA BLADE!"
The familiar crackle of Nightmare energy was heard as it formed into a jagged projection of a weapon in Lina's hand as she charged toward the Dark Knight.
"Gourry," Lina warned. The swordsman leaped out of the way as she thrust the spell straight at the Dark Knight. The Dark Knight instinctively raised his blade up to block it. The two energies made contacted as there was a massive explosion hurling Lina back.
All eyes turned as the smokes from the explosion cleared and revealed a miniature crater. Standing in the dead epicenter of the region was the Dark Knight, but now all of his armor was shattered as he gazed at them. His body was ravaged with numerous cuts and scars, his blue eyes gazing blankly at them. Long blond hair danced in the wind as he fully came into view.
"He looks like Gourry," Amelia breathed.
"Impossible," Lina muttered as the Dark Knight collapsed to his knee and his sword fell from his grips.
"Is that a Kopii?" Zel asked as Myria shook her head.
Walking slowly to up to the edge of the crater, she looked down at the battered Dark Knight and cast. "Holy Bless!"
A circle of magic outlined the crater as the Dark Knight screamed from the energy of the spell that was crackling through it. Collapsing onto to the ground, black vapor came pouring out of its body.
As the last of the vapor vanished, Myria commented, "The Zin-Carla has been dispelled."
"Why does he look like me?" Gourry asked as he walked up to the body and gazed at it.
"He's you're uncle," Myria remarked calmly as looks of shock flashed through the group. "He was one of the adventurers that staked Vice but he died during the battle. Obviously, Vice managed to get his hand on the body and used the Zin-Carla to force the spirit back in the body to fight us."
"That's evil," Amelia muttered sadly.
"And so is this," Xelloss smiled as he appeared behind Myria. With a simple blow to the back of the neck, he easily incapacitated her.
"Xelloss," Zel hissed as he was about to attack but Xelloss held Myria as a shield.
"I would enjoy playing around, however I have a package to deliver." Xelloss smiled as he floated up with Myria in his arms.
"Why are you doing this?" Lina demanded.
"I have my reasons," Xelloss smiled as he teleported off.
"Kuso!" Zel swore as he punched the ground.
Loht stood on the circular platform as he stared happily at the four massive black crystals that orbited the Platform. In each of them was a person who grasped the power of either Ceiphied or Shabranigudo. Two essences derived from the Flare and two from that of the Demon King, combining the two powers to bring about his dream, the one that he had forfeited his own soul to achieve.
"So you are planning on including us in your plans now?" Xelloss inquired with Vice nearby.
"In good times," Loht smiled as the magic circle inscribed in the platform started to glow as a pillar of light came through the hole in the center.
"There is no time to waste," Vice hissed as he glared off to the distance. "They'll be here soon and with that girl who uses Nightmare, things can very well be disrupted."
"My are you afraid of that puny little spunk?" Xelloss smirked as Vice scowled at the Mazoku.
"I fear not the girl, but what she calls on. Such power is one that shouldn't be brought onto this world. Each time it comes, more of this world dies," Vice stated.
Xelloss raised an eyebrow at Vice's statement.
"It matters not when she comes. People like Lina Inverse will be cleansed," Loht laughed as he raised his arms to the sky. "Come let us begin the New Genesis!"
"This does not bode well," Vice muttered under breath.
"I agree," Xelloss remarked, for once a smile not plastered on his face.
"That was disturbing," Lina gasped as the group finally made their way through the thick layer of pea green fog that had surrounded the outer province of Sairaag.
"It was a bit unsettling," Zelgadiss muttered dryly.
Gourry and Amelia followed close behind, well actually Gourry had to stay few feet away from everyone. It seemed that the Eternal Flame blade he got from his uncle had a small complication to it. Namely Gourry couldn't figure out how to extinguish the flames so that the sword could be place in a sheath. Not to mention he accidentally lit Lina's hair on fire and she was a bit sore after being doused with water by Zel.
"Wow look at that," Amelia commented as they turned to look at the ruins of Sairaag.
"What happened to it?" Lina muttered as they looked at all the changes. "Something is extremely wrong," she analyzed.
