Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ The Slayers: Reward ❯ Found. Secret Revealed. ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Lord Archive 
Lina and crew discover some of the mysteries behind the infinite mansion.
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Adventure / Action / Drama / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.09.2002 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 624 | Status: Completed
Lina and crew discover some of the mysteries behind the infinite mansion.
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Adventure / Action / Drama / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.09.2002 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 624 | Status: Completed
The Slayers: Reward
Chapter 8: Found. Secrets Revealed.
By: Lord Archive
The Slayers belong to Hajime Kanazaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX, Software Sculptures Ltd., and many others. I do not own them. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them as quickly as I can since Lina and Gourry are eating away bank account.
This begins a few months after Slayers: Try. There are a few spoilers in this; I won't specifically explain anything, but I will refer to them. If you don't want even vague spoilers, I suggest that you don't read this.
Lime Warning: Nothing detailed, but occasional references to sexual relations and innuendoes may occur.
-------------------*
Amelia scratched her head as she wandered down the endless hallway, hoping to bump into Zelgadis or anyone else. She didn't know what else to do. At least in the hall, there was a chance someone would come out of the doors.
Amelia stopped and blinked as she passed one door. She turned and looked at a note placed on it. "Library?" She shrugged and opened the door.
"Oh, wow! Look at all these books. I'm bound to find some useful information." Amelia bounced over to the closest table and looked at the books gathered. It was odd that all of them were diaries or journals.
Amelia opened the first one and read, "Gracia formerly of Sailoon." She was about to sit down to read it when another book caught her eye. "Rezo, the apprentice."
Amelia immediately put down her sister's diary in favor of Rezo's journal, hoping beyond hope that some clue to Zelgadis's cure was contained within.
-------------------*
Ravven laughed bitterly. "What a twisted sadist." He grimaced in pain as he pulled out part of a peppermint sword from his shoulder.
"The cuter the room, the more deadly the trap. Shrine to a mazoku or if it looks like a torture chamber, it's perfectly safe," Ravven muttered. "Recovery." He relaxed slightly as his spell started to mend his wound. "What kind of sick bastard made this place?"
Ravven carefully moved to the shattered altar, while trying not to aggravate his injury. He tried to put it back together, but the altar kept falling apart despite his repeated tries to fix it. He sighed in defeat. He then picked up part of the altar, an almost intact stone carving of a burning dragon's head. "Any suggestions on how I should deal with this place?"
"No?" Ravven shrugged and placed the carving in his bag. "You never did give me much advice anyway."
-------------------*
Zelgadis kicked off the teddy bear that was gnawing on his leg, only to have it reattach itself. He decided to ignore it as he added the room to the map he was making.
Going to the door on the other side of the room, Zelgadis moved on to the next room. Inside, he noted that the room was bare save for a two meter tall transparent lime-green mass. It even smelled like lime.
Zelgadis pulled the attack teddy bear off his leg and tossed it at the mass. The thing quivered and shook as the teddy bear struggled to be free.
"That can't possibly be...." Zelgadis shook his head. He walked up and scooped off a chuck of the mass and ate it. "Yep, it's Jell-O. Lina and Gourry would've loved 'fighting' this thing."
Zelgadis marked the room on his map and was about to continue on when he noticed that the Jell-O monster was trying to eat his leg. He casually froze and shattered it.
The teddy bear shook off as much frozen Jell-O it could and then jumped onto the chimera's back.
Zelgadis went through other door in the room. He sweat-dropped at what he saw. This was either a torture room or a sado-masochist's idea of heaven with numerous items of sexual torture. At least Zelgadis thought they were all for sexual torture even though there were a few items he had no clue how they could be used that way. He reluctantly marked it down as a safe room, since there wouldn't be anything in the room that would attack someone.
Zelgadis sighed as there were no other doors. He back tracked passed the frozen Jell-O and to... a room filled with skulls?
Zelgadis ripped up his map. How could he possibly make an accurate map if the rooms could rearrange themselves. This room was supposed to have attack teddy bears.
Zelgadis didn't know what else to do but wander aimlessly until he found someone else or some other clue.
-------------------*
Lina slumped against the wall. "We've been walking around for HOURS. Finding the others will take forever. There's got to be an easier way to do this."
Gourry scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, and those rooms filled with toys that remind me of the nightmares I had when I was a kid."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "You dreamt that your toys would attack you?"
"Not mine. Billy's toys from next door." Gourry rubbed his chin. "You know, I heard he became a sorcerer specializing in golems."
Lina chuckled. "So, maybe those dreams weren't dreams."
"They had to be dreams," Gourry insisted. "How else can you explain his toys attacking me?"
Lina slammed the back of her head against the wall. "Why did I fall in love with him? Why did I marry him?"
Gourry looked confused at Lina. "If you can explain why you love someone, it's not love."
"The savant moments would be one."
"Save on what?" Gourry blinked.
"Never mind." Lina waved him off. "Any ideas on how to find them?"
Gourry shrugged. "Well, we could ask the house. That's how I found you."
Lina blinked several times and then screamed with fangs coming out of her mouth, "Why didn't you tell me that?!"
