Episode Nine

Defeat!

Rebirth!

It’s One or the Other…

Lina stood on the Sea of Chaos and watched the battle from the sudden distance. The others, her friends, were there now, but they had arrived too late. She had already finished casting the Giga Slave. She could see the looks of grim dismay on their faces, her friends all reacting in varying stages of regret. “I’m sorry…” she whispered. “There was no other way…”

You made the choice, Lina Inverse. Had you but waited a moment or two more… perhaps this would have ended differently?

“I might be dead and Shabranigdo would have been reborn. I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t just allow that to happen without doing anything to stop it,” Lina answered, and then turned to look for who had spoken to her. “Who… who’s there?”

I am. You summoned Me, so I came.

Lina swallowed, eyes widening. “The… Lord of Nightmares…? I… summoned you?”

There was a shimmer of gold that began to coalesce before her, and Lina stepped involuntarily back to see the shimmering and formless Golden One before her. My Power is My Mind. My Mind is My Power. I am that which you summoned to your hand.

“And I…” Lina considered this. “I don’t remember what happened the last time that I cast the Giga Slave. Did you come then too? All I recall is darkness…”

You were unprepared. You cast the spell in desperation without truly understanding the nature of it, even though you had seen the records of the Claire Bible. Now you see. And understand.

“And now I understand? Not really. So what happens now? What happens to Shabranigdo? And my friends?” She didn’t ask about herself. Why bother? She already had a suspicion. Her life was for forfeit, as illustrated so clearly in the Claire Bible.

That rests entirely upon you, Lina Inverse. There is much that you need to know, descendant of Kira Inverse.

Lina stared at the achingly beautiful golden figure. “What about Kira Inverse? I don’t know much about her.”

Yes. There is a reason for that. Kira Inverse was my Knight. Much as your sister Luna is the Knight of Cephied, Kira Inverse was the Knight of Chaos. Your family has always served the Gods in one form or another. Did you not know that, Lina Inverse? It is the reason that your family is as powerful as it is.

Lina staggered, thunderstruck by the Golden One’s words.

I have waited until now to offer you that which I offered Kira many years ago. I offer you the chance to stand as the Knight of Chaos. My Power, My Mind.

Lina’s mouth fell open as she considered. “But… I’ve seen what the Giga Slave… what your power is capable of… I don’t want to destroy the world. Or myself in the process.”

You have seen what happens when one who is not of Chaos casts the spell. You are elemental of Chaos, and therefore I offer. What you have seen in the Claire Bible does not apply to you.

“But why… me?”

You are a reflection of Kira Inverse. Unpredicatable, untamed. You are as wild as the flame and as Chaotic as I. I am merely the living embodiment of Chaos.

“I think I’m flattered.” It’s not every day that you have the Mother of All Darkness showering you with offers of power and compliments. If I take this… what happens to me?

You will continue to be Lina Inverse. Just as Kira continued to be herself.

Lina stared out over the frozen battle scene. She somehow knew that time was not stopped; she was merely removed from it, suspended in a moment between the moments. “I don’t really have a choice, do I? I mean, it’s either you or Shabranigdo there… and personally, I like you better…. Wait a minute. You can hear my thoughts?”

I hear a great many things, Lina Inverse. Then you have made your decision?

Lina held up her hand. “With a consideration, if you will.”

A consideration? The Lord of Nightmares looked amused. Not everyone asks a god for a consideration.

“Yeah, well, I’m not everyone,” Lina returned. She found that she wasn’t at all afraid of the Lord of Nightmares, and wondered fleetingly if that was a good or a bad thing.

Very well. You have my interest. What is your consideration?

“I don’t want to be immortal. If I die, I die. There’s too much in life to experience, and too much to lose if I’m immortal. There’s fear… relief… love… that moment of breathless panic as you move to avoid an attack…”

Indeed. Kira Inverse asked the same.

“Huh? Is she still alive?” Lina asked.

She is retired. And she lives in a town that is known to you. Perhaps, after this, you will wish to visit with her. She will have valuable advice.

“Maybe I’d like that. But right now, there’s something I’ve got to take care of. Shall we?”

By all means.

“By the way… what should I call you?”

