Hi, I'm new here and just unlurking. Here, submitted for your approval
(all C&C sans flames welcome) is all of my fic "Revolt" so far which I began
before I joined the list. Admittedly, it is pretty long like this, but my
chapters are pretty short, so it shouldn't be too bad. I am also requesting
prereaders for both this and a "Sailor Moon" series. Potential prereaders
please reply privately to dendarin@hotmail.com.
Slayers: Revolt
Prologue
The demon lord Shabranigdo was pleased. There had been some
setbacks in his eternally long life. His first incarnation had been
blocked and ultimately split and imprisoned by Flare-Dragon Ciefeid.
His first reincarnation had been held back by its host, Rei Magnus, and
imprisoned by what was left of Ciefeid, the Dragon Kings. Then his
second reincarnation was completely anihilated by a mere human, Lina
Inverse.
Yes, there had been setbacks, but now he was back. And he was bad.
The very definition of bad, actually. Literally evil incarnate.
*********************
Had Lina been present when a Kopii Rezo - there were apparently
more than just the one they had met in Sairaag - helped a poor, young,
blind farmboy open his eyes for the first time, she would have Dragon-
Slaved the clone before he could unleash the ultimate evil upon the
world or Giga-Slaved Shabranigdo before he finished pulling himself
together. Since this occured in the far south near what was once the
Mazoku barrier and Lina was in the east - far past Sailoon - no such
events took place. Instead, she was trying to get lodgings in a town
too small to even have an inn.
"Of course you can stay here, miss. Matter of fact... Are you a
healer?"
"Well, I'm actually a sorceress, but I know some healing spells."
"That's good enough. Anything that can help we'll try. It's my
great-grandfather," he explained. This seemed rather unlikely as the
man was old enough to be a grandfather himself. "He's sick, dying. I
don't expect you to heal him - he's too far gone for that, but maybe you
can ease him on his way. Remove the pain, the delerium. He's feverish,
he is, calling for his mother, his brother, his son - all dead - and
someone he calls 'the savior.'"
"It's not exactly my specialty, but I'll see what I can do." Lina
followed the farmer into the house. She told Gourry to wait in the main
room then entered the private bedroom. There was a crowd of people
there, presumeably relatives, gathered around a bed. In the bed lay a
crippled skeleton of a man, someone who had obviously lived far too
long.
The farmer cleared the room quickly. "Out, out! We've got a
healer here!" He took up watch from a corner of the room when everyone
else was gone and let her get to work.
The first thing in a case like this was what the patient wanted.
When he wasn't delerious, anyway. So, the _first_ first thing was to
establish his current sanity. "Sir, are you awake?"
"Ain't asleep, am I? An' what'd ya want me t'answer if I was?"
She smiled in spite of herself. "I didn't. Since you did, though,
you're awake and I can hep you."
"Help? Bah, I'm dead'n' know't. I c'n see my ma, I'm so close
t'th'other side." Not delerious, then. The "savior" was an odd idea,
but there were many documented cases of people seeing spirits before
becoming such themselves.
"I don't think you can be saved." She shook her head. "It
wouldn't be worth it anyway. But I can put you to sleep, ease your
death."
"Hmm... Yes, that would be nice. But first," he grumbled as he
grabbed the front of her shirt and stared into her eyes. "Yes, you're
the one, the savior. Lady Chaos. Jem!"
"Yes, Great-grandpa?"
"Give her the master's books after I'm gone. She'll need 'em." He
turned his attention back to Lina. "You all think I'm seein' things an'
maybe I am. But better safe than sorry, eh?
"Now," he said as he lowered himself onto the bed again, "I'm ready
to leave this world. Make it as easy as you know how." She nodded.
"Right. _SLEEP_." She pressed her fingers to his forehead. His
eyes immediately closed, but she still put a little extra power into the
spell. His heart stopped. "I've only had to do that a couple of times
and it never gets better."
"It's never easy to kill," the great-grandson said quietly. "Or
should never be."
"Unless you're a Mazoku or the one you're killing is. Of course,
that presents its own difficulties."
"Yes, I would imagine. Come, I will give you the books. You can
sleep in my room tonight - I must stand vigil here anyway, as his
closest relative."
"Thanks, but I'm no savior. The books are yours."
"They are books of magic. I don't know the first thing about
magic; they will be better off in the hands of a sorceress."
"Well, I guess..."
That night Lina dreamt of evil monsters overrunning the world.
Dragons fought back, but they were losing badly. Xelloss, for some odd
reason, was dueling with his mistress, Zelas Metallum. Then a golden
light appeared and froze the Mazoku and Ryozoku into statues, leaving
only the humans and two familiar figures.
********************
Lina read as she walked, oblivious to the outside world. Gourry
looked over her shoulder as she turned a page. "Whatch'ya reading?"
"<Kurai>. It's a classic reference book of black magic. Not
incredibly common, but it's not very rare either. The others are
<Shiroi>, about white magic, and <Mazoku and Ryozoku> about the gods and
the dragons. They're all about as easy too find, so I can't figure out
what's so special about them that a 'savior' would need them."
"They gave you four books, right? Maybe it's just the last one
that you might need."
"We'll see." She tucked <Kurai> back into her cloak and pulled out
a book about an inch thick with a blank, tan cover. She began to read.
After a few seconds she frowned and flipped forward a few pages, glanced
at the page, flipped forward again, then back a bit. "I can't believe
this!"
"Yeah, it's blank!" Gourry had been reading over her shoulder
again.
"What? No! Is that what you see?" He nodded. "That's odd. It's
Rei Magnus' diary. Rei Magnus, the greatest sorcerer in the history of
the world! He created the Dragon Slave, the Blast Bomb, and the Laguna
Flare. He's the only person who could ever do a Blast Bomb without
assistance or a boost."
"Hm. So, why is this book important?"
"Forget it. Just smile and nod." He did so. "This is something
that calls for serious studying. Not only is it really in-depth, but he
had really horrible handwriting. I'll look at it when we stop for the
night. Hey, what's that?" She had finally noticed the unnatural cloud
that hung on the horizon.
