I would like to thank my friend and fellow Slayers fan Calypso Evermore
for lending me the Slayers movie (and all the other Slayers tapes I
borrowed), which inspired me to write this. As a brief word of warning, this
is the first fan-fic I have ever written, so it pretty much sucks. It is
based on the dubbed version because that's the only version of the movie I've
seen.
However before you are dismayed, let me remind you that this is the NEW
and IMPROVED version I wrote after reading (and being inspired by the Slayers
Trilogy (Slayers Reflect/Chaos/ReBirth). If you haven't read it yet, then do
so at http://www.pixelscapes.com/slayers/trilogy.html NOW!!!
Slayers is (c) by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, TV TOKYO, SOFTX, and Marubeni.
The Slayers: Return to Mipross Island
A Slayers fan fiction
By Luna Hinomura
http://fly.to/Luna's
The salty scent of the ocean filled her nostrils and tingled her nose.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, feeling the tart fragrance enter her
lungs and filling her entire being with peacefulness.
Ahh... It had been such a long time since she had last seen the sea.
The only thing she could remember from her last visit to the seashore
was...well, the seafood, of course. The seafood was always good. As a
matter of fact, the seafood was one of her favorite aspects of the ocean.
The bright sun was low in the sky, nearing sunset, but its lovely yellow
light still glistened merrily on the frothy waves. The wind felt great
blowing through her hair. She smiled and leaned her elbows on the side of
the boat. Home. She was finally going home. She couldn't think of one
thing that could possibly ruin this trip. Well, *almost* one thing...
"Hey, Lina, are you ever going to come help me find our room?"
Lina Inverse sighed and ran a gloved hand through her thick orange hair.
She paused midway and resisted the urge to yank out the strands entwined
between her fingers. Instead, she let her hand continue its path, then
turned around to face her companion.
"Gourry, I've told you a hundred times what our room number on this ship
is! I'm not about to tell you a hundred and first!" she declared, her arms
crossed in her standard Lina Annoyed At Gourry position. Unfortunately,
Gourry never was one to read body language. Her tone of voice, now, was
something he could understand--if he said the wrong thing now, he'd be in big
trouble. The gears in his mind turned slowly but surely.
Select tone of voice: Angry? No. Happy? Absurd. Sad? Even worse.
Apologetic? Confirmed. Processing...... "I know, Lina, but I kept
forgetting at first, and now that I do remember, I still can't find it,"
Gourry replied sheepishly.
"Then get someone who works here to help you! Better yet, why don't you
ask Zelgadis? Oh, you are so *helpless*!" <Wait, how come *I* didn't just
ask Zel in the first place?>
"Well, I got the tickets, didn't I?"
"I suppose so..." Lina sighed again, and yielded. It was worthless,
pointless, and a absolute waste of time to argue with Gourry. "At least I
get to see Zephilia again."
"Zephilia? Aren't we going to Mipross Island?" He could almost see the
strings keeping her mind intact go *twang* as they suddenly pulled taut.
"MIPROSS ISLAND?! Gourry, I told you to tell them I wanted to go visit
my homeland!" Lina yelled.
"I did!" Gourry protested. "I told them 'I want to visit my homeland,'
like you told me to, and they asked 'Where were you born, son?' so I answered
'Mipross Island.'"
"ARRRRGH!!!" Lina grabbed Gourry's collar. "You idiot! I haven't been
back to Mipross Island since I was fourteen and parading around with Naga!"
He didn't mind the act of her grabbing his collar; it didn't have much effect
anyway, since he was so much taller than she was. All it did was pull her up
to his level. The fact that Lina was the shortest tempered (as well as
shortest) and the most powerful Sorceress he had ever encountered was
actually what intimidated him. Not only that, she often seemed to make a
habit of beating up on him.
"Aaaaaah, but Lina, think of it this way: at least we're going
*somewhere*," Gourry replied, making the best use of both his logic and
debate skills, or lack thereof. "Who's Naga?" he asked, trying to change the
subject.
"I suppose, but I wanted stop by *Zephilia*, not *Mipross*," she replied
ignoring his question, and released his collar slowly finger by finger before
a new idea dawned on her. "Hey, you never told me you were born on Mipross
Island!" she exclaimed, changing the subject herself. The last thing she
wanted to talk about would be that pain-in-the-leather-bikini-butt Naga.
