Mixed Desires
Chapter 2
By Lady Rava
"15 gold."
"10!"
"…13, and I won't go any lower."
"You would rip off a cute girl like me?! 10!"
The merchant sweatdropped: the room was filled with supplies, books and more food than an entire army could eat, and she thought he was ripping her off! The food alone was worth 20 gold! He sighed, "…11 gold."
"8!"
"Fine. 10 gold"
"Deal." Lina Inverse smirked flashing a victory sign, her cute expression vanishing from her face to be replaced by her normal greedy expression. Handing the merchant the 10 gold, she gathered her new supplies and left, leaving a bewildered merchant behind.
For once Lina Inverse was strangely cheerful; not only was she finally on her own, but she had enough food to last her till dinnertime. With this pleasant thought in mind, Lina followed the path the led out of town, a cheerful bounce in her step as she contemplated how rich she would soon be. Her new cheerfulness could be partly attributed to the departure of a certain swordsman; not that Lina disliked Gourry, she simply needed a chance to be on her own again, something that hadn't happened since she split up from Naga all those years ago.
Lina grimaced at that thought, the memory of Naga's annoying laugh echoing through her ears and bringing back memories of why she had fled her first partnership. Lina smirked; perhaps Gourry wasn't so bad after all. Turning she stepped off the path that would eventually lead to Atlas City and walked toward the first trees that would signify her entrance into the forest on her map.
Lina sighed softly and reopened her map; this would take a while. The cave was at least a week away, maybe more. She was in the process of tracing her finger over the map when she paused and smiled.
"You might as well come out, she said smirking. "Its not nice to make a cute girl like me wait."
"Very well then," a voice responded and as if on cue several bandits stepped out from behind the trees. "Now then," continued the bandit leader, a menacing dark-haired man, whose clothes where adorned with several chains. "If you know what's best for you you'll give us all your money, unless you want to be hurt little girl."
Lina groaned, "There's that stock dialogue again." She looked up, the feral expression in her eyes vanishing the bandits smirks. "Now this will be fun."
"What the?"
"FIREBALL!"
Lina stepped through the horde of charred bandits, ignoring their groans. Turning, she grinned and flashed a victory sign to the now nearly comatose bandit gang before continuing on her way, leaving the bandits with the sight of liquid flame as her hair blew softly in the wind. "No one can beat the sorcery genius Lina Inverse!" She proclaimed aloud grinning.
* * *
"Interesting." A female voice drawled having just witnessed the scene from above. "She possesses great skill."
"So you noticed." A male voice replied.
"Of course. Her fireball spell was efficient and powerful enough to do the job without a lot of messy spells."
"True," he replied. "Still that means nothing, a simple fireball spell does not prove she is powerful. I doubt she will be able to break the curse."
"Perhaps. But still we should be cautious, besides that girl is not the only one seeking to unlock the treasure's secrets," she said glancing at another figure less than a mile away.
"You sound like a mortal," he sneered, "Don't concern yourselves with such insignificant things Vrela, no matter who they are they can't beat mazoku. Especially not ones empowered with the curse of Aretha." He laughed aloud at this and vanished, leaving Vrela behind.
Vrela chuckled, "Oh Rythian you are such a fool sometimes," she said. "This time I think you've met your match and that will be all the better for me," she continued gazing down at the redhead below, before vanishing as well.
* * *
Lina swore, reaching for her sword. She was surrounded by trolls, berserkers and numerous other "fun" forest creatures, and for a "certain" reason, she couldn't use her magic as she had the day before. She sighed and leaped into the throng of monsters, swinging her sword to the right; it was times like this she missed Gourry.
From behind the trees, the figure who had been watching Lina for some time sighed and turned to walk away. "Sorry about this Lina, but I can't have you reaching the treasure before me." It was better this way anyway, the figure rationalized to himself. Lina would only want the treasure for herself, and then there would be no way it could cure him, besides he was positive the sorceress could deal with simple beasts.
'But then why is she using her sword instead of her magic?' An inner voice questioned him.
"Shut up," Zelgadis mumbled to himself, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in his heart that urged him to go back. Perhaps traveling with Lina all those years had made him go soft, he had to remember that his cure was his first priority. 'Is it really?' His ever-annoying inner voice asked him, 'did you forget the reason you pursue your cure so actively?'
Now that was a thought he quickly squelched, thoughts like that would make him weak. Still, he had enjoyed traveling with Li…that is with the slayers gang. However, none of that was important. All that mattered to him was that he couldn't let Lina get to the treasure before him.
So, when he heard her scream he did not weaken his resolve. He would keep going; he was not going to help her no matter what danger she was in, he was…turning around and running back towards her.
Apparently his resolve wasn't as strong as he thought.
"RA TILT!" He screamed throwing the spell towards the horde of monsters.
