Heaven is on the Way Prt.3
Sorry it took me so long... I have exams this week and have been busy studying. This really isn't my best work, to tell you the truth I've been having a hard time with it, but I'd like to get the story down on paper (or computer) and then edit the content later.
. . .
Lina looked at the small village. She missed her earlier days, when her and Amelia would fight over where to eat. It had been almost two years since she had last seen Amelia... or any of her companions. Gourry had settled down, surprizingly, with Sylphiel. He hadn't wanted to leave her, in fact, he had offered to blow of Sylphiel and stay with her, but she couldn't let him do that. It wasn't right.
Amelia had gone back to ruling her city, after Prince Phil had passed away from a heart attack, leaving her the throne.
Lina herself had continued travelling, and every town she went in, she made sure to look around for any sign of a tan cloak, or blue, wiry hair. But there was nothing.
She stopped at an inn and booked a single room for herself. After paying, and making sure her things were safley locked up, she went into the town to see if she could get some food. She spotted a small booth selling pastrys, and she bought one and started to eat it. She sat down on a bench and watched some people walking by. Thena conversation going on between an older man an da young man standing off the the side caught her attention.
"I tell you, elder, we need to do something about it! Some people have families!" The younger man looked angry and slightly edgy.
"I realize this, Frebec, but what can I do? There's nobody near strong enough to take care of this monster, and a message for help to the capital will take a few days at least!" The older man, the elder of the village, was slightly calmer, but still looked worried.
'Hmm... maybe if I help them out with their little monster problem, they will reward me!' Lina thought. She stood up, finished her pastry in one bite and licked her fingers off. Then she straightened her cloak and walked over to the two men.
"Aherm. Can I help you young miss?" The elder said.
"Yes, or rather, I can help you. You see, I couldn't help but overhear you speaking of a monster and I was wondering if I could try to defeat it for you. For a small, tiny, itty bitty price of course." Lina grinned winningly.
"Why, you must be mad!" The younger man, Frebec, said. "There's no way a skinny, flat chested little girl could defeat a ravenous, blood thirsty monster like this one!" He leered rudely at her.
"Excuse me," she said, and stomped on his foot. "What if this /skinny, flat chested little girl/ happened to be the Great and Powerful Lina Inverse, sorceress extrordinare?"
"Lina Inverse!" The elder looked her up and down. "Thank goodness!" He called and grabbed hold of her arm. "Please help us, Lina Inverse! There is a terrible monster in the woods outside our village. He keeps coming in and killing our villagers!" He shuddered. "There is no way ordinary weapons can stop him, he is like stone!"
Lina thought, Stone...?' She shook off her weir feeling of deja vu, and turned to the elder. "Well, I'm not ordinary weapon! Tell me where his lair is and I'll defeat him. Of course, I'll need my gold in advance, mind you."
"Yes yes of course!" The elder said happily.
"That will be 100 gold pieces." Lina held out her hand. The elder counted the money quickly into her hand.
"Ahem, I meant 1000." Lina smiled, wondering if he would go with it.
"Of course, of course, anything." He gave her the extra gold.
'Wow... this monster must be bad...' she thought.
* * *
Lina spent the rest of the day at the inn, resting up. She had decided to go after the monster the next morning, when most mosters usually are sleeping. But the elder, and Frebec, would hear of it, they said that she had to go out this very night, so the monster wouldn't attack again. It had already killed eight people, and they didn't wnat that number to go up any higher.
She had reluctantly aggreed, asking a couple hundred more gold for it, and had gone to the inn to sleep so that she would be rested for the evening to come.
When the sun started to set, she collected her sword and made her way to the edge of the village, where the elder said the monster usually came from. The forest was dark and slightly creepy, but there was an almost full moon above her head to light the way. She walked for about five minutes, and started to search in earnest for the monster. A cave, or a nest of some sort maybe... but what she saw when she entered that clearing is what she couldn't have imagined for the world.
There was grass on the ground, and the area was clear of trees for about 20 feet around. There was a large boulder that looked as if it was made of silver, as the moonlight shone down on it. And huddle near the boulder... was Zelgadis.
His cloak and shirt were gone, and his pants were ripped and dirty. His hair was tangled and there were leaves and other various forest things stuck in it. His back was to her, and she could see a scratches on his stone body, made from what, she did not know. His body was heaving, as if he was taking gasping breaths, and she stepped forward, hand outstretched.
'The monster must have gotten him,' she thought, worried.
He stopped moving when he heard her take a step, snapping a small twig. Suddenly, he lruched to a standing position, and twirled to face her, crouched as if ready to leap forward.
