Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: tom the mighty 
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 254 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 254 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter Seven
So, as it turned out, Naga had been living in the basement of an abandoned bar for nearly a year. And she looked it too. Her hair, once a lustrous raven, was now dull and frizzy. Her pale, moonglow skin was now just stark white and dirty. Her crystal-blue eyes were still as vacant and slightly crazed as ever, but they’d lost some of the gleam I once knew.
Apparently she had "inherited" the bar after she scared off all the customers, a little before Zephyr City started to go down hill. When she’d first started to live in the basement, she didn’t bother to tell the owner. When he went down to investigate the missing cases of stock, he saw a "ghost" and fled the next day.
All this I gathered from Naga’s bizarre ramblings.
Yes, I wanted to slap her too, but that is beside the point. Knowing Naga as I do, I’m aware that if she chooses to become my hanger-on, she will likely only prove to be a detriment rather than any real help.
Then again, she has been a pretty useful decoy in the past. . .
But to tell you the truth, I was kind of glad to see her again, regardless of her eccentricities. I wouldn’t say that she looked happy with her current circumstances, but Naga is incredibly difficult to read. Just too crazy, I tell ya!
We were all sitting in a circle, all on liquor crates for lack of real furniture. Gourry was on my right, polishing his sword (shut up!), Zelgadis on my left holding hands with Amelia, who was left of Zel and right of Naga who was left of Gourry. We were cooking sweet potatoes over some smoldering coals.
An impromptu nap had left me feeling better, but I really needed at least a few days of rest to completely recover.
"So, you’ve been living in a basement full of liquor?" I said, for lack of anything else to ask. Naga and I, for all of our adventures, were never very close.
"Oh dear, Lina, is your memory going? I only told you that how many times? You really must be jealous!" Naga nonsensically answered.
"Still, you can’t be happy with this existence, can you?" That was Amelia, who had been staring intently at Naga for as long as we’d been here.
I know she’s weird Amelia, but sheesh! You’re just acting rude!
If you stare at weirdos too often, you’ll become one yourself! Heed my warnings dear readers!
"Whatever do you mean? Every woman’s castle is a man’s trash! Ooohohohoho!"
. . .whatever. . .
But it was strange how Amelia and Naga looked so much alike. They weren’t identical: Amelia has a rounder face than Naga and was an inch or so shorter, while Naga’s eyes are more sharply angled. Other than those differences, though, they could be twins.
Sisters?
I looked again at the two women, this time focusing on Amelia. She seemed to be expecting something from Naga.
Or remember something.
I then remembered that Prince Philionel had two daughters! I know the answer but please don’t tell me that Naga is Amelia’s long-lost sister!
A pang of renewed sadness crept its way up my throat but I kept myself from crying.
"You don’t remember me at all, do you?" Amelia sadly said, to herself as much as to Naga.
Bingo.
"Of course I don’t remember you, silly girl!" Naga said that while pouring herself a healthy portion of cream liquor.
Amelia then did something reserved only for enemies of justice; She got angry.
"It’s been ten years but I have never forgotten you! How could you, Gracia?" Amelia demanded, rage simmering in her voice and tears glimmering in her crystal-blue eyes.
"This is your sister?" Zelgadis said incredulously.
"I … I’m sorry, I do not know whom you are talking about! I am Naga the White Serpent!"
"What? Oh no, Gracia, you didn’t!?" Amelia spoke, but her eyes were fixated on Naga’s boobs.
W-what are you looking at?!
"Didn’t what?" Gourry asked, suddenly interested in the cat fight.
I wondered too, but Naga dodged the question. Amelia let loose another heated query but Naga parried and countered with a question of her own, involving Amelia’s taste in men. Amelia became incensed and called her a drunken hussy. Naga retorted that Amelia was a bubble butt, which I suppose was true but not very nice.
It went on like that for several minutes. I was rather enjoying it, but at the same time it was making me depressed. It reminded me of how Luna and I used to fight. Though not as viciously, of course.
Zel, apparently getting sick of it all, abruptly stopped the tussle by deploying a low-intensity light spell between the verbal brawlers. They predictably backed off, wondering where the light came from.
