- Slayers Vs. Orphen

    "...What are you?"

    She meant that.

    She couldn't bring herself to ask "Who?" - she didn't recognize the man, it was obvious she couldn't dig up from memories of bygone days. There wasn't even positive proof that he was a man to begin with.

    She meant just that.

    "...Huh...?"

    The man, who went by as if there was nothing, murmured only that, raised his eyebrows and stopped. That reaction seemed rather human.

    "..."

    She observed the man silently. She didn't know what good it would do in a deserted town, but street lights shone though a hazy fog that never cleared. The night sky was dark, to say nothing of the darkness that painted the stone walls of the alley, but the light from the street lights cut it off at a slant.

    While she stared at him...

    Actually, she was looking at herself. Even though she couldn't look at herself, somehow in the darkness of her mind she saw her own face with a lit cigarette in her mouth. Although it was probably a special power of the darkness, it didn't make a difference if it was a bad dream or possibly an illusion. Thanks to the black double-breasted coat she always wore covering her shoulders, she didn't feel the misty cold much. She'd put on thick stockings and thought it would be fine. If she got cold it would be annoying to move.

    She pinched the cigarette between her fingertips and pulled it away from her mouth.

    * Translator Notes: 'What' is occasionally used when referring to someone that you do not know, it is not necessarily a shot at Zelgadis' appearance.

    Usually she just held a lit cigarette in her mouth, it was rare she smoked it. She considered it a kind of smoking restriction, but she recalled that the people around her never noticed..

    "..."

    Silently, the man was staring her way - staring back into his eyes, she felt like she was seeing him for the first time. His figure could only be described as odd. Seeing his pupils glisten like a dull gem and him sway easily was slight proof that he was probably human. The gray mantle like a nun's habit didn't conceal his grotesque figure. It seemed like he was trying to hide most of his face with a mask but the stone skin and crevices between the stone peeked through the gaps or, moreover, his true skin color.

    Even though he concealed them, since what he was showing were eyes of a dull color, they were all the more conspicuous, radiating nothing less than an extremely sharp intelligence.

    But they weren't those of a beast. His voice was low, like it was muffled because of the mask. He let out a subdued murmur.

    "...Do you need something?"

    "Are there many like you? In this town."

    Looking around the stone alley-way, she added.

    "Although I haven't seen anyone."

    "Who knows?"

    He shrugged his shoulders. Under the hood that he was wearing over his eyes, she could see bluish hair that seemed different from normal hair sway unnaturally.

    "It's my first time in this... no, in a town like this."

    "Why are you carrying a sword?"

    The so-called man was poor at concealing himself. I listened while I casually thought about that. It was obvious that a large weapon was under his mantle. Or, perhaps he wasn't thinking about concealing it - were there any police in this town?

    While she thought it was suspicious, she continued.

    "I just came here to meet my little sister, but, where is here? I remember getting off the boat and..."

    Saying that much, she sunk into silence suddenly. She couldn't really remember how she went from getting off the boat to suddenly being in this alley.

    Sure enough, the man spoke as if that was absurd.

    "Boat...? The sea isn't nearby. I... Come to think of it, where was I walking?"

    And he became speechless again and looked around.

    "..."

    "..."

    The silence lingered.The fog flow deformed the light of the street lights. She lightly touched the ends of the long, straight black hair that was moist from the humidity - it was a habit that she did unintentionally that she hated. Women who touched their hair when it wasn't necessary were all incompetent - she, Dorothy Magee Howser, muttered towards the man again.

    "...And, who are you?"

- Scenario Change

    "This is your doing, isn't it?!"

    In the hazy afternoon a clear voice suddenly rang out of the sidewalk cafe.

    Two women, around 20 years old, were at the table.

    One woman had black hair and wore a suit, and the other wore an elegant dress and had chestnut colored hair.

    "...Isn't this fine? Anyhow, sis, it's been half a day, let's go home."

    They were possibly sisters. They continued silly small talk without worry.

