Chapter 4.
Please Remember Me It was strange traveling without Lina. Sure, he'd traveled without her before he had met her and could fend for himself well enough on his own, but he had traveled with Lina consistently for the past four years and getting used to being on his own again was proving difficult. It was strange not sitting up half of the night keeping watch over her, gazing at her as she slept and having her relieve him half way through the night, and then waking up to her chipper summons. Starting the cooking fire was by no means as easy without her Fireball spell as well, yet during her 'time of the month' she'd been unable to do that little service so he luckily had not lost the piece of flint he kept, nor his memory on how to start a fire. The trip to Zefeeria was not the same without the sorceress's usual chatter and banter. It was weird not having someone to talk to on the long trip. While on the one hand he was happy that he didn't have people pestering him over not blaming himself and was granted time to come to terms with Lina's death in his own way, he was unaccustomed to the long silence that pervaded his journey, silence that would not have been an issue had Lina still been alive and well. Gods, he missed her! The days seemed to mesh and meld together as he traveled, lost in happier times tainted by the knowledge that he would never share such times with Lina again. All he had was her short sword, her Demon's Blood Talisman, earrings, gloves and his memories, none of which were Lina. It was with relief that he finally spotted the outskirts of a town lined with vineyards. It had to be Zefeeria. He quickened his pace, knowing full well that he had enough time to get there before sunset but he didn't want to risk it. He had to see Lina's family, had to tell them about what had happened and hear their judgment. It was the only solace he could think of to seek. Zefeeria. It was rather beautiful, actually. Gourry wondered idly what could have possessed Lina to leave such a beautiful country, yet at the same time knew that the wanderer in her could never stay put for long. Gourry squinted as he saw a figure waiting on the outskirts of the town at the border of Zefeeria. Another traveler? He shrugged, and continued on. As he got closer and closer, though, the more and more apprehensive he became as he realized that it seemed as though the person on the outskirts of the town was standing there waiting for him. He examined her closely, quite sure that he'd never seen her before in his life. Tall, with shoulder length purple hair and bangs that covered her eyes, she wore a knowing, mocking smile. She was dressed in a black dress that, though modest, failed in hiding her rather voluptuous figure, and wore a sword at her waist that Gourry found most curious. May be all women were trained in swordplay in Zefeeria. "I've been waiting for you." She said as he approached. Though he had been impatient to find Lina's family, Gourry stopped in his tracks, shocked, "What?" he asked. "I hear that you're an excellent swordsman, all but undefeated. Well, I'm an excellent swordswoman, virtually undefeated. How about a match?" Gourry shook his head, "I'm not here to fight. Thanks, though." He continued on the road, slightly befuddled by the strange woman he'd met, and was even more befuddled as he realized she was following him, "No, I suppose such pissing contests seem rather petty now, don't they Gourry?" Gourry stopped again, turning to stare at the woman, "How did you…" he knew his memory was bad with names and places, yet though he often claimed otherwise just to get a rise out of Lina he was good with remembering events and faces, and he knew he'd never met this woman before. She shrugged nonchalantly, "The Ceipheid Knight has to know these things." Gourry felt his jaw drop. She couldn't be Lina's sister, she just couldn't! Lina was short and boyishly slender, Luna was anything but! They looked nothing alike yet…yet something about the voice now that he thought about it. "What's your name." He asked. "Luna. Luna Inverse." She said. That settled it. She was definitely Lina's older sister. Gourry felt his heart speed up, realizing that he quest was now a lot more easier and that much closer to being completed, "I'm Gourry Gabriev," he started, feeling it was rather dumb saying so as Luna seemed to know everything anyway, yet he was going to be the epitome of chivalry in this one last deed for Lina! It was all that he could do for her now. "I've been traveling with your sister, Lina, for quite some time now and something happened and I'm afraid that I must speak with your parents." Luna stared at him for a moment, her expression unreadable behind her ever-present smile, "Follow me, then." She headed off down the road and Gourry followed her, confused. She had to know that Lina was dead, she was, as she had said, the Ceipheid Knight after all. Not only that, but she was also dressed in mourning, yet why didn't she show a hint of sorrow? Did she even care for her sister? Unbidden, Gourry felt his blood start to boil. Lina never did talk about her home very much, and the