Point Of No Return (revised)

A Real Life/Records Of Lodoss War/BubbleGum Crisis (way later)
crossover.

By Louis-Philippe Giroux   ***New address***
<Phoenix@upc.qc.ca> or <phoenix@cmq.qc.ca>

*Author's note:  This is my very first fanfic, so bear the fact in mind
as you read it...   And for those who wonder about the BGC part, it
doesn't come into play until *much* later in the fanfic (sorry!).  I
don't write very fast yet.  After BGC, maybe I'll look into new universes
(Ranma 1/2, X-Files, Sailor Moon, MKR?  Who knows what the future
holds?)

_Constructive_ comments & criticisms are of course welcome.  I was
inspired by watching RoLW and BGC, other miscellaneous anime and
playing far too many RPG's for my health.  The rights to Records Of Lodoss
War and Bubblegum Crisis belong to whoever rightfully owns
them (I can't remember just now).   

   I'm writing a very liberal interpretation of the world of RoLW after
the anime's last episode (Parn's rescue of Deedlit in Kardis' temple on
Marmo Island).  I could be going off-canon from there, since it's been a
long time since I saw RoLW and no, I am NOT taking the Crystania
sequel into account (mainly because I didn't see it).  My story is *not*
based on the novel; it's based on the subbed version of the anime.  Don't
blame me if you don't like that (I'm not forcing you to read this,
remember?).

   If you like it, mail me to Phoenix@upc.qc.ca or phoenix@cmq.qc.ca and
tell me I'm not doing this for nothing!


Chapter 1: A Start To Everything


<Location: The Real World>

    Terry and Donna Stratson were walking home from the college
campus after another unventful day.  Most people who crossed their
path would be intrigued by their resemblance to each other.  Then
again, most people didn't know they were 18 year-old twins.  Terry
was a relatively tall young man with short, well-kept auburn hair and a
straight, normal everyday face.  Donna, being his twin sister, looked
somewhat like Terry, her facial features partially hidden by the large
locks of auburn hair which flowed down past her shoulders.
    "So what are you doing tonight, Terry?"  asked Donna nonchalantly,
kicking a pebble across the sidewalk.
    "I'm going to Eddie's house.  He's been begging me for weeks to let
him introduce me to a new type of cartoons.   Japanese animation, I
think", came a suspiciously nonchalant reply.
    "Japanese cartoons?  Yeah, right...", Donna smirked.  "You're sure
it's not because of Carrie?" she asked, already looking forward to
teasing her brother on the subject.
    "No, it's not!" Terry replied.  But a slight blush and the speed at
which he answered betrayed him.  Donna started looking at him with a
wicked-looking smile on her lips and Terry knew right now he'd lose
the argument if he remained silent.  "Okay, _maybe_ Carrie has
something to do with it.  Don't _you_ have to go somewhere with your
dear Michael tonight?", asked Terry, hoping the change the tide of the
argument.
    Donna's silent blush told him he'd scored a hit.  "Only if he doesn't
have any homework to do." she replied after a short pause.
    "The guy's a bookworm.  You'd be much better off with almost any
other guy, you know."
    Donna was starting to get a little irritated.  "I do not need your
counseling, dear brother.   At least he's not like that bimbo you're
dating!"
    "Carrie is _not_ a bimbo!", Terry shot back, becoming irritated
himself.
    "Suuuure! Just tell that to the three guys she dated before you."
    Ah, yes.   A normal day in the life of Terry and Donna Stratson.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: Lodoss>

