Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Note that the Dark Star plotline doesn't exist.[spoiler=Episode 1: Ceiphied is a Human?! Luna's Quest Begins!]It had been a fairly normal day, Athetia van Phœnios mused, considering the inhabitants of her town. Foremost among these lords of havoc were the Phœnios clan themselves, and among those, Athetia's children. All of them were magic scholars; their favorite pastime was therefore to either experiment with the mystic arts or, more commonly, irritate each other — and the town's inhabitants — with their wrestling, weaponsplay, and sorcery. Nothing was different today: Athetia's chillingly calm oldest child, Voratia, had managed to create a spell that would rain carrots, but she had unwittingly rained them on the Teseios clan's children when her siblings, Beseos, Yeratia, and especially Kinoitia, had forced them into impact range. Fortunately, they had recently learned the Mono Volt, and were quickly able to subdue them after they broke free, utterly incensed. The Phœnios clan discussed the matter over dinner. "You guys had just better be glad I didn't spot my error," Voratia snarled as she seated herself at the head of the table, her black-and-gold silk cloak swirling over the back of the chair. As she was by far the most potent mage among them — indeed, the most prodigious in the city — the town's children often took advantage of her experimentation to get on each other's nerves. She did not appreciate such exploitation. "Those things were supposed to be daggers." "They weren't, though, were they?" Kinoitia, the youngest daughter, was so bouncy and optimistic that no one could really stay angry at her, cynical Voratia included. She also had a demonic pair of puppy eyes. "Besides, it's not like we don't know Windy Shield," Beseos shrugged. He wasn't much younger than Voratia, and therefore had a relatively impressive influence on her, though she indubitably had considerable authority over him. "Yes, because I'm sure you would have reacted in time." Voratia had a habit of looking down on others, though her ego was far from undeserved. "'Course we would have!" fiery Yeratia snapped indignantly. "'Specially Beseos. He wouldn't'a missed with that." "You say that in retrospect only," Voratia sighed. "Well, we know your experiments usually don't work anyway!" Yeratia complained. Bad move. The dark-haired prodigy instantly rose, toppling her chair as she did so. "Lords of the dark skies," she chanted furiously as her cloak swirled in a miniaturized tornado, "bear my iron wrath o'er —" "N-not that they aren't good when they do!" Yeratia squeaked, curled up in the corner. Athetia restrained the urge to laugh; her children were certainly amusing. "I have to say," a sandy-haired man seated next to Athetia interjected, "they probably would react in time to a hail of daggers. They were certainly quick on the draw with Mono Volt when Crasios and Lorietia broke out of their vegetable prisons." Now Athetia chuckled. She'd chosen Gaios for his sense of humor, after all. "That was epic, wasn't it?" Beseos laughed. He basically looked, sounded, and behaved like a younger, clean-shaven version of his father, so obviously, he was among the most popular children in the city. "You bet!" Kinoitia's laughter was a delectable sound. "The looks on their faces..." Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door to the small cottage in which the Phœnios clan resided. Gaios slowly ambled over to the door, waiting for his own good humor's seizure of his family to pass. He opened the door... and froze. "Good to see you remember Us," the robed figure intoned in a withered voice. His robes were colored like dried blood, though they were made of simple linen. "Ivoad...?" Gaios murmured incredulously. Recognzing the name, Athetia slowly rose. "Voratia," she whispered, "keep the others in here. I'm going to deal with them." "Don't need to tell me twice." Voratia was the only child old enough to recognize Ivoad. Her memories of him and his compatriots weren't exactly fond. "And the Ægallonna in general," Ivoad finished cryptically. "How many times have I told you guys I was disassociated?" Gaois growled. "Enough," the old man reassured him. "We simply wish to tell you that Our mission was successful." "...what?" the younger elf gasped. "Indeed," Ivoad smiled, though the gesture chilled his quondam compatriot to the bone. "I will assume by your surprise that you recall what Our mission was." "To offer the Dark Golden Lord's incarnation unto herself," Gaios said warily. "But your oracles claimed there was no such incarnation." "Needless to say, Eadbyrlin was wrong," the robed man finished pleasantly. "The defeat of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu made us rethink, naturally. After Gaav and Fibrizo fell, the doubt was all but eliminated." "So you managed to seize this incarnation," Gaios inferred, though still cautious. "Yes, though she proved far more difficult an intellecutal target than we had anticipated," Ivoad admitted. "And she was closer to your daughter's age than yours." There was a long silence. "Well?" the cult member prompted. "Why are you telling me this?" the blond elf inquired suspiciously. "I'm not really sure," Ivoad admitted. "Still, I got the order straight from Arte Smetorca... and the Arte Council is rather difficult to circumvent. All former Ægallonna are being informed of our recent triumph," he added, "so don't feel too special." "I won't," Gaios assured his former companion. Yet. He mentioned the incarnation's age... He has to have done that for a reason. To touch a nerve, or... to imply something about Voratia?" "Granted, I would offer an invitation back into the fold," Ivoad said tantalizingly, "if I thought you would accept. A warlock of your caliber is always welcome among the Ægallonna... it's not like we can have enough." The old man stepped down, closing the door behind him. •••••••• "So?" Voratia asked anxiously as Gaios and Athetia reentered the dining room. "They aren't calling me back," her father informed her, sounding as relieved as she felt. "Just telling me their mission was a success." And mentioning a few unnecessary particulars. "There's more to it, isn't there." It wasn't a question. "...Yes," Gaios admitted. "Ivoad was always known for keeping secrets... he was always screwing up minor missions because he didn't tell his troops enough... but he told me loads I didn't need to know. And I don't think he was lying, either." "He