Search for the Darkstar - Back to Where It All Began

Author: DQBunny Title: Search for the Darkstar - Back to Where It All Began

Search for Darkstar
Chapter 23: Gateway, Torn Asunder ← Chapter 24: Back to Where It All Began → Epilogue: Promise

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. This story is set after the manga arc "Knight of Aqualord" and is an alternate take on the TRY season of the anime.

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Search for the Darkstar
Chapter 24: Back to Where It All Began

“Valgaav!” Filia echoed Lina’s cry.

“My, my.” Xelloss faded into view next to Lina and made a soft ‘tsk’-ing sound. “It seems like we’ve developed a little situation.”

“You call this little?” Lina cried as a terrible shriek emerged from the being that was once Valgaav. “How the hell did this happen?”

Xelloss leveled Lina with a patient stare. “You were the one who fought the piece of Shabranigdu-sama inside of Rezo.”

Of course. Lina’s gaze swung back to Darkstar. The piece of Shabranigdu was awakened inside of Rezo and they merged. Shabranigdu’s will, but Rezo’s body. But this is Darkstar’s body. Is he being controlled by Valgaav’s will?

“Even as an Ancient Dragon, he shouldn’t have control of a Dark Lord like this,” Shizuri wondered aloud.

With a wave of his staff, Xelloss encased them in a large dome. His eyes narrowed, he studied the being in front of them. “Valgaav’s done the last thing we’ve wanted him to do. He’s now a fusion of two pure magics - Holy and Chaotic. That sort of fusion magic attracted him to Darkstar. There’s only two beings that I know of in this world that have the ability to contain such raw magic inside of them.”

“Valgaav and myself,” Lina said softly and nearly laughed at the surprised gasps. She gave Amelia a cryptic look. “You didn’t figure that one out?”

“Well, I knew that you have the capacity, but…” Amelia stammered.

“There is a difference,” Xelloss told her. “Lina-san doesn’t have the magic actually existing within her at the same time. She has the ability to channel both of them, but they currently don’t exist inside of her at the same time.”

“We have to do something,” Filia demanded as the dome flickered around them.

Xelloss slanted a look at her. “It all depends. Do you want to save Valgaav.”

“I…” Filia hesitated. Her hand rested on her pendant as she considered the options. Valgaav was the last of the Ancient Dragons. If they killed Darkstar, if they didn’t save him, then an entire race would be exterminated. She would be no better than her elders.

Lyos sighed, then poked Filia’s side. “Doesn’t seem to me we’ve got much of a choice. I’m not sacrificing my life to save that guy. Yeah, his people got it bad, but he tried to kill us.”

“We can’t just stoop to their level, Lyos-san!”

“It seems to me though, that Valgaav guy’s already dead,” Gourry spoke up. He cupped his chin in his hand. “Say, Lina, who’s that Mezzo guy we fought awhile back?”

Lina sighed. “Rezo. Look, we don’t have time to…”

“Yeah! Redo! Didn’t you say that when the pizza of Shabrang-thingy…”

“Piece of Shabranigdu,” Lina ground out.

“When it took over him that he was already dead? That we were killing the monster and not the actual guy?”

“Gourry’s right,” Zelgadiss chimed in, slightly disturbed at the thought of a malicious pizza having taken residence inside of his grandfather. “We weren’t killing Rezo, we were killing Shabranigdu. For what he was worth, Valgaav died at the gateway. This is his will, but it’s not him.”

“You have got it all wrong.”

The dome dropped and Valgaav’s disembodied voice surrounded them. “How do you, worthless humans, Golden Dragons and Mazoku, know my inner thoughts and feelings? These weeks, months even have been just hours to me. The most blessed hours of my life. Because I am finally powerful.”

A blast of white light shot from the great beast. Filia froze, eyes wide as the attack barreled at her. With a curse, Xelloss grabbed her arm and disappeared. They reappeared a short distance away, Filia in his arms. He unceremoniously dumped her on the ground before returning to the main group. Filia got to her knees, shook her head and stared up at Darkstar. “That…”

“That was an act of mercy,” Xelloss said, shooting her a cheerful smile. “Don’t say I never do anything nice for you, Filia-san.”

Filia ignored him and made a point of shoving him aside as she headed back to Lina’s side. “That was a Holy attack, Lina-san.”

