Please excuse the lateness on a present that was already late. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers or claim any of it's characters. This all thanks to the wonderful Hajime Kanzaka.
Prompt: Lina and Gourry spend the night at a haunted inn.
For alexeiadrae
It was raining, it was dark and it was cold.
Lina Inverse sometimes wondered what deity she had offended in a past life that caused her current one to always run into the worst situations.
First, she had been born only to meet a sibling who was more evil than any demon. Then she had been blessed with big round eyes, an adorable face and petite body… only for everyone to focus on the one asset she wasn't so blessed with. Also, she always seemed to be responsible for preventing the destruction of the entire world. Had she asked to be the hero? No. No, she did not. Yet, she always came out on top and continued to be the driving force that protects this world.
So why couldn't she ever catch a break?!
"Damn those stupid bandits," the red head grumbled for the hundredth time that evening.
Gourry, walking alongside her, said nothing. He had learned his lesson (after having it pounded/burned into him one too many times) to keep his mouth shut when the small sorceress was in a foul mood. He knew it was particularly best to keep quiet when it was "that time of the month".
Lina wrapped her arms around her soaked form as they continued walking. She was not exactly sure if they were going the right way, but all she knew was there had better be a village soon. Magic or not, she would burn this forest down if she did not have a hot meal and a soft bed soon.
She sighed. And the day had been going so well, too!
Searching for a new sword for Gourry had been the kind of task she had needed. As much fun as being threatened by gods and demons who wanted to destroy you and calling upon the Lord of Nightmares was, it could get a little strenuous. Their mundane adventure was almost like a vacation.
However, her reputation still attracted attention like a magnet. Offers as a body guard for the rich to bandit groups swearing vengeance followed the two from town to town. One group in particular had been very persistent in following and managed to corner them near a cliff that morning.
She had threatened to Dragon Slave them all sky high if they didn't back off, but it was all a bluff. Having started her period the night before, all she could really do was throw nasty words at them. Gourry, knowing her too well and knowing there was nothing behind her pretty threats, stepped in-between herself and the band of thugs.
This act of protection almost made her heart swoon, but she had little time to acknowledge the heated blood in her face. The bandits rushed Gourry and drew their weapons. Gourry, as excellent of a swordsman he was, could not hold off all of them and a few made it toward her.
However, she was not damsel in distress and was not one to hide just behind her magic. Drawing her dagger, she managed to hold her own. Swipe after swipe, Gourry cut down the bandits with his temporary blade.
The fight seemed to be going in their favor. Lina kicked the last one of the bandits that she had been fighting, only to find herself facing a fire ball. She was so stupid to not think they would have a sorcerer with them.
Not having time to dodge, she braced herself for the burning sensation. A grunt escaped her mouth, but the impact was from a hard body instead. She opened her eyes to see the world falling around her and felt the arms of Gourry squeeze her tight as they fell over the cliff.
A river waited for them below, and before impact, Lina called upon whatever little magic was left in her body for a levitation spell… just to slow the impact.
They had managed to escape the fall without injury, and just as fast as they fell, they ran out of the river and into the cover of the woodland.
"Once this week is over, I'm going to hunt them all down," she continued to murmur through her shivering. "I'm going to murder them!"
She sneezed. "If we don't die of hypothermia first, that is!" she yelled, stomping her feet on the group.
"Aw, it'll be okay, Lina," said Gourry as he patted her head. "We've made it through worse."
She swatted his hand away, only to see him flinch slightly. Her red eyes scanned the tall swordsman, finally noticing his charred sleeve and burnt hand and arm.
"You took that fire ball for me."
"It only grazed me," he answered. He spun around to show the rest of his wet, but uninjured form. "Besides, that was nothing compared to your fire balls."
Lina remained quiet.
Gourry gently put a hand on her shoulder this time. "I'm your guardian, remember? Things like this are just what I do."
She softly placed her own hand on top of his and looked up at him. She hadn't considered him since they emerged from the river and ran into the forest to lose the bandits. The feeling of being powerless had bothered her so much, so didn't even think to see if it had caused harm to Gourry.
