Alright, due to AOL being evil, I'm going to do this by uploading. ^_^
~Zach~
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: EpTwo.txt
Slayers PERSIST
Written by Zach Grafton, crazymanzach@fanboy.org.
www.angelfire.com/ca3/slayerspersist/
---------------------------------------
Slayers PERSIST
Episode Two.
"Secrets of Twilight. Memories of Past Mazoku."
Lina rubbed at the side of her face, staring down the hillside at
the unending field that unfurled majestically below them. The meadow held a
kind of peaceful serenity to it; the way the breeze blew over the tops of
the blades of grass made a soothing song of melodic harmony with one's
spirit. It held you in sway, while in the faint distance, if you looked
ever so carefully, you could see the faint outline of the city of
Seiruun... proclaiming its holiness to be within only a day or two's
traveling through this luscious field of happiness.
"God damn, that's a long way to walk."
"Ano, I kind of think it'll be fun," Gourry commented. "Look at how
pretty everything is."
"I'm looking," Lina replied rakishly. "And I'm not seeing anything
that looks even remotely like a path, let alone a road. Why the hell are we
being forced to trudge this entire way by foot?"
Gourry pointed to Raleic, blissfully ignorant of the terrible fate
he may have just passed on to the not so humble postal worker.
"Oh yeah," Lina grumbled. "The idiot who left her carriage behind."
"You are the one that destroyed that village," Raleic reminded. "We
didn't have time to go back and catch the driver or the mob would have been
all over us."
"Mmf." Lina didn't feel the need to reply any further than that,
and gestured outward across the plains. "All I know is, if I have to walk
through that thigh high grass for two days, Amelia had better have a damn
good reason for summoning us."
"It wouldn't be thigh high if you weren't so short," Gourry said,
and was saved an inevitable death by strangling when Raleic haumphed
loudly.
"You are not one to question the royal summons on Seiruun, you
flat-chested little brat."
Time slowed. Lina's head swiveled around.
"Ex...cuse me?"
Raleic shrugged and cast a quick Ray Wing on herself. "I'll scout
ahead and make sure there's nothing you three won't be able to handle."
"Like HELL you're leaving!" Lina was ready for blood.
Gourry managed to grab his partner by the wrist and hold her back
as Raleic flew off in a smug flapping of her cloak. "Oi, Lina! Calm down!"
A fist found its way to Gourry's jaw, knocking him a few feet
backwards in an awkward somersault.
"Well, it is her time of the month," Halgon supplied in a failed
attempt to console the fallen swordsman (but a very successful attempt at
getting his own jaw smashed). His body sunk to the ground beside the
swordsman's.
"Idiot men," Lina sniffed, and started her way down the hillside.
Raleic zipped lackadaisically over the countryside, cloak blowing
out behind her dramatically, which felt right at home to her. Drama was her
forte. Raleic Deontri was all about drama.
An undisclosed distance up ahead there was a building poking out
from behind a small hill. Assuming there was a small town or burg in that
direction, she made straight for it--there was certainly no reason to go
back and tell that pissy Lina about it until she'd checked it out. There
could easily be marauding bugmen in that town, and where would those other
three be if she didn't pop in and clean them out first?
It was with these self delusional thoughts that Raleic landed on
top of the little hill and looked down to see that same building... and to
see that it was completely alone save for a bunching of comically wide-eyed
sheep along its plains. Raleic breathed a sigh of disappointment.
She was about to take back to the air when the idea that these
might be young children changed into sheep by an evil witch hit her, and
she strode purposefully down the hill.
The sheep looked up with grass filled mouths at that the woman with
the general look all woolly creatures have when looking at a person; that
is, one of mild disinterest tinged with a fear she might suddenly break
stride and run at them with a giant pair of sheers. The worst she ended up
doing, thankfully, is rapping her knuckles against the door at the base of
the hill. The sheep went back to their grazing with eased hearts.
The door to the little house creaked open on hinges that had never
known the great suppressant that is grease, and a small man with smooth
white hair peered out at her. When he made no attempt to initiate
conversation, Raleic began for him.
"What have you done with these children, witch?"
The old man blinked at her. "Come again?"
"Your innocence will not save you from the justice of Raleic
Deontri! Now tell me the truth, you most vile of evil men!"
