|
|
amned if he was going to let a solid investment go bad, Howard D. LaHeffer developed what will go down in history as the ultimate vacation resort and condominium complex the world has ever seen. He spared no expense, developing leafy green palm trees in neat rows along the main strip, constructing hotels, casinos, swimming pools, every modern convenience, every form of entertainment. He hired a crack team of magicians to develop persistent colored lighting spells, shaped into signs and lampposts, so that the whole island glittered like a gem in the twilight sky. He advertised through the whole free world, air-dropping leaflets inviting one and all to come and enjoy a luxurious weekend of fantasy, fun and adventure. But the one thing he didn't do was rename the island from what the original owners called it.
Not that simply renaming the place would have changed the key problem. Names tend to shape what they're attached to after centuries, especially very dramatic names. The Island of Ultimate Despair, then, despite having a resort stapled to its shores, still had the foreboding black Mountain of Agony and Peak of Despair, in which you had the Caves of Gloom and the Pools of Insanity, and of course the Volcano of Untimely Future Erruption.
Howard made sure not to label these things on the map and clearly mark them off limits, but the aura of despair maintains. People lose fortunes in gambling. Relationships break up. Sudden, swift, and above all highly nasty accidents occur in motel showers. And generally, you may have a fun time on your first day there, but you can bet your life -- literally -- that your stay won't end on that note.
Not that any of this mattered to the one who called herself Lina Inverse (when she felt she had enough of a grasp on who she wanted to be to use that name). She already had the next few days planned out perfectly in her mind. She felt she already had experienced them; this was just the echo of the dream, the retracting of steps, like going over a highlight reel.
Nobody else on the midnight ferry would sit near her. She carried her marble-thrower and her recently acquired Sword of Light in her lap, in case anybody reached out and grabbed her right there so she could kill them, but none of them had tried so far. So far. They wouldn't, not in her future-memory, anyway. She had her plan. She had her tools.
She had her book. She had misplaced it for a day, searching in a panic, but it turned up again. Other than that, it was her constant companion through the trip, reading, rereading, over and over.
All the text was backwards, but Lina didn't notice until the third time she had read through the seroL rorriM. It didn't matter, she could chant them the right way around when the time had come. Came.
She experimented with a hand mirror, just a slight Oracle Burst to see if it worked. It had been years since she last cast a magic spell; she had forgotten how wonderful it could be. Joy filled her, power filled her, such sweet power she hadn't felt since white magic, black magic, shamanism, her three tools, all burned and torn from her by the darkness which...
But that was behind her and yet to come.
For now, she smiled. Lina was going to love this. Lina was going to show that other Lina, the dream-Lina, just what was supposed to happen to her. Everything was going to be okay.
'Everything is going to be okay, if you follow the plan I gave you,' a voice in her head spoke.
Lina grabbed her ears. "Shuttup!!"
But it wasn't really a voice, she just was remembering what the strange man told her. It made sense. She didn't trust him. He smiled so much. But it made sense. She would consider doing things that way. They would lead her where she wanted to go, she saw that. It would be okay. It was all going to be okay...
Tensing, relaxing, Lina calmed. Okay.
The next day, travelers arrive at the Island, in small groups. They arrive from the public docks, they arrive by ferry. Most of them are here to lose their entire life's savings on Roulette, Poker, Guess the Ferret, Rock Paper Scissors and the ever popular How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up.* They wander, laughing and thinking about good fortunes and good times, to various hotel/casinos.
The sunset ferry rolls into place after most people are already busy getting drunk and poor. A horsedrawn coach that has clearly seen better days totters down the ramp, and onto the streets of fabulous Despair City.
Up top, Lily and Gourry were sitting, driving the coach. Since the horses had insisted on trying to go in opposite directions at different speeds for the last few days, Lily had taken to keeping a mild Enhance Calm spell on them. Now they rode straight and true, if a bit slowly, to stop and smell the roses every now and then.
"Boy, this city is pretty cool," Gourry commented, watching the magically lit streets as they clop-clopped on through. "This must have cost a lot of money."
"I.. I don't like this place," Lily said. "It's too cold."
"Huh? It's pretty warm.."
"I don't mean cold like temperature," Lily said. "It... FEELS cold. Wrong."
"Don't worry, Lily-san," Gourry smiled. "We'll be out of here once we meet our friends and Lina masters those mirror things enough to finish up our quest."
Inside, Lina was grumbling.
"I don't get it," she said, shaking her hand mirror. "I can't see my future. I've cast this silly Oracle Burst spell like sixteen times, and each time I just get static..."
Naga, who was busy admiring herself in her own mirror, primped her hair a little. "Now now, Lina. Practice makes perfect. I, on the other hand, have successfully seen my own future using these wonderful Mirror Lores! I am to be a valiant and beautiful sorceress all the world will appreciate as my deeds are heralded across the land! OOHHOOHOHOHOHO!!"
It took a lot of bickering and arguing, but in the end, Lina did cave and gave Naga access to the book of Mirror Lores. After all, Naga couldn't really do anything dangerous with them without that water -- the stuff Zelgadis likely had with him at this moment. Lina did make sure to warn Naga never, ever, ever, ever to break a mirror unless she wanted seven years of something much nastier than bad luck -- Lina's anger.
Generally, the Mirror Lores didn't seem very useful. Lina, who was used to spells that blew things up (because frankly, that's what most spells she knew did) regarded the mirror spells as utilities, mostly. Really well done utilities, neat tricks, probably useful when you're trying to look at the stream of time, but beyond that not the amazingly dangerous things that.. well, there were some dangers involved. But not world-shattering, earth-quaking, flood-the-land-with-evil sort of dangers, she figured.
Still, having Naga succeed at using the spells when she couldn't was very... irking.
"How are YOU getting it to cast and not me?" Lina asked.
"Simple. You're using the wrong spell!" Naga said, pointing to a passage in the open book between them. "Use that 'Optimum Vision' spell."
"Nagaaa! That's not your future, it's just what you think the best you should be! I think."
"Exactly. That IS my future! OOHHOOHOHHOO!"
Resisting the urge to smack her was harder than Lina realized. "Did you at least TRY the Oracle Burst spell?"
"Yes, but it was just some boring stuff," Naga said. "This is much better."
Curious, Lina changed gears, and dropped a temporary Optimum Vision enchantment on her own mirror. It took a little while for the spell to replace the previous one on the mirror. It made sense, she supposed, that she couldn't see her future; Silverquick mentioned in his notes that he couldn't either, and he was a master of this magic. It was still very disquieting, though. If...
Lina looked at the image in her mirror in surprise.
Her image looked back her in equal surprise... gave a little smile, gave a little shrug, and faded away.
"Ne, what's that?" Naga asked, peeking over Lina's shoulder.
Lina Inverse quickly removed the enchantment, returning the mirror to reflecting her own face. "Nothing. I can't get these silly things to work right," she said.
With the sun rapidly setting and no sign of the rest of the gang, Lina suggested that her group take a tactical retreat to a strategic outpost that had proven a successful haven in numerous encounters before. Namely, that they go get something to eat.
If there was one thing this island had enough of, it was restaurants; streets were lined with them, to the point where the smell of delicious food cooking over a hundred stoves was reaching critical mass. Lina practically floated, dragged along in delight of aroma.
"Mmmmmmmmm..." Lina said, wafting along. "Food. Good food. GORMET food! I haven't had a meal this good in weeks!"
"Ano, but you haven't eaten anything yet," Gourry said.
"By this smell, I can tell that when I DO eat, it'll be something special," Lina explained. "So! Where would you guys like to-- Oooh! There's a Saileese takeout place over there! Let's go!"
The others weren't quite so enthusiastic.
"Shouldn't we be finding the others?" Gourry asked. "I mean, I know we arranged to meet here, but meet WHERE here?"
"And I'm not one for Sailoon's food," Naga added. "The spices and flavorings are too weak and the soups too runny."
"...I'm not really hungry..." Lily said quietly.
"Well, *I* am going there. You guys can eat where you'd like. More for me!" Lina reasoned -- or rather, a puff of smoke shaped like Lina did, as she was already halfway down the street by the time the sound arrived in their ears.
"Oh, alright, if you insist," Naga sighed dramatically. "Come along, everybody."
Walking along, taking his time, Gourry tagged along with Naga. "You know, she always perks up around food, even when she's really sulky. Why is that?"
"A road-wise sorceress knows always to eat big at dinnertime, because you don't know when your next meal may be," Naga recited.
"Good nutrition helps magic," Lily said, feeling she should say something.
"Uh... but she eats all the time," Gourry replied. "How is that good nutrition or not knowing when your next meal may be?"