    "...You did this!"

    The voice pressed again.

    "Hah?"

    The two finally noticed us.

    Then they turned our way.

    However, even when the conversation stopped and I looked around the area, there was a line of unattended tables veiled in a thin fog.

    "..."

    We stared at each other silently...

    "It's no use feigning ignorance! Toh!"

    The shout as well as the sound of cutting through wind tore through the fog!

    And then!

    Crack!

    A white mass that fell from a roof smashed one of the nearby tables...

    Thud.

    After a beat, another mass fell on the stone pavement.

    "...Ow ow ow ow... Hey, Amelia... Why did I have to jump off...?"

    While saying that, the person sat up after falling - correction. The person who had fallen was a man.

    The man with long, blond hair, chest armor and armed with a long sword was about twenty years old.

    "What are you saying, Mr. Gourry?! In a strange situation like this, when a strange person appears in front of you, isn't it normal to learn about them like this?!"

    While saying that, the white mass which had gotten up was a girl with black hair, about fifteen or sixteen years old and wearing whitish clothes.

    "..."

    The two sisters fell into silence and stared at the two people who had fallen for a bit...

    Suddenly they noticed something and glanced around restlessly, "...What? Where is this?"

    Now they noticed it was strange and murmured.

    However, the girl who fell - Amelia, pointed at the two people, WHISH!, without a care about that,

    "A heart of justice is blazing in my chest, my soul! This strange situation is a sign of evil!

    And if the only two people we've found in the town are you two, that means that you're evil!"

    She declared that clearly and decisively while in her signature pose-

    "..."

    The sisters, speechless, after thinking about it...

    Still silent, the two pointed together.

    That is, at Gourry.

    In the silence, their eyes said, "Isn't there another person?"

    "..."

    Amelia was frozen in a pointing pose for awhile...

    After, she cleared her throat softly with a cough,

    "...Of course, it isn't good to scold people carelessly about things."

    She declared that without apology for some reason, not averting her eyes even after she lowered her finger.

    ...Amelia and Gourry didn't recognize the place at all.

    That didn't mean that it was their first time visiting this town. We didn't understand why we were here or how we came here, either.

    Amelia was suspicious and tried to get the two sisters they'd found to confess to being the puppet masters behind this incident but... Somehow it seemed different.

    Nearby, the sisters listened and spoke in whispers,

    "Hey, Bonnie, I wonder who that is."

    "She fell, Big Sis *Coggie."

    "Maybe she's a junior high school student in the middle of escaping."

    "What about that man?"

    "Maybe, a kidnapper..."

    After they talked, they stared at Gourry.

    "...Junerhigh student...?"

    Amelia frowned at the unfamiliar word, but then without too much care,

    "Are you guys from this town?"

    When she asked that, a few feet away Gourry scratched the back of his head,

    "...Speaking of that... Where is this place?"

    Mumbling, he murmured those words, and the sisters - Coggie in a suit and Bonnie in a dress - glanced at each other then surveyed their surroundings restlessly,

    "...Who knows... This, isn't... Totokanta."

    "The royal tea we requested isn't here yet. Isn't there a bellboy?" they unanimously muttered things like that.

    * Translator Notes: This seems to be a shortened form of Constance Magee.

    Following them, Gourry also glanced around,

    "I'm sure I was walking down the road..."

    "You weren't climbing a tree..."

    Amelia crossed her arms for a bit, thinking,

    "So you guys aren't... from this town?"

    Everyone fell into a worried silence, eyes wandering around for a bit...

    "..."

    All eyes stuck on one spot.

    ...Was that there a bit ago?

    No one could say the absurd question that flitted through all of their minds.

    The sidewalk cafe was covered in a thin fog.

    If the fog would clear up on the small hill, it would have probably been an ideal place to view the stone streets.

    Through the fog, stone walls stretched out like a labyrinth, and on the other side of the deserted town there were black shadows wrapped in yet a thicker fog.

    A huge... castle.

