Claudius was not happy.
In fact, that would be in the running for understatement of the year.
Claudius' anger was like the eye of a hurricane: so quiet you could hear a pin drop, while you knew the storm was all around you and waiting to tear you apart any minute now. The one thing Konatsu was glad of was that she didn't seem to be the target as she knelt before the enraged kitsune with Jadeite's unconscious body beside her.
The location was the room which used to be Beryl's audience chamber; while it had seen major damage when the Senshi had been through years before, it was still the only room large enough in the complex for the summoning ritual to be performed. A magic circle over a hundred feet across had been drawn on the floor using materials Konatsu tried not to think about. At the far side of the chamber where Miyo and Gosunkugi, finishing off some of the preparations.
Claudius, however, was focused on the two kitsune in front of him. “So, Jadeite has failed. Not only that, he has lost most of my most powerful forces in the process.”
Konatsu nodded. “The invading Senshi have met up with the American who intercepted Jadeite and they are headed this way.”
Claudius said, “An American?” At Konatsu's nod, he said, “So Shan Pū was right. At least now we know where he is.” Claudius turned to look back at the pair at the far end as Miyo, without seeming to look up, grabbed Gosunkugi's sleeve and kept him from falling across the circle. After another moment's thought, he asked, “How much time do we have before they get here?”
“The Senshi know the way. Eight… ten minutes at most.” When Claudius said nothing right away, Konatsu added, “And we only have that much time because they are traveling in a large group.”
Claudius turned toward Miyo and Gosunkugi again. Anticipating his request, Miyo held up one hand and flashed five fingers for him, then handed Gosunkugi another pot of what they were using as ink.
“Well, it looks like this situation may not be unsalvageable after all,” said Claudius. Pointing to a far back corner of the throne room, Claudius ordered, “Take Jadeite back there and watch over him. For all that his judgement is suspect, his power and knowledge may still be of use. I just may have to make more direct use of them.”
Shivering from the venom in Claudius' voice, Konatsu lifted Jadeite back up and carried the unconscious kitsune to the far side of the chamber, then disappeared from sight. A thought occurred to her as she watched Claudius standing there, glaring at the entrance; but survival instincts kept her from asking about it.
“So, aren't we going to be setting up more traps for them?” asked Gosunkugi, demonstrating that not everybody there had the same level of survival instincts.
Claudius didn't turn around; he didn't trust himself not to do something stupid if he looked at Gosunkugi right then. “We won't need to have other traps if you get that summoning circle done in time.” A nasty smirk crossed his face as he added, “Besides, I know heroes like these. They'll be expecting traps. Not finding any will just get them more paranoid, and make them wonder just what I'm setting them up for.”
Meanwhile, some distance down the hallway, a werewolf in a fitted tuxedo and ball mask held up a hand to stop everybody behind him, then flicked his cane out to push aside the sword being held by one of the statues lining the walls. When he stepped forward, the statue tried to swing at him but got its sword caught in the side of the alcove. Tuxedo Kamen waved everybody else on to follow him.
Sam Fisher turned around as they passed by the statue that continued to twitch every time somebody walked past it, and saw a large number of nicks in the rock that implied this statue had done this many times before. The new werepanther said, “You know a lot about this place.”
Tuxedo Kamen shrugged. “Previous owner kidnapped me to make me her consort. Long story.”
Doctor Theodore Diggers, the only member of the group who was fully human, had expanded his translation spell to cover everybody, which made explaining things a whole lot easier; Sam Fisher was English only, and of the native Japanese, only Tuxedo Kamen was much good with English (outside of fighting terms, where Ranma was fairly good). “Whoever designed this place was rather paranoid.” As he looked up at the arching ceiling, he added, “Not to mention rather ostentatious.”
Sailor Moon was looking around, seeing all the things she'd been in too much of a hurry to look at the previous time she'd been here. “They had several millennia to work on it after my mother banished them,” the werelioness commented, sounding somewhat wistful. “I guess Beryl couldn't stand to live in anything less than luxury.” Sailor Mars was walking beside her, and looking at her oddly.
Sam Fisher said, “Let me guess, another long story?”
Sailor Moon nodded. “Many millennia ago there was a big magical battle on the moon; my mother's kingdom was wiped out, but as her last act she banished those responsible here, along with the spirit who had tempted Beryl into starting the battle. I don't know much of the details.”
