Hello, hello, yet again!
Here's a new installement of the newly formed triology starring
'A Past to be Forgotten' and 'Slayers: Double!' Both of which
can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Villa/9072/Fanfic.htm
If you think I'm getting too serious in this new story, just wait...
I completely lose it towards the end. ^^;; I'm just throwing a
title out there, but if anyone has a better one, suggest it to me
and I'll use it if I can. As always, I'm asking for C&C on this
one and it's always appreciated. Ah, and one last note before I
let you go...if anyone would like to pre-read this series, it would
be greatly appreciated. ^_^ Any takers?
~*~*~*~*~*~
DISCLAIMER: Slayers and their associated characters belong
to Rui Araizumi and Shoko Yoshinaka and I lay no claim on
them. They are used without permission, but I assure you it is
not for personal gain. So please, be good to the young student
and put down the lawyers? Please?
~*~*~*~*~*~
"No! You can't take her away again!! The tests are over,
leave her alone! You can't have her!!"
"But she is mine also. Do I not have this right to take what is
mine?"
"B-but you can't!! I...I just got her back. You can't take her!!
I won't let you!!"
"I will and _you_ can't stop me."
"No! Run away and never look back!! Naria-chan, RUN!!"
"OKAASAMA!!!" Naria Graywords sat straight up in bed and
tried to quiet her racing heart. She clutched the white sheets
in pale hands and drew them around her, seeking comfort in
their softness. This was the fifth time that week the dream;
no, the nightmare had come back to visit her in her sleep.
Who was that man running after her and why could she never
see his face? Endless questions flooded her mind as she
slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
It was hopeless to get back to sleep now, she reasoned, and
decided to try and get a few more hours of swordplay training
in before sunrise.
~~~
The Secrets of the Past
Episode One: Going Home
By Murasakikaze
~~~
"Where do you think she went, Zelgadis Oniisama?"
Mira-chan Graywords asked as she ran side-by-side to the
stoic chimera. They had set out early in the morning after
finding out that Naria, their 'sister' of sorts, had disappeared
the previous night. "Ne, Zelgadis Oniisama, did you hear
me?"
"Yeah, I heard you, but I don't know, Mira-chan. Listen, just
try to keep up, alright?" Zelgadis Graywords replied. The
Shamanistic sorcerer had had just about enough of his
so-called relatives over the past three months. Sure, it was
great to have them around, but not all the time...at least
Jeze-chan had gone off with Naga to 'see the world' as they
put it.
"Hai, Zelgadis Oniisa-OW!" Zelgadis stopped and hung his
head as Mira-chan rubbed her knee. She had tripped over
yet another raised tree root and now lay sprawled across the
forest floor, near tears. "Owie..."
"I'm beginning to think that it'd be better if I just carried you
everywhere we went..." he muttered and walked back. "As
soon as we find Naria, I'm teaching you how to heal yourself."
"That's white magic isn't it?" Mira-chan asked as she
watched the light gather around her scraped knee.
"Yeah."
"So it wouldn't be bad if I learned it right?"
"No, and if you got really good at it, you could do exorcisms
and major healing spells like Resurrection. There, done."
He stood up and waited for the young girl to stand.
"But wouldn't you hurt the ghosts if you exorcised them?"
Mira-chan asked, remaining on the ground and picking at a
stray piece of grass.
"I guess, can we go?"
"Then I don't want to exorcise the ghosts," she said
triumphantly. "I'll be their friend and then they'll see that all
this haunting people is bad and makes the people feel scared
and then they'll stop!"
Zelgadis sweatdropped slightly as he glanced down at her
smiling face and shook his head slowly. She stood up and
dusted off her pants in response, waiting for him to lead the
way. The chimeran boy glared up at the sky and silently
wondered: why did he get stuck with the weird relatives?
~~~
Xellas Metallium was not a happy Dark Lord. In fact, she
was a very UNhappy Dark Lord, but that was understandable.
She was a Dark Lord and they aren't known for being very
'happy.' Insane, yes, but never happy. Xellas Metallium fit
the insane category.