“Holy Magic? How the hell…”

A low cackle echoed through the area. “You figured it out, Golden Dragon. I have not only made a pact with Darkstar, but with the Dragon God Volphied.”

“Volphied?” Everyone except Gourry cried out.

“Who…”

“God like Cephied on Darkstar’s world,” Lina quickly explained before Gourry could even get the question out. “Supposedly a good guy.”

Gourry frowned. “If he’s merged with Valgaav and Darkstar, that doesn’t make him that much of a good guy, does it?”

“It is the wish of Volphied and Darkstar that the worlds be purified and life starts over again.” As the words were spoken, a dark mist surrounded the group. Lina blinked and suddenly could not see her own hands in front of her face. She balled her hands into fists and looked in the direction where she felt that Darkstar was. An immense pressure settled on her chest and she ignored it.

Suddenly, she could see him - Valgaav the way he appeared when they fought at the gateway. A being combined of Chaotic and Holy Magic. “We will all be purified,” he said and extended a hand toward her. “We will enter the world we were meant to be a part of. Can you imagine helping me with it?”

Are we inside of Darkstar? Lina kept her gaze steady on Valgaav’s, but did a careful sweep of the area. The only thing she could see was him, but… She reached out and felt her fingers close around skin. The skin beneath her hand moved and a moment later she felt the bow pressed into her palm. She grabbed it from Xelloss, activated it and took aim, chanting beneath her breath.

Valgaav arched an eyebrow and smirked.

“Dragon Slave!” The arrow that emerged from the bow glowed red and shot into Valgaav. It passed through him, then out the other side before exploding. Beside her, Xelloss screamed and Lina whirled around. “Lighting!”

“We’re on the Astral plane,” Zelgadiss yelled somewhere to Lina’s right when her light spell failed to work. “We’ve got to get out of here before we’re completely drained! Amelia! Sing something. Anything! Everyone, concentrate on something positive!”

Part of Lina thought it absolutely hilarious that it was Zelgadiss yelling at them all to be cheerful. Then she noticed it. “No! Wait!” Her eyes narrowed at something past Valgaav and raised the bow. Before she could release the attack, a flash of bright white light shot past her. The light shattered the one barely visible boulder that was behind Valgaav. The mutated dragon faded and the darkness dissipated.

Behind her, Gourry panted as he gripped a now-bladeless Sword of Light. He had seen what she did - an object that seemed out of place in the Astral plane. Lina glanced at him over her shoulder, impressed. “How’d you figure it out?”

He gave a short laugh. “It seemed easier to blast that thing apart than Valgaav, didn’t it?”

She wasn’t even about to question him any further. Gourry had extremely keen eyes. She wasn’t surprised that would be able to see the one thing in the Astral plane that didn’t belong other than Valgaav. She briefly wondered if he’d been able to see the rest of the group, but there was no time to consider that. Lina turned back to Valgaav. “Our options?”

“Not many,” Xelloss conceded. “We can either try hacking away at Valgaav in this state, fused with Darkstar and Volphied, or move to our two final options.”

“Two final… Lina-san!” Amelia shrieked. “You’re not going to cast the Giga Slave, are you?”

Lina ignored Amelia as Xelloss gave her a pointed look. He knows Luna’s theories. Damn him. She stared at the beast before them. “The power of the Darkstar weapons will be just equal to that of Valgaav’s combined with Darkstar,” she said. “But it’s like the barrier inside the Ancient Dragon temple. We need to have a power that can overcome it. With him fused with Volphied as well…”

Xelloss nodded. “There’s not many choices left.”

LIna stared at the massive hole in the sky. “To fulfill the prophecy, you’ll have to draw upon both the god’s magic and the Mazoku magic you have inside you at the same time. You’ll use that channeled with the energy from the Darkstar weapons. You’ll only have one shot to stop everything. You’ll most likely be killed in the process.”

It was time. There was no other way around it. The Giga Slave or to fulfill the prophecy. Either option would kill her. Lina stared at the assembled group.

I want to live.

When the thought crossed her mind, the right answer was suddenly very easy.

