Point Of No Return

A Records Of Lodoss War Crossover

I don't know who created RoLW, but it sure wasn't me. Please don't sue me!

    *Author's notes: This is the very first fanfic I ever wrote. I decided to rewrite it since it had been so long since I had last touched it. Significant changes, maybe even several drastic ones, have occured since the last version. I guess one's ideas change with time. You'll see the main differences in the later chapters.

    The first chapter still looks roughly the same, although I might end up completely rewriting the story beyond the second or third chapter due to the changes I brought to the story... There's mild swearing (nothing revolting).

    I'm writing a liberal interpretation of the world of RoLW after the anime's last episode (Parn's rescue of Deedlit in Kardis' temple on Marmo Island). I could be going off-canon from there, since it's been a long time since I saw RoLW and no, I'm not taking the Crystania sequel into account (mainly because I didn't see it). My story is based on the anime, not the novels.

The rights to Records Of Lodoss War and Bubblegum Crisis belong to whoever rightfully owns them (it ain't me, that's for sure).

    If you like it, mail me. Reasonable comments are also appreciated.

Chapter 1: A Start To Everything

[Location: Our world]

    Terry and Donna Stratson were walking home from the college campus after another unventful day. Most people who crossed their path would be intrigued by their resemblance to each other. Then again, most people didn't know they were 19 year-old twins. Terry was a young man with short, well-kept auburn hair who stood at 5'11". He had light blue eyes which stood out in the angular facade that was his face. Donna, being his twin sister, was as tall as Terry had the same basic looks as he did, though with a much softer feminine cast. A major difference was that Donna's hair was significantly longer than by the large locks of auburn hair which flowed down past her shoulders.
    "So what are you doing tonight, Terry?" asked Donna nonchalantly, kicking a pebble across the sidewalk.
    "I'm going to Eddie's house. He's been begging me for weeks to let him introduce me to a new type of cartoons. Japanese animation, I think," came a suspiciously nonchalant reply.
    "Japanese cartoons? Yeah, right..." Donna smirked. "You're sure it's not because of Carrie?" she asked, already looking forward to teasing her brother on the subject.
    "No, it's not!" Terry replied. But a slight blush and the speed at which he answered betrayed him. Donna started looking at him with a wicked-looking smile on her lips and Terry knew right now he'd lose the argument if he remained silent. "Okay, maybe Carrie has something to do with it. Don't you have to go somewhere with your dear Michael tonight?" asked Terry, hoping the change the tide of the argument.
    Donna's silent blush told him he'd scored a hit. "Only if he doesn't have any homework to do." she replied after a short pause.
    "The guy's a bookworm. You'd be much better off with almost any other guy, you know."
    Donna was starting to get a little irritated. "I do not need your counseling, dear brother. At least he's not like that bimbo you're dating!"
    "Carrie is not a bimbo!" Terry shot back, becoming irritated himself.
    "Suuuure! Just tell that to the three guys she dated before you."
    Ah, yes. A normal day in the life of Terry and Donna Stratson.

[Location: Lodoss]

    Lodoss was finally starting to heal after years of war and destruction. The dead had been buried, the wounded were healing, cities were being rebuilt and the fields were green once more. Slowly, all traces of the Marmo invasion were being erased. Except for the occasional wild beast attacks, there hadn't been many things worthy of notice happening in Lodoss recently. It was rare to even encounter Kobolds and Werewolves anymore. The worst creatures had disappeared when Kardis' threat had been eliminated.
    Parn was riding towards Valis with Deedlit, his elven companion, mere steps behind him. Since that fateful day when he'd saved Deedlit's life and prevented the goddess Kardis' resurrection, there a been a notable shortage of great adventures for would-be heroes like him, though he wasn't sure he really wanted to face a threat like Kardis' ever again.
    It had been several weeks since Parn and Deedlit had quietly left Valis, leaving behind Etoh, Parn's young friend and Priest of Falia in training and Slayn, the wizard who had chosen to remain in Valis for a little while longer with his companion Leylia, a priestess of Marfa.
    They were part of the reason Parn was riding his way back to Valis. He wanted to see his friends again and he was also looking forward to meeting King Kashue once again. Parn could not forget Kashue's gift to him when he left Valis, the King's own sturdy blue and yellow-handled sword safely nestled in the scabbard at his side. Parn felt he had been somewhat inadequate in his thanks to King Kashue for the precious gift. All the more reasons to go back to Valis.
    Kashue, the Mercenary King was still in Valis, as far as he knew, to help oversee the succession to the throne of the late King Fahn. He had agreed to remain for a while longer to help Princess Fianna settle any diplomatic problems he might be of help with.
    It seemed as if this was going to be another rather uneventful day in Lodoss.