"Do you think I should have saved that guy?" she asked as
she hung her head over the edge of the bed. The world went
upside down and from this angle his smile looked like a
frown. "Well, do you, Xelloss?"
The Trickster Priest shrugged and continued to clean up the
mess his master had made. Blood stains were very hard to
get out of carpet if allowed to sit too long. "Not at all
Juu'ou-sama."
Xellas smiled. "Good, not that I cared for your opinion, but I
just wanted to check. Make sure to clean up the guy next
door too, and Xelloss?"
"Hai?"
"Frown for me. From this angle, it'll look like you're smiling
then." She waited until she had been obeyed, then sat up.
"Alright, you can go now."
"Hai." The door never opened nor did it close, but Xelloss
was gone. Xellas slid off the bed and drew a lazy circle in the
air with her long fingernails.
"Let's see now...How many of them are there? Oh yes,
seven in all isn't it?" She began to draw tally marks in the air
and smiled. "Yes, it's seven. I wonder where they are now?"
No one answered her and Xellas laughed. "That's right...I'll
have to find them...I love the hunt." Her hand dropped to her
side and the sound of golden bracelets clashing together
reverberated off the walls. "...but I love the kill even more."
~~~
"Do you really think this was a good idea?"
"Um...yeah?"
"You don't sound so sure, Imako."
"So sue me, Kako. Besides, wouldn't you be just a little
ticked if your friends went behind your back?
"Well...yes, but do you think SHE will mind?"
The Goddess of the Present sighed and shrugged. "Who
knows? The gods are so unpredictable these days."
Kako stretched slightly and leaned back against the tree
trunk. "I guess so, but...Ima-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think she knows?"
Imako hesitated, then nodded. "She knows, Kako."
"Oh...we're screwed." He slid down the tree trunk and
massaged his temples.
The goddess looked down at her friend and tried her best to
sound cheery. "Yep, we're screwed."
~~~
The cold water refreshed her instantly and she wiped her face
down with the white towel. The birds sang outside and the
sunlight poured in through the curtained windows. The young
girl went to the window and pushed it open, ready to greet the
new day. It was going to be-
"BAKA GOURRY!!!!"
The girl looked down and found a fiery young sorceress
chasing a tall blond man through the streets and sighed.
Then she closed the window and pulled on her boots; it was
going to be another usual day.
"Lina-san and Gourry-san do make a cute couple, but a
couple of what I'm not sure," the Sailoon princess muttered to
herself and walked out the door, securing her purse to her
belt.
~~~
*pounce*
*pounce*
"I asked you to stop that."
*pounce*
"Stop it."
*pounce*
"Stop it."
*pounce*
*SHUT UP!!!" After ten minutes, Deep Sea Dolphin was
finally confronted with silence and she smiled. "Thank-"
*pounce*
"GAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
*pounce*
A short, elven creature appeared in the doorway and blinked,
holding up a tool kit. "Dolphin-sama? Do you want me to fix
that leaky faucet now?"
*pounce*
"MAKE IT STOP!!!!"
"Hai, Dolphin-sama. There, that should do it. Just don't
touch it for awhile and it'll be fine. Ja mata ne,
Dolphin-sama."
"Thank you, Go."
"Your welcome, Dolphin-sama. By the way, Juu'ou-sama
called upon you today and I told her you were busy and to
come back later. She will be dropping by sometime today."
He bowed and left her alone, breathing a sigh of relief that
she hadn't taken his head off.
Deep Sea Dolphin looked around her quarters and smiled,
falling back on the bed. "Ah, peace and quiet at-"
*pounce*
"This world is cruel..."
~~~
Upon the Astral Plane there are many types of energy. The
humans have their patterns, the Mazoku have theirs, and the
gods and angels have their own (unfortunately, it is not a
Pattern Blue.). Now, on this Astral Plane are billions of
energies just flinging themselves around as their physical
bodies move about on the physical plane. We don't really
care about all of those energies. What we care about is just
two out of the billions of life forces recklessly flinging
themselves about like rubber balls off high concrete walls.
Those two astral presences belong to a) Kojiro Seisakusha
and b) Mirai Eienjo Graywords.
