As Gourry ran farther and farther down the pitch black hallway, he ran more out of breath and became more frightened that he'd never reach Lina through the seemingly never ending darkness. But still he kept going, because he had to get to Lina. He had to.
Finally, after what seemed to him like years of running through darkness, Gourry saw something ahead. It wasn't light, but neither was it dark. It was a spot of gray in the otherwise jet black passage. Gourry, relieved to see something at last, ran towards it.
He ran closer and closer to it, and it got brighter and brighter. He soon realized that there was a room ahead, being lit by candles or something. There must be someone there! Taking hope that it was Lina, Gourry ran ahead faster than ever, and he soon reached the room.
Inside the room was a desk, which had a small lit candle on it, along with a pen and inkstand, fresh paper, and a seal. Also, off in a corner, there was a bed. Someone was lying in it.
"Lina?" Gourry asked, stepping further into the room. "Lina, is that you?" He ran over to the bed, and shook the shoulder of the occupant. "Please be Lina!"
The person sleeping in the bed grumbled, and turned over.
"Lina!" Gourry shouted. "Lina, you're okay!"
Slowly, Lina's eyes opened, and she looked up. "Gourry?" she asked, confused. "Am I still dreaming?"
"I don't think so," Gourry said. "Anyways, I came to save you. Come on!"
Lina sat up sharply, and asked, "Gourry? But... How'd you get here?"
"I dunno," he said simply. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lina told him.
Suddenly, Gourry reached for Lina, and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad," he said, and wishing he could express his true feelings in words. She could never know how glad he was that she was okay.
Blushing, Lina stammered, "G-gourry...?"
Then, breaking the quiet of the moment, a new voice sounded from the shadows. "It seems you're better than I thought, Gourry Gabriev."
Gourry turned sharply at the sound of his name, and stood protectively in front of Lina, his sword drawn. "Who are you?"
Lina stood as well, and demanded, "Come out and show yourself!"
The voice laughed a little, and said, "I would, but I think the sight of me might scare you."
"Hah!" Lina scoffed. "Fat chance! I'm not afraid of anybody or anything!"
"Very well." Moments later, Lina's captor faced her, wearing a waitresses' uniform and sporting a headband in her long, violet hair.
Lina took one glance at this person, before she ran out of the room, screaming, tears streaming down her face.
"Who are you?" Gourry asked, watching Lina run towards the exit.
"Luna Inverse, Lina's older sister," she told him.
Gourry looked Luna up and down, and said, "Well, you're taller than Lina. And boy, you DEFINITELY have bigger breasts than her." He was rewarded for saying that by having Luna's fist smack his face into the floor. "Um... Anyway..." Gourry began, standing up again. "Why'd you do this, if Lina's your sister?"
Luna smiled slyly, and said, "I wanted to make sure the one who would look after my baby sister is as smart as he is strong. I guess you proved my point."
"What was your point?"
"That you are worthy of protecting my little sister. I'll go ahead and let you go on with your job," Luna concluded. She started to walk away, but Gourry stopped her.
"Are you saying that's it?" Gourry asked, slightly confused.
"Yes. Why?"
Gourry glared at Luna, and said with steel in his voice, "You kidnapped Lina, made me worry about her, you put me through all that work, you let me think you were going to kill her-- Just for this?"
"Yes." When Gourry didn't drop his harsh look, then Luna continued. "I just wanted to make sure she was well taken care of." Then, she winked, and leaned in closer to Gourry's face. "Besides, worry about someone is all a part of loving them." Before the speechless Gourry could recover from that comment, Luna turned and walked off.
"But..." Gourry stammered, alone again. "I..." He scratched his head, and then shrugged. "I guess so..." Then he just threw his arms up, and said, "Oh, well! Gotta find Lina. She ran out of here pretty fast..." So Gourry left the room, and headed through the dark corridors again to meet Lina outside the caverns.
"Yes..." Luna said to herself, watching Gourry go. "My little sister has a very good protector indeed."