"Sorry to interrupt," Zel said, "but I don’t think it is wise to stay here much longer. The demons have probably figured out that we are not dead and are looking for us. Sooner or later they will find this place."
He turned to Naga. "Now, do you know of any good hiding places outside of the city?" Why’d he ask her? Hello! I’m here too, Zel!
"On the run from demons, huh?" Naga looked slyly at me. "What did you do this time, Lina? I swear you’d get lost in your own hair if it weren’t for me!"
"Yeah, yeah, do you know any or not?" I replied, too weary for verbal sparring.
"Well, there was a cave system with some hot springs in it a few miles outside of town."
"A few miles may not be good enough," Zel stated.
"It’ll work, Zel." I said, cutting off whatever silly reply Naga had loaded.
"What do you mean?" Zel asked.
"These are demons, Lina. You know how tenacious they are." Gourry said.
"Nobody knows about this place. It was my and my sister’s secret place. I guess Naga stumbled across it before she got here," I explained. Luna and I spent many an hour playing in the caves, swimming in the springs. In all the times we had been there, we’d never so much as felt another soul.
"All right, so how do we get there without being seen?" Zel was still skeptical.
"Zephyr City, as you may have noticed, is a two-tiered city. The west side is bordered by a dense woods. All we have to do is find a way through the west wall. Then I will lead the way once we reach the woods, which are dense enough to cover our tracks."
All fears allayed, we set off for the caves, Naga included. Amelia and Naga didn’t even look at each other while we snuck off into the forest. I kinda got the impression that Naga didn’t really forget so much as she wanted to forget … but that really was none of my business. As long as it didn’t cause too much trouble in our merry little band, they could solve their own problems. I have too many of my own to worry about.
We could hardly see the midday sun through the thick canopy and the woods were only getting thicker. Getting around was becoming more and more difficult with all the tangled roots and uneven, rock-strewn terrain. Despite the crappy going, I was confident we’d make it to the caves well before nightfall as the path was looking more and more familiar with every step.
While I was obviously on point as I knew the way, Zel had decided to bring up the rear, his suspicions not completely put to rest by the ease of our escape. Amelia wasn’t glued to his side as usual, though. In fact she was right behind me, with Gourry behind her and Naga in front of Zel. Every once in a while I could hear her mumbling under her breath about Naga being a drunken jerk.
Finally we made it, with a couple hours of daylight still at our disposal. I had Gourry get some wood and Zel some food. Amelia had a sudden desire to go with him, leaving myself and Naga to scope out the cave.
It was a mess! Empty bottles were strewn everywhere, while dry leaves lay in a messy pile next to an old fire pit.
"I see your housekeeping skills are as wonderful as ever," I teased the slightly disoriented Naga.
"Make yourself at home, dear Lina, or maybe I should charge you rent?" Naga said, probably kidding.
Well this is awkward. . .
What the hell were we supposed to talk about? Naga and I didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. And it’s been three years, for cripes sakes. I decided to ignore her for now and started to clean the place up. I began with the leaves and had Naga at the very least arrange her old liquor bottles in a pile.
Eventually I made my way into one of the subchambers and found some of my old toys wedged between some stalagmites.
I picked up a wet and decaying wooden short sword, the first "weapon" I had ever held. My dad got it for me when I expressed interest in becoming a sword fighter when I was about three or so.
What!? There’s nothing wrong with a father supporting his daughter’s fascination with sharp and pointy tools of mayhem! Anyway, my dad was always gone for some business or fishing trip so I was surprised he even knew of my interests. That wooden toy was proof to me that he really did care. Finding it now only punctuated my feeling of loss.
I remembered the many lessons with the sword master Gilliam my parents had hired. I’d soon discovered that my technique was great and I had an eye for strategy, but my small build never let me move beyond where I am even today.
I took the fragile weapon and gently did a few practice drills with it, allowing myself to drift into the past and memory, where my family was still alive.