"Exactly!" Naga said, as if that answered everything. (Sometimes, Naga's dialogue didn't exactly correspond to reality as others saw it.)
Gourry had trouble trying to parse that, but wrote it off and continued. "I'm actually kinda glad she's getting some good dinner to cheer herself up. Is it just me, or has she been moody lately? I mean, I'm not a smart man, but I can tell some things."
"Moody?"
"You know... quiet.. doesn't seem too thrilled.. spends a lot of time thinking.. hasn't hit me in days.."
"So?"
"I just mean... well, what I MEAN is... I don't know what I mean," Gourry said. "But I'm sure I mean something."
"Ah," Naga said, nodding.
Gourry nodded, and opened the door for the women, because a gentleman is supposed to do that sort of thing.
Through the door he could see Lina reading the menu, conveniently stapled to a wall near the door. Then someone in a cloak stepped behind her.
"I mean to kill you, Lina Inverse!!" the figure proclaimed.
Gourry was in the door and had his temporary replacement sword he bought a day ago out and yanked the man away from Lina placing the blade at his neck in less than a half a second, tops.
The priest at swordpoint smiled nervously at Gourry. "I was only kidding."
"Lina-san!! Gourry-san!" Amelia called from a nearby table, waving a chicken leg at the group. "Hieeee! Ano, Xelloss, quit clowning around."
Xelloss blurred slightly and appeared next to Gourry, away from the sword. "No hard feelings," he said.
"...so then we got sucked into this hole in time or something and ended up in the future! And it was really bright and neat looking and everybody was so nice, but apparently something was pretty wrong with it because Zelgadis and a bunch of military guys blew the place up before we left--"
"Something was very wrong with it, yes," Zelgadis interrupted.
"--and before that we went to this REALLY FUN PLACE with all these waterslides and it was really cool except we blew that place up too, but Zelgadis got this water stuff so I guess we got what we came for and before that we got attacked by pirate hunters who really were pretty strange and didn't have the right idea about justice and oh by the way this is Dayvid and he runs the ship we were traveling on say hi to Lina-san Dayvid!"
"...hi?" Dayvid managed, a bit stunned.
"An.. interesting story," Lina said. "Especially the way you told it backwards and summarized so I couldn't understand any of it."
Amelia took this as a compliment, smiling widely. "So! How was your quest?"
"Welll, first we broke down in the middle of Noh Wheir, then we got jumped by a bunch of bandits who practically were zombies," Lina started. "Lily here was healing them as fast as we could tear them apart. Say hi, Lily."
"um, hi," Lily said.
"Then we went off to Evilania, where I got drugged and we had to take out a Mazoku with a bad attitude and no brains," Lina continued. "We visited the Great Library, did a couple standard trials of worthiness, took out the Mazoku guy AGAIN for good this time and made off with the Mirror Lores. After that we hightailed it across the country, paused to study magic and party, hopped a ferry and here we are."
"Sounds fun," Xelloss smiled. "Perhaps you should write a book of legend. 'The Ballad of Lina Inverse and the Journey of a Thousand Reflections' springs to mind. I, of course, would play a major part."
"And what part would that be?" Zelgadis asked, eyeing the priest.
"That is a secret," Xelloss winked.
"I'm no writer," Lina said. "Besides, it wasn't much of a quest. The Mirror Lores are interesting, but once I get Sailoon's mirror back together, I probably won't bother with them much."
"So what now?" Amelia asked. "What what huh huh what?"
"...you had a lot of sugar today, didn't you?" Lina asked.
"No, why?"
"Ah... um. As for what now, we all get a decent night's sleep away from monsters and madmen, Zelgadis and I take the stuff we've collected and make that silly mirror, then maybe Dayvid can give us all a lift back to Sailoon. Then... it's over."
"Then what?" Amelia insisted.
"Then.. nothing," Lina said. "That's it. Finis. Quest over. We win."
"Awww.." Amelia frowned. "I was hoping there'd be more."
"It's no big deal," Lina replied. "I could think of worse ways to polish off a round of adventuring. Now, if you'll excuse me, I could use some rest. There's an inn over this place, right?"
"We've been staying there," Zelgadis answered. "Plenty of free rooms."
"Great," Lina smiled. "Cheer up, gang! Everything's coming up sunny."
The young sorceress departed, paying the innkeep for her share of the food and for a night's rental on a room, and going upstairs.
"Anooo..." Gourry said, poking at Lina's plate. "She didn't finish her dinner."
"More for me!" Naga smiled, rapidly transferring grub.
"But she ALWAYS finishes her dinner," Gourry said.
Rising, Zelgadis dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, and made a suggestion. "We should probably get some rest too. It's been a long day. Dayvid, I know we just bought passage to the Island of Ultimate Despair, but can we charter it for a trip to Sailoon too?"
"Uh, sure thing," Dayvid said. "I'm going that way anyways."
"Then it's all settled," Zel said, stretching. "The end of another successful journey. Of sorts."
vening chirps like a cricket. The buzz of neon spells is the only sound on the streets; tiny pools of sound, cheers and groans coming from gambling casinos form around the doors of popular night life venues. People put their stakes up, and come up smiling or busted. The rest of the population sleeps.
Lina wasn't sleeping. She tried to, convincing herself it was basically over and she could rest up without worry. She even had a full argument with herself that this was the case, but apparently lost, sitting up in bed, quite awake.
It was one of those nights when she really wished she could get this stuff off her chest, but had no way to. Too many secrets, personal or otherwise, to bottle up...
Knock.
Turning in surprise, Lina realized someone was actually knocking on her door. She reached for her sword, propped against the wall, and called : "Come in."
A blonde head poked through the door, eyes closed. "Uh, are you... decent? I don't mean to wake you up or anything--"
Sighing, Lina set the sword aside. "C'min, Gourry. I'm decent."
Gourry peeked with one eye to confirm that, and walked in, closing the door quietly behind himself. "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"
"No, of course not. So, what brings you here?"
"Uhhh..." Gourry said, rubbing the back of his head. "Nothing. I mean, not nothing, something. But nothing, really. Just... um."
"You couldn't sleep either, huh?" Lina asked.
"No, I was sleeping just-- either? You mean you're having trouble sleeping?" Gourry asked. He took a nearby chair, facing Lina. "Why? What's up?"
"It's nothing," Lina said automatically.
"Ohhh," Gourry nodded. "One of THOSE nothings, like my nothing. Aren't those really a pain? I mean, it's like, nothing, but you KNOW it's something but you can't say the something because it's not the kind of thing you can stick words to. I just figured it was nothing words fit on because I didn't know the right words on account of being dense."
"Eh, everybody feels like that sometimes, and-- hey! You're not dense."
"But you say I'm dense a lot," Gourry said.
"I don't... okay, you can be clueless and dense, but.. not all the time, okay?" Lina admitted. "Look, I'll show you. I'll explain my nothing then you can explain yours. Got it?"
"Okay, I'll try," Gourry smiled, figuring it was a game of some sort.
"And if you tell anybody, I'll roast your eyeballs on a spit and tap-dance on your grave!!" Lina warned.
"Really??" Gourry asked, horrified.
"No, Gourry, not really. ...but don't tell anybody, okay?"
"Oh, sure! No problem."
"Look... you know that second book I got?" Lina asked.
"Uh-huh. You said I shouldn't tell anybody about that, either."
"It's got a prophecy in it," Lina said. "And it's one only I can read, it seems, which means it has to be about ME, somehow. I think. That's worrying. I learned a long time ago that you don't want to get tangled in prophecy because even if it's good for other people at times, it's really, really bad for the person who's at the center of it. Understand?"
"No."
"But that's not the specific thing that's got me up tonight," Lina continued anyway. "It's... I don't think this is going to be as easy as I've been saying it is. Quests don't just go 'Well, we found the sacred ring of holy magic fire water so and so, guess that's it' and everybody goes home. Stuff has to happen. Usually bad stuff."
"I... think I see what you're saying," Gourry said. "See, in the stories, there's always a bad guy and a good guy and something they both want or something, and the good guy has to beat the bad guy before it's really over. You mean like that, right?"
"You ever seen the bad guy win?"
"Heck no! Stories don't end that way!"
"Yeah, well, life isn't a story, Gourry," Lina reminded. "And I think.. I'm worried. I can't see my future, Gourry. Those spells should show me, good or bad, what happens, and I can't see anything. And what I DID manage see.. it's all very worrying. And you know why? It's because even if I have a vague idea of what's going to happen, I don't know how or when! I don't like bad surprises. Zelgadis kept telling me that one day, my luck would run out, and things would go wrong and I never bothered to think about what COULD go wrong before because I preferred to look on the bright side and really I still do, I do hope things'll turn out okay but that's a hope, you see? Not a I KNOW things'll turn out okay like I usually have, and... and I'm making no sense at all, am I?"
