Author's Note: Many thanks to everyone who replied. Your compliments and positive messages meant a lot to me, as they really helped to encourage me to continue on with this. My next story- Slayers Celebrate is just about finished, and this story's prequel Slayers Learn is done. I just have to get them both typed. Trust me, you'll all understand why I'm posting Celecrate first when it comes out. Thanks again to all of you, and I hope that you all had as much enjoyed reading this story as I did writing it. So please enjoy this final chapter of Slayers Reconcile. Catch ya' later Slayers fans!
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Slayers. Hajime Kanzaka still does. And I'm perfectly fine with it now. Absolutely no crying in this disclaimer.
L-Sama- Say what now!? That's been my favorite part of this whole series! I'll put a stop to this nonsense! *beans me over head with shovel*
Me- Ow! You... but how...? T-that really hurt! Waaaah! *begins to sob uncontrollably*
Slayers Reconcile
Chapter 12: Reconciliation
Lina Inverse awoke to the sound of roaring surf and the warmth of the early-morning sun. Although she was awake, she chose not to open her eyes, for not only was she feeling mostly recharged, she was also quite comfortable, and wanted to enjoy the momentary peace. The fact that she did not know where she was, or if she had even survived passing out with so-little power left didn't seem to bother her, as she was not only extremely comfortable, but also enveloped with a sense of security that had not felt since...
An unfamiliar, yet familiar image of a dark void empty of everything but herself and a relieved and ecstatic Gourry flashed quickly through her mind, then vanished.
She tried to reach for the image again, but quit after a few moments. It was clear that that memory would not return without plenty of mental strain- and probably a bit of magic- and all she wanted to do at the moment was relax. Lie down and relax in her comfortable…something.
Lina smiled to herself as she realized that she didn't know what she was lying on. All that she knew that it was comfortable. Not nice, soft bed comfortable. It was something else, something nicer, better. Something which made her feel warm, and secure, and…
Then she noticed the low, soft breathing, the beating heart.
Opening her eyes, Lina could see Gourry's head bent over hers. The swordsman's eyes were closed, and his breathing was that of one who is fast asleep.
Gourry was sitting down cross legged on the ground amongst the burned ruins of Calthor. The swordsman was leaned back against a ruined wall, body facing the sea and the rising sun, his sword lying on the ground at his side within easy reach. In his arms he held his precious Lina close to himself so as to keep her safe.
Lina squirmed uncomfortably a bit, but then forced herself to relax. It wasn't all that bad. After all, she had perfectly fine a moment before, so why should she stop enjoying it?
Lina's movements disturbed Gourry, however, and the swordsman opened an eye just as the sorceress was about to close her eyes and drift off again.
The red head froze.
"Hey! Good morning, sleeping beauty!" Gourry greeted sleepily yet happily.
"G-good morning, Gourry," Lina answered as her face turned bright red. "Um, what are you doing?"
"Huh?" the swordsman wondered obliviously.
Then his eyes lit up with understanding, and answered, "Well, when we found you, you were lying on the ground asleep, so I just picked you up. Zel said that I should find someplace dry to lay you down at-"
Lina winced and blushed even more her companion's poor phrasing, though she knew what he meant.
Gourry carried on obliviously, "-Since the ground would be all covered in ashes and water once her and the others started to put out the fires. I couldn't find any place better, so I just kept holding onto you so you wouldn't get wet. Then I got tired, sat down, and I guess I must have fallen asleep after that.
The swordsman laughed at himself with the last sentence.
"T-that's sweet, Gourry," was all that Lina could manage for the moment, as her head was still all fuzzy from being caught this close to Gourry by the swordsman himself.
After a moment she was able to master herself to give a warm smile and reply, "Thank you." Then she closed her eyes and laid her head back onto her protector's chest.
Then a demonic howler monkey- or something that sounded very much like one- began to laugh not fifteen feet away.
A suddenly tense Lina opened her eyes and slowly turned her head around. Then she gave a scream as she saw, to her horror, Zelgadis, Amelia, Naga, and Xellos all standing about watching her and Gourry.
Naga was enjoying herself immensely as she watched Lina's expression, letting loose one of her trademark, horrendous laughs all the while. Amelia was leaning her head against her clasped together hands and giggling the way that some girls do when they see something romantic. Zelgadis looked on with a slight grin, while Xellos merely stood about and watched with interest.
By now Lina's face was an even brighter shade than her hair. Unable to think of anything else, the panicking sorceress jumped out of her protector's arms, gave a final scream, and comically flung herself over the wall behind her.