"I'm bored..."
"You're always bored."
"So what? I already know what's going to happen so nothing
is a surprise anymore. Kami-sama, erm, I mean Kojiro, I'm
BORED!!" One of the energies tinted in gold twitched and
slammed into the tinted blue energy next to it. "Do
something interesting..."
"I am."
"What are you doing then?"
Kojiro would have smiled if he had taken his humanoid form.
"You should already have seen it, Mirai."
The Goddess of the Future screamed within her mind and
decided it was seriously dull on the Astral Plane. "I HATE it
when humans aren't around..."
Kojiro sighed and would have nodded his head, but at the
moment he was just a globular form of energy. "Yeah, me
too."
"Huh?"
"I mean, they're interesting to watch and I miss having that
huge corner office overlooking the patio..." The great
Kami-sama was officially in whine mode. "I _could_ give that
all back, but then I have to concentrate really hard and I can't
go to the mortal world. You know I've only been there once?
You're soooo lucky to be able to go down there all the time,
Mirai. Mirai? Oi, Mirai?"
"Huh?! Oh, gomen, Kojiro, but I just had the funniest
vision..."
"What do you mean?" The blue tinted ball of energy moved
closer to the other one and nudged it slightly.
"I think we better get physical bodies soon..." she replied.
If the astral bodies had heads, all of them would have been
wearing sweatdrops. Mirai, realizing her words just a bit too
late, suddenly jumped. "NOT LIKE THAT!! I mean we have
to get to the physical plane quickly. Can't you feel it?"
Kojiro nodded his 'head' and concentrated. "Yep, the forces
are out of balance again. The Mazoku are on the move."
~~~
The sun was already low in the sky and she still hadn't
stopped practicing. She figured that food was secondary that
day and the last thing she needed was a full stomach to
make her sleepy. "Sleep is an enemy...like time, only
different."
"Well, that made a lot of sense, Naria-san." The sword hit
the soft earth with a dull thud as she whirled around and she
soon followed after losing her balance. "Ah, as graceful as
ever I see."
Naria's growl was fierce and made him hesitate in holding his
hand out to help her up. "What do you want? I'm through
with you forever."
"I don't want anything at all, Naria-san."
She scrambled to her feet and faced him, glaring at him with
shimmering blue eyes. "And I should just believe you?"
"Of course, you can trust me, Naria-san."
"Xelloss, I trust you as much as I'd trust a rock to suddenly
get up and sing me Otome no Inori," she shot back and
began to gather her things. "Just leave me alone, Mazoku."
"Okay, I will, Naria-san...I will..." His voice seemed to linger
in the air even after he had left and it gave the young
chimeran girl a chill. The wind had decided to pick up all of a
sudden and she pulled the edges of her cape closer around
her. Winter was coming soon, she reasoned, that's why it's
gotten so cold. After packing the rest of her things into a
small bag she had brought along, Naria set out for the town
again.
"It's just because winter is coming soon..." she murmured,
trying to ignore the feeling she was being watched and the
sound of someone following her. "Just winter..."
A twig snapped to her right and Naria felt the wind's icy
breath on her face as she ran full tilt through the forest.
"GAH, I HATE YOU XELLOSS METALLIUM!!!"
Two gloved hands threw the broken kindling into a fire and a
smile spread across the person's face. "She shouldn't be so
high-strung. Poor Naria-san will have gray hairs by the age of
forty-seven if she's not careful. Hmm...I wonder if chimeras
even get gray hairs..."
~~~
"What is it, Zelgadis Oniisama?" Mira-chan glanced down at
him and tightened her grip around his neck. "Is something
wrong?"
Zelgadis shook his head and shifted his weight to his left foot
as he adjusted his hold on Mira-chan. Carrying her
piggy-back style was harder than he had remembered what
with her gaining weight and that heavy armor she always
wore. "Just thought I heard something. You okay?"
"Hai, Zelgadis Oniisama!" she chirped and hugged him
around the neck again. "I'm always okay when you're here."
