A Twisted Plot Production

			    In Association with
			     Tempest Creations

			      SLAYERS REQUIEM

			    By Adam Chris Leigh

		        Based on the Works of
		    Hajime Kanazaka and Rui Araizumi

				Special Thanks To:
		   Whoever started that 1-hour thread 

				   Dedicated to
			My Friends and Colleagues in
				    #TenchiML

	    Part 1: Powerless! A New Villain From Within!

	 Lina draped her legs down over the wall as she waited for Gourry to
return.  She stared out into the now setting sun, the light turning
from a bright yellow into shades of orange and red, then disappearing
completely behind the hills of the horizon.

	She never just looked anymore, she had always been too busy, to
active to sit and watch the sunset.  Of course, Gourry had never
taken this long to return so she never had the time to just sit
anywhere ... unless she was eating.

	She grinned to herself, the first time in a long time, too long, she
thought to herself.  Recent events hadn't given her much to be happy
about, and they weren't over yet.

	She moved her legs up and down, straightening them then bending, on
the wall.  How they ached when did, but if she didn't do it they
would ache more when she began to walk.  The lesser of two evils, the
only way she's been able to survive the last few days, especially
without telling Gourry.

	She raised her hand to block the glare coming from the setting sun,
as she did she looked closely at her white gloved hand.  She lowered
her hand slowly and gently pulled off the long white glove with her
other hand and placed it on the wall beside her.

	She looked at her ungloved hand, her eyes almost unwilling to look
at the damage.  Her hand and lower arm were discolored, slightly
bluish-black all over, the skin was also wrinkled, making it look
like it was a hundred years old.

	She quickly looked away, her own mind unable to comprehend how she
could be so disgusted with her own hand.  She held her hands together
and chanted an ages old spell, one of the most powerful healing
spells in creation.  As the words left her mouth, a ray of light from
an unknown source shined on her arm.

	Under the light, her arm glowed a faint yellow.  As she finished the
spell the skin on her arm tightened and smoothed, giving her hand the
look of being young again.  Finally her arm stopped glowing and the
lights died down again.

	She flexed her hand, and looked at it in the sunlight.  She smiled
again at her handy work; she had beaten back the spell.  Her smile
quickly faded as her hand quickly changed back to the bluish-black
tint.  Her arm changed as she watched, twisting and wrinkling.

	She felt as if she was going to cry, she buried her face in her
gloved hand.  That was the last spell she had left to try, she didn't
know any more healing spells that she could use against what was
eating her up. Every time she used a spell, whatever spell that was
affecting her would just come back stronger.

	It wasn't just affecting her arm either, it was slowly attacking her
whole body.  Hiding it from Gourry was getting hard as well, even an
idiot like him was bound to notice her problems eventually.

	It wouldn't matter now anyway, she couldn't find any way to stop the
spread of the spell.  It would consume her eventually, and if Gourry
knew today or the day she died it wouldn't make much of a difference.

	"Hey Lina!" yelled a man's voice behind her.  She quickly leaped
down off the wall and pulled her glove back onto her hand.  "Lina!"
yelled the voice again, who she quickly identified as Gourry.

	Lina moved around the wall and looked at Gourry.  "I'm right here
Gourry!" she yelled cheerfully, as cheerfully as she could under the
circumstances.

	He quickly walked over to Lina.  "Hey Lina, did you see that light
in the sky?" he asked in his normal dopey voice.  "It looked weird,
it wasn't even coming from the sun."

	"Uhh.." she stammered.  "No, I didn't see anything."  She looked
down at the bag Gourry had at his side.  "Did you get everything I
told you to?"

	"Yeah, Lina," he quickly answered.  "But this stuff is weird, I
don't even know what some of these things are."

	"Oh, they're just some healing salves, just in case I run out of
magic in the middle of something big." She looked down at the bag
with a hunger.  "So give them to me!"

	"Okay, okay," Gourry shrugged and handed the bag over to Lina.  "You
gotta be more patient."

	"Why?" she questioned.  Gourry just sighed and shrugged his
shoulders again.

	"How can I argue with that?"



	In the darkness, deep within the catacombs of Xanafur, a green
cloaked figure stood before an army of minions.  His face showed no
signs of caring or love, and was deeply scarred across his closed
left eye that was hidden behind a flock of his bluish hair.

	A lone minion bravely approached the man and kneeled.  He spoke with
a loud, deep voice, "Lord Uther, may I report to you?"