"I dunno."
"Maybe someone'll know in the next town."
'Dendarin
Vincit amour omnia,
regit amour omnia.
Love conquers all,
love rules over all.
Slayers: Revolt
Chapter 1: Civilian Resistance
One person in the next town had indeed known. A refugee from the
south, he had taken it upon himself to wasn as many towns as possible.
Shabranigdo had been reborn.
This was a bad thing. Very bad. Lina had killed part of
Shabranigdo three years ago. He would want to have her tracked down and
destroyed, and there was no way she could get to him first through the
screen of Mazoku that would undoubtedly stand in her way. Besides, two-
thirds of what had killed him the first time - the sword of light and
the Red Priest's spirit - were not available. There was only one thing
to do.
Run.
********************
"So, where are we going again? And why can't I wear my armor?"
We're going north, closer to Dynast Grauscherra's base. No one'll
expect me to get closer to the Mazoku; they'll expect me to run. If
they don't find me right away they'll assume I ran, probably past the
old Mazoku barrier. No one will look for us right next to the home of
one of the five most powerful Mazoku in the world. And you can't wear
your armor because we'd be recognized and the Mazoku would realize their
mistake in looking elsewhere if we wore our usual clothes. Keep it, in
case we get caught anyway, but until then don't wear it."
Lina did not bother telling Gourry the second part of her disguise,
mainly because he would not understand it anyway. Mazoku could see
human spirits, being astral beings. This meant that no physical
disguise could hide a person from a Mazoku. Therefore, Lina counted
herself lucky not to meet any Mazoku for the first two days after the
apocalypse. She spent this time dilligently studying Rei Magnus's
diary.
He had apparently meant the book for publication someday because it
was written like a textbook for advanced magic users with a few notes
for printer's and author's reference. Too bad he had been possessed by
the Demon King and frozen before he had the chance to finish. The first
thing Magnus said was that in order to perform magic at the level he had
achieved, one must pull their spirit into themselves. This required
some meditation exercises and extreme patience, but Gourry was quiet for
once and Lina eventually managed it. The next step was to practice so
often that the state could be invoked without pausing to meditate.
While she was practicing on the third day, a troop of ogres led by
a full Mazoku passed by their campsite. It was hidden well, so it was
no surprise that they missed the trail in, but the Mazoku should have
recognized her aura and attacked anyway. Instead they just passeed
right on by.
It was then that she realized the second advantage to this method
of casting magic - her spirit was in her body, not on the astral plane,
so Mazoku could not see it. Her best reason for Gourry not giving them
away was that he was so naturally thick-headed that nothing could get
out to the astral plane.
She spent the next two weeks avoiding civilization while she
practiced until she could maintain her concealed state twenty four-
seven. Then she struck out for the Zephilian provinces. On the way she
observed the new state of things.
Humans were not being killed off - that would eliminate the only
form of food and entertainment the evil creatures had. Instead villages
were being run by trolls and brass demons under the command of a true
Mazoku. The humans were kept in a state of constant despair, suffering
and horror. Humans caught outside of villages were brought to dungeons
to be tortured for special entertainment, but those who survived the
trip between villages were welcomed to the next town with open arms.
After all, each traveler was one more to provide the delicacy of horror
and despair to the local Mazoku overseer.
And the Ryuzoku? The eternal enemies of the Mazoku were helf up
fighting Shabranigdo himself. There were many of them and the Mazoku
were spread thin, but the Mazoku had their leader, whereas Ciefeid
remained split and the Dragon Kings remained hidden. It was a losing
battle and many of the Ryuzoku had gone into hiding. Lina mulled over
all of this and decided that the Ryuzoku had the right idea. They could
not win, so they stayed alive and were got the satisfaction of annoying
the Mazoku on occasion.
As she thought, she noticed a glow up ahead. "Hey, what's that
light?"
"What light?"
"Clueless as usual, Gourry. It's right in front of us. Couldn't
be a fire - it's too steady and kinda blue-ish, but I can't think what
else it could be."
"Well, why don't we find out?" Lina nodded and they started
creeping forward. After a few minutes Gourry said, "Wow, now I see a
light, too! But it does look like a fire. It's reddish and
flickering."
"I see that, too," Lina replied, puzzled. "But the blue is still
there. You're sure you can't see it?" He shook his head. "That's
wierd. Maybe..." She trailed off when she realized that Gourry had
already continued on. She cursed and followed him. She had almost
caught up and was going to make him stop when he burst into a clearing,
yelling joyfully.
"Hey, Zelgadiss! We haven't seen you in a while." Indeed, it was
Zelgadiss, and he was the source of the bluish light. He was so bright,
in fact, that it left afterimages in Lina's vision. She averted her
eyes and noticed that, strangely, he did not shed light on anything
other than her eyes. Zelgadiss's campfire caused shadows to fall
_towards_ his bright glow.
"It should have been longer," Zelgadiss said in reply to Gourry's
greeting. "We only seem to meet when something is going seriously wrong
with the world."
"Oh, stop being so cynical," Lina snapped, ignoring for the moment
that she had been thinking along the same lines. "You've survived,
haven't you?"
"For the time being. Apparently my curse is so strong that I show
up as a magical anomaly to the Mazoku. Of course, once someone decides
to find out why there's a magical anomaly moving around the countryside
I'm screwed. But I'm not the one that destroyed Shabranigdo personally.
How did _you_ manage to escape so far?"
"I did some light reading. I found a way to hide from their astral
sight."
Zelgadiss snorted. "Hiding? I'd've thought you'd be challenging
Shabranigdo to personal combat by now."
"I'm not a god, you know. I can't do the impossible."
"No need to get defensive, I'm just surprised is all. The
impossible is your stock-in-trade."
"Fine, you want me to do something, we'll do something." Lina's
mercurial personality shifted at what she percieved as a challenge. And
she _always_ defeated challenges. "Come on!" She grabbed Gourry and
Zelgadiss by the arms and pulled them out of the clearing.
