+-----------------+
            | |S|L|A|Y|E|R|S| |
            |S|T|A|R|B|O|A|R|D|
            +--+-----+--------+------------------------------+
               | Two | The Life and Death of Ordinary People |
               +-----+---------------------------------------+

          A Slayers Fanfic Series by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne

     (Certain characters copyright H. Kanzaka / R. Araizumi, obviously.
    If I ever even considered claiming that those were my own characters
    I'd probably be thrown into a small cell where I'd be forced to eat
                 my own testicular fortitude to live.)

  Check out the web center with fanart, *exclusive side stories* and more, at
             --> http://pixelscapes.com/slayers/starboard <--

-=-

     It's downright arrogant to claim that man has fully explored the world.  
It's true that in the thousands of years the world has existed since its 
birth in the shoals of the Sea of Chaos that man has poked around the 
landscape... even with the god-sealing shield, it's fair to say they've seen 
every part of the dry world above.

     But the vast majority of the world lies underwater.  These are 
landscapes the sun doesn't touch, vast mountain ranges, deep valleys, 
oasises, wastelands... just because the atmosphere is more hydrogen than 
oxygen doesn't make it any less valid than the sunny and dry lands above.

     Life goes on down here, and death takes its toll.  The population counts 
in the billions from the animals (the fish) to the civilized cultures 
(mermaids, whales) to the great sea-gods (aqua dragons, sea elves) to the 
deep darkness of demons (Mazoku).

     In the bottom of the deepest trench in the ocean's floor lies a city.  
It can be legitimately considered the lowest of the low; a few miles farther 
down and it would pop out the other side of the tableau of the world.  The 
city has no light whatsoever but its occupants do not require light.  Their 
eyes are built differently from an ordinary human's.

     Nevertheless, a tiny light lit up, as a magical ignition spell was 
flicked into existence.  A shadowed figure touched the light to a rolled up 
stick of sea kelp, lighting it, and took a long draw.  His black trenchcoat 
floated slowly behind him, as his chest rose and fell with mixture gas/fluid 
breaths... slow and measured.  With a relaxed exhalation, gray-smoked bubbles 
rose.  He was cool.  He was calm.  He was keeping it under control.

     Because at any minute, his master would summon him.  Then things could 
get hairy.  She had this bizarre tendency as of late ('as of late' meaning 
the last seven hundred years) of having wild mood swings, and if this was an 
off day, things could go badly.  He had to go into it alert but calm, so he 
could adapt.  He always adapted, he always survived.  That's just what he 
was.

     "KYLE!!!"

     The sonar waves that pulsed his name weren't in a human language, but he 
wasn't human and that was just fine.  The Mazoku squished out his smoke on 
the wall and tossed it into the drift, then floated into the throne room of 
Deep Sea Dolphin.

     Kyle made sure not to interrupt the flow of servant-beasts as he 
approached, carrying freshly cooked and prepared human meat to Deep Sea 
Dolphin's dinner table.  He didn't flinch at this; if the landwalkers ate 
fish, why shouldn't fish eat landwalkers?  It was the natural order of 
things.

     "Come, come," Deep Sea waved, setting a leg she was gnawing on down.  
She wasn't messy despite the gorging; not a hair out of place, it wouldn't do 
to be unfashionable.  "I have great news!  Terrific news!  Beyond wonderful."

     Good, Kyle thought.  She's in a good mood.

     "How may I be of service, o terrible dreadlord Deep Sea Dolphin?" Kyle 
asked, executing a perfect sweeping bow.

     "Get me the map to the Island of Mists," Deep Sea said simply.  "That is 
all, dismissed."

     "The what?" Kyle said before realizing he'd said it, and that changed 
everything.

     "You don't KNOW?!" Deep Sea snarled.  "I expect you to stay informed on 
all matters, Kyle Kyrie!  You are my General, are you not?  Stay informed!  
Be prepared!  You can be replaced!  I'm not paying you to be stupid!!"

     He took it in stride.  He didn't live this long by pointing out that he 
wasn't getting paid at all and the Mazoku did not have a dental plan or 
vacation days.  "Yes, m'lady.  I will endeavor to be.. more informed.  As for 
this map..."

     Leaving out the next part of the sentence worked.  "It's a map to an 
island containing great power," Deep Sea explained, her mood swinging back to 
jovial.  "Nobody knows exactly what SORT of power, but the fact that the 
Dragons worked so hard to keep it out of our hands before the great war... 
does it sound DELICIOUS, Kyle?  I feel so wonderful just thinking about it.  
Now go get it.  You are dismissed."

     "Begging your pardon and praying that you do not crush my ignorant 
self," Kyle prefixed, "But where is this map you want, exactly?"

     "Oh, some silly human uncovered a bit of it," the Mazoku Lord said, 
picking up the leg she was working on and waving it about in a bored manner.  
"It's been hidden for so long that we've had no leads until now.  But a piece 
of the map is now out in the open, in what the humans call the Archetypicos 
Archipelago!  Ignorant landwalkers and their ridiculous names..."

     "Indeed, m'lady," Kyle said, instead of saying 'Can't say I've ever been 
there, Deepie.  I wouldn't have the foggiest idea of where to look for the 
blasted thing.'

     "You will have a guide, of course," Deep Sea said.

     The Mazoku General breathed in relief.

     "My prodigy Royl'kahlagesh'fineskishrlop will take you."

     Blast.

     "As you command, m'lady," Kyle spoke, pressing a fist to his chest in 
salute.  "I will launch immediately."

                                  [*]

     Waiting outside the city of demons, Kyle could only think one thing: it 
HAD to be him, didn't it?  It just had to.  Of all the two-bit ghouls to 
saddle him with, it just HAD to be--

     "BEHOLD!!" a voice echoed in his mind, as a tentacle demon faded into 
view, belching clouds of poison and bile into the ocean as he glowed a fierce 
orange.  "IT IS I, ROYL'KAHLAHESH'FIN--"

     "You can cut the theatrics, Roy, I know who you are," Kyle said, rubbing 
out his latest smoke.  He didn't bother putting on the bowing and scraping 
like he did for his Lord... not for this subcreature.  "And before you go 
into some rant, let's get the pecking order straight: I am Deep Sea Dolphin's 
General.  You are some whiny little sixty year old kid with way too many 
phallic tentacles to be taken seriously."

     Roy's voice rose to a high whine, his ego visibly deflated.  "Hey, you 
don't have to--"

     "Yes, I do," Kyle explained.  "I didn't become the oldest living Mazoku 
next to the Lords and Shaburanigdo himself by letting snotnosed brats like 
you screw up my missions for me.  So you're going to shut up, take me to 
where I want to go and stay out of my way.  No flashy dramatics, no trying to 
show off and please Deepie -- and no sucking up to me the way you suck up to 
her.  I don't care how much you please her in bed, it means nothing to ME in 
the field.  So, before we run off on this wild goose chase, are we clear on 
the ground rules?"

     Roy said nothing.  His tentacles were limp.

     "That's better," Kyle said, nodding in approval.  Not that were would be 
any problems, of course; this map thing was probably a hoax.  At least it'd 
get him away from the city for a few hours.  Some time to kill.

     Lighting up a fresh smoke, he tossed an energy loop around Roy, and held 
on as the younger Mazoku started to swim off to their destination.

     "Where're we goin', exactly?" Kyle asked.

     One of Roy's eyestalks glanced back at him.  "Ordinary Island."

     "Huh.  Sounds boring."

     He was wrong, of course.


                               +-------------+
                               |P|A|R|T|O|N|E|
                               +-------------+


     'Boring' is a very relative term.  Case in point: Ordinary Island.

     In the strictest of technical terms, it was a pile of sand and rock in 
the middle of the ocean.  Exciting.  Even the single human-made structure 
(the Ordinary Island Rest Stop) failed to make the island more interesting; 
it was a squat white structure with a plain yellow roof to match the color of 
the sand, complete with a tall lighthouse that was not currently lit.

     A six year old could draw Ordinary Island using eleven line segments and 
one circle (the sun).

     On the other hand, you can stand on the shores of Ordinary Island, and 
truly experience it rather than analyze it.  Breathe in the fresh sea air, 
the scent of endless waters.  The cool breeze that seems to eternally caress 
the island is present, keeping it comfortable without being cold, pleasant 
without being hot.  The sky is bright, as is the sun, but not so bright as to 
hurt the eyes; you wouldn't want to stare directly into the sun, granted, but 
the cheerful blue up above is a pleasant companion to the deep blue of the 
ocean.  Just sitting on the shores of Ordinary Island, for someone used to 
the hustle and bustle of mainland-life, is a refreshing drink of pure 
relaxosoothing yummy goodness.

     Unless you're too busy coping with loss to appreciate it.

     Amelia pushed around the last bit of her hot dog, while sitting at the 
picnic table set up near the docks.  Her stomach wasn't really up to eating 
anything, but she didn't want to worry the others... she simply ate very 
slowly, trying to concentrate on it, instead of on other matters.  Other 
matters such as the death of her sister, known to some as Gracia and to 
others as Naga.

