"FIREBALL!"
As if on command, the resisting rocks and boulders that blocked the passage jumped aside at an instant, creating a nice convenient passageway for the four travelers who stood outside.
"Well, that's that!" Came a cheery voice, and the four individuals entered the dark maw with a ball of light to lead them forward. The leader stood tall for her small height and carried with her an air of confidence and strength which the other three obviously did not hold.
"Ano.... Lina-san, are you sure that this was the right place? This hardly seems like a rich mansion vault....." Came a timid voice from a short girl in white.
"Hai hai hai, positive!" Came the chipper reply from the girl in front. "It was a SECRET vault, so it's likely to be hidden somewhere now isn't it."
"Um.... But there isn't any mansion around here..." Came the blunt reply from the tall blonde man with the sword.
"Zip it." Came the curt reply.
Zelgadis Graywords simply rolled his eyes in silence, taking in the dark roughly carved out interior of the cave. However odd it might sound, he had to agree with Gourry on this..... this hardly seemed like the right place.... But who was about to argue with their fiery headed guide.
The foursome rounded a dim corner, and found themselves face to face in front of a rather small stone carved plain door. It had no symbols, but had a single character of a man carved on the door as a relief. "Hmph..." Lina said as she stepped up and pushed on the door. "This must be the place." She stepped back and the other three took several cautious steps back as she broke the door open with another spell. Once the dust had settled, they slowly crawled through the rubble into the small chamber that had been uncovered.
They found themselves in a small very conical and narrow chamber, whose walls rose high up beyond their vision. A single ladder on wheels stretched up as high, and the entirety of the walls were covered in books. Books as tall as they could see.... Hundreds upon hundreds of books. There were piles of books stacked precariously on the floor several people's height tall, books on the tables, and books on ledges.
"Great.... A library..." Lina said in a low grumbling voice. "Just what we need." She screwed her eyes shut and jumped up and down in a fit. "WHERE'S THE TREASURE??!!!"
Zelgadis was over inspecting the many dusty books on the table, and Amelia was spending some time peering at the ones in the shelves. "I don't know Lina, didn't someone say that a book was the greatest treasure in the world?" Gourry was peering at the library as high as his vision would go. "And there's a lot here!"
Lina only threw him an annoyed glance and sighed, going over to a portion to take a glimpse at some of the titles.
"Hmm.." Amelia trailed a finger down the row on the shelf. "'How to build a dream fortress with no money'.... 'Magic for the less talented'.... 'The Historians Guide to the World'...."
Zelgadis was sliding through a stack of books on the table with slight interest. "Hmm.... This is interesting......" He mused, with a smile on his face. "'The Politically Correct History Pre-Revolution'...... 'History of the Ryuzoku'.... 'History of the Mazoku'.... 'History of the Fey'...." He blinked and frowned. "The Fey?"
Lina turned. "Huh?" She walked over to stand beside him as he pulled the book out, brushing off it's dusty old cover. "What are the Fey?"
"I don't know...." He said, then opened the book, turning it's yellowed pages carefully. "The Fey...." He began reading on the first page. "Little is known about this mysterious race of people, only that their kind was an enigma on the world...." He glanced over at Lina. "Have you ever heard of this?"
She shook her head, and by now the other two had joined them. "Oh... maybe it's a lost race of people!" Amelia said enthusiastically. "What else does it say?"
Zelgadis continued. "....their power surpassing anything possessed by mortals on the earth. They are the mysterious race, known by other names such as the Shadow People, The Faery Folk, The Cursed, The Bastard Race, and the Trickster Kind....." He glanced over at Lina, who merely shrugged again. He turned back to the text. "They are all but forgotten in today's society, their kind having been wiped out in what is known today as the 'War of the Monster's Fall'."
"That explains it." Lina said crossing her arms. "But this is so weird, I've never heard of a fourth race....."
"It does seem odd..." He said quietly, then glanced back to the book. "It says here that they were wiped out back then during the war, and the name of the war was originally the War of the Fey, but they changed it later to make it more.... Well, they don't say." He frowned. "It also says that the war was a combined effort of the Mazoku, Ryuzoku, and Humans to eliminate their kind...."
"How horrid!" Amelia said with wide eyes. "To kill an entire race?"
"They must have been really evil or something." Gourry stated scratching his head.
"Actually...." Zelgadis ran a finger down the text, using his demon speed to read fast. "It appears they were a neutral people...... They apparently were created from all three races, an equal blend of Mazoku, Ryuzoku, and Human..."
Lina blinked. "Good god.... Who'd mate with any of them to make something like that?"
"Oh I dunno.... If she were really OOOF..." Gourry was silenced as an elbow made contact with his gut.
Zel grimaced and glanced back down. "The book really doesn't say much about their origins..... It seems to say that it was a mystery. 'They had tremendous power however, being able to channel from all three sources, Black magic, White magic, and Shamanistic magic, with powers derived from both Mazoku and Ryuzoku.'" Zel shook his head. "Seems like they were powerful."
Lina took the book from him and flipped through it, then paused at a point. "Hmm... but it seems that they weren't well liked by any of the races...."
Amelia scratched her head. "But were they evil?"
Lina shrugged. "Doesn't really say...." She shut the book. "Let's take this with us." She glanced around. "Anything else? Or should we go?"
They shrugged and as they all seemed to agree, they departed the room.