********************
"I can't believe you talked me into this!" Zelgadiss whispered
harshly.
"Hey, _you_ talked _me_ into it!" Lina whispered back.
"Last time I make jokes about what you normally do."
"Besides, it's only a small village. The top Mazoku here will be
barely more than a brass demon. Now, Gourry, hold out your sword." He
did so. "ASTRAL VINE!" There was a flash of light and the sword began
to glow. It should now be capable of hurting Mazoku - but it should not
glow. Especially not in that odd pattern...
But Zelgadiss apparently noticed nothing unusual about it, nor the
glowing lines on his sword. Gourry saw no problems either, but he was
not familiar with the spell or its effects, so he was not a very good
guage. Still, maybe she was the only one who saw it, like Zelgadiss's
personal night light.
They snuck into the village and split up. Lina crept up behind a
brass demon and silently sheathed her sword in its back. It fell with a
thud and a gurgle, but nothing loud enough to attract attention. "I
wonder how Zel and Gourry are doing," she said to herself. Despite her
blustering and downplaying, she knew how dangerous this was.
She took out three more of the highly expendable brass demons and a
troll before meeting up with her companions in the town square. "Do you
think we got all the patrols?"
"I got five demons and Gourry got two and three trolls. No signs
of how many there were to start with. I think the only thing to do now,
though, is to attack the town hall and take out the top guy."
"Sneak in the windows or something. These guys aren't exactly
Mazoku Lords, but they're still dangerous." Gourry and Lina each took a
lower window while Zelgadiss exercised one of his more rarely used
advantages of being a chimera and jumped into the second story. This
battle made a bit of noise, but still not much, and it ended with the
invaders undamaged and several more dead brass demons.
"But where is the boss?"
"I am right here," said a deep, gravely and evil-sounding voice.
"And I am not very happy with your intrusion. Prepare to die, mortals."
A black miasma filled the room, starting from the wall and closing in on
hte companions. Zelgadiss and Gourry stood in defensive positions.
"Dammit, why did it have to be a _smart_ minor Mazoku with a
Napoleon complex? We don't even know what he's going to do."
"Sure we do, Zel. He's going to fill the room with an air of
ultimate despair and get us so depressed that he can kill us at his
liesure." Zelgadiss, Gourry and even, somehow, the cloud looked
exasperated.
"Shows how much you know. I was going to keep you alive as human
toys for the rest of your natural lives and perhaps beyond."
Lina shrugged. "All the same to us, isn't it? Besides, didn't you
tell us to 'prepare to die'?"
"Well, I, uhh... What do you care? Either way there's nothing you
can do about it! Bwahahahahaha!" The darkness began to close in again.
Now forewarned, Lina and Zelgadiss cast Dicleary as soon as the darkness
touched them. To Lina the effect was different than she expected from
previous experiences. Instead of just shoving the darkness and/or its
effects away, a dim glow formed around her and condensed into a million
tiny pinpricks of light.Each light pierced the darkness and shredded it
for about three feet in every direction.
Curious, Lina concentrated on her lights and told them with her
mind to split until they had doubled in number, then sent them farther
into the room. She kept them going in a kind of trance, until the cloud
was dissolved and only a blotch of darkness remained. The lights came
together into a cloud and coalesced into a spear which attacked the last
of the darkness. The Mazoku's dying scream jolted Lina back to reality
and the light dissapated.
"Wow, that thing was weak," Zelgadiss said. "I didn't think a
Dicleary could do that."
"It didn't." Lina frowned, then sheathed her sword and turned on
her heel. As she walked out ot the room she muttered just loud enough
for her friends to hear, "It was more of an Elmekia Lance by the time it
hit him."
Lina stood in the empty town square staring up at the stars.
//What was that? The lights, Zelgadiss glowing, the dark cloud -
neither of them saw anything. And I changed an attack, turned a
Dicleary into some sort of attack. What's happening to me?// She
closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, wide. "Is that
why it's so important, Magnus?" she whispered to the sky. "When you
pull your soul off the astral plane you can see magic, is that it? Not
spells, I'm supposed to manipulate magic directly now."
Gourry and Zelgadiss approached Lina carefully. "Are you all
right?" Gourry asked.
"Yeah." She smiled slightly. "This town's free for now. Let's
tell the people so they can enjoy it while they've got it. FIREBALL!"
She threw the spell into the ground and tried to look for its pattern so
she could cast it the new way, but it was gone too quickly. Maybe Rei
Magnus's diary would give her clues for creating spells.
In the meantime the fireball had accomplished its original purpose.
Aside from scaring the daylights out of Gourry and Zelgadiss and making
a big crater in the street, it had been so loud that even the cowed
citizens could not ignore it and were beginning to drift out of their
houses. They seemed drawn to the plume of smoke floating out of Lina's
crater.
When a good portion of the residents were shuffling around the
square, Lina gestured for Gourry and Zelgadiss to follow her and mounted
the front steps of the town hall. "May I have your attention, please!"
The people turned to her makeshift podium. "The Mazoku are no longer in
charge of this village! I don't know how long it'll be until the ones I
killed will be replaced, but I suggest you enjoy it in the meantime.
For now, at least, you are free!"
Zelgadiss nodded approvingly. "Good job on that speech, though I
would have tried to find a different way to get them here." One of the
still unbelieving citizens noticed Zelgadiss.
"Ha! You expect us to believe you when something so obviously a
monster is standing right behind you? You're just trying to get us to
break the rules so you can punish us!"
"Zelgadiss is human. He was cursed with his current form by an
evil mage who is now dead. He has a very good track record - he helped
to destroy Hellmaster Phibrizo, Chaos Dragon Gaav and Shabranigdo's last
reincarnation."
The man looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but a woman shoved
him out of the way and bowed several times rapidly, yelling, "Oh, you
have saved us, Lady Chaos!"
"Woah, woah, wait a minute! Lady Chaos? Where'd that come from?"
"Well, ma'am, we've got this legend-"
"I know the legend. I meant, why did you call me that?"
"Well, if you know it you've got to admit that you're starting to
fit the profile."
