Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter 17 ( Chapter 18 )
[ 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: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 239 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 239 | Status: Work In Progress
Slayers: Knightfall
Chapter Seventeen
Walking down a secret hall of Seyruun’s Royal Palace, it felt to me as if the world were squeezing in from all sides, turning me into a mere pretzel stick of emotional agony, only twice as salty. The city was, quite literally, surrounded by enemies, under siege by a monstrous host. And in the middle of the city was the palace, which we were literally in the middle of. But it wasn’t just the immediate danger that fueled my constant state of paranoia; there were very real, very many and very dangerous threats swirling in on my existence.
I wonder which will come first: me getting killed or me going crazy?
My family slaughtered, and the kingdom that authorized it still after my head … Mil and his holier-than-thou menagerie betraying me … a host of demons equipped with Zanassfar armor, yet again hell-bent on destroying me.
I’d give every organ I can spare just to be left alone for the rest of my days.
That’s right, kids. For the first time ever, I feel completely defeated. It has all been just too much. Never in my lifetime have I seriously thought I’d be such a high-profile target for so many beings with a little too much killing power for my liking. Long ago I met a sorcerer with a taste for replication. I wonder if I could find him and have him make a dozen or so clones of myself so I can have them sent off to every single person who wants to kill me.
If I do indeed get to the Vale of Shadows in one piece and gain the Shard of Lucidia, maybe I’ll just stand a chance against all of this insanity. But first we need to get out of here … and there is such a long way away. There’s a chance we’ll be ambushed along the way and that’ll be that.
Snap out of it, Lina! You aren’t dead yet!
Every now and then, my logical voice bitch slapped my emotional voice to keep me level headed. But still, all the stress and hurt I’ve kept bottled up inside are making me see the world as a colorless blah. It was as if all the beauty of the world were being drained away along with everything in my head.
"Hurry, everybody! This way!" Amelia commanded, leading us (Gourry, Zelgadis, Naga and myself) down a never-ending spiral stair case toward some secret escape tunnels that led far outside the city. King Phil had declined to escort us himself as he had other, more pressing, matters to attend to, like, I dunno, the siege, I guess. Though I could just imagine how much good a pacifist would do in such dire straits. Even a pacifist like Phil, who tends to punch people even while he advocates love and peace.
"How far is this staircase?" Gourry asked, sounding annoyed, though he didn’t seem the least bit winded. He also didn’t seem too bored, as if the cracks in the stonework were absorbing all of his attention.
Hello? I need comforting here!
"I don’t know," replied Amelia. "I’ve never actually gone all the way down them before. I only know the way because I studied the castle schematics before we left and I brought a copy just in case we do get lost. I think I remember being told that the tunnels up ahead have been used only once or twice in the entire history of my family. Something about them running away from a heretical uprising or something.
"In any case, it shouldn’t matter how long we stay down here because the enemy doesn’t know about it. In fact, nobody knows about it except the Seyruun royal family and now you."
"So basically, the idea is to take the long way out and hope that I recover enough strength by the time we do finally leave the tunnels," I concluded. Not only was this the safest way to leave the city, it had the added benefit of allowing me and Gourry to rest as much as possible as we still weren’t quite at tip top shape.
"Bananas are a cowardly bunch," Naga grimly quipped, confusing us all.
Her puns are funnier when she’s "crazy." Odd.
She’s been doing quite a bit of that as of late, her mind in disarray (not that it had ever been in array) ever since its connection with the Xenasphyr artifact had been severed. I had a sinking feeling that in this state, Naga would do something stupid that would doom us all.
Which reminds me: the other side benefit of me "resting" in these tunnels is that I should soon be strong enough to use Nightmare magic again and destroy the Xenasphyr for Amelia, thus freeing Naga of its semi-evil grasp.
I wonder if there is anyone else in the world for whom I can do a favor? Maybe I’ll ask after the next century or two.
Down and down the stairs we went, and then, just for the hell of it, we went down some more! It was like a roller coaster except it only went down. and instead of having fun and getting sick we just got sick. I lost count of how many stairs we descended after around 1,013. I figure we were somewhere in the 100,000 range. Seriously, where in the world does one get this much marble and granite to build something this size and still manage to keep it a secret?
"Is anyone else getting dizzy?" I asked, feeling more than a tad nauseous.
"I think we are almost there," Amelia said.
Indeed, soon enough, an arched doorway marked the end of the Ridiculous Stairway of Depressing Endlessness and Vomit, and the beginning of another part of the long path to freedom. The door looked quite well maintained for something that nobody was supposed to know about; there was hardly a speck of dust or rust to be seen. The stonework frame was adorned with runes I didn’t recognize, but I could tell by the pattern that they were warding spells to keep bad things out. The door itself was of the double variety made of ancient- looking mahogany with iron jambs made to look like lions on either side.
Zel and Gourry each pulled an iron door ring and a stale breeze floated out mustily, making me that much more sick. After lobbing a few lighting spells, we peered inside. All we could see was an endless stone tunnel that could’ve led to nowhere for all we knew. I probably would’ve welcomed it if it meant I didn’t have to deal with anymore world explosion scenarios.
Zel and Amelia went in first and I followed … but it felt as if I were trudging through thick goopy mud as I crossed through the portal. I had to strain even to move my legs. I eventually got through with a little help from Gourry’s muscle.
Ah,, yes. The wards.
"I don’t think your door likes me," I said to lighten the dreary mood we were all stuck in.
"I heard that the door isn’t capable of recognizing the good in a person, just evil” — and with that, Amelia shut up. "Sorry, Ms. Lina!"
So I’m a little evil. Deal with it.
