Disclaimer: We do not own Slayers, and we're not making any money off of this.
SPECIAL NOTES: This fanfic is written by Nathan J. Urbansic, a good friend of mine who does not have an FF.net account of his own and is currently unable to possess one. Hence I am posting this as a proxy with full permission from the true author.
Please still feel free to review, but keep in mind that all compliments go to Nate. Thanks minna. Enjoy!
ALSO: This is set in a universe parallel with the NEXT storyline. However, a few subtle differences occur, and slightly different choices are made. This just goes to show you that it really is the little things in life that create who we are... And what we become.
SLAYERS NiXT:
Nobody's Perfect
Chapter Four
"Nnn..." Lina regained consciousness with a soft groan. Voices of people around her filled her thoughts. She couldn't make out what was being said yet, but she felt that they were words of concern. She tried to move, but was treated to shooting pain throughout the whole of her body. "…no, Miss Lina…" a soft voice said as a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. Lina consigned herself to being motionless for the time being. She could feel the warmth of a spell coursing through her body, slowly healing its injuries. Finally she made the effort to open her eyes. The world blurred into view. Unfortunately the first thing she saw was the smiling, teary-eyed Amelia.
"Oh, Miss Lina! You're okay!" Amelia went to dive on the injured one in a large hug of thankfulness but was stopped short, though, as Zel held tightly to the back of her cape. Amelia, pretending not to notice, continued, "Don't you do that again, Miss Lina! We were so worried!" She freed herself from Zel's grasp and knelt by Lina's side. Lina smiled a weak, small smile. Then she turned her head slowly to her right to see who the other person nearby was. It made sense who she saw, but she was still surprised nonetheless. "Sylphiel…" Lina said softly, but went unnoticed. Sylphiel's eyes and mind were shut in concentration of the spell at hand. Lina gave her a tentative look before sinking into a state of rest. The feel of magic use within her withdrew as her body finished restoring itself. She was Lina Inverse again, good as new, but not quite the same.
Lina sat up with a sigh and opened her eyes. She looked at Sylphiel, wanting to say something, but before she could, Sylphiel quietly stood and walked away a distance, her back to the group. Lina stared longing at the blue-haired girl who had so isolated herself.
"Lina," said Zel scoldingly, catching her attention, "what were you thinking? You of all people should have known that spell was for real."
Lina looked at the ground distantly, "Nn."
"Uh, Miss Lina?" said Amelia, cutting in. "Is everything okay?"
The sorceress stood with a sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"But it seems like--"
"I said I'm fine!" Lina snapped at Amelia. "Now…Let's just go to Sairaag!" she said with finality as she began walking down the road. Amelia lingered for a moment, wondering if it was something she had said, but then followed Lina, making sure to keep her distance. Martina, who had decided silence the best tactic so far, continued with such as she went to join up with Amelia. Zel watched everyone for a bit and then looked back hesitantly at Sylphiel, her back still turned. Whatever action he had thought to take, remained undone when he turned back to the road and followed the rest.
Shortly after Zel had left, Sylphiel warily turned around to be sure that none were left. She wanted to cry. She wanted to fall to the ground and weep as she had not done since the destruction of Sairaag. But she didn't. She found that all she could do was to slowly walk the same road as everyone else, to Sairaag.
* * *
After a short while Zel caught up with Amelia and Martina, a silent nod or two of recognition were exchanged but nothing more. Silence, for the most part, prevailed as they walked on. In this lull Martina finally found her voice, "Hey you guys. What's wrong with Lina? She's not acting like herself." A moment passed as this thought sunk in. Now normally the other two would have just ignored Martina, but, for once, the simple-minded girl had a point.
"I'm not sure," Amelia speculated at length, "but I think that Gourry's death is finally catching up with her."
"No, it's more than just that," added Zel solemnly.
"What is it then?" asked Amelia.
"I'm not quite sure yet."
"Oh…" said Amelia, with the confused expression of a lost puppy.
Martina thought this over for a short while and, giving up, thought aloud, "I wonder what Zangulus is doing now."
Zel sighed. It wasn't always easy to be traveling with two princesses.
Amelia, changing the subject to something she understood, turned to Zel, "That was mean what you did with my cape back there. I just wanted to give Miss Lina a hug."
