Sign In Sign-Up

Welcome!

Close

Would you like to make this site your homepage? It's fast and easy...

Yes, Please make this my home page!

No Thanks

  Don't show this to me again.

Close

Slayers Triumph

Episode 4: The Return to Mipross

A single flame of fire burned. Alone, surrounded by darkness, the little candle flame was the only source of heat and light. Its smokeless shape flickered gently, danced hypnotically. Mysteriously, a gust of wind tried to snuff the flame out. It wavered but continued to burn, triumphant over the sudden force. Another force blew from the opposite direction, and the flame swayed to the other side but remained alive. All became calm, once more.

The flame went out.

Lina Inverse blinked. With the flame extinguished, so was the light. Caught in total darkness, she fumbled around. Slowly, the darkness brightened into a world of dull greys and whites. Lina found herself floating in limbo, a void of nothing. She lost all sense of direction and orientation. Every way was up.

Lina reached out with her hand and grabbed the nothing. As she did, she felt the pit of her stomach drop, her body along with it. Looking downwards (or upwards, she wondered), something was fast approaching her. She looked again. No, she was fast approaching something. It was the ground.

She wanted to scream, but she didn't, partially knowing that she couldn't make a sound. Just as quickly as she started falling, she slowed to a gentle halt before her feet landed firmly onto the ground. Her stomach caught up with her again, and she felt slightly nauseated by the trip. Eventually, she regained her balance and sense of direction. With the ground beneath her, there was a sense of familiarity and proper orientation.

It was a world like none she had ever seen. The rocky ground was dry and desolate, almost devoid of any life. Tufts of grass grew in sparse locations. Most were weeds and wild flowers that were able to survive the barren climate. They all competed for the nourishing sunlight and only the tough plants lived.

At other places, the dirt was charcoal black and formed shallow craters of varying sizes. Lina didn't know what to make of those except to think they were possibly blast pits from explosions. But, to see so many, it was almost impossible to think they were.

The sky was as foreign as the ground. Its tint was reddish-grey. Dark clouds loomed overhead ominously. Some crackled with the flash of lightning, producing a brilliant purple-red effect. The sun was nowhere to be seen but was hidden behind the thick mass of clouds and dust.

Her sense of smell was the next to return. The pungent odour was enough to nearly make her gag. It was worse around the small, black craters, and it confirmed her original suspicion that they were a result of massive explosions. How they could make such a putrid stench, she didn't dare guess. Lina tried covering her face with the tail of her cloak, but the smell seeped through the cloth.

After a while, she got used to the smell, as sickening as it was. Lina walked for a little while on the landscape, trying to see if anything could be found. The land was as soundless as the void. Only the crunch of her boots on the rocky ground filled the air. She walked for what could have been hours and found nothing. The land became hilly, and every time she came to one, her curiosity as to what could be on the other side kept her going.

Lina staggered up the last hill, and at the top, a flat plain greeted her. The ground was just as dirty and blasted as when she started, but something caught her eye. A small, thin column sat in the centre of the plain. Striking out down the hill, she began walking to it. Slowly at first, and then picking up speed as she descended, until she was nearly to a full run. As she got nearer, she discovered it wasn't a column, but a stone statue. Lina approached the statue from behind and walked around.

It was a statue of her. Remarkably detailed and accurate, it was a stone representation of Lina Inverse. Any more perfect, and she could have been the statue, imprisoned in stone. She gasped, wondering if that was what it was. The statue was posing in a triumphant way, not the sort of pose one would expect if they were about to be cast into stone.

A gust of wind blew through her hair and flapped her cape. Lina turned around and before her was a giant lake of golden water. The lake had not appeared before when she descended the hill. The waters shimmered before her, reflecting her visage. It rippled softly.

Suddenly, a blast of lightning struck the centre of the lake. The waters began to tumult and bubble. Overhead, clouds began to gather around the lake and thick lightning bolts continued to strike it. Lina instinctively backed away. The golden hue of the lake began to fade until it became a dark black, first in the centre, and spreading outwards in all directions. Soon, the entire lake was black. The water was no longer pure, but thick like mud.

Lina stepped back and bumped into the statue. She put her hand on the statue's waist to steady herself. Something dripped onto it. She looked at her hand and saw little spots of red. She looked up. The statue's face, her face, was covered in blood.

Most of the time, Lina could tell she was in a dream. She called it conscious dreaming. She had developed the skill so much, that she could even notice when people were trying to enter her dreams. But, the dream she just had was different. She knew it was a dream, but while she was having it, she couldn't be sure what she thought. Did she think it was real? Did it mean anything?

Lina tossed the covers aside and decided to take a walk out into the fresh, sea air. The 'Nelly Clipper' was a fair sized ship with few guest cabins for Lina and her company. Lyta and Keil shared their own cabin while Gourry stayed with his friend, Captain Tiggy. Lina insisted on her own.

They had been sailing for two days now, their second night slowly winding down into the third day. They should be reaching Mipross Island soon, within the day, she hoped. The island was once home to the elves and magical fairies. Every once so often, the fairy souls would rise above the mists and the island would become visible to men. That was how the legend went, anyway. When she and Naga had visited the island, the elves and fairies were long gone. Everyone knew that the elves had disappeared for the longest anyone could remember. The tale of mysterious mists was just another part of the attraction to draw in the tourist crowd.

Yet, only Lina knew how true that tale really was. For Mipross Island once stood outside of time, split apart from the main continent by the restless torment the Mazoku demon Joyrock subjected on it. Now, Mipross still remained an island, but a much more peaceful and calm place.

The deck of the ship was dark except for several lanterns that lined the railings. The night air was somewhat chilly but Lina had not changed out of her travelling clothes. Most of the crew were asleep in their bunks below-deck, but a small group kept the night-watch. Their job was to keep the ship on course, trimming the sails if need be, and keeping an eye out for anything that might obstruct their voyage.

Lina made her way to the front of the lower deck overlooking the bow. She clasped the cloak tightly around her neck so she wouldn't get chills or dampness from the spray. She looked out over the dark horizon. There was nothing but an endless view of the Demon Sea. High up in the night sky, stars covered the heavens, the only natural light besides the round moon. There were so many stars, it was impossible to count them all. But the brighter ones formed familiar constellations that Lina remembered from her childhood. The 'Pointer' constellation always pointed north, that was easy to remember. From there, she could follow the patterns and make out other shapes like the 'Ram', the 'Teapot', and the 'Chariot'. Stargazing was one of her little known interests, next to magic and eating.

The sound of footsteps caught her ear. She looked back down and saw Captain Tiggy approach. He was a tall, stout man with a scruffy red beard. He wore tall boots and a vest that suited a sailing captain. All he needed was an eyepatch, a funny hat, and perhaps a parrot on his shoulder.

"Evenin' lass," Tiggy greeted her. He took a spot beside her and gazed upwards, leaning on the railing with his elbows. "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Something like that," Lina said.

"I know, whenever I can't sleep, I come out and look up at the mighty heavens. 'Tis a grand sight, isn't it?"

"Sure is," she responded, feeling a little awkward.

"So, something bothering you?"

That question caught her by surprise. Lina didn't want to talk about her weird dream. She rarely talked about her dreams to anyone. Most of the time they were just wacky and full of silly images. "Not really," was her reply, instead.

"It's not about Gourry, is it?"

Lina nearly choked at that question. "Gourry?! What does Gourry have to do with anything?"

The Captain smiled. "Just wondering. We had a good talk, him and me. Over the best Zefilian vintage I've ever had."

"I'm from Zefilia," Lina admitted.

He turned to her. "Ya don't say? By Nelly's beard! I'd toast to your countrymen's fine wines, but as you can probably tell, we drank it all." His face did seem a little red.

"That brings up a question," Lina started, "who's Nelly?"

Tiggy paused for a moment, and his jovial mood seemed to disappear. "Ah, Nelly. He served with me when I was second-mate aboard an old cargo ship. He was Captain's first mate. That was, my, a long time ago. Sure brings back the memories. I owe my life to him."

"He must have been a good friend," Lina said, "for you to name your ship after him."

"Nelly? I hated the man."

"Eh?"

"He was the most cowardly, un-seamen-like, never knew when to shut his trap, sailor I had ever met. The men hated him with a passion. We vowed, that one day we'd tie him up, toss him over the gangplank and feed him to the sharks."

"But, I don't understand--" Lina started.

"Then, one day, we spotted pirates. They chased use for two days until the winds finally died down and they pulled alongside us. They killed the captain right away and took the ship in a matter of minutes. They rounded everyone up, they did, and told us they were going to sell us off as slaves to some foreign lands. The fight was out of us, we were doomed."

Lina interrupted with a question, "Is that when Nelly led the charge?"

Tiggy shook his head. "Nope. In fact, he was begging the pirates to spare his life, all pathetic and everything, that they killed him on the spot."

"But, you just said he saved your life!"

A smile appeared under his scruffy beard, for he had come to the best part of his story. "Aye, that he did! For we saw the blade go right through that cowardly cur, and he fell to the deck, dead as a doorknob. And, we thought to ourselves, 'These pirates just took away our right to kill Nelly the way he should have been killed!' And, at that moment, with infuriated rage, we overcame our captors and booted them off the ship, to the last man."

Lina's mouth hung open slightly. "That's how he saved your lives?"

The Captain nodded with swelling pride.

Lina slapped a hand to her forehead. "I think I had enough stargazing. I'm going back to bed!" She started walking back and shook her head.

Tiggy called out to her. "Look out for Gourry."

The sorceress froze. Turning around, she said, "What?"

"Gourry, look out for him. We had a long talk, him and I. He cares much for your safety, I believe. He probably won't admit it, but he does. He'll drag himself through the fires of the underworld if need be. But, someone needs to look out for him." His face was serious. "Promise me you'll look out for the lad. He's a fine, young man. Always was, always will be." Tiggy tapped his head. "Not always the brightest up here, but his heart makes up for it tenfold. And, the best damned swordsman I've ever seen."

Lina let herself smile and nodded her response without saying a word. She didn't think she could say anything, or wanted to. She headed back to her cabin and hoped for restful, dreamless sleep.

Lyta sniffled.

