For a moment, he didn't even remember his own name. It wasn't important though. Finding the items buried beneath the pile of bones was. The extreme expenditure of his own life-force in the largest, strongest Ra Tilt he'd ever cast causing him to feel dizzy and disconnected. All he could think was find them.
Finally, his fingers brushed the leather canteen. He pulled it up, not even knowing why it seemed so important to him. Then, picking through the remains, he found the little bundle of black, tied with red. Still confused, he sat down in the middle of the inert corpses, and slowed pulled the knot apart. The curling lock of red hair glimmered in the weak light of his dying light spell.
Holding the canteen with it's blue and pink bangle in one hand and the lock of hair in the other, he stared at the items, uncertain why they were so vital.
Then, as the light finally faded away, a name came to his mind.
Lina.
LINA! AMELIA! GOURRY!
In a rush, his lifeforce restored him. He remembered everything. "LIGHTING!" He staggered over to a now empty bier and sat. Gasping a little, he made a mental note never to use that much of his own soul in a Ra Tilt again. He tied up the bundle of Lina's hair again, and took a drink from the canteen. That was twice know he'd nearly died, for if he hadn't been able to recall his soul, he'd probably have wasted away in here, in the dark.
Zelgadis tied the canteen to his belt, and adjusted the remains of his cloak so the broach was over his heart. Then carefully and securely he pinned the lock of hair on the inside of his shirt, so he could feel it against his chest. He stood, and walked towards the door. Yanking his sword from it's stance in the floor, he sheathed it and continued.
He easily passed through the black doors at the end of the hall of dead, the barracks of corpses. The next hall was short, but ever widening to frame two enormous doors of pure gold. Again, monsters of varying shapes and sizes were cast in scenes of death and destruction.
He paused, then pushed one of the doors open.
Far away, a relaxed figure came suddenly alert. "XELLOSS."
"Yes, my Mistress."
"HE IS ENTERING PHIBRIZZO'S SEAT OF POWER. GO AND OBSERVE. NOTIFY ME THE INSTANT ANYTHING INTERESTING HAPPENS."
The miasma of power left visible swirls of energy in the air of the chamber. Zelgadis froze in the threshold, not sure if he should advance or retreat. Carefully, he stepped though the door and entered.
For a moment, the air of the room seemed to press down on him, but then it began to move, a sinisterly cheerful breeze that tugged his cloak, teased his hair, and made the dangling strings of his capelet dance. Zelgadis found himself touching the lock of hair, as if for protection. The winds of power seemed now to push him, lead him, across the room to the dais in the center. Alone in the center of the riser stood a stone throne, and on a stand before the chair, a globe of solid gold.
He could almost hear the power.
Zelgadis�s sword dipped and fell and his arm relaxed as the power whispered to him. Sit, it said, and slowly Zelgadis took his seat on the stone chair. An impulse he could not have called his own caused him to raise his hand and lay it on the golden sphere before him.
Like a blast from a supercharged Lighting spell, a golden flare radiated from the sphere. The power in the room became a vortex around the figure of Zelgadis, a shadow in the center of gold light.
By the door, a distance now more like a lifetime away, a smear of astral darkness solidified into the Mysterious Priest. �He taps the power, my Mistress.�
�NOW WE WAIT.�
Light.
Like the lava of a Vlave Howl, a liquid burning bright gold wound with utter darkness.
Pain.
Pleasure.
Pain/Pleasure.
Finally, the light began to dim. Staring into the depths of the golden sphere, Zelgadis saw history play out before him. He saw the world when it was new, and the figures of gods and demons marched by. For timeless time he watched mankind grow, build cities, make war, die. He felt as they died. He controlled their deaths.He could feel their lives in his hands. He could touch that spark within them and snuff it out with a thought. He could hold the spark like a golden marble, to hold or crush at will. He saw himself seated in the stone throne beneath the desert, a thousand Mazoku servants before him, willing to do whatever he bid. He saw himself with pale skin, his own brown-violet hair tousled by the power at his command. He could see the cities of the world, and walk through them at will. He saw the shade of Rezo trapped in torment for eternity, a never-ending penance for casting the chimeric curse.
And most seductive, he saw Lina, garbed in glorious silks dripping with jewels, her hands caressing his human skin, fingers tangled in his hair as she lifted her face for a kiss, eyes smoky with desire�.
But I would not be human.
He saw his friends smiling around him as he shared his gift with them, locking their life-spheres away so they were never crushed, living forever with him in his sandy citadel. Lina laughing, Lina dancing before the flames of his power��
It�s a lie.
�DOES HE WEAKEN?�
Amazed, Xelloss reported, �No, my Mistress. He seems to �. To strengthen!�
All yours, whispered the power. Take it. Become the master. Become the ruler. Control all. Be smooth of skin and bright as flame. Take what you want, it is yours to have and hold. Be the Master of Death, the master of all.
It is only death. It cannot rule LIFE.
Think of Lina. She can be yours. This power can bring her, make her love you, make her stay bay your side for all eternity�.
But would it be her choice?
Again, the image of Lina swam before his eyes. She appeared more beautiful than ever, her hair seemed highlighted by the golden power, her eyes light with it and with �.. lust for him?
A mistake, that last part.
The power, not understanding love, could only show lust in the eyes of the hallucinatory image. Like a splash of arctic water, the lingering strains of Hellmaster Phibrizzo�s power were forced back by Zelgadis�s will. He would not be seduced to become Phibrizzo�s replacement.