    Lodoss was finally starting to heal after years of war and
destruction.  The dead had been buried, the wounded were healing,
cities were being rebuilt and the fields were green once more.   Slowly,
all traces of the Marmo invasion were being erased.  Except for the
occasional wild beast attack on a village, there hadn't been many things
worthy of notice happening in Lodoss recently.  Even the Kobolds and
werewolves seemed to have completely disappeared.
    Parn was horseriding towards Valis with Deedlit, his elven
companion, mere steps behind him.  Since that fateful day when he'd
saved Deedlit's life and prevented the goddess Kardis' resurrection,
there a been a notable shortage of adventures for would-be heroes like
him and he had somewhat given up on finding exciting adventures.
    It had been several weeks since Parn and Deedlit had quietly left
Valis, leaving behind Etoh, Parn's young friend and Priest of Falia (in
training) and Slayn, the wizard who had chosen to remain in Valis for a
little while longer with his companion Leylia, a priestess of Marfa.
    They were part of the reason Parn was riding his way back to Valis. 
He wanted to see his friends again and he was also looking forward to
meeting King Kashue once again.  Parn could not forget Kashue's gift to
him when he left Valis, the King's own sturdy blue and yellow-handled
sword safely nestled in the scabbard at his side.  Parn felt he had been
somewhat inadequate in his thanks to King Kashue for the precious gift.  
All the more reasons to go back to Valis.
    The Mercenary King Kashue was still in Valis, as far as he knew, to
help oversee the succession to the throne of the late King Fahn.   He had
agreed to remain for a while longer to help Princess Fianna settle any
diplomatic problems he might be of help with.
    It seemed as if this was going to be another uneventful day in Lodoss.

* * * * * * * * * *

 <Location: somewhere else on Lodoss>

    Unfortunately for Parn, Slayn was not in Valis as he had thought.  
Slay himself wasn't sure exactly where he was at the moment, but he
knew he had to get back to Valis sooner or later.  *Hopefully, Parn will
have returned from his trip with Deedlit.  The rumors I heard in the
last few villages ought to interest him.* he thought.   Unlike Parn,
Slayn had had enough adventures to last him for a long time.  *Well, I
was like him once, always looking for trouble*, he thought with a
small smile.  The smile then vanished and Slayn became serious once
more.
    He had some _very_ interesting rumors to tell Parn indeed.  Most of
which concerned a very old enemy of Parn...
    Slayn was musing about those rumors when his horse almost collided
with two other riders at an intersection.   Barely keeping his mount
from unsaddling him, he started to apologize to the other two travellers
when he got a good look at them.  Their clothes were a little dirty, but
he recognized them without too much effort: Shiris and Orson, the
mercenary friends of Parn.
    Read-haired Shiris still sported the short red tunic-and-cape outfit
Slayn had first seen her with, along with the sword at her side.  Along
with her red thigh boots, Slayn, or anyone else for that matter, could
easily guess Shiris' favorite color.  Dark-haired Orson was still
dressed in what could have passed for a used soldier's uniform: a brown
shirt over a light mail tunic, beige trousers (anyone have a better
name for this?), knee-high boots and leg guards and a somewhat
tattered green cape.  Topping the man's height by a foot and a half on
his back was a giant sword Orson could easily use to its full
potential when he went berserk.
    Berserker.  A name which struck fear in any relatively sane person. 
"Where a berserker passes, only corpses remain," the saying went. 
Orson was possessed by Hyuri, the spirit of rage and madness.  While
he acted quite normally most of the time, he gained inhuman strength
and become a fearful force to be reckoned with in combat if anything
was to make him mad enough.  The trigger usually consisted of one two
things: someone who was an extreme threat to him or someone
threatening Shiris.  Almost anything else he was usually able to deal
with in "normal mode".
    While Slayn was staring in surprise at Orson and Shiris, the latter
was not quite as tongue-tied.  "Hey! Why don't you watch where you're
going you..." she started and quickly stopped when Orson put his hand
on her shoulder.
    "Go easy, Shiris.  Don't you remember him?"
    Slayn used the short pause in the argument to put a word in.  "I'm
glad to see you too again, Shiris.  You too, Orson.", he said with a small
smirk.  Slayn had to repress a slight shudder when he laid eyes on
Orson.  Even for him, it was hard to be comfortable around a
berserker.
    Shiris stared for a couple of seconds and then, with slightly rosied
cheeks, quickly apologized.  "I'm sorry Slayn.  I didn't recognize you
fast enough."
   "Well, it's probably my fault.  I wasn't exactly watching where I
was going.", he said, a bit guiltily.  "Where were you headed?"
   "Well, we just finished a protection contract in a nearby village. 
Those thieves won't be back any time soon, I can tell you that!", she
answered with a grin, which then became a somewhat sullen
expression.  "But we've been running out of contracts: buisiness is
slow, so we haven't been doing anything nor going anywhere important
lately.  Why do you ask?"
    "Do you want to come back with me to Valis?  I bring news for Parn
and I'm somewhat sure you'd like to hear them as well." 
    Shiris perked up a little.  "Really?  Well, Orson and I might just
well meet you there, then.  We have a few things to do first.  And it'll
be nice to see Parn again."
   "Good.", he nodded.  "Then we'll meet in Valis.  Ride safely!"
    "You too!", Shori shouted as they got further away from one
another.  "And watch where you're going!"

