The sun rose as always, its warm rays shined against the buildings of Zefelia that spread out around the high spires of the Academy of Magic. People awakened and rose, ready for a new day in a world of peace and tranquility.
An explosion shook the foundations of the Academy as a huge column of thick black smoke rose up from one of the lower buildings that composed the school. Screams of distress and complaint could be heard from the nearby dormitory for the apprentices.
All right, maybe not so tranquil.
"Sh-should we sound an alarm?" asked the new recruit.
The veteran temple guard, a dwarf of many years, shook his head, shoulders sore from the heavy weight of the plate armor he wore. Both of the guards bore the emblem of the Academy of Magic with their armor covered by the white and gold tabard emblazoned with the mark of the Flare Dragon Ceiphied. At their sides were long swords and they held in their favored hand a halberd that topped them by at least a foot.
"That's just to signal its wake up time for the rest of those laggers," the dwarf replied. "You'll get used to it."
The new recruit just looked nervously at the smoke and gulped.
Smoke quickly funneled out of the lab, thanks to the rather large opening that removed most of the ceiling and the eastern wall, so the image of the wreckage could be seen. Numerous shattered vials and other expensive equipment lay shattered or melted upon the barely standing tables and shelves. The ground was marred with several black scorch marks and cracks were clearly visible along the surviving walls where the sunlight filtered in through the nonexistent ceiling.
Standing upon the apparent ground zero of the explosion was a rather singed girl with her head tilted at an odd angle from the force of the explosion. Her formerly bright red hair was singed in several places and covered in soot. Hands were outstretched in the form of pouring something, though whatever they were holding must had been obviously destroyed. The blackened rim of her glasses rested on her slightly blackened face as feeling came back to her body.
"Ouchie..." Lina muttered painfully.
"Lina Inverse!" the head of the school yelled slamming his hands down on his desk causing everything on it to jump.
Lina cringed at his tone in her seat where she sat, still in her burned outfit.
"Looks like I had another accident?" Lina remarked sheepishly scratching the back of her head.
The elf snapped the pen he was holding in two as several stress marks become quite visible on his forehead. "Accident? An accident only happens once. You are a walking disaster zone." He declared pointing his finger at her.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating it a bit?"
"Thanks to you, every one of our alchemist labs is in repair because of your careless destruction of them."
"Most of those labs were already in need of repairs considering how old they were."
"You also endangered the lives of the students here."
"That's why I've been going to lab at the crack of dawn when no one is there."
"The students have been using your daily explosions as an alarm clock!"
"So I take it then attendance is up?"
A mute silence rolled in between the two as the elf gritted his teeth together, trying to refrain from reaching over the desk and strangling Lina. Lina on the other hand was trying her best to not get booted out of the Academy.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do with you," the elf sighed as he sat back in his chair. "And not one word," he added.
Lina clamped her mouth shut.
"Under normal circumstances, I would have you expelled without a thought." He remarked.
A harsh glare in Lina's direction halted any protest from her before he sighed to himself and continued.
"Unfortunately, some of the higher ups from the main branch in Sairaag decided against that measure. It is by their decision that you are to be simply transferred off to some place where your youthful enthusiasm could be used for more 'productive' things."
"So I'm not being kicked out?" Lina inquired.
"No."
"That's a relief."
"Seeing that your transfer will be effective immediately, I would much rather have the choice of your destination. Working in the swamps of Deep Mere harvesting special plants would certainly be something for you. Or maybe you should be transferred to the Arial Fortress Prisons, I'm sure that you would fit in with all of the criminals locked up there."
Lina gulped hesitantly as the elf listed out several other unsavory places for her to be sent.
Finishing his list, the elf muttered, "Of course, that's if the decision was up to me. As much as I hate to say it, the higher ups have requested that you be transfer to a special squad."
"A special squad?" Lina remarked scratching her head in thought. Suddenly she realized something as she balked, "Do you mean that ultra-secret squad that will serve as special squads for very important missions?"
Eyebrow twitching as he tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his annoyance at her, the elf remarked, "Yes, but such information should be classified to a person of your rank. How did you hear of this?"
Lina sweatdropped as several of her hairs stuck out.
The elf tapped his finger against the table as Lina sat there unsuccessfully trying to come up with some genuine excuse. Unfortunately she had already used most of the ones that come to mind on him, twice in fact.
"Never mind," the elf groaned as he rubbed his temple.
"Oh, so when do I leave?" Lina commented trying to change the current subject to something more favorable.
"An escort will be sent soon to take you away. Remember this is a very confidential matter that we are dealing with. So don't tell anyone about this!"
"You can count on me. Bye. Bye." Lina remarked as the elf snorted and turned his chair away. "Blasted know it all elf," Lina silently cursed to herself as she walked out of the office.
She paused in the hallway as she noticed the crowd of student that were standing around doing all sort of activities that would show that they were busy. Lina groaned as she figured that were probably listening in all the time. Glaring at the students, Lina's gaze quickly sent most of them scuttling away as fast they could from her wrath.
