A/N: Hi everyone! We're back with another story! Yay! I hope you enjoy this story! Also, many of the spells in the battle contains spells that were kinda forgotten. There's a guide for them on the website inversedotorg It's just for anyone who's curios about the spells. Okay, I'll shut up now...

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, sadly.

Chapter 4

The Worst Day Ever

Today must have been one of the worst days ever. It was raining like there was no tomorrow outside, most of the buildings were affected from the fight, the book was stolen and worse of all, they didn't get paid.

Mr Detheeder refused to stop lecturing and screaming at Zelgadis and his friends. It was always, "Do you know how important that book is?!" or, "You guys didn't even pay attention to the book!" Most of his screams were about the book. Thankfully, the door to Mr Ditherer's office was closed, so his angry screams were muffled.

Gourry scratched the back of his blonde head awkwardly. He didn't know exactly what do in these types of situations. Do you stand there and take it? Or, do you explain why he was wrong? If they still wanted to get paid, they would have to go with the first option, no matter how tempting the second option was.

The guilt was eating up Amelia inside, but at the same time, fury was raging inside her. The citizens were the first priority, not the book. Zelgadis, however, was a tad bit more…agitated than everyone else. He was hoping to open the book, and find out if there was a cure for him or not. Since the book was stolen, he wouldn't be able to find his cure.

Lina, however, was much more mad at Xellos than everyone else. If Xellos didn't show up, maybe things would have turned out better; maybe the book wouldn't have been stolen. It's always that monster's fault!Lina cursed in her mind. She repeated to herself that she was getting twenty gold pieces per hour, and that fighting Detheeder back would have made all her work for nothing.

"Do you understand?!" Mr Detheeder growled. They nodded. "Good! Now, leave my office at once!" They left the fruity scented room and into the musty hallway. Thanks to the rain, a dark cloak fell upon Sagami Port. You could barely see anything three feet from you putside.

"Geez, he took it so seriously!" Lina exclaimed and put her arms behind her head. "We'll find the book soon, so he shouldn't worry so much!"

"Lina, you have to take this more seriously," Zelgadis warned. "Anyone who has the book in their possession would obviously read it, wouldn't they? Think of how much knowledge they could obtain from a single page!"

"Zel, you worry too much." Lina waved his worries away. "The Great and Powerful Beautiful Genius Sorceress Lina Inverse can defeat pretty much anyone!" She bragged. "I can just take them out with a Dragon Slave, or even a Ragna Blade."

"You never know, Lina," Gourry said, "I wouldn't brag too much if I were you."

"Oh, hush up!" Lina grumbled and looked out the window. The window was covered in small raindrops. Near the bottom white fog stuck to the dampened glass. A pitter patter could be heard on the windows at a rapid pace. The wind howled like a wolf.

Today was really a bad day, no doubt.

"Ms Lina, shouldn't we be searching for the book?" Amelia suggested. Lina turned back to her and shrugged.

"We can't possibly look for it in this weather." Lina looked out the window again. "There would be no way we could find it like this. Besides, I don't want to get wet just because some old guy is mad at me!" Amelia bit her lip.

"Remember what Zelgadis said? Anyone who has the book could read it and gain more destructive knowledge!" Amelia reminded. "We have to look for it as soon as we can!"

"I'm not going out in this rain! If you want to look for it, then fine. Count me out, though." Lina huffed indignantly and crossed her arms. Suddenly, Gourry had an idea.

"Remember how Mr Detheeder was threatening not to pay us?" Gourry reminded. Lina looked at him strangely and responded with a "Yes." "Well, if we don't find that book, wouldn't all this work be for free?"

"F-Free?!" Lina's eye twitched. "I did not almost get killed for some book for free! I will not and cannot allow such an atrocious event to happen! Guys, we are finding that book! I don't care if you get frostbite, we're going to find that book!" Lina growled and ran out to the rain.

"Lina! Wait up!" Gourry chased after her. Boy, he thought, Lina can really change her mind when it involves money!

"Silly little Lina," Ukatsu chuckled as he watched Lina search for the book in the heavy rain. Although Ukatsu wanted nothing more than to spend every minute with her, to run his hands through her soft hair, he restrained himself. Besides, watching her friend's run around like wild dogs on a goose chase was rather entertaining, yes. Ukatsu put a hand on the cold window. His hand print stained the window. His eyes narrowed when he was Gourry chased after Lina.

"That dumb swordsmen couldn't tell the difference between an ogre and a golem!" He snapped, even though Gourry couldn't hear them. He pounded his fist on the window where Gourry stood outside. "He'll take everything from me. My family, my power, and worst of all." He exhaled with a growl. "He'll take Lina away from me!" He put his hand over his face, so only one eye could see, but the other one stayed on the window.