Gourry processed that.
"No..." he said. "I get it. You're afraid."
"WHAT?!" Lina said. "I am NOT afraid! Of all the--"
"That's what you're saying, isn't it?" Gourry said. "A worry because you hope things will be okay and don't know if they will means you're afraid of what's around the corner. But ne, Lina, that's okay! It's not like you were able to read the future before, either, and you did just fine. Plus, everybody gets scared sometimes."
"I don't," Lina said, looking off.
"Aww, sure you do. You just don't admit it," Gourry smiled. "But Lina, don't worry so much! You're not alone here, you know. I'll protect you, and you've got all these friends and heck -- you've collected two more ones! Dayvid seems like a nice guy. If anything bad happens we'll all be here, right?"
"True, but--"
"Just true," Gourry said. "How about if I sleep here tonight?"
"WHAT!!!?"
"In this chair," Gourry added quickly. "I can sleep sitting up. That way I can watch over you and stuff."
"Gourry, I don't NEED anybody watching over me!"
"Wouldn't it help you sleep better?" Gourry asked. "I know when I was a kid and I got scared, my mom would keep me company. And I knew that I wasn't alone and I could sleep."
Lina crossed her arms, grumpy. "I shouldn't need that."
Scooting his chair, facing the opposite wall instead of looking right at Lina, Gourry got himself situated. "Just try it, okay? I won't make any noise or anything."
Frustrated, Lina scrunched herself under the covers more, looking away from Gourry. He really could be dense sometimes, she thought.
A few minutes later, she was fast asleep.
In another room, Xelloss was putting his game face on.
He had to look a bit serious. He didn't really like looking serious because despite the rather nicely intimidating effect it had on people, he felt that inside, he always was smiling. If anybody asked why, he'd say it was because he'd seen the universe and finally understood the joke, but that was just something he said to be creepily enigmatic. The real reason was because he was a very happy person.
Things were working out perfectly. In his Melvin guise, he had suggested the Island of Ultimate Despair, and here they all were -- even after he was unmasked! They had brought the water, they had brought the book. There were a few parts of the puzzle left, one of which he'd take care of right now, but other than that, things were en route towards a satisfying conclusion for his own desires.
And would they ever really know what those desires were? Well, no, probably not. He had survived this long simply because unlike other Mazoku, he felt no burning need to tell his pawns the entire plan before leaving them alone in an easily escapable death trap. Such silly business, that was. If you were going to succeed, he figured, learn from the many horrible mistakes of others. No, he wouldn't inform the others of his true intent.
Besides, they probably wouldn't believe him if he told them. Something very ironic in that.
But first things first.
Checking a mirror to ensure he was suitably menacing, he weaved a bubble of dark silence around the hotel room just to the right of his, and teleported in.
The room's occupant awoke, shivering.
"Greetings," Xelloss said, adding in a sweeping bow. "I'd like to discuss a deal with you."
The white sorceress pushed herself back against her headboard, scooting away. "Wh-what?"
"You have no idea how ideal you are," Xelloss said, advancing. "I had originally planned to take care of this end myself, but since you're still with them, you'll suit the task perfectly..."
"wh.. wh..." Lily stammered.
"I'll do the talking," Xelloss said. "One spell you need to cast for me, then I'll bother you no further. I think you'll agree that it's a good thing to be doing, and you like to do good things, don't you, Lily the White Dove? Allow me to explain. Allow yourself to listen."
Zelgadis slept like a rock. He was a rock, in some respects, so it was only appropriate.
Despite that, he wasn't a deep sleeper. He knew that you needed to be ready to spring to action even in the middle of the night, and had his equipment and possessions at the ready near his bed. When he heard a scratching at his window, he woke up, fetched his sword and cloak, and investigated...
When he stepped over to see what it was about, he saw Lina, clinging desperately to his windowsill. Quickly he opened the window and pulled her inside; she looked awful. Weakened, scarred, with a few fresh bruises..
"Lina!" he asked. "What happened?!"
"It's... it's Xelloss..." Lina said. "Took Gourry.. could barely fly back here..."
Zel collected his cool with all speed. "Where are Xelloss and Gourry now?"
"Peak.." Lina said, pointing out the window. "Highest mountain. Out there."
"Right," Zelgadis said. "I'll get the others."
Lina shook her head. "He.. he wants to see you. He told me. He only wants to see you because he says it's time to settle what's.. between you."
Frown. Anger flared inside the chimera, boosted by all the taunting Xelloss had given him over the trip. It was just as Zelgadis had expected; the priest finally showed his true backstabbing colors. Well well, HE'D settle this nonsense, once and for all. "Okay. You stay here, and--"
"N-no! Take me with you, I.. I..."
"Lina, you need to rest. If--"
"Gourry is in trouble!!" Lina said. "I have to.. I HAVE to go with you. Just carry me, I can't fly... please, Zelgadis..."
Emotion battled with reason for a moment, before Zelgadis nodded, hiking Lina up onto his back. "Okay. No noises. We're just taking a look quietly, then plan what to do. Got it?"
"Got it," Lina agreed.
The two quietly floated out of the inn window, Raywing bubbling over both of them, as Zelgadis flew straight and true for the Peak of Despair.
While en route, Lina described some of the things Xelloss did to her. In detail.
Zelgadis had to fight to keep his flight spell under control. Rage pulsed through his head at these horror stories, whispered into his ear by the girl who had to experience things like that first hand.. HOW could he have been asleep when this was going on?! How could Xelloss grab Lina and Gourry right from under his nose? Oh, the Mazoku bastard would pay, he would pay...
When the two landed at the mouth of the Cave of Gloom, where Lina indicated they were, Zelgadis was ready to charge right in and cut loose with every power he had. Lina, who had somehow gotten the strength to walk again, went in with him.
"I can't see anything," Zelgadis whispered. "I'm going to risk a light spell. If we see him, I'll deal with him. He has it coming!"
Light filled the cave, revealing a very, very large empty mirror frame, and an open pit. No Xelloss or Gourry.
"...huh?" Zelgadis asked, before his whole world turned topsy turvy, falling and falling and WHACK-- everything went black.
Stepping up to the pit, Lina smiled down. "Stupid dead guy. Falls for some hair dye and a story designed to rile him up. No wonder he got killed in the real world," she said aloud, to herself, so she could hear herself say the words. "You'll do SO nicely as bait, dream-Zelgadis. Thanks for playing right into my hands."
Using a rope she had set up just for this purpose, Lina climbed down, retrieved the waterskin Zelgadis had with him, and took out a long length of chain.
vernight, clouds had formed over the island. Big, nasty rolling grey clouds; the kind that always seemed on the edge of threatening to maybe kick some thunderstorm ass all over the place, but choosing to merely loom at the moment.
Although the sun wasn't shining, inside Amelia's head it was a nice bright sunny morning, and she arose with a yawn, a stretch and a smile. She did some warmup exercises to keep her body fit and ready for the cause of justice, brushed her teeth with the nearby basin, got dressed, had a piece of fresh fruit from the complementary bowl the innkeeper had sent up, then picked up the ransom note someone had left by her bedside and read it.
Two moments passed.
"AAAAaaaaa!!!" Amelia shrieked, clutching the paper. She zoomed out of her room and down the stairs, where everybody was busy having breakfast -- since to them, so far, it was just like any other morning -- and waved her arms rapidly to get their attention.
"Are you trying to fly, Amelia-chan?" Xelloss asked, amused.
"He's gone! He's gone!!" Amelia said. "Oh, tragedy! Zelgadis-san has been KIDNAPPED!"
"Don't panic," Lina said, munching on a stack of pancakes that reached her eye level. "Prob'bly went off to get food or somethin'. He's free to come and go."
"I got a ransom note!" Amelia said.
"...oh," Lina replied, getting that sinking feeling despite the light fluffy hotcakes. "Okay.. that's different."
The group gathered around the small note, which had been written by a hand unstable enough to not require little cut-out letters.
i TooK tHat zELgadIs tHING.
comE to tHe CAVE OF GLOOM at
tHe PEAK OF DESPAIR asap rsvp L.I.,
oR
..i dUnnO, baD stuph.
love, lIna inverse
Lina swallowed. "Her again..."
"Lina! YOU kidnapped Zelgadis?!" Amelia asked, amazed.
"No, no!" Lina said. "I didn't tell you guys, but... look. Some version of ME popped out of the Oracle Mirror in Sailoon. She's been dogging me ever since. She's the one who's apparently got Zelgadis..."