Her fingers brushed over his skin. From the feel, the burn wasn't too significant and a mild salve would likely heal it. Still…
She pressed down hard onto his wounded hand.
"OW!" the blonde howled, pulling his arm away from her.
"And as my guardian, the only person who can hurt you is me, got it? Moreover, what kind of guardian throws the person they're protecting over a cliff?"
"What kind of tactical genius stands to close to a cliff to begin with?" he disputed, cradling his injured hand close to him.
"Hey, what's in the past is in the past," she brushed off and started to walk again. "But all I want right now is to find the closest village and dry off."
"Sure, ignore what I said," he mumbled, but followed the young sorceress.
After several minutes of silent walking, they both sniffed the air and turned toward each other.
"I smell food!" they both exclaimed before taking off in a sprint.
The village appeared as if out of nowhere. The rain had begun to subside and a low fog had taken its place. The two soaked travelers followed their noses down the main road, trying to find the location of where the smell was originating.
Lina looked around and noticed the older style of architecture that was this town. It looked to be at least a couple hundred years old. The remote location of this village must have help from being caught in the cross fire during the wars of the past.
"I have a funny feeling about this place," Gourry stated, his hand on his sword handle.
"I just get the creeps, but I don't think there's anything to be worried about," she replied. There were people out on the streets, going about their business, which was always a good sign. She finally saw the beautiful word she was looking for… INN.
"There!" she pointed, running over to the building. "And just our luck! This is the place where that awesome smell is coming from!"
Gourry still couldn't shake the mood he was getting from this village, but Lina's excitement and the smell of the food influenced him to let the feeling go. He followed after the red-headed sorceress into the building.
"Welcome to the Overlook Inn!" the inn keeper greeted; his arms wide open to accept his new customers. His wife stood near him and bowed.
"You both looked soaked!" the woman went over to help Lina with her wet mantle. "Luckily we have an indoor hot spring. Let's get you both in their and we'll have some warm clothes waiting for you."
"And food, please," mentioned Lina as she was being led away by the inn keeper's wife.
"Lina…" Gourry called, not liking her going off without formulating a plan.
"I'll see you at dinner!" she called before being lead into another room.
"So you two aren't a couple?" the inner keeper's wife questioned. She had help undress Lina and got her ready for the hot spring. She currently sat by the bath, occasionally pouring a bucket of water over Lina's head.
"We're just travel companions," she answered, hoping the older woman would mistake her blush for the heat of the spring. "He's a bit of a jelly-fish brain, but he's a good friend."
"Well… ok, we will prepare separate rooms for you both then," the woman poured another bucket down Lina's hair.
Lina shivered with contentment. She usually liked having alone time whenever she was fortunate enough to run across a hot spring, but this lady had a pleasant aura to her and she was curious about the town.
"So, I'm guessing this is a resort town. I didn't see too many visitors."
"Yes, Overlook Village is known for its natural hot springs. They have been around for thousands of years and the vacationers it conveys are this town's main income. However, we've hit a slow point. You and your travel companion are the first visitor's in a while."
"It was the smell of your food that led us here."
The older woman laughed. "That's what I was hoping. I'm hoping it's what keeps you here, too, if the hot springs aren't enough. It should be ready once you are finished with your bath. I'm going to go check on it and leave you now to your thoughts."
She stood and bowed, but before she could reach the door, Lina turned around.
"Uh, thanks for your help Mrs.—"
"Torrance", she finished the young sorceress's sentence.
"Man, that bath and now the food! I feel like a whole new person!" grinned Lina as she patted her protruding stomach. It was amazing what a hot bath, clean clothes and a full meal could do for a girl.
Gourry also sat back in a food coma. The earlier eerie vibrations he had gotten from the village were forgotten. Mr. Torrance had also taken him to a hot spring and told him about the healing properties of the water. It had helped with the pain of his injury, however, he only stayed in the bath long enough to get warm. The events of the day combined with the soothing waters made his head feel a little too light… even for him.
