Slayers is the property of Kadokawa Shoten.
Faces: After!
Part 12
Wake Up!
That Daydream Believer!
"Come on, Sylphiel! Wake up!" Lina cried, shaking the shrine maiden roughly.
Sylphiel didn't budge. The redhead growled, reached back, and slapped her across the
face with a resounding *CRACK!*
Nothing.
"Forget it, Lina," Zelgadis told her. "You're not going to snap her out of it that
way."
"Well we have to do SOMETHING!" she growled at him. "Amelia needs her!
We can't just wait for her to come out of it on her own!"
"I know."
"Why did you put her in a spell like that to begin with!? You know how dangerous
they can be!"
The chimera turned to her, scowling. He walked over to Sylphiel, but didn't reply
to Lina's demand. He didn't feel he had to. Zelgadis knew why he put Sylphiel under, and
he wasn't about to try to justify that to Lina, especially while she was like this.
"Are you going to stand there and whine," he asked, "Or are you going to help me
snap her out of this?"
Lina's eyes narrowed. "What do you want me to do?"
"She's dreaming on the astral plane. I can send you in there after her."
"Why don't you go?" she asked in confusion.
"If Amelia were up to casting and maintaining the spell, I would, but without her
I'm the only one with that kind of control over astral magic." He took a seat next to the bed
and began preparing himself. "It's either you or Gourry."
"Fine. What do I do?"
"Lie down," he ordered her.
Lina nodded and circled around to the other side of the bed, lying down next to
Sylphiel.
"Now take her hand. I'm going to put you under like I did her, only this time I'm
going to link your astral patterns together. You'll be entering HER dream world."
Lina took a breath. She wasn't sure about entering the dreams of a woman
as…eccentric…as Sylphiel. She ended up nodding her consent.
"I'll be monitoring you. When you're ready to come out, I'll break the spell.
Ready?"
"Okay, let's do it," Lina said. She rested her head against the pillow and closed
her eyes as Zelgadis chanted the dreamweaver spell. The sorceress had heard of
dreamweavers and what they were used for. She shuddered. The thought of being trapped
in your own worst nightmares, unable to escape on your own from them, terrified her. An
image of Luna wearing a hockey mask and carrying a bamboo stick entered her mind.
No thank you…
She took a breath as she listened to Zelgadis chant. Amelia just had to hang on until
she could drag Sylphiel back to the waking world. No problem, right?
The sound of Zelgadis' voice stopped.
She waited, her eyes closed, but he didn't continue.
"Zel?" she asked quietly.
No answer.
"Zel?" she tried again. She opened her eyes…
The sun stared down at her from a blue sky. She blinked and turned her head. She
was lying in a field of grass. Zelgadis, the inn, all of it…was gone.
She quickly sat up and looked around. The field went on for what looked like
miles. A tree, a few rocks, and a stream all served to break up the continuous green. She
could see smoke in the distance, and if she squinted, she could make out a house as the
source of that smoke.
Lina suddenly tensed. She sensed something behind her… Turning quickly, she
found three young girls, no older than six years old, staring at her. She blinked at the sight.
The girls were identical; all wearing the same light purple dress and their bluish-purple
hair in the exact same style, allowing it to hang down their back like Sylphiel wore hers.
They continued to stare at her, their expressions blank.
"Um…Hello," Lina said, putting on a nervous smile.
"Hello," all three girls said at once.
The sorceress stood up and brushed the grass off her. "Um…You girls live around
here?" she asked.
The triplets stared at her. Finally, one of them, the center one, spoke.
"You wanna play?"
Lina laughed nervously. "Actually, I have to find someone. Maybe your parents
will play with you."
"We already played with them," the triplet on the right told her.
"Yes," the one on the left spoke up. "Now we want to play with YOU…"
Lina stared at them. "Suuuuuuure," she said slowly. She started to turn. "Just let
me get my…" Instead of ending the sentence, she took off running!
"TAG!" the triplets cried, chasing after her!
Lina squealed in fright and continued to run, the children of the damned in hot
pursuit.
"TAG! TAG! TAG!" they screamed at her as they chased her.
"WHAT KIND OF CRAZY DREAM IS THIS?!" Lina cried as she ran past the
tree. She heard a thud from behind her and turned her head. A ten year old boy with
brown hair had jumped from the tree.
"PIG!" he cried.
The triplets took up this new cheer as they continued to chase her, the boy leading
the way.
"PIG! PIG! PIG!"
Lina screamed louder and continued to run. She could see the house not far up
ahead. She put on more speed.
(At least they're not penguins!) she thought frantically.
Yeah, small comfort…
"PIG! PIG! PIG!"
"STOP CHASING ME!" she screamed at them.
They ignored her. She ran faster. She didn't want to use magic on them. They
were kids! And what effect would magic have in Sylphiel's mind? Would it even work!?
She hit the oak door of the house with a thud and frantically worked the latch.
Finally, the door opened and she ducked inside, slamming it behind her! She leaned
against the wood and took a few deep breaths.
"Miss Lina?"
She looked up and found Sylphiel standing next to a stove. The shrine maiden had
apparently given up her traveling outfit in favor of a pink sundress. Her belly was slightly
distended, just barely enough for Lina to notice. She blinked at the redhead, puzzled at her
appearance.
"Sylphiel!" Lina cried, exhausted but relieved.
Sylphiel ran up to Lina and hugged her. "How are you?! And how is Gourry? Did
he come with you?"
Lina blinked at him. "Um…No. Sylphiel, what are you doing here? We've been
trying to wake you up for an hour."
The sorceress blinked at her. "Miss Lina? What are you talking about?"
Lina stared at her. "I think the real question is 'what are YOU talking about?'"
Sylphiel smiled. "It's so wonderful having you here to visit. The children haven't
seen their Aunt Lina since the triplets were babies."
"THOSE ARE *YOUR* HEATHENS OUT THERE?!" Lina cried.
Before Sylphiel could reply to that, there was crying from upstairs. "Oh dear! You
woke up little Naga chan…"
"AND YOU NAMED ONE AFTER NAGA?!"
Sylphiel wasn't listening. She was rushing up the stairs to the toddler's room. Lina
followed quickly, still in disbelief that Sylphiel would choose to name one of her children
NAGA.
"I mean…Why Naga?!" she continued as they entered the toddler's room. "What's
wrong with 'Lina?'"
"How's my little girl?" Sylphiel said with a bright smile as she lifted a two year
old out of her bed.
"Sylphiel!? Are you listening to me!?"
"No, she's not."
Lina turned quickly to the sound of the voice. Standing in the bedroom doorway
was a twelve-year-old boy with wild, brown hair in a style very similar to the one
Zelgadis wore. "Who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Oh, Eruk," Sylphiel said, turning to the boy, Naga chan secure in her arms.