[Location: somewhere else on Lodoss]

    Unfortunately for Parn, Slayn was not in Valis as he had thought. Slay himself wasn't sure exactly where he was at the moment, but he knew he had to get back to Valis sooner or later. *Hopefully, Parn will have returned from his trip with Deedlit. The rumors I heard in the last few villages ought to interest him.* he thought. Unlike Parn, Slayn had had enough adventures to last him for a long time. *Well, I was like him once, always looking for trouble*, he thought with a small smile. The smile then vanished and Slayn became serious once more.
    He had some very interesting rumors to tell Parn indeed. Most of which concerned a very old enemy of Parn...
    Slayn was musing about those rumors when his horse almost collided with two other riders at an intersection. Barely keeping his mount from unsaddling him, he started to apologize to the other two travellers when he got a good look at them. Their clothes were a little dirty, but he recognized them without too much effort: Shiris and Orson, the mercenary friends of Parn.
    Read-haired Shiris still sported the short red tunic-and-cape outfit Slayn had first seen her with, along with the sword at her side. Along with her red thigh boots, Slayn, or anyone else for that matter, could easily guess Shiris' favorite color. Dark-haired Orson was still dressed in what could have passed for a used soldier's uniform: a brown shirt over a light mail tunic, beige breeches, knee-high boots and leg guards and a somewhat tattered green cape. Topping the man's height by a foot and a half on his back was a giant sword Orson could easily use to its full potential when he went berserk.
    Berserker. A name which struck fear in any relatively sane person. "Where a berserker passes, only corpses remain," the saying went. Orson was possessed by Hyuri, the spirit of rage and madness. While he acted quite normally most of the time, he gained inhuman strength and became a fearful force to be reckoned with in combat if anything was to make him mad enough. The trigger usually consisted of one two things: someone who was an extreme threat to him or someone threatening Shiris. Almost anything else he was usually able to deal with in "normal mode."
    While Slayn was staring in surprise at Orson and Shiris, the latter was not quite as tongue-tied. "Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going you..." she started and quickly stopped when Orson put his hand on her shoulder.
    "Go easy, Shiris," interrupted Orson soothingly. "Don't you remember him?"
    Slayn used the short pause in the argument to put a word in. "I'm glad to see you too again, Shiris. You too, Orson," he said with a small smirk. Slayn had to repress a slight shudder when he laid eyes on Orson. Even for him, it was hard to be comfortable around a berserker.
    Shiris stared for a couple of seconds and then, with slightly rosied cheeks, quickly apologized. "I'm sorry Slayn. I didn't recognize you fast enough."
    "Well, it's probably my fault. I wasn't exactly watching where I was going," he said, a bit guiltily. "Where were you headed?"
    "Well, we just finished a protection contract in a nearby village. Those thieves won't be back any time soon, I can tell you that!" she answered with a grin, which then became a somewhat sullen expression. "But we've been running out of contracts: buisiness is slow, so we haven't been doing anything nor going anywhere important lately. Why do you ask?"
    "Do you want to come back with me to Valis? I bring news for Parn and I'm somewhat sure you'd like to hear them as well."
    Shiris perked up a little. "Really? Well, Orson and I might just well meet you there, then. We have a few things to do first. And it'll be nice to see Parn again."
    "Good," he nodded. "Then we'll meet in Valis. Ride safely!"
    "You too!" Shori shouted as they got further away from one another. "And watch where you're going!"

