Search for the Darkstar - She's Back! The Dramata's Return to Atlas City

Author: DQBunny Title: Search for the Darkstar - She's Back! The Dramata's Return to Atlas City

Search for Darkstar
Prologue: At Night, when Evil Spirits Appear ← Chapter 1: She's Back! The Dramata's Return to Atlas City → Chapter 2: Strange Things You See Under a Woman's Skirts

Chapter Index

Disclaimer: "Slayers" isn't mine, but belongs to Kanzaka Hajime, Araizumi Rui and those who represent them. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while and will return them intact. Except for Gourry. He might be squished just a little.

oOoOo

"All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams."

Elias Canetti (Nobel Prize winner)

Chapter 1: She's Back! The Dramata's Return to Atlas City

She was trapped inside of the dream.

She'd been here before, in the vast dome that had taken the place of the majestic tree, Flagoon. A huge crystal spire jutted from its center, the souls of thousands of people caught inside - those unfortunate enough to be in Sairaag when Copy Rezo decimated the city in a show of power. One of those was Sylphiel's father. Another, the original soul of a child that she had sliced through by accident when the zombies attacked them.

It wasn't her fault, Sylphiel had told her. But she couldn't let the guilt go.

Her attention focused on the six blue crystals floating above Hellmaster Fibrizo's head.

Zelgadiss.

Amelia.

Sylphiel.

Martina.

Zangulus.

She swallowed. Gourry.

The hellmaster appeared to be no more than a child. An insane child as he cackled and needled her to cast the one spell she didn't want to cast. She knew what would happen if she did so. She didn't want for it to happen.

Then Fibrizo had selected Gourry's crystal. Cracks suddenly appeared in it, like in glass right before it shattered.

She found herself chanting the spell automatically. She didn't care anymore. She was going to choose him over the whole world. The world didn't mean anything to her if he wasn't there with his smile, his forgetfulness and his desire to be by her side.

Because she wanted to be by his as well.

She stretched her hands in the air, felt the Chaotic magic that made up the Giga Slave sizzle and crackle between them. If only she had the Sword of Light, she could channel it. But she would have to rely on herself now.

Fibrizo's insane laughter filled her ears, taunting her. She struggled, strained and gave it all of the willpower and love that she felt.

But it wasn't enough.

She began to scream as the darkness overtook her and her soul shattered.

oOoOo

Amelia was out of her bed the moment she heard the first scream. She didn't have far to go. She lunged, grabbed hold of Lina's thrashing arms.

"Lina-san!" She shook her. "Wake up, Lina-san!"

The door slammed open behind her. Hair tousled from sleep and clad in pajamas, Gourry crossed the stateroom in two steps, and took Lina from Amelia. He started shaking her as well, then pulled her into his lap. "Wake up, Lina!" he ordered her.

Not again, Gourry thought as Lina whimpered in his arms. He thought she had gotten past this. It'd been over a year since the last one. He started to rock her. He couldn't remember what he had for dinner the night before, but he did know how to comfort her in times like this.

"What's going on, princess?" Shizuri sat up in the bunk she slept on above Amelia's bed.

"A nightmare, a bad one." Amelia gave Gourry a worried look. "She hasn't had one of these in awhile, has she?"

"Not since before we left our world."

Lina's eyes suddenly snapped open and she covered her face with her hands before pressing a fist to her mouth to contain the screams. The horror of the nightmare started to drain away, replaced by sudden fatigue. She was fine. She was safe. She was alive. She started to take notice of her surroundings, then saw Amelia sitting at her knee and realized Gourry was holding her. She relaxed, sank against his chest.

"Are you okay, Lina-san?" Amelia grabbed her hand and pressed a thumb to her wrist to take her pulse.

The gentle rocking of the ship helped to calm her. They were heading home. They were scheduled to reach Atlas City later in the day. She, nor Gourry and Amelia, had been in their part of the world for more than a year now. She craned her neck back, saw anxious blue eyes staring down at her. She gave him a weak smile, and hoped it would make him feel better.

