Moonlight fell through the windows of the chamber. Rows upon rows of
shelves crossed the room. They contained every type of arcane text
imaginable. The library was supposed to be closed, but that didn't concern
the man reading at a table by the light of a single candle.
"Oh my. That certainly won't do." The figure casually tossed a priceless tome over his shoulder like so much garbage. He reached for another. Paging through it he sighed. "Trust the kingdom of Seyruun to have boring reading material like this." He threw a copy of "Spells for Punishing the Unjust" across the room. He picked up another book and his face brightened. "Ah, this looks promising!"
As the man read, the door to the library opened and two palace guards entered looking around cautiously.
"I'm telling you I heard a voice. You know no one is supposed to be in here at this hour."
The second guard shook his head and replied, "You're just hearing things. Remember that time that you thought." Before he could finish a book went soaring past his head, missing him by inches.
Both guards looked over at where the book had come from.
"Oh dear! I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." The man sitting at the desk looked around. "Is it really this late? I must have lost track of the time." He stood and stepped back out of the light of the candle.
"Hold it right there! Who are you and what are you doing here? The castle library is a restricted location." The guards drew their swords and advanced on the man's location.
"Gentlemen. There is no need for violence. I am only a mysterious priest." The figure stepped back into the feeble light of the candle and the guards saw a mischievous face framed by long purple hair. "As for the purpose of my visit", the priest said waving a finger at the guards, "that is a secret!" Saying this, he picked up the candle. The light revealed a pile of old scrolls around his feet.
The guards took another step forward with their swords raised. The priest opened one of his eyes. Smiling at the guards, he dropped the candle onto the pile of parchment. It caught fire instantly and quickly began to spread.
"Whoops!" Clumsy me. Luckily, I was just about done here anyway." The priest looked around with a satisfied look on his face, apparently unharmed by the flames rising around him. "Yes, I think that should be sufficient." He turned as if to leave, but stopped remembering something. "Oh, tell the Crown Princess that Xellos said hello! Bye!" Waving at the guards he vanished into thin air.
The guards heard his laughter echoing through the room for a moment before the roar of the inferno drowned it out.
Xellos stepped back into reality and looked around at his new surroundings. He was standing in a magic laboratory. Flasks full of strange concoctions and other magical tools and ingredients were scattered across tables in the dimly lit room. Along one wall were many rows of cages.
Curious, Xellos stepped over to one of the cages. Peering into it, he grinned. Inside was a pitiful creature that appeared to be wearing several major organs on the outside of its body. It was apparently in agony.
Xellos raised his staff and began to poke the creature through the bars, eliciting high-pitched screams of pain.
"Don't touch that."
Xellos turned to see a man enter the room. Zelgadis Greywords moved about the lab mixing ingredients at one table and testing the results at another.
"I see you've finished a fresh batch of chimeras Zelgadis. Do you feel better about yourself now that you've ruined a couple other lives?" Xellos put his hand in another cage and quickly pulled back when something tried to bite it off. He looked at Zelgadis for an answer.
Zelgadis just glared at him for a moment before going back to work.
Unperturbed, Xellos continued. "Chatty as ever I see. That's what I like about you." He watched as Zelgadis continued to work. "Oh, by the way. I may have discovered a way to cure you." He waited for a reaction from Zelgadis, but was disappointed when he kept on working. That was unusual. Usually he would spill or drop something when Xellos said that.
"And?"
Xellos smiled. Zelgadis could be so predictable. "Have you ever heard of a magical artifact called the Soul Render?"
Without a moment of hesitation, Zelgadis answered. "Mythical Seyruunian artifact. Supposedly constructed thousands of years ago by white priests to separate the good and evil in a person's soul. When exposed to the artifact, the good and evil in a person was separated into two separate entities. With the evil drawn out of their souls, the white mages were supposedly able to better serve their people. What you apparently missed in your research Xellos was that the Soul Render is nothing but a fairy tale."
"Oh ho! So skeptical! Well perhaps a little demonstration is in order."
Xellos had Zelgadis's attention now. He pulled a fragment of glass out of a fold in his cloak and held it up for Zelgadis's inspection.
At first glance it appeared to be a normal piece of glass to Zelgadis. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the glass had what appeared to be a gray haze over it. As he watched, the gray cloud split into two separate swirls of black and white.
Xellos gestured to a small cage on one of the tables.