"I don't get it," Gourry broke in. "Who's Lady Chaos?"
"Apparently I am."
"For once I'm as lost as Gourry. I'm afraid I've never heard of
that legend."
"Right, 'Knight of Chaos,' the condensed version. Gather 'round,
it's story time!" Lina assumed the storyteller stance she had perfected
explaining things to Gourry. "It's a popular Zephilian story in which a
force of evil takes over the world. It doesn't actually say 'Mazoku,'
but that's not too hard to figure out. A force of good tries to fight
the evil, but loses. Then a person known only as the Knight of Chaos
leads the humans to victory over the evil. Naturally, lots of kids play
at being the Knight of Chaos killing Mazoku and sometimes when girls
play they change the name to Lady Chaos."
"So she's naming you for a cross between a children's story and a
game?" Zelgadiss asked.
"Essentially."
"Well, I don't care what you call yourself if you can kill the
Mazoku!" a man called from the crowd. "They let me keep my sword
because it couldn't hurt them. If you can make it so my sword can hurt
them I'll follow you anywhere!"
"Wait, who said-"
"You did with your own actions." Zelgadiss put his hand on Lina's
shoulder. "You don't have to lead if you don't want to, but at least
help them."
"I can only help so much. They'll get mauled!"
"Look at them, Lina. They've suffered, they know they'll suffer a
lot more if they wait for the Mazoku to return. Better to die quickly
in battle, fighting for a purpose, than slowly under the despair and
fear of Mazoku rule. Now that they've got the chance, they'll go with
or without you. Don't you think they deserve to be able to hurt their
enemies when they fight them?"
Lina looked out over the crowd of grim faces. These people had
only lived under the Mazoku for a few weeks and they had already seen
unimaginable atrocities, were willing to die for the chance to stop
those atrocities. Worse, more people out there would never be freed.
If they started now, though, some might know freedom again. A plan
began to form in her head as she threw her hands straight up into the
air and shouted, "All right then! Who's with me?"
'Dendarin
'Vincit amour omnia,
regit amour omnia.'
Love conquers all,
love rules over all.
Slayers Revolt:
Chapter II: Unsteady Beginnings
Organizing an army was not very easy. The first thing Lina had to
do was organize her people. She started by stating her requirements for
joining: at least sixteen and healthy enough to train for fighting if
not already trained. Then she had to clean out a trouble spot when a
few trolls who had escaped her initial attack tried to break up the
gathering they found in the town square.
As people joined she had them stand to one side. Then she had to
deal with the people who wanted to join, but could not. "If you're
sixteen I'll eat my sword."
"Well, I'm close."
"How close?"
"umm... My birthday's next week."
"Which birthday?" Her response was an unintelligible mumble.
"What was that?"
"Thirteenth."
And on the other end of the spectrum: "I'm sorry, sir. I don't
really have an upper age limit, but there certainly is an infirmity
limit."
"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do, young lady! I can heft
a sword just as good as any of these youngsters! Better, even. After
all, I've got at least thirty years more experience than any of them."
"Tell you what. Go borrow Gourry's sword and have a match with
Zelgadiss. I know you won't win, but if he thinks you're good enough,
you're in. And Zel?"
"Yes?"
"Don't try to kill him. It's an evaluation, not an ambush."
In the end the town provided an unlucky number - fifty-three. Most
people would not find anything wrong with this number, but Lina, as the
leader, felt it was her job to poke holes in her plan to find the weak
spots. In doing so she stumbled across a random thought - that fifty-
three was the thirteenth prime number. Which means absolutely nothing,
but it was a measure of Lina's nervousness that she only let the old man
join to avoid this number.
"All right!" Lina called as she reviewed her troops. "The fifty-
four of you have joined me to fight the Mazoku overlords. The Ryuzoku
aren't pulling our fat out of the fire anymore, so we're gonna have to
fight for ourselves. This will be hard, and it might not even work. We
will be working against the odds and some or even all of you will die
horribly. This is your last chance to turn back. Remember, we are
under supplied, understaffed and overwhelmed. All who want to turn back
leave now!" No one moved.
"So, you're all staying? All right, now if any of you leave it
will be insubordination and you will be dealt with accordingly. I don't
like it, but you have willingly given up some of your freedoms to me to
fight for everyone else's freedom. Last chance!" Still again. "Oh,
good. Zelgadiss will now explain the situation."
Zelgadiss stepped up to the makeshift platform and stood surveying
the men and women who were to fight. "how many of you can use a weapon
of some kind already?" A few scattered hands were raised. "What?
You." He pointed to a man in the front row.
"Glaive, sir. Or, really, any kind of polearm."
"Good. You, in the back." A woman stepped forward.
"I can use a crossbow, sir!"
"We may not be able to get any. Longbow?"
"Not as well, but yes." In this way they ended up with two trained
swordsmen - one of them being the old man - four archers, a pike man and
a lancier.
I'm afraid we won't be able to keep any gorses with us, but at
least you've got some battlefield experience. Everyone else, we will be
training you in the use of weapons. Most of you will probably get
swords or bows. In the meantime you will all be assigned jobs by lot."
Jobs were assigned by pulling names out of a hat - gathering weapons,
gathering food, finding assorted camp supplies, foraging for food,
making arrows, fetching for the fletchers and gathering food.
The reason for the emphasis on food was due only in part to Lina
and Gourry's penchant for large meals. Lina had realized, and rightly,
that an army traveled on its stomach. The men would want food and they
might not be able to get it in the field. Even rationed they were
likely to run out before they could afford to. This was too important
to think of herself, though Lina was selfish enough to promise herself
that the Mazoku would pay dearly for forcing her to limit her meals.
That night, after everyone was gathered again, Lina divvied up the
weapons - twelve archers and the rest swordsmen. She then announced the
rationing schedule which was quite modest by her standards, but quite
enough for her militia to subsist on. Finally came the daily schedule.
The group was to wake at dawn. They would eat a quick breakfast,
break camp and start matching. At noon they would stop for lunch and
weapons practice. They would move on then, stopping at or after sunset
for dinner and sleep. All of this was subject to change dependent on
the situation, such as if actual fighting became necessary.