"Oh dear, oh dear," Xelloss said. "This is a pickle. What shall we do?"
Lina crunched the note in her hands. "I'm not going to run scared anymore. I had a feeling this would happen, and I know how to take care of it. I'll go up to the Peak and finish this."
"We're coming," Gourry said.
"She's not you, Gourry, she's me. I should do--"
"We're coming," Gourry repeated. "You don't have to go into whatever this is alone. It might be a big fight, you know! You should have some support. And besides, we're all friends of Zelgadis, right?"
"You bet!" Amelia said.
"He's a nice guy.." Dayvid said.
Lily, who had been staying in the background for some reason this morning, didn't offer anything.
"I don't say I care for him, but the battle could be fun," Naga grinned.
"He's such a gloomy two shoes, but I'm in," Xelloss said. "But Dayvid, you're staying here."
"Eh?"
"Come come, boy, you're no warrior," Xelloss replied. "I don't mean that in an insulting way, but you don't have any portable weapons from the Guppy, and your magic isn't controllable enough yet to help us. You should probably stay here in case we need to make a quick getaway, yes?"
"Uh.. yeah, if you put it that way," Dayvid said.
"Now, let us make plans," Xelloss said, assuming lead. "Ne, Lina, come with me a moment. I've got something to show you. Amelia, you and Gourry and Naga find a way to get up to the mountain and meet us back at the docks."
Amelia looked confused. "But we can just fly--"
"Onward, onward!" Xelloss said, putting an arm around Lina's shoulder to lead her out. "Zelgadis is counting on is! To arms, to arms!"
Blinking in puzzlement, Lina looked at Xelloss strangely, stepping away from him and out of the inn.
"So... what do we do again?" Gourry asked. The inn seemed quiet in the wake of the brief whirlwind of planning Xelloss had dumped on them.
"I'll be a moment," Amelia said, heading for the door. "I'm going to see what those two are up to."
Lina glanced around the midmorning streets, still relatively empty, following Xelloss. Something smelled wrong. It was probably some trash in a nearby dumpster, probably.
"Xelloss, what're you up to?" Lina asked, directly.
"Up to?" Xelloss smiled. "Whatever could I be up to?"
"You're always up to SOMETHING. I haven't been able to keep an eye on you this time around, but I'm sure you've still been up to something. What's it this time?"
Xelloss paused. "Well, here's as good a place as any. Are you sure you want to know, Lina Inverse?"
"Why not?" Lina asked.
"I've got a small problem," Xelloss said. "Sort of a chain of command problem. Orders on high. I hope you'll understand when all is said and done."
"Understand what?" Lina asked, before the dark lance of energy bored a hole through her chest.
It happened in a split second. A flick of the Mazoku priests' wrist, a small, controlled burst of black magic, and a painful burning.. Lina, in total disbelief, sank to her knees and sank to the ground... and lie still.
Screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAaaaa!!!" Amelia shrieked. "You... YOU..."
"Ooooh, that isn't good," Xelloss said, his smile nervous now. "I didn't plan on witnesses--"
"GOURRY! GRACIA!!" the princess yelled, running back towards the inn. "Come quick! Hurry!!!"
Xelloss mused over Lina's dead body. "This does complicate things. But acceptably so."
A presence flooded over Xelloss, the familiar pang of one who he really was disliking the company of -- but someone he was expecting, if not planning on seeing. The glowing wisp of light faded into view, studying Lina, satisfied if it was possible for it to be satisfied.
"i see you've finally carried out your orders," Minion said. "you have killed Lina Inverse. your Mistress will be pleased." It turned, and started to fade away.
"Ah, one thing, before you go reporting back..."
Minion reformed itself. "yes?"
Smile wider than previously thought possible, Xelloss snapped his fingers.
Stepping from the nearby alley, a nervous and trembling Lily quickly knelt by Lina's side, and her hands started to glow, the spell having been prepared in advance. "*Ressurection!*" she cast, the light spreading over Lina's form--
Sputtering, coughing, Lina sat straight up, shaking the light off her body, color returning quickly to her cheeks. She was too stunned to see what was going on, but could hear...
"...you see," Xelloss explained. "My mistress never said that my dear Lina had to STAY dead. And that's the punchline. Even a wholly boring thing such as you must appreciate the fine logic of it."
Light flickered, wobbled across the surface of the wisp. Minion was confused, a state it never knew was possible for it. "Lina Inverse must die... Lina Inverse died... Lina Inverse is alive... Lina Inverse must die... the orders... Her orders..."
"And I believe your next tack, in such a bewildered state, will be to finish the job yourself, yes?" Xelloss asked, tapping his fingers on his staff, a light exercise of readiness.
Minion's light snapped back into sharp focus. "i will kill Lina Inverse," it stated plainly, the white light turning black with dark magics, spearing towards Lina--
Xelloss was there in an instant, blocking them with a shield of power.
"And also," he added, "Nobody ever ordered me to spare YOUR miserable existence. My plans for her have come too far to see you squish them. Let's get it on, silly plaything."
Enveloped, briefly, in black energy, Xelloss and Minion vanished.
The wind breezed along the empty street. Lina felt a draft in the small hole in her shirt. Lily looked relieved that the two Mazoku had left. Nobody said a word.
Ameila burst into the inn, panting, white in the face.
Her words were simple, once she could get them out : Lina's dead. Xelloss killed her. The stampede, lead this time by Gourry, thundered out of the inn and over to the alley, where Lina was alive.
The look of relief on Gourry's face was strong. "Lina! We thought you were..."
"I.. thought I was too," Lina said, still poking at the hole in her shirt.
"Xelloss murdered you!" Amelia said, still reeling from it. "He.. he killed--"
"..ano.."
"--and there was blood, and... it was--"
Lily gathered her courage, cleared her throat, and spoke up. "EXCUSE ME! ...but that's not really what happened."
All eyes turned to her. Normally she'd have buckled under that kind of pressure, but she found some inner strength, knowing how important this was, and kept going.
"He came to me last night," she explained. "He.. he said that he had been ordered to kill Lina. But he didn't want her to die, not for real. So he'd have to kill her, then have me cast Resurrect right away. It was the only way he could keep her safe from some assassin..."
"But... but he... huh?!" Amelia asked.
"He wanted everybody to know why he did it. He said that didn't have to be a secret," Lily said, from memory. "He asked me to tell everybody that. Because.. he might not survive to say it himself. And... that's it."
Silence hung over the group, an ominous still.
"Where is he now?" Lina asked.
"I d-don't know," Lily said honestly.
The boy in the back of the crowd stepped forward, looking up slightly. "He's.. near," Dayvid said. "I can feel him out there. Don't ask me how, but I can. Dad's fighting something strong."
"So.. so what do we do now?" Amelia asked.
Dayvid flexed his fingers. "You guys go to the mountain, and rescue Zelgadis. I'm going after my father."
"How?" Amelia asked. "Dayvid, it's dangerous! You're not a fighter, Xelloss said so. You could get hurt!"
Dayvid simply smiled at her. "C'mon, me, get hurt? Before I've finished building that funpark for you? Not happening. Hurry, Zelgadis needs you. I'll be back before lunchtime."
Before Amelia could protest again, Dayvid concentrated, and wobbled away from view; not the practiced fade Xelloss had mastered, but very, very similar.
"Dayvid..." Amelia said, trailing his name off since she felt it was the appropriate thing to say.
"He has a point.." Lina said, rising to her feet. "We've got to hightail it up that mountain."
Nobody moved.
"Do I NEED to say 'Who's with me?'" Lina asked. "Because you all obviously are. I wasn't dead yesterday, you know. But I'll say it just for the show of things. Now. Who's with me?"
"I'm going with you," Gourry agreed.
"We've got to save Zelgadis!" Amelia said, focusing back on their original task. "In the name of justice!!"
"I already said I was going," Naga noted.
"I'll.. go too," Lily said. "Maybe I can be of some help."
Lina nodded in satisfaction. "Much better. Let's go."
...somewhere a shadow's width away, somewhere between the air...
The fight was raging. Xelloss rarely used his full Mazoku self, since it really wasn't required for most things in life, but Zellas-Metallum made the Minion of strong stuff. Likely figuring it would come to this, too. She could be a decidedly and quite amusingly sadistic ruler over her subjects.
But Xelloss was quite ready. Granted, they were almost equally matched and this would not be easy, but he was tight; black power surging through the nonsky, as the two grappled for each other on a psychic war level. No words needed to be said, no taunts; Minion because he couldn't think of a taunt and didn't need them, Xelloss because he knew folks who taunted tended to die in the middle of taunting--
A blow to his mind. Fast little bugger, that Minion was. Xelloss retaliated, a multipronged attack to cleave the thing into pieces, which it shifted and evaded...
