Uh-Oh!
Fragmented and Powerless!
Lina pounded down the corridor at a neck breaking pace and resisted the urge to look behind her. She couldn't afford to spare the time it would cost to do so, couldn't risk falling and tripping should because she'd taken her eyes off the ground. Besides, years of fighting monsters and demons had taught her that she wouldn't need to see them. The sense of bloodlust would be unmistakable when it happened. And then what chance did she have? Alone and without her magic there would be little way that she could defend herself.
Lina focused on running, ignoring as best she could how tired she was or how her ribs hurt. If she stopped or slowed down she might as well lay down and die. So on she ran. She wasn't sure how long it was before she saw the exit to the tunnel. The exit was a tiny slit in the wall from which light came through. It was barely big enough for Lina to slide through, and only the stream of light entering it alerted Lina to its presence. And therein Lina faced a difficult question. Dare she go out into the open and make it easier for them to find her? Or should she stay here, where they had seen her go in, but hope that they got lost in this maze of underground tunnels and lost her? Each seemed risky.
Lina noticed a hole in the ground that sat right where the ceiling and floor of the cave met. Lina honed in on her senses, and feeling no bloodlust, she stopped to examine it. "LIGHTING!" She sent her light spell within. It didn't go down that deeply, but it went down deep enough, and there was even a small shelf beneath the floor that she could hide in. Even better, there seemed to be some orihalcon mixed in with the stone on the floor which could help to mask her astral body. Overhead were loose shambles of rock that looked like they might come down at any moment. Lina grinned. Perfect.
She ripped off a piece of her jacket and held it in her hand, planning out the details, knowing it was just a matter of time before the monsters caught up to her. Then she sat right in front of the hole in the ground, completely covering it from sight. She took off one of her earrings and dug into her pack for some more jewelry and then pulled some strands of hair from her head, and then concentrated on getting as much rest as she could.
Lina waited. Her stomach tensed as she felt the bloodlust. She let out a breath and focused on doing her best to look injured. Her anxiety ratcheted up a notch as Xellos appeared. Could she trick the Trickster Priest?
"Too scared to take me on with my full powers?" Lina mocked.
Xellos' smile faltered, "If the choice were mine I very well would have liked to have taken you on, no holds barred. But orders are orders you know."
Lina chanted a shield spell as Xellos let loose with a large blast of energy. It didn't offer much protection as she fell through the hole, but it was enough. She threw her scraps of clothing and jewels as she did and then she burrowed under the floor and out of sight of the opening. Soon the rocks from the face up above came tumbling down, further blocking Lina from view but causing her concern as she wondered just how she was going to get out, or even if she would have enough air to breath.
From above her Lina could hear the sound of Xellos' feet on the stone as he examined his handiwork while dust and debris settled over her. Lina did her best to still her breathing and not make a sound. "That was too easy." He said.
Lina's anxiety heightened, but she didn't dare take a deep breath. It made it worse, unbearable even! What if he wasn't convinced? Would he send some demons to dig through the rubble? He kept walking above her, and she heard him kick at some of the stones. She heard the scraping of metal on stone and he said, "An earring."
Lina did her best to keep her breathing even, but the fact that the air seemed thin didn't help. Lina would never have thought of herself as claustrophobic, but these were far from typical circumstances. At last Xellos sighed, "I guess there's not much left."
Then she finally heard the whoosh of a monster moving to the astral plane. Was he gone? Or trying to see if he could locate her astral body? Would the orihalcon shield her? Minutes passed by as slowly as years, but he did not return. Lina breathed a sigh of relief. It had worked! She tried to get up, found that it hurt to do so. Besides, she was so tired.
Gourry screamed as he found that he had been separated from Lina. Images of her death flashed through his mind as all he could think of was how she was currently unable to use her magic. iI've failed you, Lina,/i he thought, gripping his sword tightly and cutting through the nearest demon. "One down," he said, "Two more to go."
One of them threw energy beams at him, which Gourry dodged, only to be assaulted by the other one. Gourry frowned as he admitted to himself that the odds sucked. He grabbed a table made of obsidian and used it to deflect the firepower as he charged at one of the demons. The obsidian shattered as the energy burst hit it, but it had allowed Gourry to get close enough to the demon to take it out with his sword. He grinned. Demons were still tough to take out, but they weren't nearly as bad as a full level monster. Gourry would not even think of objecting, however. The quicker he dispensed with them the sooner he could start looking for Lina.
The remaining demon threw several energy beams at him, which Gourry nimbly dodged. Dodging was not the problem, however. Getting close enough to the demon without the demon throwing energy beams at him was.
Suddenly a new idea came to him. He smiled. He charged the demon at full speed, anticipating the moment when he would start throwing the energy beams. He had to time this correctly. When his instincts screamed, he drew back his arm and threw his sword at the creature, and then jumped out of the way before the energy beams hit him, his sword hidden from the demon's view in the resultant flash of light until it was too late. His aim was true, as the sword impaled itself on the demon. The demon crumbled, and Gourry's sword fell to the ground. One of the differences between the Sword of Light and Blast Sword was that Blast Sword did not depend on the will of a user to wield it like the Sword of Light did. Basically, whenever Gourry let go of the Sword of Light the beam of energy that comprised the sword died. With Blast Sword it would continue functioning even if Gourry let go of it.
