Something I've been wanting to do for a while now. One of these ideas 
that just won't go away. This is actually a rewrite of a much older fic 
of mine; "An untitled Slayers Fanfic or: Last Train To Oblivion." 
Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Slayers is owned by Software Sculptors. No money is being 
made from this and no such intent should be inferred.

------------

Winter had come to Seyrun. With icy fingers, it had taken the city and 
seemed to be torn between choking the city and giving it a break. 
Tonight, the sky was clear and the stars shone brightly, diamonds set 
in blue-black velvet.

Sighing, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyrun, Ruler of Seyrun, Champion of 
Justice, Captain of the Western Islands, Governor of the Brodaboon 
Territories, and Boon Companion to Lina Inverse, the Dragon Slayer 
slapped her hand against the leaded glass. "They don't respect me," she 
said softly. "I don't know how father did it." Amelia was tall and 
sender, with short ebony black hair and icy-blue eyes, her body having 
finally made good on the promises of her youth. Under her robe, the 
slender body was hard muscle, steel sinews forged from a decade of 
walking back and forth across the continent. Even here in her rooms, a 
sword was belted at her waist and a knife was in her boot. Only a fool 
relied totally one one weapon and Amelia had stopped being a fool a few 
years ago. She had another reason for the weapons as well. She was a 
month pregnant and her magic would be unreliable for the length of the 
pregnancy.

"They will in time," said the only other person in the room. He was not 
quite as tall as Amelia, with pale blue skin and wiry purple hair that 
fell over one eye. His skin appeared to be studded with rocks, and he 
wore a tan tunic and pants. Black boots were on his feet and like 
Amelia, he too wore a sword. His name was Zelgadis. "I'm sure Prince 
Philionel had to prove himself when he took the throne." He turned the 
page of the book he was reading.

Once upon a time, he and Amelia could have been lovers, but events had 
gone in other directions. Nowadays, despite rumors otherwise, they were 
simply friends.

As for Amelia, maturity and her impending motherhood had wrought a 
curious change in her. Once famous for her single-minded, perhaps even 
obsessive pursuit of justice, Amelia had laid that aside in favor of a 
single-minded, perhaps even obsessive determination to govern Seyrun 
fairly and properly.  She had made mistakes to be sure, but she only 
made them once.

Amelia turned away from the window and snatched the crown from the 
table. "He didn't have half the problems I do!" Amelia shouted. 
"Gunpowder, there's that whole d--dem--" She paused, groping for the 
word and failed. "Goverment by the people thing and on top of that, 
there's those...Cephid cultists cropping up by the handful. I could 
care less who worships what, but what gives them the idea that the God 
of the Dragons gives an arse about their problems?"

"Too much ale, perhaps," Zelgadis suggested.

Amelia glared at him and then set the crown back on the table. "All 
they're trying to do is force their own moral authority on me. I can't 
let them do that. I won't let Seyrun become a theocracy, Zelgadis, and 
I won't be a figurehead."

Zelgadis opened his mouth to reply when both of the them were hurled to 
the ground as the entire palace shook with an earsplitting roar and the 
sound of shattering glass.

****
Repairing the damage was easy in a citry full of mages, priests, 
wizards and sorcerers. Finding out what caused the damage was something 
else.

Dawn poured through the windows of the council chamber and onto the 
Round Table, a huge stump from a tree that had been treated with a 
preservation spell and placed there when the room had been built. 
Carved into the table was a map of Seyrun and around the table were 
twelve chairs. One for Amelia, seven for her advisers, and five for 
visitors or guests. None of the chairs were higher then the others 
signifying that at this table, the lowliest peasant was eqaul to the 
highest noble. Indeed the only sign of rank was that Amelia's chair was 
slightly larger and more comfortable then the others. A subtle reminder 
that while all were eqaul, it was at Amelia's pleasure that they 
served. Zelgadis sat at her left, while Sir Edmund, the head of the 
Royal Bodygaurd, sat at her right. The rest of the council sat where 
they could. Opposite Amelia, an elderly man in sorcerer's robes sat, an 
aged hand gripping the wooden staff he held.

