Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, some guys named Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi do. I ain't making no money! DON"T SUE ME!
Slayers: Knightfall
Book One: Chapter one
Assassins and Shadows

The vermillion sun was just stepping out for the night, painting the emerald landscape in a purple hue. Small forests topped the hills that dotted the view as far as the eye could see. The air smelled crisp and cool; autumn was just around the corner. I turned to my companion who was just climbing up the path behind me.

“This is it, Gourry!” I excitedly yelled, more loudly than necessary, into Gourry’s ear. “This is Zephillia! I’m finally home!”

It took me long enough, too. It’s been five long years since I said goodbye to the endless wineries and quaint villages that make up the majority of Zephillia for the greater world at large. Since then, it’s been one crazy adventure after another, with hardly a breather in between.

“Neat,” Gourry said, while cleaning out his ear. “So, where do you live?” He sounded as enthralled as if he were stepping in poop.

“Gourry! It was your idea to come here. At least sound a little more excited, please?” Jeez, the doofus probably forgot where we were going in the first place.

A little back story, if you don’t mind.

Just a few weeks ago, Gourry and a couple of other companions, Luke and Millenia, took a job protecting a bunch of ne’er-do-well priests from each other while it was decided who would become High Priest of the area. Millenia was killed in a botched assassination attempt on the priest we were protecting and Luke, the poor bastard, went nuts, awakening the shard of Lord Ruby Eyed Shabranigdo that was lying dormant in his blood.

Needless to say, with a guy like that controlling him, Luke didn’t have much choice about going on a killing spree and wreaking havoc and all, not that I am condoning what he did, of course. It’s just that someone like good ol’ Ruby doesn’t give one much choice in matters of morality. Anyways, Gourry and I eventually destroyed Shabranigdo along with Luke, which left a nasty taste in the back of our mouths I can assure you, and were left with no direction on where or what to do next.

If anything these recent events have shown to me that my luck is finally beginning to catch up with me. I think it was time for a vacation of sorts, just kicking back and reflecting on the last few years.

So Gourry, the dear heart, decided that he wanted to check out Zephillia. Out of consideration for my feelings? Because it would make me oh so happy? To meet my parents and family? Nope, none of the above. It was because the grapes are in season.

The grapes.

The very grapes I had danced on and squished into wine, as every Zephillian virgin girl was expected to do in every harvest season. Quite honestly I have no idea what is so appealing about wine made by a bunch of smelly dirty feet, but hey, whatever gets your rocks off, I guess.

But I digress.

I was home! With my constant companion for three-odd years now who’ll probably embarrass me in front of everyone, but I don’t really care! The first time he even glances funny at the sight of a kilt, the traditional male dress of this land, I’m sticking him in a full bloom dress, complete with plenty of lace and frills.

We set out to the closest town, Limburry, which was not much more than a supply depot for merchants but it had a decent inn of the typical stone-and-wood type found in this land. We booked a two-bedroom and headed downstairs for some grub, real Zephillian grub! Time to show Gourry some fine Zephillian cuisine.

“Barkeep! We’ll have two pitchers of beer and two orders of haggis!” I cheerfully ordered as we plopped down at the bar.

“Aye,” the keep dutifully replied, and I prepared my mind and soul for the inevitable.

“Hey, Lina?” Gourry beckoned.

“Yes, Gourry?” I could hardly keep the grin off my face, partly because of being home and partly because I know what he is going to ask.

“What’s haggis?”

“The best food Zephillia has to offer, of course. This won’t compare to Mom’s but it’ll do for now.”

“Oh.” he took a gulp of his beer. “Your mom lives in Zephillia too?”

What?

Even after all these years I still get surprised at Gourry’s brilliantly moronic questions.

“Yes, Gourry, along with my father and my sister.” I said between trying to drink enough to be able to put up with Gourry’s inevitable slew of queries.

“Oh, you mean Looney?”

“It’s Luna, and just you dare messing that up when you meet her.” Looney was my great-grandmother.

Shut up.

“She’s really that tough?”

“Yes, but it’s me I’m worried about, not you.”

Ah, Luna. One of the few people that can make me fear for my life, though she’d never kill me. She’d just make me wish I were dead. Oh, I exaggerate. It was because of Big Sis that I started my journey to begin with. It’s a long story but during my academy days, I was a bit of a hothead, if you can believe that!

Shut up.
It was because of my temper that I didn’t get the position I wanted in the local Sorcerers Guild. I was young and ashamed at facing my parents who invested so much of their money in me. Luna could tell how broken up I was about it so she suggested that I go travel the world and get a bigger and better picture of how I fit into the grand scheme we call life.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Gourry and I passed the time talking about Zephillian culture and the old days until finally our food arrived. Gourry took one look at his food and shot his stare right in my face.

“Lina, my food looks suspiciously like it’s been wrapped in something that came from inside a cow.”

“Sheep, actually,” I quipped.

“Oh. ... OK, wait a minute! As if that’s any better!” He actually stood up in dismay.

