Wow, it's been a long time since I posted anything to this list.
Aiyah. ^_^ It's been a long time since I had anything even remotely
considered fanfiction to send. ;) But random summer inspiration caught up
with me, so I'm starting a project for the heck of it. The general idea is
to write a Slayers fic using no canon characters whatsoever. I'm hoping
it'll be an exercise in creativity, but who knows. Fan art in the works,
too, wai.
Anyhow, here's the teaser. Comments and suchlike, please send to
urd@megami.net and not lina@inverse.org. Danke!
>Todd
<---->
In every land, every mythos, every universe, there are
legends. They are the people who break the mold, whose very existences
break all the odds and write all the history books. Legends exist as a
watermark of culture. They tell us what we know about ourselves as a
collective consciousness; when our heroes are gun-toting musclemen with
bad German accents and steroid rage, this tells us something about our
society. Who we are. What we want.
Lina Inverse was a legend.
In many ways, she was THE legend. In the history of the world,
there had been perhaps only 3 sorcerers like her. Rei Magnus, creator of
the legendary Dragu Slave magic. Shazard Lugandi the Artificer, whose
powerful mystical items were the source of quest after quest for longer
than anyone can remember. They were people of power. Not just 'Rule the
nation, get the girl, spend the money' power, but 'Toy with the fabric of
reality before bedtime' power.
Lina Inverse was a legend before her own death. The Bandit Killer,
Dragon Spooker, Enemy of All Who Live. But despite her epithets, Lina
Inverse was a legend of the people. She represented power. The power of
retribution; to strike down your enemies with impunity, to eat as much as
you want and not get fat, the freedom to be whoever you wanted to
be. Despite the fear of the populace, there were very few people who did
not dream, in the deepest parts of their hearts, of being Lina Inverse.
She was a legend of the people.
Let's flash forward a little bit.
The thing about legends is that they only live forever in the
figurative sense. A living legend soon becomes tiresome because we
eventually have no use for it. Our tastes change. Society stops reflecting
what we want out of it, and since the legend can't change his fundamental
nature, he gets lost in the shuffle.
What this boils down to is that one day, Lina Inverse died. No one
knows where or why. It's better that way, actually. She and Gourry Gabriev
dropped off the face of the world, never to be seen again. The popular
rumor is that they left on yet another adventure together, and never
returned, having finally found a source of infinite wealth. Others yet
still say that she's out there, in the vastness of the world, putting
restaurants out of business and indiscriminately rearranging the landscape
for fun and profit.
It had been 30 years since the 'death' of Lina Inverse at age
21. Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, Crown Queen of Saillune, was now an old
woman. Other, more obscure figures had faded into history in their own
quiet corners of the world. Sylpheel Nels Rada was remembered as the
savior of Sairaag City, after her death at age 48.
Society had forgotten about their legends. As technology and
culture trickled in from outside the former Mazoku Barrier, things
changed. Gunpowder became a reality. The Empire of Elmekia, broken and
battered from a long war with Mazoku themselves, was trying to build
itself up again.
On the fringes of the nation, legends waited to be made again.
Slayers - Generations
a fanfic by Todd Harper (lina@inverse.org)
(http://lina.inverse.org/writings/gen)
(1)
Discovery! Gani's Ruin Adventure
So let's say there's a town. You can probably see it in your
mind; thatched roofs, marketplace, considerable medieval ambient
noise. People laughing, buying things, sharing an existence. Pretty easy
to get a grasp on it.
This little town is called Mulberry. The people who live here are
decent enough folk. Zefilia, despite its reputation, is not a factory
churning out heroes left and right. Most of its citizens are hard-working
and somewhat rustic people.
Gani Sanbrook was no exception. When he was a child, friends of
his parents called him "darling", "sweet", "spunky". Through early
childhood and adolesence he displayed the kind of dashing, non-threatening
charm that led people to believe he had a future in politics. But he was
rough-and-tumble too. Maybe a fine warrior, they said. He's a bit short
but he'll do alright, they said. Gani's mother often commented that she
had high hopes for her son.