"I suspect that they're up there," Zel stated as he pointed at the massive flying eyrie that hovered over the center of what was Sairaag. "And it looks like they provided a way up," he added as he glared at the staircase that led up there.
"Then what about those?" Gourry asked as he pointed at the dark forbearing clouds comprised of thousands of lesser demons.
"There is no way we can get up there with all of those there," Amelia whined.
"Well, I guess we are going to have to blow our way through," Lina growled powering up a Dragu Slave.
Suddenly the sky was a lit up with numerous explosion that seem to tear through the lesser demons. Like flies, they were utterly obliterated by the numerous blast of energy that incinerated their ranks. As the light faded, the sky was completely cleared of all of the lesser demons that populated it.
"Wow, that's some spell" Gourry remarked as he put his shade away.
"It wasn't me," Lina muttered as the spell she had faded.
"Then maybe it was that dragon," Amelia suggested as a massive Gold Dragon landed before them kicking up a huge amount of dust.
"I'm surprise to meet you here," the dragon remarked to them.
"Wow, Filia sure has changed," Gourry commented as sweatdrops appeared.
"That's not Filia," Lina hissed whacking Gourry on the backside of the head with a slipper.
"It's Milgazia." Zavgras' voice caused everyone to freeze.
"Zel/Zelgadiss's sword talks?" Lina, Amelia, and Gourry cried in shock.
"Zavgras, it's been a long time," Milgazia chuckled as he leaned his head down to gaze at Zavgras.
"Same here," Zavgras chuckled back.
Rolling his eyes at the following conversation, Zel asked, "Why don't you take your human form Milgazia?"
"Oh sure," Milgazia stumbled as he shifted to his human form.
"Why do you have a slap mark on the side of your face?" Amelia asked as there was a huge red slap mark there.
"Never mind," Milgazia commented turning away. "I take it that you're going to face Loht?"
"Yup, but there's a problem. Xelloss kidnapped Myria," Amelia told as Milgazia frowned.
"You're still traveling with that Mazoku?" he asked.
Shrugging, Lina muttered, "Well he does prove useful at times."
"Whatever," Zel interrupted as he walked between the two. "Let's just go."
"Hey wait up," Lina protested as they chased after Zel up the staircase.
The group slowly scaled the staircase, which was comprised of many steps, as it led to the Eyrie that hovered high over the center of the ruins of Sairaag.
"Tell me something Milgazia," Lina said as she and the Dragon Elder brought up the rear of the group.
"What is on your mind?" Milgazia asked.
"Why are you here?" Lina questioned as Milgazia face darkened.
"Loht was once my friend, before this," he said.
"But from what I've heard was that Loht died some time ago?"
"Yes, he did die. Ever since the end of the Kouma War, Loht had felt betrayed by the Shinzoku in large. He felt that they were to obsessed with cleansing the Mazoku that they didn't bother to protect the unfortunates who are caught in between and dragged in. He died when he tried to steal the Clair Bible from Dragon Peak. By our law he was executed immediately."
Lina was silent for a moment as she absorbed all of it. "So do you have any idea what he is trying to accomplish now?"
"I do not, but it is probably some twisted concoction of his that will help protect the world. I can only guess on what it could be."
"I see."
"I can see the entrance," Amelia called from up the steps.
The door came blowing open from one of Lina's spell as the group charged through the eyrie, which was literally a maze of rooms and hallway. As the group entered what appeared to be a large chapel room, they took a step back at the sight that faced them. Vice and Xelloss were lying by the alter in the back, neither of the looking all that well.
"Heh, about time you came," Xelloss choked as the group came up to the two.
"What happened?" Lina demanded as she looked at the two.
Xelloss was missing a good two-third of himself and Vice's body was wilting away to skin and bones.
"Well, let's just say that our working with Loht came to an abrupt end," Xelloss smiled as he winced a bit at the pain.
"Our use to him has ended and so he eliminate us, those who are not needed for his new world." Vice choked as he glared at them. "This wouldn't have happen if I was not weaken by the destruction of my Spirit Wraith. Once again you've brought about my downfall, curse your families' blood."
