The city of Seiruun. A town of bustling trade and diverse cultures. A town of thriving white magic dedicated to the pursuit of the good and holy. A town of excellent dinery and beautiful architecture.
A town that is overrun with assassination attempts about once a year.
Amelia sighed and turned away from her window, looking back at the reflection of herself cast by the room's too-large mirror. She was clad in the formal dress of a real Princess today, as befits any Princess when royal duties kept her confined to the castle proper and to the ladylike manners that one would deem a Princess to possess. Amelia usually didn't mind going through such things, but today she was particularly out of character where the whole well-bred thing was concerned.
She was thus put upon because for the last week there was not just one but two Princesses roaming the halls; this other went by the name of Sara De Kelltic Panifess, hailing from a small country she claimed to be somewhere in the north. The fact that no one had ever actually heard of this country seemed to make no matter in the way her eager-to-please father greeted her and invited her to stay as long as she needed.
As it turned out, the need was greater than either of them were ready for.
There was a knock at her door, and Amelia gave a hesitant "come in" in response.
"Amelia?" came her Father's voice, followed soon by her Father's body, immense and terrifying as ever.
"Hai?" she responded, looking over at him with her usual smile. He wasn't fooled.
"You look like you haven't slept for a week," Prince Phil informed in a voice so gentle it would have knocked Lina sideways had she been present to hear it. "Why don't you skip tonight's meeting?"
"No, I'm fine!" Amelia chirped brightly as possible, hopping to her feet. "Really! Besides, I need to be ready if Lina-san makes it here. We must band together with her as soon as possible."
"That's my girl," Phil said, patting her shoulder. "We'll lick this problem thoroughly, ne, daughter?"
"Hai, Father! Justice will prevail!"
The servants cleaning the carpet outside the doorway, especially the newer ones, were more than a little frightened to hear the echoing laughter of two lung-healthy royalists booming through their ears.
"Ah!" Halgon exclaimed, handing over the money required to keep Danna at the local stable. "I've finally made it to the legendary Seiruun!"
"Legendary?" Lina asked. "What's legendary about a huge capital city that's smack in the middle of the country?"
"I didn't get out of my home country much as a kid," Halgon explained sheepishly. "I wasn't much of an outdoors type."
"What country did you come from?" Gourry asked after smiling a lot at the stable hand and his attractive apprentice (and getting clubbed over the head by his partner-in-world-saving).
"Panifess," he answered with a shrug. "I doubt you've heard of it. It's a little north of here."
Lina nodded slightly. "I think I know where you mean. Really small place?"
"Hai," Halgon said. "My village was the only one in the entire country. Well, mine and some big empty ruined city from a long time ago."
"How does a place that small end up becoming its own kingdom?" Gourry asked, not catching on to the semi-subtle foreshadowing that had just occurred.
"I don't know. Some King founded the place, and I guess the previous landholders of the countryside didn't really care. He was a nice guy, the King, before that disease killed him - "
He cut off, realizing that Raleic was staring hard at him.
"Ah... did I say something wrong?"
"Not at all," she murmured, and turned back to the street. "We'd better make haste for the castle, the Princess is expecting us as soon as possible."
"Forget that," Lina said with a nonchalant wave of her hand. "We got here in record time. Let's enjoy some of the restaurants first."
"How can you possibly think of food when the royalty of the country has requested your immediate presence?" Raleic flared.
"Hey, I haven't eaten a real meal in almost two and a half days!" Lina snapped back. "Come on, Gourry, let's go."
"Hai! Can we try that Pragu-Rot Surprise thing again?"
"That was Dragu-Pot, and no we can't."
"Jeez," Raleic groaned. "Of all the immature, irresponsible burdens I could have been saddled with."
Halgon smiled, big and dopey.
"Well, at least you're still here." She gave him a quick once-over, and crinkled the corners of her lips. "I guess we might as well join them, and you can tell us more about that homeland of yours."
"Sure!" he said immediately, glad someone was paying attention to him. Raleic figured he wasn't the sort that had been afforded much of that in his life. "What would you like to know?"
"I guess it would be neat to hear about the royalty there," she responded, following Lina and Gourry's path as best she could. They were nearing a big building which proclaimed itself, via giant signboard, as "The Hot Spicy Dragon's Wing."
"The royalty?" Halgon repeated. "Well, I only really knew the Princess."
Raleic snapped her attention back to him so quickly it nearly knocked him on his back. He flailed his arms and managed to keep upright. "The Princess?" she asked, prodding him back to his train of thought.
"Oh. Hai. Her name," (and there was a pause for emphasis), "was Fairn."
There are a few looks that are unmistakable. Some looks can be recognized no matter where you are, who you are, or what your past experiences have been. One of a little boy with puppy love is one of those always-recognizable expressions, and Raleic didn't need to ask any more questions.
She dragged him and his foolish lovesick smile into The Hot Spicy Dragon's Wing by the collar, where they promptly ran into a boy with a stupid looking hat.
"Itai!" he squealed, tumbling over. "Hey! That really hurt, ya bitch!"
Raleic went from composed to infuriated in the space of ten-point-six milliseconds. "Excuse me?"
"Um." The kid smiled and put up his hands, realizing he'd just messed with the wrong postal worker. "Hey. I was kidding."
"No," Raleic said, prodding him in the chest, "you were not."
"Eh? What's going on over here?" Lina and Gourry stepped back onto the street, chicken drumsticks in their hands.
"This little punk," Raleic began, pointing an accusing finger at the perpetrator, "called me a bitch."
"Oh!" The kid grinned wide. "Is that what you thought? No, no, I said... lich."
"Lich," Lina repeated flatly.
"Yes, you know, because I, uh, could FEEL the vast powers radiating off her and supposed she must be on of the undead."
Raleic's grip loosened a little.
"But... um, but then I saw her up close and realized she's much too beautiful to be a lich. Gomen nasai, madam!"
Raleic blinked and released her grip entirely. "Well. I'm glad that someone around here understands me."
"Yes!" the kid agreed, and began rummaging in his pockets. "Here, here, just so there's no hard feelings, take this," he spouted, and shoved a little piece of paper into her hands.
"Eh?" The eight eyes that accompanies the four companions peered down at it. "What's that?"
"A pass to the local dance club," the kid with the stupid hat answered, index finger raised skyward. "The grand opening is tomorrow night, and I'm in good with the owner. Tell 'em Terril sent ya, and it'll all be good."
"Thanks," Raleic said stuffily, slipping the pass into her cloak, "but I don't consort with those kinds of places."
"Ah, loosen up!" Lina said, nudging her in the ribs. "They're fun, if you know what to do."
Raleic sniffed and turned her head. "You may go this time, child."
"Arigatou!" the kid repeated, and seeing that he wasn't going to die right away, ran for his life.
"Ah well," Lina said, munching her drumstick. "I guess we might as well go see Amelia now, ne?"
"Hai!" Gourry agreed. "It's been a while since we saw her last time."
"Thank L-sama," Raleic sighed, putting the heel of her hand to her head and making off down the road.
"Your Highness," a royal guard intoned, bowing deep. "Your friends have returned with Raleic-dono."
"Send them in," Amelia requested with a royal wave of her hand. She made an impressive sight, sitting straight and regal in her throne, positioned directly next to her Father's. The Prince himself was not in attendance today due to matters concerning the Princess Sara de Kelltic Panifess, so Amelia herself was in charge of the days audience. She had already settled five land disputes, overseen the justice of twelve grocery thefts, and quelled twenty-six debates as to whether she and Zel would make a good couple or not.
Nonetheless, she was composed as every Princess should be, dignified and ladylike, pretty but strong.
