Author's Beginning Note: Eighth Grade is hard. Yes, I know that is a very bad excuse, but it's half-true. I'm swamped in lakes of math homework. And I've never been a math kinda girl. Stupid algebra...

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is: Sorry for the (kinda)delay and please enjoy the next chapter of Stone Cold:

Chapter 10: The Big Reunion (Part 1)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own Slayers. I own Zelgadiss and Ameria and all the other little cuties. I can do whatever I want to them. :nose grows: Okay, That was a lie.

"I don't believe him! I really don't believe him! Even FIVE dragon slaves couldn't make me feel satisfied about that guy!" Lina screeched with rage, grinding her teeth together.

"What happened, Lina?" Gourry asked in confusion, scratching his head as he thought of the possibilities. Gourry had just been purchasing food for him, Lina, and Zelgadiss when Lina had come rushing into the restaurant, red-faced with fury and looking as if she might cry. Gourry instantly knew that something was wrong.

Lina had then insisted that they stay at a different inn and had been muttering strange things like, 'I can't understand why he can be such aaaaaaaaaaah- I HATE HIM!' all during dinner. The two of them were sitting on the beds at the inn, munching on theh food that Gourry had just bought. Yet, she had refused to tell Gourry what was the matter. Gourry didn't want to sound like he was hounding, but he was truly concerned about what had happened to Lina.

"It's nothing to worry about, jellyfish. I just got in a little argument with Zel," Lina explained, a smile creeping across her face. Gourry wondered why she always smiled when he was all worked up and concerned about her. It was like she thought it was funny! Aw, well. The important thing was that she had finally confessed what was wrong. So Zelgadiss was the problem.

This was strange. Lina had sometimes attacked Zel when she thought he was acting stupid, but the two of them usually didn't get into 'arguments'. That meant that they had both been part of the fight. It was unusual for Zelgadiss to get worked up over something enough for him to argue about it.

"Are you okay, though?" Gourry questioned, staring in concern at Lina. Her cheeks were still red and her eyes were still sparkling with emotion. And the large drumstick she was gnawing on didn't seem to be cheering her up. The last thing Gourry wanted was for Lina to be extremely upset about something when he wanted to be there for her to cheer her up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Lina snapped. Gourry flinched at the sudden harshness in her voice but didn't take it personally. He knew that Lina was just distracted by whatever Zelgadiss and she had argued about, and knew that she wasn't angry at him as a person.

"Alright then," Gourry replied, though he didn't take his concerned gaze off of her face. He decided that this time it was best for Lina to work this out herself, since she didn't seem to want to go any deeper on the subject.

Lina continued to nibble at her chicken, refusing to meet his eyes. Finally, with a pained sigh, Lina thrust the chicken on Gourry's plate.

"You finish this up," Lina grumbled, looking down at the floor. Without another word, she trudged over to her bed and climbed right in after only taking off her cape and excessive jewelry. She didn't even bother to flip off the lights.

Gourry ate Lina's chicken in silence, unable to even enjoy the taste of it. He wasn't especially hungry anymore. Lina's back was turned to him, and was practically all under the covers to begin with, so he couldn't see her expression. But Gourry felt that this whole situation would be better when Zelgadiss and Lina finally made up. So he wished that they would. Because Gourry felt miserable inside when Lina was like this.

OOOOOO

"Aaaaaaah! That was what I call a breakfast!" Lina sighed, stretching her arms above her head as she and Gourry walked along the crowded road. After a miserable night, Lina had decided that her bad attitude was unfair to Gourry and was trying her best to be bright and cheerful. The two of them still hadn't met up with Zel again yet, and both didn't feel like dropping by his inn room to see if he was there.

"Maybe we should eat at the same place for lunch!" Gourry exclaimed, licking his lips in remembrance of the delicious meal.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Lina agreed, grinning back at Gourry. Not only had it been a great meal, Lina felt that she and Gourry had actually had quite a bit of good conversation with each other. She even felt mostly cheered up after the fight.

So cheered up, in fact, that Lina was too busy grinning at Gourry to look where she was going. Lina's body slammed into another person roughly, making Lina gasp in surprise.