“When Gourry and I were in Zefielia, I met with my sister. She was the one Filia originally went to in all of this. Luna had interpreted the prophecy and her interpretation led her to tell Filia to seek me out. The power of the gods and the Mazoku must be combined with that of the five Darkstar weapons in a human. The human releases an attack that kills Darkstar. There’s only one human in the world we know of that can utilize both the power of the gods and the power of chaos to the degree needed to attack Darkstar.” Lina started to work off her glove as she spoke.

“Lina, what the hell are you doing?” Lyos yelled.

“Everyone get around me.” She held up the bow beckoned and scanned the faces of the humans. “I’m going to call upon the magic of Airlord and the Lord of Nightmares simutaneously and channel it into the bow. When I do so, you’re all going to have to channel the energy from your weapons toward mine at the same time. I’ll shoot an arrow that’ll bring down Darkstar.”

“Lina-san, you can’t do that!” Amelia screamed. Her normally sunny disposition was gone, replaced with sheer panic. “You’ll kill yourself!”

“Six one way, half dozen the other,” Lina quipped.

“We’re not worth much either way.”

“Zelgadiss-san!” Amelia turned on him, eyes blazing.

He gave her a sympathetic look. “If Lina tries this, fails and survives, we’ll have one more shot with the Giga Slave. If she tries the Giga Slave and fails…”

“Now, now, Lina-san, aren’t we being a little desperate?” Xelloss gave her a wry smile.

Lina shot him an exasperated look. “Got a better plan, Xelloss?”

“Your plan is perfect. Luna-san is right in the method of extermination. However, you don’t need to call upon the magic of the gods and chaos yourself. You have sources willing to do that for you. Am I not right, Filia-san?”

“Of course!” Filia nodded emphatically.

A huge weight suddenly lifted from Lina’s shoulders. Her magical capacity was huge. If all she had to do was channel the combined magics, it would be something she could pull off. If Xelloss and Filia called upon Shabranigdu and Ceiphied, she wouldn’t have to control potentially lethal magic at the same time as combining and channeling it. It would enable her to survive enough to give it one more shot with the Giga Slave if need be.

Relieved, but also angry at the fact that now she would be in debt to Xelloss for this, Lina started for the edge of the cliff. “Let’s do it then,” she ordered. She was stopped by a grip on her arm and turned to face Gourry. “What is it?” she asked.

Behind them, the rest of the group assembled to use the weapons for the final time. Filia and Xelloss stood slightly in front of them. Zelgadiss glanced Amelia out of the corner of his eye. The princess was still pale-faced, but determined. “Are you okay?”

Amelia nodded. “I’m sorry I lost control like that,” she apologized and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “I just… Lina-san should had said something before.”

“If I had to carry a burden like that, I’d find it hard to tell people as well.” Zelgadiss coughed slightly and decided that he found the boulder a few feet away to be extremely interesting. It had some interesting facades on it, and he bet he could determine the type of stone if he concentrated long enough.

Her heart softened. “You know, there’s always someone willing to carry that burden if you…”

“What?”

Amelia and Zelgadiss looked up and all of them stared at Lina and Gourry. He had a calm look on his face and seemed to be waiting for something. Lina had gone red, her anger nearly rivaling Valgaav’s.

“Are you insane?” She yelled at him. “Why the hell did you pick a time like this? We’re one hair’s breath away from either being blown apart or purified and you ask me that?”

“Gourry,” Zelgadiss sighed. “He must be having one of his jellyfish moments again.”

“Why of all times does the idiot swordsman have to play 20 questions?” Lyos moaned.

Shizuri merely tilted her head, then smiled. She caught Amelia’s eye. “Somehow, I get the impression that he only asked one very important question.”

“One…,” Amelia’s voice trailed off as it hit her and she let out a shriek of joy.

Lyos gave her an odd look. “What? Does seeing Gourry get beat up by Lina for being an idiot provide you with a perverse sort of entertainment?”

“Fine. Fine!” Lina’s shout echoed across the cliff. “Oh, all right, yes! If we live, we’ll do it! Now get back there so we can get this over with!” She shoved him away and turned toward Valgaav, her face still red.

Behind her, Filia and Xelloss started to chant and she could feel the dueling powers of light and dark. She closed her eyes and opened her magical senses, emptying herself of all other thought.

The energies hit her at the same time and she could sense them swirling around inside of her. Twin lances of light and dark twirled around each other as she used her will to nudge them closer together, then into one gray beam. Her grip tightened on the bow as she willed it to activate. The bowstring and arrow formed beneath her hands and she opened her eyes.