"Now admitting Lina Inverse," shouted the guard at the door, attempting to pull the huge gold-rimmed thing open.
"Yo, Amelia," Lina said, after kicking the door open herself when the guard didn't prove fast enough for her liking.
"Konnichiwa," Gourry greeted with a smile.
"Lina-san, Gourry-san!" Amelia gushed, bouncing across the floor and leaping to wrap them into a fierce doube-hug, throwing that whole dignified and ladylike thing out the window. "How have you two been?"
"Not bad, all things considered." Lina glanced over at Halgon, who was busy trying to get the fallen guard to his feet. She then cast a sidelong glance at Raleic. "We would have been here sooner, but your postal worker lost her carriage."
"Because you blew a town up!" Raleic returned.
"Glad nothing's changed with you guys," Amelia said, taking Lina's hands and leading her up towards the throne. "You'll have to tell me about what you've been up to! Does Gourry have a new magic sword yet?"
"Only this one," he responded, holding his souvenir from the Warriors of Justice up for inspection. "It's not very magical, but it cuts good."
"Cuts well," Amelia corrected solemnly, and turned to Lina. "I guess you couldn't find Zelgadiss-san?"
Lina shrugged. "He wasn't with us when we got the letter, and your errand-girl insisted we get back as soon as possible."
The Princess sighed a little and gave a brief nod. "That's fine, I guess. You two should probably be enough for the problem here anyway."
"Of course," Lina said with a grin. "The great Lina Inverse is always at your service."
Gourry winced. "You sound like Raleic."
Lina mirrored his look of pain. "Do I?"
"Mm-hmm."
"But I've been doing that since way before she was introduced."
"I know, but it sort of seems contrived now."
"The Princess is trying to speak!" Raleic snapped, focussing attention back on the sweat dropping Amelia.
"Ano, arigatou Raleic-dono." Amelia tried her best to return to being calm and dignified. "You see, we're having a problem here in Seiruun."
"We gathered that much," Lina answered, tapping the letter they'd received. "What's the problem?"
Amelia cleared her throat. "There's a conspiracy at work here, we think."
Lina frowned. "Another one? What gave you the tip-off this time?"
"Oi, what are you guys doing?" Halgon asked, apparently having finished nursing the wounded guard back to health.
"Ano, who is that?" Amelia asked.
"No one," Raleic was quick to answer, and gave them all a steady look. "I think we should wait until we're in more private quarters to discuss this matter, Your Highness."
"Nani?" Amelia asked, completely clueless. "Why? We're all here now."
"I think it would be a more practical idea," Raleic returned, and gave a little smile. Amelia knew that smile. It was the smile Raleic wore when she was trying to say "I know what I'm talking about" while trying to keep the pretense of being humble.
"All right then!" Amelia chirped, hopping to her feet again. "Then let's go have Cairi fix us some dinner. I bet you two are starving, ne?"
"Hai!" Gourry and Lina synchronized, as would be expected.
Princess Sara De Kelltic Panifess, who was painfully aware of how alike her title and surname sounded, looked across the small meeting table at Prince Philionel.
"I've been able to work up a list of who I think might be potential suspects," she was saying. A beautiful young woman with inhuman grace, she had come to Seiruun with these suspicions only a week ago, and already she was a favorite around the palace.
That is, the favorite of the men. As could be expected, the women were less than thrilled to have to drag their husbands and fiancees and boyfriends home by the ears every time a feast was called for the guest of honor. The frying-pan-per-woman ratio of the palace climbed considerably in the past few days.
"You said earlier you didn't know which of the men from your personal entourage it might be," Phil responded slowly, his hands folded before his face in a way that made him look like Ikari Gendo after a brief cocaine addiction.
"Right," she agreed. "The letter was anonymous, and I couldn't recognize the handwriting."
Phil tapped his chin, reflecting. "Maybe you'd recognize his face if we held another banquet?"
She sighed. "If you want. But for the record, I'll state again that I don't think he's stupid enough to show up at such a thing when the fact that I'll be there is out and open."
"Ah-HA!" Phil announced, raising a finger. "We'll just say that you won't be there!"
Sara smiled patiently. "Wouldn't that falsehood be sort of quickly exposed when he sees that I am there?"
"If you stay sharp, you'll have identified him by then." Phil was emphatic.
Feeling like if she pushed this any further it would be akin to arguing with a child over lollipops for breakfast, Sara inclined her head and was about to concede when there was a knock at their door and the announcement that Lina and her crew had arrived and were going to be waiting in the dining hall silenced her.
"Well," she said, gathering her skirts around her in that prim-and-proper way all fussy Princesses possess (and that Phil acknowledged he'd never see Amelia do in a zillion years), "I suppose we should go join them."
"Of course," Phil said, making his way for the door. "They should help us weed out this scoundrel and his evil plans."
"Indeed," Sara said. "I surely hope this Lina Inverse is as talented as you and your daughter make her out to be."
"Of course!" Phil shouted. "She is a true champion of justice, that one!" Then he recalled who she was and corrected, "Well, she's really powerful anyway."
"Righ - " Sara began to agree, and cut off.
Halgon had been captivated by a plate of armor that looked similar to those in old country, and had stopped to look at it. Thusly he had fallen behind the others, and because of understandably extreme coincidences, the plate of armor he was admiring was being worn by a guard standing stolidly outside Sara's door.
"Hal-chan?" she said, blinking and more than a little shaken.
The stocky little square man turned his head towards her, stared a moment, and was lit redder than one of Lina's out-of-control Fireballs. "Ah... Sara-chan.. I mean, Princess Sara." He made to bow.
"Do you two know one another?" Phil asked, his brows raised.
"Who, us?" Sara cleared her throat. "We're, um, childhood friends."
"Well, that's great!" Phil shouted, clapping them on the shoulders hard enough to make even Halgon wince. The man loved a good reunion. "Let's catch up on old times while we dine, ne?"
"Hai," the two responded with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
"Okay," Lina said, ponderously rubbing her chin. "So the basic situation here is that someone from your castle is conspiring with one of your own staff to assassinate Prince Phil for reasons you have no idea over, and you're here to stop it from happening because you want your country to have better ties with this one. Ne?"
"Hai," Princess Sara De Kelltic Panifess admitted. She produced from her sleeve a neat little piece of paper. "I found this in the garden around the palace."
Lina hesitated before accepting. She couldn't say why; it just felt like a good idea not to seem too eager at this point.
They were sitting in the dining room, positioned in comfortable chairs, just close enough to allow their meeting to remain quiet and unobtrusive in the empty hall, but far away enough not to avoid anyone's personal space. Raleic and Halgon were the only ones from Lina's current entourage missing.
"'The Prince must die for his injustice,'" Lina read aloud. "'Don't worry, I won't fail you.'" She paused, and handed it back. "Can't read the rest."
"It's a code our founder devised," Sara said. "For secret messages."
"Smart thinking," Gourry praised. "But wasn't he your father?"
Sara blinked, looked at him. "Excuse me?"
"The founder of you country. Wasn't he your father?"
"Adopted father," she explained, and snapped her attention back to the little assassination plot they needed to solve. "Anyway, it's basically just information about Prince Phil's daily routine."
"Routine?" Gourry asked, blinking.
It was Amelia who answered, and she seemed to do so reluctantly. "Hai. When he eats, leaves the castle, things like that."
"Wow," Lina praised. "They must have been pretty dedicated to this whole Kill-Your-Dad-Thing." Seeing Amelia wince, she added a quick, "But hey, don't worry. They must be pretty damn stupid to leave this kind of a letter lying around a garden. Ne, Sara-dono?"
"Ha - hai," she answered, and turned to look around the room. "Why wasn't Halgon-san permitted entry?"
