Chapter 12
Lina knew that she would have to fight Zelgadis. As she had told Xellos, she knew the rules. She also knew Deep Sea Dolphin had been saving him up, her ace in the hole. Deep Sea Dolphin preyed on Lina's weaknesses and Zelgadis was Lina's biggest weakness of all.
Her lover turned to her, face stoic, empty. "Lina." He murmured softly.
Tears welled in Lina's eyes. How could she kill Zelgadis?
"Lina, please don't cry." Zel pleaded quietly in the wind that surrounded them.
Lina felt her heart stop beating for a moment, replaced by an intense pain and an aching doubt. Could Deep Sea Dolphin fake the quality of concern and caring in his voice? Could she impersonate Zelgadis' hidden tenderness? Lina decided to try and find out.
"Zel?" She spoke barely above a whisper, her voice shaking as her eyes studied the ground fearfully. "Zel, is that you?"
"Yes. It's me, Lina." Zel's voice was warm but devoid of any other emotion.
"No." Xellos's faint image appeared behind Lina. "Don't listen to him, Lina. He's no different than the others."
"I'm stronger than them, mazoku." Zel scorned. "It has been hard, but I have been able to fight the insanity." His eyes turned on Lina. "I feel I am about to lose my mind, Lina. Before I die, I want to fight her together with you."
"Zel!" Lina's eyes lit up with her first ray of hope.
"Lina." Xellos' voice, unusually stern, broke through her daze. "He's not strong enough to resist her. It's Iruka playing with your mind. Don't let her wear you down."
In spite of her need to believe that Zelgadis was alive, Lina couldn't let herself believe it so willingly. After all, were it not for Xellos, she wouldn't be alive herself.
"Zelgadis," She paused a moment, trying to be strong. "If you are Zelgadis, you can give me proof."
"Lina, we don't have time for ridiculous games." Zel's voice was firm, harsh.
"See?" Xellos chided.
"You want to live? I want proof." She insisted.
Zelgadis sighed thoughtfully, as though he were recalling something that happened long, long ago. "Do you remember that night before we fought Shabranigdo? Do you remember that you were afraid to die? I told you that I wouldn't leave. I never have, Lina. Even now, I will not leave you."
Lina's eyes were wet and becoming more tear-stained with every second. It was her Zelgadis. Deep Sea Dolphin couldn't remember that. She couldn't be loving the way he was.
"It's a trick! She's tapping his memory!" Xellos called out to her.
"Zelgadis!" She cried as she ran into his arms.
As Lina reached Zelgadis' outstretched arms, she saw a flash of shining steel and felt a sharp throbbing against her right cheek. She pulled back to discover Zelgadis was holding a small, crooked dagger. She reached up to touch her face and felt a blooming warm wetness on her skin, accompanied by an acute stinging sensation as her dirty hand brushed her open wound.
"Bitch." Zel muttered coldly. "You dodged. It was supposed to blind you."
Lina's nearly wretched, a cold and inconsolable grief welling up in her stomach and throat. She wiped the blood from her cheek, smearing it on her skirt as her eyes locked on Zelgadis.
Before she knew what happened, he dove at her, throwing all his weight atop her, pinning her against the ground. His wings spread wide, until all she could see was Zelgadis surrounded by an angelic blackness. His deadly eyes flashed with hunger, making Lina recoil beneath him.
"Guess what, little Lina?" His voice was so soft, so sickeningly unlike him. It was full of fake warmth, high and dangerous. "Do you know what I could do to you? I could take you now, have you in every way. You know the best part? You love me. I can take it all from you, every piece of your soul. I don't have to control you. All I have to do is…" Zel's hand snaked down to Lina's waist and tried to push lower. Lina cried out, terror flooding her eyes.
"Zel! Zel! I pretended not to remember. I thought it would be easier. It wasn't. I love you!"
Zelgadis' touch ceased its downward decline and his gaze held hers. She saw is eyes whirl and clear for an instant that seemed to last a silent eternity. A tiny, delicate tear slid from his deep grey-blue eyes and slid over his granite skin.
"I love you too." He whispered hoarsely. His single tear slid from is cheek, falling against Lina's skin, shrouding her in warmth. His eyes flashed once more. "End it." He pleaded, his voice quiet, buried beneath immeasurable loss.