The laugh shimmered. There are those who call Me L-Sama.

The air around Lina shimmered, and suddenly, she was back in her own body staring down at Shabranigdo. The pulse of power that streamed through her was incredible. Incredible and wild… and controlled. The power of the Lord of Nightmares was perfectly contained. By her. Lina Inverse.

“She’s cast the Giga Slave! We’re too late!” Amelia shouted over the noise of Shabranigdo’s anger.

“But she’s only standing there!” Zelgadis said, drawing his sword. Last time he had opened his eyes to see the Golden One standing there, Phibrizo had been gone, destroyed by the magic that She possessed.

“That’s not Lina,” Xellos kneeled to the golden image of Lina and lowered his head over his staff. Zelas Mellatium would not like this one bit, and he’d have a good amount of explaining to do. Lina Inverse was not supposed to die, and Xellos didn’t like to fail. Not only was it bad for his image, it made the Beastmaster all the harder to mollify. His boss took her role in the Game quite personally, and failures were inexcusable. He was certain this meant another few years of pain for him… and it wasn’t the kind he’d enjoy.

Filia and Aurin, not having seen Xellos defer to the Lord of Nightmares before, stared in shock. If that wasn’t Lina, then who was it? And Xellos…? “A Mazoku even defers to her?” Aurin whispered to Filia, who shrugged in confusion. She had no idea what as going on.

Gourry only watched in dismay, shaking his head. He still couldn’t remember what had happened the last time she had cast the Giga Slave, but he knew that it wasn’t good that she had cast it again. Silently, he drew the Sword of Light, Golunova.

“Xellos, get up. I’m not the Lord of Nightmares.”

The Mazoku was so surprised that he opened his eyes and stared at her. It was most definitely Lina. A dark smile started across his face. Now she was truly his equal, and worthy of the challenge he could prepare for her. He’d been wrong. The Beastmaster would be well pleased.

Shock and horror rippled through the group as Lina turned to face down Shabranigdo. Zelgadis, dismayed, moved to stand by Xellos. “What did she do, Mazoku?”

“I would imagine that the Lord of Nightmares is even more capricious than we had thought. It seems that she has chosen Lina as her Knight,” the Trickster Priest replied as he stood and looked back to the rest of the group.

Amelia stood quietly beside Gourry, the both of them looking shocked, but grimly determined to see this through to the end, no matter how bitter it might yet be.

Filia and Aurin were the most confused, having no idea exactly what Lina had done, but ready to take their part in whatever the battle was to bring.

Both chimera and Mazoku turned around as Lina began to speak.

"Darkness beyond the blackest pitch, deeper than the deepest night! Lord of Nightmares, shining like gold upon the Sea of Chaos, I call upon thee, swear myself to thee! Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess! GIGA SLAVE!!"

As the final words echoed through the room, a brilliant gold light escaped from Lina’s hands, spilling out and towards Shabranigdo. The light pierced him, illuminating thousands of tiny little cracks all along Shabranigdo’s form from where it was pouring into him.

Lina raised her hand, and the cracks all began to enlarge, the power of the Lord of Nightmares destroying Shabranigdo from the inside out.

Zelgadis, Amelia, Filia and Aurin all cast shields, and as the first few fragments of the Dark Lord came flying towards them, Zelgadis looked back and saw that Amelia was shielding Gourry, but not herself.

Then the explosion came and washed over them all

Lina opened her eyes to a gray nothingness that stretched off as far as she could see. Sitting up, her first thought was that she had somehow lost the battle, even with the Lord of Nightmares on her side.

But as she stood and turned around to look, there were the others, picking themselves up out of the clouds of seeming nothingness.

First she saw Filia and Xellos lift their heads, followed by… Aurin. What was he doing here? Then there was Gourry, and Zelgadis.

“Where’s Amelia?” Lina asked. She had seen the girl before she had returned to the battle from her discussion with the Lord of Nightmares.

Zelgadis’ eyes widened and he turned. “Amelia! She wasn’t shielding herself? Amelia?!”

One by one, the little group began calling and searching for the Princess of Sailune.

“Oh, great! Her father will kill me!” Lina began to rant. “Amelia! If you’re hiding ‘cause I cast the Giga Slave, you can come out now. I’m still me, and I don’t intend to be anyone else anytime soon! Amelia?!”

