Disclaimer: I don't own "Slayers" okay? You should know this by now.
Hey peoples! Welcome to my shiny new story! Actually the story idea isn't so new. My beta told me her idea for a Luna-centric story a few months ago and wanted me to write it. And so here we are now with "Slayers Redemption"!
Thanks to Naga Shark for letting me write this and beta-ing it too. As with all my stories, please enjoy!
Luna was determined. She really hadn't wanted to do this, especially since this was her mother's idea, but she was going to finish what she started as she walked the heavily silent streets. Zephilia wasn't supposed to feel so empty, and yet the town was like it had been abandoned decades ago. Everyone stayed holed up in houses, none daring to walk about. And she had only been gone for about a month.
The day it had all gone downhill was as normal as could be. Luna had been working her waitress job as always when suddenly people began fainting. At first she thought something was wrong with their food, seeing as it was only one or two people, but then people out on the streets were collapsing too.
"Move!" Luna ordered the swarm of concerned pedestrians who had flocked over the unconscious. Now with a clear path, she picked up one of the bodies, a young boy who was panting and sweating.
"Help me get them to Saliman's!" The stander-bys nodded and each carried one of the fallen, lest they wished to face Luna.
Doctor Nathaniel Saliman, a tall man of 30-odd years, was the local physician. He lived by himself now, having lost his wife some years before to pneumonia, which is what prompted him to go into medicine.
The group arrived at his residence and put each of the unconscious in a bed. As soon as they where placed in the doctor's care, Luna left to return to her job. Their safety didn't matter one way or the other to the knight, but she knew if she hadn't at least helped she would never hear the end of it from her parents.
The rest of her workday was extremely uneventful, like people were deliberately avoiding the area. On her way home at the end of the day, the whispers did not escape her. Rumors were flying through the air like golden dragons about the people who fainted out of the blue.
The next day found the conclusion of the mystery: supposedly they were all victims of heat stroke. The explanation seemed to calm the populace, but Luna smelled something fishy. It was only logical that the cause was untrue-there was no way a dozen people could collapse at the same time because of heat stroke. Anyone with half a brain could figure that out, she thought. Still, it wasn't her job to get involved in things like this, so she didn't. She did as she always did-get up, go to work, come home, do chores, rinse and repeat the next day.
Not exactly the lifestyle one would think of when thinking of the Knight of Ceiphied, but no one dared argue that with Luna.
"Have you heard about those poor people Luna? The ones that collapsed the other day?" Luna nodded, ignoring her mother's rambling otherwise like always.
"So unfortunate, those poor souls, don't you think so?" Lana Inverse continued, looking at her daughter. Again, Luna nodded and continued about her business which was, at the moment, preparing dinner. Lana pursed her lips and said, "I heard that a traveler came into town today and he needs a place to stay. What do you think about letting him stay here? I heard he's quite the looker."
Luna finally turned to her mother. "Nice try Oka-chan." Lana smiled at her innocently and let her return to her work. At that moment a frantic knocking came from the front door. Luna paused as Lana nearly flew to the door. She heard the click of the door being pulled open and a person's harried breathing.
"Kotoko, what is it?" she heard her mother ask. "Did something happen?"
"Its your husband."
"Did he try to attack that "troll" again?" Lana sighed in exasperation. "I keep trying to tell him-"
"No, it's not that."
"Then what?" The room fell silent and Luna was about to return to the food when Kotoko spoke up again. "The other men found him collapsed. They say he looked just like the others that fainted the other day. He's at Saliman-sensei's house right now." The room again fell silent.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm sure of-Luna the food!" Luna was suddenly hit with the smell of burning food, black smoke wafting up to the ceiling. She quickly grabbed the pot and thrust it under the faucet, blasting the ruined food with water. She glanced over at her mother.
"Why don't I make dinner today?" Lana offered. "Kotoko, would you like to join us?" Their guest declined the offer and left. Luna went to her room and grabbed one of her books at random. She went back to the kitchen, welcomed by the scent of cooked meat. Luna sat down at the table and opened her book, but paid no attention to the words. Silence settled between the two women, both minds occupied with the same thought.