Lina nodded slowly, almost emotionlessly. She had to protect Zelgadis now. It wasn't about how much she needed him. To let him continue to be controlled this way because she was too cowardly to end it for him would break him more than Deep Sea Dolphin could ever dream of breaking her. Zelgadis needed her. And she loved him enough that she had no other choice.
Lina held his eyes as he struggled to keep Deep Sea Dolphin at bay within him. Lina raised her hand slowly as Zelgadis released her from beneath him. "Darkness beyond twighlight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the flow of time. In they Great Name, I pledge myself to darkness."
Lina pulled her fingers back, kissing them softly and then continued. "All the fools that stand in my way shall be destroyed." Lina sobbed now as she spoke, watching Zel's eyes, begging her, pleading her to have the strength she needed to finish it. I promise you, Zel, Lina told herself. I promise I will save you from this. "By the power that you an I possess…" Lina pressed her fingers gently to Zel's lips one last time. "Dragon Slave." She whispered softly.
The small dimensional plane disappeared once and for all, leaving Lina crumpled in a heap on the dewy green grass, bleeding and sobbing. "Forgive me, Zel. Oh god, I love you." She throat, raw with overuse and grief let barely a whisper escape from her lips. Light peeled down from the demonic sky above the city, hurtling down to Lina, pushing inside her chest. The electricity she felt then was nothing like anything she had experienced before. It pulsed through every inch of her, inside and out, almost wrapping her in its essence before retreating into her mind. She heard an echo of what could be a voice, so faint and yet wonderfully familiar. "Thank you, my love. Aishiteru. Itsu mo."
Zelgadis.
Xellos moved to stand over Lina, looking down at her with his usual smile.
"Is it over?" Lina croaked painfully.
Harsh, cruel laughter rained down from the sky in a vicious onslaught and Lina's mind was crushed under the pressure of Deep Sea Dolphin's madness.
"I'll take that as a no." Lina grimaced, allowing Xellos to help her to her feet.
Deep Sea Dolphin appeared once more, as though she were dancing in the sky. "That was delightful. Simply lovely. I must say though, I am a little disappointed. Things did not go precisely as scripted. For example, you don't seem nearly guilty enough. You did just slaughter your dear friends and your lover. Doesn't that make you sad?"
"Bitch!" Lina screamed into the sky.
"My, my, how you hurt my feelings with your cruel words. The nice thing is though, I never meant for them to kill you. They weren't strong enough. I knew that. Their purpose was to torture you, either physically or mentally. And if you killed them, you would live with it for the remainder of your short little life. Merciful, I must say. After all, I will end that guilt so quickly!" Her voice changed then suddenly, from her sweetly pleasant chattering voice to a maniacal shriek. Her eyes blazed dangerously as she looked down at the child sorceress and the trickster priest.
Lina automatically back into Xellos, who stepped forward almost protectively. "Iruka!" He called up at the Dark Lord. "You will not win this battle. The power of the Lord of Nightmares is on our side!"
Lina raised her eyebrows Xelloswards. Would Deep Sea Dolphin call his bluff?
The Dark Lord howled with curdling laughter. "L-sama? Why in the name of heaven and hell would she help you? You are nothing to her and neither is your pathetic mistress."
Xellos inclined his head skyward, clutching his staff tightly. "Lina. It is up to you now. You have everything you need. Now you must focus it."
"What do you mean?" Lina asked, confused. "How am I supposed to defeat a dark lord?"
Xellos smiled. "You defeated Shabranigdo."
"A tiny piece of Shabranigdo!" Lina scoffed loudly. "You know better than that."
Xellos shrugged, grinning. "Just trying to inspire a little confidence."
Deep Sea Dolphin seemed to be growing impatient, and a black bolt of lightening hurled at Lina and Xellos. It stopped long before it reached them, blocked by a dome-shaped force field the Xellos had silently erected around them both.
Lina's voice rose high in a panic. "Tell me! Nothing about secrets! If you don't tell me now, we're both going to die, and so will Beastmaster."
A soft, unusually genuine smile fell over Xellos' face. "Now you are starting to ask the right questions the right way. You are learning, Lina-chan."