"This place is really amazing," he agreed. "But, we probably shouldn't stay here longer than the night. We don't want those bandits coming into this town."
Lina sat up, but looked down at their empty plates. "I kind of don't want to, though. It's really nice here and the inn keepers are in need of patrons. We could wait out the week here."
"Yeah…, but—"
"We need a vacation, right? We can just pretend this is our own little house."
Gourry blinked. Did she just imply them living together? Like, how normal people do?
"Mrs. Torrance even told me about some really nice walking trails to flower patches and they have a local honey ale we need to try from the tavern…"
"Lina?"
"And the hot springs are really a relief on my cramps and they will help your burn, since I can't help you with a healing spell yet…"
"Lina."
"Really, I could stay here forever. We should, Gourry. We really should."
"Lina!" he finally interjected. She had stopped, and looked at him. She had such a satisfied smile on her face, he didn't know what to say… so he went with what was true. "We can't stay here. The risk is too high. I doubt this town has any kind of protection force. Besides, you want to travel the world, right?"
Her smile instantly turned into a scowl. "No, I don't want to leave!"
Gourry was taken slightly back. While he had always joked that Lina was a kid, he was surprised to hear fight back like one. She was never one to compromise her own safety over her comforts.
She seemed to realize what she said, and stood from the table. "I-I think I'm just really tired and irritable right now… let's talk in the morning about it, okay?"
"Alright," he agreed, the same weird feeling was overcoming him again. "Good night, Lina."
She moved to the stairs, but turned around and placed a jar of healing salve onto an empty table. "This is for your burn. Don't forget to put more of that salve on before you go to bed."
He nodded and watched her go up.
Gourry lay in his bed, fighting the feeling of wanting to fall asleep. He didn't feel so much a threat in this place, but there was definitely something odd.
He sighed, running his finger through his bangs. He wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he knew to always trust his intuition. Lina had been acting weird lately, and this was before even coming to this village.
He had started to notice her being more open with him since they began searching for a new sword. Even without the Sword of Light, she always found a new reason on why they needed to travel together. 'He owed her for lunch, he owed her for that beer she bought him, he owed her for wasting her time…' With the amount of debt she was heaping onto him, they would never be separated. But really, he didn't mind that. They only difference between the two of them was he didn't need excuses on why he would never leave her side.
Despite her always acting callous, she certainly did care for him. Things like bringing him a jar of salve… it was the little victories, really. On her better days, she even seemed tempted to hold his hand.
A weaker man would have just taken her hesitating fingers, but Gourry always promised to himself to let her come to him at her own pace. Lina was a tough person to become close with, and he didn't want to destroy all that they had just because he wanted to move faster.
Lina Inverse was a magical genius, but she was a total newbie when it came to expressing herself romantically. She had straight up blasted him for hugging her to too long.
Yet, here she was now, wanting to stay here with him. All the things she said she wanted to do… it almost sounded like a courting process. Flowers, drinks, vacations… it was not their world, but it sounded tempting. He had no problem giving up his life as a mercenary, especially if it was to make her happy. But, that wasn't what she wanted right now… was it?
Gourry heard footsteps outside her door and immediately had his sword in hand. He heard a tiny tap before the door opened.
"Lina?" he asked, putting down his sword. "What are you doing?"
Lina was wearing a yukata given to her by the inn keepers. She had done a very loose knot at the top, so the robe exposing more skin than she usually ever would.
"I couldn't sleep." She quietly shut the door behind her and walked up to his bed. "I just wanted to say sorry. I've been a bit stressed lately and this place really just helped me feel better."
He found that he couldn't disagree. "Yeah, I really like this place too."
She smiled radiantly before hopping into his bed without asking. Gourry didn't know how to feel about this… but, something was telling him it was okay.
Lina wormed her way under the blankets and snuggled up to his chest. "I think we should stay here. Those bandits will never find us."
The swordsman felt his heart rate increase as Lina began to caress his shirtless chest. "I-If that's how you really feel."