"May I have a volunteer?"
Seconds later, Xellos held a strange creature that appeared to be a cross between a toad and mouse. Holding the glass in the other hand, he slowly brought his hands together until the creature was touching the glass. Grinning wickedly, he shoved the creature into the glass. There was a flash of light and then there were two identical creatures sitting on the table.
The animals turned and looked at each other. Without warning, the creature on the left jumped on its twin and tore its throat out. Turning to look at Xellos and Zelgadis the creature snarled before jumping from the table to land at Xellos's feet.
Looking at the creature with an amused look on his face, Xellos brought his staff down with a sickening crunch. He looked up at Zelgadis. "Well do you believe me now?"
Zelgadis looked at the monster with his arms crossed. "An interesting display, but in case you hadn't noticed, both of the creatures were still chimeras. Why are you wasting my time?"
Xellos sighed. Sometimes Zelgadis could be so stubborn. "I assume that creature was a combination of mundane animals? Given your unique nature, I'm sure that the mirror will have a different effect on you. You are part demon, correct? Considering that demons are inherently evil, the Soul Render should pull that part right out of you. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if without your demon component, the curse wasn't totally broken."
Zelgadis held his hand out to Xellos. "Fine. I'll check it out."
Xellos reached out to hand the fragment to Zelgadis but dropped it. The glass shattered into a million pieces before both their eyes.
Xellos looked up at Zelgadis with a malicious smile on his face. "Oops."
Before he could move, he was up against the wall with Zelgadis's hands wrapped around his throat.
Zelgadis snarled at him. "You did that on purpose!"
"No need to worry Zelgadis. There's plenty more where that came from. Besides, that fragment was too small to be worth using anyway."
He felt the chimera's grip on his throat loosen.
"Where?"
"In the charming little village of Cruso."
************************************************************************
The sun had begun to set on another hot summer day. Throughout the forest, the sounds of night were beginning to sound. Crickets were chirping. In the distance, bats could be seen awakening from their daily slumber and taking flight. Afternoon was quickly becoming twilight.
A cloaked woman walked along the forest path. On her back she carried a large sack that was stuffed with an assortment of breads and meats. She stopped in a clearing and looked around.
"Hmm. I could have sworn that the house was this way. I must have gotten turned around back there." She looked around at the numerous paths leading out of the clearing. As she was about to move down another path, a crash sounded in the forest. Looking up, she saw a tree beginning to fall. She barely avoided being crushed by leaping backwards. She stared up her eyes widening.
"Wow."
Standing before the woman was the largest bear she had ever seen. It appeared to be about twelve feet tall at the shoulder and was almost as wide. The bear roared at her again and began to advance.
"Whatever. Fireball!"
With a wave of her hand, the sorceress flash fried the bear where it was standing. It crashed to the forest floor spooking several birds that had been roosting nearby. Smiling the sorceress pulled back the hood of her cloak to reveal her face.
Lina looked as if she had hardly aged a day. She was a little taller than in her younger days and her body had finally filled out into a more womanly shape. She wore her hair a lot shorter and she was just beginning to get wrinkles around her eyes. All in all, she looked pretty good for a woman in her mid forties.
Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Lina turned to see a figure emerging from the woods. Her face lit up and she waved excitedly while calling out his name.
Gourry looked up and smiled. "Lina! Where have you been? I'm starving!"
Gourry's appearance had changed a little over the previous years. His long blond hair was braided and he had a little bit of gray around his temples. He'd also grown a short beard.
Lina waved Gourry over. "Never mind that! Look at this! You think that this is the bear that's been attacking the villagers?"
Gourry looked at her with a confused expression.
Lina sighed. "You know. The one that they offered a reward for?"
Gourry grinned. "Hey, I think you're right! This will keep us in food for weeks. Well, days maybe."
While the two were congratulating themselves on their good fortune a strange creature watched them from the shadows.
"Stop hogging all of the bread!"
Sitting at the table in their modest home, Lina and Gourry were locked in fierce combat over the last piece of bear meat.
"Come on Lina! You've had more than your share!" Gourry said as he deflected one of Lina's stabs at the steak in the middle of the table.
"What are you talking about? I saw how much you got! Are you trying to starve me?"
The fight at the table threatened to get ugly, until the sound of an explosion rattled the windows of the cabin. Lina looked up, surprised. Seeing his opportunity, Gourry speared the steak with his fork and put the entire thing in his mouth.
