Deep Sea Dolphin looked over her handiwork and smiled. Things were going well. The cries of anguish in her lair had tripled ever since she'd assigned the majority of her minions and some human captives to work on an essay project, an idea she'd picked up from Beastmaster Zelas. The object of the essay was... a candy bar. The very same Zefilian candy bar that Lady Erika had been so hard put to find for the Mazoku Lord. It was really amusing how they were all tearing their hair out (metaphorically in the case of the mazoku, but literally sometimes in the humans' case) trying to come up with the perfect essay that would relegate this agonizing task into the pages of history, hopefully never to be repeated again. She continued smiling until she looked over at the pedestal which had been holding the essay's object. Then, her smile froze. The candy bar was gone. Someone would pay for this. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Improfanfic Presents: Slayers Glorious Chapter 41: Glorious! The Peal of Victory is Nigh! This part by: Samara Secor Started by: Todd Harper ----------------------------------------------------------------- Getehl slowly regained consciousness, head pounding and his side feeling as if it had been run over by a wagon. What happened? He couldn't remember anything hurting this much since that earthworm had tried putting the squeeze on him. Memory of the fight with Korvadus and Lilen returned and he opened his eyes, then closed them again quickly, wincing. Gentle healing light wasn't so gentle when it was the first thing you opened your eyes to see. "I must be dead. That would explain the shining silver-haired angel," he managed to get out with a shaky chuckle. There was a gasp from Actinaea and Getehl found himself suddenly gripped in a strong hug. He heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like muffled sobs. "Hey, I told you I'd be okay, Ace. Really," he said, reaching one arm up to pat her shoulder. "Ooohohohohohoho... Yes, Praetor. He'll be okay. If you don't squeeze the life out of him that we worked so hard to put back in," Naga said, sounding slightly subdued but still her usual self. Actinaea pulled away from Getehl and retorted with a sniff, but no heat, "I think I have a bit more self-control than that, you over- inflated brute." "Yes, well... Rest up while you can, Getehl," Naga said graciously. "I'm going to make sure that the horses are ready and that Luanni hasn't been too overenthusiastic tying up the prisoner." As Naga turned to walk away, Actinaea spoke up, "Oh, Naga? ...Thank you." "Oohhoho... All in a day's work for the White Serpent." ----------------------------------------------------------------- There had been one sure way to keep Korvadus off their backs for a while, and by extension, Lilen. It was just kind of... well... not too nice. Getehl shook his head at the well-banked fire Luanni had set, with a little help from Actinaea, on top of the ashes that were currently all that remained of repeatedly reviving warrior. It would take hours for the flames to die out, assuming no well-meaning travelers made the mistake of putting it out. But, right now, they had bigger worries to deal with and, much as he liked the idea of a couple of days break before dealing with the Silent Bell and all it entailed, he didn't think he was going to get it. Besides, the sooner they caught up with Torr and took back Mariposa, the better off things would be. The four adventurers did their best to make up for lost time, pushing their horses to the limit. As a result, they almost ran over Torr who, oddly enough, was lying face down in the road. Fortunately, from Torr's perspective, Naga's horse reflexively jumped over the prone swordsman, and they dismounted to investigate their fallen foe. His skin had the decidedly crispy look to it that you only got from natural disasters or getting on the wrong side of a sorcerer whose talent was more than a little electrifying. Luanni prodded him with one foot, "Well, it looks like he's still breathing, but I don't think he's regaining consciousness anytime soon without a little help." "Blast. The thought of wasting a Recovery on him makes me sick," Actinaea said, but she bent down and turned him over to administer the healing spell anyway. What might be happening to Mariposa was far more important. "Getehl, you'd better have your blade at his throat. We don't want to chance him slipping away again." Now, that was something Getehl could definitely agree with. He drew his sword and held the blade ready, thinking to himself how much easier it was to hold the oversized blade than it had been when he'd first gotten the blade from Borlas. He'd definitely gotten stronger. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Torr stirred from his prone position and opened his eyes onto the sight of four decidedly unfriendly faces. Sadly, Getehl looked to be the least hostile of the four, but that wasn't saying much as his mouth was set in a hard line. Maybe if he talked fast enough, Naga wouldn't give him a repeat performance of her stunt back at the seer's place. Then, again, she just might give him the boot anyway. And, given Erika's total lack of answer to his statement that the little butterfly deserved to be back with her parents, he might even deserve it. Sometimes racial obligations really sucked. But then, after the way Erika had been treating him, he no longer felt any obligation to that particular member of his race. Torr said simply, "She got me again. And before you decide to waste your energy beating me up, I think you need to hear what I have to say." "This had better be good," Actinaea said with glare that could have ignited boulders if it had any magic behind it. And so, Torr gave them a short rundown of just why, in particular, their race of part dragons had it in for Saillune or, more specifically the ruling class of it. He proceeded to tell them that Erika was quite a bit more indiscriminate in her hatred and was fully intending to do everything she could to wipe Saillune off the map, killing thousands of innocents. And then, he added the kicker. "She's been getting some help from 'Our Lady of the Sea,' though I'm not sure how much of it," he said in a slightly derisive tone. "Tch, mazoku... I don't know what possessed her to get involved with that crap. But then, she didn't see..." Torr's mouth opened and closed soundlessly as he hit the wall of the Silent Bell's curse. Mentally groaning, he moved on, "The long and short of it is, Erika has the little butterfly and demanded that I tell you to go Saillune, if you wanted to save her. Presumably, she's being used as bait so that you'll come and she can laugh in your face while she brings the city down around your ears. At least, I hope that's all it is." "But you don't think that it is," Naga stated, sounding eerily calm. "The only thing that surprises me anymore from her is the depths she's sinking to," Torr said. "Like I can really talk, I know, but... That's my story." Silence stretched out for a