"It is. And, I want you to stay here, too, with me. We can stay here forever. We can finally settle down. No more crazy adventures and nights camping outside. We can finally be together."
"W-What about… finding me a new sword?" he managed.
"You don't need a sword anymore," she looked up and smirked seductively at him. "You have me."
His constitution finally failed him as she drew a single fingernail down to his bellybutton. Wrapping his arms around the small girl, he pulled her closer. He touched his face to the top of her head and drank in the smell of the red-haired girl.
Lina pulled away slightly so she could lift her head to meet his lips. However, Gourry's finger pressed against her own instead.
"What's wrong?" she asked, pulling away. "Don't you want to be together?"
"Of course I do," the blonde answered as he disentangled himself from her. "But I'd much rather be with the real Lina."
"What?" she raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
Gourry had gotten out of the bed and was putting his shirt back on. "I mean… don't get me wrong, I wish Lina was as bold as you are…"
The red-haired girl now shot out of the bed and stood in front of the tall swordsman. "Are you an idiot? Of course I am the real Lina."
Gourry ignored the raging girl and continued to finish putting on his armor. The sight seemed to anger the girl and she ran up in his face.
"I get it! You've never made a move on me because you don't have the courage. I knew that hair was compensating for something."
He still ignored her and went for the door, but she stood between them.
"If you leave this room, then I will leave you," she threatened.
"Listen, I appreciate you wanting me here, but you've got to do a better job next time if you want to fool me, Miss Ghost."
The imposter Lina's red eyes opened wide. "What gave it away?"
"Well first, I've had a creepy feeling about this place all night, so there's that," he counted off his fingers. "Next you smell nothing like Lina. And last…" he reached out and groped her chest.
"You were way too generous with these!"
The ghost Lina looked up at him in horror and let out a blood curdling scream.
Gourry shot up out of his bed. He looked around and saw his discarded armor and boots by the side of his bed and no one else in the room. The whole thing had been a dream.
Not even bothering with his shirt or armor this time, he clutched his temporary sword and ran out of the room. If they had sent a sexy Lina ghost to convince him to say here forever, he was sure the same was happening with the real Lina.
Lina internally screamed as slug after slug came after her. Despite how fast she ran the nasty little things managed to crawl just as fast. A few even managed to jump onto her, leaving their slimy trails as they crawled up her body.
"Kill them, kill them all!"
Soon, she saw the entrance to a very familiar village.
'I'm home,' she thought and suddenly she was in her village's tradition attire and was sitting at her dinner table.
"Oh Lina, you're back," a chilling voice called from behind her.
Slowly, Lina turned to see the shadow of what could only be her older sister. "Luna! O-Oh… how nice… to see you…" she muttered, sweat beginning to drench her face.
Why in the seven hells would she come home? What was going on here? Why was Luna smiling so creepily?
"I'm so glad you are done with your travels. I see you didn't find anyone special, but the good news is I've found a great match for you here," her older sister stood to the side, revealing a shadow. "He's been waiting for you for a long time…"
Lina's heart stopped as her eyes widened. "No… but I killed you!"
"True love can never die!" Noonsa the fishman cried, rushing forward. "Now, let's finish from where we last left off."
Lina nearly tumbled over her chair as she shot up to avoid the pair of nasty fish lips. She turned to see she was corned by the walking fish. However, before she could begin casting a spell… any spell to get this disgusting thing away from her, a sharp twang broke through the air.
Noonsa's mouth hung open in surprise before splitting down the middle. A tall figure stood behind the now dead fishman.
"Hey, we should cook this thing up for dinner," her rescuer spoke.
"Gourry? What are you doing here?"
The blonde swordsman put away his blade before looking at her. "What do you mean? We're looking for a sword for me, right? I mean, just filleting this guy probably dulled this one."
"No, I mean—" she looked around and noticed they were sitting around a camp fire somewhere out in the woods. She was back in her normal traveling clothes and was holding a piece of skewered fish in each hand.
Holding the hot food to her nose, she smelt it. It smelt real. She tasted it. It tasted delicious.
