To Live Another Day 87

Slayers: Alive

Episode 087: Forward! Moving Step By Step

After taking a few more seconds to look into the mirror of truth, Amelia broke the long silence that hung between her and Zelgadis. "Time to use the key," she retrieved it from her pocket, thankful that it had not been lost in the water. She approached the silver tile on the wall. "I'm going to use the key now, Zelgadis."

"Yes..." Zelgadis continued staring into his reflection with bitter longing. This was who he could be, his human self.

"Let's be on our guard just in case," Amelia looked at Zelgadis for a long moment. He nodded in response to her warning, indicating that he had heard her, but didn't move an inch from his position staring into the mirror. Taking a deep somewhat concerned breath, Amelia inserted the silver key into the matching keyhole on the silver tile on the wall and turned it. The response was a soft click and nothing more. A few seconds passed and Amelia was about to conclude that there were no further obstacles in their mission, except making their way out of the cavern. Then a sudden earthquake shook the land, loosening a boulder above Amelia.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis rushed to her aid, though the princess had already gotten herself out of harm's way. The shaking stopped as did the falling rocks, to the sound of shattering glass as the culmination to the tremor.

Amelia glanced at the silver tile on the wall. "I hope the vault doesn't get stuck or something, that would be bad for Miss Filia."

Zelgadis nodded, wondering if the other keyholes were also this hard to reach. "Maybe this was the furthest key and the vault is opening right now. Anyway, since the key is already in, there's nothing more for us to do here. Let's just leave the key there and find a way out." He glanced back in the direction of the mirror, when the ground shook he focused on Amelia and the shattering sound was only a distant echo to him. Zelgadis approached the shattered mirror and picked up one of its pieces, hoping to keep it as a reminder of his human form, yet only a blue skinned chimera stared back at him reflected in the broken shard. "The incantation was lost; this is nothing but a normal mirror now." He bitterly tossed the piece away into the broken pile with frustration, looking at the pieces with disappointment.

Amelia wrapped her arms around Zelgadis lovingly; she knew he didn't want to give up on his cure even if he had accepted his current form. The urge to be fully human still emerged now and then. "It was just a mirror, there are plenty of mirrors in the world and you look handsome on all of them. Our mission is done; let's go back, there should be good news waiting for us."

Zelgadis returned the embrace as gently as he usually did, though Amelia held him tighter, so tight that a normal man would have been suffocated. He hugged her closer allowing himself to stop holding back; he understood that she was telling him to stop fearing hurting her, to hold her tightly. She smiled, her eyes shining like stars and once again, he was alright, he held all he wanted in his arms.

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Simultaneously, Lina and Gourry felt the tremor as they made their way back through the narrow tunnel. The rocks on their chosen path were rather loose and rained down upon them, though they were fortunately small enough not to cause any serious damage. The pair sped up their retreat, making a mad dash as fast as the enclose space allowed. "Celo's really going to get it!" Lina growled.

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The earthquake was of course also felt on the surface, with the lopsided wooden clock tower shaking and threatening to fall. The wood creaked in protest, but the tower somehow held together. The cups of an expensive teas set shook against the cup holders alongside the rhythm of a tiny silver spoon touching the edges of the cup as Tiffany stirred her tea. The shaking stopped as she placed the little spoon on the side of the cup plate and lifted the cup to her lips. After taking a sip, she placed the cup back down, savoring her warm tea. "Do you think Phythan and Onyx will be alright? He has only recently recovered and her amulet was broken, leaving her with no means of defense. Phythan will have to protect her and himself. Is that not too much?"

Celo considered the question while he took a sip of his tea, placing the cup down seconds after. "If all goes as planned, we will know what was sealed inside her. Survival instinct is a powerful force after all... and so is love. If it does not work, there is no need to worry, for the same reason Phythan should be able to muster the strength to keep them both safe. The guards are not too strong, not for a group like them."

"I do not believe that Onyx is powerless, even without the mysterious something that was sealed in her," Tiffany pointed out calmly. "Perhaps there is another reason for her body's adversity to magic, such as it not being an adversity at all, but rather an overload."

"I agree," Celo stated with a smile. "I believe that her condition is different from the initial theory. If we are to use the pool and bucket analogy, where the pool is one's total magical power and the bucket is the portion that can be used at once, then maybe it is not that she is allergic to magic or that her pool capacity is neither null nor pitiful. Perhaps her problem is that her pool capacity is too great, but her bucket capacity is nearly nothing. She has power, yet she is completely unable to use it. Hence when she is exposed to magic, her own pool of energy reacts wanting to manifest itself and being unable to do so is suffocating, that's why it hurts her."

"Interesting..." Tiffany voiced. "Yet forcing her bucket capacity to act beyond its limits would mean certain death..."

"Unless the something sealed inside her prevents it," Celo agreed. "I must say, it is quite an honor to be able to assist General Xellos in his mission concerning Onyx, even if he is unaware of my assistance. Seeing the opportunity, I simply had to take it, or rather, I was all too happy that it was taken for me. The chance to assist the amazing General Xellos was handed to me on a silver platter!"

