Search for the Darkstar - Driven Almost to Despair

Author: DQBunny Title: Search for the Darkstar - Driven Almost to Despair

Search for Darkstar
Chapter 18: A Breakdown in Negotiations ← Chapter 19: Driven Almost to Despair → Chapter 20: Picking Up the Pieces

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 19: Driven Almost to Despair
"Princess! Zelgadiss!"
Amelia glanced over her shoulder to see a flash of blue hair emerge from the darkness. "Lyos-san!"
Lyos rushed into the cavern and skidded to a stop when he saw the large chamber that Zelgadiss and Amelia stood in front of and the being who studied them. With an oath, he swung Banisher off of his shoulder and pointed it at Almayce. “What the hell are you doing here? Princess, get a shield ready just in case this guy tries something funny.”
“I am not trying anything,” Almayce replied, his voice edged with fear.
Amelia frowned. Is he afraid of Lyos-san? No, that can't be it. He just said that Valgaav can open the gates with just two weapons. If that's the case… The Sword of Light! She gasped and swung around to face Lyos. “Where's Shizuri-san?”
“Back with Lina and the others. We got the Sword of Light…then lost it to Valgaav.”
Almayce let out a tremulous sigh. “It will be as I feared then.”
Zelgadiss shifted his stance slightly, but kept his sword at the ready. “You mentioned that Valgaav can summon Darkstar with just two weapons. What's with that?”
“He can what?” Lyos yelped, then Amelia motioned him to be quiet.
“We may not have time for explanations,” Almayce said. He closed his eye again and concentrated for a moment. Zelgadiss, Amelia and Lyos exchanged wary looks just Almayce's eye popped open again and the glass surrounding the Overworlder shattered. Blue liquid gushed out of it as Almayce pushed aside shards of glass, the sharp edges barely cutting his leathery skin. He directed a considering look at Zelgadiss, then gave a small laugh that made the skin on the back of Amelia's neck crawl.
“You,” he said with a joyous cackle. “You have them. The third and fourth weapons, Bodigar and Nezzard. Quickly, I must see them.” He stretched his remaining bony arm toward Zelgadiss, the fingertips glowing.
Zelgadiss immediately ducked out of the way, but he felt his cloak ruffle around him as whatever power Almayce had called to the weapons. His hand swept inside of the cloak, grabbing one of the weapons from the magically-enlarged pockets he'd placed them in. He tossed it to Amelia, then pulled out the other for himself and sheathed his regular sword.
Amelia stared down at the light weapon, her mouth forming a small “O.” “I…I can't use this, Zelgadiss-san.”
“That's right,” Almayce crooned and started for her. “Why don't you let me hold onto it for awhile?”
She shot him a nasty look, then leapt into the air. “I'm not about to let you have it either!”
“Amelia,” Zelgadiss started to say, then noticed the geninue look of distress on her face. He scowled. There was no time for personal hang-ups, but… “Fine, don't use it. Just don't let him have it either!”
“You don't understand.” Almayce swung back toward Zelgadiss and he brought up the weapon. “Summoning Darkstar here is not our ultimate objective.”
“But isn't that what you wanted, back at the Flarelord temple?” Amelia asked. Comforted by the fact that she wouldn't have the use the weapon, she shifted her grip on it to gain a better hold and lowered herself back to the ground. “If that's the case, then why are you here to begin with?”
“I am here to gather the means to destroy Darkstar.”
Amelia and Lyos gasped. Zelgadiss simply narrowed his eyes. It would sound far-fetched to them…but it was only a few years ago that I stood before my own grandfather as he announced his plans to summon Shabranigdu, then destroy him. Have these people from Darkstar's universe somehow heard of Lina doing that? But how? His gaze met Amelia's and he realized that she was thinking the same thing.
“Originally, I was a servant of Volphied in the eternal battle against Darkstar,” Almayce explained.
“You don't look like a servant of the gods,” Amelia shot back at him.
“And just what in your mind does a servant of the gods look like?” Zelgadiss asked her.
She sniffed a little. “Well…a little less like a Mazoku. He looks more like an evil being than one who serves the gods.”
He gave her a cryptic smile. “Amelia, didn't you learn about judging people on their initial appearance?”
“Well, when their initial appearance includes attacking us and nearly killing Gourry-san, it tends to alter my perception just a little bit,” Amelia said a little stiffly. She didn't care to be reminded of her own lack of judgment regarding her first meeting with Zelgadiss during the battle against Copy Rezo.
Zelgadiss merely lifted an eyebrow at her, then nodded briefly to concede the point. He turned his attention back to Almayce. “Go on.”
“For a period of time, longer than any of you can imagine, we and Darkstar's forces fought.”
