The Slayers: Reward
Chapter 6: Danger! Do Not Enter!
By: Lord Archive
The Slayers belong to Hajime Kanazaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX,
Software Sculptures Ltd., and many others. I do not own them. I'm only
borrowing them. I'll return them as quickly as I can since Lina and
Gourry are eating away bank account.
This begins a few months after Slayers: Try. There are a few spoilers in
this; I won't specifically explain anything, but I will refer to them.
If you don't want even vague spoilers, I suggest that you don't read
this.
Lime Warning: Nothing detailed, but occasional references to sexual
relations and innuendoes occur.
-------------------*
This was supposed to be an easy job! A few Flow Breaks to break apart
the magical energy and be done, simple and quick. But the inside of the
mansion was bigger than the outside! That was not supposed to be
possible. The amount of stable magical energy needed would be enormous.
You would need a Claire Bible manuscript or three to make this work.
With things like the Claire Bible, you can bet they're heavily guarded.
Which actually might not be a bad thing. The Claire Bible held the
promise to Zelgadis's cure and, if not a cure, Lina would gladly take
any power it offered.
Zelgadis shook his head, looking at the ball of light he had summoned
and placed near the ceiling. It was glowing three stories above his
head, and the mansion was only two stories tall. He was pretty sure they
had not gone into another dimension, meaning the insides of the house
had been stretched. This would cause a major kink in removing magical
traps. You'd have to find and disarm each of them. Being reckless and
just casting dispelling magics would cause the room to implode. You
couldn't even be sure how big the inside of the mansion was.
Amelia was looking around the room to see if she could find anything. In
the corner were two chairs and a table. She picked up the note resting
on the table and looked at it. "Dear Amelia?!"
"What was that?" Lina looked over at the princess.
"This letter is addressed to me!" Amelia held the paper away from
herself. That was waaaay too creepy for her.
"Let me see that." Zelgadis took the paper and looked it over. "It's
blank."
"B-blank?" Amelia's knees shook.
"Give that here." Lina snatched the note. "Dear LINA?!" She dropped it.
Gourry picked it up and looked it over. "Maybe it only likes girls. I
don't see anything written on this."
Ravven took the paper. "Dear womanizer." He flipped it over. "That's all
that I can see written on it."
Lina grabbed it back. "I can see more than just 'dear Lina,' but it
looks like there are a few missing paragraphs." She handed it to Amelia.
Amelia gulped. She could remember a few ghost stories relating to things
like this. Maybe one of them was true and she stumbled into it. She
looked the paper over and it was completely covered in writing. Funny
how she could declare a fight for justice against Hellmaster Fibrizo,
the Lord of the Dead, but ghosts still gave her the chills. "I can read
almost all of it."
Dear Amelia,
I am trying to use the magic of this house to customize this note
to whoever reads it.
So, Amelia, you have found where I went after I ran away from home.
I hope that you can find your way out soon. At the time I am writing
this, I've been trapped for about two weeks.
I don't know what to say to you now. I just couldn't stay after
mother died. Father trying to help me forget by arranging a husband for
me didn't help matters. I had to leave and find myself.
I have learned a few things about the house that is helpful to
know.
First, if you are hungry, you can ask for food and it will
appear....
"I want food!" Best way to get everyone away from thinking about the
opening paragraphs, apparently written by Amelia's sister, was to
distract them. And this was such a wonderful way to do it, with a nice
roasted and large chicken leg that appeared in Lina's eager hands.
You can even request what you want to eat....
"I want ice cream!" A bolt of electricity struck Lina. The chicken leg
bone, sans meat, was turned into ash.
However, the mansion doesn't know how to make exotic or recently
created food. If you ask for something that the house doesn't know how
to make, it'll strike you with lightning.
"Now she tells me."
The mansion is capable of creating supplies as well, such as paper
and pens. It can even summon books from the library for you to read.
Lina grinned. A great way to speed things up would be to get some
information. "I want a map of this mansion." Lightning arced across the
room, frying the sorceress crispy.