"The scrying pools tell us nothing, Princess," the elderly sorcerer 
said. "We only know that something in Thromkir Valley is sending out 
some type of energy we cannot penetrate."

"A man heading home from a tavern on Rose Street said he saw something 
streak out of the sky and towards the west," the commander of the city 
gaurd offered.

"Thromkir Valley is a league or so west of Seyrun," Zelgadis noted.

"Unfortnutly," the elderly sorcerer continued, "The blizzard from two 
days ago snowed in the pass that leads to Thromkir. Until it's melted, 
or at the very least, the weather has cleared enough to permit raywing, 
there's no way to get there."

Amelia frowned. Thromkir was a large, verdant valley in the middle of 
the mountains that escaped the worst of the winter snows. Travelers 
used it to wait out the winter if they were caught in the pass. It was 
hilly country, mostly open grassland. "I don't like something that can 
block a scrying pool that close to Seyrun," she said out loud. "We have 
to get into Thromkir."

"That's impossible, your highness," said Sir Edmund, who was aslo the 
chief of Seyrun's military. "No man could get through the snows at this 
time of year."

"I can," Zelgadis said softly.

"Madness!" Exclaimed another counciler. "You'd freeze to death before 
you made it anywhere near Thromkir."

"Chimeras don't bother with cold," Zelgadis said. "A fire spell will 
clear my path." He stood up. "I'm going," he said in a tone of voice 
that said that he had made up his mind, regardless of what the council 
decided.

"As you see fit," Amelia said. With Zelgadis, it was really all you 
could say when he was in that mood.

With a swish of his cloak, Zelgadis left the council room and Amelia 
looked at the faces of her advisors and shrugged. "Since we're up, 
Gentlemen, we might as well get started on the day."

****

The single blue white crystal, cracked almost in half, barely lit the 
room. Tall, broad-shouldered shapes moved in the darkness beyond it's 
light.

*Report*

*We are having trouble asessing the damage. We are alive, at least.*

*That may prove to be of dubious comfort.*

****

Zelgadis had raywinged most of the way to the pass before being forced 
to the ground by a storm. A fire spell cleared obstructions, a shield 
spell turned away the slashing snow and ice, and the cold, the cold he 
ignored.

As only a Chimera could, he slogged through the snow, not stopping, not 
slowing. He normally kept human hours and mimiced human abilites, 
partially to set others at ease, partially to cling to his humanity. 
But he could go for days without sleeping or eating. Zelgadis did not 
like to be reminded about what Rezo had done to him, but every so 
often, Rezo's curse came in handy.

It had taken him three days to make it through the pass to the entrance 
to Thromkir Valley. Here, he paused. Night had fallen an hour or so 
ago, and he swept the valley with his gaze, peering through the snow. 
He couldn't see anything.

He then turned his thoughts outward. Zelgadis practiced Shamanistic 
magic, calling on the world around him, the four elements, and animal 
totems and spirits. As a warrior, he had also developed a certain 
empathy for his immedite surroundings. You could feel it when you were 
in danger.

Zelgadis felt no danger, but he wasn't alone either. Both the air and 
his warrior's instinct told him that someone was out there. He withdrew 
his thoughts and moved forward as under his cloak, his hand sought the 
hilt of his sword as he looked around for anything that might indicate 
the object that had fallen. In the distance, off to his right, 
something glowed blue and he headed for that.

Out in the darkness, something followed.

****

Bored with snow, Mother Nature had instead decided to bring rain to 
Seyrun. It fell from the sky in sheets, sifting out of the sky like wet 
jewels, hissing as they hit the torch burning fitfully at Seyrun's 
north gate.

The travelers were an oddly matched pair. One was taller then the 
other, riding with the casual, alert ease of a trained warrior. The 
shorter of the two slumped in it's saddle, as though weighed down by 
the rain or perhaps it's own cares. Both rode identical black stallions 
and wore heavy cloaks.