Zelgadiss and Amelia nodded. Ceiphied and Shabranigdu had also fought a similar battle. Amelia glanced at Lyos and saw a blank look on his face that reminded her so much of Gourry that she nearly laughed. Lina had told her how Gourry hadn't known about the legends surrounding Ceiphied and Shabranigdu when they first met and to this day he still struggled with some of the details. It appeared that Lyos was the same way, though she wasn't quite sure how much access he had to that sort of education to begin with.
“That terrible war ended with our defeat,” Almayce continued. “Darkstar's true objective was to destroy us along with that world. We thought he would succeed at this. However, the energy he absorbed from Volphied when he defeated him was too much and Darkstar went out of control. He went insane, murdering all of his own trips. Having forgotten his original purpose, Darkstar embarked on a war against all living things, leaving behind a dead, pathetic wasteland.”
“That's horrible!” Amelia's voice trembled slightly as she imagined the same thing happening to their own world.
“It's a sad story,” Zelgadiss conceded, “but what does that have to do with you coming here?”
“The survivors began a desperate search for a way to destroy Darkstar. That is when we learned of the five weapons he created and how the power of those weapons could break apart Darkstar's.”
Lyos scratched his head. “You mean, kind of like Shabranigdu was broken into seven parts?”
Amelia's eyes went wide with surprise. “You know the legend, Lyos-san?”
“Soi Len told it to me. I'm not so sure about this Volphied, but I guess it has something to do with this whole Overworld stuff.”
“The Lord of Nightmares created more than one world from the Sea of Chaos. Volphied and Darkstar are the god and dark lord of one of those worlds,” Zelgadiss said and turned his attention back to Almayce. “So, you'd use the weapons to split Darkstar's power like Ceiphied split Shabranigdu.”
Almayce nodded. “After we used the weapons to do so, we would destroy each piece separately. For hundreds of years we searched for the weapons. The last anyone had seen of them was when they were somehow all sent to Ceiphied's world. We searched other worlds, but then around 18 months ago in your time span, we were suddenly able to detect the prescence of the weapons.”
“Which just happens to coincide with the defeat of Hellmaster Phibrizzo and the fall of the Mazoku barrier. The barrier must had masked the weapons,” Zelgadiss mused.
“The rest you already know, at least you two.” Almayce nodded toward Amelia and Lyos. “I assume that you were filled in. I came here and made an alliance with the one called Valgaav. It proved to be a less than fruitful union.”
“That's putting it mildly,” Lyos muttered.
“Wait a minute!” Amelia shoved her weapon into Zelgadiss's hands and strode up to Almayce. She stood in front of him, feet spread wide in a position that he recognized as her favorite justice speech pose. She jabbed a finger at Almayce and Zelgadiss winced in sympathy. For once, I'm feeling a bit sorry for you…
“Do you realize how unjust your actions were?” Amelia yelled at Almayce, her fury rising as she recalled all the pain the Overworlder had brought her and her friends. She didn't think she would ever forget the look on Lina's face when Almayce had sent Gourry flying into the wall, nor her own panic when she realized the extent of his injuries. “You could had just asked the people of this world for help instead of attacking and nearly killing us.”
Almayce's expression bordered somewhere between extreme patience and a growing annoyance. “For this to work, Darkstar has to be summoned. If you were told all of this upfront, would your kingdoms have gone along with this?”
Amelia faltered for a moment, then lowered her hand, her conscience starting to prick at her slightly. “Well…no. We wouldn't condone such an action! It would put the world in grave danger!”
“Just as it put your world in grave danger when Lina Inverse used the Giga Slave to summon the Lord of Nightmares?” Almayce scanned their shocked faces. “I am not without my own resources. Lina Inverse's actions, because they affected the Mother of All Beings, was felt throughout the other worlds both times she did it. Most did not register it, but because a good bit of our time was spent traveling through the Sea of Chaos, we felt the disturbance from the Giga Slave.”
The look on the being's face gentled. “I actually do not blame you for being resistant to the idea of summoning Darkstar. It is common sense. That's why we decided that the only way to accomplish the task was to become your enemy.”
Amelia thought back to the battle at the Flarelord temple, how Filia's elder had said that in order to protect the world, they would give up the Sword of Light, an action that would had directly caused what the elder feared most. No wonder Almayce felt that he couldn't depend on us.
“But, if Valgaav has two of the weapons, he could possibly open the gateway and…”
“He does,” Lyos interjected. “He said something about it right before I came here. He said that only two of the weapons were required to open the gateway.”
Almayce said something in an unintelligible language that still sounded like an oath to Amelia. “If he does that, we won't be able to divide Darkstar's power!”
“You mean if he's summoned right now…,” Zelgadiss started to say.