Gourry backed away from her. "You never asked. I thought you knew."
Lina grumbled something about reconsidering Towermere's offer. She then straightened herself. "Mansion, I want to know where Zelgadis is."
A piece of paper floated down.
"Seventh door on the right from where you're facing, three rooms deep," Lina read. "Good, he's isn't that far away." She walked down the hallway, followed by Gourry.
Lina jumped back as the fifth door on the left opened. She prepared a spell just in case.
Ravven moved to the defensive noticing someone in the hallway. He only relaxed after Lina did. "Well, fancy bumping into you two."
Lina stomped past him. "Come on. Let's hurry up and find Zelgadis before he moves to another part of the mansion."
"What's with her?" Ravven asked.
Gourry shrugged helplessly.
Through the seventh door, Lina and her two companions passed through two rooms of visual horror and entered the third room of deadly mirth.
At least Lina started laughing.
"Ha hah. Very funny. Can you get me down?" Zelgadis requested as he hung from a spider-web made of red liquorish.
Ravven tried to cut one of the strands but his sword became encased in the candy. "Just wonderful."
"I may have a sweet tooth, but not that sweet." Lina drew her hands together. "Freeze Bleed."
"Oh, no," Zelgadis moaned in expectant pain as he was encased in ice. The web he was in shattered since it could no longer hold his weight. "You can't do anything small, can you?"
Lina shrugged. "If you can't do it big, what's the point?" She turned away from him. "Where's Amelia?"
"I've been search...ing... for..." Zelgadis trailed off as he saw a note float into Lina's hands.
"In the library off the main hallway?!" Lina re-read the note to make sure she got that right. "Where's the main hallway?" Another note fell from nowhere. "Okay, guys. Let's go get her."
Zelgadis's mouth hung agape. "You mean all I had to do was ASK THE HOUSE?!"
Gourry shrugged. "Sure. I thought you understood that from that note Amelia read."
Lina's eye twitched. "Sometimes you need a simple person to find the simple solutions."
Gourry smiled. "Thanks."
Lina sighed. "Why him?"
-------------------*
"Just great. Another note from Xellos to guide the way." Lina grumbled as she entered the library. She looked around. "Amelia, you in here?"
There was no answer.
"Amelia?!" Zelgadis called out.
A table cluttered with books seemed to explode as it fell over. "Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia yelled happily and then looked sheepishly at all the books on the floor.
Ravven chuckled. "She's got it bad."
"Shut up," Zelgadis snapped. "Amelia, are you okay?"
"Perfectly fine. I found out a lot about this place." Amelia started to pick through the books. "For one thing Frezo the Lime Green is Rezo the Red's father."
Zelgadis rubbed his chin. "So, this is my ancestral home after all."
Ravven looked at Zelgadis strangely. "Rezo was your old man?"
Zelgadis nodded. "Sort of."
Amelia nervously handed one book to Zelgadis. "Um, you'll probably want to read this one. It's... it's about Rezo's relationship with Eris."
Zelgadis flipped through it. "It proves Rezo is my grandfather and great-grandfather, doesn't it?"
Amelia reluctantly nodded. "It's really sad. But reading this and some of his other journals, I understand how Shabranigdo had manipulated him."
"You have any clue what they're talking about?" Ravven asked.
"None," Gourry replied.
Lina slapped Gourry on the back of the head. "You should. You were part of some of that."
"I was?"
Lina sighed in defeat. "It's a long story, and I don't feel like going over it. Okay?"
"Whatever." Ravven shrugged.
"Anyway," Amelia called attention to herself. "This mansion wasn't really Frezo's though. He found it. It really belonged to-"
Lina interrupted. "Rei Magnus."
"How did you know?" Amelia asked.
"I found his copy of Dragon Slayer." Lina pulled out an ancient tome from her cloak.
Amelia looked confused. "Don't you mean Dragon Slav?"
"Dragon Slav has been corrupted and changed through the years. This is the perfect version of the spell."
"How do we know that the current version isn't the perfected one?" Zelgadis wondered.
"Because this..." Lina thumped the book. "...is also a Claire Bible Manuscript."
"I see." Zelgadis blinked. "Wait a second. How is that possible? Rei Magnus was turned into a shard of Shabranigdo BEFORE the Water Dragon King died and created the Claire Bible."
Lina folded her arms. "That's a question I'll be beating out of Xellos, the next time I see him."
"Who's this 'Xellos' person?" Ravven asked.
"A high raking mazoku under Zelas Metallium," Lina replied flatly.
Ravven sweat-dropped. "You certainly have some interesting friends."
"Well, what should we do now?" Gourry questioned.
"Simple. We get out of this hell hole and torch the place." Lina's hand ignited in fire.
"You can't!" Amelia protested. "Mr. Zelgadis's cure might be located somewhere in this place. We can't destroy the mansion until we have it!"
"Sorry, but this place has got to go!" Lina folded her arms.
"Any reason why we can't stay a few days at least?" Zelgadis questioned.
"Gaav Flare." Lina cupped her hands and sent a blast of energy through the wall of the library.