The gate gaurd, wrapped in a food-stained green cloak, staggered out 
from the gaurdhouse, a rusty pike in hand. "I'll need your name," he 
said in a rusty voice thick with drink.

The shorter of the travelers regarded the gaurd for a moment and then a 
small hand covered by a gray glove emerged from the cloak. A strange 
ornament adorned the wrist and on the finger was a heavy signet ring 
that identified the bearer as one of Seyrun's nobles.

"Your Grace," the gaurd said. eyes widening. "I didn't know. Is there 
anything I can do for you?" The figure said nothing, but the gaurd had 
a feeling that he was being stared at the way someone looks at a bug. 
Hurriedly, he opened the gate and the two travelers entered and the 
gate shut behind them.

****

Amelia muttered to herself, scribbling numbers on a sheet of parchment 
as she reviewed the sheets of paper spread out on the table before her. 
The Brodaboon Territories, which Seyrun governed, had turned in their 
taxes, and something wasn't right. The Exchequer had made a mention of 
it earlier, and Amelia was having a look for herself. If it was just 
light skimming, she'd ask Zelgadis to have a chat with the Territory 
govenor. He was so much better at that then she was. The best Amelia 
had ever been able to manage was a stern stare.

If it was something else on the other hand, she would have to take 
sterner measures.

"Why," she asked herself. "Why did King Wes have to get drunk and sign 
Brodaboon over to my grandmother?" Shaking her head, Amelia returned 
her attention to the math only to look up as there was a knock at the 
door.

"What?" Amelia snapped.

"You have visitors, Highness."

"I'm not in the mood," Amelia called back. "Give them rooms and I will 
speak with them in the morning.

"Not even to see very old friends?" called a woman's voice.

In a flash, Amelia was a across the room and opening the door. Standing 
there was a short woman who's red hair was streaked with gray and her 
eyes held that slightly dead look of someone who had seen more of the 
dark side of existance then anyone should. She wore a red tunic, pants 
and gray boots. Her wrists, collar, and belt were adorned with red 
jewels and a rapier was at her hip. Her cloak was black. Her companion 
was a tall man with long blond hair and a slightly vacant expression. A 
heavy sword was at his waist and he wore a blue jumpsuit with shoulder 
and thigh armor over it. He too wore a black cloak.

"Lina, Gourry," Amelia said with a smile. "Come in, have you eaten yet?"

"No," Gourry said automatically.

"I'm fine," Lina said.

"Please bring drinks for myself and Lady Inverse," Amelia said to the 
servant. "A five course meal for Sir Gabriev." She paused. "Extra large 
portions."

"Yes, Highness," the servant said with a bow.

"Thank you," Amelia said as she closed the door and turned to face Lina 
and Gourry. "How have you been?" She asked.

"What's this?" Lina asked, looking at the sheets of paper on the table.

"Brodaboon's taxes," Amelia said. "The Exchequer thinks they're not 
being totally honest. I wanted to go over the numbers myself before I 
decided to do something."

"You might have to anyway," Lina said. "We just came from there. 
Something's funny."

"What do you mean?"

"Just for laughs, I've been tracking Rezo's movements from his days 
before and while he was the Red Priest. You don't just make a Chimera, 
it takes planning, and you have to study. However he made Zel, whatever 
he did to him, Rezo had to learn it somewhere, and that means that 
there's a shot at a cure." Lina shrugged. "'Sides, I had nothing better 
to do.  Anyways, every decade or so, he spent several months in 
Brodaboon and Brodaboon was the last place he was seen before he showed 
up at the Inn where Gourry and I met him." She paused. "Where is Zel, 
anyway?"

"Something in Thromkir Valley is giving off energy that is blocking 
attempts to scry. Zelgadis went to have a look for himself. What did 
you find in Brodaboon?"

"Gourry and I were in an Inn and we overheard parts of a conversation 
we shouldn't have. Brodaboon is apparently full of Cephid cultists. 
Somebody in the govenor's office is  financing a rebellion and they're 
sticking their fingers into Seyrun too. Apparently they have caches of 
arms and somebody's moving large supplies of gun powder into the area."