Another bolt of lightening hurled, more powerful than the first.
"You have a great deal of power on your side. You are now more powerful than any Dark Lord."
"How?" Lina asked skeptically.
"You have your own magic. You have the magic of your friends inside you. You have mine."
A shower of powerful offense rained down upon the ever-thinning barrier.
"That's not enough!" Lina exclaimed.
"You have my mistress, Xellas' power on your side."
"Deep Sea Dolphin has armies, legions of zombies at her command, many of them more powerful than I am!" Lina cried against the din of explosions all around them.
"And," Xellos smiled, "If you can focus, you can channel L-sama's energy."
Lina gasped, her eyes wide. "Again? Deep Sea Dolphin is right; She has no reason to help me this time. There's no reason for Her to save Beastmaster."
"Either channel Her power or don't." Xellos shrugged again. "But it will mean the difference between life and death."
A hole began to form visibly in Xellos' shield. He looked to Lina. "I will try to maintain this barrier and help you focus Xellas' power. That is all I can. First, focus your own and that of your friends. Hurry. If she breaks through this, all of L-sama's power will not save us."
Lina nodded. She positioned herself in the center of the barrier, gathering her strength. She felt herself beginning to focus, to concentrate on the magic within her that she once knew so well. Over the years, that had been stifled. She was surprised she was able to call forth the Dragon Slave.
Thinking about it brought her back to Zel. Why hadn't she told him she loved him when she had the chance? Why had she lied and said she didn't remember it? Lina had thought that until it was all resolved, the whole battle with Deep Sea Dolphin, being in love, acting in love with Zelgadis would only distract her. God knows, when she first began to love those thousands of years ago, it had distracted her then. In the battle against Hellmaster, it had almost cost her everything. Now the idea of Zel being gone, no matter how much he felt his soul with her, threatened to destroy her. Why hadn't she told him when she could?
"Lina!" Xellos cried out her name, jolting her from her anguish. "Focus! The shield's falling!"
Yes, Lina told herself. Yes, I have time later for remorse. Time to hurt. But now I have to fight. She felt it all well up inside her, in her mind. I am going to win this battle if you all help me, Lina promised.
Lina was standing by a lake, cool and still. The water was the bluest she'd seen in many thousands of years, and the trees were the brightest green, coveting the lake in the beauty of the cloudless blue sky. Lina stared out over the beauty of it, spellbound as her eyes drank in the aesthetic majesty she so dearly missed.
A soul-wracking laugh boomed out behind her, startling her as well as any surrounding wildlife. "Lina, you never change. Always so serious when it comes to battles. Lighten up. You will win. Because you'll have my help!"
Lina spun around at the wonderfully familiar voice. 'Naga!" She cried out. "Naga, you're alive!"
Naga smiled almost sweetly. Almost. "I am within you. Let's beat this thing!"
Naga's image began to disperse, becoming part of the lake and the trees around Lina. The redhead stood in silent dismay as Naga's image was replaced by Amelia's.
"Ne, Lina-san. Thank you very much!" Amelia beamed at her. "You did was right, even though it was hard. In the name of justice and order, we can destroy Deep Sea Dolphin and end her evil ways!"
"Hey, Lina."
Upon hearing her voice, Lina whirled from Amelia to see Gourry standing to her left, a smile on his face. He stretched hugely, and then grinned at his friend.
"I know what happened. You had to help us and now you have to save the world again. Didn't we already do that?" He paused thoughtfully. "Ah well, it should be easier then cause we've practiced. Be strong, Lina." He smiled once more before he and Amelia faded into the summery air that surrounded the sorceress.
A glimmer of blue caught Lina's eye and she turned once more, slowly, as though she feared too swift a movement would end the vision before a chance to see the person she had been waiting for.
Zelgadis stood, garbed the way she remember him so long ago, cloaked in concealing beige. He took in the vision of water and forest, watching slowly, peacefully.
"I'm sorry, Zel. God, you'll never know how sorry I am." Lina's voice, barely audible, seemed amplified by the strange peaceful silence that surrounded them both.
Zel shook his head, focusing his eyes one Lina. "No, Lina. I do know. I am with you."