wasn't." Athetia was an elven polygraph; she had mastered magical tests of veracity to the degree that she could cast them subconsciously. "Not unless he was driven mad by the Ægallonna." "I doubt he was," her husband sighed. "He was a captain even when I left." "Wait, what?" Beseos demanded, suddenly nervous. "Who are the Ægallonna?" "A cult dedicated to the Lord of Nightmares," Voratia explained curtly. "What particulars did he mention?" "The age of the Dark Golden Lord's incarnation stood out," Gaios said darkly. "He said she was closer to your age than mine." "He mentioned me?" The prodigy was understandably alarmed. "I was, what, two when you left?" "Yeah," her father sighed. "And you are quite a powerful mage. Your acute memories of the Ægallonna... the fact that you can actually control your experiments..." "Mages everywhere experiment," Yeratia pointed out. "What makes her so special?" "Well, she can control them," Athetia explained. "Ever heard of Naga the Serpent?" This was a rhetorical question. The Pillager Queen was legendary along the elven peninsula, and the stories of her were always the favorites of everyone except Voratia; the latter preferred those detailing the Dramatta. Silence fell over the table as they fell into deep thought. Naga was known by Voratia mainly as a mage who gave Lina Inverse a run for her precious money; being compared favorably to her was an honor which, in the context, had terrifying implications. "You think they might come after me?" Voratia finally murmured. "Now that you mention it," Gaios said slowly, "...yes." Another knock interrupted the dread silence. Gaios rose, this time accompanied by the whole family. This time, an attractive, dark-haired man of about Voratia's age appeared on the porch. He was accompanied by a man who was presumedly his father, at about Gaios's age of 35. "A little bird told me the Ægallonna are after your daughter," the older man explained. "Figures he'd tell you, too," the blond elf sighed. "You always had a plan. You got one now?" "My son is an acquaintance of a human princess," the other father explained. "Saillune is relatively nearby. If we could sneak there, we should be exempt of Ægallonna's influence." "Y-you know Amelia von Saillune?" Gaios stammered. "Aye," the youngest man indicated. "And she could probably hook us up with some even more powerful allies." There was no need to say he was speaking of the Dramatta's old friends. "The safest place in the world from an evil cult," Gaios agreed, "is wherever Lina Inverse happens to be. Let's go." •••••••• Thank you, Dark Golden Lord, Arcied thought reverently. If she did have to mortalize me, at least she let me look good. The clothing — in his case, a well-ornamented set of gleaming white-and-gold armor panoply, along with a blue-black cape pinned to the breastplate by a spherical moonstone — was quite impressive, though this could be skewed: Arcied granted the same getup to his male Knights. He'd actually been referring to his fairly handsome appearance: a twenty-year-old man with silver hair and eyes that managed to look impossibly youthful. He supposed such was suitable for someone who had once been immortal. Arcied marvelled at how well his disguise functioned as he observed the building before him. Architecturally, it consisted of little more than two enormous arches connected by strips of wood. These, however, were magically reinforced — by enchantments that were quite powerful by fortress standards. The explanation for the impenetrable restaurant was explained by the sign in front of the building. INVERSE CAFE Numerous graffiti artists had plastered worshipful messages about the cafe's operator on the sign; evidently, Luna's publicity managers hadn't necessarily objected. On the other hand, the place was now so busy Arcied wondered if his favorite Knight had time to even glance at the sign. He entered and gaped. There were literally no seats — not that people weren't trying to remedy this problem. Someone occupied every square centimeter of flat space in the building. After re-appraising the situation, he noted that only about a third of the people there were actually eating; the others were ordering shell-less escargot or simply sitting around. He strolled over to a seat occupied only by a group of shirtless thugs. He wouldn't at all be surprised if these people were refugees from some bandit group Lina had incinerated who simply sought protection from The Only One She Ever Feared That Isn't A Slug. "As you are obviously not patrons of this restaurant," Arcied requested calmly, "may you please leave the area? Slugs are obviously for sale." There was a great deal of unintelligible protest. Arcied assumed about 80 percent of it was profane. "In that case, I shall simly have to transplant you," he warned, his silver eyes glinting dangerously. He had now provoked an openly hostile response. He saw his favorite Knight out of the corner of his eye. Now he had to get her attention. Not a problem. "EXPLOSION ARRAY!" he bellowed. The brigands left well-defined holes in the ceiling as they blasted away. "Er..." Luna Inverse was a bit taken aback. "I take it you wanted to see me?" "Privately, yes. I have an, ah... request... to make of you." "Ah." Luna had been prepared for such; after all, it had only been a year since Filia ul Copt had demanded such from a similar situation. "Windy Shield." "I don't suppose you recognize me?" Arcied offered. Luna appraised him for several seconds. "You do look familiar," she decided, "though I can't put a name to you." "Here's a hint," he said darkly. "Eirægia... sæ-cia-ostia... valajia-sesaji... aijedæ bastia... FLAME BREATH!" He sent the blast of divine fire straight down... and emerged unharmed from the reflected blast. There was a long silence. Finally, the older Inverse child spoke, if in painfully quiet tones. "...Ceiphied..." "Aye," the master Shinzoku admitted, though he wasn't sure if his Knight had been identifying him or simply expressing surprise at his power. "The Lord of Nightmares has mortalized my remnants to complete a mission. I figure I might as well invoke your strength as well." Luna snapped out of her recovering shock. "W-what is this mission about?" she asked quickly, blushing. Arcied averted his eye contact, determinedly fixing his gaze on the window behind his Knight and not going any lower than her eyes. "Your sister." "Go figure." "A cult of the Dark Golden Lord called the Ægallonna have imprisoned her. But don't worry, it