"PSST..."

Her eyes opened a crack, her mind slowly coming into focus. She had been sleeping. She hoped she was just hearing sounds of the ship.

"Lyta?"

Oh, for the love of-- she muttered mentally. Shifting in her tiny bunk, she turned herself to face away from the cabin walls. Across from her, although she couldn't see in the dark, was Keil who was probably facing her, too.

"Lyta, are you awake?" he asked.

"I am now!" she snapped. She wanted sleep, why couldn't people see that? Why did they always bother her when she needed it the most? These were questions she asked herself. "What is it?"

"I couldn't sleep, and I thought you'd like to talk, seeing how you can't sleep, either."

A little bead of sweat slid down Lyta's forehead.

"Tell me again, we're in a race to find the elves before the Mazoku do, right?"

"Yeah," Lyta muffled a response, trying to get back to sleep.

"Wow, the Mazoku," Keil said to himself, more impressed than any normal person should be. His sense came back to him. "Uh, I guess they'd want to kill us, right?"

"Yeah." Her responses were starting to get automatic.

There was a pause. "So, what do you think might happen if the Mazoku beat us?"

Lyta's eyes snapped open. A tight pain clutched her chest, as if someone had reached into her body and grabbed her heart. She pressed her hand against her eyes, hoping to block the tears. She had been through this so many times, now. She should be able to handle it, but it was hard, each time.

Keil noticed Lyta didn't respond. "Lyta?" he called out in the dark cabin where they slept.

"Bad," Lyta rasped, "very bad."

"How do you know?" Keil asked.

Lyta swallowed. "Dreams.." she answered. That was true, but there was more to it than she was willing to say. "Horrible ones.."

"Nightmares?" She heard him shift around in his bunk, probably to get more comfortable. "But, they're just nightmares."

"No, they're not just nightmares... look, can we not talk about this?"

"Oh, sorry," his small voice responded. Lyta could feel he was embarrassed for asking, but she truly did not wish to discuss the matter anymore. She really wanted to go back to sleep, not that she could, now. At least, not restful sleep.

"So, um, where are you from?"

Lyta winced. She felt bad for shutting him up, although she really did want him to be quiet. She answered, "I was born in Sairaag. The new city."

"I heard Sairaag was destroyed by some evil demon. It's pretty far from Marinaul, but news travels with the travelling merchants. Of course, things tend to get skewed. Like, I once heard that a two-headed naga was attacking the royal palace at Sailoon."

"It's true, Sairaag was levelled recently."

"I wish I heard wrongly," Keil tried to sympathize. "Can I ask you a question?" He didn't wait for her response. "Why do you and Lina Inverse look so much alike?"

Lyta shrugged, even though the room was pitch black. "I dunno. Lina Inverse is my idol. I look up to her. I heard about all the amazing stuff she's done. Maybe they got bit skewed, like your local merchant's gossip. But, I wanted to be just like her. People always said I looked like her. I guess I got carried away with the clothes and the hair. I used to keep it short." She didn't know why she said all those things. She guessed Keil's little conversation had gotten to her.

"I think it's great you have someone to look up to," he said sagely, "but I think it's good to remember who you really are, too."

"Keil-kun? Why did you just say that?"

"I heard it somewhere. Sounded like something smart to say."

Lyta giggled.

"Lyta?"

"I'm sorry. Yes?"

"Sleep tight."

"You, too."

Luckily, she was mostly dressed. She tugged on her boots, strapped on her shoulder guards and cape, while shouting Keil's name.

"What's going on?" Keil asked wearily.

"I dunno, but I'm going out to check!"

She opened the cabin door and a splash of sea spray hit her face. It was a wake-up call. The sky was still dark. Fierce winds blew her hair into her face. She fumbled with her headband, doubled it, and tied her red-blonde hair down into a ponytail. It still swished with the wind.

Captain Tiggy, Lina Inverse, Gourry and a group of crewmen were already on the deck. Lyta made her way to them, her cape flapping back against the torrent.

"What time is it?" she had to yell.

"It's supposed to be an hour after sunrise!" Tiggy yelled back.

Lyta looked up. "It's awfully dark for sunrise!"

Lina tapped her shoulder and pointed out to sea with one hand, while the other kept her hair back. Lyta followed Lina's arm to where she was pointing. First, there was shock, followed by panic. Three waterspouts twisted turbulently. They were claws reaching down from the dark clouds. Lyta had no doubt they could rip the ship apart in a matter of seconds.

"Can we sail around them?" Lina asked the captain.

Tiggy took a look towards the waterspouts. "I dunno, lass! Even with full sails, I doubt we could outrun them if we got close!"

Suddenly, a mocking laughter filled the air. Before them, gusts of green light swirled in a small column. A figure materialized. She had dark skin and hazel hair that hung over her shoulder in a familiar braid. Her outfit was tight, and it accentuated her body. A cape billowed behind her. She floated effortlessly above them. A seemingly popular trick with villains, Lyta noted.

"Bertine!" growled Lina. "It's about time you showed your face!"

"Lina Inverse!" Bertine responded with another laugh. She gestured to the three disasters waiting menacingly. "Do you like my twisters?"

"Not bad," Lina complimented dryly, although she was truly impressed. Summoning creatures was one thing. Summoning sustained weather elements was much harder.

"I don't think you're appreciating it enough," Bertine said. "Maybe I should send you a closer look, hmm?"

"Maybe we should continue our match! I'm ready for you this time!" Lina cast raywing and floated into the air, level with Bertine. She looked back down to Lyta. "Lyta! Dim Wind!"

Bertine ascended into the clouds and Lina flew after her.

Dim Wind? Lyta thought. And then, the message became clear. "Captain! Pull out the sails! I can help move the ship faster!"

The captain didn't hesitate. He trusted Gourry's friends and acted immediately. He began bellowing orders to his crew. Like a finely tuned unit they carried out his commands with speed and efficiency.

"Gourry!" he yelled, "can you handle the rigging?"

"Uh, I think I remember, Tiggy."

"Just follow what the crew does. Go to it, lad!"

The waterspouts started drifting towards them. "What heading do we want, Captain?!" Lyta asked.

"Westwards, steady on course! Those damned twisters are directly in our path!"

"Try to steer around them, Captain!" Lyta answered.

Captain Tiggy turned to the helmsman. "You heard the lass!"

Lyta watched as the crew unfurled the sails. There were three sails. One main sail and two smaller ones towards the stern and bow, respectively. She would concentrate on the mainsail, and allow the winds to naturally guide the other two.

Once the rigging had been secured, the men waited. They held on tightly to the rails as the ship lurched along the violent waves. The waterspouts inched ever closer. Everyone was counting on Lyta to get them through.

Holding out her hands, and closing her eyes, she concentrated. "DIM WIND!" A powerful blast of air burst from her open palms and hit the sail. The wind from her spell started pushing the ship forward with greater speed. All she needed to do was keep the spell going.

"It's working, lass!" Tiggy shouted. The 'Nelly Clipper' sailed towards the waterspouts. The distance between them began to close. Captain Tiggy had the course set in his mind. He wanted the ship as close as possible and then veer around and away. Hopefully, the maneuver would put the twisters behind them.

The winds became even more violent as they approached. Water splashed onto the deck, soaking everyone. Lyta tried to ignore the cold spray and her heavy, damp clothes, and continued casting the spell.

"Captain!" the helmsman cried, wanting to know when he should begin spinning away.

"Steady! Steady!"

The twisters were nearly upon them. Any closer and they would have been caught in the maelstrom. "NOW!" yelled the captain.

The helmsman frantically spun the large wheel. Now that they were closest to the three twisters, the crew began tugging the rigging as hard as they could. Lyta kept the dim wind spell going, but she felt herself becoming tired.

"It's working!" the captain yelled. "We're pulling away."

Suddenly, the ship stopped moving forward. It remained stationary for several moments, and then began to drift backwards.

"Captain!" the helmsman called out.

"C'mon lass," Tiggy whispered to Lyta, urging her to put more energy into it.

Eventually, Lyta let go of the spell. "I can't, it's not powerful enough! We're too close for sustained wind. I'm going to have to try something. I hope it works. I've never practiced this one before."

Closing her eyes firmly, she concentrated, a lot harder this time. Tapping into what little magical energy she had left, she focused her mind and voiced the spell. "BOMB DI WIND!"

Above the ship, behind the sails, a mass of tightly bound air pressure began to form. And, just as violently, it released itself in one, powerful blast. The resulting winds pushed the 'Nelly Clipper' far out of the twisters' grasps. Coupled with the natural winds that were fortunately blowing behind the sails, they began to clear the distance between the magical twisters.

Lyta's final spell had her completely drained. Her body was immensely weary, her magic spent. She collapsed onto the wooden deck.

"Good, it'll feel much more satisfying that way when I defeat you." She added, "Again."

That was answered by a powerful blast from Lina. "GAAV FLARE!" she spread her arms towards Bertine. The violent black magic energy hurtled towards the dark-skinned sorceress.

Bertine raised her hand and the spell dissipated against an invisible barrier. "Aggressive, throwing Gaav flares, hmm?" Crossing her arms across her chest, she quickly opened them outwards, and several Gaav flares came flying back at Lina.

Lina deftly dodged the attacks with nimble maneuvering using the raywing bubble surrounding her. She immediately cast bit flare, which created a large smoke screen around Bertine. Taking advantage of the temporary blindness, Lina cast blast ash.

A large black void appeared directly below Bertine's floating location. Sensing the void, she flew away from its range. However, Lina had been expecting that, and counting on it. "FLARE ARROW!" she shouted and launched several magic missiles at Bertine.

Gasping at the sudden spells flying at her, Bertine yelled, "BALUS WALL!" Another invisible wall appeared before her, made known by the divergence of the flare arrows upon reaching her. They split to the left and right, around Bertine's body.

"You've got quite a bit of magical energy," Bertine said offhandedly. "A girl like you could be useful to the Mazoku. But, I cannot allow your victory over our lord, Ruby-Eye Shaburanigdo, go unanswered. I will not forgive that, ever!!" She closed her eyes and a blue energy glowed around her. Suddenly, dark rainclouds began to gather above Lina's position. Thunder rumbled and bursts of lightning lit up the clouds.