"Could you go get Naga chan her juice?"
The boy, Eruk, smiled. "Sure thing, Mom," he told her. He started down the stairs.
Lina looked back to Sylphiel and found her humming to the toddler, paying no
attention whatsoever to the sorceress. She made a quick decision and dashed off after
Eruk.
"Hey! You!" she called out as she ran down the steps. "Who are you, anyway?"
Eruk was busy filling a pink cup with orange juice. "I'm Eruk. I'm the oldest."
"'Eruk?'" Lina muttered. "Sylphiel's father?"
He smiled at her, a smile she REALLY didn't like. Something about it reminded
her a little TOO much of Phibrizzo.
Lina's eyes narrowed. "Okay, kid, your bullshit story is noted and logged. Now
who are you REALLY?"
Instead of answering her, Eruk started back up the stairs. Lina growled.
(Okay,) she thought. (Forget him. I have to break through to Sylphiel. That's
what's important now.) She started for the stairs again when suddenly the front door burst
open. Lina turned quickly, anticipating an attack.
She wasn't disappointed.
"THERE SHE IS!" the ten year old she saw earlier cried from the doorway.
"PIG! PIG! PIG!" the triplets cried.
Lina screamed and ran to the back of the house! The rugrats chased after her.
"STOP THE PIG!" the boy cried.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIG, YOU LITTLE SNOT!?" Lina screamed back
at him over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she saw the triplets no longer pursuing.
They were standing in a row, their eyes closed and their hands up. Their lips were moving
as if…
(Hel-LO! Sylphiel! One of them more powerful sorceresses you've met! Don'tcha
think that MAYBE she's been teaching her little darlings how to…)
"OH CRAP!"
The triplets pointed at her. "AQUA CREATE!" they cried!
*SPLASH!*
"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Lina cried as the spell drenched
her. She sputtered. Unfortunately, the water from the spell made the floor slippery. Lina
lost her footing and started sliding across the floor towards the wall!
"I HATE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed.
*WHAM!*
She groaned and looked up as the children of the damned surrounded her. Lina was
trapped, lying on the floor with the wall at her back and the Munchkin Patrol blocking her
escape route.
"Pig…Pig…PIG!"
Lina grit her teeth. She was going to teach these little punks a lesson they'll never
forget! They weren't children! They were Mazoku! They had to be! THEY HAD TO BE
MONSTERS!!!
"Darkness beyo…"
Before she could get any further, however, she heard Sylphiel's voice call out from
behind them.
"Gourry! Lina! Amelia! Deanna!" The children all turned to see an angry
Sylphiel glaring at them, her hands on her hips. "What did I tell you about that!?"
The children hung their heads. "No spell-casting in the house," they muttered.
"That's right! Now you can just march up to your rooms until dinner!" She pointed
up the stairs, and the Munchkin Patrol started marching.
Sylphiel helped Lina to her feet.
"Are you all right, Miss Lina?"
The redhead growled at the priestess. "Do you REALLY want SIX kids?" she
asked.
Sylphiel blushed. "Seven, actually," she said, pointing at her stomach.
"I wonder if Zel knows what he's getting himself into…" Lina muttered off to the
side.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing!" Lina cried. She suddenly grabbed Sylphiel by the shoulders.
"Sylphiel, you have to come back with me. Amelia is VERY sick. She needs you."
"Oh my gosh!" Sylphiel gasped out. "Where is she?!"
"It's…too hard to explain. Just come with me."
Sylphiel blinked. "But…But I can't just leave the children all alone!"
The redhead was just about at the end of her rope. She grit her teeth and bit out,
"Sylphiel, they are not real. They are dreams. Figments of your imagination. Zelgadis put
you in a dreamweaver, remember?"
The priestess blinked. "No…That's not right. Zelgadis dear is at work." She
smiled and turned, walking towards the kitchen.
Lina watched her go, amazed. "Sylphiel! Have you heard one word I've said!?
You have to come with me! You're trapped in your own dream!" She rushed after the
priestess and found her taking a pan of cookies out of the oven.
"Oh dear," Sylphiel commented as she waved some smoke away.
"Well…Zelgadis dear likes them burnt anyway…"
She grabbed Sylphiel by the arm and whirled her around to face her. "SYLPHIEL!
AMELIA MIGHT DIE!"
For a second, Lina thought she might have broken through to the shrine maiden, but
Sylphiel just shook her head and smiled. "Don't be silly, Miss Lina. Amelia is fine."
Lina growled and reached back, preparing to slap Sylphiel across the face. The
only thing that stopped her was the sound of Eruk's voice behind her.
"Mom? Is something wrong?"
Sylphiel smiled at him. "No, of course not, Eruk. Would you like a cookie?"
The sorceress released Sylphiel and growled. No matter how unreal he was, she
wasn't about to strike the priestess in front of a kid.
Dammit, this was going to be harder than she thought.
"Oi, Zelgadis," Gourry whispered from the doorway. "How long have they been
under?"
Zelgadis kept his eyes closed, his mind attuned to the spell, but could still hear and
understand Gourry's question. "Three hours," he told him. "And why are you
whispering?"
"I don't know," the swordsman whispered in reply. "It just seems like a good time
to whisper. Like I don't want to wake them…"
The chimera sighed. He had been in this same position for the past three hours. He
was sore, hungry, and was in desperate need of the bathroom…
"If you think speaking normally will wake them up, then why are you whispering?"
"Oh," Gourry said in his normal tone of voice. "So…Are they all right?"
"I can still sense Lina and Sylphiel in there," he told them. "So strictly speaking,
yes, they're all right."
The swordsman nodded.
"Gourry,"
"Yeah?"
The chimera paused for a moment. "Would you…Would you sit with Amelia for
me? I can't leave the room."
Gourry smiled. "Sure."
"Thank you, Gourry," Zelgadis told him quietly.
The blond man walked down the hall to Amelia and Lina's room and quietly
opened the door. "Amelia? Are you decent?" He opened the door further and found
Amelia still resting on her bed, still white as a sheet and sweating profusely.
"Mister Gourry?" she asked weakly.
"Yeah, it's me," he said with a smile, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Feeling any
better?"
The gaunt specter of Amelia slowly shook her head.
"Oh," Gourry whispered. "Would you like anything? How about some juice?"
"No…Thank you, Mister Gourry," Amelia whispered.
"Are you sure?"
Amelia thought for a moment, then pointed at her pack. "Could you get…my music
box…for me?" she wheezed.
The mercenary went to her bag and dug around in it for a minute, skillfully averting
his eyes when faced with Amelia's unmentionables until he found the little music box. He
put it on the nightstand next to her and opened it.
The sorceress closed her eyes as the soft tune started to play. "Thank you, Mister
Gourry…" she whispered.