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: The Real World>

    Terry and Donna came back to their house (they were lucky the
family house was near the campus), their little tiff already forgotten. 
Being twins, they knew exactly which buttons to push to piss off the
other, but they always quickly reconciled.  Donna opened the door, only
to be greeted by their enthusiastic black-haired ten year old sister,
Stephany.  "Konnichiwa oniisan, oneechan!" 
    Donna was the first to react with "Huh?" and Terry followed
shortly afterward with "What'd you say?"
    Pleased that she had gotten the desired results, Stephany explained:
"It means: `Hi, brother and sister!' in Japanese."
    "Fanny, when did you start learning Japanese?  And for that matter,
_where_ did you learn Japanese?" Terry asked, while Donna was
already heading for the fridge to get something to drink.
   "Chang taught me!", she beamed with pride (or was that arrogance at
knowing something her siblings did not?).
    "Who the bloody hell is Chang?", Terry asked, confused.
    "Terry!", Donna scolded  over the fridge's door.  She didn't want
Stephany to pick up her brother's... colorful language.  "Chang's the
new babysitter Mom hired to watch over Fanny when we're gone."
    "How old is he?"
    "He's sixteen years old.  But then again, you'd know that if you lived
among humans beings sometimes."
   "Hey!  It's not my fault I like computers so much!  At least _I_ don't
run the risk of burning down the house like the time you did your little
chemistry experiment in the kitchen a few years ago and nearly
torched the oven."
   "That was an accident!", Donna replied hotly.  "Besides, I've gotten a
lot better at chemistry these last few months."
    "So next time you'll nuke the entire kitchen and not just the oven?" 
Before she could reply, Terry quickly turned back to Fanny and asked:
"So why is he teaching you Japanese, anyway?"
    "Well, his mother is Japanese and his father is American.  He told
me he'd grown up learning English, but he recently asked his mother to
teach him Japanese.  I heard him practice last night when he came over
to babysit, so I asked him to teach me a couple of words, and he did!"
    "Well in that case, I hope you liked it because it looks as if he'll be
coming back tonight.  Donna and I may leave for the evening and if I
remember correctly, Mom and Dad are going to the opera tonight.",
Terry said with a small grin.
    "I'm only leaving if I can get a date with Michael tonight," Donna
interjected with a glass of milk in her hand.
    "Yeah, well, good luck with the bookworm !" Terry told her with a
wink, before going upstairs to his room.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: A Secret Cave someplace in Lodoss>