Lina didn't want to wait to see what was going on. The clouds above her were vast, and she began flying away. Just as she did, Bertine's eyes flashed open and released the spell. Droplets of light red began falling from the clouds, like rain. One landed on Lina's arm and it began to smoke. Crying in pain, she looked at her arm to see a hole in the sleeve. It was acid eating at her.

Several more drops hit her, despite her rapid movement through the air. Each hit, searing pain raced through her body until she could not focus anymore. The raywing disappeared and she began falling into a regular cloud and into the sea.

Bertine folded her arms across her chest triumphantly. "Bah, that was pathetic," she muttered under her breath. She supposed she should go down and collect Lina's body and the compass she had been searching for.

The little hairs on the back of her neck started to stand on end. Something was wrong, but she couldn't place her finger on it. And then, she heard the faint, echoing words of a powerful spell being called.

"--by the power you and I possess. DRAGON SLAVE!" The devastating power of the Dragon Slave came at her from beneath the clouds.

Bertine gasped once more. "Impossible!!" She screamed.

When she popped through the misty cloud, there was no trace of the Mazoku sorceress. Such was the absolute force of the Dragon Slave.

A void of dark matter appeared before her and Bertine stepped out. Although, visibly injured and drained.

"So, you're still alive?!" Lina asked, bobbing up and down a little in the air, clutching her arm.

"I could say the same for you," hissed Bertine. "By now, your precious ship should be ripped to splinters by my twisters. We'll settle this fight another time. For now, I'll be content to watch you in the shadows." She stepped back into the void and disappeared. Only her voice remained. "Wherever you go, I will be right behind. There will come a time, soon, when we will fight and only one will survive. I promise you that!"

Lina danced above the twisters, careful not to get caught in their destructive path. Positioning herself between them and the ship, she cast flow break. The winds holding together the twisters dissipated in different directions and disappeared. The dark clouds above cleared and things became calm, once more.

The crew started the process of cleaning things up, and drying up the deck. Gourry and Keil, who had come out from his cabin, were leaning over an unconscious Lyta.

"How's she doing?" Lina asked as she landed on the deck and let the raywing disappear.

"Looks like she's exhausted," Gourry said.

Captain Tiggy loomed over her. "If you could have destroyed those twisters like that, why didn't you do it earlier?"

"I didn't 'destroy them'" Lina corrected. "I cancelled the magic holding them together. And, the reason why I didn't do it before is because Bertine is no longer in the area. Otherwise, I would have just been wasting energy."

"So you got her this time?" Gourry asked.

Lina shook her head gravely. "Not quite. But, I did gain an upper hand and she bugged out. She's tricky. We'll beat her."

Gourry nodded and picked up Lyta. "I'm going to take her back to the bed to rest."

"Maybe you should dry her first?" Lina suggested, gesturing to her wet clothes.

"Oh," Gourry said with a familiar lack of common sense. "Uh, maybe you should handle it?"

Lina took Lyta's arm and draped it over her shoulder. "Oh, you boys are so useless. Shoo! Go help out or something."

Inside her cabin, Lina carefully undress Lyta's wet clothes. She kept Lyta's undergarments on, not wanting to see the girl naked. However, she did notice the slender, red-blonde had a larger bust then Lina. That caused no end to the mutterings from Lina Inverse.

Wrapping her body in layers of towels, Lina patted her dry. She also wrung the water out of Lyta's hair. Lina still felt uneasy about her. Especially how Lyta resembled her so much, despite being taller.

Lyta had come out of her exhausted, unconscious state and slipped into a restful sleep. She moved her body under the warm blankets, turning to one side with hands folded near her face in an almost fetal position.

"Uncle.." she muttered softly, "I did it. I cast it...." She remained silent after that, her small mouth opening and closing as she slept.

Lina contemplated Lyta, once more. For the first time, Lina realized Lyta had not really disclosed why she was following her and Gourry. She had been a great asset that Lina did not dispute. But, sometimes she liked to know what drove people. For instance, she still hadn't figured out why Gourry had stuck with her for so long. She supposed they made a pretty good team. In any case, she didn't mind his presence, although explaining things to him wasn't easy. Still, if anything, she liked keeping tabs on the legendary Sword of Light. She really wanted that sword. Or, rather, she wanted Gourry to let her have it.

Something shifted in the bag off to the corner. Lina walked over and flipped the top. Pixie-chan was resting inside. Feeling dim light enter her sleeping spot, she opened her eyes. "What's going on? Are we there yet?"

"Pixie-chan!" Lina yelled. "Have you been here all this time?! In all the commotion, I even forgot you were around on this ship, somewhere."

Pixie-chan flew upwards. "Why, what's been going on?" Then, she spied Lyta. "Is she okay? She looks exhausted."

"She is! Can you do anything?"

The fairy flew over to Lyta's sleeping form. Waving her arms before her, she cast a light glow on Lyta. "I cast a slight recuperative spell on her, so she'll rest up more peacefully. Hopefully, she'll gain all her magical energy back in no time."

A smile crept onto Lina's face. "That's good." Then, her eyes became distant.

Pixie-chan picked this up immediately. She crossed her arms across her chest and frowned. "What's wrong? Something is troubling you. You're an open book."

"It's Bertine. There are things about her that don't settle with me. She's clearly after the compass and finding the elves. That's for sure. But, she's either willing to take it from me by force, or she's willing to follow us and make us do all the work. She is right. There is going to be a final showdown, and I don't know if I can beat her. I mean, I cast dragon slave and she crosses dimensions to avoid it!"

"That's one of the Mazoku's abilities," Pixie-chan responded. "They can traverse the dimensional gap quite easily. Something about being able to fold two spaces in our dimension, and creating openings to another dimension to cross to the other part of the fold. I'm sure it's something the Dragons can do, too." She said in a comforting sort of way.

Lina retorted, "Well, I don't see the noble Dragons swooping in any time soon to help. In any case, I need to prepare myself. Sheer power from Dragon Slave alone won't win this fight."

"Lina, you still haven't told me all that's happened!"

Lina opened her mouth to explain about the waterspouts, when a voice cried out for all on board to hear.

"LAND! LAND HO! Mipross Island!"

Lina rushed onto the deck. The magnificence of Mipross Island greeted her. The harbour town was just ahead of them. Forests and tress covered most of the island, but the most impressive site was the large spiny mountain that dominated it. They had arrived.

Keil spoke up. "We've been cross-referencing my maps with Captain Tiggy's maps and they match up fairly well. This is Mipross Island."

"It can't be! It's so.. so.. empty!" The port town was different from the way Lina remembered it. During her last visit with Naga, the island was bustling with tourists. Shops used to line the streets filled with t-shirts and gaudy souvenirs. Now, the port town was only a shade of its former glory. Many stores were boarded up and abandoned. Those that were open had only the most meager of wares. The streets were nearly empty except for the odd groups of people here and there.

"Wow, everything's changed," was the only comment Lina could make.

"You've been here before? I heard it used to be a real attraction," Keil said. "You know, this place used to be connected to the continent, decades, maybe even centuries ago. And then, one day it split apart. The legends say that a great battle took place and the explosion of magic caused Mipross to split off."

Lina thought that was an understatement of sorts.

"But if you ask me," Keil lectured on, "I think it has to do with continental shift."

"Continental shift?" Lyta repeated.

"Of course! You see, I read that the world sits on plates that move around all the time because the earth is really a big liquid mass underneath. There are cracks all over the place and Mipross Island happens to be on one. So, it's only naturally that the land broke off and became an island."

"My ancestor used to live here," said Gourry who had no idea what Keil was talking about. He felt left out of the conversation.

That got Lyta's attention, as Lina already predicted. "He did?"

"Yup! Raudy, his name was. Kind of a short fellow. I guess we would have all been shorter if he hadn't settled down with an elf."

That immediately got everyone else's attention. "Did you say elf?!" Pixie-chan asked incredulously.

Lina was just as shocked, but at the fact Raudy was related to Gourry. It was only now did she remember when she had first heard the Gabriev name. The fact that both Raudy and Gourry possessed the Sword of Light, at one point in time, didn't immediately dawn onto Lina that they were related. Gourry said that the Sword of Light was passed down through his family. Raudy also said the same thing.

"So that means you have elf blood!" Pixie-chan concluded. "Why didn't you say so before?"

Gourry shrugged. "I dunno, it didn't seem important."

Lina fell over. "How could it not seem important?! We're looking for the lost elves, after all!!!" She really was becoming used to Gourry's lack of sensibilities, but she liked to make a show of it.

"Is this going to have any bearings on our quest?" Lyta asked smartly.

Unfortunately, Pixie-chan did not have a good answer for that. "Maybe, maybe not. I wonder if it is a sign? Well, it seems to be a good omen." She fluttered over to Lina. "This only proves you are the Destined One!"

Lina ignored her with a slight glare. Pixie-chan retreated.

"Hey, you still didn't answer me," Keil said.

"Well, there's a place I know that used to be really popular. The food's alright, too. Why don't we head over to the hot springs resort and see if we can get some lunch?"

Lyta clapped her hands. "Wow, a real hot spring! I've never been to one before! Too bad I didn't bring my bathing suit!"

"Hey!" snapped Lina, "This isn't a vacation! Besides, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Come on. I hope it's still in the same place. Everything's so different, I wouldn't be surprised if it shut down."

The famous hot springs resort that Lina had stayed at before was not shut down. And it was still in the same place. However, there was something missing from the once popular resort -- something very important.

"What happened to the hot springs?" Lina asked the manager of the resort. He was a tall, skinny man with a long moustache and greasy hair. He looked oddly familiar to her.

"Hot springs? Oh no, we don't have those anymore. They never really took off. What we are proud to present to all the lucky tourists such as yourselves, is a welcome to the Mipross Luxury Fitness and Massage Resort!" He waved his hands in a grand motion. "You all look like weary travellers. Perhaps you would like to indulge in the famous Mipross Fitness experience?"

"Famous?" Keil said. "I never even heard of this 'fitness thing'. I thought all the rave was about hot springs, too!"