Gourry took a breath and muttered. "Please hurry back, Lina…Sylphiel…"
Sylphiel hummed happily as she peeled potatoes for tonight's dinner. It was a
beautiful, bright, blue day outside; perfect weather for just sitting outside and peeling
potatoes…
Sitting in another chair next to her, likewise peeling potatoes, Lina watched the
priestess out of the corner of her eye. How could someone doing something so menial look
so incredibly happy? She had only been peeling for three minutes, and she as already
bored out of her skull with it. Was this REALLY Sylphiel's dream?
The shrine maiden finished another potato and deposited in the bin before picking
up a new one and starting over again.
At least the Munchkin Patrol was nowhere to be found. Apparently, the only thing
they respected in this dream world was their mother. She looked over at Sylphiel again.
SIX kids? No, SEVEN!? She was going to have to sit Zelgadis down and warn him when
she got back…
(Okay, Lina! Eyes on the prize! We need to get Sylphiel to snap out of it…)
Okay, now how was she supposed to do that? An idea came to her. If she could
prove to the shrine maiden that this was a dream, maybe she'd agree to come back with
her.
"Sylphiel," she began, "How long have you and Zelgadis been married?"
"Twelve years now," Sylphiel answered.
"And how old are your kids?" Lina asked, hoping to rattle the priestess.
"Twelve, ten, six, six, six, two, and the little one is due in five months."
"Where does Zelgadis work?" (Ha! Let's see you come up with one for THAT!)
Sylphiel didn't take her eyes off the potato. "The Atlas City Academy of Sorcery,
but you know that, Miss Lina, you helped him get the job there."
"Okay, what about Amelia?!"
She smiled. "Miss Amelia is in Seyruun, silly."
"No, she's not!" Lina cried, finally losing her patience. "She's in a little inn in
some godforsaken town dying because YOU won't help her!"
Sylphiel blinked, the scowled. "Miss Lina, I happen to know that Miss Amelia is
fine!"
"Oh!? And who told you that?! Magical elves!?" Lina asked sarcastically.
"Mister Xellos!"
Lina blinked. "Xellos?"
"Yes! He stopped by just the other day! I asked him how everyone was, and he
said everyone was perfectly fine!" The shrine maiden sniffed and went back to peeling
potatoes.
Lina's eyebrow twitched. "How can I convince you that I'm telling you the truth?"
she bit out.
"Miss Lina, I'm worried about you," Sylphiel told her as she peeled. "I think
perhaps you should go home and rest. The fact that you've come all this way alone,
without Gourry, tells me that there's something wrong…"
"BRILLIANT DEDUCTION!" Lina yelled back.
"Please don't raise your voice to me," Sylphiel told her. "It's bad for the baby…"
"AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!"
Okay, enough playing around…
"Okay, how about this?" Lina grated out. "If my next argument doesn't convince
you to come back with me, I'll shut up and leave you alone. Okay?"
Sylphiel put her potato down and faced Lina. "Fine. I accept."
"Good." Lina cleared her throat, stood up, and looked down at Sylphiel. "You
have to come back with me because…" Suddenly, without warning, the redhead lashed out
with her fist and punched the shrine maiden in the jaw!
Sylphiel fell from her chair to the ground, unconscious.
"BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Lina cried down at her. She quickly picked up the
priestess in a fireman's carry and started down the front path towards the field where she
had first arrived. She grumbled as she walked. "You have this really bad habit of making
things difficult, Sylphiel, you know that?"
She was about halfway there when she suddenly found herself surrounded by
munchkins…
"Awww…crap…" she muttered.
"You hurt Mommy," the triplets said in unison.
"Um…Mommy's just sleeping," Lina said, laughing nervously.
Eruk stepped forward. "You're not taking her out of here," he said pointedly.
"Now put her down and leave."
If she wasn't sure before, she was sure now. Eruk wasn't just some fantasy of
Sylphiel's. On some level, he was real…
"No," she said. "Amelia needs her."
Storm clouds began to gather overhead. The sky started to darken. There was a
crack of thunder. Lina looked up at the sky and found that somehow, a storm had formed in
the last three seconds. Eruk didn't bat an eye.
"She's happy here," he told her. "You have no right to take her from that."
"None of this is real!" Lina snapped at him. "It's a dream!"
"HER dream!" Eruk bit back. "One that's simple enough. Why can't she have
that? It's all she wants out of life! Why do you have to interfere with it?"
"What are you?!" Lina snarled. "The narrator? She has REAL friends! A REAL
family that needs her! All you can give her here is an illusion!"
"We give her happiness," Eruk told her. "You're the one making her sad."
"Yeah!" the other munchkins threw in.
Lina looked from side to side anxiously. "Listen," she said dangerously to Eruk. "I
know you're not real, and YOU know you're not real. So don't think for a second I won't
Dragon Slave this entire part of the world if you don't get out of my way RIGHT NOW."
Eruk stared at her. "I'm more real than you think, Lina Inverse," he told her
dangerously. "She needs to be protected. You don't know what lies ahead for her!"
Lina stared at him angrily. "Who are you, really?"
"I told you," he said quietly. "I am the first."
"You're the one who's been giving her nightmares, aren't you?" she whispered.
"Now who's the one making her sad, huh?!" she asked.
"It's the only way to warn her of what lies ahead," Eruk told her. "Out there she's
vulnerable, in here I can protect her."
Lina grit her teeth and started to walk past the child. A bolt of lightning shot from
the sky and hit the ground fifty feet in front of her. The sorceress paused, but continued
forward a second later. Another bolt of lightning hit the ground; this one much closer. Lina
hissed as the proximity of the blast singed her skin.
"I'll kill you with the next one, Lina Inverse," Eruk's voice floated over to her.
"Mother will wake up an hour later without a mark or any idea that you were ever here.
You, on the other hand will have a massive seizure in the waking world and die when your
heart stops beating."
Lina stood stock still for a moment. Then, "Do what you have to," she said quietly.
"But she has more to live for than a dream." She started forward again.
Eruk raised his hand and prepared to send another bolt of lightning down onto the
sorceress. Lina squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that, if nothing else, the shock from the
lightning would knock Sylphiel awake for real…
"Oi, what's going on here?"
Lina's eyes snapped open. "Zel?!" She turned quickly and found that someone had
walked up behind the munchkins while they were distracted. The children, with the
exception of Eruk, turned to him.
"PAPA!"
The triplets ran up to the man and hugged him. Eruk stared coldly at Lina, who was
busy blinking at the newcomer in shock. It had been Zelgadis' voice, but the man who
stood before her was completely human. He wore Zelgadis' outfit and carried some sort of
briefcase, but instead of rough, grey, metallic hair, there were brown locks, and his skin
was pink and human, not cut stone.