"I'm surprised Lyos-san didn't come in as well," Amelia observed.

"What's the dream about?" Shizuri asked, fully awake.

The illusionist from the city of Tito had made the decision to accompany the three back to their own lands, along with the Knight of Aqualord, Lyos. While in Shizuri's lands, the Mazoku had tried to use Lyos in an attempt to start a second war that would rival the Kouma Sensou, or War of the Mazoku's Fall. In that war, the Aqualord had been defeated - but at a cost to the Mazoku as well.

Lina had obtained the power of the Airlord to defeat the Mazoku Hureika, stalling things for now. But she and Amelia agreed that it was time to return to their own land and see what developments had occurred there.

Lina looked up at the illusionist. She had told Shizuri and Lyos very little about her own past. She had always referred to Gourry and Amelia as longtime traveling companions. Shizuri more than likely didn't know much about the seven pieces of Shabranigdu, the Mazoku barrier itself, Hellmaster Fibrizo or Gaav. Shizuri knew that she'd known Gourry and Amelia for close to four years now, and that was about the extent of things.

She would have to be told. But not tonight.

"It's nothing," she lied and cheerfully waved a hand in Shizuri's direction. "Just an old dream. Nothing to be concerned over. I'll tell you about it later, I want to get some sleep."

oOoOo

Lina nearly tossed Gourry over the side of the ship three times the next morning. She was never quite able to get back to sleep, mainly because he and Amelia hovered over her like mother hens. They had both decided to stay on her bed with her until she fell back asleep, and the result was an odd tangle of bodies when they finally roused after a few hours of sleep.

The result left Lina in a semi-bad mood. She yelled at Gourry three times at breakfast, Lyos twice and Shizuri once. Amelia snoozed her way through the meal, landing face-first in her oatmeal at one point.

Then, Gourry proceeded to tag Lina everywhere around the ship. She'd forgotten that was his tendency after she had one of those nightmares. He was the resident worrywart when it came to her. But after being asked if she was okay 10 times in a row, she was getting pretty fed up with it. Love be damned, she was ready to have him swim the rest of the way to Atlas City in his armor.

She finally collapsed onto a deck chair and nodded off for a few hours. When she woke, she felt much better and noticed that he was sleeping in the chair next to hers. She smirked and was tempted to cast Sleeping on him to get him to stay put for awhile. Instead, she reached over and affectionately pushed his bangs out of his face.

Shortly before leaving for Atlas City, they had become the unwitting target of a budding professional matchmaker. The hapless girl had placed a spell on them that didn't allow them to be more than five feet apart from each other. The only way to break the spell had been to admit their feelings for each other - be it love, mere friendship or hatred.

Because she hadn't wanted to spend the rest of her life being smacked into Gourry's armor for being more than five feet from him at a time, Lina had confessed her feelings, though at the time it felt like getting her teeth pulled. It had stunned her to see them be reciprocated, though looking back at it, the signs were there. He'd just taken it naturally, like breathing or devouring all the food in sight. She'd been scared of it, and had thought it would lead to her being pushed into things she didn't think she was ready for - like setting down.

His eyes blinked open and she felt a surge of emotion go through her. Impulsively, knowing no one else was around, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Surprised, he returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her back, bringing her closer.

"Lina-san! Gourry-san! Where are you? The ship's going to be docking soon!"

Amelia ran around the corner and skidded to a stop when she noticed Lina leaning over Gourry. They broke their kiss and stared a bit stunned at the princess.

Amelia backed up nervously, cheeks pink. Her eyes darted around, then latched onto the seagulls flying above them! "Well, would you look at that? Birds! Pretty birds! Such pretty birds! Well...I have to be...somewhere else now. Bye!" She raced back toward the stateroom, making a note to herself to be nowhere in Lina's vicinity when they disembarked.

Lina pushed herself up and moved over to the railing. She wouldn't hurt Amelia...this time. She leaned against it and watched as the steepled roofs of Atlas City grew closer. "It's feels weird, to be this close to our world," she commented as Gourry joined her. She cracked her knuckles. "Let me try this. Balus Rod!"

