Kira Inverse!
The Two Paths Cross
Leaving Chaos in Their Wake
Amelia couldn’t believe it.
He said he’d try. He said he’d try!!! Delighted and embarrassed at the
same time, she danced her way through the town, flowers in hand. She needed
to get them back to the hotel room so she didn’t have to carry them around
all day.
She cheerfully bounced into
the room that she was now sharing with Lina, and came to a red-faced halt
as Lina turned and lifted an eyebrow at the bouquet of flowers in Amelia’s
hands.
“So, Amelia… where’d you
get those flowers?” Lina’s tone of voice indicated that she had a fairly
good idea, but wanted Amelia to confirm it for her.
“Well, um… you see…” Amelia
stammered, staring at the flowers that she held in her hand. “It was… I
mean, they were… Mister Zelgadis gave them to me…”
“Atta boy, Zel!” Lina hollered,
falling backwards onto her bed. “It’s about time he learned that he’s loved.”
Amelia stood in the door,
her blush vibrant. “But… Miss Lina… how do you know?”
Lina sat up, looking at
Amelia. “Amelia… it shows. It’s the way you look at him, the way you always
go to help him. Yeah, we all help each other out… but you go so far out
of your way sometimes…” She paused. “And he does too. We can all see it,
Amelia.”
Amelia stepped into the
room and set her flowers down on her bed, looking to Lina. “Oh… you mean,
like you and Mister Gourry?”
Lina immediately turned
beet red. “Well… er…” She started to laugh nervously. “You’re just joking,
right Amelia? Of course you’re joking!”
“But I’m not, Miss Lina!
It was so obvious that you liked him when Hellmaster Phibrizo kidnapped
him…” Amelia’s voice fell to a whisper. “I’d… I’d never heard you cry before.
Not like that.”
Lina froze, remembering
the pain and heartache she had felt when she had awoken and known that
he wasn’t going to be there in the morning. How the tears had started,
unbidden. “I… I didn’t know you heard me…”
“Mister Zelgadis and I both
did. It… he was really upset…” Amelia’s voice trailed off.
Lina looked at her, aware
that they had never really talked about that particular event. It had been
too close for comfort… and entirely too painful. “You mean…” Lina sighed.
And I’d tried so hard to be okay for the rest of them… so they wouldn’t
know… and they knew. They knew… and they didn’t say anything…They supported
my decision to not cast the Giga Slave, falling one by one to Hellmaster…
even… Martina… She looked down. They hadn’t said anything, hadn’t even
let so much as a quip slip out. In all those times that she had teased
them… and they’d teased back… Once upon a time, I’d have freaked if
anyone knew me that well…
“It’s no use to dwell on
it, Miss Lina. What you need is some sunshine! Let’s go out and enjoy the
day!!” Amelia said, standing up from her bed, leaving the flowers behind.
Lina looked at Amelia, unwilling
to mention that the day was almost half over, but dragged herself out of
her slump and managed a smile as she looked at the flowers. “Well… at least
you got flowers. I didn’t even get the Sword of Light!”
Amelia froze, blushing again,
and watched Lina exit the room. Shaking herself, she ran to follow the
whirlwind of emotions named Lina Inverse.
Lina knew that if she didn’t
find Kira’s house in due time, the mysterious relative might indeed come
seek her out. And if Kira was anything like Lina… well, Lina didn’t want
to be on the looked-for end.
Lina had managed to elude
Amelia and began walking down an obviously residential street, when she
came to a halt in front of a rather non-descript house. It felt familiar…
like she herself lived there… She turned down the walk, approaching the
house carefully, and pausing at the door to feel for wards.
The ward was entirely too
familiar.
She reached up and knocked
on the door.
After a few moments, the
door opened, an all-too-familiar voice touching her ears. “Come in, Lina
Inverse.”
She peered into the room,
stepping in slowly and seeing a figure standing in the shadows. As the
door shut behind Lina, the other stepped into the room and Lina froze.
She was standing alone in
the unholy grave of Shabranigdo, the place where she had first cast the
Giga Slave, not knowing its terrible power and potential destructive force.
A chill settled in her stomach, fear gripping her heart, and she shook
her head. “No… not again…Not this…”
She stumbled over rocks
and boulders, searching for something that she didn’t know. She was indeed
alone, she couldn’t find the others, and they didn’t answer her calls.
At length, she sat on a
boulder and looked out at the desolation, wondering why she was there.
What purpose could returning here serve? What was she looking for, if not
her friends?
Something glimmered magically,
a sense catching her eye and mind, and she slipped off the boulder, moving
in search of it.
There it was, the Philosopher’s
Stone. But hadn’t it been destroyed when Rezo used it? But this was good!
Her dream was telling her that she could go get the stone! It existed!
She could give it to Zelgadis for his cure…
Ah… Lina Inverse. How
amusing that it is you who comes here. You will be an excellent choice
indeed.
“Who’s there?” Lina snapped,
spinning around to find no-one behind her.
I am. The End-All, the Be-All.
I am what you will become.
“I’m tired of riddles! Show
yourself!” Lina snarled, grip tightening on the Philosopher’s Stone.
If you wish…
As she watched, a dark and
shapeless form rose out of the ground, vaguely familiar. With a sharp breath,
Lina realized that she was looking at a part of Shabranigdo that had escaped.
“How…! I destroyed you!”
No, Lina Inverse. You
destroyed but a small part of me. And now… now I take you into my service.
“Like Hell, you will!” Gripping
the Philosopher’s Stone, she began to cast.
Yes… come closer…
“Lord of the Darkness and
the Four Worlds, I call upon you, grant me all the power that you possess!”
The Philosopher’s Stone and the talismans answered her call, as the Lord
of Nightmares’ power was beginning to weave about her.
Can you fight me, Lina
Inverse? Let us see…
“Darkness beyond blackest
pitch, deeper than the deepest night! Lord of Darkness, 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!!” she cast without hesitation.
The power built, feeding
upon itself, but then, she felt it. The magic twisted, the Sea of Chaos
crashing over her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, and she couldn’t
think. She was changing, she could feel it… a twisting in her soul, a terrible
darkness swallowing her. She saw them come running up, her friends. Her
magic snaked out and caught them all up in a brilliant flare. She was becoming
a Mazoku! She-