"Raleic said he would be too distracting for you," Phil said, giving her a broad big-man wink. Sara blushed furiously.
"It was nothing like that! We told you, we were children!"
"Still, it's a pretty big coincidence that you're both here," Amelia said, and clasped her hands together. "True love never fades, they say."
"Yare yare," Lina said, waving a hand to dismiss the entire subject. "So we're your body guards again, ne, Phil-san?"
"I'm proud to be entrusted to you fine warriors," Phil informed with a hearty laugh and raised his foaming mug.
Amelia visibly paled.
"Would you like anything else to eat?" asked Cairi, smiling as all pleasant chefs should. Phil fell backwards out of his seat.
"How long have you been here?" the big man asked, getting to his feet. "Can't you see this is a top secret meeting?"
"G-gomen!" Cairi smiled even wider and attempted to hide under a table.
"Pretty lackluster security, ne, Phil-san?" Lina took a last bite of roast pig and climbed to her feet. "Okay, I won't be at full power 'til tomorrow, so Gourry can take the first watch. Sara and I can scout for clues until tonight."
"Another mystery," Amelia murmured.
"I like mysteries," Gourry put in. "Like ancient artifacts and lemon trees."
Lina took a moment to decide if she wanted to pursue that. No, she didn't. "Do you have anything that might help us figure out who these guys are, Sara?"
"I've brought some things," she answered. "I don't know how helpful they'll be."
"Okay," Lina agreed. "You should go get them."
"Hai," Sara said, a little surprised
"Oyasumi, minna," Lina tossed lazily over her shoulder as she strode for the doorway.
"That is a true mage," Phil said after she'd left. "Knows how to take charge of a situation. Remains calm under pressure."
"I don't think she really felt all that much pressure, Otou-sama."
"Well, she reacted well nonetheless! So I assume you'll be guarding me today, eh, Sir Gourry?"
Quite aware that he wouldn't be getting any sleep for a long time, the swordsman glumly nodded assent.
"Here," Amelia said, handing over some ear plugs.
"Eh?" Gourry looked blankly down at them.
"Daddy snores really loud," she explained, and patted him consolingly on the shoulder.
Outside the village of Biatz, there was a rundown shack. It was a few hours journey away from the hot tea and the pretty gir -
It was a few hours' journey away from the hot tea and warm bed, but this warm morning Zelgadiss Greywers didn't really care at all. Being adept to forest travel, he lightly slipped between trunks and under branches, and for a minute he remembered when he'd been swinging his sword around, and it had gotten stuck into a log, and he had tried to pull it out and Rezo had shown up and turned him into a hideous freak -
It was a few hours' journey...
"The forest has grown a lot since we moved our Organization to the town." His guide looked back over his shoulder.
"Hurgh," Zachard agreed, slashing open an easier path in front of them. A couple trees fell over, and they were looking at what appeared to be an even denser-looking pathway than the one they'd been traveling since sunrise.
"Is this the easiest way?" Zel asked the only one of in the group he felt he could trust.
"Hai," said the Baker. "If there are any other routes, they've been hidden behind all this growth."
Zel wondered for a moment why the rotund little man sounded like his seiyuu was recording the lines over a long distance cell phone... or rather, in our favorite chimera's own words, "why he sounds like he's at the bottom of a well." He shrugged it off, then; forget how he sounded, he was the only other sane one within an hour's walk.
"All right, then." He gestured for the impressive-looking sorcerer and the dopey-looking swordsman to step aside, and they did without argument.
There was a general reason why they were so agreeable, and that would be because of the purposeful way the chimera's eyes narrowed, closed, and the very vague impression of his slowed breathing. Neither of the two were quite smart or articulate enough to put all that into words, but they felt it, all the same.
Very little time passed, but to the other three, it was kind of like half a millennium of waiting in two seconds. Then Zelgadiss thrust his open hands at the air, and as he spoke, the current of wind whipped around them, gathering on and about his blue skin, as he cried the spell's name.
"Bomb... Di Win!!!"
The stored energy at his fingers and palms broke, rushed forward in a blast of explosive need. Luckily, Zachard noted with an inward sigh of relief, the brunt of it was centered away from them, and into the giant, deep tangle of trees. All of these groaned, shuddered, fell against each other, and toppled altogether with loud, ground raising thuds.
When the magicked wind died, the forest before them resembled a... well, a forest that had just been blown sky-high by a powerful chimera Shamanist.
Galef made a soft noise in appreciation. "You've got wonderful skill," he said humbly.
Zelgadiss looked back at him with no expression.
"I must say, you are almost as good a sorcerer as I." The former Xain leader drew himself up and grinned tall. Zel's expression turned from non-existant to slightly amused.
"There's the old hideout," Zachard said, poking his finger in the direction of the shack. Its thatched roof could be seen beyond the wrecked piles of forest vegetation, beckoning in its own quiet, inanimate way.
"Yosh," Zel said mildly, and climbed up onto one of the fallen trunks. "Let's go."
"Of course." Galef grinned righteously, hopping up beside him. Zachard was right behind, and the two of them began an easy game of hopping across the thick wooden logs. In most cases, the downed trees were close enough together to simply walk along the whole way, and this is the method of travel Zelgadiss chose over the others' show-offish leaping and landing and whatever.
"Oi," the Baker called from half a dozen dead trees back. "Ano, I need some help here..."
"Ray Wing." The spell was easy enough for him now, and the chubby man with the wispy hair popped upward, flew past the others, and was deposited on the ground outside the shack.
Zelgadiss resumed his stroll, his mind clicking back to the goings-on before they'd set out on this journey. Jer-san had ordered Galef and Zachard, both of whom had been enjoying time off, to accompany Zel on his search for whatever it was he was trying to find. When they refused, Jer hadn't threatened them with bodily harm as Lina would have, but instead offered them the rest of the week off for their troubles.
Zel didn't smile, but if he were a more openly emotional guy, he would have. The day before he had learned that the attractive woman with the full lips and her daughter that he had met when he first strolled into the village were in fact the wife and little girl of Kainzard-baka himself. The three of them lived in a small house behind the Dynes', and Zachard had taken up residence in an even smaller one directly next door. The swordsman, apparently, had no real family of his own.
Zelgadiss had focussed his attention to locating what he believed to be the source of magic that had drawn him here - a trick he'd picked up a short while ago from a Priestess - and had pinpointed it to be in this area. Once he'd told Jer, the ojiisan had told him of the rundown shack that had once been Xain's headquarters and was in that exact area. Then he'd insisted on sending him the three escorts; he'd secretly sent the Baker so he could warn Zel if the two were trying to get him lost or whatever they might do.
"I've truly missed this good old hideout."
He looked up at hearing Galef's almost lovesick tone. The guy was standing there, fists to his chest, staring up at the rickety old place in something like wistfulness.
"Well, the place is still standing." The Baker scratched the back of his head. "Last time I was here, it looked like it would have fallen over if someone had tossed a handful of dirt at it. It's a miracle your spell didn't knock it down."
Zel doubted miracles had anything at all to do with it, but said nothing.
"I haven't seen this place in years," Galef said, ignoring the fact that the last time he'd been here was with his recently-returned wife and child. He'd been gloating grandly about how impossibly wonderful his fortress was, and once they'd shown up, both of the women in his life broke into howling laughter; thusly he did not "count" that as an actual homecoming.
Zachard ran a hand across the side of it, and immediately got a bloody splinter. He smiled. "It's good to be home again, ne?"
"Hai." Kainzard gave Zel a hesitant glance. "So, ah, do whatever it was. We'll just be... catching up on old memories."