[Location: Our world]

    Terry and Donna came back to their house (they were lucky the family house was near the campus), their little tiff already forgotten. Being twins, they had the uncanny ability to know exactly which buttons to push to piss off the other, but they always quickly reconciled. Donna opened the door, only to be greeted by the sight of her black-haired, sixteen year old sister, Amy.
    "Damn! I thought you were Kenji," grumbled the youngest Stratson.
    Donna gave her a good whap on the back of the head. "Don't swear. You know Mom hates it when you do," said Donna warningly.
    Amy gave her sister an exaperated look. "I didn't really mean it, sis."
    Terry decided to interrupt his sisters' moral grudge match. "Why did you think we were your boyfriend anyway, Amy?"
    "He's supposed to come help me with my homework tonight. I'm having a hard time with a few physics problems our teacher gave us."
    Terry blinked. "Why didn't you just ask me? I took a few physics courses before going into Computer Engineering."
    "You're not Kenji, that's why."
    "What's that have to do with anything?" asked Terry, exasperated.
    Donna whapped Terry on the head. "It's a girl thing, stupid. You wouldn't understand."
    Terry snorted. "Now I'm scared." He shook his head and started climbing the staircase to the second floor, but stopped after a few steps. "What are we eating tonight, anyway?"
    Donna shrugged. "Leftovers, I guess. Mom and Dad aren't coming back early tonight. Dad said he had a meeting after office hours and Mom said she was going out with her friends from work."
    "I'm gonna order take-out, then," said Terry. "In the meantime, try not to destroy the house if you cook your own food, okay?"
    Donna looked at Terry crossly and Amy snickered. "Don't you ever dare say something like that in front of Michael if you want to live another day, Terry Jeremiah Stratson."
    Terry put his hands up innocently. *She used my full name! I really must've ticked her off,* he thought smugly. "Hey! I wasn't the one who nearly burned down the house with a so-called 'chemistry experiment' when I was younger," he said aloud.
    "That was an accident!" Donna replied hotly. "I was just a kid back then! I've gotten a lot better at chemistry these last few months."
    "So next time you'll nuke the entire kitchen and not just the oven like last time?" Before she could reply, Terry quickly vanished upstairs, leaving a glaring Donna behind. Amy's snickers started to become louder.
    "Oh, shut up!" said Donna disgustedly.
    Amy burst out laughing.

[Location: Somewhere near Valis in Lodoss]

