Okay then~! As usual, I don't own anything pertaining to Slayers, I'm just a fan having some fun writing fiction! Do enjoy it!
26- To-Do List; with plenty of time to kill
Lina yawned as she walked down the stairs, wondering what she was planning to do today. It felt so oddly like a lazy morning with nothing to do and nowhere to go. She tried to dispel the lazy feeling with the thoughts of their plans for the day.
Let's see… what's on the itinerary for today? Eat breakfast… do some research on a demonic little girl who, theoretically, shouldn't exist… help my friend make sure that he doesn't get killed by chaotic forces that are ripping him apart, and… get married, apparently. I guess that's reasonable.
Lina momentarily wondered if she might be going insane.
She began to round the corner to the kitchen, and almost ran into Gourry.
"G-Gourry!" she gasped. "You're up early! How long have you been awake?"
Gourry shrugged. "Oh, for a while now. I woke up on the couch in the library, so I started looking at picture books. See?" He held up a rather large book.
Lina grabbed the book and examined it. "This is… 'Illustrated Guide to Botany, vol. 7?' This is intelligent reading, Gourry! I'm impressed!" She smiled up at him and handed him the book.
"Oh, that?" Gourry asked. "I was just looking at the pretty pictures. See? He opened up to a page with a nice flower and tree, accompanied by scientific labelling on the bottom.
Lina sighed. "Well, I apologise for setting my expectations too high."
"I'm sorry." Gourry murmured sheepishly.
Lina chuckled. "Don't apologise- I'm just kidding. Say, did you sleep well on the couch?"
" No, not really… but it doesn't matter. I'm not tired."
"Well, I'm glad one of us isn't…" Lina replied with a yawn, moving to sit down on the couch in the living room.
Gourry sat down beside her, nodding in agreement. "Besides, you probably won't need me today anyway, so I could just take a nap later if I was tired."
Lina straightened up in surprise. "What do you mean, we won't need you?"
"Well… I just thought… er, I assumed… you'd be doing smart stuff."
" You're smart."
Gourry gave her a stare as if she'd gone crazy. Lina gave him an almost identical stare back.
"What's with the look?"
Gourry tilted his head in innocent confusion "Have you finally lost it? I'm an idiot."
Raising an eyebrow, Lina replied "No, you're not. You can be an idiot sometimes- like now, for instance. When you want to be smart, you can be smart; there's no denying that. What makes you think we won't need your help with anything today?"
Gourry gave a little smile, but didn't seem to want to answer the question. "Uh, is anyone else awake?"
Lina sent a glance up the staircase. "Not that I know of. I think-"
Lina's sentence was cut off as the sound of a sharp scream percolated downstairs from the upper level of the house.
Gourry stood up, suddenly alert. "What?"
" That sounded like Amelia!" Lina added.
The pair exchanged a panicked glance.
The sound of their frantic footsteps ascending the stairs nearly drowned out their collective scream.
" Zelgadis!"
Lina and Gourry rushed up the stairs and flew around the corner without looking ahead of them, almost running directly into one of their friends.
"Goodness, you two! Watch where you're going!" Zelgadis exclaimed, taking a step back.
Lina blinked in surprise. "Z-Zel! You're alright! We were worried about you!"
"Me? Amelia was the one who screamed!"
" Yeah, but we thought..." Lina's voice trailed off, and she turned back around to the bedroom that Amelia and Naga were sharing. Amelia peeked her head out of the door sheepishly.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to scream."
" Are you alright, though?" Zelgadis asked.
Amelia sighed. "Yes, I just…"
Naga interrupted loudly, still half-asleep. "Don't worry Amelia! Whatever scared you is no match for the power of Justice!"
"Naga, that has nothing to do with anything! What happened, Amelia?" Lina snapped.
" I just… I was half-asleep, and I forgot where I was…" Amelia stammered. "I was afraid that Miss Marielle had done something horrible, and…"
"It's alright- you're safe. I understand your fear, but don't scream, alright?" Zelgadis gave a sigh.
"You scared us half to death, you know!" Lina added.
"…sorry…" Amelia murmured.
"It doesn't matter! I want breakfast!" Naga exclaimed.
Lina directed a glare at her. "Are you always this irritating in the mornings?"
"Irritating? Why, not in the slightest!" Naga replied haughtily. "I'm just being cheerful-everyone needs some cheer during stressful situations like this, right? OHOHOHOHOHO~!"
"That laugh is not what I want to hear first thing in the morning." Pokota groaned, approaching the group and landing on Lina's head.
"You're not the only one." Lina agreed. "Can we just get some breakfast in our stomachs and sit down to see if we can make a dent in our massive to-do list today?"
"To-do list? What are we doing?" Gourry asked.
"Well, first things first, there's this complicated spell that Amelia is trying to figure out, in order to save Zel from the crazy magic that's attacking him." Lina said.
"Exactly!" Amelia exclaimed. "That is the most important thing right now, after all!"
"So what's involved in this spell anyway?" Naga asked curiously as she began down the staircase. "You haven't explained it much to us."
"It's not difficult." Amelia replied. "It's really a lot like a healing spell that I could easily pull off."
