Chaos Ascendant

Chapter 8

The room had stilled with Lina’s recounting of what had transpired between herself and the Trickster Priest outside. As inconceivable as it was, the worst had most probably taken place. If what Xellos had said was true, then the jovial Kira was no longer, and in her place was the formidable and completely uncompassionate Knight of Shabranigdo. And her target was the gentle Cleric of Cepheid, Sylphiel nels Rada.

Four pairs of concerned eyes turned to the silent raven haired Cleric who stood frozen in the center of the room, holding the pitcher of water that she had been pouring into Gourry’s cup. A heartbeat passed, then another, and Lina was beginning to worry. But just as Lina opened her mouth to reassure Sylphiel that she couldn’t possibly simply sit by and do nothing, Sylphiel drew a breath and closed her eyes.

“A long time ago, my father told me that I was heir to something bigger and better than Sairaag. My family had always been in the service of Cepheid, and we have always guarded the Blessed Blade.” The Cleric opened her eyes and looked to Lina. “A great many things he said back then make sense now, Miss Lina.”

“But what will you do, Sylphiel?” Zelgadis asked. He was always the one who had to ask, he reflected for a moment. He was, after all, the heartless mystic who always found voice for the difficult questions. It was his role in life, he’d decided. The only thing was that he wasn’t asking out of necessity. He was genuinely concerned.

Sylphiel’s hands trembled slightly as she set the crystal pitcher carefully on the table and summoned a smile to her face. “I will have to do what must be done. If that means becoming the Protector of Cepheid… then that is what must be.”

Zelgadis nodded slowly as he considered Sylphiel’s answer. He had to admit that Sylphiel was made of tougher stuff than she looked. But still, to become something that powerful without being very powerful to begin with… A mental image of Sylphiel’s infamous Flare Carrot came to his mind, and he looked up to Lina. “Lina, I don’t completely understand. Both Shabranigdo and the Lord of Nightmares have one… representative, as it were. But…how can there be enough power two support two representatives of Cepheid when Cepheid is sealed?”

Lina folded her arms. “That’s kind of difficult to answer, Zel. But look at it this way: Shabranigdo was split into seven parts, right?” Oh… how do I make this easy for them to understand…

Zelgadis nodded. “And one of those was in Rezo.”

“Right. There was, of course a fragment in Lei Magnus. A third was in Kuroryu, which the Lord of Nightmares and I destroyed. Another was in the General of Shabranigdo, which the Chaos Knight destroyed in the Sea of Chaos,” Lina counted on her fingers as she went. “That only accounts for four fragments. So, by my best guess, at least one other fragment has come into power with Kira taking over as the Knight of Shabranigdo. Perhaps even two fragments. It would explain why Kira wasn’t immune to the Dark Lord’s powers.”

“But what does that have to do with Cepheid, Miss Lina?” Amelia piped up, not seeing a connection.

“There are fragments of Cepheid that weren’t completely sealed. That’s why we can still cast some of the holy spells, such as Restoration, Holy Bless, and others,” Sylphiel remarked, looking to Amelia. “Most of our magic is based from those fragments that are only partially sealed away.”

“And not all fragments were born into people. One such fragment is that stone, right there.” Lina pointed to the stone resting inauspiciously on the table. “So this particular fragment isn’t as easy to find as one that was born into a person. The fragments that aren’t born into people tend to be inactive, and rarely ever surface. It’s like the Philosopher’s Stone. When they do surface, it generally heralds a potential shift in the Balance, one way or the other.”

Everyone but Gourry nodded as Lina continued to explain. “But all of the white magic spells draw on the fragments of Cepheid, no matter where they are, surfaced or not. You see, Sylphiel by herself doesn’t have a whole lot of power… she simply controls that which exists around her. The Protector does have a lot of power. Unconsciously, Sylphiel’s been controlling the use of Cepheid’s fragments, making certain that the levels of available power around her don’t dip below the tenuous balance, just in case the Protector is needed.”

“So who did we see standing there casting the Protect spell?” Again, Zelgadis had to be the one to ask.

“That’s what happens when two or more of the larger fragments come into contact. The resonation of power assumes the Protector’s form, the Protector in this situation being Sylphiel.” Lina explained. “If she had performed the ritual, we wouldn’t have seen two separate figures, just the one Protector.”

It quickly dawned on her that she wasn’t explaining it very well at all. As the Chaos Knight, she knew more than her companions ever could, understood the balance and workings of the powers better. With a sigh, she shrugged. “Look, think of it this way: there aren’t really two representatives of Cepheid, Zel. In essence, the fragments merge and become a single, stronger fragment.”

Comprehension dawned on her friends’ faces. With another sigh, Lina hung her head in defeat. She hated to oversimplify, but how could she explain the odd nature of Cepheid’s remaining magic without explaining to all of them half of what they really shouldn’t know? Like that whole thing with Dark Star and Volfeid… only Gorunova… well, Lina hastily stopped that train of thought. She still had trouble reconciling herself with the role reversals there, and she had stood on the Staff and seen it with her own eyes. Nonetheless, regardless of how she felt, every good had to have an evil, and a simple perception change could easily reverse it all.

Such was the nature of Chaos.

“But given that the two fragments merge and become one new fragment, in that single event, what will become of Sylphiel?” Once more, it was the somber chimera who had to give voice to the touchy question.

“Don’t worry about it, Mister Zelgadis. Let me speak with Luna. She and I will work everything out.” Sylphiel said softly.

Lina looked around to see that her sister had managed to slip away at some point, and reached into her cloak for the stone that she used to send out for her sister, but before she could do so, the familiar figure of a waitress had stepped into the room.

Pulling her hair back and out of her startling lavender eyes, Luna Inverse sat at the table and scanned those present before she opened her mouth with a statement that brought silence to the room. “A certain priest told me to come back here, so I left my table with someone else. Now does anyone care to explain to me why a Mazoku is acting on the side of Cepheid?”