Lina had never seen Zelgadis as a human the way Sylphiel had, and she wasn't sure
if it was her dream accentuating his looks or not, but the Zelgadis in front of her was
definitely one of the most attractive men she had ever seen.
"Aunt Lina is trying to take Mommy away!" the triplets cried up at their father.
Zelgadis looked up at Lina and the unconscious Sylphiel in her arms. Lina tensed.
She thought the rugrats were bad. She didn't want to even THINK about fighting a dream-
enhanced version of Zelgadis here on the astral plane.
"Lina?" he asked. "What's going on?"
"Zel," she began desperately, "I don't have time to explain, but I need Sylphiel to
come with me. Amelia will die if she doesn't."
"She's lying," Eruk told him.
Zelgadis looked at her, then to Eruk. It was then that Lina realized it. Eruk might
have found a way to keep Sylphiel complacent, but he didn't control EVERY facet of the
dream. If she could convince Zelgadis…
"Zel!" she called to him. "In the years we've known each other, have I EVER lied
to you?!"
"She's trying to take her away!" Eruk argued.
"Zel, you have to believe me. Would I be doing something like this if I wasn't
desperate?!"
The dream chimera thought on it for a moment before saying, "Kids, go back to the
house."
"But what about Mama?!" the ten year old asked.
Zelgadis smiled. "Don't worry. Aunt Lina will take care of her."
"No!" Eruk screamed. "She mustn't go!"
It was at this time that Sylphiel began to stir in Lina's arms. Her eyes opened
slowly as the redhead looked down at her. "Miss Lina?"
Zelgadis walked up to them and looked down at the priestess. "It's all right,
Sylphiel…"
"What's going on? Where am I?"
"Sylphiel, Lina says that Amelia needs you."
The priestess shook her head. "No, I can't leave the chil…"
"The children will be fine," the dream-chimera told her, caressing her face. "I'll
take care of them until you get back. You have to go with Lina."
"No, she can't go!" Eruk cried. He rushed forward and took Sylphiel's hand.
"You can't leave, Mom!"
Sylphiel took a breath, then smiled. "I won't be gone long," she told Eruk. "I'll be
right back." She looked back up at Lina. "Miss Lina, please put me down. I can walk."
The redhead put the shrine maiden back on her feet. Sylphiel turned to Zelgadis
and hugged him. "Come back soon," he begged her.
"Of course."
Lina smiled, but suddenly found herself being forcibly turned around. Eruk had
grabbed her arm. He glared at her. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" he hissed
at her. The redhead said nothing as he went on. "If anything happens to her out there, Lina
Inverse, it's YOUR head I'll take."
Before she could reply to this, Sylphiel was calling to her.
"All right, Miss Lina! I'm ready!"
There was a bright, white light, and then…
"Lina? Sylphiel?"
Lina opened her eyes and found Zelgadis, the rock-skinned chimera she knew and
loved, looking down at her. "Zel?"
She turned her head as she heard someone yawning next to her. Sylphiel was still
lying in the bed next to her, but stretching and yawning as if waking up on a normal day.
"Sylphiel, are you okay?" Zelgadis asked worriedly.
She smiled up at him. "Oh, yes. Thank you, Zelgadis dear. I feel wonderful. It
feels so good to get a whole eight hours of sleep in."
"How much do you remember?" he asked her.
The shrine maiden blinked at him. "Remember what?"
"Your dream," Lina elaborated.
Sylphiel laughed nervously. "Actually…I don't remember any of it…."
Lina grabbed her by the front of her nightgown and began to shake her. "YOU
MEAN AFTER ALL THE CRAP I WENT THROUGH WITH YOUR LITTLE
MUNCHKIN HEATHENS, YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER IT?!"
"Lina, don't you think we have more important things to do right now?" Zelgadis
asked with a sigh.
The sorceress didn't seem to care. She continued to shake the shrine maiden. "IF
AMELIA WASN'T ON DEATH'S DOOR, I'D PUMMEL YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!!"
This seemed to break through to Sylphiel. "Miss Amelia?! What's wrong with
Miss Amelia!?"
Zelgadis offered her his hand. "Come on, we'll explain on the way."
Sylphiel rested a hand on Amelia's forehead and closed her eyes. She took a
breath and chanted softly. Off to the side, Gourry, Lina, and Zelgadis watched quietly. A
few seconds later, Sylphiel's eyes opened, and her hand went down to Amelia's hand. She
looked at it closely, in particular, the small scratch given to her by the cat the previous day.
The edges of the cut were green and black, and the cut itself was red and irritated.
"What is it?" Lina asked.
"Miss Amelia isn't sick," Sylphiel noted in puzzlement. "It's some type of
poison."
"Can you help her, Sylphiel?" Gourry asked.
She nodded and closed her eyes, beginning a new chant. "Holy hands; Remove the
unholy thing; the thing tormenting us…Dicleary!" White, magical energy flowed from
Sylphiel's hand into Amelia's. The green and black portions of the cut disappeared.
Almost immediately, color returned to Amelia's cheeks. Her eyes opened.
"Miss Sylphiel?"
Sylphiel smiled down at her. "Miss Amelia, you're going to be fine, but I want you
to rest, okay? You'll need a few more recovery spells over the next few days, but you're
going to be fine."
The princess nodded. "Thank you, Miss Sylphiel."
The shrine maiden beamed and turned to the others. "She'll be fine."
Gourry smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
Zelgadis smiled and sighed with relief.
Lina glared, rolled up her sleeves, cracked her knuckles, and started toward her
threateningly…
"Um…Miss Lina?" Sylphiel asked with a sweatdrop.
"They chased me…" Lina growled. "Drenched me…Electrocuted me…called me
PIG!" She continued to stalk towards the woman, who was beginning to back away in
fright. "And you don't even REMEMBER IT?!"
Sylphiel giggled nervously. "Miss Lina…I'm sorry…I really don't rem…"
Lina glared at her, shaking in rage. She looked up at Sylphiel and grinned evilly.
"Pig…" she chanted. "Pig…Pig…PIG!"
Sylphiel squealed in fright and ran from the room! Lina chased after her.
"PIG! PIG! PIG!" Lina screamed after her.
"Miss Lina! I'm sorry!" Sylphiel cried back at the sorceress as she ran down the
inn's hallway.
"FIREBALL!"
As an explosion rocked the inn, Zelgadis and Gourry sighed. "And they're all
ours," Zelgadis noted.
"Yeah," Gourry sighed a second later.
*ka-BOOM!*
"PIG! PIG! PIG! FIREBALL!"
Sylphiel squealed again. "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
Amelia giggled and coughed as a result.
"FIREBALL!!"