There are some things the house won't grant, such as a map to this
house or books on higher level magic. Doing so will result in extreme
pain.
"I can vouch for that." Lina fell to the ground.
I can't be sure such things exist here as they may be on the upper
levels. I have yet to go up the stairs, but I know I must. The first
floor consists mainly of meeting rooms and barracks with surprisingly
few bathrooms. There is no exit on this floor that I could find.
Signed,
Garcia
Amelia clutched the note to her chest, tears forming in her eyes. "Oh,
sister. I wish I knew where you are now."
A note appeared before Amelia.
Left through seventh floor window three years ten months ago.
Lina shook off the pain of the lightning and the thought that wandered
into her head. Amelia's sister HAD to be a different Garcia. Besides the
statement of seventh floor was not something Lina wanted to think about
since it meant the mansion could easily have hundreds of rooms. "We're
getting no where standing around here. Let's start searching."
Ravven glanced around the room. "For what?"
Lina counted off the objective with her fingers. "An exit, books of
magic-- particularly those that can cure Zel, magical traps, ghosts, and
anything that may be of use or that is interesting."
A paper fluttered down in front of Lina.
Traps are now active. Please state pass phrase to deactivate.
Lina threw up her arms. "Wonderful! Now we'll be sure to find all the
traps."
"Isn't that what we're supposed to do?"
"Shut up, Gourry."
"Yes, dear."
"I guess we start going up the stairs then." Ravven used his sword to
point.
With little other choice, Lina shrugged and led the parade up the stairs
and through the doors, with Ravven taking the rear-guard position.
Before them was an opulent hallway with hanging crystal chandeliers that
magically lit the room. There were a few paintings hanging on the walls
evenly placed between the many doors.
On the far wall at the end of the hall hung a large painting, maybe
fifty meters away. "I knew it." Zelgadis sagged as he fought the urge to
cry and/or punch the wall. If the man's robes didn't give it away, the
over-sized inscription on the bottom said more than enough, 'Frezo the
Lime Green.' His cure probably wasn't here if this wasn't Rezo's home.
Amelia place her hand on Zelgadis's arm. "Don't give up hope yet. This
may not be Rezo's home, but Mr. Frezo obviously was powerful and Mr.
Resdis did say that his great-great-grandfather did some work on
combining magics."
Lina shook her head while looking at the portrait. "I thought pink was
bad."
Ravven peered closely at Lina. "What was that?"
Lina blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, nothing. Nothing here, let's move
on."
Zelgadis looked over at Lina. "Don't rush anything. We don't want to set
off a trap."
A piece of paper floated down in front of Zelgadis with the statement
that the traps were active.
"All right, let's just get moving. Gourry pick a door." Lina didn't find
it hard to tell her husband to open a potential trapped door. Even if it
was trapped, the chances of him dying from it were very remote. He had
more than enough endurance and health to survive a Dragon Slave, not to
mention a few spellcasters with healing spells just in case he couldn't
deal with it.
Gourry walked up and opened the first door on the right. He blinked and
then closed it. "We don't want to go in there."
"What's in there?"
"That ocean of, um.... You know the place where everything is white."
Lina's hair stood on end. "The Sea of Chaos?!"
Gourry nodded. "Yeah. That's the place."
"Are you sure?" Zelgadis sounded disbelieving.
"Yep. Had that gold globby stuff off in the distance."
Lina winced. "'Gold globby stuff?' You don't call the Lord of
Nightmares, 'globby stuff.'"
"Oh, sorry."
Zelgadis crossed his arms. "I thought you didn't remember anything from
that trip."
Lina ignored the question and went to the second door on the right.
"Next door." She peered in and saw a landscape of burning lava. A pit
fiend snickered as it pushed someone into the liquid rock. There was no
sound from the damned person as his throat had been ripped away. A sign
was placed not far away that was pink with lime green letters with cute
little bows that said, [Welcome to Hell!] Fibrizo was a sick, and
fortunately dead, little demon. Lina shut the door. "This place gets
worse by the minute."