"Hey, watch where you- What?" Lina broke off her sentence into a startled gasp as she met eyes with the last person she expected to see.

"Lina-san!" Ameria squealed, leaping in the air and wrapping Lina in a firm bear hug.

"Ameria!" Lina choked through the rough grasp. She broke loose from Ameria's hug and put her in a loose headlock, "What are YOU doing here!"

"I could ask you the same thing! I thought you and Gourry-san were going to travel far from Seyruun but you're just hours away from it!" Ameria squeaked brightly, struggling in Lina's grip.

"But...but Gourry and I USUALLY travel everywhere... but... you..." Lina mercifully released Ameria from her hold and took a shaky step backwards in surprise.

"Shouldn't you be in Seyruun?" Gourry added stupidly, bracing himself for the hug attack that was sure to come.

"Gourry-san!" Ameria fulfilled Gourry's prediction with a rough hug of justice, "I'm so happy to see you guys!"

"Yeah! But you still haven't answered my question!" Lina pointed out, still startled by Ameria's appearance.

"It's a bit of a long story- and I have something to show you," Ameria explained, releasing Gourry so she could reach into a bag full of supplies.

"Wait, wait! We can't listen to stories in the middle of town," Lina replied, shoving through the thick crowd of people to reach a solitary bench across the street. Ameria and Gourry obediently followed her through the crowd. Lina sat gratefully down on the bench, gesturing Ameria and Gourry to do the same.

"So, tell us the long story," Gourry begged, sitting down next to Lina.

"Well, I guess I should start from when you two left Seyruun," Ameria decided still digging through her bag for the something that she apparently wanted to show them.

"Well, after you and Gourry-san left Seyruun, Zelgadiss-san and I began to check through the libraries," Ameria continued. Lina felt a pang of sadness when she heard the way Ameria said Zelgadiss's name. She made it sound so empty. Well, he had left her without warning. Lina didn't blame Ameria for being upset with him; being mad at him herself. That jerk!

"Well, after a few days or so, Zelgadiss-san wasn't able to find anything worth looking at so he... uh... left..." Ameria continued, her voice sounded a bit strained. Lina curled her hand into an angry fist. Did Zelgadiss even realize how much pain he had put Ameria through with just five minutes of his selfishness! Hearing Ameria's tone made Lina even more furious with Zelgadiss.

Lina glanced over at Gourry and the two of them exchanged a silent nod. They both knew that for the time being they shouldn't tell Ameria that Zelgadiss was actually staying in an inn only a ten minute walk from the bench they were sitting at.

"But after that, I found something might help him! Let me show you," Ameria's expression brightened and her voice was more confident as she jerked the item she had been searching for from her bag. It was a just your average white magic book, though it did look a bit on the old side.

"Wha? A book?" Gourry asked, staring at the book Ameria was holding up proudly for them to see. Even Lina was a bit surprised. Ameria had just said that she and Zelgadiss had checked the libraries. So why was her solution a book?

"Yes. Zelgadiss-san and I must have overlooked this," Ameria explained, flipping through the pages to an area marked with a blue bookmark with 'Justice!' written on it. She took a deep breath before continuing, showing Lina the book as if she was showing a picture book to a little kid.

"According to this page-long passage in the book, there was once a great building devoted to the study of white magic. But before the results of all the magical experiments were shared with the public, the building became deserted for reasons unknown. Some tried to get into the building, but found that all the entrances were sealed. It was written on one of the stone walls that only those with powerful white magic would be able to get through. But for some reason all of those who tried to get inside ended up dead. In an effort to save all of the foolish adventurers who threw away their lives trying to get inside, the local villagers planted a forest around the building.

The cursed building seemed to make the forest grow faster with some unknown magical power and within twenty years a dense forest shielded the area from view. There were still those who tried, but after even more died, the quest to get inside the building was abandoned. No one knows if the building is still even there anymore," Ameria finished, looking seriously at Lina.

"So, you're thinking that..." Lina began, scanning through the page just to double check the story.