moment and Naga finally asked, "And just what were you intending to do when Erika turned on you?" "Vacation. Retire... Maybe both. Point is, I made it clear I wanted no part of what she was doing, understand?" Torr asked, wishing now that he'd decided to leave for that sandy beach a little sooner. There were a lot of things Naga could have said next. Like, if he'd disagreed with her actions, why hadn't he done more to stop her? After all, if all the whys and wherefores of what Erika was doing was made public, wouldn't history just repeat itself as those people decided they had been justified in fearing and attempting to eradicate them earlier? But none of that would change the way things were now. Instead, she said, "If you have any real obligation to your race, you will help us retrieve Mari-chan and her parents. Obviously, it's too much to ask for that you'd actually help take care of the bell itself, but surely, your sense of obligation can see the point in that." Actinaea was practically incandescent with fury. Was Naga really intending to let this... horrible man not only go unpunished but come along with them? A tiny, more rational, corner of her mind insisted that Torr would be a great help and, really, Erika had already been dishing out some of her own punishment on the morally conflicted swordsman, so it wasn't as if he was getting away with everything. But still, it was all she could do to keep from screaming. Luanni rolled her eyes a bit and said, "Oh, come on. We don't need his help." Getehl hesitantly offered, "I don't know about that. Even if he doesn't do anything against Erika herself, it would be a really big help if he would just protect the three of them. After all, we don't know what kind of shape they're in. Not that I'm in that good of shape myself." Torr's eyes sought out the rent in Getehl's clothing and the hint of bandages underneath. So, one of those two he'd left behind had actually managed to score a hit before being run over by the White Serpent's leather boots. Would wonders never cease? "Well?" Actinaea asked, tapping her foot impatiently and continuing to glare doom down on the red-head. On the one hand, it was a difficult decision to make. And on the other, it really wasn't too difficult at all. "I'll help you with the little butterfly and her family. After that, though... Well, we'll see." "Fine then, let's go," Naga said, turning towards her horse and remounting. Actinaea and Luanni did likewise, while Getehl sheathed his sword and helped Torr up. All things considered, it was a good thing they'd brought an extra horse along for Mariposa, because Torr wouldn't slow them down. But then again, he might not have slowed them down anyway. Getehl had never seen anyone who could run that fast. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "See to her if you like, but do not remove the bindings, is that clear?" Lady Erika snapped out without waiting for an answer as she stalked over to the next room and slammed the door. Aria winced, more because of the way her daughter was being treated than because of the door slamming. Even so, she forced herself to take only the smallest of glances of her dear girl before scooting up against the closed door and listening in to Erika's conversation. It seemed that she was making contact with Deep Sea Dolphin again, and she was not happy. By the time Erika was through with her conversation, Aria wouldn't be happy, either. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Where's your mistress?" Erika asked the cloaked figure with the scaled hands that was reflected in the ball. "She's busy with... an important matter," the mazoku said, sounding slightly amused at her impatient tone. "I assume you have the girl she desires?" "Yes, I do," Erika replied, wondering, once again, what it was Deep Sea wanted with the things she wanted. But then, she'd already learned that there was no point in asking a mazoku what they got out of anything more often than not, they'd come up with some answer that told you nothing and only gave them a good snack off of your emotions. "You need to come and pick her up, now." "I'm sorry, but that's simply impossible right now. Until we find the person responsible for this, even I can't leave for an instant," came the answer. There was an audible crashing noise coming from somewhere beyond the ball's viewpoint, and Erika heard a voice frantically pleading, "I had nothing to do with it, I swear. I didn't take the candy bar. I've been concentrating too hard on your assignment. Aaargh! Please, oh please, make it stop!!!" Erika thought she could see the mazoku servant of Deep Sea sweatdrop at that, but it could have been a trick of light against the crystal's depths. In any case, that disgusted her. That was the great and important task that would not allow even one of Deep Sea's minions a moment to pick up something she'd specificially asked for? A candy bar thief? Erika was proud that she managed to keep her voice relatively steady as she said, "I can see that this conversation is getting both of us nowhere. That so-called White Serpent, Princess Gracia of Saillune, will be here shortly, and I need to prepare for her arrival." "Of course," the mazoku servant said smoothly. "May the bell prove to be all that you have hoped for and more." As the crystal's signal cut off, Erika felt slightly uneasy for a moment before shrugging it off. She might have had a minor setback or two, but things would go as she had planned. Saillune would come to an end and the royal family with it. With Princess Gracia, who had been such a thorn in her side, present, things would only be all the sweeter. When Erika opened the door and stalked back out into the room, she noticed Aria fluttering around Mariposa, seeming even more fluttery than usual. However, that was to be expected. It was her daughter, after all. Erika felt not even the slightest twinge of conscience. Mariposa's parents had betrayed the cause by fleeing in the first place. If things ended up turning out in such a tragic fashion, than how could Erika herself be to blame? "Should she wake up, you may give her some water and something to eat, but any more than that, and you will regret it," Erika warned. "Y-yes, Lady Erika," Aria replied, eyes downcast. Nodding to herself, Erika went out to see about supervising the men who were grunting under the strain of hauling the bell up several flights of stairs after which they would still have to afix the bell to the proper setting needed to ring it. It was really a pity that Torr had been so recalcitrant. After all, he'd been strong enough to take care of the bell all by himself. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Aria waited a few moments after Erika had left and went to retrieve the crystal and concentrated, trying to make another call. It was risky, not only because a call to the same area was being made so close to the first one, but because there was always a chance that, if things were that chaotic in Deep Sea's abode, then the person she was trying to call might not have gotten out of reach of her wrath. When nothing happened for a moment, Aria had thought she had been right, but a voice came out of the crystal, "Hold on. Let me finish this sentence." A couple more seconds of cheerful humming passed and then the crystal showed a picture in addition to the audio. That picture was of a human man, perhaps in his early twenties, with a cascade of curly blue hair and green eyes that sparkled with mirth... at least until they caught Aria's expression. "Hey, what's bothering you, mi'lady? You've always looked rather stressed out when you talk to me, which I can understand given the circumstances. But this, well, it takes the cake, the donut, and the ice cream. Try not to take too long, though. I mean, I am secure where I am now, but... Take too long, and eventually, she's going to find me before I'm ready, and that will seriously mess up my escape plans," he said, the laughed a little nervously. "Sorry, if I'm sounding abrupt, but in all the three years I've been here, this is the first viable chance I've had for an escape, and well... It's no picnic dealing with Herself n' all. Especially when she keeps trying to convince me to become her priest, because it's 'destiny because of your name,' and all that yadda, yadda, bleh stuff." "Th... then, you should understand, Phinn. Deep Sea Dolphin. She wants my daughter, and Lady Erika the one of my kind who imprisoned my husband and I, is intending to give my dear little Mari to her. She'd already be there right now, but evidently there's some problem about a missing candy bar..." "Ah. This thing?" Phinn held up the last bite of what had been a chocolate bar and popped it into his mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing before continuing, "It tasted pretty good. Premium quality stuff, Zefilian candy. Just like the wine. But then, I should know since my girlfriend lives there. If she'll even speak to me now. Getting kidnapped by a Mazoku Lord doesn't sound too good as an excuse as for why you stood her up for a date, you know?" Sensing Aria's frustration, he waved his hand in a concilatory gesture, "Okay, okay. I'll get serious. I've still got about a third of this essay to write up, along with setting in a time released teleportation on myself so as to disappear while still whole and yet savoring her reaction to said essay as a going away present to myself. So, that should give you enough time to get your husband and daughter away from whatever crazy mess is going on so that you can live your lives in peace." "But that's not the only problem. It's one of your ancestor's inventions," Aria said. "Erika's going to use it to destroy Saillune." Phinn blinked in surprise. "Wow, she got hold of the Disc of Paus? I don't even know the combination to all the traps where..." he blinked at her expression. "What, wrong one? The Cauldron of Unpleasantness? No? For crying out loud, what's up with the chara... Oh. That thing. Well, it's not a physical destruction tool, which is what I thought you were talking about." "So, Erika's mistaken and the city will be safe?" Aria asked, hope welling up. "The city, yes. But the people within that a person who yanks on the bell pull views as standing against themselves? No. It's a mental devastator. When its power activates, it blankets the victims in total silence, in every sense of the word. No hearing, no sight, no smell, no feeling, no taste, and no astral vision. The average duration of a person's will may vary, but the shock of a complete loss of senses like that usually causes death or complete insanity within an hour. Ninety- nine percent effectiveness," Phinn explained. "What about the other one percent?" "They're the ones who are strong willed enough to either break out of it or hold out for at least sixty-five minutes, which is when the effects wear off. Not that the latter of the two always come out unscathed. Muteness is most common. I mean, look at what the blasted thing does to anybody who even knows where it is. I can't decide whether good ol' Shazard was a warped genius or a bloody lunatic." "Does Deep Sea know about this?" Aria asked. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I told her," Phinn said with a nod. "She thinks it's hilarious. She'd probably be waiting in suspense for the buffet of emotions right now if she wasn't going into hyper hurricane mode out there. What? Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have told her, but trying to keep her relatively jovial sometimes requires giving out interesting tidbits of info or showing off new magical spells. And I haven't had time to create any spells the last couple of months. I've got a bad case of arcana block." Aria thought to herself that most sorcerers spent years researching even one new spell. No wonder Deep Sea wanted to keep 'him.' "What about how to destroy it? Do you know what would be the best way?" "Dropping it into the mouth of a volcano," Phinn said solemnly. "But since those are in short supply in Saillune, things are going to be quite a bit more difficult. You see, of the metals that make it up, the majority is taken up by orihalcon. A Dragon Slave might scratch it. Maybe. So, magic is pretty much out of the question. What you need is a very, very loud noise. Or rather, a series of extremely loud noises. And I mean double strength, window shattering loud. Since the object in question generates waves of silence instead of sound, it can only be destroyed by messing up the vibrations of the object. Do it for long enough, and you'll have a complete breakup of the object, and you can kiss the devilish magical wonder goodbye. ...Mm... Does that help you any?" "Yes, I think so. Thank you, Phinn. Good luck with your escape," Aria said. "Heh, heh... The escape's in the bag. Rather, I'd be hoping that my essay ticks Deep Sea off so much that she can't think straight for weeks. Maybe the world can catch a break then," Phinn said with a sigh. "What was the place you guys live in again? Singe? You wouldn't mind if I came and visited some time would you?" "No, not at all." "Great," Phinn said, looking chipper again. "I'll be seeing you." The crystal's connection to Phinn Lugandi faded and Aria set the crystal back where she'd gotten it from. Repeated loud noises, hm? Was the solution really that simple? Or maybe it wasn't that simple... It's just that the person who was coming to save the day was better suited for it than anyone else. Even the mighty Lina Inverse. Was it merely chance or the hand of Ceipheed? Aria wandered back into the outer room in a daze broken only by the fact that she saw her daughter stirring. "Mari-chan!" she exclaimed, hurrying over to where her daughter was propped up on the couch. "Mari-chan, my poor baby..." "Mom?" Mariposa asked, trying a bit unsuccessfully to hold back the tears. "I'm sorry. I tried to do everything I could to save you and Dad, and even though I got to it first, I couldn't destroy it, and, and... I'm sorry." "Shh... Honey, it's okay," Aria said, stroking her