Since the day he decided to be a sorcerer, it had been a downhill
slide ever since.
Contrary to popular belief, Zefilia was not a country where
wizards walked the streets, calmly rearranging fundamental laws of physics
like a Rubik's Cube for kicks and suchlike. It was true that Zefilia's
Guild had produced Lina Inverse, but to the magic using peoples of the
world this was, at best, a dubious honor. In the modern age, 'sorcerer'
was becoming more and more a storybook term than an actual post-graduate
job track.
A legend, if you will.
The universal opinion of Gani Sanbrook changed as time went
on. His muscular physique, developed in his parents' vineyards, atrophized
ever so slightly. His ruddy skin paled slightly. His job prospects as a
politician or mecenary popped like a soap bubble. Once a sorcerer, you're
a sorcerer for life.
Gani considered the ability to toss high-energy magic around a
reasonable trade off for this.
In the middle of Mulberry was a restaurant called the Sleeping
Unicorn. It was in this particular restaurant one morning, over a large
breakfast, that Gani sat, poring over a map which he had stretched across
his table, using strategically placed condiment holders to keep it from
fluttering out the window. Gani was, despite letting his body go a bit,
still an athletic-looking and handsome young man. His blond hair was cut
short to stay off his neck, and his clothing definately pegged him as a
magician to anybody who knew of such things. His features had the same
brightness and vivacity that had earned him the adjective "spunky" as a
child, as he smiled down at the map and repeatedly poked a small red
"x". "That's it. That's the one."
"So you really think you've found something this time?" A voice
asked from across the table. It belonged to another young man, average in
height and dressed in the flowing vestments of a priest. He was currently
devouring a donut at top speed and leaning back in his chair. He continued
as he ate, crumbs dotting his chin as he spoke. "And not just another wild
goose chase like the last one?"
Gani made a face, eyeing his companion warily. "Mikhail,
buddy. Pal. Friend. Have I ever steered you wrong?" He looked down at the
map, then up at Mikhail with a sly grin. "Don't answer that. In any
case...yes. I really do think I've found something good this time." He
clapped his hands together and looked skyward, eyes sparkling. "Then I can
finally be financially independent and get the heck out of this burg!"
Mikhail raised a single eyebrow at that, letting his chair return
to the floor with a *thump*. "Gani...I know I've harped on this before,
but if you really want to travel, why don't you just ask your parents for
money?" He saw Gani's expression turn sour, and frowned, pressing the
attack. "You're 17 now, there's no reason for you to stay here."
Gani shook his head vigorously, sitting down and picking up a
fork. He sighed, looking momentarily distraught. "Because that's not how
sorcerers do things, Mik. If I'm going to really be a sorcerer, then I
have to see things through on my own! No self-respecting Zefilian
adventuring mage would just...take money from his parents!" Standing up
again, Gani made stabbing motions with the fork in mid-air like a
practiced swashbuckler. "He'd find a bandit gang and thrash 'em! He'd dig
up an ancient treasure!" When he realized Mikhail was still regarding him
speculatively, he sat down and sighed. "He wouldn't play
rich-son-of-a-wine-magnate and just ask for the money."
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Mikhail sighed. "Gani, we've been
over this before. That may have been FINE in the old days, but it's just
not going to work anymore!" He looked at his companion and flinched at the
expression on his a face, a combination of sadness and determination. "I'm
not trying to crush your dreams, Gani. But what you're talking about
doesn't happen anymore. And you're not going to be the person to whom it
DOES happen just because it 'can't'." Relenting, Mikhail sat back in his
chair. "I'm only saying this because I care about what happens to you."
Gani grumbled. "Yeah, I know." He sat sideways in his chair,
letting his fingers drift across the map. "I mean it, Mik. This is gonna
be a big score. And I don't wanna go alone...please, come help me out?" He
turned to Mikhail and smiled his best charming smile. "We've known each
other..."
