Gourry and Lantz had run into Zelgadis on their way to the bar and had asked the to join them. Soon the three were catching up and exchanging stories about their adventures since they had last seen each other. The bar was crowded, but they found a table in a corner and, though it was noisy, they managed to just barely hear each other.
"So what do you say, Zel, shouldn't we throw Gourry the biggest stag party for his last night as a free man?" Lantz said as the barkeeper topped off their drinks.
"I really don't want all that." Gourry said.
"Scared of what Lina will do to you?" Lantz asked.
"No. It's just that I outgrew that phase fast when I found out how quickly it leads to trouble I don't need." Gourry explained.
"Oh, come on! We're not in a place where you have to keep your guard up all the time!" Lantz said.
"I'm fine going out for a drink the night before. But I don't want to be hungover or anything."
"There you go, making the rest of us look bad."
Gourry shook his head incredulously, "Perhaps there's a reason you're single and I'm not?"
Zel laughed a little as Lantz flared, "Hey, I've had my share of girlfriends!"
"Women who don't respect themselves. And women who don't respect themselves attract men who don't respect themselves, and two people who don't respect themselves won't be happy together for long." Gourry pointed out.
"That's harsh." Lantz said.
"Found you!" Amelia said chipperly as seemed to magically materialize between a crowd of people as she headed over to their table, with Lina following behind.
As Lantz looked her over, Lina rolled her eyes, "Oh brother!"
"Have you met my wife, Amelia?" Zelgadis asked as Amelia wrapped an arm around him and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Wife?" Lantz said as he shook his head, "Congrats, Zel! Of course, the good ones are always taken."
"Huh?" Amelia said, obviously a little confused.
Lina groaned, "Amelia, this is Lantz, someone we fought with right before we met you actually. Lantz, this is Amelia, and in addition to being married she's way out of your league so don't even think of it."
"I forgot how mean you are." Lantz said.
"Any way, I'd like to stay, but Gourry and I have big things to discuss." Lina said as she grabbed Gourry by the elbow.
"We do?" he asked.
"We're getting married! There's always something to discuss!" Lina said.
"Oh," he said as he turned to wave to the group. "Well, see you!"
"Bye," Lantz said and waited until they were turned around before making the motion of a whip.
Lina looked at Gourry as they left the bar and asked, "Let me guess, he's planning the biggest night of drunken debauchery for you."
"You sound worried?" he stated.
"Well, I guess I am."
"About Lantz?" he asked.
"No. About standing up to Sis."
"Huh?" he said.
"We're going to see the Eternal Queen tomorrow."
"So, how are you two settling in?" the Eternal Queen asked as they sat in her parlor.
"Very well," Lina said as she tried not to trip over the stilted words she had gone over with Amelia, "The manor is lovely and it will be well suited for our needs, though we're not sure what we'll do with all of that space. We are very grateful, your majesty."
The Eternal Queen smiled, "Several more students have been found since just yesterday. I don't think you will have to worry about filling it. I understand you have had some visitors."
"Well, it's haunted, but we can use that for training purposes, so it's perfect, really." Lina looked at Gourry out of the corner of her eye, "And as far as my future mother-in-law…"
"She's settling in well. She gave some good information. We're waiting to see if it checks out."
"Good," Lina said.
"So, what can I help you with?"
Lina took a deep breath, "Gourry and I were wondering what you have in mind for our wedding ceremony."
The Eternal Queen smiled, "Is there something wrong with the one that Luna has planned?"
"No, not if you're Luna."
"But it's wrong if you're Lina."
"Exactly. Respectfully, Gourry and I are warriors, and we want a ceremony that reflects that. We're not priests or Ceiphied's chosen. It just doesn't feel authentic."
The Eternal Queen smiled kindly, "I'm glad you felt comfortable talking to me about this. Honored, truly. I know how intimidating your sister can be. And I worried that if you ever disagreed with her about a matter that impacted the fate of the world you would be too cowed to stand your ground, so that you are coming to me over a much smaller matter is heartening."
Lina's eyebrows raised as her heart started beating faster. Gourry put a hand on her knee as the Eternal Queen continued, "Truthfully it does not matter to me what sort of ceremony you have, so long as you have one. I will summon High Priest Etto Skinner, who will be performing the ceremony, and I will let him know that you and Gourry have full control. He is close to Luna, but he won't dare disobey me. Have the ceremony you desire."