"Ano." The old man took his glasses off, and went over them with
the hem of his shirt. "I'm sorry, I guess I've been losing my hearing in my
old age; it sounded like you called me a witch." He popped his glasses back
on his head, smiled a charming smile, and offered a wizened old hand for
her to shake. "My name is Albreus."
Raleic blinked down at it, then resumed her suspiciousness. "So
what are you doing out here all by yourself, Ojiisan?"
"I'm a shepherd, of course. Oh, but where are my manners? Come in,
sit down! I can't believe I'm been letting you stand out there all by
yourself."
Again, Raleic blinked. This guy was damn good at denying his evil
deeds. "Now look here! You can't buy the Mistress Deontri with offers of
sitting in a worn out little hovel..."
"Oh, yes, and I have some soup on its way. Do come try some, my
wife makes the absolute best in the country."
She took a minute, watching his retreating form, and tried to
process whether or not he was a child eating witch or a nice little old
shepherd with a wife who was quite good with the cookware.
Well, she figured, there's no point in being heroic on an empty
stomach. She went inside, not knowing that as she did so, a figure of dark
malice and intent was watching her do so through slit eyes and a hooded
grin.
Zelgadiss sipped his tea. He was currently in the company of Galef
Kainzard and Selena Dyne, both busy telling him things he wasn't really
interested in hearing.
"So Zachard-san began giving Father and I swordsmanship lessons,"
the pretty blue haired one was explaining. "He�s very good, actually. I�ve
picked up quite a few tricks."
Galef nodded, his arms folded. "Of course he�s good. Xain only
allows the best of the best to join."
Zelgadiss did not smirk. Galef had been making it a point lately to
show how highly he evaluated his organization, kind of a stubborn way of
saying how much Zel had hurt his feelings with his negative description of
it the day before.
"Of course," Selena agreed quickly, placing a hand on her other
mentor�s arm. She then refocused her attention on Zel. "So anyway, after I
started showing promise with the sword, Galef-san here also began teaching
me in the ways of magic. He�s very good, too."
"Hai. I am, after all, the great Galef Kainzard!"
"Hai. I�d say he�s only a few steps down from Lina-san."
"Sorcery takes more than power," Zel finally said. "It takes
intelligence."
Galef got to his feet, golden tooth sparkling in an evillish sorta
way as he glared at the cool one sitting across from him. "What are you
saying, eh?"
"Nothing." Zel sipped his tea.
Galef snorted and sat, looking reproachful and dignified.
Selena shook her head. "And you, Zelgadiss-san? You haven�t told us
anything about your..." A pause, one he was very used to. "...yourself."
"You mean, why I look this way?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Ah, no, I didn�t mean that exactly," Selena interjected, raising
her hands.
He responded sourly, "You must really respect Lina to so instantly
trust a man with stone skin."
"We do," Selena said, thinking it was the right thing to say.
Obviously it wasn�t, and she tried to make up for it as quickly as
possible. "No, I mean, not like that. You�re very handsome as it is,
Zelgadiss-san, but, ano... it�s just that, you have to admit, it�s not
everyday we see--"
"I�m a chimera," he answered, looking away. He wouldn�t admit it to
her, and denied it to himself, but he felt that getting the conversation
away from her appraisal was a very good idea.
"A, a chimera?" Galef repeated, and blinked. "Like the ones made in
dark sorcery labs?"
"Sort of," Zel allowed. "I was changed into one by Akahoushi Rezo.
You�ve probably heard of him."
"Rezo?!" Selena and Galef cried at once.
"The Great Sage?" Selena asked, clasping her hands together.
"The wandering white mage?" Galef inquired himself, his face
brightly interested.
"The murderous, half-mad fool who resurrected Shabranigdo," Zel
corrected, and sipped his tea.
The two took this in without much grace.
"N... nani...?"
"Nevermind," Zelgadiss shrugged. "Is your father going to back
soon?"
"I don�t know," Selena answered. "He�s out trying to get those
documents for you."
Zel slumped slightly into his chair, closing his eyes and yawning.
He shook his head, and took yet another sip of tea.
"Zelgadiss-san, are you tired?" Selena asked, getting up quickly,
as if she could grab ahold of Tired and rip it away from him.