A few more moments of panic followed, then Gourry called out. “I think I found her.”

Oddly enough, the ones who moved the fastest were Zelgadis and Aurin. They both picked her up, but Zelgadis was the one to cradle her.

“Damn it, Amelia! Why didn’t you shield yourself as well?”

Lina approached slowly, fearing the worst. She softened at Zelgadis’ outburst, her gaze shifting from the quiet figure of Amelia to the stony expression of her chimeric companion. So he does like her. I suppose that’s not all bad…

There was a faint cough, and Amelia stirred in Zelgadis’ arms. He looked down in time to see Amelia scrunch up her eyes, then blink them open and look up. As his face came into focus, she blinked widely, then a blush filled her cheeks.

Suddenly realizing how things must look, Zelgadis blushed too. Bother. “You didn’t shield yourself,” he chided.

Amelia lifted her arm, the bracelet shining silver on her wrist. “I didn’t need to. Aurin’s bracelet…”

“Would keep her safe. I gave that to you so long ago... the day that the Golden Dragons attacked…” Aurin finished, kneeling to Amelia. “It was you there, wasn’t it? But I don’t understand…”

“I will explain.”

They all turned, looking to the woman who had appeared in the center of what they now could see was the room back in the hall of Kuroryu. Xellos dropped his staff and Lina took a defensive position, but the woman waved her hand.

“Yes, you two are right to hate me… there were things that I could not explain before. You see… not all of this was a test. Under the guise of a test, I managed to bring you here to aid us.”

Lina dropped her hand. “Aid you? What do you mean, Elena?”

“I was being controlled by Shabranigdo. Somehow I had to find a way to bring help to destroy him. And testing you seemed the best way. I knew that Lina Inverse would discover the underlying truth and do as she had done before: destroy the fragment of the Dark Lord Shabranigdo.”

Aurin frowned. “I remember… after that ball with Kira Inverse… you were changed. Your joy of life was gone. Then Amelia came and the Golden Dragons attacked…”

“They attacked because of Shabranigdo, didn’t they? They knew the fragment of the Dark Lord was hidden in Kuroryu. You managed to change the story, telling everyone that they were attacking because of the powers you protected,” Lina said, head tilted as if she were listening to something.

“You didn’t want Kuroryu to die, so you brought Amelia into it as her test. But you didn’t expect that Aurin would give her his bracelet. You never expected him to die. And you didn’t expect Amelia to cast the healing spell on you. It helped to break Shabranigdo’s hold, and you knew that you bring me into the story and take care of Shabranigdo.”

Elena looked away. “Nothing went as I had hoped it would go. I couldn’t even tell Xellos what was happening. However, he managed to come through in the end.”

Lina turned to look at the Mazoku, and was surprised to see him blushing. “Xellos?”

“Lalli… Elena and I were in love a very long time ago,” the Trickster Priest admitted.

Aurin rounded on Elena. “You? And that… Mazoku?”

Elena looked down. “I… was always drawn to the darker…”

“Which made it easy for Shabranigdo to control you,” Lina said. “And when you realized it, it was too late.”

“But I don’t understand,” Amelia said, standing up out of the embarrassing embrace. “What does this have to do with the humans of Kuroryu?”

“They are all dragons. They are all the Ancient Black Dragons. Shabranigdo’s magic forced them to forget who and what they were,” Lalli replied.

Xellos’ expression darkened. “Then you were lying to me.”

“Shabranigdo is the Lord of Darkness, Xellos. Lies to him are nothing unusual.” Lina pointed out.

“So does anyone have a clue where the Princess is now? Isn’t that what we were truly here to do? Rescue the Princess of Kuroryu?” Zelgadis asked, trying to return the conversation to something a bit more realistic.

“Hey, he’s right!” Gourry exclaimed, looking around. “Little girl?”

“My name is Zhiya, and I’m right here. Can we go home? I have to kill my brother. I mean, I’m worth a lot more than two hundred gold coins!”

The entire group looked around, and started to laugh.

Lina reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair. “Yeah… come on, kiddo. Let’s go see your brother.”