Lana plated their meals and seated herself at the table. Luna snapped her book closed and took her plate, still not saying anything to her mother. The meal continued like that for several minutes.
"...I'm going out tonight Luna. I trust you can watch the house?" Lana said all of a sudden.
"Hai," Luna responded. She knew Lana was going to see her father. "I'm not a kid anymore Oka-chan." A somber look passed over Lana's face and she stood up. She deposited her dishes in the sink and left the room. A couple minutes passed and Luna heard her mother's footsteps and the door open and close. She was alone.
Luna didn't let it bug her. Why should it? Her parents were completely capable of taking care of themselves, so why should she waste time worrying about her father?
Like any other night, Luna gathered up the dishes and washed them before retiring to her room. She blew a few strands of lavender hair away from her face as she reopened her book. She tried to concentrate on the words, but couldn't stop a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn't right. That something was not as it seemed.
Unable to concentrate, Luna shut her book and turned off the light. She lay in the dark until sleep engulfed her.
Light blazed into life and seeped under Luna's shut eyelids. She quickly pushed herself up and looked for the source.
"Good, you're up," Lana said, a lit candle in her grip. She tossed a bundle of clothes at her daughter. "Hurry up and get dressed. You're going on a trip." Luna quirked an eyebrow at her mother, noting the absence of her almost perpetual smile.
"And exactly where am I supposed to go?"
"You're going to find your sister." Rage suddenly flared up in Luna.
"Why the hell should I?" she asked in an icy tone. Lana looked at her, half glaring and half exasperated.
"Are you still sore over those pictures. It's been years and its time you got over it." Luna sat seething on her bed as Lana continued. "I've talked to your manager already. He wasn't exactly keen on the idea at first, but I convinced him to let you go." Luna's anger flared again. She looked at her mother suspiciously.
"This has something to do with Otou-chan," Luna accused. Lana didn't reply, but that was all the answer Luna needed.
"See me in the kitchen before you go," Lana said and she left it at that. She exited the room to give her daughter her privacy. Luna scowled and held out the clothes for a better look at them.
"Where did you get these?" Luna questioned as she walked into the kitchen.
She was dressed in a long, white dress that hugged her figure. The hemline stopped just above her feet and was split up one side to her thigh, revealing light blue long pants underneath. The dress's sleeves billowed around her wrists, blue bands circling the sleeves' hems. The dress ended at her chest so that a small amount of cleavage showed. A deep blue cloak was clasped at Luna's collarbone, a thin brown belt wound around her waist twice, hanging there loosely, and white boots covered her feet.
"They were mine," Lana replied, a small grin on her face. "I am an ex-sorceress, remember? Now I'm giving them to you." She held up a small bag, two drawstrings holding it closed. "I've packed you some supplies for your trip." Luna took the bag from her mother and peered inside. She slung the bag over her shoulder and gazed at Lana. The stern look on her face told Luna there was no getting out of this.
"Fine." was all she said as she headed for the door. Arms encircled her waist from behind.
"Have a safe journey, Luna," Lana said. Luna nodded and pulled herself away and walked out the door. The sun was just peering over the horizon, staining the sky with red and orange.
Luna made her way through town, watching shops begin to open for the day. As she walked, she heard people's whispers. Apparently, someone overheard Saliman-sensei yesterday, saying he believed the fainting could possibly be the revival of the Durum sickness. Others believed that it really was just heat stroke. Luna tuned them all out and kept walking.
Once she got to the edge of town, she put her fingers to her lips and let out a sharp whistle. Almost immediately came a wolf-like creature bounding toward her. He was dressed in gloves, shoes, dark blue pants, a blue shirt with a red collar, and two hearts attached to a band on his head.
"You're slow," Luna said. The wolfish creature scowled at her and they began walking away from Zephilia.
"What's with the get-up?" he asked.
"We're going on a trip Spot." His eye twitched at the name.
"Where are we going?" She brushed her bangs away from her eyes.
"We're going to find my little sister."
(A/N) How's that to start it off? I can't believe I almost forgot about "Spot"(sweatdrop). Anyway, please read and review! Ja ne!