He shook his head, and then proceeded to poke it through the doorway while the Baker lounged quietly beside a log. All of Xain's two members cooed over the terrible craftsmanship that apparently permeated the inside, as well as the out.
To give Galef credit, the throne was awfully nice. Unfortunately, aside from a few small tables and half-melted candles and a raggedy curtain tossed rudely on the floor, that was all the one-room waste of wood had to offer.
"Che," Zel muttered as he stepped up to the large, ego-boosting chair. Leaning against it lightly, he inwardly grimaced at how uncomfortable it would be to sit in that thing... not to mention how inconvenient if you had to get out of it quickly. It seemed to have armor built right into it.
"Zelgadiss-san!" the Baker screamed, and the chimera was out the door in a moment. Galef and Zachard were busy tip-toeing away. Upon seeing their cover blown, they made to pretend they were doing something casual. But seeing as not many casual things involve tip-toeing, Zelgadiss was not convinced.
"Balus Rod." A long shaft of energy popped into being, and Zel used it to wrap the two hoodlums into a tight little bundle before they could scamper off any farther.
"Chikusho," Zachard mumbled.
"Arigatou, Baker-san." Galef shot the fidgity man a glower.
Zel jerked the Rod, ignoring how echii that sounds, and the two stumbled over to him.
"Where were you trying to go?" Zel asked mildly.
"Nowhere, nowhere!" Galef's smile might have been convincing to a five year old. An insipid five year old.
The chimera sighed, and the bonds disappeared. "Were you really going to leave your wife and child behind?" he asked, turning to walk back into the shack.
"Ah... ano..." He nudged Zachard hard in the side. "See? I told you we'd forgotten something."
Zel shook his head warily. "If you're going to run off, do so. But wait until you've indulged me with the information I need about this place, okay?"
"Oh, sure," they agreed together, slipping into the shack after him.
And twenty seconds later, the tour was complete.
"That's all?" Zelgadiss asked with a sigh.
"Hai," Galef assured. He was once again indulging himself in the luxury of sitting in that massively inconvenient throne. "We at Xain had no use for complex, useless commodities."
"Like a bathroom?" Zel asked mildly.
"What are you looking for, anyway?" Zachard was busy kneeling in front of Galef, on one knee. For old time's sake, apparently.
"An underground laboratory." The chimera, ignoring how silly those two looked in the middle of their little charade, glanced behind the throne, his palm checking it for any trips or catches or levers or buttons or Doujinshi.
"Ahh." Galef nodded, as if he'd seen hundreds in his day.
Zel quirked a brow juuuuuust slightly. "And you're sure there aren't any?"
"Hai. Very."
Just then his fingers nudged against a slight bump in the golden surface of the overgrown chair, which he gave an instinctive shove. The platform beneath them began to move, and Galef ack!ed and struggled wildly to get out of the throne before he was sucked into a time-space anamoly or something. But, as Zelgadiss could have guessed, it was too difficult a task to evacuate that throne in the one second this process took.
The platform beneath it opened, and the throne swung to the right corner of the shack. The floor opened beneath its new position, it descended swiftly inward, and the floor closed again like some sort of perverse mouth.
Zachard dashed up to where his master used to be, dropped back onto his knees, and shouted the disappeared sorcerers' name. A muffled something and a couple hearty thumps on the floor board responded. The swordsman hurried to pull the loose wood up and off.
Zel, meanwhile, was busy with the small now-open floor platform that had been the throne's base. A very poorly lit stairway led downward into what could be anything from hell to Fishman Paradise. Obviously, he'd found his quarry.
Galef rose from beneath the ground like the phoenix, except he was coughing and sputtering dirt and trying to shake it out of his clothing with very little success. Lucky he'd worn his work clothes on this expedition.
"Find your lab, Zelgadiss?" he asked, trying to fix his hair back into its coolass original position.
His conversational opponent nodded. "I think so. The three of you can go back to town now."
"Nani? You don't know what's down there."
"Do you?" Zel turned his head and looked at him.
"No, and all the more reason for us to continue on. This is Xain's property."
"And you want to be able to take credit for finding whatever could be down there." Zel turned his handsome face back to the stairs.
Galef-baka laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that could be part of it. But we're coming, so nevermind that!"
Zelgadiss shrugged, and took the fabled first step inside.
The corridor was not well lit, Zelgadiss reiterated to himself.
They rarely ever were. No one knew why, but pretty much every corridor leading into the unknown was given only the smallest amount of lighting necessary to make sure one didn't fall on his face, and sometimes even less. Most likely, it was because villains were a vastly unoriginal lot, simply bent on destroying the world or claiming riches to themselves or whatever. So they all copied one another, with maybe a few variations in the pattern so the creator, or author in this case, could claim he'd done something New and Exciting, and left it at that. They also almost always lost, which is one reason Zel had made sure to get out of the profession of villainizing as soon as possible.
"What are you looking for?" Zachard asked again.
"I'm really not sure." Zel cast aside some blue locks of spiky hair. "I guess... anything or anyone that could be used or is using a strong amount of magical power."
"How are you going to know when you find it?" Galef asked, nearly tripping over thin air.
"I took lessons from a priestess a little while ago. I can locate powerful magical manifestations with a decent amount of skill." No modesty, but no bravado either. Galef smiled, and his golden tooth caught the soft light. "Ahh, is that how you managed to find the old hideout?"
"And the village to begin with," Zel answered without looking back.
"You're not bad, chimera-san," Galef said, and then the three of them were at the bottom of the stairs.
Here, as usual, there was absolutely no light source. At least, there wasn't until Zel held out a hand and made one of his own. The room, in flickering on-and-off view, was circular and pure stone without anything inside it.
"This place is almost as empty as your shack," Zelgadiss noted.
"Ano, there are probably more secret passages."
Galef gave Zachard a short look. "I was just about to suggest that."
"No need for either of you to do so." Zelgadiss turned, his eyes narrowed. He pitched Galef the lightball. "Catch."
Fumble fumble grab. Blink. Glance to swordsman, then to chimera. "Ah, what - ?"
But Zel was already kneeling on the floor, his eyes closed, head bowed, hands in position of prayer. The lightball continued its complacent illumination of the circular room, uncaring, flickering every so often in Galef's hand. Zachard, though not the smartest man in the country, or in the room for that matter, wasn't so dumb as not to know it was best if he would shut up and watch the situation progress on its own.
Finally Zel stood up, and gave the both of them a blank look. "I can't locate anything down here."
Galef smiled nervously. "Ahh, well, you can stay in Biatz til you figure out what to do."
Zel nodded. "I might. But I think it would be best if I went and called upon the aid of some friends."
"Oh, yes?" Galef smiled. "Who?"
The chimera shook his head and brushed past him, back up the stairs, grabbing the lightball on the way. "Lina Inverse, for one. I'm sure you've heard of her."
Lina's research was interrupted by a violent sneeze.
"Bless you," Sara said, leafing through one of the many tomes stockpiled on the table in front of them.
"Eh," Lina said, sniffling. "How's your research going?"
"I haven't found anything," she confessed, flipping her little book shut. "Nothing of use, anyway."
"Me neither," Lina said with a grunt, and sat back in her chair. "Maybe we're going at this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?" Sara asked, tilting her head.
"I mean, maybe the answer has nothing to do with what's in these books." Lina tossed hers back onto the pile, which collapsed on top of the remains of the meal they'd been eating. Cairi paled as he heard the plates shatter, but managed to keep quiet and continue rubbing away at the floors.
"Well, where do we look for information, then?" Sara asked with the mildest of frowns.