"You never asked," Gourry said, not falling for her trap. "What about
you? What were you saying before, about being on Mipross Island with some
Naga person?"
"Never mind, it doesn't matter." The Gabriev family probably had
inbreeding somewhere along the family line. No wait, that couldn't be it;
Zelgadis had a more messed up gene pool than Gourry, and look how he'd turned
out. Lina briefly wondered what Zelgadis was doing.
"You didn't know that this ship was headed to Mipross Island, then?"
another male voice asked. "How odd. When we met each other by chance while
boarding, I was certain you knew where you were headed."
Lina whirled around at the sudden familiar not-quite-a-monotone voice,
ignoring the fact that she wasn't able to sense his presence before he was
upon her, since many skilled Magick users always hid their auras behind
extensive shields. Zelgadis, in particular, hid his power to prevent being
noticed, for the reason that even non-Magick persons could sense strong
Magick if it was coming from someone as powerful as he was. Lina never
bothered with shields--'Let them be intimidated!' would be her motto. Of
course, unlike Zel, she never had to worry about being a Chimera, plus the
fact Mipross also had its own odd way of distorting Magick energy--another
characteristic of the Island Lina disliked. "Hey, Zelgadis, I thought you
were busy wandering the ship...?" she asked confusedly.
"I got bored," he said simply. "There's not much to see on a cheap boat
like this one." He kicked a board softly with his graying leather boots for
emphasis, and it creaked softly. Lina was grateful that it didn't split
apart completely, which is what she and Gourry both assumed would happen.
"Isn't Mipross Island famous for its Hot Springs?" Zelgadis continued after
their brief and shocked pause.
<Wow. And Zel doesn't usually get bored easily. I guess sea travel
really isn't as great as it sounds.>
"Yeah, they've got the best Hot Springs!" Gourry agreed. "It'd be a
shame to come all this way and miss out on them, why don't we stay in Mipross
a while before heading off to Zephilia? You could come with us, Zelgadis, if
you wanted to," he offered.
Zelgadis nodded briskly at Gourry, but did not agree nor disagree to
Gourry's suggestion. Lina knew better than to speak up--when Zelgadis
decided on something, he carried it out no questions asked, but you could
never push Zel into deciding anything before he considered all options. The
Chimera turned his blue eyes towards the sea as Lina had before, staring at
the rosy sunset that reflected trails of crimson flames on the deep blue
waters. The three travelers
were lost in thought until Lina's stomach startled them with a fierce growl.
"I'm hungry," she explained meekly with as cute a smile as she could
muster.
"All right! I was hoping you'd show me the way to the dining hall!"
Gourry blurted out, smiling. Lina smiled and rubbed her gloved hands
together in anticipation.
"I'm hungry as well. Why don't we go see what they're serving at the
dining hall?" Zelgadis suggested. He had nothing better to do during their
overnight sail to Mipross.
* * * * *
Now that Zelgadis was stuffed, he only watched his companions, though he
was beginning to believe that was a bad idea. It had taken him a mere
half-hour to finish his meal, and now, three very long hours after they had
found the dining hall, Gourry was finally showing signs of stopping, but Lina
had only begun to slow down. For two and a half hours he'd been watching
them eat, occasionally being splattered by flying bits of meat and vegetables
and even a bowl that had nearly stained his beige combination
shirt/pants/cloak outfit with thick, brown gravy.
He sighed. It was so annoying. How could these people eat so much food?
When he'd first met them, he had force himself to resist the urge to vomit
at their blatant lack of manners and their outstanding appetites. Likely,
the two had no idea he felt this way, since he held his expressions and
emotions back so well behind his stony countenance--no pun intended. When
Lina put down her fork and called the waiter over, he believed her to have
finished. Her stack of used plates was already reaching more than halfway up
to the ceiling, and Gourry's was only a plate or two short of reaching her
mark.
<Good>, he thought, <now maybe I can finally get Gourry to shut up about
looking for the room, and Lina and I can discuss the travel plans for Mipross
and possibly Zephilia.> It was odd how they always ended up meeting during
their journeys almost by chance, as if Destiny were guiding them. Destiny...