"...since we were kids, right right." Shaking his head, Nikhail
turned to the side and folded his arms across his chest, grumping. "I
know. You knew from the start I'd go, so there's no need for
theatrics. Where are the ruins?"
Gani smiled brightly, rolling up the map. "Elmekia."
There was a loud *THWACK* as Mikhail, his chair, and his
impression of his friend's common sense all hit the floor at the same
time. Rising like the wrath of Ceipheed, he slammed both hands on the
table as he got up, glaring at Gani. "Are you NUTS? That's like wandering
into the gates of hell itself! We'll be KILLED!"
Gani scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh, come off it. It's
not that bad! You're a priest, aren't you? And I've got my magic. We can
take care of ourselves. This is our big chance, Mik!"
"To do what? Die a horrible, slow, painful death? Gani, it's not
ogres or trolls or beastmen out there like we've seen before! It's
Mazoku! The real deal! You think your magic can take on an actual, 100%
Mazoku?"
"Bah," Gani said, frowning. "I can handle it. I've studied all
about them."
"That's not the same as experience," came a voice from across the
room, a low and sonorous tone that was a blend of amused and
condescending. Gani and Mikhail blinked at each other, then let their
gazes swivel across the restaurant looking for the speaker. UNsurprisingly
for mid-morning, the Unicorn didn't have many patrons, so the speaker was
easy to spot: a tall, lean woman with dark raven hair, wearing a long
magenta overcoat and a floppy hat of the same color. Her expression had a
very severe tone, despite the hint of amusement in her voice. "You can't
expect to wander into their territory and make it back alive. That's just
reality."
Gani blinked, then frowned. "Now wait a minute. It's not like
there's a Mazoku Fighting training hall where you can just wander in and
do a quick workout." He glanced back at Mikhail, then at the newcomer to
the conversation. "If they're as dangerous as you say, then how do get
experience fighting them at all?"
The woman smiled a bit, a smile edged with frost but a smile
nonetheless. "You're smarter than you look," she said dryly, raising her
mug at him and then sipping her tea quietly. "My name is Jaana. I'm a
guard for hire for ruin explorers like yourselves."
"I am NOT a ruin explorer," Mikhail interjected with
vehemence. "Just because I end up getting dragged after him whenever he
gets a damn fool idea to wander through some crumbling stone structure
doesn't make me a ruin explorer. It just makes me an idiot."
Gani frowned a Mikhail, then turned to Jaana with a slightly
wolfish grin. "I'm guessing you would bring a dash of experience to our
trip? I mean, why else would you bring it up? Mercs aren't known for their
sudden bouts of altruism."
Jaana nodded, her smile warming a bit as she inclined her teacup
at Gani. "Right again, in a way. No, I don't have experience fighting
Mazoku, per se. But I've been in the business a while and I know a few
tricks. What do you say? Feel like hiring me?"
Mikhail frowned. "Gani, I'm sketchy about this as it is. Let's not
go dragging anyone else to their death, huh?" He eyed Jaana briefly, but
the guard merely gave him an enigmatic raised eyebrow.
"Don't be stupid, Mik. She knows what she's getting into if she
goes with us. Right?" Jaana nodded her assent to Gani's statement, and the
sorcerer smiled. "Then I guess we're a trio. We'll meet here tomorrow
morning to plan this out better."
Jaana grinned, toasting Gani with her teacup. "Here's to the
adventure, then."
Gani nodded. "Adventure!"
Mikhail sighed, twirling his finger in the air distractedly as
Gani and Jaana toasted each other. "Impending certain doom, yay."
<----->
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"Wherever monsters rampage, I'll be there to take them down...wherever
treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it...whenever an opponent rises to
face me, victory shall be mine!" -Lina Inverse, Slayers TV Op.
[*]===-----------------------------------------------------------------===[*]
Todd Harper: urd@megami.net, lina@inverse.org
University of Wisconsin@Madtown and overall violent yet friendly guy =)
The World Inverse - http://lina.inverse.org
Slayers Universe - http://www.inverse.org
[*]===-----------------------------------------------------------------===[*]