gets worse," he assured her. "This cult has to be incredibly powerful to best Lina," Luna said ominously. "She's better than I am, though she won't admit it." "Well, that's where it gets worse," the human Ceiphied explained. "They've drained all of her magical energy into the Sea of Chaos... and people have a tendency to greatly overestimate the potency of the Sea. That amount of magical power is now just floating about between the Four Worlds. "So the magical equilibrium along the Sea of Chaos has been distorted by a single person?" the Knight said dubiously. "Exactly," Arcied confirmed. "This person, keep in mind, is the Lord of Nightmares incarnate. Said deity is very displeased with this, and has thus dispatched me to perform the ritual which will return her powers. The thing is, though, we have to have Lina herself... and thus will need to retrieve her. The Ægallonna, I'm afraid, are as powerful as they sound; thus, I request your assistance." "N-naturally," Luna agreed, still stunned. "I'd be honored." "Let's go, then." He paused as he worked out a timeframe for their journey. "Tomorrow morning should suffice, if you'd like to set your affairs in order." He rose and walked out of the restaurant, concentrating on not looking back. [spoiler=Episode II: The Ragnarøk Brigade! Where Can't Ægallonna See?]A/N: I'm italicizing Slayers GODS-D from now on. 'Cuz it's cool like that. Anyway, more main characters and the main subplot (counterintuitive, no?) are introduced here. Basically, Xellos & Metallium, the Ragnarøk Brigade, and Dilgear. Because we couldn't have Luna without Spot. Enjoy Slayers: GODS-D. ^_^ ~~Slayers GODS-D~~ ~~Episode 2: The Ragnarøk Brigade! Where Can't Ægallonna See?~~ Darkness began to overtake light as the dusk passed. As it did so, Crasios and Lorietia Tereios crept down to a certain cottage to assail its inhabitants. "Vengeance will be ours!" Lorietia giggled cruelly. Her brother emphatically agreed as they tiptoed — loudly — down to the cottage. Despite their total failure at stealth, the siblings were undetected. Naturally, as is inevitable with such foil characters, they let this go to their heads and snickered at the Phœnios clan's apparent ignorance. "Ready?" Lorietia was bursting with excitement. "You bet," Crasios confirmed, equally gleeful. Lorietia kicked the door off its hinges. "Attack!" she screeched. Crasios soon followed. "EXPLOSION ARRAY!" he roared. The result was impressive; the carefully set dinner table knocked shingles off the roof. No reaction. They were already long gone. •••••••• "Do not whine," Voratia warned preemptively. "I swear, I will make that into a sign." Her siblings weren't taking their transplant well at all. They had spent the last several hours annoying the... living daylights... out of their unfortunate sister, much to the parents' displeasure. The boy, named Kygeos, was fairly quiet, but he was painfully optimistic; certainly, he was too pleasant for anyone as pessimistically cynical as Voratia to tolerate properly. "So... how is Amelia?" Beseos asked vaguely as the group treated themselves to a hunted breakfast. "Pretty much like the stories say," Kygeos mused. "A very righteous person. Great to be around." "Overly righteous?" Yeratia demanded. Kygeos shrank back and sweatdropped. "Uh... I never noticed," he said nervously, attempting to pacify his interrogator. Yeratia was left to ponder this. "I don't think you can be overly righteous," Kinoitia laughed. She sank into a fit of giggles for no particular reason. "Um..." The black-haired man surveyed the youngest Phœnios, puzzled. "She does that," Voratia clarified unhappily. She returned to her sketches and equations. Her original premise had functioned based on her Slasher Siege spell, which would fire daggers at the opponent on a gust of wind. Originally, she had simply altered the invocation, resulting in the Naughtblade Earth spell, which summoned a sword for the user to wield. While this suited the young fencer just fine, she really wanted to summon the blades much higher up and then send them down. Forcefully. The problem could be remedied, she had decided, with projection. Not a specialty of Earth shamanism; if anything, it could barely travel. She supposed she could return to her field of choice — that is, Air shamanism — and change the direction of Slasher Siege. It didn't work. It summoned the daggers immediately in front of her. She barely escaped. She had then attempted a parabolic projection with a fairly simple premise. Assuming that the area immediately in front of the spellcaster was the abscissa, one could theoretically summon daggers anywhere one chose, so long as one followed a parabola specified by the spell's arithmantic leylines. Her error had been in miscalculating where the daggers would fall. By casting the spell in front of her, she had immediately disabled the parabola, and so tapped into forces she hadn't programmed; hence, carrots. She glared over her sketch. Apparently, she was to cast the spell 0.4074 meters behind her in order to fit the parabola at the abscissa. Then, she needed to keep it cloaked for thirteen point nine square meters until it was exactly six meters in front of her... She began scribbling down various arithmantic invocations, desperately trying to block out the noise around her. It didn't work. "'Course there is!" Yeratia barked irately. "I meane, if it annoys you, it's too righteous!" "She never annoyed me," Kygeos defended himself, still taken aback by Yeratia's strong emotions. Yeratia screeched, "There you go, then!" much to Beseos's irritation. "Stop tormenting him," he ordered. "Honestly, you do this to everyone." The angry girl's eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh, really?" she challenged. Cue fight cloud. Not good for Voratia's concentration... or her siblings' health. "EXPLOSION ARRAY! "Let me concentrate, damnit!" she barked after sending her comrades into a sprawl on the ground. She then returned to her painstaking graphing, while the others just stared at the obsessed sorceress. •••••••• "They aren't exactly trying to be stealthy," Þrúðgelmir muttered, lowering his spyglass from his single eye with severe distaste. "For a reason," Fenja reminded her cyclopean comrade cryptically. "They can't be relying on brute defensive force..." the giant murmured, surprisingly quiet. "Can they?" "Whether or not they can," the girl mused, swiping her vixen's tail to and fro as she pondered the situation, "it seems they are. If