“Now!”

She didn’t have time to register who yelled the command when four blue beams of light shot at her. They smashed into the arrow and were absorbed by the fusion magic arrow. The arrow grew larger and Lina pointed it at Darkstar. Deciding to add a little bit of extra insurance, she tapped into her own power. It flooded through her veins into her hands, then the arrow. With a yell, she released it.

The attack plowed through the air and straight into the middle of the fused being. A horrible shriek echoed across the cliff as it shuddered, then broke into a thousand fragments. They dissipated into thin air as they fell toward the ground.

We did it! We’re alive! Lina turned toward the assembled group and lifted her hand into a V-sign as exhaustion suddenly swamped her.

She never felt herself hit the ground.

——-

Lina woke nestled in a pair of arms, and dark hair in her face. She pushed aside the hair and saw that it was Amelia, who’d slumped over in her sleep. She craned her head back at the loud snore behind her and cracked a wry smile at Gourry, who had his head tilted back against the tree. She looked around, saw the other members of her party sprawled out asleep and sighed in relief. It’s all over. We survived. Well, imagine that.

She saw Filia standing at the edge of the cliff and her heart went out to her. Carefully, she extradicted herself from Gourry and shoved Amelia aside so she wouldn’t fall into his lap. She went the other way and landed against Zelgadiss’ shoulder instead. The chimera grunted, shifted slightly and Amelia’s head wound up cushioned on his thigh.

Filia looked back, gave her a small smile as she approached. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “There’s just so much going on in my mind.”

“It’s a lot to handle. I felt the same way when my sister told me her interpretation of the prophecy. I tried everything I could to find another way, but…”

“Sometimes, there just is no other way,” Filia conceded. “In this case, though, we got lucky.”

“Damn lucky,” Lina agreed, silently adding “Must go yell at older sister” to the top of her to-do list now that everything was over.

Filia gave a bitter laugh. “Part of me keeps hoping that something will happen. A rain of feathers will fall from the sky and reveal a reborn Valgaav. That sounds too much like a fairytale.”

“Have you given any thought to what you want to do now?”

“Milgasia-san did offer me sanctuary with his tribe in the Kataart Mountains. Amelia-san said that I could also live in Saillune, but I’m not sure that I want to spend my life among humans. My faith in my race is shaken though, even though I know his tribe did everything it could to stop it. I may travel for a little while, go with Shizuri and Lyos-san to Kunan. What about you?”

She shrugged. “Do the same thing I’ve always done, I suppose. Explore places, go after treasure. There’s still quite a lot of stuff to do! Don’t need to find a sword for Gourry. He still has the Blast Sword. We might tag along with Zel for awhile, help him look for his cure. Sis wants us to come back and visit my parents as well.”

“Oh, joy of joys,” Zelgadiss’ wry voice came from the group.

Filia looked slightly crestfallen. “But, I overheard you during the battle say something to Gourry-san, when he pulled you aside before that last attack. You said that if you lived, you’d do it. I assumed that meant you’d get married.”

“Wedding?” Amelia immediately sprang up, ignoring a blushing Zelgadiss who had just noticed that she had been using him for her pillow. “You and Gourry-san are getting married?”

“No! No! It’s not like that!” Lina waved her hands frantically at Amelia as she fought to remember the last several hours. Everything seemed like one big rush after the decision to try fusion magic. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she remembered Gourry grabbing her arm and the question he asked her. The color drained from Lina’s face. Shit, shit, SHIT. I forgot I said that!!

“Can we shut up about weddings and go back to sleep?” Lyos muttered.

“You two are getting married before we go back to Kunan, right?” Shizuri tossed aside her blankets.

“We are not getting married!”

“Uh huh, sure you aren’t. Princess, are you drawing wedding gown designs in the dirt?”

“Want to see, Shizuri-san?” Amelia scooted aside from where she crouched down so that Shizuri could get a good look at her drawings.

“You can’t prove it!” Lina screeched.

“Sure we can,” Shizuri replied and stepped over to the potential groom in question. “Gourry, wake up!” She shook his shoulder until he blinked sleepy eyes at her. “What question did you ask Lina before we started the battle yesterday?”