This only furthered Lina's embarrassment by causing all of her spectators to bust out laughing.
Gourry simply sat there while looking about cluelessly.
"Quit it!" Lina whined from behind her hiding place. "Its not funny! Mind your own business! Go away!"
This outburst only served to cause the others to laugh all the harder.
Though he still had absolutely no idea what was going on, Gourry was soon infected by his friends' laughter, and began to join in the laughing as well.
By this point Lina couldn't help herself. She found that she couldn't be mad at her friends for some reason, not even long enough to throw a Fireball. More importantly, she was so happy to have been alone with her protector- even if she hadn't been conscious for nearly all of it- and of finally being free of her tie to Dameon that she couldn't help but be happy. Plus, it was would be a great way of spiting Xellos by denying the Mazoku trickster priest of his favorite meal of Negative Emotions a la Lina Inverse. At last, Lina joined in and began to laugh as well, laughing long, and hard, and loud so that the world would know that Lina Inverse was back to the way she should be.
At this point, Xellos began to feel immensely queasy from the large quantity of positive emotion that the humans gave off and so teleported away with a sick-sounding groan.
The group laughed all the harder.
Later that day…
Lina stood upon the beach watching as the sun went down. A cool sea breeze blew into her face, allowing her hair and cape to flutter about freely.
The party had spent much of the rest of the day helping the villagers to set up shelters until they could rebuild their town. In a few minutes they were to leave the village of Calthor and make their way to Seyruun. There they would inform Prince Phil of the successfully concluded situation, and of the need for the peaceful nation to send aid to help the small fishing village. And to turn in their prisoners.
"Lina?"
The young sorceress turned around to see Naga and Amelia standing behind her.
"Yeah?"
"Um, the village headman wants to see us off, and…,"
"Naga," Lina interrupted as she gathered up her courage and swallowed her pride, "I…I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I shouldn't have treated you like I did. I was wrong. I shouldn't have flown off the handle like I did all those years ago, and like I did a few days ago."
Naga and Amelia looked on with a mixture of shock and amazement.
"I'm so sorry for both of those things, and I'm sorry that I didn't believe you when you tried to tell me the truth about Dameon. I should have believed you. I-,"
Lina stopped and grimaced when she saw that Amelia's eyes were welling up with tears of happiness, and that Naga was sniffling and wiping away at her own eyes.
'I'm never going to hear the end of this,' Lina groaned mentally.
Deciding that she had gotten the point across, and wanting to be done with this uncharacteristic humility, Lina raised her hand.
"Can you ever forgive me?" she asked sincerely, "Naga, my friend?"
Naga stared blankly at Lina's hand for several moments, unsure of what to say.
"And," added Lina, "Thank you for saving my life."
At last, Naga raised her own hand and accepted Lina's handshake. She then abruptly pulled Lina into a vice-like embrace.
"Oh, how could I ever stay mad at you, Lina-chan!" Naga declared joyfully as she squeezed her red-headed companion tightly. "Of course I forgive you! In fact, from now on, you and your boyfriend Gourry will never have to worry about anything again because I, Naga the Serpent, will never again leave your side!"
Happy tears flowed freely down Naga's cheeks as she gave off one of her famous laughs.
'Tuh-riffic,' Lina thought as she was slowly crushed to death by both Naga's arms and oversized breasts- the latter of which Lina's face had accidentally gotten shoved in between.
"Oh, Gracia! Ms. Lina!" Amelia wept happily as she hugged both of the older women, "I'm so glad that you two have reconciled your differences! Justice truly has been served this day!"
"Can't- breath!" Lina gasped from between Naga's cleavage.
"There is absolutely no way that any of us could ever possibly repay you five for what you have done for this village," the village headman said as he and the rest of the village stood before the gates to see Lina Inverse and her friends off.
"Ah, it was nothing," Lina replied, "Really!"
"Neither I, nor any of my fellow villagers can believe any of the horrible things that are told of you ever again, Ms. Inverse."
"Uh, yeah. Please don't bring that up."
"No need to thank us," Amelia declared, "Knowing that justice has been done is more than reward enough!"
"Although," Naga put in, "If you happen to have a little extra something…"
Once more Zelgadis' foot moved, and Naga began to hop about and yelp in pain as she held her foot.
"What she means is that you won't have to worry about having to use any of your remaining possessions to rebuild your village, as Seyruun will be sponsoring all relief aid," Zelgadis corrected.
"That's right," Amelia put in.
"Thank you once more," the headman replied as he and the villagers bowed in unison. "We are forever in your debt."