Lina looked back down at her plate. "What was that? Argh! You ate my steak!" She glared at Gourry who was doing his best not to choke.
Gourry spoke around the food he was chewing. "Whhaaf mooo thnnk it wush?"
Lina, used to Gourry speaking with his mouth full, answered. "It sounded like an explosion." She got up and looked out the window. She quickly turned back to Gourry. "It looks like Cruso is on fire!"
Minutes later, Lina and Gourry had reached the outskirts of the village. They saw that many of the houses were on fire and there were several villagers lying dead in the streets. Running through the carnage and chasing down villagers were strange creatures.
"What the hell is that?" asked Lina pointing at one of the creatures. It looked almost like a wolf, but instead of fur it was covered with a crimson carapace almost like a crab.
Hearing the sound of Lina's voice, two of the crab-wolves stopped their pursuit of an elderly man and turned towards Lina. They advanced on her making strange noises that might have been growls.
Lina was unfazed. "Gourry, take care of these things would you? She turned to see Gourry about twenty feet away from her and sprinting towards a large house. "Hey! Come back here you coward!"
Lina was capable of taking care of herself Gourry thought. He was more concerned with what he saw in the house. He could see two children in a second story window. They called out for help.
Running at top speed, he slammed into the front door with his shoulder. The door was already burned nearly through and gave effortlessly.
Now inside, Gourry looked around the blazing building. It was difficult to see as most of the house was filled with smoke. He found what he was looking for. Trying to avoid the worst of the flames, he sprinted towards the stairs leading up to the second floor.
Outside, Lina was about to cast a fireball on the creatures when a voice interrupted her.
"Stop."
The two creatures looked up when they heard the voice. They whined in protest, but moved away from Lina.
Satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, Lina turned to where the voice had originated. Her eyes stung because of the smoke, but she had to see. She recognized that voice. A man came striding through the flames of a burning building.
"Lina Inverse. It's been a while."
Lina gasped when she recognized the man. It was as if he had stepped out of her past. Twenty eight years had come and gone, yet for him it looked like it could have been a day.
"Zelgadis?"
************************************************************************
Next Chapter: Zelgadis has returned after nearly thirty years and Lina's life will never be the same. What is he after? And why is Xellos involved?
"Oh my. That certainly won't do." The figure casually tossed a priceless tome over his shoulder like so much garbage. He reached for another. Paging through it he sighed. "Trust the kingdom of Seyruun to have boring reading material like this." He threw a copy of "Spells for Punishing the Unjust" across the room. He picked up another book and his face brightened. "Ah, this looks promising!"
As the man read, the door to the library opened and two palace guards entered looking around cautiously.
"I'm telling you I heard a voice. You know no one is supposed to be in here at this hour."
The second guard shook his head and replied, "You're just hearing things. Remember that time that you thought." Before he could finish a book went soaring past his head, missing him by inches.
Both guards looked over at where the book had come from.
"Oh dear! I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." The man sitting at the desk looked around. "Is it really this late? I must have lost track of the time." He stood and stepped back out of the light of the candle.
"Hold it right there! Who are you and what are you doing here? The castle library is a restricted location." The guards drew their swords and advanced on the man's location.
"Gentlemen. There is no need for violence. I am only a mysterious priest." The figure stepped back into the feeble light of the candle and the guards saw a mischievous face framed by long purple hair. "As for the purpose of my visit", the priest said waving a finger at the guards, "that is a secret!" Saying this, he picked up the candle. The light revealed a pile of old scrolls around his feet.
The guards took another step forward with their swords raised. The priest opened one of his eyes. Smiling at the guards, he dropped the candle onto the pile of parchment. It caught fire instantly and quickly began to spread.
"Whoops!" Clumsy me. Luckily, I was just about done here anyway." The priest looked around with a satisfied look on his face, apparently unharmed by the flames rising around him. "Yes, I think that should be sufficient." He turned as if to leave, but stopped remembering something. "Oh, tell the Crown Princess that Xellos said hello! Bye!" Waving at the guards he vanished into thin air.
The guards heard his laughter echoing through the room for a moment before the roar of the inferno drowned it out.
Xellos stepped back into reality and looked around at his new surroundings. He was standing in a magic laboratory. Flasks full of strange concoctions and other magical tools and ingredients were scattered across tables in the dimly lit room. Along one wall were many rows of cages.