"Did Lina look like she was in any shape to be hugged? If you had hugged her, I imagine she would have just given you a fireball for your efforts," said Zel, grinning to himself over that prospect.
"Umm, I don't know if anyone noticed, but that crazy girl's behind us," Martina spoke up.
"Yeah, she's been there for a while now," replied Zel calmly.
"Eh?" Amelia looked back to see, some distance away, Sylphiel following behind them. Her attention was to the ground before her and her pace was that of someone heavily burdened. "What are we going to do about her?" Amelia asked Zel.
"Just leave her for now. I'm sure she has enough going through her mind already." For some reason the conversation died after this, and it was not revived for many hours.
* * *
Long fingers of shadow stretched across the land as the sun began to lower past the horizon. It was only now that Lina finally stopped walking. The procession stopped where they were, still wary of approaching the young redhead. A slight moment passed before she turned to face the group. "It'll be dark soon. Let's make camp here," was all she had to say, motioning to a small clearing a short distance from the road. Lina moved to the clearing and paced slowly about it.
"Ugh! About time," Martina said indignantly. "I was beginning to wonder is she'd ever stop."
"I know what you mean," agreed Amelia. "We haven't stopped once all day." She walked towards a large rock, intent on resting.
"Not so fast, Amelia," said Zel. "I'm not going to be the only one setting up camp."
Amelia sighed and reluctantly turned in place. "I'll go get firewood while you take care of the tent." She sluggishly walked into the forest to get wood for the night. Martina saw an opening and was quickly seated on the rock Amelia had gone for, a self-satisfied smile on her face.
"And what are you doing to help?" asked Zel.
"I'm a princess," replied Martina, somewhat aghastly. "You can't seriously expect me to do such things."
"But Amelia's a princess and….." He trailed off, realizing the futility of arguing with this girl. So, he took the pack from off his back and went about setting up the tent. Lina continued to slowly wander about the far side of the clearing.
By now Sylphiel was leaning against the base of a large tree nearby but was still far enough away so as to keep herself separate from everyone else. Her head hung slightly down with her eyes looking beyond the ground, lost in thought.
Just as the last rays of light disappeared from sight was everything set for the night. All, save Sylphiel, who was still by the tree, were seated on a couple of logs Zel had dragged over. A modest fire burned warmly in front of them. Cooking were pieces of meat staked on sharpened sticks. To these weary travelers, the smell of the roasting meat would normally have had them in a frenzy, but due to prior events of the day, all sat in silence, watching the fire and listening to the soft sizzling sound from the meat. When it was ready, Zel dispersed the meal. Each accepted a piece of meat and quietly ate, except Lina, who merely accepted the meat but didn't eat.
Zel looked about the group. The somber mood of everyone was beginning to get on his nerves. He turned his head towards Sylphiel; the light from the fire gently lit her cheek, her eyes shadowed by her hair. "There's some here for you if you want it, Sylphiel," he called out. Her head perked up slightly at the sound of her name and, after a moment's hesitation, she slowly approached the group.
The only open seat was next to Martina, who, upon realizing that she was still quite afraid of this person, bodily forced Amelia to switch seats with her. Beyond the confusion from the unexpected move, Amelia didn't seem to mind. Sylphiel sat down and accepted the meat from Zel. "..t-thank you.." she said softly. She took a couple of small bites.
A moment of awkward stillness passed. Again Zel found himself being annoyed by everyone not acting like themselves. What had happened the day before aside, here they were with Sylphiel, a friend they had not seen in months, who had also saved everyone's lives at one point, and all they could do was sit and eat? This had gone too far, and Zel meant to put an end to it. "Okay, this has to stop." He spoke up in a scolding tone. "Lina," he turned to her. "Will you stop moping around already? I already explained everything to Sylphiel." He turned to the blue-haired mage next. "And you. What happened was just an accident. No one here holds anything against you. So get over it." He paused to let his words sink in. "Now we'll have no more of this," he said with finality. He returned to his piece of meat.
"Uh, I have a question," said Martina, sheepishly. "Who is this person?" She motioned towards Sylphiel. "No one ever told me."
