Slayers: Alive

Slayers: Alive 30

Slayers: Alive - Episode 088: Clues! Discovering Enigmas

Onyx ran into battle, charging a spell in her hands, pushing it out with her very life. "Wind, crimson flame..." Her heart pounded, her blood vessels were just about ready to pop with the pressure, her head vibrating painfully as her every cell was torn apart. "Grant the power of thunder to my hand..." Her skin became fractured with tiny cuts that slowly grew larger as her energy fought to manifest itself out of her fragile mortal vessel. "Dig Volt!" She finally reached the black sand spider, delivering a fatal hit that disintegrated the creature and released the injured Phythan. Yet the blow was also fatal for Onyx, her motionless blood covered body collapsing to the ground.

"Miss Onyx!" Phythan called out in agony. "Miss Onyx, please be alive!" What could he do now? He wasn't supposed to heal her with magic, she had an adverse reaction to it that could kill her, but if she wasn't healed she would die anyway. "I'm going to try to heal you, there's no choice, please endure it!" He attempted a Resurrection spell, causing no effect at first, the energy was absorbed, but her injuries remained the same as if they couldn't get worse.

Then Onyx's eyes suddenly opened. "I remember," she whispered. "I hated my life. I did not wish for my power to be manipulated, I did not want to work for a cause that meant nothing to me. I didn't want to be controlled. I got my wish; my power could not be controlled, not even by me. I was in pain, I wanted to forget it and I did. I wanted to change and I hated the change. I wanted all that held me back to disappear and when my wish came true it was sorrowful. I journeyed and was close to death, I wanted to forget again. My memories were sealed and my body nursed back to health. I begged Ceifeed to help me. I wished for mercy when I should have fought for freedom. It's over now..."

"No, Miss Onyx, you can't die!" Phythan panicked.

"Quiet, idiot," Onyx growled with less energy than the remark would have received had she not been on the verge of death. "Maybe it was simply because I kept asking for it so constantly..." She closed her eyes and remained silent.

"Miss Onyx? Onyx... Onyx!" Phythan tried his healing magic again, but it held no effect. "This is all my fault... Onyx is gone because of me! I'm so sorry, I'll exchange my life for yours. I should have been the one to die today, not you..."

Unexpectedly, Onyx's body began to glow, her wounds healing themselves and her ears becoming long and pointy. She woke up once again, exhausted, but very much alive and healed. "Quit crying, idiot, I'm finally free of that curse."

"Onyx!" Phythan was certainly happy that Onyx was alive, though he didn't understand how. "Curse? What curse? What's going on?"

"They'll all want answers," Onyx concluded. "I'll tell you when we get back." She slowly got to her feet, tired but at least able to walk. "Heal yourself, stupid."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I almost forgot about my own injuries," Phythan finished his healing and stood next to Onyx, finally noting his problem. "Um... they're going to get mad at me if I show up like this, aren't they?" Onyx took off her cloak and tossed it at Phythan, who had stupidly burned his own clothes when he set himself on fire because of his spider phobia.

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Xellos and Filia had finally reached the end of the sandy tunnel and not a moment too soon. Though there was sand on the chamber containing the vault, at least there was a solid floor of beige colored blocks beneath it, with a matching ceiling and walls. The so called vault was not one in the traditional sense. It was instead a force field, shaped like a glass box that contained a stone block, on top of which there was an old red book, it's covered tattered and worn.

"Great, looks like it still has a force field around it. The keys must not be in place yet." Xellos reached out to touch the glass box with caution and it disappeared the second he made contact with it, reappearing when he pulled back his hand. "Or maybe the keys are in place after all," he concluded.