Lina felt relief wash over her. For the first time ever, she had won a round against her sister! And it had been easier than she had ever thought possible! The Eternal Queen wasn't even mad, she was flattered. There was no way Luna could wrest control back now. "Thank you, your majesty!"
"So Priest Skinner wasn't happy about it, but he's going along with it." Lina told her mother as Leia took inventory. Nearby, Han was at the register while Gourry helped out with some heavy lifting. "He was very defensive about Sis."
"Well, he and Luna are close."
"Oh?" Lina asked, "How close?"
"Close enough that they went to the oracle to see if they had a future together." Leia said hesistantly.
"Damn!" Lina said. "I guess it wasn't meant to be?"
"Yeah, he said their paths were with other people. Priest Skinner decided to abandon the relationship."
"Wow." Lina said. "That must have hurt! If Gourry took the word of some stupid oracle over me…"
"I know." Leia said. "You know how she is, though."
"Anyway, Gourry and I are about to leave to go back to Maninstit. We don't want to be anywhere near here when Sis learns about this. So I guess we won't see each other until we come back the day before the wedding."
"With the new and improved shortened ceremony."
"And hard fought for." Lina said. "Gee, was her wedding so unsatisfactory that she feels she has to come in and run mine?"
"Well, it was a small, simple ceremony to her second choice." Leia summed up, "So, yes."
The door to the store slammed opened, and Luna stood framed in it, and Lina stood to attention. "W-what are you doing off work so early?" Lina asked, and then she gulped as she saw the look in Luna's eyes.
While Luna was generally the more even tempered of the siblings, Lina had learned the hard way that when her sister was pushed to her limit, the result was a painful display of pent up rage. And judging by the way Luna's eyes were flashing as a menacing aura filled the store, Luna was at her limit.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" Luna yelled as she approached Lina as the customers stopped and stared. "Going over my head like that!"
Lina stood as tall as she could. Which, even with the platforms she'd added to her boots, meant she was still a good few inches shorter than her sister. But she knew that if she backed down now it would all be for nothing. She would have to take it, no matter how much it hurt. It took Guloisa just taking one round of shocks and staying firm for Luna to give up and give her some concessions. Surely she could take a page from her book. "You weren't exactly giving me a lot of leeway!" Lina shot back.
"There were millions of steps you should have taken before seeing the Eternal Queen!" Luna yelled.
"Oh my gosh, you two, take it in the back!" Leia said, exasperatedly.
On the one hand, Lina desperately wanted to get into the privacy of the kitchen just behind the store. That would be a lot less humiliating. But going there meant turning her back to Luna, something she was not inclined to do. "You go first." Lina said to Luna.
"Not on your life!" Luna said as she grabbed the knife. "You have forgotten some things since you left!"
"Things have changed since she left." Gourry said as he got between them.
"Stand aside!" Luna ordered.
"No." Gourry said. "Lina and I are a pair. If you want to hurt one of us, you have to take on both of us."
"Fine!" Luna said as she brought her knife up, and Gourry was quick to cut through it with his sword.
Luna's eyes widened, "You draw that sword against me?"
"I know what I'm doing."
"I don't need a full knife to do this!" she said as she prepared to channel her will through it again.
"Aero Bomb!" Lina chanted, and a small ball of air exploded before Luna, pushing her back a little and deflecting her energy. While it was a weak spell, it still knocked a few items off the shelves, causing the customers to run for the exit as her parents came over.
"Come on, that's enough!" Han said. "Take it outside!"
"Oh, it's just starting!" Luna said as her hair stood on end, and Lina shuddered as she realized that Luna was just getting even more riled up. She had hoped when she found she wouldn't be intimidated she would stand down like she had with Guloisa. But it seemed that with Lina, who had always backed down under Luna's threats, it was more personal.
"If you're going to do this, at least take it outside!" Leia pleaded.
But Luna raised her arm holding the broken knife again. "Put it down, Luna." Han said, "Lina really didn't do anything wrong for once and she's not a child anymore anyway. Put it down and let's talk this out."
"I have my reasons, and I don't have to justify them to you." Luna snapped as she kept her arm raised. Han jumped and grabbed her arm and pulled it back, letting go with a cry when she shocked him.