"It’s OK, I know I’m no saint. But tell me how Zel managed to get through without missing a beat? He isn’t exactly a choir boy either."
"I just masked my presence so it couldn’t detect me,” Zel explained. “I’ve run into doors like that before while exploring ancient ruins and temples, so I figured it would work here too."
"It does bother me a bit that the door can be defeated so easily," Amelia said.
"But that won’t matter as long as it stays a secret, right?" Zel tried to comfort her.
"But still-!" Amelia was cut off by the sound of evil laughter, the low mocking kind that screamed "I’m gonna get you!" to anything that might become its prey.
"Secrets are meant to be found out my dear little princess," said the owner of the creepy laugh, who sounded, in fact, female. A brawny-sounding female. Along with the voice came a dark, all-too-familiar presence.
A demon.
"Show yourself!" Amelia angrily commanded.
And then what, exactly? We don’t really need to pick a fight in this narrow landing!
The rest of us drew weapons, prepared spells, or both. Naga tried to worm-crawl up a wall with a middling degree of success. I was a little slower than the rest. I felt the weight of fatigue slamming onto my shoulders like an overstuffed backpack.
"In due time, your highness," the voice replied. "Up the tunnel ahead is another door. Through that you will find a large cavern. We will meet there. You would do well to be prepared." And with that the demon’s presence vanished, leaving us a little confused and more than a little wary.
Why would the demon give up the chance to take us down all together while we were all bunched up like this? Why bother alerting us to her presence at all?
"Well, better move on unless we’d rather be left in suspense," spat Zel, not amused at all by our new situation.
"I get the feeling she’s gonna wait for us," I put in.
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked. "The miasma was ridiculously wretched! It reminded me of Rashatt."
It might be something just as bad.
I remember that not too long after I defeated Phibrizzo, Gourry and I had a few run-ins with Dynast’s general, Sherra. She was all into noble (for a demon) sword play, glory in (more or less) fair battle and the like. I have a feeling that this one is going to be very much like her."
"Great, a demon lord’s general," muttered Zel.
"That might make things easier on us. I mean that she’ll fight fairly," Gourry said.
"Remember, though, that it took the Ragna Blade to take Sherra down. I haven’t recovered enough to pull off something like that, especially since I shot off a Dragon Slave not more than a day ago." I was still recovering from the fight with the Cu Sith. I doubted I could pull off something like a Ragna Blast at that point.
"So who is it then?" Amelia was pacing in circles, not happy at all that a demon had found us in a hidden tunnel that led straight into the palace. "It could only be Dolphin’s general!" she asserted after a moment.
"That’s what I’m thinking," Amelia said, compressing her lips at my confirmation of her guess and taking a few steadying breaths. I remembered King Bob saying that it was Deep Sea Dolphin who turned him into a half demon and told him to put a bounty on me and my family. Dolphin obviously wanted me out of the way, much as Gaav had wanted a couple years ago. But the question, as always, was why?
Or, more accurately, "Why always me?"
I looked over at Gourry.
"Well?"
"Well what?" He looked startled at my query.
"Aren’t you gonna ask who Dolphin is?"
"Well, it’s something that we have to trash at some point in the future, right? Why do I need to know the details?" he said, while scratching his neck.
"You did meet her in person not too long ago," I pressed, trying to jog his memory.
"When?"
"Just before we fought Shabranigdo for the umpteenth time!"
He thought about that revelation for a long minute, then smacked a hand into his palm in recognition.
"You mean one of those two chicks we found in the woods!" He frowned. "Which one was she? The blonde or the black-haired one? Does it even matter?"
At least he got that much. For him, it was very impressive.
"I suppose not, but you’re always the one asking me about this and that, so I figured you’d want to know what we’re up against."
"A demon, right? So what’s new?"
"Fair enough. But just for everyone’s sake, but mostly yours, Deep Sea is one of the Five Retainers of Shabranigdo, an extremely powerful demon lord with power on the scale of ludicrous times ten. We’ve never defeated a demon lord under our own power before." I looked at Amelia and Zel. "Gourry and I defeated Dynast only because he made a mistake in revealing the Blast Blade and through sheer luck. So if Dolphin is pulling the strings behind all these little diversions we keep running into lately, we are soon going to be feeding worms and growing flowers. . .six feet under!
"Dolphin’s general is going to be crazy tough to beat as well. Think Raltaak and Rashatt level power." I defeated Raltaak with Xellos’ help, and Rashatt I took down on my own simply because he was under orders not to actually harm me.
"So it’s going to be interesting, then?" Gourry scratched his canary-colored head.
"Very interesting." It’s a stupid power demon! How interesting does it need to be for him to take this seriously!?
"Why not just say that to begin with and skip all that other junk?"
"The whole point was to instill proper respect when you face something like a demonic general!" It’s moronic to go rushing headlong into a fight without knowing a thing about your enemy! A little something called battlefield intelligence is very popular among most warriors, except Gourry, apparently.
"Hey, relax," Gourry tussled my hair. "We’ve come through every time so far, right? What’s the point in getting ourselves all worked up now?"
"I -" I couldn’t finish. I afraid to lose any of more of you. Instead all I could make was a strangled choking noise. The fatigue I was feeling suddenly became a huge burden. My shoulders sagged and my head drooped a bit.
Losing Millenia and Luke proved that my luck is running out. The question is not "if" but "when" and "who."
"Look, we’ll be all right. I know you’re worried about everyone but worrying isn’t going to gain us anything." Gourry finished by kissing me on the forehead. I tried to smile but found I could barely grin.
"Gourry is right, Lina." Amelia put in. "As much as my blood boils at the thought of a foul demon finding the secret way in and out of Seyruun, it won’t do any good getting yourself worked up to the point where you can’t even think straight." She looked straight in my eyes. "I used to do exactly that until I met some one who could keep her cool under fire."
