This is my first attempt at Slayers fanfiction. It's very likely to be quite bad, and I'd like any feedback that could help me improve it. yet.So, here it is.
CHIMERA'S BLOOD
By Warmask
Zelgadis sighed to himself in contentment as he finished off the last morsel of fish in his hot pot. It had been a long time since he had last been to Atlas City, and the food was just as good as he remembered it. Being in Atlas City once again brought back a flood of memories of old times, when he came to this city once before with Amelia and the others. Yes, he could practically see Amelia now, sitting across from him and pointing out which fish looked best.
“Excuse me, sir, but have you finally finished your meal?”
Ah, yes. That too reminded him of his last visit to the city.
“What was it you wanted from me again?” he said, setting down his fork. The man leaning against the wall next to the table pulled up a chair and sat down across from Zelgadis. Thank God, the man thought. It’s been nearly two hours. I thought he would never finish.
“I’m sorry to impose on your dinner, but I had heard that the infamous magic wielding swordsman Zelgadis was in the city, and I had wondered if you might be willing to help me.”
Zelgadis waited for him to get to the point.
After several moments, the man continued. “Although I doubt that you would recognize from my holy symbol, ”the man said, holding up a bizarre silver talisman vaguely reminiscent of a fish on a stick, “I am one of the few remaining followers of the ancient Argashorite religion.”
Zelgadis wracked his brain for a minute. Finally, he questioned, “Argashorite? I’m afraid I’ve never heard the name.”
The man looked somewhat disappointed, and said, “No, I didn’t think you would know of us. Almost no one does. The religion was never large or popular to begin with, and 400 years ago, our only temple was destroyed simultaneously by earthquakes, lightning strikes, flash floods, flash fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and men with large hammers, all completely contained in the area around the temple.”
“So what does this story have to do with me?” Zelgadis asked.
“I was just getting to that,” the man said hurriedly. “It is said by the followers of our religion that an ancient, completely intact copy of the Argashorite Holy Scriptures is buried within the ruins of our temple, lying under what is now Seyruun. As a devoted priest of the Almighty Argashor, I could not simply do nothing when I heard this legend.”
“So you wish to hire me to find this manuscript.”
“That is correct. A famous adventurer like yourself should have no difficulty retrieving the manuscript.”
“And what makes you think I’d be interested in doing this? If I’m as famous as you say, you should know that my only goal is to reverse the spell that transformed me into a chimera. I have more important things to do than find some…”
That is exactly why I approached you!” the man interrupted. “The Argashorites were once unparalleled masters of white magic. If a cure to your condition exists, it surely can be found within the Book of Argashor. That is what I offer as payment: Full access to the ancient knowledge contained within the Book of Argashor.”
“I’ll take the job.” Zelgadis said without hesitation.
“Excellent! I thank you for your great service to the Almighty Argashor! May his blessings be upon you! Return to Atlas City once you have found the book, and we will do our best to reverse your condition.“ With that, the Argashorite stood up and left the restaurant.
Seyruun, eh? Zelgadis thought. Although I don’t believe everything that crackpot just told me, if there’s a chance of becoming human again I’ll take it. I just hope this doesn’t turn out like the Claire Bible all over again…
Zelgadis brightened up a bit. And besides this would be a great chance to see how Amelia’s been these last three years. Zelgadis toyed absent-mindedly with the armband Amelia had given him back then when they parted ways. But, I can’t travel to Seyruun on an empty stomach…
“Waiter! Another hot pot, please!”
Halfway across the world from where Zelgadis now dined upon hot pot, a red robed sorceror ranted and screamed in his floating castle. “WHY! Why can’t I find it! No matter how hard I search, the final component is always beyond my grasp! It’s JUST NOT FAIR!” The sorceror pounded the wall to vent his frustration. Over the last hundred years, Garland had scoured the globe for the items he sought, but always the last one had eluded him. Of course, he reflected, it would help if I actually knew what it WAS I was looking for. If only the bottom of that page hadn’t been burned off by that mysterious fire so many years ago…
His ranting was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He whirled around, enraged that someone had actually penetrated his inner chambers. “BURST FLA—“ He had almost completed the spell before he noticed who the intruder was.