A lance of light shot forth from Lina's hands. She threw her head back and laughed. "I can do black magic on my own again! Fantastic!" She spread her arms out wide. "The beautiful sorcery genius Lina Inverse has returned!"

A loud explosion cut off Lina's next words. She and Gourry gasped in union as a large mushroom cloud rose over Atlas City, sending debris hurtling in their direction. Lina quickly cast a defense spell over them as wood, brick and other stuff she didn't want to think of smashed into it.

"Lina-san!" Amelia raced back around the corner, eyes wide with shock. "What's going on?"

"By my guess, a good chunk of Atlas City's been destroyed." Lina grabbed Gourry's arm. "Grab his other arm, Amelia!"

"Right!" Amelia wrapped her arm through his other one.

"Raywing!" The girls chanted and the three took to the air. Most of the dock was relatively unharmed, but the entire center of town was gone.

"It looks like someone cast a Dragon Slave here," Lina mummered.

"Lina-san, were you practicing your magic again?" Amelia eyed her warily.

"No, I was not! Just one Balus Rod, and I don't need a lecture! Besides," she added, her voice turning serious. "I'm not skilled enough to Dragon Slave the center of a city at the distance we were at. We were too far away. I'd hit the dock before I'd hit here."

They touched down on one of the remaining roofs that appeared sturdy enough to support them. Lina scanned the area, taking note of where the epicenter was and landmarks in relationship to it. She shielded her eyes and frowned. "This doesn't look good. If I'm guessing right, their target was the Sorcerer's Guild." She pointed to the epicenter. "That's where the guild building is...or was."

"How horrible." Amelia fought back tears as she spotted bodies stacked up in the streets. She saw a few men stumble around with missing limbs and was forced to turn away to fight the nausea churning in her gut.

"Hundreds dead. Probably thousands. Atlas City has about 30,000 people. This was the heart of it." Lina bowed her head for a moment.

Gourry clasped her shoulder. "Lina, we need to do something."

"There's not much we can do."

"We can help them." He gestured at the wounded.

She stared dully at them, then nodded. "Do that. Amelia, go with him. They need your powers right now. I'll go get Shizuri and Lyos and find you." And find out some information, she thought to herself. No sorcerer was gusty or stupid enough to take out the Sorcerer's Guild, and a good chunk of Atlas City along with it, for no good reason.

Most of the remaining citizens in town were converging on the town square, offering what aid they could. Lina used a levitation spell to make her way back to the harbor. Scanning the docks, she didn't see Shizuri and Lyos, so she ducked into the closest tavern. The two from Kunan were the only patrons inside and they both sprang to their feet when they spotted her.

"Where have you been, Lina?" Shizuri demanded, marching over to her. "I saw you, Gourry and Amelia fly off the ship after the explosion."

"You weren't trying to ditch us, were you?" Lyos grumbled.

"No," Lina shot at him, then turned her focus to Shizuri. "Someone took out the Sorcerer's Guild and most of the center of the city with it. Gourry and Amelia are helping the wounded."

"We will too," Shizuri volunteered, then shot a dirty look at Lyos before he could protest. "The princess can tell us where to go, and Lyos can actually be put to some use other than mouthing off."

"I don't spend all of my time mouthing off!"

Lina ignored Lyos and gave Shizuri directions to the town square and the name of Nyan Nyan's Roast Beef, which was thankfully still intact. She left them and headed further down the dock toward another tavern.

The Dirty Blast was known for its cheap women and cheaper liquor. The first time Lina had gone in, she'd been propositioned by a well-meaning prostitute. After said prostitute received a first-hand demonstration of a Burst Rondo, she wasn't bothered. It was about as far from the high-class Sorcerer's Guild that one could get, but it still proved to be very popular among magic-users seeking a break from the guild.

Lina found it a wonderful source of information.