"He's alive?!" Ravven called out in shock.
"This mansion contains a shard of many of the high level mazoku, including Gaav, Fibrizo and the Rei Magnus Shabranigdo. When I was asleep I had a long talk with them. One I don't want to repeat. Understand?" Lina placed her hands on her hips. "I will NOT spend another night in this place, and I WILL destroy it."
"B-but Mrs. Lina... Zelgadis's cure...." Amelia tried to figure out how to change Lina's mind.
Zelgadis placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Amelia. With those mazoku shards here, this place needs to be destroyed. Besides, I doubt the cure is here, but I did find a lead."
Amelia looked at Zelgadis uncertainly. "Are you sure? We could at least go through this library first."
Lina glared. "I am not going to sleep in this mansion. I am leaving and blowing this place up. That's final."
"After you fell off the bridge, did you have a strange dream?" Zelgadis asked.
Amelia nodded. "I dreamt of my sister, but she wasn't my sister. Sometimes she was wearing a leather bikini."
Lina twitched.
"I had a dream of Rezo, and he told me that if my cure exists-- it's in mazoku hands."
"Great." Lina tossed her arms into the air. "Yet another reason to find Xellos."
"We could try finding a portal to Beast Island," Ravven suggested.
Lina scowled. "I'd rather not have to share tea with Zelas, thank you."
Zelgadis crossed his arms. "He'll pop up when we least want him to appear. Now, let's go before this mansion springs any more surprises."
-------------------*
Amelia took every journal that was in the library, just in case any of them had hints to Zelgadis's cure. She wasn't sure they should destroy this place yet. Sure it was evil, and must be vanquished-- but this was probably the best place to find Zelgadis's cure. However, she had been completely out-voted, even by Zelgadis, himself.
Amelia followed the group as they walked to the open window that the mansion had given directions to. She suddenly froze as a sensation whipped through her body. Her hands reached to her throat as if she was desperate to breathe. "I-I'm all right. I'm... all... right." She collapsed to the ground.
"Amelia!" Zelgadis rushed to her. "What's wrong? Amelia? Amelia?!" He then shuddered. He looked up angrily and charged down the hall. "Fibrizo you son of a b-" He then fell as he ran.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ravven drew his sword scanning the area.
Lina glanced around nervously. "I'm not sure, but I think something made them relive the moment they came closest to dying."
Gourry hovered over Lina. "We have to make sure you don't get affected." He glanced at his comatose comrades. "Are they going to be all right?"
"If it's the spell I'm thinking of, they should be fine. If they're really reliving it, then we have to get out of here fast and destroy this place."
"Why's that?" Ravven placed his back to the wall.
"This mansion contains a shard of Fibrizo, and he's the one who came closest to killing them for good. His power could ensure that they're dead."
"How do we even find what's causing it?"
"I'm not su-" Lina's face glazed over for a second, she then looked absolutely determined. "You, who are darker than the blackest pitch. You, who shines like gold-"
"Lina, stop!" Gourry knew he had to stop her from reciting that spell. He grabbed her into a hug and kissed her.
Ravven smirked. "Well, that's one way to stop her."
Gourry broke the kiss.
Lina looked at him confused, and shakenly touched his face. "You're all right...." She blinked a few times. "Damn, that thing got me too. At least you...."
Gourry wobbled. "Momma... I hurt... it's so hot...." He collapsed into Lina's arms.
"Gourry?! Gourry wake up, please." Lina shook him frantically.
Ravven's sword fell out of suddenly limp hand. "What are you doing to my Dad?! Leave him alone!" He raised his hand. "What can I do? Elmekia Lance!"
A streak of blueish-white light shot out and exploded as it struck something. The light illuminated a floating sphere before it shattered.
Ravven screamed in pain for a half second and then stopped abruptly.
Lina looked relieved as Gourry began to stir. A moan from Amelia and Zelgadis indicated they were fine as well. Lina smirked. "Talk about luck."
Ravven laughed. "Whatever works. What spell were you casting anyway?"
Lina turned around and ignored him. "You two all right."
"I'm fine." Amelia shakenly stood up. "What happened?"
"Just a spell that we will never have to worry about after we torch this place. It was one of Fibrizo's crueler ones, it makes someone relive the moment they came closest to dying."
"What spell did Gourry stop you from casting?" Ravven demanded.
Amelia shrugged. "Probably Dragon Slav."
"No, I've seen that cast. She was calling upon something 'darker than blackest-'"
Amelia covered his mouth. "DON'T repeat ANY part of that spell. It's very bad news."
"What is it?"
"It's a spell to summon the Dark Lord of dark lords, the Lord of Nightmares." Zelgadis scowled at him. "And it's best that you forget it even exists."
"S-summon?!" Ravven looked faint.
"Yes, and unless you want to risk everything being destroyed, it's not something to cast." Lina looked around. "Damn, lost count. I want to find the closest open window." A piece of paper fluttered into her hands. "Good, not too much farther."
Lina led the group as she followed the instructions. Upon reaching the door in question, she opened it. The open window let fresh air breeze in, but Lina was very disturbed.