“The world will end!” Amelia shrieked.
“The two weapons that you have will seal the gate if it's been opened,” Almayce said and nodded to the weapons that Zelgadiss held. “You must hurry. Go back to the main chamber you were at. You'll see a wide platform suspended in the sky with four slots. If Valgaav has started the process of opening the gates, inserting Bodigar and Nezzard into the two remaining slots will close it once more.”
“We better hurry,” Zelgadiss said, then pitched forward as the ground shook beneath them. Lyos grabbed hold of his arm to steady him. Zelgadiss nodded his thanks, then passed the other weapon to Amelia. “We need to go as fast as we can. Hold onto me, Lyos. I'm going to do my best to Raywing down the halls. Amelia, when we get there, use the weapon in the slot.”
“Right,” Amelia nodded and they took off down the hall, leaving Almayce behind. The being let out a huge sigh before sliding to the ground. As his great eye closed, he prayed that they would be able to do what he could not.
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"So, the pillar of light...this is where Darkstar is suppose to be summoned if what Valgaav says is right?" Shizuri guessed.
"It would make sense for this to be the gateway,” Lina replied as she watched energy crackle around the different pieces of machinery. Every few seconds, forks of lightening shot off from one weapon to the other creating an impressive show of light that rivaled the pillar that stood in the middle of the display.
Xelloss stumbled forward. He dropped to one knee and instinctively Lina caught him. He leaned heavily on her shoulder and stared up at the light. "I... I really didn't imagine that such a thing was built out here. This area we're at, it's forbidden to both the Gods and Mazoku. That's why I couldn't come out here before now. I wasn't given the authorization to do so."
"Really?" Shizuri gave Xelloss a skeptic look. “You mean to tell me that Mazoku paperwork held up your pursuing Valgaav to this location?”
His eyes narrowed. "Shizuri-san, as one who serves the Gods, surely you are aware of a war that is even more ancient than the Kouma Sensou."
Shizuri's eyes went wide and Lina and Filia gasped. "Wait a minute," Filia stammered, "you don't mean..."
Xelloss pinned Filia with such a serious glare that she immediately fell silent. "I do mean it. This is the place where Shabranigdu-sama and the dragon god Ceiphied fought each other."
"I once saw a map of Sazu-sama's, one that was said to have been made before the Kouma Sensou. It was one of the few artifacts in Titou that proved that the barrier lands existed," Shizuri said, seeing the ancient parchment in her mind's eye just as clearly as if it was spread before them. "The island in the middle was said to be where the battle between the Ceiphied and Shabrangidu took place. The resulting explosions caused the formation of the continents as we know them now. To think we're standing on the epicenter..."
"But why did Almayce choose this place?" Filia wondered.
Shizuri turned her face toward the sky. "When we first got here, Lyos reacted to the energy being put off by the pillar of light. You did as well, Lina."
Lina closed her eyes and visualized the battle in her mind. She could see it, the clashing energies between the two great beings. She let go of Xelloss, who wobbled but remained upright. She rummaged into her cloak and grinned when she found a piece of chalk.
"For every action, there is an equal, but opposite reaction," Lina recited. "I read that in a book of scientific method once. Say you've got these two really big balls of magic. Here and here." She drew two circles next to each other on the stone ground. "Now, Shabranigdu and Ceiphied were equal in power. And don't give me that look," she ordered when Xelloss simply lifted his eyebrow. "Roughly equal. So, what happens when two things that are the same hit each other?"
"Umm...they bounce off of each other?" Gourry scratched his head.
"Good for you, Gourry! They bounce off each other, which caused our world as we know it. However, the area where the magic clashed is probably destabilized - the two forces of magic cancel each other out. I bet Almayce was going use that fact to somehow enhance the gateway when he called Darkstar into our world."
"It's a good theory, Lina-san," Xelloss acknowledged.
Shizuri glanced down at the diagram, then back up at Valgaav, who had moved to a large platform with several large slots ringing it. "So, if he summons Darkstar now, we have no way of closing this gate?"
“I'm not sure how he's going to do it with only two weapons. He says that he only needs two weapons to open it, but we need to stop him from doing anything at all." Lina signaled to Filia and she nodded. Lina shot into the air with a Raywing while Filia teleported to Valgaav's side.
He turned and smirked. "Isn't it the runaway dragon priestess? What do you prepare to do to me?"
Filia ignored him, activating her brooch as she chanted. "Chaotic Disintegrate!" she yelled just as Lina touched down on one of the pillars above them and released an Elmekia Flame.