"Yes. I think that this might be the answer to Zelgadiss-san's troubles," Ameria finished, nodding. Gourry peered over Lina's head at the book, trying to make some sense from what Ameria had just told them.

"So...uhhhh... Why are you telling us this?" He finally asked, scratching his head in bewilderment. Lina nodded in agreement. For a jellyfish, Gourry sure could ask the best questions.

"Well, I was-uhhhhhh- Do you think that... Could you pass this information on to Zelgadiss-san?" Ameria blurted out, staring in sadness at the pages of the ancient book. Lina looked again at Gourry but received no silent opinion about how she should answer this from him. So she just decided to give Zelgadiss a second chance at his relationship with Ameria.

"Why should I do that when you tell him yourself? Zelgadiss is staying in an inn not too far from here!" Lina explained, leaning back on the bench. Gourry's mouth opened wide in shock. He seemed unable to believe that Lina had just given Ameria this information. But Lina felt that what she had done was right. Lina was almost sure that if Zelgadiss had a chance to be alone and face to face with Ameria, he would apologize for being such a jerk. It would not only help Zelgadiss get rid of his burdening guilt, but it would also let Ameria know that he actually cared for her.

Now was the time for Lina test Ameria as well. Would she flat out refuse to stay in the same town that Zelgadiss was in? Would she break down crying? Lina didn't know what her reaction would be, but she hoped that it would be positive. If Ameria had just one chance to knock some sense into Zelgadiss, Lina knew that he would shape up. Zelgadiss was slowly becoming unable to resist Ameria's wishes. He was under her charm. Heh heh...Lina snapped back into attention as she realized that Ameria was speaking.

Her voice was a mixture of emotion. It sounded mostly in shock, with some sadness and even- anger?- mixed in. And was that... even a little bit of hopefulness? Her face remained fairly blank, as though she was numb with shock.

"Zelgadiss-san? Here!"

End Note: This chapter... I really didn't like it. It seemed a little unclear and badly worded in my opinion. Yet, I couldn't reword the sentences. Figures... Anyways, enough about me- let's talk about reviews:

To the Reviewers, reviewers and more reviewers (and nice ones at that!):

Gerao-A: Yeah... Isn't it weird that people always survive Lina's Dragon Slave when it's funny- but during the serious scenes they always die. That's Slayers for ya...

Maddy02: I'm going as fast as I can (kinda)...I'm trying to update once a week- but I'm a bit lazy (AND there's the math homework that I mentioned earlier). Ameria will get her cheering up from a certain chimera in a few chapters! Hooray for fluffies!

vampire cuttlefish: it's not that I don't like writing Gourry- I just have an agonizingly hard time doing it. Sorry Gourry-Wourry!

Mistress DragonFlame: Hmmmmm... Maybe it's just one of those mysteries of plot gaps. I think I'll take your idea of a protection spell, though.

Ichiban Victory: Ha ha ha... I got too lazy to write about Ameria's actual journey... I'm just want the group to all be together again. This splitty-uppy thing is driving me nuts! Arrrrgh! And yeah, Lina overreacted. More then just a mite.

e-chan16: Yeah... I think that the Dragon Slaves were another one of my little information gaps in the story...

DQBunny: But... Dragon Slave is so much more fun to type then Mega Brando. Okay... I got a little (little more then little) carried away. I tend to do that. I'm glad that you've liked the story so far, though!

Shinomori Kyo: I'm glad you love this! I will write as fast as my hunting and pecking fingers can move (never learned to type, since I took band instead of computers)!

Motokonobaka: Yay! I'm so happy! This is, like, the first record I've ever gotten ! Hoorah! Do you think I could be in the 'Big Book 'O Records'! That would be coooooool!

:gasp: No review from Yexis this time! Fine then. See if I ever review your stuffs again.

Oh yeah, if I missed anyone's review, then you have permission to kill me with a lawnmower... yadda yadda yadda

Comin' Up Next: The gang gets all together! I'll update as fast as possible! But I DO have math homework! (I messed up on the homework so I have to REDO an assignment AND do the actual homeowork!)