She gasped when she saw his face. It was totally vacant of anything but pure animal rage. He snarled at her and lunged forward. She saw his sword was gone, but that didn't stop him and he made to grab her with his hands. She screamed and jumped back, totally unprepared.
"Zelgadis!" She screamed, and threw a flare arrow at him. He shook his head and glanced around, then stalked forward again. "Zelgadis, listen to me! It's me, Lina!" Lina remembered exactly when this had happened before, at the summer solstice in Parachelie. But, it had worn off then, why wasn't it wearing off now? She backed away, then started to run, yelling back at Zelgadis. "Zelgadis, wake up!" She was very frightened. Normally it wouldn't have fazed her she would have just blasted any monster that dare chace her. But it was so disconcerting, seeing Zelgadis again after two years, and seeing him like this. She couldn't barely even cast a spell to harm him, she didn't want to harm him!
She ran harder, seeing him catch up, and then she tripped and fell on a root, twisting her ankle. She sturggled up and ran on, tears streaming down her face as she preasured the injured ankle. But it slowed her down, slowed her down too much, and with a feral growl, Zelgadis lept forward and caught her arm. He rolled her over and began to choke her, sqeezing her throught with his powerful hands. Her eyes pleaded with him, and tears flowed freely. Soon, the world was starting to blacken, and she knew she couldn't go any farther. She struggled to get free, and cast a lighting spell in his face, making him clench his fists to his face. She tried to roll away, but he was sitting on her, knees pressed tightly against her sides so she couldn't get free. He was still clutching his face in pain, the magic in that lighting spell had been strong. She couldn't get free, so she knew she couldn't cast any destructive magic, it was too close range and she would be caught in it. She knew what she had to do. Unpinning her arm, she reached down to her belt and drew the sword out from it.
"Light come forth!" She choked, and the light came powering out of the hilt. A parting gift from Gourry.
'If I can't protect you anymore, at least take this," he had said kindly. She thanked him with all her heart right now, knowing that her normal sword would do nothing but scratch Zelgadis. She swung it forward, and it cut into the stone of his side, just below his ribs. He howled in pain and rolled off of her. Blood soaked his pants and ran down his body, spreading on the forest floor and Lina could hear a dull thud as Zelgadis hit the ground, unconcious.
* * *
Sorry it took me so long... I have exams this week and have been busy studying. This really isn't my best work, to tell you the truth I've been having a hard time with it, but I'd like to get the story down on paper (or computer) and then edit the content later.
. . .
Lina looked at the small village. She missed her earlier days, when her and Amelia would fight over where to eat. It had been almost two years since she had last seen Amelia... or any of her companions. Gourry had settled down, surprizingly, with Sylphiel. He hadn't wanted to leave her, in fact, he had offered to blow of Sylphiel and stay with her, but she couldn't let him do that. It wasn't right.
Amelia had gone back to ruling her city, after Prince Phil had passed away from a heart attack, leaving her the throne.
Lina herself had continued travelling, and every town she went in, she made sure to look around for any sign of a tan cloak, or blue, wiry hair. But there was nothing.
She stopped at an inn and booked a single room for herself. After paying, and making sure her things were safley locked up, she went into the town to see if she could get some food. She spotted a small booth selling pastrys, and she bought one and started to eat it. She sat down on a bench and watched some people walking by. Thena conversation going on between an older man an da young man standing off the the side caught her attention.
"I tell you, elder, we need to do something about it! Some people have families!" The younger man looked angry and slightly edgy.
"I realize this, Frebec, but what can I do? There's nobody near strong enough to take care of this monster, and a message for help to the capital will take a few days at least!" The older man, the elder of the village, was slightly calmer, but still looked worried.
'Hmm... maybe if I help them out with their little monster problem, they will reward me!' Lina thought. She stood up, finished her pastry in one bite and licked her fingers off. Then she straightened her cloak and walked over to the two men.
"Aherm. Can I help you young miss?" The elder said.
"Yes, or rather, I can help you. You see, I couldn't help but overhear you speaking of a monster and I was wondering if I could try to defeat it for you. For a small, tiny, itty bitty price of course." Lina grinned winningly.
"Why, you must be mad!" The younger man, Frebec, said. "There's no way a skinny, flat chested little girl could defeat a ravenous, blood thirsty monster like this one!" He leered rudely at her.
"Excuse me," she said, and stomped on his foot. "What if this /skinny, flat chested little girl/ happened to be the Great and Powerful Lina Inverse, sorceress extrordinare?"