    The Gray Witch, Karla. A five hundred year old being, whose entire consciousness and magical abilities were contained in a circlet which was now sitting atop a helpless thief's head. Whoever wore the circlet was her slave, for she needed a human body to move.
    Karla's title was a bit misleading at the moment, though. The Gray Warlock would fit better, due to the fact that her present host was a male thief. Woodchuck had been trapped by the circlet's hypnotic gaze after the battle where the dwarf Ghim had lost his life. For 500 years, Karla had seen himself as a protector of Lodoss. Throughout time, he had prevented rulers from either uniting or conquering Lodoss, claiming that either one would eventually bring about Lodoss' destruction. As a result, Lodoss had been a giant battlefield for the last five centuries. The Sage, Wort, had dared tell him he might have become slightly unbalanced along the way. He was not mad! He was Lodoss' guardian, its protector! Nothing would disrupt his plans to safeguard Lodoss against disaster.
    Well, He had suffered a small setback a few weeks ago when that young boy and his friends had managed to liberate his previous host, a young woman named Leylia. A fine host, that one had been. The only satisfaction he derived of the event was that he had at least managed to kill that impudent dwarf and had captured a new body. But no matter, his great plans would not be disrupted by anyone.
    But right now, he was gazing at a crystal ball on a table. It had been a few weeks since the young boy, Parn, had managed to stop Kardis' resurrection. That was good, for he might have been forced to take a part in, had Parn failed somewhere along the way. A small voice at the back of his head kept telling her that he wouldn't have been able to do much even if he had wanted to, for Kardis was the Goddess of Destruction, a being far more powerful than he would ever be.
    She crushed the voice. She hated being reminded of her limitations.
    In the crystall ball in front of her she saw the wizard, the boy, Parn and the elf riding from different directions, but all heading back to Valis. Karla had offered the boy a chance to see to Lodoss' safety at her side for ever, but he had refused. She could not stand people who had strong wills: to her, every living being in Lodoss was a pawn for her use, nothing more.
    Pawns were not allowed to have headstrong attitudes.
    He could see it now already: they were going to try to shift the balance of power on Lodoss again! He would not allow it. "Lodoss will not be united or conquered. The balance of Chaos must be kept at all costs," he muttered to no one in particular.
    After a pause, he turned his back to the crystal ball and walked into a small room littered with all kinds of objects, magical and otherwise. He idly walked past two familiar swords: the late King Fahn's Holy Sword and the equally late Emperor Beld's Demon Sword, Soul Crusher. Two very special magical relics, whose owners had been killed in a fruitless battle for control of Lodoss. He never would have allowed either scenario to come to fruition, anyway. *Those fools did not even bother to look for the Swords after the destruction of Marmo Island,* he thought with a chuckle. He would have to look for suitable pawns to give the two Swords to, someday. There were other various magical items, swords and mismatched pieces of armour lying around the room. This wasn't his only cache of magical trinkets, either. He had gathered things for hundreds of years. He had several hideouts filled with various little things.
    Resting each under a thin glass case at the center of the room were some of his most precious treasures: the Five Gems. Relics of a time when Lodoss was still part of the continent, the rectangularly shaped Gems were one of Karla's more powerful means of insuring that no one controlled Lodoss for long. The first four Gems each contained an essence of nature. The Green Gem of Earth, the Red Gem of Fire, the White Gem of Wind and the Blue Gem of Water. The four Elemental Gems were extremely powerful and could easily be used to manipulate nature's elements. The fifth Gem was a bit more obscure to define.
    The fifth Gem, a yellow-colored one, sat apart from the others. It was used to facilitate control of the other four. It could absorb, reflect and/or hone the already considerable power of the other Gems under certain conditions. If the five Gems were used together, a force greater than that of the Goddess Kardis herself might be unleashed.
    *With these Gems,* he said to himself, *I will be able to see to it that Lodoss is never in anyone's control for long.*
    Karla then moved to an adjacent room, where he had a small experiment in progress. He was trying to build a smaller, portable version of his crystal ball, one that would be as flat as a mirror and independent of his hosts's magical ability. This had not been a concern with his previous host, since she had had a fair amount of magical talent. His curent host, however, was sorely lacking in that department.
    He had almost succeded two weeks ago, but the viewing mirror had exploded after the first use, nearly blowing his hand off as well. He had started to create a new version, taking it more slowly this time around. The spells were almost complete and he would be able to test it soon enough.
    He turned around, thinking of what he could do in the meantime. He could always go torment Kashue or Wort. He was sure they both had ulcers from the times he had dropped in unannounced on them. He decided instead to go to another part of Lodoss where he had heard the were rumors of complete unification between some of the countries there. Time to see if they were serious. He teleported away from the cave.
    The Sage Wort, had read many books in his life and written nearly as many in his long life. One of his books was about the danger of putting several different sources of magical energy close by, as was the case with the Elemental Gems, the pocket mirror and the other trinkets in the cave. The effects, Wort had written, were unpredictable.
    Unpredictability is a very loose word.