"No," Zel said.
"Obviously you are," Selena said sternly, and walked over to him.
"You should go to bed."
Galef, not knowing if he saw where this was going or not, but
thinking he might as well be safe, got up and cleared his throat. "I�m
gonna go work in the fields some more. Lessons are in early afternoon."
"Hai, sensei," Selena smiled, using the word in a humoring kind of
way. It coaxed a smile from the robed one, and he strode out the door of
the small mayor�s abode.
"Now," she said, turning back to her burden. "It�s time to get you
to sleep."
"I�m not tired," Zel repeated, yawning.
"Yes, you are," Selena sighed. Seeing that he wasn�t about to
budge, she slid into the the seat closest to him and regarded him with her
pretty eyes.
Pretty. Zel was getting sick of that word.
"Why don�t you tell me what it is that�s making you so--"
"Nightmares," Zelgadiss said, turning his face slightly away. As
soon as the word was out of his mouth and lingering in the air, he felt
like a foolish child complaining to his mother.
"Oh. Bad dreams." She nodded, as if she understood.
She didn�t understand, though. He doubted anyone could. Whatever
these nightmares were, they were very high frequency (as someone he used to
know would have said). Like someone was tapping into his subconscious and
re-working all the wirings so that his dramatic acceptance of images
affected him to the fullest. And then that someone turned on a never-ending
image of the most terrifying, horrific moment of his entire life. Every
night for the last ten days he�d shot out of bed, nearly screaming, and not
falling asleep at all for the rest of the night. Each time, it was as if he
was reliving that terrible event, except it was worse.
On these repeat viewings, he was unable to refuse his grandfather--
but the horror of it was that he knew what was going to happen to him.
He figured that wouldn�t make much sense to an average person,
unless it had happened to them personally. The fear that builds up in one
while he rushes toward a horrible fate, not of one�s own free will, simply
unable to halt... and witnessing that horrible, hellish event again. And
none of it was dulled, that was the worst part. The shock, the pain, none
of it. There was no getting used to it. Not inside this nightmare.
"Yeah. Bad dreams." He sipped his tea.
"Linaaaa," Gourry whined, "I'm hungry!"
"So am I," Lina grumbled, tossing him The Look over her shoulder.
"So is Halgon! But we can't freaking eat until we freaking find Raleic, can
we?"
"Actually, I'm not all that..." Halgon trailed off when he was made
another recipient of The Look and made a practice out of trotting along
submissively.
"I can't believe we can't find her," Lina growled. "It's been two
hours since she took off!"
"Maybe she ran into trouble." Gourry took the moment to look
intense, and Lina clubbed him over the head with a branch of bamboo.
"She's probably left us here," she continued, folding her arms.
"While she travels on to Seiruun, we're left wandering about an open plain
with nothing in sight."
"Oh, look. There's a building over there." Halgon prodded the air
before him with a finger. "And a lot of sheep."
Lina shook her head frantically, and glanced mildly over in that
direction. "Yeah, okay. Maybe we can get something to eat from them, at the
least."
"It doesn't look like they have much," Gourry observed, running an
eye over the state of natural decrepidity of the little house.
"They'll probably have lamb chops, at least." The thought of food
did a bit to distract Lina from her menstruational pains, and she marched
off toward that building with a gait that commanded a sort of
Dear-L-sama-she's-crazy respect.
Halgon sighed, rifling a hand through his head of thick, plain
hair. "Is she always this bad?"
Gourry took a moment to get the answer to that one. "Only when she
doesn't have anything to do," he answered finally, glancing at the stockier
man with his usual bright demeanor. "If it's her time of the month and
we're saving the world or something, she has other people to take her anger
out on."
"Oi, oi! Are you two going to keep lagging back all day?" Lina
called from up ahead.
"And when there's food. Food pacifies her." Gourry smiled.
Lina herself was not unaware of how upset she seemed, and she
thought this behavior awfully unusual for her, even during this time. As
any woman can tell you, menstrual pains don't hurt nearly as much when one
is up and walking around, and Lina had been physically involved in that
exercise for a strenuous twenty something hours. She pondered this the way
all people do when they're seeing red; in that fashion that some distant
part of them would like to stop being so pissy, but in no true hurry to put
in the effort required. There had been no weird dreams or visions to help
explain what had put her in such an odd mood, either, so she basically
chalked it all up to irritation over not having her magic for the next day
or so.