    "A castle..."

    Following Coggie's dumbfounded murmur, Bonnie did as well,

    "It's just the *Imperial City, right. But... A castle?"

    Translator Notes:*I looked this up and this was the best I could find for the series. It appears to be talking about "Meberensuto"/"Mevelenst", but doesn't mention the name of the city.

    And, at the same time they...

    "Where is this...?"

    An empty silence fell over them for awhile...

    "I see, now I get it!"

    It was Amelia who broke the silence and raised her voice.

    She looked at the two sisters, Coggie and Bonnie,

    "You guys ended up here suddenly, too!"

    When they casually nodded, Amelia grabbed Coggie's shoulders with a whish!

    "So that's it! It's time to join forces and confront none other than the forces of evil that created this situation!"

    "...Weren't we talking about finding everyone and getting food...?"

    The muttering Gourry was ignored.

    ...However, Coggie didn't ignore his words.

    Or maybe she got a little too involved.

    "Everyone? You have more companions?"

    She asked the girl facing her while her shoulders were shaken pointlessly, changing the subject.

    After hearing Amelia, the blood vessels in her clenched fist swelled,

    "That's right! There are two more in our group to knock down evil!"

    The line immediately pointed out there were "two more" when she heard it, but for the time being Gourry was still being ignored.

    The other woman strongly felt like the type she shouldn't get fully involved with, and Coggie gazed at the empty sky for a bit,

    "...Ummm, well, young lady. I don't understand what's going on, but if you don't return home your guardians will be worried. Probably."

    She tried to say something appropriate.

    "Return... how?"

    It wasn't Amelia, but Gourry, who asked this question that was difficult to answer.

    "Well, I don't know."

    "Then it's settled!"

    She pointed at Coggie at point-blank range with a 'Whish!', and Amelia raised her voice,

    "We'll deal with this confusing situation somehow - That is, evil should be felled! Unless we do that we have no future! That means that even if one of you think you will be bitten by a dog and give up, the fire of justice will burn in an obedient heart!"

    "Uuugh. I'm going to give up in frustration..."

    Already knowing it was useless to run, she couldn't resist breaking down and crying...

    Suddenly, she looked like she remembered something important, and murmured softly.

    "...But, if we don't hurry and get back to Totokanta and my older sister has free rein, she'll probably harm the citizens..."

    "But how will we get back?"

    "Simple!"

    Hearing Bonnie's mutter, Amelia knew exactly what she meant and whish!, she pointed at her.

    "All the villains, the source of evil! There's usually a place with those things! All we need to do is bring that down and everything will be all right!"

    Ahead of the straight, extended finger...

    Was a castle surrounded in fog that stood in the darkness...

- Scenario Change

    "Now."

    Orphen folded his arms and muttered.

    "What is this?"

    It probably didn't make any sense for him to talk to himself in a situation where no one else was around - but, there was nothing else to do.

    What is this?

    He repeated it in his mind.

    A lot of things had happened in his about twenty years of living. Among them, a crisis of existence, a crisis of life, oh, and probably some nonsense crises that he didn't care about, anyhow, stuff like that. That was over, and now he was here.

    He touched the pendant on his chest for some reason and closed his eyes. A dragon with one leg was twined around a sword - somehow the feel of the crest in his palm preserved his self-control. He realized he was more disturbed than he thought, and he sighed. The crest was proof that a person studied at the highest authority of black magic on the continent, the "Tower of Fang". It was also proof of his power.

    But...

    Was that useful for something? In this place?

    He raised his right arm suddenly. He focused his senses, imagined all of his surroundings including himself, locked the image away, and wove in the image. Convinced that he compiled the perfect composition, he muttered.

    "I create thee, small spirit."

    Glow...

    And

    A pale light surfaced in the fog. A cluster of dim lights created complex shades in the tone of the fog.

    He sighed. While he was conscious of his mixed relief,

    "...Well, I'm not totally powerless."

    Once more he surveyed his surroundings.