Curious, Xellos stepped over to one of the cages. Peering into it, he grinned. Inside was a pitiful creature that appeared to be wearing several major organs on the outside of its body. It was apparently in agony.
Xellos raised his staff and began to poke the creature through the bars, eliciting high-pitched screams of pain.
"Don't touch that."
Xellos turned to see a man enter the room. Zelgadis Greywords moved about the lab mixing ingredients at one table and testing the results at another.
"I see you've finished a fresh batch of chimeras Zelgadis. Do you feel better about yourself now that you've ruined a couple other lives?" Xellos put his hand in another cage and quickly pulled back when something tried to bite it off. He looked at Zelgadis for an answer.
Zelgadis just glared at him for a moment before going back to work.
Unperturbed, Xellos continued. "Chatty as ever I see. That's what I like about you." He watched as Zelgadis continued to work. "Oh, by the way. I may have discovered a way to cure you." He waited for a reaction from Zelgadis, but was disappointed when he kept on working. That was unusual. Usually he would spill or drop something when Xellos said that.
"And?"
Xellos smiled. Zelgadis could be so predictable. "Have you ever heard of a magical artifact called the Soul Render?"
Without a moment of hesitation, Zelgadis answered. "Mythical Seyruunian artifact. Supposedly constructed thousands of years ago by white priests to separate the good and evil in a person's soul. When exposed to the artifact, the good and evil in a person was separated into two separate entities. With the evil drawn out of their souls, the white mages were supposedly able to better serve their people. What you apparently missed in your research Xellos was that the Soul Render is nothing but a fairy tale."
"Oh ho! So skeptical! Well perhaps a little demonstration is in order."
Xellos had Zelgadis's attention now. He pulled a fragment of glass out of a fold in his cloak and held it up for Zelgadis's inspection.
At first glance it appeared to be a normal piece of glass to Zelgadis. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the glass had what appeared to be a gray haze over it. As he watched, the gray cloud split into two separate swirls of black and white.
Xellos gestured to a small cage on one of the tables.
"May I have a volunteer?"
Seconds later, Xellos held a strange creature that appeared to be a cross between a toad and mouse. Holding the glass in the other hand, he slowly brought his hands together until the creature was touching the glass. Grinning wickedly, he shoved the creature into the glass. There was a flash of light and then there were two identical creatures sitting on the table.
The animals turned and looked at each other. Without warning, the creature on the left jumped on its twin and tore its throat out. Turning to look at Xellos and Zelgadis the creature snarled before jumping from the table to land at Xellos's feet.
Looking at the creature with an amused look on his face, Xellos brought his staff down with a sickening crunch. He looked up at Zelgadis. "Well do you believe me now?"
Zelgadis looked at the monster with his arms crossed. "An interesting display, but in case you hadn't noticed, both of the creatures were still chimeras. Why are you wasting my time?"
Xellos sighed. Sometimes Zelgadis could be so stubborn. "I assume that creature was a combination of mundane animals? Given your unique nature, I'm sure that the mirror will have a different effect on you. You are part demon, correct? Considering that demons are inherently evil, the Soul Render should pull that part right out of you. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if without your demon component, the curse wasn't totally broken."
Zelgadis held his hand out to Xellos. "Fine. I'll check it out."
Xellos reached out to hand the fragment to Zelgadis but dropped it. The glass shattered into a million pieces before both their eyes.
Xellos looked up at Zelgadis with a malicious smile on his face. "Oops."
Before he could move, he was up against the wall with Zelgadis's hands wrapped around his throat.
Zelgadis snarled at him. "You did that on purpose!"
"No need to worry Zelgadis. There's plenty more where that came from. Besides, that fragment was too small to be worth using anyway."
He felt the chimera's grip on his throat loosen.
"Where?"
"In the charming little village of Cruso."
************************************************************************
The sun had begun to set on another hot summer day. Throughout the forest, the sounds of night were beginning to sound. Crickets were chirping. In the distance, bats could be seen awakening from their daily slumber and taking flight. Afternoon was quickly becoming twilight.
A cloaked woman walked along the forest path. On her back she carried a large sack that was stuffed with an assortment of breads and meats. She stopped in a clearing and looked around.