Lina relaxed. I’ll bet five gold that he doesn’t remember…

“Huh? Oh. I don’t remember.”

Thank you, jellyfish brains! Lina’s grin went from cheek to cheek.

“Oh. Damn. I was hoping you asked her to marry you or something like that.”

“We are getting married.” He gave a great yawn. “Was that the question? I didn’t ask it as a question. I just said that if we survived, let’s get married. She said yes.”

Shizuri’s eyes lit up. “Thank you! You can go back to sleep now.”

“Not before I kill you!”

“Who won the bet?” Lyos approached Amelia as the princess yanked out the chart and a sack of coins from her cloak. They bent over it as Lina proceeded to strangle Gourry.

Zelgadiss frowned over it, then his head snapped up. “Amelia?”

Amelia studied it as well. Her face lit up with surprise and pleasure. “Are you sure…”

“I picked them myself,” he told her.

Amelia took the sack of coins and did the most dangerous thing in her life. She stepped between Lina and Gourry. “Here you go, Gourry-san,” she said cheerfully, thumping the sack into Gourry’s hand.

His brow furrowed. “What’s this?”

“Told ya he’d forget,” Lyos muttered.

“We had a bet on when you would propose to Lina-san,” Amelia reminded him. “You won!”

“I did?” Gourry’s face lit up. “Wow, I haven’t had this much money since before I met Lina!”

Lina eyed the bulging sack. “On second thoughts…” She grabbed the sack. “I think we can make this marriage thing work.”

“Lina!” he whined. “That’s my money!”

Lina waved her index finger at him. “That’s not how it works in a marriage! Your money is mine, remember?”

Gourry narrowed his eyes at her. “Doesn’t that mean that your money is also mine?”

“No, no! It doesn’t work that way! Your money is mine. My money is mine. Therefore our money is mine.”

Filia laughed as they proceeded to bicker over the lottery winnings. “So, are we up for them actually making it to the altar?” she asked Shizuri.

“Nah, they’ll make it eventually. Now, as to when he’ll managed to get her knocked up…”

Zelgadiss sighed. “Just please, give me enough time to get to a place of relative safety before that happens. How far away is Kunan again?’

“That may not be far enough,” Shizuri replied and Zelgadiss sighed again.

From the safety of the Astral plane, Xelloss watched as the group went around their normal activities of causing minor chaos. At least things are the way they should be, he thought before disappearing to let his mistress know what happened.

——-

Two Weeks Later
Kaatart Mountains, Dragon’s Peak

On her previous visit, Lina hadn’t had the chance to really take a good look at the site where the gateway to the Claire Bible once stood. As the sun sank into the mountains behind her, Lina stared at the ruins and remembered everything. She recalled obtaining the information that she’d always sought, then Martina trying to interfere. Then Gaav attacking them, the fight against Seigram, then the final fight with Gaav. Phibrizzo had revealed himself and kidnapped Gourry.

She picked up a fallen piece of archway and bowed her head. She could see it now, what had happened after she cast the Giga Slave. Something about Darkstar opening the gate into the Sea of Chaos had caused her memories to finally come back and she knew Gourry had his back as well. She had wanted to yell at him for being so foolish as to actually force himself into the Sea of Chaos to save her. She wanted to thank him for loving her enough to save her. She closed her eyes and her heart ached as she relived the sight of him, hunched over and looking so alone, so desolate that she wanted to cry.

She felt a hand on her arm and she reached back, placed her other hand over his. Speaking of the devil… “Hey there.”

“Hey. Milgazia-san said dinner’s about ready. He insisted there’s enough to feed us this time.”

“He better!” Lina snorted, then flashed a grin at Gourry. “What type of temple are they if they can’t fix enough food to feed a small army?” She linked arms with him and they stared at what remained of the Claire Bible. “I just wanted to come back and see this place. It’s funny. See those red marks over there? That’s Amelia’s blood, from when she was slammed into the cliff. It’s still there.”

“You don’t have nightmares anymore,” Gourry observed and she blinked at him in surprise. She furrowed her brow and thought about the last time she’d had the dreams. They’d grown less and less over the past few months, but she honestly didn’t think she’d had a single one since they started sleeping together.

And speaking of that…

“Hey, I’ve been thinking,” she said in a brusque voice. “Amelia’s been talking about a big wedding.”