Halgon was still trying to get a fix on the outlandish fact that
Gourry had actually used the word "pacifies," and so missed the first of
the sheep and went tumbling over it, landing face-first in a pile of mud.
When he pulled himself back to his feet, he was subjected to a sight that
really, no one's ever quite prepared for.
A man stood before them, holding in his hand the classic staff of
the shepherd profession, and his robes were the pale gray color preferred
by shepherds of all regions. What made it odd, though, was the fact that
this particular shepherd's hood cast his face in dark shadow, and that the
eyes that peered forth from those shadows were slitted, slanted, and
ominous. That, and the fact he was flying.
"N...Nani?" Lina stammered, halting abruptly in her stride as she
caught sight of this apparition. Gourry reflexively put his hand on the
hilt of his sword, ready in case this shepherd decided to get medieval. (An
odd choice of words, but that's Gourry for you.)
Halgon gained his feet too, but his battle reflexes were slower
than Gourry's, so his self-defense plan currently consisted of little more
than staring like a dullard. Then he felt a sheep prod against his
backside, jumped clear into the air, and drew his ax. The man in the
shepherd outfit continued to watch them with those same hooded, slitted,
evil eyes.
Lina became aware of the light sound of a creaking door swinging
open, and glanced in the direction of the house to see Raleic and two
little old folks peering out into the daylight. Before she could throw the
nearest sheep at her unwilling companion, however, Lina was interrupted by
the sudden squawking of the two old folks. They scurried off the house's
crickety porch and flailed their arms at the Evil Shepherd Man.
"Branhof!" shouted the old man, who is, as we know, named Albreus.
"I thought we told you these sheep were not for sale!"
"You have no rights here!" supplied the old woman, who is named
Rosa.
"Ano?" Raleic asked, holding a bowl of soup and following them
outside. "Oh, Lina. You should try this, is wonderful."
"Shut up!" Lina screamed, forgetting the flying guy and the old
couple. "What's the idea, leaving us out here like this?"
"Oh, gomen," Raleic cooed, "but this soup was so good I couldn't
bring myself to leave."
"Lina," Gourry said lightly, nudging her concentration away from
the postal worker and towards the old couple, who obviously had more plot
significance. She gave in and watched, being the smart young girl she is.
"I have more than enough rights here," the flying shepherd
responded, waving an arm out towards the grassy sheep-filled meadow. "I've
spoken to the owner of this countryside, in fact."
"You haven't!" Albreus shouted up. "He's not been accepting
visitors for years!"
"He has granted me this deed," the one dubbed Branhof announced,
producing a sheet of parchment. "I, Branhof, am entitled to this land as
befits my status as the Best Shepherd In The Country!"
Lina face-faulted. "All that dramatic build up for a feud between
sheep-herders?"
"I sympathize with them," Halgon murmured, and Lina did another
face-fault. "How would you like it if someone came along saying he was the
real owner of your sheep?"
Lina took a second to consider any circumstances during which she
would somehow come into the ownership of such a useless thing, then shook
her head. "That's not the point. We don't have time for this. We need to
eat and get to Seiruun as soon as possible."
"You liar!" Rosa was screaming. "The owner wouldn't have betrayed
us that way!"
"He merely looked after the interests of his own," Branhof
admonished, raising a finger. "But I'm not a merciless man. If you can pay
me the rent by this time, two days from now, I'll allow you to keep your
herd."
"Bastard!" Albreus shook a fist at him, but Branhof had
disappeared.
"Whoah," Lina mumbled. "That shepherd really knows his magic."
"Yeah," Gourry agreed. "Pretty impressive stuff. You don't even
know teleportation, do you, Lina?"
She bapped him over the head. "That's not even in the standard
categories of magic! Only a really powerful mage could use something like
that." She paused to collect her thoughts, and scratched her head. "But why
would anyone that good want to herd sheep?"
"Sheep herding is an ancient and time-honored occupation, young
lady!" Albreus had rounded up on her, now, as he had been suddenly robbed
of his original anger outlet. "We shepherds have nobly kept warm wool
clothing coming and coming for you ungrateful youngsters!"