"Time out," Amelia called crossing her hands. "Okay, Mister evil vampire. Why are you so obsessed with killing us?"
"Because it was your parents that killed me all those years ago," Vice cursed as everyone blinked. "And his uncle," Vice added, gesturing to Gourry.
"You've got to be kidding me. The chances that all of our parents actually traveled together is the same as Myria being my aunt," Lina snapped as Vice smirked.
"Their names were Katsuhito Inverse, Prince Phillionel El De Saillune, Terim Bartholemew Thomas Retroman...(excerpted for time)...Graywords, and Edward Gabriev." Vice spilled out as Lina, Zel, and Amelia all blinked in shock.
"That's them all right," the trio stated sheepishly.
"Not to intrude upon this great revelation, but I'm sure you have more pressing business to attend to," Xelloss interrupted. "The whole plot behind Loht is to use the power of both Ceiphied and Shabranigudo to create a god."
"A god? Impossible." Milgazia said.
"Maybe, but the process he is using will create an extremely powerful being with capabilities we can't even hope to predict," Xelloss stated.
"How do we get to him?" Zel asked.
"See that statue of a goddess in the back?" Xelloss asked gesturing to the nubile statue there. "Touch her bosom and you'll be sent there."
"What kind of sick pervert would make a teleporter like that?" Lina growled, turning red along with Amelia and Zel.
"Well, Loht had weird taste back then as well," Milgazia shrugged.
After a few minute of bickering, everyone grudging performed the required steps except for Gourry.
Looking down at Vice, Gourry held up the Eternal Flame and asked, "How do I turn this off?"
"Push the ruby gem in the hilt," Vice muttered as his body started to fade.
"Okay," Gourry said. The flames vanished. "So how do I turn it back on?"
"Push the button again," Vice muttered getting sick of this.
"Can you run that by me one more time?" Gourry asked as Vice and Xelloss groaned.
"Welcome," Loht smiled as he watched the group appeared across the platform.
"Loht, stop this madness," Milgazia protested as Loht merely laughed.
"So Mister high and mighty dragon has come all the way from his little home to deal with little me," Loht sneered as he glared at the Ryuzoku.
"Where's Gourry-san?" Amelia asked.
"What?" Lina said turning her head around looking for the swordsman. "Damn, that idiot probably forgot about the teleporter," she cursed before Loht's laughing interrupted her.
"So you're the infamous Lina Inverse? I suspect you may have come here to stop me or have you come for them?" he asked as he snapped his fingers.
The four black crystals all lit up, exposing the person that they held inside.
"Myria!"
"Nee-chan?!"
"The Demon King of the North," Milgazia whispered.
"So who's the last guy then?" Zel asked as everyone turned to look at the old man in the last one.
"Don't know?"
"Never seen him."
"Definitely not a Mazoku."
Loht cleared his throat as he stated, "Well enough of this then, it's time to beginning the awakening of our goddess."
"A goddess?" Amelia asked confused.
"Yes, a goddess. A nurturer who will protect us all from the Mazoku and Shinzoku. Finally we'll have a being to look upon for help and leadership," Loht proclaimed.
"This is madness," Milgazia cried.
"Is it?" Loht snarled as the platform started to shake from the intense magical energy.
"The world doesn't need someone to watch over them," Lina hissed as she tried to hold a shield against all of the energy.
"The world is full of tormented souls. They need help to end their suffering. Someone should help them. I just jump at the opportunity of doing it. Can you blame me? I should be called a hero, not a villain..." Loht reasoned.
"Enough of this," Zel yelled as he pulled out Zavgras.
"Fools, it already too late," Loht smiled as they started to move in. "The process was completed before you got here. And now behold your new ruler as she appears!" he yelled triumphantly as the pillar in the middle started to convulse with energy.
In the center of the pillar a glowing orb began to pulse as it derived energy from the four crystals and that from the base of the pillar in Sairaag.
"It couldn't work could it?" Lina questioned as the light started to get unbearable.
