Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 17 )
[ 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: 3.2K | Visits: 233 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 233 | Status: Work In Progress
Slayers: Knightfall
Chapter Sixteen
The northern city gates of Seyruun had become a burning wreck, while the demonic horde was slowly but steadily making headway into the city proper. Refugees and more than a few soldiers were running away from the nightmare that had descended onto this kingdom. Those who still fought on -- and it was still a considerable number -- were slowly pushed back by the enemy’s steady advance. Every inch the black horde made into this holy city seemed to stain the pristine marble in irrevocable shadow, never to be pure again.
Gods, I feel like an over-dramatic playwright!
*GROSS GASTROINTESTINAL NOISES*
A damned hungry over-dramatic playwright!
"Now what are we going to do?" I asked of no one in particular as I stared through the balcony window in Seyruun’s Hospital section of the royal palace. I had the growing realization that it really was the new War of the Demonic Resurrection, at least in scope. I didn’t know if it was heralding Ruby Eye’s return (why can’t he just stay dead?), but what else could have amassed such a force!?
"What do you want to do?" Gourry asked, somehow managing to get up to be by my side.
"I dunno. . .crawl into a hole and hide in it for the rest of my life." it was a terribly hard admission to make. Since when does the brash and fearless Lina Inverse hide from anything? But it was all too much. Everything had been happening too fast and I didn’t know how much I could take before completely losing it.
"Do not despair, young Lina!" Phil the Hairy bellowed. "Even in these seemingly doomed times, even the slightest sliver of hope can shine forth a radiance to beat back even the darkest night." He seemed quite pleased with his clichéd reassurance, and I would’ve thrown it back in his face but for a couple of the words he’d said.
"Darkest night," I murmured. There was something about those words that resonated deep within my soul, but I could not place it in any tangible context.
There was a loud burbling right beside my ear.
"Gourry!" I exclaimed, inadvertently knocking him to the floor with a thud and a groan. "You really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed.”
He was just as hungry as I was.
"Maybe, but I’d rather die on my feet than lying in a bed," he tried to say manfully, but it just didn’t quite work while he was on the floor flailing about like a turtle on his back.
Turtle soup sounds good.
"Who says we’re dying?" I gritted my teeth and stared hard at the swarm of enemies that seemed to fill up my entire view. Time for a big ka-boom, then a meal fit for a queen or two.
Blackness beyond twilight,
Crimson beyond blood that flows,
Buried in endless time I call upon your name,
I pledge myself to thee so that all those fools may be destroyed
By the power you and I possess!
"Dragon Slave!"
With that precious burst of power, I again slumped to my knees and wearily watched the trail of crimson flame we’d created charge towards the middle of the demonic army. After a moment, a brilliant flash -- like lightning -- ignited the air. A few seconds later the sound of an explosion shook the walls and caused more than a few people to stumble.
It took a few seconds to blink the stars out of my eyes, but when my vision cleared I looked to see what damage I had done.
"Oh, holy crap," Gourry mumbled, mirroring my thoughts exactly.
The wide, deep crater my spell had caused was already rapidly being filled in by fresh troops. It was like blowing into a straw at a rain puddle, when the water quickly refills what my air pushes away.
Now to sit and stare dumbly for a few moments. . . ah, that’s better.
"I have heard stories about how, during the war a thousand years ago, dozens of sorcerers would cast the Dragon Slave into the ranks of demons and still it would barely dent their forces,." Phil said somberly.
"Well, shit!" I spat. My mind furiously scrambled for what to do next. My magical reserves had been completely drained over the last few weeks and I hadn’t had a decent rest in longer still. I hated to say it but I was almost totally useless when it came to hand-to-hand combat. And with our he-man Gourry out of the loop physically (and often mentally, though he still seemed to function), our immediate future didn’t look terribly bright.
"Fear not, Ms. Inverse!" Phil yelled, a little too loudly, directly into my ear. "We haven’t been beat just yet!" He gestured for Gourry and me to look out the window one last time. I also took a second to wipe away some royal saliva from my ear.
As expected, it didn’t look like the fight was going well for the boys in Seyruun silver. They were on full retreat, the demonic host eagerly chasing them deep into the city.
I looked at Phil, trying to discern the tiniest hint of worry. He must’ve noticed because he turned and winked at me (which kinda creeped me out). Turning once again to the unfolding battle, I saw that the city’s soldiers had split up into four equal groups, and each was headed down one of the main roads that created the city’s famous hexagram image. They obviously were trying to split the demon force up, and with great success. Soon the roads were filled with slain monsters and the occasional mazoku -- but still the land north of the entrance was crammed with fresh foes.