"Hmn." The sorceress closed one eye, rubbed at her chin. "If there's nothing helpful to us concerning your country's current staff or crime reports, then maybe it would have something to do with Seiruun's. Maybe this guy had a dispute with Phil before and wants to end the grudge in a way that will make him out to be the victor, or something. Do you know what kind of stuff happens during Phil-san's public audiences?"
Sara shook her head. "I'm sure Amelia does, though. Want me to get her?"
"Hai, that would help. I'll just look over these things one more time to make sure we didn't miss anything."
The Princess nodded, stood, and made her way out. Lina flipped through a leather-bound tome entitled "Criminals of Panifess," and began reading through the jotted entries. As Panifess wasn't very big and hadn't been around very long, the tome was rather small, allowing for a more articulate touch to the individual accounts of criminal activity. Each was provided with a date, a name, an inked-in (but surprisingly welding) picture of the person's facial structure, and a brief description of the ne'ever-do-well's crime and ultimate fate. All those listed were either dead, still in prison, or had Sara's word that they were now trustworthy citizens of Panifess, and even if they weren't, none of them had the means to carry out an assassination attempt on Prince Philionel el de Seiruun. Still, three of these had caught her eye for one of those odd reasons you can't quite explain, and these three she glanced over one more time.
Delgard Missioni, read one, with a picture of a pleasant young man with moppy hair. A distant cousin to Our Founder. Arrested when accused of the murder of one Serin Servik. When she was found alive and well in the forest, Delgard died before release in a prison riot.
A depressing story, Lina mused, but without consequence here. She read on.
Zoom, was another entry, depicting face clothed in cloth through wild sort of hairstyle poked up. Master assassin. Killed Our Founder's personal sorcerer, escaped before he could be arrested. Guards always on lookout.
Lina considered that one as potentially relevant, but Sara had been adamant that it had nothing to do with their current case. Zoom (a name which Lina considered outlandishly silly) had been young in the days of her adopted father's own youth. Unless there was some geriatric assassin wandering the lands, they probably wouldn't get anything out of that one.
The third one was the most suspicious to Lina by far. He was the last one listed in the entire tome, the date preceding the current moment by about four years. The man's name was smeared to be indecipherable, but the face was one she recognized... only a little at first, but on hearing Sara say the simple word, "Prince Phil," it had all snapped back into focus.
Summoned the Brass Demon Garundia to terrorize a recluse farm hold out of money. Current whereabouts unknown. Then, in brighter quill strokes was the addendum: Rumored to be in the employ of Prince Randy er du Seiruun.
"Did you need me, Lina-san?" Amelia asked, snapping the dazed sorcerer to wakefulness.
"Uh? Oh, hai. Sit down, sit down." She turned toward the kitchen. "Oi, Pops! Get us some more to drink out here!"
Sara set herself down beside Amelia, two Princesses on one bench. There was a folk song in there somewhere, but Lina wasn't going to be the one to find it. "We were wondering what kind of things your father bears judgment on during public audiences," Sara explained in a low voice to make up for Lina's brashness.
"Nothing too strange. Things like land ownership, and whether or not someone stole an apple from someone else's tree. Why?"
"We think this might be more of a personal grudge, since we can't see any connection between Panifess and Seiruun," Lina explained, taking the mug Cairi brought over with as much good humor as he could muster. "Arigatou, Pops."
"Arigatou, Cairi-san," Amelia said, helping herself to her own glass and turning back to Lina. "A personal grudge?"
"Hai," Lina said, and spun the tome she'd been reading around. "The only connection I can find at all would be with your uncle Randy's wizard, but we killed him already."
Amelia stared at the book, and turned a shade more pale. "Oh, hai. That man."
Sara sighed, and placed her head in her hands. "I apologize for not being more helpful," she said. "Sometimes I don't feel fit to be a Princess."
"Don't say that," Amelia advised, patting her on the shoulder. "My sister used to say that all the time, before she ran away. You need to keep a high opinion of yourself!"
"Sister?" Lina repeated, blinking.
Sara looked up. "Something come to you?"
"Maybe." She took another moment to collect herself. "Who was your founder, again?"
"Lyle de Panifess," she answered promptly. "What does that matter?"
"Where did he come from originally?" Lina leaned closer, hungry for
"I don't know, he never said. I supposed he was always from that area."
"And what country controlled that area?"
Sara's brows contracted. "I think the Kingdom of Karis. Why?"
Lina shook her head. "Lyle is definitely not a Karisian name. Neither is the "de" between that and Panifess."
The Princesses blinked.
"Amelia, does your father have a record of the the royal family for the past century?"
"Ano, hai. It should be in our library." She hopped to her feet, bright as ever. "But why would that matter?"
"Maybe it doesn't," Lina said. "Only one way to find out."
As could be expected, Amelia was not all that adept when it came to climbing crickety ladders.
"Over here," Lina called, arms outstretched, only to have bouncy young woman and historical tome both land on her head.
"Are you two okay?" Sara asked, rushing over.
"Fine, hai," Lina grumbled, dusting herself off. "Although it wouldn't hurt if our regional Princess here was a little more coordinated."
Amelia put on her most kawaii face in apology.
"So why are we down here again?" Raleic asked. "No offense, but libraries aren't my favorite place. They're so stuffy."
"I always say, a battlefield is a place to hide from one's problems, but a library is the place of choice for all real men to face the truth of themselves." Phil folded his arms and nodded at his own wisdom.
"Sugoi!" Gourry said, evidently blown away by such deep (if not exactly poetic) thinking.
"I still don't see why Raleic keeps shooing Halgon out, though." Amelia frowned at her messenger, who answered by tripping over the ladder and thusly saving herself from having to respond.
The background chatter continued for a while, as Lina flipped through page after page of different Seiruun Princes and Princesses and Pages and Royal Dogs. "Oh, here we go," she intoned, and tapped at a line of writing that sprouted from one branch of a convoluted and bizarre family tree.
Phil came to read over her shoulder. "Prince Lyle De Seiruun?"
Lina nodded. "Lived at the same time as Lyle de Panifess."
"So you're saying they're the same people?" Gourry guessed, intrigued.
"Bingo," Lina congratulated, tossing him a cookie.
"But I don't remember any Uncle Lyle," Phil said thoughtfully, scratching his chin.
"He's pretty far removed from you, actually." Lina traced Lyle's own little tree downward to a small inkblot that suggested she turn to page five-eight-two. Unable to quit during a hot strike, she flipped to the requested page.
Departed was this section's headline, and Lyle was the first one mentioned on that page. Lina read it over and grinned, sank back into her chair. "Am I good or what?"
Phil took the tome and read aloud. "Prince Lyle De Seiruun. Moved to the village of Panifess, stating it for reasons of the heart. Adopted two children, Sara and Gregory. Soon after appealed to the government of Karis to make Panifess and the land surrounding it into its own country. Appeal granted, Lyle became King until dying of an unknown disease."
"That's kind of sad," Gourry said, and patted Sara's shoulder. "I'm sorry. But I didn't know you had a brother."
"Oh, yeah, he's back at home." She shook her head to clear it of those bad memories, and looked back toward the leader of this extravagant investigation. "So what's your point, Miss Inverse?"
"Simply put, you're descendants from Seiruun. That explains the similarity of the names, and makes the coincidence with Randy's wizard a lot more understandable."
"But what does that have to do with this whole conspiracy?" Sara asked, frowning.
"Nothing much, but it does open up some sort of connection. Who rules the place now?"
"My mother, Beronlin."
"Now that sounds like a Karisian name," Lina observed. "I don't suspect she has anything to begrudge against Seiruun?"
"Of course not," Sara huffed, a bit offended by the look of things. "She's the one who requested I come down here with this, to strengthen the relations between our countries."
