Chaos Ascendant

Chapter Three

There was something decidedly wrong. Standing there, looking at Kira Inverse, Lina Inverse could feel all the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. And when the elder Inverse didn’t reply to the query, Lina Inverse tried again. “Kira?”

The woman spoke, but it was not Kira’s voice that issued forth from lips that mirrored Lina’s own. The voice was cold, yet laced with the silken lure and power that could turn lesser minded people into mindless followers of whatever cause she happened to mention. “It is time, Chaos Knight. No longer will this world bow to the hand of the Other.”

Lina stared at Kira. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Cepheid’s pulse grows weaker, Chaos Knight. The bid for power begins.”

And before Lina or Zelgadis could ask for clarification, the apparition before them had vanished.

Lina stared at the space where her double had been, slowly digesting the words, starting to pace back and forth as she contemplated. “Oh no… Shabranigdo’s trying again. Only this time… this time, he intends to win. Something’s wrong… I have to find Luna! The Tide was low… there should have been a lull… she shouldn’t-- She couldn’t have Ascended!”

Her stomach sank as she recalled that nightmare that had plagued her. Had she been seeing what would happen to Kira, and just not understood? But for the past two years… she’d been jovial Kira, happy to see her when she visited… always ready with a table of food… She’d seen Kira only a month ago, and they’d talked about the uneasy relationship between Lina and Gourry. Lina knew he was heading to meet her, knew that he remembered her visit, even though she wanted him to think he’d dreamt it. She’d talked to Kira about being timeless… that she’d have to watch Gourry grow old and… die. Kira had knocked her upside the head and told her that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, and to go find the boy and tell him the truth. She’d been so… alive when Lina had seen her last.

Zelgadis still hadn’t made half sense of the whole thing, rubbing at his shoulder where Lina had grabbed him. He corrected his earlier thought. She’d grown damnably strong as well as powerful, and he had no illusions that the diminutive little female pacing in front of him, lost in thought, could beat him as easily as the Demon Gaarv had. Finally he broke the silence, and her pacing with a question. “What’s going on, Lina?”

Lina looked over to him, something flickering in her eyes for a moment before vanishing. “Cepheid’s pulse… his power is weakening. That means something’s either happened to Luna, or it will happen to her soon. We have to find her before it’s too late!” Reaching out suddenly, she grabbed the unresisting chimera by the wrist and began to drag him along with her as she took off at what was, for him, a dead run. She wasn’t even winded, and continued to explain as they ran. “You remember, Luna is the Cepheid Knight. Well, Cepheid was supposed to have a Knight and a Protector. But no-one’s filled the position of Protector since… well… I don’t ever recall Cepheid’s Protector being named in any of the history books. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t one now.”

Zelgadis struggled to keep up without her needing to pull on him. She’d grown a good bit stronger, and even with his stone skin her grip was painful. “Lina, you can let go of me…”

But she wasn’t listening. “Normally, one person can act as both duties… Xellos was the General-Priest for Xelas Metallium for ages, you know… but with the Seal of Cepheid, it wasn’t that easy.”

Zelgadis didn’t really have a choice but to try to keep pace with her so that she wouldn’t inadvertently break his stone wrist as they went. Granted, he’d never been broken before… but he wasn’t about to test it.

“You see, Zel… there isn’t enough power of Cepheid active to grant both a Knight and a Protector… so Luna has to technically do ‘double duty.’ She’s the Knight under normal circumstances, but has been known to take a different appearance and act as Protector.” She took a breath as they kept moving, and continued. “The Protector generally passes on information and defends others associated with the Cepheid Knight.”

A memory flashed across Zelgadis’ mind, and he yanked his hand free from Lina, coming to a stop. “Lina! When you were fighting Shabranigdo before… when you had the Stone. Cepheid came to tell us that you had the Stone. When the figure vanished, it was Luna.”

Lina came to a screeching halt and turned to look at Zelgadis. “What did Cepheid look like?”

Zelgadis shook his head. “It was male… but the glow made it hard to see his features. He was imposing, and yet… somehow familiar.”

Lina frowned. “He? That’s no help. We’ll just have to find Luna!” She turned to look around her at the forest.

“You’re the Chaos Knight, why don’t you just find her the way you found me?” Zelgadis remarked, folding his arms. For all her power, Lina hadn’t changed. She was still prone to brainless moments, which made her all the more dangerous at times.

Lina smirked at him. “If it were that easy to find my sister, I would have done that by now. But Luna has a knack for vanishing when she doesn’t want to be found.” She looked around some more, eventually finding a rock on the ground and picked it up. “I’ll probably get yelled at for this, but here goes.” Casting a brief spell, she tossed the rock into the air.

Zelgadis waited for the sound of the rock landing, and when it hadn’t come after a few minutes, he looked at Lina with his eyebrow lifted.

Lina simply grinned impishly at him, and before he could make a comment, a voice from behind him started an irritated rant.

“Damn it, Lina… how many times have I told you not to do that? That’s another plate you’ve broken and I had to clean the mess up before I could come to see what you wanted. Oh… hello, Zelgadis.”

Luna Inverse, Cepheid Knight and currently irritated waitress walked up to the two, and looked at her younger sister in annoyance. “You owe me a silver for that plate.”

“A silver!?” Lina shot back. “No way! Plates aren’t that expensive!”

Luna folded her arms and glared at her younger sister. “When they have food on them, they are. I’ll put it on your bill, and you can pay me later. Now what was so damned important that you had to use that spell?”

Briefly, Lina explained the encounter with Kira, and as she described her appearance, Luna paled. Lavender eyes opened, and Luna looked to her sister in all seriousness. “Lina, we have a very big problem. If what you just told me is true, then two fragments of Shabranigdo must have merged. That’s the only thing that can account for the rise in Black Magic.”

“So I just find the fragments and blast them. That’s simple enough.” Lina said airily.

Luna shook her head, long violet hair swaying back and forth. “No, Lina. It’s not that easy. If two fragments have merged, with the Knight active, Shabranigdo will be reborn. And as Cepheid’s magic is still sealed…”

The chill hit Lina and Zelgadis at the same time, but only Lina voiced the words. “The balance of the World falters, and tips to Shabranigdo.”