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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Lina and Amelia were the first to reach the signpost. They both sat down and rested while they waited for the others.

Lina was the first to break the silence. "So, Amelia, I've been meaning to ask you… I mean, if you don't mind…"

"Sure, go ahead and ask me Miss Lina."

"Well," she paused. "What about you and Zel. I mean I know you like him, (Amelia blushed), but what does Zel think?"

Lina waited as Amelia thought of a response. "I, uh, I'm not sure… I never really asked him." Amelia then tried to change the subject. "But you never asked Gourry how he feels about you!"

Surprised by the question, Lina immediately tried to defend herself. "Yeah, well… I've been waiting for the right time to ask…" However, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew it was a pathetic excuse.

"Alright, fine!" Amelia stood with a determined look on her face. She then offered her hand to Lina. "We'll make a deal right here and now. Before this adventure is over we will both tell them exactly how we feel. No matter the outcome!"

Lina accepted the outstretched hand and stood up. "Alright, but under one condition. We can wait until Xellos and Adara aren't around."

"Ok, it's a deal then!" The two then shook on it, already having doubts about whether they'll actually go through with it…

Just as they finished their agreement, the others showed up. Zel and Gourry came from the left with Zel carrying a rolled up piece of paper. Xellos and Adara came from the third path with Adara still dripping wet but triumphantly holding something in her hand. Lina then remembered the strange book and reached down to pick it up from where it currently rested on the grass.

As everyone reached the same spot, Lina was the first to say anything. "Hi everyone! Ok, what'd you find?"

"What, no 'How are you doing? Have any trouble?'…" Zel remarked sarcastically.

Lina just glared at him. "Fine, just for that, you have to go first!"

"What?!" Zel was slightly annoyed about how Lina was treating this like show and tell, but he continued anyway. He kneeled down and spread the old map out carefully so everyone could see. "You don't even want to know what we had to go through to get this… Anyway, as you can see, it appears to be a map of the surrounding area." He paused and pointed to a location near the bottom left corner, slightly above the 'You are here' note. "I think we're right here." Zel then pointed to a different spot near the middle. "But we need to be over here."

Lina smiled happily as she looked at the map. "Ok, now we know where to go! So, Xellos… Adara… what did you two find?"

Xellos opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance. The dripping wet sorceress beside him replied first. "Well, you see, it was in this really big lake and it was surrounded by this strange barrier which only I could go through because I'm a girl and then Xellos made me jump in the lake and this big fish scared me but then I found a chest and when I smashed it open I found this key and then I could get out of the barrier!"

Everyone sweat dropped as they just stood and stared at the girl for a second. "Ok…" Zel said to break the silence. "The only thing I understood was Xellos and key."

"You found a key?" Amelia asked curiously. "Can I see?" She was then handed the slightly rusty gold key.

Lina peered over Amelia's shoulder at the object for a moment and then decided it was her turn for 'Show and Tell'. "Ok, here's what Amelia and I found!" With a smile she held up the book. "It's in some ancient language but maybe Adara can read it."

Then Lina turned to look at the other girl… and remembered that she was still soaking wet. "On second thought… maybe you should dry off first…" Lina gave Adara a sly look. Then she shifted the book over to her left hand and with her right cast a fireball.

When the aftereffects of the spell cleared, Adara was covered in a thin layer of ash. But she was now perfectly dry! "That was mean!!" she yelled. As a form of retribution, the slightly charred sorceress snatched the book out of Lina's hands and hid behind Xellos.

Xellos smiled, as he knew what Adara wanted him to do. He held out his staff and placed in front of Lina when she tried to retrieve the book. "You'll just have to be patient Lina."

Lina groaned softly and then glared at Adara. "Well, hurry up already!!"

The sorceress who she was now yelling at suddenly decided to yell back. "I can't just read it in two seconds and tell you what it says!! It's been a while since I've done this! So you'll just have to wait until I'm done!!"