*ka-BOOM!*
To Be Continued…
Faces: After!
Part 12
Wake Up!
That Daydream Believer!
"Come on, Sylphiel! Wake up!" Lina cried, shaking the shrine maiden roughly.
Sylphiel didn't budge. The redhead growled, reached back, and slapped her across the
face with a resounding *CRACK!*
Nothing.
"Forget it, Lina," Zelgadis told her. "You're not going to snap her out of it that
way."
"Well we have to do SOMETHING!" she growled at him. "Amelia needs her!
We can't just wait for her to come out of it on her own!"
"I know."
"Why did you put her in a spell like that to begin with!? You know how dangerous
they can be!"
The chimera turned to her, scowling. He walked over to Sylphiel, but didn't reply
to Lina's demand. He didn't feel he had to. Zelgadis knew why he put Sylphiel under, and
he wasn't about to try to justify that to Lina, especially while she was like this.
"Are you going to stand there and whine," he asked, "Or are you going to help me
snap her out of this?"
Lina's eyes narrowed. "What do you want me to do?"
"She's dreaming on the astral plane. I can send you in there after her."
"Why don't you go?" she asked in confusion.
"If Amelia were up to casting and maintaining the spell, I would, but without her
I'm the only one with that kind of control over astral magic." He took a seat next to the bed
and began preparing himself. "It's either you or Gourry."
"Fine. What do I do?"
"Lie down," he ordered her.
Lina nodded and circled around to the other side of the bed, lying down next to
Sylphiel.
"Now take her hand. I'm going to put you under like I did her, only this time I'm
going to link your astral patterns together. You'll be entering HER dream world."
Lina took a breath. She wasn't sure about entering the dreams of a woman
as…eccentric…as Sylphiel. She ended up nodding her consent.
"I'll be monitoring you. When you're ready to come out, I'll break the spell.
Ready?"
"Okay, let's do it," Lina said. She rested her head against the pillow and closed
her eyes as Zelgadis chanted the dreamweaver spell. The sorceress had heard of
dreamweavers and what they were used for. She shuddered. The thought of being trapped
in your own worst nightmares, unable to escape on your own from them, terrified her. An
image of Luna wearing a hockey mask and carrying a bamboo stick entered her mind.
No thank you…
She took a breath as she listened to Zelgadis chant. Amelia just had to hang on until
she could drag Sylphiel back to the waking world. No problem, right?
The sound of Zelgadis' voice stopped.
She waited, her eyes closed, but he didn't continue.
"Zel?" she asked quietly.
No answer.
"Zel?" she tried again. She opened her eyes…
The sun stared down at her from a blue sky. She blinked and turned her head. She
was lying in a field of grass. Zelgadis, the inn, all of it…was gone.
She quickly sat up and looked around. The field went on for what looked like
miles. A tree, a few rocks, and a stream all served to break up the continuous green. She
could see smoke in the distance, and if she squinted, she could make out a house as the
source of that smoke.
Lina suddenly tensed. She sensed something behind her… Turning quickly, she
found three young girls, no older than six years old, staring at her. She blinked at the sight.
The girls were identical; all wearing the same light purple dress and their bluish-purple
hair in the exact same style, allowing it to hang down their back like Sylphiel wore hers.
They continued to stare at her, their expressions blank.
"Um…Hello," Lina said, putting on a nervous smile.
"Hello," all three girls said at once.
The sorceress stood up and brushed the grass off her. "Um…You girls live around
here?" she asked.
The triplets stared at her. Finally, one of them, the center one, spoke.
"You wanna play?"
Lina laughed nervously. "Actually, I have to find someone. Maybe your parents
will play with you."
"We already played with them," the triplet on the right told her.
"Yes," the one on the left spoke up. "Now we want to play with YOU…"
Lina stared at them. "Suuuuuuure," she said slowly. She started to turn. "Just let
me get my…" Instead of ending the sentence, she took off running!
"TAG!" the triplets cried, chasing after her!
Lina squealed in fright and continued to run, the children of the damned in hot
pursuit.
"TAG! TAG! TAG!" they screamed at her as they chased her.
"WHAT KIND OF CRAZY DREAM IS THIS?!" Lina cried as she ran past the
tree. She heard a thud from behind her and turned her head. A ten year old boy with
brown hair had jumped from the tree.
"PIG!" he cried.
The triplets took up this new cheer as they continued to chase her, the boy leading
the way.
"PIG! PIG! PIG!"
Lina screamed louder and continued to run. She could see the house not far up
ahead. She put on more speed.
(At least they're not penguins!) she thought frantically.
Yeah, small comfort…
"PIG! PIG! PIG!"
"STOP CHASING ME!" she screamed at them.
They ignored her. She ran faster. She didn't want to use magic on them. They
were kids! And what effect would magic have in Sylphiel's mind? Would it even work!?
She hit the oak door of the house with a thud and frantically worked the latch.
Finally, the door opened and she ducked inside, slamming it behind her! She leaned
against the wood and took a few deep breaths.
"Miss Lina?"
She looked up and found Sylphiel standing next to a stove. The shrine maiden had
apparently given up her traveling outfit in favor of a pink sundress. Her belly was slightly
distended, just barely enough for Lina to notice. She blinked at the redhead, puzzled at her
appearance.
"Sylphiel!" Lina cried, exhausted but relieved.
Sylphiel ran up to Lina and hugged her. "How are you?! And how is Gourry? Did
he come with you?"
Lina blinked at him. "Um…No. Sylphiel, what are you doing here? We've been
trying to wake you up for an hour."
The sorceress blinked at her. "Miss Lina? What are you talking about?"
Lina stared at her. "I think the real question is 'what are YOU talking about?'"
Sylphiel smiled. "It's so wonderful having you here to visit. The children haven't
seen their Aunt Lina since the triplets were babies."
"THOSE ARE *YOUR* HEATHENS OUT THERE?!" Lina cried.
Before Sylphiel could reply to that, there was crying from upstairs. "Oh dear! You
woke up little Naga chan…"
"AND YOU NAMED ONE AFTER NAGA?!"
Sylphiel wasn't listening. She was rushing up the stairs to the toddler's room. Lina
followed quickly, still in disbelief that Sylphiel would choose to name one of her children
NAGA.
"I mean…Why Naga?!" she continued as they entered the toddler's room. "What's
wrong with 'Lina?'"
"How's my little girl?" Sylphiel said with a bright smile as she lifted a two year
old out of her bed.
"Sylphiel!? Are you listening to me!?"
"No, she's not."
Lina turned quickly to the sound of the voice. Standing in the bedroom doorway
was a twelve-year-old boy with wild, brown hair in a style very similar to the one
Zelgadis wore. "Who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Oh, Eruk," Sylphiel said, turning to the boy, Naga chan secure in her arms.
