Secrets and the Sea
Chapter 9:
"Jungle"
Welcome to the Jungle, we got fun and games...
-Guns N Roses
It was hot and sticky and Lina was beginning to wonder despite the amount of foliage Gourry and Zangulus had been cutting away with their swords, whether they were getting anywhere amongst the heavy trees and bushes.
"Guys, just let me Fireball a hole through here and we'll be out on the other side in no time!"
"Oh yes, Lina, and while we're at it, why don't we just set the whole place on fire and see how fast we can run?" Martina responded sarcastically.
The firey haired young woman stuck her tongue firmly out at Martina and pulled on her eye, making a very crude face.
"Miss Lina, perhaps we should be helping Mr. Gourry, Mr. Zangulus, and Mr. Zelgadiss?" Ameria peeped up.
"Why do we need to help them? Vrummugen is here, he can cast some magic."
Lina glanced over at the stoic sorcerer as he shook his head.
"No, I can't, Lina Inverse and neither can you for that matter."
Hearing this, Zelgadiss stopped in his tracks and turned to the taller man.
"What do you mean, Vrummugen?"
"We're on a kind of vortex ground. Any magic that we cast will be useless."
"How the heck do you know that?" Lina demanded.
Gourry glanced about the treeline and narrowed his eyes. Listening carefully, he shook his head and sighed.
"The Four Ancients didn't want anything tainted to touch the ground. That means that any magic relating to the black arts would not be allowed, since they considered it tainted. Ameria can still use her magic and Zel probably can too, since his is shamanistic."
"So you mean that Vrummugen and I can do jack?" Lina shouted, her loud voice scattering some exotic birds from their nesting places.
Gourry nodded grimly, unconciously reaching back behind him and grasping Zelgadiss's hand. The chimera blushed slightly, but realized that Gourry's hand was also making a slow gesture for him to back up, using minor pressure. Not questioning the blonde's gentle push, Zel began to slowly step back.
"It also means that my Howling Sword is useless in it's pure form, since that's powered by black magic, right?" Zangulus grumbled, holding the hilt of his sword, swinging the blade lightly.
"How do you know all this anyways, Gourry?" Lina questioned firmly.
"Do you think I'd come to an island loaded with myth and danger without a little research?"
Normally, under any other circumstances, Lina would have responded 'yes.' But then again, this Gourry was the not the bubble headed blonde that she had grown accustomed too.
"So, you mean to tell me that all I can do is cast some healing spells and maybe a Levitation spell?"
Zelgadiss's eyes grew a bit wider as Gourry eased him behind him, holding up his sword slowly. Martina let out a sudden squeak, running behind Ameria who in turn ran behind Zangulus. Vrummugen's eyes grew very wide and he slowly stepped away from Lina. The group faced the firey haired sorceress, barely breathing.
"Guys? Hey, guys, what's going on?"
Lina heard something behind her. It sounded slimy and cold and very unpleasant.
"There's something really bad behind me, isn't there?" she barely whispered.
All Ameria could do was nod.
"I don't think you should turn around, Lina." Gourry stated, pulling his hand back from Zel and pulling the pin free from his sword's handle.
Lina knew better. She knew not to turn around, but her curious instinct got the better of her. Spinning around, she came face to face with a dozen sets of eyes, hovering over huge bloated bodies, dripping with smelly slime. She relaxed for a moment, a seemingly calm look coming over her face.
"Is Miss Lina all right, Mr. Gourry?" Ameria asked the tall pirate.
"I'm not sure, Ameria." Gourry responded back.
Slowly, Lina turned around to face the group again, her face gone very pale and her knees wobbling.
"I just have two things to say right now." she whispered to the group.
"And what's that?" Zangulus asked, the huge slimy creatures slowly beginning to close in on the petite sorceress.
"One, I hate giant slugs..."
"And the second?" Zelgadiss asked.
"HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lina took off like a bullet, running directly into the group, knocking Martina over and up the nearest tree.
"Wow, that's the first time I've ever seen someone run up a tree before." Ameria said out loud, watching as Lina clung to the nearest branch, chanting to herself.
"Kill them...kill them...kill them..."
Zelgadiss shook his head and stepped from behind Gourry, drawing out his sword.
"Astal Vine!"
The magical energy coursed down from the heavens and wrapped around his slender weapon. Zel spun the sword easily in his hands.
"Hikari O!"
Gourry's blade burst forth from the butt of the sword, sparkling in it's blue and white brilliance.
Zangulus opened his mouth to call forth the power locked inside his weapon.
"Wait, I can't even use it. But then again, it wouldn't matter, I am a master swordsman!"
No sooner had those words left Zangulus's mouth than a giant slug from behind threw it's body wait on top of the tall, tanned man, squishing him to the ground and coating him in slime.
"Zangulus!" Martina cried. "By the great power of my Patron monster Lord Zomagustar, you will pay!"
