Slayers Inversed

Part 2: Dreams to Reality

A Slayers Fanfic by Majo-chan

Author’s note: Could this be?! A plot?! Don’t get your hopes up. ^_^; Er…all disclaimers apply, as usual. And this part will be confusing, just like the rest of them, so enjoy!

Author’s notes again: Not much to say here…except that looking at this really makes me want to cringe^_^;. Ugh! No description, transitions suck…ugh!! Hopefully this revision will make this more readable…

**

            Silence.

            A part of her was aware of the fact that she was asleep. She remembered closing her eyes, allowing the darkness of the night to wrap itself gently around her. Gradually, though, her senses awoke one by one.

            Touch and sight told her she was in a cool, dark place. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see her room, her ceiling, and perhaps an open window to explain the low temperature. It must be a night of the new moon, because it was too dark to be otherwise…

            Instead of all those nice, homey things, she saw nothing. Nothing but blackness. Darkness of the deepest pitch. The blackness stretched itself up and she looked up until her neck protested. And yet there was still only the darkness.

            “What?” She murmured, confused. This wasn’t something that happened everyday, that’s for sure. With a small huff, she got to her feet and looked around expectantly. The scenery seemed to sense her movement and shifted around her, molding itself to her, showing her bits and pieces of things both known and unknown. Although she doubted that she would get any answer, she tried anyway. “Where is this place?” She mused out loud.

            “That’s what I’d like to ask you."

            She spun around with a gasp, her eyes searching the shifting void of wherever she was. Right behind her was a tall woman with blond hair and hard blue eyes, who was currently regarding with a mixture of suspicion and seriousness. The woman’s ears were pointed, the usual sign of a non-human heritage, but she couldn’t match the face to any she had in her memory. “Who are you?” she asked, frowning.

            “This has to be a dream,” the woman mused as if she hadn’t heard, looking over the darkness with the same confusion. “But why would you ask me who I am if it really is a dream?"

            She was feeling impatient now. Of all the strange dreams she had dreamt, this was beginning to be one of the more bizarre.  “Stop talking in riddles! Who are you and what is this place?"

            “I have no idea.” The woman snapped back. “And who’s talking in riddles? If you want my name, then give me yours too."

            She unclenched her fist. This is only a dream, she told herself. An obnoxious and unusual dream, but a dream nonetheless. It was rather pointless and unproductive to get angry at dreams. When she finally composed herself enough to trust her voice, she said,  “My name is Lina. What’s yours, Miss Sunshine?"

            The woman frowned at her, as if weighing the tone of her voice. “It’s Filia. What are you doing here, Lina?” she finally answered.

            “I’m not doing anything. I don’t even know how I got here.” This part was true, and that particular truth was delivered without the sarcasm and hostility that they had started with. Lina looked around, studying the darkness. It was in layers, always shifting. Velvet black, deep black, shiny black, dull black. The ever-changing void. “It’s nice décor, but don’t you think the black is overdoing it a little?"

            “Who said this was designed by me?” Filia retorted, and the awkwardness of the situation came back with the hostility. “I don’t know how I got here either. So stop making it sound as if it’s all my fault."

            “Did I say that? Oh, I’m so terribly sorry.” Lina drawled sarcastically. She was beginning to have the nagging suspicion that this might not be a dream, in the usual sense, after all. But her sister was the one with all the mysterious and mighty powers, so why her? “I certainly hope I didn’t offend you, Miss Sunshine."

            “Stop calling me that.” The blond woman said, irritated. Then she seemed to realize just how childish they were both acting and added, “We could stop arguing and try to figure out what is going on."

            “We could.” Lina agreed. She refused to feel sheepish. That would be just as pointless as getting mad at a dream. “Or we could continue to amuse ourselves by acting like immature brats. Talk sounds good."

Dragon, Human, and Demon. Listen to Me.

Both of them jumped, if that was indeed possible with the non-existent ground beneath them, at the sound of the resonant voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere around them.

            “Eh? What was that?!” Lina looked around, trying to find the source of that voice. Filia narrowed her eyes, and for a second Lina thought the dragon was looking for the speaker with a different sense than sight. Whatever the blond woman DID find did not make her happy.

            "Come out!” she practically spat, “I KNOW you’re in here.”

            Even though it should have been technically impossible, a few patches of shifting darkness blackened even more. Lina gave Filia a worried glance when she saw the other seething. If looks can kill, that particular piece of shadow was dead meat.

            “Filia-san, really.” A calm, if a bit teasing voice said. Lina started. That had came from the shadow! “You should learn some self control."

            Filia nearly screamed with rage when a man materialized in front of her. He was tall, slender, with hair just slightly past his shoulders. For some reason she couldn’t see his eyes. The young woman thought he looked rather normal, but Filia didn’t seem to think so. Lina watched in confusion as the Golden Dragon attempted to attack him, but got knocked back as if she had ran into an invisible shield.

            “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU BASTARD!?” Filia screeched in fury once she was back on her feet. Lina wouldn’t have been surprised if she tried attacking him again. The man shrugged as if such an attempt on his life, and the equally surprising ineffectiveness of it, was nothing unusual.

            “I was summoned, Filia-san. Just like you. Just like her. I think we should be more polite when in the home of our hostess.” Was the rather cryptic answer.

            Lina was getting more and more confused, and she had a feeling that particular mental state was not going to go away anytime soon. “Hostess? Summoned? What is going on?” She hated sounding like Gourry, and prided herself on her general ability to be quick on the uptake, but she was getting really, seriously, lost.