The next day proceeded without incident. They started down the
road and started on the road to becoming soldiers. The old man, whose
name was Ezanthes, turned out to be an excellent swords-master. He was
not as good a fighter as Gourry, but his experience, sharp wit and an
attention span longer than a mouse's made him a better teacher.
Zelgadiss was put in direct command of the archers and Gourry was put in
charge of the swordsmen with Ezanthes as his advisor. Both of them were
under Lina, whom the soldiers now called Lady Chaos.
This name bothered Lina somewhat. "It's uncanny," she remarked to
Gourry one evening. "It's what that old guy called me, too. Remember,
the man who gave me the books?"
Gourry thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope. I
wouldn't worry about it anyway. They gave me and Zelgadiss nicknames,
too. He's 'Golem' and I'm 'Chaos's Swordsman.' Sometimes I'm just
'Swordsman.'"
"Yeah, but that's what they see you as. Me, I've just got this
name because I reminded some lady that isn't even with us of a legend.
Plus I've got that old guy's prophecy hanging over me."
"I think that the men are calling you what they see you as, too."
"That's one hell of a reputation to live up to." Nevertheless, she
tried. The third day out they came upon another village. Lina hid her
miniature army and led a small force in by night. The battle here was
somewhat less dramatic than at the first partially because the Mazoku
overlord was dumb enough to attack them directly and partially because
Lina brought two of the trained archers with her. Casting Astral Vine
on arrows was a little wasteful, but it was certainly effective. The
next day Lina added twenty-three more to her command.
Within a week they had raided two more villages. The soldiers had
spent the bulk of this time training and Lina finally decided to risk
some of her first set of troops in the next battle. By this time they
had acquired nearly a hundred people for the cause.
The first battle was a disaster, but not as much as Lina had
predicted. Zelgadiss's company made too much noise and was discovered
early on. Half were killed and the other half fled in disarray. The
noises of battle alerted other patrols which soon found Lina's group.
They held better, but several still ran despite Lina's orders to the
contrary. "Stay here! If you run you'll only get killed!" And so they
did.
This battle attracted more attention due to the noise and stirred
up the population better than the last three. Despite the tiny size of
the village, Lina gained a full forty-eight men there - but she lost
nineteen. And with the first deaths came the first desertions, as
soldiers began to realize just what they had gotten themselves into.
They began to wonder if it was better to live as slaves than to die
fighting it. Lina herself nearly gave up the ghost, not only at losing
her men, but at having to create some of those casualties herself. Only
her loyalty to those who were still staying to fight kept her going.
"What's wrong, Lina?" Zelgadiss asked two days after the fourth
village was freed.
"Everything"
"Care to elaborate?"
She sighed. "I don't know. I mean, I know we're working for a
good cause, but... Damn it, Zel! People are dying because of me! For
me! And just because a few people didn't want to, now I'm going to have
to kill them!"
"They're not dying for you, they're dying for themselves and their
families. Besides," Zelgadiss hesitated before finishing softly, "you
don't have to kill them."
"You know better than that, Zel. If I don't do it now they'll all
leave and we won't be able to fight anymore. We told them what they
were getting into and they should've known before that. It's just..."
"You can let them off with, say, half-rations for a month and a
warning that the next deserters will be put to death."
"No, if I don't do it now I'll probably never do it. And the men
need to have an example to nip it in the bud. But I don't like it."
"If you did I'd have to turn the men on you." Lina managed a weak
laugh, but she wasn't fooling anybody.
"Well, it's now or never. And since 'never' would jeopardize our
cause..." She stood up and prepared to pass sentence before her men.
Ezanthes watched as Lady Chaos condemned the three deserters who
had been caught. "It's a sad thing," one of his fellows muttered. "I
know that they shouldn't have tried to leave, but isn't this a bit
severe?"
Ezanthes shook his head. "No, this is a war. She won't force
people to join her, but once they do she's got to be able to trust them
to stay and get the job done. Otherwise she'll plan on having a hundred
men and only be able to use forty, and how is she supposed to win then?
If she doesn't make an example of these men, more will desert and leave
her with fewer men at best. At worst they will be captured and give the
enemy vital information such as our numbers and position." He sighed
wearily. "One good thing is coming of his day, at least."
"What's that?"
Ezanthes turned from his companion to watch the men giving their
last words - apologizing and saying they were wrong to leave, but
accepting of their fates. He had to admire them, despite their earlier
transgressions. "She's on her way to becoming a fine leader."
AN: I also had a really lame joke involving Zel, the song "I Like
Coffee, I Like Tea" or "The Java Man" (I can never remember the title)
and a whole lot of coffee to try and cheer up the mood, but it just
made a kind of an interruption. If you all decide you want the joke in
there I'll rewrite that part again, but I think it's better off without.
'Dendarin
Vincit amour omnia,
regit amour omnia.
Love conquers all,
love rules over all.
Slayers: Revolt
Chapter 3: "Silver and Gold & Black and White"
If a passerby had happened to be on the road between the villages
of Zarah and Aston in southern Zephilia, they might have noticed a
severely cowled woman - dressed almost as a religious recluse - walking
along the path. Of course, there were no passersby, but a narrator must
pretend to be one when describing such things, so let us pretend that
there was one so innocuous that the following events occurred without
involving him or her in the slightest. Anyway, this hypothetical
passerby would notice the woman's sex despite her heavy cowling, for her
breasts were as heavy as her clothing and made a very noticeable bulge.
If one were very observant and had the luck to see her from an angle
that would provide a view to her face, they would notice that she was
quite young; mid-twenties, perhaps. And if the observer was very aware,
indeed, and properly talented, he or she might notice that she had an
aura that denoted both powerful magics and supernatural protection. But
there were no passersby. Not yet, anyway.