Lina eyes glued themselves to the grass and soil, afraid beyond words to see something in Zelgadis' eyes, something that would destroy her. He felt his light footsteps as he approached her, felt his hand reach gently down to raise her chin as he held her gaze.
"I love you, Lina. I spent much of life in your company not knowing that and much of the remaining time denying it." He smiled softly. "After all, how could an angel love a demon?"
Lina shook her head. "Zel, no-."
The chimera touched his fingers softly to her lips. "Shhh. In a moment you must be stronger than you could have ever imagined. I want you to know that I am with you. Now and for the rest of your life. I am so in love with you, Lina." He wrapped his arms tightly around her as she buried her face against his shoulder.
"I love you too." She whispered.
Zelgadis drew back slowly, a sweet, genuine smile tracing his lips. "I know. Till I see you again, koibito-chan. Never forget, I am with you."
Lina nodded bravely against her tears as Zel unfolded his great wings, filling them with air, letting them beat slowly in the soft breeze and catching a wind as he took off, flying high above her as the beautiful lake and forest faded around her.
Now she stood in the early hours of Earth's most chaotic morning, dark clouds smothering down over Xellos' failing shield.
Lina's emotions seemed to pour from her body, emptying into the soil and the air around her. She held her head high, almost hearing the insane shrieking and the blasts of boiling ocean the Dark Lord flung upon the barrier relentlessly.
"Xellos." She said softly, her voice deep with a chilling serenity.
Xellos' eyes did not strain from the barrier but she felt a power far greater than her own meld with her, encircle her in it. Xellas, she knew. Xellos was channeling his mistress's power to her. She tried to embrace it the way she had down with the power of the souls inside her but it felt as though she were trying to carry water in her open palms.
The barrier split, a siren's song shattering Xellos' magic like some glass globe, and Deep Sea Dolphin threw her head back, raising her arm from behind her to aim a bolt of black lightening at the redhead sorceress.
Xellos turned on his heel, calling out Lina's name in pointless warning.
Lina's head rolled back abruptly, as though to stare once more at the sky. Xellos' eyes followed her gaze and to his shock, a golden light brighter than he had ever seen descended from the blanket of bruise-colored clouds that patchworked the sky. The light descended towards Lina, wrapping around her like a silken ribbon and Lina's gaze fell once more on Deep Sea Dolphin, who was so stunned, she had not taken aim to destroy her enemy.
Lina's skin, paler than it's normal tone radiated the golden light and her eyes echoed the same metallic hue. When Lina opened her mouth, an unheard of blend of deep and childish voices issued forth, slow and steady, lingering in a music of life and death.
"Mother of Chaos, of eternal darkness at the beginning of all creation, Spirit of blood and war, birth of infants and renewal of tired dreams, I look upon you now. Take my body, mind and soul, guide me and grant me the power I need. As you created the earth, moon and sun, I, the daughter and knight of the Universe, worship the powers of Darkness and Light. By the power that you and I possess…NIGHTMARE SLAVE!"
A phenomenally eternal golden power mixed with unfathomable darkness mingled and mated, folded in on itself and hurled forth from Lina's tiny body, plunging into Deep Sea Dolphin as it sang out with voices strained through light-years, as though the cosmos sang down on the battle.
The golden light expanded, seemingly engulfing the entire planet in blinding light and absolute silence. From somewhere in the void of an exploding star, Xellos rose casually to his feet, extending his hand to Lina. She blinked away the remnants of something she could not hope to understand on her own and reached forward to take it. He spun around, her hand clutched tightly in his and leapt forward through something Lina could neither see nor feel.
Her feet hit ground, and it was not wet and emerald but a burnt and sickly brown. The sky above her was orange but seemed to be straining to paint itself a health blue. The few trees surrounding the area were bare and stunted and strange birds with calls she had never heard before filled the sky with their alien noise.
Lina clutched her head, tender and pulsing with pain from the battle. "Is it over?"
Xellos smiled widely at her. "You defeated her, yes."
Lina wanted to smile with relief but something turned sour as the corners of her mouth curled slowly upwards. "So, where are we?" She asked, disgust edged in her voice.
Xellos looked grimly out over the hills and valleys surrounding them. "Home." He replied.