By the window, written in haughty red letters was, 'Naga was here!'
"So this was why she was so demented." Lina ran her fingers over the Naga's message. "How long was she here?"
Amelia pulled out her sister's journal. "About a year, if this is correct. You knew her, Mrs. Lina?"
"She was my first partner. We adventured everywhere, except Sailoon, but she never talked about her family."
"Do you know where she is now?" Amelia asked with a quivering lip but hope in her voice.
Lina scratched the back of her head. "Well, it's been over two years since I've seen her last."
"What happened?" Amelia pressed.
"She saw me test the Giga Slav. It scared both of us to death and left the beach devoid of all life." Lina sighed. "As much as I tried to avoid Naga before we became friends, she's the one who runs from me now."
Amelia nodded. "I see. She left you because she's afraid of the Giga Slav."
Lina smiled sadly. "At least you know she should still be alive. Especially since she can keep up with me."
"Thank you." Amelia wiped away a few tears.
Ravven prepared to jump out the window. "Well, I've had enough of this place. Let's leave now before the house comes up with some means to keep us here."
"You sure about having the mansion destroyed, Mr. Zelgadis?" Amelia asked.
Zelgadis nodded. "I don't care if there is a cure here. This place has got to be destroyed."
-------------------*
Lina rolled up her sleeves and prepared herself. This mansion had to go, and there weren't many spells that could do it. Without calling upon the Lord of Nightmares, this was it.
"You, who are the darkness of the twilight of life."
Lina crossed her arms over her chest and a shimmering crimson light surrounded her.
"You, who are more crimson than the last drop of life's blood."
Her feet were lifted off the ground as the power continued to build around her.
"Buried in the vast sea of time, your power grows as all other things perish."
Lina grimaced as she held onto the power.
Zelgadis could sense Shabranigdo's power growing. Not as much as there was during Rezo's summoning, but the dark lord's presence was still here.
"Great Ruby Lord, I summon you, call out to you, pledge myself to you...."
Lina turned in the air as the power started to spin around her.
"Grant this lowly servant the power to smash the fools who stand before you with the power you possess."
Lina shifted position and moved her hands together to her right side. All the energy around Lina collapsed into a ball that form between her hands. The ball pulsated with explosive destructive energy.
"Dragon Slayer!"
Lina brought her hands forward and the ball shoot through the air and into the open doors of the mansion. Zelgadis and Amelia immediately slammed the doors shut. They flew to Lina, grabbing her and taking her to the trench they had made shortly before Lina began the spell.
Suddenly the Earth shook with an ear-shattering explosion.
Zelgadis blocked the debris that fell into the trench. "Good lords, that was more powerful than a boosted Dragon Slav!"
Amelia blinked. "Did you say something, Mr. Zelgadis?"
Zelgadis looked at her. "What was that? I can't hear you with this ringing in my ear."
-------------------*
"Back already?" Lord Resdis asked as Lina and crew entered his office.
"Yep." Lina dropped what looked to be a small scale model of the mansion. "Here's your 'ancestral home' completely free of magic and mazoku influence. Only problem was, the entire house was magical. So this is all that's left."
"My... my... mansion?! That laughing priest said you could handle this job, Zelgadis. How could you do this to my home?!" Lord Resdis shouted.
Zelgadis crossed his arms. "Sorry, cousin, but the mansion wasn't in our family to begin with. Great-grandfather Frezo found it. And..." Zelgadis paused. "Did you say laughing priest?"
"Cousin?!" Lord Resdis growled. "How dare you insinuate that I'm related to a construct like you?!"
Zelgadis snarled.
Lina ignore them. "The 'priest' wouldn't happen to carry a staff with a red orb on it, have purple hair, and love secrets?"
"Yes. What does that have to do with his delusions?" Resdis was glaring daggers at Zelgadis.
"Xellos." Amelia sighed. "Pretty careless of him. His manipulations are usually harder to spot."
Lina folded her arms. "Unless he's giving us these 'freebies' to distract us from his real goal."
"What could that be?" Amelia wondered.
Lina shrugged. "We'll find out in the worst possible way."
Amelia went over to Resdis. "How are you related to Frezo?"
Resdis scratched his head. "Well, let's see. He'd be my great-grandfather, and his daughter was my grandmother."
Amelia nodded. "I see. So Zelgadis being the grandson of Rezo makes his claim on the mansion more legitimate."
"I don't want that thing. He can keep it," Zelgadis snarled as he turned and left.
"Rezo's grandson? What a joke!" Resdis laughed.
Shortly after Lina, Gourry and Ravven left the office, an explosion occurred.
Amelia exited while brushing off her hands. "What a jerk."
Zelgadis sweat-dropped. "She's been hanging around you too much, Lina."
Lina smirked. "It's good for her."
-------------------*
Xellos's comments:
Well, Archive finally finished this part. Seems he had problems with my mansion. Such a shame. I enjoyed it.
Anyway, he'll hopefully have the next part out soon, but he won't promise anything. More lime elements will arise as the group gets a little down time. Towermere returns, and it won't be much longer before I'll be joining the team. Archive isn't sure if it'll be next chapter or the following one.