The woman's name was Luna Inverse. Not that she would have told
anyone that at the time. After all, she was the knight of Ciepheid,
sworn enemy of all Mazoku, including those who now pretty much owned the
world. Her name was no a death warrant. That was the reason that she
was on the road instead of working in her inn - well, it wasn't hers,
per se, but she worked there - in Zephilia. She had no idea what she
was going to do, but she knew that, whatever it was, she could not do it
if she were dead, which she surely would be if she had stayed. There
was surely just as much danger for her as for whoever had killed
Shabranigdo the last time he came back - everyone knew it had happened,
but not who had done it.
Therefore, she was understandably nervous when four trolls and a
pair of Mazoku appeared around the next corner. She immediately rolled
into a ditch at the side of the road, but they seemed to have spotted
her. Before they could attempt to retrieve her, however, another Mazoku
appeared mere inches from her hiding space. "Hello there, friends," he
called.
"We are not friends," one of the first Mazoku answered. "This is
Dynast's land. The Beastmaster's minions aren't welcome here."
The purple-haired Mazoku smiled even more widely than he had been.
"Even when I bring news of a renegade human? That's your job, isn't it?
Finding them?"
"Yes, and we just found one. Now get out of the way so we can
retrieve it!"
"What, that?" The Mazoku pointed in Luna's direction. "That's a
Seeker. Zellas Metallum enslaves the minds of humans to find other
humans. Wanna see?" Suddenly a blade of power sliced through Luna's
protections, personal and holy, and seized her mind in an iron grip.
Even if the thought of escape had crossed her mind - the darkness would
not let it - she could not even begin to do so. Of their own volition,
Luna's feet moved one in front of the other until she reached the road.
She stopped beside her master, Xelloss, and turned towards the creatures
he was addressing. "See, quite ingenious. The best part is that they
are aware of everything and remember it when they're back in the pens
and their minds are free. They remember tearing their quarry apart -
and enjoying it."
The other Mazoku jabbered excitedly. "Oh, can I borrow it? I've
never been able to make one of those that could remember! Its anguish
would be so delicious..."
"No, I am afraid my mistress would not appreciate it if I gave out
our secrets, you know."
"Can we watch you use it, then?"
"Dynast and I have had some differences in the past that might make
it difficult if he found me here - for all of us. I just wanted to tell
you that my seeker and I have tracked a human this far and that you can
follow it from here on. It went up this road, but it's tired by now.
You may have passed it sleeping in a ditch if you were concentrating on
the road."
"Thanks. Come on, boys!" the Mazoku called to the trolls. When
they were out of sight, the power holding Luna suddenly stopped and she
fell to her knees without the darkness telling her to stay on her feet.
"That was almost more trouble than it was worth," Xelloss said
cheerfully. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to mind-control
someone with your kind of protections? I expect that if I had done it
to hurt you I couldn't have gotten through at all."
Luna turned her head up to look up at what had been her master for
the last several minutes. "Why did you do that?"
"You mean why did I save your life? Well, let's put it this way.
Zellas Metallum is the least powerful of the Mazoku lords and ill-
favored by our dark lord. She and I have only managed this long by
being more intelligent than the others. Sure we'd all love for the Age
of Darkness to befall this world, but that intelligence makes us aware
that the Lord of Nightmares will never let the balance stay that far in
our favor for long. When the humans and Ryuzoku regain control, the
Beastmaster and I want to survive. L-sama does not care about reasons;
because we did not help in taking over the world - not as much as the
others, anyway - we have a chance of surviving the coming holocaust.
Now, I suggest you start moving in another direction before Dynast's
minions realize they are chasing phantoms. Goodbye." With that, the
Mazoku vanished.
Luna stared at the spot where the priest had been for several
minutes before turning around and starting back down the road. She did
not encounter anyone else for the rest of the day, nor the next.
Whether this was luck or Xelloss' machinations (I can tell you it was
both) she had no idea, but it was good fortune whatever the reason. The
day after that, though, she was attacked again. Despite the care she
always used when traveling, now, she was somehow taken by surprise. Her
only warning was her opponent's yell. Of course, had she been smart
enough to wait until after crushing Luna to yell, things might have
turned out much differently. Instead, Luna had time to dodge the giant
mace (which left a large crater where she had been standing) and Shadow-
Snap the blonde maniac attacking her. She struggled for a moment before
yelling at Luna.
"Why can't I move? What have you done to me, Namagomi?"
"It's a Shadow-Snap a simple spell. And what did you call me?"
"Spell? What are you playing at? Mazoku don't cast spells! And
why the hell are you wearing that form? You look like the knight of
Ciepheid!"
"I _am_ the knight of Ciepheid!"
"Don't give me that, I-" She trailed off and stared. "How- what
the hell? How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"You've got a Mazoku aura layered over your own. I can see your power
under it now that I'm looking for it, but the pattern I see otherwise is
Xelloss'. How'd you do that?"
"Xel- That bastard! That's why nothing's been attacking me!"
Luna quickly explained her encounter with Xelloss two days earlier.
"How did you recognize his aura?"
"We've had similar goals in the past. For instance, he was
supposed to assassinate Chaos Dragon Gaav last year and I was supposed
to convert or kill him." She started pacing; Luna had not removed her
spell, but now that the woman knew it for what it was, she broke it
easily. "But are our goals common now? He's just trying to survive,
not necessarily helping to overthrow the Mazoku. He might just be
keeping you as a symbol of the resistance, rather than an actual
leader."
"Hey! What happened to my spell?"
"Hm?" The blonde glanced at Luna's dagger over her shoulder. "Oh,
that only worked because I thought you were a Mazoku and wouldn't use
magic. I just took the spell apart."
"What-"
"Oh, sorry. My name is Filia Ul Copt, priestess to the Fire Dragon
King."
"You're a Ryuzoku!"
"You didn't know? Sorry, then. Come on, I have to get back to
Val, and we've got a lot to discuss."
"Val?"
"When Xelloss killed Gaav, he was reincarnated as Val Garv, and I
got the duty of raising him so he doesn't turn evil again."
"Oh."
Filia led Luna to her campsite where a small, blue-haired boy with
horns was sleeping by the fire. "What were you planning on doing away
from the villages? You escaped, but what are you going to do now?"