Lina knew that she would have to fight Zelgadis. As she had told Xellos, she knew the rules. She also knew Deep Sea Dolphin had been saving him up, her ace in the hole. Deep Sea Dolphin preyed on Lina's weaknesses and Zelgadis was Lina's biggest weakness of all.
Her lover turned to her, face stoic, empty. "Lina." He murmured softly.
Tears welled in Lina's eyes. How could she kill Zelgadis?
"Lina, please don't cry." Zel pleaded quietly in the wind that surrounded them.
Lina felt her heart stop beating for a moment, replaced by an intense pain and an aching doubt. Could Deep Sea Dolphin fake the quality of concern and caring in his voice? Could she impersonate Zelgadis' hidden tenderness? Lina decided to try and find out.
"Zel?" She spoke barely above a whisper, her voice shaking as her eyes studied the ground fearfully. "Zel, is that you?"
"Yes. It's me, Lina." Zel's voice was warm but devoid of any other emotion.
"No." Xellos's faint image appeared behind Lina. "Don't listen to him, Lina. He's no different than the others."
"I'm stronger than them, mazoku." Zel scorned. "It has been hard, but I have been able to fight the insanity." His eyes turned on Lina. "I feel I am about to lose my mind, Lina. Before I die, I want to fight her together with you."
"Zel!" Lina's eyes lit up with her first ray of hope.
"Lina." Xellos' voice, unusually stern, broke through her daze. "He's not strong enough to resist her. It's Iruka playing with your mind. Don't let her wear you down."
In spite of her need to believe that Zelgadis was alive, Lina couldn't let herself believe it so willingly. After all, were it not for Xellos, she wouldn't be alive herself.
"Zelgadis," She paused a moment, trying to be strong. "If you are Zelgadis, you can give me proof."
"Lina, we don't have time for ridiculous games." Zel's voice was firm, harsh.
"See?" Xellos chided.
"You want to live? I want proof." She insisted.
Zelgadis sighed thoughtfully, as though he were recalling something that happened long, long ago. "Do you remember that night before we fought Shabranigdo? Do you remember that you were afraid to die? I told you that I wouldn't leave. I never have, Lina. Even now, I will not leave you."
Lina's eyes were wet and becoming more tear-stained with every second. It was her Zelgadis. Deep Sea Dolphin couldn't remember that. She couldn't be loving the way he was.
"It's a trick! She's tapping his memory!" Xellos called out to her.
"Zelgadis!" She cried as she ran into his arms.
As Lina reached Zelgadis' outstretched arms, she saw a flash of shining steel and felt a sharp throbbing against her right cheek. She pulled back to discover Zelgadis was holding a small, crooked dagger. She reached up to touch her face and felt a blooming warm wetness on her skin, accompanied by an acute stinging sensation as her dirty hand brushed her open wound.
"Bitch." Zel muttered coldly. "You dodged. It was supposed to blind you."
Lina's nearly wretched, a cold and inconsolable grief welling up in her stomach and throat. She wiped the blood from her cheek, smearing it on her skirt as her eyes locked on Zelgadis.
Before she knew what happened, he dove at her, throwing all his weight atop her, pinning her against the ground. His wings spread wide, until all she could see was Zelgadis surrounded by an angelic blackness. His deadly eyes flashed with hunger, making Lina recoil beneath him.
"Guess what, little Lina?" His voice was so soft, so sickeningly unlike him. It was full of fake warmth, high and dangerous. "Do you know what I could do to you? I could take you now, have you in every way. You know the best part? You love me. I can take it all from you, every piece of your soul. I don't have to control you. All I have to do is…" Zel's hand snaked down to Lina's waist and tried to push lower. Lina cried out, terror flooding her eyes.
"Zel! Zel! I pretended not to remember. I thought it would be easier. It wasn't. I love you!"
Zelgadis' touch ceased its downward decline and his gaze held hers. She saw is eyes whirl and clear for an instant that seemed to last a silent eternity. A tiny, delicate tear slid from his deep grey-blue eyes and slid over his granite skin.
"I love you too." He whispered hoarsely. His single tear slid from is cheek, falling against Lina's skin, shrouding her in warmth. His eyes flashed once more. "End it." He pleaded, his voice quiet, buried beneath immeasurable loss.