Martina proceeded to jump on top of the huge creature, getting herself firmly stuck to the thick hide and adding weight onto the already crushed form of her husband.
Gourry and Zelgadiss looked at each other and shook their heads. Ameria formed a ball of warm white energy in her hands.
"ELMELKIA LANCE!"
Throwing the long shard of white energy, a nearby slug soon was nothing more than salted ash. Vrummugen had taken to throwing small ice darts, not calling about any dark powers for magic, as well as emulating Ameria by using Elmelkia Lances.
Frustrated with the onslaught of the slimy creatures, Zel finally sheathed his sword and gathered up his energy. Striking the ground at the same time he cast the spell, a huge Ra Tilt shot through the ground, bursting the slugs into the sky, over nearby rocks and into a small river that was heading away from the group. Gourry grinned, looking at his lover as Zel swept his hands over his white shirt and readjusted his suspenders.
"Hey, we're here to treasure hunt, aren't we?" Zel said to the blonde with a quirky grin.
Gourry chuckled and sheathed his sword. Pulling his whip free from his belt, he snapped the long piece of leather around the neck of the offending slug crushing Zangulus. Pulling hard, the slug went flying, detaching Martina in the process. The princess of Zona landed in the tree that Lina was holding on too, sliding down the side and landing on top of the sorceress, causing them both to plummet into a pile of leftover slug from one of Ameria's successful attacks.
"Augh!!!!!! Slug goo!!!!!!!!" Lina screamed, throwing Martina off her and trying to wipe herself clean of the mess on her shirt.
Martina sat up, slightly dazed. She shook her head, but couldn't get rid of the mild headache that had suddenly appeared. Sighing, she stood and tried to make herself dignified, running over to her husband to pry him away from the slime he had been pressed down in. Despite her best efforts, the pain in her head was increasing slightly.
"Zangulus, my head hurts." Martina said softly, the usual whine that accompanied her complaints not evident this time.
The blue black haired man gently touched Martina's head, and the young woman winced.
"Ameria, you can cast healing spells, could you cast one on Martina? I think she hit her head."
The small shrine maiden nodded and cast a small healing spell on Martina. The princess's head felt a little better, but a deep nagging pain still throbbed somewhere in her skull.
"Gourry, are we almost there?" Vrummugen asked softly, his eyes shifting about the landscape for any more unwelcome intruders.
The tall blonde pirate gazed down at the map and then up at a series of elaborately bending trees.
"According to the map, the gate to the Lost Temple of the Four Ancients is located behind those trees."
The group gathered together again, Martina being supported by Zangulus, as her headache didn't seem to ease any. Lina caught her breath as soon as she heard 'lost temple.' Running in front of the group, she casted a Levitate spell and brought herself over the trees. Gourry sighed and shook his head.
"What is it, Gourry?" Zelgadiss asked quietly.
"Well, if she would have listened, I needed to say that before she lands, there is a pit of quicksand left as a trap for those who don't grow through the trees and over the small stone inlay. If you land anywhere else, you get caught in the sand."
Zelgadiss couldn't hide the slight smirk on his face as the rest of the group crossed through the tangled trees and onto the stone landing, Their eyes fell upon Lina, who was up to her shoulders in quicksand.
"Not one word, Gourry Gabriev, not one word!!" The petite red haired shouted.
Shaking his head and laughing, Gourry unraveld his whip again, and flung it around Lina's shoulders, dragging the light young woman easily out of the sand.
Growling, Lina wiped the sticky sand off her pants and then her ruby eyes caught something glimmering. Turning around slowly, she gazed up at a huge stone structure, inlaid with every color jewel imaginable, the gold of some of the statues glistening in the sunlight.
"I've found Shangri-La..." she barely whispered.
"Welcome to the Lost Temple of the Four Ancients..." Gourry said softly, gazing at Zelgadiss and smiling gently.
Zelgadiss smiled back and then gazed up at the huge temple, looking almost untouched by nature or the elements.
"Incredible..." was all he could say.
Xellos frowned when he had lost sight of the group, but felt a strong force nearby him. Smiling slightly, he meandered over to a nearby cave lost in the tangle of jungle.
He could see it, lying there asleep. It was definitely big and from the lax of it's mouth, it looked like it had very big teeth.
Hmm, so you're the famous unrecorded thing that protects the Lost Temple...Funny, I thought you'd be awake...
Xellos chuckled softly to himself and disappeared, reappearing on a high tree branch close to the temple. He gazed down at the group as they stared at the mighty temple.
That headache of yours is going to keep getting worse, princess, until you grab ahold of the Red Gold Idol for me. Then, it will all go away, and you'll be back to yourself again in no time...
Xellos continued to smile his absent smile as the traveling companions took their first steps into the forbidden temple.
§ tbc §
Return to Miracle's room
or The Library