    The Gray Witch, Karla.  A five hundred year old being, whose entire
consciousness and magical abilities were contained in a circlet which was
now sitting atop a helpless Woodchuck's head.  Whoever wore the circlet
was her slave, for she needed a human body to move.  Woodchuck had been
trapped by the circlet's hypnotic gaze after the battle where Ghim had lost
his life.  For 500 years, Karla had seen herself as a
protector of Lodoss.  Throughout time, she prevented rulers from
either uniting or conquering Lodoss, claiming that either one would
eventually bring about Lodoss' destruction.  As a result, Lodoss had
been a giant battlefield for the last five centuries.  The Sage, Wort, had
dared tell her she might have become slightly unbalanced along the
way.  She was not mad!  She was Lodoss' guardian, its protector! 
Nothing would disrupt her plans to safeguard Lodoss against disaster.
    Well, she _had_ suffered a small setback a few weeks ago when a
young boy and his friends had managed to liberate her previous host, a
young woman named Leylia.  A fine host, that one had been.  The only
satisfaction she derived of the event was that she had at least managed
to kill that impudent dwarf and had captured a new body.  But no
matter, her great plans would not be disrupted by anyone.
     But right now, she was gazing at a crystal ball on a table.  It had
been a few weeks since the young boy, Parn, had managed to stop
Kardis' resurrection.  That was good, for she might have been forced to
take a part in, had Parn failed somewhere along the way.  A small voice
at the back of her head told her that she wouln't have been able to do
much even if she had wanted to, for Kardis was the Goddess of
Destruction, a being far more powerful than she.  The voice kept
nagging her.
    She crushed the voice.  She hated being reminded of her limitations.
    In the crystall ball in front of her she saw the wizard, the boy, Parn
and the elf riding from different directions, but all heading back to
Valis.  Karla had offered the boy a chance to see to Lodoss' safety at her
side for ever, but he had refused.  She could not stand people who had
strong wills: to her, every living being in Lodoss was a pawn for her
use, nothing more.  
    She could see it now already: they were going to try to shift the
balance of power on Lodoss again!  She would not allow it.  "Lodoss will
not be united _or_ conquered.  The Balance between Good and Evil must
be kept at all costs," she muttered to no one in particular.
    After a pause, she turned her back to the crystal ball and walked into
a small room littered with all kinds of objects, magical and otherwise. 
She idly walked past two familiar swords:  King Fahn's Holy Sword and
Emperor Beld's Demon Sword, Soul Crusher.  Two very special magical
relics, whose owners had been killed in a fruitless battle for control of
Lodoss.  She never would have allowed that to happen, anyway.  *Those
fools did not even bother to look for the Swords after the explosion on
Marmo Island,* she thought with a chuckle.  She would have to look for
suitable pawns to give the two Swords to, someday.  There were other
various magical items, swords and armors lying around the room, too
many to count.  She had gathered those for hundreds of years.
    Sitting each on a precarious pedestal at the center of the room were
her greatest achievements ever: the Five Crystals of Power.  The result
of two hundred and fifty years of labor, the irregularly shaped
Crystals were Karla's ultimate means to put Lodoss under her watchful
control.  The first four Crystals each contained an essence of nature and
life: The Brown Crystal of Earth (although it also had a nice shade of
gray, too), the Red Crystal of Fire, the White Crystal of Wind and the
Blue Crystal of Water.  The fifth Crystal was a bit more obscure to
define.
    In a human being, Earth was represented by the body itself, Wind
was the essential air you breathed, Water was the blood and Fire was
the body's heat, it's life.  The four Elemental Crystals were extremely
powerful and could easily be used to manipulate nature's elements.  
    The fifth Crystal, a yellow-colored one, was used to facilitate
control of the other four and it had powers of its own.  It could absorb,
reflect and/or hone the already considerable power of the other
Crystals under certain conditions, and Karla had infused it with part
of her own powers.  If the five Crystals were brought together, a force
greater than that of the Goddess Kardis herself could very well be
unleashed.  That is why the Crystals were sealed in glass cases to prevent
any kind of contact with one another.  Too bad the glass cases were placed
atop such flimsy pedestals.
    *With these Crystals,* she said to herself, *I will be able to see to
Lodoss' safety and no one will to stand in my way.*  She stood there, for
several minutes, gazing at her creations, when she suddenly felt her
knees buckle.  *Curse this human body!* she told herself.  *Despite
my magic, I must still allow my host body to rest once in a while.* 
Somewhat snarked off by the fact, she left the room.
    As she closed and locked the door with a little too much strength, she
didn't hear three of the glass cases fall off their precarious perches
and shatter on the ground, allowing three of the Elemental Crystals to
come in contact together.  Neither did she notice the buildup of magical
energy that was forming in the room...