He caught himself before he smiled and was about to take
another step forward when a noise off to his left caught his
attention. In one fluid movement, he got Mira-chan off his
back and behind cover while drawing his sword and readying
a spell. The blur that came through the trees barely had
enough time to react or stop before he used the flat side of
his sword to trip it and send it flying into a nearby tree. It
slumped to the ground and barely blocked the next swing of
his sword.
"Whoa! Oniichan, it's me!!"
"Naria! Where have you been all day?" He quickly
apologized for sending her to meet the local flora and helped
her to her feet. "Well?"
"I was practicing in the woods and I guess I lost track of
time," she explained, digging the toe of her boot into the
ground. "Sorry."
"Naria Oneesama!" Mira-chan ran up and hugged her friend
around the waist. "I was so worried about you! I thought you
had taken off without me again."
The older girl casually tousled the inverse's hair and smiled.
"You know I would never leave you on purpose. Plus, don't I
always come back for you in the end?"
"Hai, Oneesama..." Mira-chan yawned and began to slump
against her. "I'm kinda tired...can we go home now?"
Naria nodded and glanced up at Zelgadis. "Yeah...let's go
home."
Gently cradling the young inverse in her arms, Naria
Graywords walked back to town with her brother and talked
over normal and not so normal things. However, only one
person knew that it his next words were going to be the most
important words that he had ever said to her and that person
was too busy trying to wake up her companion.
"Naria?"
She raised her head and looked up at him. "Hmm?"
"Why are you always so nice to Mira-chan even when she
annoys you?"
She shrugged slightly and stopped at the crest of the hill
overlooking the town. "Maybe it's because I want her to have
what I didn't...Maybe it's because I like her and want to see
her happy. I dunno. It's something though."
"Something, huh?" Zelgadis stopped just ahead of her,
staring at the sun as it sank behind the trees before them.
Naria smiled at his silhouetted form and nodded.
"Yeah, something special..."
He hesitated for a moment, lingering on a few words that
remained stuck in his throat. He turned and looked at her as
she began to sway to and fro, rocking the sleeping Mira-chan
like a baby. It had first been when she had helped that
chimeran girl, Sy, back at the compound...when he had
realized something. Then when she was crying in the
greenhouse and when she had died in his arms...he had
realized something, something important; something he didn't
understand.
"Something special..." he repeated and turned away again.
"Kinda like what we have, don't you think?"
Her head snapped to attention and she suddenly went rigid
as he spoke softly and hesitantly. "You know I'm not good at
these sort of things, Naria...but I have to tell you something."
"What is it, Oniichan?" She very carefully stepped forward
and stood next to him.
"When you were dying a month ago...I realized something.
It's like what you said about Mira-chan. You drive me nuts
sometimes and I feel like running away, but then...I dunno. I
guess I want to see you happy too. I want to see you have
what I didn't have. You had a family once, didn't you? Who
were they?" He stopped and looked down at her. The sun
glinted off the solitary diamond streaking down her cheek and
he instantly regretted saying anything at all. "Uh, uh, forget
about it, okay? I didn't mean to make you cry or anything."
She shook her head slowly and looked up at him, smiling
slightly as another tear threatened to fall. "It's not you...just a
memory of mine that fades with each passing moment. You
know that Mira-chan has no real parents, right? She's just a
shadow created from a defective mirror that's now smashed
into millions of pieces and making sand on a beach now.
Oniichan....Zelgadis, I want to be her family because
mine...was taken away from me just like her. She's never
known what a real family is like and the only memory I have
of mine are sad or fading like the sun over there. I guess I'm
doing this for a selfish reason, but as long as it's benefiting
us both, it won't do any harm will it?"
There was a slight pause as the sun disappeared behind the
trees and the sky began to turn a dark purple color. He
shook his head and glanced down at her expectant face. He
knew there was another question coming and he dreaded it
as much as he was curious to hear it. Finally, just as the
last vestiges of the sun disappeared, she muttered out her
query. "Zelgadis...do you think of me as a real sister or just
as another weird friend?"
He stiffened and began to walk forward. "You're both."