“Mmm…” Gourry made a non-committal sound that confirmed her suspicions that he hadn’t been listening to that aspect of the group conversations at all.

“I was wondering… You mind if we don’t get married right away? It’s not that I don’t want to be married,” she said hastily when she noticed the look of fear that sprang into his eyes. “I mean, I suppose I could do worse in life than a jellyfish. I could be marrying Prince Phil of all people.” Lina shuddered at the thought of Amelia’s father, whom she and others had once imagined to be a handsome prince on a white steed.

“Getting married doesn’t mean that we have to settle down,” Gourry pointed out.

Lina relaxed slightly. That had been her biggest concern and he had nailed it without her even mentioning it. “No, it doesn’t. If you suddenly want a woman in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant just because she says ‘I do,’ then go ask Sylphiel to marry you.”

His brow wrinkled. “Why would a woman be barefoot in the kitchen? You could drop a glass or a knife. And don’t women go in a kitchen without being pregnant?”

Lina rolled her eyes and gave his arm a shake. “Never mind, never mind.”

“I don’t think being married means we have to stop being who we are.” Gourry smiled and looked at the view that spread before them. “When I was little, I asked my mother and grandmother why people get married. I remember my dad before he died and he seemed to love my mom a lot. Grandma said it was so they could share last names. Mom said it wasn’t necessary to share names. I figured when I got older it was so people could have sex, but then people do it without being married.”

Please meet exhibits A and B, Lina thought wryly. “So did they ever tell you?”

“Not really,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t think I remember what they finally told me.”

She gave him a playful sock on the arm. “Your point, Jellyfish?”

“Well, I kept thinking about it and I figured that a marriage is a promise. When it’s done right, it comes from two people loving each other and wanting to be with each other for the rest of their lives. So they make a promise in front of other people to do so, then have a really big party to share that decision.”

“It doesn’t always work. There’s marriages for political gain, marriages just to give an otherwise illegitimate child a name, hell remember we almost married me off to that Hallas guy just to prevent him from being married to someone else! There’s fake marriages, marriage just to gain citizenship,” Lina ticked off, then glowered at the crushed look Gourry gave her. “What? Come down to reality, Gourry! Not all love is idealistic or a fairy tale.”

“I said when it was done right,” he said in a tight voice that warned her they were dangerously close to fighting.

She didn’t listen.

“It just seems to be a big unnecessary spectacle, you know? Yeah I thought I wanted a huge wedding, but then I realized how much work it is. And do you know how hot it is in one of those dresses? Until that thing was torn in tatters, I was miserable! In the end, does it really accomplish anything?” Lina startled when she felt the sudden loss of contact as Gourry removed his arm from hers. She shook her head slightly and watched, confused as he strode down the mountain. “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing,” he said shortly and kept walking.

Lina shrugged and followed.

——-

Filia slowly turned around in the small building that Milgazia had escorted her to. She hadn’t been quite sure what she was suppose to do once the group had arrived at the Kataart Mountains, but the Golden Dragon elder had quickly pulled her aside and escorted her to this place, then told her what it was for. She stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, the empty counter and shelves and the dusty floor. “Are you sure about this, Milgazia-san? Do you really want me to run a shop?”

He gave her a benign smile. “Your duties as a priestess can be fulfilled in many ways. You’ve been in service to the gods for years, Filia. The temple elders encourage those with particular gifts and abilities to engage in them to the fullest of your capabilities. I believe that your services will be better provided to our temple by cultivating and selling tea rather than spending hours on your knees in prayer.”

FIlia flushed and was at a considerable loss of words for a moment. “I don’t know how I can thank you,” she finally managed.

Milgazia lifted an eyebrow. “There are those who say we should thank you for your participation in fulfilling the prophecy. The temple has also assumed the debt from the Fiarelord temple and will pay Lina Inverse and her group the money they are due. We will also compensate your expenses for the trip.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Filia said and gave him a wry grin. “Especially after I tell you how much food Lina-san and Gourry-san can go through in a meal.”

“Why do you think I gave you a store instead of gold?”

Filia laughed, then quickly sobered. “You said that you assumed the debts of the Flarelord temple. Does that mean that the Aqualord temple is taking control of the entire temple?”