"Hey!" Leia said as she got behind Luna and attempted to seize her arms, but Luna stepped on her foot and grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall, sending her against the shelves.
Lina shook her head, Luna had never attacked their parents, though the threat had always seemed to be there. At the same time none of them had ever challenged Luna's power so directly before. They'd never had reason to. But that had suddenly changed. Amelia was right. If Luna lost this battle, then she lost the control she was used to wielding over the sister she was used to keeping under a tight thumb. And Luna did not care if her parents were casualties in the battle to maintain that power.
"Mono Volt!" Lina yelled, but Luna channeled her will around herself to create a shield. What Lina wasn't expecting was for the spell to rebound back on her. She cried out a little, but it wasn't too bad.
But by then Gourry had been able to move behind Luna and attempted to wrap his arm around her neck in a sleeper hold. Luna stuck her hand in front of her neck and gave him an elbow to the gut, causing him to step back. Lina wasted no time casting her next spell, "Ly Briem!"
Luna dodged and rolled to the side, avoiding the spell, and Gourry barely managed to bring his sword up to cut it before it hit him instead. "Sorry, honey!" Lina said as Gourry glared at her.
Luna, meanwhile, had landed near her mother, who wasted no time in sitting on top of her while Han grabbed the remains of the knife from her hand. "That's enough! Get ahold of yourself!"
Luna screamed as an aura of power formed around her, and her parents jumped away as it radiated around her, knocking the shelves down around them. Han stayed down, but Leia forced herself up and ran towards the door. "Mom?" Lina asked, but she didn't have long to obsess over where she was going, because Luna stood up and grabbed another knife from her apron and threw the energy at Lina and Gourry. Gourry once again cut through it with the Blast Sword as he whispered to Lina, "I don't want to get too rough but…"
"Don't worry. She can handle it." Lina said. Gourry shook his head and moved forward to attack, and seemed surprised that this time her butter knife deflected his sword. Had she encased it with energy to protect it from the super sharp sword that could cut through anything?
He attacked, she parried, and then she grabbed her sword. It was then that it occurred to Lina that she should have told Gourry that Luna was ambidextrous, but he soon found out for himself as she thrusted, momentarily catching him off guard. He soon found himself busy, fending off a two-pronged attack from Luna, but he was definitely up to the task of keeping up. Privately Lina had wondered which of them would best the other in a fight, though she hadn't been keen to find out. Luna attacked, Gourry parried, and when their swords connected it was as though an explosion went off as she channeled her will from her weapons and directly into the Blast Sword itself!
Gourry cried out as his hands received a nasty shock and he dropped his sword while Lina was knocked over by the shockwave that resulted from Luna dumping her power into a weapon as powerful as the Blast Sword. As she got up she looked at Gourry and saw that his hands were burned, while Luna looked smug. "Now," she said as she turned to Lina.
But then the store creaked ominously as one of the walls collapsed. Lina ran to Gourry and cast a shield spell as the roof caved in over them. After what seemed like ages the dust cleared, and Luna stood in the remains of the store, still looking murderous. Lina shook her head. "Gee, is this how you act when you don't get your way, because…"
"Mommy? Are you okay?" Freddie asked, and Lina suddenly figured out where her mother had gone, as Leia walked up the street holding each of the twins, looking stunned.
"What! Our store! What did you do to our store!?" Leia said.
Luna, meanwhile, shook her head, looking dazed as she walked over to her mother and took her children. "I'm fine, darling." She then looked around at the remains of her parents' store, "Too bad you didn't think of getting them earlier, Mom. I may have remembered myself before it was too late. I think I have some things to think through."
Han and Leia looked at her, stunned, and Gourry wrapped an arm around Lina. Had she really won one against Luna? But at such a cost! She looked around at the detritus of her parents' shop as Luna walked away with her family. But then, at least it was contained to her families' store. Lina looked at Gourry, who exhaled. Then she looked at her parents, "You know, I was thinking we could use a few more teachers. According to the Eternal Queen we're at 30 pupils now, and with that many I'd have to serve more as a headmistress than a teacher."
Leia put a hand over her mouth while Han looked around morosely. "Deal."
AN: The wedding is in sight! Not sure if it will be the next chapter or the one following it, but it is around the corner.