I wonder how Lina will greet me? With a kiss, a hearty handshake, or a painful headlock? I really hope it's the headlock. It feels so good.
Chapter 8: Found. Secrets Revealed.
By: Lord Archive
The Slayers belong to Hajime Kanazaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX, Software Sculptures Ltd., and many others. I do not own them. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them as quickly as I can since Lina and Gourry are eating away bank account.
This begins a few months after Slayers: Try. There are a few spoilers in this; I won't specifically explain anything, but I will refer to them. If you don't want even vague spoilers, I suggest that you don't read this.
Lime Warning: Nothing detailed, but occasional references to sexual relations and innuendoes may occur.
-------------------*
Amelia scratched her head as she wandered down the endless hallway, hoping to bump into Zelgadis or anyone else. She didn't know what else to do. At least in the hall, there was a chance someone would come out of the doors.
Amelia stopped and blinked as she passed one door. She turned and looked at a note placed on it. "Library?" She shrugged and opened the door.
"Oh, wow! Look at all these books. I'm bound to find some useful information." Amelia bounced over to the closest table and looked at the books gathered. It was odd that all of them were diaries or journals.
Amelia opened the first one and read, "Gracia formerly of Sailoon." She was about to sit down to read it when another book caught her eye. "Rezo, the apprentice."
Amelia immediately put down her sister's diary in favor of Rezo's journal, hoping beyond hope that some clue to Zelgadis's cure was contained within.
-------------------*
Ravven laughed bitterly. "What a twisted sadist." He grimaced in pain as he pulled out part of a peppermint sword from his shoulder.
"The cuter the room, the more deadly the trap. Shrine to a mazoku or if it looks like a torture chamber, it's perfectly safe," Ravven muttered. "Recovery." He relaxed slightly as his spell started to mend his wound. "What kind of sick bastard made this place?"
Ravven carefully moved to the shattered altar, while trying not to aggravate his injury. He tried to put it back together, but the altar kept falling apart despite his repeated tries to fix it. He sighed in defeat. He then picked up part of the altar, an almost intact stone carving of a burning dragon's head. "Any suggestions on how I should deal with this place?"
"No?" Ravven shrugged and placed the carving in his bag. "You never did give me much advice anyway."
-------------------*
Zelgadis kicked off the teddy bear that was gnawing on his leg, only to have it reattach itself. He decided to ignore it as he added the room to the map he was making.
Going to the door on the other side of the room, Zelgadis moved on to the next room. Inside, he noted that the room was bare save for a two meter tall transparent lime-green mass. It even smelled like lime.
Zelgadis pulled the attack teddy bear off his leg and tossed it at the mass. The thing quivered and shook as the teddy bear struggled to be free.
"That can't possibly be...." Zelgadis shook his head. He walked up and scooped off a chuck of the mass and ate it. "Yep, it's Jell-O. Lina and Gourry would've loved 'fighting' this thing."
Zelgadis marked the room on his map and was about to continue on when he noticed that the Jell-O monster was trying to eat his leg. He casually froze and shattered it.
The teddy bear shook off as much frozen Jell-O it could and then jumped onto the chimera's back.
Zelgadis went through other door in the room. He sweat-dropped at what he saw. This was either a torture room or a sado-masochist's idea of heaven with numerous items of sexual torture. At least Zelgadis thought they were all for sexual torture even though there were a few items he had no clue how they could be used that way. He reluctantly marked it down as a safe room, since there wouldn't be anything in the room that would attack someone.
Zelgadis sighed as there were no other doors. He back tracked passed the frozen Jell-O and to... a room filled with skulls?
Zelgadis ripped up his map. How could he possibly make an accurate map if the rooms could rearrange themselves. This room was supposed to have attack teddy bears.
Zelgadis didn't know what else to do but wander aimlessly until he found someone else or some other clue.
-------------------*
Lina slumped against the wall. "We've been walking around for HOURS. Finding the others will take forever. There's got to be an easier way to do this."
Gourry scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, and those rooms filled with toys that remind me of the nightmares I had when I was a kid."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "You dreamt that your toys would attack you?"
"Not mine. Billy's toys from next door." Gourry rubbed his chin. "You know, I heard he became a sorcerer specializing in golems."
Lina chuckled. "So, maybe those dreams weren't dreams."
"They had to be dreams," Gourry insisted. "How else can you explain his toys attacking me?"
Lina slammed the back of her head against the wall. "Why did I fall in love with him? Why did I marry him?"
Gourry looked confused at Lina. "If you can explain why you love someone, it's not love."
"The savant moments would be one."
"Save on what?" Gourry blinked.
"Never mind." Lina waved him off. "Any ideas on how to find them?"
Gourry shrugged. "Well, we could ask the house. That's how I found you."
Lina blinked several times and then screamed with fangs coming out of her mouth, "Why didn't you tell me that?!"
Gourry backed away from her. "You never asked. I thought you knew."
Lina grumbled something about reconsidering Towermere's offer. She then straightened herself. "Mansion, I want to know where Zelgadis is."