"Oh, I’m cool all right," I said. "Still not a hundred percent though." I didn’t mention that I was on the verge of becoming violently ill at the thought of yet another fight I didn’t want any part of.
"I’ll be there Lina, you don’t need to worry," Gourry said, picking up on my veiled distress. If only he knew that the idea of all them going into battle was one reason why I wanted to just disappear. I couldn’t let them fight alone, but I didn’t have any will to fight. If I didn’t fight with all my heart, someone dear to me might die. But if I did fight, while I might prevent their deaths, I could just as easily die. If I die, there goes my entire reason for fighting in the first place: Never to be born, never to exist. But if I don’t fight and put an end to whatever scheme Dolphin is up to, and I and everyone else lives, then what kind of world would my future be born unto?
These thoughts swirled around in my noggin as we marched our way up the tunnels. Every step, every thought plunged my heart into deeper and darker waters. I felt as if I were becoming numb to the universe. Instead of seeing the world in black and gold, I saw its polar opposite: the world in shades of gray and dull steel.
We reached the heavy-looking door, and again, Gourry and Zel opened it, revealing a large cavern. A few candelabra provided just enough light to. . .sigh. . .fight by. In the middle of the room the demon sat cross-legged. Her enormous broadsword with a jawbone hilt lay in front of her. She had black hair, cropped just above her shoulders, with two longer strands drooping in front of her face. Her left eye was shut by a wicked scar that ran down from her forehead nearly to her jaw line. She wore a small amount of plate mail and the little we could see beneath it proved my guess that she was, indeed, brawny.
So this is Riksfalto. Deepsea Dolphin’s general.
"So glad of you fellows to finally come!" She greeted us jovially, which threw us all for a loop. She seemed very glad to see us, like an old friend who threw a party and only five people showed up.
"Glad we could make it," Zel said. "What is your purpose, demon, for luring us here? You could’ve easily caught us off guard and finished us on the stairway."
"Luring you? You were coming this way anyway, were you not? I just wanted to make sure you had time to prepare for what is to come." Her gleeful grin grew even wider. "It would be boring if I just went and bumped you off without giving you a chance to entertain me!"
"Entertain you!?" cried Amelia. "We’ll just see how entertaining my righteous flames are when you get burned for defiling the Holy City of Seyruun by your unprovoked attack!"
"Unprovoked, perhaps," said Riksfalto, hefting her blade. "But we demons can’t stand the sight of even one of you pretentious little Ciephied worshipers, let alone an entire city of them. In a way, I was glad that our initial attack failed and a siege was enacted in the wake of its defeat."
"Why’s that?!" Amelia huffed, her "Amelia Feelings" stoking her Justice Fires to the point where gouts of steam and smoke started vomiting from every orifice.
OK, that was a gross dramatization, but the girl really was incensed.
"Because," the HGH-addicted demon explained, "sieges are much more conducive to the kind of environment in which we demons thrive. First fear sets in, then hunger as food stocks run dry, then disease. Soon it’s dog eat dog and before you know it, the city has defeated itself and has even provided us a lovely banquet of pain and despair. What makes this particular city even better is that all those pious little fools will be crying for Ciephied to save them. What utter abandonment they will feel when they realize that he is powerless to help them!"
Amelia was quiet for a moment, her fists clenched at her sides, the inside of her mouth working, before she finally broke her silence.
"I will not give in to your taunting words," she said softly with a self-deprecating smile. "The old me would’ve ranted and raved until we’d all gotten sick, or I would’ve been attacked in the middle of it. So I know you’ll not be swayed by any thing I might say. I’ll save my breath for a RA TILT!" Amelia surprised us all with her sneaky way to start the battle. Riksfalto clenched her teeth, obviously in pain as the blue flames of Amelia’s spell enveloped her.
Woohoo. Fight.
While the demon was still trying to recover from the Ra Tilt, Gourry charged, sword held high for a chopping blow. He swung down but caught only air as the general slipped into the Astral Plane with barely a hair to spare.
Zelgadis was chanting something as he held his Astral Vine enchanted broadsword at the ready, waiting for Riksfalto to reappear. Amelia was guarding his rear, her fist infused with magical energy.
Naga! Naga was dancing in place, shooting off little balls of light with the biggest shit-eating grin I had ever seen on anyone. Needless to say it was quite odd. It almost made me smile.
Me? I was just trying to stay out of the way, ready to leap in at a second’s notice if anyone looked like he was having trouble. Why not let everyone else kill the demon for a change? I wasn’t abandoning them, not in the least! I was just. . .too tired to do much else.
But did Riksfalto care? Nope, apparently not a bit, as she popped out if thin air right in front of my face.
Hi.
I couldn’t even find the will to flinch.
Out of sheer muscle memory, my body flung itself out of the way of her swinging sword, which would’ve divided me quite neatly into two pieces.
I hit the ground rolling, but instead of coming out of my acrobatics running, I lay flat on the floor.
Two shockwaves shot harmlessly right over my prone form, seriously messing up some stalactites when they hit.
"Not bad, Inverse," Riksfalto complimented me. I would’ve thanked her if that bit had been voluntary.
Zel took the initiative and launched an Elemekia Flame, but the demon somehow saw it coming and batted it away with her blade.
What she didn’t see coming was another Ra Tilt, courtesy of Amelia, and again the magical blue flames engulfed the demon.
Screaming in agony, Riksfalto finally shattered the flames. Fury was fast replacing the look of amusement in her single eye.
