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 reached the entrance to the temple first. She waited for the others to get there and then turned to Gourry. "Alright, Gourry, go open the door."

"What? Why me?" he asked.

Lina began pushing him towards the door. "Well, I'm not doing it!"

Zel sighed. "Fine. I'll do it." He then walked past where Lina and Gourry now stood and reached out to open the door. But it wouldn't open. Zel then pulled harder. No matter how hard he tried, it just wouldn't open.

Then Lina, Gourry, and Amelia went to help him. Even with their combined strength, they couldn't get the door to move at all.

Lina suddenly turned towards Xellos. "Hey, Xellos. Can't you just teleport yourself in there and open it from the inside?"

The mysterious priest just smiled at her. "Now where would be the challenge in that?"

While Lina was fuming over their current situation, Adara had been thinking about something. She then walked up to the door and examined it for a minute. "I thought so!" she exclaimed happily.

"What are you talking about?" Zel asked, confused.

Adara didn't reply but instead whispered a few words quietly as she held her hand over the door. Everyone heard a soft click and then the large doors swung open.

Lina angrily stomped over to the happily smiling fire sorceress and glared at her. "How were you able to open it when we couldn't?"

"Well, you see… It was locked. I just cast an unlock spell and it opened."

Before Lina could reply, she found herself being flung over Gourry's shoulder and carried into the temple. "Come on Lina. Don't worry about it. At least we got in." Gourry said as Lina screamed at him to put her down. He finally did when they were about halfway down the large hallway that led from the entrance.

Blushing slightly, Lina hurriedly tried to think of something to say. "Uh… Ok, now where do we go?"

Zel pulled out the map. "The map ended once we got to the valley. It doesn't say anything about the temple."

"What about the book we found Miss Lina?" Amelia asked. Then she realized that perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned it when Lina was still really mad at Adara.

Zel realized Amelia's mistake and quickly clamped a hand over Lina's mouth. He then calmly turned to Adara and asked, "Have you been able to translate any of it yet?"

Adara paused a moment. "Well… I've been able to read a small part of it. But it really makes no sense. And there's nothing in there about where we should be headed anyway."

"This is just great!" Lina said in frustration. Then she angrily walked off until she reached the end of the large hallway. As everyone else caught up with her, they noticed that there were two doors.

"I guess we have to split up again." Amelia said.

"Gourry and I will take the door on the right." Lina interrupted. "Amelia and Zel can go to the left. And take Adara with you!"

"Fine. But then you have to take Xellos with you." Zel replied.

Xellos smiled. "You know, I don't think they like us," he said to Adara.

Lina just ignored him and opened up the door on the right. She held her breath, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, she cautiously stepped through and disappeared in the darkness.

Gourry quickly grabbed Xellos and dragged him through the open doorway. He didn't want Lina to get too far ahead of them.

Then Zel, Amelia, and Adara went through the other door. They couldn't see anything until Zelgadis cast a lighting spell. The three then saw that the room was filled with mirrors.

"This is really… weird." Adara whispered. The room seemed like one of those rooms that you just have to whisper in.

Amelia then turned to Zel. "Mr. Zelgadis? Are you okay?"

However, Zel didn't even hear her. He had a spacey look in his eyes like he wasn't all there. In fact, he was staring intently at large mirror in the center of the room.

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[Inside Zelgadis' mind.]

"Huh? What's going on? Where am I?"  He looked around and saw that he wasn't in the mirror room anymore. Instead, a bright light now surrounded him.

Then he heard a soft, distant voice. "You aren't in the physical world anymore. At least… not all of you… Before you can face what lies ahead of you in the future, you have to face the demons from your past."

"What?" he asked the voice. But then the light around him began to change. Soon, he found himself back at an all too familiar scene.

His grandfather, and possible great-grandfather, Rezo the Red Priest, now stood before him. Only this time, he was an observer. He could see Rezo standing before his former self, his human self. The scene was frozen, like it had been stolen from its moment in time.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked the voice.

"I did not bring you here. I only pointed you in the right direction. You made the decision to revisit this scene from your past."

He sighed. "Then tell me why I must see this again. I have this dream every night."

"Do you regret the decision you made?"

"YES! Of course I do!"

"But you got what you wanted. Power and strength."