"Was I just dreaming now?" she asked, continuing to eat the cooked fish.
Gourry was also consuming his food with his usual gusto. Finishing a bite, he nodded.
"You've kinda been out of it since we escaped those bandits at the cliff. I told you we should have stayed at that village, but you said we had to leave."
Lina threw her now vacant skewers to the side. "Don't blame that on me! It was you who insisted we had to leave because those stupid bandits might find us," she scoffed.
Looking over to him, Lina was surprised to see a look of genuine hurt cross his face. "I always will protect you Lina, but you make it so hard sometimes. Why can't we just stay in one place for a while? I just… I just wish you would consider my feelings sometimes."
Lina felt her blood run cold. She swore she had heard those same words echoed before.
"G-Gourry, I—"A bright light cut off her sentence and now in front of her was a sight she wished she could forget.
Gourry stood suspended in a large crystal, a large crack running down the middle.
"If only you had stayed in one place… maybe gave up your lifestyle, your precious Gourry would not be in this position?"
Lina sank to her knees as Hellmaster Phibrizzo casually paced around the imprisoned Gourry. "Did he ever tell you his hopes and dreams? I'm sure he didn't, because, he unfortunately devoted himself to the one person who would never acknowledge them."
"Gourry…. Gourry, I am so sorry," she whispered.
"Lina!"
She looked up and saw Gourry talking from inside the crystal. "I need you to wake up. This is all a trick."
"A trick?"
"No!" screamed Phibrizzo. "This is no trick!"
The small demon lord snapped his fingers and the crack in the crystal began to spider web out.
"Gourry!" she screamed, tears starting to form.
"No, Lina! It's okay. Just wake up."
"Don't listen! Stay here forever, or Gourry will die!" Phibrizzo began to fade. Lina, through unshed tears looked up at Gourry.
"Wake up."
The crystal burst into a million pieces. A large piece of fragment flew straight at Lina, hitting her in the face.
"Gourry!" she gasped for air, opening her eyes only to find herself in a room with Gourry holding her. Whatever had just occurred, she didn't know, but all she knew was how happy she was to see her traveling companion here. Emotion overwhelmed her and she threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Gourry…"
He embraced her tighter, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Lina fought to contain her sniffling and return her breathing back to a normal pace. Both said nothing as he continued to comfort the distressed girl.
After several minutes, Lina pulled back and wiped at unshed tears. She looked up at Gourry, and then around the room. She then pulled back the sleeve of her sleeping yukata and pinched her skin.
"That… was one hell of a dream sequence," she muttered.
"Yours sounded so much worse than mine," Gourry agreed.
Lina raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that? How long have you been here?"
The swordsman put a finger to his chin in thought. "I got here about the time you started screaming about kissing a fishman. I never really thought you were into that, but I guess everyone has their type—"
"Shut up!" she interrupted, a blush creeping onto her face. "Why the hell didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"I tried. I don't think these are normal dreams, though. I also had a dream that felt really real…" Lina noticed him look away slightly.
"You also had a nightmare?"
Gourry cleared his throat. "Of sorts…"
Lina gave him a suspicious look. "So, you think are dreams were being messed with by an outside force?"
"I think this place is haunted," he said matter-of-factly.
"Besides the bad dreams, what gives you that idea?"
He motioned toward the window. "All the ghosts outside."
Lina jumped out of the bed and ran to the window. Outside, the once normal (if not slightly eerie town) was now totally dilapidated with very ghost-like spirits wandering the streets.
She felt her skin go white. Gourry was now next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Also, because you can see-through the inn keepers."
The sorceress spun around to see both Mr. and Mrs. Torrance peeking their most-definitely transparent heads from the other side of the door. Their eyes widened with surprise and they immediately backed out of the room.
"Hey!" she yelled, starting to go after them. "Don't think just because you're ghosts that I can't see you! You better get back here, or so help me…"
Gourry dashed after the raging red-head. They ran down the stairs and followed the two spirits past the lobby and into the female's hot spring. Once there, they finally stopped and turned around. They cringe in fight of the wild beast that approached them.