daughter's hair. "You did the best you could, and everything's going to be all right. It couldn't have been destroyed by magic anyway, I found that out on good authority. But your friends are coming soon and Naga should be able to take care of the bell. You might say that she is its greatest weakness." "Really?" Mariposa waited for her mother's nod and sagged with relief before sitting bolt upright again. "But where's Dad?" "He's in the gardens tending the flowers, Mari-chan. You know how he loves making things grow. I dare say this place has never seen plants flourish so well. Prince Philnoniel even complimented him on his work." That was true. Her dad did love making plants grow. Mariposa never could figure out how he had so much patience for green and growing things and so little patience for stupidity among the sentient races, though. "How's Erika been keeping him under control?" "Well, there's this type of circlet that rewards the wearer with pain for trying to cast magical spells. It's in common use for the more magically inclined prisoners in Saillune's dungeons, and since Lady Erika's worked herself into such a position of respect here, they never had a second thought about giving her one," Aria explained, then set to work on untying her daughter. "But enough about that. If we hurry, the three of us may be able to escape the castle and wait for Naga in a place that's a little bit safer." "No, mom. I've got to stay. I've got to help Naga. On this journey, I've found... I've discovered some things. And I've got to do this with them. I can't leave them before the end. Not when I might be able to help, even a little," Mari said. "Naga's been like a big sister to me, mom. I'll be careful and not take any risks, but I've got to be there." Aria looked at her daughter, caught between, on one side, the knowledge that every moment Mariposa remained here was one more moment that she was put at risk of being captured by Deep Sea and, on the other side, pride in her daughter acting so grown up. Finally, pride won out, and she hugged her daughter. "I understand," she whispered. Then, she let go and began finishing the work of unknotting the mess of ropes. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "So... Where exactly in this city is that heartless monster?" Actinaea asked, glaring suspiciously at all of the buildings as they passed and quite a few of the people. "You might want to tone it down a bit, Ace," Getehl said just loudly enough to carry to her. "I think you're making the citizenry nervous." And, indeed, more than a few people were finding themselves inclined to walk far away, and fast, under the praetor's gaze. Torr couldn't help a little smirk at that, but he quickly schooled his face into a more neutral expression. "Erika has a habit of settling for nothing less than the best. That, and she finds it amusing to live under the same roof as the people she's seeking to destroy," Torr said, nodding his head in the direction of the royal palace. Naga's resolve almost froze at that, but she managed to shake the feeling off. Even if she chose to no longer make this place her home, she wasn't going to totally deny who she was, either. Even so, there was a brief tremor in her voice as she added, "Not to mention that it has a perfectly good bell tower to use." Luanni shifted uneasily and then, noticing the rubble and work on repair that was going on at one of the guard towers, she said, "I wonder what happened there? It wasn't like that the last time I came through." "Lina Inverse happened," an old man passing by who, happening to hear her question, answered. One of Naga's eyebrows twitched, but she managed to keep herself from showing any further reaction as the man continued, "There are some that say Princess Amelia was involved, too, but I don't think so. Sounds like idle speculation to me. It seems to me that, if she was involved at all, it would be hunting that red- haired looney and her pals down, not helping them out. But the Enemy of All Who Live and her minions have been gone for some time now, thank Ceipheed." That revelation absolutely stunned Naga, who found herself unable to speak, or even muster up the smallest attempted at laughing it all off. It was Getehl who came to the rescue. "Wow, it sounds like we lucked out, sir. Thanks for telling us," he said, tipping the brim of his hat in the old man's direction. The old man nodded in acknowledgement and continued on his way. So, Torr mused, it sounded as though Princess Amelia wasn't even in Saillune. That meant that, no matter what Erika did with that bell, she wouldn't manage to wipe out the entire royal family. What a shame. ...Not. Naga's mind was whirling. It couldn't be. Surely, her baby sister couldn't be following HER around, of all people. No, that was just too horrible to contemplate. "Um, Naga? Naga, yoo hoo," Luanni said, waving her hand in front of the sorceress' face. Naga snapped out of her stupor and asked rhetorically, "Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's go show that woman what it means to trifle with the White Serpent." ----------------------------------------------------------------- As Actinaea had expected, Naga knew a way into the palace that didn't involve storming the front gate and bringing every soldier in the vicinity down on them. She just wished this secret passage wasn't so cramped. And if it was narrow for her, Ceipheed only knew how Naga was fitting through this veritable rat hole. Even Getehl was having to take his sword belt off to fit through some of the tighter places, and Torr was muffling curses every time he hit his head on a low hanging rock or root. Only Luanni seemed to be making it through without any bumps and scrapes. It seemed a dancer's grace really could come in handy sometimes. "We're almost there. Up ahead it widens up," Naga said. "Just where does this passage come out, anyway?" Getehl asked. "In the gardens. The perfect place for people to nip in and out unobserved, if they feel the need," Naga replied. That sounded like a real security hazard to Torr. No wonder these royals were always murdering each other, with or without outside help. "So, what happens if somebody put one of those pots with a shrub in it on top of the exit?" he wondered aloud. "Ooohoho. What do you think we've got you around for, hm? If you can carry a big heavy bell all that way, I'm sure that a teeny little problem like a pot won't stop you," Naga replied with a semi-evil grin. Of course. I'm just around for the grunt work, Torr thought, mentally rolling his eyes. It turned out that they didn't have a problem with any pots over the entrance as they climbed up the stairs carved into the wall and Naga cautiously pushed open the trap door and... A spadefull of dirt sailed through the air and landed on her head, causing her to cough and sputter when some of it got in her eyes and mouth. "Ah, sorry. I didn't realize anyone was back there. Are you okay down there?" A concerned, male voice called. "Kiel? Kiel Fehlmeier?" Actinaea asked, recognizing