The two angry girls were now glaring strongly at each other with sparks flying between them. Fortunately, Gourry intervened. "Hey you two! Cut it out! We're not going to get anywhere if you keep trying to blow each other up."

Zel agreed. "Yeah, we should start going already. We can find out what the book says on the way. Ok?"

Lina and Adara angrily consented. "Fine!" they shouted in unison.

Finally, they were on their way. Lina led the group, as usual. And Adara wisely trailed behind to avoid Lina's wrath. She also took this opportunity to start reading the book.

The first few chapters were in a language unknown to her. When she was just about to throw down the book in frustration, Adara finally found a part she could read.

She smiled excitedly and began the slow process of translating the ancient passages.

Meanwhile, the group continued its journey. According to the map, they had to head east for a while and then turn north.

Lina complained the whole time they were walking. Amelia tried her best to make her see the positive side, but she was beginning to run out of positive things to say…

Zelgadis suddenly interrupted the two girls. "Uh, I think we have a problem…" he said as he casually pointed ahead. Everyone looked up and saw that their path was blocked by a group of tall mountains.

Lina smiled. "No problem!" She pushed up her sleeves and then continued. "I can take them out in one shot!"

Amelia then jumped in front of her. "Miss Lina! No! We don't know what's on the other side!"

"Yeah, you might blow up where we're going." Gourry added with a laugh.

"Well, you don't seriously expect us to go over that do you?!"

Zel looked at Lina thoughtfully and then turned to look back at the mountains. "Maybe we don't have to go over them…"

As everyone looked him with confused expressions, the chimera began to cast a spell. "Befis Bring!" A blast of energy shot out towards the side of the mountain and began tunneling through the rock.

When the spell was done, a long winding tunnel now made its way through the base of the mountain. "Well, let's get going then." Zel called over his shoulder as he started towards the newly made path.

Everyone else hurriedly ran to catch up. Soon they were all in the tunnel, the lighting spells casting eerie shadows off the rough edged rock.

Amelia shivered involuntarily as she followed behind Zelgadis. "Mr. Zelgadis? Something doesn't seem right here…"

Zel frowned. "You're right. But I can't seem to tell what's wrong."

Just then they heard something behind them. Lina and the others turned around to see Adara rubbing her head with a confused expression.

"Are you okay?" Gourry asked even though he wasn't exactly sure what was going on.

"What?" the girl asked as she looked up at them. "Yeah, I'm fine. Something just hit me on the head." Then Adara reached down and picked up an object. She now held out her hand to reveal a small rock. "It must have fallen from the top of the tunnel."

As she finished her sentence, a loud sound echoed through the tunnel. "What's making all that noise?!" Lina yelled as loud as she could to be heard over the deafening echo.

"I suggest you run for it!" Xellos shouted back in reply. Then he disappeared.

Looking down the dark tunnel, Lina could now see that the roof was caving in behind them. "Everybody run!" she screamed. After grabbing Adara's hand and pushing Gourry ahead of her, Lina began to run for the light at the other end of the passageway. Zel and Amelia weren't far behind.

After what seemed like forever, they finally made it out of the tunnel. And it was just in time too. Right as Zel and Amelia emerged from the darkened tunnel, the last of the roof caved in, creating a large cloud of dust.

When the dust cloud had cleared, and everyone had finished coughing, they were able to look around.

They now stood in a huge valley. All sides where surrounded by the towering mountains. Winding through the middle of the valley was a small river. The riverbanks were covered in flowers of many types and colors. However, other than the beautiful plant life, there didn't seem to be any other living beings in the area.

As the group walked up a small hill, they could now see over the young trees that had been blocking the rest of their view. They all gasped at what they saw.

Right beside the river was what appeared to be an ancient temple. The stone walls had become dilapidated over time. A few of the columns surrounding the temple had fallen down, but overall the building was still in tact.

Lina turned around to face the others, holding up a victory symbol. "Looks like we made it! Come on, let's go!"

They all ran towards the temple, uncertain as to wait lay in store for them once they got there…