She pushed open the door and smiled when the bartender's eyes widened in recognition and he shrank away slightly. She cast a modified version of Raywing as she stepped inside, allowing her cloak to billow out as she walked. Her gaze raked over the customers, considering a possible target.

"Bitch sorceress," one man hunched over a brew at the bar spat at her.

Yes, he would do nicely. Lina approached him, a fireball forming in her hands. "Did I hear you call me anything other than the beautiful sorcery genius Lina Inverse? I could have sworn I did. If I really did hear you call me...'bitch sorceress,' then I would just have to show you how painful my fireballs can be." Her eyes glittered dangerously. "You wouldn't want that now, would you?"

The man glared at her, then averted his gaze. She slid onto the stool next to him. "Let me have one of what he's got. On his tab."

"Now look..."

Lina waved a finger at him. "Tsk, tsk. What have I just told you about the lethalness of my fireballs? I really don't want to have to demonstrate."

"Do you have anything better to do than to sit and yap at me all day?" The man shot back at her.

He reminded her somewhat of Lyos. Lina took a sip of the brew and nearly gagged. The stuff was the color of urine and tasted like acid. If she squinted hard enough, she could see stuff floating in it. Pushing it aside, she turned to the man. "You heard the explosion, right?"

"Good riddance to bad rubbish." The man raised his glass in a salute. "I want to give my thanks to the one brave enough to take out Tarim."

Tarim the Violet? Intrigued now, she leaned an elbow on the counter. "Last I heard of him, he was encased in a good deal of stone - stone that I didn't remove from him when I had the chance."

She noted a flicker of admiration in the man's eyes, and he lifted his brew to her. "Then there's hope for you yet."

Lina raised her own glass and took another small sip, barely managing to hold back a cough. "I thought he was finished, along with Daymia the Blue."

"Daymia's somewhere in Saillune. Tarim got himself freed from the stone. They say he made a deal with a Mazoku. He's been holed up in the guild ever since. I assume he was there when it blew. His fat ass only knows the way to the toilet and the dinner table."

She propped her elbow on the bar, her sleeve catching on a splinter. Tarim wouldn't have been that stupid to make a contract with a Mazoku, not after what happened to Halcyform. But, Tarim never learned the whole truth about what happened to Halcyform, not unless someone told him after the fact - more than likely the rumored Mazoku who aided the sorcerer. Both he and Daymia were such idiots that Lina had been very contented to leave them as they were. Would he be stupid enough to take on a similar contract himself?

She nearly slammed her head against the bar. Yes. Yes, he would.

Lina slid off the stool, pushed the rest of her brew over to the man, along with a silver piece. "Here, take it," she told him, then started for the door.

The man scowled after her. "That drink's two silver."

She pressed a hand against her forehead. "You either get one silver or a Burst Rondo. Your choice."

The silver slipped into his pocket, and colorful statement out of his mouth. Lina whipped around. "Burst Rondo!" she yelled, sending the man flying off the stool and crashing into the patched mirror behind the bar. She dusted off her hands, then jerked a thumb at the fallen man. "Put it on his tab," she told the bartender and strode out.

oOoOo

Lina pushed her way into Nyan Nyan's, mildly annoyed when she spotted the mountain of empty dishes surrounding her friends. She zeroed in on Gourry's full glass of milk, swiped it and downed it in one gulp. She grabbed the pitcher and drank straight from it as well, ignoring the yells of protest around her. She finished clugging it and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She could still taste that horrible brew she had at The Dirty Blast.

"Do you mind? Some of us are trying to eat here," Lyos informed her as Lina helped herself to what little remained of Gourry's meal.

"Hey, that's my meat!" Gourry protested, lunging for her. Lina neatly sidestepped him, causing him to fall out of his chair. She kept eating.

"You got to stuff your face, therefore I get to stuff mine." She caught Amelia's downcast look as the princess stared into the distance and the almost-full plate of food in front of her. She tossed Gourry his empty plate and relieved Amelia of her unwanted meal.