"What's the catch, though?"
Amelia looked up in surprise. "Zelgadis, what do you mean?"
"I mean, there's always some sort of catch. What is it?"
"Zel is right, this sounds way too easy." Lina nodded in agreement. "We've been stressing about this problem for so long, and now you say there's a simple spell that can fix everything? I don't trust that."
"Miss Lina, don't you think we deserve something in our lives to be easy for a change?" Amelia asked.
"Of course I think we deserve it. But will it actually happen? I think not."
"I kind of agree with Lina- something about this sounds fishy." Pokota murmured.
Amelia frowned, but gave a small nod. "I mean… there's no sense in getting pessimistic about it, but I see your point…" She seemed to wilt slightly, so Lina put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't look so down, Amelia. Who knows? Maybe it will work just fine. We can't make a judgement on it before we even try."
"Alright, then…" Amelia sighed. "We'll try it, and then we can decide."
"So, how do we know if this spell will work?" Naga asked. It was later in the afternoon, and the group was sitting in a circle on the floor of the library, all paying attention to Amelia, who held the large book in her hands, studying the spell.
"Well, we don't necessarily need a bunch of people here for this- all that is needed is the person who's casting the spell, and the person that they're casting the spell on." Amelia replied.
"But back-up is always nice, just in case things go awry." Lina added.
"Things won't go awry- this is a White Magic spell." Amelia replied.
"I know. I wasn't talking about the spell itself- I was talking about its effects on Zel." Lina replied. "I mean, who knows how his body is going to react to this sort of thing?"
"I agree." Pokota nodded. "I'm wondering if this is even safe."
"Well, I'd be a goner anyway, even if we did nothing." Zelgadis pointed out. "So why not try it?"
Lina just shrugged. "Well, how exactly does this spell work?
"It is founded on the principle of magic stating that high levels of entropy favour spontaneity." Amelia explained. "Entropy increases when objects become less organised- such as ice melting to form water. Ice is compact and solid, but water is liquid and difficult to handle without a container- so when ice melts, the entropy is increased. As such, water freezing into ice will cause a decrease in entropy. Does that make sense?"
"No." Gourry responded.
Lina groaned. "I think she was talking about the rest of us."
"It makes sense to me." Pokota nodded.
"I think I get it too!" Naga agreed. "So, if we freeze Zelgadis in a big block of ice, then-"
"NO!" Zelgadis cut her off quickly. "That's not the point of Amelia's example!"
"But she said that water freezing into ice would lower the entropy-"
"-of the water." Amelia finished quickly. "It doesn't do anything for its surroundings."
"But I heard that lower temperatures lower entropy levels." Pokota offered.
"That's true." Zelgadis murmured. His tone turned sarcastic as he continued, "So I'll just freeze to death instead of falling apart. That works too."
"I didn't mean-" Pokota began, but Lina cut him off.
"Just forget about all of that nonsense. We want to know how the spell works." she groaned.
"As far as I gather, it adds order to the chaotic elements." Zelgadis replied, looking to Amelia for a nod of approval before continuing. "When a chimera is created, the entropy that is built up by the creation of a mixture of various biological elements reaches such high levels that a great deal of magical energy is required to lower it to a safe level. If the chimera outlives its creator, then the entropy level slowly rises, as there is nothing keeping it together. But, if we can put energy into the system, it will lower the entropy levels and keep the pieces from dissociating. Got it?"
"N-" Gourry began to answer, but Lina cut him off.
"Yep, we've got it."
"So now all we need to do is test it out." Pokota said. "But Lina, Naga, and I ought to kind of stand guard to make sure that Zelgadis doesn't get hurt. This is dangerous stuff, after all."
With Lina, Naga, and Pokota watching over to make sure he spell didn't go awry, Amelia readied herself, beginning to chant to incantation slowly. Zelgadis stiffened, realising that it sounded a lot more like an attack spell than a healing incantation, and his instincts were telling him to get out of the way. But he trusted Amelia and her judgement, and stayed exactly where he was.
As the few final words passed through Amelia's lips, a glow of energy appeared, and suddenly it burst out, flooding the room and engulfing Zelgadis in the blast. Lina jumped to her feet, but stumbled against the strong current of energy.
And, as suddenly as it had appeared, the energy vanished, as though it had never been there. Lina glanced around the room and noticed that, though it had felt similar to a powerful windstorm, not a thing in the room was out of place. Everything was as neat and orderly as it had been. All eyes turned back to Zelgadis, who didn't seem any worse for wear.
"Did it work?" Gourry asked.
"I don't know. He doesn't look any different." Lina murmured.
"I don't feel any different either." the chimera replied.
"So does that mean that it didn't work?" Naga asked.
Amelia frowned. "It should have worked. Based on what I read, he should be stable at this point."
Zelgadis shrugged. "Well, it's not like I feel bad. Maybe the fact that nothing seemed to change is a good sign. Maybe that means it worked perfectly."
"…I don't know…" Lina murmured.
"Well, all we have to do is wait and see if Zelgadis has another one of those headache attack-things, and if not, then we can assume that the spell worked, right?" Gourry suggested.