�ELMEKIA LANCE!� Zelgadis fired wildly, using the astral spell to figuratively burn a hole in the blanket of evil power all around him. He tore his hand away from the golden sphere, crying out as a layer of rocky skin was ripped away. The pain gave the evil strength, and it advanced on him again, spinning its lies of power, but it also gave Zelgadis willpower.
�Source of all souls which dwells in eternal and infinite, everlasting flame of blue,� chanted Zelgadis rapidly. �Let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the infinite...RA-TILT!" At nearly point-blank range, he fired the spell into the golden sphere.
Like a tornado, the lingering evil of Hellmaster twisted and pulled itself down into the sphere. With a grimace, Zelgadis raised his sword. "ASTRAL VINE!"
From the door, Xelloss smiled. �Whoops, time to go!�
Gripping the sword two-handed, Zel brought it down like a dagger, plunging the point deep into the sphere, thinking only �Lina�..�
For a fleeting second all was still. Then with a noise too low for ears, a concussion greater than any explosion burst outwards.**
The pain from striking the wall with such force nearly forced Zelgadis into unconsciousness. The secondary pain of landing on the ground, having hit the wall nearly 30 feet up, felt almost negligible. The next thing he thought about was just lying down and dying, but he knew his friends far away would never forgive him for giving up. With a groan, he struggled to his feet.
A challenge that, for the entire citadel had begun to shake. Dust fell from above, rapidly progressing to dirt and sand, and rocks. With a curse, Zelgadis staggered for the trembling doorway. He had to get out before the whole structure caved it.
Through the door, he poured on as much speed as he dared. He retraced his route though the Mazoku fortress, through the barracks, using a Rey Wing up the spiral stairs, past the library of disappearing books, dodging tumbling collumns in the Main Hall, . He could hear the collapse behind him as he approached the long tunnel out. A sudden thunderclap of sound behind him told him that only seconds remained. Pushing himself to his absolute fastest, he strained for the glimmer of pale light ahead.
The final collapse came, but the compression of air sent a blast out the tunnel to the gorge, and it sent Zelgadis flying out of the tunnel like a bullet from a gun barrel.
He landed on the slope below the entrance and kept rolling, all the way down the gorge to the banks of the weak stream at the bottom. Finally coming to a rest on his back, he stared up at the cloud of dust and sand caused by the destruction of the citadel, watching it fall back in on itself. The pale sky above told him that dawn was upon him. He had spent so long inside. Was it dawn a day later, having entered at dawn, or dawn a week, a month, a year later?
A tickle on his leg roused him. Sitting carefully, he discovered the stream level had risen. Glancing back up its course, he smiled to discover a spring had been forced up by the fortress�s collapse. The water chuckled and burbled it�s way down the stream, widening itself as it went. Zelgadis leaned over for a drink.�Well well!�
Sputtering, Zelgadis spun as fast as he could on his knees and tried to hold up his sword.
Xelloss smiled sweetly at the weakened chimera. Lucky for Zelgadis, his Mistress had not ordered the chimera�s death. Yet. �You certainly know how to make your mark on the landscape, eh, Zelgadis?�
�What do you want, Xelloss!�
�Now, now, Zelgadis,� Xelloss chided, wagging a finger. �No need to be so hostile! I just �. Noticed some interesting activity on the astral plan, and thought to investigate. To be honest, I expected the pleasure of meeting Miss Lina here.�
Zelgadis scowled. �You�re never honest.�
Xelloss hung a pouting expression on his face. �Oh, you�re so cynical! � He leaned towards Zelgadis. �Find anything�. Interesting inside, Zelgadis? Care to tell me about it?�
With a sneer, Zelgadis replied, �It�s a secret.�
Xelloss nearly killed Zel right there for the presumption, but not a trace of the struggle showed. �Oh, very droll. But you know,� his purple eyes opened, and bored into Zelgadis�s own blue, �You don�t have nearly as many secrets as you�d like to think, Zelgadis.�
�What are you really doing here, Xelloss?� Zelgadis asked, trying to control a revolted shudder from the sight of Xelloss�s eyes.
With a sudden reversal from threatening to cheery, Xelloss�s eyes snapped shut and an annoying smile lit his face. �That�s a secret, of course!� He grinned at Zelgadis. �Well, this has been pleasant, but I really must be going now. Ta ta!� He faded away. His voice echoed around the gorge. �Perhaps we�ll meet again sometime!�
Zelgadis sighed. Clearly, whatever the Mazoku thought of his destroying Hellmaster�s citadel, The Greater Beast was unconcerned. For now, at least.
He took in the view of the rising sun lighting the gorge and turning the growing stream into a shining ribbon. He spotted a likely way out to the east, and sighing, he rose. He would make his way up and across the sands. With any luck, he�d find the Ryzian home village.
In a distant, different citadel, Xelloss knelt, having given his report. His Mistress sat silently on her throne.
"Shall I rid us of this chimera, how has now dispersed the last of Hellmaster's power?"
"NO. THERE WAS NOT THAT MUCH AFTER ALL. IT IS OF LITTLE CONCEQUENCE." She paused. "HE CRIED OUT INVERSE'S NAME?"
"Like a war cry, my Mistress" Xelloss replied through gritted teeth. Lina Inverse was HIS plaything.
"CHECK ON INVERSE. I WILL CALL YOU WHEN I HAVE NEED OF YOU."
"Yes, my Lady." He retreated into darkness, thinking Lina........
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