[Location: Near the gates of Valis]

    Parn was finally approaching Valis. He was already preparing what to say when Deedlit interrupted his train of thought: "I hope you're not coming back here to try to be recruited in the army, Parn," she said in a warning tone.
    Slightly shaking his head, he turned back towards Deedlit with a smile. "I already told you I wouldn't, Deed and I'll hold my word. Trust me. Besides, it's not as if I'd have to try very hard to be accepted as a Holy Knight, after all, they didn't name me `Knight of Lodoss' for nothing," he said with pride in his voice.
    "Is that all you wish to do, Parn? Fight battles?" asked Deedlit, her long ears drooping slightly.
    A bit downcast, he said: "No, but," he was perking up now, "I also wanted to see the others again." After a thoughtful pose, he continued: "Why didn't you want to go see other elves when we were travelling? I'm sure we must have passed near an elf village somewhere..."
    "Even though I'm an High Elf, I have a... bad reputation among my people. They don't share my views about humans." answered Deedlit, her face a mixture of sadness and anger. "They believe humans are physically and intellectually inferior to elves and refuse any contact with humans that which isn't absolutely necessary."
    "I'm sorry," said Parn. "I didn't know". At that moment he grew silent, hoping to limit the damage he'd done. Deedlit had been a wonderful companion these last few weeks. She had shown Parn many places he had never even heard of, she had introduced him to countless little things and she smiled during each of them.
    Parn liked Deedlit. Heck, he was pretty sure he was in love with her, but how could his beautiful companion think the same of him? She had never told him her true age, but he knew she was probably far older than him. After all, had Wagnard not said he needed the immortal life of a High Elf to awaken Kardis? He stopped his train of thoughts from going that way: he was going to see his friends, he didn't want to be depressed.
    Parn and Deedlit finally reached the city's main gate. Not surprisingly, the guard at the gate recognized Parn immediately and let him in with a small bow. Once inside, he asked to see Etoh and Slayn. He was somewhat dismayed when he learned that Slayn had left on a trip barely days after Parn left himself. He was told Etoh was in the palace library, studying.
    Parn and Deedlit finally reached the library and saw Etoh buried in his notes. Coming up behind him, Parn gently tapped him on the shoulders and waited for a reaction. Etoh merely shook his head and answered distractly: "Not now, Slayn, I'm busy." Parn and Deedlit looked at each other, puzzled as to why Etoh would believe he was Slayn, especially since he wasn't even in the castle.
    "Etoh, it's me, Parn!" said Parn in a slightly amused voice.
    Etoh's head immediately snapped around to identify the owner of the voice and smiled when he saw his long-time friend. "Parn! It's good to see you again!" he said enthusiastically. Turning to Deedlit, he said: "You too, Deedlit. I hope you've been keeping him safe."
    "Well, he keeps trying to find new ways to get in trouble, but I think I'm starting to get him under control," answered Deedlit with a small grin.
    Parn flushed a little. "I don't get in in trouble!" he said a little heatedly.
    "Oh, sure!" said Deedlit. "Then what do you call hopelessly looking around for dragons?"
    "Dragons?" queried Etoh with a raised eyebrow.
    Deedlit shot a small glare at Parn before turning to Etoh. "He's gotten it in his head to find a dragon or some other great beast so he could defeat it. Something about "finding a noble use" for the sword King Kashue gave him. I don't think he remembers what happened with Shooting Star at Fire Dragon Mountain."
    "Well, we defeated it, didn't we?" Parn replied a bit sheepishly.
    "After it nearly roasted us..." Deedlit started to say, when she was interrupted by a servant who came to tell them that the wizard Slayn had arrived at the castle.

[Location: Our world]