"That felt good," Lina smirked as she strolled down the hall. "I can finally kiss this blasted place good bye. I'm never coming back here again," she beamed heading toward her room in order to prepare her stuff to go.
The blue skies of this world were filled with many marvels, one such was currently hovering over the green fields as it kept a steady course. It was referred to as an "Iron Bird", giant metallic ships that were capable of flight. Legend had it that such things were numerous in the sky during the time before the war, but that technology was lost in the aftermath.
Only within the last decade had dwarven engineers managed to replicate the designs and managed to create quite a few different ships. This particular ship belonged to the highly esteemed Ryuzoku hero known to many simply as Val. He, unlike most of the Ryuzoku, was an Ancient Dragon and was far stronger then any regular Gold Dragon.
Lounging in his chair as he stared through the glass pane at the lush landscape, Val couldn't help a grin as he heard someone came in. "Beautiful isn't it?" he commented out loud as the person came up behind him.
"Exquisite," Milgazia remarked as he stood to Val's side. "It must be painful for you, still." He mused as Val chuckled.
"It is true that I still miss the simple joy of flying. But I have learned to adapt myself well with my present condition." Val remarked as he flexed his bandaged right hand. "The wounds that were dealt to me by that Mazoku will never heal."
"As you know, that Mazoku is one of the few that are still not accounted for," Milgazia remarked as he frowned at the mention of that particular Mazoku. "The one dubbed Dragon Slayer," he added softly as Val gritted his teeth at the name.
Following the end of Kouma War, most of the Mazoku and their Lords were sealed away and dealt with to protect the world from them. However, in the last thousand of years, there was one Mazoku that had constantly avoided capture. The Alliance crusade to capture him had left millions dead at his hand and left Val nearly crippled in his human form, unable to ever shift back to his true shape due to the seriousness of his injuries. For all that the Mazoku had done, he was dubbed the "Dragon Slayer" for the countless Ryuzoku slain by his hand.
The Mazoku who is the Priest of the sealed Mazoku Lord Greater Beast, Xelloss.
"Certainly you didn't come all this way to reflect on the past," Val interrupted. "Doesn't the Council have more important things for the Head of the Ministry of Knowledge?"
Nodding, Milgazia stated, "I've come here for another reason, the Council wishes for me to deliver you a message. They have agreed to your proposition and will go through with most of your request."
"Good, I'm glad those lazy bureaucrats decided to do something useful."
"I take it that you were expecting this?"
"Of course, the current situation leaves them with no choice, but to give in to most of my demands. Our time is running short."
"All of the proper paperwork has been take care of as well."
"This could be our last hope."
"Eh?"
"I am sure that you and the others are probably more optimistic about our current situation, but there is no denying what is happening."
Milgazia stood there silently as he contemplated what Val had said as the view outside was temporarily blocked by a massive wyvern swooping down into the landscape. Reaching into his robes, he produced a scroll, which he handed toward Val.
"They have disclosed what you wanted in here," Milgazia said before turning to leave.
"Thanks," Val said as he looked over the scroll, "but there is something that is bothering you?"
Standing in the doorway, Milgazia answered, "You were wounded by the Mazoku over 700 years ago, yet you still remain active. I'm just wondering what are you really after, Val?"
"I have not completed, what I must do." Val replied as Milgazia left. Reaching over to the table next to him, he picked up a glass of wine. Examining it for a bit, he mused, "A toast then."
Lifting the glass up so the sunlight could glint off its side, he brought it down and downed its content. The form of a gold dragon flew by the window pane as Val watched it glide off into the distance as he placed the glass down.
"Transfer?" Gourry remarked.
Rodimus sat at his desk as he studied the young swordsman's reaction for awhile and wondered how long had it been since he was on the field. Almost two years ago, he had probably gotten rusty on all of his moves by now.
"Yes, that's correct," Rodimus sighed as he sorted through the paperwork that was piled on his desk as Gourry blinked. "The orders came in this morning, you are to be transferred out of this department to a special squad that was just formed. I have no idea on what you are to do there or what they are expecting of you."
"So I'm being transferred?" Gourry repeated.
Rodimus nodded as he sighed to himself, the shock probably was still setting in.
"Yes, you are also expected to meet another member of your squad." Rodimus added as he finally pulled out a photo from the stack of the papers. "They got a pretty good picture of her, so it shouldn't be that hard for you to find her."
Scratching his head, Gourry inquired, "So why am I being transferred?"
"Don't ask me how those dragons think. But apparently they feel that you are important enough or expendable enough to go through all this paperwork," Rodimus grumbled gesturing to the rather large pile of papers he had on his desk still holding the picture.
"This all seem so sudden," Gourry stated.
"Remember Gourry," Rodimus remarked, " you are being transferred to the special squad, things are going to be very different. For one, I've heard that you're going to be serving under a Ryuzoku so be wary of them. You have a good head on your shoulder for the most part."
"Thanks, I think." Gourry said.
"Oh yeah, before I forget here is the picture of the person that you're suppose to pick up before you head off. She is in the Academy of Magic in Zefelia, we have a ticket for you on the Land Train to take you there." Rodimus stated handing Gourry the picture and the ticket.
