Meeting of Mazoku
"Lina Inverse is alive?" Sylphiel
"Don't be ridiculuous, the bitch" Martina sneered
at the last word, after all, she knew just how it
could fit Lina now. "has been dead for more than a
year."
"What, when did Lina die?" Gourry asked. "I thought
we were looking for her."
"We are looking for her," Amelia answered him,
rolling her eyes. "She's not dead."
"But no one has heard from her in all that time,"
Sylphiel noted. "There were the rumors about how she
lost her power, and then her death in a bandit ambush
or something. Are you saying they aren't true? She's
been hiding all this time?"
"They're half-right," Zelgadis said. He dismounted
and walked over to Martina's horse.
"What do you want?" the girl asked him snidely. Her
green roots were just now starting to show.
"Lina lost her magic," he reached up and grabbed a
hold of the dress Martina was wearing, a rather
conservative one compared to other things she had
worn. "And this one knows how!" He pulled her off the
horse and threw her to the side of the road.
"She deserved it," Martina snarled, standing up and
watching chimera warily. "She took my kingdom from me,
made me a destitute wanderer. I merely repaid the
favor."
"What did you do?" Sylphiel asked quietly.
"The bitch really is a bitch now.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Zelgadis reared back his hand
and was surprised to find it restrained, he looked to
see Gourry holding his arm. The swordsman could never
hope to actually hold the chimera, but the gesture
stopped him well enough.
"You shouldn't hit women." Gourry lectured.
"You didn't show much..." Martina's comment was
interrupted by Amelia's punch. The purple-black haired
princess flexed her hand and shook it. Martina was
unconscious again.
"That hurts," Amelia whispered. "Damn she has a
thick head."
"What does she mean by that?" Sylphiel asked.
"Lina's a werefox," Gourry said as he let go of
Zelgadis's hand.
"She's a what?"
"A werefox," Amelia confirmed. "I've seen
her...change. But none of us have seen her since
shortly after it happened."
"B..but why would you want to find her," Sylphiel
asked.
"We had to go through this with Amelia already,"
Zelgadis grumbled. "She's still Lina. We've left her
behind one too many times already." Amelia blushed and
looked away, though neither of the men said anything
blaming her.
"Lina's been hunting bounties, and we haven't heard
anything about rampaging werecreatures along her
path," Amelia said. "But aside from waiting another
month or so for her to collect her armor, I don't see
how we're going to find her."
"Find Xellos and we'll find Lina," Zelgadis said.
"Then why not pay Filia a visit?" Gourry asked.
"Who's always fairly close to her and umm....uh...that
dragon guy who's a baby now?"
"Val Garv."
"That's him."
"Lets get off the road. Now." Zelgadis said.
"Who's this Filia person again?" Sylphiel asked.
"Do I know her?"
"I think you left before we met her. She's a gold
dragon."
"Oh."
"Well, something is going on here," Xellos mused as
he watched the excited state of affairs down in the
camp. The mazoku stayed close to them, teleporting
from concealing shadow to concealing shadow. He had
always loved the forest, the deep forest where the
shadows were almost as thick as the night. He assumed
that might be the infulence of his master, but at the
very least the forest was a good deal cleaner and more
dignified than a dungeon.
He had already been to Lina's cave, it was in
shambles, the few items of monetary value looted. That
had been more than a little upsetting, on the other
hand he was glad that Lina had called when she did. A
couple days' delay would have been devestating.
Xellos's head lifted at the sound of an approaching
horse, he watched the rider stop in front of the two
commanders. The man's dismount was more like a tumble.
The fear wafting off of him was delicious, in fact
Xellos doubted that he could form much in the way of
coherent thought.
"What is it? Stand up and give your report," the
man stumbled to his feet.
"Red....blood....blood....torn to pieces."
"They found him," Xellos smiled, remembering the
one bandit that had still been in the cave when he
showed up. There was now a small clearing near Lina's
cave that was seemingly painted red and strung with
guts and body pieces of that unfortunate man.
"See what he's babbling about," the obvious leader
told his second. "If it's Lady R'Lyeh we'll wish it
had been us."
"Lady R'Lyeh?" Xellos mumbled, the frowned. He was
pondering this when the portal opened and a quite
ordinary man stepped out. Xellos's eyes widened and
then narrowed.
A little more than a thousand years ago a small
group of medium level ryuzoku, mazoku, and a single
human that had stumbled upon the gathering by
accident, had taken it upon themselves to take a break
from the building conflict and put down a rogue
mazoku. It hadn't been a clear victory, the mazoku in
question had managed to seal himself away before they
could finish him off. Only one of the group survived,
and by the time it was over, Xellos wasn't human
anymore.
"What was it he was babbling," Xellos asked
himself. "The first of five? What was shall be."
"Do you have any useful news," the man, mazoku, asked
flatly.
"We found the thief's trail and lost it again when
they hit the road," he seemed about to say more when
there was a flash of black light and the man's body
fell to the ground seperate of its head.
"You are now in command," the mazoku informed the
second. "But do see what this poor fellow here was
jabbering about."
"Yes," the mazoku fixed him with a glare. "Master."
The bandit left half running, leaving the broken
minded bandit behind to stare up at their master. The
other mazoku paused and started casting his eyes about
the camp. Xellos sweated and tried to pull his aura
into himself. He did not want to be seen by this one
quite yet.
"Don't get in my way, Xellos," he whispered, the
sound still carrying to Xellos's ears. "You can't win
without all five, and Inverse is dead."
"That was your doing then?" Xellos stepped out into
light the bandit must have been sensitive, seeing
Xellos immediately called to mind the carnage he had
just seen. He began jabbering incessantly until he
erupted into flames with a gesture from Xellos. Nobody
came running at his cries, they knew their master was
there after all.
"Such anger, she was a good friend then, maybe
more?"
"That is of no concern to you."
"True, it doesn't matter any more does it. I'm
giving you one chance, the other three have already
proven themselves too much of a nuisance. Consider it
professional courtesy."
"When last we met, Regin, I was the greater."
"But things have changed again, haven't they?"
Xellos shifted uncertainly. "You don't have destiny on
your side any more."
"Perhaps I'll give you time to consider how I'm
going to kill you later," Xellos smiled as he faded
away. Regin frowned.
"He was afraid for someone else," the mazoku
frowned. "How very human of him, he'll be trouble."
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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