"Oya, oya, Ojiisan." Raleic put a hand to his shoulder, sipping the
rest of the soup out of her bowl. "Lina didn't mean any harm. She's just
naturally pissy."
"Hmph," Albreus responded.
"Do excuse my husband." Rosa hurried to polish off the bad first
impressions. "He's just upset. Sheep are his life, you know."
"Ano... yeah." Lina tried her damnedest to keep from cracking a
smile.
"But where are we going to find a whole month's rent in the next
two days?" Albreus groaned, and suddenly a piece of parchment fluttered
into his hands.
Everyone blinked a minute.
Albreus took that minute to refocus his eyes (you know how hard
that is for old people), and gave a shout of something like amazement.
"This, this! It's the will of L-sama!"
"What is it?" Rosa cried, coming to read over his shoulder. Gourry
and Halgon joined her, while Lina was busy extracting her cape from the
mouth of a farsighted lamb.
"An expedition not far from here," the old man said, smiling
brightly. "They're paying more than the price of two months' rent for any
volunteers!"
"But we can't go to work trying to find treasure like that," Rosa
sighed, turning away with defeat.
"No, but they can." Albreus's eyes glinted dangerously on Lina
Inverse.
"Oh, no, we can't," Lina said, shaking her head and turning quickly
away to give the impression she was about to walk off. "We're not about to
waste our time on something like that."
"Ano, but Lina," Gourry said. "They need our help."
"I agree with the flat imp," Raleic was forced to admit. "We must
return to Seiruun. Princess Amelia is expecting us."
"To hell with that," Lina growled. "I'm hungry!"
"You can, of course," Albreus said, "keep the sum of money we don't
need."
"And we have a carriage you could use to take yourselves to
Seiruun, if you need." Rosa smiled with the gentle good grace of all sweet
old ladies.
"And we'd be happy to feed you before you go," Albreus added.
Gourry scratched his cheek. "Well, Lina? That seems pretty generous
to me."
"Hai, hai. We'll do it." She couldn't quite repress a smile.
"Wonderful!" the elderly couple cheered. "Wonderful!"
"Oya, oya," Lina chuckled, waving a hand. "Don't make such a fuss
about it."
"See, Lina-san?" Gourry beamed. "You really can be a kind person
when you want."
"And what," she returned with a scathing look, "is that supposed to
mean?"
There certainly would have been more to this exchange of dialogue
had the charming old folks not taken them by the hand and led them into
their little house for soup and ocha.
The interior of the place had the nice, homey feel that permeate
all elderly couple's houses, with nice pretty trinkets from across the
countryside propped up on tables and interesting tapestries hanging on the
walls. Sunshine flowed uninhibited through the drapeless window to cast a
cheerful glow on all those gathered. The soup was delicious and the ocha
was hot, making it one of the more enjoyable little havens any of them
could remember in recent memory.
It was not, Lina reflected, an appropriate place to be relating
such a dark story.
"Branhof arrived two days ago," Albreus was saying, eyeing them all
over the soft steam that issued from his bowl of soup. "He came to us with
a mountain of Orihalcon and tried to buy our flock."
"A mountain of Orihalcon?" Lina repeated. "For some stupid sheep?!"
"We would never let someone try to bribe us away from our duty to
our woolly brethren!" Albreus asserted, pounding a fist onto the table.
"That would be like selling our souls!"
"Now, dear," Rosa calmed. "You have to remember these are
outsiders. Where did you say you were from?"
"Zefielia," Lina said, slurping down a spoonful of soup.
"See?" Rosa said flatly, as if that explained it all.
"Ah, you're right. I'm sorry." Albreus mopped sweat from his
forehead. "It's just that we here in Shepherd Country take our shepherding
very seriously."
"I can imagine."
"Regardless!" Albreus called out, to get everyone's attention back
on him. "Regardless, we sent him and his evil Orihalcon away, but it looks
like he's returned." He shook his head and sighed. "I don't know how he got
that deed, but the owner would never sell us out like that."
"Yeah, okay. What I'm wondering about, though, is this." Lina
pointed to the sheet of parchment that had fallen into Albreus's hands with
such perfect timing.