A third presence made itself known.
"Oh, hello," Xelloss said (or rather, thought in this plane), not pausing in his attacks. "It's a pleasant day, isn't it? Try to focus you will better, son. That's how TRUE magic works."
"You save Dad I to came" Dayvid said through the wild maelstrom of power.
"Yes yes, less talk, more kicking of butt," Xelloss smiled. "And thanks for showing, son. I really appreciate it. More than you probably realize."
The battle continued to rage.
eaching the top of the Peak of Despair took several minutes of flight. Up here, the vacation resort seemed... completely insignificant. The range of mountain peaks that formed most of the Island of Ultimate Despair truly was its main feature, rows of ragged, nasty looking rocks, lumped here as if the Lord of Nightmares had just lobbed a handful of mountains into the ocean.
The group touched down at the top of the tallest mountain, in front of a yawning maw of rock, a damp cave.
"The Cave of Gloom," Lina mumbled, "At the top of the Peak of Despair. Naturally. They couldn't put hideouts anywhere with a SENSIBLE name, could they?..."
"So, what's in there?" Gourry asked, getting his average sword ready.
"Only one way to find out..." Lina said, taking a step forward-- and stopping.
A pair of figures were walking out of the cave; one in front of the other. Zelgadis, used as a human shield by the other Lina, who had her marble-thrower ready, pointed towards his face.
The group took attack stances; the pair stopped.
"I think," the other Lina said, "That if I was to fire this into his eye, his rock skin wouldn't do much to protect him.. do you want to see what happens? If so, by all means, charge up some spells and stuff."
Zel, who had his arms inconveniently chained to his sides, glowered. "Don't bother, guys. Concentrate on stopping her. She got the Water of Reflection--"
"Hush, dream thing," Lina Inversed said, nudging him. "I'll tell that in good time."
Lina stepped forward, once, to speak up for the group. "Okay, I'll bite. What happens now?"
"Oh?" the other Lina asked. "You really want to know? I really want to tell you, I've worked so hard and so long..."
"I'm dying to know," Lina said, before realizing that wasn't the right choice of words.
With a smirk, Lina Inversed gave Zelgadis a mighty shove; he stumbled, then ran back to the group. The marble-thrower neatly swiveled, pointing up, now right at Lina -- who stepped back, charged fireball dying down, before anything bad happened.
"This thing is faster than your spell, and it cuts through magic," Lina Inversed said. "You could blow me up, but not before I ventilate you. And besides... you want to know what happens now. Isn't that right?"
Cursing, Lina kept herself at weaponpoint, making no sudden moves. That little red dot would be on her forehead, she knew it... "Yes, I'd like to know."
"I told you I was going to make it all the way it was, before I got into this crazed dream where nothing was destroyed, nobody was dead," the one who called herself Lina said. "I'm doing it all for you. I want to show you what you were supposed to go through. You HAVE to see..."
"I'm not interested."
"I don't care."
"I'll just walk away from here."
"I'll shoot you," Lina Inversed noted, waving her weapon slightly to emphasize this point.
"Oh? And how will you make me pay if you kill me?" Lina asked.
Zelgadis interrupted. "Lina, she's got a HUGE mirror in there made from my waterskins and I have no idea what spell she put on it, but--"
"--but you'll see any second now," Lina Inversed said.
Crackles of yellow power formed around the mouth of the cave, licking the lips of the entrance, from stalactite to stalagmite...
"And this delay gave it enough time to activate," Lina Inversed smiled. "All of this. All for you."
Throwing herself to the ground, the other Lina rolled for cover; the others took the hint and scattered, as the lightning forked outside of the cave, forming a tight web of power, channeling... a space where no light existed, flowing out like antigravity water, slick as oil, impure as dirt...
The howl of the wind screamed across the sky, as the water-enchanted mirror inside weaved its spell, pouring out and down the mountain.
Lina, the one with white hair dyed orange, was laughing, laughing with joy at everything coming together so well. Lina, the one with orange hair that was once white years ago, grabbed her and shook. "What did you DO?!" she demanded. "What did you cast?"
"World Reflection.. to find a plane of Mazoku darkness, enough to act like a Giga Slave..." Lina said, dreamily. "World Merge, to bring it all here and make this world the way I know it..."
Lina snarled. World Merge. The notes said it should stop after a few seconds, however; what kept this spell going? She turned to her twin, angry. "That world is the one that shouldn't have happened! How could you be me and not see that?? How do we turn this thing off?!"
But the other Lina just laughed, and laughed, a laugh of the madness that disconnected her from reality. There was no way to get information out of her like this.
On the other side of the river of darkness, the rest of the group hung onto the rocks for dear life, to avoid being blown off the narrow plateau by the winds.
"Where's Lina?!" Gourry shouted, over the increasing din.
"Over there!" Naga said, pointing. When Gourry got up to try and cross the river, Naga held him back. "Are you dense?! You can't get through that!"
Gourry ignored her, and started across; next, Lily stopped him.
"I'm going," Gourry said, less a note than a prediction.
"I'll help you get through," Lily explained.
Lina bit her lip.
She knew this would probably happen. At least, she knew what she had to do; she had planned for it, she got Lily to teach her. When she told Lily why she needed the spell, Lily was hesitant, but agreed to help her. It was a good cause. And right now, the only way Lina was going to find out how to stop the World Merge.
It'd have to be done quickly, although with time slowing to a halt in the process, it could be done quickly. Lina started the chant.
"As tall as the tallest pillar...
As bright as the lightest sun...
Final level of power, final spell of might,
Shining brightness that brings all life,
Let the darkness be repaired in this place...
ULTRA RESTORATION!"
And her self flowed into the mind of her twin, into a world of nightmares and broken spirit.
hiteness. Pure whiteness, flowing light as the self shifted, melted into the other, a bubble in a pot of soup that was boiling over with anger, sadness, insanity, rage--
And Lina was in, the now familiar feel of one who was in the state the Ultra Restoration induced. But this was different. She was inside a mind, not just floating free or in the physical meat of the body.
Unprepared, and shocked at the sensation, the mind of the other threatened to swallow her whole -- a torrid rush of agony and slow pain, of misery and depression, memories piling on top of each other to have a shot at being the first to corrupt this neat new thing that had approached them -- Lina shoved hard, pushing them away. She was here to work, not to allow the work to overcome her.
Lina Inverse was Lina Inverse was Lina Inverse was in the mind of Lina Inverse was not Lina Inverse. Was different. How different? Need to know, to find out, see what she could do. Start at the beginning, at the top of the stack, bit by bit, heal, purify, modify...
The first. The Giga Slave, which consumed the world, which burned Gourry and Zelgadis -- and she could see their deaths, horrifying looks on their faces, the one thing Lina remembered most which would haunt her for days.
Easy, the floating Lina thought, throwing the white energy at the image to destroy it.
It wouldn't be destroyed.
She tried again, stronger; but no effect, not even a dent.
Somehow, she knew why. No amount of banging and burning and purifying would cut the memory, because the memory is what was real, what existed in time. You can't heal a damaged mind simply by wiping it clean. That wasn't healing; Ultra Restoration would not do that for her with those intentions.
For a moment, Lina nearly lost herself in a panic. What could she do? She didn't anticipate this to be a problem. It was just insanity, after all, just damage to the psyche... it should burn away, blown up and blasted with high energy magic like all other... no. That wasn't actually how the mind worked. It wouldn't 'go away', not like all other problems. What could she do? She wasn't a psychologist. She had never helped heal someone with trauma before. What could she do? She wouldn't be able to do it right. She was useless. Misery flotsam attached to her, dragging her down, into the spiral of the other's mind, agony opening with welcoming arms for her...
NO.
She shook off the chains that yanked at her, floating free again. She'd find a way to help Lina Inverse or die trying. Preferably the first, but she would not give up, ever. Find an angle. Help. Help. Comfort. Lina Inverse is alone in her own mind, with the memory of memories, of torments-- alone.
You're not alone here, you know, Gourry had said. I'll protect you. And she slept easily that night.
It was going to be hard, but she knew what to do, at least.
Lina let herself be sucked into the whirlpool of memory, keeping her SELF, her identity. A paranoid notion of a being was not going to be very good company to a soul in need, after al--
--ter which, lying on the floor of a cold cell, shivering, wet, curled in a ball, unbelieving of what had happened to her--
Of what had happened to the other Lina, Lina reminded herself, Lina, Lina, Lina... and she stepped over to the shivering girl, her clothes in tatters, and pulled her up into an embrace. Two separate beings, one afraid, the other warm and sympathetic.