Amelia swore under her breath. "Lina, I don't have the military might 
to take on all of Brodaboon and most of my troops are from there. How 
can I ask them to fight their own people?"

"City Gaurd?"

"I can't leave the city undefended, and there's not enough Gaurd to 
make a difference." Amelia got up to pace. "I suppose I could issue a 
draft, but I'd rather not overreact."

"Not overreact?" Lina repeated. "Were you even listening?"

"You said you overheard parts of the conversation," Amelia pointed out. 
"Not the whole conversation. It could be something else."

"What else could it be?" Lina asked. "At the very least, you're going 
to want to investigate."

Amelia nodded agreement. "But if they are..." She rubbed her eyes with 
her hands and then looked up as the door opened and a servant entered, 
wheeling a cart piled high with food. Behind him came a second servant 
carrying a tray of drinks.

"Your drinks, Sire, Lady Inverse," Said the servant with the tray of 
drinks, while the other man set down the food before Gourry, who 
immeditly tucked in with gusto.

"Thank you," Amelia said. "Could you have Sendar come here, please?"

"Certainly."

"Sendar?" Lina asked.

"My chief of staff," Amelia said.

A few moments later, the door opened and a tall man with closely 
cropped steel gray hair entered. "Sire?"

"Call an emergency meeting of my council," Amelia said. "and invite the 
guild heads. Seyrun may be going to war."

If Sendar was surprised, he gave no sign. "Very good, Sire. But may I 
suggest that you wait until tomorrow morning? It is already late and it 
will take time to dispatch messengers and more time for their 
recipiecents to come to the palace. They, and you, should be fresh."

Amelia frowned. Sendar was right, damnit. "Very well. Send the 
messengers to all council members and nobles currently in the city, 
along with the Guild heads and Heads of the Orders. We meet at dawn."

****

He was a teacher. But there was only one student. The student never 
spoke, in fact, he couldn't even see the student very clearly, but 
those glowing blue-white eyes demanded, compelled him to teach.

The last vestiges of the dream faded.

Zelgadis couldn't remember the last time he'd been knocked out. Drained 
to the point of collpase, yes. But knocked out? Moving slowly, he 
looked around. He sat in a chair that didn't seem to be quite built for 
his body and his sword was missing. A light shone down on him from 
somewhere overhead.

He moved his foot. The dagger in his boot was also missing.

Not that he was totally unarmed of course....

...nor was he alone.

He sensed someone standing somwhere behind him. Perhaps twenty feet or 
so.

Someone else was ahead of him.

In the darkness, two blue-white orbs appeared, like eyes opening. He 
knew those eyes. They had stared at him in his dream.

"Zelgadisgreywords, welcome." The voice was nothing like Zelgadis had 
ever heard. It was deep, authoritive, with a strange timbere to it, as 
though it came from a machine. "My name is Khadgar."

"Call me Zelgadis," Zelgadis responded.

"Very well, Zelgadis," Khadgar said. "You have no reason to be inclined 
to hear what I have to say, but when I entered your mind--strictly to 
learn your language, I assure you--I noticed that you were a man of 
honor. Honor is something we value very highly."

"Then why do you ambush people in snowstorms and hide in shadows?" 
Zelgadis demanded.

"The gaurd was somewhat overzealous and I apologize. As for the shadows 
. . . we do not look the same as you. I was concerned that you may find 
our features alarming."

"I'm alarmed whenever I look in the mirror," Zelgadis replied 
sardonically. "I doubt that whatever you look like, its worse then 
this." He indicated his face.

"Very well."

The cone of light vanished and then room lit up. Zelgadis' sword and 
dagger lay on a metal desk not ten feet away. Seated behind that desk 
was Khadgar.

Zelgadis raised an eybrow.

"I see what you mean," he said as calmly as he could.