"What about it? Looks pretty straightforward to me." That was
Gourry, who was leaning over to get a good look at it. "'Expedition led by
Varince Daryl into the Caves of Chaos for an unknown magical artifact.
Three hundred rubies to all who volunteer, plus any treasure you find.'
Ne?"
Lina snatched it from him and began looking it over herself. "But
what the hell is this guy trying to find that he's willing to give up all
others treasures for? That must be one hell of a magical artifact."
"Well, we can't turn out a chance for quicker transportation back
to Seiruun," Raleic chimed in.
"And you've never been able to pass up a chance at some extra
money, either," Gourry told her, in case by some lapse in memory she'd
forget and thereby refuse the whole deal.
"Hai, hai," she breathed. "Well, according to the map scribbled on
here, we'll have to hurry to make it before the set out."
"Arigatou, Lina Inverse," Albreus praised, clasping her hands
within his own. "Arigatou gozaimasu!"
"Jeez," Lina groaned, snatching her hands back. "Can you lend us
that carriage of yours to take us here?"
"Of course," Rosa said. "Hold on, it's in the shed on the side of
the house."
As she waddled out, Gourry mused, "That's funny, I didn't see any
shed."
"Some people keep theirs underground," Lina explained. "But only
when there's something really dangerous in there. I guess these old guys
are just weird."
"You're so judgmental, little girl," Raleic admonished. "I found
them to be extremely sweet and inviting. In fact, I felt their company was
much more rewarding than yours!"
"Well, what can you expect from someone who thinks she can take
over the world from her position as royal postal worker?" Lina issued with
a flat tone as she, too, went out the door, and immediately screamed at the
top of her lungs.
"It seems she finally realized how powerful I am," Raleic gloated,
thrusting her chest forward. "She may be slow, but at least she respects
power when she figures it out."
Gourry and Halgon were already outside by this point, however, and
missed that last paragraph of dialogue due to their surprise at seeing an
eight foot long dragon latched onto the front of a typical horse carriage.
"Na-nani?!" Gourry shouted, drawing his sword. "What the hell is
that?!"
"This is Danna-chan, our baby dragon." Rosa beamed, stroking a hand
along the thing's silver neck. Danna looked over at them, bared its fangs,
and gave a rough little scream.
"Wow," Raleic said, popping her head out of the door. "That's a
pretty impressive horse."
"That thing looks like it wants to eat us," Halgon complained,
rubbing his hands together nervously. "I don't trust things that are always
hungry."
"Except you, he means," Gourry hastened to amend, and was swatted
across the face with a fist for his efforts.
"I've handled dragons before," Lina said, glancing back over her
shoulder. "It won't be a problem."
"But you were the one that screamed!"
"Yeah, well, I didn't expect to see something like this around a
bunch of sheep!" If there was one thing Lina hated, it was having her
moments of weakness vocalized.
"Very understandable," Rosa said with a wrinkly smile. "Albreus
keeps telling me how odd it is to keep her around, but I just couldn't
stand to abandon her..."
"That's why I love you, sweetheart," Albreus announced as he
followed them outside. "Your kindness towards all those less fortunate."
"Oh, how sweet," Raleic cooed with her fists bunched under her chin
and her eyes wide and filled with unshed tears of romantic envy. "This just
shows that there is no statute of limitations on true love!"
"How much less fortunate could anyone get from a sheep-herder?"
Lina grumbled, her reaction substantially different from her
comrade-by-necessity, as she climbed up onto the carriage. "You guys
ready?"
As the other three scrambled up behind her and the team of them
rode off at the brutally fast speed of baby dragons on a mission, the elder
man turned to his wife and clasped her hands.
"If they can pull this off," he said with his usual smile, wrinkled
but charming, "we might still have some land for our children to inherit."
"L-sama bless them," Rosa replied, without knowing that she could
not have cast a more tragic curse on their would-be saviors.
Danna's skills in pulling carriages were surprisingly refined.
Since their cart was without a roof, of the standard farm-equipment
variety, the dragon's speed allowed for a refreshing breeze to ease itself
about them, and very few bumps jostled them out of their seats. Lina and
her crew were indeed very relaxed... the only setback to this being that
their transporter was so fast, the ride itself lasted no more than five
minutes.