“For now.” Milgazia sat at the table in the center of the room and steepled his hands. Filia took the chair opposite his. “There is a dominance that must be maintained in the world. You know the four dragons govern different areas of the world.”

“Yes,” Filia replied. “Aqualord to the north, Flarelord to the south, Airlord to the west and Earthlord to the east. I know of the followers of Aqualord, Flarelord and Airlord, but I’ve not heard much at all of Earthlord.”

“There was a rumor that he was involved in a huge fight involving a dog demon, a youkai as it was termed, about two centuries ago. During the fight, Earthlord was sealed. I’m not sure of the truth behind it, but Earthlord’s followers have dwindled in the past few centuries. In any case, you are aware that even though Airlord is the dominant god in the west, there is a major temple to Aqualord.”

Filia nodded. “Run by humans, it’s Shizuri-san’s temple.”

“It was founded by the human worshippers of Aqualord who were stranded beyond the barrier. There are few human followers of Flarelord and technically you are the last of the Golden Dragons that serve him.” Milgazia gave her a serious look. “The temple considers you to be one of us, but the elders have expressed a desire that when you have matured that you may consider restarting the temple to the south.”

Filia stared down at her folded hands. “It’s something that will be a long time in the future, Milgazia-san. I don’t think I have the heart to be the successor to my elder. Not right now.”

“It may come. But we can not allow Flarelord to continue without worshippers. Some feel that is the reason why Earthlord went out of control in the eastern lands. Dragons were killed off and humans forgot the ways of the dragon gods. We do not want this to happen in the southern lands.”

“Of course not.” A sudden chill ran through Filia’s body and she shivered slightly. She wouldn’t want to risk the wrath of a scorned god.

——-

“Come in.”

Shizuri pushed open the slightly ajar door to Lyos’s room. The young Knight of Aqualord was across the room, hands gripped tightly on the edge of the washstand. She closed the door behind her, leaned against it while she observed him. Dinner that night had been a bit unusual. Filia had been in an excited rush, telling them about the shop she was going to run. That news had led into Amelia announcing her return to Saillune in the morning and extended an invitation to the rest of the group to come.

But it left the two of them with a problem. Zasu had released Shizuri from her duties with the express wish that she and Lyos learn more about Aqualord in these lands. Even though he would excuse their recent mission to help save the world from Darkstar, she knew that he would disapprove of their going to Saillune - especially for the reason that Lyos wanted to go.

“It’s your decision to make,” she said.

“I know.”

“You can’t have it both ways.”

“I know, I know.” Lyos flung himself on his bed and stared at the ceiling. “Damn it all. Why did the princess have to announce that she’s leaving tomorrow?”

“Because she’s been away for close to two years now,” Shizuri replied, sitting on the plush chair next to the bed. “The kingdom already has one wandering princess. Our princess needs to fulfill her duties to the kingdom.”

Lyos lifted his head just enough so he could see her. “So…what do you think? Should we stay or take the princess up on her offer to accompany her to Saillune?”

“To be honest? As much as I would get a kick out of seeing you moon over that cute shrine maiden, your place is here learning about Aqualord. You can always visit Saillune. We kind of have to in a way, to ensure good relationships between it and Titou and all of that lovely political stuff that I’m sure you have no interest in. But your primary job here is to study the power of Aqualord and this is the chief temple for it. The dragons will be able to help you harness your power.” Shizuri reclined back slightly. “Of course, you know this already.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lyos sighed and couldn’t help but want to see Sylphiel again. He squirmed uncomfortably, then thought back to the vow he made Lina during the final battle with Hureika. I need to search for my own power. I’m no use to anyone if I don’t have it.

“Zasu-sama will be pleased to hear of our studies,” Shizuri said, then winked at him. “I’m sure that with his next letter that he would approve of us to go serve as temporary ambassadors to Saillune.”

Lyos pushed himself onto his elbows. “Really?”

Shizuri nodded. “The princess will take my letter with her and we estimate that it’ll take two months for it to get to Zasu-sama. I’m sure he will have to consider it among his other duties, then send us a reply. So I estimate at least half a year. I’d feel more comfortable with us being here longer, but you do learn fast. Let’s see where you are in six months. Consider the Saillune trip your reward.”

“Thanks!” Lyos beamed at her and Shizuri returned the grin.