~~~
"Do you really think anything's going to happen? I mean,
they've been gone all day long. Can't we go out for yogurt or
something?"
"Oh, stop whining. Honestly, you haven't shut up since we
first arrived in the mortal world," Imako sighed and leaned
against her glaive as they stood in the shadows. "They have
to come back sometime. I just saw Lina and that blond guy
walk in there so the others must not be far behind."
"It's dark...can't we go inside?" Kako asked, stressing 'dark'
and 'inside' as much as possible. Imako glanced up and
shook her head at his floating form. He sighed and continued
to pace back and forth on the wall. "It's so boring out here. I
should have brought my book with me. Hey, do you think
Mirai has a book I can borrow?"
Imako was about to respond when something else caught her
eye. "Kako, get down!!"
He turned and felt the sudden wind slam into him, almost
sending him flying out of the alleyway. Instead, he fell to the
ground and rolled into the far wall. "I-Ite..."
"Well...seems like I'm done here. Goodbye, young gods..."
someone hissed. The young goddess was about to turn and
face their opponent when her head suddenly felt very light and
she was forced to sit down.
~~~
The darkness enveloped them both as they ran. She never
looked back, but could hear someone screaming. <<Must
run...must run...Run. Run. RUN!!>> The wet leaves slapped
against her face as she sped through the forest and then she
emerged into a large clearing. Someone was beside her,
running along with her, but she couldn't see who it was.
"Who? What?"
The figure suddenly dropped to their knees, their coughing
racking their body. "Run..."
She gingerly grabbed the stranger around the waist and tried
to pull them back up, but they turned their face to her and
she screamed. The man fell back to the earth and stared up
at the sky, his eyes dimming.
His voice sounded gravelly and it was almost like something
was blocking his wind pipe as he spoke. "Naria?"
She crawled over to him and lay her head on his chest,
listening to the quieting heartbeat. "Hai?"
"Run..."
"I can't anymore...my legs hurt..." she replied, closing her
eyes.
"Even if it hurts...run...you have to live...run, Naria-chan..."
"I can't leave you, Otousama...I can't..." Tears began to
stream down her face as his heart came to a standstill for a
moment. "I can't...leave the ones I love anymore..."
"Don't disobey me. Leave. Now." His voice became forceful
once more and she sat up, staring down into his face. "I
don't care anymore, Naria. Go away. Get out of here. Run
away."
Naria stood slowly, backing away from him. He turned his
head and stared at her as she began to leave. Then she
suddenly whirled around and ran into the forest again, tears
falling away from her eyes like rivers. Her small hands
grabbed at a low tree branch and she instantly swung herself
up into the branches and into safety. There she sat, hugging
her knees and burying her face in her crossed arms, and she
cried.
"Hey, wake up!" Naria woke with a start and found her
brother staring down at her. She quickly hid her face and
wiped away the tears that she knew were escaping from her
dream. "You alright?"
She nodded her head and slipped out of bed. "W-why are
you in here?"
Zelgadis sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. "You
woke me up with your crying. Are you sure nothing's-"
He was abruptly interrupted as she buried her face in his
chest, trembling slightly. "Make them go away, Oniichan..."
"Make what go away?"
"The faces...the nightmares...make them go away...Oniichan,
help me..." she whimpered and let him cradle her. All she
needed at the moment was someone to tell her that it would
be alright and he did just that by resting his cheek against
the top of her head.
~~~
"Jeez, Naria, what'd you eat last night? You were up until the
early morning moving around and you kept me up!" Lina
growled through her breakfast. "What's wrong?"
Naria shook her head and continued to sip her coffee and
stare out the window. "Nothing."
"Naria Oneesama and Zelgadis Oniisama were up all night
talking and doing stuff together, Miss Lina," Mira-chan offered
as she made the marshmallows in her hot chocolate dance
with her spoon. Naria almost spit her coffee across the room
and began gagging as soon as she had swallowed. "Ah!
Naria Oneesama, are you alright?!"
"Doing 'stuff' together? What kind of 'stuff'?" Amelia asked,
suddenly interested in the conversation.