     "Pass the relish," her fellow mourner Lina Inverse said in a jovial 
tone.  "These have got to be the BEST hot dogs I've ever had!  I tell you, 
people may dis fast food but there's something to be said about a style of 
cooking that involves frying everything in vats of grease.  My compliments to 
the chef!"

     "Thanks," the chef said.  His name was Joe and he was the least 
interesting person you could meet, which is probably how he ended up running 
the Ordinary Island Rest Stop.

     Amelia quietly passed the green jar of relish to Lina, setting it down 
without even a clink of glass.

     "Thanks, Amelia.  Hey, you're not eating the rest of that?" Lina asked, 
pointing to her stub of food.  "Too many compressed unidentifiable animal 
parts for your tastes?"

     "..." Amelia responded.

     "Or is it your sister?" Lina asked.

     "..."

     "Lina, don't be so callous," Zelgadis chastised, trying to keep his 
displeasure in check.  "She is clearly not in the mood to banter about the 
food.  Have some respect for the dead."

     "I don't think she's dead," Lina said simply, spreading more relish on 
her sixth hot dog.

     Amelia's head snapped up quick enough to give her a headache.  Hope was 
something she had a habit of jumping on in the way Lina jumped on a chicken 
leg.  "What?  What do you mean, Lina?"

     "Joe, you said you saw the ship go down, right?" Lina asked.

     "Yes," Uninteresting Joe said plainly.  "It went down in about ten 
seconds.  Darndest thing I ever saw."

     "That doesn't imply anything," Lina said.  "I know Naga.  She's 
resourceful and clever.  There's no way a simple shipwreck could take her 
down.  So, she's probably alive somewhere, looking for us or just going ahead 
and looking for the island."

     Zelgadis folded his hands in front of his face, peering over them at 
Lina.  "Admittedly there is no hard evidence of her passing, but there is no 
hard evidence of her survival as well, Lina.  What makes you so certain?"

     "People like us don't die in such stupid ways," Lina said.  "We're too 
important to just drown in our sleep.  Each one of us has gotten out of far 
more dangerous situations than that without as much as a scratch!"

     The young princess measured Lina's words.  "I guess that's true... I 
mean, it does seem kind of... simple.  Just to, you know... die in your 
sleep... that doesn't really happen..."

     With each word, her hope wobbled, but Lina didn't pay attention to that.  
"Exactly!" Lina replied.  "Look, we can easily figure this mess out.  You and 
I can slap on some Aqua Breathe spells and do a quick undersea dive.  We'll 
have enough air through the spell to search to the wreck of the Fiasco.  If 
there's no dead Naga, well, case closed!"

     "Macabre, but it has a logic," Zelgadis agreed.  "Perhaps I ought to go 
instead of Amelia, however... I... have more experience using the spell in 
that regard."  And I wouldn't be traumatized if Lina is wrong, he didn't add.

     But Amelia stood up quickly, on those words.  "No... I want to go," she 
said.  "I have to know.  I'd just worry myself sick if I had to wait here for 
you to get back, Zelgadis-san."

     "Amelia--"

     "I know you're looking out for my best interests, Zelgadis," Amelia 
said, without specifying how.  But the understanding was there.  "But I have 
to do this.  Thank you for thinking of me."

     "You guys are good friends," Uninteresting Joe stated.

     "It's settled!" Lina said, dabbing daintily at her lips with a napkin.  
"Okay, let's roll.  This won't take too long.  Gourry, you and Zelgadis help 
Phinneas finish unloading Joe's stuff."

     "Thrilling," Zelgadis sarcasted.

     "Hey, there's four of us and only so much adventure to go around," Lina 
said.  "Besides, Gourry can't breathe underwater."

     "I can hold my breath for ten minutes!" Gourry spoke up.

     Lina's mind boggled.  "Err... wouldn't the lack of oxygen to your brain 
sort of... no, wait, remember who you're talking to, Lina.  We can handle 
this just fine, Gourry.  Your important job is to move boxes from the ship to 
the building!  I place a great deal of responsibility on you with this task, 
and I look forward to the successful completion of your work!"

     "Right!!" Gourry beamed, flexing a muscular arm as a demonstration of 
his manly power.  "You can count on me!"

     He's easy to please, Lina thought.  She took one last sip of her sugary 
sweet lemonade, set the paper cup aside, and got ready.

     "Let's get going, Amelia," Lina said.  "Sooner we look, sooner we find 
what we're looking for.  Or hopefully, not find."

     Amelia nodded along, smiling as they walked off... not her usual 
mindless grin of joy, but a genuine smile.  That in itself frightened Lina, 
giving herself pause... because that wasn't going to be the sort of smile 
that could take bad news easily.  But Lina was right about this.  She had to 
be right.

     Some part of her couldn't bear to be wrong about Naga.

                                  [*]

     Searching can be a profession.  There are such things as professional 
trackers... people capable of locating you halfway around the world, by 
following scent, footprints, broken twigs, dropped matchbooks with the full 
name and address of the inn you're staying at, things like that.  Signs are 
always left behind which act like a series of glowing arrows pointing right 
to you, no matter how hard you may hide.

     Often, such people in need of hiding will run through a river or cross a 
lake, assuming that the water will mask them perfectly.  It's true that a 
searcher tuned to finding you on land will be baffled at that point.  It's 
not true that the mask is perfect.  You just need the right kind of nose.

     Picture a wolf, keenly tuned to the five senses and looking for its 
prey.  The wolf will pause in one place, checking the signs... once it has 
evaluated the clues, it changes course, and off it goes.  There are wolves of 
the sea.  One of them was studying a particular patch of ocean at that very 
moment.

     The wolf had slowed to a stop on its normal course.  This part of the 
water looked like any other part, to a land-oriented tracker.  To this wolf, 
the wake and turbulence in the waters as well as bits of driftwood lurking 
just below the surface spoke of a ship-to-ship battle.

     Two vessels were involved.  One used gunpowder and cannons; the round 
metal shots currently were on the ocean's floor, and faint traces of the 
chemical expellant still floated in invisible slicks atop the waves.  The 
other boat used a magical spell... the unmistakable haze of invisible energy 
was clear to its eyes.

     Both ships collided.  There was a battle, and one ship sailed on its 
original course... the other altered course and slowly made its way 
elsewhere.

     Only the victor mattered.  The wolf had no idea who the victor was, but 
clearly they were the greater threat, and would have to be dealt with first.  
That was what caused the hunter to change directions and slowly creep upon 
Ordinary Island.

     In this case, the beast was a large three-sailed boat with golden trim 
and a blood-red sail.  It did not have to go particularly fast; it wasn't 
like the prey could ever escape it.  None ever had.

                                   [*]

     The small rowboat moved faster than any rowboat should legally be 
allowed to.  Lina didn't believe in that whole 'manual labor' thing, and 
didn't feel the need to do any strenuous rowing type activities when a good 
old fashioned Bomb Di Wind gave her enough propulsion.  Angle it down at the 
sea, and you may kick up a ten foot wake behind you that wouldn't settle for 
an hour, but who cares what's behind you at that speed?  And it wasn't like 
anybody was tracking her.

     There was always the risk of knocking herself out of the boat, but she 
had a good footing, and Amelia could spot her in the event of disaster.  
Amelia had focused on the here and now... eager to get down into the water 
and find that shipwreck.  Lina considered going out a bit farther... but they 
were probably close enough, and Amelia wanted to get going.  She reversed the 
casting, a sort of braking technique, and realized after the fact that they'd 
get soaked in the process.

     Lina spat up some seawater, and shook her head free.  "Okay, Amelia, 
we're here! All set?"

     "Uh, Lina-san, the boat needs to be bailed out," Amelia said, lifting a 
wet foot out of the six inch deep puddle.  "Otherwise it could sink before we 
get back.  Did you bring a bucket?"

     "Amelia, we don't need a bucket," Lina reminded.  "We're sorceresses.  
We only lift a finger when we need to wave it about mystically and make the 
world dance to our beat.  Levitation, you grab one end, I'll grab the other; 
we tip the water out and set the thing back down.  Ahem.  LEVITATION!"

     She floated out of the boat, and grasped one end of it.  On the count of 
three, she pulled upwards and nearly got a hernia when she realized moments 
too late just how heavy all that seawater would be.

     The second attempt went better, with both of them lifting the rear of 
the boat instead to drain it; the wooden craft slapped back into the rocking 
waves nice and empty.  Problem solved.

     "How long can you hold the Aqua Breathe spell?" Lina asked, standing on 
one end of the boat, and preparing her chants.  "This may take some time."

     "I can hold it long enough," Amelia replied.  "Zelgadis-san trained me 
very well with Shamanism.  *AQUA BREATHE*!"

     Lina repeated the same words, and both sorceresses glowed briefly... 
they jumped off the boat, into the water, and did not come up for some time 
after that.

                                    [*]

     While Lina was having trouble with her muscle power, Gourry was not.  He 
wheeled in the next rack of crates with effortless ease, despite it weighing 
considerably more than he did; even on the seventh trip he was barely 
breaking a sweat.

     Neither was Zelgadis, but he had the advantage of stone skin that didn't 
sweat.  (Unless it was hot enough to melt rock.)  Still, Zelgadis was clearly 
getting winded from the long haul of boxes between the docks and the storage 
building.  Gourry made a point to go a little slower, so Zelgadis could catch 
up; Zelgadis made a point of pointing out that Gourry was making a point of 
it.