Gourry picked up his sword and sheathed it. He still missed the Sword of Light, and he always would, but that sword was back where it belonged now, and this new sword hadn't let him down yet. He looked around, gathering his bearings before heading towards Conchoidal Street to find Lina.
Gradually, the events during the time before she lost consciousness filtered back to Lina, and she had to restrain herself from sitting up. It wouldn't exactly be a good idea with such a low hanging ceiling overhead. Slowly, she turned to her back and wondered if it would be safe to try to get above ground. She didn't sense any danger or bloodlust, but still.
"LIGHTING!" she called, and light illuminated the tiny crevices that was her hiding place. Fortunately, all the debris from the attack had managed to keep her shielded from Xellos. Unfortunately, it also seemed to have buried her alive. She closed her eyes. Hopefully her rest had rejuvenated some of her magical powers, "Lord of Darkness of the four worlds, I call upon you, grant me all the power that you possess. BEPHIS BRING!" she said, aiming for the 'ceiling.' She sighed with relief as it cleared threw the surface. Ignoring the debris that fell down on her, she climbed out of her sanctuary and stood up, and took a deep breath of air, and then assessed her wounds. Mostly superficial, but she definitely needed some good rest.
She turned her attention to the exit. She wondered if she should wait for Gourry, and then thought against it. These underground caves were numerous, and she and Gourry could spend years looking for each other in them. Besides, she needed a meal and a bed, and a recovery spell would probably do her some good as well, not a cold cave. She needed to rest up and to regain her strength for the upcoming fight. She just hoped that Gourry and the others were all right.
Silently, she slid through the entrance and into the night. She frowned as she took in the night sky. Either she'd been fighting the demons for longer than she had thought or she'd been unconscious for longer than she'd like to think about. Without a particular destination in mind, as she had no real idea where she was, she set off. Relief rushed through her as she saw lights up ahead. The lights quickly became a town, and Lina's heart beat faster as she recognized it. Trespin.
She smiled, remembering Zelgadis's sister, Zelena. She had a friend here at least. She quickened her pace. The quicker she got to Trespin the better.
She felt as if a great burden had been lifted off her back when she finally made it. Despite her nap, she still felt like crashing for a week. Now to find Zelena. Unfortunately, they had never made it to her home, just a restaurant she frequented. Lina decided to head there. She was hungry.
Lina never forgot the location of a good restaurant, and in no time she had found it. She stepped inside, wondering if she should actually forgo eating and head straight to bed. She could always ask around about Zelena's whereabouts in the morning.
Someone walked up to her. "Lina?" she asked. Lina looked up, "Zelena, thank goodness!" she said.
Zelena eye's widened, taking in Lina's battered, filthy appearance and lack of traveling companions, "Lina? Are you all right? What of my brother? My goodness, what happened?" she asked as she slid an arm around Lina and led her to a room she often stayed in when she was too tired to head to her house.
"Zel?" Lina asked, a twinge of guilt in her voice, "I have no idea. We…got separated in the fight, I'm sorry, Zelena." She then went on to explain the evening's events and how she had ended up to be where she was now. Apparently, Zelena had some magical capabilities as well as she started examining Lina's wounds and casting recovery spells on them with as much skill and tact as any healer, "And I finally made it here."
Zelena bit her lip, and shook her head, "That's terrible. I can tell that my brother is alright, but I hope the others are as well."
Lina slumped forward, shaking her head, trying to hold back the guilt she was feeling. For all she knew her friends were dead because she had abandoned them. Lina had never abandoned her friends in a fight before. But something about Zelena's conviction about Zelgadis grabbed her attention, "How do you know Zel's alright?"
Zelena smiled a little, "When you love someone, when it's a blood connection, you can tell when something bad happens to them. All these years I knew my brother was alive. And I know he is now. It doesn't have to be blood. It can also be true love. You have that connection with Gourry, don't you?"
Lina smiled and closed her eyes and focused. Somehow, that jellyfish would be fine. She patted Zelena on the shoulder, "You're right. I'm sorry, this day has just been long, that's all."
"I can see that," Zelena said, getting up, "And you need your rest."
"Actually I'm really hungry. Those recovery spells leave me famished. I didn't know you had any magical affinity."
Zelena smiled tiredly, "It's nothing compared to what Great Grandfather had. He was such a great sorcerer it must have been a great disappointment to him when all Father could master was the most basic of spells. Waiter!"
Lina ordered and ate a lot of food, talking about Greywards family history the whole time, while Lina marveled at just how different Zelgadis and Zelena were. If anything, Zelena reminded her a bit of Amelia, and suddenly Zelgadis' attraction for the princess made more sense.