    As a matter of fact, he didn't expressly summon it for light. The entire bird's-eye view was covered in fog but he couldn't say it was evening yet. Not including the street lamps here and there.

    It went up and down intensely like sweltering waves and the alley fell eerily silent. Even if he crouched and rubbed with his fingers, he didn't feel any dirt. Just...

    He looked up. Not that far away, a huge black shadow was towering above. While he looked at the countless steeples, he quietly murmured,

    "...A...castle?"

    "It looks like it."

    And...

    Orphen was startled and swung around. He dropped into a fighting pose reflexively but when he looked back 180 degrees it was a face that he recognized.

    With slicked back silver hair and perfect tuxedo without a single wrinkle, he also held his chin in his white-gloved fingertips gracefully, looking straight at the castle.

    Thankful for his reflexive fighting pose, Orphen punched with a fist just as he was.

    "Keiiiiiiiiiiiiiith!"

    Grab!

    The man caught his fist in his left hand - Keith turned his eyes from his pose looking at the castle to him. He murmured in a quiet tone.

    "How?"

    "As if I know how!"

    Orphen brung back his fist while he shouted. He continued,

    "Listen!"

    and he pointed around him while he turned in a circle,

    "This is strange!"

    Next his finger turned towards Keith.

    "And you!"

    "Yes?"

    "Now that all the evidence is here, you had something to do with this, didn't you?! So put everything back right away, and return everything where it belongs!"

    "Well, even if you say that..."

    Keith finally dropped his pose and spoke helplessly - but neither his expression nor tone changed at all, so consequently his helplessness could only be heard in the words themselves.

    He wasn't irritated at that but Orphen raised his voice even more.

    "Then what?! Is it possible for some weird thing to happen and for it not to be your fault?!"

    "It is!"

    Keith yelled back in a loud voice suddenly. Surprised at the weird echo of his voice resounding through the alley, Orphen took half a step back.

    Keith continued on ahead. He raised his index finger,

    "Please think, first, Black Sorcerer. Where were you before you came to this place?"

    "Where... Well, I wasn't doing anything in particular. I was taking a nap in a room in an inn and when I woke up I was here..."

    "I see. That sounds more like the life of a stray than I've ever heard. I'll name you Pochi."

    "Hey?!"

    "However, Black Sorcerer, when you sleep do you wear your shoes and gloves?"

    "More importantly, right now..."

    He started to speak.

    Orphen stopped suddenly and looked down at his own hands. Certainly his usual leather gloves were on.

    "Well, no... I'm also all dressed and... It's strange for first thing in the morning. What does this mean?"

    For a short bit he pondered, and then he settled it with a snap.

    "I see. It's a dream?"

    That instant -

    When Orphen quickly turned his body back, he caught a silver flash from the corner of his eye. To be exact - the silver light flashed from the wrist of the tuxedo.

    "...What are you planning, Keith...?"

    While he somehow just barely pinned that arm filled with power, Orphen muttered through clenched teeth. Keith, who pointed the tip of a knife at him, answered without losing his completely straight face.

    "If it's a dream it couldn't be painful, so if you didn't feel any pain then it's a dream. This is the way of the world, Black Sorcerer."

    "Ho hooh..."

    "Now, now, without reservation..."

    "I absolutely decline!"

    Twisting the wrist he was holding, he shifted his body and tried to fling his opponent away... and in that instant, the wrist he should have been holding suddenly came loose. He didn't know how it happened, but when the tuxedo rustled he flipped and it made a noise entirely like a bat flapping its wings,

    "Haa ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

    With loud laughter that man's body flew substantially through the air. Nearby - or a few meters away - he lightly jumped on top of the stone wall and, folding his arms, Keith shouted.

    "Black Sorcerer, please heed my words!"

    "What?!"

    "This earth is..."

    And.

    Keith suddenly stopped speaking after saying that. His forehead wrinkled like he noticed something,

    "Ah, Black Sorcerer, please wait a little bit."