it comes down to it, they'll probably rely more on Voratia than anyone else." "Well, why should we wonder?" Þruðgelmir offered. He heaved himself into a standing position. "What are you saying...?" the vixen murmured, confused. "We have the resources to attack them," the mammoth warrior poined out, beginning to lumber away. He was barely concealed by his forest environment; if not for their distance from the group, Fenja was certain Voratia, if no one else, would detect them. "It doesn't have to be a big thing — we can let them win. "Maybe we can even drop a clue about the Ragnarøk Brigade, so they'll think we're against them. They won't think we're spying on them, because otherwise, we'll attack again. Whaddaya say?" he finished, smiling. Fenja considered. Though Þruðgelmir was by no means unintelligent, this was an exceptionally well-thought-out plan, despite its brash intentions. Still, only one higher-up in the Ragnarøk Brigade was at all interested in the Phœnios Clan. Fortunately, this was the highest-up. "I don't see a problem," Fenja decided, jumping into the cyclops's hand, which was roughly the size of an average armchair. As he lifted her to his shoulder, she cautioned him, "We should ask Heimdall for the reinforcements." "Will he be interested?" Þruðgelmir replied nervously. "He sent us here," the fox-girl pointed out. "Personally. I highly doubt he'd dismiss the matter readily." "Let's go, then," the giant decided, continuing to lumber away from the dysfunctional Phœnios clan's caravan. •••••••• Well, here she was. Traveling alongside her deity-master who would not look her in the eye if she got even remotely flustered, searching for the old friends of her estranged younger sister, hoping to rescue her powerless self from a doomsday cult dedicated to the deity incarnate in her. Pretty ridiculous. On the other hand, she didn't see many better ideas. Glancing down at her map again, she assured herself of just how convenient the conept really was. From Zephyria, the group could sweep down through Saillune, travel through the Alliance of Coastal States and a small section of the hostile Ralteague kingdom, and reach the newly-formed kingdom of Sairaag. In the process, at least three allies would be gained, or so Ceiphied — er, Arcied — had told her. Still, she was a bit skeptical about the usefulness of these friends. Arcied had described them as "naïve," "stupid," and "pacifistic," in the order they would probably be recruited in. Unfortunately, he had claimed, the most competent of her allies — an intriguing young chimæra and a Mazoku General — were the only ones who had disappeared. "Sylphiel can Dragon Slave like Lina, though, if she feels like it," the Makmute (apparently, a dragon who took human form by sealing his or her own power) had warned her. She'd have to keep that in mind for their negotiations with Sairaag's new queen. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted an incredibly bizarre sight: a man leading a group of much smaller animals through a forest. The queer bit was that the taller trees of the forest barely outstripped the man in height. "Er, Arcied...?" She pointed, knowing her companion-superior would be aware of her intentions. "What the...?" Somehow, the former god was as clueless as she was. "Since when have anthropomorphs banded together? Let alone giants." "Hold on a moment," Luna gasped. She had just remembered something rather important. "We absolutely can find out what's going on without hostile confrontation... but we need to go back to the restaurant." Arcied cocked an eyebrow but said nothing as he turned on a dime and began marching to whence he came. Luna did thus as well. Forgive me, Spot. •••••••• "Y-you're certain that your Heimdall will want to know about an ordinary recruit?" Dilgear stammered. When Luna had asked him to join the Ragnarøk Brigade, she hadn't mentioned the leader at all. Besides, if the bureaucracy was taking such interest in him already, his cover couldn't be very strong. There had better be a reason, he thought anxiously. There was, much to his relief. "The Ragnarøk Brigade is deceptively small," the bear named Odin explained. "There aren't very many of us at all — but we get by on our disguises, skills, and... potent... healers." He decided to gloss over the details of Frigg's ward and move on; he probably wouldn't be able to escape the topic without adding gratuitous flattery. "The end result," he finished, "is a small-town community. Everyone knows everyone... except, of course, Heimdall." "He keeps himself aloof?" Dilgear guessed. He had some experience with gang leaders. "Exactly," Odin frowned. "He keeps his agenda completely secret; none of us are sure what he's after. We follow him because we agree with his ideology, and because he's powerful enough to keep us in line. He never even lowers his hood." The bear sighed. "Oh, well. See for yourself; we're here. Lord Heimdall!" he roared, his head inflating to inane proportions; Dilgear shrank back, recalling the others he had known whose sizes so comically changed. The wall fell down. The wolf stared. A man in a grey-brown cloak was seated on an extremely uncomfortable rock throne. He was twirling a hand-and-a-half sword absentmindedly in his gloved hands, apparently deep in thought. Only the shadows of his hood concealed his face, but they did so well: even with his keen vision, Dilgear couldn't penetrate the darkness at all. Heimdall raised a hand; his cloak kept his skin completely concealed. Dilgear briefly wondered if he had skin at all as he beckoned for him to approach. Odin fell back, bowing slightly. Heimdall whispered a few words; the wall promptly reassembled itself. A few more: Windy Shield had been cast. He lowered his hood. Dilgear stared. He wasn't getting out of this anytime soon. Even a full-powered Lina would fear Heimdall's true identity. •••••••• Dinnertime for the Phœnios caravan. Not a good time for the Phœnios caravan. As usual, Voratia was seated well away from the group, poring over her schematics for her new dagger-raining spell. The others were eating and discussing, mainly about Kygeos, his father Lord Maukaos von Sesquevillia, and Amelia Wil Telsa von Saillune. "So... how's the food?" Athetia asked of the party. "'S great!" the disguised nobleman affirmed, though his mouth was full. "Good as always," Gaios reassured his wife, smiling as radiantly as his genki-girl daughter ever did. Said daughter was basically doing the same thing. Athetia sighed