-Oh my gosh! My first ever published fanfic! Hooray! I've tried to keep it as in-character as possible, hopefully you enjoy it. Random disclaimer: the basics of fan-fiction is that it is FICTION written by a FAN. Obviously meaning I don't own anything. Of course? Right. So now enjoy the story! :3-
1- Search! The new ally is a 3-year-old?
"They've got to be around here somewhere!" Lina groaned. "We have to find them to return those old books to the library… and get the reward!"
"Why would any thieves want to steal books from a library? The librarian said that the stolen books were old, not to mention written in a strange language that nobody could read. It seems weird to me." Gourry puzzled.
"Who cares as long as we get that reward for returning the books, right?" Lina said definitively. "And with that, we continue our search!" Lina walked farther on into the forest, not looking back to see if her friend was following. Gourry sighed, and continued after her anyway.
After helping Pokota rescue his country (not to mention saving the world- again!- in the process), Lina and Gourry had continued on their travels, collecting rewards for capturing bandits. Not much had changed- Lina was just as greedy as ever, and Gourry was still quite forgetful (though his memory had been improving.)
When Gourry caught up to her, Lina was hiding behind a tree and staring at something beyond it. "Hey Lina, what are you looking a-"
"Shhhhhh!" Lina violently silenced him. "I think those are the thieves we've been looking for!"
"Them?" Gourry inquired, glancing at the strange-looking group of men. "They seem kind of scary. What need would they have for old, unreadable books?"
"Who cares? If we get the books back, then we get our reward. It doesn't matter one bit why those thieves wanted them."
"I don't know, Lina… I have a bad feeling about this."
"Forget it Gourry. Now on three, we'll go for a surprise attack- one… two…"
On three, the pair jumped out at the group of strange men- Gourry with his sword drawn and Lina with a fireball ready to shoot at anyone who dared to defy her. They were a formidable force, and the astonished looks of the thieves showed that their surprise attack had gone as planned.
"So, you're the thieves who stole the books from the nearby village, huh?" Lina accused. The silent response from the band of men showed that she was correct.
"Who are you anyway?"
"I'm glad you asked. You may have heard of me. I'm Lina Inverse, the famed bandit slayer." Lina said, a cruel smile spreading on her face, waiting for their panicked response. Unfortunately, she was disappointed.
"Lina Inverse?" "Who's that?" "Never heard of her." Came the mixed response from the group of thieves.
"Y-you've honestly never heard of me?" Lina exclaimed, startled. Usually bandits would quake in fear at the very mention of her name. Often, some would surrender on the spot. The notion that any group of thieves wouldn't know of her didn't seem humanly possible.
"W-well, that's who I am, and I haven't gotten this reputation for nothing. Let me show you a little. FIREBALL!"
The men that the fireball was aimed at jumped frantically out of the way just in time for it to graze past them and singe a nearby tree. A tall man who seemed to be somewhat of a leader turned to Lina. "So, ya think you're tough, do ya? Let's show this little punk what she's really dealing with!"
The group of thieves, about 12 or 13 in all, began to attack with dark magical energy. Lina and Gourry were evidently surprised, not because the bandits could use magic, but because of their apparent strength. The thieves were stronger than they appeared.
"Looks like we've got to step up our game a bit." Lina said. Gourry nodded.
"Right. Take THIS!" Gourry's excellent swordsmanship caught the men off guard for a moment as they were hit by his attack. Lina followed with a barrage of fireballs. The men who had come to attack first now seemed reluctant to fight. This angered the leader.
"What are you cowards doing! Attack them now!" He yelled.
"If you want, you could simply give us the books. Then we'll leave you in peace. How about it?" Lina bargained. She knew that she could easily take down the bandits, but if she could convince them to surrender, it would save her the effort of defeating them.
"N-never! We're not gonna hand those books over to somebody like you!" The leader responded.
"Well then, I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way." Lina said, smiling her usual, cruel smile. "Darkness beyond twilight... crimson beyond blood that flows..."
The attitude of the men seemed to change as Lina began her incantation. "N-no way... that's..."