Sam looked at her for a few moments for her casual talk about her mother being many millennia ago. Granted, that wasn't the weirdest thing that he'd heard in the last few days. And for all that she was still a young girl, she did have a regal bearing about her… though mostly only when she wasn't thinking about it. “So how far away are we from where we're headed?”
Tuxedo Kamen said, “At our current speed, just a couple of minutes. We just need to get the Chromatic Orb from its resting place and then get out of here safely. Of course, whether or not Claudius knows exactly what we're here for, he's expecting us to show up there in the throne room, so getting out safely is going to be difficult.”
Sam said, “Fun.” He then turned to look at Brianna, who was watching him move with undisguised lust, and didn't bother looking away when he caught her. “You're a little young for me, kid.”
Brianna grinned unrepentantly. “Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? And I think I know what I'm going to be dreaming about for the next few nights.”
Sam looked back further at Doctor Diggers, who said, “She takes after her mother in some ways.” At Sam's disbelieving look, he added sheepishly, “The particular form of magic I practice does require a high stamina.”
Sailor Mars said, “Too much information, thank you.”
Following behind the main group, Ranma was trying to make sure nobody snuck up on them from behind again. Mostly he was scuffing his feet on the ground, getting annoyed and twitchy at the lack of action, his nerves still on edge from before. Makoto and Sheila walked along with him to either side.
Sheila had been listening with half an ear to the conversation going on in front of them. “So you were in here before?”
Sailor Jupiter sighed. “Usagi was the only one of us who made it all the way inside last time, and she didn't exactly get time to sight-see.”
“Ah.” Sheila wasn't sure what to say about that, so she switched subjects. “Well, I can sort of see why Claudius picked here. Certainly fits his opinion of himself. Even if the place could use a bit of fixing up.”
Ranma snorted. “I just wanna know where he's hiding and what he's up to. I hate waiting.”
Sheila said, “Well, with the number of traps to worry about…”
Ranma said, “Not really. These are all old ones if Tux-boy knows them all. None of these are Claudius' traps. What's he doing?”
Sailor Jupiter, who had been watching ahead, said, “It looks like we're about to find out.” Ranma's head snapped up.
Sure enough, Tuxedo Kamen had come to a stop in front of a huge set of double doors that ended the hallway. He tucked his cane under one arm, and with a bow and a flourish, waved Sailor Moon forward to the door. The young lioness smiled at him, and walked forward, lifting up both hands to grasp the handles on the doors and push them open.
…Only to nearly fall over as the doors opened by themselves on her. She caught herself in time, but there was a quiet noise from behind her as Sailor Mars slapped her face and tried to muffle a groan.
That was quickly forgotten, though. As the doors opened, a sulphurous stench wafted out, enough to choke most of the group. Most of the room was taken up by an eerie red glow that seemed to rise from the floor. The only person visible in the room was Claudius on the far side of the glow, lit from below by the red light which cast odd shadows up across his face.
Despite the distance, Claudius' voice carried clearly across the throne room as the Senshi and the others stepped into the room and spread out to the sides. “I'm so glad to see the entertainment has arrived to the party. Allow me to introduce my guests: the Four Generals of Mundus!”
With those words, the light seemed to erupt from the floor, nearly knocking people over as the stench increased even further. The feeling of evil in the room grew palpable even to those with limited mystic senses; Sailor Mars was pressed back against the wall and having trouble breathing. Then the light started to resolve itself into shapes.
Arching over the scene was a gigantic bird whose wingspan took up most of the throne room as the wings spread out. Down on the right side was what looked to be a huge spider made out of solid rock like a moving statue, with an ominous red glow coming from what was presumably its mouth. On the left side was a strangely glowing green blob with occasional glimpses of dark chunks floating around inside it.
And standing in the front was a tall man in articulated armour, a sword slung by his side, and glowing eyes that seemed to bore into people as they peered out from underneath his horned helmet. He casually slid the sword from its sheath, and dropped into a combat crouch as he faced the senshi.
The only sound was Claudius' maniacal laughter until the bird flapped its wings down, the sudden wind blasting everybody back against the walls of the throne room.
And the battle was joined.
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(Posted Sun, 12 Nov 2006 20:42)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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