"It's so horrible," Amelia said in a small voice, not even bothering to lecture Lina over taking her food. "So many people."

Lina paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. "Get your mind off it," she ordered Amelia. "We can't help anyone if you're sitting here feeling too sorry for yourself to do anything but sit and mope." She winked at her. "We have to find justice for them, don't we?"

Amelia stared at her for a moment, the jumped to her feet. "You're right, Lina-san! The people of Atlas City deserve justice from the evil that's visited them. I, Amelia, will be the right hand of that justice!"

"Good!" Lina scooped up a forkful of home fries and Amelia gawked at her.

"Lina-san! That's my food!"

"And it's good food." She faced the others. "I'm going down to the explosion site in the morning. I want to do a bit of poking around on my own before too many looters sift through the area and decide to sell the dirt for a few coins. I'm going to bed." She tossed the empty plate on the table, breezed by the group and headed toward the inn that was next door to the restaurant.

oOoOo

She'd never been one to remember her dreams, part of the reason why the nightmares of Fibrizo perplexed her so much. They weren't fun to deal with, but they didn't bother Lina as badly as it did Gourry and Amelia. She could see for herself that they had managed to get out of that one by the skin of their teeth - barely.

That first night, her dreams caused her to wake up screaming.

The second, she woke up in a cold sweat - absolutely terrified.

She heard the clock ticking on the night stand next to her, forced her breathing to slow down and sync with the steady beat. She sat up and pressed a hand to her chest.

This dream had been very...well...erotic was the only term she could think of. She stared at the wall dividing her room from the one that Gourry and Lyos shared and blushed. On some level, she found it amusing that a dream of intimacy with the one she loved would bother her more than one where she caused the end of the universe. Even weeks after the whole matchmaker incident, being blasted with a spell was more appealing than having to confront her own feelings. She tossed the covers aside, decided to take a sponge bath to get the sweat off.

Then she spotted the letter lying near the door.

Lina cast a low-level Lighting spell and suspended it in the air. She picked up the letter, noted the neat script on the front of the envelope. Whoever write it had excellent penmanship, which meant he or she had a very good education. Her name was written out the largest, Gourry and Amelia's underneath in smaller letters in the same flowing script.

The paper itself was of very good quality, the weight and texture adding to the expense. Overall, it was a simple message, inviting her to take a job that would involve a pretty hefty reward as the payment. It was signed by a person named Filia, most likely a woman. The thought of money lifted Lina's spirits greatly.

But the meeting location perplexed her. In detail, this Filia had described the rooftop where she, Gourry and Amelia had landed the day before after Raywinging into Atlas City. Not to mention, they had been back in the area for less than 24 hours. But they had told no one many details about their impending return. How did this Filia know they were in Atlas City? Amelia had sent letters to Zelgadiss via his last-known location and her father before they left Kunan. Lina had penned a letter to her mother. But it was a good chance that they probably arrived before the mail did.

She thought back to Tarim the Violet and the explosion at the Atlas City Sorcerer's Guild. Something happened while they were in Kunan and she had somewhat of a sinking feeling that it had to do with the fallout from her battle with Hellmaster Fibrizo. Yes, Tarim was a pathetic slob who probably couldn't pull anything off beyond a basic fireball, but she couldn't see anyone other than Daymia wanting to kill him - unless he really managed to annoy the wrong person. He was an idiot, so he still probably had wanted to become head of the Sorcerer's Guild, and was just dumb enough to forge an alliance with a Mazoku to accomplish that.

Lina sighed, tossed the letter on the night stand and washed up. She climbed back in bed, stared longingly at the wall, wishing for a moment that she wasn't alone. It felt strange to want to be kissed and held, and she needed it after seeing the destruction that day. She wondered, as she drifted off to sleep, if she would ever get the hang of being part of a couple.

Prologue: At Night, when Evil Spirits Appear ← Chapter 1: She's Back! The Dramata's Return to Atlas City → Chapter 2: Strange Things You See Under a Woman's Skirts

Chapter Index

Go Back To Archive