"Well, see ya!" Lina said with a casual two-fingered salute as she and her companions turn to leave.
The villagers waved and shouted out grateful farewells until they were well out of sight.
"So, what do you plan on doing with these scum?" Zelgadis asked several minutes later.
The group was now standing in the midst of a large clearing in the forest. The survivors of Dameon's bandit army who had survived the battle lay strewn about forest floor, every one of them hog tied and closely guarded by some of Lina and Naga's golems. All prisoners who were spellcasters had been placed under a curse that sealed their magic. Grimm, Joshal, Sorcerer A, and Galdus were amongst these. Dameon Black himself was amongst the prisoners, tied up like a mummy made of ropes and gagged with a sock.
"I think that we'll take 'em back to Seyruun with us, turn them in, and collect as much reward money as we possibly can," Lina replied to Zelgadis.
"And make sure that Daddy tries and sentences them," put in Amelia.
"Yeah, that too."
"Wouldn't it be more satisfying to just kill them all right here, Ms. Lina?"
Lina jumped at the face behind her and spun around to face a grinning Xellos.
"What are you doing here? I thought that you had left," the sorceress stated.
"Yes," the trickster priest replied, "But that doesn't mean that I can't hang around and have some fun now and then. After all, I've done what I needed to do, and there's no rush for me to get back to Wolf Pack Island."
"So, you've finished your business here then, have you?"
"That is correct, Ms. Lina."
"Any chance that you'll tell us what it is?"
"Nope."
"How about a hint?" pressed Lina.
Xellos pretended to think about it for several moments before replying.
"Fine."
Everyone but Naga blinked in surprise at this.
"So then? What's the hint?" asked Zelgadis.
"The hint is…," Xellos began, intentionally dragging things out.
"Yes?" said Amelia.
"A secret!"
Everyone but Naga fell over.
Xellos laughed wickedly and said, "My, my! Don't you ever learn?"
"Well, you never know with you, so there's no harm in trying," answered Lina as she picked herself up.
"One could argue that point, Ms. Lina," Amelia groaned as she stood up, her nose having bit hard into a chunk of rock as she landed.
"But you haven't answered my original question, Ms. Lina," the mazoku pressed, "Wouldn't it be more satisfying to kill them all? Especially since their leader caused you so much pain in the past?"
Lina sighed and thought about how best to answer the question.
Finally, she said, "No, not really. I'm not angry at Dameon anymore. He's not a traitorous friend who hurt me anymore. Now, he's just another thug who needed to be taken down for stupidly thinking that he could take over the world. And besides, Dameon and his allies are literally worth more to me alive."
"You're no fun," scoffed Xellos, sensing from the lack of turmoil in the human girl's mind that she was speaking the absolute truth.
Lina just stuck out her tongue.
Xellos sighed and said, "Well, if that's the way that you're going to be, I guess there's no point in me sticking around. Until next time, Lina."
With a wave, the mazoku vanished.
"Let's just hope that 'next time,' doesn't come to soon," Zelgadis grumped.
"One question though," Gourry asked spontaneously, "How did that Dameon guy survive Lina's Dragon Slave?"
"Yeah, I was kinda wondering that myself," concurred Lina.
"Most likely you had even less power left than you thought you had," answered Zelgadis with a small laugh. "You had to have been running on fumes, because that Dragon Slave only made a ten foot wide crater."
"Although you should have seen what Dameon looked like when we found him," Naga put in with a laugh. "He was all toasty and steaming, and he had this tongue sticking out and this weird expression on his face. It was absolutely priceless!"
"Yeah, it was pretty funny," agreed Amelia.
"Ah, well," Lina said as she walked over and put a foot on top of the trussed up Dameon Black. "It doesn't matter. Like I said to Xellos, he's nothing to me anymore, except some low-life megalomaniac that I have a particularly strong urge to do horrible things to."
Dameon squirmed and gave a muffled cry of despair at this."
"Well," Zelgadis asked, "Shall we get going?"
"Sure, why not?" Naga replied, "I've actually been meaning to go home and see Dad again."
"Yes!" Amelia shouted triumphantly, "The Seyruun family reunites!"
Gourry bent down, grabbed Dameon by the feet, and flung the sorcerer over his shoulder.
"I'm ready if Lina's ready," the swordsman said.
"Alright, let's go!" declared Lina.
And so the Slayers marched on into another adventure, their captives being herded by golems a short way ahead of them, and with Dameon Black mumbling curses all the way as his head scraped along the dirt road.
The End