Gourry barely registered the way that Susan gasped and put her hand to her mouth as he ran past her with Rick to the basement until he realized that she was fast on their heels as they ran down the stairs. "Stay in the foyer!" Gourry snapped as he reached the basement.
"You may need a healer." She shot back, reminding Gourry of her ability to read minds as he had to slow down to run through the narrow path of junk.
Gourry nodded as he finally reached the bookshelf and then fumbled for the lever. He'd not been paying too much attention when Indy and Jean-Luc had shown it to him. He figured he wouldn't need to. Panic gripped him as he found that it wasn't as easy as it looked and he silently cursed as he started to wonder how the boys had even found it in the first place.
"We don't have time to waste with this!" Rick snapped.
"Stand back." Gourry said as he unsheathed his sword just as the door suddenly swung open. Before Gourry could process what had happened Indy walked out, carrying a crate filled with documents in his arms. "Sir Gourry?" he said as Jean-Luc followed him, dragging a small wagon filled with parchment and magical items behind him.
Gourry couldn't bring himself to feel relief that they were at least okay as he asked, "Have you seen Lina or Sylphiel?"
"No." They said simultaneously as Gourry rushed past them.
"Get back into the manor then." He shouted as Rick and Susan followed him, and then stopped as he hit a fork in the road.
Gooseflesh rose on Gourry's arm as the sensation of having done this before rose through him. But then he'd been in these tunnels once, so he had. But it was more than that. Somehow he knew that Lina and Sylphiel had taken the path on the right, and he started to head there as Rick called out to the boys, "Did you come from the right or the left?"
"Left." Jean-Luc said.
Can this really be a coincidence? Gourry wondered as he raced down the tunnel, terrified that at any moment that he would hear the screams that had haunted his dreams.
He came to another fork in the road and didn't hesitate to go in the direction his gut was telling him to. Rick and Susan kept close behind him as the color of the brick that lined the color changed and Gourry realized he was getting close. When he heard the sound of Lina's laughter echo through the hallway relief burst through him as he yelled, "Lina! Stop! Don't go another step forward!"
"Gourry?" he heard her say, "What are you doing here?"
"Just turn around, you and Sylphiel both, please turn around!" Gourry yelled as he finally saw them up ahead.
Once he caught up to her he wrapped her in the biggest, tightest hug, relishing the feeling of having her safe in his arms as she stiffened in surprise. "Um, Gourry, what's with you?" Lina asked as beside them Rick kept asking Sylphiel over and over again if she was alright as Susan stood off awkwardly to the side.
"I think this hallway is boobytrapped." Gourry said as he slowly started to calm down as he pulled away from her, "I thought we might be too late."
"Boobytrapped?" Lina repeated as Gourry moved away from her to cautiously look down the hallway. He took a few steps forward, and then a few more, and stopped as he recognized a bulkhead.
He sucked in a deep breath as everyone watched him quietly. If he was right, the spot was not even fifty feet from where Lina and Sylphiel had been! "Does anyone have something I can throw?"
"Will this work?" Susan asked as she held out a ball. Had she been carrying it with her this whole time?
Gourry decided it wasn't important as he took it from her and stared out ahead. "Should I cast a shield spell?" Susan asked.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Gourry said. He had no idea what the range would be. Susan started chanting, and when he heard her voice in his head yelling "now" he threw it. Susan's shield went up as the ball bounced once on the ground harmlessly and then flew up and landed once more a few feet further ahead, and then there was a whooshing sound as purple flames consumed the tunnel.
Sylphiel cried out as she grabbed her stomach while Lina grabbed his arm in shock as Rick muttered, "Gourry, you idiot, if we had been just a few seconds later…"
Lina cut him off as she looked at Gourry and asked, "How did you know?"
"What else can you remember?" Lina asked as she sat with Gourry and the rest of the staff in the upstairs parlor. They had left instructions not to be disturbed for any reason as Gourry described and re-described every detail of his dreams while Zelgadis took notes as Sylphiel and Leia consulted with manuscripts to see if they could find anything that would explain what was happening.
Han and Naga sat silently as Gourry went through every detail over and over again as Rick glowered at him from the doorway. While Gourry was worried that he had damaged their friendship, he was more concerned about the fact that Lina was doing everything she could not to grind her teeth every time she looked at him. Rick wasn't the only one who was pissed. And given the fact that he was currently regurgitating every detail of the dream he could not escape remembering how disdainful and bitter she had been in the future.
It was now indisputable that he was somehow seeing visions of the future. But he couldn't rest easy and say that the catastrophic future he had seen wouldn't happen because it didn't seem as though it was one mere event that had turned Lina into that woman, though, certainly avoiding those purple flames had to count for something! Regardless, he was desperate for some time alone to repair things with her.