"Could you go get Naga chan her juice?"
The boy, Eruk, smiled. "Sure thing, Mom," he told her. He started down the stairs.
Lina looked back to Sylphiel and found her humming to the toddler, paying no
attention whatsoever to the sorceress. She made a quick decision and dashed off after
Eruk.
"Hey! You!" she called out as she ran down the steps. "Who are you, anyway?"
Eruk was busy filling a pink cup with orange juice. "I'm Eruk. I'm the oldest."
"'Eruk?'" Lina muttered. "Sylphiel's father?"
He smiled at her, a smile she REALLY didn't like. Something about it reminded
her a little TOO much of Phibrizzo.
Lina's eyes narrowed. "Okay, kid, your bullshit story is noted and logged. Now
who are you REALLY?"
Instead of answering her, Eruk started back up the stairs. Lina growled.
(Okay,) she thought. (Forget him. I have to break through to Sylphiel. That's
what's important now.) She started for the stairs again when suddenly the front door burst
open. Lina turned quickly, anticipating an attack.
She wasn't disappointed.
"THERE SHE IS!" the ten year old she saw earlier cried from the doorway.
"PIG! PIG! PIG!" the triplets cried.
Lina screamed and ran to the back of the house! The rugrats chased after her.
"STOP THE PIG!" the boy cried.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIG, YOU LITTLE SNOT!?" Lina screamed back
at him over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she saw the triplets no longer pursuing.
They were standing in a row, their eyes closed and their hands up. Their lips were moving
as if…
(Hel-LO! Sylphiel! One of them more powerful sorceresses you've met! Don'tcha
think that MAYBE she's been teaching her little darlings how to…)
"OH CRAP!"
The triplets pointed at her. "AQUA CREATE!" they cried!
*SPLASH!*
"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Lina cried as the spell drenched
her. She sputtered. Unfortunately, the water from the spell made the floor slippery. Lina
lost her footing and started sliding across the floor towards the wall!
"I HATE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed.
*WHAM!*
She groaned and looked up as the children of the damned surrounded her. Lina was
trapped, lying on the floor with the wall at her back and the Munchkin Patrol blocking her
escape route.
"Pig…Pig…PIG!"
Lina grit her teeth. She was going to teach these little punks a lesson they'll never
forget! They weren't children! They were Mazoku! They had to be! THEY HAD TO BE
MONSTERS!!!
"Darkness beyo…"
Before she could get any further, however, she heard Sylphiel's voice call out from
behind them.
"Gourry! Lina! Amelia! Deanna!" The children all turned to see an angry
Sylphiel glaring at them, her hands on her hips. "What did I tell you about that!?"
The children hung their heads. "No spell-casting in the house," they muttered.
"That's right! Now you can just march up to your rooms until dinner!" She pointed
up the stairs, and the Munchkin Patrol started marching.
Sylphiel helped Lina to her feet.
"Are you all right, Miss Lina?"
The redhead growled at the priestess. "Do you REALLY want SIX kids?" she
asked.
Sylphiel blushed. "Seven, actually," she said, pointing at her stomach.
"I wonder if Zel knows what he's getting himself into…" Lina muttered off to the
side.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing!" Lina cried. She suddenly grabbed Sylphiel by the shoulders.
"Sylphiel, you have to come back with me. Amelia is VERY sick. She needs you."
"Oh my gosh!" Sylphiel gasped out. "Where is she?!"
"It's…too hard to explain. Just come with me."
Sylphiel blinked. "But…But I can't just leave the children all alone!"
The redhead was just about at the end of her rope. She grit her teeth and bit out,
"Sylphiel, they are not real. They are dreams. Figments of your imagination. Zelgadis put
you in a dreamweaver, remember?"
The priestess blinked. "No…That's not right. Zelgadis dear is at work." She
smiled and turned, walking towards the kitchen.
Lina watched her go, amazed. "Sylphiel! Have you heard one word I've said!?
You have to come with me! You're trapped in your own dream!" She rushed after the
priestess and found her taking a pan of cookies out of the oven.
"Oh dear," Sylphiel commented as she waved some smoke away.
"Well…Zelgadis dear likes them burnt anyway…"
She grabbed Sylphiel by the arm and whirled her around to face her. "SYLPHIEL!
AMELIA MIGHT DIE!"
For a second, Lina thought she might have broken through to the shrine maiden, but
Sylphiel just shook her head and smiled. "Don't be silly, Miss Lina. Amelia is fine."
Lina growled and reached back, preparing to slap Sylphiel across the face. The
only thing that stopped her was the sound of Eruk's voice behind her.
"Mom? Is something wrong?"
Sylphiel smiled at him. "No, of course not, Eruk. Would you like a cookie?"
The sorceress released Sylphiel and growled. No matter how unreal he was, she
wasn't about to strike the priestess in front of a kid.
Dammit, this was going to be harder than she thought.
"Oi, Zelgadis," Gourry whispered from the doorway. "How long have they been
under?"
Zelgadis kept his eyes closed, his mind attuned to the spell, but could still hear and
understand Gourry's question. "Three hours," he told him. "And why are you
whispering?"
"I don't know," the swordsman whispered in reply. "It just seems like a good time
to whisper. Like I don't want to wake them…"
The chimera sighed. He had been in this same position for the past three hours. He
was sore, hungry, and was in desperate need of the bathroom…
"If you think speaking normally will wake them up, then why are you whispering?"
"Oh," Gourry said in his normal tone of voice. "So…Are they all right?"
"I can still sense Lina and Sylphiel in there," he told them. "So strictly speaking,
yes, they're all right."
The swordsman nodded.
"Gourry,"
"Yeah?"
The chimera paused for a moment. "Would you…Would you sit with Amelia for
me? I can't leave the room."
Gourry smiled. "Sure."
"Thank you, Gourry," Zelgadis told him quietly.
The blond man walked down the hall to Amelia and Lina's room and quietly
opened the door. "Amelia? Are you decent?" He opened the door further and found
Amelia still resting on her bed, still white as a sheet and sweating profusely.
"Mister Gourry?" she asked weakly.
"Yeah, it's me," he said with a smile, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Feeling any
better?"
The gaunt specter of Amelia slowly shook her head.
"Oh," Gourry whispered. "Would you like anything? How about some juice?"
"No…Thank you, Mister Gourry," Amelia whispered.
"Are you sure?"
Amelia thought for a moment, then pointed at her pack. "Could you get…my music
box…for me?" she wheezed.
The mercenary went to her bag and dug around in it for a minute, skillfully averting
his eyes when faced with Amelia's unmentionables until he found the little music box. He
put it on the nightstand next to her and opened it.
The sorceress closed her eyes as the soft tune started to play. "Thank you, Mister
Gourry…" she whispered.