the voice. "Miss Actinaea? Well, if that isn't a surprise. Here, lower that for a moment, and I'll clear the excess dirt off," Kiel offered. Naga lowered the trap door and began patting at her hair and various other places to shake the dirt loose. She might be back home incognito, but she was 'not' going to go around looking filthy. Above ground, they could hear some faint, quick scraping noises and, after what was probably only a minute or so, though it seemed a lot longer to them, they could hear Kiel's muffled voice telling them to come on up. They emerged from the underground, blinking in the late afternoon sunlight as they saw a red-haired man, leaning on the handle of a shovel not too far from their entrance. He was wearing a circlet that looked less like ornamentation and more like some kind of prisoner's mark. "You must be Mari-chan's father," Naga said. "Mm hm. Sorry that I can't give you a better reception under the circumstances, but it's a real pleasure to meet you. My daughter and the missus are laying low inside right now, but I've heard from her that you would be coming. At least, you four, anyway. No one said anything about you, Wingwhit," Kiel said, sounding a bit less friendly. "Did you have a change of heart after hearing what our self-proclaimed leader had in store for my daughter?" Torr was immediately beset by glares from Naga, Actinaea, Getehl, and Luanni, not to mention the sinking feeling that he was getting in the pit of his stomach. "She's not just holding her hostage?" "No. She's planning on handing her over to Deep Sea Dolphin," Kiel said flatly. There were sharp intakes of breath from the three women and Getehl growled. As for Torr... His fist clenched and unclenched around the hilt of his sword. How dare she? That woman. Screw racial obligation. He'd have her head for this. "So, you didn't know," Kiel said, correctly guessing what Torr's reactions meant. "No, I did not," Torr said gruffly. Then, after a moment's thought, he said, "Hold still." Then, he drew his sword. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Erika looked up at where the Silent Bell hung, its rope a full two spirals of the tower above. When she heard the shouts and crashing coming from below, she smiled and began ascending the remaining stairs. Much quicker than she'd imagined, they came up behind her on the landing below. Though, now that she thought about it, she really should have expected them to use Ray Wings to close up the distance. Not that it mattered. "Stop right there, you detestable villainess and face the wrath of the White Serpent! Ooohhohoho..." Overhead, there was a faint creak as the Silent Bell shuddered, well, almost silently under the sonic assault. Not that Erika noticed. She turned her head back towards the landing below, unconcerned, and the smile she had on her face never wavered, even after it registered the unexpected presence of Mariposa, Aria, an unbound Kiel and, wonder of wonders, Torr. "You've come just in time to be too late. Why don't you just sit back, relax, and enjoy your death knell? I can stop all your spells before they reach me, and it's so much less annoying if you don't even try, hm?" Erika raised one eyebrow and then turned, preparing to take another step. "L..Lady Erika, you'd better stop now. I'm warning you. If you take another step..." Mariposa said, letting her sentence hang as she started huffing as though she was preparing to draw in a deep breath. "Hmph. It'll take better than anything 'you' can do to stop me," Erika said, not even turning to acknowledge Mariposa's threat as she took ascended the next stair. "Oh, crap. Hit the deck!" Torr warned, the only one among them who knew what was coming, having been on the receiving end of it. And without further ado, Mari, who had been feeling the buildup of energy in the back of her throat just like she had back in Levar, let loose a beam of Laser Breath on the stairs directly in front of Erika. Faced with the energy, an area of about five or six stairs' worth exploded. Only some quickly erected shields on the part of Naga, Actinaea, and Kiel prevented any of the rock fragments from pelting their party. Erika, though fairly quick with her own protections, hadn't been quite fast enough to prevent all the debris flung her way from hitting. She turned around once more, her smile gone and face white with anger as blood trickled down from a cut on one cheek. "I hope you rot in the Lady's tender mercies you impudent brat!" she hissed, advancing a couple steps towards them before whipping around, preparing to make a running leap over the gap while maintaining her protective shields. "Ooohhohoho... I don't think so. Freeze Arrow!" Naga shouted, drawing back her arm and letting one fly towards the steps, covering them in ice. Erika slipped momentarily before regaining her balance, now unable to keep the momentum she needed to cross the gap. No, she couldn't lose! Not now, when she was so close! 'Would you like a little assistance?' A voice, that Erika recognized as Deep Sea Dolphin's, whispered in her mind. 'The thief has been captured and I am preparing to punish him, but I can spare one of my servants now, if you should so choose to accept my help.' The voice seemed smug, something Erika found profoundly irritating. One last vestige of pride welled up in her soul, but was firmly quashed by her maddened determination. 'Yes, blast it. Help me...' Erika mentally returned. There was a sound of mental silence and Deep Sea's voice returned, 'You forgot to say please.' "All right. All right, I'll say whatever you want!" Erika practically shrieked, startling the others physically present, who had not been privy to this quick as thought, mental conversation. "Please help me. Please!" "No need to shout," said a smooth voice from the top of the stairwell, next to the bell's rope. They looked up as one, everyone except Erika horrified at the sight of the scaled hand nonchalantly rubbing the rope between two clawed fingers. Not giving anyone a chance to react further, the cloaked mazoku gave off an evil chuckle and yanked on the rope. Getehl felt momentarily dizzy, but the feeling soon passed. "Well, that wasn't so bad," he thought aloud. "Maybe this much vaunted object of Lugandi's is defective. What do you think, Naga?" Erika and Getehl gasped and the mazoku on the landing above gave a surprised exclamation. Maybe that man down there was right about it being defective, the mazoku thought as he prepared to give the rope another tug. The reason why Getehl had been shocked was, when he had turned to look at Naga, he'd found her lying prone on the floor, twitching, as were the other members of his party. The only people that were left standing were himself, Erika, and the mazoku. As for why Erika was shocked, well... She hadn't been expecting it to affect any of the part dragons of the group. Only the humans. And she certainly wasn't expecting the bell to apparently pass over one of the humans completely. The mazoku gave another tug on the rope, watched as