Once dinner was finished Zelena sighed, "Why don't you get some rest? I'll stay up at night, just in case the demons come."
"What about the trolls?" Lina asked.
"The trolls?" Zelena said, "I think I finally drove them to extinction."
Lina shook her head. One woman without any offensive magical capabilities taking on a horde of trolls with only her sword. Her brother one of the most powerful and intelligent people she had ever met, both descendants of one of the Five Wise Men. Even if he had been corrupt, he had been spectacular. The Greywards were one exceptional family. But more than that, given what they were facing, they needed every strong body they could find.
"Will you come and fight Shabranigdo with us?" Lina asked.
Zelena thought for a moment, "I think I will. I don't know how much use I will be, but if we head out tomorrow we should meet up with the group in Kirva at about the time your powers should return, and with the monsters believing you dead and my sword to protect you, we should be okay."
Lina nodded, "All right then, next stop Kirva!" her expression softened suddenly as she added, "Thank you, Zelena."
It was dark by the time Gourry had finished combing through the underlying passages underneath the old house he had played under as a kid. Hands balled into fists, he climbed up the stairs like a man marching to his death. He had found no trace of Lina. He got to the top of the staircase trying to think positively like Lina did. Maybe she hadn't been able to find the house and was safe someplace else in the city. Maybe she had run into Zelgadis and Amelia, and they had fled to safety somewhere and they were with her to protect her. Maybe she had exited the passages to one of the cities that they led to. But surely she would have left a sign for him to follow. Or maybe she had assumed that he had been killed.
He sank to his knees. One thought kept penetrating through all of the others. She couldn't use her magic. And that short sword of hers against three demons just wasn't going to cut it. He put his hands over his face. He had failed her. The tears started flowing as the thought floated through his mind over and over again.
The sound of a door opening and closing brought him out of his stupor, and for a few heart-wrenching seconds he hoped beyond hope that it was Lina who had finally found the place. His heart sank, however, as he saw his brother walking towards him.
Gunther smirked as he walked up to Gourry, "I thought you'd be here. You spent enough time pouting here as a child."
Gourry wiped his eyes and stood up. He was not going to put up with his brother's taunting, and he was not going to give into it. Contrary to whatever his brother thought, he did not in any way want the Dukedom of Kirva, and he had not come back here to re-start the ancient family rivalry. He walked out of the room and out of the house, Gunther following close behind him. "Yes, you spent a lot of time pouting in that old house, just like I saw you pouting now. Or, was it tears I saw in your eyes? What's wrong, Gourrems? That Dragon Spooker girl leave you for a real man?"
Gourry's hands balled up into fists again. He wasn't going to fight him, though. He was going to find Lina, even if it meant finding a corpse. He just had to know for sure. "Don't you see anything, Gunther? Monsters attacked the inn today, monsters who wanted to resurrect Shabrabigdo or Shabbynigo or whatever his name is! And you're worried about some petty family quarrel when the fate of the world is at stake? At any rate, the Dukedom is yours, whether you deserve it or not, it's yours. I just came here to help prevent the destruction of the world, and once my work here is through, you can guarantee I'll leave, and I won't be coming back unless I absolutely have to."
"Yes, you don't want the Dukedom just like you didn't want the Sword of Light."
"I didn't want the Sword of Light, Gunther," Gourry said sadly. He knew that there was no way he could make Gunther understand his reasons for taking it and leaving, "It was tearing the family apart. I stole it to destroy it, and it ended up saving the world because I took it. You should be thankful."
Gunther grabbed Gourry's shoulder, "That's that thing about you that I really hated." He spat, "You always made me look bad."
Gourry shook his head, "I never did that, Gunth. You did."
Gunther growled, and unsheathed his sword. Gourry sighed. He wanted to avoid this. His brother's swordsmanship matched his own, and Gourry didn't want to get caught up in a fight with him and lose precious time on finding Lina. "Listen, Gunther, my friends have been scattered by the demons and…they might be dead. I have to find them so we can stop the resurrection of that Shab guy."
"Quit your whining and your petty excuses!" Gunther spat, lunging forward, forcing Gourry to draw his sword to defend himself. Gourry sighed, drawing his sword and meeting Gunther's blow. He'd better make this quick, for Lina's sake. For all of their sakes.
After a warm bath, a good sleep, and a large breakfast, Lina was feeling human again, even if she didn't have her powers fully back. She stood with Zelena on the outskirts of Trespin and took a deep breath and hoped that her friends were okay. "Do you think we should try the ruins?" Zelena asked.
"I was so focused on surviving I don't think I could navigate them back to Kirva." Lina said. "Unless you know how to get there."
"Never left home before." Zelena said as she adjusted her sack.
Lina's eyes widened a bit. While she knew her lifestyle was unique, she still couldn't fathom staying in one place for so long. Lina smiled widely, "Then it's past time you see what's out there!"
Together they took off down the road, hatching plans to defeat the monster the race the whole time.