only thing that Gourry had known about Luna was that she was the only person Lina was scared of. Questions started to flood Gourry's mind, questions that demanded an immediate answer, whether or not it would have been a smart thing to ask them. "Did you hurt Lina?" Luna shrugged, her expression unchanged, "You have an older brother, right? I imagine I treated Lina no differently than any other older sibling treats a younger sibling growing up. Oh, we had our fights and squabbles, the occasional black eye and such but I was no better nor any worse than any other big sister." "Then why did she run away?" Gourry asked. "Because no matter how powerful she was I was always more powerful than her. For all her bravado she was like any other teenager at heart, insecure. She needed to get out, find her own place in the world, not stay in my shadow." "And you let her leave, alone, at such a young age?" She shrugged in her indifferent manner that was starting to be the final blow to Gourry, "My parents didn't raise a daughter who couldn't take care of herself. Besides that, you know how stubborn she was. Did you think any of us could have stopped her, especially when it was something she needed so badly? And I kept an eye out on her." Gourry's eyes narrowed, his voice unusually cold, a barely controlled yell, "Where were you then when things got real bad? Where were you when Goidbyn showed up? Why didn't you save her?" Luna averted her gaze suddenly even as her smile remained, and Gourry felt the slight fires of victory rising only to dissipate as he realized that just as he blamed himself for Lina's death, Luna was doing the same, "Do you know how much she would have resented it if every time things looked to be getting too bad I stepped in and saved the day? I'd have stolen her legacy, for all the good it'd do, no one recognizes her as the girl who's saved the world five times over now. After she defeated Shabranigdo, something even I might not have been able to do without the Sword of Light, she had proved herself to be capable of handling whatever life threw at her. Besides, there were other, more prudent matters that needed handling, I couldn't look in on my baby sister all the time. And as for Goidbyn, well, I found out too late." Gourry felt himself soften as he studied the Ceipheid Knight and found that despite the indifference that her voice projected she was just like him, really, able to succeed in everything excepting protecting the girl that had, in differing degrees, been under their care. May be the stony air of indifference was the mask that she wore to hide her feelings, just as Lina had worn a mask with all her bravado. "You shouldn't blame yourself." Gourry said quietly. "And neither should you." Luna said, and Gourry suddenly knew that she had let him see her in that light intentionally. They were both silent as the vineyards faded away into buildings and the streets flooded with people. His thoughts flying, Gourry followed Luna along the twisting streets, barely aware of the surroundings that Lina had grown up among, surroundings he had been curious to see for some time. Heck, he'd even thought about asking to travel here on the day that she had died, to see the place she'd grown up at and to meet her family because in Elmekia a man did not propose to a woman until he had met her family, and though he had pretty much disinherited himself from his family, he still clang to his sense of honor. He wondered what she would have said, if she would have agreed or not. A few years ago he would have known what the answer would have been, but things had been changing between the two of them. Besides, she was still a little girl then with some growing up to do then. But now when she'd finally grown up, when she might have finally been ready… Well, he'd ended up here all right, but not with such a happy prospect in his mind. Gourry felt his heart tighten at the dark turn that needing to see her family had taken but he did not feel discouraged. Nervous, yes, and uncomfortable now that he was in the presence of her sister, but not discouraged. Luna finally headed to a store with a sign that read 'Inverse Food and Merchandise' and opened the door. Gourry followed close behind, noticing that it was rather small as stores go. Lina had mentioned once that there had been money problems within the family…may be that was why Luna had a part time job as a waitress… Gourry felt his heart stop as he walked in. A woman with long, crimson red hair was restocking the shelves, using a Levitation spell to carry her up to the higher shelves. Petite and slender and…She turned around, and Gourry felt his heart sink. Not Lina. No, she had definitely borne a resemblance to her, yet her eyes were a definite shade of light blue and her face was a lot older. Lina's mother? While Gourry tried to think of something to say to the red head's questioning gaze, Luna turned the 'OPEN' sign over to 'CLOSE', "Where's Dad?" she asked. "Over here." A familiar voice said, and Gourry felt his jaw drop as a man with black hair carrying a fishing rod over one shoulder came into the room, "Hello, Gourry."
