"Other than you shine a bit in the light, you look pretty much the same," Amelia said. "I don't understand the part about the clothes."
"I don't either. I'm going to have to get some new ones," Lina snarled.
"Have you tried casting a spell yet? If your powers have increased, you might have some magic."
Lina started and then quickly chanted a Lighting spell. The resulting spell was about one-quarter strength of a normal spell.
"A rookie level sorceress isn't going to be much help in a battle, but it's better than nothing," Lina said. "We have too find Gourry."
The two girls stopped as a man stepped out of the forest. He took an appraising look at the two girls and started talking.
"Too bad you'll be dead long before then. Though I, Balgumon, may not look it, but I am the second in command of our organization. While I am in charge of the association, I can not tolerate such an assault as what happened last night. I am thus left with only once choice. I must defeat you and restore my good name. A duty the must be fulfilled in the appropriate place."
You are a windbag," Lina said, drawing her sword.
Balgumon hefted his sword. "Bring it on."
Lina charged at the man, she quickly closed her eyes as she heard Amelia chant. After feeling the zero duration Lighting spell go off, Lina opened her eyes and tried cutting the man down with her sword. Due to her new chimera body, she was a bit faster than she used to be and managed to tag the guy on the leg. Balgumon grunted and took a back swing at Lina, who ducked under the blade.
"Lina, look out!"
Lina felt an attack coming down from above. She jumped out of the way as the ground exploded near her. A few sharp rocks from the blast headed in Lina's direction. Instinctively, Lina covered her face. She was surprised when she felt the rocks hit her on the arms, stomach, and legs. The rocks hit her, but didn't even raise a minor bruise.
"What did Diol do to me?" Lina muttered, as she lowered her arms.
Looking up, she saw a person who looked like a common werewolf standing in the trees. Balgumon shook his head and addressed the beast man.
"Feltis, there was no call for that."
"Are your eyes all right?"
"Yes. I can see well enough to take care of these fools."
Lina quickly chanted and lobbed a Freeze Bullet at the wolf-man. Feltis jumped down and stared at Lina in shock.
"I thought Mazenda sealed your magic," the wolf-man called.
"She did. That's why you're still alive," Lina shot back.
Balgumon paused his attack and looked at Lina. "I heard the girl call you 'Lina'. Would you happen to be Lina Inverse? That Lina Inverse?"
Lina rolled her eyes skyward and spat out, "Yes. I am probably that Lina Inverse."
"Very well then. We'll let you live and I'll talk to Mazenda to unseal your magic."
Lina and Amelia looked at each other and waited for the second part.
"In return, you will become one of us."
"No deal," Lina replied, while thinking. 'One of those hidden powers would be nice right about now. I just wish I knew what he used to turn me into a chimera.'
A strange voice cut into the conversation.
"Ah! Mister Feltis! I finally found you at long last!"
Everyone turned and saw an average sized man that was neither fat nor thin dressed in priest robes and carrying an ordinary looking staff. He had his eyes closed and had a smile on his face. At his neck, waist, and on each arm he was wearing a strange gemstone amulet.
"You! You filthy priest! You came after me all the way here?!" the wolf-man bellowed.
Balgumon sneered, as he looked at the priest. "Who is this?"
"We have a history, which I'm going to close the book on by chopping him into little pieces," Feltis snapped out, as he advanced on the priest.
The priest shrugged and cheerfully said, "Mister Feltis, I am not here to kill you. I'm here for a single reason. So, let's not fight. Hm?"
Steam poured from Feltis' ears as he spat, "Speak for yourself. I intend to skewer you. Your spells won't work on the like of me."
"Tsk tsk tsk. If you fell that strongly about it, you leave me no choice," the priest said, while still smiling.
The priest started chanting a spell, as Feltis charged at him. The four gem amulets he was wearing glowed red, blue, black and white.
"No you don't!"
The magic field of the spell threw the wolf-man back, as Lina looked on in shock. The smiling priest pointed a finger at Feltis.
"Blast Bomb!"
Somewhere in Lina's mind, the instinct to duck took control. Lina quickly found out what the mud and grass of the forest around her tasted like, as the multiple fireballs struck Feltis and exploded in a deafening roar. Lina raised her head and saw an orange colored powder covering the bushes and trees near where he was standing. Panic gripped Lina, as she scanned for Balgumon and Amelia. She breathed a sigh of relief, when she saw twigs snapped in a direction away from the Blast Bomb.
'Amelia must have been blown away by the back blast. She should be all right. If she can survive a fall that could break her neck, she should be able to survive this,' Lina thought, as she stood up.
"My, my. It seems the other one got away. Mm....just as well," the priest said, as he cheerfully looked upon his handiwork.
'I think I just met my first sociopath,' Lina thought, as the man turned towards her.
"Excuse me! I realize this is an awkward question, but do you know where that group from before congregates?"
Lina blinked, as a thought came to her. "Y-you. You're Rei Magnus aren't you?"
The priest fell over in surprise.
As he propped himself back up with his staff, he slowly asked, "Where in the world did you get an idea like that?"
"Rei Magnus is the only person who can cast Blast Bomb."
"I see. But, Rei Magnus lived over five thousand years ago."
"Details. You can live long enough, if you have the guts."
"What kind of magic life extending guts might those be? In any case, I already have a perfectly good name. I am Xellos."
"Huh. And exactly what are you?"
Xellos raised his finger to his lips. "I am a mysterious priest."
"What is Feltis to you?"
"They are my enemies."
Lina rolled her eyes, as she found her belongings. She knelt by the bag and made sure her stuff was still there. Xellos walked over to her and peered over her shoulder.