Mira-chan took Naria's inability to answer as an opportunity
and explained as she patted the older girl on the back.
"Naria Oneesama couldn't sleep last night. They were talking
about dreams and other things like that and then Zelgadis
Oniisama helped Naria Oneesama improve her
swordsmanship. Why?"
Amelia blushed slightly and turned away. "No reason."
Lina sighed and put her cup down. "Well, breakfast is over for
me. I'll see you guys later, alright?"
"Where are you going, Lina-san?" Amelia asked as she
sipped her cocoa.
"Just to check out the local magic shops. Zelgadis said he
found an interesting one on the edge of town and if he's
interested, then it has to be really good." She gathered up
her things and headed towards the door.
"Do we tell Mr. Gourry where you are when he comes down,
Miss Lina?" Mira-chan asked, still pounding on Naria's back.
She shrugged. "If he asks. See ya!"
"Mi-ra-cha-n, you. Can. Stop. Hit-ting. Me. Now." Naria
managed to stammer out. Mira-chan squeaked and pulled
her hand back.
"Sorry, Naria Oneesama!"
The chimeran girl smiled slightly and stood up, brushing the
hair out of her eyes. "Mira-chan, run upstairs and tell
Oniichan that I've left so he won't worry. Be back before noon
or somewhere near supper at the latest."
The inverse nodded and left immediately, carrying her cup of
cocoa with her. Amelia waited politely until she was gone,
then stood up and caught Naria just before she went outside.
"May I talk with you for a moment, Naria-san?"
~~~
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course I'm sure!! It's a second chance and so far
nothing's gone wrong. Are you doubting me?"
"Why of course not! I'm merely stating the fact of how it will
blow up in your face no matter what you do. Those gods are
interfering in her life more than you would expect."
"Oh...the gods won't be a problem...at least, not for a long
time."
"Are you sure about that, Dolphin?"
"Of course I am, Xellas. Do you think I would be the one to
let loose ends dangle in front of a wolf? Now, now, you know
me better than that."
"Hn, I suppose so. Now, it's your turn."
"Ah, yes. Do you have any twos?"
"Nope, go fish."
~~~
"What is it, Amelia?" Naria scratched her shoulder against
the building's stucco wall and glanced down at the young
princess. The sun was just rising and it seemed like the
town was just waking up even if the streets were only
half-filled. After evoking no response from her companion,
Naria decided to ask the question again. "You said you
wanted to talk to me, so talk."
The princess swallowed audibly and fiddled with the edge of
her white cape. "Anou...Naria-san? You are Zelgadis are
really good friends, aren't you?"
Naria shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, we are kind of
like brother and sister."
Amelia nodded and paused again. "So...you know him pretty
well, right?"
"Yeah. You have a crush on him or something?" Naria was
fortunately looking away at the moment and completely
missed the huge blush running across the younger girl's face.
"Listen, I don't care if you do or not, but he isn't the most
emotional guy you could go for. Sure, he's good to his
friends, but right now he's not really looking for anyone if you
haven't noticed. I think he's more worried about getting his
so-called life back in order and keeping his newly acquired
little sister out of trouble."
"You?"
"Nah, not me, her." Amelia looked up to where Naria was
pointing and found Mira-chan waving at them from two stories
up. "She's a handful and even if I'm the first one she met,
she's migrating more towards Oniichan now. Eventually,
she'll come to depend on him and not me, then he'll really
have something to deal with."
The princess waved back and smiled while she spoke.
"Won't you miss her, Naria-san?"
"Yeah...I will, but Oniichan's more suited to teaching her
about life on the road. I've been cooped up at Garrou for so
long, I forget about how dangerous life out here can be for a
human girl. I guess...she's safer with him." Naria lowered
her head and sighed. "Amelia, move three steps to the left."
The younger girl blinked and did as she was told as she
asked why. Naria smiled at her for a moment, then stepped
forward and caught a rapidly moving blur as it fell from the
sky. "Welcome back, Mira-chan."
The inverse continued to stare at the sky and pointed up for a
moment. Naria followed her finger and barely had enough
time to blink before the coffee mug hit her in the head and
shattered, spraying hot chocolate everywhere.
