Title: Slayers Gateway: Discovery

By: Slayersgrl (slayersgrl@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers… just borrowing them…

A/N: This is the first in a trilogy I'm working on. Only the first part, Discovery, is done so far… Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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The directions on the bottom of the box had told the group of adventurers to head north, towards the Kataart Mountain Range. It was about a two-day walk, but at least now they knew they were going in the right direction.

After finding out their new destination, nothing else eventful happened. Shortly after nightfall, the group came to a small town and checked into the local inn. As always, their first order of business was to get a good meal to eat.

When their order finally arrived, Lina and Gourry immediately started eating before anyone else had the chance. Zel, Amelia, and Xellos were used to this rude behavior by now and thought nothing of it. They just grabbed their food before the other two ate it. Adara, on the other hand, stared at the chaos in utter confusion.

Xellos was the first to notice her startled look. "Is something wrong?" he asked with a smile.

The girl slowly clenched her fists as her bewildered expression soon turned to one of anger. Then, she exploded on her unsuspecting companions. "I can't believe you! How can eat like that when there are starving children in the world! Don't you have any compassion! Not to mention the fact that you're eating poor defenseless animals! How would you like it if someone locked you up in a cage and fattened you up just so they could kill you for someone's meal!" As Adara paused to take a breath, she noticed several blank expressions staring back at her. "Uh… I guess I kind of went a little overboard…"

"A LITTLE?!" Lina yelled, now getting the attention of the entire restaurant. Gourry quickly pushed her back into her chair, trying to keep her from attacking the girl across the table.

Amelia, trying to be the good diplomatic princess she was, decided it was time to change the subject. "So, Adara, why don't you tell us how you were able to read that letter earlier today?"

The girl turned and gave Amelia a grateful look. She then began her story. "Well, I wasn't always a fire sorceress. I used to live in Elmekia with my parents. Ever since I was a young child, they were constantly encouraging me to be a shrine maiden. So, I was trained in white magic."

"But I quickly grew tired of everyone always telling me what to do. So one night I packed a few things and left. Shortly after leaving, I heard a story about a bandit killer named Lina Inverse. It was then that I made it my goal to meet her." Adara smiled as she finished her story. "That was 3 years ago. And I haven't been back to Elmekia since."

Amelia was the first to speak. "So I'm guessing you must know a lot of white magic spells then."

Adara smiled. "Yeah, you could say that…" She then felt like it was her turn to change the subject. "What do you think we'll find in the mountains?"

Lina stopped chewing her food for a second and thought about the question. "Personally, I have no clue. But I hope it's some ancient lost treasure!"

After dinner, everyone went to his or her respective rooms, ready for a good nights sleep! As she was opening her door to her room, Lina noticed Gourry entering his own room down the hall. She blushed a little as she thought about their encounter from the other day. Luckily, Gourry didn't notice her. Lina quietly waited until Gourry had disappeared into his room before she entered her own. After shutting the door, she leaned back against it, shutting her eyes. "Lina, what are you getting yourself into?" she asked herself. Lina stood in silence for a few minutes before crawling into bed, completely exhausted.

The sun rose bright and early the next morning. Lina felt the warmth as the rays shone in through her window. But she wasn't quite ready to get up yet… So she pulled the blanket over her head and drifted off into sleep again.

A soft knock was heard on her door. However, the sleeping sorceress didn't hear it. Then the door slowly crept open and in peeked a small head. "Miss Lina?" Amelia whispered. When she got no response, she decided to enter the room.

Amelia quietly tiptoed across the cold floor. She didn't want Miss Lina to be mad at her for waking her up. "Why do I have to do this?" the young princess thought to herself as she made her way towards Lina's bed. She thought back to the scene a few minutes ago…

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It had all started with a very simple question from Gourry. "Hey, does anyone know where Lina is? She's missing breakfast!"

Zel sighed in frustration. "Don't tell me she's oversleeping again!!" The rest of his comment was muttered to himself.

Amelia, not quite realizing what she was saying, had stupidly added, "Someone should go wake her up." After hearing silence, Amelia looked up from her breakfast and noticed all of the others looking at her strangely. She suddenly gasped and dropped her fork. "What? Me! No way!"