A piece of paper floated down.
"Seventh door on the right from where you're facing, three rooms deep," Lina read. "Good, he's isn't that far away." She walked down the hallway, followed by Gourry.
Lina jumped back as the fifth door on the left opened. She prepared a spell just in case.
Ravven moved to the defensive noticing someone in the hallway. He only relaxed after Lina did. "Well, fancy bumping into you two."
Lina stomped past him. "Come on. Let's hurry up and find Zelgadis before he moves to another part of the mansion."
"What's with her?" Ravven asked.
Gourry shrugged helplessly.
Through the seventh door, Lina and her two companions passed through two rooms of visual horror and entered the third room of deadly mirth.
At least Lina started laughing.
"Ha hah. Very funny. Can you get me down?" Zelgadis requested as he hung from a spider-web made of red liquorish.
Ravven tried to cut one of the strands but his sword became encased in the candy. "Just wonderful."
"I may have a sweet tooth, but not that sweet." Lina drew her hands together. "Freeze Bleed."
"Oh, no," Zelgadis moaned in expectant pain as he was encased in ice. The web he was in shattered since it could no longer hold his weight. "You can't do anything small, can you?"
Lina shrugged. "If you can't do it big, what's the point?" She turned away from him. "Where's Amelia?"
"I've been search...ing... for..." Zelgadis trailed off as he saw a note float into Lina's hands.
"In the library off the main hallway?!" Lina re-read the note to make sure she got that right. "Where's the main hallway?" Another note fell from nowhere. "Okay, guys. Let's go get her."
Zelgadis's mouth hung agape. "You mean all I had to do was ASK THE HOUSE?!"
Gourry shrugged. "Sure. I thought you understood that from that note Amelia read."
Lina's eye twitched. "Sometimes you need a simple person to find the simple solutions."
Gourry smiled. "Thanks."
Lina sighed. "Why him?"
-------------------*
"Just great. Another note from Xellos to guide the way." Lina grumbled as she entered the library. She looked around. "Amelia, you in here?"
There was no answer.
"Amelia?!" Zelgadis called out.
A table cluttered with books seemed to explode as it fell over. "Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia yelled happily and then looked sheepishly at all the books on the floor.
Ravven chuckled. "She's got it bad."
"Shut up," Zelgadis snapped. "Amelia, are you okay?"
"Perfectly fine. I found out a lot about this place." Amelia started to pick through the books. "For one thing Frezo the Lime Green is Rezo the Red's father."
Zelgadis rubbed his chin. "So, this is my ancestral home after all."
Ravven looked at Zelgadis strangely. "Rezo was your old man?"
Zelgadis nodded. "Sort of."
Amelia nervously handed one book to Zelgadis. "Um, you'll probably want to read this one. It's... it's about Rezo's relationship with Eris."
Zelgadis flipped through it. "It proves Rezo is my grandfather and great-grandfather, doesn't it?"
Amelia reluctantly nodded. "It's really sad. But reading this and some of his other journals, I understand how Shabranigdo had manipulated him."
"You have any clue what they're talking about?" Ravven asked.
"None," Gourry replied.
Lina slapped Gourry on the back of the head. "You should. You were part of some of that."
"I was?"
Lina sighed in defeat. "It's a long story, and I don't feel like going over it. Okay?"
"Whatever." Ravven shrugged.
"Anyway," Amelia called attention to herself. "This mansion wasn't really Frezo's though. He found it. It really belonged to-"
Lina interrupted. "Rei Magnus."
"How did you know?" Amelia asked.
"I found his copy of Dragon Slayer." Lina pulled out an ancient tome from her cloak.
Amelia looked confused. "Don't you mean Dragon Slav?"
"Dragon Slav has been corrupted and changed through the years. This is the perfect version of the spell."
"How do we know that the current version isn't the perfected one?" Zelgadis wondered.
"Because this..." Lina thumped the book. "...is also a Claire Bible Manuscript."
"I see." Zelgadis blinked. "Wait a second. How is that possible? Rei Magnus was turned into a shard of Shabranigdo BEFORE the Water Dragon King died and created the Claire Bible."
Lina folded her arms. "That's a question I'll be beating out of Xellos, the next time I see him."
"Who's this 'Xellos' person?" Ravven asked.
"A high raking mazoku under Zelas Metallium," Lina replied flatly.
Ravven sweat-dropped. "You certainly have some interesting friends."
"Well, what should we do now?" Gourry questioned.
"Simple. We get out of this hell hole and torch the place." Lina's hand ignited in fire.
"You can't!" Amelia protested. "Mr. Zelgadis's cure might be located somewhere in this place. We can't destroy the mansion until we have it!"
"Sorry, but this place has got to go!" Lina folded her arms.
"Any reason why we can't stay a few days at least?" Zelgadis questioned.
"Gaav Flare." Lina cupped her hands and sent a blast of energy through the wall of the library.
"He's alive?!" Ravven called out in shock.