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: Near the gates of Valis>

    Parn was finally approaching Valis.  He was already preparing what
to say when Deedlit interrupted his train of thought: "I hope you're not
coming back here to try to be recruited in the army, Parn." she said in
a warning tone.
    Slightly shaking his head, he turned back towards Deedlit with a
smile.  "I already told you I wouldn't, Deed and I'll hold my word. 
Trust me.  Besides, it's not as if I'd have to try very hard to be
accepted as a Holy Knight, after all, they didn't name me `Knight of
Lodoss' for nothing", he said with pride in his voice. 
   "Is that all you wish to do, Parn?  Fight battles?" asked Deedlit.
    A bit downcast, he said: "No, but," he was perking up now, "I also
wanted to see the others again."  After a thoughtful pose, he continued:
"Why didn't you want to go see other elves when we were travelling? 
I'm sure we must have passed near an elf village somewhere..."
   "Even though I'm an High Elf, I have a... bad reputation among my
people.  They don't share my views about humans." answered Deedlit,
her face a mixture of sadness and anger.  "They believe humans are
physically and intellectually inferior to elves and refuse any contact
with humans that which isn't absolutely necessary."
   "I'm sorry," said Parn.  "I didn't know".  At that moment he grew
silent, hoping to limit the damage he'd done.  Deedlit had been a
wonderful companion these last few weeks.  She had shown Parn many
places he had never even heard of, she had introduced him to countless
little things and she smiled during each of them.
    Parn liked Deedlit.  Heck, he was pretty sure he was in love with
her, but how could his beautiful companion think the same of him? 
She had never told him her true age, but he knew she was probably far
older than him.  After all, Wagnard said he had needed the _immortal_
life of a High Elf to awaken Kardis.  He stopped his train of thoughts
from going that way: he was going to see his friends, he didn't want to
be depressed.
    Parn and Deedlit finally reached the city's main gate.  Not
surprisingly, the guard at the gate recognized Parn immediately and let
him in with a small bow.  Once inside, he asked to see Etoh and Slayn. 
He was somewhat dismayed when he learned that Slayn had left on a
trip barely days after Parn left himself.  He was told Etoh was in the
palace library, studying.
    Parn and Deedlit finally reached the library and saw Etoh buried in
his notes.  Coming up behind him, Parn gently tapped him on the
shoulders and waited for a reaction.   Etoh merely shook his head and
answered distractly: "Not now, Slayn, I'm busy."  Parn and Deedlit
looked at each other, puzzled as to why Etoh would believe he was
Slayn, especially since he wasn't even in the castle.
   "Etoh, it's me, Parn!", said Parn in a slightly amused voice.
    Etoh's head immediately snapped around to identify the owner of the
voice and smiled when he saw his long-time friend.  "Parn!  It's good
to see you again!" he said enthusiastically.  Turning to Deedlit, he said: 
"You too, Deedlit.  I hope you've been keeping him safe."  
    "Well, he keeps trying to find new ways to get in trouble, but I
think I'm starting to get him under control.", answered Deedlit with a
small grin.
    Parn flushed a little.  "I don't get in in trouble!" he said a little
heatedly.
    "Oh, sure!", said Deedlit.  "Then what do you call hopelessly looking
around for dragons?"
    "Dragons?", queried Etoh with a raised eyebrow.
    Deedlit shot a small glare at Parn before turning to Etoh.  "He's
gotten it in his head to find a dragon or two so he could defeat them. 
Something about finding a noble use for the sword King Kashue gave him.  I
don't think he remembers what happened with Shooting Star at Fire Dragon
Mountain."
    "Well, we defeated it, didn't we?", Parn replied a bit sheepishly.
    "After it nearly roasted us..." Deedlit started to say, when she was
interrupted by a servant who came to tell them that the wizard Slayn
had arrived at the castle.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: Our world>