Lina, her yukata disheveled and her red hair wild with bed-head cornered them between the only door and the hot spring.
"What." She stepped closer. "The." Another step. "Hell?" She was now only inches from the inn-keepers. How she had not noticed this earlier was the biggest insult of all.
"Lina!" Gourry called from behind. Only Lina would scare ghosts and not the other way around.
"What were you planning? How dare you mess with my precious mind!"
Mrs. Torrance, clutching her husband in fear, spoke. "W-We just wanted you to stay here… it's been so long since we had customers…" she began sobbing.
The sorceress's anger began to dissipate as she looked at the two sorry ghosts. She sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Seriously…" she moaned.
Gourry walked up to the trio. "Why would ghosts want us to stay here?"
Mr. Torrance pulled away from his wife. "Overlook Village used to be the prime spa resort in any part of this region. We had everyone from families to royalty come to stay with us and use our hot springs. But a few hundred years ago… the hot springs began to lose their natural temperature. Soon after that, the water stopped flowing."
Mrs. Torrance continued on. "The smaller inns went first. We were the last inn to have a source of natural water. What remained of the village began to riot outside our inn. We promised that as long as we had the natural spring water, we would share our luck and wealth, however…
The villagers believed we had intentionally sabotaged their hot spring systems and in their fury came in and drowned us in the last of our remaining bath water."
"Geez, talk about needing anger management…" Lina tusked.
"… like the pot calling the kettle black," murmured Gourry.
"In their continued rage, the entire village burnt down and we were all cursed with remaining here," Mrs. Torrance finished. "We believe if we could finally bring tourism back to this village, we would be freed."
"Is that why you possessed our dreams… to try and convince us to stay here?" asked Lina.
"Yes… the water in the baths was supposed sway you…"
Lina thought back to her bath and how the supposedly generous Mrs. Torrance kept pouring the water over and over… she had felt so good. She really could have stayed in there forever.
"The swordsman didn't stay in the water's long enough to get the full effect, so we had to use other means," added Mr. Torrance.
"So, I entered into your companion's mind and my husband entered into yours," Mrs. Torrance continued. "We thought we could use your weaknesses to influence you to remain here, and become a part of the town."
To that, Mr. Torrance began to chuckle. "It may not have worked, but it sure was fun, Miss."
"You son-of-a-b—" Lina was held back by Gourry, clasping a hand over her mouth.
"So, did you sabotage the other hot springs?" the blonde asked about of the blue. "Like, you both seem to be able to keep your inn looking nice and your baths running, but the rest of town looked like… well, a ghost town."
The inn keepers looked at each other and looked back to the Gourry and Lina. "Maybe we did, maybe we didn't… does that really matter?"
Both Lina and Gourry had to keep themselves from falling. The jerks totally did.
Mrs. Torrance then frowned, a dark aura beginning for form around her. "Regardless of the events that lead to this, you two are our guests… I think it's time for you to be getting back to your rooms."
"If you aren't tired, we can always prepare a bath for our special lodgers," joined Mr. Torrance.
"Oh, how kind of you, but I think I'll pass on more brain washing for now," said Lina, as both her and Gourry inched towards the exit.
The inn-keepers burst with energy and morphed into a black vortex. From within the chaos, a pair of grotesque skeletons emerged, screaming with anger.
"Just because we couldn't convince you to stay doesn't mean we can force you to stay…"
Lina and Gourry looked at each other, and then immediately sprinted for the door. While ghosts were definitely not on the top of their list of the worst things to fight, they saw nothing wrong with running away.
However, the inn keeper's aura had created a barrier and a shock hit Lina's hand as she grasped the door handle.
"Oh boy," she groaned. "This is not good."
"So… what now?" asked Gourry
"Oh, I don't know, Gourry! Maybe you can take them down with your sword?"
He frowned. "Maybe if I had the Sword of Light… this thing barely stays together if the wind blows."