If your plan was to make things worse for yourself, you are doing a stand-up job!
The three of us watched as the soldiers then made a mad dash for the castle gates. It was a close race. The last of the guardsmen, from where I could see, made it through the closing doors just yards away from the closest monster.
"Witness the wrath of Ciephied unleashed on these foul creatures." Phil grinned with a holy kind of madness.
Suddenly a bright, white light enveloped the roads that made up the hexagram. It fiercely illuminated the entire city for a full minute before it left as abruptly as it came. Then a residual glow lit the city walls, making the night shine with a pale, eerie light. I looked down and saw that the enemy forces inside the walls had been cut in half! The light must’ve been the effect of a massive communal spell performed by all of the priests and priestesses in the city! It completely wiped out the lesser demons and the other weaker monsters, while the survivors looked severely disoriented … the few that remained. Not a second later, the spell casters, priest and priestesses came out in full force, along with the city soldiers, massacring the weakened ranks.
I thought I saw a pair of wildly moving but closely set magical lights down in the midst of the battle; it made me wonder if Amelia were down there using her patented Vis fu Rank spell. A molten pit of magma appeared in a side street, destroying still more demons and basically leaving Zelgadis’s calling card with the Vlave Howl spell.
Approximately twenty minutes later, the battle inside the city was won. The magically glowing city walls continued to keep the demons and monsters at bay -- but of course, they didn’t even have to enter. We were now under siege, and I doubted the city would last a month before disease and starvation took their toll.
Not exactly the happiest ending for the holy city.
I shot a sidelong glance at Phil. "Well, I assume you have a plan?"
"No!"
I promptly fell over, not even fighting it this time as I found that I was getting to like it.
"N-No!?" I screeched. "This city is doomed if this siege lasts for more than a few weeks!"
Phil’s completely lost what little gray matter he once had!
"I do not have a plan to break the siege, but do not fret, we can endure any siege indefinitely!" Phil proudly proclaimed.
"You mean?"
"Yes, there are several networks of underground tunnels that lead far outside this city. That’s how you and my daughters will make your escape to complete your quest."
"Amelia told you, huh?" That little snitch.
"Lina, I don’t care if you are a knight of some demon or another, you’ve already proven yourself to me more than once. I trust -- no, I know you’ll make the right decisions when the times come."
I was taken aback by Phil’s words. It actually made me proud to know that little lump of a dwarf, as well as giving me a boost in self esteem. On the other side of the spectrum, however, it really made me miss my dad and I had to fight tears for a few moments before I was ready to talk again.
I was internally grateful when Gourry and Phil turned their backs to give me a modicum of privacy while I composed myself.
Then I spoke. "I thank you for everything you’ve done, sire. But you know I can’t ask you to send your daughters with me. This adventure has already proven to be more dangerous than anything I’ve ever faced before, and Amelia usually doesn’t fare too well when she follows me around on my adventures."
"I know! I’ve tried to persuade her that you are a walking deathtrap! But she wouldn’t hear of it and insisted on helping you no matter what."
Oi. . .
"I dunno about deathtrap, though the people she hangs around do tend to get the crap kicked out of them." Gourry said, kinda sorta charging to my defense.
"Enough already!”
"You mean that you aren’t?" Zelgadis said as he and Amelia entered the room.
"And these are the people I am supposed to be traveling with?!" I said with exasperation.
"Don’t worry, Miss Lina," Amelia said consolingly. "No matter how many or what kind of grievous injuries I sustain while traveling with you, know this! It’ll still pale in the face of knowing that I abandoned you in such a fragile state. Even if I do get horribly maimed in the process, I will not leave you! For that is what justice is all about! Yea, verily this is the truth of justice! Never leave your friends just because you might get terribly disfigured! After all! That’s what recovery spells are for! I’ll never pass up a chance to smite vile evil in the name of law and justice, even if I do lose a limb or two! Or become disemboweled, or have my nails pulled or. . ."
She went on like that for quite some time, but that was OK, we stopped paying attention to her at "I will sustain." We were discussing more important things.
"Sorry," Zel said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. "She’s still a little worked up."
"How many supplies will you need?" Phil asked.
"About four weeks worth should do it. We can supply anything we don’t have in the field and through … alternative methods." Bob wasn’t through playing his part. I was sure of it.
"But a more pressing concern is what are we going to do about Gourry," I said, eyeing Gourry’s bandages.