I was suddenly in my backyard, swinging away at a propped-up wheat bag with my much larger wooden blade. Or maybe I was just much smaller. The sun was shining, rare for a day in spring when rain was the norm. I took advantage of the good weather by imagining the burlap bag was a bandit and that I was a dashing heroine, making the world a better place, one highwayman’s corpse at a time.
I was frustrated by my lack of any real progress in the art of sword fighting, and I was letting the "bandit" know it with every stick and slice that sent little puffs of dust flying from its body whenever I connected.
I could see Luna out the corner of my eye through the upstairs window. She was so cool! Just the other day she’d used a kitchen knife to kill a plasma dragon that was threatening a small village in the frontier! That’s a feat that only could be expected of a Knight of Ciephied. She started downstairs, doubtless to give me some advice or point out what I was doing wrong.
Instead, when she exited the door she just gestured me to continue, and she just watched as I pummeled the "bandit" into submission.
After a short while, as was always the case, I got too tired to swing the wooden sword with any amount of precision. I can overwhelm almost anyone with several small bursts of quick attacks but my lack of stamina has always been my weak point.
"Who needs a wheat grinder when we have you?" Luna grinned.
"Maybe we wouldn’t if I could last more than a hour," I grumbled.
"Lina," her tone became more serious. "I know you’ve been becoming more and more frustrated with your lessons."
"I will be as strong as you! I promise, big sis!"
"I have no doubt that you will, but maybe a sword fighter isn’t what you’re destined to become."
"What do you mean? I’ve been practicing everyday for three years now, I’m just in a slump, that’s all!" I angrily began to pummel the wheat sack again, adrenaline wiping away most of my exhaustion.
"I’m not doubting your dedication. It’s one of the things I admire most about you."
"Huh? You admire me?" I thought I was the one looking up to her!
"You aren’t even ten years old, yet you can and have outfought any boy nearly twice your age! And you are still so young. Lina, have you ever thought about applying to the Academy in the Sorcerers’ Guild?"
"Learn magic tricks with some old geezers? No thanks."
"Hmm …" Luna thought to herself for a moment, then walked to my side.
"I want you to try something," she said. Then she led me about 15 feet away from my training dummy.
"Magic trick?" I dubiously asked.
"You’ll like it," she confirmed. "What I need you to do is concentrate, think outside your body, let nature become a natural extension of yourself like you do your weapon, and repeat after me.
"Source of all power …"
"Source of all power…"
"Light which burns beyond crimson …"
"Light which burns beyond crimson …"
"Let thy power gather in my hand …"
"Let thy power gather in my hand … Whoa!" A small blue ball of light had somehow formed in my hands! Since when can words do that!?
"Release it!" Luna said, smiling broadly at my triumph. "Burn the ‘villain’ to a crisp!" She pointed at the sack.
"Fireball!" The word just came out and I flung the glowing orb at the bag. It hit dead on and a huge wall of flames rapidly expanded towards me and a dumbfounded Luna.
"Holy-! Get down!" Luna pulled me down by the pigtails just as the dissipating flames started to pass over us. It got really hot for a few seconds, and difficult to breathe. A moment later Luna got off me and brushed off her singed dress.
"Lina … what did you do?" she asked, as if I suddenly knew all the answers. "First try, too …"
"What do you mea- Whoa!" The entire yard was a blackened and smoldering mess! There wasn’t even a trace of the wheat! Not even a single kernel had survived! "I did that!?"
"I’ll take you to put in your application tomorrow." Luna said, still in shock. "But I think we’d better come up with an explanation for what we did to the yard."
"Yup," I said, a little mischievously, quite proud of myself for making ours the toastiest garden in the neighborhood.
"Fighting invisible monsters, Lina?"
I was suddenly pulled out of my reverie with Naga’s jest and found myself a little disoriented … but oddly enough, a little less depressed.
"Maybe I am." I replied.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes!
Sorry for the delay but I’ve been pretty sick these past few weeks.
Boy, I’ve been adding one plot element after another here recently, haven’t I? I can only hope I can thread them into some kind of coherent tapestry by the end of this story. But that won’t be for a while yet, so let’s see how confusing I can make things next chapter, shall we? God, I can’t write Naga for my life! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Stay tuned next time for Slayers: Knightfall!