"I'm here," she said, hugging Lina tight. "I'll be with you from here out. I'll watch over you. I can't change anything, but I'll be here, for how much it helps. It'll help. I'm sure it will."
As far away as a shadow's thickness, away from one battle for the soul and into a battle for existence...
The fight was a wildly chaotic affair.
Minion was strong, Xelloss was strong. But Dayvid was a wildcard. Sometimes taking many blows from Minion in a row, which wasn't pleased to see a third person in the fray -- then sometimes coming back with a wild barrage of rough, unpredictable attacks of power. Dayvid had no control, no style, no form; and thus, was nearly impossible to defend against, since you had no idea where he could strike from next, or what style his attack would come from. It was like watching a baseball game where the occasional curveball would change direction, double back, do a figure eight, then slam the catcher through the back of the stadium wall at two hundred miles per hour.
Whenever Dayvid hit a lull, Xelloss picked up the slack, with cold, precise blows. This was a fight of pure energy, magic without spells, undiluted and nasty. Also completely uncoordinated.
Eager to get it over with, Xelloss signaled his son. "Attack in five, with everything you have," he said, careful to channel the thought in a narrow beam, to avoid Minion intercepting. His son was a scientist; he'd have the timing down. Hopefully, he could be strong at the exact moment needed.
Counting, now. One. Two. Three--
--deflect an attack--
Four. FIVE.
Dayvid cut loose with a shower of black lightning, everything he knew he could manage and some things he wasn't sure he could, trying not to restrain himself. Xelloss directed a solid bar of black horror, screaming through the void to strike Minion dead center.
The wisp of blacklight squirmed under the flows, pushed backwards; both Mazoku and Half-Mazoku kept on him, relentlessly.
Minion did not explode dramatically. He gave a whimpering non-sound, and simply boiled away into nothing.
Quickly, Xelloss got a hold on Dayvid's form, and jerked both of them out of the astral plane, landing roughly on the streets of the resort on the Island of Ultimate Despair. Dayvid wasn't breathing. Xelloss took a shockrod of energy and ran it through Dayvid once, twice-- the boy sat up, sputtering, coughing, wheezing.
"I... we won?" he asked, blinking a few times, getting used to having eyes again.
"Oh, we won indeed," Xelloss smiled. "I suppose my message from Lily about 'possibly not surviving this' brought you running, as I planned?"
"....planned?!" Dayvid asked. "You set me up for--"
Xelloss put a finger to his son's lips. "But I'm still happy you did come help," Xelloss said. "I'm proud of you, son. You've done well. You took 'evil' energy and put it to some damn good use, so to speak, from your heart. I don't think I'll have to worry about your development now. Tell me, what of Lina and the others?"
"They're.. getting Zelgadis back," Dayvid said.
"Then it has begun," Xelloss sighed in relief. "Excellent. Now, either all will be well for them or the world will be destroyed."
"What?!"
That's when he noticed the lava flow, a greasy black oil of malformed shapes and inbred nightmares sliding gently downhill, starting to engulf the resort...
"Away would be advisable," Xelloss said, taking Dayvid's hand and beaming the hell out of there.
Months in minutes, days in hours. How long had Lina been in these memories? It felt like so little amount of time, but also felt like real time, standing by her own side through thick and thick.
She felt the first times Lina was captured by the Mazoku, toyed with in 'thanks' for bringing about the apocalypse. The candle was held by her side, the new part of the memory, the one who would accompany her through all the dark journeys she took -- had taken -- she? Lina. Someone was always there, with a hug, with good words, with a shoulder to lean on, soothing and talking. Someone other than the tormentors. That was important.
And slowly, Lina, the one who was holding the candle of holy white fire, began to see the pattern.
The Mazoku were breaking her. Her. Selectively, slowly, precisely. Some hands she was passed to did it sloppy, some did it light, some weak, but there was a pattern. And at each turn, a little more darkness would creep in, but it wasn't normal emotional darkness. It was magical darkness. Outside power, seeping into Lina's soul, skewing her perceptions, bending her emotions to suit the Mazoku. Beatings, tortures, psychological horrors, rapes, dark magics, condescending verbal assaults, everything -- in addition to a dark element, like slow poison, drip-fed into her body.
At first, Lina simply watched, comforted, helped, tried to be there to keep Lina safe at heart if not at body, but she saw Lina's visual dance go haywire. Drugs. It was like the drugs of Evilanian stew, exaggerating the terrible, playing down the hopeful. A thin trickle, very hard to see, but if you traced it from the string of insanity that grew more and more tangled...
Curiously, Lina touched a burning ember to the slow feed of noxious slime, and saw it burn.
"They deliberately did this..." she said, to herself. "They caused the insanity. You have a strong mind, Lina! You have strong will, they knew that and used a little something extra to help you over that edge..."
But to do something about this, she'd have to leave her side -- leave Lina's side. Her crying, her need to reach out to someone who wouldn't hurt her.
A gamble. Leave and fight the supplemental poison to try and bring her back, or stay and be safe. Be safe.
Not taking the gamble wasn't safe, either.
"I'm sorry," she said, and tore herself away from the memory world, just for the briefest moment, accelerating. Work fast, burn hard. Her body became the fire of the candle.
Touch here. Touch here. Burn. Touch here. The Mazoku shrieked as their drips were plugged and melted, the waterworks of insanity boiling away to nothing. Faster. Burn. Faster, move faster, get it all, leave nothing unchecked or it'll all go back to pot again. FASTER. FASTER--
The final spigot locked down, bent in half, destroyed in the fires.
Lina whisked herself back to the bedside of herself, her changed self. It worked. It still hurt. She could still feel the terror and the pain, the hurting, but now, it wasn't the horrifying nightmare-reality. It was just reality. Hard, cold, but undeniably real and not fantastically evil.
And while that wasn't sunshine and roses, it was a good start to come back from.
Only brief moments had passed outside, in reality.
"You can help me?" Gourry asked, looking at Lily. Plaintively, desperately.
Lily nodded once, and turned to face the river of sludge. She began a low chant, and-- time froze. For her. She worked.
In a split second for Gourry, where there was an impenetrable wall of darkness, there was an opening just big enough to dash through before it would close again--
Taking her hand, Gourry and Lily jumped through the gap, rolling to a halt on the other side. The river surged to choke up the empty space, and continued.
Lina and Lina lay in a crumpled heap on the ground, still, not breathing.
"LINA!" Gourry called, immediately going to her side. Lily did as well, inspecting, realizing what was going on.
"She's using Ultra Restoration," Lily said. "It doesn't take long to do. Time stops for you when you cast it. She'll be out of it any second now."
More than a few seconds passed.
"Can you bring her back?" Gourry asked.
"I.. it shouldn't go on this long," Lily said. "It's never--"
And one of the Linas inhaled, a raspy, harsh inhaling. Her eyes flew open. Looked at Gourry, looked at Lily.
"I...." Lina said, then decided not to continue the sentence. Quickly, she rolled, shaking the other Lina by the shoulders. "Sorry.. I need to know. How do we stop the mirror? How?"
The other Lina didn't open her eyes, but mumbled a few words. "Sword.. powering it... take out the sword, break.."
"That'll do," Lina nodded. "You can sleep now."
She gently lowered the other Lina to the ground, and turned to Gourry. "Gourry, your Sword of Light is probably in there fueling the spell. I'll go in and... wait. You're going to want to do this instead of me, aren't you?"
"Of course," Gourry nodded.
"Then here's what you do," Lina said, opting not to argue the point. "Avoid touching the darkness. Find the frame of the mirror, the sword should be embedded in it, or something. Get the sword away from the mirror, and when it looks right, destroy the mirror. Got it?"
Nodding once, Gourry got to his feet, and stepped around the flow, through a narrow gap and into the cave.
Lily looked at Lina. "Did you..."
Lina nodded. "I did. She's not magically cured or anything.. but she's better than she was, I hope. Thanks for the spell, Lily."
Lily smiled. "I think my family would have been proud to share it with you, Lina."
Both women looked at the cave, concerned, and waited.
Gourry's spine felt like ice, but something like that was not going to stop him.
The cave had no light, none whatsoever. If he relied on touch, he'd probably trip and fall into the stream; that would be bad. He relied, instead, on instinct. His uncle.. one of them, at least.. said that instinct would see you through when eyes couldn't. He did walk off a pier to his death one night, but that was besides the point.
In his mind...
He thought he saw the mirror, and the handle of a sword, worked into the frame. He reached forward, grasping once -- missed. Twice. Got it.
