Slayers: A Past Reborn

Chapter Two: What from dreams may come

After the attack by Jeran, Gourry had insisted on staying up on guard, in case he tried again. Lina laid down to try and sleep, but now there was even more to weigh on her mind. She remembered, back when she lived in Zephilia, her and Jeran had been friends, but he and his family had disappeared when they were 6, and she had never seen him again after that, until this night. Why would he come back now? And why ATTACK her? Slowly Lina drifted off to sleep, these thoughts running through her exhausted mind.

Gourry glanced at Lina. She looked so peaceful when she slept. He almost laughed at that thought, since that was one word that did NOT describe Lina at all. Then he frowned, remembering how unlike herself she had been lately. He didn't know what was causing her sadness, but he hoped it wasn't him. So much had happened between them lately. He was still a bit in a daze from what had happened when he had been taken, but he remembered clearly what happened after that. Now, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, but there are certain things that stick out and are always remembered in everyone's mind. One of those for him was when he had woken up, with everyone else to find Lina possessed by the Lord of Nightmares. He could remember, when Lina began to disappear up into the sky, how scared and…another feeling, one that he couldn't describe except the closest being intense sadness. He knew that he couldn't live without Lina. She was his purpose. He was her protector. Sighing, he leaned against a tree and settled in to keep watch.

****

Lina was dreaming. She was back home, in Zephilia…except, it wasn't Zephilia. There was something different. Of course, as she walked through the dream town, the fully dressed penguins were a sign to her that this wasn't really her home.

"Why do I always have weird things in my dreams?" Lina thought to herself as she watched the penguins* walk along the dirt road in her dream.

Looking past the penguins, Lina could see a tall figure standing at the edge of the road, leading into the forest. Walking closer, she could see that it was a man…with long blonde…

"Gourry!" Lina yelled to the him, happy to see someone NOT a penguin. He didn't move, just stood there looking at her as she approached him.

"Gourry?" Lina stopped a few feet away from him. He looked at her with a cold stare.

"Gourry, what's wrong?"

"I don't care," Gourry said to her in a flat voice.

"What?" Lina asked him, confused.

"I don't care. Nobody does. The only reason I follow you around is because you're a little girl who needs protection. But I should leave," Gourry said, then turned towards the woods.

"What? Wait a minute! What do you mean…"

Gourry turned back to her, "You're an annoying little brat. You should have died. Phibrezo should have killed you."

"What? Gourry…why…" Lina trailed off, feeling the tears well up in her eyes.

"Should have put you out of your misery, or rather my misery. Then I'd be free. Without you." With that he turned and began to walk into the woods.

"No! Gourry, don't leave me!" Lina fell to her knees, crying openly. Through the flow of tears, she saw a shadow of someone in front of her. Looking up, she saw a little girl with red hair in pigtails and red eyes. Herself.

"Whats the matter Lina? Don't like to be by yourself anymore? Well, get used to it! Because I'm gonna kill them all!" the "little" Lina laughed and then smirked. "Perhaps I'm being hasty, maybe I should just kill you!" With that, the "little" Lina's nails became razors and leaping, she stuck her hand into Lina's chest.

Lina looked down and gasped. Blood poured out of the wounds and the pain, the pain was so real but…

Suddenly the "little" Lina's face changed. A slight smile replaced the smirk and she withdrew her hand from Lina.

"You haven't much time…" she whispered to Lina, who was completely confused.

"I what?" Lina asked her, grimacing with pain still. Why was this little version of her one second trying to kill her, the next acting concerned?

"One holds the heart, one holds the mind, one holds the soul."

"What?" Where had she heard that before?

"No time…" the "little" Lina said and put her hand on Lina's forehead and whispered, "Wake up."

Lina sat up with a gasp, clutching at her chest. Gourry looked over in surprise at her sudden waking. Realizing that her chest HADN'T been stabbed and that she wasn't bleeding, she sighed with relief and laid down again.

"Lina?" Gourry asked her, his voice full of concern.

She looked over at Gourry and smiled softly, "Just a bad dream."

She then closed her eyes and drifted off again to sleep.