Valgaav laughed. "Do you really think those attacks will have any effect on me?" He cleaved Razud Mezegis into the ground, sending a bolt of energy toward Filia. She teleported out of the way, joining Lina on the pillar above. Together, they watched as Valgaav released the Sword of Light and secured it in one of the slots on the platform. A series of lights suddenly lit up the intricate pieces of machinery and various gears and levers started to move. The platform that Lina and Filia stood on began to descend and, grabbing Filia's hand, Lina immediately took to the air.
At the same time, the pillar where Gourry, Shizuri and Xelloss were also began to move. They wobbled and Xelloss swore under his breath. Grabbing Shizuri's wrist, he teleported with her to the pillar where Lina and Filia had moved to. He let go, turned back, then immediately fell to his knees. "Damn it," he wheezed. "Lina, you might want to go get Gourry-san."
Lina rolled her eyes at Xelloss and immediately flew down to Gourry, who was giving her a slightly cross look at being left behind. She grabbed his arm and was about to take off once more she heard her name being called. She tilted her face up and saw Valgaav standing at the edge of the platform, Razud Mezegis still in hand.
"You don't have to hurry," he told her. "I plan to let you live long enough to see Darkstar be summoned to this world. " He laughed and walked away from the edge.
"What'll we do?" Gourry asked.
"We've got to get that weapon out of Valgaav's hands." Lina frowned as she ran through possible tactics in her head. "I'm not sure if we can stop him."
Gourry frowned at the worried look on Lina's face, then ruffled her hair with his free hand. When she gave him a surprised look, he smiled. "Don't worry. We'll manage. We've been in worse situations, haven't we?"
Somehow, she managed an answering smile, wrapped an arm around Gourry's waist and took to the air.
Valgaav approached the ornate post where the second weapon would go. He paused and let the absolute thrill of what he was about to do go through him. No one, not even Gaav, had ever told him how intoxicating it would be to have this sort of power running through him, the ability to terrorize others the way he had been terrorized. All sides - Gods, Mazoku and humans - would now know what it would be like to see their civilizations be nudged onto the brink of extinction, then tipped over.
"Gorun Nova, which cleaves. Razud Mezegis, which pierces," he intoned and lifted Razud Mezegis to thrust it into the post, "open the doorway to the dark star and let the darkness be brought into this world!"
"I don't think so!" Lina suddenly changed course and dove toward the platform. Gourry brought up his sword arm as they grew closer to Valgaav. Lina let go and Gourry smashed the flat of the blade into Valgaav's arm. He howled with pain as the weapon was flung from his grip. Gourry slammed into the ground and immediately reached for Razud Mezegis.
Valgaav roared and reared back with his foot. Using all the strength he had, he plowed his boot into Gourry's abdomen, sending the swordsman flying across the platform and over the edge. Lina quickly twisted in the air just as Gourry disappeared. With a curse, she channeled extra power into her Raywing spell and dove toward him.
"No!" Filia screamed and leaped off her pillar. She transformed as she dove, sweeping under Gourry and catching him on her back just before he hit the ground. Gourry gripped her back, wheezing for a moment as he realized that he hadn't been flattened into a pancake. He flipped over, got to his knees. "Thanks, Filia!"
Lina stopped her own dive and sighed in relief, then whirled around in time to see Valgaav grab the Razud Mezegis. "Filia! Get out of the way!" she yelled, then brought her hands in front of her, taking careful aim at Valgaav. "Dimil Arwin!"
The attack slammed into Valgaav, sending him through the platform and into the machinery below. Lina flew to the top of the platform and was joined by Filia, Gourry and Shizuri, whom they stopped to pick up. The four nodded to each other and Shizuri pointed at a thick slab of stone that jutted from the debris behind Valgaav, then snapped her fingers. It transformed into a giant with a hammer, which brought its weapon down on Valgaav. He smirked, leaped forward and easily cut through the stone. Whirling around, he launched a series of attacks that caused the group to scatter. Filia grabbed Gourry's arm and teleported with him to one side of the cavern while Lina flew with Shizuri to the other side.
"Idiots," Valgaav scoffed. "You keep forgetting that my dragon powers are combined with the Mazoku powers that Gaav-sama gave me. None of you people stand a chance!" Valgaav launched a second series of attacks at Filia and Gourry, who jumped in front of Filia and sliced through the energy balls with the Blast Sword.
Lina lifted her cloak from where she had been shielding herself and Shizuri and smirked at Valgaav. "Oh, really?"
Valgaav grinned. "Care to take me on, Lina Inverse?"
Lina's gaze shot across the room to Gourry and Filia, a promise she had made long before suddenly running through her mind.
"Lina?" Shizuri asked.
Lina didn't answer either Shizuri or Valgaav. Instead, she grabbed Shizuri's hand and flew with her back over to Gourry and Filia. The moment she let Shizuri go, Lina touched Gourry's arm. "I'm keeping my promise," she murmured. "Whatever you see me do, just trust me, okay?"