He pulled, noting it was stuck fast, then braced his feet and put every muscle he had into the job, HAULING on the handle. After a minute of this, past when his arms had waved the white flag of surrender, the sword came out; but the blade wasn't shining, it was radiating darkness. The mirror had tainted the Sword of Light.
That's okay, Gourry thought. I can do something about that. He summoned every positive feeling he had, and being Gourry, he had a LOT of them. In no time, the light peeked through, and pushed the darkness off the blade slowly, until it shone like the sun. It WAS a Sword of Light, after all.
He used the light to size up the roughly made mirror, drew his arm back, and SLASHED--
The world broke in half.
The mirror imploded, shattering into a thousand pieces which sucked themselves into a tiny earthbound black hole. Gourry grabbed the nearest rock, hanging on for dear life, as the brief wind slurped some of the darkness up, ceasing the river, then ceasing to exist. The wind gave a sad protest, and also quieted down.
"I did it!" Gourry smiled, strolling out of the cave, sword of light sheathed and over one shoulder. "I saved the world! I... oh... um. Damn."
Because when he looked down the mountainside, the black death that had flowed so freely out of the cave wasn't gone; it simply coated the island like an oil slick, trying to take shapes, and starting to flow out to the ocean.
The others were now all on the same plateau, also looking at this sight.
"It's liquefied now, but once that becomes actual Mazoku and stuff, we're going to be in serious trouble," Zelgadis said. "Us and the entire world, probably. We were a little too late in stopping the flow."
"We're doomed?!" Amelia asked. "No way! But.. but we beat the bad guy and... come on! This can't be happening!"
In a blur, Dayvid and Xelloss appeared, Dayvid looking a bit worse for wear, Xelloss smiling as always.
"Oh dear," he said. "Isn't this a predicament?"
"XELLOSS!" Zelgadis growled. "This is all YOUR doing, isn't it?! I'm gonna--"
"Cool it," Lina ordered, holding up a hand to Zelgadis without even looking at him. "New situation. Lily. Can Ultra Restoration cut through that stuff? It was designed to eradicate darkness, and that's as close as we're going to get to a nice puddle of evil."
"...no," Lily said. "Some of it. Maybe half of it if we work for awhile and everybody here was casting it, but..."
"And we can't teach it to everybody, and we don't have long..." Lina said. "We need something stronger. White magic that's stronger than oh SHIT..."
"Huh?" Gourry asked, now back to being confused.
Lina looked up at the sky. "You've GOT to be kidding me! After all this, you're expecting me to... OOOOH! I've said it before, and I'll say it again.. I HATE PROPHECY!"
Gourry looked at the sky too. "Who're you talking to?"
"Nobody," Lina replied. "Okay. Guys, I know a spell that will do the job, but... I've blown a lot of power today. I'll need help. Here's the play; Amelia, Lily, both of you are skilled at white magic, I want you at my side to link up our power and feed the spell. Naga?"
"Yes?"
"I'm only going to ask once, so no claims that you're a mighty and beautiful black sorcerer who's above that stuff," Lina said, flat out. "Are you good at white magic or not?"
"..I am," Naga admitted. "I mean, I was once... when I was very little, Lina, I barely remember--"
"You take position behind me and supply backup power," Lina said. "Zelgadis, you next to her in case we need more, and..."
"Hold on," Zelgadis said. "WHAT are you going to cast, exactly? I can't think of anything that could possibly require--"
"Giga Restoration," Lina said.
Zelgadis shut up.
"I... think I'll just stand on the sidelines and cheer you guys on," Dayvid suggested. "Um. Yay."
"Good enough for me, Dayvid," Lina nodded. "But we need one more, just to be safe... Xelloss?"
"Who, me?" Xelloss asked, surprised. "Lina, I may be a bad ass in some circles, but white magic is not one of them for reasons which should be obvious. If--"
Someone cleared her throat. All eyes turned.
"If y-you don't... mind," Lina Inversed asked, looking a bit brittle and frail, but her eyes weren't nearly as wild as they were before. "I want to help, if I can."
"You sure you're up to this..?" Lina asked, concerned.
"No," Lina said. Her voice was weak, like a small child pulled back from the brink of death, quiet and scared, but determined not to be afraid anymore. "I'm not up to this. But you helped me. I.. I think I can remember that you were there. I couldn't remember before for some reason, but I want to help. ...I'm sorry for all this. I felt so..."
Lina smiled, gently. "You don't have to explain. It's okay. Come on over."
The players took their places, as the blackness climbed back up the mountain, sensing a building of energy. A wave of it slowly built, ready to engulf them--Gourry slashed it down fast with the Sword, and kept it at bay long enough for Lina to chant.
Lina had one last thought before she began. 'Lord of Nightmares, you had better be paying attention and looking out for me this time... because if you aren't, you're gonna have ME on your hands.'
She started the spell.
"As tall as the tallest pillar...
As bright as the darkest day...
King of Darkness, Queen of Light,
Shining like gold upon the Sea of Chaos,
I call upon thee, swear myself to thee,
Let the balance against the dark be restored...
GIGA RESTORATION!"
Rumors would speak about it for days afterwards, but nobody really found out what happened. From the shores of nearby Evilania, where they ran in fear from it, even to the far off lands of Sailoon where a few lucky people with telescopes got to witness it, everybody at least saw the same thing.
Off in the distance, over an island where stormclouds had gathered in an extremely localized manner, there was a silent explosion. A dome of white energy sprang into existence over the island, covering it like a blanketing dome that swirled and burned with light energies and fires... the stormclouds vaporized in the shockwave, spreading out from the island to annihilate the storms that surrounded it.
That wasn't the surprising bit. People were used to the idea of islands vanishing in the wake of some terrible act of magic, but when the dome finally flashed out of existence, mere moments after it arrived, the island appeared whole and untroubled. Like nothing had happened. Nothing they could see, at least, at that distance. Nobody on that island remembered anything other than winning fantastically later that day at the games of chance. In fact, weeks later the island had taken such an upswing in positive feelings and luck that they had to close down or go bankrupt.
That's the sort of thing that goes down in mythology. You can't explain it, you can't deny it, you can only try to figure out what it was and make up stories about it.
The sun shines, unconcerned.
Lina sank to her knees from the effort, plainly exhausted. Her friends showed a little wear as well, but not nearly as much. They kept a moment of silence, unanimously agreed on without a gesture, without a word, recovering.
It was broken, eventually, by light applause.
Xelloss, who had again managed to find somewhere to have a seat and slack, clapped. "Bravo. Bravo, bravo, bra-VO, Lina and Lina! An excellent finish. I'd give it a 4.9."
Lina got her wits back, and scanned the island. Not a shred of darkness anywhere. "So.. it all worked?"
"Reasonably well, reasonably well," Xelloss smiled. "The poor soul saved from the trap of insanity, the world saved from an unrelenting night, ancient powers unlocked, and friends made by all. But there's one small detail left to take care of, which I personally will attend to right now..."
"If you try ANYTHING..." Zelgadis warned, although without conviction or strength.
Xelloss held up a waterskin. "I believe this is yours. Lina-chan left it in the cave. One of her, anyway. Now, observe."
Getting to his feet, Xelloss found a rocky indentation, and poured a small pool of water. Because he wasn't one to chant spells, he let the Mirror Magic spell he had read out of the the reversed lorebook -- which he had borrowed for a day, just a simple day to memorize -- drift onto the water silently.
The others, curiously suspicious, peeked into the pool...
...and saw a world of ruin, where the Giga Slave had ruined this place, unleashed the Mazoku horde, where humans struggled to stay alive...
...where the sun was shining against all expectation.
Lina, the one who originally came from that world, looked frightened for a moment. "That's.... that's!--"
"Your home, yes," Xelloss said. "But watch. I've arranged a surprise."
Two figures walked into view, slowly, as if they weren't sure of what they were doing, or why. And in the reflection :
"I don't understand," Amelia said. "Why did he tell us to come here? We have our hands full chasing off the Mazoku from Sailoon. There isn't that much time to spare.."
"He's a strange one," Gracia agreed. "But he did.. sort of assist us in destroying the Mazoku capital. The tide wouldn't be turned if he hadn't.."
"That," Xelloss explained, "Is your world, Lina. But you see? While you were gone, humans have started to fight back, and fight back hard. It's almost unbelievable, yet true. They're making good headway to recovering their world. Although.. they could probably use another pair of hands in the task... and now that you're also making good headway to recovering yourself, perhaps if you dare to return..."
"It's a trick," Zelgadis said flatly.
Xelloss opened both eyes, face serious. "I Am Not Lying."