     "You go ahead," Zelgadis nearly ordered, as he pushed the rough rubber 
wheels over the loose sand, trying to get his load moving.  "I'll catch up."

     "Naah, it's okay," Gourry replied.  "But... you're really out of shape, 
you know.  Not that you look it."

     "My body doesn't change shape very much," Zelgadis explained.  "It's got 
a shell.  But my conditioning could stand a great deal of improvement... the 
last year has not been easy on me, Gourry.  Seeking a cure is not a very 
profitable business.  I've been relying more on magic than on swordfighting, 
as well."

     "Oh, I leave that stuff to Lina," Gourry said, still keeping pace with 
his companion.  "It works out pretty well; I lift the heavy stuff and cut up 
the monsters, she lights things on fire and handles the weird mystic stuff.  
You know, I always wondered why we eat the same amount, but I burn my 
calories in work and she doesn't lift a finger but still is stick thin..."

     "It has a lot to do with metabolism."

     "Who?"

     "Anyway," Zelgadis said, deciding explaining the concept to Gourry was a 
lost cause, "You and Lina have been mauling bandits constantly, right?"

     "Yeah."

     "I've been doing odd jobs," Zelgadis explained.  "Very odd jobs.  Poorly 
paying jobs.  Nothing that takes up so much of my time as to take away from 
my primary goal -- finding a cure.  As long as I can eat enough to stay alive 
and function adequately, it is worth it."

     "That doesn't sound like any fun at all," Gourry noted, a little 
disappointed.

     Zelgadis pushed hard, to get his two-wheeled crate mover up over a small 
step leading into the storage building.  "It's not supposed to be 'fun', it's 
supposed to be efficient.  The more time I spend on my search, the sooner it 
will be over.  This is the only real reason I'm going on this quest, Gourry.  
If this island is not a fairy tale, it will have what I want and that will be 
the end."

     Gourry lifted his entire stack up a few inches, to get it into the 
building behind Zel.  "That's the only reason?" Gourry asked.  "I figured you 
were also happy to see Amelia and everybody..."

     "This quest would be easier without having to put up with side 
diversions," Zelgadis said.  "I could probably find the island sooner than 
you guys if I had my own transport and nothing to hold me back."

     He had finished unstacking his crates and pushing the rack off against 
the wall before realizing Gourry hadn't spoken.

     "...of course, it is good to see you all again," Zelgadis added far too 
late.

     "No, hey, it's okay," Gourry said, without his usual mindless cheer... 
but without seeming to be upset, either.  "Don't worry about it.  It takes a 
lot more than that to hurt my feelings, Zel.  And I know that finding your 
cure's important to you.  Makes sense.  It's not like I don't have anything 
important to me."

     "You?" Zelgadis asked, surprised.

     "Sure," Gourry said, leaning against his crates, smirking a little.  
"Everybody's got hopes and dreams, right?  We were all kids once..."

     "But you've been tagging along with Lina ever since I knew you," 
Zelgadis said.  "At her beck and call to deal with everything SHE wants -- 
and we both know she wants a hell of a lot out of life.  I don't see you 
going out of your way to fulfil any of your own supposed hopes and dreams.  
Where do you find the time?"

     "I don't have to.  See--"

     A flutter of feathers interrupted him, as Captain Phinneas winged his 
way into the storage building.

     "What're ye standin' around yacking for?" he demanded to know.  "We've 
still got cargo to transport here, and I intend to cast off as soon as bloody 
well possible!  GET TO WORK!"

     "Aye, captain," Zelgadis responded, fetching his mobile rack again.  He 
didn't mind; if he expected others to understand his desire for efficiency, 
he'd respect it in others.  And it wasn't as if Gourry was likely to say 
anything poignant.

                               +-------------+
                               |P|A|R|T|T|W|O|
                               +-------------+

     For every rule, there is a workaround.  This was the rule-of-no-real-
rules that Lina followed in life and it hadn't failed her yet.  Sorcerers all 
over the world say 'Bah, you can't cast two spells at once, so what good are 
flight or water-breathing spells?' and then they don't give it another 
thought.

     The trick was not to find a way to cast two spells at the same time.  
There were ways around this, but they usually cut down on the amount of power 
you could cast or involved tricky-to-coax daemon quasi-intelligent 
accessories.  No... the best way around it was the simplest.  If you needed 
to breathe underwater AND see where the hell you're going, just bring a light 
with you instead of trying to cast Lighting.

     Lina long ago obtained a simple little dagger with a blade that could 
glow brightly in dark places.  It couldn't cut its way out of a wet paper 
sack but for swimming to a shipwreck, it cast just enough light to get the 
job done.

     They had swam for a short while before finding the boat.  It was only a 
little smaller than the rivetless boat Lina attempted to leave on; it had 
three sails, one more than the Lightfeather, three huge sails designed to 
catch the most wind for the most speed.  Clearly, a rapid delivery passenger 
transport ship for the truly elite.  Naga had probably coughed up a chunk of 
cash for this thing, which made Lina giggle a little (without drowning, of 
course).  Naga always did shoot for luxury if she could afford it... a trait 
Lina easily picked up.

     But as they approached the ship, it was clear something was wrong.  Or 
not wrong, as the case may be.

     "How did this sink?" Amelia asked (the words sliding through the linked 
spells easily), while the two floated in place.  "Lina, I don't see any big 
holes in the boat..."

     "Joe said this thing went down in a few seconds," Lina reminded.  "But 
you're right.  I don't see anything that could've taken this boat down, 
either.  The bottom isn't exactly flat and wouldn't hide a hole that big; we 
should be seeing some kind of damage.  Head around to the other side and see 
if you spot anything."

     Amelia swam off, leaving Lina alone to think about this.

     She couldn't think of what to think about it.  It didn't make much 
sense.  Ships are designed to float unless you do something stupid like knock 
a hole in them; then the water slowly comes in and fills the chambers of the 
ship.  This was a passenger vessel, and had many smaller rooms rather than 
one huge hold.  Water shouldn't have filled it that fast if it had to go one 
room at a time... maybe it'd only be a difference of a few seconds, but... 
no.  It didn't make any sense.

     Which meant Naga had to be alive, of course.  Nothing this bizarre would 
account for something as simple as death.

     "No hole!" Amelia shouted (the spell closing the distance perfectly, 
meaning it was like Amelia shouting in Lina's ear).  She floated up to land 
on the top of the sunken ship, and wave to Lina.  "There's no damage at all!"

     "Figures," Lina scoffed.  She swam up to join Amelia.  "Okay... we're 
going to search the wreck.  There's a lot of rooms, so this may take awhile.  
...and there's probably going to be yucky half-decomposing corpses in there.  
You wanna stay out here?"

     "I can't stay behind," Amelia repeated, echoing the earlier discussion.  
"I have to go in with you.  I have to know when you know... not that we'll 
find anything bad!  It's just like you said, right?  Naga's too smart to die 
in a stupid way!  And the way I see it, this is too bizarre to account for 
something as simple as death."

     "...right," Lina agreed, hearing her own thoughts quoted back at her.  
Both of them really were banking on this, weren't they?  That they wouldn't 
find anything worth batting an eyelash at...

     She ignored that thought, and pushed on.  It took some prying to get the 
door to the lower decks opened, so she just kicked it in, and waved the 
light-bearing blade.  Dim shadows were cast on the walls.

     "Okay... let's see what we can see," she said.  And floated inward, to 
the dark inner passages of the ship.

                                    [*]

     It was probably just his eyes playing tricks on him.  There weren't any 
fish this close to the surface that provided their own light sources; it was 
likely the sun reflecting off some bit of metal that made that dim light.  No 
big deal.

     Kyle dismounted from his ride, and took a few steps on the sandy ocean 
floor to steady himself.  The wreck of the human ship was pretty pristine; 
obviously Deepie's raiding parties hadn't stripped it clean of usable 
materials or meat yet.

     "So why're we here, Roy?" Kyle asked.

     "BEHOLD!" Roy shouted, in a voice that could probably carry to the 
whales.  "The blackest shadow of the torrent of evil speaks in sharp-fanged 
whispers--"

     "The short of it, Roy."

     "From what we can tell, the map's in there," Roy said quietly, a little 
annoyed that he couldn't give it his usual gusto.  He gestured to the wreck 
with a phallic tentacle.  "We were told it was on the human vessel called 
'The Fiasco'.  Some landwalker finally dug up a bit of the map out of its 
hiding place and pulled it in the open.  Fortunately, humans can't breathe 
water."

     "Did one of our boys pull the thing down?" Kyle asked.  "No, wait.  If 
they had, they'd have snatched the map right up.  What caused this wreck?"

     "Humans did," Roy said, as this was an explanation in and of itself to a 
Mazoku.

     It was an explanation Kyle understood.  They were inferior creatures, 
after all, and the whole 'boat' thing was just a hack to get them places they 
had no business being.  If the Lord of Nightmares wanted those damn monkeys 
to live on the sea, she would've given them flippers.