"I thought I'd go to the cities that wouldn't stand for this and
pick up some helpers," Luna replied. "You know, Sairaag, Sailoon..."
"They're still free, you know."
"What?"
"There are no Mazoku behind the walls of Sairaag or Sailoon.
Baroness Sylpheel Nels Rhada is using the power of the Holy Tree
Flangoon to keep them out, and Prince Philionel ordered Sailoon's
shields raised. I don't know how long they'll stand, but I think you
shouldn't take away fighters they can use to stay together for just a
little longer."
"No, I guess not." Luna mulled this over for a few moments. "So
other cities, then. One thing about people in the cities is that
they're very independent; they hate to take orders from anyone other
than the king and people they choose. We can pick up some sorcerers,
maybe, and some fighters who are willing to change this situation."
"Good idea, but we shouldn't start here; I killed a road patrol
recently and they'll be missed soon, probably before we can protect
ourselves. Let's start where they won't be looking for us."
"Atlass city?"
"It's a start..."
�We all thought we'd be safe out here,� Kitser thought bitterly,
not for the first time. �The Mazoku attacked and we took to the seas to
escape. Right into their arms.� Kitser was now a slave of Deep Sea
Dolphin aboard the ship he had once commanded. He knew his despair was
feeding his masters, but he was too far gone to care. All he knew was
that there was another human in a life boat and it was his job to haul
it in for his masters' pleasures. He pulled the rope attached to the
craft until it brushed the side of the ship, then attached it to the
pulleys to bring it up. The occupant - a busty woman wearing black hair,
a cape and little else - stood up and thanked him, then turned to the
new captain, a squid demon, who had just come out from its cabin. Then
he heard it.
At first he thought that the Mazoku were using a new form of sonic
torture on the woman. Then he realized that she was making the sound
and jumped to the logical conclusion that she was a Mazoku envoy to his
masters. That is what occurred before the pain from the sound became
too much and his mind took refuge in darkness.
"Ohohohohoho!" Naga the White Serpent (for it was she) laughed as,
all around her, enslaved sailors collapsed. The Mazoku clapped its
tentacles to the sides of its head. "I see this is a boat of monsters!
Very well, you wish to enslave me, I'm sure. You shall not find it an
easy task, I assure you! Ohohoho-"
"Stop that infernal racket! You're hurting my sound receptors!"
"Interrupt a lady, will you? I'll hurt more than just your ears
for that, vile demon! _FREEZE BLEED_! Ohohohouch!" The Mazoku,
temporarily paralyzed by Naga's laugh was unable to counter her spell in
time. Unfortunately, she was also unable to counter it immediately and
the icicles flying all over the place caused several incidental injuries
before she managed to cancel out the main ball of ice with a Fireball.
Naga managed the next hit more capably and fried the Mazoku with an
Elmekia Flame. "Hohohoho!" she gloated. "Not even the forces of the
most evil of Mazoku can stand against Naga the White Serpent!"
"Please, stop the laughing!" one of the half-comatose sailors (who
wished they were completely comatose) groaned.
"Oh? And who are you, pip-squeak?" Indeed, the lad was less than
four feet tall.
"I'm the bo'sun."
"You? The little pip-squeak? Ohohoh-"
"SHADDAP!"
"Eep!"
"Ohh..." Kitser sat up clutching his head. "Are they done with
the sound torture yet?"
"I'm pretty sure they won't be torturing us again, Cap'n. This
here sorceress killed the top monster an' the rest ran."
"To get more Mazoku from the deeps to take us down and torture us
more than ever before just for being on a ship they lost," Kitser
groaned. "And it'll be just as bad ashore. It's a no win situation."
Naga looked pensive, then tapped the captain on the shoulder.
"Pardon me, sir, but I have a proposition for you. I find myself in a
position to destroy some of the sea demons, but have no way to transport
myself. You are damned no matter what you do, so you may as well help
me out; they can't possibly make your torture worse than it already will
be. Better, with me you will have a fighting chance to stay free and
the ability to help kill some of your tormentors before they finally
kill you. What do you say?"
"Hmm.. Well, we ain't got nothing better to do. Whattya say,
boys?" Most of the crew let out half-hearted "aye"s. "It's settled
then! We're with you to the end, 'cause otherwise the end'll be a lot
sooner."
"Very well, we shall fight fire with fire!"
("Didn't she use ice?" one sailor remarked.)
"We shall destroy the forces of black magic with a Black Fleet!"
("Fleet? One merchantman?")
"Ohohohoho!"
("I'm regretting this already...")
The peace of the throne room belied the turmoil outside and in the
hearts of the people inside. Prince Philionel looked over his advisors
and saw the strain in their faces. There were empty chairs scattered
throughout the room, showing which of his sorcerers were maintaining the
magical shield reinforced by the city's layout. The ruler of Sailoon
sighed and prepared to pass his judgment.
"My people," he announced to his court, "as the capital of white
magic, Sailoon cannot fall! It is a symbol to those oppressed under the
rule of the Mazoku, a symbol of hope and faith, faith that humans can
still win this war!" The nobles and sorcerers nodded in agreement,
murmuring their approval of the prince's speech.
But he was not finished. "But I am afraid that, despite the great
need of such a symbol, we shall fall anyway. The magic corps is
exhausted from holding the shield constantly and we have no access to
our farmlands. Even if the shields hold out, we shall be starved out by
harvest time. We shall fight to the bitter end, but there is no way our
city will not fall.
"Unless we fight _beyond_ the bitter end." The fire in the
prince's eyes held his courtiers' attention like a powerful magnet. "I
have pulled some sorcerers away from the shielding and sent them to
prepare to escape with my elite fighters. They probably think that I
mean to go out with a bang. Well, they are right, but I do not intend
for them to die today.
"They will escape to the countryside while the rest of us provide a
distraction with a sally. We shall destroy as many of the Mazoku as
possible and leave my elite free to harry them and pick them off one by
one. We cannot win outright, but we can make them damn sorry they ever
tried to conquer this world!