momentarily. Her family was actually having thirds; she knew by now that she had to make fairly small portions, as Voratia's appetite was painfully small. She ate little at mealtimes, preferring to keep some of Athetia's snacks on her while she studied and experimented. Yeretia and Kinoitia began squabbling over a piece of meat; it was moving so quickly even Athetia couldn't identify it. Kygeos sighed happily. "Kinda like how Amelia described her pals," he smirked when Gaios offered him an inquisitive glance. The father sat back and continued eating, only to be startled greatly by his oldest child's whispering in his ear: "We're being watched. I don't know by whom. Beware." She retreated to her schematic, frowning as her eyes darted over the parchment so quickly they were reduced to silver blurs. She turned towards the forest and now cut in loudly: "I'm gonna test my spell again, if any of you idiots care." They did; all attention was immediately focused on her rather than Athetia's excellent cooking. Voratia raised her right hand to her forehead, her left gripping her spatha, as she chanted: "Eternal wind, sweeping the wicked in its wake, reveal thy wrath to the wretches below! SLASHER TYPHOON!" She whirled around, cape swirling, as she swung her blade behind her. Slashing it over her head, she stared and waited. Extremely sharp kunai were soon falling a good nine meters above the ground, six meters away. A wolf and fox anthropomorph leaped out of seemingly nowhere to avoid the mælström of knives. "Fenrir!" the fox yelped. She was female, obviously. "I know!" the wolf Fenrir replied, succeeding in a backflip despite his bulk. "Let's get out of here!" "RAY WING!" they both exclaimed. The family watched the spheres of wind closely, hoping to trail their attackers. However, Fenrir and his fox friend were too intelligent for them; they went straight up until they were out of sight, and only then changed course for parts completely unknown to the clan. The group stared. "...Impressive," Kygeos eventually acknowledged. The youngest girls flushed, seating themselves quietly, but then continued fighting over their turkey leg, as it was now revealed to be. Beseos returned to moderate the fight. The adults, however, turned to Voratia, surprised. The prodigy herself took no notice. Instead, she sheathed her spatha and knelt to retrieve a note left by one of their assailants. She read aloud to the party: The Ragnarøk Brigade expresses interest in your talents. We cannot allow you to fall into Ægallonna's hands. They have taken greater mages than you. Beware. ~Heimdall She looked around at the again-silenced group. "Well?" "I don't see much reason why we should trust the Ragnarøk Brigade any more than the Ægallonna," Gaios admitted. The lord looked at him sternly. "You and I both know why the Ægallonna are screwy," he growled, horribly dark. "Don't go comparing strangers to them." "Why not, though?" the blond man challenged. "Both of them want Voratia on their side for one reason or another. If anything the Ragnarøk Brigade is to be less trusted — the Ægallonna have stronger mages." "If that note is to be taken seriously," Maukaos warned, his glare intensifying. "For all we know, this Ragnarøk Brigade could be a front for Ægallonna. Trying to intimidate us, get us to drop our guard." "Do the Ægallonna really strike you as the type to hire anthropomorphs?" Gaios countered. "They wouldn't even accept that poor chimæra, and he was a walking tank with the Ra Tilt and swordsplay to best Ivoad!" "Maybe the Ægallonna supporters who weren't accepted formed the Ragnarøk Brigade," the black-haired man challenged, his mustache quivering slightly. "It's possible," Voratia's father admitted. "However, I think the Ragnarøk Brigade is working against Ægallonna." "Either way," Athetia interrupted, "we know we can't trust either group." The adults shared worried looks as they rose and returned to the dining area of their camp. •••••••• "Well?" He had presented his information. Now he needed his mistress to decide the next course of action. Besides his reverence for her — something of a gven, he thought blandly, given their relationship — she still had access to a Demon Lord's quasi-omniscience. He didn't, though he found other ways to stay one step ahead of everyone he knew. "Negotiate with Heimdall," she decided. "Ask him about the chimæra. It's the prime example of Ægallonna's intolerance." "Then I reveal the information to young Voratia and her allies?" His smile grew, if only slightly. Not much it could grow, really; with all of human and elven stupidity to laugh at, the smile never left his face. "Of course. And, my dear..." He might as well have some fun, no? Besides, it would suit her perfectly if the group were aware of him. "Yes?" "Make yourself known. Any way you'd like." "Aye-aye, ma'am!" He poofed up a pirate hat and eyepatch — redundant; his eyes were closed in a happy squint anyway — for no real reason outside the duo's amusement. "Let it be known that the Metal Pirates now roam the seas ahead of the Phœnios clan! We pillage and plunder consciences and confidences, laughing all the way! And we never stop using these stupid accents, either!" Demonic laughter echoed about the mountains of Wolf Pack Island. Xellos von Metallium was on the move. [spoiler=Episode 3: Voratia's Academy of Magic! The General Priest is Here?!]A/N: Don't get used to this; I'll be as tantalizingly inactive as ever shortly. Now, then, last time, the Metallia and the Ragnarøk Brigade were introduced, no? So, obviously, we're looking forward to some queerly scripted comedy. Bons temps quand vous lisez Slayers DIEUX-D. ~~Slayers GODS-D~~~~Episode 3: Voratia's Academy of Magic! The General Priest is Here?!