A/N: Some trouble finds our protagonists in this chapter. Don't hate me, okay? Anyway, this is chapter 21, obviously. The name is from a song by Mariah Carey, feat. Brian McKnight.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, but I do own Vraak and the Ragna kingdom/territory.
Chapter 21: Whenever You Call.
Lina smirks at Zelgadis' half-joke as the wind picks up.
"Um, Lina?" he wonders. "Why, exactly, is the wind so harsh on a monster's island that can't be affected by the weather?"
Lina's smile vanishes. "I don't know," she replies as a funnel cloud forms just above them.
"Should we run?"
"Run?" Lina laughs. "Don't you know me? Whatever it is, we can handle it."
Zelgadis looks unsure, but he sticks by Lina's side as two shadowy figures form in front of them.
"TARGETS LOCATED: MISSION ACCEPTED," one of them drones.
"MISSION: ATTACK," the other continues.
The forms burst into sudden motion, drawing swords and attacking at unbelievably fast speeds even as they continue to analyze.
"INFORMATION: LINA INVERSE, BANDIT-KILLER AND DRAGON-SPOOKER. SPECIALIZES IN BLACK MAGIC. VESSEL OF THE LORD OF NIGHTMARES."
"INFORMATION: ZELGADIS GREYWORDS, HEARTLESS MYSTICAL SORCERER-SWORDSMAN. SPECIALIZES IN SHAMANISM. RED PRIEST REZO'S GREAT-GRANDSON."
Just as the figures hit them, Lina exchanges a worried glance with Zelgadis. How do we face things that know all about us?
Soon enough, the small clearing is a blur of motion, swords clanging hollowly as multiple voices yell different names of spells.
"Dug Haut!"
"Fireball!"
"FLARE ARROW!"
"FREEZE ARROW!"
Although neither of the flickering shadows seem to be harmed or tired, Lina and Zelgadis are quickly tuckering out.
Lina barely manages to deflect a quick horizontal slash, which would have cut her in half, even with her now-stone skin. Zelgadis' assailant is gaining ground quickly. Soon he backs up against a tree and curses himself, still clashing swords.
Lina suddenly has an idea. "Lighting!" she yells, casting it on her own attacker.
But it doesn't work. It somehow blows the light away with ghostly grey wind.
"How—?!" Lina growls. Her opponent gets a glancing hit on her arm and she cries out.
Zelgadis makes the mistake of glancing towards her, and his attacker gets inside his range and takes him up by the neck, droning, "MONO BOLT."
The chimera's eyes widen before he clenches his teeth and bluish-yellow light glows around them. He chokes back a scream, falling to the ground when his assailant releases its grip.
Zelgadis lays still, trying not to pass out, glancing at Lina, who is now facing both of them and not standing a chance. He shakily stands up, picking up his sword from the ground and slicing one in half as it slides to the side, around Lina.
It vanishes like smoke from a fire, and the other one glares at him. It throws out a leg and kicks Lina before saying, "Mono Bolt!" with finality, almost as if it knows the battle is over.
Zelgadis' vision fades, that last picture flickering in his head over and over again: Lina, unconscious, being carted off by that monotonous figure. "Lina..."
"NO, I SAID 'WOLF PACK ISLAND', YOU STUPID FUTURISTIC DEVICE!" Filia screams at Amelia's new magical little toy.
Gourry laughs. "I guess the author can't leave this chapter serious for too long."
The 'Global Positioning System', as Amelia calls it, drones in a boring female voice, "DID YOU SAY: Zolf Stack Island?"
"I didn't know Zolf had a resort," the dumb blonde continues thoughtfully. "Why didn't he take us there?"
Amelia sighs and says, "G.P.S., please take us to Wolf Pack Island."
"YES, MISTER ZELGADIS."
"WHAT?!" the princess yells as her system shimmers periwinkle, taking the Slayers to their destination.
The second they arrive, Sylphiel begins to sob again. "We're too late."
They appear in the same clearing Lina and Zelgadis' battle commenced in, where the latter chimera lays passed out near a tree. They all rush over to him, and Filia crouches beside him.
Amelia yelps, "We have to help him!"
"Amelia," the golden dragon says calmly. "Don't worry. This can't be the injury from Sylphiel's dream. He's still breathing, and it doesn't look as much fatal as it does harmful. I believe that he's just unconscious and needs healed."
Sylphiel passes out from relief. "Thank Ceipheed..."
A slight disturbance in the air occurs, and Zelas appears in front of them, frowning, with her little pet Xellos.
"Oh, I believe that Dynast has been here," she observes, tapping her chin in thought.
"Wait, Dynast? The Dynast?" Amelia exclaims.
"Of course," Zelas replies, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, you may want to get on healing Zelgadis now." She waves a hand, and the world morphs around them into a small little house.
Sylphiel sobs hysterically into her hands, whispering, "Why can't I do anything right?"
Gourry is beside her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, giving her hugs, reassuring her, as he has been for the past two days. "You can do it, Sylphiel. You just have to wake him up, okay?"
The little group has been slowly settling down into their new surroundings. It had turned out that they appeared in the city of Ragna, as they have learned from some of the surprised townspeople.
Even for all the hours they have put in to waking Zelgadis up, he's slept through two days already, his breathing ragged, and his face conveying that nightmares are plaguing his mind.
Sylphiel closes her eyes. "I can't heal him, Gourry dear! I can't heal all those new mental scars anymore than I can heal his chimeric condition. It's hopeless!"
"Sylphiel...?"
Both the priestess' and the swordsman's eyes dart to the bed, in which Zelgadis is trying in vain to even look up at them.
"Mister Zelgadis!"
"Zelgadis!"
Zelgadis whispers, "Guys, tell the others...that...something bad...happened to Lina..."
"But Zelgadis, what happened?" Gourry asks.
The chimera is already long gone, gritting his teeth and losing consciousness again.
Sylphiel exchanges a glance with Gourry and go to relay Zelgadis' message to Amelia and Filia.
"Miss Sylphiel, what are we going to do?" Amelia asks worriedly. Zelgadis has been asleep on and off. After the second time he woke up, the Slayers group knew that something is up, because a flash of recognition had crossed his face.
Before Sylphiel can reply, they all hear a groan. Filia dashes over to the room Zelgadis is staying in with the others in tow.
He's observing the room quietly. Without looking at them, he asks, "How did we get here?"
Filia replies, "Beast Master Zelas sent us here. What is this place, Zelgadis?"
He doesn't reply, but the recognition is enough to figure it out.
"Mister Zelgadis," Amelia asks, "is this your old home?" A silent nod confirms her guess, and the princess asks another question, invigorated. "What happened?"
He looks about to answer, but then Gourry walks in. "Hey! Zelgadis! You're alive!"
Everyone facepalms. "Yes, Gourry, of course I'm alive. What did you expect?" Zel growls.
"Well, I just thought that—with Lina missing, and all—that you'd be scared to death..."
Zelgadis looks just about angry enough to attempt a Dragon Slave. "Gourry, I'm fine, okay?" His eye twitches repeatedly, and soon Gourry is flying out the open window.
"Mister Zelgadis!" all three females exclaim.
He laughs nervously. "Oops?"
Sylphiel lays a hand on his shoulder and says, "Mister Zelgadis, please don't overexert yourself. For all we know, you might—"
And, yet again, all consciousness begins to fade away.
...and I will never be too
Far away to feel you.
And I won't hesitate at all
Whenever You Call.