	Uther nodded once, and the minion stood.  "Lina Inverse has cast the
spell of the Grail," the minion paused.  "To no effect."

	Uther nodded once again then spoke.  When he did, it felt like the
entire catacombs shook from fear.  "And what of our other project?"
he spoke calmly, without any emotion.

	The first minion stepped down and a second minion took his place. 
"My Lord, the project you spoke of is proceeding as planned.  The
subject's attempts for a cure has had no effect on the plague."

	Uther looked out over the crowd of minions.  "Begin placing the
rumors," he commanded.

	A minion quickly emerged from the crowd. "So soon, My Lord?" he
yelled out.

	Uther moved his head to face the minion and opened his scarred left
eye.  Beneath the scarred lid, held a eye that glowed a deep blue and
seemed to pierce through the faces of the minions.  The minion that
had emerged let out the beginnings of a scream before painfully
vaporizing.

	The other minion didn't move, didn't waver before their great Lord. 
"Begin placing the rumors," Uther repeated, then turned to walk into
the darkness.  After a few minutes of held breaths and shaking
bodies, the crowd of minions dissipated, off to do their work, and
the work of their Lord.



	Lina and Gourry walked down a dirt road at a steady path, every now
and then a carriage would pass by, but otherwise they were alone on
the road.  Gourry held himself straight and kept his eyes towards the
horizon, while Lina was watching the ground and kicking a pebble she
had started back in the last town.

	Gourry turned his head to face Lina and kept on walking.  "Is there
anywhere in particular we're heading now?" he questioned.

	"Yeah," she muttered softly, then spoke up.  "Ionia City."

	Gourry scratched his head for a second.  "Ionia City?" he asked. 
"That city sounds familiar, is it famous?"

	Lina would have been frustrated with Gourry if she had been in an
anywhere normal mood, but at the moment the last thing she wanted was
to go around yelling.  "It's only the White Magic capital of the
world, Gourry.  Some of the strongest White Magic users come there
every year and gather and talk."

	"Ohhh," he exhaled in the way he always does when he doesn't
understand.  By now, it had stopped bothering her and she had begun
to get used to Gourry not knowing anything about magic.  It had kept
her from having too many ulcers.

	"Listen Gourry," she implored him.  "When we get to Ionia City I
have to do some magic things, do try not to do anything stupid while
we're separated. Okay?"

	"Who, me?" Gourry responded.  "I'd never do anything of the sort,
Lina."

	"I know you, Gourry," Lina said calmly.  "Just don't make too much
noise, alright?"

	"Excuse me, Miss," said a man's voice, hardened by great age.  Lina
spun on her foot, sending great sparks of pain up her leg, and looked
at the source of the voice.

	It was a short, bearded man with grayed hair sitting at the reins of
a carriage pulling large watermelons in hay.  He was smiling widely
and was bending down from the carriage to speak to Lina and Gourry.

	"I've got a light load today," the man's gruff voice said.  "And I
was wondering if I could give you two a ride.  I'm heading towards
Ionia City."

	"Oh really?" Lina asked in her high pitched voice. "That's where we
are heading too!"

	"Well then," the man chucked as he spoke, then pointed towards the
back of the carriage and the watermelons.  "Hop in."

	"Thanks," Lina cheerfully said as she approached the carriage,
Gourry following her close behind.  As the man turned forward towards
the road again, the horses started bucking and becoming restless.

	Gourry jumped into the back of the carriage as Lina stopped to look
at the commotion going on at the reins.  The horses continued to buck
and tried to run away despite the driver pulling on the reins.  The
man quickly spun his head to look at Lina.

	"Don't worry about this, Lina.  Just get in," the driver yelled over
the sounds of the horses.  As the man continued to struggle with the
horses, they continued to get more aggressive.

	Lina stopped cold in her tracks and watched the man closely.  He
pulled on the reins hard, which only made the horses try to pull away
harder.  The man quickly released the reins with one of his hands and
reached forward towards the horses.  At the end of his hand, Lina
could see clearly now, were five long claws.

	Lina turned to Gourry and quickly yelled towards him.  "Gourry! Get
out of there, it's a trap!"  The man at the reins quickly retracted
his hand and turned towards Lina and Gourry.

	"A trap?" said the man in a questioning voice.  "Why ever would you
think that?"

	Lina rose her index finger and held it beside her head.  "I never
told you my name was Lina.  How did you know?" She pointed her finger
at the man.