"This girl looks kind of like a guy," Gourry commented.
"Maybe, but you should probably not mention that to her face," Rodimus advised as Gourry put the picture away. "Oh yeah, after you find the girl, go to the local guard post. They'll have something else for you to do."
"Thank you, Commander." Gourry saluted as Rodimus returned the salute.
Watching as Gourry walked out, Rodimus sighed as he leaned back in his chair looking absently at the pictures that were draped across the walls. Many of them were of other soldiers like Gourry that had served under him. His eyes glanced across the different faces before it stopped at a particular one that still bothered him after all these years.
The youth in the picture had a bright smile with short silver hair and blue eyes doing a victory sign as he stood over a defeated pile of trolls he was on top.
"Lez," Rodimus muttered absently.
No matter how many times he thought about that lad, with all the promised the lad showed, he couldn't figure out what had led to that 'incident'. Perhaps it was the secretive nature of how the Ryuzoku swept everything under wrap following what happened. Rodimus wondered why his mind suddenly came back to this.
"I must be getting senile," he muttered rubbing his temple.
Cleaned up from her accident in the morning, Lina had switched her outfit to a more casual set from the traditional Academy's robes. She wore a simple red tunic with black slacks and short jacket with all of her stuff slung across her shoulder in a bag. Most of the soot had been brushed out of hair as she had it tied up in a ponytail in the back.
As she exited the Academy and made her way across the courtyard, students were cheering through the windows. A few of them were holding signs that proclaimed the greatness of her leaving and s few of them had some pretty derogative phrases that weren't even fit for print.
Lina was doing her best to ignore them as she reached the gates.
"See ya," Lina waved at the dwarf guard.
Nodding in her direction, he mused, "Funny to think that you're finally leaving. I remember still when you first walked through these gates, barely up to my chest."
"Well I'll miss you," Lina smiled, before turning to notice the shaking rookie. "What's with him?" she gestured.
"Rookie," the dwarf remarked.
"Oh," Lina smiled wickedly as she walked up to the rookie, who was doing his best to remain still. "So how are you doing?" she asked slapping him in the back.
The rookie let out a frighten yelp before passing out in sheer fright.
"Rookies," Lina and the dwarf muttered to each other.
Lina waved one last time at the dwarf as she walked out past the gate of the academy taking her first step out of the confines of the Academy in the last two months. The last time she was out here was for some weird trip to the market to pick up some weird stuff for the teachers. That incident was something; she didn't like to think about.
"So you're the Sorceress that I'm here to pick up?"
Lina turned to look at the person who addressed her.
The person was a rather tall man; he had a pleasant look on his face as he stood before her with his hands in his pockets. He was dressed in the ornate uniform of the Alliance Soldiers along with a rather ornate sword strapped to his belt. His long blonde hair blew in the breeze as the two just stood there for a moment.
"Or do I have you mixed up with someone else?" he remarked scratching his head. Pulling out a photo from his pocket, he added, "Because you look a lot like the person I'm here for."
Adding to his point, he showed Lina a photo of herself after one of her many lab "accidents". Not a pleasant picture to look at.
"Then again, you don't look like you've been blown up or anything," he mused.
"I'm her," Lina interrupted as the guy blinked in surprise.
"Well that's a relief," he sighed wiping his brow. "I was afraid I made another screw up. Well, come on then," he gestured as he started to walk off.
Lina blinked in surprise.
Pausing for a moment, he added, "Oh yeah, my name is Gourry, Gourry Gabriev."
"I'm Lina, Lina Inverse." Lina stated as she hurried up to catch up with him.
"Glad to meet you Lina."
Watching them go, a figure watched them with great interest as he stood there at the top of the knoll. He was a tall figure, though his stature was hunched over from apparent age, his nose rimmed with a pair of spectacle. A top hat crowned his head with large black tailcoat with white tailored gloves. His left palm was open as an orb hovered an inch above the palm as he held it in the direction of the two departing figures.
"They have made their move. There is no doubt that she is the one," he reported. "Should I open the gateway?"
"No."
"Very well then," he remarked making no effort to betray his disappointment. "Your wishes are my command."
"She will come to me. Deep within her, she knows that we are destined to meet. She will come to me at her own accord."
"As you wish," he bowed as he closed his hand over the orb and placed it back into his clothes. "I shall continue to survey them until then."
"I leave the swordsman in your hand. Do with him as you wish. His fate is of no concern to me."
A grin appeared on his lips as he remarked, "As you desire."
Reaching into his cloak he produced a stunning puppet of an eagle made completely of wood with little gems for eyes. Holding up for a bit, he tossed it into the air, as the puppet's wings opened up and it took flight. He watched as it took to the sky, altering its flight to keep constant vigil over the sorceress and the swordsman.
Placing his hand across the side of his face, he hissed, "They will not escape from my sight. The hidden power that is imprisoned in the sword will not be released again. I'll sooner bury that Gabriev then let the blade true form be revealed."