"I don’t think the horde will try anything for a while, so he can stay until he heals and catch up with you later," Phil offered.
"Not that I doubt you or anything, your Highness," I said. "But I’m not going anywhere without Gourry."
"Can’t anything be done with magic?" Gourry asked.
We all stared blankly for a moment. Then Amelia cast Resurrection and Gourry started skipping around like an 8-year-old boy on his birthday. "Look at me! Look at me!" he squealed.
OK, maybe he didn’t do that, but we were all pretty relieved to see Gourry’s injuries healed, even though Resurrection should’ve been the first thing they did when we got here.
Sometimes the answer is just beating you up and taking a dump on your chest. . .
After explaining my concerns to Amelia (with the help of a headlock) we learned this: "We just thought it would be better if we didn’t completely heal you right away," Amelia explained. "After all, you needed the rest!"
Then Naga came in wearing a cake.
Yes. A cake.
Shut up! I’m not making this up!
A vanilla friggin cake!
"Uh. . . Gracia?" Amelia asked after picking herself off the floor.
"Yes, dear?" replied Naga, daintily licking the frosting off her fingers.
A goddamned CAKE!
"Are you. . . wearing a pastry?" Amelia’s tone implied that she didn’t believe that she had said that.
"I built myself a dress as pretty and sweet as I am!" Naga happily announced, twirling around and generally making a big mess of things. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something was off.
Off, and not just because Naga had decided that it would be a good idea to wear a giant CAKE!
A CAAAAAAAKE!!
And here I had honestly had thought nothing could ever faze me again.
But seriously, Naga/Gracia was acting strange (I am well aware of the irony), and not ha-ha strange, more like he-he strange. There is a difference, and it is marked.
It was then I felt a familiar presence, Naga! But it wasn’t coming from Naga’s direction. In fact it was coming from behind me! I turned around and only saw Amelia, but I then noticed she was carrying a little black lock box with both of her hands. Naga’s presence was coming from that box!
Zel noticed my curiosity and explained. "After we removed the skull pendant, we had to lock it up so Gracia couldn’t put it back on again. We’ve noticed that her, uh, irregularities happen only when she is in close proximity to the object."
"I assume you’ve tried to exorcize that thing?" I warily asked, wondering if an artifact with enough power to consciously seek out its former bearer would be able to ensnare another victim.
Who or what would be insane or wicked enough to create a thing like the Xenasphyr?
"Several times, with all the available priests in Seyruun in fact," Amelia said. "But I guess the Xenasphyr is too powerful to be utterly destroyed with just white magic." She looked at me with a glimmer of hope in her eye. "But, maybe a blast with the Dragon Slave might destroy it?"
"No, it won’t work," I flatly stated, and Amelia was immediately deflated. "Listen, I don’t mean to get you down or freak you out, but …" Oh, how to put this? "Naga -- I mean Gracia – and I never had the most friendly of relationships. In fact we’ve literally tried to kill each other in the past and I’ve ended up Dragon Slaving her more than a couple of times," I finished with a nervous laugh.
"YOU DRAGON SLAVED MY SISTER/DAUGHTER!?" Amelia and Phil simultaneously shouted, while Gourry sat munching on a slice of cake of suspect origin. It was understandable. I mean I guess I would be pissed too if somebody used a spell capable of annihilating a decent-sized town on my relatives.
"Oh, come on!" I groused. "It’s not like I knew who she really was at the time! And I think you are missing the point! The Dragon Slave won’t work on the Xenasphyr or whoever wears it, as proven by the fact that Naga is very much alive!"
"I- I guess so." Amelia and Phil’s anger dissolved as the realization that they were back to square one once again sank in.
"We have several scholars and researchers scouring the libraries for anything even hinting at an artifact like the Xenasphyr, as well as a few sources of my own," said Zel. "Unfortunately, the room the object was originally found in is apparently as old as Seyruun itself, maybe even older, so finding any relevant information is unlikely at best."
"So that leaves you with me?" I asked, starting to catch on.
"Yes, we will follow you into the Vale of Shadows as we originally planned, but also with our own goal in mind."
"That’s why we need to bring Gracia," Amelia said. "If we find a way to destroy the Xenasphyr, we need to know what affects it’ll have on my sister, immediately. And, as I am the most powerful priestess in Seyruun (she couldn’t help but sound a little proud), it would only make sense for her to come with us in case something happens."
"So, basically, you are waiting for me to regain enough strength to use my Nightmare magic on the object."
"I suppose that’s one way of putting it."