"Great..." the chimeran girl mumbled. "Just...great..."
~~~
"Will you wake up already?! Jeez, you think the great god of
all gods wouldn't go to sleep on the JOB!!" Mirai ranted and
shifted under the weight of her superior. Lugging him around
piggy-back all day was not her idea of a fast walk and he was
heavy as a mortal. "Why do you sleep all the time anyway?"
"Hard work to help control the world..." came the mumbled
reply. "Step left."
Mirai did as she was told and narrowly missed being hit by a
runaway ball. "I knew that!! Don't lecture the Goddess of the
_Future_, Kojiro. I already saw that coming."
"Hn..." he said and began to slip off her back. She hefted
him up again and grumbled about how she wasn't supposed
to be the resident taxi service. "Don't gripe....I'll carry you for
the next thirty miles if you want..."
Mirai grinned. "Fine, next thirty miles starts now!"
The great Kami-sama did not look all that graceful as he fell
off her back and landed in the dusty road. Nor did he sound
graceful once he got up.
~~~
"Hey, you're that Lina Inverse girl, aren't you?"
Lina glanced up from reading the monthly sorcery journal.
"Yes, I'm that beautiful sorcery genius everyone talks about.
What do you want?"
The golden haired youth standing in front of her smiled and
handed her a note. "This came to me through higher
sources."
Lina took it and looked it over before saying, "Uh...thanks."
The boy bowed politely. "Goodbye then, Lina-sama."
The sorcery genius just watched the boy walk away and
blinked as he disappeared when the sunlight hit him. Then
she groaned, more and more people in her life were ending up
to be inhuman or gods. It was getting too much for her.
"Might as well see what the note says..."
She opened it up and read it silently, then read it again. The
yellowed paper contained few words scrawled in a bluish ink
with rather tidy script writing. It said: "Lina Inverse-sama,
please be informed that the Mazoku are on the move and you
are in danger."
~~~
"Oi, you alright down there?" Zelgadis asked as he leaned out
his window.
"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. Mira-chan, nothing's hurt is it?"
Naria's brow was knitted in concern at the still silent inverse
as she slowly nodded her head. "What happened?"
"I was watching the people across the street and leaned out
too far. I guess I fell over..." she explained timidly. When
Amelia asked who she was talking about, she pointed
towards the alleyway. "The two people in the alley over there.
They've been watching us since last night."
Naria followed her finger yet again and frowned. "Mira-chan...
wait here."
She set the inverse down and walked over to the sidestreet,
drawing her sword as she went. The younger girl started out
like she was going to follow, then stopped and looked up at
Zelgadis. His attention was also focused on Naria as she
approached the two strangers so she gingerly stepped
forward.
"Whoever you are, come out before I slit your throats from ear
to ear!" the chimeran girl threatened and stopped just before
entering. One of the shadows moved and Mira-chan ran up,
grabbing Naria around the waist in a tight hug.
"Don't hurt them, Naria Oneesama! I think they're already
hurt..." she cried and peered out from behind the chimera's
legs. "Are you two alright?"
This time both of the shadows moved and then froze. Naria's
eyes widened slightly and she was about to grab one of the
silhouettes when they both just vanished into thin air. The
chimeran girl narrowed her eyes and gently took Mira-chan's
hand. "Let's go...I have a bad feeling about this."
She then led the young girl away and returned to the inn,
Amelia trailing after her.
~~~
"That's why I have to leave, do you understand?" Naria said
softly, her hands firmly placed on Mira-chan's shoulders. The
inverse hiccupped and nodded as the tears streamed down
her face. "Hey, hey now...you said you'd try to control your
tears from now on. Don't cry on my account. I'm just going
on a little trip, I'll be back as soon as I can."
The girl nodded again and looked up at Naria, her ruby eyes
searching for an answer. "Is it alright to cry if my heart feels
like it's going to die?"
In one fluid movement, Naria had Mira-chan caught up in a big
hug. She gently held the girl's head against her shoulder and
let her tears stain her shirt. This was going to be the sword
that severed her last tie to Mira-chan...the one that broke her
last promise. "Yeah...when it's like that...you can cry all you
want."