"This mansion contains a shard of many of the high level mazoku, including Gaav, Fibrizo and the Rei Magnus Shabranigdo. When I was asleep I had a long talk with them. One I don't want to repeat. Understand?" Lina placed her hands on her hips. "I will NOT spend another night in this place, and I WILL destroy it."
"B-but Mrs. Lina... Zelgadis's cure...." Amelia tried to figure out how to change Lina's mind.
Zelgadis placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Amelia. With those mazoku shards here, this place needs to be destroyed. Besides, I doubt the cure is here, but I did find a lead."
Amelia looked at Zelgadis uncertainly. "Are you sure? We could at least go through this library first."
Lina glared. "I am not going to sleep in this mansion. I am leaving and blowing this place up. That's final."
"After you fell off the bridge, did you have a strange dream?" Zelgadis asked.
Amelia nodded. "I dreamt of my sister, but she wasn't my sister. Sometimes she was wearing a leather bikini."
Lina twitched.
"I had a dream of Rezo, and he told me that if my cure exists-- it's in mazoku hands."
"Great." Lina tossed her arms into the air. "Yet another reason to find Xellos."
"We could try finding a portal to Beast Island," Ravven suggested.
Lina scowled. "I'd rather not have to share tea with Zelas, thank you."
Zelgadis crossed his arms. "He'll pop up when we least want him to appear. Now, let's go before this mansion springs any more surprises."
-------------------*
Amelia took every journal that was in the library, just in case any of them had hints to Zelgadis's cure. She wasn't sure they should destroy this place yet. Sure it was evil, and must be vanquished-- but this was probably the best place to find Zelgadis's cure. However, she had been completely out-voted, even by Zelgadis, himself.
Amelia followed the group as they walked to the open window that the mansion had given directions to. She suddenly froze as a sensation whipped through her body. Her hands reached to her throat as if she was desperate to breathe. "I-I'm all right. I'm... all... right." She collapsed to the ground.
"Amelia!" Zelgadis rushed to her. "What's wrong? Amelia? Amelia?!" He then shuddered. He looked up angrily and charged down the hall. "Fibrizo you son of a b-" He then fell as he ran.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ravven drew his sword scanning the area.
Lina glanced around nervously. "I'm not sure, but I think something made them relive the moment they came closest to dying."
Gourry hovered over Lina. "We have to make sure you don't get affected." He glanced at his comatose comrades. "Are they going to be all right?"
"If it's the spell I'm thinking of, they should be fine. If they're really reliving it, then we have to get out of here fast and destroy this place."
"Why's that?" Ravven placed his back to the wall.
"This mansion contains a shard of Fibrizo, and he's the one who came closest to killing them for good. His power could ensure that they're dead."
"How do we even find what's causing it?"
"I'm not su-" Lina's face glazed over for a second, she then looked absolutely determined. "You, who are darker than the blackest pitch. You, who shines like gold-"
"Lina, stop!" Gourry knew he had to stop her from reciting that spell. He grabbed her into a hug and kissed her.
Ravven smirked. "Well, that's one way to stop her."
Gourry broke the kiss.
Lina looked at him confused, and shakenly touched his face. "You're all right...." She blinked a few times. "Damn, that thing got me too. At least you...."
Gourry wobbled. "Momma... I hurt... it's so hot...." He collapsed into Lina's arms.
"Gourry?! Gourry wake up, please." Lina shook him frantically.
Ravven's sword fell out of suddenly limp hand. "What are you doing to my Dad?! Leave him alone!" He raised his hand. "What can I do? Elmekia Lance!"
A streak of blueish-white light shot out and exploded as it struck something. The light illuminated a floating sphere before it shattered.
Ravven screamed in pain for a half second and then stopped abruptly.
Lina looked relieved as Gourry began to stir. A moan from Amelia and Zelgadis indicated they were fine as well. Lina smirked. "Talk about luck."
Ravven laughed. "Whatever works. What spell were you casting anyway?"
Lina turned around and ignored him. "You two all right."
"I'm fine." Amelia shakenly stood up. "What happened?"
"Just a spell that we will never have to worry about after we torch this place. It was one of Fibrizo's crueler ones, it makes someone relive the moment they came closest to dying."
"What spell did Gourry stop you from casting?" Ravven demanded.
Amelia shrugged. "Probably Dragon Slav."
"No, I've seen that cast. She was calling upon something 'darker than blackest-'"
Amelia covered his mouth. "DON'T repeat ANY part of that spell. It's very bad news."
"What is it?"
"It's a spell to summon the Dark Lord of dark lords, the Lord of Nightmares." Zelgadis scowled at him. "And it's best that you forget it even exists."
"S-summon?!" Ravven looked faint.
"Yes, and unless you want to risk everything being destroyed, it's not something to cast." Lina looked around. "Damn, lost count. I want to find the closest open window." A piece of paper fluttered into her hands. "Good, not too much farther."
Lina led the group as she followed the instructions. Upon reaching the door in question, she opened it. The open window let fresh air breeze in, but Lina was very disturbed.
By the window, written in haughty red letters was, 'Naga was here!'
"So this was why she was so demented." Lina ran her fingers over the Naga's message. "How long was she here?"