     "Right.  I'm goin' in," Kyle decided.  "Scouting the wreck, initial 
observations, that kind of thing.  YOU wait here and keep a lookout."

     "Look out for what?" Roy asked.  "There's nothing else around here but 
humans!  You know the outer-shielders don't have enough magic to scratch us.  
What's the big deal?"

     "The big deal is I'm better at this sort of thing than you are.  I don't 
need you blundering around making mistakes on the scene and screwing with the 
evidence."

     "You know, Kyle, you've got a real attitude problem," Roy 
scoffed/whined/bitched.  "Her eternal nightmarish majesty Deep Sea Dolphin is 
getting bored with you.  It's the younger generation that's going to lead the 
Mazoku!  We've got the moxie to make it in this world and carry out the 
eternal mission to destroy all of creation, and OW OW OW OW OW--"

     Kyle let go with his mind after tying a few of Roy's tentacles into a 
series of perfect square knots.  "And you're all a bunch of green newbies who 
don't understand how crippled the Mazoku are right now after the Lina Inverse 
disasters, so shut your mouth or your orifice or whatever you have and let me 
do my job.  If I could do THAT to you, just imagine what even a lower level 
Dragon could manage.  You dig?"

     The series of pained whimpers were enough to pass for a 'yes'.

     Kyle floated off towards the ship.  Kids these days.  They just didn't 
understand how dangerous the world could be... that kind of arrogance would 
get them all killed.  He'd lived for aeons and intended to live for aeons 
more, and you don't survive by going off half cocked or with no cock at all 
save some decorative tentacles, or whatever.

     The door leading into the ship's interior was already half open, 
wavering a bit in the ocean tide.  He reached out and touched the hinges, 
oozing a fine greasy corruption over them... but not enough to rot the metal 
away.  Just enough to oil them, so they made no noise as he opened the door.  
There probably wasn't anybody inside, but thousands of years of instincts 
about how to get things done would not be denied.

     Let's see what we can see, he thought.

                                    [*]

     Zelgadis couldn't believe what he was seeing.

     "They actually found it a few miles from here," Joe was explaining.  
"It's the Architypicos Archipelago, all sorts of strange stuff turns up 
around here.  It used to be a big attraction for the island... well, that and 
the largest wad of earwax in the world, and the amazing killer whale 
attraction we had, but it killed some people and escaped to the ocean."

     "I can't see why anybody would avoid Ordinary Island," Gourry spoke in 
reverent awe, unable to take his eyes off it.  "I mean, you have a great food 
court, a gift shop, boating supplies, and tourist attractions like this..."

     "Oh, we had a lot of business years ago," Uninteresting Joe said.  "But 
then Plain Island opened up and they had a ferris wheel and all sorts of 
family activities, and we dried--"

     "FIFTY feet across?" Zelgadis repeated from way earlier in the 
discussion.  "You mean to tell me this starfish is fifty feet across?"

     "Largest one in the world," Joe repeated as well.  "It's dried now, a 
lot lighter than it looks... it used to be seventy feet large when it was 
damp and alive, but it also would knock tourists into the ocean, so maybe 
it's for the best that it eventually dried out."

     Zelgadis had to crane his neck back far enough to make a stone-grinding 
sound just to look at the whole thing at once.  The five pointed petrified 
crustacean was simply unbelievable.  Something like this was possible with 
magic and bioengineering, it's true, but from what he remembered of the outer 
world nobody had that kind of power...

     "You're certain this is not a fake?" Zelgadis asked.

     "Definitely not a fake.  We wouldn't have been able to sell tickets to 
it for years if it was fake," Joe said, vaguely offended in a very 
uninteresting way.  "It's like I said... this island chain has some really 
weird stuff.  I mean, there's Monster Island, where an ancient civilization 
of huge lizards ruled hundreds and... uh... a real long time ago.  And Bloody 
Dangerous Island has some of the best magic-people you ever did see.  I had 
one of those guys regulate the weather around here for awhile before I 
figured out the weather was always nice and I was paying this guy to sit 
around and eat my hamburgers..."

     Zelgadis tuned the man out.  If something like this was possible, then 
there was a chance the Island of Mists did exist.  There was magic in the 
air, or at least something like magic that was capable of crazy miracles like 
this.  Miracles enough to cure him, perhaps...

     "Gosh, if they've got stuff this weird, maybe they have a cure for you 
around here!" Gourry spoke up.

     "...that's exactly what I was thinking, Gourry," Zelgadis said.  This 
truly was an archipelago of miracles if it could coax such a wild yet logical 
leap in deduction out of the head of Gourry Gabriev.

     "Hey, I'm happy for you!" Gourry said, grinning big.  "Told you it'd be 
worth going with us, back when I met you in that underwear aisle!"

     "Right," Zelgadis said, ignoring the funny looks from Joe.  "I could 
very well be on the right track.  With your help, of course, and with Lina 
and the others, perhaps I'll find just what I'm looking for--"

     "HAH!"

     Zelgadis looked up from his brief moment of wistful hope, when the sharp 
cry of the parrot interrupted him.  Phinneas glowered, perched on one of the 
arms of the starfish, looking down at the group.

     "All this lovey-dovey outpourin' of mutual support is bloody sickening," 
Phinneas spat (literally).  "Thought ye had a good head on yer shoulders, 
Zelgadis, that wouldn't succumb to garbage like that.  Only person ye can 
rely on in this world is yeself.  Ye put stock in others and ye'll just get 
disappointed!  I don't need anybody else and neither should someone as strong 
as ye are!"

     On gut reaction, Zelgadis agreed.  It was just what he told Gourry 
earlier; the others would just get in the way of what he wanted.

     But he'd been called out here.  He respected the captain's command, but 
that didn't mean he had to agree with him on everything.  He backed up a 
moment in his thoughts, to look at what he just said... professing that with 
the help of the others, he'd find his cure.  He thought he just said it to 
satisfy Gourry's need for social health, but saw an angle there previously 
unseen...

     The whole thought process took only a moment, before he replied.

     "You have a crew, don't you, captain?" Zelgadis asked.  "Doesn't the 
crew support the boat and the journey it undertakes?  Without group effort, 
there is no ship."

     "Don't ye spout the ideology of the sea at me, young man," Phinneas 
spoke, icing over.  "I change my crew at every stop.  Doesn't matter who they 
are as long as they're warm bodies!  If I could run the damn ship myself I 
would!  Just because I'm a bird doesn't mean I'm dependent on any man.  JOE!  
I want my payment for the shippin', and then I'm shippin' out of here!"

     "Got it, Phinneas," Joe spoke without batting an eye.

     Scratching his head as the bird flapped away in an angry whirl of 
feathers, Gourry tried to figure out what just happened.  "What just 
happened?" he asked rather directly.  "Phinneas seems really angry about 
something..."

     "What, you guys don't know?" Joe asked.

     "Huh?  Know what?"

                                    [*]

     If the lack of big gaping holes wasn't strange, the lack of passengers 
was.

     The boat FELT dead.  This was a killed thing, empty and lifeless; the 
rooms they visited contained nothing but floating luggage, empty coffee mugs, 
discarded and frayed clothing.  The sea and the life in it had stripped away 
at the contents of the Fiasco for months, leaving behind only fragments to 
show that anybody was here in the first place.

     But there WERE people here.  Ten passenger rooms in all filled the 
bottom deck, with ten above it, and each showed signs that they were 
occupied.  Luggage had been stored in closets, bedsheets were untucked and 
the whole place felt like it should have been loaded with life... or rather, 
death.  Dead bodies.

     There were no dead bodies.  No crew up top, no captain in his chambers, 
no passengers below deck.  It was getting creepy... the freezing cold of the 
water was starting to seep through Lina's spell, and that didn't help things 
either.

     None of the rooms so far had yeilded Naga or any of her belongings.  
Lina had been sure to check the closets for a black leather bikini or two, 
and other than some very odd leather garments in the room of what seemed to 
be a pair of newlyweds, the results weren't promising.

     "Maybe she wasn't on the boat?" Amelia guessed, as the swam out of the 
ninth room on the bottom deck.  "There's only one room left, after all, and 
there's been no sign of her..."

     Hairs stood up on the back of Lina's neck.  It was ALWAYS the last room 
you checked, wasn't it...?

     But no sense in delaying, and she'd already tried to dissuade Amelia.  
So, without any pretense of dramatic buildup, she muscled the door open, and 
entered...

     Naga's room.

     It was obvious, because Naga was in it.  A body in a rapid state of 
decay, down to the bones alone, floated just above the bed.  It was wearing 
her traditional leather ensemble.  Crabs had nestled in her skull.  Naga was 
definitely dead.

     Lina fought the urge to vomit.  She should have expected that; 
intellectually she probably was expecting it, but she still had refused to 
fully accept it in her heart.  True evidence had a nasty way of telling the 
heart who's boss.

     To her horror, Amelia swam past her, to enter the room before Lina could 
tell her to brace herself.  And Amelia stopped in mid stroke.

     Mind racing, Lina tried to think of some other explanation for this.  
Something that made sense.  "Maybe it's not her," she lamely said, the first 
idea off the top of her head.

     "...it's Gracia," Amelia spoke, voice softer than a mouse.