"What's behind the door?" Zelgadis started to gather magic just in case.
"A portal to hell. Amelia, pick a door."
"Okay." The princess went over to the first door on the left. She opened
it carefully and peeked inside. "Oh, wow! Teddy bears!" The 'teddy
bears' turned their heads and looked at her with ruby crystal eyes and
bared sharp teeth. Amelia eeped and slammed the door. "I don't think we
should go in there."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "Why not? You said there were teddy bears in
there."
"With r-ruby eyes and s-sharp teeth and they were l-looking at me."
"Right. I had my fill of animated toys for one life time." Lina turned
to face Zelgadis. "Your turn."
Zelgadis shrugged and opened the second door on the left. Peering
inside, he saw numerous soldiers made out of candy lined up. The one
closest to him raised its arm and swung at the chimera. The candy sword
shattered, but it somehow scratched his skin. Zelgadis looked at his
'injury' and was annoyed. "Diem Wind!" The soldiers were slammed into
the walls by the sudden gust of hurricane winds.
Lina peeked in behind Zelgadis. "Darn, no other doors here." She picked
up one of the broken legs that was nearby. She sniffed it, and then
started to munch on it.
Amelia was a bit disgusted by this. "You could've just asked the mansion
for candy."
"Spoils of war." Lina glanced over at Ravven. "Let's see if you can do
better."
"Sure thing." Ravven bowed slightly and went to the third door on the
right. He opened it and felt an icy breeze grip him. He looked upon a
courtyard covered in snow and ice. An armored figured walked by, but did
not seem to notice. Ravven shut the door. "Dynast's Fortress."
"Oookay. Gourry."
Gourry went over to the third door on the left. He opened it upon large
room filled with flowers. He walked in, followed by almost everyone
else.
Ravven stared at the door to Dynast's Fortress. His sword shaking in his
hand. It took all his will to steady himself. "Later," he promised.
Ravven then followed the group into the room and blinked. Zelgadis was
dragging Amelia back towards the door. Lina and Gourry were lying a good
distance away. "What happened?"
"Stay out. I think the pollen in the flowers caused them to fall
asleep."
Ravven nodded and helped Zelgadis bring Amelia into the hall. He found
his healing abilities too limited to help. Hopefully they would recover
soon.
Zelgadis went back into the room and pulled out Lina and Gourry.
"It's a good thing that you're immune to that pollen."
"Not immune, just resist...." Zelgadis collapsed to the floor.
Ravven sighed and sat down. He wasn't about to attempt to explore this
place alone. If he was going anywhere, he'd pay an unwelcomed visit to
Dynast's Fortress. However, he knew he wasn't ready. Attempting it now
would be suicidal, pure and simple. He needed to get more power first,
and working with Lina and her group should get him that power.
Amelia weakly opened her eyes and surveyed where she was. She sat up
quickly remembering about the mansion. She glanced around noticing that
Ravven was awake and the Zelgadis was lying face down on the ground.
"Mr. Zelgadis!" She rushed over and checked him over. "What happened?"
Ravven gave her a relieved smile. "Zelgadis believes the pollen in that
room caused you guys to fall asleep."
"The pollen?" Amelia placed her hands over the chimera. "Dicleary!"
Zelgadis wearily opened his eyes. "Um, morning."
Amelia smiled. "I think it's afternoon now."
"Huh? What?" Zelgadis shot up like a bolt. Realizing where he was and
what happened, he relaxed. "Um, right. You should heal those two so we
can get going."
Amelia nodded. "Right."
Ravven stood up. "I'll check the next door." He went to the fourth door
on the right. A massive arena was before him. He was pretty sure the
arena was far below the ground. He didn't know what to make of nearby
row of sculptures. They depicted cute things turned demonic. The
saber-toothed rabbit was very unnerving for some reason.
Zelgadis peered into through the door. "I'd say that's Fibrizo's
Pyramid. It's probably more trap laden and screwed over than this
mansion."
"Right, next door."
