Last time, Zel and I had been captured by the mysterious swordsman who had been following us, what does he want from us? Why?
And what's happened to Gourry and Amelia?
Hilarious! Can you hear the sarcasm?
Lina let out a grunt as her back hit something solid, cold and slightly damp.
Actually, the rest of her felt slightly damp, whatever she was leaning against was just solid and cold. Forcing her senses into action she decided she was sitting down next to a wall.
A harsh grating noise cut through the fuzz still blocking her thought process and she opened her eyes to see a barred door clang to.
"A cell? Then…"
Looking past the bars she saw the swordsman from before stepping back having locked the door and without hesitation launched a fireball at him.
Miraculously she was able to get a shield up in time when it bounced back at her. The swordsman stood forward again and tapped the bars with the back of his knuckles.
"Orihalcon, I'm sure you know of it, reflects any spell thrown at it. Pretty useful stuff really."
"Who are you? What do you want with me?"
"You'll find out soon enough. I suggest you rest for now- not that you've got much else to do" he added with a smirk and stepped back again, exiting the room this time by a set of nearby stone stairs. Lina listened to his footsteps receding followed by the slam of a door and the heavy clunk of another lock as it shut.
She sighed and looked around the room, feeling her morale sink when saw her cloak and short sword in plain view- on the other side of the bars. Hanging up next to them was Zel's.
Turning around in a full circle she spotted the chimera lying slumped against the wall of the cell. Kneeling next to him she checked for a pulse and breath, finding both she allowed herself a moment of relief before taking him by the shoulders and shaking to wake him up.
"Oi, Zel, come on, wake up!"
After a moment he stirred and coughed, groaning before he opened his eyes.
"Lina?" he sounded surprised "…I'm alive?"
"Yeah, but if you ever try anything like that I swear I'll find a way to bring you back so I can kill you again! What have I told you? Once you're dead that's it; no take-backs! If you ever give up like that again…" she trailed off torn between relief that one of her closest friends hadn't drowned and frustration with him. She let out a 'hmph' and plonked herself down beside him, arms crossed "I dunno what I'm gonna do with you."
Zel gave her a rare grin before finally taking stock of their surroundings. Three sides of their cell were made of smooth blocks, orihalcon by the feel of it. Presumably the bars were too (Lina confirmed this later but didn't let on how she had worked that one out). On the back wall, opposite the bars, and high up, just beneath the roof was a small barred window (which later also proved to be orihalcon) through which light could enter and small tufts of grass were growing through, meaning their cell was below ground.
Outside the cell were a table, a solitary chair, and several hooks, on two of which were hanging their cloaks and blades. Zel cursed internally realising his lock-picks were hidden in the pockets of his cloak.
"Where-" he began, but Lina cut him off.
"I'm not sure, I only came round when we were being locked in. We can't be too far from the lake though. It makes sense considering I'm not completely dried off yet."
"Actually I was going to ask about Amelia and Gourry."
"Oh…" Lina said, and watched her hands "I lost track of them when I hit the water. They've both survived being lost at sea before though so I'm sure they're alright."
"You're not worried?"
"Of course I'm worried!" She replied, standing up sharply and turning to look down on him. "But worrying won't get us out of here, or help us find them! They're probably looking for us right now and there's no way I'm going to let anyone rescue me, so we need to get out of here."
"And what do you suggest?"
"I hadn't got that far yet." Zel sighed and let his head hit the wall behind him; this was going to be a long wait.
As it happened, the only thing Gourry was looking for was a sign, any sign, of civilisation. A road, a path, a couple of broken twigs pointing in the same direction; anything would do!
Amelia's light weight on his back was beginning to feel much more like Zelgadiss and, though he had managed to stop the bleeding from his arm, he was feeling light-headed from the blood loss and pain. They needed help, fast.
"Gourry-san?" Amelia's voice came across much fainter than usual "Gourry-san… I… I think I'm… going to be sick."