"So you guys really aren’t half bad," she said, in another compliment. "Now I’m beginning to see why everyone else has had so much trouble with you. But my real objective is Lina Inverse. If you wish, I’ll play with all of you later once I’ve taken care of her."
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before. . .how many times? A hundred? Thousand? Million? It’s gotten so old. . .
"You can’t believe we’d let you do that?" Gourry said, positioning himself between the demon and me. I’d started to feel a little guilty not really doing anything, so I’d gotten back on my feet and worked myself up enough to chant a spell.
"What’s the matter, are we too much for you all at once?" Zel taunted.
"This isn’t exactly fair, five against one. Whatever happened to honor on the battle field?" The general shrugged. "Fine then, I’ll fight you seriously from this point ONWARD!"
Taking a line from the Book of Amelia, the demon surprised Zel with a powerful shockwave which he caught in full. It knocked him against the cavern wall with a terrible sounding crunch, and probably into next week as well.
When he didn’t immediately move, I was suddenly overcome by an icy sensation.
"Zelgadis!" Amelia cried, rushing to her fallen lover, and amazingly enough, Zel forced himself back up to a fighting stance on wobbly legs.
"I’m fine," Zel said, as coolly as he could manage. "It looks like we all are going to have to take this a little more seriously." His hated stone skin had saved him, but he was still obviously hurting badly.
"Come one, come all! I don’t care how you attack me! I’ll not fall for any of your tricks again, nor will I debase myself and try to trick you in return! I want this fight to be as worthy as any I’d fought over a thousand years ago!"
With that, Riksfalto’s attack came in full. A charging Gourry was flung across the cave by the demon’s sword. His sword was the only thing that saved him from instant death.
I felt a spark of rage but depression smothered it.
I could fight if I could just let rage consume me!
Zel flung a few Elemekia Lances, distracting Riksfalto long enough for Amelia to cast yet another Ra Tilt, which the demon easily evaded by slipping into the Astral Plane.
She reappeared a second later behind Amelia, but Amelia was prepared, ducking the instant she sensed the demon’s presence. On her way down she launched a point-blank Elemekia Lance!
Riksfalto, with no time to react, caught the magical energy full in the gut!
A jolt of excitement perked me up a little. The demon could still be outfought!
"Rrrgh!" While the spell didn’t do any real damage, it probably felt like being sucker-punched in the solar plexus. While Riksfalto was bowled over by pain, Amelia slipped between the demon’s legs and jumped back up behind her.
"Elemekia Flame!" But the princess’s spell hit nothing but air, and Riksfalto was once again nowhere to be seen.
I really didn’t need this now, as if you couldn’t tell already by my indifference to this fight. We’d either drive her off or destroy her, or she’d destroy us. Only one of those outcomes would grant me any amount of peace.
A dark cloud of gloom settled on my shoulders.
Gourry, now recovered from his daze, rushed back into the fray, executing a chopping blow where he’d somehow sensed that Riksfalto would reappear. Riksfalto blocked the attack and counterattacked with a vicious blow. Gourry, put on the defensive, staggered back a step or two with every strike he blocked. I didn’t know what to do. If only I’d thought to cast a spell or two onto Gourry’s Blast sword, to make it sharp enough to chop that demon into minced meat! Now he was being beaten back to a wall and I couldn’t do anything more than feel sorry for myself!
"Double Ra Tilt!" Zel and Amelia’s combined spell seemed to destroy the demon, but we all knew better. We saw the silhouette within the white flames crumble into nothing, but what had really happened was that Riksfalto had left a small part of her Astral Body within the flames while she fled to the Astral Plane. Much like a lizard will lose its tale if in danger.
"Lina!" Gourry cried, and I knew I was in trouble by his desperate cry… but only a small amount of fear wormed its way into my heart. I couldn’t make myself move with the speed necessary to evade whatever was coming my way. I felt the breeze of a weapon fast bearing down on me, but before the inevitable happened, a loud clang right above my head assaulted my eardrums.
"Great timing, Xellos!" Gourry exclaimed, thanking my, uh, "hero" of the moment.
"Oh, great," Riksfalto griped. "You again. . .!" She withdrew her blocked blade and teleported to the center of the cavern. "You’d think one of these days I’d be able to do something I’d like without you interfering!" The demon shot a glare right at me. "From what I’ve seen here today, Inverse, you aren’t in any mood or condition to fight, though it did provide a pretty tasty meal. You’re off the hook this time! Until later!" With that chirpy farewell, the demon vanished again … at least for now.
Amelia immediately began treating Zel’s wounds. Gourry looked at me like I was kinda sick or something before he wrapped me in a hug. I smiled despite myself and squeezed back as tight as I could, but my arms felt like lead.
"I’m beyond glad you’re all right," Gourry said softly into my ear. "When we’re alone we’ll talk about what’s eating you."
As if talking will solve any of my problems. . .
I made a noncommital noise and almost sagged completely into Gourry’s arms, but we didn’t have time for that.
"I suppose I should thank you." I released our embrace and turned around to greet the savior I hadn’t asked for.
"That is what people generally do after somebody saves their life, yes," Xellos quipped. "But," he said, eyeing me in a rather creepy fashion, "the never-ending buffet of despair you’ve generously provided will be more than thanks enough!"
"Grumpy to oblige," I retorted.
This trip just gets better and better.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes.
This is the replacement for chapter 17, the old 17 will now be chapter 18. As you could probably guess, I’m doing some MAJOR revisions to this story. The reasons are many. One, the story was becoming less focused and dull to me. Two, I have a better grasp of the Slayers’ universe than I did two years ago when I started this fic. And three, I want to make this the best fic I can possibly make it.
If it takes five years to finish it then so be it.
Over the next few months you’ll see chapters heavily revised if not flat-out deleted. But I honestly think it’ll be for the better.
