Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers Despair! ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Slayers Despair


Robert S Coyle
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Robert S Coyle
2
12
2001-04-28T10:05:00Z
2001-07-04T07:57:00Z
2< br> 1151
6562
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4.5 pt
2
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S layers Despair!

Author's Notes



Okay, this
isn't so much a prologue as it is author's notes. I really hope you take the time to read these. It'll help you understand where exactly this
story is coming from, and possibly where it's going (if you figure out the
latter, be sure to let me know…I lost my time table). So without further ado, here's the rundown.



Despair! Is
set approximately 11 months after the ending of TRY!, but the events of the
aforementioned series have a drastic affect on what happens now. In particular, the spell used to destroy
Dark Star by using Lina as the Focal Point for Ruby Eye's and Ceiphied's energy
plays a large part. I believe that Lina
could have summoned Ruby Eye, or at least a shard of him, by accident when she
was casting this spell (theoretically, a full perfect Dragon Slav might be able
to summon Shabby, just like a full perfect Giga Slave summons L-sama). While that didn't happen, but it does set
her up for a fall later on. And all the
forces of the various gods and demons didn't pack up and leave after the spell
was finished, either.



That said,
here's the start. Please bear with me
if the first couple episodes are boring…I have to get it started somehow, just
like the TV series had to have it's start somewhere. I'd say enjoy…but that might not be possible. So instead I'll say…Hope you don't have to
call the Hazmat crews.



Slayers Despair!

Episode::1

Prolouge! Setting the Stage!



Step after step.
Footfall after footfall.

"Lina…I know I said I'd
protect you…but I can't. Not after what
you've done…"

A split in the path.
The right one is chosen, arbitrarily, and without thought.

"Sylpheel was right.
You are dangerous, Lina. You destroyed
Valgaav with a spell that

might have summoned Shabernigdo…"

The light faded, but the traveler didn't notice.

"Lina…I can't do this
anymore…Goodbye, and good luck."

A bandit gang waited in the branches over the road. Not one dared even breathe as she passed.

"Go, Lina. As High Priestess of Neo Sairaag, I cannot
allow someone who has acted in such a manner to stay in our city…"

Gourry and Sylpheel 's last words
to her. That alone could be the reason
for her rather monochromatic state, but it wasn't. At least, it wasn't the entire reason. She pressed onward, walking into the night, her consciousness
being assaulted from within.

Those images, as well as others
from battles and events long passed, assailed her memory, struggling to the
forefront of her mind, riding the surge of energy caused by the clashing powers
of Ceiphied and Ruby Eye. Now, months
after channeling the will of the gods and the demons, the two dieties used her
soul as their own personal battleground.

It wasn't the first time she had felt
them tearing at her. But for some
reason, she just couldn't seem to hold them back, couldn't force them down as
she had done countless times before.

The footfalls stopped. A second later, a dull thud, as if someone
had dropped an overstuffed sack to the ground, echoed along the darkened
path. The emotional and mental turmoil
was more than even the bravest could stand.


Lina Inverse, Destroyer of Lords
and Dragons alike, lay alone in the dark.

Well…maybe not alone. A figured blinked into existence, standing
over the fallen girl. He shook his
head, and laughed softly, eyes shinning in the moonlight. He bent down, gently lifted her up, and
vanished. It was as if she had never
been.



***

8 Months Later…

***



Zelgadis Greywords
sipped at his coffee, idly looking over his new, next best hope for a pointer
in the direction of something that might quite possibly refer him to the person
that may have a clue as to where to look for a cure for his curse. Pickings were getting kind of slim, and ever
since that "Jusenkyo" incident, he was starting to doubt just how
good an idea searching for his cure was.
Lina was so angry…or rather, Lina-Piglet was so angry, she almost
destroyed him then and their. Thank god
Philia had managed to correct it with a Holy Break…

He sighed
as he set the parchment down, glancing across the table towards his newest
companion. He had Gourry's height and
build, and blond hair that cascaded down to his shoulders and onto his white
robes. His comrade was at present
thoroughly engaged in a recently procured codex, which apparently was written
entirely in Draconic Runes. The man's
smile widened as he turned a page.

"Something
interesting, Milgasia?"

The blond
haired man looked up, and blushed slightly.


"I'm
afraid nothing you'd be interested in, Zel.
It's an old drama, written just before the Kouma war. I started it, but wasn't able to finish
it…any luck on your end?"

Zel sighed,
and mentally rolled his eyes before answering.

"Not really. I have another possible lead, but I'm
starting to think that there really isn't a cure out there."

Milgasia closed his tome, and shook
his head. "I'm sure there's one
out there, Zelgadis. I wouldn't have
volunteered to help you if I thought the quest was futile. Although, I must admit, I did want to get a
look at some of these old texts myself."

"Can't blame you for that, I
guess. I guess I'll see you
tomorrow."

Milgasia nodded, and Zelgadis stood
up, drained his cup, and headed towards the entrance of the great library,
pushed open the door, and stepped out into the night.

It was as short walk, and since the night was warm and lit by a
full moon, he traveled slowly towards the Inn, half wishing for one of his
former companions. He never really
thought he'd miss any of them.

True, Milgasia was with him now,
but compared to his former companions' antics…it just seemed rather dull.

Filia and Jiras were out in New
Northtown (the first one leveled by Jiras' rocket), and last he heard, were raising a baby Demon Dragon.

Amelia had left on a diplomatic
mission to L-sama knows where. He
hadn't been around Seyruun at the time of her departure, so he had no idea
where she was, and no idea when she would be back. He had to admit he missed her now and then, but all the same, it
was nice to get away from the justice loving sugar princess.

Gourry was in Neo Siraag, when he
last heard. Apparently, Sylpheel had
invited him up there to celebrate Matsuri.
Surprising to him, the swordsman took the opportunity to disengage
himself from his position as Lina's bodyguard.
At least, that's what he had heard.
Supposedly, he was engaged to the shrine priestess.

As for Lina…he sighed. After the destruction of Dark Star, he ran
into her and Gourry once, out on the edge of the Demon Sea. Although she wouldn't admit it, he knew
something was wrong; her attention never seemed to focus on the present, always
on something more distant. Even her
love for food and money had been waning.


He was pretty sure that her emotional
change caused Gourry's switch, but he had yet to run into either of them since
that last meeting. She had left Sairaag
immediately after Matsuri, leaving Gourry and Sylpheel behind. To his knowledge, no one had seen her
since. Of course, a few bandit gangs
boasted of defeating her, one even hoisted a battered black cape as
'proof'. He chalked it all up to
rumor. Still, though, the fact that he
hadn't heard of any bandit gangs being actively annihilated, nor any areas
being leveled by a red headed force of destruction was disconcerting, to say
the least.

As for Xellos…he didn't even want
to consider what THAT mazoku was up to.
Last he heard, there had been massive infighting up on the Northern
Shores of the Demon Sea, between Zellas and Dolph; as far as he was concerned,
anything that kept that damn trickster priest out of his wire hair was
something to be thankful for.

His thoughts halted, as he pushed
open the door to the inn, sparing a glance at the empty, quiet saloon before
walking up stairs towards his room, his thoughts a mixed jumble, while
unconsciously fiddling with a blue and pink bracelet on his left wrist.