Gourry knelt and let Amelia down quickly, the sudden change in altitude making his head spin a little. He was still clear enough to notice how Amelia staggered to the nearest tree to begin loosing her breakfast. He made his way over and pulled her hair away from face, careful of the obvious cut on the back of her head, and rubbed her back. A gesture he remembered being soothing when he was younger and ill.
Once done the princess turned back to him and he frowned at the still unfocused look in her eyes. He was sure he recognised the symptoms, but had no idea what to do except get her to a healer.
"I think you have a con… concut… coconut? Uh, that thing when you hit your head really hard, Amelia. So you need to stay awake until we find a healer okay?"
Amelia let out a 'Mm' and nodded slowly. It wasn't the assured response he wanted but it would have to do. Hoisting her onto his back again he set off, hoping Lina and Zel were okay and would find them soon. He didn't want to think about what Phil would do to him if he couldn't find help.
He was so focused on avoiding that premonition, he almost didn't notice when her eyes slid shut.
"Okay" Lina breathed, slumping back against the wall "apparently the lock is made of orihalcon too so unlock magic won't work, we can't bend the bars and your hair breaks too easily to use as lock picks… any other ideas?"
Zelgadiss shook his head, from his position sitting cross-legged in front of the lock. Absently he rubbed the top of his head where Lina had yanked out a tuft of his hair to test her last theory.
"None, you?"
"Well, there's always the Mega-Secret Inverse Escape Plan, version four."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Hehe, well" she began, then struck a pose "When our captors come to see us, I charm them with my ultra cute looks!" She continued oblivious to the fact Zel had managed to fall over from his sitting position "Who could fault this perfectly proportioned body and these gorgeous eyes, set with such lustrous hair and a delicate smile?"
"Clearly we've been trapped here too long; you're delusional."
"Hey!" Lina faltered, and gripped one of the bars as a substitute for his neck as she thought up a suitable punishment for that remark.
Zel was spared a gruesome fate by the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening and footsteps descending towards them. They watched as the swordsman came into view, carrying two beakers of water and a loaf of bread that he broke in half and passed through the bars.
Lina accepted the food wordlessly, keeping her eyes trained on their captor and making no move to eat. When he realised Zel was doing the same the swordsman laughed at their suspicion.
"Don't worry about it; it's not poisoned, here," he made to reach through the bars to take the bread back from Lina but she snatched it away and took a bite. Zel followed suit, after all, he didn't know where his next meal was coming from. The swordsman shrugged and drew the chair over to sit down, tilting it back onto two legs.
"So" Lina said around her last mouthful of bread, before swallowing "what do you want with us, Mr My-name-is-of-no-importance?"
"Steven" he replied, leaning the chair back forward "At the moment what I want is just for you to answer a few simple questions. I'm sure you can manage that." Neither made any reply so he continued "How did you find out about Iris, and why are you seeking her temple?"
"Who's Iris?" Lina asked, pulling on a blank expression, reminiscent of Gourry. Steven smiled and leant the chair back again, crossing his arms behind his head.
"Your mazoku friend isn't the only one with sympathisers. I know you came from inside the barrier and I know where you're going. So, you can answer my questions or you can stay locked up in there. I've got all day."
"If you just wanted to ask us you didn't need to trap us down here" Zel said, and copied the swordsman's relaxed stance
"Yeah, this is hardly five-star treatment. You can't expect us to co-operate willingly with someone who kidnaps us, locks us in a dingy cellar and only feeds us on bread and water."
"Funny, your blonde friend said something similar."
"Gourry?" Lina blinked standing a little straighter while Zel tensed despite his attempt at nonchalance. Steven grinned and leant forward again-
"STEVEN!"
The angry voice cut through the room effectively ending the conversation as all three turned to the staircase where the Milgazia look-a-like had appeared.
"Are you deliberately trying to fail? Your orders were to bring back all four of them. Alive."
Lina gasped and Zel's blood ran cold as the implications of that one word ran through them. Could he mean… could he possibly mean…?
Gourry! Amelia! What's happened to you? Please tell me you're alright!
Next time on Slayers HEART: Intensive Care! Hey, nobody dies in this right…? Right!
