Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, but Nick, Ricki, Faith, Josh, and Mapontalia are all mine, baby.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It took a few minutes for the realization to sink in for Lina. But there were so many questions now... what did this mean? Why exactly did the talismen have her signature?
She shook her head and looked up at Faith.
After about ten minutes, Faith began to get nervous and started to rub her neck nervously. She looked to the others for support.
"Um... guys? What's she doing?" Faith asked, sweatdrop forming.
Her crew all shrugged.
"Alright, can I ask a question here?" Nick interrupted the little show-down.
All eyes turned to him.
"What year is it, and where are we?"
Faith smacked him, then realized that he had actually asked an intelligent question.
Zel, of course, had to point out that, "That's two questions."
Nick looked at Zel. "Bite me."
Zel took a step back to where Gourry stood and asked, "What does that mean?"
Gourry shrugged.
Amelia, however, fielded the question Nick had asked. "It's the year 36 in the reign of Crown Prince Philionel*, and we're in the outer boundaries of Unexplored Zoana**!" She emphasized the statement with a righteous pointed finger, and Nick couldn't help but sweatdrop.
Well, he would've, if he hadn't been attacked by three other people.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After the fighting had stopped (resulting in Nick being left with both eyes black and puffy, a sprained wrist, and bruises and cuts 'a plenty, not to mention leaving Amelia with a black eye from trying to save Nick), Faith, Ricki, and Josh sat as far away from Nick as possible. Being pissed tends to do that.
Meanwhile, Lina had been unusually silent. She hadn't even complained of being hungry. Her group had pretty much decided to camp out on the lonely stretch of road (or, rather, a field next to it) and were setting up camp, while Lina herself sat alone, thinking. Every so often she would glance at Faith for a few seconds. It was really starting to creep Faith out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, you guys, why does she keep staring at me?" Faith asked Josh and Ricki.
Both of them shrugged.
Faith finally got up the nerve to go over and talk to the redhead. She got up and walked to where Lina sat and sat down next to her.
"Hey Lina." Faith said, trying not to act as nervous as she felt.
Lina just looked at her.
"Um, are you okay? Did I offend you?" Faith pushed, giving a weak smile.
Still Lina sat without saying a word. She only gazed into Faith's red eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Zelgadis-san, why is Lina-san acting so weird?" Amelia asked.
Zel looked at her from where he was cooking dinner (from carefully hidden stores) and sighed. "Amelia, do you know what a magickal signature is?"
Amelia thought about it, opened her mouth to say something, closed it, then said, "No."
"A magickal signature is basically your form of magick. Okay, your signature is something only you can do perfectly, right? Something that only applies to you?"
Amelia nodded.
"Well, when you keep something around you for a long time, or use your magick on something, a little bit of magick- your magick- rubs off on it, therefore leaving a trace of your magickal energy- your signature- on the object."
"Ahhhhh." Amelia made the understanding sound, and Zel almost smiled. Almost.
"That doesn't explain why Lina-san was so upset."
Zel sighed again. "Amelia, she did a scan of the talisman on Faith's wrist and found her own magickal signature on it. Which means that it was once Lina's."
Amelia twisted her head at odd angles. "But... I don't get it. What does it mean? How could the talismen have been Lina-san's once?"
"I don't understand either, Amelia," Zel said, returning to the cooking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Nick sat painfully on a rock on the far end of the field. He was bored, but he wasn't stupid. Well, stupid enough to have a death wish. Crossing the field meant death.
So, he contented himself counting his bruises.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dinner time arrived, and Lina partially snapped back into function. She ate enough food to make Faith and Josh sick and to challenge Ricki.
Halfway through the meal, Zel came over to Faith and Josh and whispered, "It's okay. As long as you don't try to touch anything in her eating-radius, you'll be fine."
Faith, pale with fright, simply nodded.
"Hey, shouldn't we take some food over to your other friend? Nick?" Gourry suggested after he had had his fill.
Faith, Josh and Ricki replied at once, "No."
"But don't you think he's hungry?" Gourry pushed.
"I know he is," Ricki said, "But that doesn't mean I want him fed. That bastard effectively stranded us here."
"What about blankets?" Amelia asked.
"He can freeze his stupid ass off," Josh said.
"Can we say 'vindictive'?" Amelia whispered to Zel.
"It's almost like a group of Linas." Zel replied, then shuddered. Just the thought of a group of Linas...
"Well, 'night guys!" Lina said, then headed off to the sack.
Amelia soon followed, as did Gourry and Ricki, leaving only Faith, Josh and Zel sitting around the fire.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, still across the field and shivering, Nick smelled food and whined. He was hungry, but, once again, it wasn't worth the slow, painful death he'd get if he dared cross the field.
"You guys're mean." he whimpered, then tried to go to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
* I have no idea how they measure time in the Slayers dimension... quite frankly, it boggles my mind. ::shrug:: Oh well.
** Alright, so I couldn't think of a name of a place. Don't hold it against me... I'm just unimaginative at the moment. ::shrug again:: Like I said, oh well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Will Lina snap out of it? Why exactly DOES Faith have items with Lina's magickal signature? And will Nick ever get fed?