    He gestured at him with his hand.

    When he looked up absentmindedly Keith was looking slightly away - and he began to speak to himself like he was talking to something unseen.

    "Eeh?"

    He seemed surprised.

    "Yes."

    He seemed to agree.

    "Aah, I see..."

    He seemed to understand.

    "Understood. A delivery pigeon... I think it's a splendid idea. Well then, the loan..."

    And, with that he seemed to have settled the matter. With a glance he faced his way, and after he cleared his throat,

    "Well then, Black Sorcerer, that's it, some other time."

    "Hey?!"

    "Fare~well~."

    "Like I'll let you run?!"

    He began to chase after Keith as he trotted along on top of the wall - the striking of his footsteps on the stone paving resounded in the fog. Without any mysterious forks in the alleyway, the retreating back of the abnormally fast Keith disappeared into the fog, but at least it didn't seem liked he would lose his way running down the road.

    Not that he ran that far. Rather his sense of time rapidly became blurred and he couldn't remember the distance he ran. Keith had already disappeared. He could only hear the sound of his own running footsteps. The alleyway rolled by him; he'd remember it even when he was drunk...

    Orphen stopped.

    "Hn...?"

    Before he knew it his feet were on something flat. Even though the wind wasn't blowing the fog drifted away. The white curtain was torn and when his sight cleared up it was a wide space paved with stone. He was able to measure with his eyes his distance from the black castle that towered above him nearby.

    There was probably a park there - he could see a fountain in the center. What meaning there was to a recreation area in a vacated city was a mystery to him. The park had as much meaning as speaking to oneself.

    While he thought about that, Orphen knitted his eyebrows. In the end nothing was going to answer his questions.

    He could hear the meaningless sound of the water fountain. But the overwhelming silence in the whole city made the modest sound reverberate and as soon as he heard it he nearly forgot himself. The real sound disappeared and gave way to an imaginary silence...

    What was this?

    What was this empty city?

    He just knew it wasn't a dream, like Keith said. Suddenly, he looked down at his left arm fearfully - he'd noticed it when he was running. When Keith shook his hand off it seemed like he'd stolen a small blade. Blood spread from a wound that had become a tear. He put his hand over the throbbing wound and shook his head.

    If he could feel pain then it wasn't a dream. He didn't believe such a simple story but...

    It hurt. He felt the blood pouring out and the cold of the fog mixed with sweat. His heart pounded from running a long way. His head was chaotic. His will was muddy...

    It wasn't a dream. Orphen was convinced and felt a chill down his spine. It wasn't a dream. Even though it wasn't a dream, something had happened. Something especially abnormal.

    "I heal..."

    He murmured as the wound closed.

    He stopped midway. He felt some sort of presence. Even if the fog around him faded a little, the whole town was still covered. He could see something on the other side of the fog...

    He had a feeling and turned his head.

- Scenario Change

    In the beginning there were new sights everywhere she looked.

    For one girl having a slow lunch in a small cafeteria in town, how many rogues had she gotten into quarrels with about various things...?

    Surely there were new sights everywhere she looked.

    Speaking of being a bit different, it was said that the the girl involved wearing the mantle was a sorceress, and she had a matching strange attitude.

    Consequently, the men making accusations, who left along with her...

    Kaboom!

    One explosion.

    After a brief pause, only one girl returned to the store with a nimble walk.

    In hand, the spoils from the men - correction, mentally she thought of it as taking it against their will as compensation. The purse didn't seem very heavy.

    ...Even here, well, she wouldn't say it happened a lot but she couldn't say that it was a rare sight by any means.

    Everyone knew that with the magic flourishing in this world they didn't have the absolute advantage with greater numbers and strong bodies.

    ...But.

    "...nng."

    The purse dropped to the ground with a noisy plop from the hand of the girl who returned triumphantly.

    The table she was at a short while ago.

    The table she had a monopoly on had a mountain of the shop's specialty dish lined up on it.

    Another person was sitting there now.