"There's no way of knowing," Zavgras cried amidst all of the noise.
"Just great," Zel cursed as Loht's laughing reached a new pitch.
"Prepare your sight for the bright new hope of the future," he ordered as the orb withdrew from pillar and floated to Loht.
In a brilliant flash of light everything went silent, until it was interrupted by the sound of something. The sound of a baby crying and wailing. As the light faded to reasonable level, everyone stared in shock at the crying infant in Loht's arm.
"What?" Loht cried looking at the child in shock.
"Wow, look at the cute baby," Amelia declared.
"So, the goddess is born as a baby," Loht muttered as he tried to make some sense out of all this. "Well, this isn't exactly what I expected, but the fact is she's here and I'll raise her to be the goddess she must be."
"Hold it right there," Lina yelled as Loht merely scoffed at her.
Wrapping a piece of cloth that he had around the baby, he sneered, "You are of no interest me and neither are they." With a flick of his wrist, the four crystals all gleamed and vanish. "I have sent them back to their place,"
"Hey everyone," Gourry interrupted as he teleported in holding the Eternal Flame. "I've finally figured out how this blade works now."
"What?" Loht muttered, temporarily distracted by Gourry's sudden appearance.
"Now!" Zavgras said as Zel dashed by Loht before he ran back to the group in a blur.
"What did you?" Loht stuttered before he noticed his arms were empty. "The goddess!" he screamed as Zel holding the baby handed it to Lina.
"Take of this," he said as he turned to face Loht. "If you want the child, you're going to have to face me," Zel stated as energy started crackle around Loht.
"So be it," Loht hissed as he started to gather energy.
"Have at you!" Zavgras cried.
"What?" Zel said.
"Just attack."
"Fine," Zel muttered as he fired a Ra Tilt at Loht who countered with a Dargu Slabu.
The two spells left an explosion showering dust everywhere as the entire platform started to crack and break a bit.
"We'd better get off this thing," Lina muttered as she held onto the child as she tried to keep her balance. "Milgazia turn into a dragon."
"Why?" he asked.
"So we can ride you out of here," Lina replied. Milgazia's jaw dropped.
"It is degrading for a Ryuzoku to do that," Milgazia retorted.
"But we did it with Filia almost all of the time," Gourry stated and Amelia nodded.
"Who is this Filia person anyway?" Milgazia muttered as he shifted into his dragon form.
"What about Zel?" Amelia asked as they all piled onto Milgazia.
"Go without me," Zel yelled as he traded blows with Loht. "I'll hold him off for you."
"You better not pull a noble sacrifice on us, Zel," Lina warned as they flew off the platform. "Looks like something is going on down there," she muttered as the pool of Sairaag was starting to bubble.
"Looks like it's getting unstable," Xelloss remarked, appearing next to them perfectly fine.
It took all of Lina' skills not to accidentally dropped the baby while she throttled the trickster.
"Mazoku," Milgazia hissed as he glared back at the Priest.
"Nice to see you made something of yourself," Xelloss smiled before a massive explosion interrupted everything.
The platform that they had previously been on had completely collapsed as pieces went hurling to the Sairaag below. Plunging along with the pieces were Zel and Loht gripped in a mortal struggle. Zavgras was pierced through Loht's chest as he gripped Zel's hand trying to pull the blade out. Ignorant of their fall as the energy from the two battle ran rampant, they plunged into the pool below.
"Zel no baka!!"
"Who said that?" Milgazia asked as everyone turned their head to look another way.
The problems just seemed to get worse as they landed outside of the lake of Sairaag. Fissures of energy started to rip through the surface as the staircase and the eyrie joined everything else. Then in a huge flash of energy, everyone was temporarily blinded with a flash.
As the spots being to fade, they all looked up in shock at the huge tree that now covered the entire city of Sairaag and rose high up into the sky.
"That's a big tree," Gourry muttered as everyone nearly hit the ground.
Epilogue
"So do you think Zelgadiss-san is alive?" Amelia asked as the group looked at the tree.
Myria looked at the massive tree and sighed, "There's no sure way we can know if he is."