“Sit down ya big baby, you’re upsetting the locals, myself included.” Why is it that everyone’s first reaction to haggis is one of disgust? Just shut up and try the damned thing before you make a big deal of it.

“Not even at half a pitcher and already you two are making a scene,” someone said from behind us.

“Yes, but at least they haven’t blown anything up. . .yet.” Another smarted off.
It couldn’t be. . .

But it was!

We whipped around and saw a slender man dressed head to toe in white, and next to him a young woman nearly as tall as Gourry dressed in what looked like a cross between a priestess’s robes and a fighter’s gi.

“Zelgadis? And is that Amelia! You’ve gotten so tall!” I wrapped the now blushing girl in a bear hug while Gourry shook Zelgadis’s hand and slapped him on the shoulder.

“Been a while!” a grinning Gourry said. “We haven’t seen you two since our last trip to Seyruun.”

“Yeah, well. . . you know stuff happens,” Zelgadis said. He seemed oddly sheepish, as he’s usually the cool and brooding type prone to bouts of depression and bipolarism. You see, a long time ago, Zelgadis was turned into a fairly ugly-looking chimera by an evil sage. Ever since he’s been shy about his looks and often avoids going into large cities for fear of people’s prejudice.

“You know, Zel,” I started while gulping down another swig of beer, “you and Amelia seemed pretty confident about finding a cure in Seyruun when last we met.”

I wasn’t about to point out the obvious, but Zel was still very much a stone-faced chimera.

“Unbelievable as it sounds, we couldn’t find much more than a dozen or so leads!” Amelia groused, but I suppose it was understandable. The princess had great pride in her kingdom and in its reputation as having the most extensive knowledge in the field of priestly and white magic. If there was anything that could be found in relation to Zelgadis’s condition, Seyruun would be the place to look.

“I take it your search leads to Zephillia?” I asked.

“That is the case although this lead, like the last half dozen or so, turned out to be empty.” There’s the grouchy guy I know! But he was replaced by that strange sheepish Zel as soon as Amelia hooked his arm around his and squeezed his hand.

He squeezed back.

Whaaaaaaa!?

The roof of the Inn suddenly got lower. The bar rotated out of view and ran off to the other direction. The stairs came closer and then shorter as well, in an oddly blurring fashion.

Maybe four pitchers was too much. . . ?

It turns out Gourry was carrying me in his arms into our room. If he hadn’t stumbled and dropped me onto the floor about a foot from my bed I probably would’ve thanked him instead of kicking his shin.

As it turns out, from what I can remember of our drunken reminiscing, Zel and Amelia fell in love over the course of their many adventures together after they parted ways from Gourry and me. And, to make matters better, they plan on getting married soon! The only kicker is that they won’t get hitched until Zelgadis regains his human form. That was the stipulation set by King Philionel, Amelia’s father and the new King of Seyruun. The old King, Eldoran, had died just half a year ago.

I think that Phil might’ve been a little put off that his daughter didn’t fall for any of the suitors he undoubtedly had prepared for her since the day she was born. It didn’t help matters that Zel was a former villain and he looks, well, a little sketchy, to say the least.

Not that I am not happy for them or anything, but how the heck did it happen? Zelgadis Greywords and Amelia Seyruun, pretty much the oddest couple you could possibly imagine outside me and Gourry. You see, we complement each other. With Zel and Amelia, it could very well be the same. During our travels together Zel seemed to just think of Amelia as just a crazy kid with nothing but justice and how to mete it out on her mind. A cute crazy kid. by the way he flushed whenever he was caught covertly looking at her, but a kid nonetheless.

Amelia on the other hand, really seemed to respect “Mr. Zelgadis” and seemed to be a little hurt whenever Zel casually rebuffed her attempts to converse or find common ground.

But here they were, as happy as only brain-dead lovers could be. A classic beauty and the beast story. I’ll admit that I am jealous. My beast may be loyal, but he treats me like a little sister more than as a friend, much less as a lover.

And YES, I consider myself a beauty thankyouverymuch.

I staggered into bed and didn’t even bother slipping into the Inn-provided pajamas. I was just too tired. From the thud and clank that came from the direction of Gourry’s bunk, I figured that he’d decided it wasn’t worth making the effort to sleep on a bed tonight. I closed my eyes and hoped fervently that the inevitable hangover won’t be as bad as I knew it would be.

It was around 2 o’clock in the morning when I awoke from my blissful slumber with a start.
Something felt horribly wrong and the feeling was only getting stronger. My heart started to race and I found myself unable to move. Not from any spell or bindings, but from sheer terror, the likes of which I have NEVER felt before. It made the fear I had felt in every battle for my life combined seem like a little jolt. It felt like my very soul was in danger!

My senses went into overdrive. My ears were trying to detect the littlest noise, as if the tiniest creak were the harbinger of doom. My skin involuntarily shuddered at the slightest touch of the thick wool blanket and in my petrified point of view each twitch must’ve seemed like a wave on the quilt’s surface, alerting the entity to my presence.

I knew I shouldn’t move, that I should just pretend I am invisible and maybe whatever is doing this to me will just go away.