“Oh, it’s you again.” He muttered, slightly embarrassed at his outburst. “What do you want now?”
“Well,” said Garland’s occasional benefactor, “I had just been passing through the area, and I couldn’t help but hear your screaming. You should keep it down out here, you’ll anger the neighbours.”
“WHAT NEIGHBOURS??” Garland screamed. “I LIVE OVER A BLOODY OCEAN! THERE’S NO ONE AROUND FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES!”
“My my, we’re easily excited today, aren’t we? I had just dropped in to tell you that I know what the last ingredient is, but if you’re in a mood like this, I’ll drop by later.” The intruder started to teleport out.
“Wait!” Garland immediately composed himself, and the visitor rematerialized. ”I’m terribly sorry about that, why don’t you sit down, and have a cup of tea?” At a gesture from Garland, a table sprouted from the floor, along with two chairs and a tea set. “Now, please, tell me, what is this about the final ingredient?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. All you need is the blood of a chimera. I’ve been meaning to tell you for the last 10 or 20 years, but I just never remembered it when I was passing by.” The visitor nimbly dodged the tea set that flew at his head.
“You mean you’ve known all this time, and… Oh well. It doesn’t matter anymore. Soon, my dreams will be fulfilled!” Garland cackled maniacally, and then turned to his scrying orb to find the nearest chimera.
“Well, since I expect you’ve got other business to attend to now, I’ll just show myself out.”
“Oh, before you go… I’ve been meaning to ask you.… Why have you been helping me?”
The figure smiled. “That… is a secret.”
Zelgadis smiled to himself as he stretched out on a luxurious bed in Seyruun’s finest inn. It had been a long day of travel, and at this moment this bed seemed like the greatest bed he had ever slept on. His mood was only slightly spoiled by the holes in the bedsheets he had accidentally torn when he first collapsed onto the bed. But aside from the bed, he was also surprisingly happy to be in Seyruun. Aside from the anticipation of finally finding a cure, he was also happier to be seeing Amelia again after such a long time than he would have cared to admit. I wonder what she’s up to? I hope she hasn’t forgotten about me… If only Lina and Gourry were here, it would be just like old times.
Zelgadis was shaken from his reverie by the sound of his door creaking very quietly open. He put his hand very quietly under his pillow onto the hilt of his sword, and pretended to be asleep. He heard footsteps moving very slowly towards his bed, and a hand holding an ether soaked !
cloth moved towards his face. As the cloth was almost over his mouth, he whipped his sword out from under his pillow, and slashed at air where the assailant had been standing seconds before. A mocking laugh filled the room.
“You’re good, chimera. I almost didn’t see that one coming,” said an arrogant, reedy voice. Zelgadis leapt from his bed and whispered “Lighting”. A sphere of light appeared hovering next to him, and in the pale glow, he could see an old, thin, green-haired man wearing a dark red robe. The man continued to chuckle mockingly at him.
“And you’re fairly good too, whoever you are. I almost didn’t notice you. Now what do you want with me?”
The man laughed for a second longer, as though something about Zelgadis’ question amused him. “Oh, I don’t want anything with you in particular, chimera. I just want… your blood.”
“My blood? Well, I’m afraid you might have some difficulty getting it, old man. ASTRAL VINE!”
Zelgadis’ sword too on a reddish aura, and he leapt at the man, slashing forward with all his might. But when his sword reached le end of its arc, he saw that the old man was no longer in front of him. Worse, he could no longer stop his momentum, and he slammed headfirst into the wall.
“Bahaha!” the old man cackled. “This is going to be easier than I thought. Now, taste the might of the wizard Garland!” Garland shouted a spell that Zelgadis had never heard before, and then nodded to himself smugly. Zelgadis looked around, but saw no evidence that the spell had done anything. He reached for his sword, which he had dropped when he hit the wall, and it was only when his hand squished on the sword’s hilt that he noticed something was wrong.
“What did you do to me?” Zelgadis demanded.