"Hmm. I could have sworn that the house was this way. I must have gotten turned around back there." She looked around at the numerous paths leading out of the clearing. As she was about to move down another path, a crash sounded in the forest. Looking up, she saw a tree beginning to fall. She barely avoided being crushed by leaping backwards. She stared up her eyes widening.
"Wow."
Standing before the woman was the largest bear she had ever seen. It appeared to be about twelve feet tall at the shoulder and was almost as wide. The bear roared at her again and began to advance.
"Whatever. Fireball!"
With a wave of her hand, the sorceress flash fried the bear where it was standing. It crashed to the forest floor spooking several birds that had been roosting nearby. Smiling the sorceress pulled back the hood of her cloak to reveal her face.
Lina looked as if she had hardly aged a day. She was a little taller than in her younger days and her body had finally filled out into a more womanly shape. She wore her hair a lot shorter and she was just beginning to get wrinkles around her eyes. All in all, she looked pretty good for a woman in her mid forties.
Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Lina turned to see a figure emerging from the woods. Her face lit up and she waved excitedly while calling out his name.
Gourry looked up and smiled. "Lina! Where have you been? I'm starving!"
Gourry's appearance had changed a little over the previous years. His long blond hair was braided and he had a little bit of gray around his temples. He'd also grown a short beard.
Lina waved Gourry over. "Never mind that! Look at this! You think that this is the bear that's been attacking the villagers?"
Gourry looked at her with a confused expression.
Lina sighed. "You know. The one that they offered a reward for?"
Gourry grinned. "Hey, I think you're right! This will keep us in food for weeks. Well, days maybe."
While the two were congratulating themselves on their good fortune a strange creature watched them from the shadows.
"Stop hogging all of the bread!"
Sitting at the table in their modest home, Lina and Gourry were locked in fierce combat over the last piece of bear meat.
"Come on Lina! You've had more than your share!" Gourry said as he deflected one of Lina's stabs at the steak in the middle of the table.
"What are you talking about? I saw how much you got! Are you trying to starve me?"
The fight at the table threatened to get ugly, until the sound of an explosion rattled the windows of the cabin. Lina looked up, surprised. Seeing his opportunity, Gourry speared the steak with his fork and put the entire thing in his mouth.
Lina looked back down at her plate. "What was that? Argh! You ate my steak!" She glared at Gourry who was doing his best not to choke.
Gourry spoke around the food he was chewing. "Whhaaf mooo thnnk it wush?"
Lina, used to Gourry speaking with his mouth full, answered. "It sounded like an explosion." She got up and looked out the window. She quickly turned back to Gourry. "It looks like Cruso is on fire!"
Minutes later, Lina and Gourry had reached the outskirts of the village. They saw that many of the houses were on fire and there were several villagers lying dead in the streets. Running through the carnage and chasing down villagers were strange creatures.
"What the hell is that?" asked Lina pointing at one of the creatures. It looked almost like a wolf, but instead of fur it was covered with a crimson carapace almost like a crab.
Hearing the sound of Lina's voice, two of the crab-wolves stopped their pursuit of an elderly man and turned towards Lina. They advanced on her making strange noises that might have been growls.
Lina was unfazed. "Gourry, take care of these things would you? She turned to see Gourry about twenty feet away from her and sprinting towards a large house. "Hey! Come back here you coward!"
Lina was capable of taking care of herself Gourry thought. He was more concerned with what he saw in the house. He could see two children in a second story window. They called out for help.
Running at top speed, he slammed into the front door with his shoulder. The door was already burned nearly through and gave effortlessly.
Now inside, Gourry looked around the blazing building. It was difficult to see as most of the house was filled with smoke. He found what he was looking for. Trying to avoid the worst of the flames, he sprinted towards the stairs leading up to the second floor.
Outside, Lina was about to cast a fireball on the creatures when a voice interrupted her.
"Stop."
The two creatures looked up when they heard the voice. They whined in protest, but moved away from Lina.
Satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, Lina turned to where the voice had originated. Her eyes stung because of the smoke, but she had to see. She recognized that voice. A man came striding through the flames of a burning building.
"Lina Inverse. It's been a while."
Lina gasped when she recognized the man. It was as if he had stepped out of her past. Twenty eight years had come and gone, yet for him it looked like it could have been a day.
"Zelgadis?"
************************************************************************
Next Chapter: Zelgadis has returned after nearly thirty years and Lina's life will never be the same. What is he after? And why is Xellos involved?