Lina Inverse opened her eyes and looked around. She was in an open area. The sky above was gold with black stars and the ground was a deep black. A golden river cut through the area.
"Where am I? What happened?" Lina asked.
"Where are you? This is a place I set up so I could deal with you. What happened? You lost control of the Giga Slave," a woman's voice answered
Lina shot to her feet and spun towards the voice. She saw a tall woman with blonde hair wearing a black mini-dress. The woman was carrying a shovel with her left hand and was sitting on a boulder. The woman was gazing with anger at Lina.
"Who are you?" Lina asked.
The woman gave a tight smile before responding. "I am described as being darker than the darkest pitch, deeper than the deepest night. The ruler of darkness that shines like gold. The sea of chaos and the source of all chaos. The mother of all things. I am the Lord of Nightmares."
Lina paled as the woman described herself. The Lord of Nightmares swung her left hand and Lina had her face meet the business end of the shovel. The teenage girl went flying back a few feet and landed. The Lord of Nightmares giggled.
"Oh don't worry. I don't intend to kill you. I intend to punish you for your arrogance though. Cephied keeps saying that I'll destroy the world fi the Giga Slave is cast unsuccessfully. I am the source of chaos. I should do things that are unpredictable," the Lord of Nightmares said.
"Punish me? How?" Lina whispered.
The Lord of Nightmares leaned back on the rock she was sitting on and looked up at the sky and gave a long sigh.
"The first thing I noticed was that you sealed the Giga Slave so that only you could cast it or unseal it. I'm just going to make sure you can't unseal it. You do know the Ragna Blade, right? Well, no matter. I've place the means within you to use the Ragna Blade by just thinking about it."
The Lord of Nightmares dropped her shovel and giggled, as she sprang to her feet with a fifteen-foot jump and quickly pulled Lina to her feet.
"Time to begin. I've sealed you spirit and mind off from the Astral Plane. Since Black Magic and Spirit Magic work by attacking the spirit, you'll be protected from those spells. I know, Dragon Slave can blow up a mountain, but that's due to the energy from the Dragon Slave breaking through from the Astral Plane into the real world. Because you are sealed off from the Astral Plane, all you magic is gone."
"What?" Lina screamed.
The Lord of Nightmares quickly grabbed Lina by the throat and threw her into the golden river. The Lord of Nightmares glared at Lina.
"Don't yell me," The Lord of Nightmares said. "Now. Off with your clothes."
Lina didn't have time to object as her clothes appeared in a neat stack in front of the river, save for her headband. The Lord of Nightmares nodded and the liquid in the river started covering Lina. The covering stopped at her throat, but it appeared as if the river kept pouring more and more of itself into Lina. If someone didn't know better, Lina appeared to be wearing a golden full body catsuit. For a moment, lines started appearing around Lina's waist, legs, and arms. They just vanished completely when the Lord of Nightmares just shook her head.
"I can't decide if you should have seams or not. The seams would give the illusion of you wearing gloves, boots, and a gold belt. The crystal would look like a belt buckle," the Lord of Nightmares said in a low tone, as she studied Lina intently
"What crystal?" Lina asked, as she gazed at her gold covered arm.
"I almost forgot," the Lord of Nightmares said, as she quickly clapped her hands gleefully. "I'm glad you reminded me."
Four bits of light appeared behind the Lord of Nightmares and shifted from one object to the next. Lina wondered what a toilet made of emeralds had to do with her situation. Suddenly four circular gems appeared and shot towards Lina. One gem buried itself in Lina's waist. Another buried itself below the base of her neck. The other two buried themselves in both her arms, just behind the wrists.
"I got the idea from Rei Magnus and his Demon Blood Talismans. Those crystals are the new source of your power. Your body is as tough as a Dragon Lord is, so you'll be able to resist Shamanistic spells easy enough. As to the seamed look versus seamless, I'm leaving you seamless. If you want the seamed look, you'll have to figure out how," the Lord of Nightmares said.
Lina looked at the crystal that was set flush with her left arm and ran her fingers across it. She was mildly surprised that she could feel both her finger and the crystal. To her it was like touching her bare arm with an uncovered finger.
"Yes, Lina. The river didn't really cover you. It changed what your body was made of and you are still naked, although you don't look like it. As to your clothes, you can only wear clothing for about three hours before the itching will become unbearable, excluding your headband. You'll still be able to wear a mantle with a cape, since that is how you carrying your belongings. Those dots on your forehead are now functional as well as decorative."
"How do I use these crystals?" Lina asked.
"I have no idea. I just copied four crystals that would work for you and implanted them in you. Call the Ragna Blade and don't worry about the chant," the Lord of Nightmares stated in good humor.
"Ragna Blade!" Lina called and her right hand gripped a sword of blackness that crackled with gold lightning.
"Look at your left wrist crystal."
Lina did so and saw that the silver crystal was now black and had a glowing gold symbol.
"I pledge myself to you? I swear myself to you? You belong to me Lina and I mark my property," The Lord of Nightmares said in a serious tone.
The Ragna Blade cut out, as Lina slowly stood up. The Lord of Nightmare was before Lina and pointing directly at Lina's upper crystal.
"You will have to learn how to use those crystals on your own. I guess when you use the crystals, they will glow with the power that you are using. I have no idea how they operate, since I was being completely random. This is your punishment for your arrogance in calling upon me. Get used to your new body. I might want to make someway for humans to control such a powerful weapon and place it."
Lina shook and tears started running down her cheeks.
The Lord of Nightmares ran a finger along Lina's cheek and then looked at the tear that was on her finger. She gave a light chuckle.
"Those crystals power you. You have no need to eat, drink, or breathe. You'll still be able to do things like cry and take in deep breaths to calm yourself, but other human activities are beyond you for right now. It's time to put you back into time."
The Lord of Nightmares held out her left hand and a small can appeared in it.
"This should make you feel better, when you are feeling down. Don't worry, it'll never run out."
Lina took the can and looked at it. "Car wax? What is car wax?"
The Lord of Nightmares just smiled and looked at the sky. "I've wasted enough milliseconds on you. It's time to send you back to reality. Now then..."
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(Posted Sat, 19 Aug 2006 08:16)
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