Light… Looking over to the hot spring, Lina thought of a plan. It was stupid and probably won't work, but she's come up with worse things.
"Gourry," she whispered as the apparitions came closer to them. "Get one of the buckets and fill it with the hot spring water. I'm going to cast a spell… and when I do, pour it onto them, got it?"
"Sure, no problem," he answered. "But, just one question? I thought it was "that time of the month" so how—"
"Shut up and go do it!" she yelled, turning to face the Torrances. "Listen, I had a really great time here, but clearly you do not know who you are dealing with. I'm the sorceress Lina Inverse, and I know just how to eradicate you from this world…
"Light which burns beyond crimson flame,
let thy power gather in my hand!
LIGHTING!"
Lina concentrated all ruminates of her magic into the spell, willing it to flash in a burst of blinding light. The light was so intense, even she could not see that whaling monster, but she did hear a loud splash and the drop of two bodies.
"You could have warned me, you know…" said Gourry. Managing to regain most of her eyesight she walked over to the normal forms of the inn keepers (well, as normal as a ghost can be).
"There's some kind of magic in this water that makes people feel good… makes you want to stay forever. I'm sure when they had a sorcerer place an enchantment spell on their main hot spring source to get the most customers and keep them coming back."
"I guess even ghosts need a bath ever now and then," Gourry commented.
"In one ear and right out the other…" she mumbled. "Just, throw them in the bath and let's get the hell out of this place."
"Won't they drown if we leave them unconscious in a bath?"
"They are already dead, you moron!" she sneered, trying to pull Mrs. Torrance into the bath. "They can't drown again!"
"The water is really so very nice," moaned Mrs. Torrance as Lina none-too-gently kicked her into the hot spring.
"Yes, I don't know why we don't use it more often," replied Mr. Torrance as Gourry throw him in.
Lina brushed off her hands. "Thankfully that's over with. Let's get our things and get out of here."
Leaving the inn keepers behind (and locking the door), Lina and Gourry ran to retrieve the last of their possessions.
"Are you ready to go?" Gourry asked, meeting her at the lobby.
"Just about… I'm seeing if there's anything valuable in here," said Lina, shifting through the various drawers. "I don't think it's fair that they put us through this whole ordeal and I get no retribution… I mean, they made me dream of Luna. No one deserves that."
"You also dreamed about me," he added. Lina stopped her pillaging and walk over to the door.
"Yeah, I did. Luckily, you woke me up, too," she smiled. "Thank you."
Gourry put a hand behind his head. "Aw, no problem, Lina. But it sure wasn't easy… I had to smack you to finally snap you out of it."
She placed a hand to where she was hit in her dream only to find it tender. "Yeah, thanks for that… I'll be sure to repay you later."
"Well, where do we go from here?"
Lina looked out to see that the sun was finally starting to rise. The ghosts were no longer roaming the streets, and the abandoned town lay in ruins. It was just a memory again.
The rising sun's beams made it toward the two, and Lina couldn't help but notice how they reminded her of her companion's hair. She gazed to his injured hand, and, finally feeling that it wasn't such a big deal, gently took his hand in hers.
"Where else? We are looking for a new sword for you, aren't we?"
Gourry looked down at their entwined hands and smiled. "Oh yeah, that's right."
"So, let's go!"
The gang of bandits had been searching an entire day for that damned Lina Inverse and her sword-wielding companion since they had escaped off the cliff. They didn't care who they were… no one robbed from them and got away with it.
"Hey, look over there," one of the men pointed out. "It looks to be a village over there."
Indeed, it looked to be a small resort village of some kind. Illuminated by the light of the moon, the bandits continued until they reached the main gate of the village.
'Welcome to Overlook, the best hot springs on earth' the sign read.
"If they are hiding anywhere, I guarantee they do it in style. Come on boys, let's go get a bath!"
They all cheered as they entered the village and went to find an inn.
Thank you for reading! I was really happy to write another gift for the Slayers Secret Santa, so I hope the length makes up for the extremely late Christmas gift.
Merry Marchness, ho ho ho!
Captured Moon
