Slayers: Alive

Alive 79

Slayers: Alive

Episode 147: Life! The Chaotic Force That Unites Us

Xellos rarely opened his eyes and when he did, it meant something. Even so, Lina had no patience for him. She knew the Stillness would eventually manifest itself again and she had been expecting it to happen soon since that time at the beach when Shabranigdu was so guarded. By now the fragment of Ruby Eyes probably sensed that the Void was released from its temporary hiding place and was likely holding back even more. The Dragon Slave's power would no doubt be significantly reduced again, perhaps rendering it almost impossible to use.

The red haired sorceress looked at Filia, finally answering Xellos' question. "It's consuming her, isn't it obvious?" She snapped. Now was not the time to ask about things that she assumed he knew. Lina wasn't aware of Xellos' amnesia, she only knew about Filia's. "It must be like what it tried to do with Amelia, except rather than leaving her after the attack, the Void is still in her."

"Then get it out of her!" Xellos snapped. He reached over to Filia, but the holy magic around her stung him with a mere touch, as it would for any purely astral being.

"Don't touch her now, you'll just hurt yourself!" Lina scolded as she pulled Xellos away. "Onyx, you must have had time to train with your own power by now. Let's give Phythan more energy for his spell with recovery."

"Yes," Onyx nodded quietly and stepped forward. "Brother, make way." Both Lina and Onyx continuously casted recovery on Phythan. Xellos wasn't really paying enough attention to her to even question why Onyx, would call him brother, though they were obviously not related.

Filia lost consciousness completely, but Gourry caught her before she hit the ground. Being human, he wasn't adversely affected by Phythan's spell, which was powerful against astral beings and was aimed at the Void. Xellos could feel the energy being poured into Filia, it was exceptionally powerful, with Lina and Onyx giving their energy to Phythan, even a high ranking monster would have a severely hard time dealing with such an attack.

The unconscious Filia remembered her discovery about the ancient dragons and the most critical parts of the battle against Dark Star. Her missing memories from the past few months were resurfacing, but she was forced to focus on the hardships. The near death experiences, the emotional pain, the trickery, the deception, the perceived betrayal, the struggle. 'No... Stop... Please stop!' Filia begged in her mind to no avail.

'Let go... let go of your will and you shall feel no pain... Let yourself sink into the relief of indifference... Feel no desires... Give up...' An ominous voice echoed in Filia's mind. It no longer sounded like Kirei; this was an unidentifiable sound of emptiness.

"Don't stop now!" Lina insisted, though all the energy she was giving to Phythan was leaving her in exhaustion.

"I won't give up... I promised myself not to let anyone get hurt again..." Phythan was dizzy from the strain. He had never poured so much energy into a spell before. The Void was very strong.

Lina gasped for breath, "that thing... has to... come out..." Amelia was in mortal danger from the after-effects of an attack from the Void. Having the Void remain in her like that had to be worse for Filia. No doubt about it, she was facing her worse fears and reliving her most painful moments.

"This isn't working," Xellos complained.

"You're right," Onyx agreed, but didn't stop casting recovery. "The Heaven Light spell is effective, but the Void is too strong, it cannot be defeated as if it were only a monster."

"Filia is getting cold," Gourry frowned in worry.

Lina ceased her spell casting and closed her eyes in thought for a moment. This whole thing started back when Lina faced off against Fibrizo. By calling upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares she allowed the missing fragment of the Stillness to enter the world and begin the cycle. She just wanted Gourry back and she admitted that she was willing to give up the world for that purpose, but the world was not hers to give away. "I can fix this..." Lina whispered under her breath, she had stopped casting recovery, though Phythan was still keeping up the holy magic with Onyx's help. "I will fix this," Lina assured more determinately.