"Mmn." Lina tapped her forehead, closed her eyes. After a moment of silent pondering, she opened them again.
"Why don't you guys throw a banquet tonight?"
Phil and Sara fell over.
"We've done that every night for the past seven days," Amelia explained. "It hasn't gotten us anywhere."
"Maybe you just haven't been doing it right," Lina chastened with a bit of that much needed smugness to lighten things up.
"Ano, Lina," Gourry said, a bit hesitant. "Do you have a plan?"
"I think so," she answered seriously, fingers rubbing her forehead. "And if I don't, at least we'll get food out of it."
"Obayo," Selena called, holding the chimera's hand tightly. "Be sure to hurry back once you find Lina-sama."
He nodded, took his hand back, and looked at the others who'd gathered to send him off. The ojiisan, the woman, the Baker, Zachard, and the entire Kainzard family.
"Baibai, Mazoku-san," the young girl said happily. Zel's eyes went flat, but he smiled all the same.
"Sayanara, indeed." Galef's ravishing wife's full lips turned up.
"We'll do what we can while you're away," the husband of the aforementioned beauty promised.
"Just don't expect too much," Zachard grinned.
"You two won't be going anywhere without Baker-san there," Dyne admonished, chewing on his wheat.
"All the ale in the town wouldn't get me back out there," the round little man chuckled.
Zachard and Galef chuckled nervously. Jer turned his face back to Zel. "Do hurry back, hai? We don't have visitors in this town more than once a decade."
"That is the plan, at least." Zelgadiss tilted his head lightly.
"See you, then, Zelgadiss-san." Selena smiled and bowed lightly.
Zel turned away, drew his hood up over his face, and stalked off. Over his shoulder, he cast them all a three fingered wave.
News travels fast around large cities, especially when said word concerns royal banquets held in honor of beautiful Princesses. And being the seventh feast in as many days, very few of the townspeople had made other plans for dinner that night.
The turnout was so large that Cairi reportedly hired out a hundred of the town's best cooks to help him prepare the meal. With that many people on his payroll, he wouldn't be making any profit that night. "But a true chef's payment is in knowing he's done a perfect job at filling the stomachs of his banqueteers," he was heard to announce in an opening lecture to his assembly of eager bakers and mixers and boilers and butchers. They responded with a loud shout of encouragement and went to work. Lina, meanwhile, was busy giving lectures to her fellow Royal Bodyguards.
"The most important thing to remember about assassins," she explained, "is that the good ones always blend in with a crowd. Case in point; if you see a really big guy covered in bandages dragging a mace around, that's not who we're looking for."
"So who are we looking for?" asked Gourry, scratching his head ponderously.
"Everyday, normal average type guys. Like you or me."
"Nani? You're normal?" Gourry leaned forward, wide-eyed. "When did that happen? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Dil Brand," Lina answered, calmly blowing her sidekick and a couple innocent bystanders up into the ceiling.
"We just had this place repainted," Amelia sighed. "Do you always have to be so violent?"
"Only when necessary," Lina replied, brushing her palms together. "So anyway, we won't know who our man is until he makes his move. That means you'll all have to be on guard."
Raleic sighed, threw a glance at Halgon. Halgon gave a little puzzled smile back, and inched out of her line of sight.
"But this is the seventh banquet we've served," Sara reiterated. "What makes you think he'll attempt anything tonight? The dining hall is already half full, and the food won't be ready for two more hours."
Lina leaned forward, tapped her forehead. "Think about it. Assassin types are stealthy. They won't attack in the middle of a huge get-together for everyone to see."
"Then what good is all this going to do?" Sara asked, waving a hand at the arriving guests.
"Phil-san will just have to bed early tonight," Lina said, with a light smile and a shrug. "The assassin will probably be here; it's a great chance to scope out the place. And when he sees Phil running off to sleep..." She bopped a fist into her palm and began looking really smug. "We spring at him."
"Sugoi!" Gourry praised, wounded but apparently still with it enough to recognize that this was one of Lina's Really Good Plans, and understanding that Lina expected high praise for such. "That's one of your smartest ideas ever!"
"Hai, hai," she returned, accepting the acclaim with the accustomed air of a professional. "Now we just need to wait until everyone gets settled in."
And in due time, everyone did indeed get settled in, though not without a few mishaps and more than a couple minor burns resulting from an overzealous Raleic instinctively Fireballing anyone who got so much as ten feet within Phil's personal space. Understandably, there were a lot of empty tables towards the front of the room.
"I don't think that's really a good idea," Gourry observed. "I mean, won't it blow our cover?"
"Well, it's not my fault!" Raleic sniffed. "We're just sitting here, waiting around. When are we going to put this into action?"
"Not until the end of the banquet," Lina hissed, already feeling her temperament climbing up the charts. "Sit down and stay calm before we have to club you into submission."
"Ladies and gentleman!" Phil boomed suddenly, drowning out the rest of the conversation and causing everyone to shut up. Those unlucky enough to arrive earlier were forced to take their seats in the front, near the spell-happy postal worker and the ear-blasting volume of the country's Prince. "We welcome you to the seventh Royal Seiruun-Panifess Banquet!"
Applause filled the ballroom. Raleic managed to settle down with the knowledge that at least the wheels were starting to turn, and Lina was able to find solace in the fact that there was food about to be served. Phil raised his hands, gestured throughout the crowd. "To all of you, I wish a happy feast!" More applause, and the Prince waited until this had died enough before adding in the coup de grace, "Bring in the food!" and thusly summoning Cairi with all his waiters in tow.
Gourry and Lina led the cheering this time around, using their forks and knives to direct the swell and tide of their own personal orchestra. "Gohan, la la la! Gohan, lu lu lu!"
So intense was the sudden revelry that Sara almost didn't notice the man walking up to Phil until he was nearly close enough to reach out and smack him. She jumped in surprise, but remained still and composed, as she nudged the Prince in the side.
"Sire?" the man asked, smiling. Lina and Gourry broke of their little chant to stare at him (much to the dismay of the crowd, who had apparently been getting into it). He wasn't attractive, but more rugged, a "been there done that" kind of a man in a weary kind of way, stubble framing his cheeks and chin. His smile looked weak, though, and his eyes a little too intense.
"Yes, young man?" the crown Prince asked, oblivious to any such suspicions. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, Sire..." The man paused, and drew out a knife, which he immediately dropped as Lina pounded him straight into the ground.
"The assassin!" Raleic gasped, jumping to her feet. "By L-sama!"
"Yes, another day saved by the virtuous Lina Inverse." She hopped back into her chair, seeing Cairi himself place some delectable roast pork right in front of her plate.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Amelia demanded of the fallen man, squatting down next to him and raising his head by the hair.
The moment was broken by the soft humming of Prince Philionel, leaning over the knife. He straightened up, took it by the bladepoint, and offered it back to the man with his signature scrawled over the steel. "There you go."
"Ar-arigatou!" the unshaven fellow cried, taking the knife and disentangling from Amelia's slackened grasp. He bowed a couple times and split as quickly as he could.
"N...nani?" Lina asked, sweatdropping.
"Oh, I met the guy the other day. He asked me to autograph his knife, but he didn't have it with him at the time." Phil beamed, and turned back to the table and the food waiting on it. "Well, let's eat!"
"Jeez," Lina grunted, shoveling pork into her mouth. "And here I thought everything was all nice and wrapped up."
"It's never that easy," Gourry pointed out with uncharacteristically sharp observational skills.
"Eh," Lina agreed without enthusiasm, and was about to pile more food onto her plate when Amelia snapped out of her daze and raised her hands above her head.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" she shouted, having to strain much more than her father in order to have her words heard. "The Prince regrets to tell you that he will be retiring early this evening!"