Lina nodded slowly, almost emotionlessly. She had to protect Zelgadis now. It wasn't about how much she needed him. To let him continue to be controlled this way because she was too cowardly to end it for him would break him more than Deep Sea Dolphin could ever dream of breaking her. Zelgadis needed her. And she loved him enough that she had no other choice.
Lina held his eyes as he struggled to keep Deep Sea Dolphin at bay within him. Lina raised her hand slowly as Zelgadis released her from beneath him. "Darkness beyond twighlight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the flow of time. In they Great Name, I pledge myself to darkness."
Lina pulled her fingers back, kissing them softly and then continued. "All the fools that stand in my way shall be destroyed." Lina sobbed now as she spoke, watching Zel's eyes, begging her, pleading her to have the strength she needed to finish it. I promise you, Zel, Lina told herself. I promise I will save you from this. "By the power that you an I possess…" Lina pressed her fingers gently to Zel's lips one last time. "Dragon Slave." She whispered softly.
The small dimensional plane disappeared once and for all, leaving Lina crumpled in a heap on the dewy green grass, bleeding and sobbing. "Forgive me, Zel. Oh god, I love you." She throat, raw with overuse and grief let barely a whisper escape from her lips. Light peeled down from the demonic sky above the city, hurtling down to Lina, pushing inside her chest. The electricity she felt then was nothing like anything she had experienced before. It pulsed through every inch of her, inside and out, almost wrapping her in its essence before retreating into her mind. She heard an echo of what could be a voice, so faint and yet wonderfully familiar. "Thank you, my love. Aishiteru. Itsu mo."
Zelgadis.
Xellos moved to stand over Lina, looking down at her with his usual smile.
"Is it over?" Lina croaked painfully.
Harsh, cruel laughter rained down from the sky in a vicious onslaught and Lina's mind was crushed under the pressure of Deep Sea Dolphin's madness.
"I'll take that as a no." Lina grimaced, allowing Xellos to help her to her feet.
Deep Sea Dolphin appeared once more, as though she were dancing in the sky. "That was delightful. Simply lovely. I must say though, I am a little disappointed. Things did not go precisely as scripted. For example, you don't seem nearly guilty enough. You did just slaughter your dear friends and your lover. Doesn't that make you sad?"
"Bitch!" Lina screamed into the sky.
"My, my, how you hurt my feelings with your cruel words. The nice thing is though, I never meant for them to kill you. They weren't strong enough. I knew that. Their purpose was to torture you, either physically or mentally. And if you killed them, you would live with it for the remainder of your short little life. Merciful, I must say. After all, I will end that guilt so quickly!" Her voice changed then suddenly, from her sweetly pleasant chattering voice to a maniacal shriek. Her eyes blazed dangerously as she looked down at the child sorceress and the trickster priest.
Lina automatically back into Xellos, who stepped forward almost protectively. "Iruka!" He called up at the Dark Lord. "You will not win this battle. The power of the Lord of Nightmares is on our side!"
Lina raised her eyebrows Xelloswards. Would Deep Sea Dolphin call his bluff?
The Dark Lord howled with curdling laughter. "L-sama? Why in the name of heaven and hell would she help you? You are nothing to her and neither is your pathetic mistress."
Xellos inclined his head skyward, clutching his staff tightly. "Lina. It is up to you now. You have everything you need. Now you must focus it."
"What do you mean?" Lina asked, confused. "How am I supposed to defeat a dark lord?"
Xellos smiled. "You defeated Shabranigdo."
"A tiny piece of Shabranigdo!" Lina scoffed loudly. "You know better than that."
Xellos shrugged, grinning. "Just trying to inspire a little confidence."
Deep Sea Dolphin seemed to be growing impatient, and a black bolt of lightening hurled at Lina and Xellos. It stopped long before it reached them, blocked by a dome-shaped force field the Xellos had silently erected around them both.
Lina's voice rose high in a panic. "Tell me! Nothing about secrets! If you don't tell me now, we're both going to die, and so will Beastmaster."
A soft, unusually genuine smile fell over Xellos' face. "Now you are starting to ask the right questions the right way. You are learning, Lina-chan."