"You don't trust me?"
"Being the enemy of my enemy doesn't make you my ally."
"That's certainly true enough."
"I haven't trusted priests in a long time. It is a long story."
Xellos took a long look at Lina. "You do look like the long story type. I would like to know why you are wearing that outfit."
Lina growled. "I'm not wearing this by choice. Those amulets you're wearing, they're talismans aren't they?"
Xellos scratched his cheek. "What do you mean?"
Lina pointed to them. "Those. The gem at your belt, the one hanging from your neck, and the two on your bracelets. You're using all four as capacity amplifiers, aren't you?"
"My, you've got quite a sharp eye."
"You cast a short spell before the Blast Bomb. I'm sure that spell was for magical amplification. What are they made out of?"
Xellos looked at the talismans. "Supposedly, they are Demon Bloodstones. Ruby-Eye, Darkstar, Chaotic Blue, and Death Fog-from the Demon Lord of this world and three Demon Lords of other worlds."
"Demon Lords of other worlds? Is that true?" Lina blurted out in shock.
"That's what they tell me," Xellos replied with a shrug."
"Who?"
"It is a secret."
Lina growled, but brightened as an idea came to her. "You should sell them to me."
"What?" Xellos asked amused.
"I'll give you fifty-five for the, You could buy a nice rapier."
Xellos just laughed, as he countered, "Fifty-five thousand and they're yours."
"Sold!"
Xellos looked stunned and Lina swore the word 'jackass' appeared over Xellos in neon lights. Lina quickly went through her possessions and pulled out a small bag of gems.
'Whoever hire Diol, did leave me a lot of money,' Lina thought as she opened the bag.
"Each of these gems is worth two hundred and fifty gold. Fifty-five thousand is two hundred and twenty gems. I keep eighty."
Xellos was flabbergasted at seeing the gems. "Er. Well...."
"Aren't you going to sell them after agreeing to the deal."
Xellos sighed. "Yes, ma'am. I guess I should honor the deal."
He removed the talismans and handed them to Lina. He counted out eighty gems and put them in a smaller sack, which he handed back to Lina. The sack with the majority of the gems went into the sack he was carrying on his back.
"If you must know, to activate the talismans..."
"I heard the chant earlier, I can take it from here."
Xellos scratched his head. "You didn't use powerful magic."
Lina sighed. "It's a long story, my spells got sealed by a person by the name of Mazenda and...."
"Miss Mazenda is part of the group?"
"You know her?" Lina asked in surprise.
"I know of her. I didn't think she'd be part of a demon cult."
"I sense complications."
"Indeed. We shouldn't talk here."
Lina tossed Xellos one of the remaining gemstones. "Could you buy me some decent clothes, before I enter a town. You can keep the change."
Xellos caught the gem and nodded. The two of them approached the nearest village. Xellos went on ahead and brought back Lina some clothes: a pair of red pants, black boots, and a yellow jerkin. After pulling the clothes over the outfit she was wearing, Lina nodded and the two of them went into town.
'I'll have to get a mantle later,' Lina thought and then explained the entire past week to Xellos.
Lina left Diol's name out of the explanation. Xellos scratched his chin and took a closer look at Lina.
"Even before you were turned into a chimera, the spell was breaking down. Miss Mazenda went easy on you or your magic capacity is very strong. Whoever turned you into a chimera boosted your powers quite a bit. I'd say in few more months, the seal will be completely broken."
Lina felt a surge of elation at that news. "Are you certain?"
"Quite sure. I have to ask. The person who did this to you, does he have a certain book?"
Lina laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. He's just obsessed with creating chimeras. After dealing with this problem, I intend to track him down and beat some answers out of him. I want to know what he used."
Are you sure he doesn't have a copy of the Claire Bible manuscript?"
Lina gazed at Xellos. "Why are you asking something like that?"
"I'm a priest whose mission is to keep copies of the Clair Bible from falling into unworthy hands."
"So Balgumon's boss...." Lina slowly began.
"Master Krotz."
"Huh?"
"Krotz is the name of the leader of this cult."
"So Krotz has a copy of the Clair Bible? It might be a fake."
"I believe so. There are those who spend a fortune on 'The Magic Book' and find that is nothing more than cooking recipes, but I'm quite sure the copy that Krotz has is real."
"Whatever," Lina replied tiredly. "I should worry about Amelia."
"I'm sure she's okay. You don't take a hostage unless you really need one. Cults get into extreme behaviors. It's not that hard to imagine they will offer her up as a sacrifice."
"With my magic weakened for now, I would like to offer a deal," Lina said.
"You want to join forces with me for a bit."
"Correct. I don't know where the stronghold is, but I can lead you to their meeting place. Having an ally would allow me to sleep easier."
"You didn't get excited when I mentioned the Clair Bible."
"I have had my magic sealed, got turned into a chimera, and then meet you. I don't have enough left in me to get excited. I'm still trying to figure out what the plan is of whoever hired that crazy old man was up to."
"They turned you into a chimera, but tried to keep you as human looking as possible, destroyed your clothes and dressed you up in that outfit. They left your possessions intact and a lot of money behind," Xellos stated.
Xellos concentrated very hard. It might have been a trick of the light, but Lina was sure she saw tendrils of smoke pour from Xellos' ears.
"I have no idea. This makes no sense," Xellos stated.
"Figured. That leaves tracking them down and getting the answers from them. I'm getting some sleep."
Xellos watched Lina go up the stairs, as he kept trying to figure out the logic of turning Lina into a chimera.
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(Posted Sat, 03 Dec 2005 07:31)
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