Tiffany giggled, "you're such a fan boy. At least you didn't have to come up with a cheap excuse to send them on a hunt for the book, since they actually need it."

"Yes," Celo grinned victoriously, "they also couldn't have chosen better routes to take."

"Of course, dear Filia is in no real danger; the book should be one hundred percent effective against her poison, should it not?" Tiffany inquired, though she didn't really need an answer.

"You know how it works, beloved; the enchanted kiss of healing is only as powerful as the love itself. If the taste from their emotions is any indication and it is indeed, I would have to agree that it should for certain be one hundred percent effective," Celo confirmed. "I just hope the others never find out that the keys were not really needed to open the vault and that they don't actually do anything. None the less, this is an amusement park and it is my duty to entertain my guests."

"I'm sure they're enjoying themselves in their own way," Tiffany agreed with a smile. "Even if they might not admit it."

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The tunnel that Onyx and Phythan were going through felt annoyingly endless. The ground suddenly began to shake and the fact was ignored by Onyx, who continued walking as if she didn't notice. "Miss Onyx, we need to... um..." Phythan remembered what he was told to do during an earthquake for the sake of security, but he knew they wouldn't make it back to the surface before the shaking stopped. Besides, they needed to get the key to the proper place as soon as possible, Filia was counting on them. Plus there were no solid columns to stand next to or desks to crawl under. "Never mind, it's over. We should hurry." It was a pity that the space was too small for him to transform and fly.

"Quiet," Onyx growled; she had been rather moody lately. Then again, it was understandable since such a long walk through a tunnel without an end in sight could put just about anyone in a bad mood. The scenery was plain, lacking the pretty glowing crystals that could be found in certain areas of the tunnel that Amelia and Zelgadis traversed. The cavern was lit only by the orb of light that Phythan held.

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Xellos and Filia had their own annoyingly long tunnel to journey through on their way to the vault. The trek was made more difficult by the fact that Filia was starting to feel feverish. The sudden earthquake made her stumble to be caught by Xellos. He, as expected, had a thing or two to say about how she was such a "stupid clumsy dragon."

Sadly, Filia didn't have the energy to reply in a clearly audible voice. She could only mutter something about "raw garbage."

The tunnel that Xellos and Filia were traveling through was a particularly annoying one in the sense that it was covered in sand, the ground, the walls, the ceiling, it was a wonder it even held together, especially through the recent earthquake. It had started out as soft porous beige rock that turned softer as they went along until they were surrounded by sand. The sand drifted from the walls and ceiling with many particles falling on Xellos and Filia. The tunnel held a spiral gentle current that guided the sand as if being pushed into place by an invisible drill, making the tunnel, with the travelers walking straight through it.

The tremor had loosed more sand that fell of Xellos and Filia in a very unpleasant and annoying shower. Xellos brushed the sand off his hair and shoulders with a disgusted look upon his face. The particles fell to the sandy ground and continued their spiraling motions clock-wise, up the left wall and down the right one. Xellos lifted his feet, noting that the motions, although much less dangerous than quicksand would sink them if they didn't keep moving. He dragged the feverish Filia along with him, who seemed too out of it to know the difference between up and down.

Xellos brushed some of the sand off her hair as he went along; knowing that in a few more seconds it would coat her again. "We probably have enough sand on our hair and shoes to make our own private beach, we just need the water." Xellos sarcastically declared, adding with a little less exaggeration. "Or maybe just enough sand to make a sand box for Val to play in."

Filia looked at Xellos for a long moment as if giving some serious consideration to his words. Taking note of that, Xellos gave his own idea some further thought as well. Then they both agreed, "no way." After this annoyingly sandy experience, Filia wasn't in the mood to clean sand off her floor in the future whenever Val ran inside the house after playing in the sand box. As for Xellos, he hated getting sand on his hair, so he rather generally stay away from it in the future if it was at all possible. Besides, even if the beach had a lot more sand than a sand box, somehow a sand box always managed to be messier.

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Following their perilous journey, Amelia and Zelgadis took the U turn tunnel and walked along the cavern until they reached another pond. It was the place where Amelia had fallen, behind a stone wall on the other side of which was the pond where Zelgadis fell. There was another small tunnel connected to that cavity, which they explored. The tiny tunnel began with a few crystals on its walls, but they soon became less until there were none. A simple light spell was enough to solve the issue of not seeing where they were going as they continued their arduous journey.

Zelgadis had insisted on leading the way, just in case something aggressive and potentially dangerous tried to leap at them, but it didn't look like anything was coming. Finally, the narrow tunnel came to an end that Zelgadis hoped wasn't a dead end, though he feared it was. There was indeed a wall in front of him, though a ray of hope thin fragile but very much present still existed in the form of an oddly protuberant square on the stone wall in front of him. Fearing the worse and hoping for the best, Zelgadis pushed the block in and the wall lifted itself up.