Another bolt of lightening hurled, more powerful than the first.
"You have a great deal of power on your side. You are now more powerful than any Dark Lord."
"How?" Lina asked skeptically.
"You have your own magic. You have the magic of your friends inside you. You have mine."
A shower of powerful offense rained down upon the ever-thinning barrier.
"That's not enough!" Lina exclaimed.
"You have my mistress, Xellas' power on your side."
"Deep Sea Dolphin has armies, legions of zombies at her command, many of them more powerful than I am!" Lina cried against the din of explosions all around them.
"And," Xellos smiled, "If you can focus, you can channel L-sama's energy."
Lina gasped, her eyes wide. "Again? Deep Sea Dolphin is right; She has no reason to help me this time. There's no reason for Her to save Beastmaster."
"Either channel Her power or don't." Xellos shrugged again. "But it will mean the difference between life and death."
A hole began to form visibly in Xellos' shield. He looked to Lina. "I will try to maintain this barrier and help you focus Xellas' power. That is all I can. First, focus your own and that of your friends. Hurry. If she breaks through this, all of L-sama's power will not save us."
Lina nodded. She positioned herself in the center of the barrier, gathering her strength. She felt herself beginning to focus, to concentrate on the magic within her that she once knew so well. Over the years, that had been stifled. She was surprised she was able to call forth the Dragon Slave.
Thinking about it brought her back to Zel. Why hadn't she told him she loved him when she had the chance? Why had she lied and said she didn't remember it? Lina had thought that until it was all resolved, the whole battle with Deep Sea Dolphin, being in love, acting in love with Zelgadis would only distract her. God knows, when she first began to love those thousands of years ago, it had distracted her then. In the battle against Hellmaster, it had almost cost her everything. Now the idea of Zel being gone, no matter how much he felt his soul with her, threatened to destroy her. Why hadn't she told him when she could?
"Lina!" Xellos cried out her name, jolting her from her anguish. "Focus! The shield's falling!"
Yes, Lina told herself. Yes, I have time later for remorse. Time to hurt. But now I have to fight. She felt it all well up inside her, in her mind. I am going to win this battle if you all help me, Lina promised.
Lina was standing by a lake, cool and still. The water was the bluest she'd seen in many thousands of years, and the trees were the brightest green, coveting the lake in the beauty of the cloudless blue sky. Lina stared out over the beauty of it, spellbound as her eyes drank in the aesthetic majesty she so dearly missed.
A soul-wracking laugh boomed out behind her, startling her as well as any surrounding wildlife. "Lina, you never change. Always so serious when it comes to battles. Lighten up. You will win. Because you'll have my help!"
Lina spun around at the wonderfully familiar voice. 'Naga!" She cried out. "Naga, you're alive!"
Naga smiled almost sweetly. Almost. "I am within you. Let's beat this thing!"
Naga's image began to disperse, becoming part of the lake and the trees around Lina. The redhead stood in silent dismay as Naga's image was replaced by Amelia's.
"Ne, Lina-san. Thank you very much!" Amelia beamed at her. "You did was right, even though it was hard. In the name of justice and order, we can destroy Deep Sea Dolphin and end her evil ways!"
"Hey, Lina."
Upon hearing her voice, Lina whirled from Amelia to see Gourry standing to her left, a smile on his face. He stretched hugely, and then grinned at his friend.
"I know what happened. You had to help us and now you have to save the world again. Didn't we already do that?" He paused thoughtfully. "Ah well, it should be easier then cause we've practiced. Be strong, Lina." He smiled once more before he and Amelia faded into the summery air that surrounded the sorceress.
A glimmer of blue caught Lina's eye and she turned once more, slowly, as though she feared too swift a movement would end the vision before a chance to see the person she had been waiting for.
Zelgadis stood, garbed the way she remember him so long ago, cloaked in concealing beige. He took in the vision of water and forest, watching slowly, peacefully.
"I'm sorry, Zel. God, you'll never know how sorry I am." Lina's voice, barely audible, seemed amplified by the strange peaceful silence that surrounded them both.
Zel shook his head, focusing his eyes one Lina. "No, Lina. I do know. I am with you."