     "Amelia, we don't know that!  Don't jump to conclusions, okay?  It's 
just a skeleton with her clothes in a very suspicious shipwreck--"

     "It's Gracia," Amelia repeated.  She lifted a finger, to point to the 
body... to a specific part of the body.  A slight warp, a twist in one of the 
bones of Naga's rib cage.  "One day we were horseback riding.  A snake scared 
her horse, and threw her.  She cracked a rib.  She was yelling so loud I got 
scared too, and I thought I could heal her myself so she wouldn't hurt so 
much... but we were just training at the time.  I messed up the spell, and 
her rib grew funny.  It wasn't going to be a problem for her, but they never 
could fix it.  It grew funny just like that.  It's her, Lina."

     "But the ship--!"

     "She's dead," Amelia said.  "Gracia's dead.  I don't know how it 
happened, but she's dead..."

     "This is my fault," Lina babbled.  "I shouldn't have blah-blahed this.  
I shouldn't have laughed it off and suggested we come here to see, I 
should've prepared you, I mean, I was never very good with people who were 
upset and I try not to get upset myself because I don't want to burden anyone 
with dealing with me when I'm upset and I did this all wrong and you didn't 
have to see this and--"

     Amelia slapped her.

     The babble ceased immediately.  The blow sobered her up.  Lina blinked a 
few times in the sea water, confused.

     "Lina-san... please don't be mad at yourself," Amelia asked, smiling 
lightly at her.  "It's okay.  I knew... I knew somewhere in my heart that it 
was true.  Just because she was my sister doesn't mean she was immortal."

     "That would be silly," Lina said, without any mirth.  "But I thought... 
I mean, it just doesn't happen.  Not to people we know..."

     "But it does, Lina.  Listen... our mother... she died in her sleep, as 
well.  An assassin working for someone trying to climb the Sailoon ladder of 
succession killed her.  She was my mother and as a kid, I thought she'd 
always be around, but... it happens to everyone, Lina.  We both had a lot of 
trouble dealing with it.  Gracia ran away from home.  I trained even harder 
to be strong, to go out into the world and see that justice could be done.  
You've never had anybody you care about die before, have you?"

     "I've been lucky... I'll admit," Lina said.  "I guess I never had to 
face that..."

     "I'm not saying it's easy," Amelia said.  "It'll never be easy.  But I 
will say this... we've got to live our lives, Lina.  I learned that I 
couldn't run away from it like Gracia did.  So we can't go to pieces now."

     The whole situation sickened Lina.  Not the situation, no; herself.  She 
was the strong one, wasn't she?  Invincible Lina Inverse, who could smile in 
the face of death, and rob it blind in the process.  She was having more 
trouble coping than miss sweetness and light Amelia wil Tesla Sailoon... no, 
no, thinking like that didn't help.  She pushed it aside... and, much to her 
shock, tried to be more like Amelia.

     "You're right," Lina said.  "Okay.  First thing's first... if Naga's 
here, that means the map piece is here.  She copied the segment of that poem 
onto the paper, so she either has the original, and/or some sort of research 
notes about it.  Our spells are going to wear out soon, so... let's loot the 
place."

     "Okay," Amelia agreed.  "This is what she'd have wanted, you know.  For 
us to continue the quest.  I WANT to finish this, for her.  That's what's 
going to get me through this."

     "...I can see that," Lina said, turning away.  "Okay.  I'll try to think 
of it the same way."

     And, Lina thought, to get to the bottom of this mystery.  Naga was the 
only person on this ship, a ship that sank for no reason whatsoever.  She 
didn't want to trouble Amelia with it yet... but if anything smacked of foul 
play, this did.  Someone wanted Naga out of the way.  Whoever it was, once 
Lina found them... well, she'd just have to prove why she got her reputation 
as the enemy of all who live.

                                    [*]

     The enemy of all who live.

     Terrific.

     Kyle had his obfuscation jacked up to maximum.  Those thousands of years 
of instincts about how to get things done had saved his bacon again; LINA 
INVERSE was on this ship.  Lina, the ally killer.  Lina, the Dragon Spooker.  
Lina, personally responsible for the gruesome demise of two of the Mazoku 
Lords AND a part of Shaburanigdo.

     He was not a coward.  He was just very smart.  Smart people did not, on 
a routine investigational mission, leap from the shadows with both hands 
blazing and scream 'Lina Inverse, prepare to die' because if you did that 
you'd be far better off shouting 'Okay, I'm prepared to die'.

     Besides... they were looking for something.  Kyle was looking for 
something.  Life would be much more agreeable if they found what Kyle was 
looking for and Kyle just took it from them.  He skulked in shadow just 
outside the door of the cabin, finely tuned ears picking up every word their 
spell-link uttered, and waited for what he wanted to hear...

                                    [*]

     The closet had yielded nothing, save six copies of Naga's travelling 
clothes.  Lina's brain swam briefly at the notion of there being more than 
one Naga-brand Battle Bikini.  Likewise, there was nothing in the dresser 
drawers, and nothing in her luggage other than magical doodads and trinkets 
that had been rendered useless by the salt in the water.

     She probably should have looked under the pillow first, but that meant 
going closer to the body of her former friend.  All emotional trauma issues 
of morning aside, that was a decaying human body and was icky icky icky poo 
and Lina would prefer to avoid any close contact with it.  Fortunately, 
Amelia turned out to be less concerned with it than her, another bizarre 
reversal of expectation.

     A sturdy travel diary was uncovered, with the stamp of the royal crest 
of Sailoon on its covers.

     "This is fairly new," Amelia said, studying the book.  "I bet this was 
bound in the capital of Sailoon itself... I recognize the style!  Gracia must 
have been right under my nose months ago, and I never knew..."

     "If she actually took time to write it down, she was definitely serious 
about this," Lina said.  "Usually she just sort of blasted first and asked 
questions later.  I don't think we can take that upstairs without the air 
making the thing crumble... read the last few pages here before the spell 
runs dry.  If there's something good, we can come back for it later today."

     Very carefully, Amelia opened the back cover, and slipped the pages 
apart.  "The ink's all runny, but I can make out the words," she said.  
"Let's see.  'I knew I was right to return home for this research.  My lead 
was right; the first piece of the map was right here in Sailoon!  It's only 
five characters of the poem, but it matches the legend: 'Five by five, cut by 
fives, in the hands of the trusted by and by.'"

     "Just once I'd like to see a mystic artifact or ancient temple that did 
NOT have some legend sounding like a poorly constructed nursery rhyme," Lina 
complained.  "Does it say where she stored the piece of the map?  We've 
searched the room and it hasn't turned up yet."

     "'I'm getting the feeling that others may be after my piece of the 
map,'" Amelia continued.  "'It's probably just paranoia, heightened by my 
excitement at this discovery.  I'm keeping the map on my person at all times 
now in a highly private place.' ....umm..."

     "...it's a good thing she's.. err, hollow right now," Lina said, feeling 
quite disturbed by that.  "I don't see it in the liner of her bikini, though.  
It's gone. ...nevermind, keep going.  We've got to surface soon."

     "'I've decided to invite my little sister along on this quest...' Hey, 
that's me!" Amelia said obviously, with a happy smile... which immediately 
fell.  "'...against my better judgement.  I... swore to cut all ties with my 
past life, but I always had a hard time... leaving her behind... and... some 
nights I lie awake wishing I hadn't invited her, that I could take it 
back...'"

     "Err," Lina said, awkwardness setting in.  "I'm.. sure she would've 
changed her mind after seeing you again, Amelia.  Me, too."

     "'I feel like I did after I left Lina behind, like I need to disconnect 
and start all over again,'" Amelia continued.  "'It's for the best like this.  
I made up my mind long ago about that.'"

     "Ehhh?!"

     "...that's the last entry," Amelia said.  "Lina... don't take it hard.  
Gracia had a difficult time coping with our loss... she ran away from it, 
after all."

     "Doesn't sound like the Naga I know," Lina said, vaguely upset.  "She'd 
face down any enemy, usually because she was too dense to realize when she 
was in incredible danger... although I guess that's different..."

     With a sighing exhale, Lina let it go... and saw her bubbles thickening.

     "We've gotta go," Lina said.  "Is there anything else?"

     "There's... some sort of drawing on the last page," Amelia said, 
flipping to it.  "But a lot of the ink's gone..."

     Lina took a quick look... five shapes, three of them totally blurred.  
The first was the royal crest of Sailoon, or a rough sketch of it.  The 
second also looked like a crest, but it was of a human skull and crossed 
swords.  Very pirate-y.  The rest were unreadable.

     "Family crests?" Lina asked.  "If the first piece of the map was in 
Sailoon... then maybe the second belongs to this crest, the one with the 
skull and swords?"

                                    [*]

     Kyle perked an ear at that.  Skull and swords, skull and swords... well, 
they were as common as the salt in the sea when you had pirates around.  But 
a family crest of those sounded vaguely familiar.

     He didn't know very much about these islands.  He'd sped through them 
while hunting down a Dragon who had intelligence info that would expose 
Mazoku war plans, shortly before the great war.  Maybe he'd seen it then?--

     "I'm bored," Roy said.  "What's going on?"