"Come on Amelia!" Adara said with a sly smile. "I'd do it, but you know she hates me…"

Realizing her defeat by the expressions of the others, she resigned herself to her fate and slowly walked up stairs.

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Amelia had now reached the left side of Lina's bed. She reached down to shake the sleeping girl's shoulder when she realized something. She quickly cast a protection spell and then proceeded to shake Lina. "Miss Lina? Time to wake up!"

Lina just mumbled something under the covers and rolled over. Amelia then decided to try again, only a little louder. "MISS LINA!" she screamed, right in Lina's ear…

Downstairs, the quiet restaurant felt the building shake violently for a few seconds and then settle. "I'm assuming Lina's up." Xellos remarked.

A minute later, an angry, fuming sorceress ran down the stairs chasing a slightly burnt princess. "But it wasn't my fault!! They made me do it!!" Amelia shouted in sheer terror. She dove under the table and tried to hide.

Lina slid to a stop and glared at the others (especially Adara). From her tense stance, they could see that she was only getting angrier.

Zel bent down and whispered something in Amelia's ear. She nodded and then discreetly crawled out from underneath. She quickly put her hand on Lina's shoulder and cast an Enhance Calm spell.

Lina's expression went from furious to completely tranquil in about 2 seconds. She calmly slid into the empty chair beside her, a goofy grin plastered on her face. "Such a beautiful day, isn't it?" she asked no one in particular.

Sitting directly opposite Lina, Adara could barely restrain her laughter. She suddenly fell off the chair, giggling hysterically. "I… think… you… over… did… it!!" was all she managed to say.

For the next 15 minutes, Lina continued to stare off into space peacefully. Amelia was a little worried. "Should I… do something?"

"Don't worry about it. The spell should wear off eventually." Xellos was totally enjoying this moment.

Gourry had been staring at Lina while she just sat there. He slowly stretched out and reached for the untouched food on the plate in front of her. He was just inches away from grabbing a sausage when a small hand grabbed his fork. "Nice try Gourry." Lina smiled as she shoved Gourry back into his seat. "But this is my food!" She then began eating with her normal ferocious appetite.

The blonde swordsman whimpered slightly. "I was so close!"

With Lina now somewhat back to normal – at least, what passed as normal for her… -- the group was able to continue on their way. Lina led the group, skipping along merrily and humming an upbeat tune. She was still experiencing a few of the side affects of Amelia's spell…

Gourry was walking cautiously behind Lina. He wasn't quite sure which way he liked her better…

Following the two in the front came Zelgadis and Amelia. Amelia had decided the safest place to be right now was behind Zel. She wasn't sure if Lina would turn on her anytime soon. Zel, on the other hand, was silently cursing fate for getting him mixed up with his current traveling companions.

Adara and Xellos brought up the rear. Xellos was smiling his usual smile as he watched everyone else. Adara was busy looking around for any sign of rain. She had her umbrella ready just in case some freak storm should appear.

"Uh, Adara…" Xellos suddenly spoke up.

"What?" She turned her head as she spoke, slightly annoyed at being distracted. But before she got an answer, she felt herself hit something solid. She fell over backwards, stunned from the impact. As Adara rubbed her sore head, she slowly looked to see what the obstruction was. It was a large signpost.

On the top of the old wooden post were three arrows, each pointing in different directions. "So, which way do we go?" Zel asked.

Adara looked at the arrows carefully. "Well, there's no way to know for sure. I think we're gonna have to split up."

Lina decided this would be a good time to join the conversation. "Ok then! Amelia, you and I will go right. Zel and Gourry will go left. And, uh, Adara and Xel, you can go straight. We'll meet back here later. Agreed? Ok, good!" Not waiting for any objections, the hyper sorceress grabbed Amelia and ran off to the right.

"Mr. Zelgadis! Help me…" Amelia called out, her voice trailing off at the end.

"That is the last time I let Amelia cast that spell on Lina!" Zel thought to himself. Then he started off down the path to the left, not looking back to see if Gourry was following.

Gourry looked right and then left and then right again. He didn't know what to say. So he just ran off after Zel, hoping Lina knew what she was doing.

Adara sweat dropped and then started walking. After she was a little bit ahead of Xellos, she blushed slightly. "I hope I don't do anything stupid!"