But I had to take a peek.

Slowly, nanometer by nanometer I pulled my head out from under my covers, pupils dilated and locked open.

I saw it then. A mere shadow.

That moved.

The being, if that what it was, and not some trick of the light, looked like a shadow of a man that had somehow ripped itself from the ground and was moving of its own free will. I wanted to see if it was actually Gourry’s shadow, but I couldn’t free my eyes from it for fear it would attack if I let my guard down even for a second.

Dammit! Even Shabranigdo never made me feel this utterly helpless.

I heard Gourry stir on the floor next to his bed, which meant, to my absolute horror, that NOTHING was making the shadow. I thought maybe it was a demon, but this thing didn’t seem real, more like something out of a nightmare.

It began to move towards me, its legs slow and jerky as though it were being electrocuted in molasses. The shadow man left a faint smoky trail in its wake, denoting its insubstantiality.

As it passed in front of the dresser's mirror, I could see that it left NO reflection. Only vampires did that, and this was obviously no vampire.

It stopped at the foot of my bed and I let out a small whimper. I could see that the “shadow” had a face. A hideous, charbroiled face. The rest of its body seemed to be burned as well, like an overly well-done marshmallow. Then it did something completely unexpected. The being crouched and began to pry and claw at the floor boards.

I lay there, watching the creature with not only fear but also curiosity.

What the hell was that thing doing?

It seemed to be waaaaay too interested in the wooden floor.

“AACHOO!”

The unexpected sneeze with which Gourry graced the night was as startling to the thing as it was to me, judging by how fast the shadow was on its feet. It twisted its head over to me as if noticing for the first time that I was there. Then it started to run, jumping out the window and into the faint dawn.

Dawn? How long was I watching it?

I started to try to chase it but my legs failed me halfway out of my bed and I crumpled to the floor in a tangled mass of limbs and bedding.

“Dammit!” I half growled, half screamed. The thing that had me so damned petrified was just as scared of me, apparently.

“Lina! What’s wrong? You fall out of bed?” A groggy-sounding Gourry called from across the floor.

“Oh no. I thought I’d just try sleeping on the cold hard floor as it seems you find it comfortable.”

“I’m on the. . .? Whoa. That’s a mind trip!”

“Never mind that! Hurry to the window and tell me if you see anything!” I ordered while attempting to extricate myself from my treasonous sheets.

Gourry got up and wandered to the only window in our room and looked out.

“Lina?” he called

“Yeah!”

Okay so my left arm should go through this loose knot here, and my right calf under my armpit in between the pillow. . .

“I see a tree and a pile of wood and a well an-“

”OUT OF THE USUAL! ANYTHING OUT OF THE USUAL!”

“Oh, well why didn’t you say so?”

I waited a few moments.

“Well?” I beckoned, growing impatient.

“Nope, nothing, goodnight!” And with that he fell down to the floor and began to snore with vigor.

Yes, I said “with vigor.” He must’ve drunk even more than me.

I finally unknotted myself and crept to the window. Even with Gourry working me up, my legs still felt like overdone udon noodles.

I stood a pace or two from the glass and looked, scanning for man-shaped patches of shadow. After a few minutes I gave up. It had either run far away or was hiding just out of view and I really didn’t feel much like going after it anymore.

I tiredly plopped onto my disorganized bed and just let sleep take me.

Creak.

What was that?

I shot straight up, startled yet again, at that unexpected noise. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t freak out over every creak and groan whenever I spend the night at an inn. The other guests account for most of the noises that occur. What got to me was the fact that it seemed to be coming from very near by.

Creak.

Again! I got a better feel for where it was coming from and it was right behind me! I quickly rotated in my bed and saw only the wooden wall behind the bed frame. I stuck my ear against the wall.

Creak.

It was only someone’s bed.

I could’ve slapped myself.

Creak

Creak

Creak

Wait a minute. Isn’t Zel and Amelia’s room next to ours?

Creak

Creak

Creak

Oh, Ciephied! This is going to be a longer night than I thought. . . ..

End Chapter One.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes!
Shut up! I know this is the third time I’ve redone this story!
Anyways, even though some key differences have been made, this is still the same story that’s been floating around in my head for quite some time now. I know where I want to take these characters but the trouble has always been which road I should take.
At first I thought I would just copy Hajime Kanzaka’s style and go from there. It worked well enough for a time. Problem was, the story just got way too complicated and I got sick of writing it.
Second time around I tried a third person approach, focusing on more than one person’s part of the story. It just didn’t feel like Slayers though.
So this time I hope to get it right. And if it does turn out to suck in the end I will still finish it, three times is two times too many jerking you readers around like I have. And for that I apologize.So, the old gangs been reunited! With more than a few surprises for Lina Inverse and many more to follow can promise you! What was that Shadow? Why did it instill so much terror into Lina, and why was it so interested in the floor boards (weird, huh?)? Will Zel and Amelia find a cure? Will Gourry survive a first meeting with Luna?
Find out next time in chapter two!