"That does seem to be the only logical way to go about it." Pokota murmured.
"But what if we don't find out that it didn't work until it's too late?" Naga asked.
Everyone paused. No one wanted to answer that. Zelgadis finally cleared his throat and continued.
"…then, at least we tried our best, and no one will be left with any regrets." he murmured.
There was no reply, but everyone was certain that the others were thinking something completely different.
"Well, let's focus." Zelgadis sighed, shaking off the critical glances. "There are more pressing concerns at the moment."
"Like what?" Lina raised an eyebrow.
"...well, don't you want cake for tonight? We can't have a party without cake, can we?"
Lina stiffened. "Cake! Of course! We totally forgot about getting the cake!"
Gourry raised his hand. "I vote for a chocolate cake!"
"I think it should be a pound cake. Those are always good."
"No, pound cakes are too plain! It ought to be a triple-layer strawberry cheesecake!" Lina argued, almost drooling at the thought.
"Perhaps you ought to just go to the bakery and see what they have. If they have to bake a new cake for you, it'll be late by the time you get back. It's already mid-afternoon." Zelgadis replied. "I'll stay here. I started reading a book this morning, and it's quite good."
"I have to keep looking at that spell- as far as I can tell, it was done correctly, but I want to make certain that there were no mistakes." Amelia added. "Gracia, you can go if you want to."
"I want to go too!" Lina exclaimed. "It's my party, remember?"
"And mine." Gourry added. "But you guys can go on and pick something out. I know Lina will get something good."
Lina smirked. "Oh? In that case, I'll pick out the most disgusting, horrifying, inedible-"
"You know you have to eat it too, right?" Pokota perched himself on Lina's head.
"Then do you want to come with us?"
"Of course I do."
"Yay! Then it'll be me, Lina, Pokota, and Arran!" Naga exclaimed, whistling for the large bird. He didn't seem to recognise his new "name," but he did know to come when he was whistled for.
"Don't bring the bird." Lina groaned.
"Oh, come on! He's practically a member of the family now!"
"He is not!" Pokota groaned, but it wasn't enough to change Naga's mind.
Lina ran after Naga, and Pokota followed along. "Wait up, Naga!" Lina called.
"You have to be faster! C'mon!" Naga yelled, though she did pause to let Lina and Pokota catch up.
"Don't worry so much." Lina sighed. "It's barely 4 o' clock. We've got time to kill."
"Right, but then we have to get back and do your hair and make-up. That could take hours!" Naga insisted, sounding indignant that Lina hadn't thought of that.
Lina stiffened. "I'm not getting dressed up for this! It's going to be in a backyard, for goodness' sake!"
"But this is an important day!" Naga protested. "And you need to wear a lovely dress and do something nice with your hair- that beautiful, beautiful hair-"
"Naga, can you stop focusing on that? We're here for a cake, not for Lina's outfit planning." Pokota chided, landing on Lina's head. "What kind of cake do you think you want, Lina?"
"A big one." Lina responded. She thought for a moment, and added, "…and maybe it would be nice of us to get a little something for Gourry and everyone else, too."
"You're so predictable." Pokota groaned.
"Hey, I like cake! Can you blame me?" Lina gave a laugh.
"Of course not! Who doesn't like cake?" Naga laughed in return. "OHOHOHOHO~!"
Her laugh scared the raven on her shoulder, and he jumped several feet into the air, flapping his wings violently.
"Oops! I didn't mean to spook you!" Naga exclaimed, reaching for the bird. He didn't seem to want to return to her shoulder, and began to fly higher. "W-wait! Come back! Arran!" Naga squealed. "RAY WING!"
She jumped up into the air and began flying after the bird.
"N-Naga! Wait!" Lina yelled, trying to follow after her. "Ray Wing!"
Lina flew after Naga, trying to stop her. "Stop this, Naga!"
"But I can't let him fly away! He's my bird!"
"That thing isn't your bird, Naga! He's just a former experiment of Marielle's! What does it matter to us if he flies off?"
"He's important to me!" Naga replied.
"Why all the fuss?" Pokota called, trying to catch up to them. "What does the bird matter to you?"
"Because he's my bird~!" Naga whined. "I can't just let him run away- er, fly away." She turned back ahead of them. "Arran! Come back!"
Lina and Pokota shot each other a glance.
"Lina… what should we do about her?"
Lina frowned. "I guess… we follow."
The raven continued to fly, and Naga determinedly followed after. Lina noticed the terrain far below changing from mountainous to more flat, filled with fields of crops and scattered farmhouses. "Pokota, I don't know where this bird is going."
"Well, ravens are supposed to be really intelligent birds. It's possible that he's flying back to his original home." Pokota responded.
"Home…" Lina murmured. "You mean, the people who Marielle stole him from?"
"Could be."
"They might have some information!" Lina exclaimed. "Naga! Don't lose sight of that bird, but don't catch it either! We want to follow it!"
Naga seemed a bit confused, but agreed. "Alright, then!"
"But how far away might that be?" Lina wondered out loud as they continued. "This could take hours."
"Like you said, we have time to kill." Pokota pointed out.
"Right, right."
(A/N: Heh… I wish I had time to kill…)