"Onii-san!" Densui opened the door. Ukatsu immediately stopped what he was doing and turned around. He smiled a warm smile. Densui ran up to him and hugged him. "Onii-san, are you going to help me pick dandelions today when the rain stops?" She eagerly asked. Ukatsu chuckled to himself and stooped down to her eye level.

"Sure, once the rain clears up!" He smiled. Densui's eyes sparkled and she threw her arms around her neck.

"Thank you, onii-san!" She giggled and released him. "I'm going to go help Fubaii with cleaning up the kitchen. Mr Detheeder wasn't very happy with us when he found out we were throwing chocolates at people. I'll be downstairs!" She shut the door behind her when she left. Ukatsu dropped the act and returned to his gloomy, murderous state. He stared out the window again. Lina and Gourry were gone.

"I wonder when they'll find it," Ukatsu wondered aloud. "But at the rate they're going, they'll never find it in time." He narrowed his eyes. "But then, there' the problem with Zuuma..." He sat down on the bed. "Zuuma hopes to kill her, but she can't die. No, Lina won't die. I won't allow it!" He growled and placed his hand over his heart. "I will become Lina's new protector!"

Amelia shivered. She stood under a tree, but the small tree didn't provide much protection from the angry rain. It had been three hours, and a clue was yet to be found. Lina had refused to stop searching for the book until she found it. By now they were out of the town, but they hadn't had much luck there, either. Now they were looking in a clearing in a forest. The roar of the river could be heard nearby.

"I hate the rain!" Lina growled, "Especially at a time like this!"

"Lina, shouldn't we head back?" Gourry sighed. "The only thing we'll get in this rain is a cold."

"Shut up and keep looking!" Lina snapped. Amelia sneezed. Zelgadis stopped looking and walked over to her.

"Are you catching a cold?" He asked. Amelia sneezed again.

"I think so." She rubbed her nose. "I never really got sick as a child, but I guess that's changing now." She smiled. The smell of wet dirt filled the air. Everyone's hands were covered in gritty soil. Even with their coats on, they were still cold to the bone. Not to mention they were soaking wet.

"Where is that damn book?" Lina cursed. "I'm going to find that book, even if it kills me!" She tried to pull her orange air out. Gourry patted her head in a reassuring way.

"We'll find the book, Lina, don't worry." Gourry smiled.

"By the time I'm done with you all, you won't even be alive." Everyone gasped and turned around.

"Zuuma!" Zelgadis growled. Zuuma stood on top of a hill next to a bunch of large grey boulders. He leaned against them, his claws ready to kill. There was still a dark aura around the claws. The rain drenched his midnight black outfit, but it didn't seem to bother him. The smell of dead bodies radiated off of him.

"Where is the book, Zuuma?!" Lina growled. "Tell us where it is!"

"I don't have it," Zuuma nonchalantly replied. He found his claws more interesting than the questions. "The book holds no interest for me. You should know that, Lina Inverse. I already have enough power to kill you, even without the Knowledge of the Sea," he bragged. Gourry took out his sword. Zelgadis did the same. "But let's get the show on the road now, hm?"

"Yes, lets!" Lina smirked. "Freeze Arrow!" The Freeze Arrow dashed towards Zuuma with incredible speed. Zuuma jumped up in the air to dodge it, releasing the boulders at the same time. Lina grabbed Gourry's long blonde hair and flew up into the air, along with Zelgadis and Amelia. The large boulders crashed down the hill, making the ground bumpy and hard to fight on.

"Elmekia Lance!" Amelia shot forth her attack. Zuuma used his claws to bounce back the attack towards Amelia. Amelia gasped as the attack was aimed straight for her. She closed her eyes ad waited for the pain to come.

"Astral Vine!"Zelgadis cut the attack in half. "Amelia, you have to be careful!" He scolded. Zuuma landed on the ground in a couched position. Lina dropped Gourry near Zuuma. He let out a battle cry and struck at Zuuma. Zuuma defended himself by making an X shape in front of his face, which only blocked half of the attack. Part of his shirt ripped off, but nothing more. Zuuma may have gotten better, but so did everyone else.

"Gavv Flare!" Amelia shouted. Zuuma dodged it in the nick of time, landing near a tree. Call him crazy, but Zuuma loved fighting, especially in the rain. The roar of the thunder, the excitement running through your veins, the smell of blood, and the dead bodies. To Zuuma, it was wonderful, it was life. Only the strongest lived to tell the tale. The weak ones could lie down and die, like a dog.

Lina ran in front of Zuuma "Blast Ash!" A black void appeared around Zuuma. Zuuma gritted his teeth and sent an attack near Lina. She lost her concentration while trying to avoid Zuuma's attack, so her own attack dissipated in the air. Zuuma launched himself, grabbed Lina's throat, and slammed her into a tree. He strengthened his grip around her as his eyes started to turn black.