“Oh, it’s simple really. I just used a variation on a simple stone-to-mud spell. I thought it would work quite well in this case.”
Zelgadis stared in horror at his now brown, wet and squishy skin. “No! As if I weren’t enough of a freak before…”
"Oh, don’t worry, the effects will wear off in time. Soon enough for my purposes, anyway. But now, to make sure you don’t spoil on the way back to my castle… FREEZE ARROW!”
Zelgadis was helpless to do anything but watch in horror as his mudlike skin froze under the effects of the spell, leaving him a helpless, frozen statue.
“That was… a cheap… trick… old man…” Zelgadis gasped.
“Don’t worry, chimera. Soon, that will be the least of your concerns.”
Amelia paced the balcony of he room restlessly, unable to sleep. For some reason, tonight she was too full of energy to possibly sleep, despite her best efforts. It was at times like this she wished that she was still travelling with Lina, Goury, and Zelgadis. Although she had no complaints about her current duties as a princess helping Seyruun become the world’s greatest haven of justice, after the incredible adventures she had experienced while travelling with the others, she couldn’t help but feel that her role as a princess was a bit… boring. Yes, that was definitely the word. Helping her father as he passed new laws and held courts and the like was all well and good, but she wished she could be travelling abroad bringing peace and justice to the whole world, not just to Seyruun. But most of all, she wished she could see her friends again. Especially Zelgadis. Being a princess was lonely work, despite all the respect she was given.
As though the world were responding to her thoughts, suddenly she saw the strangest thing she had seen since returning to Seyruun. An old man was, with great effort, pulling a small sled through the field behind Seyruun Castle. On the sled was Zelgadis, strangely colored brown and with icicles hanging from his body. Zelgadis was screaming every swear word known to man and chimera at the old man, who would occasionally hit him with a stick to silence him. Amelia could do nothing but gape in amazement as the sled slid past out of her vision. Finally she regained her wits. “I don’t know what’s going on there, but that person was obviously trying to kidnap Zelgadis, and that makes him an Enemy of Justice! In the name of Justice, I will end his evil ways!” And bring back Zelgadis…
Writing a note to her father explaining that she had gone to fight evil, Amelia got dressed and leapt out the window in pursuit of Zelgadis.
Zelgadis stood in silence in the back of the small cell that Garland had placed him in. He didn’t really have much of a choice, since he hadn’t thawed out yet and had long ago ran out of expletives to hurl at the sorceror. “Damn you, Garland…” he muttered under his breath. That had been his mantra for the past half hour, ever since Garland had thrown him into this dank cell and gleefully left to make preparations. Although he hated to admit it, he knew there was no chance of escape. First of all, there was the problem of his current unfortunate condition, which had on the bright side shown him that there were worse things than having rocks for skin. Secondly, Garland had gone to the precaution of casting a spell on Zelgadis that would seal his magic, so that he wouldn’t find himself on the wrong end of a Ra-Tilt the first time he looked away. Thirdly, the bars of the cell drew on the flying castle’s power source to allow them to incinerate anything that came into contact with!
them, as Garland had cheerfully demonstrated to him. And finally, just in case all his other efforts failed to contain Zelgadis, Garland had bound a Mazoku into his service, which was currently roaming the halls ready to devour anything that Garland commanded it to. Although Zelgadis hadn’t seen the Mazoku, he was certain that it was there. Garland seemed powerful enough to control one, and he was unlikely to lie to someone in Zelgadis’ position. Zelgadis had to admit that he had little hope. If this is the end, then I’ll make sure I go out fighting.
If only I could move!