Gourry blinked at her, then his eyes widened and he nodded. Lina took to the air once more and landed a few feet beneath Valgaav. Shizuri gave Gourry a sidelong glance. "What was that all about?"
Gourry didn't answer her because Lina was already moving into action. She held her arms in a cross, pressed to her chest. "Four kings who rule the darkness of the four universes; I implore you on the fragments that I have; That by all the power you possess; Give me more magical energy." The talisman started reacting as Lina crumpled to the ground.
"Lina!" Filia shrieked and started to bolt, but stopped when Gourry grabbed her arm. She tossed a disbelieving look at him. "What are you doing? Valgaav's going to hurt her!"
"Just trust her," was all he said and Filia turned her attention back to the battle.
Valgaav swooped down until he hovered so close that Lina could smell him. And such a lovely fragrance as well. Ode d' B.O. Apparently Gaav didn't see it fit to teach his henchmen about bathing regularly. Lina lifted her head as Valgaav landed before her.
"Too bad, whatever that spell's suppose to be." Valgaav raised an eyebrow. "Some sorceress you claim to be, when you can't even cast a simple spell."
Lina smirked. "Oh, don't worry. I'm every inch the sorceress I claim to be because my spell was perfectly cast." In a single, fluid motion, Lina whipped her short sword from its sheath and plunged it into Valgaav's chest, using the momentum to launch them both off the ground and into the pit.
"What the hell...," Valgaav choked, but Lina ignored him, instead turning her attention to chanting the Dragon Slave and directing the energy into her blade.
Gourry, Shizuri and Filia peered over the edge of their perch. "You said to trust her, does that include suicide moves?" Shizuri yelled at Gourry.
Gourry didn't say anything. He didn't think he could at the moment.
Valgaav gawked at Lina. "A Dragon Slave?"
She gave him a cocky grin. "Oh, yeah. Amplified at that. I'm protected by a magical barrier, one that you can't neutralize. So, let's see how our main course of close-ranged Dragon Slave channeled directly into your body will turn out. Dragon Slave!"
The attack shot directly into Valgaav, forcing him away from Lina. She shot back into the air, rejoining the others. She hunched over slightly to catch her breath, then managed a grin. The effect that her little maneuver had on her friends was comical, at least in her eyes. Shizuri looked like she'd aged a good 10 years while Filia tried to remember how to speak. Gourry, the one used to this sort of thing from her, simply pressed his hand to his forehead and looked like he had a headache.
"I really hope that worked," he told her.
"It had to." Lina stared down into the hole. "There was no way he could have cast any sort of defensive spell or thrown up a barrier." She straightened and grinned at her group. "Let's go find Zel and..."
She never got a chance to finish her sentence. Orange beams of light shot toward Lina and she whirled around. Shizuri, the closest to Lina, tackled her and both women hit the ground barely eluding the attack. As soon as Shizuri moved off of her, Lina could see Valgaav, screaming with pain as he absorbed the power of the Dragon Slave into his own body. He shot into the air, racing back toward the platform.
"Oh, shit!" Lina grabbed Shizuri's arm and immediately followed.
They crested the platform just as Valgaav slammed Razud Mezegis into the second port. The gears spun, lights sparkled and a huge black void opened just above the glass dome.
Lina stared up at the portal, her heart turning to ice. It looks just like Hellmaster Phibrizzo's...
Valgaav gracefully dropped to the ground, folding his legs across each other as he tipped his face to the sky, his platform rising toward the portal. Through the portal, Lina could see a huge beast with red, glowing eyes that reminded her in a way of Shabranigdu after his piece had been unsealed inside of Rezo. Tentacles, she wasn't sure if it was energy or part of his body, started to emerge from the portal.
Valgaav got back to his feet. "Going to devour me first, you pathetic dark lord? Very well, then. Take this body!" he yelled as the darkness enveloped him.
"Valgaav!" Filia yelled. Lina glanced quickly over her shoulder and saw that Filia and Gourry had joined them on the platform, both looking awe-struck and slightly scared.
"There's no way to stop this now, is there?" Shizuri asked in a small voice.
"There is, isn't there, Lina-san?"
Lina looked up and saw Xelloss where they had left him earlier, one hand still clasped to his wound. She knew exactly what he was talking about. There were only two spells in her arsenal that could even begin to come close to matching whatever power Darkstar possessed. Airlord's, while it could fight off a Mazoku general or possibly even one of the direct subordinates of Shabranigdu, wouldn't be able to overcome a fully intact dark lord, which only left...
Lina moved against the wind until she stood next to Gourry. "You know what I have to do," she told him.