"We didn't?" asked Amelia. Martina shook her head. "Oh. Well, she's a friend of ours from back when we fought Copy Rezo at Sairaag. She was a big help and we probably couldn't have done it without her." Amelia seemed to perk up at being able to help poor, clueless Martina. Suddenly she added, with uncertainty, "Wait, you don't know who Copy Rezo was either, do you?" Again Martina shook her head. Amelia laughed a little at her own foolishness. "I'll have to tell you sometime."
"If you ask me, that's not much of a friend if she casts something like the Dragon Slave against you," said Martina.
"Hey! That's right!" Amelia seemed to be coming back to her old cheery self. She turned to Sylphiel. "When did you ever learn how to use the Dragon Slave?" Sylphiel was caught a little off guard by the sudden inquiry, but appreciated the friendly attention from it.
"I've been wondering that myself," Zel spoke up. "Last we saw you, you couldn't even cast a Flare Arrow right."
"Well," Sylphiel began, "for a while I've been wanting to travel with you guys, and I figured that if I were going to keep up with everyone that I had better know something a little more useful than just healing spells."
"Yes, but the Dragon Slave?" replied Zel.
"After watching Lina I decided that it was the most useful." Lina smiled slightly at this.
"So, Miss Sylphiel," said Amelia, "where were you traveling to before you met up with us?"
"Actually," answered Sylphiel, "I was on my way to Sairaag as well. I had heard some rumors that I wanted to check out for myself."
"What kind of rumors?" asked Zel, curiously.
"Unpleasant ones. For one, I had heard that the great tree Flagoon had died."
"Like it had been cut down or fallen over?" said Amelia.
"No. That the tree, itself, had actually died. What's more is that I've also heard that there's actually a city at Sairaag again."
"What?!" asked Amelia. "That can't be."
"I had thought that the entire city was destroyed when we fought with Copy Rezo," added Zel.
Sylphiel nodded. "It was, but travelers say that a city is there nonetheless."
"Do you think it could have anything to do with Hellmaster trying to lure us there?"
"Possibly."
"Sylphiel…" Lina broke her long silence.
Amelia suddenly jumped up. "Oh my, look at how late it is already. I think I'll turn in early." She smiled an overly cheery smile. "Goodnight!" She grabbed a hold of Martina and dragged her into the tent.
Once inside the tent Martina wrested her hand out of Amelia's grasp. "What'd you do that for? You can sleep if you want, but I'm not tired."
Amelia hushed her. "Because I want to give Miss Lina and Miss Sylphiel some time alone to work things out."
Martina paused, then. "Oh, okay then." And was silent again.
Unfortunately, Amelia had forgotten that the tent wasn't exactly soundproof. Zel smiled at the girls' conversation and got up. "I'm going for a walk," he said as he disappeared into the darkness.
Sylphiel and Lina sat quietly, both of them slightly embarrassed by the effort of everyone to give them some time alone.
For a while the only sound to be heard was the soft crackling of the fire.
"Miss Lina," Sylphiel broke the silence.
"No need for formalities, Sylphiel. Just call me Lina."
"Uh, okay, L-Lina," she paused for a second. "I…I'm sorry for what I did today."
Lina waved it aside. "Don't worry about it. I don't blame you." Sylphiel smiled weakly. She sighed. "…and I'm…..sorry. About Gourry."
Sylphiel struggled with something to say.
"I was tricked by Phibrizzo," Lina continued, "but the fact remains that I am the one who killed Gourry."
Sylphiel could see the pain in Lina's eyes. "Oh, Lina…you mustn't blame yourself."
"Sylphiel," said Lina with a slight tone of hesitation, "you loved him, didn't you?"
"Ah….eh…" she blushed. "Well, I, uh…."
"It's okay," comforted Lina.
Sylphiel signed in concession. "To be honest, Lina, I don't even know that one myself."
Lina stirred, slightly surprised by this. "Since I was a little girl I could remember thoughts of Gourry filling my mind. I thought of him as the gallant prince who would come and take me away." She laughed lightly at herself. "Once I got to know him for who he was that image kind of dissolved, but I never stopped liking him. I guess it comes down to that I've always respected and admired him, but whether or not I ever loved him? …I don't know." Her voice was streaked with the pain and sorrow of this realization. A short pause. "What about you, Lina?"
"Nn?" Lina perked up, caught off guard by the question.