The chimera and the princess stepped through, finding themselves behind a row of plastic mint green leaf bushes with hot pink roses on them. The stone wall behind them went down again and it didn't look like there was any mechanism to reopen the passage from that side. The pair made their way past the row of bushes to find a calm little stream with couples riding on tiny white boats adorned with red and pink hearts. There were hearts and flowers all over the cave walls, decorating the surrounding surfaces with cupid statues here and there.

"The tunnel of love," Amelia concluded, which was indeed good news. "If this is one of the resort's rides, then that means making our way out from here will be easy!"

"Great, I've had more than enough of caves for a life time." Zelgadis would be all too happy to see the surface again. Sure, walking through a tunnel hand in hand with Amelia was nice, but walking through the surface hand in hand with Amelia felt even nicer right now.

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Onyx and Phythan finally reached a large cave chamber that seemed to be the end of their tunnel. A large stone statue of a golem stood in front of them, ominous yet motionless. The tired golden dragon, who was feeling the effects of not resting after recovering from his poisoning, and the moody human girl, who was generally upset with life, walked around the golem and caught sight of a bronze tile on the opposite cave wall with a matching keyhole on it. Without a word, Phythan inserted the bronze key into the keyhole and turned the key with a soft click.

Phythan had been quiet since Onyx ordered him to. He gave a thumbs up sign and smiled, signaling that their mission was done, albeit Onyx was already walking away past the golem and towards the tunnel from where they came. It looked as if they could make it back without incident; as Onyx was already within the narrow tunnel that led back to the clock tower basement. Phythan hurried to join her, until a peculiar sight made him freeze in his tracks.

The insect was tiny, it was black and it had many legs. The tiny thing scurried across the cave chamber a few feet in front of Phythan, paying him no mind what so ever. His face paled, his body trembled and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "spider!" His loud voice echoed all over the cave chamber and through the narrow tunnel. The small bug was startled and hurried away to hide between the cracks on the rocks.

The damage was already done. The stone golem's eyes glowed in an orange light as it came to life, its black stone body stepping forward. To top it all up, it looked like many spiders had made the motionless golem their home, thinking that it was only part of the cave's structure. The panicked bugs abandoned the giant in a multitude that scared Phythan out of his mind, leaving him to scream like an insane idiot.

Onyx looked back with a deadly glare in her dark eyes. "I'm not going back to get you, stupid," she growled in a bad mood. "You're a dragon, you have power, you're not a weakling, so quit acting like you have no strength of your own and get over here!"

"Miss Onyx, the spiders, they're all over! Levitation!" Phythan levitated above the spiders that coated the cave floor allowing his orb of light to float above him and adding more to it. "Light! Light! Light!" He couldn't risk one of those terrible tiny creatures sneaking up on him because he didn't see it in the darkness. "Miss Onyx, I'm scared!" The stone golem batted Phythan away with its large solid hand, sending him to crash against the opposing wall.

"Idiot!" Onyx growled, not moving from her position in the safety of the narrow tunnel where the golem was too large to fit. "It was your cowardly loud mouth that woke that golem. We could have left without incident if not for you!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Onyx!" Phythan cried. "Be careful, the spiders are heading towards the tunnel, they're going your way!" Onyx nonchalantly lifted her boot, squishing the first of many spiders under it. She continued with an odd little dance, crushing as many spiders as she could as they came. "You're so brave, Miss Onyx!" Phythan's admiration was cut short by the rock golem delivering a solid punch that once again threw him against another wall. The guardian beast was tired of being ignored in favor of a few measly insects.

"Hey idiot, can you at least beat that golem?" Onyx called out at the end of her already limited patience.

"Oh... yeah..." Phythan took in a deep breath and shot out a massive laser breath that collided with the center of the golem, shattering it into tiny pebbles with ease. Unfortunately, the golem was full of spiders that rained upon Phythan, who scream in a panicked terror, "fireball!" The frightened golden dragon stupidly set himself on fire in an effort to get rid of the spiders that were crawling on him.

To make matters worse, the pebbles that formed the golem dissolved into black sand that began to reform itself into the shape of a big black spider. Two of the spider's legs wrapped themselves around Phythan as soon as he put out the fire, before he could push out the last bit of his energy to finish healing his burnt skin. Terrified beyond words and unable to do as much as scream like a pathetic idiot, Phythan awaited his demise, suffocated painfully by a spider of black sand after suffering terrible burns.

Onyx clenched her fists and glared. She was a failed experiment, she was powerless, helpless. Such feelings were supposed to be relatively new to her as the world itself should be for a monster who was supposedly so recently created. Yet the feelings felt old, as if she had been withstanding them for so long that she was ready to snap... and she did. If she was so worthless then she had nothing to lose by attacking. When she failed to survive the battle, Beast Master would probably be happy that the failure was disposed of.

Onyx recklessly charged forward towards the black sand monster, not caring if she didn't make it out alive. She didn't understand why she wanted to help Phythan. She didn't understand why his mere existence began to infuriate her more and more with each passing day. All that Onyx knew was that she never felt so determined before and there was a certain bittersweet quality to it.

To be Continued

The moment of truth has come for Onyx, will she and Phythan survive, or has Celo made a fatal miscalculation?