Phil blinked, dropped his spoon into his soup. "I am?"
"Hai," Amelia hissed, nudging him. She raised her voice again. "He's just a bit jumpy now, and I, as his daughter, feels he needs his rest. We'll accompany him to his quarters."
The crowd uttered a few "get-well-soon"s as Amelia hauled her dad to his feet and pushed him back through the arched doorway leading into the hall's inner sanctums. The guards stood to the side to allow them to pass, and the few squabbling and upset bodyguards that were running to catch up.
"What's with this?" Lina asked, munching on a celery stick topped with sautéed pork.
"It was a good chance to get our plan going," Amelia answered, looking back at Lina with concern.
"But I was ready to eat," the sorceress whined, gnawing at the abomination in her hand.
"Yeah," Gourry mumbled, jogging alongside. He had apparently grabbed a cob of corn before taking off after them. "That big meat thing looked really good."
"Oh, that's Lake Dragon," Phil said. "Cairi's specialty. He makes the best in the land."
"L-lake... Dragon?" Lina and Gourry's legs quit working, and when they began to work again, it was in reverse.
"Hold it, you two." Raleic took them both by the collar, dragging them along as they kicked and squirmed to get back to their long-lost meal. "We don't have time for your food fetishes."
"Lake dragon!" they responded, still struggling. "La e dragon lake dragon lake dragon!"
"Oi," Amelia shouted from up ahead. "We'll have Cairi prepare you all the Lake Dragon you can eat after we finish off this entire assassination plot. Deal?"
Lina blinked out of it. Gourry did as well after being smacked over the head with a frying pan.
"Yosh!" the two chorused, running full-speed ahead of the group and leaving a trail of upraised dust behind them. "Assassin-san, prepare to die!"
"Those two remind me of myself when I was young," Phil boasted, jogging along.
Raleic sighed. "Yeah, we're in trouble."
Halgon looked up from his plate, filled generously with giant portions of Lake Dragon Surprise. "Ano? Where's Lina?"
Sara glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and smiled. "Oh, they went for a walk."
"Sir? Madam?" Cairi asked, approaching the table. "How's dinner?"
"Wonderful!" Halgon declared, pointing his fork toward the heavens as if defying any of the Four Mazoku to contradict him. "What do you have for dessert?"
Cairi clapped his hands together and beamed. "So glad you asked! We have a large selection of rare cakes and pies from all over the country..."
The chef continued, but his voice had reduced to a lot of clicks and mutters to Halgon as Sara put her hand over his, patting it with a smile. "Remember when you used to feed me cake?"
"Y...yes." The stocky man scratched the back of his scalp, smiled nervously. "You... you liked chocolate, ne?"
She nodded, looked into his eyes, and he was instantly lost to the world.
So lost, indeed, that he completely missed the sudden maniacal laughter emanating from the center of the gathered crowd. He also missed the crazy, unshaven man with "Prince Phil" scribbled on his knife leap onto a table and point the vibrantly glowing blade into the air, and he missed Cairi suddenly stopping short as it jammed into his back, up to the hilt. He didn't come to his senses until the dead waiter fell forward over the table and the crowd broke into loud shrieks, bowling each other over for the doorway.
"Nani?!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. Sara followed him, gripped his hands before he could unsheathe his ax.
"Halgon-chan," she whispered, tugging at him, turning his attention away from the scene of carnage. He was dimly aware of the insane unshaven man hopping onto the table over Cairi's body and then leaping away with it, but it seemed a distant event that he wasn't involved in. "Halgon-chan," his Princess repeated, shaking her head, and raising a hand to caress down his cheek. "You shouldn't be here."
"But, Sara.." He shook his head, trying to snap back to reality but without any real conviction. All that seemed to matter at the moment were days of meadows and sunshine and chocolate cake and funerals and tears. Behind him he thought he heard the sound of two men, (the guards at the door, some dim voice of recognition told him) screaming and drowning in their own blood, and the sound of laughter dampening as its source carried it down a hallway.
"Shhh," she instructed softly, placing a hand to his lips, and he gave in.
"Phil, get behind us," Lina ordered, impatiently snapping her wrist at him.
"Never!" he responded, hands on his hips. "A real man with his heart set for justice will not hide from those doomed to be punished by his righteous hand!"
Lina grabbed Gourry's sword and hit him over the head with its hilt. The Prince crumpled silently at their feet.
"Oi," the swordsman complained, taking back his weapon. "Be careful with that! It's the only one I've got left!"
"Look out!" Amelia shouted, and dove onto them. They hit the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.
"What the HELL are you doing?" Lina shouted, not noticing the knife that had gouged itself a place in the wall behind where she'd just been standing. When someone jumps on her and there's no sudden explosion overhead, Lina was apt to get upset.
"Mmrf," Gourry grunted with a face-full of youthful Princess breasts. Amelia flopped to her feet red as sin, flailing.
"That guy threw his knife at you!" she shouted, pointing at the blade which was disgorging itself from the wall of its own accord. She was going to continue before realizing that knives usually don't do that, and gave it rapt attention as it hovered back into the hand of their friend from the banquet, stubbly-chinned and intense-eyed.
"So you are the assassin," Lina mused, climbing to her feet.
"Indeed," he returned with an eloquence in his voice that made his rough appearance seem out of place. "I'm sorry you four had to get caught up in this."
Lina folded her arms, looked at him evenly. "Care to give us a name?"
"Surely. I am Gregory la Panifess. Soon to be Gregory la Seiruun."
Amelia gasped. "Another corrupt family member?!"
Raleic nodded. "We do seem to get our share around here, ne? I've only been on the job a year, but jeez."
Lina chuckled, and raised a brow. "So what's your story? Come to kill the Prince in vengeance of the King of Panifess?"
"Ano?" Gourry asked. "Didn't the King of Panifess die from a disease?"
Lina nodded. "Right."
"Then what does Phil-san have to do with anything?" He scratched his head.
Smirking, Lina launched into a brief narrative. "A while ago a bunch of magicians gathered in Seiruun to prepare for a war with Zoana and developed a bunch of combat techniques. One," she raised a finger to better illustrate the concept of the number (a gesture which Gourry was very appreciative of), "was a magical disease that soon infested and took over the place. Rezo cured it before it could do any real damage, but..." She lifted her hands, shrugged. "I guess that's around the time this Lyle guy left for the north."
"So he took some of the disease with him?" Raleic asked, furrowing her brow.
"Guess so. And it kind of manifested inside of him, killing him off eventually." She shrugged and looked back at the one recently named Gregory. "So, am I right?"
"Not at all," he answered flatly, and the group facefaulted.
"Damn!" Lina swore, smacking a fist into her palm. "That woulda been so good if I'd got that right."
Chuckling, Gregory released the knife, a deadly pointed thing that hummed as it hovered. "I'm afraid my motive is simply to get myself higher up the succession line, much as ever."
"Man, talk about a worn-out premise," Lina sighed.
"And thanks to your idiot father signing his name to my Partner," Gregory continued, "his death is assured."
"Partner?" Lina repeated, blinking. "Hey, wait, whattaya mean..."
"K'ya!" was the assassin's interrupting shout as he thrust his arm outward towards them. The knife responded as if he'd been holding it, flying directly between the group and to the asleep (but still large and therefore easily hit) Prince of Seiruun. Amelia, exercising unusual grace under pressure, uttered a quick "Bamu Rod!" and swung at the approaching blade. Usually having the impact of a Flare Lance on the first strike, the Rod barely managed to stop the flying, humming knife before it took up the heavy vibrational sound of Gourry's old sword and snapped the spell clean in half. Amelia swung around and smacked into the wall with the force of her own blow, her eyes two large swirly symbols of unconsciousness.