The man stamped his foot impatiently. "No, no! We don't have hot springs anymore! Fitness! Fitness!!"

Lina waved him off. "Maybe later, old man. Can we just get some lunch?"

Disappointed, the manager hung his head and led them to the dining room.

Lina, Keil, Lyta and Gourry sat down at the table. The stage curtains were drawn and there was no sign of activity or rehearsal. In fact, much of the dining room was empty except for them and a few other patrons.

Keil picked up the menu and flipped through it. "Oh, duck, I haven't had that in a while."

"Hey, I know a great duck joke," Gourry said in response.

Lyta's face lit up. "Really? I want to hear it, Gourry-sama!"

Lina put her hand on her forehead and sat quietly.

"Well, a duck went into a restaurant and asked the chef, 'Do you serve any duck food?' The chef said no. The duck came back the next day and asked, 'Do you serve any duck food?' The chef said no again. The duck kept coming back and asking and always the answer would be no. Finally, one day the chef got really annoyed and said, 'No! We don't serve duck food! If you ask any more, I'm going to nail you to the floor!' So, the next day, the duck came back and asked, 'Do you have any nails?' And the chef said no. And the duck said, 'Good, do you have any duck food?'"

Gourry chortled, as did Lyta.

"Oh, oh, I have one!" shouted Lyta excitedly. "One day, a rich lord was riding in his carriage when he saw two people on the field eating grass. He stopped and asked them, 'Why are you eating the grass?' They said, 'We're poor and we can't afford any food.' The lord thought for a moment and said, 'Alright, come with me.' The first man said, 'But milord, I have a wife and two kids to feed as well!' The lord said, 'Bring them too!' The other man said, 'Milord, I have a wife and five kids!' The lord said, 'Splendid, bring them along as well!' So the two men brought out their families and they all crammed into the carriage. The first man said to the lord, 'Milord, thank you for taking all of us with you. You are too kind.' The lord shook his head. 'No, you don't understand. The grass at my manor is about two meters tall!'"

"Somebody kill me," groaned Lina weakly.

Lina loomed over the two menacingly. Her expression was dark and she had her fangs bared. "WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT!!"

Gourry and Lyta just stared. Sensing that they would finally stay silent, Lina calmed down a little. The four had finished lunch at the resort and were walking back outside.

"Pixie-chan, what are we supposed to be doing now?!"

"Don't look at me," the fairy said, sitting on Keil's shoulder because Lyta's laughing motions all through lunch made it hard for her not to fall off, "look at the compass. It should lead us to the spot where we need to go."

Lina had almost forgot about the rock with the blue jewel encrusted into the middle. It throbbed gently. But, when Lina turned northwards, it began to pulse rapidly. She turned away and it slowed down once more.

Looking up to confirm, Lina got a shrug from Pixie-chan. "I guess we follow the compass."

"We've been walking for the whole afternoon! Where are we going?!" She was getting annoyed. Her legs ached, her stomach cried for food. She was never one for the long, enduring trial. "That's it. C'mon, Lyta, we can raywing the rest of the way."

Lyta nodded to the two men. "What about them?"

"Okay, we can take them with us. Come on!" She had already started the raywing spell mid-sentence. The familiar glow enveloped her body. She grabbed Gourry's arm and it surrounded him to. They began floating into the air.

Gourry legs frantically moved frantically beneath him, trying to feel for the ground that was no longer there. No matter how many times he had done this with Lina, he never got used to it.

Lyta held out her hand to Keil. Watching Gourry with slight dread, Keil shook his head. "What if I fall?"

"You won't fall, Keil-kun. Come on, trust me." She pushed her hand towards him. Reluctantly, Keil took it and they were soon off into the air after Lina and Gourry.

"Ahhh!" Keil wailed pitifully and clamped his eyes shut.

"Don't be scared! You'll miss the great view up here!"

"That's the general idea," Keil shouted back. "I don't want to see how high we are!"

The forest immediately became a carpet of green with sparse spots of brown. The mountains ahead seemed to rise up even more as they floated higher into the air. Then, as they picked up more speed, everything began to blur into streaks of green, blue and orange.

"Waaah!! Slow down!!"

Lina kept a steady gaze on the compass and watched everything else from the corner of her eye. Hours of walking became instant minutes. She wished they had done this earlier. Her feet could use a heavy-duty massage tonight.

The compass began pulsing more rapidly than ever until it just glowed brightly. That was when Lina knew to stop. She began descending, dropping Gourry off a foot above the ground. He was only more than happy to have solid dirt under him. Lina almost expected him to kiss the ground each time they stopped a flight of the magic spell.

Lyta and Keil followed closely behind them, and Keil was no worse than Gourry except his nerves were slightly frayed. His eyes had a dizzy look to them and Lina wondered if he was even standing properly on his two feet.

The sky was already beginning to darken as dusk settled. The rumble in Lina's stomach was an all-too-familiar reminder of how hungry she was. She really wanted to get this over with.

"Well?" tapping her foot impatiently. "So, where is it? What do we do?"

The amazed expression on everyone's face was an indicator to turn around.

There were two statues, both quite old, standing amoung old ruins. Moss and vines had climbed up both and threatened to hide it under a mass of thick green foliage. The shorter of the two was what looked like a young boy holding a brilliant sword. The other, slightly taller, had familiar long hair, wide eyes, and standing in posture to cast a powerful spell.

It was the statues of Lina Inverse and Raudy. Lina couldn't help feel her mouth open a little.

Lyta was the first to speak up, asking the obvious. "Is that you, Lina-san?"

"Yeah, I guess so. It's been a while." She was still breathless. Then, panic shot down her body. Was this the same statue she saw in her dream? No, it was different. She was standing differently. In her dream, the statue had been more passive and static. This one shouted with action and energy. Besides, it was a silly dream.

"That's my ancestor, Raudy," Gourry said. "But, I don't understand how you're standing beside him, Lina. It's been many, many years! Well, I guess it has to be you. I mean, you still look as flat-chested as you did back then--OOMPH!"

Lina's elbow dug into Gourry's stomach. "You idiot! I was sent back in time!"

"You mean Raudy Gabriev sent you back? Of course, it makes sense now!" Lyta snapped her fingers, eyes wide with realization.

"What makes sense?"

Lyta put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, um, nothing."

Lina had no idea what the girl was talking about. Suddenly, the compass in her hand grew extremely hot. Yelping, she threw it on the ground. The blue gem was glowing so brightly now; it almost looked white. And then, it began floating into the air.

The five gathered around the compass, cautiously but curiously. "What's going on?" Lina whispered to Pixie-chan.

"I think the compass is becoming calibrated. I think it's obvious what's going on now. This location is a focal point. There used to be a large Elven village nearby. That's probably where Raudy met his mate, Gourry. The compass is using the astral energy fixated on this spot to calibrate itself and lead us to where the elves are now."

The light emitted from the compass was so bright that they had to shield their eyes. Lina wasn't sure if it was light or some powerful energy. The vines that grappled the two statues had mysteriously receded back to the ground. The statues now stood with all their former perfection.

When the light faded away, Lina and the others looked back to the floating compass. It now emitted a steady beam of light. Lina reached her hand out toward it, carefully. When she felt no heat, she gently grasped the compass and it dropped into her hand. She waved her hand over the beam of light. When she covered the stone, the light disappeared. She noticed the light remained fixed on one point out towards the sea, no matter which way Lina turned.

"That's it," explained Pixie-chan, "the elves are out there where the light is shining!" She could feel excitement burst out from her tiny body. "We're so much closer now than ever before!"

Darkness.

Stillness.

These were the intangibles that surrounded it, a protective shell of security. It had slept for many centuries but time had no meaning to it.

And then it stirred. A bright flash of what could be called 'light' disturbed its slumber. Consciousness snapped into place and it began searching, becoming aware once more of its surroundings and environments.

But first, it wanted to know what had awakened it. What was it that shone brightly at it that could cause its eternal sleep to end? It must be something powerful, something full of the thriving life of magic. Life energy, that was what it wanted. It longed for it. It hungered for it. It needed it to satiate itself.

There was magic in the air. Only a little bit, but enough to begin sustaining itself on it. As it grew a little stronger, it became sensing more. It wanted to locate the source of more energy, more life to feed on. For it was only a spawnling of its former glory, and life force was required to further its stages of growth and evolution.

Where? Where could the powerful light that awoke it be? Through tons of dirt and rock, its senses penetrated the night air. It was different here. It felt fresh, wide open and not cramped to its usual confines. Its mind reached out over the treetops and plains, beyond little villages and houses, to the source of the powerful magic.

And then, it found it.

"No!" shouted Gourry.

"Alright, you don't have to scream!" growled Lina, "don't you find it calm up here?"

"Maybe it's fine for you but I don't want to fall," Gourry responded.

"You're such a wimp. How many times have we done this and how many times have you fallen?"

"Twice," he answered with unusual calm.

"See--what twice?! When?"

Lyta pulled alongside Lina with Keil by her side, enveloped by her own raywing bubble. She pointed downwards and began to descend. Lina had no idea what she wanted but had no choice and followed after her.

Once they landed, Lyta explained, "I err.. have to go."

"Go where?" Gourry asked.

Lyta looked pained to explain but she nodded her head sideways in a meaningful sort of way. When nobody understood, she looked upwards. Putting her hands before her pants, she pranced back and forth gingerly. A stupid grimace spread across her mouth.

"Oh, for the love of--," Lina started to say, finally figuring it out. "Can't you hold it 'til we get back?"

Lyta shook her head furiously.

"Alright, alright, hurry up."

Without bothering to acknowledge, the taller girl retreated to a crowded area of bushes and trees.

Lina wiped her face. "This is so embarrassing."

Gourry gave her a look. "Why? You're not the one who has to go."

"Oh, shush." Then, she remembered what she was going to say earlier. "What do you mean you fell twice? When did that happen?!"

Gourry started counting them off on his fingers. "Well, the first time was when we--"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!" The shriek of a maiden in distress was clear in the middle of the night.

Lina and Gourry gave each other a quick look. "LYTA!"

They raced to where the girl had disappeared. Pulling back tree branches, they came to the spot where she was. Horror was what entered their eyes.