     Kyle whirled in place, a rare moment of surprise for him.  He 
frantically waved the monstrous Mazoku out of the way, shushing him, trying 
to get the idiot to shut up so he could hear the rest.  Unfortunately, he 
also explained why he was doing this.

     "Shhh," Kyle hissed.  "Lina's in there with important information--"

     "Lina?!" Roy bubbled.  "Lina Inverse?  The arch-nemesis of the Mazoku?!"

     "Roy, DON'T--"

     Too late.  Roy slammed through the doorway of the cabin, all tentacles 
and fangs and drippy nasty sharp things, tearing up the woodwork of the ship.  
Kyle smacked his forehead, and made himself scarce; he knew exactly what 
would happen next.

                                    [*]

     "BEHOLD!!!" Roy screamed through the minds of the two foolish little 
girls, as he enlarged himself and did everything he could to look sinister 
and menacing.  "LINA INVERSE, I will destroy you and take revenge for the 
Mazoku!  In the name of Deep Sea Dolphin, DIE!"

     Under any other circumstances, Roy's physical form would be a tangled 
wreck before he got the fourth word out of his slimy orifice.  But 
underwater?  When the girls were already in a fragile emotional state, in a 
small confined room, and running out of air?  It actually worked.

     Lina found herself hopelessly entangled in a number of very unwholesome 
demonic appendages.  She pushed and pulled to free herself, but they were 
choking the air out of her... that, combined with the fading spell, spelled 
doom.  Amelia was in a likewise situation, but panicking a bit more.  Even if 
she could cope with emotional loss, big slimy yucky sluglike things were 
still deep on her list of screaming night terrors.

     Quick assessment.  Can't cast two spells at once.  Can't fight him if 
can't cast spell.  Can't live if can't fight him.  So, she died.

     Yeah, right.

     Lina was not stupid.  If you can't cast two spells at once, you make do 
in other ways.  Specifically, you turn off Aqua Breathe, hold your breath the 
old fashioned way, and then immediately launch a dozen Freeze Arrows.

     THUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK, the hardened slivers of ice slammed into the 
Mazoku's gooey exterior.  The tentacles slacked just enough as it howled in 
pain; Lina grabbed Amelia's wrist, blasted the wall out with another spell, 
and made a break for the surface.

     No looking back -- but plenty of ice spells hurled backwards to propel 
you upwards and to clear your escape.  In less than a minute, they were 
temporarily out of danger.

     "M-Mazoku!!" Amelia stammered, when they finally broke the surface of 
the water, and took in deep lungfuls of air.  "That's not going to be enough 
to stop it!  RAYWING!"

     "RAYWING!" Lina chanted, snapping into Flight Mode as she made a beeline 
for the nearby rowboat.  "I know, I know!  We need somewhere to fight from, 
we can't fight it in the water or in the air.  Land on the boat and PLEASE, 
Amelia, don't tip it over!  Brace yourself for a blast after you land!"

     Luck was on her side, as Amelia's usual clutzy landing did not occur.  
Lina touched down, getting a firm footing, and waited--

     The tentacled monstrosity rocketed out of the water, screaming curses in 
six languages at once.  He flared with black power, foaming over with anger 
(literally), and preparing an onslaught that no simple human would survive.

     But then he shouted "LINA INVERSE, PREPARE TO DIE" instead of just 
whacking her, and ended up eating a Dragon Slave.

                                    [*]

     Phinneas flew up to the railing of the Lightfeather, and perched there.  
This was his boat; he was in a position of power by perching here.  The silly 
humans below were still protesting, but he didn't care.

     "My mind's made up," he declared.  "All I got to do is aim this boat 
back at the shoreline, and I can make it back.  Weather's good and the sea's 
calm.  I don't need to wait around for a crew, Joe!  I want to get out of 
here now while the gettin's good--"

     The weather went from good to evil.  First, there was a large explosion 
only a few miles off shore of Ordinary Island; then, a huge wave raced 
towards them, and washed over the ship just high enough to soak Phinneas's 
feathers.  Amazing luck.

     Of course, it was also high enough to totally wash Gourry, Joe and 
Zelgadis off the docks.  Zelgadis surfaced first, shielding his eyes to look 
at the white-hot dome of magical energy on the horizon... and knew just what 
it was.

     "THE HELL was that?!" Phinneas demanded.  "I swear, with you guys it's 
always pirates or explosions or--"

     An orange and purple blur whizzed through the sky... before righting 
itself, and touching down on both feet on the deck of the Lightfeather.  Lina 
squeezed the water out of her hair, looking quite proud and ignoring Amelia 
crashing into the sails and sliding down painfully onto the deck.

     "Scratch one Mazoku, folks!" Lina announced.  "We got attacked at the 
wreck, but nothing Lina Inverse couldn't handle!"

     Feathers and claws scratched at her face in a flurry.  "MAZOKU?!" 
Phinneas screamed.  "There are Mazoku around here?  Off!  OFF my boat!  I'm 
getting out of here while I've still got my tailfeathers!"

     "Mazoku WERE around here," Lina said, pushing the bird away.  "I got rid 
of it!  You know I'm this amazing sorcery genius, right?  No sweat.  By the 
way, I'm chartering your boat."

     The captain was not good at dealing with these rapid shifts in subject 
matter.  "Charter--?  I wouldn't charter your crazy bunch for all the gold 
in--"

     "--in my bags, yes," Lina said.  "The loot we got off the pirates before 
we got here should cover the profits you'd make during the time we need your 
boat.  We've got a quest to complete and no means of doing it... right, 
Amelia?"

     "Right!!" Amelia chirped, springing to her feet.  "In the name of the 
family of Sailoon and my sister, we will find the Island of Mists!"

     "I will second that," Zelgadis said, climbing on board (and dripping 
water all over the nice clean deck) as he dragged Gourry on with him.  "I 
take it your findings were as I expected, Lina... but it's good to see you 
both willing to carry on.  I'll go with you as far as need be."

     "Me too," Gourry added, not that there was any doubt.

     "You're nuts," Phinneas said, will weakening.  "You're all totally nuts.  
The Island of Mists?  Mazoku?  I wouldn't ferry that kind of trouble around 
for... for ninety percent of the gold in your bag."

     "Ten," Lina countered.

     "Seventy five."

     "Twenty five."

     "Seventy."

     "Sixty," they simultaneously said.

     "And we promise to protect your ship from any hostiles we encounter," 
Lina threw on top of the deal.  "After all, this thing goes down, we go down.  
You've seen us in action, Phinneas!  You know you've got nothing to worry 
about."

     "Yeah, well..." Phinneas started, trying to think of a reason to 
complain.  "There's worse things out here than Mazoku."

     Lina scoffed.  "You're kidding me.  What could be worse than a Mazoku?"

     Ordinary Island exploded.

%    That's the problem with timing; it's never quite tuned to one's personal 
preferences.  It's a common phenomenon that when you're sitting around with 
nothing to do, nothing will present itself for your inspection and 
entertainment.  The flip side of that is when you're up to your ears in 
trouble, life will pick that moment to dump a new bucket of it on your head.

     This was a fact Lina had long accepted, but it was easy to slip into 
complacency.  She'd just swam through a shipwreck, found out one of her best 
friends was gone, got attacked by a perverted monster, cast a Dragon Slave... 
Lina was ready to set off on a big quest AFTER a nice nap.  She was not ready 
for another huge battle.  Timing, naturally, didn't give a damn if Lina was 
ready or not, and that's why the island went boom.

     From a few miles away, the explosion would have looked pretty cool.  The 
entire sand content of the island blasted outward in all directions, making 
an inch thick layer of muddy sludge with a radius of three hundred feet.  The 
lighthouse didn't exactly blow apart -- it blew up.  Straight up, shooting 
into the sky in one whole piece.  Presumably it would come down eventually; 
physics demanded it.  But given the speed it was clocking on the way up, it 
would probably be awhile.

     The building itself was a sight to behold on detonation.  It was like a 
fireball was detonated from inside the structure; all four walls shattered 
and the roof was probably about to join the lighthouse.  The Largest Ball of 
Earwax melted like a candle (appropriately enough), while the Largest 
Starfish Ever Recorded was knocked into the sea.  The greasy concession 
stands and fast food depots flared up in an impressive wad of flaming 
gastrointestinal death, fueled to perfect heat by the endless glossy 
pamphlets describing the manyfold wonders of tourism at Ordinary Island.

     The Lightfeather was not a few miles away, so all they really got to see 
was a big flash and hear a loud boom and suddenly had a personal beachfront 
on deck.  Lina kept her balance by some twisted miracle, and Phinneas was 
already airborne; the others went sprawling on the now sandy deck.

     Because he was the sort of person inclined to ask such things right 
after something strange happened, Phinneas's immediate response was "WHAT THE 
HELL WAS THAT?!!"

     "Magic!" Lina shouted, grabbing the mast for support.  "I could sense 
it; that was a spell!  Someone's casting at us!"

     "Oh, gee, REALLY?" Phinneas shouted.  "Here I thought some of the hot 
dogs got a little too volatile!  Of COURSE we're under magical attack!  Now 
get up top and see who's doin' it!  You promised to protect my ship!"