Til next time!
Chapter Seventeen
Walking down a secret hall of Seyruun’s Royal Palace, it felt to me as if the world were squeezing in from all sides, turning me into a mere pretzel stick of emotional agony, only twice as salty. The city was, quite literally, surrounded by enemies, under siege by a monstrous host. And in the middle of the city was the palace, which we were literally in the middle of. But it wasn’t just the immediate danger that fueled my constant state of paranoia; there were very real, very many and very dangerous threats swirling in on my existence.
I wonder which will come first: me getting killed or me going crazy?
My family slaughtered, and the kingdom that authorized it still after my head … Mil and his holier-than-thou menagerie betraying me … a host of demons equipped with Zanassfar armor, yet again hell-bent on destroying me.
I’d give every organ I can spare just to be left alone for the rest of my days.
That’s right, kids. For the first time ever, I feel completely defeated. It has all been just too much. Never in my lifetime have I seriously thought I’d be such a high-profile target for so many beings with a little too much killing power for my liking. Long ago I met a sorcerer with a taste for replication. I wonder if I could find him and have him make a dozen or so clones of myself so I can have them sent off to every single person who wants to kill me.
If I do indeed get to the Vale of Shadows in one piece and gain the Shard of Lucidia, maybe I’ll just stand a chance against all of this insanity. But first we need to get out of here … and there is such a long way away. There’s a chance we’ll be ambushed along the way and that’ll be that.
Snap out of it, Lina! You aren’t dead yet!
Every now and then, my logical voice bitch slapped my emotional voice to keep me level headed. But still, all the stress and hurt I’ve kept bottled up inside are making me see the world as a colorless blah. It was as if all the beauty of the world were being drained away along with everything in my head.
"Hurry, everybody! This way!" Amelia commanded, leading us (Gourry, Zelgadis, Naga and myself) down a never-ending spiral stair case toward some secret escape tunnels that led far outside the city. King Phil had declined to escort us himself as he had other, more pressing, matters to attend to, like, I dunno, the siege, I guess. Though I could just imagine how much good a pacifist would do in such dire straits. Even a pacifist like Phil, who tends to punch people even while he advocates love and peace.
"How far is this staircase?" Gourry asked, sounding annoyed, though he didn’t seem the least bit winded. He also didn’t seem too bored, as if the cracks in the stonework were absorbing all of his attention.
Hello? I need comforting here!
"I don’t know," replied Amelia. "I’ve never actually gone all the way down them before. I only know the way because I studied the castle schematics before we left and I brought a copy just in case we do get lost. I think I remember being told that the tunnels up ahead have been used only once or twice in the entire history of my family. Something about them running away from a heretical uprising or something.
"In any case, it shouldn’t matter how long we stay down here because the enemy doesn’t know about it. In fact, nobody knows about it except the Seyruun royal family and now you."
"So basically, the idea is to take the long way out and hope that I recover enough strength by the time we do finally leave the tunnels," I concluded. Not only was this the safest way to leave the city, it had the added benefit of allowing me and Gourry to rest as much as possible as we still weren’t quite at tip top shape.
"Bananas are a cowardly bunch," Naga grimly quipped, confusing us all.
Her puns are funnier when she’s "crazy." Odd.
She’s been doing quite a bit of that as of late, her mind in disarray (not that it had ever been in array) ever since its connection with the Xenasphyr artifact had been severed. I had a sinking feeling that in this state, Naga would do something stupid that would doom us all.
Which reminds me: the other side benefit of me "resting" in these tunnels is that I should soon be strong enough to use Nightmare magic again and destroy the Xenasphyr for Amelia, thus freeing Naga of its semi-evil grasp.
I wonder if there is anyone else in the world for whom I can do a favor? Maybe I’ll ask after the next century or two.
Down and down the stairs we went, and then, just for the hell of it, we went down some more! It was like a roller coaster except it only went down. and instead of having fun and getting sick we just got sick. I lost count of how many stairs we descended after around 1,013. I figure we were somewhere in the 100,000 range. Seriously, where in the world does one get this much marble and granite to build something this size and still manage to keep it a secret?
"Is anyone else getting dizzy?" I asked, feeling more than a tad nauseous.
"I think we are almost there," Amelia said.
Indeed, soon enough, an arched doorway marked the end of the Ridiculous Stairway of Depressing Endlessness and Vomit, and the beginning of another part of the long path to freedom. The door looked quite well maintained for something that nobody was supposed to know about; there was hardly a speck of dust or rust to be seen. The stonework frame was adorned with runes I didn’t recognize, but I could tell by the pattern that they were warding spells to keep bad things out. The door itself was of the double variety made of ancient- looking mahogany with iron jambs made to look like lions on either side.
Zel and Gourry each pulled an iron door ring and a stale breeze floated out mustily, making me that much more sick. After lobbing a few lighting spells, we peered inside. All we could see was an endless stone tunnel that could’ve led to nowhere for all we knew. I probably would’ve welcomed it if it meant I didn’t have to deal with anymore world explosion scenarios.
Zel and Amelia went in first and I followed … but it felt as if I were trudging through thick goopy mud as I crossed through the portal. I had to strain even to move my legs. I eventually got through with a little help from Gourry’s muscle.
Ah,, yes. The wards.
"I don’t think your door likes me," I said to lighten the dreary mood we were all stuck in.
"I heard that the door isn’t capable of recognizing the good in a person, just evil” — and with that, Amelia shut up. "Sorry, Ms. Lina!"
So I’m a little evil. Deal with it.
"It’s OK, I know I’m no saint. But tell me how Zel managed to get through without missing a beat? He isn’t exactly a choir boy either."