Lyta was dangling in the air, her limp body wrapped around by a long, slimy tentacled beast protruding from the ground. Several other tentacles came from the same hole, free and searching the air. They must have felt Lina's presence, for they attacked quickly.

Lina jumped back before the sharp claw on the tentacle could strike them. Gourry was fast to pull out his sword. "LIGHT COME FORTH!" The brilliant Sword of Light formed true and its owner was quick to attack.

Gourry sliced through the first few tentacles. They were slow in sensing him. However, once they got their bearings set, they began lunging with their sharp claws. Gourry dodged clear of them and sliced a few more tentacles off cleanly.

Lina tried to get a spell ready. She found herself standing still and watching with detached curiosity. But before she could even get a word of her spell spoken, the ground began to rumble.

"What's going on?" cried Keil, who grabbed a tree for support.

"Whoaaa!" Gourry had a hard time maintaining his balance as well.

The source of the tremors broke through. It was more tentacles. They were faster this time, maybe fueled by the injuries Gourry had inflicted on them. Before Gourry could get himself steady, the new tentacles swooped at him and threw him into some trees.

And just as quickly, the tentacles retreated back into the earth, taking Lyta with them.

"We have to save her!" Pixie-chan cried, fluttering wildly in the air.

Lina felt ashamed for having not done much but she resolved to fix that. As Gourry untangled himself from the tree branches, she marched carefully to the large hole in the earth. Gathering her magical energy, she called forth a handy spell. "BEFITZ BRING!" The earth surrounding the hole glowed and dissipated into energy that rose into the night air. In its place was a larger hole, more cleanly burrowed and easier to navigate. She hopped down.

"Come on, let's get Lyta."

Calundo took his time, although he knew he was late for the council meeting. He always was late. The others in the council had come to accept his tardiness, even though they admonished him every time, especially old Tempero.

The old elf was the advisor to Queen Mayarenna and her mother before her. He was wizened with age but he stood in the way of Calundo's plans. He knew that Tempero would be the one to oppose him. He already felt the friction between each other. On countless occasions he argued publicly in council with Tempero's statements. He couldn't fault him too much. After all, he was looking after the Queen's best interests, but he was too blinded by that to see what was happening to the rest of the elves. Calundo represented a new age, a fresh, strong blood that would revitalize the elves' place in the world. Tempero represented the old, stubborn ways. They had to be rid of them in order to move forward.

Calundo found himself at the great oak doors to the council room. Like all the other architecture, the doors had a fancy design. This one looked like vines wrapped around a gate with flowers blooming everywhere. He placed his strong hands on the doors and pushed them open. The Elven council was comprised of sixteen people, including the Queen herself. Fourteen pairs of eyes were on him as he entered the council chamber.

"Good of you to finally join us," Tempero chided as Calundo expected. "Please take your seat."

The lack of usual insinuations from Tempero's part alerted Calundo that the old elf was in a mood of sorts and wished to get started. Calundo gave a curt nod and sat down in his usual seat.

"As you all have noticed, our Queen is not here with us this meeting. I will not lie to you. She is falling ill, as we all knew she would. To make matters worse, she is not as powerful as her mother was and every trip she makes here is a costly one. Therefore, she and I have decided she will only come at the gravest need."

One of the elves on the council spoke up. "Are you saying she is bedridden, then?" His name was Riveren. He had been on the council for many more years than Calundo and he was generally neutral when it came to matters. Calundo knew he was an influential person and needed his support.

Tempero took a second to choose his words. "The last I checked, the Queen is getting by. She is not, as you put it, 'bedridden'. I'm quite certain she has the strength to do whatever is necessary."

"But, how long will that strength last?" Calundo decided to add.

"Long enough for the Destined One to arrive." Tempero answered with confidence. There was a buzz amoung the council members. News of the Destined One was spreading quickly amoung the elves. With her arrival, they could finally leave the accursed island that had been their home and prison.

"And when will that be? We have been waiting for a long time, now." Calundo smiled. That was Sentendil, one of the Elven councilors he had been trying to sway to his side. That statement was a sort of confirmation to Calundo that he was ready to join with him.

The other councilors voiced their impatience as well. Tempero raised his bony hands to silence them all. "I'm not certain when, exactly, but fear not, she is coming soon. The Queen says she can feel it."

Calundo decided to start some pressure. "But, Tempero-sama, I am worried. You said the Queen is not well, that much you admitted. Isn't it possible the feelings the Queen gets regarding the Destined One is not what it may be? What if she's feeling the wrong things? What if the Destined One isn't coming as soon as we think. We could all be getting our hopes up-"

"Enough!" Tempero ordered sharply. "Meeting after meeting, you come raising these issues and stir trouble and gossip. Have you no faith in Queen Mayarenna? Do you not support her? What is your agenda?"

Calundo grimaced mentally. He hadn't expected such a sharp rebuke from the old man. Now, he was forcing the issue. The best course of action, Calundo decided, was to go on the offensive now.

"I have no agenda. Like all here, I am interested in the safety of the Elven people. My fears, I'm sure many will agree, are not without substance. We all know that the Queen is without an heir to receive her powers, yet she holds the entire fate of the elves in her hands. Her health is failing; her strength is waning. If she were to become lost to us, then we would all perish. Have you not considered this?"

The council chambers were completely silent. The breaths of all sitting at the long table had been stolen away with Calundo's words. They stared amazed at him and then turned to Tempero for his response.

Tempero chose not to answer, immediately. Instead, he sighed and muttered something under his breath. Slowly, he made his way to the seat next to the Queen's chair. He fingered the armrest pensively. Then, he looked up. There was harshness in his eyes.

"I should have realized before, but now I see how little faith you have in her. You haven't seen the richness of her spirit or the love she has for all of us. Instead, you see only what your eyes tell you. That she is weak and she cannot make it through. Well, I tell you that you're wrong! We all swore an oath, as her subjects, that we would uphold her wishes and see to her responsibilities. Instead, your constant..." he paused to choose a proper word, "bickering wastes the council's time!"

Calundo stood up quickly. "Not so! The Queen's wishes and responsibilities are to the Elven people. I swore to uphold those wishes. And I say that the Elven people are in danger because of the Queen. If she were to realize this, then she would agree! The power she holds cannot be entrusted to just one person. It is dangerous!"

Before Tempero could argue back, one of Calundo's supporters, Rendar added his thoughts. "What about the X'Thar'End?"

There was a collective gasp from the council. The X'Thar'End was an ancient ritual of transference. The magical power of one elf could be transferred to another with three others present as living conduits to that power.

There was a side effect to the ritual. The one losing their power usually did not live through the ordeal. Tempero was quick to point that out.

"Absolutely not!" he roared with renewed temper. "We cannot possibly sacrifice our Queen in such a manner! It is abominable!"

Rendar held up a finger pointedly. "Yes, but don't you agree that it is logical. We should place the power in someone more able." He paused, on cue, and added, "Such as yourself, Tempero-sama. You could lead us, no?"

"I refuse to accept that alternative! How can you forsake Queen Mayarenna like this?" He shot an angry glare at Calundo; silently blaming him for all the dissent that was surging up.

Calundo spread his palms. "Why are you looking at me? It seems the support for Queen Mayarenna is not as firm as you think. But, in all fairness, I must point out that the X'Thar'End ritual is not possible, for the procedure has been lost. I'm afraid to say it, but Tempero-sama may be right. We must trust in the Queen." His sudden change of heart again amazed the council. With arms folded across his chest, Calundo sat back and decided to remain silent. Even Tempero was speechless.

Everything was going according to plan, noted Calundo inside his mind. The council was thoroughly confused as to his motives. Was he against the Queen, or was he willing to finally accept her? That doubt was what Calundo wanted.

The cards were slowly forming in his hand. He had secured another supporter in Sentendil. He decided to focus his attention on convincing Riveren. All he required were some young men to aid him, and he knew that the task would come upon Ilario. He believed the boy was ready for some convincing speech from his part and he would have Ilario doing whatever he wanted.

The final part of his plan, his trump card, was the X'Thar'End. Although the procedure had been lost to the Elven council for hundreds of years, Calundo had secretly researched the fragments and pieced it all together. He was fairly certain he had it down completely. And with Sentendil's confirmed support, he was one sorcerer closer to the three he needed to perform the ritual.

Once Mayarenna surrendered her power to him, he would be rid of her and Tempero, and the throne to the Elven kingdom would be his alone.

"What was that thing?" Keil asked, bringing up the rear. Fear was clearly marked on his face but he had no choice but join Lina and Gourry.

"It had lots of tentacles," Gourry observed, "maybe it's an octopus? Hey, if we kill it, we can make octopus sushi with it!"

"Gourry," admonished Lina dryly, "what would an octopus be doing underneath the earth?"

"Maybe it has a little underground lake?"

Pixie-chan chose an opportune moment to interrupt them. "Guys, I think I can see some light ahead."

"I don't know if should be surprised or not," Lina said, suspecting some sort of monster had taken up residence in the bowels of the earth.

They emerged in a large underground cavern. The place was clearly not natural. It had a long, cylindrical hallway shape to it. Sconces lined the walls with magical flames that brightly burned for who knows how long. The centre of the hall was heavily tread and formed a sort of path. Also, the slimy residue of the tentacles was dripping along the ground, giving a good indicator where they were going.

The slime secreted by the tentacles reminded Lina of slugs. She absolutely abhorred slugs. A shiver ran down her spine. They're not slugs, she told herself, they're tentacles. Plain, stupid tentacles. She paused and added to herself, tentacles that secrete slimy slug goo. Ewww!

Lina Inverse had no idea what she was facing this time. Was it some more evil demons? Or, another Mazoku? That she doubted. Mazoku generally didn't like bunching together. They were more of territorial creatures, marking their area from which they fed on helpless humanity. But, she counter-argued, she had defeated Joyrock in the past. There was nothing to prevent another Mazoku from taking up residence. She didn't feel it was Mazoku though. They usually liked taunting her and revealing themselves because they thought they were invincible. It took a lot for Mazoku to be cunning and stealthy. Maybe she was wrong and that they were using new tactics now. She hoped not. She liked facing the enemy she knew.