Amelia pulled out her sister's journal. "About a year, if this is correct. You knew her, Mrs. Lina?"
"She was my first partner. We adventured everywhere, except Sailoon, but she never talked about her family."
"Do you know where she is now?" Amelia asked with a quivering lip but hope in her voice.
Lina scratched the back of her head. "Well, it's been over two years since I've seen her last."
"What happened?" Amelia pressed.
"She saw me test the Giga Slav. It scared both of us to death and left the beach devoid of all life." Lina sighed. "As much as I tried to avoid Naga before we became friends, she's the one who runs from me now."
Amelia nodded. "I see. She left you because she's afraid of the Giga Slav."
Lina smiled sadly. "At least you know she should still be alive. Especially since she can keep up with me."
"Thank you." Amelia wiped away a few tears.
Ravven prepared to jump out the window. "Well, I've had enough of this place. Let's leave now before the house comes up with some means to keep us here."
"You sure about having the mansion destroyed, Mr. Zelgadis?" Amelia asked.
Zelgadis nodded. "I don't care if there is a cure here. This place has got to be destroyed."
-------------------*
Lina rolled up her sleeves and prepared herself. This mansion had to go, and there weren't many spells that could do it. Without calling upon the Lord of Nightmares, this was it.
"You, who are the darkness of the twilight of life."
Lina crossed her arms over her chest and a shimmering crimson light surrounded her.
"You, who are more crimson than the last drop of life's blood."
Her feet were lifted off the ground as the power continued to build around her.
"Buried in the vast sea of time, your power grows as all other things perish."
Lina grimaced as she held onto the power.
Zelgadis could sense Shabranigdo's power growing. Not as much as there was during Rezo's summoning, but the dark lord's presence was still here.
"Great Ruby Lord, I summon you, call out to you, pledge myself to you...."
Lina turned in the air as the power started to spin around her.
"Grant this lowly servant the power to smash the fools who stand before you with the power you possess."
Lina shifted position and moved her hands together to her right side. All the energy around Lina collapsed into a ball that form between her hands. The ball pulsated with explosive destructive energy.
"Dragon Slayer!"
Lina brought her hands forward and the ball shoot through the air and into the open doors of the mansion. Zelgadis and Amelia immediately slammed the doors shut. They flew to Lina, grabbing her and taking her to the trench they had made shortly before Lina began the spell.
Suddenly the Earth shook with an ear-shattering explosion.
Zelgadis blocked the debris that fell into the trench. "Good lords, that was more powerful than a boosted Dragon Slav!"
Amelia blinked. "Did you say something, Mr. Zelgadis?"
Zelgadis looked at her. "What was that? I can't hear you with this ringing in my ear."
-------------------*
"Back already?" Lord Resdis asked as Lina and crew entered his office.
"Yep." Lina dropped what looked to be a small scale model of the mansion. "Here's your 'ancestral home' completely free of magic and mazoku influence. Only problem was, the entire house was magical. So this is all that's left."
"My... my... mansion?! That laughing priest said you could handle this job, Zelgadis. How could you do this to my home?!" Lord Resdis shouted.
Zelgadis crossed his arms. "Sorry, cousin, but the mansion wasn't in our family to begin with. Great-grandfather Frezo found it. And..." Zelgadis paused. "Did you say laughing priest?"
"Cousin?!" Lord Resdis growled. "How dare you insinuate that I'm related to a construct like you?!"
Zelgadis snarled.
Lina ignore them. "The 'priest' wouldn't happen to carry a staff with a red orb on it, have purple hair, and love secrets?"
"Yes. What does that have to do with his delusions?" Resdis was glaring daggers at Zelgadis.
"Xellos." Amelia sighed. "Pretty careless of him. His manipulations are usually harder to spot."
Lina folded her arms. "Unless he's giving us these 'freebies' to distract us from his real goal."
"What could that be?" Amelia wondered.
Lina shrugged. "We'll find out in the worst possible way."
Amelia went over to Resdis. "How are you related to Frezo?"
Resdis scratched his head. "Well, let's see. He'd be my great-grandfather, and his daughter was my grandmother."
Amelia nodded. "I see. So Zelgadis being the grandson of Rezo makes his claim on the mansion more legitimate."
"I don't want that thing. He can keep it," Zelgadis snarled as he turned and left.
"Rezo's grandson? What a joke!" Resdis laughed.
Shortly after Lina, Gourry and Ravven left the office, an explosion occurred.
Amelia exited while brushing off her hands. "What a jerk."
Zelgadis sweat-dropped. "She's been hanging around you too much, Lina."
Lina smirked. "It's good for her."
-------------------*
Xellos's comments:
Well, Archive finally finished this part. Seems he had problems with my mansion. Such a shame. I enjoyed it.
Anyway, he'll hopefully have the next part out soon, but he won't promise anything. More lime elements will arise as the group gets a little down time. Towermere returns, and it won't be much longer before I'll be joining the team. Archive isn't sure if it'll be next chapter or the following one.
I wonder how Lina will greet me? With a kiss, a hearty handshake, or a painful headlock? I really hope it's the headlock. It feels so good.