     Lina didn't need to say 'Yes, I did.'  She simply did what she said she 
did, directing traffic.  "Amelia!  Zel!  Get on your feet and get some kind 
of shield spell going until we figure out what's happening!  I'd put good 
money that whoever did that could probably do it again.  Gourry!  Sword of 
Light, NOW!  We may need to shoot--"

     "I don't have it anymore!" Gourry protested.  "And when are we going to 
go shopping for a new magical sword?  You promised me like last week that 
we'd find a good one, I mean this blade is sharp and all but it just doesn't 
have the same--"

     Lina whacked him upside the head with a slipper.  "NOT now!  Draw it 
anyway, we may get boarded!"

     With all speed, Lina flew straight up to the crow's nest.  She landed 
awkwardly on her left foot, really too frenetic to keep it controlled and 
stylish; that was gonna be sore tomorrow... quickly swiveling the telescope 
towards the source of the magic, the direction she felt it from, she focused 
the lens and...

     "Ship!" Lina announced.

     "Flag?" Phinneas called out.  "I might know 'em!  It's gotta be a 
misunderstanding; maybe we can talk it over..."

     "The flag is... red," Lina said, puzzled.  "A deep red.  And... it's got 
the elven cuneiform symbol for death's door, right side up..."

     An awful silence hung in the air.  Everybody looked at Phinneas for a 
response... Phinneas, who was doing his best impression of a man who was just 
told he'd need explorative colon surgery.

     "...we are dead," Phinneas said, quietly.  "The sign of the blood..."

     Lina gripped the railing of the crow's nest, as another bright flash 
signaled the next attack.  It was absorbed by Zelgadis and Amelia's 
spellwork, but just barely, pushing the whole boat to where the center of 
Ordinary Island previously was.

     She peered into the distance, watching as the attack was launched... but 
it was impossible.  The beam of pure white power being shot at them was 
coming from the sails of the boat, not from any sorcerer on board.  A magical 
ship?

     "That's it, isn't it?" Zelgadis asked, keeping his end of the spell up, 
his hands frantically waving to strengthen the shield.  "Those are the 
pirates that murdered the original crew of this ship?  Joe told us..."

     "Ye can't call 'em pirates," Phinneas said, twitching slightly, his 
feathers ruffled.  "Black flag pirates take yer cargo, but they leave ye 
alive.  The RED flag bearers, the sign of the blood... those ones take yer 
cargo, kill ye, sometimes sink yer boat and THEN leave."

     "Sounds bad," Lina decided.  "Okay!  Whoever these guys are, I don't 
feel like dealing with them, so I think I'll blast them out of the water.  
They're far away enough for this to work.  Darkness from twilight, crimson 
from blood that flows..."

     Zelgadis instinctively pumped more power into his shield spell.  This 
could get extremely ugly.  The ship in the distance was already glowing, 
building more power in its sails for the second shot...

     "...buried in the flow of time," Lina continued, a ball of pure ruby red 
hatred gathering in her hands.  "In thy great name, I pledge myself to 
darkness!  Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I 
possess!  DRAGON SLAVE!!!"

     Swirling black magic whirled in her hands, and shot outward.  She never 
missed, not with her trademark spell.  It flew straight and true, struck the 
boat head on, and that was that, except that the boat remained totally 
undamaged.

     If anything, it gleamed in the day's sunlight, just as shiny and new as 
if it had just been launched that day.  And the sails were still charging 
their power, glowing as bright as that sun, making the whole ship seem to 
glow a golden yellow...

     Only one metal could reflect light that well, and with that color.

     "Guys?" Lina announced.  "We're dealing with a magic toting ship made 
completely out of orihalcon.  I can't damage it.  I am, however, open to any 
suggestions--"

     The next attack shoved the Lightfeather back even farther, and tipped it 
over to a degree... only quick thinking of everybody running to the opposite 
side of the boat to balance it out kept the vessel from capsizing.

     Phinneas let out a long string of curses you can only truly master 
through years of sea travel.  He threw down his captain's hat in disgust.  
"Bastards!" he shouted across the seas, the word being tame compared to his 
other tirade.  "Bloody Death's Door bastards!  It's not enough that ye kill 
my captain and the entire crew, ye have to come back for me?!  I'm just a 
bloody parrot!  What'd I ever do to piss ye monsters off?!"

     Lina knuckled her forehead, hoping that would massage the idea factory 
into gear.  She needed a way to stop a magic-proof boat.  A magic-proof boat 
that would probably crack down their defenses and vaporize them all with the 
next shot.  How do you stop a ship that you can't attack from a distance?  
You could board it, but if they packed that kind of firepower, it would be 
risky...

     Briefly, she scanned the faces of the others.  Phinneas was lost in his 
own little world, ranting in anger and shaking a wing at the enemy.  Zelgadis 
and Amelia were busy with the shield... but glancing up at Lina, expecting 
her to lead them.  Her!  She had no ideas!  How do you break THAT to your 
crew, to your friends?  To...

     Gourry wasn't looking at her.  He was leaning against the railing, 
clearly feeling like a fifth wheel, and watching something floating in the 
water.  Lina followed his eyeline, to see...

     "What's that thing?" Lina shouted down to the lower deck.

     "Oh, that's the Largest Starfish Ever Recorded," Gourry said, his memory 
having a rare moment of lucidity.  "I guess it survived the explosion.  It's 
a shame about the Largest Ball of Ear Wax in the World, though..."

     "PERFECT!" Lina shouted, doing a quick 'Yes, I rule!' dance.  She jumped 
down and floated to the deck.  "Guys!  One time, Naga and I were dealing with 
a huge orihalcon killing machine, and we took it out by knocking something 
heavy into it.  Behold, our weapon of justice floating yonder!"

     "What, behind the starfish?" Gourry asked.

     Lina smacked her forehead.  Then thought the better of it and smacked 
Gourry.  "No, you moron, it IS the starfish!  Amelia, Zel, on my mark drop 
the shields and funnel all your power into Bomb Di Wind!  Angle it down into 
the water and to the left hand side of the starfish!"

     All three magic users gathered at the port side of the ship.  This was 
going to be tight; the sails were charging rapidly across the sea, and if 
they missed... there wouldn't be time to put the shields up again before the 
Lightfeather became a whiff of carbon and ozone.  Fortunately, Gourry was too 
dense to understand this and Phinneas was too dazed to care.

     Shamanistic power flowed through the three pairs of outstretched hands, 
each aiming carefully...

     The world went 'whumph'.  The air pressure built was released in a 
single burst, down towards the water...

     ...knocking the Largest Starfish Ever Recorded into the air, sending it 
spinning and skimming across the waves at phenomenal speed...

     ...clipping through wave after wave, physics bringing it in a perfect 
arc up and down...

     ...but not down so far as to land back in the ocean.  Instead, it 
whirled through the air, at deck level, and neatly clipped the masts of the 
Death's Door like a flying razor sharp ninja star.  It splashed down 
harmlessly to a watery grave, as did the masts, which stopped glowing.  The 
red-flagged boat was not going to be going anywhere soon.

     "Gotcha!" Lina shouted.  "Okay, the ship is officially crippled!  Now... 
RUN AWAY!  Set sail!  Go, go, go!  CAPTAIN!!"

     "Wot?" Phinneas said, turning to face Lina for the first time.

     "Do your thing and get us out of here!" she yelled, running to help pull 
on the riggings and get the sails nice and tight, Zelgadis directing her.  
"We've just mauled those guys, but I don't feel like waiting around to see if 
they have something else in their bag of tricks!  You get my drift?"

     "...ye got them?" Phinneas asked, looking at the wrecked ship... and if 
parrots could smile, he would have.  "HA!  Right bastards!  Serve's 'em up 
just so.  Didn't know I was packin' a LINA INVERSE, did ye, maniacs?!  
That'll teach ye to pick on a poor parrot's--"

     "CAPTAIN!  Make ship go!" Lina reminded, tugging hard on her ropes.

     "Oh, right, right," Phinneas replied, flying back to the wheel and 
spinning it a sharp starboard with his beak.  "We're outta here."

                            +-----------------+
                            |P|A|R|T|T|H|R|E|E|
                            +-----------------+

     Some days, you just lose.  Even when you win, you lose.  Even when you 
come back with terrific news and a great lead towards what your master wants, 
you lose BIG time.  Especially if you lose your master's prize pupil.

     "You big fat ninny!" Deep Sea Dolphin raged, water currents swirling to 
avoid her, somehow sensing her rage.  "My prodigy is DEAD?!  All thanks to 
your foolish stupid moronness!  I told you to be not stupid and you were 
stupid!"

     "Lady, I did find information about the map to the island you seek," 
Kyle said quickly, trying to defend himself.  "I think I know where the next 
piece may be, and--"

     "Unacceptable!  Inexcusable!  UNMUTUAL!!" Deep Sea shouted, tossing an 
uneaten human torso at him.  Kyle ducked on reflex.  "You should be whipped, 
drawn, quartered, whipped, boiled and burned!  You know I have no priest?  I 
have YOU as a general which I'm rapidly regretting, but I need a priest!  No 
Mazoku Lord should be without.  He was GOING to be my priest and you ruined 
it all!"