	"Well...," he stuttered.  "By your reputation, of course."

	Lina let out a short laugh.  "Fat chance. Give it up now and I'll
let you live."

	The man's pleasant mask dropped as he bared an evil grin.  "Perhaps
you should turn that statement around," he spoke with a voice much
different than the one he was using before.  The man's body suddenly
contorted and began to change, pikes arousing from his shoulders, his
arms and legs growing three times as large, his chest bursting from
the clothing to show his scaled skin.

	The horses ran off from the carriage as it too began to shake.  From
the hay, four of the watermelons jumped out and burst into goblins. 
The four goblins moved behind the beast that was once the driver.  He
spoke again, his voice now was more of a growl.

	"I'll never let you get to Ionia, Lina Inverse," the beast said,
then turned towards his goblins.  "Get them!"

	Lina quickly unsheathed her sword.  "You take care of those
Goblins!" she yelled as she ran towards the beast.  "I'll take care
of our driver friend here."

	"Lina! Wait," Gourry yelled after Lina ran off.  Before he could go
after her one of the goblins took a swing at him.  He jumped away
from the beast and took out his sword.

	"Alright you Goblins, your end is now!" he screamed as he charged
forward with his sword.  The Goblins all parted his way except for
one, whom he stuck his sword into the Goblin's gut.

	The Goblin roared at Gourry and began to take a swing at him. 
Gourry bent down and pushed off the ground, doing a flip away from
the Goblin holding his sword.  Making a cut up from the abdomen and
out through the shoulder of the Goblin.

	The Goblin fell to the ground dead as the other Goblins converged on
Gourry.



	Lina chased the beast down the road until she got to a dense forest.
 The beast then turned to face Lina, who stood before him.

	Lina exhaled from the exhaustion of running and the pain that was
being caused by her running.  Between breaths she managed to speak,
"Whom are you working for?  What's important at Ionia?"

	The beast grinned, or at least that's what Lina thought he was
doing.  "I guess you'll never find out," the beast roared and swung
one of its huge arms at Lina.

	She quickly brought up her sword and swung it at the incoming arm. 
The blade clashed against the scaled skin of the beast, causing the
blade to shake in her hand.

	The shaking blade rattled her arm sending enormous amounts of pain. 
She dropped the blade in response, it hit the ground with a loud
clang.  She gripped the arm that was sending the pain, holding it
against her chest.

	The beast seemed to be amused and gave a sinister laugh.  "Is the
Plague that painful for you?" it laughingly asked.

	"The Plague?" she screamed at the beast.  "What's the Plague?"

	"You silly girl," it jested.  "Can't you figure it out?  The Plague
is what's infecting your body, they ONLY disease that is completely
immune to magic!"  The beast let out its loudest laugh yet that
seemed to echo off the mountains.  Each chuckle pierced Lina's ears
as what the beast said began to register in her mind.

	"You... you demon!" she screamed as she picked up her sword. 
"Prepare to die!"  She leaped up at the beast with her sword pointed
out.



	Gourry swung his sword around at the last Goblin, it narrowly dodged
it, receiving a small scratch on its arm that quickly healed.  The
Goblin charged again at Gourry, taking sweeping swings as it ran. 
Gourry, leveled his sword and ran towards the Goblin.

	When they met, the Goblin grabbed Gourry sword and held the blade. 
Gourry pulled on the sword with no success.  The Goblin swung down
and Gourry quickly dodged to the side, never letting go of the sword.

	"Let go of my sword you ugly Goblin!" yelled Gourry as he dodged
another one of the Goblins attacks.  Gourry quickly reached down into
his belt and pulled out a pin and detached his sword from his hilt. 
He rolled backwards with the hilt in his hand.

	He held the hilt in front of him and concentrated on it.  "Light
come forth!" he yelled as his Sword of Light emerged from the hilt
and emitted a bright light.  He pointed the end of the sword at the
Goblin.  "Now lets see you try that again!"

	Gourry ran forth at the Goblin before it could respond and swinging
the blade at its abdomen, he dispatched the Goblin back from whence
he came.  Gourry breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath after
killing the Goblins.

	A dark cloud suddenly settled above him and the whole plain.  A
voice boomed throughout the cloud and at Gourry.  "I don't like that
sword," the voice said.  The cloud moved towards the sword and
quickly covered it.

	Gourry tried to move the sword only to find it stuck inside the dark
cloud.  "Hey! Let go of my sword!" he yelled.