In any case, she owed it to Lyta. She had saved their hides twice, at least by her count. That was sometimes rare for Lina, having to be saved. She scolded herself mentally. No, that wasn't true. There was plenty times she needed rescuing. And doing the same for a friend was only in her nature.

The hallway stopped and they found themselves standing before a massive door. The door was made of bronze or some shiny, yellowish metal. On the face of the door was a large relief. It depicted several people standing in front of a large, indescribable object. Tentacles were sticking out of it, so there was a pretty good chance that this was the same thing that kidnapped Lyta. But what was it?

Gourry tried pushing the large door. Even with all his strength, he couldn't even move it an inch.

"Try pulling," Lina suggested, not at all trying to be sarcastic.

The blond swordsman tried pulling instead on the large rings that hung at the centre of the doors. Sweat was starting to trickle down his face. The door would not budge.

"Stand back," Lina ordered everyone, "it's going to take more than just brawn to get through this one. DIM WIND!!" The torrent of wind that emanated from her palms was just strong enough to blow the doors open.

Inside was a large, cavernous chamber. At the centre was a big, stone dias surrounded by roaring bronze cauldrons burning with magical fire. Floating above it was Lyta, held tightly by a tentacle.

"Lyta!" Gourry yelled and unleashed his sword again. Lina readied herself with a fireball hanging off her palm. Keil stood behind the two adventurers. There was little he could do anyway.

The tentacles were everywhere along the dias but they seemed to have no source. But then something appeared right above where the tentacles would have ended. It was a huge, bulbous mass that resembled a floating brain. Veins of various colours protruded along the surface of the mass, pulsing disgustingly. Lina sickened at the sight. A face appeared before the frontal lobe. It had two glowing eyes and a voracious mouth of jagged fangs. But there was little else to the featureless face.

"Welcome," it said in a deep, primal voice.

Lina didn't waste any time on introductions. "Give back our friend!"

There was a pause between her words and its. "I will do no such thing. Her life force is succulent and I will devour it."

"What the hell are you?!" Lina finally asked.

At first it didn't answer her question. "The light that awoke me, such power. You must surely possess it. I must have that magic to feed on." The thing paused again and shifted its gaze to Pixie-chan. "A fairy? A guardian of the elves? I see. My mind does not care to dwindle on pointless communication. My name is Myrmorden."

Pixie-chan gasped. "Dear Ceipheed, Myrmorden? It can't be!"

Lina raised up her free hand. "Whoa, whoa, hold up a second. Who is this Myrmorden thing?"

The fairy flew over to her so she could explain face to face. "Myrmorden is a creature of devastating destruction. It's sole purpose is to feed on the life force of any living thing. Even the Mazoku fear it! Myrmorden isn't good or evil; it doesn't choose sides. All it wants is to gorge itself with all the life force it can find, ultimately destroying the world!"

"How come I've never heard of this thing?" Lina asked quickly.

"The stories of Myrmorden were kept secret from the humans but the elves knew about it, not that they had much to worry. Myrmorden had been vanquished for centuries before even the elves grew to power. So, they didn't feel it was necessary for the humans to know about it. They were more concerned about the Mazoku war at hand."

"If Myrmorden was defeated," said Lina, pointing to the floating brain, "what the hell is it doing there?"

"Somehow, it must have woken up. Myrmorden wasn't really defeated. Such a powerful entity could truly never be, I think. They must have put it to sleep or contained it. But I don't know how they did it!" Pixie-chan was trembling with terror. Lina could tell she wanted nothing but to flee this place. But her loyalty to Lyta was too strong, even for that.

"Then we'll just have to put it back to sleep again," Lina resolved, a bit foolishly she realized. For she had no idea how to do it.

The disgusting mass spoke again. "I feel such energy within the many of you. I shall feed on your life force and become stronger!" Its tentacles began to move towards them.

Lina tossed the fireball she was holding onto. The explosion did little against the slimy tentacles. Gourry ran in front of her and slashed at it with his sword. The tentacle fell off and shriveled up, disappearing in a sickening haze of smoke. But the spurting stumps grew back. They lunged at them with their serrated claws.

Lina cast spell after spell to defeat the tentacles but they kept coming. Even her best black magic spells, like Gaav flare had little effect. She tried focusing her attacks on the centre mass of Myrmorden while Gourry futilely chopped the tentacles that would just grow back.

Myrmorden laughed with delight. "The more energy you expend, the hungrier I become! Let me feast! Let me feast!"

"This thing is making me sick," Lina gasped with nauseating exhaustion. Her magic couldn't hold up much longer. She doubt Dragon Slave would be effective. It was especially dangerous underground. She didn't know if she should even risk it. With the way things were going she was willing to try it.

One of the tentacles sneaked up behind her and tried wrapping around her body. She levitated out of the way, but it grabbed Keil instead. He yelled and Gourry raced over to where he was, slicing that tentacle before it could drag Keil away.

There were too many of them and they didn't have enough power. Lina was frustrated over how to defeat this monster. How did the people who put Myrmorden away do it? Then, she spotted something--the relief on the door. Maybe it was their message to whoever found this place about how to defeat Myrmorden.

Lina floated over to the door. It showed Myrmorden, in all his disgusting, tentacled wonder, suppressed in the cavern room where they found him. There were people all around him but the figure of Myrmorden didn't seem to be attacking. That confirmed her theory that the relief held the clue to defeating it.

Lina didn't understand. The people in the picture weren't doing anything. How could they be fighting it? Did they have some special artifact? No, she was sure they would have held it up to him. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the relief wasn't depicting Myrmorden's defeat. Maybe it was a picture of his worshippers?

Another tentacle came flying at her and she moved away from the door to dodge it. Gourry slashed at it. "This isn't very good, Lina!"

"I know Gourry," she screamed back, "I don't know what to do!" She spotted Keil standing by himself. "Pixie-chan, you and Keil get out of here! Go back up the hole! There's no point staying here to get killed!"

"What about Lyta?" Keil cried back.

Damn it all, Lina cursed to herself. This thing was really getting on her nerves. She flew back to the relief and tried thinking again. No, it couldn't be its worshippers. Myrmorden wanted to devour all life. It would just eat anything in its path. There could be no appeasing it.

She studied the relief carefully. Then, it came at her. She didn't know how right she was, but anything was worth a try, now. "Gourry!" she yelled to him, "cut Lyta loose from the tentacles!"

Gourry didn't bother to respond, but she knew he understood and would carry out her instructions. He wove in and out of the tentacles' deadly strikes. Although he was exhausted, like Lina, his desperation to save Lyta drove him to her, slashing and slicing all the way.

They were at their most aggressive near Lyta, obviously wanting to protect its meal. Even Gourry's speed couldn't reach Lyta alone and he had to drive backwards. "Lina!" he shouted, "I could use some help here!"

"Alright Gourry!" Lina cast a spell of demona crystal and briefly encased the tentacles. It didn't last long but it gave Gourry the precious few seconds he needed to cut Lyta free. Just as he did, the crystals shattered and the tentacles attacked anew.

Gourry picked up the limp girl's body and began to retreat. The tentacles were already forming again and chasing after him. "Hurry up Lina!" he yelled desperately.

Lina hoped it was this simple. There was nothing else she could think of. "DARK MIST!" A thick fog rolled in out of nowhere, blanketing the entire cavern. The spell's effect was to even absorb the magical fires that were burning. As they did, Myrmorden roared.

"The light! Give me back the light!" Its tentacles thrashed wildly along the ground. But as the room got darker and darker, Myrmorden grew less active and calmer. "Nooo..." its voice grew more wane and soft with each moment.

"Quickly, Gourry!" Lina shouted at the entrance to the room. There was only one problem, closing the doors so she could seal the monstrosity into darkness. She doubted any of them could pull the doors shut. But just as she opened them with magic, she just needed the right spell to close them.

"BOMB DI WIND!" She threw the ball of pressurized air into the chamber so that when it exploded outwards, the force of the wind blew the doors back into place. Once more, Myrmorden's resting-place became a lair of darkness, where it drifted back into its eternal sleep.

The three leaned back against the wall of the hallway, utterly exhausted. Lina wiped the sweat that was drenching her forehead and headband. Lyta hung limp in Gourry's arms. Lina gave him a worried look. He nodded, indicating she was still living but in need of major healing. They all did. But they were also too tired to do so right away.

"How did you do it?" Pixie-chan asked with amazement.

Lina grinned. "It was pretty simple actually." She pointed to the large, closed door. "See the relief? It shows how they first got Myrmorden to sleep. I noticed that the scene didn't have any burning cauldrons. All of them were unlit. Myrmorden mentioned something about a light that awoke it. I think the compass did just that."

"So you put Myrmorden back to sleep by turning off the lights?" finished Pixie-chan. She was speechless. "That was utterly clever! I can't believe it was just that simple."

"Well, all your talk about putting it to sleep got me thinking. Anyway, there's one more thing I should do." Lina got up and walked over to the door. Closing her eyes, she placed her hands on the metal barrier. They glowed and she released her hands.

"What did you do?" the fairy asked.

"I put a magical lock on it. It's not hard to break; even an amateur sorcerer could do it. But, it's the least I can do."

"What about the cavern itself?" Pixie-chan wondered. "I wonder why Myrmorden didn't break through its own prison to get out. Instead he came out through this hallway."

"I suspect it can't. There's probably some really powerful magic in place keeping it trapped there. All it needs is light to burst out the front door. As long as there is none, it can't do anything but sleep. Let's hope we never have to face it again." Lina got a nod from Pixie-chan who was more than happy to agree.

Only a brief period of time before, Ilario was to have been married to Mayarenna. He had grown up with her, after all, and considered her his friend. The council elders decided he was probably the most suitable mate for the young princess at the time. But when they discovered the horrible truth, the wedding plans had been called off. It didn't matter much anymore. And ever since that day, Ilario had rarely seen or spoken to the person he once knew as his friend. She remained ever distant.

For Queen Mayarenna was infertile, and incapable of bearing children. It shocked the entire Elven nation but it struck Mayarenna even more deeply. Mayarenna often talked about having children when they were young.