Zelgadis went over and opened the opposing door. Seeing no threats he
entered to look at the broken altar. It was probably dedicated to
Fibrizo, which he found a bit disturbing. He had come across a few
alters to the Lord of the Dead, but most were bloodied from scarifices
made by people who had never seen the mazoku. However, amidst the rubble
of this black altar with blue bows was a toy. Whoever made it had more
than a passing knowledge of the mazoku race and Fibrizo.
Gourry had entered with everyone else, and he curiously picked up the
toy and turned the crank on the side. The music it played was a cheery
tune, then the grim reaper popped out of it and the tune continued and
turned into something very morbid.
"I'm really not liking this place." Lina walked out of the room and went
to the fifth door on the right. "This had better be the way out."
"Hello, Lina." A yound woman of about twenty with blond short hair,
which was the color of the sun, sat at a table. She didn't have a severe
look, but I got an impression that she was very keen. "Care to join me
for some tea?"
Lina blinked. "Maybe later." She almost slammed the door shut. "I guess
that could be a way out. Don't think I want to take it though."
Lina looked at the sixth, and last, door on the right. "That's either to
Dolphin's or Gaav's stronghold."
"Probably Dolphin's. Gaav preferred living near wars, so he never stayed
in one place for long." Ravven went over to the fifth door on the left.
"Right." Not that it mattered to Lina. Either one would be a bad place
to go. However, if it was Gaav's stronghold, it might be preferable to
this place considering that lord was dead and wouldn't be nearly as trap
happy as Fibrizo's pyramid would be.
Ravven looked inside the room and saw blood flowing from the walls and
covering the floor. "I don't see any other doors. There might be one,
behind the blood."
Lina sighed. She hoped they wouldn't have to search through that. "Last
door. Gourry, open it."
Gourry walked over and opened the door. "We might be able to get out
here." He went through the door.
The reluctant heroes followed and now stood at the foot of a rope
bridge. An elderly man stood at the end of it. "To use this bridge you
must answer three questions."
"Whatever, Pops." Lina was not pleased with the portals to the mazoku
lords' strongholds, the rooms of horror nor the rooms of cute things
that attacked. Now it was an annoying old man. "Perhaps you can explain
where we are first? And who you are?"
The old man seemed nervous for a moment. "You are at the Bridge of No
Return. To cross it, is to be to sent to Sairaag. Fail and be cast into
the bottomless crevasse. I am merely an old adventurer by the name of
Cromac that failed another test."
Lina shrugged. She had more than enough of this place. "Sairaag is good
this time of year. Who's first?"
Amelia jumped up. "I'll go first."
"What is your quest?"
"To cure Mr. Zelgadis."
"What is your favorite color?"
"White!" Amelia thought these questions would've been harder.
"What is your full name?"
Amelia glanced nervously at Ravven. He could be a problem considering he
was a mercenary and might want to take the reward for returning her
home. "Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Sailoon."
"Princess?" Ravven appraised the girl. He had been hitting on the wrong
girl. Amelia and Zelgadis were not committed to their relationship yet
and unless Zelgadis got his cure she would have to marry someone else
soon or she'd probably lose the throne. Becoming the king of Sailoon
could help him get his revenge against a certain mazoku.
Zelgadis stepped up next.
"What is your quest?"
"To cure myself of being a chimera. Do you know if there is a cure
here?"
The old man looked momentarily frightened, then relaxed. "No, I don't.
What is your favorite color?"
Zelgadis glanced toward Amelia. "Blue."
"What is your full name?"
"Zelgadis Graywords."
The old man blinked. "You may pass, sir."
"All right, Pops, my turn." Lina wasn't happy with the full name
question.
"What is your quest?"
"To cure Zelgadis of being a chimera and to get Towermere to leave us
alone."
"What is your favorite color?"
"Purple." Lina wished the next question would be different for her.
"What is your full name?"
Lina clenched her teeth. "I am the Beautiful Sorcery Genius, Bandit
Killer, Dragon Spooker, Lina...." Her voice dropped to a whisper.
The old man leaned closer. "You must answer loud enough for me to hear."