Gourry's eyes widened, pointing at the retreating blade and blurting, "Oi, it's magic."
"Uh huh," Lina answered, her eyes narrow. She looked over at Raleic. "Do you know Visafrank?"
The postal worker looked startled a moment, but nodded. "Hai, the Princess taught it to me once - "
"So use it!" Lina interrupted, giving her a shove up towards Gregory to get her going. "Hit the guy in the face, or something!"
"Who does she think I am?" Raleic grumbled, nonetheless calling on the Amelia-origined spell and drawing back a hand to swing at the highly confused villain.
"Oi!" he shouted, stumbling backward. "Keep away! You're not supposed to - ERGH."
That last was a loud grunt caused by the impact of Raleic's spiritually-powered fists connecting with his jaw. The man tumbled backwards once, twice, thrice, and then landed perfectly on his feet, dazed... but without a scratch on him. Raleic halted where she was, and the blade humming between the two reproachfully.
"Nice endurance, there," Lina commended, walking from the fallen Prince and Princess to stand beside her comrade-by-necessity. Gourry followed, not really sure what the hell else to do. "That spell should at least knock out a tooth, or something."
Gregory grinned, and despite it all, his grin was still weak. "You're pretty smart, girl."
"Of course." Lina glanced at the knife with a smirk. "But I don't know why you'd take the Pledge with a weakass Mazoku like that."
"Mazoku?!" Raleic and Gourry chorused, staring at the blade. The knife itself began to hum irritably, floating back into it's partner's hand.
"Weak?" Gregory asked, narrowing his intense eyes. "How so?"
"Only weak Mazoku can't take an actual form," Lina explained, rolling her eyes. "Jeez, didn't you know that?"
"Bah! Mazoku are Mazoku!" Gregory pointed the demonic blade at the gathered three. "More than enough to take care of you."
"You have no idea who you're dealing with." Lina pointed a finger at him, struck a number of dramatic poses, and displayed her strength by cleanly wiping out the villains and saving the day yet again.
Or she would have, if Phil hadn't run past her and grabbed the damn knife himself. "Pledges with Mazoku?!" he shouted, glowering at the knife. "Instrument of evil! Taking souls from the overzealous in return for blind power! Feel the burning forge of justice!" With that, he snapped the knife over his giant knee, abruptly cutting off its humming.
Recovering from that unexpected interlude, Lina gave the remaining bad guy a wink. "Still wanna be Prince?"
Gregory glanced from the giant Phil to the smug Lina to the confused Gourry to the blinking Raleic to the groggy Amelia who was waking up in the background, and lowered his head. "Fine," he mumbled. "You win."
"Great!" Lina clapped her hands, walking up and throwing an arm around him. "So, boy. You can start by telling us the real reason you're here."
He looked up sharply. A good actor, this guy, but Lina saw that trace of fear in his eyes, and knew how to play off it. "What do you mean?"
"You're nowhere near high enough in the line of succession to go around assassinating," she explained, shaking her head. "Unless you plan to kill off a third of the entire family. Really, you should have gone with my disease explanation. Much more plausible." She smirked, tapped his chest, and found it to be shaking.
"Please," he said, barely audible. "Please, I can't tell. I found the knife, it offered me power, and I took it, but that's all I can say!"
Lina gave the rest of her crew a quiet look, and returned to her new captive, intending to inform him of the fate that would undeniably befall him should he continue to withhold information. She couldn't though; for the second time in the same scene, she found the chance taken from her.
Amelia gasped, there was a sudden force of impact against Lina's side, and Gregory fell to the floor at her feet with a short gurgle. Standing above them was Cairi, bloody butcher knife in hand.
"Weak Mazoku, eh?" he asked, sliding his tongue along the crimson edge of the blade. "We'll discuss that some other time, Lina Inverse."
And before anyone could react with more than a startled gasp, the former figure of Cairi, assassin killer, blood-drinker, and their cook for the evening, vanished from sight.
"So," Lina asked, leaning back in her chair. "What's the damage report?"
"Halgon and Sara are missing, there's a weird Mazoku inhabiting the dead body of our chef, and the banquet ended when someone set fire to the tapestries." Amelia closed her booklet of events with a sigh.
"Guess that means the Lake Dragon is out," Lina grieved, shaking her head. "Damn it, I was really looking forward to that."
"Hai," Gourry agreed. "But shouldn't we be a little more worried about the Mazoku?"
Phil nodded his big head. "All men need to eat, but you must know your priorities. Defeating evil is always the first on all true adventurers' minds."
"I hate to say so," Xelloss spoke up, "but I agree with the man."
"N-nani?!" Phil asked, jumping up. "Where did he come from?"
Lina looked up. "Oh, that's just Xelloss. He does that a lot."
"Hai," the trickster priest agreed, settling into a chair across from Raleic. "Sorry I couldn't help you with your fight against Gregory and his knife Mazoku, but..."
"What the hell was that, anyway?" Lina frowned, shaking her head. "How did it take over the chef's body?"
"It killed him before coming after you," Xelloss explained, conjuring up a cup of tea to sip at. "As a precaution, of sorts."
"And you can do that? Possess people you've killed, I mean?"
The priest shook his head, and gave a shrug. "No, but you can take their form. That one was apparently much stronger than he was letting on."
"Wait," Phil said, climbing to his feet. "You're a Mazoku, aren't you?"
"I'm just a priest who happened to be walking by." Xel gave a rather unreassuring grin, and opened one slit eye. "Do sit back down, Phil-san."
"Oh, jeez," Lina sighed, feeling a Renounce Evil and Atone! speech rising out of the Prince. "Raleic, why don't you see Phil to bed? It's been a hectic night."
The postal worker obeyed, but not until receiving a meaningful look from the Mazoku. Amelia hopped up and helped to prod her father, already listing the different ways a former demon could make up for his past and become an upstanding citizen, out the door.
When the room was quiet except for the sound of Gourry slurping down his tea, Lina turned back to Xelloss. "So where do we go from here? That's what you showed up to prod us into with masked words and subtle hints, I'm sure."
Smiling brightly, he nodded twice. "So perceptive, Lina-san! I don't suppose you'd remember running into a kid with a stupid hat this morning, would you?"
"The one who gave me this?" Raleic had reentered, apparently handing over the task of Prince-caretaker to Amelia. She held the ticket in her hand.
"Mmhmm," Xelloss agreed, sipping down the rest of his drink and poofing away the cup. "They built that place over a pretty interesting site." Again, one slit eye opened, and fixed itself on Lina. "I think some of the stuff there belonged to a woman named Febriza. Of any interest you?"
There ensued a moment of silence, as Lina sat, her eyebrows slowly contracting.
"Well!" he chirped, popping to his feet. "I convinced my master to let me accompany you for a while, so we might as well get some sleep until the Grand Opening tomorrow, ne?"
"I am pretty tired," Gourry admitted, stretching his arms out. Raleic scoffed.
"Like you were any help in that fight. You all would have been lost without my Visafrank."
"Naw, I was just using you to see if my take on the Pledge thing was right or not."
"Nani?!" Raleic shouted, drawing herself up. "The great Madam Deontri, used as a guinea pig?!"
There were many more tapestries set on fire that night.
Zel wandered across a moderately barren land. Things grew here, sure, but not much. And what little there was was very dry and snapped instantly at the slightest bit of pressure.
Then he shuddered again. His head bowed, then raised, and he muttered to himself, "Almost there."
And as he went on walking, his eyes turned from a normal blue to a slightly bloodish red.