	In an instant, the cloud converged on the glowing blade of the sword
and mysteriously shut if off.  Then, just as soon as the cloud
appeared, it vanished.  Leaving Gourry and his deactivated sword,
alone.



	Lina swung her sword up at the creature as she jumped up, blocking
its hand as it tried to hit her.  On the way down she swung the sword
on the other hand of the creature, knocking it out of the way so she
could kick the face of the creature, knocking it to the ground.

	She landed on the creatures chest, pointing her sword at its head. 
"Now," she said between breaths.  "Are you going to tell me what you
know about this Plague, or do I have to force it out of you?"

	The creature didn't move, only chuckled again at Lina.  "I have
nothing to fear from a bladed weapon, little girl," it said.  "I
won't tell you anything."

	Lina smiled this time, and held her hands together.  "That may be
true, so just in case ..." She pulled her hands apart to form a
fireball in her hand.  She lowered it down until it was an inch above
the creature's face.  The sudden deep breath from the creature
assured her that he did indeed fear her magic.

	"Ha!" it laughed.  "Cheap parlor trick."

	"I don't believe you," she quickly responded.  "You know this is
real, so why don't we save time and you talk?"  She gave an evil grin
this time, until her fireball suddenly disappeared in a puff of
smoke.

	She looked up to see a large dark cloud above her and the creature. 
The cloud settled above them and began to speak, "We are done here,
go now."

	"Now? I'm not finished!" the creature roared back.  The black cloud
shimmered for an instant, and then the creature let out a short
scream and suddenly vaporized.  Lina fell to the ground where the
creature had been as the cloud suddenly vanished.

	Lina quickly got up and stared into the sky.  "Wait!" she yelled at
the top of her voice.  "Come back! I want answers! Come Baaaaaack!"



	Uther stood alone in the great hall in the catacombs of Xanafur. 
His hood was over his head, casting an even greater shadow over his
face.  The great hall was used whenever he speaks to all his minions
at once, normally he was only in the hall when there were hundreds of
others waiting for him.

	But now, it was completely empty except for him.  He rose his hand,
it was covered in a black gauntlet with a gold trim on it.  He opened
his palm and a giant pentagram outlined in red appeared on the floor.
 A beam of light emitted from the pentagram and an image began to
form in the light.

	It was a woman, clothed not unlike Uther, with black hair that fell
down just before her forehead.  The image was only of her bust, but
the ends of a cape of black could be seen in the image.  She nodded
her head when the image came into full view.

	Uther nodded once under his hooded cloak.  "Your minions, they have
a problem with authority," he said.

	"They do not understand yet that you don't bargain," the woman said
back to Uther.  Her voice was young and could be considered
beautiful.  "In time they will do what you ask the first time you ask
it.

	"They must, or they will pay," he said showing his only emotion ...
anger.

	"They will," the woman responded.  "How are things proceeding now?"

	"Lina Inverse will now be even more determined to come to Ionia
City, and I have taken care of the Sword of Light."

	"Good, that sword has been a thorn in my side for some time." The
woman paused for a moment, then continued.  "And the other one?"

	"The variation of the Plague that I made for the Chimera is working
faster than I had expected.  And his Shamanist magic didn't slow down
the progress of the Plague as well as Lina's had."

	"What are you saying?"

	"I do not believe Zelgadis will survive to make it to Ionia City, we
may have to adjust our plan."

	"See to it that he DOES survive, Uther.  His skills are as vital to
the plan as Lina's."

	"I will do what I can, but do not order me to do anything.  This is
as much my plan as it is yours."

	The woman's image wavered a bit, and lingered for a few seconds
before she responded.  "Of course," she said as the image vanished
and the pentagram disappeared.

	Uther stood for a second before turning and walking back down the
great hall.


-------------------------------------
Authors Notes:
	This is a story about Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis, the only surviving
trio from the first half of the first season of Slayers.  Which
happens to be the only episodes of Slayers that are available in
North America.  Since the above information is true, I place this
story to take place after "Episode 10:Jackpot, The Great Live or
Death Struggle"

	The Slayers was a creation of Hajime Kanazaka and Rui Araizumi, and
was produced by TV TOKYO, SOFTX.  The English translation was brought
to America and produced by Software Sculptors Limited.  While this
story incorporates characters and themes Copyrighted by others, this
story is Copyright � 1997 by Adam Leigh. All Rights Reserved.