He was Lina's father? He had indeed met the man before, heck, they had defeated a monster together, right before he had met Lina actually. This man had convinced him not to throw away the Sword of Light even! Gourry thought it so funny, now, thinking about how close he'd come to throwing it away. He'd had a lot to thank Lina's father for. If he had thrown it away, he never would had defeated Zorom, and Lina wouldn't have been able to have combined the Giga Slave with it to defeat Shabranigdo with. The world could have been destroyed right then! His adventures with Lina would have ended prematurely for all that it mattered now…
It does matter, he told himself,
we had a lot of happy times together during those three years after Shabranigdo's defeat. Though, much like Lina had, her father had begged him to give the Sword of Light to him when he found out what exactly it was that Gourry carried with him. And he had mentioned having two daughters, one of whom could cast the Elmekia Lance, which Lina was most certainly capable of doing. Gourry wondered why he'd not drawn the connection until now. "Hello, Mr. Inverse." "Mom, Dad, meet Gourry Gabriev. He's been traveling with Lina for some time now apparently, and he has something to talk with you about." Luna said. Lina's mother gasped, "Its true, then? The rumors?" she asked, moving forward towards Gourry until Mr. Inverse put a hand on her shoulder. Gourry bowed his head and nodded solemnly. "How?" she asked, her voice carrying a piercing desperation that chilled Gourry to the bone. "I think we'd better move into the sitting room." Luna said, and without waiting to see the general consensus left. Lina's parents followed, trailed by Gourry who was currently wondering how he was going to explain what had happened to them. When Lina's parents and Gourry where seated, and Luna was leaning comfortably against the doorframe with her knowing smile revealing nothing, Gourry dug into his travel sack and pulled out Lina's short sword and Demon's Blood Talisman and handed them to her parents. In Elmekia a child's possessions that helped them in battle were always returned to the child's parents when they died. Gourry had no idea how things where done in Zefeeria, but he felt it was a token of some solace to them. He thought for a moment, wondering where to begin, his previously prepared speech vanishing. "Four years ago I met your daughter facing down some bandits. I decided it would be a good idea to help her, and shortly afterwards I took it upon myself to become her protector." "So, that's true at least." Luna said. "I wondered, Lina really wasn't the type to cling to others for protection." Gourry shrugged nervously, "She wasn't. I thought she was defenseless, and when I learned otherwise, well, I'd made my promise." "Let him talk, Luna." Lina's father said quietly, his desperate gaze never wavering from Gourry. Gourry shuddered, realizing just how close to tears the man was. He could not imagine losing a child. Losing Lina was hard enough, but his own child? Carefully he stole at glance at Lina's mother and wished that he hadn't. She looked so pale and shaken that he was afraid that she would fall over, yet her gaze was locked with his, and he knew that she would hang onto every word he said in order to find out what had happened to her daughter. Taking a deep breath, Gourry recovered from where he had been interrupted, "During our travels together, Lina and I took down a lot of bad guys. I don't remember their names, really, just that they were really powerful and would have destroyed the world had Lina not used her super powerful magic on them. She's a hero, you know, she really is, not like the ones you hear about in legends may be, but a hero…" he trailed off, as if to convince himself as much as her parents. Finally he spoke again, "Yet when we were on our way to Seyruun we were attacked by Goidbyn. He was targeting me for a deathblow when Lina placed herself between us while maintaining the Ragna Blade at the same time. She took him down, but he took her with him, on my account. I tried to get her to Seyruun, to a healer there in time, but it was too late. I'm sorry." His voice had cracked close to the end, but he had managed to tell them everything they needed to know. Luna remained at the doorway, her smile still plastered to her face yet somehow looking contemplative. Lina's parents had taken each other's hands, knuckles white from clenching so hard. Both were crying soft tears. They had known, Luna had told them, but they had held out hope that she was wrong. Now, however, there was no denying it. Lina would never be coming home again. "I'm sorry I failed her," Gourry added quietly, "And that I failed you." Gourry waited, preparing himself for the verbal bombardment that was sure to follow but was surprised as Lina's mother said firmly but kindly, "No, sweetheart." "What?" Gourry asked, confused. "You didn't fail anyone," Luna said, her voice mocking in its knowledge, "I mean my sister wouldn't put herself in harm's way for just anyone. She also wouldn't have been stupid enough to get all heroic and sacrificial for no reason. She wanted you to live, just like you wanted her to live. She was just in a better position to get her wish, so get over it and move on with your life." Gourry bit his tongue at the harsh tone of her words, hating the fact even more that she had a point. "Yet what should I do with my life?" "Tell me more about my daughter," Lina's mother said, "All I'd ever hear about was how destructive she was whenever she tried to help out. You said she was a hero, I want to know about what made her a hero." Gourry squirmed in his seat, "I really don't remember the names or places…" "Do you think that those are important?" her father asked, "Names behold no meaning other than what we assign to them. It's the deeds that make the person, or the event, and we want to know about those deeds." Gourry thought for a long while, lost in his own uncertainties over story telling when he lacked the words to convey the images that painted his mind. Besides that, where should he begin? They had been through so much together…finally, slowly at first but with growing confidence as he felt himself carried on the tide of his memories that he told with more interest and accuracy than anyone would have thought him capable of, he began, "Well, after I sort of rescued her from some bandits, we went out to eat at this restaurant that a dragon attacked…"
. . . Gourry left the Inverse household the next morning with a bit of a weight lifted off of his shoulders. Lina's family had not blamed him, and may be he shouldn't blame himself. That, and he now knew what he needed to do: preserve Lina's memory. He still missed Lina terribly, and he knew that he always would, that the ache in his heart would always be there, yet there wasn't anything he could do about that now. Her mother was right when she had said that all you heard about Lina was the negative things. Few knew her as the woman who had saved the world five times over. May be if he told enough people her story that would change. And may be whenever he told her story, a part of her would come back to life. He would protect her like he always had, but not her body anymore. He would protect her memory and see that it would live on beyond his, and Ceipheid help those who would stand in his way!
FINIS