"Lina Inverse, you have no idea how long I've waited to kill you!" His claws started to glow back. Lina gasped and sputtered for air. Something wasn't right, she felt weaker by the second. It was getting much harder to try to release Zuuma's claws around Lina's neck. The world was turning black. As a last resort, Lina poked Zuuma in the eyes. Zuuma cried out in pain and released Lina. Lina gasped and heaved for air. She shivered, and looked pale as a ghost.

"It seems you have sunken to a new low, Lina," Zuuma taunted. Lina coughed out hick scarlet blood as Zuuma chuckled. She looked closer at the blood. Her eyes widened. In her blood, there was tiny little black spots. But, what were they? "It seems I wasn't able to complete the process of killing you in time, but it still had its ef-"

"Digger Volt!"Zelgadis shot the Digger Volt near Zuuma. The impact caused Zuuma to fly back and hit a tree, but Amelia had put a protection spell on Lina to make sure she stayed safe. Gourry dashed over to Lina and grabbed her shoulders.

"Lina, are you alright?!" He asked worriedly. Lina nodded a yes. "You don't look alright!"

"Disfang!" Zuuma casted a spell. A shadow dragon rose up from his shadow and roared. The black shadow dragon's roar over powered the power of the thunder. The shadow dragon dove towards Gourry and Lina. Gourry cursed to himself, picked up Lina, and jumped out of the way. Lina closed her eyes and continued to take in large breaths of air. Damn, I can't fight in this state! She cursed to herself. Is this what happened to that drunken man Zuuma killed earlier? The painful memory flashed like a bright red light in her mind. So, this was how the drunken man felt when he was dying. I was lucky enough to stop Zuuma in time from killing me, but the effects are still terrible.

The shadow dragon used its large, black tail to separate Gourry and Lina. Lina landed in a large puddle of water with a grunt, while Gourry landed a hundred yards away from Lina. The dragon roared and dove towards Lina. Lina opened one eye and tried to stand up, but fell down into the muddy puddle again. Suddenly, a person stood in front of Lina to protect her. The person took out their gleaming iron sword and stabbed the shadow dragon in the nostrils. The dragon shrieked and recoiled in pain.

"No one shall hurt Lina Inverse!"The man proclaimed. "For I am Ukatsu Yasujiro, Lina Inverse's protecter!" Everyone's mouth gaped open (including the dragon) except for Zuuma.

"No way!" Lina shouted angrily. "You're not going to be my protecter!"

"That's right! Ms Lina already has Mr Gourry as a protecter!" Amelia defended. Zuuma seemed to be ticked off the most. Ukatsu and Zuuma exchanged death glares at each other. It was obvious Zuuma was going to be pissed off at Ukatsu for defending his target. It was common sense not to mess with an assassin's target. It was practically suicide.

"Gourry is not fit to be Lina's protecter!" Ukatsu snapped, but continued to glare at Zuuma. "Lina was almost killed. She would be dead by now if I hadn't stepped in. What kind of protecter is Gourry if he can't protect Lina?" He spat. Gourry stayed silent and bit his lip. He was right, Lina would have been dead if Ukatsu didn't step in. Lina growled and elbowed the back of Ukatsu's head in response, ignoring the agonizing pain her body was screaming. Ukatsu fell down in a muddy puddle with a thud.

"Listen here, idiot!" Lina put her hands on her hips. "Gourry isn't perfect, I know that, but that doesn't mean you can budge in and do whatever you like! I'm not some kind of item that can be used by anyone! Gourry is going to stay my bodyguard, whether you like it or not!" Lina let the words sink into Ukatsu's thick skull. "Besides, I could have shot a Fireball or something like that to get that thing away from me!" Ukatsu chuckled darkly and closed his cold blue eyes.

"I see, you're the hard to get type, aren't you?"

"What?!" Lina exclaimed. "I'm not playing hard to get!"

"Yes, you are, I can see it in your beautiful eyes."

"I think you need to give Lina some space." Gourry stepped in front of Lina with his arms crossed. Lina looked back, gasped, and yanked Gourry down to the ground with her. The Fireball that was supposed to hit Lina and Gourry hit Ukatsu. Ukatsu flew into a bunch of beautiful pink rose bushes. "Lina, are you alright?" Gourry sat her up.

"Burst Flare!" Amelia distracted Zuuma from attacking again Zuuma growled and shot a Fireball to contradict Amelia's Burst Flare. Lina focused on casting a Recovery Spell on herself. "Dug Haut!"Amelia shot another attack.

"Freeze Arrow!" Zelgadis aided Amelia. Zuuma got hit by both of the attacks and coughed out blood, but he was on his feet in no time.

"Gourry, go help them," Lina ordered as she healed herself.

"What?! I can't do that, you're hurt!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Gourry, right now is not the time to be sentimental!" Lina snapped. "Zel and Amelia will need help in defeating Zuuma. They're going to have a much better chance if you help them!" Gourry kept his mouth closed. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to leave her alone, especially now that Ukatsu was here. "Gourry, go, I'll be fine."