"Lina Inverse!" The elder looked her up and down. "Thank goodness!" He called and grabbed hold of her arm. "Please help us, Lina Inverse! There is a terrible monster in the woods outside our village. He keeps coming in and killing our villagers!" He shuddered. "There is no way ordinary weapons can stop him, he is like stone!"
Lina thought, Stone...?' She shook off her weir feeling of deja vu, and turned to the elder. "Well, I'm not ordinary weapon! Tell me where his lair is and I'll defeat him. Of course, I'll need my gold in advance, mind you."
"Yes yes of course!" The elder said happily.
"That will be 100 gold pieces." Lina held out her hand. The elder counted the money quickly into her hand.
"Ahem, I meant 1000." Lina smiled, wondering if he would go with it.
"Of course, of course, anything." He gave her the extra gold.
'Wow... this monster must be bad...' she thought.
* * *
Lina spent the rest of the day at the inn, resting up. She had decided to go after the monster the next morning, when most mosters usually are sleeping. But the elder, and Frebec, would hear of it, they said that she had to go out this very night, so the monster wouldn't attack again. It had already killed eight people, and they didn't wnat that number to go up any higher.
She had reluctantly aggreed, asking a couple hundred more gold for it, and had gone to the inn to sleep so that she would be rested for the evening to come.
When the sun started to set, she collected her sword and made her way to the edge of the village, where the elder said the monster usually came from. The forest was dark and slightly creepy, but there was an almost full moon above her head to light the way. She walked for about five minutes, and started to search in earnest for the monster. A cave, or a nest of some sort maybe... but what she saw when she entered that clearing is what she couldn't have imagined for the world.
There was grass on the ground, and the area was clear of trees for about 20 feet around. There was a large boulder that looked as if it was made of silver, as the moonlight shone down on it. And huddle near the boulder... was Zelgadis.
His cloak and shirt were gone, and his pants were ripped and dirty. His hair was tangled and there were leaves and other various forest things stuck in it. His back was to her, and she could see a scratches on his stone body, made from what, she did not know. His body was heaving, as if he was taking gasping breaths, and she stepped forward, hand outstretched.
'The monster must have gotten him,' she thought, worried.
He stopped moving when he heard her take a step, snapping a small twig. Suddenly, he lruched to a standing position, and twirled to face her, crouched as if ready to leap forward.
She gasped when she saw his face. It was totally vacant of anything but pure animal rage. He snarled at her and lunged forward. She saw his sword was gone, but that didn't stop him and he made to grab her with his hands. She screamed and jumped back, totally unprepared.
"Zelgadis!" She screamed, and threw a flare arrow at him. He shook his head and glanced around, then stalked forward again. "Zelgadis, listen to me! It's me, Lina!" Lina remembered exactly when this had happened before, at the summer solstice in Parachelie. But, it had worn off then, why wasn't it wearing off now? She backed away, then started to run, yelling back at Zelgadis. "Zelgadis, wake up!" She was very frightened. Normally it wouldn't have fazed her she would have just blasted any monster that dare chace her. But it was so disconcerting, seeing Zelgadis again after two years, and seeing him like this. She couldn't barely even cast a spell to harm him, she didn't want to harm him!
She ran harder, seeing him catch up, and then she tripped and fell on a root, twisting her ankle. She sturggled up and ran on, tears streaming down her face as she preasured the injured ankle. But it slowed her down, slowed her down too much, and with a feral growl, Zelgadis lept forward and caught her arm. He rolled her over and began to choke her, sqeezing her throught with his powerful hands. Her eyes pleaded with him, and tears flowed freely. Soon, the world was starting to blacken, and she knew she couldn't go any farther. She struggled to get free, and cast a lighting spell in his face, making him clench his fists to his face. She tried to roll away, but he was sitting on her, knees pressed tightly against her sides so she couldn't get free. He was still clutching his face in pain, the magic in that lighting spell had been strong. She couldn't get free, so she knew she couldn't cast any destructive magic, it was too close range and she would be caught in it. She knew what she had to do. Unpinning her arm, she reached down to her belt and drew the sword out from it.
"Light come forth!" She choked, and the light came powering out of the hilt. A parting gift from Gourry.
'If I can't protect you anymore, at least take this," he had said kindly. She thanked him with all her heart right now, knowing that her normal sword would do nothing but scratch Zelgadis. She swung it forward, and it cut into the stone of his side, just below his ribs. He howled in pain and rolled off of her. Blood soaked his pants and ran down his body, spreading on the forest floor and Lina could hear a dull thud as Zelgadis hit the ground, unconcious.
* * *