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be' and review so the author can stop having bouts of depression over nobody loving her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It took a few minutes for the realization to sink in for Lina. But there were so many questions now... what did this mean? Why exactly did the talismen have her signature?
She shook her head and looked up at Faith.
After about ten minutes, Faith began to get nervous and started to rub her neck nervously. She looked to the others for support.
"Um... guys? What's she doing?" Faith asked, sweatdrop forming.
Her crew all shrugged.
"Alright, can I ask a question here?" Nick interrupted the little show-down.
All eyes turned to him.
"What year is it, and where are we?"
Faith smacked him, then realized that he had actually asked an intelligent question.
Zel, of course, had to point out that, "That's two questions."
Nick looked at Zel. "Bite me."
Zel took a step back to where Gourry stood and asked, "What does that mean?"
Gourry shrugged.
Amelia, however, fielded the question Nick had asked. "It's the year 36 in the reign of Crown Prince Philionel*, and we're in the outer boundaries of Unexplored Zoana**!" She emphasized the statement with a righteous pointed finger, and Nick couldn't help but sweatdrop.
Well, he would've, if he hadn't been attacked by three other people.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After the fighting had stopped (resulting in Nick being left with both eyes black and puffy, a sprained wrist, and bruises and cuts 'a plenty, not to mention leaving Amelia with a black eye from trying to save Nick), Faith, Ricki, and Josh sat as far away from Nick as possible. Being pissed tends to do that.
Meanwhile, Lina had been unusually silent. She hadn't even complained of being hungry. Her group had pretty much decided to camp out on the lonely stretch of road (or, rather, a field next to it) and were setting up camp, while Lina herself sat alone, thinking. Every so often she would glance at Faith for a few seconds. It was really starting to creep Faith out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, you guys, why does she keep staring at me?" Faith asked Josh and Ricki.
Both of them shrugged.
Faith finally got up the nerve to go over and talk to the redhead. She got up and walked to where Lina sat and sat down next to her.
"Hey Lina." Faith said, trying not to act as nervous as she felt.
Lina just looked at her.
"Um, are you okay? Did I offend you?" Faith pushed, giving a weak smile.
Still Lina sat without saying a word. She only gazed into Faith's red eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Zelgadis-san, why is Lina-san acting so weird?" Amelia asked.
Zel looked at her from where he was cooking dinner (from carefully hidden stores) and sighed. "Amelia, do you know what a magickal signature is?"
Amelia thought about it, opened her mouth to say something, closed it, then said, "No."
"A magickal signature is basically your form of magick. Okay, your signature is something only you can do perfectly, right? Something that only applies to you?"
Amelia nodded.
"Well, when you keep something around you for a long time, or use your magick on something, a little bit of magick- your magick- rubs off on it, therefore leaving a trace of your magickal energy- your signature- on the object."
"Ahhhhh." Amelia made the understanding sound, and Zel almost smiled. Almost.
"That doesn't explain why Lina-san was so upset."
Zel sighed again. "Amelia, she did a scan of the talisman on Faith's wrist and found her own magickal signature on it. Which means that it was once Lina's."
Amelia twisted her head at odd angles. "But... I don't get it. What does it mean? How could the talismen have been Lina-san's once?"
"I don't understand either, Amelia," Zel said, returning to the cooking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Nick sat painfully on a rock on the far end of the field. He was bored, but he wasn't stupid. Well, stupid enough to have a death wish. Crossing the field meant death.
So, he contented himself counting his bruises.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dinner time arrived, and Lina partially snapped back into function. She ate enough food to make Faith and Josh sick and to challenge Ricki.
Halfway through the meal, Zel came over to Faith and Josh and whispered, "It's okay. As long as you don't try to touch anything in her eating-radius, you'll be fine."
Faith, pale with fright, simply nodded.
"Hey, shouldn't we take some food over to your other friend? Nick?" Gourry suggested after he had had his fill.
Faith, Josh and Ricki replied at once, "No."
"But don't you think he's hungry?" Gourry pushed.
"I know he is," Ricki said, "But that doesn't mean I want him fed. That bastard effectively stranded us here."
"What about blankets?" Amelia asked.
"He can freeze his stupid ass off," Josh said.
"Can we say 'vindictive'?" Amelia whispered to Zel.
"It's almost like a group of Linas." Zel replied, then shuddered. Just the thought of a group of Linas...
"Well, 'night guys!" Lina said, then headed off to the sack.
Amelia soon followed, as did Gourry and Ricki, leaving only Faith, Josh and Zel sitting around the fire.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, still across the field and shivering, Nick smelled food and whined. He was hungry, but, once again, it wasn't worth the slow, painful death he'd get if he dared cross the field.
"You guys're mean." he whimpered, then tried to go to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
* I have no idea how they measure time in the Slayers dimension... quite frankly, it boggles my mind. ::shrug:: Oh well.
** Alright, so I couldn't think of a name of a place. Don't hold it against me... I'm just unimaginative at the moment. ::shrug again:: Like I said, oh well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Will Lina snap out of it? Why exactly DOES Faith have items with Lina's magickal signature? And will Nick ever get fed?
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be' and review so the author can stop having bouts of depression over nobody loving her.