    She handled the knife and fork gracefully as she brought the last piece of the meat dish carried out a bit ago to her mouth...

    "Ah, Lina. This is unexpected."

    She spoke brazenly, gulping down the rest in one bite.

    Her shoulder guards were thorny and she had a skull necklace around her neck.

    True to her reputation as she saw the scene, she gave the sense of a nonsensically skimpy, evil sorceress eating calmly at a table that another person had left early.

    "Don't 'This is unexpected, isn't it?' meee!"

    Pow!

    "Hegh?!"

    Lina, bolting upright for a moment, making her chestnut hair flutter, and drop kicked her opponent across the table with a direct hit to the throat!

    She proudly looked down at her opponent who screamed and fell down,

    "You~! I hadn't seen you in awhile so I thought you'd become ant food for sure!

    And now you shamelessly pop up here...

    ...Waaaaaaaugh?!"

    Looking at the table, Lina unintentionally screamed.

    Just now she gazed at the meat dish that Naga had emptied.

    Glare! She looked at Naga, a thirst for blood in her eyes.

    "...Hey...! That was the most recommended dish for this restaurant...!"

    "...Hu... if I think about what to say..."

    She felt a serious intent to kill and while she sat up in a flurry it exuded too much in her tone,

    "Can't you just order some more?"

    When Naga said that, Lina finally let her shoulders relax a little,

    "...Well... You have a point, but...

    ...Hey, auntiiie.

    Another plate of the prime choice roast for me pleeease~ !"

    "I'm sooorry. We're already out of the prime choice~!"

    ...Silence...

    All of the customers...

    clearly felt the temperature fall several times.

    Lina, who still had her hand raised in order to place an order...

    ...Snapped.

    They could hear the sound of something breaking.

    And then, a second later.

    "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

    Naga flew out of the shop's entrance...

    Kaboooooom!

    An explosion burst from inside the shop.

    ...Waver...

    Flames and smoke wavered, and a black silhouette came out from inside.

    "...Ku ku ku ku..."

    The edges of her mouth curved up. Murder was in her eyes.

    Her resentment about the prime choice roast was deeper than the sea.

    She looked at Naga fleeing down the street with a glare!

    "Ray Wing!"

    Boom!

    She kicked the air, recited the spell for high speed flight, and chased after her!

    Feeling a presence behind her, she looked over her shoulder - Naga's face twitched.

    She was panicked and seemed to be casting some sort of spell but, bundling her body in a barrier of wind and taking to high speed flight, this half-hearted attack spell fell flat.

    Naga suddenly changed course, plunging into a side alley.

    The magic sped her up but made tight turns difficult. Naga, knowing her magic specialty, tried to run away using it but...

    "Don't be naive!"

    Lina barked, and with the power of the grudge she controlled the spell and changed her flight trajectory in a breath!

    She flew to the back alley that Naga fled to!

    She caught up in the twinkle of a star - that was her plan, but...

    Bwah.

    The instant she plunged into the alley.

    White buried Lina's field of vision.

    "...?!"

    It was impossible to continue flying with her vision like that. Panicked, she canceled her spell- Thud!

    She landed on the stone pavement.

    The maze of thin alleys was buried... in a thin fog.

    "...I see..."

    *"Nng," Lina mumbled.

    Lina knew the incantation for Swightflang, too.

    Perhaps this was the actual spell that Naga had been reciting a bit ago.

    It was simply a spell to create fog, but when used while fleeing it had the effect of working like a smokescreen.

    Like right now. Her opponent made a smokescreen with fog, and she would probably widen the gap between them, or conversely find somewhere to hide and hope that she would go past.

    "But as usual... You didn't follow through, did you?"

    Lina said, and took in a deep breath.

    ...The smell of roasted meat drifted through the fog.

    It led beyond the alley.

    "...I won't let you escape!"

    *The word used here, "Posori", is kind of mumbling, so this is literally written like, "SFX for mumble," Lina mumbled.