"I just masked my presence so it couldn’t detect me,” Zel explained. “I’ve run into doors like that before while exploring ancient ruins and temples, so I figured it would work here too."
"It does bother me a bit that the door can be defeated so easily," Amelia said.
"But that won’t matter as long as it stays a secret, right?" Zel tried to comfort her.
"But still-!" Amelia was cut off by the sound of evil laughter, the low mocking kind that screamed "I’m gonna get you!" to anything that might become its prey.
"Secrets are meant to be found out my dear little princess," said the owner of the creepy laugh, who sounded, in fact, female. A brawny-sounding female. Along with the voice came a dark, all-too-familiar presence.
A demon.
"Show yourself!" Amelia angrily commanded.
And then what, exactly? We don’t really need to pick a fight in this narrow landing!
The rest of us drew weapons, prepared spells, or both. Naga tried to worm-crawl up a wall with a middling degree of success. I was a little slower than the rest. I felt the weight of fatigue slamming onto my shoulders like an overstuffed backpack.
"In due time, your highness," the voice replied. "Up the tunnel ahead is another door. Through that you will find a large cavern. We will meet there. You would do well to be prepared." And with that the demon’s presence vanished, leaving us a little confused and more than a little wary.
Why would the demon give up the chance to take us down all together while we were all bunched up like this? Why bother alerting us to her presence at all?
"Well, better move on unless we’d rather be left in suspense," spat Zel, not amused at all by our new situation.
"I get the feeling she’s gonna wait for us," I put in.
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked. "The miasma was ridiculously wretched! It reminded me of Rashatt."
It might be something just as bad.
I remember that not too long after I defeated Phibrizzo, Gourry and I had a few run-ins with Dynast’s general, Sherra. She was all into noble (for a demon) sword play, glory in (more or less) fair battle and the like. I have a feeling that this one is going to be very much like her."
"Great, a demon lord’s general," muttered Zel.
"That might make things easier on us. I mean that she’ll fight fairly," Gourry said.
"Remember, though, that it took the Ragna Blade to take Sherra down. I haven’t recovered enough to pull off something like that, especially since I shot off a Dragon Slave not more than a day ago." I was still recovering from the fight with the Cu Sith. I doubted I could pull off something like a Ragna Blast at that point.
"So who is it then?" Amelia was pacing in circles, not happy at all that a demon had found us in a hidden tunnel that led straight into the palace. "It could only be Dolphin’s general!" she asserted after a moment.
"That’s what I’m thinking," Amelia said, compressing her lips at my confirmation of her guess and taking a few steadying breaths. I remembered King Bob saying that it was Deep Sea Dolphin who turned him into a half demon and told him to put a bounty on me and my family. Dolphin obviously wanted me out of the way, much as Gaav had wanted a couple years ago. But the question, as always, was why?
Or, more accurately, "Why always me?"
I looked over at Gourry.
"Well?"
"Well what?" He looked startled at my query.
"Aren’t you gonna ask who Dolphin is?"
"Well, it’s something that we have to trash at some point in the future, right? Why do I need to know the details?" he said, while scratching his neck.
"You did meet her in person not too long ago," I pressed, trying to jog his memory.
"When?"
"Just before we fought Shabranigdo for the umpteenth time!"
He thought about that revelation for a long minute, then smacked a hand into his palm in recognition.
"You mean one of those two chicks we found in the woods!" He frowned. "Which one was she? The blonde or the black-haired one? Does it even matter?"
At least he got that much. For him, it was very impressive.
"I suppose not, but you’re always the one asking me about this and that, so I figured you’d want to know what we’re up against."
"A demon, right? So what’s new?"
"Fair enough. But just for everyone’s sake, but mostly yours, Deep Sea is one of the Five Retainers of Shabranigdo, an extremely powerful demon lord with power on the scale of ludicrous times ten. We’ve never defeated a demon lord under our own power before." I looked at Amelia and Zel. "Gourry and I defeated Dynast only because he made a mistake in revealing the Blast Blade and through sheer luck. So if Dolphin is pulling the strings behind all these little diversions we keep running into lately, we are soon going to be feeding worms and growing flowers. . .six feet under!
"Dolphin’s general is going to be crazy tough to beat as well. Think Raltaak and Rashatt level power." I defeated Raltaak with Xellos’ help, and Rashatt I took down on my own simply because he was under orders not to actually harm me.
"So it’s going to be interesting, then?" Gourry scratched his canary-colored head.
"Very interesting." It’s a stupid power demon! How interesting does it need to be for him to take this seriously!?
"Why not just say that to begin with and skip all that other junk?"
"The whole point was to instill proper respect when you face something like a demonic general!" It’s moronic to go rushing headlong into a fight without knowing a thing about your enemy! A little something called battlefield intelligence is very popular among most warriors, except Gourry, apparently.
"Hey, relax," Gourry tussled my hair. "We’ve come through every time so far, right? What’s the point in getting ourselves all worked up now?"
"I -" I couldn’t finish. I afraid to lose any of more of you. Instead all I could make was a strangled choking noise. The fatigue I was feeling suddenly became a huge burden. My shoulders sagged and my head drooped a bit.
Losing Millenia and Luke proved that my luck is running out. The question is not "if" but "when" and "who."
"Look, we’ll be all right. I know you’re worried about everyone but worrying isn’t going to gain us anything." Gourry finished by kissing me on the forehead. I tried to smile but found I could barely grin.
"Gourry is right, Lina." Amelia put in. "As much as my blood boils at the thought of a foul demon finding the secret way in and out of Seyruun, it won’t do any good getting yourself worked up to the point where you can’t even think straight." She looked straight in my eyes. "I used to do exactly that until I met some one who could keep her cool under fire."