Gourry took a breath and muttered. "Please hurry back, Lina…Sylphiel…"
Sylphiel hummed happily as she peeled potatoes for tonight's dinner. It was a
beautiful, bright, blue day outside; perfect weather for just sitting outside and peeling
potatoes…
Sitting in another chair next to her, likewise peeling potatoes, Lina watched the
priestess out of the corner of her eye. How could someone doing something so menial look
so incredibly happy? She had only been peeling for three minutes, and she as already
bored out of her skull with it. Was this REALLY Sylphiel's dream?
The shrine maiden finished another potato and deposited in the bin before picking
up a new one and starting over again.
At least the Munchkin Patrol was nowhere to be found. Apparently, the only thing
they respected in this dream world was their mother. She looked over at Sylphiel again.
SIX kids? No, SEVEN!? She was going to have to sit Zelgadis down and warn him when
she got back…
(Okay, Lina! Eyes on the prize! We need to get Sylphiel to snap out of it…)
Okay, now how was she supposed to do that? An idea came to her. If she could
prove to the shrine maiden that this was a dream, maybe she'd agree to come back with
her.
"Sylphiel," she began, "How long have you and Zelgadis been married?"
"Twelve years now," Sylphiel answered.
"And how old are your kids?" Lina asked, hoping to rattle the priestess.
"Twelve, ten, six, six, six, two, and the little one is due in five months."
"Where does Zelgadis work?" (Ha! Let's see you come up with one for THAT!)
Sylphiel didn't take her eyes off the potato. "The Atlas City Academy of Sorcery,
but you know that, Miss Lina, you helped him get the job there."
"Okay, what about Amelia?!"
She smiled. "Miss Amelia is in Seyruun, silly."
"No, she's not!" Lina cried, finally losing her patience. "She's in a little inn in
some godforsaken town dying because YOU won't help her!"
Sylphiel blinked, the scowled. "Miss Lina, I happen to know that Miss Amelia is
fine!"
"Oh!? And who told you that?! Magical elves!?" Lina asked sarcastically.
"Mister Xellos!"
Lina blinked. "Xellos?"
"Yes! He stopped by just the other day! I asked him how everyone was, and he
said everyone was perfectly fine!" The shrine maiden sniffed and went back to peeling
potatoes.
Lina's eyebrow twitched. "How can I convince you that I'm telling you the truth?"
she bit out.
"Miss Lina, I'm worried about you," Sylphiel told her as she peeled. "I think
perhaps you should go home and rest. The fact that you've come all this way alone,
without Gourry, tells me that there's something wrong…"
"BRILLIANT DEDUCTION!" Lina yelled back.
"Please don't raise your voice to me," Sylphiel told her. "It's bad for the baby…"
"AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!"
Okay, enough playing around…
"Okay, how about this?" Lina grated out. "If my next argument doesn't convince
you to come back with me, I'll shut up and leave you alone. Okay?"
Sylphiel put her potato down and faced Lina. "Fine. I accept."
"Good." Lina cleared her throat, stood up, and looked down at Sylphiel. "You
have to come back with me because…" Suddenly, without warning, the redhead lashed out
with her fist and punched the shrine maiden in the jaw!
Sylphiel fell from her chair to the ground, unconscious.
"BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Lina cried down at her. She quickly picked up the
priestess in a fireman's carry and started down the front path towards the field where she
had first arrived. She grumbled as she walked. "You have this really bad habit of making
things difficult, Sylphiel, you know that?"
She was about halfway there when she suddenly found herself surrounded by
munchkins…
"Awww…crap…" she muttered.
"You hurt Mommy," the triplets said in unison.
"Um…Mommy's just sleeping," Lina said, laughing nervously.
Eruk stepped forward. "You're not taking her out of here," he said pointedly.
"Now put her down and leave."
If she wasn't sure before, she was sure now. Eruk wasn't just some fantasy of
Sylphiel's. On some level, he was real…
"No," she said. "Amelia needs her."
Storm clouds began to gather overhead. The sky started to darken. There was a
crack of thunder. Lina looked up at the sky and found that somehow, a storm had formed in
the last three seconds. Eruk didn't bat an eye.
"She's happy here," he told her. "You have no right to take her from that."
"None of this is real!" Lina snapped at him. "It's a dream!"
"HER dream!" Eruk bit back. "One that's simple enough. Why can't she have
that? It's all she wants out of life! Why do you have to interfere with it?"
"What are you?!" Lina snarled. "The narrator? She has REAL friends! A REAL
family that needs her! All you can give her here is an illusion!"
"We give her happiness," Eruk told her. "You're the one making her sad."
"Yeah!" the other munchkins threw in.
Lina looked from side to side anxiously. "Listen," she said dangerously to Eruk. "I
know you're not real, and YOU know you're not real. So don't think for a second I won't
Dragon Slave this entire part of the world if you don't get out of my way RIGHT NOW."
Eruk stared at her. "I'm more real than you think, Lina Inverse," he told her
dangerously. "She needs to be protected. You don't know what lies ahead for her!"
Lina stared at him angrily. "Who are you, really?"
"I told you," he said quietly. "I am the first."
"You're the one who's been giving her nightmares, aren't you?" she whispered.
"Now who's the one making her sad, huh?!" she asked.
"It's the only way to warn her of what lies ahead," Eruk told her. "Out there she's
vulnerable, in here I can protect her."
Lina grit her teeth and started to walk past the child. A bolt of lightning shot from
the sky and hit the ground fifty feet in front of her. The sorceress paused, but continued
forward a second later. Another bolt of lightning hit the ground; this one much closer. Lina
hissed as the proximity of the blast singed her skin.
"I'll kill you with the next one, Lina Inverse," Eruk's voice floated over to her.
"Mother will wake up an hour later without a mark or any idea that you were ever here.
You, on the other hand will have a massive seizure in the waking world and die when your
heart stops beating."
Lina stood stock still for a moment. Then, "Do what you have to," she said quietly.
"But she has more to live for than a dream." She started forward again.
Eruk raised his hand and prepared to send another bolt of lightning down onto the
sorceress. Lina squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that, if nothing else, the shock from the
lightning would knock Sylphiel awake for real…
"Oi, what's going on here?"
Lina's eyes snapped open. "Zel?!" She turned quickly and found that someone had
walked up behind the munchkins while they were distracted. The children, with the
exception of Eruk, turned to him.
"PAPA!"
The triplets ran up to the man and hugged him. Eruk stared coldly at Lina, who was
busy blinking at the newcomer in shock. It had been Zelgadis' voice, but the man who
stood before her was completely human. He wore Zelgadis' outfit and carried some sort of
briefcase, but instead of rough, grey, metallic hair, there were brown locks, and his skin
was pink and human, not cut stone.