"That's everything." Gourry said as he silently pleaded with her not to make him go through it all again.
Lina leaned back in her chair and then looked over at all that Zelgadis had written. For a moment everyone was silent as they digested the information Gourry had provided. Finally Lina said, "Okay, what I think we need to do is to divide this into what we know, what is speculative, and what we have no clue on."
Zelgadis got out another piece of parchment and put some headers on it as Han said, "Well, now I would say that it is a safe bet that Gourry is somehow seeing the future."
Everyone nodded as Rick added, "And he has the ability to alter it. So it's not fixed."
"That's the good news. Very good news." Lina said as Zel kept writing.
"We also know that the Demon Lord of the North will be resurrected and that the attack on Dils will fail and Maeve will die, resulting in a string of defeats." Zelgadis said, "And that we have been warned against someone."
Gourry felt a pang of guilt. The only piece of information he'd held back was that the name of the person he was warned against may begin with an M. Zelgadis continued, "But we don't know enough about the context of any of those situations to know where things went wrong."
"We also don't know how or why this is happening." Han said.
"Lia." Gourry said quickly, "Aurelia. Somehow she's doing this. I can't prove it, but I feel it in my bones that she's trying to change the past."
"If that's what your gut is telling you then that's enough for me." Lina said as she slumped forward, "But why isn't Midas helping her? Did he not make it? Did I?"
"We don't know that it was anything that bad." Gourry said as he moved to put a hand on her knee and she batted it away. He felt stung as he wished once more that this could be over, that he could talk to Lina alone.
"Even if it is Aurelia, that doesn't give us much to go on." Zelgadis said.
"May I?" Sylphiel asked as she set her manuscript aside and pushed herself out of her chair.
Gourry nodded, and she came up and chanted a spell. Nothing happened. "Well, that rules out the possibility that your somehow drawing power from a Shinzoku or Mazoku." She said.
"Which leaves the twins and their unique nature," Lina speculated, "Or, perhaps, something about the research in the basement that Aurelia is using?"
"We need to check in with Indy and Jean-Luc and see what they have unearthed." Zelgadis said as he gauged the time by looking out the window. "But that can wait till morning. As for the special nature of the twins, that is your specialty."
"It is, isn't it." Lina said as she folded her arms across her stomach and looked at the coffee table. "Well, they say that they have dominion over all terrible dreams. So it's possible this is a power of the Lord of Nightmares. But why would only Gourry be affected? And once again, where does Midas fit into all of this?"
"Since we don't even know why this is happening, the possibilities are endless." Zelgadis said. "But you did say that at one point you felt as though Lia was trying to reach you. What if she needs help?"
"That could make sense." Sylphiel said, "If she was experimenting with her powers. And perhaps the twins have different powers which is why you haven't seen Midas."
"But how can we know?" Gourry asked, feeling a measure of relief in Sylphiel's suggestion.
"Well, when you dream tonight you can try talking to her." Leia said.
"Can I do that?" Gourry said, "Sometimes all my dreams are are a mix of pictures and sounds. They don't make any sense! How can I talk to her if all I see is that?"
"There are techniques to help people control their dreams." Sylphiel said as she rubbed her back, "It takes practice to get good at, but it is not too difficult really. I can go over the techniques with you."
"I'm willing to try anything." Gourry said.
"Does anyone have any other ideas?" Lina asked. After a moment of silence she continued, "Right, then. Tomorrow I'll contact The Eternal Queen and inform her of this situation. Zel, we can start talking with Indy and Jean-Luc about the research they've found and see if that sheds any light on the situation. Sylphiel, why don't you stick around for a bit and get Gourry started with that dream stuff. And Gourry, as soon as you find anything else, you tell me first thing!"
"Sounds like a plan." Han said as Leia stretched and got up, "Now I'm going to head on to bed."
Gourry remained seated and nervous as most of the group filed out of the room, leaving them alone with Rick and Sylphiel. While Sylphiel seemed to be her usual agreeable self, Rick continued to glower at him. As soon as Zelgadis closed the door behind him it was obvious that he was not the only one who picked up on it, as Lina looked at Rick and said, "Out with it already."
Rick pointed at Gourry accusingly, "We could have lost the baby! Syl could have suffered those horrible burns if you'd kept this to yourself much longer! And Lina, your own wife, would have been hurt! How in the hell would that have been protecting her?"
Gourry started to shake as he thought of how close it had come to that. By now he was sure that the memory of a woman screaming in the tunnels had been the future where they had been caught by the boobytrap. How could he have been so stupid as to think that the only way it could have happened is if he was there? "You're right, I'm sorry."