Garland whistled to himself as he gathered up all the ingredients he had collected over the years. Many of them were exceedingly rare, and he had devoted much of his magically extended life to finding them. Soon, everything will be ready. Tears of joy welled up in his eyes. At long last, the moment I’ve devoted my entire life to is here! They won’t be able to call me a madman any longer! They’ll have no choice but to reinstate me as head of the Guild! And I owe it all to that strangely helpful Mazoku…
Amelia cautiously approached the main gate of Garland’s flying castle. When she had first seen the imposing black, four-towered stone monstrosity hovering calmly over the oceans near Seyruun, she had been taken aback, and had almost retreated out of fear. But then, she steeled her nerves, realizing that enemies of Justice always had evil scary hideouts like this, and boldly pressed onwards towards the castle. Now, standing at the huge iron gate of the castle, she again felt nervous of entering, but then thought of the nefarious plans that the old man might have for Zelgadis. Nervously, Amelia knocked on the gate.
A small hatch slid open on the gate. A pair of glowing red eyes looked out and locked on Amelia, and a snarling voice growled, “Who dares interrupt the work of the great wizard Garland??”
“I have come to bring Justice to this home of E-“
“Sorry, we don’t want any. No soliciting.” As suddenly as it opened, the hatch snapped shut.
Amelia was somewhat dumbfounded for a few minutes afterwards. This was the first thing that anything like that had ever happened. Meekly, she knocked again. The hatch slid open, and the glowing eyes once again gazed down at her.
“Who dares interrupt the… You again? I thought I told you, we don’t want any!”
“I think maybe you don’t understand.,” Amelia said quietly. “I’m not here to sell anything. I’m here to deliver Justice unto those who-“
“A delivery? Why didn’t you say so? You should have used the service entrance. Just go around the wall to the right, you can’t miss it.” The hatch slid closed once more, and Amelia was left vaguely confused. She was pretty sure that this wasn’t how an assault on the fortress of an evil wizard by a justice-loving warrior was supposed to go. But, she took the door guard’s advice and went in through the service entrance.
Garland gingerly tested the frothing mixture in the cauldron before him with his orihalcon stirring rod. “Ah, almost perfect. Let’s see, what comes next… Aaah, the powdered Ancient Dragon rib.” Garland scooped up a handful of greyish powder and gently stirred it into the cauldron, which frothed and fizzled with renewed vigor as he added it. “Let’s see those morons back at the Guild laugh THIS one off! Hmmm…” Garland glanced down at the ancient, fire-scorched tome which lay before him. Numerous notes had been scribbled into the margin to replace the sections that had been burnt out by fire. “It’s almost time for the chimera…”
“Damn you, Garland…” Zelgadis had lost track of the number of times that he had repeated that same chant over the past hour. He shook his fist in rage at the mage who had rendered him so helpless. Then it hit him. Wait a minute… I can move my arm! The spell’s wearing off! Zelgadis tested is movement, shaking off the last of the ice that clung to him. His regular blue complexion had partially returned, and for once he was thankful to have his ‘normal’ stonelike skin. Then, he noticed another fault in the wizard’s careful planning. The fool! He froze my sword in the ice along with me! I still can’t use magic, but it’s a start. Testing the cell, Zelgadis swung his sword at the bars of the cell. As expected, white-hot flames burst from the bars, turning the metal of his sword red with heat. Zelgadis grimaced and pulled his sword away. Although the heat didn’t cause any lasting damage, it was still painful. And the bars didn’t look any worse for wear after his attack. Damn. I’ll!
have to think of another way out…
Amelia wandered through the dark, gothic-styled halls of Garland’s castle. Apparently, Garland had taken fortress-building lessons from other great evil sorcerors and warlords of the age, because the castle was a completely standard villains fortress, complete with dungeons, ancient crypts and torture chambers. Many of the rooms appeared to be there simply for show, however- Amelia passed several torture chambers where the implements of torture still had the shrink-wrap on, and the crypts were inhabited by imitation skeletons and rubber bats hanging from wires. Whatever else could be said, though, Garland was certainly trying to look the part of the evil wizard. The halls of Garland’s castle seemed to be abandoned- apparently, Garland relied on his door-guarding monster to keep out intruders. “Zelgadis-san?” Amelia called down a hallway. “Where are you?”
Lost in the maze of gothic hallways, Amelia wandered deeper into the heart of the castle. She failed to notice the burning eyes that followed her movements as she walked down the hallway.