    "Hey, Fanny!  Where are you?" shouted Donna.
    "I'm in the living room watching TV.  You don't need to yell you
know" came the faint reply.
    "I just wanted to make sure you knew Terry and I will be leaving as
soon as Chang gets here to babysit."
    Terry's voice echoed through the house.  "You mean the bookworm
actually had time to go on a date tonight?"
    Donna didn't even bother to reply.  She was looking out the window,
hoping to spot Chang.  Terry swished by her and was already opening
the door when Donna grabbed him his jacket's collar.  "You're not
going anywhere, buster.  If I have to stay put until Chang gets here,
then so do you!"  Terry was about to complain when suddenly the
doorbell ringed.
    "He's here!"  Fanny happily bounded towards the door and answered
it.  It was Chang, of course, standing on the porch.  Chang, with his
short black hair and slightly tanned skin, stilled looked more like an
American than like a Japanese.  The only thing that truly betrayed his
origin was the peculiar shape of his eyes: not quite almond-shaped, but not
round like everyone else.
    "Hey, Stephany!" Chang greeted the little kid.  "Ready for another
Japanese lesson?"
    "Sure, but could you call me Fanny, please?"
    "You got it, Fanny!" he said with a wink.  Turning to Terry and
Donna, he asked them when they'd be back.
    "Probably towards midninght, but don't let Fanny up so late..."  She
was interrupted by a grumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like an
earthquake.
    "What the hell?!" was all Terry managed to say before a blinding
blue... something... appeared in front of him.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location:  Karla's Cave>

    Despite her madness, Karla could not have been more right about one
thing: the Elemental Crystals she had created were very powerful;
probably even more so than she realized.  That's why when three of the
Crystals came in contact together, they released a magical shockwave
that every magic user within fifty miles felt with perfect clarity.
    The shockwave then became unstable and formed a portal.  To where,
nobody could have guessed...

* * * * * * * * * *

    Back in Valis, Slayn was about to exchange greetings with Parn and
the others when his staff started glowing, he dropped to his knees and
was hit by a splitting headache.
    Etoh immediately rushed to Slayn's side.  "Slayn!  What's wrong?",
he asked worriedly.
    "Great... magic... unleashed" he gasped.  Getting up with Etoh's help,
he leaned on his staff and looked towards Parn.  "We must leave at
once!  I will have several things to tell you on the way, Parn."
    Parn was still a little puzzled at his old friend's reaction when
Deedlit grabbed his arm and looked at him: "Slayn is right.  I also felt
great magic used nearby.  Elemental magic!"
   Parn nodded and within minutes, they were in a special room in the
castle's basement.  At the center of the room stood a strange crystal
orb.  "This orb can increase my power tenfold, but it cannot leave this
room.  I will use it to cast a travel spell which will take us near the
source" Slayn explained.  Wasting no time on further explanations,
Slayn started casting the spell.

* * * * * * * * * *

    Karla wasn't nearly as lucky as Slayn.  Because of her extreme
sensitivity to magic, she felt the explosion far more clearly than him
and she was not helped by the fact that she was practically at point-
blank range.  A practical comparison would be an auditory-enhanced
person being blasted with a 300-decibel fog horn two inches away
from the ear.
    In other words, she hurt.  Real bad.

* * * * * * * * * *

   Terry had about half a second to stare at the stabilized portal (of
course he didn't know what it was) before an incredible suction force
coming from said portal made itself known.
   Practically face-to-face with the portal, "Jeeeeeez!!!" was all he
had time to say before the portal sucked him in.
   Donna had a little more time to react.  "Chang, get Fanny out of here! 
Quickly!"
   Chang didn't waste a second before complying.  Grabbing Fanny by the
waist, he started to run away from the portal, but he quickly found out
he couldn't run very far, as he was slowly being dragged towards the
portal, despite his best efforts.  He turned around just in time to see
Donna being sucked into the portal, along with the heavy chair she had
tried to use for a handhold.  Still holding Fanny (who was screaming
her lungs out by now), he tried a desperate lunge for the nearby staircase
handle bar.
    He failed.  Two more seconds later, both he and Fanny fell prey to the
portal's vortex.  Three seconds later, the vortex finally collapsed.
   A mess in the entrance of the house was the only indication anything
had ever happened.

* * * * * * * * * *