Zelgadis hated that word. It was a word symbolizing nothing, no paths to
choose from, since all paths would inevitably lead in some way or another to
the same place. A word that meant he would forever be disfigured as a
hideous rock-monster, for Fate had lead him here. Fate and Destiny, or
Chance? Or Free will... It was not Free Will that turned him into a
Chimera. Well, this was definitely no time to muse over such dismal
thoughts. Now, his companions, Lina and Gourry, had finished their dinner,
and so it was now time to--
He was wrong.
"Excuse me, can I have another one of this, and one more of this dish,
and another plate of the roasted chicken?" Lina asked the waiter, a menu in
her hand. The waiter nodded solemnly, apparently able to hide his extreme
shock at seeing such a young girl consume a tremendous meal. Or perhaps that
sort of thing was not a rare occurrence in his line of work.
"Are you never going to finish?" Zelgadis asked irritably. He had never
been one to anger quickly, but if she didn't finish her dinner sometime this
week, he was afraid he'd help his sword find a nice place to rest through her
heart.
"--to go?" she quickly added on.
The old man nodded with the same apathy as his before, and when he came
back from the kitchen (where a lot of cooks shrieked in surprise because that
'17-year-old girl out there' was *still* eating), brought out the food
wrapped up in a clean white cloth so Lina could eat it later. Zelgadis stood
up quickly to avoid any arguments. If he had to sit and watch another bite
disappear into Lina's mouth, he swore he'd scream. Luckily, it never came to
that--Lina
brought the food to the room Gourry had rented when he had purchased the
tickets. Lina grumbled softly as she lit the lamp in their room, a room that
was little more than a closet with hay on the floor for a bed.
"It was less expensive," Gourry explained without even being asked. Even
though he couldn't quite hear Lina's spiteful complaints, he knew her
behavior, personality, and habits far too well. "What about you, Zel? Where
are you going to sleep?"
"I didn't rent a cabin, since I was planning on spending the night on
deck," Zelgadis replied swiftly. He didn't bother mentioning that being part
Stone Golem also meant it made little difference where he slept, since any
place would be just as comfortable against his rock-hard skin.
"Oh, come on, Gourry, we've got enough money, and we can always make some
by ambushing some bandits or something when we get there," Lina said, then
turned to Zelgadis. "You can stay here, since I'm interested in how you
heard about Mipross Island. I've been on this Island before, and sure, it's
Magickal and all that, but then..." Lina stopped. Zelgadis and Gourry were
looking at her, but she didn't want to finish her sentence. To cover up for
it, she opened
up the package of food and began to eat it, pretending that it was what she
had meant to do all along.
"But then what? I've only heard about the Hot Springs because they're so
famous," Zelgadis told her.
"Before...nothing. You wouldn't know. You wouldn't *want* to know. But
the Hot Springs? Why them?" her pink eyes, riddled with curiosity, never
left her plate. When it came to eating, not even Gourry or money could
persuade her full attention. Well, maybe money...
"What is this, an interrogation? *You* were the one who wanted to visit
Zephilia. It's because of *Gourry* that you're visiting Mipross Island in
the first place. Since the Hot Springs are known for their Magickal healing
abilities--" Zelgadis settled down on the hay and continued, "--I thought I
could find a cure on the Island, and that's all." He pulled his hood over
his eyes for added emphasis.
"Some Hot Springs," she scoffed. "There wouldn't *be* any Hot Springs if
it wasn't for me," she muttered under her breath, too low for Zelgadis or
Gourry to hear.
"Hey, the Hot Springs are great!" Gourry protested. "You know, I used to
go swimming there everyday. I bet Julius still works there!"
"What do you know, jellyfish brain?" Lina snorted. "And who's this
Julius fellow?"
"I was born on Mipross, remember?" Gourry answered. "Since I've lived
there so long, I know all the people really well. Especially Julius--he's
the owner of the Hot Springs Hotel and he's really nice."
"Oh yeah..." <The guy who used to be Juliano. Before...> Lina looked
out the window and wished with all her heart they weren't going to Mipross.
The last visit was enough for her. She could just close her eyes and
remember... The souls of the Elves, and the souls of the townsfolk turned
zombie... The putrid stench of zombie flesh all over her gloves, and how the
souls had cried out to her, how they had pulled at her heart, yearning for
retribution, and how
she alone had put them at rest. Well, not quite alone. Rowdy had helped (or
had *she* helped *him*? It all depended on one's perspective), but that was
when Joyrock was...