the already prone members of the group convulsed once and continued twitching while the on human male remained upright, not looking as if he'd been touched by so much as a breeze. Inside his cowl, the mazoku frowned, thinking over what his mistress had told him about the bell and then, slowly, that unseen frown turned into a grin. After all, there were only six possibilities that would account for this lack of effect, and five of them were the same; the man was one of the humans who bore a shard of Shaburanigdo. To Erika, he said, "On behalf of my mistress, I assure you. If you can capture that man for her, there will be no further debts between us. And I do mean capture, not kill." And with another chuckle, the mazoku yanked on the rope a third time. Getehl had no idea why the mazoku had ordered his capture, but it certainly couldn't be good. Especially since it meant that he, with nothing but an oversized sword, had to fend off a powerful, ticked off spellcaster, not only for his own sake, but to protect his companions, including Actinaea. Especially Ace, he thought. And somehow, a grin found its way onto Getehl's face as he drew his sword and the haze of the berserker rush fluttered on the edges of his vision. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In Deep Sea Dolphin's audience chamber, many things were looking worse for the wear. As were many people, human and otherwise. From his position where he was gripped by the arms, firmly, but with trembling fear, by two humans completely terrified of Deep Sea's wrath, Phinn Lugandi looked oddly serene, as though above the evidence of chaos around him. When he cleared his throat to say something, everyone in the room froze. "Before you get too wrapped up in the delectable delights the agony of those unfortunates is providing you with, I beg of you to please read my essay. It won't take long, but it's well written, I assure you. Afterwards, I will trouble you no further." Frowning with only mild irritation, because the first tug on the bell pull really had provided quite a tasty treat, even from this distance, Deep Sea unfolded the sheet of paper and read over Phinn's neat handwriting, trying not to show too much reaction to those brown- colored fingerprints that looked suspiciously like chocolate stains. The second tug of the bell and her servant's words on her behalf went unnoticed as she continued to read. And when she got to the last sentence, she knew. Those fingerprints were chocolate stains. 'Thus, as I have shown, the only way to truly appreciate the meaning of the candy bar is by eating it.' Deep Sea slowly brought her gaze up to meet Phinn's. Phinn gazed into the jaws of death and grinned, "I'll be seeing you, Deep Sea-chan." And then, he vanished. Why, that little... Ergh. There were no words to describe how angry she felt. Deep Sea fumed, crumpling Phinn's essay into a compact ball. She didn't believe that her instinct about him was wrong. He'd make an excellent priest. But he was so blessed infuriating! Later. She could think about how to properly deal with him after the entertainment in Saillune was over. Deep Sea Dolphin turned back to the viewing crystal. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Getehl danced with a greater grace than he'd ever shown with his sword before... and yet it still was barely enough to keep himself from falling prey to one of the almost continuous stream of spells that Erika was lobbing his way. He couldn't keep this up forever, berserker-like rage or not. And how was he supposed to take care of destroying the bell? Once Aria had explained the requirements for the bell's destruction, he'd known he couldn't do it... even if he wasn't having to dodge Erika's magical bag of tricks. It had to be Naga. She was the only one with the lung capacity. He certainly hoped Naga was one of that 'one percent' that could pull out of the bell's effects, because the thought of charging through Erika, jumping the gap, and taking out the mazoku who was playing bell boy was even more laughable than the thought of him destroying it. Laugh. What a bad choice of words. Above him, the mazoku prepared to unleash the Silent Bell's effects a fourth time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Naga had heard the descriptive sentence, 'The silence was deafening.' before, but this went beyond anything a poet had ever dreamt of, even in their worst nightmares. She was alone with nothing. No sensations to accompany her, other than a rising fear and panic. Then, the voices started. "Worthless," one stated. "Goldfish feces," another said, disgusted. "Nothing but a sidekick," a third sneered. No. Stop. Stop! Naga would have screamed if she still had a voice as the litany of mental anguish continued. She thought she'd gotten over this, but in the complete and utter lack of any outside stimuli, the whispers of her mind were starting to tear her apart. A newer voice, that of her little sister Amelia as she last remembered seeing her, though she certainly sounded different now, assaulted her, "Lina takes better care of me than you ever did, onee-san. After all, she's here for me, and you're not." And then, suddenly, in the midst of that terror and insults, something changed. She felt a comforting presence and the sensation of being gathered up in someone's arms. Something that hadn't happened for a very long time. "Mother?" This time, Naga could actually hear her mental voice echo inside her mind. "I'm here, Gracia. I always have been, watching over my two girls. You look so grown up! And even Amelia's started sprouting up like a weed lately. I'm so proud of you both, Gracia. My sweet, sweet Gracia." Naga reveled in the sensation of peace and comfort, content to enjoy this dream, even if it couldn't last forever. "Gracia, dear. Could you do something? Just for me?" "Yes, mother. What is it? I'd do anything for you," she whispered, meaning every word. "I just want to hear you laugh. Just once, with all your heart." "Laugh? Okay, mother, I don't mind, but..." Naga trailed off. Laugh. What did that remind her of? Oh, no! The Bell! As Naga broke free of the Silent Bell's magic, she leapt to her feet, already beginning her infamous laugh. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Getehl dropped to one knee, huffing with exertion. Just one slash. That's all he'd managed to land on her. And, unlike Mariposa's effort with the Laser Breath, his slash had only cut cloth. He couldn't last. He was going to fail. Actinaea, I'm so sorry, he thought as he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. "Ooooohhohohohohooooo! Oooohhohohohohohohoooo!" Naga's laugh echoed off the tower's walls, rebounding on everything and everyone in the area, including the Silent Bell. As it began to creak and groan, cracking beneath the stress, Getehl joined in with as much laughter as he could muster, even though it felt like his eardrums were going to burst. ----------------------------------------------------------------- That hideous noise. It was enough to make even a mazoku flinch. Flicking his gaze toward the bell, the mazoku servant felt a feeling of dread. The Silent Bell had cracked in several places, and those cracks were continuing to expand until... With a tortured shriek that could only be truly appreciated with components on both the astral and physical planes, the Silent Bell of Shazard Lugandi, so long hidden from the sight of mortal man, shattered into several pieces, all of them plummeting in the darkness below. And already, the humans below were stirring, as would be all the other wretches of Saillune. Inside the cowl, the mazoku's eyes narrowed and shifted, phasing back in directly in front of Getehl. But, before he could grab the exhausted swordsman, a blast of divine magic tore through his arm and he howled in pain, shifting out again and phasing in behind Erika. "You. Curse you," he hissed at Naga, who had stopped laughing while he'd been distracted and had somehow had the blast ready for him when he'd reappeared. It was painfully clear to him that this situation was unsalvageable. The only choice left up to him was flight, and his only hope for survival was if he took another failure with him and his mistress expended her wrath on that other first. "I think it's time you met my mistress face to face, you diluted dragon's spawn," he hissed in Erika's ear, phasing out again with her in his grasp as she screamed, having fully understood all the implications of what he'd said. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Deep Sea Dolphin didn't even wait for her suboordinate to completely materialize before she struck, loading the unlucky suboordinate with more than enough power to tear three such mazoku to astral shreds. Whatever he'd been trying to say was unimportant. Nothing could make up for this abrupt end to her snack time, especially when compounded with the loss of one of her other, major sources of amusement. Then, with only the barest edge taken off her anger, Deep Sea turned to Erika and smiled. "So, tell me. Can you think of any reason why I shouldn't do the same to you?" ----------------------------------------------------------------- After the destruction of the Silent Bell, the victorious heroes had time for a round of backpatting and congratulations which none of them could really hear the others give, because their ears were still ringing from the aftereffects of Naga's laugh. They didn't have time for much else, though. The sound of many feet coming very quickly up the tower's steps penetrated even their aching ears, and so they took the quickest way out they could... the tower window. Naga, Actinaea, and Kiel were putting all the energy they could into Ray Wings, while Mariposa thought hard about Levitation, and even so, their hasty exit out of the tower and ungentle meeting with the ground beneath hurt quite a bit. Of course, the shrieking from Luanni and the too tight gripping of Getehl to Actinea's waist during the descent hadn't helped their concentration any. "Hah... Hah... The garden. Passage," Naga managed to get out before sprinting off in that direction with the others right behind her. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hours later, after they'd checked into an inn far enough from the palace not to have been aware of the source of the strange, banshee- like laughter emanating from there, Naga's Slayers had tucked right into the food, devouring everything in sight (and some things that weren't). Even the most demure among them, Actinaea, found herself eating about twice what she normally consumed. This, she reasoned, was a victory celebration and well worth fighting over some extra edible tidbits for. After that, when all that was left to take care of that was consumable was wine, those amenable to consuming it each took their own vintage of choice from the stores and sat back for the long awaited clarification of everything they'd experienced in the course of this hair-raising adventure which, either they hadn't had time to get to explaining or had been unable to due to a no longer active curse of silence. They didn't worry about anyone overhearing them. There was no need since the other patrons had fled long ago upon becoming aware of the black hole of food that existed, fearing to get caught up in the maelstrom of chewing by accident. "You don't really want me to hear this..." Torr began, starting to get up and then wincing as a small foot came down on his own with bruising force. "I am not... explaining that... alone," Mariposa said, flushing in embarrassment. With a longsuffering sigh, Torr eased back in his chair and listened to the tale that started in the little nowhere place of Singe... Hardly a word was left out, though Actinaea had refused to share the identity of her precious item with a jerk like Torr, and Aira had mysteriously forgotten to mention that the last name of her informant on the bell's weakenesses was Lugandi. When the tale got near its end, and Getehl described how he'd not been affected by the same isolation of senses that the others had, as well as the mazoku's reaction to that lack of effect. There was much head shaking and confused speculation, none of it sounding very probable. Finally, with a lasvicious grin, Luanni said, "Maybe Deep Sea Dolphin has good taste and was looking for a new human boy toy." Getehl turned crimson at that as the jokes flew around, even Torr letting loose a roar of laughter at that one. "I wouldn't worry about that too much, Getehl. That mazoku peon failed, and I doubt we'll be hearing anything from that quarter any time soon... Even if he survived his debriefing," Naga said, patting Getehl so hard on the back that he almost felt out of his chair. Man, it felt good being the real hero for a change, Naga thought, even if she couldn't stick around for public accolades from the masses and whatnot. In fact, it didn't just feel good. It felt glorious! ----------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, after breakfast, Torr announced, "Well, I'll be leaving now. I'm finally going to retire. Which means no more dirty deeds that you can try to burn, freeze, or electrocute me for, got that? Don't look me up unless you intend to be a paying customer once I set up my bar on the beachfront." "Ooohhohoho. I just might do that," Naga said. Yeah, she would. Wouldn't she? That figured. Internally, Torr grinned. He still found her attractive, so he wouldn't really mind if she did look him up, as long as said coming was not accompanied by any jabs to certain sensitive areas. "You're free to fly where you want now, little butterfly," Torr said to Mariposa, "Farewell." With that, Torr left, running into a couple of familiar faces. Or rather, one familiar face, and one not so familiar, but he knew who they both were anyway. "Korvadus. Lilen," he said with a nod, knowing that they were there for the money. And, knowing also that there was no way they could collect from Erika, he decided to skip the haggling and just toss them his money pouch. "Here. Split it between the two of you. Try