"Would anyone like some cake?" Naga asked, brandishing a cake knife.
Chapter Sixteen
The northern city gates of Seyruun had become a burning wreck, while the demonic horde was slowly but steadily making headway into the city proper. Refugees and more than a few soldiers were running away from the nightmare that had descended onto this kingdom. Those who still fought on -- and it was still a considerable number -- were slowly pushed back by the enemy’s steady advance. Every inch the black horde made into this holy city seemed to stain the pristine marble in irrevocable shadow, never to be pure again.
Gods, I feel like an over-dramatic playwright!
*GROSS GASTROINTESTINAL NOISES*
A damned hungry over-dramatic playwright!
"Now what are we going to do?" I asked of no one in particular as I stared through the balcony window in Seyruun’s Hospital section of the royal palace. I had the growing realization that it really was the new War of the Demonic Resurrection, at least in scope. I didn’t know if it was heralding Ruby Eye’s return (why can’t he just stay dead?), but what else could have amassed such a force!?
"What do you want to do?" Gourry asked, somehow managing to get up to be by my side.
"I dunno. . .crawl into a hole and hide in it for the rest of my life." it was a terribly hard admission to make. Since when does the brash and fearless Lina Inverse hide from anything? But it was all too much. Everything had been happening too fast and I didn’t know how much I could take before completely losing it.
"Do not despair, young Lina!" Phil the Hairy bellowed. "Even in these seemingly doomed times, even the slightest sliver of hope can shine forth a radiance to beat back even the darkest night." He seemed quite pleased with his clichéd reassurance, and I would’ve thrown it back in his face but for a couple of the words he’d said.
"Darkest night," I murmured. There was something about those words that resonated deep within my soul, but I could not place it in any tangible context.
There was a loud burbling right beside my ear.
"Gourry!" I exclaimed, inadvertently knocking him to the floor with a thud and a groan. "You really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed.”
He was just as hungry as I was.
"Maybe, but I’d rather die on my feet than lying in a bed," he tried to say manfully, but it just didn’t quite work while he was on the floor flailing about like a turtle on his back.
Turtle soup sounds good.
"Who says we’re dying?" I gritted my teeth and stared hard at the swarm of enemies that seemed to fill up my entire view. Time for a big ka-boom, then a meal fit for a queen or two.
Blackness beyond twilight,
Crimson beyond blood that flows,
Buried in endless time I call upon your name,
I pledge myself to thee so that all those fools may be destroyed
By the power you and I possess!
"Dragon Slave!"
With that precious burst of power, I again slumped to my knees and wearily watched the trail of crimson flame we’d created charge towards the middle of the demonic army. After a moment, a brilliant flash -- like lightning -- ignited the air. A few seconds later the sound of an explosion shook the walls and caused more than a few people to stumble.
It took a few seconds to blink the stars out of my eyes, but when my vision cleared I looked to see what damage I had done.
"Oh, holy crap," Gourry mumbled, mirroring my thoughts exactly.
The wide, deep crater my spell had caused was already rapidly being filled in by fresh troops. It was like blowing into a straw at a rain puddle, when the water quickly refills what my air pushes away.
Now to sit and stare dumbly for a few moments. . . ah, that’s better.
"I have heard stories about how, during the war a thousand years ago, dozens of sorcerers would cast the Dragon Slave into the ranks of demons and still it would barely dent their forces,." Phil said somberly.
"Well, shit!" I spat. My mind furiously scrambled for what to do next. My magical reserves had been completely drained over the last few weeks and I hadn’t had a decent rest in longer still. I hated to say it but I was almost totally useless when it came to hand-to-hand combat. And with our he-man Gourry out of the loop physically (and often mentally, though he still seemed to function), our immediate future didn’t look terribly bright.
"Fear not, Ms. Inverse!" Phil yelled, a little too loudly, directly into my ear. "We haven’t been beat just yet!" He gestured for Gourry and me to look out the window one last time. I also took a second to wipe away some royal saliva from my ear.
As expected, it didn’t look like the fight was going well for the boys in Seyruun silver. They were on full retreat, the demonic host eagerly chasing them deep into the city.
I looked at Phil, trying to discern the tiniest hint of worry. He must’ve noticed because he turned and winked at me (which kinda creeped me out). Turning once again to the unfolding battle, I saw that the city’s soldiers had split up into four equal groups, and each was headed down one of the main roads that created the city’s famous hexagram image. They obviously were trying to split the demon force up, and with great success. Soon the roads were filled with slain monsters and the occasional mazoku -- but still the land north of the entrance was crammed with fresh foes.