"DRAGON SLAVE!"
The explosion that followed blew most of the bandits away. The others that were left scrambled to escape Lina's wrath. They weren't so brave anymore.
"Hmph, they weren't so tough." Lina said triumphantly. "Now to go through their stuff and find those stolen books."
Lina and Gourry searched through the bandit's camp, in an attempt to find the stolen books. Lina found a few sealed in some of the tents. She was counting them to see if she had them all- there were still a few missing. Lina opened one of the books to see what information it might contain. She was met with a strange mix of symbols that she had never seen. It was impossible to make sense of them. Why would a weak group of bandits want something strange like this? Perhaps there's more to this situation than meets the eye... She wondered. A sudden cry of exclamation pulled her from her thoughts.
"Lina! Come here!"
Lina stood up quickly. "What is it? Did you find the rest of the books?" She asked.
"No- I found something else!"
Lina followed Gourry's voice to a dark side of the camp, where a small half-tent was set up. She wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but when she saw it she gasped in surprise.
Lying under the shelter, tied up with strong rope, was a small child- a boy who couldn't be more than 3 or 4 years old. He had unruly brown hair, and was wearing clothes very different from that of the group of bandits. Whoever he was, he obviously wasn't part of them. Lina bent down to get a closer look.
"Is he… alright?" She asked hesitantly. Gourry nodded.
"Yeah, he's just unconscious- but he's all tied up. Do you think he could have been kidnapped?"
"Who knows? I guess the first thing to do is get him untied."
Gourry took his sword and began cutting the rope gently and carefully. Lina couldn't help smiling, thinking of all the reckless damage that the sword could do to thieves and bandits. The boy was now untied, and was slowly returning to consciousness. "Huh… wha…" He murmured unintelligibly. The boy turned to look at Lina. He had large, tearful, green eyes that almost made even Lina want to comfort the little child.
Almost.
"A-are you okay?" Gourry asked.
The boy looked around, as if he wasn't sure, but then turned back to Gourry and nodded. "I'm alright…" he said, his voice trailing off.
Lina got up, and stared down at the kid. "What's your name anyway?" She asked.
"Zara." He answered, still somewhat unsure.
"Zara, huh?" Lina continued. "Well, where do you come from? What are you doing here?"
Zara paused for a moment, looking as if he was in deep thought. "I… I don't know…" He finally said.
"You… you don't know?" Lina said in disbelief. Sure, Zara was young, but he couldn't be completely ignorant- could he?
"Don't you have parents? What are they like? Where are they?" Gourry inquired. Zara looked as if Gourry had asked him and incredibly difficult question, before finally repeating his previous answer.
He still didn't know.
Lina groaned. It's like trying to get answers from Xellos… she thought. "So, basically you don't know anything besides your name?" She asked.
Zara closed his eyes and thought for a long moment. He then nodded matter-of-factly, as if it were a simple question to answer.
Lina was astounded. Who was this kid anyway? Why didn't he know anything? Was it possible that the thieves had…
"Did the thieves erase your memory or something?" Gourry asked. Zara didn't hesitate to answer this time. He clearly didn't know. Lina angrily punched Gourry over the head.
"What a stupid question! If the thieves did erase his memory, then how would he know that they did?"
"Oh, uh… I didn't think about that."
"You never think about anything anyway." Lina muttered. "Well, whatever. If you can't help us with any information, then we can't help you, kid. Sorry, but that's the way it's got to be." She then continued her search for books. Zara stood and followed her, staying behind her back in order not to be seen. Gourry laughed- the sight of the little boy following the oblivious sorceress was almost comical. "What the heck is so funny?" Lina turned around quickly to ask.
"N-nothing…" Gourry said, attempting to keep a straight face. He knew that there would be a fireball heading straight for him if he didn't.
Lina turned to face the child that she had apparently been aware of the whole time. "And if you don't stop following me around, kid, I'll do worse things to you than those thieves could have even imagined! Got it?"
"Lina, come on. He's just a little kid, all alone. The least we could do is help him get back to his parents. It wouldn't be right just to leave him out here."