——-

Amelia took a deep breath of late summer air. Things had happened so fast that she’d been amazed that it was almost fall. It was nearly harvest time in Saillune, one of her favorite times of year. She could easily find something good about every season, but harvest was definitely one of her absolute favorites.

She cast a glance over her shoulder at the mountain behind her. She had left alone a few hours earlier, surprised that nobody was coming with her. Filia, Shizuri and Lyos were all staying behind to enter various areas of study at the temple and Amelia vowed to visit sometime around the winter solstice. She hadn’t seen Zelgadiss before she left and that disappointed her. The biggest surprise was that Lina and Gourry hadn’t accompanied her either. Even though they seemed to be acting normal, there was a strange tension between them that neither wanted to discuss. Amelia extracted a promise of a lot of free food if they came to visit her and they vowed to come soon.

“Amelia!”

She glanced skyward, her mouth forming a “O” as Zelgadiss flew gracefully toward her. He landed with a soft thud and took a deep breath. “You left a bit sooner than I planned,” he said.

Amelia shook her head, then smiled as her heart lightened. “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured that there was no time like the present! Did you Raywing here?”

“Only from the base of the mountain. Filia brought me that far.” Zelgadiss brushed the dirt from his cloak and started down the road. Amelia quickly fell into step beside him. “I wound up falling asleep in one of the libraries.”

“Did you find anything interesting?”

He shook his head. “Nothing but a headache and the fact that I was wrong about the theory of flying I had with Filia,” he admitted. “We should had flown more north than up, where the circumference of the planet is narrower instead of growing wider. Live and learn, I suppose. There’s also some books written in an older language I want to ask Milgazia about.”

“You could had stayed behind and entered temple studies as well.”

Zelgadiss fell silent for a moment. “Well,” he said, “I can return to do that. But I’ve not been in Saillune since the incident with your father and Seigram and I think I can also use some time in the libraries there.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

Zelgadiss gave Amelia a small smile and felt a flush creeping into his cheeks as her face also went a slight shade of pink. “I’ve learned that my studies go a lot faster when I have help. If you have the time?”

“Of course I will!” Energized, Amelia nearly started skipping. “We’ll even plan a schedule! Then, maybe you would like to come back here with me during the winter solstice to see Filia-san and the others!”

Zelgadiss considered it. Could he see himself in Saillune three months from now? He thought about it, then suddenly realized that he could. “It wouldn’t be so bad to look into having a place to come back to occasionally,” he conceded. Then he frowned. “Did you see Lina and Gourry before you left?”

Amelia shook her head. “It’s funny too. I heard Filia-san say something to Memphis-san about how she heard that they didn’t even share a room last night. I wonder if they’re fighting over something? They seemed fine until they went for that walk yesterday afternoon.”

“They’ll work it out when they’ll work it out.” Zelgadiss had a small inkling about what they were fighting over, but decided that it was better not to discuss it with Amelia at the moment. Gourry was patient and Lina was stubborn. They would work things out in their own time. It was best to proceed with his own life until they did.

-----

Author's Note: We're not quite done yet! All that remains is an epilogue that will tie up Lina and Gourry's storyline.

Probably the biggest argument that can be made now is the final battle. It was a struggle that involved rewatching the last few episodes of TRY and writing detailed summaries. We walk away from Valgaav not knowing as much about him as we did from the original series. The more I wrote, the more it didn't have a place in here and it felt forced. The original TRY was Filia and Valgaav's story more than anything. "Search for the Darkstar" is Lina's story - much like the last arc of the novels and Knight of Aqualord was, with a high secondary emphasis placed on the new supporting characters (Luke and Millina in the novels and Lyos in Knight of Aqualord) as well as the Lina/Gourry partnership/relationship. QP-Diana is actually translating parts of the later novels now and when you compare Gourry's role in those (he's a rather talkative jellyfish) to TRY, it's like night and day.

One note about the gang emerging from the Astral plane. In the fourth novel, Lina and Gourry are having lunch when they're suddenly trapped in an alternate universe of sorts and have to literally fight their lunch. The battle ended when Gourry defeated the mutated tomato (aka the item that didn't belong) and everything returned to the way it was. I applied the same theory here, because it appeared that they were on the Astral plane.

Chapter 23: Gateway, Torn Asunder ← Chapter 24: Back to Where It All Began → Epilogue: Promise

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