If your plan was to make things worse for yourself, you are doing a stand-up job!
The three of us watched as the soldiers then made a mad dash for the castle gates. It was a close race. The last of the guardsmen, from where I could see, made it through the closing doors just yards away from the closest monster.
"Witness the wrath of Ciephied unleashed on these foul creatures." Phil grinned with a holy kind of madness.
Suddenly a bright, white light enveloped the roads that made up the hexagram. It fiercely illuminated the entire city for a full minute before it left as abruptly as it came. Then a residual glow lit the city walls, making the night shine with a pale, eerie light. I looked down and saw that the enemy forces inside the walls had been cut in half! The light must’ve been the effect of a massive communal spell performed by all of the priests and priestesses in the city! It completely wiped out the lesser demons and the other weaker monsters, while the survivors looked severely disoriented … the few that remained. Not a second later, the spell casters, priest and priestesses came out in full force, along with the city soldiers, massacring the weakened ranks.
I thought I saw a pair of wildly moving but closely set magical lights down in the midst of the battle; it made me wonder if Amelia were down there using her patented Vis fu Rank spell. A molten pit of magma appeared in a side street, destroying still more demons and basically leaving Zelgadis’s calling card with the Vlave Howl spell.
Approximately twenty minutes later, the battle inside the city was won. The magically glowing city walls continued to keep the demons and monsters at bay -- but of course, they didn’t even have to enter. We were now under siege, and I doubted the city would last a month before disease and starvation took their toll.
Not exactly the happiest ending for the holy city.
I shot a sidelong glance at Phil. "Well, I assume you have a plan?"
"No!"
I promptly fell over, not even fighting it this time as I found that I was getting to like it.
"N-No!?" I screeched. "This city is doomed if this siege lasts for more than a few weeks!"
Phil’s completely lost what little gray matter he once had!
"I do not have a plan to break the siege, but do not fret, we can endure any siege indefinitely!" Phil proudly proclaimed.
"You mean?"
"Yes, there are several networks of underground tunnels that lead far outside this city. That’s how you and my daughters will make your escape to complete your quest."
"Amelia told you, huh?" That little snitch.
"Lina, I don’t care if you are a knight of some demon or another, you’ve already proven yourself to me more than once. I trust -- no, I know you’ll make the right decisions when the times come."
I was taken aback by Phil’s words. It actually made me proud to know that little lump of a dwarf, as well as giving me a boost in self esteem. On the other side of the spectrum, however, it really made me miss my dad and I had to fight tears for a few moments before I was ready to talk again.
I was internally grateful when Gourry and Phil turned their backs to give me a modicum of privacy while I composed myself.
Then I spoke. "I thank you for everything you’ve done, sire. But you know I can’t ask you to send your daughters with me. This adventure has already proven to be more dangerous than anything I’ve ever faced before, and Amelia usually doesn’t fare too well when she follows me around on my adventures."
"I know! I’ve tried to persuade her that you are a walking deathtrap! But she wouldn’t hear of it and insisted on helping you no matter what."
Oi. . .
"I dunno about deathtrap, though the people she hangs around do tend to get the crap kicked out of them." Gourry said, kinda sorta charging to my defense.
"Enough already!”
"You mean that you aren’t?" Zelgadis said as he and Amelia entered the room.
"And these are the people I am supposed to be traveling with?!" I said with exasperation.
"Don’t worry, Miss Lina," Amelia said consolingly. "No matter how many or what kind of grievous injuries I sustain while traveling with you, know this! It’ll still pale in the face of knowing that I abandoned you in such a fragile state. Even if I do get horribly maimed in the process, I will not leave you! For that is what justice is all about! Yea, verily this is the truth of justice! Never leave your friends just because you might get terribly disfigured! After all! That’s what recovery spells are for! I’ll never pass up a chance to smite vile evil in the name of law and justice, even if I do lose a limb or two! Or become disemboweled, or have my nails pulled or. . ."
She went on like that for quite some time, but that was OK, we stopped paying attention to her at "I will sustain." We were discussing more important things.
"Sorry," Zel said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. "She’s still a little worked up."
"How many supplies will you need?" Phil asked.
"About four weeks worth should do it. We can supply anything we don’t have in the field and through … alternative methods." Bob wasn’t through playing his part. I was sure of it.
"But a more pressing concern is what are we going to do about Gourry," I said, eyeing Gourry’s bandages.
"I don’t think the horde will try anything for a while, so he can stay until he heals and catch up with you later," Phil offered.