"I do," he said in a resigned voice. "I don't like it."
She placed a hand on his arm. "The last time I did this, I did it for you. I did it because I couldn't imagine this world without you in it." His eyes widened as she stared at him with a blazing look in her own. "I'm doing it this time for all of us."
When she had left for the Tower of Wind, he had been the one to suddenly hug her, to offer comfort and reassurance. Now she threw her arms around him and he bent his head to the top of hers. She allowed herself to relax into him slightly, to wish for hours and days of just this. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Luna's voice spoke and she ignored it.
When they broke away, the doubt in Gourry's eyes was gone. "Do what you have to do," he told her.
"Count on it." She flashed a grin at him and stepped toward the abyss.
"What is she doing?" Filia asked in a whisper.
Gourry curled his hands into fists as Lina approached the growing darkness. "She's going to cast the Giga Slave."
"The Giga Slave?" Shizuri screamed. "You can't! The princess told me about that spell! She said that no human can control that spell! It was pure luck that she got it off against Shabranigdu and then with Hellmaster Phibrizzo... That spell could destroy the world!"
"Either way, the world will be destroyed," Filia protested.
Shizuri whirled on her. "How can you side with her on something like this?"
Filia gave her a firm look. "Because, I believe in Lina-san. I also believe in the power of the Lord of Nightmares. Her power is the only one that is greater than Darkstar's. I'd rather have a microscopic chance than none at all."
"But, you don't understand what happened the last time Lina cast that spell!"
"Yes, I do!" Filia shouted back. "Luna-san told me what happened!"
Lina could no longer hear them. She stared into the abyss, into the glittering red eyes of the being that was Darkstar. Even if I don't cast the Giga Slave correctly, the talismans may give me enough power to where I can control it.
The first time she had cast the spell, Gourry hadn't quite understood what Lina was going to do with it. The second time, he'd been unconscious and had only seen the aftermath - when the lady in gold that they called the Lord of Nightmares had tried to take Lina away from him. Panic welled up in his chest as Lina lifted her arms and a black vortex similar to the larger one above them started to form as the gravity of her actions sunk in.
"Raywing!"
The shout barely cut through Lina's chant, but she heard it. Whirling around, she released the spell as Zelgadiss and Amelia shot onto the platform, each armed with a weapon. They flew toward the two posts opposite the weapons already secured in place and thrust them into the orbs. A chain reaction exploded from the orbs, forming a large sphere of light and pressure. Lina barely had time to throw herself to the ground before the world exploded around her.
-----
"Lina-san! Lina-san!"
It took several tries before Lina could open her eyes, but even then her world was blurry. A black, pink and white blob hovered over her and it was a couple of minutes before the blob rearranged herself into a familiar face. "Amelia?"
"You're all right!" Amelia threw her arms around Lina as she struggled to sit up.
"Heh." Lina managed a cryptic look for her. "What the hell took you so long?"
"The way we came in through was blocked and each attack only made things worse. We tried doing a Damu Brass through the ceiling, but more debris kept caving in on us. We finally found a hole that was already there and went up through it."
"Damn, you were cutting it close," Lina said, and decided not to tell Amelia that she'd been about to cast the Giga Slave - although, she was quite sure that Shizuri would probably do that little task for her to begin with. She would just have to deal with the lecture later. "Where are we?"
"Washed up on an island not far from where we were," Amelia said, pointing into the distance. "Look."
Lina shielded her eyes and saw the pillar of light still stretching into the air. "The color's changed, but apparently the systems are still working," she muttered, then looked around. "Gourry? The others?"
"Zelgadiss-san shielded me, and we all landed on this island together. He didn't sustain many injuries, so he's flying around to some of the other islands to look for Gourry-san and the others. We left Lyos-san with them right before we closed the gateway."
On an island not far from Lina and Amelia, Filia also stood looking at the pillar of light. "Dragon's blood shall spread and following the power between light and darkness, a single star shall be awakened," she mummered.
"Part of the prophecy, right?" Lyos asked, using his sword as a crutch as he dragged himself over to her.
"That's right. Sit down, Lyos-san, let me heal you."
Lyos plopped onto the sand and Filia knelt next to him. "So, why'd you repeat it now?"
"I'm just wondering if the dragon's blood the prophecy refers to is Valgaav's."
"But, he ain't all dragon now. He's part-Mazoku."
"Filia!"
Filia looked up and saw Gourry and Shizuri stumbling toward her and Lyos, leaning on each other for support. Gourry's arm hung at a funny angle and a deep cut slashed across Shizuri's forehead. "Gourry-san! Shizuri-san!" She quickly finished her healing spell on Lyos and moved to work on the two of them.