The other Lina backed away slowly from the image. "I don't want to go back, I.. I don't want to be captured again or to..." She swallowed, hard. Remembrance. She looked at Xelloss. "You helped me, didn't you? That was you. You helped me when I was plotting my revenge against.. you told me where the book was, and how to get the water from Zelgadis, and..."
Lina Inverse, the one from this world, was in shock. "I.... think I'll let her decide what to do. This ranks in at a nine on my Weirdness Meter."
"It is her decision," Xelloss agreed. "But think of it. Atonement. Fighting back against the forces you accidentally unleashed. And a chance to begin again, as yourself. It would be such a loss to come this far, against hell's minions and the high water of sickness, just to stay here, not even as yourself, but as another Lina..."
"So?!" Lina Inversed said. "I don't... I mean, I... what if it all happens again? What if it goes to pot and I'm back in it all? I feel.. awake! Exhausted but awake. For the first time in years."
"Life is a gamble of chaos and unknowns," Xelloss smiled, stepping away from the mirror, and bowing out. "Freedom of choice is what humans have to rally against it. The decision is always yours. For now.. I bid you all farewell, until our paths cross again. I'd hazard my task is done, and I should exit stage left before being lynched.."
"Uh, Dad?" Dayvid asked..
Xelloss the trickster priest gave the one and only Lina Inverse, still lightly stunned, a knowing wink and blurred away.
The other girl continued to look in the pool, as mirror-Amelia and mirror-Gracia pondered why they were there, and discussed strategies in the continuing struggle against the Mazoku quietly, like a television with the sound turned down.
The others looked at her expectantly.
So.. she smiled.
"This is crazy," Lina Inversed said. "But I've done crazier things."
She stepped into the puddle, and the water vanished along with her.
The Guppy sailed the ocean's waters without any sea monsters or big demons or madmen with crews of four and forty harassing them. Everybody on board got some rest, which was hard considering the dinky ship now had seven people to house and feed, but they managed. When food supplies got low, Lina started to nibble on Gourry in a frenzy until someone found a chocolate bar Amelia had been hiding under her pillow to save for a later day. In other words, things had gone back to normal, or what passed for it with these people.
The Guppy docked at Las Sailoon's harbors, and on arrival, Amelia wrangled up a royal coach and honor guard to ferry them to the castle. The coach had everything, even a mini-bar, much to the delight of Naga, who was drunk out of her mind and singing bawdy songs by the time they reached the gate, making for a very interesting welcoming ceremony.
The final step, of course, was constructing the Oracle Mirror. Lina had the old frame hauled in, and Zelgadis poured in enough water to make a decent surface. It crystallized nicely, Oracle Trigger was cast -- and this time, Lina put in a voice activated trigger so there'd be no slipups, and suggested putting a sign on it reading 'BREAK THIS AND LINA INVERSE WILL GET MEDIEVAL ON YOUR ASS', but for some reason, Prince Phil decided against adding the sign.
The crew loitered around the castle a little. Naga got reacquainted with her unbelieving family in a little domestic comedy / domestic dispute. Zelgadis restlessly prowled around with nothing to do until he decided to head out to seek his fortune. Lily joined a white magic society in Sailoon. Amelia did princessly stuff and tried to petition for royal funds to build a funpark, without much success.
Dayvid took up Melvin Mallorean's old job, since Mel was now quite retired. Apparently his brief encounter with adventure had been a bit more than he wanted in life, and he turned in a resignation and left to find the only part of the world where no human had touched yet so he could have a nice relaxing life from then on -- and upon finding Doomed, decided just to go back home and get a house in the Sailoon countryside.
Generally, nothing very interesting or worthy of noting as anything other than a P.S. happened once the fateful day on the Peak of Despair climaxed.
Except, perhaps, a few things.
The night after the disastrous success on the Island of Ultimate Despair, relieved to find that their inn hadn't been melted into radioactive slag in the incident, Lina and Gourry had a late night snack and mused.
"That means the quest is over, right?" Gourry asked.
"More or less," Lina nodded. "Some stuff to mop up, but that's it."
"So where're we going next?" Gourry asked. "Got any plans?"
"I'm sure something will pop up," Lina smiled.
Later that night, Lina locked her inn door, and got ready for bed. Tiring day. She stretched out a bit, unbuckled her cape and let it drop, did some flexes, unfurled her wings and opened the windows to take a deep breath of that nice night air, which felt good on.. her...
She quickly grabbed her hand mirror, took a look in it and briefly wondered if Optimum Vision was still cast on it. It wasn't. Plain ordinary mirror.
Plain ordinary mirror which was showing large, golden orange butterfly wings, a new anatomical addition she could swear she didn't have before.
Giga Slave, Giga Restoration. She held the first in one hand at one time, and now had held the other. An irreversible path...
Prophecy again.
But it was too late, and too long coming for Lina to panic, or freak out. She just looked up to the night sky, surprise on her face passing. She gave a little smile, gave a little shrug.
Whatever THIS meant, she could face it tomorrow, and with a bright smile. For now, rest.
Far and away, in a small cottage on the edge of reality, Xelloss snapped the final piece of his puzzle into place. Literally.
It would have been very metaphorical if it wasn't simply a jigsaw of a small boy tugging along a wooden duck on wheels, which frankly even Xelloss had a hard time reading some meaning into.
What was it he was going to do today? Oh yes, ring up his partner in crime and get a status report.
He used a modified version of a mirror spell, since Xelloss never really was one to cast a pure spell without a hack or two of his very own, and opened a two way communication link. The picture in the mirror didn't change into it pulled down one eyelid and b'iiiiiihed him.
"And a merry hello to you to," Xelloss said. "How fares?"
"Quite well, quite well," his reflection said. "Lina's joined up with the Sisters of Light as suspected. Hasn't lost her touch, it seems."
"I'm so pleased everything worked out," Xelloss said, having a seat, relaxing. "Both Linas came out the other side better off. Although..."
"Yes?"
"Something seems different," Xelloss said. "An odd feeling, an element of chaos I hadn't planned on. But it must not have been anything noteworthy, since the plans didn't get interrupted. There were a few close calls -- I had to pull Zelgadis back from the future or he wouldn't be able to supply the water on time. And I suspect my mistress will have a few harsh words, but little more than that. I DID obey her orders to a T, after all. Secretly I think she enjoys giving me these puzzles to puzzle out, don't you?"
"Oh, most definitely! What fun would life be without a challenge?"
"Quite true, quite true. But still.. smashing success."
The two nodded in sync, pausing, thinking.
"You know... about Lina. I wonder..."
"...if she even suspects?" the reflection asked.
"No, probably not," Xelloss said. "It's better that way. Wouldn't work out."
"Agreed. Still... ah, but affairs of emotion are not the norm for Mazoku, are they, brother of sorts?"
"No," Xelloss smiled. "Good thing we're not true Mazoku, eh?"
The other smiled.
Lots of smiles.
Xelloss cut the link.
Somewhere beneath the shining sun, somewhere in the green and fertile lands the world, somewhere in the city/state of Sailoon, somewhere on the grounds of the Happy Traveler's Mega-Inn and Conference Center, a story was finished.
The storyteller didn't have the world's most receptive audience, but she continued along anyway.
"And so," she said, "The poor twin returned to her home, the darkness smashed at the island of doom, the sorceress and her companions found the conclusion they sought. And perhaps they will live happily ever after, but that forever remains in the realm of the future -- who's to say? Perhaps I'll have another tale to tell soon. But for now... that is the end."
The tavern-goers sipped ale, and considered.
"Rubbish," one said. "Doesn't make sense. First of all, a beast betraying its kind? For some girl sorceress? I know monsters of lore, and they're great bloody bastards, they are. They don't smile, either."
"And all this crud about alternate history and such..." another said. "While it's good fiction, it just doesn't wash with me. There's only this world, that's all. I should know, I've been livin' in it for decades..."
The storyteller girl smiled. "As a bard once said, as you like it, gentlemen. Now, some coppers for my fine tale?... a tribute to the art of oral tradition? And no disgusting jokes from YOU about oral tradition, Mr. Farthingshire."
Coins were passed around, copper, silver, one gold. The story was liked quietly, if not verbally, and folks went back to their drinking, back to their homes, or to work. The storyteller scooped up her bag, stored the money and walked out.
"What'd she say her name was?" one of the drinkers asked. "Miss what?"
"Just Miss, I think," another said, then belched.
"Thought it had more of a TH sound..." the first said. "Miiith. Mith. Miss Myth? Stage name, probably. And who'd she say she was lookin' for?"
"Lina Inverse," the other said, because that's not a name you forget.
"The enemy of all who live? Eh, luck to her, then. Hope she survives THAT encounter."
That was all that need be said at the time, because that story was over.
THE END