Lina scowled. "Gourry, you're starting to sound like Amelia. I'm not being a chaperone to some pathetic little kid who seems to have an even worse memory than you do!" Zara seemed to find this discouraging, and hugged tightly to Lina. "Let go of me kid! I'm NOT your mother!" But Zara didn't let go.
He looked up at Lina with big, teary eyes that caught the sorceress off guard. Before, she had easily defeated bandits who pleaded for mercy. But there was something different in seeing the pitiful look on the face of a small child. It was something Lina had never experienced before, and she stumbled with words as she tried to identify just how this kid was making her feel.
"Err, well, look kid, this is… what I mean is… you don't really…" Lina sighed, defeated. She might have been cruel, but she was still a human being and couldn't simply leave a little, helpless child out in the forest on his own. "I guess we'll take you back to the town so that you can find you parents. We have to go back to return the books anyway, so…"
The look of sheer joy in Zara's eyes nearly knocked Lina over. He hugged her even tighter. "Thank you!" He exclaimed in the loudest voice that Lina and Gourry had heard him use.
Gourry smiled at Lina. "I guess even you can be nice sometimes."
"Shut it. Just count up all the books to make sure that we have them all." Lina said. She wasn't in the mood to be nice to anybody at this particular moment, but she refrained from hitting Gourry this time.
"Let's see…" Gourry said looking at what they had found. "You found eight and I found six… so that makes… um…" Gourry began to count on his fingers, and then became confused on what to do when he ran out of fingers to count on. Lina was about to intervene and say something along the lines of '14 you idiot,' but Zara came in before she could.
"Umm… 14, right?"
Lina and Gourry stared at the boy as if he'd just spoken to them in another language.
"Yeah, of course! 14, I knew that." Gourry said. "But wait, the people at the library said they only lost 10 books. That means that we have four extras, right?"
"So you're not a complete failure at math after all." Lina said condescendingly, but then turned to Zara. "Where did you learn to add like that, kid?" She could almost call the answer out as Zara said it.
"I don't know."
Lina sighed. "I guess we'll just keep the extra books for ourselves."
"But what will we do with them?" Gourry asked. "We can't read them, so they'd be of no use to us."
"Silly Gourry," Lina said with a smile. "Did you forget? Whatever you can't use, you can SELL. And I'm sure that mysterious antique books would fetch quite a high price with some maniacal collector, correct?"
Gourry sighed. He'd known Lina way too long to not have seen that response coming.
"Well, let's get Zara and these books back to town." He said, turning in the direction that they'd come from. Zara followed closely behind him- but not before turning to make sure Lina was coming as well.
What is up with this kid anyway? Lina wondered.
After returning to stolen books to the grateful librarian and collecting Lina's coveted reward, the pair began a fruitless search of the town to see if anyone knew who Zara belonged to.
No one seemed to know anything about the kid, who he was, or where he had come from. Lina sighed.
"Nobody knows him. His parents are obviously not here."
"Well, I guess we have no choice but to search other places for his parents." Gourry said. Lina was dumbfounded.
"Are you crazy? Take him with us? No way! Never! We're leaving him here!" Zara's eyes began to tear up, and he hugged Lina. She turned away, so as not to be swayed by his expression again.
"Lina, what is he supposed to do? He's all alone! No one knows him!" Gourry objected.
"Who cares? It's not our problem."
"Still… I don't feel good about leaving him. We can't."
"You mean YOU can't." Lina said, sending Gourry a malevolent look. "If you want to take him home, then it's fine by me. Don't expect me to join you though." And with that she took off as if to leave.
Gourry realized what she was doing. She was making him choose between Zara and her. He knew he had to do something to change her mind- for Zara's sake. She knows that if I have to choose, I'll end up choosing her. And she's right. He thought. Nodding for Zara to follow, Gourry took off after her. "Lina, wait!"
Lina didn't know this, however. She was beginning to have second thoughts as she walked farther away, and was almost glad to hear Gourry calling after her. She turned to see the two running after her. Though she was somewhat relieved that they hadn't chosen to leave her, she frowned.