"And Amelia," he said, turning to his daughter with a solemn face,
"you shall play an important part in this." She lowered her gaze, ready
to accept her fate, sure that he meant her to lead part of the charge, a
symbol of the goodness and purity of humans in her white robes, as well
as, likely, the first to die. "You shall lead the charge to freedom."
She nodded. "You will take my elite out of danger and deploy them as
you see fit." She looked up sharply. "Make me proud, daughter."
"But Daddy, it is the royal family's duty to stay with the city
until the last!"
"No, it is the ruler's duty to stay with the city to the last." He
put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently in an attempt to
comfort her. "It's the heir's duty to ensure that the city survives."
Amelia galloped out of the postern gate at the head of a column of
soldiers and sorcerers. The distant sounds of battle showed that the
distraction was working. They dashed into the hills that formed the
horizon around Sailoon City, every blade enchanted and every sorcerer
with a spell at the ready. They reached the hills undisturbed, but by
then the battle had ended and a pursuit had been joined. The sorcerers
quickly erected shields that were a secret of the Priests of Ciepheid;
they gave the impression by both illusion and astral aura that they were
a stand of trees. Amelia herself stood watch on top of a hill, staring
down at her burning city.
The captain of the guard walked up to her, concerned for his
leader's health. He was an old man, in his late fifties, and he had
always been a sort of surrogate grandfather to the princess. "Lady, are
you all right?" he asked.
"My father's dead," she whispered, "and so is my city. Of course
I'm not all right."
"Long live Princess Amelia, ruler of Sailoon."
"There's no Sailoon to rule anymore. What is a queen without a
throne? Princess Amelia wil tesla Sailoon is dead. I was raised to be
something I can never be now."
"So what are you know?"
"An outlaw, a rebel leader, an insurgent."
"A counter-insurgent. You are the hope of Sailoon, my lady."
"Then call me that if you wish. Hope; it's all we have now. Or
anything else you want, so long as it's not 'highness' or 'princess.'"
"As you wish, Lady Hope. Perhaps that name will remind you of your
purpose here that you may not give in to despair." When the guard
captain left, Amelia finally loosed the floodgates, but she cried
silently, not loudly bawling like she might have in the past; it seemed
too much like whining, a disrespect she knew her father would not
appreciate. When she was done, she dried her eyes and retreated back
down the hill to rejoin her men.
The next day, they moved carefully away from the city, aware that
the Mazoku would expect them to harass the new rulers of the city.
Instead, they turned northeast, heading farther inland. After a week,
they crossed the border into Zephilia and the captain sought out Amelia
again.
"Princess-"
"I thought I told you not to call me that."
"M'lady," he corrected without missing a beat, "what were you
planning to do now that we have shaken Mazoku pursuit?"
"I hadn't really thought that far ahead." She thought quietly for
a moment. "We are too few to mount any kind of attack on a Mazoku
base," she said, finally. "And we will be nothing more than a thorn in
their sides with such tiny raids as we can afford. I doubt we could
actually free even a village without major casualties, including
civilians. We've also heard rumors since leaving Sailoon of the Knight
of Ciepheid and someone named Lady Chaos who have been reconquering bits
of the countryside from the Mazoku. I think we should join one of them
and add our strength to those who already know what they're doing."
"That is sound reasoning," the captain replied. "Which band do you
wish to join? Lady Chaos is rumored to be fighting in Zephilia, working
her way towards the capital. The Knight of Chaos is father away, to the
south and west, but we can be more sure of her cause."
"What could be wrong with the cause of driving out the Mazoku?"
"She might be an opportunist seeking gain from the conflict. If
she fights the Mazoku, people will see her as a savior and flock to her
banner. She can easily take power after the Mazoku are driven out. Not
that she would not be an improvement, but she still might prove a worse
leader than the locals might otherwise have. I suggest that we join the
Knight to ensure that we are not associated with such a travesty if it
should come to pass."
"Yes, that sounds good. Tell the men that we turn south tomorrow
to fight for justice alongside the forces of light!" The captain
saluted jovially at this return to her usual perky attitude, as opposed
to the depression and sobriety that had characterized her since the fall
of Sailoon, and turned to announce their plans to the camp. He had not
gotten both of his feet out of the tent, however, before Amelia called
him back. "Wait a moment." He reentered the tent and waited for his
mistress to get her thoughts together. "If we join the Knight and the
Lady turns out to be the lesser of two evils, rather than a genuine
good, then we will not be associated with her, but we will also have
forgone a chance to stop her. But, if we join Lady Chaos, we shall be
an influence for good, just as the Knight is in the South. If her
motives are as suspect as you have suggested, we will be close enough to
stop her, and if she is a force for good we will be providing much-
needed aid and, even more important, magic. I can't imagine that they
have assembled a great many mages so far north where Zephilia is the
only major city."
"Still, my lady, our primary goal is to take Sailoon back. We will
need the support of the common people to do that, after we drive out the
demons, and you won't have that if you support a tyrant."
"No, our goal is to _free_ Sailoon, and that will only be
accomplished by destroying the Mazoku, not by reconquering it
ourselves."
"But-"
"Tell the men; in the morning, we march north."
AN: Wow, after months of false starts and waiting, here's chapter
three of Revolt! Just a note, in case you hadn't noticed, I capitalize
the names of spells and I italicizes, capitalize and big (html command)
the spells when used as trigger words. Thus, in order to cast a Freeze
Bleed, Naga says, "_FREEZE BLEED!_" (Freeze Bleed is a spell Naga made
up in which a ball of ice throws icicles randomly). I know there are many
spellings
for Sailoon. I used this one because I heard once that it was a pun; a
compression of "SAILor mOON." Oh, and in case you don't know what a
bo'sun does, he's like a drill sergeant: keeps men in line, hauls them
back onboard after a particularly rowdy leave, etc. The pip-squeak
isn't very big, but he can be mean enough when necessary.
'Dendarin
Vincit amour omnia,
regit amour omnia.
Love conquers all,
love rules over all.
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