“Zelgadis-san?” Zelgadis suddenly looked up, eyes widened with surprise, as he heard the faint cry echo down a hallway. “Amelia?!” he shouted out. “Amelia, is that you? I’m over here!” Amelia! I’ve got to think of a way out of here… “Amelia!”
“Amelia!” Amelia heard Zelgadis’ call echo through the hallway as well. “Zelgadis! Don’t worry! I’ll save you in the name of Justice!” Zelgadis… Please be all right…
Intruders… Heh, heh, heh… Finally, my damnable servitude to Garland (may he burn in Hell for a thousand years) becomes enjoyable. Their fear shall be like sweet wine to me… Do not worry, Zelgadis, Amelia. I am coming…
Amelia rounded the next corner at a run, and spotted Zelgadis standing close to the bars of the cell, watching intently through them for any sign of Amelia. “Zelgadis-san!” she cried out as she saw him.
“Amelia! It’s been a long time. But we’ve got no time for a reunion right now. That old wizard needs my blood for some strange purpose, and if we don’t get out of here soon, then he just might get it. Is there anything you can do to open up this cell?”
Amelia looked thoughtful for a second, then reached towards the door to the cell.
“By the way, don’t touch the door. It’s enchanted to burn anything that touches it.”
Amelia withdrew her hand quickly. “Well, I guess there’s only one thing I can do”
What’s tha-“
“BURST RONDO!”
“You should have warned me first.” grumbled Zelgadis as he extracted himself from the rubble of the cell walls.
“Sorry, Zelgadis-san. But at least there’s a hole in the bars now.”
“True,” said Zelgadis as he carefully stepped past the remaining bars. “Now, how do we get out of here? I’m afraid I wasn’t paying attention to the castle’s layout when Garland dragged me in here."
“I’m afraid that there is no way out for you!” screamed a shrill, otherworldly voice. Zelgadis and Amelia both stopped suddenly and glanced around for the source of the voice. Zelgadis glanced upwards, and-
“Amelia, move!”
“What?”
Zelgadis leapt forward, knocking Amelia out of the way as the ceiling above them collapsed, filling in the hallway with broken rubble. Something small and brown flew past down the hallway in a blur and rounded the corner.
“Zelgadis-san, the exit’s blocked!” moaned Amelia, picking herself up off the ground.
“Then I guess we have no choice but to fight,” said Zelgadis.
The brown blur reappeared from around the corner, moving at an impossible speed. Before Zelgadis could react, it had struck him in the chest and hurled him against the wall. As Zelgadis pulled himself out of the broken wreckage where he hit, he was left with a distinct impression of… feathers?
“What is that thing, anyway?” asked Amelia.
“I’m not sure... Watch for it next time it comes, and try to hit it with a Burst Rondo next time it comes around.”
“Right!”
The blur rounded the corner once again.
“Hey! I’m over here!” yelled Zelgadis, waving his arms.
The blur swerved towards him.
“BURST RONDO!”
“You didn’t have to include me in the blast as well, Amelia,” grumbled Zelgadis as he pulled himself out of the wreckage of another wall.
“Sorry, Zelgadis-san. But I got that thing, too!”
Zelgadis drew his sword and cautiously approached the wobbling chunk of masonry which their target was pinned under, and flipped it aside. Underneath was…
A duck.
An evil-looking duck, to be sure, but a duck nonetheless.
“What is this?” groaned Zelgadis.
“I though it was some sort of monster…” said Amelia.
“Fools! Do not mock the power of the mighty Mazoku lord Quaklor! You are as WORMS before my wrath!”
“The mazoku lord…” Amelia repeated.
“Quaklor?” finished Zelgadis.
“You should know by now not to judge a mazoku by its outward appearance, puny mortals! What you have seen so far it but a small taste of my power! Tremble, o powerless ones, as I unveil my true glory!”
Suddenly, the mazoku duck was surrounded by a glowing red aura, which intensified until it filled the hallway. Amelia had to cover her eyes with her arm to avoid being blinded, and Zelgadis turned his head away. When the glow subsided, Quaklor intoned “Now, mere mortals, feel the omnipotent might of the almighty Quaklor!”