"When we first met you told me that you traveled with Gourry simply for his Sword of Light."
"Yeah."
"Well, now that the sword is yours, tell me, what was the real reason?"
The redhead sweatdropped. "Are you suggesting that a powerful sorceress such as myself would be interested in a blundering simpleton like--"
"Lina." Sylphiel looked sternly at Lina, silencing her. This was not the time for pretenses or lies. Lina gazed into the embers of the fire as this sunk in.
After a moment of stillness Lina smirked to herself. "I know it sounds clichéd, but, you really don't know how important something is to you until you lose it." Sylphiel looked on, wanting to comfort her, but knew it best to hold her peace. "I didn't think it would happen, but in all our journeys, all our adventures, the oaf grew on me." Lina paused, collecting thoughts. "I guess you could say that, in the end, I…" A hand on her shoulder stopped her. A sweet, kind smile from Sylphiel told her that no more needed to be said. Lina smiled back in gratitude.
"So," said Lina, breaking the mood, "you learned the Dragon Slave to try and keep up with everyone?"
Sylphiel grinned. "Actually, it was more to keep up with you, Lina. I figured that if I was going to impress Gourry-sama that I needed to be able to use such spells." She chuckled. "Seems kind of foolish now, doesn't it?"
"Heh, just a little," agreed Lina, "but that power may come in handy sometime." With the power of two Dragon Slaves on our side, she thought, we might just be able to beat Phibrizzo without using the that spell…
Lina and Sylphiel smiled at each other, understandingly, and watched the fire burn gently, far into the night, going to sleep only once the last embers had passed away into darkness.
* * *
They walked on, as they had done so since early in the morning. Something was different today, though. The sun shone down magnificently, as it had the day before. The seas of green grass on either side of the road continued to move as waves within an ocean, blown by a gentle breeze. This day was truly as beautiful as it had been for the entire week. But, still, something wasn't the same…
"Guys," whined Martina, "just how far is it to Sairaag? My legs are killing me."
"Oh, pipe down, Martina," scolded Lina like an annoyed older sibling. "We took a rest just two hours ago. Besides, it's not too much further now. I mean, look at that dome, it's bigger than before, isn't it?" As she said those words, Lina was still unsettled by the fact that it was a dome. Even from a great distance it was clear that the holy tree Flagoon was no longer there. Something was definitely wrong.
"Well, I guess so, but why do you have to be going so fast?"
"Eh?" Lina stopped and noticed for the first time that her pace had put her a decent distance ahead of the others. "Heh, sorry guys. I just seem to have some extra energy today."
"As much as I hate to agree with her, Miss Lina," said Amelia, "you have been walking rather fast today. I always thought I was the perky, energetic one of the group, but after watching you today…"
Lina sweatdropped. "Okay, okay. I get it guys. If you want to rest, we'll rest. Let's see, Amelia and Martina, that's two yeas. Zel?"
"I don't really care," retorted the ever-brooding golem.
"Well you're a big help."
"Lina," asked Martina, "why are you in such a big hurry to get to Sairaag anyway? It's not like that monster's going anywhere."
Lina hesitated for a moment. Martina had a point, but then, "Oh, come on guys. Don't you want to go get that evil brat and give him what he deserves?"
"I--" Amelia began but was cut off.
"I'm with Lina," said Sylphiel with a twinge of excitement in her voice. "I say we go down there and send Hellmaster back to the abyss he spawned from!"
Zel quirked an eyebrow at the blue-haired girl. "Never thought I'd see you so excited to go kill something."
"Ah…" Sylphiel blushed slightly.
"Anyways," said Lina, "Zel abstained from the vote so that makes two for resting and three against it, so we go on!"
"What!?" exclaimed Amelia. "How'd you get three?"
"Well, since I'm in charge I obviously count as more than one vote." Amelia face-faulted. "Now no more standing around talking, we have a monster to take down," said Lina as she started walking down the road once again. Sylphiel was at her side and they both smiled as they went at a pace faster than the one everyone had complained about to begin with. Martina and Amelia groaned, and Zel smirked to himself as they, too, continued towards Sairaag.
Yes, something about this day was different than those before it. It was back to the way it should be, back to normal.
End of chapter four. To be continued...