Zelgadiss spotted them from the air and gave a sigh of relief. He flew back to where he left Amelia and Lina. "How're you holding up?" he asked as Amelia helped Lina to her feet.
"I can manage. You find them?"
"One island over." Zelgadiss grabbed Lina's arm and led the way until Lina saw the assembled group. Filia was still healing Gourry while Shizuri and Lyos both leaned against a rock to rest.
As soon as they touched down, Lina sank onto the ground herself, exhausted from the short flight. "Well, fancy meeting the rest of you here."
"Lina!" Shizuri and Lyos exclaimed. Gourry and Filia simply managed matching grins.
"Well, now that we're all back together, we need to decide what to do next." Lina turned her attention to the pillar of light. "But for now, let's try to find some place with lots of food and beds for all of us."
——-
Nature had been on their side. Not long after Filia managed to locate an island with a town big enough to have an inn, both Lina and Amelia had lost their magical abilities. The first two days after the battle were spent sleeping, recovering from their injuries and simply spending quiet time together. On the third day after the attack, the entire group took over the dining room in the middle of the afternoon and started to piece together what had happened during the battle.
Zelgadiss and Amelia recounted all of Almayce's story and Lina realized how lucky they'd been. If they hadn't come rushing back with the other two weapons, there was a good chance none of them would be sitting there at the moment. Their weapon count was all the way back down to zero, and none of them were quite sure that the other four weapons were still at the pillar of light.
Shizuri and Lyos shared their short tale of capturing Jillas and retrieving the Sword of Light. “The rope didn't last very long and we didn't realize it until we'd almost gotten back to you that Jillas was gone,” Shizuri apologized. “He didn't try to stop us, so I'm not sure what he did.”
“It doesn't matter at this point,” Lina replied, then proceeded to fill Zelgadiss and Amelia in on Xelloss's offer to Valgaav and the subsequent fight.
“That reminds me,” Shizuri said, interuppting Lina, “what is that sword that Gourry got? You called it the Blast Sword.”
Zelgadiss and Amelia nearly shot out of their chairs. “Gourry has what?” Zelgadiss yelled.
“The Blast Sword is one of the sharpest blades known to man,” Lina explained. “It's so sharp that it can't be contained in a sheath. Supposedly the previous owner of the blade knew this and had a secondary blade forged that covered the original. It can absorb the magical energy around it and cause it to grow even sharper. They say that the sword can cut through anything. I wouldn't be surprised if you could kill high-level Mazoku with it.”
“Really?” Gourry's eyes lit up and he looked down at the blade, which rested on the table. “When I tried to resheath it after the battle, the sheath fell apart. I thought it was just because of the battle itself. You mean…this sword is really mine?” He said it with the awe of a child being given an expensive present, then his gaze darted to Lina's. “You can't have it,” he said protectively.
She pouted. “Isn't what I have yours and what you have mine?”
“Only if we're married!”
“Well…,” Lina started to say, then let her voice trail off as Amelia produced a familiar piece of parchment from her cloak and everyone grinned at her. “In any case, I'm willing to bet you won't be able to sheath it. If you drop it, it could cut through the floor. If you're not careful, it'll cut through anything like a knife through butter.”
Everyone at the table scooted several feet away from Gourry. He glared at all of them. “Chicken,” he muttered under his breath.
“So, essentially that sword's so sharp that it's useless?” Lyos asked. “Some sword.”
“I think there's some metal-dulling spells that you can embed into it that'll make it dull enough to at least be sheathed,” Zelgadiss said. “I noticed a small library in this town. Amelia and I can go investigate it tomorrow since we're going to be here a few more days.”
“I wonder how such a powerful sword got to Shizuri-san's country?” Amelia wondered, rubbing her chin.
“It probably made its way over there before the Kouma Sensou,” Lina explained. “The legends say that it hasn't been seen in more than 1,000 years. That would make it consistent. The original owner probably stashed it in the temple so people wouldn't go after it.”
"One other question," Shizuri said, holding up her hand. "When Valgaav tried to attack you and Gourry, Gourry used the Sword of Light to form a shield around the two of you. From what I understand of the weapons, can they really do that? If so, we are so screwed, especially since Valgaav saw it."
"If Valgaav tried using the weapon as a shield, it would fail him," Lina explained. "The weapons didn't cast the shield. Gourry casted the shield."
"What?" Zel and Amelia cried together.
Gourry shook his head. "But, Lina, I can't do magic."
She gave him a rueful smile. "Yes, you can. Gourry, give Zel your hand."
Gourry did so and Zelgadiss closed his eyes to focus on forming a magical link between them. They immediately popped open and Zelgadiss stared at Gourry, a bit dumbfounded. "You have quite the sizable magical capacity there, Gourry."