"I thought I said I wasn't taking him home." Lina asserted.
"What if we do find his parents? The may be so happy to see him that they'll want to reward us." Gourry knew that he had to appeal to Lina's greed.
"And what if we don't find them? Then what? Those thieves could have captured him from anywhere- the world is a pretty big place. With no information or leads about where he comes from, we could search forever, and maybe never find his parents. Then what?"
Gourry had to admit that she had a point, although he was a bit more focused on the fact that she had just used the words 'we' and 'forever' in the same sentence, however hypothetical it had been.
"But…" was the only comeback he could think of at this point.
"Lina…a-are you going to leave without me?" Zara asked timidly.
"Why on earth would I take you with me?" Lina asked. Zara didn't respond. He obviously didn't have an answer other than 'I don't know.' With a decisive gesture, Lina turned and continued on. She was tempted to look back a few times, but knew that if she did, she would regret it.
Why should I care about those two anyway? She thought as she continued blindly though the forest. It wasn't a question that she expected to have answered, but for some reason, she answered it anyway. Because Gourry is well-meaning, but too stupid to get them anywhere… and that kid is smarter, but still too young to really do anything… heck, they wouldn't even know how to get back to the town without my help, much less get Zara back to his home…it's getting late, maybe I should go back… Lina turned around, but the two people were no longer behind her.
Lina stopped and blinked a few times, as if she thought that they might reappear, but she had walked far enough that she couldn't see them anymore. Heh, I don't care at all. She told herself. Just let those two go off and get themselves killed! See if I care!
Her mental rant was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind her. "What do you want now?" She asked, expecting- and almost hoping- to hear Gourry or Zara's voice in response.
"Alright Miss Bandit-slayer, first we want those books back, then we want to know what you did with the boy."
Lina turned around quickly to see a small group of the bandits from earlier.
"You guys again?" She asked angrily. "I thought I gave you guys enough of a beating earlier to drive you away! I see I'm going to have to inflict more pain this time, huh?"
A few of the weaker-looking bandits began to back away, but the stronger ones came forward, ready to fight.
"We're prepared this time. You won't escape us."
"Oh really?" Lina said with a smile. She hadn't realized how frustrated she had been, and it always calmed her nerves to destroy a few thieves on occasion. "FIREBALL!"
Lina shot a barrage of fireballs at the men, but the easily dodged with a confidence they hadn't had that morning. She wasn't sure what it was, but Lina could sense a difference in the way they acted. It seemed that they were much more determined to take back what wasn't rightfully theirs.
Lina was strong, but unfortunately outnumbered. The thieves fired powerful, dark attacks from all directions, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't dodge them all. Hit with a particularly powerful shadow attack, Lina flew back against a tree and fell to the ground.
Picking herself up, she winced as she clutched her injured arm. Lina definitely wasn't one to give up easily, and fired a Flare Arrow in the direction of the group. Attacks flew back and forth, Lina taking most of the hits. One time after another, Lina picked herself up, but she was weakening fast and the bandits could sense it. Finally, the leader from earlier used an attack Lina wasn't familiar with. She felt herself tense up.
I- I can't move! She panicked. It was as if she had been bound by magic and remained rooted to the spot. The leader of the bandits approached her, drawing a sword.
"Now you'll know better than to mess with us." He said with a malicious smile. Lina closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do. The bandit raised his sword, ready to strike. And then in one swift movement-
Klink!
Lina's eyes flew open at the familiar sound of two swords clashing together. For a moment, she thought she was mistaken.
"Gourry!"
"Hey Lina, need some help?" The swordsman turned to her smiling. Lina smiled back, and was suddenly embraced by the little child she had been yelling at just earlier. Perhaps it was because she was still paralyzed, but she didn't attempt to separate herself from Zara's protective grasp. The two couldn't have picked a better time to show up.
"Alright, if any one of you bandits tries to hurt Lina now, I'll slice you in half with this sword! Got it?"