    "Hey, Amy! Where are you?" shouted Donna.
    "I'm in the living room watching TV. You don't need to yell you know" came the reply from the adjacent room.
    Donna opened the door. "Just wanted to tell you that Terry and I will probably be leaving as soon as Kenji gets here to babysit."
    Amy turned red. "Shut up! Kenji is not my babysitter!"
    Donna smiled sweetly. "That was for laughing at me a while ago." She was about to add something, but the words died on her lips when ahe heard Terry's voice echo from the stairs. "You mean the bookworm actually had time to go on a date tonight?"
    "Better a bookworm than a brainless airhead like Carrie," Donna shot back snidely.
    Terry frowned. "She is not a bimbo," he said, putting his coat on. "Well, I'm a going at Eddie's place. I don't know when I'll be back so don't wait dor me."
    "Tell that to Amy. I'm leaving right away, too."
    Terry raised his voice. "Hey, Amy! Donna and I are leaving. You're on your own." He turned to Donna and winked. "Oh and Amy? Don't let Kenji take advantage of you, now!"
    Donna couldn't help snickering. There was dead silence for about two and a half seconds before Amy answred with a resounding "SHUT UP, TERRY!!!"
    Donna burst out laughing. "That's a good one! I'll have to remember it..." She was interrupted when the doorbell ringed.
    Terry answered. Seeing who was at the door, he called Amy.
    "It's gotta be Kenji" Amy told herself, as she moved towards the entrance.
    And it was, of course. Standing on the porch was Kenji Mason. Even with his short black hair and slightly tanned skin, Kenji stilled looked more like an American than like a Japanese. The only thing that truly betrayed his origin was the peculiar shape of his eyes: not quite almond-shaped, but not round like everyone else.
    "Hey, Amy!" Kenji greeted enthusiastically. "You ready for that study session?"
    "Sure, come on up, we'll go in my room," said Amy, giving Terry the Evil Eye on the way.
    Kenji moved inside the house and was about to shuck his boots when they all started hearing a low, grumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like an earthquake.
    "What's goin' on?..." was all Terry managed to say before a blinding blue... something... appeared not an inch in front of him.

    Had Wort been able to see what was happening, he would have laughed in Karla's face. The magic contained in the Four Elemental Gems had started to react with the spell used in the final phase of Karla's little viewing mirror project.
    The resulting magic backlash had properties not unlike chaos, in the sense that no one could have known what was to happen.
    In a way, it might have been exactly what Karla could have hoped for... Too bad he was too far way at the moment to notice what was going on in his own lair, though.

    Terry had about half a second to stare at the stabilized portal (of course he didn't know what it was) before an incredible suction force coming from said portal made itself known.
    Practically face-to-face with the portal, "Shit!" was all he had time to say before the portal sucked him in.
    Donna had barely more time to react. "Amy! Kenji! Get out of here! Now!"
    Kenji didn't waste a second before complying. Grabbing Amy by the hand, he started to run upstairs, away from the portal, but he quickly found out he couldn't run very far, as he was slowly being dragged backwards, towards the portal, despite his best efforts. He turned around just in time to see Donna being sucked into the portal, along with the heavy chair she had tried to use for a handhold. Still trying to push Amy upstairs (who was frozen in fear by now), he tried a desperate lunge for the nearby staircase handle bar.
    He failed. Two more seconds later, both he and Amy fell prey to the portal's vortex. Three seconds later, the vortex finally collapsed.
    A mess in the entrance of the Stratson house was the only indication anything had ever happened.

    Back in Valis, Slayn had been exchanging pleasantries with Parn and Deedlit when he finally got around to telling the returning duo what he had learned about Karla's whereabouts.
    "You're telling me you found out where that damn witch is hiding?!" said Parn excitedly, a fevered glint coming to his eyes.
    Slayn raised his arm. "Parn, stay calm, please. What I'm saying is that I may have found one of her hiding places. It's surprisingly close by. We could reach it fairly quickly if we ride hard."
    "Then let's go!" said Parn, already leaving the room. I'm going to free Woodchuck from that witch if it's the last thing I do!"
    "Parn!" called Deedlit. "You didn't even give Slayn a chance to catch his breath!"
    Slayn put a hand on Deedlit's shoulder. "It's all right," he said. "I can tell him what hee needs to know as we ride. I knew he would react like that as soon as I mentionned Karla."
    Deedlit threw a worried look at Parn, who was already saddling his horse. "I'm worried, Slayn," she said in a concerned voice. "When he's like this, he throws caution to the winds. It makes him an easy prey, esprecially against a powerful enemy like Karla."
    "It's his strength and his weakness," said Etoh, from behind them. "And I don't think we'd really want him any other way, now would we?"
    Deedlit wasn't so sure.

End Chapter 1