Disclaimer: I do not own anything anime except for videos and manga which I legally bought. In other words, I'm not part of Pioneer, Kodansha, A.D.V., or any other anime-making company. *grabs Zelly-kun* But maybe I can own him… ^_^

Zel: O_O;

Slayers Go!

Chapter 1

Nani?! I Can't Die, it's Only the Beginning!



The Slayers were in another run-in with bandits. But they were all split up in the forest that they were in. Lina, who had a fireball in hand, stood back-to-back with Gourry, who was holding the Hikari no Ken. Amelia was on top of a tree, doing her little justice speech. The bandits that had followed her were asleep at the base of the tree. Those who weren't had sweatdrops on the backs of their heads. Zelgadis was casually sipping his beloved coffee. He threw out the occasional fireball when a bandit came too close. Xellos was either making his report to Zelas, or drinking iced tea in Hawaii.

Scene change…

Xellos lay on a beach chair in the sun and sipped his iced tea. Scene pans to a sign that says "Welcome to Hawaii!"

Back in the forest…

Filia was having the time of her life whacking the bandits with her mace- chan. She was doing a little dance and humming a little tune while whacking them. The bandits stopped, stared at each other, stared at her, and stared at each other again. Filia stopped in mid-step on one foot and beckoned to them with a finger. When the bandits charged her, she just started dancing and whacking again.

Back with Zelgadis, he was still drinking his coffee. But one of the bandits shattered the porcelain cup with his sword and the coffee spilled out all over the place. Zel still held the handle of the cup, unaware that it had broken. He went to take another sip and, surprise, surprise! found that it had been broken. He stared at his precious spilt coffee for a few seconds, then he stood up and slowly drew his sword. All this while, the bandits, being the stupid bad guys like they're supposed to be, stood and waited for Zel to draw his sword. Zel charged, swung his sword a few times, looked really hot doing his crouching-after-the-attack-pose (with closed eyes, of course), and all the bandits fell down. Then he stood up and walked into the forest to find the others.

Amelia was still standing on top of the tree giving her justice speech. (Geez, how long can she keep it up?). Not surprisingly, all of the bandits who were awake were asking the same question. "Finally, I will punish you all in the name of justice!"

"Ano, you said that already!" yelled one of the bandits.

"Did I? I just get so caught up in this speech that I say the same thing over again." Amelia rubbed the back of her head.

"You said it five times!" yelled another bandit.

"Oh! Ano…Justice shall prevail! Damu Brass!" Amelia released her magic spell and all the bandits, awake and asleep, went flying. "Now to find Miss Lina and the others." She looked down from her perch. "Ano, SOMEONE GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!!!" Out of pure coincidence, she slipped and fell splat on her face.

Lina and Gourry were still in their fight. Most of the bandits had followed them. Gourry charged the bandits and Lina sent her fireball into the crowd. A few bandits flew into the air. "Gourry! Cover me!" Lina yelled at her companion.

"Gotcha, Lina!" he yelled back. Gourry stood in front of Lina and waited with sword at the ready.

Lina started chanting her most powerful spell. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows…"

Gourry charged the bandits, hoping to keep them away from Lina until he dived for cover.

"Buried in the sands of time…" Lina brought her hands down and the ball of light grew brighter.

A lone figure watched from the shadows. He held up his finger and a fireball appeared above it.

Gourry was still fighting the bandits and winning. He moved to strike another bandit.

The figure sent the fireball out at Gourry.

"I pledge…" Lina stopped mid-sentence as a cry of pain cut through her thoughts. Gourry had been hit by a fireball and was thrown back. "Gourry!" Gourry hit a tree sat unmoving. "Gourry! Get up!" Gourry stirred a little. Bandits closed in on him. Lina watched as the bandits surrounded her unconscious comrade. "Dammit, Gourry! Get up!" She sent a fireball at a bandit who had managed to sneak up behind her. "Where did that fireball come from?" she wondered.

Gourry woke up to find himself surrounded by bandits. He did his normal confused look, then jumped to his feet and started fighting them. "Atta boy!" he heard. He looked around and saw Lina cheering him on. "Typical," he thought, "she doesn't wanna help me." He blocked a blow from a bandit, then looked up again. A bandit was sneaking up behind Lina. "Lina! Behind you!"

Lina heard the bandit first, then Gourry's warning. She smirked and started a fireball on her finger. She turned around and yelled, "Fireball!"

The bandit smirked and held up his sword. The fireball glanced off of it.

"Nani?!" cried Lina.

The bandit laughed. "Nice try, Miss Lina Inverse. This is a magic sword that can deflect any attack. Even your Dragon Slave!" He ended his sentence laughing.

"Can't be!" Lina yelled as she dodged a strike to her side. "There's gotta a spell on it!" She drew her own sword. "Well, if spells don't work on it, looks like I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way." She rushed the bandit and swiped at him with her sword.

He dodged it easily. "Heh! You're pretty good, girly."

"Girly?!" Lina was outraged. "No one calls me a 'girly' and gets away with it!" She swiped at him again and got his arm.

"Damn," he cursed. He held his right arm, which was bleeding severely. Lina smirked.

Gourry was almost finished with his share of bandits. There were only two left. Swish! One. He glanced at Lina to see how she was doing. It looked like she had wounded the bandit, but he was still going at it. "Why doesn't she use a fireball?" he wondered. While he was looking at Lina, the last bandit took the opportunity to attack him. He swung his sword and hit Gourry in the side. He let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground, clutching his side.

Lina heard Gourry's pained cry and looked at him. "Gourry!" The bandit she was fighting smirked. Now it was her turn. He slashed at her hand, making her drop her sword. She jerked back to face her attacker and felt a sudden pain in her gut. She slowly looked down and saw the bandit's sword sticking into her.