~~ "Voratia," Kygeos invited shyly. "D'you mind coming with me for a sec?" Said prodigy blinked awake. "What do you want, Kygeos?" she demanded unenthusiastically, her words only slightly blurred by fatigue. "Well, I wanted to ask you something," he said tentatively. "Shoot," Voratia sighed, still completely deadpan. "And lemme get back to sleep, or I won't be able to wake up properly when we're in danger." "Um..." I didn't think I'd get this far. Why is she listening to me, anyway? It's not like I'm important to her... "I was, uh, really impressed by that spell earlier," he began. "Good," the girl acknowledged, albeit with a touch of irritation. "Spent the last three weeks working on it. It'd suck if it weren't appreciated." A pause. Dared he speak? "Go on," she prompted. Kygeos noted she had yet to move from her apparently dormand position on the ground. He continued, though, a bit flustered. "Well, I was kind of wondering if you could... er... teach me." "What?" Voratia's bored tone hadn't changed much, though now she sounded a bit dismissive, as if the idea was laughable. Not Kygeos's worst-case scenario, but not his best, either. "Could you?" He pressed on, realizing that his optimism was probably foolish. "You're serious?" Ah, so she just didn't believe him! "Well, whatever. But let me sleep, or I won't be able to concentrate tomorrow." She rolled over a bit, indicating the finality of her statement. Recalling the sudden rain of kunai, Kygeos took the hint and fled. •••••••• "Bonjour, monsieur Heimdall," Xellos greeted the Ragnarøk Brigade's leader genially. "Comment ça va?" Heimdall raised his hand in a signed v. "Si je dois," the Mazoku sighed. "Comment allez-vous?" Heimdall shrugged. "Ah, mais vous ne parlez pas!" the visitor noted, reclining in midair so he was looking at the shadows obscuring the commander's face. "Pourquoi ne parlez-vous pas?" Another shrug. Xellos laughed. "Ah, je pense que nous allons être des amis excellents," he chuckled. There was no response from the stoic Heimdall. "To business, then," the General Priest continued, his smile loosening ever-so-slightly. Heimdall nodded. "Well, as you can plainly tell, I am a Mazoku." He teleported about the place to prove thus. The enigma tilted his head, beckoning him to get to the point. "Most certainly," he acquiesced, continuing. "Well, there are those among my comrades — and yes, the Mazoku are as racist as the mortals of this world," he remarked with a not-quite-faux sadness, 'that have expressed interest in your talents as leader of the remarkably effective Ragnarøk Brigade." Yet another shrug. The message was clear this time, though: Oh, really. So? "Well, we have also been following a certain young chimæra," he professed, his smirk widening a bit. "His name's Zelgadis Greywords. Quite a distinctive young man, actually: blue rocks for skin, claws, Mazoku magic potential. Have you heard of him?" Heimdall nodded. It was delectable to negotiate with a being as enigmatic as he, Xellos thought pleasantly before he offered his next question. "Have you encountered him?" he continued. This time, Heimdall shook his head. The shadows obscuring his face then twisted; Xellos shrewdly estimated that he was cocking an inquisitive eyebrow. Basically, why do you want to know? Xellos laughed aloud, and then leaned in, opening his delighted violet eyes. Even at point-blank proximity, he couldn't identify Heimdall's true identity; that enigma would certainly be reported to the Greater Beast. Oh, well. Not until Heimdall knew who he was. He raised a finger. "Sore wa himitsu desu." •••••••• "Wind which blows across eternity," Luna fumed, "gather in my hands and become my strength! BRAM GUSH!" A full column of the robed goons in front of her were ripped to pieces. There was no hope of survival. Ægallonna had, for some reason, expelled a patrol of goons despite the fulfillment of their mission. This was deeply troubling to the quondam waitress. What in the Four Worlds was going on...? "DIMILAR WIND!" Apparently, a few mages had been agile enough to avoid Luna's brutal torrent of destruction. One of these, foolishly enough, turned his power on Arcied. "VAS GLUUDO!" he recited imperiously, deflecting the oncoming fireball with his newly formed buckler of white magic. His turn to devastate the enemy ranks. "Infinite earth," he growled, looking every bit as feral as the dragon he once was, "mother who nurtures all life..." A few less-intelligent mages were confused by his invocation. The more intelligent ones, including the caster of Dimilar Wind, suddenly yelped "RAY WING!" and attempted to escape. Luna fired off Flare Arrows at some of them, sniping them out of the air through their shields. "let thy power gather in my hand!" At this point, the fools who had challenged Arcied realized what they were up against. It was far too late now. Luna reclined against a tree and watched, certain she would be impressed. "VLAVE HOWL!" She was. One might well have thought that the Fire Dragon had appeared to do his master's bidding for all the burning destruction that surrouned the unfortunate slackers, or that Arcied had run the river Styx across the plains. The air itself was tinted scarlet from the blood and flames, rippling before the Knight's eyes from the intense heat. She briefly wondered if the Flare Dragon had erupted a volcano beneath the robed warriors. Then the spell subsided. Only ashes remained, to be absorbed by the earth. Luna was speechless. Arcied placed a hand on her shoulder. "Relax," he reassured her. "Fire shamanism is my specialty, as White magic is yours. Your Chaotic Disintegrate is that impressive, if not more. For the record," he added, "both Bephimos and Myriphos are invoked in the Vlave Howl. It's both Fire and Earth, not one or the other." Realizing what Ceiphied's Makmute form had just told her, Luna felt ready to collapse under her own terrifying power. Imagine how Lina must feel. No, she took that back. Lina would love knowing she was capable of that much destruction. And she did, didn't she? She abused the Dragon Slave liberally — an impossibly powerful curse no mid-level spell could ever match, even if the casters were a rock and the Dark Golden Lord. Enough about that. Luna snapped back into reality. "How did the Ægallonna know we were here?" she inquired. Arcied frowned. "They didn't," he murmured, disturbed. He pointed southwest. "That where they went?" he inquired. The older Inverse nodded. "We'd better go after them," he said grimly. "They'll inform the rest of them, and then our cover will be blown." Neither wasted any time wrapping themselves in barely subsonic Ray Wings and taking off. •••••••• Voratia blinked. "What... the..." Her entire caravan was staring at her as she finished breakfast. Realizing the source of the commotion, the elven prodigy scowled at her recruiter. "I cannot believe you," she remarked, her deadpan voice oddly sinister. "It's not his fault," her father admitted, distracting her wrath from the quaking Kygeos. "I thought it would be the best idea to let you teach them all. After all," he reasoned, "we're supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around." After glancing about at everyone, even Yeretia and Kinoitia, for assistance, she gave