"Do you know how wonderful it is to know that a new life is growing inside of you?" she had asked him once. Of course he didn't know. He was a man. Only women bore children. But he smiled and said that one day she would make a caring mother.

When they told her the truth, she broke down into tears. Nobody saw her for days. And then, one day, she come out from her room and made an announcement to the entire court. She announced that the wedding was being called off. Mayarenna had even given a sorrowful look to Ilario that day, and he believed she whispered the words, "I'm sorry."

Calundo's voice inside his apartment shook Ilario from his thoughts. He opened the door slowly, poking his head in. Knowing that that wasn't very proper, he stepped in all the way and closed the door behind him. He remained standing by the door.

"Well, get over here," Calundo ordered. Ilario obeyed.

Calundo was sitting in his desk by the window. His eyes were closed and his face was calm. Various books and manuscripts were scattered on the desk, all open to various pages and parts. Ilario couldn't help his wandering eyes and glimpsed something about a ritual. He wondered what Calundo was studying.

"I'm sorry if I was harsh, Ilario-kun," Calundo apologized in the sweet, soft tone Ilario was used to. The older elf sighed. "You must have heard by now."

"Y-yes," Ilario stammered, hoping not to anger him.

"Don't always believe the things you hear," Calundo said sagely. "Appearances are deceiving. We're all looking out for the Elven people. We just do it in different ways."

"As you say," Ilario answered.

Calundo's eyes opened and studied the boy with a disbelieving eye. Ilario didn't know what to make of the scrutiny but remained silent instead.

"Things are bad," said Calundo as plainly as he could. "Very bad. The Queen is quite ill from what I gather." He shook his head sadly. "I wish there were things we could do for her, but we can't. It's just not possible. And as much I as hate to say this, she can't protect us for much longer. If she dies, we all die."

"I'm aware of that, but have you considered everything?" he asked.

"Oh yes, I've considered it all. And there's only one possibility I can think of." He paused, for effect. "Queen Mayarenna must give up her power."

Ilario gasped. There was a time when he would have surely objected to the man's questionable nature. But now, Ilario felt the older elf had opened up to him and trusted him. Ilario wanted to return that trust. But still, he was uncertain. "Are you sure?"

"Quite."

There was no room to maneuver with that response. Ilario was at a loss for words. His eyes darted back to the papers on Calundo's desk. "Is that--?"

"Yes, it's the ritual by which we can safely transfer her powers," Calundo lied. "I'm hoping we can find someone strong enough to put it in."

"Who?" Ilario asked naively.

"Why you, of course!"

"Me?" Ilario's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Ilario, I've come to respect you as a young man. You're the best candidate I can think of. I think the Queen would have wanted it that way."

Ilario's heart skipped. "Mayarenna? You spoke to her?"

Caught off guard, Calundo chose his words carefully. "Uh, not in so much as verbally but I think in her heart, she would have wanted it to be you."

"Are you sure it won't hurt her?" he asked.

"Rest easy, my young friend. The Queen will be completely safe. But, are you ready to accept this responsibility? It won't be an easy one, Ilario-kun. The entire Elven people will depend on you, now. You're the only one that can save us, stop the bleakness!"

Ilario was quite unready, he knew in his heart. But at the same time, he trusted his friend Calundo. Ever since the day he found out Mayarenna had chosen him to be her mate, he was overjoyed to know he would help better serve his people. It crushed him when she called off the wedding. Now, he finally had the chance to prove himself worthy. He almost could believe it was destiny.

Calundo opened a drawer and pulled out a small bag. "Ilario, have you gathered your friends?"

"Yes, I've spoken to them. They're all on our side, Calundo-san."

Calundo smiled. "Very good." He gave the bag to Ilario. "These are enchanted talismans. They'll protect your friends from magic. The change we are about to instill is not one the council fully approves of." He didn't say anymore.

Ilario caught his meaning, however. "I'll make sure everyone gets one so they'll be safe."

"Good, I see you're perceptive. Now, please go. I must prepare myself mentally for the task at hand."

"I won't let you down, Calundo-san." He bowed and quickly exited the apartments.

Calundo smiled to himself again. "No, I don't think you will." Oh, you foolish boy, he thought to himself. As if I would give you such awesome power, he rebuked. Calundo's ambition was to take the power of Mayarenna's magic and bestow it upon himself. And then, he did something unexpected. He laughed.

Lyta woke a day after they left port, still weak from being attacked by Myrmorden. Luckily, it hadn't drained any of her life force, or Lyta's energy would have been diminished to the point of nothing. All the healing and restoring spells in the world would have not helped Lyta recover, if that had happened.

Lina stood against the ship's railing, staring out to see. She had her elbow on the wooden rail and her head propped against her hand. She felt Gourry come beside her, leaning on both forearms and watched the endless sea as well.

"Whatcha thinking about, Lina?" he asked.

Lina sighed. "Bertine. It took a lot to beat her the other day. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the final battle. Now that we're on our way to the island, I'm sure that battle is coming."

Gourry smiled and tried to be as comforting as he always was. "Don't worry, Lina. You'll get her in the end."

Lina looked up to the big, blond swordsman. "Thanks."

"Besides, I'm really bad at all this planning out strategies and stuff."

He was about to leave when Lyta popped out of the aft-cabin, still adjusting her hastily put on clothes. She saw the two at the side of the ship and walked briskly to them.

"Lina-san! Gourry-sama! I heard what happened after I got kidnapped. Thanks for saving me." She looked much healthier, now. There was colour back in her cheeks.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Lina waved it off. "You saved our butts twice already, I figured it was time I get to pay back the favours."

Before Lyta could offer anymore thanks, the steady beam of light shooting out of the compass flickered. Lina noticed this immediately and soon so did the rest. The beam's strength began to wane and die. Soon, it stopped altogether. Lina went and picked up the compass that was resting by the helmsman wheel. The light that usually lit the shiny gem at the centre of the rock grew dim and then became dark.

Pixie-chan flew close to examine the compass. "What does it mean?" Lina asked her.

The fairy looked up at her. "I think there's only one explanation. We're there."

"We are?" Lina asked, startled. She shouted, "We are! Hey, somebody drop the anchor!"

The crewmen looked at each other, confused. Captain Tiggy came out of this quarters to see what the shouting was about.

"We're there?" he repeated once Lina explained. "Well, about time! What are you lapdogs standing around for?! Drop the damn anchor already!"

The crew carried out his orders and soon the 'Nelly Clipper' came to a stop in the waters of the sea.

"Now what?" Lina asked the fairy.

"As we got closer and closer, more and more of the instructions memorized in my head became clear again. Leave this part to me." The fairy flew up into the air. "Hold the compass high above your head, Lina Inverse!"

Lina obliged. The little fairy began to glow brighter and she called up her own magic. The gem embedded in the compass' rock began to glow again as well. As it did, something in front of the ship began to appear.

At first, the air was just hazy, the way it might bend above a fire. But then, more and more of an outline became clear. Lina gasped. The island the elves were on was slowly becoming visible. They had made the entire island invisible for all this time!

It was much smaller than Mipross, that Lina could tell right away. Trees began to shimmer into view. A sandy cove appeared in front of them and Lina decided they would land there.

The entire process took several minutes as Pixie-chan's magic and the compass unlocked the spell that hid the elves away from the world for so many years. Off in the distance, Lina could spy a tower jutting out of the trees. That was where she wanted to check first.

When the dispelling of the invisibility had completed, Pixie-chan fluttered herself down to Lina's face. "This is it, Destined One. It was prophesized that you would come in search of the lost elves and now, here you are. Are you ready?"

For once, Lina didn't argue being called the 'Destined One'.

They lowered a small boat and rowed to the sandy cove. Washed up along the shore was small, single sailing ship. The wood was rotten from years of neglect, and the sails torn away by the wind and surf.

"Is that how they got here?" Lina asked. "It's so small! How can you fit the entire race of elves in there?"

Pixie-chan didn't say anything.

They continued their hike through the forests to the tall tower. Lina noticed how humid it was. Although the island had been invisible, it wasn't hidden away from sunlight or weather. The trees were dense and wide. The ground was soft in many places, indicating that it rained a lot on the island. The temperature was definitely tropical.

Soon, after twenty or so minutes of walking, Lina, Gourry, Lyta, Keil and Pixie-chan approached the tower. It was crudely built of interlocking stones and had very little in the way of design. It was a simple, rising tower with a flat top. The base was wider to provide a better foundation. At the base were two large, wooden doors. The metal brackets on the doors were rusted from exposure to rain and air. Lina pushed them open.

Amazingly, the inside was cleaner than any of them had thought. Flames lit all the candles hanging on the walls. The floor was sparsely carpeted but they showed no signs of age or decay. There was very little dust, as well.

"Who lives here?" Lina asked.

"Go up and find out," Pixie-chan said cryptically.

Seeing that the fairy wasn't going to be forthcoming with information anymore, Lina had no choice but to lead her friends up the stone stairs.

They spiraled around the tower several times before coming to a door. Lina looked back. Gourry was expressionless, as was usual some of the times. Keil blinked and took in everything around him, not knowing what to expect. Lyta was unusually quiet. She looked as if she was trying hard to concentrate on something. Pixie-chan was the most emotionless of them all. She nodded to Lina and urged her to open the door. Other than that, she simply stared ahead and waited for something to happen.

Lina placed her gloved hand on the door and pushed it open. Sunlight greeted them once more as they entered a small room with a window. In one corner was a bed. The blankets were neatly folded and clean. Standing at the foot of the bed was a silver stand. On top of the stand sat a glowing round crystal. It pulsed in much the same way the compass gem did. The two were probably cut from the same material, Lina thought, and that was how the compass knew where to find the other part. Their colours were different, though.

Lina turned her gaze to the other wall and her mouth dropped open. Several drawings lined the stone wall. They were pictures of her. She moved closer. Then she realized that they weren't pictures of her. They were pictures of Lyta.

Lina looked back. The girl was just as shocked as she was. "How?" Lyta stuttered, walking up to them. She held her hand out in awe but was afraid to touch them. "Why? Why is my picture here?"

And then, the room exploded.