"Shadow Wave!" Ukatsu, who was out of the rose bushes now, threw a dagger at Zuuma's shadow. Suddenly, Zuuma stopped. He was frozen in place, but he could still cast spells. "Fireball!" Ukatsu shot Fireball after Firball after Fireball at Zuuma before Zuuma could react. Finally, Zuuma growled and created a lighting spell. The Shadow Wave spell was useless now. Gourry let out another battle Cry and tried to stab Zuuma. Zuuma used his claws to strike at Gourry's sword. The two fought and cursed until Gourry kicked Zuuma into a tree.

It was raining much harder now. The wind howled like a pack of wolves. Not to mention it was freezing cold now. The fight was inching closer and closer to the river.

Zelgadis flew back from an attack and landed near Lina.

"Zel, are you okay?!" Lina exclaimed.

"I'll be fine, it's just a scratch," Zelgadis replied. He stood up with a wince, but quickly got back in the game. Lina watched as they fought. Damn it! This is taking too long! Lina cursed. What can I do?! He's too fast! Any attack we through he counteracts it, and it's really annoying! I can't use the Ragna Blade, that'll take up too much energy. Ukatsu grabbed a dagger and went up close to Zuuma.

"What are you doing, boy?!" Zuuma snapped. "You are breaking the contract we made!"

"Don't worry!" Ukatsu smirked. "I'm still on your side," he lied, "I'm just doing this so they'll trust me more. If I protect them, then why would I kill them?" Zuuma growled and launched Ukatsu away. Zuuma ran over to Lina, but Gourry rammed him in the shoulders before he could reach her.

"Don't even think about it! I won't let you lay a hand on Lina!" Gourry growled.

"Gourry..," Lina murmured gratefully. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. Lina looked around for the perfect spot and found one. She finished her Recovery spell and shot a Flare Arrow at Zuuma. Zuuma stepped to the side.

"Lina! You're alright now!" Gourry cheered and ran over to her.

"Of course I'm alright, Gourry. I'm standing here, aren't I?" Lina grabbed his hair and pulled him close, so she could whisper in his ear. "Okay, now listen to me..." She began whispering the plan to Gourry. Lina let go of Gourry. "Go tell the others, okay? I'll distract him." Gourry nodded and ran off to tell everyone else. Lets hope the Black Mist doesn't work in the rain! Lina thought.

"Ah, it seems you're healed now," Zuuma examined. Lina smirked.

"You sound surprised," Lina taunted, "have you really forgotten how hard it is to kill me?"

"I assure you, I haven't." Zuuma's claws grew longer. Lina gritted her teeth.

"Flare Lance!" Zuuma cut the Flare Lance in half and ran towards Lina. Lina took out her dagger and attempted to stab Zuuma. Slash! Klink! Screenk! Lina's dagger got stuck in Zuuma's sharp claws. Lina gasped as Zuuma attempted to stab her neck.

"Elmekia Lance!" Amelia shouted. Zuuma's insane eyes widened and jumped out of the way.

"Dug Haut!" Zelgadis threw the Dug Haut as Zuuma. Zuuma hit a tree. Gourry threw his sword at Zuuma's clothes, trapping him on the tree. The shadow dragon was caught with Zuuma.

"And now, for the finish!" Lina closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

Darkness beyond twilight

Crimson beyond blood that flows

Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows

I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand

before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand

Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed

by the power you and I possess!

DRAGON SLAVE!

The Dragon Slave bolted with incredible speed towards Zuuma. The Dragon Slave made contact with him, and an explosion erupted from the Dragon Slave. Everyone covered their eyes and protected their faces. Finally, everything died down. The forest was almost completely gone. The river was much larger, but a lot of the water was gone. Burnt trees flowed down the river.

"We got him!" Amelia cheered. She stood on a rock and held up two of her fingers. "Justice will always prevail in the face of Evil!"

"I hate to break it to you, but Zuuma made it out," Zelgadis announced. Amelia fell off the rock.

"What?!" She exclaimed "But he was hit with a direct Dragon Slave!"

"He probably was able to get out of the trap before he could get it," Zelgadis proposed. Meanwhile, Gourry was looking around for his old sword. He sighed

"Aw, man. Now I have to find a new sword," he complained. Lina patted his shoulders.

"There, there. There's a blacksmith in town we can check out!" Lina pointed towards Sagmi Port with her thumb. Ukatsu was staring at the river.

"I wonder what he'll look like when we meet him tonight?"

A/N: I did terrible at the fighting scene, didn't I? Oh, I'm sorry! Gomenasai! DX I really need to get better at writing fighting scenes TT..TT Well I'm gonna get going now. R&R, please! Bye!