not to fight over it." As Torr walked away, he gave himself a mental kick for giving yet another money laden pouch away. He'd have to struggle to keep his future bar afloat now. But he would make it. After surviving Naga, anything was possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Luanni figeted in her chair after Torr left. She would have known that she'd lost Getehl for good last night, even if she hadn't heard Getehl and Actinea's whispered confessions of love last night when they had thought everyone was sleeping. Rather than stick around... "I've decided to get back into dancing. Saillune isn't the only place around. I've heard Zefilia can get quite lively, so I'm going to head that way now. Thank you for everything. I'll always remember..." Before Luanni could completely lose her composure, she picked up what little traveling gear she had and sprinted out the door. "Goodbye, Luanni," Mariposa called after the rapidly retreating figure. Mari looked momentarily downcast before brightening up, looking starry- eyed at Naga. "You'll come back with us all to Singe for a while, won't you? We can have another victory party!" she chirped. "Ah, about that, Mariposa," Actinaea broke in. "I'm afraid there's something I have to tell you. I'm not going back to Singe." "Wh..what? But why?" "Removing Erika from the picture might have dealt this movement to create a stranglehold on all magic by the Guild a blow, but I doubt it was enough to stamp it out completely. Knowing what I know now about things, I feel it best that I resign my praetorship and see to dealing with all the guilds directly on this issue. Despite the... problems with the current system, I must get them all to see what a grave mistake they'd be making if they continued to press for such control." "And I'm not letting you go on this one alone. Right, Ace?" Getehl said with a grin. Naga traced a circle on the tabletop with her finger and said, "I don't think I can go back there now, either, Mari-chan. After all, there's no Silent Bell to bring back now, is there?" Naga looked up at Mariposa and smiled a more genuinely bright smile than any of them had ever seen on her face. "But you'll always remember me, won't you? Even while you're studying?" "Of course!" Mari exclaimed, wrapping Naga in a tight hug. Really, you couldn't ask for a better big sister. The goodbye that Mari and her parents gave before leaving was a little more extended before the three of them left, beginning their trek back to Singe. ----------------------------------------------------------------- At the table that suddenly felt a whole lot more deserted with just the three of them, Actinaea shifted nervously, then gasped as a thought struck her. "That bell was supposed to pay off the Singe Guild's debt to the Sairaag Magic Guild. What's the Guildmaster going to do about it now?" One of the other patrons of the inn shifted in his chair, sleepy eyed. "Did you say something about someone in Sairaag being owed something? I wouldn't worry about that one bit. Word is that the place got leveled in some sort of cataclysmic magic blast. What few survivors there are now are just scrambling, trying to put the broken pieces back together," he finished with a yawn. The three of them exchanged glances. That sounded remarkably ominous, even if it was fortuitous for the far out guild of Singe. "Well, Naga... It's possible that something like that might have had some connection to our own troubles. Care to take a look around with us?" Actinaea offered, surprising even herself. "Ooohhoho. That sounds like a good idea to me," Naga replied, her eyes straying toward the front window, skimming over a familiar short red- head heading towards this door with the need for food stamped in her eyes. Then locking back on it, and one of the accompanying figures beyond. "I'll just... letmyselfoutthebacknow. Seeyouatthefrontgatebye," Naga said, before launching herself towards the kitchen door and out through the back alleyway. "What's gotten into her?" Getehl wondered. "I'm HUNGRY! What does a girl have to do to get some FOOD around HERE?" "Ah," Actinaea said, nodding wisely. "What do you say we follow her example?" Getehl said with nervous laugh. "Good choice." And with that, they both tiptoed upstairs, retrieved their gear and Naga's and tiptoed out the back door, trying to ignore the ensuing food fight that rivaled their own banquet last night. Author's Notes: Whew... That was quite a workout. Was this a worthy ending? I'm not sure, but I hope so. Hopefully, no one minds me placing this adventure as concurrent with the first season of Slayers. But then, I figured that, since Gaav Flare's been used a few times during this work, it had to have been before Next's end... otherwise there would be no Gaav to call upon to work that little wonder with. I'm sure all you Slayers fans caught my implication of the source of Getehl's fortuitious rages. That could be ignored, if there's ever a sequel (which is why I made it a five out of six chance, those five each being a different piece). Or it could be used as a plot piece. Whichever suits anyone's fancy, should the day ever come. I hope all of you enjoyed my offering to the Slayers saga. I bid you all good night, and happy reading. Samara Secor, 5/20/05 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere, in a Zefilian restaurant, the patrons were getting some rather... unusual entertainment. That entertainment being a handsome young sorcerer, kneeling before their waitress, begging for her forgiveness and trying to explain how he was several years late for their date. A couple people choked on their scrambled eggs at that one. Luna Inverse, Knight of Ceipheed and part-time waitress, looked down at the kneeling Phinn Lugandi, thinking of how good it was to see him so humble for once. Despite the unlikeliness of his story, she did believe him. She knew more about the mazoku world than just about anyone, human or otherwise. She just wasn't about to let him know that she'd accepted his word for it yet. "You've got two choices, Phinn, if you want to get in my good graces again," Luna said, pausing to blow a bubble with her gum, then snap it. "The grape harvest is coming up and the farmers could use all the help they can get with the grape stomping." The idea of having his feet permanently stained wine red was not particularly appealing to Phinn, so he ventured, "And the second choice?" "Take over my waitressing duties for a couple of weeks. I could use the vacation," Luna said and, seeing how he was about to be so quick to agree, she added, "But you've got to wear my uniform while you're doing it." "Your uniform? As in, 'yours' and not a guy's?" Phinn asked, hoping that he wasn't hearing what he thought he was. "Yes, 'my' uniform. What, having second thoughts about leaving Deep Sea for me?" Luna asked with a wicked grin. "No, no, no, no..." Phinn shook his head rapidly. "No second thoughts here. I'll start as soon as you want." "Heh, heh. Good. I've always thought you'd make a cute girl, Phinn."