in. "Alright, alright," she sighed. "But lessons stop whenever I want. And I can expel any of you, whenever," she added demonically. There were no objections. No assents, either, but hey, no objections. "Right," she said with something resembling satisfaction. "Well, what do you want to learn first? I'll go see what I can do with it today." There was immediately a great deal of argument among the children; the adults merely sighed. Finally, Gaios made a suggestion. "This was Kygeos's idea," he proposed. "He should decide." There were no objections. No assents, either, but hey, no objections. "Your original spells," he challenged. •••••••• However, they still had much to discuss. "They're still after something," Luna observed darkly. It was the only possible explanation for the patrol they were after, of course. "But what?" Arcied murmured. "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" Luna mused jokingly. They shared nervous chuckles at this remark before continuing their discussion. "Tell you what," the Knight told her lord. "I'll Ray Freeze 'em when we find them. Then we can interrogate them and get an answer." "It's as good a plan as any," the silver-haired man shrugged before redoubling his magical stress, pushing the duo after the contacts. Luna did the same. •••••••• Voratia stalked into her dark navy tent. The fabric was marevlous; from the outside, the tent seemed black, but inside, it resembled the night sky. The elf scraped one of the glittering pinpricks of light on the canvas's surface, reminding herself that she was in private. She turned to the massive pile of scrolls and parchments she kept in her old trunk. The Slasher Siege's schematic would be in a fairly prominent scroll; after all, aside from her derivative Slasher Typhoon, it was by far her greatest achievement. She soon spotted it: the glistening silver designs intersecting the pale, spring green ring around the roller's edge immediately distinguished it. She pored over the old manuscripts, amused to find that she had forgotten nothing about the spell's mechanics. She was unaware, however, that a supernatural being was taking advantage of her nostalgia. "I have to say, your talent in spellcrafting is prodigious." Voratia froze and slowly turned to face the smiling Mazoku. That was a shock. She backflipped away, drawing her blade. "Duly cautious, hm?" If anything, he seemed more amused than before. "Good for you. If I were you, I wouldn't trust me, either." "...Who... are... you...?" the elf whispered threateningly. Was this man... if he was a man... quite sane? "Sore wa himitsu desu," Xellos cautioned happily. "I will tell you, however, that I'm on your side. For now." "For now?" Voratia was highly skeptical even when the circumstances didn't so imminently scream for such qualities. "For now," he repeated. "But I am a Mazoku, after all. A demon. Hardly one to stay in one alliance for long." "You're a — " For a moment, she stumbled on this word. Then she remembered — wasn't racism exactly what had led to the Ægallonna's formation? If anything was her problem, it was them. Of course, if he were a higher-ranking Mazoku, she'd have severe qualms with his presence. "General Priest of the Greater Beast Zelas-Metallium," he smirked. "Hardly one to be trusted, wouldn't you say?" "Why are you telling me to be suspicious?" Voratia demanded. "You obviously want me to believe you." "Sore wa himitsu desu." The elven fencer rolled her eyes. "Right. So, why are you here? Oh, wait, don't tell me." She was already sick of this clown. "Actually, this isn't a secret," Xellos admitted, twirling his staff a bit. "I'm here to tell you a few things about the Ragnarøk Brigade and the Ægallonna. Firstly, they're clearly enemeis." "I should believe that... why?" Voratia was very suspicious by now. "Look out the back flap," he gestured good-naturedly. I obeyed, praying there would be no deception. Queerly enough, there wasn't. •••••••• "Haha!" Odin let out a rumbling, echoing laugh in the midst of the mêlée, his furred fists smashing the skull of some blood-robed Ægallonna devotee. As a number of Dimilar Winds and Flare Arrows were simply absorbed into his bulk, he was clearly enjoying the conflict. "Sure beats your job, Fenrir!" he called back, snickering. "No sheet!" Dilgear called back between the breaths of an incantation. "I'd much rather be here than under the Slasher Typhoon. BLADE HAUT!" He slammed his claymore into the ground, bowling over a number of the fighters the Ragnarøk Brigade invoked as the gyouketsuhoui. Charging forward, he began to slice them apart by dragging his heavy blade along the ground. The thrill of aristeia rushed through his bizarrely crafted veins as he did so. At the last moment, he pulled up, swinging his sword around to avoid it being trapped in a Freeze Arrow and cleave the caster in two in a single movement. Such a graceful kill from such a massive, unwieldly weapon: such was Dilgear's speciality. Of course, that didn't mean he wan't brutal if he needed to be. Ducking a Fireball, he spun again, this time flinging his claymore so it buried itself in his assailant's stomach. Any of the valorous souls who attempted to defend their departed comrade found themselves in Dilgear's vicious fangs, churning up their corpses like delectable steaks. It was good to be in an army again. •••••••• "Dilgear hasn't reported back yet," Arcied pointed out grimly. "He can't have enough information yet," Luna dismissed the matter. "Besides, we're nearly there." Arcied concentrated; there was no way in hell he was about to drop Luna Inverse from that high in the sky. "Do the honors." "Holy pow'rs o'er all that be, impede my foe's recovery! RAY FREEZE!" The world's shortest-haired bishounen felt notably drained after this invocation. Could it be the spells would still take power from him despite his living state? "Luna..." he warned, suddenly hoarse. "I know," she muttered. "RAY WING!" She caught one of her paralyzed foes; Arcied did the other. "LEVITATION!" they both barked at once, managing to float softly to the ground. "Time to take these nuts in for questioning," the former Shinzoku remarked, pointing still further southwest. "There's a town up ahead. We should be fine there." "Abandoned warehouse gig?" Luna supposed. There was an affirming nod from Arcied. "Let's go," he requested. Very politely, Luna supposed, considering his relative power. There was a long, subdued silence as the duo walked by the nondescript, barren plains between them and