So, as it turned out, Naga had been living in the basement of an abandoned bar for nearly a year. And she looked it too. Her hair, once a lustrous raven, was now dull and frizzy. Her pale, moonglow skin was now just stark white and dirty. Her crystal-blue eyes were still as vacant and slightly crazed as ever, but they’d lost some of the gleam I once knew.
Apparently she had "inherited" the bar after she scared off all the customers, a little before Zephyr City started to go down hill. When she’d first started to live in the basement, she didn’t bother to tell the owner. When he went down to investigate the missing cases of stock, he saw a "ghost" and fled the next day.
All this I gathered from Naga’s bizarre ramblings.
Yes, I wanted to slap her too, but that is beside the point. Knowing Naga as I do, I’m aware that if she chooses to become my hanger-on, she will likely only prove to be a detriment rather than any real help.
Then again, she has been a pretty useful decoy in the past. . .
But to tell you the truth, I was kind of glad to see her again, regardless of her eccentricities. I wouldn’t say that she looked happy with her current circumstances, but Naga is incredibly difficult to read. Just too crazy, I tell ya!
We were all sitting in a circle, all on liquor crates for lack of real furniture. Gourry was on my right, polishing his sword (shut up!), Zelgadis on my left holding hands with Amelia, who was left of Zel and right of Naga who was left of Gourry. We were cooking sweet potatoes over some smoldering coals.
An impromptu nap had left me feeling better, but I really needed at least a few days of rest to completely recover.
"So, you’ve been living in a basement full of liquor?" I said, for lack of anything else to ask. Naga and I, for all of our adventures, were never very close.
"Oh dear, Lina, is your memory going? I only told you that how many times? You really must be jealous!" Naga nonsensically answered.
"Still, you can’t be happy with this existence, can you?" That was Amelia, who had been staring intently at Naga for as long as we’d been here.
I know she’s weird Amelia, but sheesh! You’re just acting rude!
If you stare at weirdos too often, you’ll become one yourself! Heed my warnings dear readers!
"Whatever do you mean? Every woman’s castle is a man’s trash! Ooohohohoho!"
. . .whatever. . .
But it was strange how Amelia and Naga looked so much alike. They weren’t identical: Amelia has a rounder face than Naga and was an inch or so shorter, while Naga’s eyes are more sharply angled. Other than those differences, though, they could be twins.
Sisters?
I looked again at the two women, this time focusing on Amelia. She seemed to be expecting something from Naga.
Or remember something.
I then remembered that Prince Philionel had two daughters! I know the answer but please don’t tell me that Naga is Amelia’s long-lost sister!
A pang of renewed sadness crept its way up my throat but I kept myself from crying.
"You don’t remember me at all, do you?" Amelia sadly said, to herself as much as to Naga.
Bingo.
"Of course I don’t remember you, silly girl!" Naga said that while pouring herself a healthy portion of cream liquor.
Amelia then did something reserved only for enemies of justice; She got angry.
"It’s been ten years but I have never forgotten you! How could you, Gracia?" Amelia demanded, rage simmering in her voice and tears glimmering in her crystal-blue eyes.
"This is your sister?" Zelgadis said incredulously.
"I … I’m sorry, I do not know whom you are talking about! I am Naga the White Serpent!"
"What? Oh no, Gracia, you didn’t!?" Amelia spoke, but her eyes were fixated on Naga’s boobs.
W-what are you looking at?!
"Didn’t what?" Gourry asked, suddenly interested in the cat fight.
I wondered too, but Naga dodged the question. Amelia let loose another heated query but Naga parried and countered with a question of her own, involving Amelia’s taste in men. Amelia became incensed and called her a drunken hussy. Naga retorted that Amelia was a bubble butt, which I suppose was true but not very nice.
It went on like that for several minutes. I was rather enjoying it, but at the same time it was making me depressed. It reminded me of how Luna and I used to fight. Though not as viciously, of course.
Zel, apparently getting sick of it all, abruptly stopped the tussle by deploying a low-intensity light spell between the verbal brawlers. They predictably backed off, wondering where the light came from.