"Not that I doubt you or anything, your Highness," I said. "But I’m not going anywhere without Gourry."
"Can’t anything be done with magic?" Gourry asked.
We all stared blankly for a moment. Then Amelia cast Resurrection and Gourry started skipping around like an 8-year-old boy on his birthday. "Look at me! Look at me!" he squealed.
OK, maybe he didn’t do that, but we were all pretty relieved to see Gourry’s injuries healed, even though Resurrection should’ve been the first thing they did when we got here.
Sometimes the answer is just beating you up and taking a dump on your chest. . .
After explaining my concerns to Amelia (with the help of a headlock) we learned this: "We just thought it would be better if we didn’t completely heal you right away," Amelia explained. "After all, you needed the rest!"
Then Naga came in wearing a cake.
Yes. A cake.
Shut up! I’m not making this up!
A vanilla friggin cake!
"Uh. . . Gracia?" Amelia asked after picking herself off the floor.
"Yes, dear?" replied Naga, daintily licking the frosting off her fingers.
A goddamned CAKE!
"Are you. . . wearing a pastry?" Amelia’s tone implied that she didn’t believe that she had said that.
"I built myself a dress as pretty and sweet as I am!" Naga happily announced, twirling around and generally making a big mess of things. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something was off.
Off, and not just because Naga had decided that it would be a good idea to wear a giant CAKE!
A CAAAAAAAKE!!
And here I had honestly had thought nothing could ever faze me again.
But seriously, Naga/Gracia was acting strange (I am well aware of the irony), and not ha-ha strange, more like he-he strange. There is a difference, and it is marked.
It was then I felt a familiar presence, Naga! But it wasn’t coming from Naga’s direction. In fact it was coming from behind me! I turned around and only saw Amelia, but I then noticed she was carrying a little black lock box with both of her hands. Naga’s presence was coming from that box!
Zel noticed my curiosity and explained. "After we removed the skull pendant, we had to lock it up so Gracia couldn’t put it back on again. We’ve noticed that her, uh, irregularities happen only when she is in close proximity to the object."
"I assume you’ve tried to exorcize that thing?" I warily asked, wondering if an artifact with enough power to consciously seek out its former bearer would be able to ensnare another victim.
Who or what would be insane or wicked enough to create a thing like the Xenasphyr?
"Several times, with all the available priests in Seyruun in fact," Amelia said. "But I guess the Xenasphyr is too powerful to be utterly destroyed with just white magic." She looked at me with a glimmer of hope in her eye. "But, maybe a blast with the Dragon Slave might destroy it?"
"No, it won’t work," I flatly stated, and Amelia was immediately deflated. "Listen, I don’t mean to get you down or freak you out, but …" Oh, how to put this? "Naga -- I mean Gracia – and I never had the most friendly of relationships. In fact we’ve literally tried to kill each other in the past and I’ve ended up Dragon Slaving her more than a couple of times," I finished with a nervous laugh.
"YOU DRAGON SLAVED MY SISTER/DAUGHTER!?" Amelia and Phil simultaneously shouted, while Gourry sat munching on a slice of cake of suspect origin. It was understandable. I mean I guess I would be pissed too if somebody used a spell capable of annihilating a decent-sized town on my relatives.
"Oh, come on!" I groused. "It’s not like I knew who she really was at the time! And I think you are missing the point! The Dragon Slave won’t work on the Xenasphyr or whoever wears it, as proven by the fact that Naga is very much alive!"
"I- I guess so." Amelia and Phil’s anger dissolved as the realization that they were back to square one once again sank in.
"We have several scholars and researchers scouring the libraries for anything even hinting at an artifact like the Xenasphyr, as well as a few sources of my own," said Zel. "Unfortunately, the room the object was originally found in is apparently as old as Seyruun itself, maybe even older, so finding any relevant information is unlikely at best."
"So that leaves you with me?" I asked, starting to catch on.
"Yes, we will follow you into the Vale of Shadows as we originally planned, but also with our own goal in mind."
"That’s why we need to bring Gracia," Amelia said. "If we find a way to destroy the Xenasphyr, we need to know what affects it’ll have on my sister, immediately. And, as I am the most powerful priestess in Seyruun (she couldn’t help but sound a little proud), it would only make sense for her to come with us in case something happens."
"So, basically, you are waiting for me to regain enough strength to use my Nightmare magic on the object."
"I suppose that’s one way of putting it."
"Would anyone like some cake?" Naga asked, brandishing a cake knife.