"I can't even, not yet…"
"Then take a walk." Lina said curtly, "You've had your say. Gourry has apologized. I get that you're angry, hell, I'm angry, but even if he did make some mistakes, bottom line, if it wasn't for Gourry your son would be dead right now and Sylphiel and I would be badly wounded, so count your blessings. And if you can't control yourself enough to work with us on contacting Lia, then we don't need you here right now."
Gourry couldn't help by smile a little as the fact that she was defending him warmed him. She was mad, but not irreparably so. But Rick was not so easily deterred as he continued, "No! I'm not done yet. I'm mad at you for letting Syl go down there with you! What the hell were you thinking?"
"That Sylphiel is the closest person to an expert on navigating tunnels that we have and a grown woman who could decide for herself whether or not it was too dangerous." Lina said.
Sylphiel put a hand on Rick's arm and said, "Please forgive my husband as he has had quite the fright and is lashing out. I was careless and too quick to believe that I would be able to sense any danger and avoid it. It's easier for Rick to be mad at the two of you than it is for him to be mad at me."
There was a moment of tension as Rick continued to glare at them, his jaw tense and his eyes aflame as Gourry remained head down while Lina met his gaze evenly as though bracing for the fight ahead. Rick's mouth opened and Gourry's stomach tensed, but he let out a sob as he buried his hands in his face as he sank into the couch beside Sylphiel. Sylphiel brought her arms around him and pulled him into a hug as he said, "I just came so close to losing everyone I love again."
Beside him Lina shifted uncomfortably at the intimacy of what she was watching as Gourry felt guilt wash over him. Sylphiel smiled assuringly as she said, "We had a close call today. But Sir Gourry did say something so the worst didn't happen. Let's not nitpick over how it unfolded. We're all safe for now, and nothing but that matters."
"You're right." Rick said as he took a deep breath and accepted the handkerchief that Sylphiel handed to him. He blew his nose and then set it down and said, "Go ahead, give them whatever information they need. I'll be calmer in the morning."
"Right then, let's get down to business." Lina said as Sylphiel reclaimed her space on the couch.
"This will take some work." Sylphiel said, "Tonight, before you go to bed, I want you to write about every detail you can remember of your dreams, and then write an ending where you talk to Lia in it. Re-read it a few times before you go to bed and focus on it as you fall asleep. If you do this enough you'll be able to control your dream to talk to her."
"You expect Gourry to do that much reading and writing?" Lina said.
"If need be he can narrate it to you." Sylphiel said.
"I can write." Gourry said, not feeling up to joking about his intelligence at the moment.
"Good." Sylphiel said, "Because in the morning, as soon as you wake up, you will have to write down every detail of every dream you had at night. This will help you remember it before it fades, and help you gain more control over what you do in your dreams."
"I'll do anything to avoid that future." Gourry said, but he could almost hear Lina's unspoken rebuke of, aside from telling your wife.
"Is that all?" Lina asked.
"Yes, if you have any questions just let me know."
"Alright then. It's late." Lina said as she glanced out the window, "You two get some rest."
"We will. Good night Dame Lina, Sir Gourry." Sylphiel said.
Even though the time was closer to finally being alone with Lina to repair things with her, Gourry's anxiety did not abate. Rather it grew as he followed her to her room as it became more and more apparent that she was still mad as she kept her arms folded and her eyes focused dead ahead. Once they reached her room, Lina walked up to her mirror and started taking off her earrings as said. "Dammit, Gourry, I'm your wife! Your partner! Not some child you have to protect from this world."
"That wasn't why I didn't tell you." Gourry said as he sat on the bed and kicked off his boots.
"Well then why didn't you tell me?" she snapped as she turned to glare at him.
"I thought it might be all in my head." He said, "And you're doing so much, raising our children while running this school and teaching. I didn't want to be one more person for you to take care of."
Lina stared at him for a moment as though he had grown a second head, and then to his surprise she laughed. "Idiot. You're my husband, you're already another person for me to take care of! And I can't do that if you don't talk to me!"
He felt some of the tension leave the room as she grabbed her brush and started to run it through her hair. He watched her for a moment as hope filled him that the future he'd seen could be avoided. For so long he had clung to her dad's advice about never letting the woman he loves see his worried expression because of how much he respected him. But then, even the wisest of people are wrong at times.
She sat the brush down and walked over to sit beside him, and he grabbed her hands, "Listen, I'll do anything to avoid the future I saw. I want us to grow happy together. So I'll work to open up a bit more to you."
"I'm holding you to that." Lina said as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close and felt relief wash over him as she held him back just as tightly.