"Sorry to interrupt," Zel said, "but I don’t think it is wise to stay here much longer. The demons have probably figured out that we are not dead and are looking for us. Sooner or later they will find this place."
He turned to Naga. "Now, do you know of any good hiding places outside of the city?" Why’d he ask her? Hello! I’m here too, Zel!
"On the run from demons, huh?" Naga looked slyly at me. "What did you do this time, Lina? I swear you’d get lost in your own hair if it weren’t for me!"
"Yeah, yeah, do you know any or not?" I replied, too weary for verbal sparring.
"Well, there was a cave system with some hot springs in it a few miles outside of town."
"A few miles may not be good enough," Zel stated.
"It’ll work, Zel." I said, cutting off whatever silly reply Naga had loaded.
"What do you mean?" Zel asked.
"These are demons, Lina. You know how tenacious they are." Gourry said.
"Nobody knows about this place. It was my and my sister’s secret place. I guess Naga stumbled across it before she got here," I explained. Luna and I spent many an hour playing in the caves, swimming in the springs. In all the times we had been there, we’d never so much as felt another soul.
"All right, so how do we get there without being seen?" Zel was still skeptical.
"Zephyr City, as you may have noticed, is a two-tiered city. The west side is bordered by a dense woods. All we have to do is find a way through the west wall. Then I will lead the way once we reach the woods, which are dense enough to cover our tracks."
All fears allayed, we set off for the caves, Naga included. Amelia and Naga didn’t even look at each other while we snuck off into the forest. I kinda got the impression that Naga didn’t really forget so much as she wanted to forget … but that really was none of my business. As long as it didn’t cause too much trouble in our merry little band, they could solve their own problems. I have too many of my own to worry about.
We could hardly see the midday sun through the thick canopy and the woods were only getting thicker. Getting around was becoming more and more difficult with all the tangled roots and uneven, rock-strewn terrain. Despite the crappy going, I was confident we’d make it to the caves well before nightfall as the path was looking more and more familiar with every step.
While I was obviously on point as I knew the way, Zel had decided to bring up the rear, his suspicions not completely put to rest by the ease of our escape. Amelia wasn’t glued to his side as usual, though. In fact she was right behind me, with Gourry behind her and Naga in front of Zel. Every once in a while I could hear her mumbling under her breath about Naga being a drunken jerk.
Finally we made it, with a couple hours of daylight still at our disposal. I had Gourry get some wood and Zel some food. Amelia had a sudden desire to go with him, leaving myself and Naga to scope out the cave.
It was a mess! Empty bottles were strewn everywhere, while dry leaves lay in a messy pile next to an old fire pit.
"I see your housekeeping skills are as wonderful as ever," I teased the slightly disoriented Naga.
"Make yourself at home, dear Lina, or maybe I should charge you rent?" Naga said, probably kidding.
Well this is awkward. . .
What the hell were we supposed to talk about? Naga and I didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. And it’s been three years, for cripes sakes. I decided to ignore her for now and started to clean the place up. I began with the leaves and had Naga at the very least arrange her old liquor bottles in a pile.
Eventually I made my way into one of the subchambers and found some of my old toys wedged between some stalagmites.
I picked up a wet and decaying wooden short sword, the first "weapon" I had ever held. My dad got it for me when I expressed interest in becoming a sword fighter when I was about three or so.
What!? There’s nothing wrong with a father supporting his daughter’s fascination with sharp and pointy tools of mayhem! Anyway, my dad was always gone for some business or fishing trip so I was surprised he even knew of my interests. That wooden toy was proof to me that he really did care. Finding it now only punctuated my feeling of loss.
I remembered the many lessons with the sword master Gilliam my parents had hired. I’d soon discovered that my technique was great and I had an eye for strategy, but my small build never let me move beyond where I am even today.
I took the fragile weapon and gently did a few practice drills with it, allowing myself to drift into the past and memory, where my family was still alive.
I was suddenly in my backyard, swinging away at a propped-up wheat bag with my much larger wooden blade. Or maybe I was just much smaller. The sun was shining, rare for a day in spring when rain was the norm. I took advantage of the good weather by imagining the burlap bag was a bandit and that I was a dashing heroine, making the world a better place, one highwayman’s corpse at a time.