Shaking off her train of thought, she once again turned back to her
friends, trying not to remember events that she *didn't* want to remember.
At least now, Mipross Island was what it was destined to be... It hadn't
always been so grand. But they wouldn't know...
It felt odd, in a way, since she'd never really thought about Mipross
Island since she left it. It had seemed like a happy place when she'd left
it behind. Left it behind for *good*, she'd assumed. She couldn't explain
why the memories which she had buried deep inside her now surfaced, and why
they seemed so much more terrible than they actually were. Reason and Logic
refused to aid her-instead, only Fear of the Unknown was present in her mind.
Fear of the past, and... Nothing more. Simply fear, pure fear. She was
unable to shake the feeling of apprehension and foreboding.
"Well, we can visit the Hot Springs! Sure, why not? It shouldn't cost a
lot, and we've got time to do anything," she said, trying to hide the
emotions she felt, keeping her voice light. She doubted she'd fool anybody
with half a brain.
"Okay! We'll go there tomorrow!" Gourry declared zealously. Zelgadis
just looked at her with a curious expression as only the Chimera could,
though he didn't say anything. Lina wouldn't be surprised if he pulled her
aside to talk to her in the morning. In any case, none of them felt like
staying awake any longer. They turned in for the night.
* * * * *
Somewhere, in the middle of an immense and unending forest, Lina was
running. She didn't know what she was running from, just an odd,
disconcerting sensation of panic, and the cold, hard knowledge that if she
stopped running, she was dead. Her pursuer, the beast whom she could
practically feel breathing down her neck would capture her, torture her, pay
her back for what she had done, and then some. She was panting, and beads of
sweat ran down her cheeks as well as tears. There were the tears from being
frightened, and the tears from sheer exhaustion. She could hear him
growling; the monster was furious that she was losing energy fast, and yet,
could still elude him--until she tripped. That darned tree root just seemed
to come out of nowhere. She put her hands up as fast as she could to brace
herself and break her fall, impaling herself on the sharp rocks and gravel
that shouldn't have been in a forest--but it was. Then she turned around,
and two hideous blood-red eyes stared right into hers, trapping her in a
deadly gaze. The disgusting mouth, dripping with foam, blood, and drool
opened, and she could hear the voice reverberating through her head.
"SURPRISE!" he roared as he proceeded to disembowel her.
She felt the scream come from somewhere within her. It wrenched its way
out and she felt the monster's joy at hearing it. The screams of fright fed
his soul, giving him boundless energy, and she could feel the intangible
darkness creeping its way into her mind, into her body, into her aura, even
into her soul itself, where it slowly digested her into nothingness...
Lina screamed, waking up her two companions in the process. Zelgadis
seemed to always be on the edge, prepared for every situation. As a result,
he was a very light sleeper, and so the Chimera merely sat up with his sword
and sheath gripped tightly in one hand. However, Gourry must have been an
avid sleepwalker that night--he fell off one of the support beams near the
ceiling.
"What's wrong, Lina? You've seem troubled ever since we started on this
voyage," Gourry said, after sufficiently rubbing his sore posterior in
protest of the wooden floor's harsh mistreatment of it.
The Sorceress was surprised he'd picked up on it. Then again, Gourry
*did* have an odd way of surprising her with his insight many times. She was
too nervous and jittery to think of a good reply. "I... I-it's nothing."
"Lina, there *must* be something you're hiding from us, or perhaps even
something you've neglected to mention. You are not acting in your usual
behavior," Zelgadis probed, placing his sword down again. The three of them
had never shared a room together before, and so Lina and Gourry were slightly
amused to see that Zel kept a sword by himself at all times, even when
sleeping. Lina, her mind a little calmed after her initial fright, even
briefly wondered if he
kept it with him in the bed and between the sheets while he slept. "Perhaps
you should tell us...?"
Lina sighed, and wiped the sweat away from her forehead, leaving a red
smear across it. She looked at her hands. Her gloves were stained red in
places where she'd gripped her hands so tight that her fingernails had cut
into her skin, even through the fabric. <These were the places where I hurt
myself on the pebbles... In that nightmare... What does this mean...?>
"Does this have anything to do with you having been on Mipross before?"
Gourry asked. Once again, his blind luck led to great insightfulness. He
didn't realize how close his question had hit home.