            “I don’t know.” The man shrugged amicably. He was smiling. “Maybe we should let Her explain."

            “Her?"

            That voice came again, stronger and clearer this time.

Dragon, Human, and Demon. I have Summoned you Three here for a Purpose.

            “I’m sorry,” Lina said, placing her hands on her hips. She addressed the darkness around her, feeling more than a little stupid, but determined to get to the bottom of this strangeness. “I am just absolutely lost about what is going on. Why don’t you tell us who you are first? And how you’re able to do this and why."

I will explain, Human. The voice replied. I am the Darkness you see. I am the Light. I am Everything and I am Nothing. I am all that there is and I am a void where nothing exists. I am the Great Mother. I am the Lord of Nightmares.

            “The who?” Filia asked, looking perplexed. Lina also looked confused.

            “You can say She is a god, of sorts.” The man supplied helpfully. “Actually, she’s the god of Gods. The Lord of all. That sounds okay, L-sama?"

I see that Time has not changed you, Demon. Your patience will be awarded. But that is not Why I have Summoned you. Listen closely to My Words. Truly, Cepheed is the God of this world, or so the People believe. He is the Good. Shabranigdo is the Evil.

            “But the Dark Lord was defeated 1000 years ago,” Filia interjected. “He and his generals were sealed, cast into eternal sleep by the dragons. The world is at peace. I don’t see the point of bringing up ancient history."

Peace comes with a Price. The voice ignored her outburst. With the Sealing of Darkness in this World, the Balance is destroyed. It must be regained if this World is to survive and continue on. Infinite sadness tinged the disembodied voice, and Lina felt a pang through her heart. My Children do not seem to Understand this. They do not understand that Their Struggle is keeping the World alive and threatening that Life at the same time. And now that Victory has been awarded the Dragons, the Balance must be restored or Else this World will die.

            “And that would be a bad thing.” The man commented, despite the fact that it was mostly unnecessary.

            “What does that have to do with us?” Lina asked.

You are the representatives of this World, the voice replied. You are the three races that must keep the World Balanced. So it is up to you three to restore the balance and save the World you live in.

            Up to this point, the dream had been okay. Weird, a bit bizarre, but it was within acceptable ranges. THAT threw her off. “WHAT?!” Lina practically screamed. “You want US to SAVE the world!?!"

            “Why should we believe this?” Filia asked, ever the suspicious one. “You claim to be a god and want us to restore the balance, or so you say.” She paused, then her expression darkened as she glanced toward the man standing past Lina. “But how do we know you’re really who you say you are, and that you’re not working with him?” She pointed an accusing finger at the man. “You want to revive the Demon race? Do you know what damage that demon had done, just by himself?? You know reviving them will start another Dragon Demon war. It will mean pointless death and destruction. You want the world to survive, but what you want us to do will destroy it!"

A Mother will not harm her Child. The voice was cold now. Do you believe that I, the Mother of all, would want to see my creations die? To see them suffer? No, I would never do that. I Know and I See, and I have tried to Guide. You have the concept of Love, you speak out against this because of Love. Love for your people, Love for Life. Love, you think, is the greatest power of the Universe. Know this:  I Love my creations, more than any mere Mortal can understand. Do not think I am doing this with malicious Reasons. That would just show your own narrow-mindedness.

            Filia was not convinced. Lina wasn’t surprised, ‘stubborn’ was a word that came to mind easily when she thought of her new acquaintance. “Well, then, what do you want us to do?"

I want you to revive the Demon Race, Yes. To do that, you must awaken the Dark Lord and his Generals.

            “That will start a war,” Lina said grimly. It wasn’t a question.

It will. The war will be the cleansing. It will restore that which had been lost.

            “We don’t want war.” Lina stated firmly.

            “The Dragons have earned their victory in the previous war. Shouldn’t we be allowed to enjoy the peace now?” Filia protested.

            Beside her, Lina heard the man murmur, “But what is peace?” She gave him a quizzical glance, but her attention was pulled back when the voice spoke again.

Peace and extinction. Is that what you want? The voice sounded infinitely tired. When the balance is destroyed, there will be nothing but the Void to return to. I will let you think about it, Dragon, Human and Demon. Make your Choice wisely.

**

            Somewhere in a darkened room, blue eyes popped open and the Dragon woke with a gasp, as if she had just freed herself from the grasp of a nightmare. She shook her head as if in denial, eyes searching the room as if looking for an answer. After a few minutes of silence, she closed her eyes again. Troubled, she returned to her unrestful slumber.

**

            “Lina-san?"

            Lina pretended to be asleep, and Amelia left the door quietly when there was no reply. Silently, Lina turned over on her side and pondered on the dream. Was it a dream? She still had the feeling that it wasn’t a dream. Or maybe…

            Too many questions, too many…the concepts that She told them were so abstract, yet so real, that it was hard to dismiss it off-hand. The Balance between Good and Evil. The Chaos that kept it balanced. The Dragons, the Demons and the Humans.

Darn it, I thought Onee-chan was the one that was supposed to be dealing with these things! She thought, frustrated.

            But…but there was something in the Goddess’s voice…that bit of melancholy, that overwhelming sadness…that convinced her that She was serious. That made her want to believe.

            What would her answer be?

**

            Down, far below the Sanctuary, entwined in the embrace of darkness and mother earth, one of the few surviving Demons opened his eyes, as if awakening from a dream.  He was smiling.

Soon, he thought. Soon, Xellas-sama…

End part 2