"ZEL?!" Lina said surprised.
"Get down!" He shouted, pushing Lina down as his spell ripped through the astral forms of the creatures, leaving their physical bodies little more than charred husks. Zelgadis stood and brushed himself off, a grimace crossing his face as he noticed the pungent smell of the corpses' remains.
"What are you doing here?" Lina asked him once she had regained her composure.
Zelgadis simply looked at her, debating on whether he should answer truthfully. "It's none of your concern," he said finally.
"Of course it is!" She snapped annoyed, "I'm your friend!"
Zelgadis almost smirked, "you might not think that once you find out what I'm here for." No, Lina would not be happy at his searching for Aretha's Treasure at all.
"Why would I think that?" She paused realization dawning on her, "You're after my treasure aren't you?!"
Zelgadis sweatdropped. "I wouldn't call it your treasure," he mumbled.
Lina blinked, "What do you mean, I heard of it first!"
"…Lina, Aretha's Treasure has been around for centuries, you're not the first one to go looking for it."
"I know that!" She snapped, "but still, none of the others were the genius sorceress Lina Inverse! (Insert wink and victory sign) I will find it where others have failed!"
"Actually you won't; that treasure may be my cure, I can't let you have it."
"You're still looking for that?! It's not like you need it."
Zelgadis facefaulted, "Of course I'm still looking for it, I'm still a hideous monster aren't I?"
Lina whapped him on the head (she instantly regretted this), "For the last time you are not hideous or a monster!" Actually she thought he was quite attractive. She quickly ducked her head to hide the blush that her thoughts had provoked.
Zelgadis sighed, Lina didn't have to lie to him because she was his friend; it was obvious he was a monster. "Nevertheless, I will find it."
"Alright then," she said, making a decision. "We'll just have to work together to find the treasure!"
"I don't think that will work…"
"Of course it will," she said, "that way we can both have the treasure!"
"It doesn't exactly work that way," he said.
Lina switched tactics. "You would leave a pretty girl like me defenseless?" She said, opening her eyes wide in her best "cute" expression.
Zelgadis swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to keep his face expressionless so Lina wouldn't see the effect she had on him. "I suppose you could come with me," he relented finally.
"Victory!" Lina said grinning. "On we go!" She turned and strode off, a cheerful bounce in her walk.
Zelgadis followed, the corners of his mouth twitching upward into a smile.
Chapter 2
By Lady Rava
"15 gold."
"10!"
"…13, and I won't go any lower."
"You would rip off a cute girl like me?! 10!"
The merchant sweatdropped: the room was filled with supplies, books and more food than an entire army could eat, and she thought he was ripping her off! The food alone was worth 20 gold! He sighed, "…11 gold."
"8!"
"Fine. 10 gold"
"Deal." Lina Inverse smirked flashing a victory sign, her cute expression vanishing from her face to be replaced by her normal greedy expression. Handing the merchant the 10 gold, she gathered her new supplies and left, leaving a bewildered merchant behind.
For once Lina Inverse was strangely cheerful; not only was she finally on her own, but she had enough food to last her till dinnertime. With this pleasant thought in mind, Lina followed the path the led out of town, a cheerful bounce in her step as she contemplated how rich she would soon be. Her new cheerfulness could be partly attributed to the departure of a certain swordsman; not that Lina disliked Gourry, she simply needed a chance to be on her own again, something that hadn't happened since she split up from Naga all those years ago.
Lina grimaced at that thought, the memory of Naga's annoying laugh echoing through her ears and bringing back memories of why she had fled her first partnership. Lina smirked; perhaps Gourry wasn't so bad after all. Turning she stepped off the path that would eventually lead to Atlas City and walked toward the first trees that would signify her entrance into the forest on her map.
Lina sighed softly and reopened her map; this would take a while. The cave was at least a week away, maybe more. She was in the process of tracing her finger over the map when she paused and smiled.
"You might as well come out, she said smirking. "Its not nice to make a cute girl like me wait."
"Very well then," a voice responded and as if on cue several bandits stepped out from behind the trees. "Now then," continued the bandit leader, a menacing dark-haired man, whose clothes where adorned with several chains. "If you know what's best for you you'll give us all your money, unless you want to be hurt little girl."
Lina groaned, "There's that stock dialogue again." She looked up, the feral expression in her eyes vanishing the bandits smirks. "Now this will be fun."
"What the?"
"FIREBALL!"
Lina stepped through the horde of charred bandits, ignoring their groans. Turning, she grinned and flashed a victory sign to the now nearly comatose bandit gang before continuing on her way, leaving the bandits with the sight of liquid flame as her hair blew softly in the wind. "No one can beat the sorcery genius Lina Inverse!" She proclaimed aloud grinning.