Due to the extreme speeds, they didn't realize they were on Varince
Daryl's camp of expeditioners until they found themselves thrown out of
their seats and face-first onto the ground in front of them. While adept at
travel, Danna apparently needed a bit work on her stops.
"It's reasons like that they created the Dragu Slave," Lina growled
as she staggered to her feet.
"I'm sure Danna's sorry," Halgon put in, and patted the dragon's
muzzle. "Aren't you, Danna-chan?"
"Roaa."
Lina shrugged that off and cocked her head, looking around the
campsite. There were a dozen tents pitched about, and one exceptionally
large one in the center. Gourry rubbed at his chin. "Looks like we'll have
a lot of partners."
"I don't think so," Lina responded lightly.
"Nani?" Raleic glared at her in irritation. "Can't you see? Those
tents must fit at least thirty people."
Ignoring her with an air of solid resolve, Lina stepped further
into the campsite, heading directly for the central tent. Gourry and Raleic
shared a puzzled look, followed up with a shrug.
"What a stupid girl," Raleic grumbled.
"Naw, Lina's really smart." Gourry smiled. "You'd be surprised. She
just hides it really well."
"She'd almost have to." Raleic tossed her hair over her shoulder
and leaned against Danna's neck. Gourry, not truly able to think up an
appropriate reaction to this, smiled again and started after his partner.
"Lina?" he asked in a low voice as he walked up. "What do you mean,
you don't think--?"
"Do you sense any people, Gourry?" Lina shot him a mild look. "I
mean, I know you're not a sorcerer, but even a warrior like you has some
talent for that kind of thing."
"Well, not really." He scratched the side of his head.
"Exactly. The only person I think we'll be finding is the one in
here." She raised her hand to gesture at the tent, which opened at that
exact moment.
A young man with shaggy hair stood there, handsome in a rugged
outdoorsy kind of way. On seeing the little band he gave a quick squawk of
surprise and stumbled back a step.
"Oya oya," he breathed, raking a hand up through his hair. "You
guys scared me. I didn't think anybody'd be coming!"
"See?" Lina asked cockily, hands on her hips.
"Wow," Gourry said, and applauded.
"Alright, alright." Raleic shoved her way between the partners and
gave the man a good looking over. "You're saying we're the only ones here,
huh?"
"Afraid so," he said with a sigh, and extended a friendly hand.
"But welcome, anyway. I'm Varince Daryl, and if you're looking to help me
find the Gem of Twilight, I'd be more than happy to..."
"By ourselves?" Raleic swatted his hand away. "Don't be
ridiculous."
"D-domo..." Varince struggled to arise from that one with any
amount of grace. "Weren't you here to sign up?"
"Not if we're the only ones! We're not going to put ourselves
through you meant for thirty men!"
"Wait a minute." Lina raised her hands to silence them, and looked
at Varince. "Did you say the Gem of Twilight?"
"Uh, hai."
"Lina!" Raleic shouted. "You can't possible be thinking of--"
"We'll do it!" Lina declared, pointing skyward.
"R...really?!" Varince's eyes shone with tears of happiness.
"Are you crazy?!" Raleic asked.
"But we promised the shepherd," Gourry reminded. "We're obligated.
Ne?"
"Uhm... right, right. It's all about obligation." Lina nodded, but
Gourry could easily see a familiar glimmer of greed in the corner of her
eye. "So when do we set out?"
"Well, I was about to close everything down before I saw you guys."
Varince shrugged. "I guess whenever, really. Is that yours?" He pointed at
Danna.
"Um, I guess so."
"Alright then, that'll really make things easier!" Varince ran and
hopped into the carriage as if it was his own. "Then let's not waste any
time!"
"Right!" Lina agreed, grabbing Gourry and Halgon by the backs of
their necks and hauling them up into the cart as well. "Off we go!"
"Ano," Gourry managed, "I think there's something more to this Gem
of Twilight business than saving a shepherd's flock of sheep."
"Knowing her," Raleic answered, settling herself neatly into the
cart just as Lina snapped Danna's reins and the dragon responded by falling
into a steady dash, "you're probably right."
Continued in Part Two.
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Many characters are copyright of Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Kadokawa
Shoten, TV TOKYO, SOFTX, and Marubeni. Story by Zach Grafton.