     There's a point where even a meek and survival-oriented sort can't take 
it, and Kyle just passed that.  Contrary to all his instincts, he spoke up 
against his master.

     "The kid wasn't a particularly hot pick, okay?" Kyle barked back.  "He 
didn't know the most basic ground rules of entering an unknown situation!  I 
don't know if he would've made a good Mazoku priest, but I CAN say he was 
totally inappropriate for a partner in an investigation!"

     He awaited death, but got silence.  With relief, he knew the sound of 
nothingness; it was the sound of Deep Sea Dolphin switching gears.

     "Not really a hot pick, huh," Deep Sea said quietly, moodiness setting 
in.  "Honestly, I do my best.  I give, and I give, and what do I get?  
Nothing.  The Mazoku are not in good shape and we have to use what we can 
get, you know... it's a shame, a crying shame... how are we ever going to 
fulfil the Mazoku dream of world destruction if we're in this state?"

     "...yes, ma'am, a true shame," Kyle said, switching back to 
subservience.

     "That's why your investigation is so important!" she shouted, going 
right back into rage without missing a beat.  "And we've got no time to 
waste.  I don't care WHO you pick, but if you think you're better at this 
than me, YOU pick a partner and get back to work!  I want that Island, my 
minion!  GO!"

     Technically, Kyle would have preferred going at this alone.  A thought 
fluttering to his mind cancelled that out, however... he didn't know the 
area.  He wasn't familiar with the legend.  What he needed was an expert.  An 
outside consultant.  He had a blank check to get one, too.  Evil smile time.

     "Right away, ma'am!" Kyle declared, saluting.  "The island is as good as 
yours."

     "And Lina Inverse...?  Will you destroy her as well?"

     "No ma'am," Kyle said confidently, daring to reply with his true words.  
"Given the amount of Mazoku who have died at her hands, I think it would be 
best avoid her, find the Island of Mists, and use that destroy her instead.  
I haven't lived as long as I have to jump into battles I can't win, ma'am.  I 
just wait until the right moment when I can win, and then I strike.  Lina 
Inverse will not be a problem."

                                    [*]

     The wounded beast crouched on the waves.  It did not whine or howl; it 
simply rumbled to itself, quite upset, building that seething seed of hatred 
on a firm base of vengeance.

     It had sniffed out the victor of the sea battle, and been wounded at the 
victor's hand.  Masts clipped, the pure weapon that had netted so many kills 
now useless.  The wooden masts with golden orihalcon rings at every other 
foot floated in the water, looking utterly unimpressive; the spell that bound 
them had faded away.  Unsalvageable.

     As the Death's Door floated aimlessly, its captain was contemplative.  
He stood at the prow of his ship, white robes flapping in the light ocean 
breeze, the sun beating on his pale skin.  He was the mind of the wolf, of 
the figurative beast that was Death's Door, and he was utterly motionless as 
he thought of the battle.

     He never saw the enemy, but knew exactly who it was, and what it wanted.  
He could smell it in their wake.  The enemy was Lina Inverse, and she sought 
the Island of Mists... just as he had expected.

     The duty would be done.  His crew moved in silence behind him; he 
ignored them.  They were nothing.  They would get the ship mobile, and then 
he would complete his task.  Lina Inverse would have to be killed... as well 
as the one who battled with her.  Both were after the thing which should not 
be, and as far as the Death's Door was concerned, it would never be again.

                                    [*]

     In order to BE Lina Inverse's strongest rival, she would have to learn 
magic.  Simple enough.  Direct.  Makes a lot of sense from any direction.

     What The Lady of the Mists didn't realize was how long it took to learn 
magic.  First there was the sailing to get to Bloody Dangerous Island, then 
the appointment scheduling (made quicker by application of threats of groinal 
harm) and now, the waiting game.

     She paced back and forth across this wizard's waiting room, her heels 
clicking on the wooden floor as she did.  Kris sat nearby, half-reading a 
glossy print magazine about modern magical research, half-watching her 
captain circle the floor like a caged tiger.

     "We should have gone with staves," The Lady said for the third time.  
"Wands.  Zappy things.  You know, canned magic.  Then we wouldn't need any of 
this training and I wouldn't have to sacrifice a perfectly good afternoon on 
this nonsense."

     "Ready to use magical devices don't measure up to real magical spells, 
ma'am," Kris recited.  "Given Lina Inverse's reputation, it would be best to 
use as much power as possible for the next time we face her.  On the topic of 
the time it takes, this was the soonest we could have possibly gotten a 
lesson, ma'am.  All my other contacts were booked solid with apprentices and 
group lessons."

     The Lady paused, to peer at Kristen.  "And how many other magic-people 
DO you know of, Kris?"

     "Two dozen, ma'am," Kris replied.  "Eleven on Bloody Dangerous Island, 
three on Dark Island--"

     "Kris, please, clarify for me.  You spend all of your time on the 
Highwater Serpent, yes?"

     "In order to be available when you need an errand run or require my 
advice, yes ma'am."

     "When do you find time to KNOW all these people?"

     "I read a lot about the world, ma'am.  Ancient books as well as recent 
publications.  You've seen the bookshelf in my cabin.  You also know I worked 
at the library on Dark Island before joining the Highwater Serpent as its 
cabin boy..."

     "I could never take to reading," The Lady replied.  "All those tiny 
letters and words from dead people I've never met telling me things I 
probably don't need to know.  Which is why you make an excellent filter 
through which I can obtain only the important knowledge, Kristen."

     Kris almost blushed.  "Thank you, ma'am..."

     "...and if this hedge wizard could be as prompt and useful as you are, I 
could already be at sea and ready to face Lina again on the sea of honor!" 
The Lady declared, stamping her foot.  "If he's not out here in five minutes 
I swear I'll--"

     As if on cue, the door to the main office opened, and a sorcerer in full 
beard and robes and pointy hat shuffled out.  "Welcome, yon travellor!" he 
echoed, with a sweeping bow.  "I am Wardock, unlocker of mysteries and holder 
of the key of knowledge.  Let me be your guide on the road towards the arts 
arcane and--"

     "So how do I cast spells?" The Lady asked, impatient.

     "...ah... today's first lesson will be to find and focus on the power 
brought to us through magic in this world," Wardock continued.  "Magic is 
power shaped into reality through the use of Chaos Words, such as the 
'Lighting' spell, which--"

     "How do you cast it?"

     "Well, the hands are waved as such," Wardock said, demonstrating 
quickly, "And the word 'LIGHTING!' is chanted as such.  And the ball of 
light, as you see by this small sphere of the most holy--"

     The Lady quickly whipped her hands through the positions she had 
witnessed, and chanted.  "LIGHTING!"

     After the spots cleared from Wardock's unbelieving eyes, some part of 
him stayed on auto pilot.  "...and there are the elements of nature which are 
drawn into spells such as Freeze Arrow and--"

     "FREEZE ARROW!"

     A dozen chunks of ice embedded themselves into Wardock's expensive oak 
paneling.

     "V... very impressive, ma'am..." Kris spoke, the magazine dropping from 
her hands.

     "I don't see what the big deal is," The Lady said.  "It's just funny 
gestures and funny words.  Magic man!  It seems I do not need you.  I demand 
that you give me your finest book of magic so that Kris may study it for me 
and relate only the passages I require, and then we will take our leave."

     Wardock was openly sweating.  "B-But the lessons, the... the control 
takes years to fully master, and--"

     A small bag of gold was set on the top of Wardock's head.  It was, after 
all, the closest flat surface to The Lady.

     "Second shelf, black bindings," Wardock quickly said, snatching up the 
gold.  "I've got plenty of copies, take one and go.  Pleasure doing business 
with you, m'lady."

     "That's Lady," The Lady corrected.  "With a capital L.  Kris, fetch the 
book and let us be off.  I have a score to settle."

                                    [*]

     "...so that's the score," Kyle finished.  "I think I know where Lina's 
heading next.  She's already got one bit of the map, and there are four 
others.  We get them before she does, steal her bit, and mission complete."

     His companion scratched his chin thoughtfully.  "And you need me 
because...?"

     "Because I don't know jack about the Archipelago," Kyle said truthfully, 
shoving his hands in his pockets.  "You were stationed there once, weren't 
you?  You know the people and the customs and all the good pubs.  Plus, you 
and I have very similar working methods... and you've been around almost as 
long as I have.  True, you're not of Deep Sea's flock, but she told me to 
pick ANYONE I wanted... are you in?"

     "Lina Inverse... she's tangled up in this," the man said, words in an 
amused tone.  "Very interesting.  I accept.  Of course, there is the small 
matter of my fee as an outside consultant..."

     Kyle perked an eyebrow.  "And that is...?"

     "...a secret," Xelloss said.  And smiled.  And smiled.


                      .-------------------------.
                      |T|O|B|E|C|O|N|T|I|N|U|E|D|
                      `-------------------------'





-- 
                 .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List---.
                 | Administrators - ffml-admins@fanfic.com |
                 | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@fanfic.com |
                 |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject    |
                 `---http://www.fanfic.com/FFML-FAQ.txt ---'