Lina had never seen Zelgadis as a human the way Sylphiel had, and she wasn't sure
if it was her dream accentuating his looks or not, but the Zelgadis in front of her was
definitely one of the most attractive men she had ever seen.
"Aunt Lina is trying to take Mommy away!" the triplets cried up at their father.
Zelgadis looked up at Lina and the unconscious Sylphiel in her arms. Lina tensed.
She thought the rugrats were bad. She didn't want to even THINK about fighting a dream-
enhanced version of Zelgadis here on the astral plane.
"Lina?" he asked. "What's going on?"
"Zel," she began desperately, "I don't have time to explain, but I need Sylphiel to
come with me. Amelia will die if she doesn't."
"She's lying," Eruk told him.
Zelgadis looked at her, then to Eruk. It was then that Lina realized it. Eruk might
have found a way to keep Sylphiel complacent, but he didn't control EVERY facet of the
dream. If she could convince Zelgadis…
"Zel!" she called to him. "In the years we've known each other, have I EVER lied
to you?!"
"She's trying to take her away!" Eruk argued.
"Zel, you have to believe me. Would I be doing something like this if I wasn't
desperate?!"
The dream chimera thought on it for a moment before saying, "Kids, go back to the
house."
"But what about Mama?!" the ten year old asked.
Zelgadis smiled. "Don't worry. Aunt Lina will take care of her."
"No!" Eruk screamed. "She mustn't go!"
It was at this time that Sylphiel began to stir in Lina's arms. Her eyes opened
slowly as the redhead looked down at her. "Miss Lina?"
Zelgadis walked up to them and looked down at the priestess. "It's all right,
Sylphiel…"
"What's going on? Where am I?"
"Sylphiel, Lina says that Amelia needs you."
The priestess shook her head. "No, I can't leave the chil…"
"The children will be fine," the dream-chimera told her, caressing her face. "I'll
take care of them until you get back. You have to go with Lina."
"No, she can't go!" Eruk cried. He rushed forward and took Sylphiel's hand.
"You can't leave, Mom!"
Sylphiel took a breath, then smiled. "I won't be gone long," she told Eruk. "I'll be
right back." She looked back up at Lina. "Miss Lina, please put me down. I can walk."
The redhead put the shrine maiden back on her feet. Sylphiel turned to Zelgadis
and hugged him. "Come back soon," he begged her.
"Of course."
Lina smiled, but suddenly found herself being forcibly turned around. Eruk had
grabbed her arm. He glared at her. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" he hissed
at her. The redhead said nothing as he went on. "If anything happens to her out there, Lina
Inverse, it's YOUR head I'll take."
Before she could reply to this, Sylphiel was calling to her.
"All right, Miss Lina! I'm ready!"
There was a bright, white light, and then…
"Lina? Sylphiel?"
Lina opened her eyes and found Zelgadis, the rock-skinned chimera she knew and
loved, looking down at her. "Zel?"
She turned her head as she heard someone yawning next to her. Sylphiel was still
lying in the bed next to her, but stretching and yawning as if waking up on a normal day.
"Sylphiel, are you okay?" Zelgadis asked worriedly.
She smiled up at him. "Oh, yes. Thank you, Zelgadis dear. I feel wonderful. It
feels so good to get a whole eight hours of sleep in."
"How much do you remember?" he asked her.
The shrine maiden blinked at him. "Remember what?"
"Your dream," Lina elaborated.
Sylphiel laughed nervously. "Actually…I don't remember any of it…."
Lina grabbed her by the front of her nightgown and began to shake her. "YOU
MEAN AFTER ALL THE CRAP I WENT THROUGH WITH YOUR LITTLE
MUNCHKIN HEATHENS, YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER IT?!"
"Lina, don't you think we have more important things to do right now?" Zelgadis
asked with a sigh.
The sorceress didn't seem to care. She continued to shake the shrine maiden. "IF
AMELIA WASN'T ON DEATH'S DOOR, I'D PUMMEL YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!!"
This seemed to break through to Sylphiel. "Miss Amelia?! What's wrong with
Miss Amelia!?"
Zelgadis offered her his hand. "Come on, we'll explain on the way."
Sylphiel rested a hand on Amelia's forehead and closed her eyes. She took a
breath and chanted softly. Off to the side, Gourry, Lina, and Zelgadis watched quietly. A
few seconds later, Sylphiel's eyes opened, and her hand went down to Amelia's hand. She
looked at it closely, in particular, the small scratch given to her by the cat the previous day.
The edges of the cut were green and black, and the cut itself was red and irritated.
"What is it?" Lina asked.
"Miss Amelia isn't sick," Sylphiel noted in puzzlement. "It's some type of
poison."
"Can you help her, Sylphiel?" Gourry asked.
She nodded and closed her eyes, beginning a new chant. "Holy hands; Remove the
unholy thing; the thing tormenting us…Dicleary!" White, magical energy flowed from
Sylphiel's hand into Amelia's. The green and black portions of the cut disappeared.
Almost immediately, color returned to Amelia's cheeks. Her eyes opened.
"Miss Sylphiel?"
Sylphiel smiled down at her. "Miss Amelia, you're going to be fine, but I want you
to rest, okay? You'll need a few more recovery spells over the next few days, but you're
going to be fine."
The princess nodded. "Thank you, Miss Sylphiel."
The shrine maiden beamed and turned to the others. "She'll be fine."
Gourry smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
Zelgadis smiled and sighed with relief.
Lina glared, rolled up her sleeves, cracked her knuckles, and started toward her
threateningly…
"Um…Miss Lina?" Sylphiel asked with a sweatdrop.
"They chased me…" Lina growled. "Drenched me…Electrocuted me…called me
PIG!" She continued to stalk towards the woman, who was beginning to back away in
fright. "And you don't even REMEMBER IT?!"
Sylphiel giggled nervously. "Miss Lina…I'm sorry…I really don't rem…"
Lina glared at her, shaking in rage. She looked up at Sylphiel and grinned evilly.
"Pig…" she chanted. "Pig…Pig…PIG!"
Sylphiel squealed in fright and ran from the room! Lina chased after her.
"PIG! PIG! PIG!" Lina screamed after her.
"Miss Lina! I'm sorry!" Sylphiel cried back at the sorceress as she ran down the
inn's hallway.
"FIREBALL!"
As an explosion rocked the inn, Zelgadis and Gourry sighed. "And they're all
ours," Zelgadis noted.
"Yeah," Gourry sighed a second later.
*ka-BOOM!*
"PIG! PIG! PIG! FIREBALL!"
Sylphiel squealed again. "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
Amelia giggled and coughed as a result.
"FIREBALL!!"
*ka-BOOM!*
To Be Continued…