"You promised you'd never leave me again..." the younger girl
whispered. Naria glanced up at her brother as he stood over
them and sought comfort in his cold blue eyes.
"I know, Mira-chan...I know...Oniichan, take care of her while
I'm gone, will you?" He nodded curtly and held onto Mira-chan
as Naria climbed out the window. "Be back soon."
The inverse refused to meet the other girl's eyes as she left
and continued to cry long after she had gone.
~~~
"What do you mean, 'she left'?!" Lina screamed, slamming
her fists into the table. Her dinner had yet to be touched and
so did everyone else's.
"Just that, she left. Something happened today and it
triggered something in her and she left. As far as I know,
she's gone back to Garrou to check up on the compounds,
but I don't know why," Zelgadis explained, eyes flitting over to
the hallway. "Whatever is happening, she told us not to
follow her."
"Like hell we're not going to!" Lina was raging mad now and
she quickly pulled Gourry out of his chair and towards the
door. "We're leaving right now to get that idiot back here!
We don't need another battle or something starting up!"
"Oi, Lina, why are you so mad?" the blonde swordsman
asked as he was dragged outside.
"Because I got a note today saying that the Mazoku were
coming to get us and I specifically told her not to leave before
she did! Now I'm pissed and I'm missing dinner to go retrieve
her from that psycho farm before she kills herself! We're all
leaving NOW!" The door slammed shut after she and Gourry
had left, leaving Zelgadis, Mira-chan, and Amelia sitting alone
in the dining hall.
"I've never seen her get that upset about anyone disobeying
her before..." Amelia murmured. Mira-chan glanced up from
her plate and stared at the door.
"There's another reason though." Zelgadis sighed. "Naria
was also carrying most of the money for this trip and without
it Lina doesn't eat. Let's go."
Amelia sighed and let her head hit the table. "I knew there
was a second motive behind her actions..."
"Zelgadis Oniisama...are we going to get Naria Oneesama
back?"
"Yeah, we're running after my idiot sister yet again. You'd
think the Fates were conspiring against us for some reason.."
he muttered and pulled up his hood as he opened the door.
"Ready?"
"Hai." Mira-chan was lacking the usual enthusiasm, but that
didn't dwell long on the minds of those present. Amelia
followed the duo out soon after and the only real thought was
of a certain piglet wondering where they had all gone.
~~~
"Ah, so they DO know about us then."
"It seems to be that way, Juu'ou-sama," Xelloss reported and
pulled his master's hair up into a ponytail. "What would you
like me to do about this?"
Xellas shrugged and handed him a blood red ribbon. "Just
watch them for the time being. If they know about us is of no
concern. It is only if they act against us. Oh, and you might
want to inform Dolphin of these recent developments. She's
been in a good mood since I let her win at the game this
afternoon."
Xelloss nodded and finished tying the ribbon around Xellas'
gathered hair. She handed him a set of red jeweled berets
and stared into the mirror. "Xelloss, do me a favor."
"I'm always at your service, Juu'ou-sama," he replied
automatically and secured the berets in her snow-white hair.
"What is it that you need?"
"Dash over to Garrou and stick with the plan. It would not be
advised that anything should go off course," she said with a
rather blase tone and waved Xelloss off. "Do not fail me,
Xelloss Metallium, or I will be forced not to let you play
outside for a long time."
The Mazoku general priest bowed curtly and disappeared
again. "Hn...Lina Inverse is proving to be more of a bother
than I first suspected...This game is shaping up very nicely."
~~~
The rickety boat sat on the white sand beach and only one
pair of tracks led away from it into the forest. The trail itself
was not hard to follow, but reaching the end of it alive would
be a task for anyone not accquainted with the tiny island.
Fortunately for her, she had spent most of her life wandering
the deserted expanses of the isle and had laid most of the
traps herself. When she emerged from the thick underbrush,
she had expected to see a huge crater or a brand research
facility. However, what she found was far from what she had
expected.
~To be Continued~