The confidence of the thieves seemed to deflate somewhat. Gourry hadn't been as threatening in the previous battle. Only the leader was brave enough to stand up to him.
"If you think simply having a sword will make you intimidating, then you have a long way to go, young man."
"I'm not afraid of you." Gourry challenged.
Lina- no longer immobilized but still weak- watched as the two fought, their swords clashing. The leader of the bandits was strong and had experience, but Gourry was young and just as talented, if not more so. The leader attempted to defend himself, but he simply couldn't stand up to Gourry's superior strength and technique. Gourry could hear commotion around him, but was focused on the battle at hand. He wondered why the leader kept fighting when it was obvious that he was losing.
He can't possible believe that he's going to win... unless he's just trying to buy time...Gourry suddenly realized the leader's plan. He turned around quickly.
"Lina!"
Boom!
It was already too late. While the leader had been distracting Gourry, the rest of the bandits had been preparing to attack Lina. The swordsman had turned around just in time to see the explosion that overcame the area where Lina and Zara had just been standing.
"LINA!"
As the smoke cleared, Lina opened her eyes- also expecting the worst. But she found that beyond her previous injuries, she and Zara were practically untouched. She then noticed why. A thin, red shield of magic has surrounded them and protected them from the blast. But, how?
I've never done any spell like this, and Gourry certainly can't. Whose spell is this? Lina puzzled. She then turned her gaze to her small companion. With his arms still around her, Zara's eyes had taken on a distant gaze and a red glow similar to that of the magic shield.
Z-Zara? He can use magic? No way...
Lina turned to the thieves who were staring in disbelief. "Now then..." She said angrily. "Let's show you how a real magic spell is done."
The thieves began to panic as Lina recited the incantation, but she was too fast to let them get away.
"DRAGON SLAVE!"
The bandits had been either obliterated, or chased completely away by Lina's spell, but it didn't matter to her as long as they were gone. Gourry had initially rushed to her side, but Lina asserted that she was all right, and that there was nothing wrong that a few healing spells couldn't handle. She knew that Gourry wasn't satisfied with that, but at the risk of having another Dragon Slave aimed at him, he left her alone, and made sure that Zara was unharmed.
"Did you see what Zara did?" Lina asked Gourry.
"What?"
"The magical shield!"
"That wasn't you?"
Lina sighed. "Gourry, I don't know any spells like that."
"Oh, I didn't remember you using any spells like that before, but you know how reliable my memory is."
Lina laughed. "Don't I ever." She turned her attention to Zara now. "How long have you been able to use magic?"
"I don't know."
Lina should have been able to answer that one for him. "Don't get me wrong," she continued, "but it seems like that shield back there was just a fluke. I mean, you weren't quite sure what you were doing. Beginner's luck, correct?"
Zara nodded.
"What you really need is somebody to teach you the basics. Help you get started. That way you can use more powerful spells like the one I just used, see?"
Gourry seemed pleased at Lina's sudden interest in the boy, but also confused. "But Lina, who'll teach him all that stuff?"
Lina smiled. "I will. At least while we're trying to find his parents."
"Then, you mean... he can..."
"He can travel with us for a while, but ONLY until we can find his parents."
"Lina!" Gourry exclaimed happily. He resisted an urge to hug her, knowing that it would only result in him getting hit over the head, or shot with a fireball.
Lina turned to Zara with a serious expression. "But don't you dare even begin to think that I'm letting you come along because I care about you, or that I even like you. I'm only doing this so that you can learn magic and be of use to us in the future. Got it?"
Zara got it, and he didn't care.
"Thank you, Lina!" He said hugging her.
Lina just sneered. "I'm not your mother, kid. Now get off me."
And with that, she continued on with Gourry and Zara following close behind.
-Wow, I never realized that the chapters would be that long, but they're fun to write! I'll probably update with more than one chapter at a time, but this is just a little place for author commentary and teasers. Speaking of which, in the next chapter Lina's going to find out just how hard it's going to be to train Zara! Don't fear though. They're going to get a little help from everyone's favourite justice-loving princess! R&R! :3-