* * *
"Interesting." A female voice drawled having just witnessed the scene from above. "She possesses great skill."
"So you noticed." A male voice replied.
"Of course. Her fireball spell was efficient and powerful enough to do the job without a lot of messy spells."
"True," he replied. "Still that means nothing, a simple fireball spell does not prove she is powerful. I doubt she will be able to break the curse."
"Perhaps. But still we should be cautious, besides that girl is not the only one seeking to unlock the treasure's secrets," she said glancing at another figure less than a mile away.
"You sound like a mortal," he sneered, "Don't concern yourselves with such insignificant things Vrela, no matter who they are they can't beat mazoku. Especially not ones empowered with the curse of Aretha." He laughed aloud at this and vanished, leaving Vrela behind.
Vrela chuckled, "Oh Rythian you are such a fool sometimes," she said. "This time I think you've met your match and that will be all the better for me," she continued gazing down at the redhead below, before vanishing as well.
* * *
Lina swore, reaching for her sword. She was surrounded by trolls, berserkers and numerous other "fun" forest creatures, and for a "certain" reason, she couldn't use her magic as she had the day before. She sighed and leaped into the throng of monsters, swinging her sword to the right; it was times like this she missed Gourry.
From behind the trees, the figure who had been watching Lina for some time sighed and turned to walk away. "Sorry about this Lina, but I can't have you reaching the treasure before me." It was better this way anyway, the figure rationalized to himself. Lina would only want the treasure for herself, and then there would be no way it could cure him, besides he was positive the sorceress could deal with simple beasts.
'But then why is she using her sword instead of her magic?' An inner voice questioned him.
"Shut up," Zelgadis mumbled to himself, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in his heart that urged him to go back. Perhaps traveling with Lina all those years had made him go soft, he had to remember that his cure was his first priority. 'Is it really?' His ever-annoying inner voice asked him, 'did you forget the reason you pursue your cure so actively?'
Now that was a thought he quickly squelched, thoughts like that would make him weak. Still, he had enjoyed traveling with Li…that is with the slayers gang. However, none of that was important. All that mattered to him was that he couldn't let Lina get to the treasure before him.
So, when he heard her scream he did not weaken his resolve. He would keep going; he was not going to help her no matter what danger she was in, he was…turning around and running back towards her.
Apparently his resolve wasn't as strong as he thought.
"RA TILT!" He screamed throwing the spell towards the horde of monsters.
"ZEL?!" Lina said surprised.
"Get down!" He shouted, pushing Lina down as his spell ripped through the astral forms of the creatures, leaving their physical bodies little more than charred husks. Zelgadis stood and brushed himself off, a grimace crossing his face as he noticed the pungent smell of the corpses' remains.
"What are you doing here?" Lina asked him once she had regained her composure.
Zelgadis simply looked at her, debating on whether he should answer truthfully. "It's none of your concern," he said finally.
"Of course it is!" She snapped annoyed, "I'm your friend!"
Zelgadis almost smirked, "you might not think that once you find out what I'm here for." No, Lina would not be happy at his searching for Aretha's Treasure at all.
"Why would I think that?" She paused realization dawning on her, "You're after my treasure aren't you?!"
Zelgadis sweatdropped. "I wouldn't call it your treasure," he mumbled.
Lina blinked, "What do you mean, I heard of it first!"
"…Lina, Aretha's Treasure has been around for centuries, you're not the first one to go looking for it."
"I know that!" She snapped, "but still, none of the others were the genius sorceress Lina Inverse! (Insert wink and victory sign) I will find it where others have failed!"
"Actually you won't; that treasure may be my cure, I can't let you have it."
"You're still looking for that?! It's not like you need it."
Zelgadis facefaulted, "Of course I'm still looking for it, I'm still a hideous monster aren't I?"
Lina whapped him on the head (she instantly regretted this), "For the last time you are not hideous or a monster!" Actually she thought he was quite attractive. She quickly ducked her head to hide the blush that her thoughts had provoked.
Zelgadis sighed, Lina didn't have to lie to him because she was his friend; it was obvious he was a monster. "Nevertheless, I will find it."
"Alright then," she said, making a decision. "We'll just have to work together to find the treasure!"
"I don't think that will work…"
"Of course it will," she said, "that way we can both have the treasure!"
"It doesn't exactly work that way," he said.
Lina switched tactics. "You would leave a pretty girl like me defenseless?" She said, opening her eyes wide in her best "cute" expression.
Zelgadis swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to keep his face expressionless so Lina wouldn't see the effect she had on him. "I suppose you could come with me," he relented finally.
"Victory!" Lina said grinning. "On we go!" She turned and strode off, a cheerful bounce in her walk.
Zelgadis followed, the corners of his mouth twitching upward into a smile.