"Lina!" Gourry half-cried. He stood up to face his opponent, obviously pissed. He attacked the bandit with more force than he ever knew he had.

The bandit who had his sword in Lina smiled and took a step forward. Lina grimaced and coughed up some blood as she was pushed back a step. The bandit started into a run and slammed his sword into a tree trunk, trapping Lina. Lina slumped, apparently unconscious. Smiling, the bandit pulled his sword out of Lina's body. His smile faded as a hand shot out and grabbed the hilt, stopping him. Lina lifted her head and smiled weakly. She lifted her hand, palm up. "Betcha can't block magic without the sword," she said. The bandit took a step back, trying to pull his sword with him. No such luck. "Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand." A small ball of fire appeared in Lina's hand. The bandit tugged at the sword but Lina held fast. She groaned as the sword moved around inside her, cutting her. She aimed her palm at the bandit's face and yelled, "FIREBALL!" The bandit screamed horribly as he very quickly was burnt to a crisp. Lina smiled, then fainted.

The figure in the shadows smirked and walked away. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about the famous sorceress anymore."

Gourry saw Lina use the fireball then faint. With a final effort, he struck at the bandit and killed him. "Lina!" he yelled at her. "Lina, please don't die." He ran over to her and pulled the sword out. He threw it on the ground as Lina fell into his arms. He stroked her hair and put his hand on her wound. Lina groaned in pain. "Lina?" Gourry snapped to attention. Lina was looking at him. He brought her into a sudden hug. "Oh, Lina, I'm so sorry!" he cried into her hair.

Lina smiled. She reached up and touched Gourry's cheek. "It's not your fault," she whispered. "I just wasn't careful enough." She cringed in sudden pain and coughed up some more blood.

"Lina, you can't die. I…I love you," Gourry whispered.

Lina's eyes opened wide in shock. Then she relaxed. "I know," she whispered back. "And I love you, too." She smiled slyly. "Despite your jellyfish brains." She started laughing, but it ended up in coughing up more blood. Gourry touched her cheek gently. Lina sighed and relaxed into the caress. Gourry then bent down and kissed Lina on the mouth. When he brought his head up, Lina was smiling gently. "Thank you," she said. Then she sighed and breathed out.

Gourry snapped up straight. He touched Lina's cheek with the back of his hand. She was getting cold. "Lina?" he whispered. "Lina! No! Lina!" He shouted her name over and over again, unable to believe what had just happened. He started crying. "Lina," he sobbed, hugging her body.

At that moment, the rest of the Slayers gang (minus Xellos) was making their way towards Lina and Gourry. Amelia was chatting with Filia about the recent fight. Zelgadis was walking in silence like he always does. He didn't want to be any part of a conversation. "So Mister Zelgadis, what did you think of those bandits?" Too late. A small sweatdrop appeared on Zel's face. "They weren't much of a challenge," he replied. He looked at Amelia's eager face and blushed. He turned his head away and said, "What about you?"

Amelia jumped ahead and did he famous justice pose with one hand over her head and a finger pointed to the sky. "Where ever there's evil, justice shall always triumph!"

"Never mind," Zel said. "What about you, Filia?"

"Oh, bandit-smashing is a breeze!" she said smiling. She reached under her dress and pulled out mace-chan. "If you know how to do it right, that is."

Zel sighed. "This is why I stay out of conversations," he said to himself. He looked up suddenly as his ears caught the sound of crying. He thought he saw Gourry ahead.

Amelia, naïve and impressionable as always, saw Gourry bent over Lina and immediately thought of something else. "Waaaah!" she screamed and jumped to block Zel's and Filia's view. Zel sighed and just looked over Amelia (That's the disadvantage of being short).

Filia didn't think of that and tried to look around Amelia. "What? What? What? What?" she kept asking as she tried to peak around her. Amelia jumped on Filia to block her view. "Aaaaahhh!" Filia screamed. She ran around trying to get Amelia off of her. Zel grabbed Amelia by her cape and lifted her into the air. Amelia grinned sheepishly and Zel blushed again. "Thank you," Filia gasped. She looked over at what Amelia was trying to hide. "Oh no," she whispered.

Zel set Amelia on the ground and followed Filia's gaze. He, too, saw Gourry bent over Lina. But Lina wasn't moving. He took in a sharp breath.

Amelia wondered what was wrong, so she went over to Gourry. "Mister Gourry, what-" she stopped short when she saw Lina. "Miss Lina!" she cried. She knelt down next to Lina. "Miss Lina! Wake up! Please?" Filia came over and sat next to Amelia. Zel came up and put his hand on Amelia's shoulder. When she looked up, he shook his head.

"She's dead," Gourry said suddenly. When he spoke, the others jumped. He looked up, his eyes unfocused. "She's dead," he repeated. "I couldn't save her. Lina!" He put his head down to Lina's shoulder and started crying again. "It's my fault," he said between sobs. "It's all my fault."

Zel walked over to Gourry. He put his hand on Gourry's shoulder and sat down next to him. He looked over at Lina.

Meanwhile, back in Hawaii…

Xellos sat up suddenly. He was sure he had felt something, though not exactly sure what. He decided to teleport back to Zelas to find out what was wrong.



A/N: As you might have figured out, I am all for L/G. And A/Z. I'll put something in about them later. About Lina's death, I know. Ain't it sweet? ^_^; R&R!

Next chapter: what did Xellos feel? Who was that shadowy figure watching Lina? Will Gourry ever get over Lina's death? Or will he continue to be jellyfish brains? Tune in next time on: Slayers Go!