"Oh, I’m cool all right," I said. "Still not a hundred percent though." I didn’t mention that I was on the verge of becoming violently ill at the thought of yet another fight I didn’t want any part of.
"I’ll be there Lina, you don’t need to worry," Gourry said, picking up on my veiled distress. If only he knew that the idea of all them going into battle was one reason why I wanted to just disappear. I couldn’t let them fight alone, but I didn’t have any will to fight. If I didn’t fight with all my heart, someone dear to me might die. But if I did fight, while I might prevent their deaths, I could just as easily die. If I die, there goes my entire reason for fighting in the first place: Never to be born, never to exist. But if I don’t fight and put an end to whatever scheme Dolphin is up to, and I and everyone else lives, then what kind of world would my future be born unto?
These thoughts swirled around in my noggin as we marched our way up the tunnels. Every step, every thought plunged my heart into deeper and darker waters. I felt as if I were becoming numb to the universe. Instead of seeing the world in black and gold, I saw its polar opposite: the world in shades of gray and dull steel.
We reached the heavy-looking door, and again, Gourry and Zel opened it, revealing a large cavern. A few candelabra provided just enough light to. . .sigh. . .fight by. In the middle of the room the demon sat cross-legged. Her enormous broadsword with a jawbone hilt lay in front of her. She had black hair, cropped just above her shoulders, with two longer strands drooping in front of her face. Her left eye was shut by a wicked scar that ran down from her forehead nearly to her jaw line. She wore a small amount of plate mail and the little we could see beneath it proved my guess that she was, indeed, brawny.
So this is Riksfalto. Deepsea Dolphin’s general.
"So glad of you fellows to finally come!" She greeted us jovially, which threw us all for a loop. She seemed very glad to see us, like an old friend who threw a party and only five people showed up.
"Glad we could make it," Zel said. "What is your purpose, demon, for luring us here? You could’ve easily caught us off guard and finished us on the stairway."
"Luring you? You were coming this way anyway, were you not? I just wanted to make sure you had time to prepare for what is to come." Her gleeful grin grew even wider. "It would be boring if I just went and bumped you off without giving you a chance to entertain me!"
"Entertain you!?" cried Amelia. "We’ll just see how entertaining my righteous flames are when you get burned for defiling the Holy City of Seyruun by your unprovoked attack!"
"Unprovoked, perhaps," said Riksfalto, hefting her blade. "But we demons can’t stand the sight of even one of you pretentious little Ciephied worshipers, let alone an entire city of them. In a way, I was glad that our initial attack failed and a siege was enacted in the wake of its defeat."
"Why’s that?!" Amelia huffed, her "Amelia Feelings" stoking her Justice Fires to the point where gouts of steam and smoke started vomiting from every orifice.
OK, that was a gross dramatization, but the girl really was incensed.
"Because," the HGH-addicted demon explained, "sieges are much more conducive to the kind of environment in which we demons thrive. First fear sets in, then hunger as food stocks run dry, then disease. Soon it’s dog eat dog and before you know it, the city has defeated itself and has even provided us a lovely banquet of pain and despair. What makes this particular city even better is that all those pious little fools will be crying for Ciephied to save them. What utter abandonment they will feel when they realize that he is powerless to help them!"
Amelia was quiet for a moment, her fists clenched at her sides, the inside of her mouth working, before she finally broke her silence.
"I will not give in to your taunting words," she said softly with a self-deprecating smile. "The old me would’ve ranted and raved until we’d all gotten sick, or I would’ve been attacked in the middle of it. So I know you’ll not be swayed by any thing I might say. I’ll save my breath for a RA TILT!" Amelia surprised us all with her sneaky way to start the battle. Riksfalto clenched her teeth, obviously in pain as the blue flames of Amelia’s spell enveloped her.
Woohoo. Fight.
While the demon was still trying to recover from the Ra Tilt, Gourry charged, sword held high for a chopping blow. He swung down but caught only air as the general slipped into the Astral Plane with barely a hair to spare.
Zelgadis was chanting something as he held his Astral Vine enchanted broadsword at the ready, waiting for Riksfalto to reappear. Amelia was guarding his rear, her fist infused with magical energy.
Naga! Naga was dancing in place, shooting off little balls of light with the biggest shit-eating grin I had ever seen on anyone. Needless to say it was quite odd. It almost made me smile.
Me? I was just trying to stay out of the way, ready to leap in at a second’s notice if anyone looked like he was having trouble. Why not let everyone else kill the demon for a change? I wasn’t abandoning them, not in the least! I was just. . .too tired to do much else.
But did Riksfalto care? Nope, apparently not a bit, as she popped out if thin air right in front of my face.
Hi.
I couldn’t even find the will to flinch.
Out of sheer muscle memory, my body flung itself out of the way of her swinging sword, which would’ve divided me quite neatly into two pieces.
I hit the ground rolling, but instead of coming out of my acrobatics running, I lay flat on the floor.
Two shockwaves shot harmlessly right over my prone form, seriously messing up some stalactites when they hit.
"Not bad, Inverse," Riksfalto complimented me. I would’ve thanked her if that bit had been voluntary.
Zel took the initiative and launched an Elemekia Flame, but the demon somehow saw it coming and batted it away with her blade.
What she didn’t see coming was another Ra Tilt, courtesy of Amelia, and again the magical blue flames engulfed the demon.
Screaming in agony, Riksfalto finally shattered the flames. Fury was fast replacing the look of amusement in her single eye.
"So you guys really aren’t half bad," she said, in another compliment. "Now I’m beginning to see why everyone else has had so much trouble with you. But my real objective is Lina Inverse. If you wish, I’ll play with all of you later once I’ve taken care of her."