*************

"This is Madness!" Baron Jerwell exclaimed as soon as Lina finished 
speaking. "We are to go to war with Brodaboon on Lady Inverse's word 
alone?"

"No one's speaking of going to war," the Forigen Minister soothed. "We 
are merely discussing possibilities of how to deal with this. At the 
very least, any signs of civil unrest should be more closely examined." 
The Minister steepled his fingers. "All people grumble about goverment, 
that is the way of things. We must determine, however, if what is 
happening in Brodaboon is simply generalized complaining, or signs of 
something more serious."

"Such as?" Jerwell demanded. He was a short, stout man with a florid 
face and little hair. He was the leader of Seyrun's small, but vocal, 
"Moralists". Amelia had never been able to determine their actual 
beliefs as whenever questioned to closely, a Moralist tended to start 
waving their hands and shouting about the state of one's soul. Many of 
them were Ceiphed cultists. "Brodaboon is a territory of Seyrun and 
it's been that way for nearly a hundred years."

"They are only that way because Wes got drunk and surrendered to my 
grandmother's personal gaurd, the commander of which was too stupid to 
refuse," Amelia said. "Then there was the small matter of Wes having 
dismissed his council a week previous, and then falling down the stairs 
and breaking his neck. That was, of course, after he drunkenly stripped 
every noble in Brodaboon of their noble status because he thought they 
were invaders from 'beyond the stars'."

"There is still nothing to worry about," Jerwell said dimissivly.

"I beg to differ," the Exchequer said. "Brodaboon constitutes a large 
portion of the current tax rolls. Much of Seyrun's current population 
are from Brodaboon or have some Brodaboon in their ancestry. This 
includes members of the city gaurd and the military."

"I fail to see why they would rebel," Jerwell replied. "Every Brodaboon 
enjoys the rights of a Seyrun. We protect them, teach them, what's the 
problem?"

"The problem," said one of the guild heads, "is that Brodaboon is a 
territory. They do not have their own goverment and many feel that they 
were conquered. As her highness pointed out, there is no Brodaboon 
nobility as Wes stripped them all of their titles before he died, nor 
did he have progeny. Legally, there is no one she can hand the reins 
to, so to speak."

"So why not name a few nobles?" Lina asked. "Pick some Mayor or 
something and name him a duke or Lord. Then crown him King. Problem 
solved."

"Her highness can only bestow titles on citizens of Seyrun," said a 
noble. "Brodaboons are not, persay, Seyruns. Such an act would be 
illegal under the current laws regarding citizenship. We could change 
them, of course. But it requires a vote of the council in support, and 
some," here, the noble gave Baron Jerwell a look. "Some prefer things 
as they are, and vote against."

"There is also the matter of the tax rolls, Lady Inverse," the 
Exchequer said. "If Brodaboon is turned loose, Seyrun's economy 
falters. After a century, we are more meshed with them then I would 
like to think."

"So why not make them Seyruns?" Everyone turned to look at Gourry, who 
shrugged. "Wouldn't that solve all this?"

Amelia opened her mouth to reply when the doors slammed open and a 
guard rushed in, his face an expression of terror and shock.

"Highness!" he gasped out. "I--"

"That will be all," Zelgadis said as he strode through the doors 
followed by three very tall figures dressed in full robes with deep 
cowls. Something about the way the figures moved set off warning bells 
in Amelia's brain and she found her hand moving towards her sword. The 
figures weren't human.

"Zel?" Lina asked. "Who're your friends?"

One of the figures stepped forward and a hand emerged from it's sleeve. 
It was gray in color, four fingers and definitely unlike anything 
Amelia had ever seen. The hand pulled the cowl down, revealing an alien 
face. It was long and narrow, with glowing eyes of blue white. There 
was no visible nose or mouth.

"Matriarch," it said to Amelia. "I have come to ask for your help. Beg 
for it if need be. I am Executor Khadgar of the Protoss Templar. My 
people are dying and I will do any task, pay any price to save them."

-Steve "Komodo" T.
http://www.geocities.com/studio_pc_hub/


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