After the general collapse of Loht's fortress, plans, and Loht himself a massive tree grew up from the rampaging energy pool. After careful analysis, it was discovered that this tree was a sapling from Flagon. Its sudden appearance plus size stirred a religious frenzy. In a few days, hundreds had made a pilgrimage to this now deemed holy site.
A boom town sprouted up in the area outside of the tree as tents were set up for the construction of permanent buildings. Quickly dubbed 'Neo Sairaag' by the clergy who also declared it the new center of worship for Ceiphied. This resulted in even more people coming to the city to view this miracle.
"Humans are so strange," Milgazia remarked as he watched people run back and forth between the bustling tent town.
"We're quite eccentric," Myria smiled as she looked up at the towering tree. "I thank you for coming to help them."
"It was nothing," Milgazia stated bowing to her.
"And your girlfriend for slapping some sense into you," she added with a smile as Milgazia's face twitched.
"So what about the child?" Milgazia asked as Lina and the others came walking up.
"Can someone please take this baby?" Lina whined looking quite sleep deprived. "I am dead tired of having to watch over it and hear its crying all night."
"How about if I take the child off your hand?" Xelloss offered as he appeared before them.
"No," Milgazia hissed stepping in front of Milgazia.
"Do you really want to confront me?" Xelloss taunted as Milgazia face turned red with anger.
"That's enough," Myria interupted as she took the baby out of Lina's hand. "I'll take custody over the child. Unless you have anything to say?"
"Of course not," Xelloss responded brushing off his sleeve. "We'll all meet again real soon I hope. If I know what's happening."
"And what's that?" Amelia asked.
"Wait and see," Xelloss smiled as he teleported off.
"Well that wasn't as bad as his it's a secret one," Gourry muttered.
"So where will you be going now?" Milgazia asked.
Stretching her arms, Lina muttered, "I don't know, perhaps hang around here for a bit before going off to seek new treasure or something."
"I'm going back to Saillune," Amelia responded, "I need to get there before the White Solstice next week."
"Oh yeah, forgot that it was coming up," Lina muttered scratching her head before she shuddered. "Oh great, it's going to get cold really soon then."
"Well I'm heading to Zefilia," Myria smiled as she looked at the baby. "I think I'm going to be needing some help taking care of this goddess."
"Well say hi to my folks," Lina said as the group went their own ways.
Milgazia lingered a bit in the town as he felt something familiar there that he wasn't sure if anyone else had felt. Navigating his way through all of the stalls and tents, he finally came to rather large tent with a tavern sign stuck up front. Pulling the curtain back, he was slightly taken aback by the stench.
Inside of the tavern was a lone figure drinking by himself. He had messy red hair that mostly stuck up, except for the ones near the sides that were starting to become limp. He looked up from his cup with his red eyes at Milgazia. His clothing quite simply were ones you would affiliate with a drunkard.
Taking a seat on the table, Milgazia remarked, "I'm surprised to find you here."
"The child?"
"Myria has taken custody of it. Xelloss didn't get his hand on the child," Milgazia reported as the drunkard merely nodded his head.
"Good, I knew I could trust her in handling this."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you ever wonder why Myria is surprisingly strong as a Magi despite the fact that the Water Dragon King is no more?"
"Not really," Milgazia stated.
"It's because she's not only the Magi for the Water Dragon King but for the Fire as well."
"What? How can that be possible?" Milgazia stuttered.
"I allowed her to take that position since I lost the previous Magi after the Kouma War. I don't need to explain myself do I?"
"No," Milgazia remarked looking away.
"Be glad that you managed to do something this time. Next incident, there may not be anything that we can do."
"What do you mean?" Milgazia asked confused.
"Listen to the music. It brings the new tide to our shore. One that even I, Vravazard the Fire Dragon King, can not interfere with."
Milgazia stood quietly as the sound of a violin floated into the smelly tavern, the notes strung like pearls on a necklace. Standing near the edge of the tree, a young lad played his violin silently as a black dog lay by his feet. His music seemed to emanate an unearthly feel around the place as he softly play his sonata, the demon sonata.