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before. . .how many times? A hundred? Thousand? Million? It’s gotten so old. . .
"You can’t believe we’d let you do that?" Gourry said, positioning himself between the demon and me. I’d started to feel a little guilty not really doing anything, so I’d gotten back on my feet and worked myself up enough to chant a spell.
"What’s the matter, are we too much for you all at once?" Zel taunted.
"This isn’t exactly fair, five against one. Whatever happened to honor on the battle field?" The general shrugged. "Fine then, I’ll fight you seriously from this point ONWARD!"
Taking a line from the Book of Amelia, the demon surprised Zel with a powerful shockwave which he caught in full. It knocked him against the cavern wall with a terrible sounding crunch, and probably into next week as well.
When he didn’t immediately move, I was suddenly overcome by an icy sensation.
"Zelgadis!" Amelia cried, rushing to her fallen lover, and amazingly enough, Zel forced himself back up to a fighting stance on wobbly legs.
"I’m fine," Zel said, as coolly as he could manage. "It looks like we all are going to have to take this a little more seriously." His hated stone skin had saved him, but he was still obviously hurting badly.
"Come one, come all! I don’t care how you attack me! I’ll not fall for any of your tricks again, nor will I debase myself and try to trick you in return! I want this fight to be as worthy as any I’d fought over a thousand years ago!"
With that, Riksfalto’s attack came in full. A charging Gourry was flung across the cave by the demon’s sword. His sword was the only thing that saved him from instant death.
I felt a spark of rage but depression smothered it.
I could fight if I could just let rage consume me!
Zel flung a few Elemekia Lances, distracting Riksfalto long enough for Amelia to cast yet another Ra Tilt, which the demon easily evaded by slipping into the Astral Plane.
She reappeared a second later behind Amelia, but Amelia was prepared, ducking the instant she sensed the demon’s presence. On her way down she launched a point-blank Elemekia Lance!
Riksfalto, with no time to react, caught the magical energy full in the gut!
A jolt of excitement perked me up a little. The demon could still be outfought!
"Rrrgh!" While the spell didn’t do any real damage, it probably felt like being sucker-punched in the solar plexus. While Riksfalto was bowled over by pain, Amelia slipped between the demon’s legs and jumped back up behind her.
"Elemekia Flame!" But the princess’s spell hit nothing but air, and Riksfalto was once again nowhere to be seen.
I really didn’t need this now, as if you couldn’t tell already by my indifference to this fight. We’d either drive her off or destroy her, or she’d destroy us. Only one of those outcomes would grant me any amount of peace.
A dark cloud of gloom settled on my shoulders.
Gourry, now recovered from his daze, rushed back into the fray, executing a chopping blow where he’d somehow sensed that Riksfalto would reappear. Riksfalto blocked the attack and counterattacked with a vicious blow. Gourry, put on the defensive, staggered back a step or two with every strike he blocked. I didn’t know what to do. If only I’d thought to cast a spell or two onto Gourry’s Blast sword, to make it sharp enough to chop that demon into minced meat! Now he was being beaten back to a wall and I couldn’t do anything more than feel sorry for myself!
"Double Ra Tilt!" Zel and Amelia’s combined spell seemed to destroy the demon, but we all knew better. We saw the silhouette within the white flames crumble into nothing, but what had really happened was that Riksfalto had left a small part of her Astral Body within the flames while she fled to the Astral Plane. Much like a lizard will lose its tale if in danger.
"Lina!" Gourry cried, and I knew I was in trouble by his desperate cry… but only a small amount of fear wormed its way into my heart. I couldn’t make myself move with the speed necessary to evade whatever was coming my way. I felt the breeze of a weapon fast bearing down on me, but before the inevitable happened, a loud clang right above my head assaulted my eardrums.
"Great timing, Xellos!" Gourry exclaimed, thanking my, uh, "hero" of the moment.
"Oh, great," Riksfalto griped. "You again. . .!" She withdrew her blocked blade and teleported to the center of the cavern. "You’d think one of these days I’d be able to do something I’d like without you interfering!" The demon shot a glare right at me. "From what I’ve seen here today, Inverse, you aren’t in any mood or condition to fight, though it did provide a pretty tasty meal. You’re off the hook this time! Until later!" With that chirpy farewell, the demon vanished again … at least for now.
Amelia immediately began treating Zel’s wounds. Gourry looked at me like I was kinda sick or something before he wrapped me in a hug. I smiled despite myself and squeezed back as tight as I could, but my arms felt like lead.
"I’m beyond glad you’re all right," Gourry said softly into my ear. "When we’re alone we’ll talk about what’s eating you."
As if talking will solve any of my problems. . .
I made a noncommital noise and almost sagged completely into Gourry’s arms, but we didn’t have time for that.
"I suppose I should thank you." I released our embrace and turned around to greet the savior I hadn’t asked for.
"That is what people generally do after somebody saves their life, yes," Xellos quipped. "But," he said, eyeing me in a rather creepy fashion, "the never-ending buffet of despair you’ve generously provided will be more than thanks enough!"
"Grumpy to oblige," I retorted.
This trip just gets better and better.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty Notes.
This is the replacement for chapter 17, the old 17 will now be chapter 18. As you could probably guess, I’m doing some MAJOR revisions to this story. The reasons are many. One, the story was becoming less focused and dull to me. Two, I have a better grasp of the Slayers’ universe than I did two years ago when I started this fic. And three, I want to make this the best fic I can possibly make it.
If it takes five years to finish it then so be it.
Over the next few months you’ll see chapters heavily revised if not flat-out deleted. But I honestly think it’ll be for the better.
Til next time!