But she didn't have to. She felt that they were near. The girl she had seen in her dreams many times, the one who would save them, was ever so close. She knew they were all close to finding the island. And then, Mayarenna could finally rest knowing the burden would be taken off her delicate shoulders.

However, she had received an urgent message from Tempero-sama. Something was happening amoung the council that demanded her immediate attention. She sighed. It really took a lot out of her to come.

The doors opened and Tempero walked in. The old elf still had quite a spring in his step, despite his white hair and wrinkling face.

Mayarenna cast him a worried look. "Tempero-sama, what was so urgent that you needed to see me?"

Tempero looked quite shocked. "Queen! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be in here. You need to keep yourself strong!"

"I got your message to come," Mayarenna replied.

Tempero shook his head with bewilderment. "Message? I sent you no message."

"Then what are you doing here?" she asked back, slightly annoyed.

"I received a message from someone asking to meet me here." Then his small eyes grew large. "Oh no! We must flee, Mayarenna! It's--"

The doors opened and Calundo strode in triumphantly. He finished for the Queen's advisor. "A trap."

Following after Calundo were roughly a dozen young elves, armed with bows and swords. They surrounded Mayarenna and Tempero, weapons drawn and arrows notched. Three older elves came in after the young ones. Tempero recognized them all.

"Rendar. Sentendil. Riveren." He was most shocked with the last one.

"Didn't expect to see me side with Calundo, did you?" Riveren said gracefully.

Tempero's white brow furrowed with anger. "No, that I did not."

Their attention was drawn to shouting from outside. Two more young elves came in, firmly holding a squirming Ilario. "Let me go!" he roared. But when he saw Mayarenna, he grew silent and his face was as surprised as she.

"Mayarenna!" he whispered. Shame suddenly filled his eyes as he realized what was going to happen. He tossed his head angrily at Calundo. "You lied to me! You said you were not going to hurt her!"

Calundo laughed majestically. "Oh, you are so naive! And did you think I was going to promise you her power, as well? Really." He turned to Mayarenna and sneered. "You certainly picked a very foolish man for a husband." He laughed again.

Mayarenna shot Ilario a surprised look. Ilario was to receive her power? She didn't know how to feel, betrayed or alarmed. Her gaze on Ilario only made him look away, remorse clearly written on his face.

"Blindo, let me go!" Ilario tried struggling again but to no avail.

"They won't listen to you now," Calundo said. "Remember those enchantments I gave you? Each elf has it on their person and through them, I control their thoughts. They do as I please." His voice grew louder. "And if either our beloved Queen or the old elf move, or speak a word, you will kill them!"

"You wouldn't dare hurt the Queen!" blurted out Tempero. The elves closest to him pulled back on their bowstrings.

Calundo raised his hand to stop them. "No, I'll let him have that one outburst. I have nothing to lose, my dear Tempero. Either I take her power and become King, or she dies and the spell is broken. Either way, I will see to it that the elves reclaim their rightful place in this world! We will return as the masters of all, especially the humans!"

"You're mad with power!" cried Tempero. An arrow flew at his arm and he howled with pain. Mayarenna tried to move but the twitch in the mindless elves surrounding her forced her to stop.

"I only allowed you one outburst, old one!" growled Calundo. He turned to the three other council members. "Quickly, let's begin the X'Thar'End!"

Mayarenna swallowed with fear. She had heard of the X'Thar'End. It was an old, forbidden ritual that transferred power from one person to another, with or without the giver's consent. And rumours had it usually meant in their death.

"Hold her," Calundo commanded. Two of the closest elves dropped their weapons and grabbed her arms. She struggled but was too weak to even put up a fight. There was little doubt, in her state, that she was going to survive the ritual, whether or not the rumors were true.

Sentendil took up place in the middle of the room while Rendar moved beside Calundo and Riveren next to the Queen. The ritual was remarkably simple. Riveren was to draw the power out of the Queen and Rendar would place it into Calundo. Sentendil would act as a conduit for that power to travel. Each person had a key role. Calundo watched with unbound impatience at receiving the power of the royalty.

At once, the room became silent. Tempero, holding his injured arm, watched terrified as the three elves began to chant in unison the forbidden words to the ritual.

A magical glow wrapped itself around the three elves, Calundo and Mayarenna. Electricity crackled between all of five of them. Tears filled Mayarenna's eyes. She couldn't allow this to continue. The lust for power was clear in Calundo's eyes and she knew he was the worst person to receive it. His ambitions would lead to their destruction. If only she could do something. Even if it meant killing herself. It was better if nobody received that power. If only the girl, the one destined to save them all, had come sooner. Then everything would have been okay. Her people would have lived. Now they were on the brink of death.

Mayarenna screamed.

"So, you finally made it here!" Bertine laughed. "I was beginning to wonder how long it would take!"

"You've been following us?!" Lina asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course! How inept of you not to notice the tracer cloud I attached to follow your ship. I even told you I would watch from the shadows."

Lina growled. "Just like a villain to leave all the work to someone else."

"Naturally. And now I'm here to claim the reward right from you. DIE!" Bertine raised her arms and cast another spell.

Before it had any chance to travel, Lyta cried, "BALUS WALL!" and erected a magical shield that deflected the spell. "I won't let you have it!" she shouted. Spells shot out from her hands without even having uttered their names. They forced Bertine's bubble to fly back.

Lyta closed her eyes and uttered words under her breath. A sphere of magic surrounded the entire room, disappearing into the rock walls. Lyta ran to the silver pedestal and picked up the crystal.

"Lyta what are you doing?!" cried Lina Inverse.

"I'm sorry but I'm taking this with me!" Lyta responded, holding the crystal tightly to her body.

"What?! Why?"

A tear streaked down her cheek. "To avenge my parents death!"

Lina was confused. "Your parents died at Sairaag. But we took care of Rezo at Sairaag! There's nothing to avenge!"

"You don't understand," Lyta said softly, "My parents didn't die at Sairaag. My parents were good people. My mother was strong and my father had a good heart. They didn't deserve to die!"

"Lyta!" Gourry shouted.

"My mother was powerful! She destroyed Shaburanigdo. She beat the demon-beast Zanafar even when she was mortally wounded. But even she couldn't face an entire army by herself!"

Lina's mouth hung open. All those accomplishments were familiar to her. Although she feared she already knew the answer, she asked anyway. "Lyta, who are you?"

The tears flowed freely now. "My real name is Lyta Gabriev, daughter of Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev."

Lina's eyes went wide. Lyta Gabriev? Daughter of Lina Inverse and Gourry? Her daughter?! Lina's mind began to spin. That was impossible. She had no daughter. And yet, things were also beginning to make sense. The resemblance they both shared. And Lyta's affection for Gourry wasn't infatuation. It was a daughter's love for her father. But, her and Gourry? Together? Lina didn't want to believe it.

"In a little more than two decades, the Mazoku are going to launch a major attack," Lyta continued, "the start of the second Mazoku war. We did our best to defend ourselves but like the first war, the humans were caught in the middle. The elves were supposed to help us! They were supposed to provide protection. Where were they?! They were hiding in this little crystal! This is where all the elves are! Not living on this island, but inside this crystal!" Lyta held the ball out. "My parents died at the hands of the Mazoku! I won't forgive them! I won't ever forgive them!"

"Lyta what are you going to do?!" Lina shouted back.

"I'm taking this crystal back to the future where we will destroy the Mazoku!!" There was anger and rage in her voice along with the tears. "I want so much to stay here, in the past, but I can't! I have a duty to make sure the future doesn't all go to Hell. I love you both dearly." She closed her eyes and began chanting a strange and unknown spell.

Lina swallowed hard. She could not believe this was happening. She couldn't allow Lyta to take the crystal. Something about her whole plan didn't quite fit together. But how could she convince the girl? It seemed she had lost so much. Her parents were dead and she was filled with nothing but anger.

Lina's mind raced. Suddenly the pieces fell into place.

"Lyta, stop! You're making a mistake!"

Lyta didn't acknowledge her. She continued chanting the mantra for the spell. Her body began to glow with a nimbus of red light. Particles of dust and rock began swirling around her.

"Lyta! You said the elves weren't there to help you fight the Mazoku. But it's not because they were hiding. It's because you came back to the past and took them away!" She swallowed again, catching her breath, preparing herself for the big conclusion. "Lyta, your actions caused the Mazoku war!"

That was enough to break her concentration. The glowing light disappeared from her body and her hair dropped back into place. "What are you saying?" she asked in a weak, whispered voice.

"I'm saying that if you take that crystal into the future, the elves will be removed from time. With the elves gone, the Mazoku will decide to strike."

Lyta shook her head and clutched the crystal tighter to her chest. "No! Impossible?! I came to the past after the Mazoku destroyed everything! How could I be responsible?"

"Don't you see?" Lina Inverse said, "it's a paradox. Cause and effect, effect and cause. You can't take the crystal or else the second Mazoku war will happen! If you want to save us, you have to trust me! If I'm really your mother, trust me!" Lina hoped those words would be enough to stop the girl and make her realize the error of her actions.

Lyta collapsed to her knees. She sobbed, realizing what she had done. "No!" she cried. "I'm sorry, how was I to know? I just wanted to avenge your deaths. How could I have known?!"

Lina thrust out her hand and beckoned to the weeping girl. "Lyta give me the crystal. We can make things better."

The fire-haired sorceress blinked, wiping back her tears. She saw Gourry and Lina standing together. It was like an image from her past. Her parents stood side by side, giving her support, reaching out to her. She lifted her own hand to reach back to them.

Suddenly the crystal flared to life. A brilliant, blinding light filled the entire room. Lina, Gourry and Keil covered their eyes instinctively but Pixie-chan flew towards Lyta. When the light subsided, the crystal dropped to the ground harmlessly. Lyta and the fairy were nowhere to be seen.

-- TO BE CONTINUED --

Special thanks to Dot Warner, Lyn Daniel, and Mistral Coldwind for pre-reading and providing ideas.

You are free to distribute this text as long as it remains UNMODIFIED.

You can reach me, Dare Cheung, at: cheungda@yahoo.com Comments and suggestions are welcome. The events stated in this story are not exactly 100% accurate to the anime, so please forgive any mistakes.

Back to the Slayers Fanfic Page

Back to the Main Page