"I'm the Beautiful Sorcery Genius, Bandit Killer, Dragon Spooker, Mazoku
Slayer, Lina...." Once again, Lina's voice trailed off.
Amelia looked concerned. "Um, was I supposed to give my full title too?
I could give it, if you have a half-hour to spare."
"No. Just the name that is true to who you are. Which would include
'princess' or what color mage you are, but not any other attached title
that no one would usually use to address you by." Cromac turned to Lina.
"I still didn't hear that last part."
Lina growled, wishing the geezer hadn't referenced mage color as being
part of her name. "I'm Lina..." She turned her head away from everyone
while blushing. "...Gabriev the Pink."
"Pink?!" Amelia blurted. What guild master could be that cruel or that
stupid to name Lina that? She wondered if the guild master was still
alive.
"Gabriev?!" Ravven palmed his forehead. He really had been hitting on
the wrong girl. Lina was married. He could understand why she wouldn't
advertise that.
Zelgadis shook his head by wisely kept his mouth shut concerning Lina's
color.
Gourry walked over to Lina. "Why were you reluctant to use my name?"
"I've already told you that while working, people know me as Lina
Inverse. I only want people I trust to know that we're married. I've got
quite a few enemies and if they come after me, I want to make it as
difficult as possible for them to find me."
"But...."
Ravven bowed toward Lina. "I'm sorry about my earlier actions. I will
keep this a secret."
Gourry looked at Ravven. "What was he talking about?"
"It's nothing...."
"Any improperly answered question will cause you to fall into the
crevasse, not just the ones I ask."
Lina clenched her fists. "He was flirting with me. Nothing more than an
annoyance."
Gourry snapped his fingers. "That's why you blasted him into the wall."
Lina nodded.
Gourry turned and scowled at Ravven.
Ravven held up his hands. "Sorry, didn't know."
Gourry walked up to the Cromac.
"What is your quest?"
"To cure Zel."
"What is your favorite color?"
"Blue."
Cromac shut his eyes. He was obligated by the magic of the place to
condemn at least a couple members of a group to the crevasse. "How many
times does the average hummingbird flap its wings per second in flight?"
Lina's eyes widened in fright. Magic swirled around her ready to react
in an instant.
"Um, up to seventy-eight times. Are there any high level magic books in
this place?"
Cromac blinked and became very scared. "Y-yes."
"Really?" Gourry's features brightened. Lina would want that kind of
stuff. "Where?"
Cromac shut his eyes and sighed with mixed emotions. "Bloody hell."
Faster than anyone could blink, he was violently pulled into the
crevasse by an unseen force.
Gourry peered over the edge. "Anyone know what happened?"
"Nope." Ravven shook his head.
"Oh, well. Let's get out of here." Lina pointed at the bridge.
The group began to cross the bridge. It shook and wobbled as they made
their way across.
"You know...." Amelia clutched the sides tightly. "We really should've
done this one at a time."
The ropes snapped and everyone fell. "Raywing!" was chorused by the
spellcasters to no effect. They all plummeted to the depths of the
crevasse.
"Bloody hell is right." Ravven then mused about getting to see his
father soon. He then noticed his companions beginning to disappear and
that he was also vanishing.
"What now?" Lina's voice faded away.
-------------------*
Author's Notes:
If you wondering why Zelgadis and Amelia didn't mention a mage color for
themselves, it's really simple. They were never part of a guild.
Zelgadis was trained by Rezo. Amelia was trained by Towermere, court
mages, and trained as a shrine maiden, but she was never formally given
a status of a color. This reasoning is not necessarily true, of course.
Amelia and Zelgadis might have colors, but they don't for this fanfict
series.
Description of Zelas lifted from a partial translation of the final
novel. You can find it on QP's Slayers page along with novel summaries
at http://member.nifty.ne.jp/QPHOUSE/qp/slayers/slyr_e.html (
geocities.com/tokyo/fuji/9061) (
geocities.com/tokyo/fuji) (
geocities.com/tokyo)