"But I wouldn't have agreed if I had known what the consequences were!"

"Do you regret where that decision has led you?"

He paused, confused. "What do you mean, where it has led me?"

"Where you are now. The things you've done. The people you've met."

"Well… some of them yes. But… well, Lina and the others are okay. They have good intentions, even if they are a little misguided…"

"If you had a second chance, would you do it different?"

"You mean would I say no?" Zel didn't know how to respond.

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Meanwhile, back in the room, Amelia was getting worried. "Uh, hello?" she asked as she waved her hand in from of Zelgadis' face. There was no response.

"What is he staring at?" she thought. Then she followed his gaze until she saw the mirror. This mirror seemed different. It was… intriguing. She couldn't seem to draw her eyes off of it. Then Amelia began to feel weird. It was like she was falling asleep…

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[Inside Amelia's mind.]

Amelia now found herself surrounded by the same bright light Zelgadis had been. "Huh? Mr. Zelgadis? Where did you go?"

A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Don't worry. He's not far."

"Who are you?"

"My name is not important. Think of me as a guide."

"A guide? But where are we going?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing…" The voice then trailed off as the light began to change. Amelia shut her eyes involuntarily. When she finally reopened them, she found that she was flying over her home kingdom of Seyruun.

"What?! How did I get in Seyruun?"

"This is not the Seyrun you last saw. This one is from many years before…"

Just then, Amelia reached the palace. She landed on a balcony. From inside, she could hear voices.

"Sir, we've looked everywhere. There's no sign of her," said a nervous man.

"Well keep looking!" This voice was a familiar one. It was Amelia's father, Prince Phil.

"Yes sir!" the first man replied. Then footsteps were heard echoing on the tile floor.

After a moment of silence, Prince Phil mumbled to himself, "What am I going to tell Amelia? How is she going to react when I tell her that her sister has disappeared?"

Outside, Amelia gasped. "But…but… this was years ago!"

"Apparently, it was a major event in your life."

"That still doesn't explain why I'm seeing it now."

"Perhaps you never truly dealt with your feelings about it."

Before she could respond, she heard voices coming from inside again.

"Don't worry Daddy," a young girl said. It was Amelia's voice. "Everything will be ok. They'll find her."

"I hope you're right," her father replied. He paused then continued. "I think you're handling this the best out of the two of us." He laughed, even though it sounded a little strained. "You know you'll always be my little girl."

"Yeah, I know," young Amelia replied softly.

"You were very strong for such a young girl."

"I had to be. My father needed me to be strong."

"But you never expressed how you felt about the whole situation."

"Well… no…"

"Do you ever wish you had?"

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Adara had been looking around trying to figure out what all the mirrors were for. The she noticed Zel and Amelia. She walked up to them and noticed their blank expressions. Adara then looked from them to the mirror and then back to them. "I don't get it…"

Then she heard the voice. "You're going to be stubborn aren't you?" it asked as the young girl was surrounded by light.

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[Inside Adara's mind.]

"Ok, what just happened?"

"You might say we're in your mind."

"What?!"

The voice laughed softly. "Just relax. Close you're eyes and take a deep breath."

"Just close your eyes and take a deep breath," a different voice told her.

"What? Why?" she asked with her eyes closed. Then she felt cold water hit her from above and rush down over her face and back. "Why you little…!" she yelled as she opened her eyes. Adara then swung out her arm and watched in shock as she connected with the young boy's face in front of her.

As she stood there, the light encircled her once more. When she could see her surroundings again, she found that she was in a familiar room. It was the kitchen of her parents' house. She saw a younger version of herself standing before her mother and father.

"Adara! How could you do something like this?" her mother asked.

Young Adara looked like she was about to cry. "I…I…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry isn't good enough this time!" her father yelled. "Why do you have to be such a child? Can't you just grow up!" Then her father stormed out of the room.

Her mother knelt down in front of her. "Adara-chan, please! Just behave! For me?" She then lowered her voice. "You know you make him so angry… So, just try not to get in any more trouble, ok?"

Adara didn't need to see the rest. She ran for the door and flung it open. Then she was back in the light. After she calmed herself down, she shouted at the voice. "I want to go back! I don't want to be here!"

"But if you are afraid of your own home, where will you go?"