I was frustrated by my lack of any real progress in the art of sword fighting, and I was letting the "bandit" know it with every stick and slice that sent little puffs of dust flying from its body whenever I connected.
I could see Luna out the corner of my eye through the upstairs window. She was so cool! Just the other day she’d used a kitchen knife to kill a plasma dragon that was threatening a small village in the frontier! That’s a feat that only could be expected of a Knight of Ciephied. She started downstairs, doubtless to give me some advice or point out what I was doing wrong.
Instead, when she exited the door she just gestured me to continue, and she just watched as I pummeled the "bandit" into submission.
After a short while, as was always the case, I got too tired to swing the wooden sword with any amount of precision. I can overwhelm almost anyone with several small bursts of quick attacks but my lack of stamina has always been my weak point.
"Who needs a wheat grinder when we have you?" Luna grinned.
"Maybe we wouldn’t if I could last more than a hour," I grumbled.
"Lina," her tone became more serious. "I know you’ve been becoming more and more frustrated with your lessons."
"I will be as strong as you! I promise, big sis!"
"I have no doubt that you will, but maybe a sword fighter isn’t what you’re destined to become."
"What do you mean? I’ve been practicing everyday for three years now, I’m just in a slump, that’s all!" I angrily began to pummel the wheat sack again, adrenaline wiping away most of my exhaustion.
"I’m not doubting your dedication. It’s one of the things I admire most about you."
"Huh? You admire me?" I thought I was the one looking up to her!
"You aren’t even ten years old, yet you can and have outfought any boy nearly twice your age! And you are still so young. Lina, have you ever thought about applying to the Academy in the Sorcerers’ Guild?"
"Learn magic tricks with some old geezers? No thanks."
"Hmm …" Luna thought to herself for a moment, then walked to my side.
"I want you to try something," she said. Then she led me about 15 feet away from my training dummy.
"Magic trick?" I dubiously asked.
"You’ll like it," she confirmed. "What I need you to do is concentrate, think outside your body, let nature become a natural extension of yourself like you do your weapon, and repeat after me.
"Source of all power …"
"Source of all power…"
"Light which burns beyond crimson …"
"Light which burns beyond crimson …"
"Let thy power gather in my hand …"
"Let thy power gather in my hand … Whoa!" A small blue ball of light had somehow formed in my hands! Since when can words do that!?
"Release it!" Luna said, smiling broadly at my triumph. "Burn the ‘villain’ to a crisp!" She pointed at the sack.
"Fireball!" The word just came out and I flung the glowing orb at the bag. It hit dead on and a huge wall of flames rapidly expanded towards me and a dumbfounded Luna.
"Holy-! Get down!" Luna pulled me down by the pigtails just as the dissipating flames started to pass over us. It got really hot for a few seconds, and difficult to breathe. A moment later Luna got off me and brushed off her singed dress.
"Lina … what did you do?" she asked, as if I suddenly knew all the answers. "First try, too …"
"What do you mea- Whoa!" The entire yard was a blackened and smoldering mess! There wasn’t even a trace of the wheat! Not even a single kernel had survived! "I did that!?"
"I’ll take you to put in your application tomorrow." Luna said, still in shock. "But I think we’d better come up with an explanation for what we did to the yard."
"Yup," I said, a little mischievously, quite proud of myself for making ours the toastiest garden in the neighborhood.
"Fighting invisible monsters, Lina?"
I was suddenly pulled out of my reverie with Naga’s jest and found myself a little disoriented … but oddly enough, a little less depressed.
"Maybe I am." I replied.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes!
Sorry for the delay but I’ve been pretty sick these past few weeks.
Boy, I’ve been adding one plot element after another here recently, haven’t I? I can only hope I can thread them into some kind of coherent tapestry by the end of this story. But that won’t be for a while yet, so let’s see how confusing I can make things next chapter, shall we? God, I can’t write Naga for my life! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Stay tuned next time for Slayers: Knightfall!