Amelia looked up as the glow subsided, and stared in horror at-
A duck.
An evil looking duck, but a duck nonetheless.
But now it had horns.
Amelia’s horror changed very quickly to laughter, and Zelgadis grinned slightly when he saw the true form of the almighty Quaklor.
“Pitiful fools! Do not tempt Quaklor’s wrath.”
“Amelia, please.” Said Zelgadis.
“RA-TILT!”
“What! Fools! I am Quaklor! I cannot be harmed by your puny attacks! Waaargh!”
Quaklor dissolved under the onslaught of Amelia’s Ra-Tilt, leaving a few brownish feathers drifting through the air.
“Well, that ends that silliness,” murmured Zelgadis. “now, to escape.”
“Zelgadis-san, we can’t escape! Quaklor collapsed the exit!”
“Oh. Right. Well, I guess we have no choice but to press on further into the castle.”
Zelgadis muttered a Lighting spell, and to his satisfaction, a small wobbly sphere of light appeared at the end of his sword. My magic’s beginning to come back. I don’t think I could manage anything too strong yet, but it’ll have to do.
“And besides, I have to pay my respects to Garland.”
Garland tasted a bit of the boiling purple goo that filled the cauldron before him. “Hmmm… Doesn’t taste quite like it should, but I’m sure it’ll work out in the end. I have faith in my research. Let’s see… 2 cups Leg of Harpy, add Cilantro to taste, and mix well. Now… Ahh, the chimera’s blood. One more ingredient, and my masterpiece will be complete!”
A familiar figure popped into view next to Garland. “I hate to tell you this,” he said, “but your chimera’s blood’s coming to get you right about now, and I think it’s angry.”
“WHAT?!” Garland screamed. “That’s impossible! Quaklor! Answer my summons! How did the chimera escape!”
“I’m afraid that Quaklor won’t be answering to anyone anytime soon, old man.” Zelgadis said as he stepped into Garland’s main chamber.
“Evildoer! Mend your evil ways and surrender yourself to Justice!” Shouted Amelia, who was precariously balanced atop a small statue in a corner of the room.
Zelgadis sighed. I guess some things never change.
“It looks like everyone’s arrived. Hi Amelia, Zelgadis. How have you been?”
“XELLOSS??” Both Amelia and Zelgadis cast stupefied gazes at the mazoku priest.
“Wow, you both remember me. I’m touched, really.” Xellos said, grinning.
“Silence, all of you! I don’t care how you all know each other, but none of that matters now! None of you can interfere with my plans! Bahaha! All I need is a bit of that Chmera’s blood, and I can prove my supremacy to the Atlas City Chef’s Guild once and for all! Bahahaha!” cackled Garland.
“….chef’s guild?” said Zelgadis, stupefied.
“Yes! For years, with the aid of this kindly mazoku priest, I have been painstakingly reassembling the ultimate recipe known to man: The Deluxe Kingly Beef Stew Set for Seven! All I need to complete the recipe according to this mazoku is the blood of a chimera!” ranted Garland.
“Xelloss! You told him that you need chimera blood?”
“I just thought I’d help him out! How was I to know he’d choose you as the final ingredient?”
“XELLOSS!!!” Zelgadis leapt at the mazoku in a murderous rage.
“Can I see that recipe, Garland-san?” asked Amelia.
“Of course! I would gladly share my masterpiece with the world!”
Amelia glanced over the page, turning gradually green as she did so.
“This is… beef stew? There isn’t even any beef in it! Where… Where did you get this recipe?”
“It’s an ancient family recipe, anded down through generations,” said Garland, beaming. “Oh course, the ingredient list was damaged, but Xelloss here reconstructed the ingredient list for me. Why, is it wrong?”
Xelloss grinned. “Would it have been half as much fun if I had told you that all you needed was beef, potato, broth, and some rare herbs?”
There was a deathly silence in the room for several minutes.
“XELLOSS!!!” screamed both Garland and Zelgadis.
It was said later that the explosions and the screams of Xelloss could even be heard all the way back in Seyruun.
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