Welcome back. Things have gotten a bit obsessive around these parts, meaning that I was desperate to finish Chapter 4 well before the month estimate. Chances are the next chapter won't come as soon, but I continue to hope for and appreciate your patience.
Certain issues have come up, many of them coming through various conversations and email exchanges with you the readers. It has become necessary to address them before I go any further, because there's a good chance I'm about to tee a whole lot of you off and I'd like to explain a few things before I'm bombarded with angry emails and death threats.
First and most importantly, I'd like to remind you all that I've only seen the first series, the three OVA's, the first and third movies, and only the first two tapes of the currently-being-released Slayers Next series. As I have no access to the whole Next series, to say nothing of Try, and as it would be too much to wait the two or three years that it will probably take for the whole thing to become available here in the U.S., I have to proceed with the story based on the events and characters of the first series alone. Meaning that, for this fanfic to work, you'll have to think of it as an alternate universe (thanks Rachel!) taking place after the end of the first series (i.e. Copy Rezo's defeat).
This obviously means that the likes of Xellos, Martina, Filia et al. won't be making appearances - at least not in the fic itself snicker snicker A few of you have commented on the possibility that I could introduce them and work them in somehow. However, there is no feasible way this can be done. Fan pages exist, yes, that could fill me in on who and what these guys are, but my overall understanding, and appreciation, of their characters would be rudimentary at best. Simply put, I know I would do them no justice. Allow me to proceed, then, with my original plan, now that the story's dark setting would no doubt make some of these characters seem awfully out of place. (Oh, and I do apologize to you Gourry fans who have commented upon his untimely death; he's one of my favorite characters too, but his presence definitely would have been out of place in a post-apocalyptic setting. Keep in mind, though, that 1)Lina still doesn't know what it was that he said to her before he left for the battle but Sylphiel does, and 2)the....hmmmm....the rest is a secret.) That, and well, since I didn't even know about Xellos when I started writing "Nightmares," let's just say he would irreparably complicate the story line.
Which leads me to my next, and perhaps most dangerous disclaimer. You'll probably begin to notice, if you haven't already, that I'm taking some serious liberties with the Slayers universe in terms of facts and explanations. For example, even though I've now heard that some explanations are offered in Next about the nature of Lina's black magic abilities, I've gone ahead and begun developing alternative explanations. Chances are that when I finally see these episodes, I'll feel much shame. For the moment, however, I have to work with what I have, and it isn't much. Therefore, if, in the coming chapters, my explanations and facts regarding monsters, spell attacks, the Astral Plane, and the Lord of Nightmares conflict with the Slayers canon, I hope that you will bear with me as I try to piece together a different set of possibilities. Then again, it is an alternate universe, so please try not to become too upset.
Because I like to think that the ending of the story will be a real thriller worth the wait and effort. But for it to work, I have to bend a few rules and facts. So as your humble narrator, I ask that you not take this too to heart and call out high priced bounty hunters to get me.
On a final note, I'd like to briefly comment on the two pictures of Natalia I've posted. My brother Art-ohki made the main one for me (Domo Origato, Mr. Roboto!), and he made her even better than I had envisioned her. The second picture - the half of her face on the Chapter Four icon-I made myself, which is why it doesn't look half as good as the first. The fact is that I can't draw to save my life, so I'm kind of stuck editing existing images and begging my brother to make them better. Again, I ask that you bear with me.
As always, I thank you all for your readership, feedback, and support; a writer's life is made that much more meaningful with these. I want to extend a special thanks to Art-Ohki for his continued support, to Deathra for putting me into her web ring, to Steph for keeping such a fantastic archive of Slayers fanfics at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/4750 and for posting mine, and to Rachel for the great dialogue and for filling me in on so much. I invite you all now to continue upon this dark journey across a barren Earth with Lina and her new companions, and to share in their nightmares as they begin to slowly reveal more about the truth behind the Apocalypse.
Peace.
Ulises "Lina Friend" Silva