the next town. Luna marveled at their breadth. How much of this lifeless land existed? It made magical deforestation and the decline of agriculture seem so much worse... Was there really so much empty space in the world? Finally, she returned her thoughts to the matter at hand, and to Arcied's sudden power decrease. "I invoked you, didn't I," she supposed sadly. "With my consent," Arcied defended her. "Besides, how else were you supposed to stop them?" There was another awkward silence for the next several miles. •••••••• "I've revised the Slasher Siege a bit," Voratia warned her pupils immediately after breakfast the following day as she handed out the arithmantic pages. "It's now possible to cast in any arrangement one chooses, but it requires notably more concentration. Still up for it?" She decided not to mention that she'd been up all night after watching the battle between the Ragnarøk Brigade and the Ægallonna mages, and rather to move on to the assignment at hand. There were no objections. No assents, either, but hey, no objections. "Alright, then," she decided. "First: watch." She aimed at a tree in front of her, extending her right arm. She then vaguely moved her index finger in a series of squiggles. To be certain she had gotten her point across, she used her left hand to reveal a parchment upon which the shape she had outlined was shown. :"Draw the shape in midair," she indicated. Her sigil was a trio of triangles arranged themselves in a triangular formation: ▲▲ ▲ "Keep that shape in your head, and then invoke the Wind," she directed. In demonstration: "Lords of the dark stormclouds," she invoked. "Masters of slicing wind and blazing thunder. Bear my iron wrath o'er the gap between my nemesis and I!" "SLASHER SIEGE!" In the blink of an eye, there were thirteen daggers protruding from the tree... in exactly the formation Voratia had described. As if to show off, the thirteenth was in the dead center of the formation. She turned to her students, who were generally amazed. She smirked. "Well? Get to work." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Question. Is this a fan fic, or just a fic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Fanfic, obviously. It is Slayers GODS-D, after all. You're not the first person to ask that, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Yea, I realized after I shot up Wikipedia. I thought that it was a fan fic, but I wasn't sure. Anywayz, the chapter itself is well written, obviously somethings are strange to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Not anymore. Glad you like it; second ep should be out today, as I'm on a roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 That is very useful. VERY useful. In any case, if you ever need a certain character or characters, tell me. I can think of a lot when under pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davok Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Wait, didn't Voratia say that the Ægallonna is a cult devoted to the Lord of Nightmares, not the Dark Golden Lord? Or is Arcied just manipulating Luna? Anyway, awesome episode. I can't wait to see more, the flow's excellent and well thought out. I saw some places where commas were missing, but that's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Lord of Nightmares = Dark Golden Lord. The latter is just a tad more reverent. ^_^ Point them out pl0x? I'm always in pursuit of perfection, after all. I'm 1700 words into Episode 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davok Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Here: "keep the others in here. I'm going to deal with them." Those are the only ones I'll point out at the moment. Also, this fanfic has inspired me to start writing my own Fantasy fic. ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Here: "keep the others in here. I'm going to deal with them." Those are the only ones I'll point out at the moment. Also' date=' this fanfic has inspired me to start writing my own Fantasy fic.[/b'] ^_^DO IT. DO IT NOW. This section needs to be graced by another god. Well, not technically a god, more of a Jack the Ripper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 I'll point out at the moment. Also' date=' this fanfic has inspired me to start writing my own Fantasy fic. ^_^[/quote']Which is kind of ironic, considering that this is ultimately a tribute to Goddess Rinoa, my original literary inspiration and chief muse. Anyway, my reaction is basically the same as Fenrir's. Eppy 2 is up. However, you'll need to go to FF.net if you want formatting. The place is better than it's cracked up to be, don't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Episode two is interesting. I wonder what's with that man and those animals, but whatever. My head hurts like crazy, so I can't rate or anything right now x/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Bump with eppy 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 I read the word Fenrir. This chapter is my favorite so far, especially with Vlalve Howl. THAT. WAS. EPIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 I iz happy. ^_^ I am quite proud of my Vlave Howl. I wasn't kidding about Chaotic Disintegrate, though. You and Davok are my only reviewers, though; FF.net hasn't even touched this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 I still am wondering who this Fenrir is, or based off. Please tell me there more spells even more epic than Vlave Howl. Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Two words: Dragon Slave. :mrgreen: Fenrir is Dilgear's code name, as revealed in the sixth segment. Odin refers to Dilgear as Fenrir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Hehe :mrgreen: I'm just gonna guess, but, Dilgear's a Chimeara? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Supreme Gamesmaster Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 He's a wolf. Zelgadis was the chimæra mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrir Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 *Smashes head against desk* Ugh, I nearly thought Chimeara was a species.... I await the next chapter :mrgreen: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeshooter Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Fenrir has previously spoken the truth, I'm done reading the first episode. It's awesome! I'll read number 2 and 3 when I get the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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