"Those who can do magic are usually born with the bucket capacity to do so," Lina explained. "Usually, the ability manifests itself somehow during childhood and that alerts the Sorcerer's Guild, which then tests the child to see how big their capacity is. That comes in the form of accidental magic - things such as levitation or lighting spells because in order to use your magic, it requires a very strong will to pull it off."
"The Sword of Light can be used as a magic ampifier," Lina glanced over at Zelgadiss and he nodded. "I used it in that manner a few years ago when casting the Giga Slave. I channeled the spell into the Sword of Light and it concentrated the spell into the sword and made it more effective."
"I think I get it. Gourry wanted to protect you so much that he performed accidental magic," Shizuri guessed.
Lina nodded and shot a grin at the throughly embarrassed swordsman. "I think he would had succeeded on his own, but when he activated the Sword of Light at the right point, it acted as a conductor for the magic. Hence the shield spell."
"But, I don't want to perform magic, Lina."
She raised an eyebrow at Gourry. "I doubt you'll ever remember the words for the Lighting spell. You're not a sorcerer. There's a difference between having the capacity to do magic and the ability to do so. Sylphiel can handle casting a Dragon Slave, but she can't even get a Flare Arrow off."
"Is his magical capacity why Gourry-san is such a good swordsman?" Amelia wondered.
"It probably adds something when the Sword of Light is activated, but his skill there is on his own. So, don't look insulted," Lina added for Gourry's benefit. "We know how much you like using those muscles of yours."
She wandered over to the window, pushed aside the curtain and stared at the pillar of light. "In any case, it looks like our job's far from over."
"So, are we going to head to the temple that Milgazia-san told us about?"
Lina let the curtain drop and nodded to Filia
“Speakings of flying…,” Shizuri leaned over and jabbed her finger into Gourry's chest. “You. Explain yourself.”
Gourry gave Shizuri a blank look and for once, Lina had to agree with his confusion. “What are you talking about, Shizuri?”
“I'm saying that either Gourry is putting on the best act the world's ever seen or he managed to develop a cure for his motion sickness when we were flying around inside of Valgaav's base. This is the guy that turns green at the thought of flying, yet he was making attacks from midair. So, got something you want to confess to us? Were you just trying to get a particular woman's sympathy?”
“Ah…er…I really don't like flying!” Gourry stammered.
“Then what was so different about today?”
“I don't know! I wasn't thinking!”
“That's it!” Shizuri's attention swung to Amelia as the princess slapped a fist in the palm of her other hand. “Shizuri-san, Gourry-san isn't lying about his motion sickness. He wouldn't be that devious or else he'd have to be given a lecture about how unjust it is to lie.”
Lyos and Zelgadiss both gave Gourry sympathetic looks as sweat slid down the swordsman's forehead.
“But if he's not thinking about it, it doesn't bother him,” Amelia continued. “That's why he can handle flying in battle. His mind isn't thinking about the fact that he's flying. It's just thinking about the battle. It's very logical.”
“In any case,” Lina said, “when Amelia and I have our powers back, we need to go back to the tower. We need to find out what the fifth weapon can do, though I have a guess based off of what you found out. If two weapons are needed to open the gate and two more to close it, then the last one must be needed to actually destroy Darkstar. We need to see if we can find Almayce again and get him to confirm that. We also need to see if we can get our hands on the first four weapons. Valgaav's in no shape to go after them at this point and I highly doubt Xelloss will - not while we're around to do his dirty work for him.” She grinned at Filia's unladylike snort. “Then let's go check out that temple that Milgazia-san told us about. I'm going with my gut on this. The final weapon is there.”
-----
Author's Note: Thus ends attempt #1 at summoning Darkstar. For those of you trying to follow along with the the original series, these last two chapters covered the events of episodes 12, 13 and 14 of the anime. Because the group is altogether and they already know to head to the Ancient Dragon temple, the next chapter will cover a little bit of episode 19, then skip straight to episode 21. One note that I forgot to include in my last chapter is like with some of the early episodes, there's dialogue taken straight from the anime.
Pretty much everything that has happened has been explained at some point - how the whole Darkstar thing works, the Blast Sword, even Gourry's sudden forgetfulness of his motion sickness. That's actually based off of my own reactions to motion sickness. If I'm the passenger in a car, I usually get ill. But if I'm the driver, I'm able to push the illness to the back of my mind and forget it because I'm focused on driving.
I'm not quite sure how many more chapters this story will be - I'm guessing around seven chapters and one more interlude, but we are starting to head toward the end since this arc will be pushed together with the final arc of Try.

Chapter 18: A Breakdown in Negotiations ← Chapter 19: Driven Almost to Despair → Chapter 20: Picking Up the Pieces

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