Lina eyes glued themselves to the grass and soil, afraid beyond words to see something in Zelgadis' eyes, something that would destroy her. He felt his light footsteps as he approached her, felt his hand reach gently down to raise her chin as he held her gaze.
"I love you, Lina. I spent much of life in your company not knowing that and much of the remaining time denying it." He smiled softly. "After all, how could an angel love a demon?"
Lina shook her head. "Zel, no-."
The chimera touched his fingers softly to her lips. "Shhh. In a moment you must be stronger than you could have ever imagined. I want you to know that I am with you. Now and for the rest of your life. I am so in love with you, Lina." He wrapped his arms tightly around her as she buried her face against his shoulder.
"I love you too." She whispered.
Zelgadis drew back slowly, a sweet, genuine smile tracing his lips. "I know. Till I see you again, koibito-chan. Never forget, I am with you."
Lina nodded bravely against her tears as Zel unfolded his great wings, filling them with air, letting them beat slowly in the soft breeze and catching a wind as he took off, flying high above her as the beautiful lake and forest faded around her.
Now she stood in the early hours of Earth's most chaotic morning, dark clouds smothering down over Xellos' failing shield.
Lina's emotions seemed to pour from her body, emptying into the soil and the air around her. She held her head high, almost hearing the insane shrieking and the blasts of boiling ocean the Dark Lord flung upon the barrier relentlessly.
"Xellos." She said softly, her voice deep with a chilling serenity.
Xellos' eyes did not strain from the barrier but she felt a power far greater than her own meld with her, encircle her in it. Xellas, she knew. Xellos was channeling his mistress's power to her. She tried to embrace it the way she had down with the power of the souls inside her but it felt as though she were trying to carry water in her open palms.
The barrier split, a siren's song shattering Xellos' magic like some glass globe, and Deep Sea Dolphin threw her head back, raising her arm from behind her to aim a bolt of black lightening at the redhead sorceress.
Xellos turned on his heel, calling out Lina's name in pointless warning.
Lina's head rolled back abruptly, as though to stare once more at the sky. Xellos' eyes followed her gaze and to his shock, a golden light brighter than he had ever seen descended from the blanket of bruise-colored clouds that patchworked the sky. The light descended towards Lina, wrapping around her like a silken ribbon and Lina's gaze fell once more on Deep Sea Dolphin, who was so stunned, she had not taken aim to destroy her enemy.
Lina's skin, paler than it's normal tone radiated the golden light and her eyes echoed the same metallic hue. When Lina opened her mouth, an unheard of blend of deep and childish voices issued forth, slow and steady, lingering in a music of life and death.
"Mother of Chaos, of eternal darkness at the beginning of all creation, Spirit of blood and war, birth of infants and renewal of tired dreams, I look upon you now. Take my body, mind and soul, guide me and grant me the power I need. As you created the earth, moon and sun, I, the daughter and knight of the Universe, worship the powers of Darkness and Light. By the power that you and I possess…NIGHTMARE SLAVE!"
A phenomenally eternal golden power mixed with unfathomable darkness mingled and mated, folded in on itself and hurled forth from Lina's tiny body, plunging into Deep Sea Dolphin as it sang out with voices strained through light-years, as though the cosmos sang down on the battle.
The golden light expanded, seemingly engulfing the entire planet in blinding light and absolute silence. From somewhere in the void of an exploding star, Xellos rose casually to his feet, extending his hand to Lina. She blinked away the remnants of something she could not hope to understand on her own and reached forward to take it. He spun around, her hand clutched tightly in his and leapt forward through something Lina could neither see nor feel.
Her feet hit ground, and it was not wet and emerald but a burnt and sickly brown. The sky above her was orange but seemed to be straining to paint itself a health blue. The few trees surrounding the area were bare and stunted and strange birds with calls she had never heard before filled the sky with their alien noise.
Lina clutched her head, tender and pulsing with pain from the battle. "Is it over?"
Xellos smiled widely at her. "You defeated her, yes."
Lina wanted to smile with relief but something turned sour as the corners of her mouth curled slowly upwards. "So, where are we?" She asked, disgust edged in her voice.
Xellos looked grimly out over the hills and valleys surrounding them. "Home." He replied.