"Y-e-s," she said slowly, too weak to fight any longer.
"Ah... So that is how you knew of the Hot Springs. Tell us, what
happened on your previous trip?" Zelgadis inquired.
Lina related the story to them, leaving nothing out. She even added in
information about Naga, the White Serpent, her traveling companion
once-upon-a-time. She told them of Rowdy, the blue-haired youth whom had
assisted her in slaying Joyrock, the Mazoku-Demon who had altered the course
of history. She told them of everything she could remember.
Both Gourry and Zelgadis were stunned. Lina had once believed she'd
never see Zelgadis's mouth in any other position than a frown, a crooked
smile, or open in a loud shout. This was the first time she'd ever seen his
jaw drop, as slight as it was. His mouth was only open slightly, unlike
Gourry, whose jaw had hit the wooden deck long before Zel had done anything
more than open his eyes wider in surprise.
"Rowdy Gabriev... My grandfather," Gourry managed to say.
Lina and Zelgadis both did a double-take.
"Your grandfather? You mean... That old fart?! I know you both have
Light Swords, and even though Gabriev isn't a common name, it isn't rare,
either, so I figured it was just a coincidence," Lina explained. "Your sword
handle doesn't even look like what I remember his looked like."
"It's probably changed over time, and I don't know anyone or even heard
of anyone else who owns a Light Sword(1)," Gourry said. "I don't even know
if I have the last one or not."
"Probably not. The world is too big, and there are too many people; the
chances of you running into another Light Sword are rare. It's even
surprising that Lina even managed to meet you, the grandson of a great sage
and warrior whom she had assisted in defeating the Demon that had killed your
grandmother before you were born," Zelgadis stated.
"Damnit, Zel, when you put it like that, it just sounds morbid!" Lina
protested, but stopped. "Melarune... She's your grandmother?"
"Yes," Gourry replied bewilderedly.
Lina smiled. The thought made her insanely happy for some reason. "I'm
glad."
"But what about your nightmare? Why have you told us this story? Is it
related to the nightmare?" Zelgadis asked, still intrigued. A little
information was never enough for him--he analyzed every situation extensively
until he was sure of his own position.
Lina reached up to push some of her sweat-soaked hairs aside--they were
hanging in her face. The movement brought the scarlet blood stains on her
gloves back into her eyesight, and she dropped her hand quickly, feeling
slightly sick. "I honestly don't know. I've never been 'traumatized' by
what happened, so I think it all coincides with returning to the island."
"Hm... You said Rowdy was able to communicate with you through your
dreams, but what about Joyrock?"
"Rowdy and I destroyed Joyrock before he was able to gain such powers
from the Elves." Lina didn't like the way Zelgadis was talking or the hungry
look in his eyes, as if he were a wild animal closing in on its prey. "He
never came into my dreams, although he once quoted something Rowdy had said
to me in a dream: 'The fun is only beginning, Lina Inverse.'"
"The Joyrock from the past is dead... But what about the Joyrock from
the present? The time stream would have protected him from harm," Zelgadis
stated. "And if Joyrock could quote Rowdy, it means he had equal access to
your mind."
"I don't he could still exist, because Joyrock never entered the time
stream, so his future self should just have ceased to exist. Rowdy gave me
his staff before I went back in time, and I remember that the handle looked a
lot like his Sword of Light. Since it belonged to him, it kept his future
self alive." Lina began pulling the sticky cloth of her gloves away from her
injured skin, wincing in pain as it took a few layers of skin with it.
"You said Rowdy visited you after you had returned to the present; if he
did, then he was unaffected by the time change. Joyrock holds a grudge
against you, Lina, and he's taken it with him past the grave. Maybe he *is*
dead. But then how can he still fill your dreams, Lina?"
"I don't--" They were interrupted by the sudden cease of motion in the
boat. Through the thin wooden walls, she could hear the faint calling of
"All off for Mipross Island!".
"That's our departure. Come on, we don't want to have wasted our money,"
Lina said, disregarding her bloody palms. She rose quickly, grabbed her cape
and left before Zelgadis could ask her any more questions. Gourry and
Zelgadis watched, perplexed. Lina seemed a completely different person than
before.
End of Chapter 1
(1) Tenchi Masaki, Ryoko, and Luke Skywalker. Can you think of any more?