LAST TIDE
Nayru: Here it is, the first chapter of the final part of the trilogy. There will be two more chapters after this. I've got no time to make a big long blurb before the beginning, since I've got today to type this up and post it. Here goes!
Disclaimer: Lady Auola, Itai, Atsui, and the Dark Lord are MINE. Alin, Elijah, and Kinsei are MINE. The rest isn't. Go figure.
____________________________________________________________________________ __________________
"My Lady." Two figures knelt before a very small person on a very big chair in a very big, very dark room.
"You have failed me again." Came the voice of a small girl, cold and angry, from under the hood of her robes. "I tried to get you to split the Ryuzoku and Mazoku. Itai, you were drunk that evening, and failed to keep them from bonding. I try a thousand times to get you, Atsui, to poison the castle's waters. You were caught every time. I try to kill the chimera's wife at her wedding, and try to kill the great sorceress at hers. What do you fools give me?! NOTHING!" She roared. "AND NOW, I'M ASKING YOU TO DESTROY THE BOOKS WITH ANY INFORMATION THAT COULD SAVE THE QUEEN, AND THAT MAZOKU FINDS IT! I DEMAND THAT YOU DESTROY THEM! NOW! NOW! NOW!" The girl was throwing a fit.
"Lady Auola, please forgive us!" Itai and Atsui cried.
"We're coming up with a plan to capture Lina and kill all of her friends." Atsui pleaded.
"I don't care about killing her friends. When my Dark Lord discovers your failures, he'll kill you." Auola cried grandly.
"What failures, Lady?" Came a young boy's voice. Another figure in a dark robe swept into the room. "Your yelling woke me from my sleep." Auola swallowed hard. "I don't care about their failures, as they have one more chance to suceed. We will bide our time. Itai, Atsui, continue spying on the castle, and kill that Mazoku if you see him." The servants bowed, saluted, and ran. "Kara, please don't scare my dollies."
"I won't anymore, Kai-san."
Deep in a forest near the Sailune City, Lina Inverse-Gabriev stared out her window. Two months ago, Zelgadis had announced his plans for a trip to a faraway place to save Amelia. He hadn't even considered going yet. Amelia was sick, and needed him. His devil of a son, Alionel (nicknamed Alin), was a burden on Amelia's tired body. Alin wasn't Lina's problem right then. It was early morning, a very grey morning, but the outlook was bright. A week before, Lina's "time of the month" had come and gone, and she was left empty handed. Gourry and Lina had made a promise to one another the night before.
"We go to the clinic tomorrow." Gourry had said, despite not knowing what a clinic was.
Meanwhile, Zelgadis was tending to a crying baby chimera. He loved his son, but taking care of him was hard work for him and Amelia. He was very energetic. He required a lot of feeding, and attention. Zelgadis didn't mind, he had plenty of time, but he knew Amelia wanted to play too. He was afraid for Amelia, despite knowing Alin couldn't possibly hurt her. Amelia did her part well enough, feeding him and bouncing him a bit, but the bigger jobs were Zel's. His least favorite job: diapers. It wasn't the smell, or the sights, it was the way it had to be done. Zel was very afraid Alin would roll off the table while Zel was trying to get him to hold still. He felt insecure, as a small person had been given to him from heaven for him to care for. His cries were starting to take form and purpose today.
"Da-da, da-da!" He cried anxiously. He wasn't calling for Zel; he was crying out of boredom. Zel quickly transferred his son from the crib to a play pen he'd set up with all sorts of baby entertainment. Amelia was watching languidly.
"Zel, I can't take this." She whispered. "I don't want to watch my son grow up from the sidelines."
"You won't." Zel sighed. "It's time."
"I hate to say it, darling, but it is time."
In the town square, two girls were playing. Their names were Elijah Rubis Del Xoana, almost 3, and Kinsei Sora Ul-Copt Metallium, about 1 and 8 months. They were the closest of friends. Filia and Zangulus watched them with careful eyes from a bench. Xelloss was working on "Mazoku business", and Martina was arranging a birthday celebration for her daughter. Zelgadis approached them as Lina and Gourry arrived.
"Good morning, Lina, Gourry, Filia, Zangulus." He babbled. "I'm going out on the road this afternoon. I need to ask you all a favor... stay in the castle and help take care of Amelia while I'm away." He scuttled off again to continue his hurried preparations.
"Well, that was fast." Lina murmured.
"What brings you two here?" Filia chirped.
"Food shopping?" Zangulus joked.
"Not this time. I'm going to get pregnant." Lina smiled happily. "And finally."
"We're getting a microwave, Lina?" Gourry asked cheerfully. "Cause we can heat food up faster with one..."
"Gourry, I'm not explaining this again." Lina growled. Gourry smiled innocently. Zangulus and Filia laughed. Lina managed to drag him into the nearby clinic.
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Inverse-Gabriev." The receptionist chirped. The waiting room was half full. "You're up first. Mr. Gabriev, please fill this while you're waiting for the doctor." Gourry was handed a jar, and directed to a room. He blinked slowly.
"What do I fill it with?" He wondered.
"I warn you, Ms. Receptionist, he's gonna be in there a while." Lina sighed.
Several minutes later, Lina was proved wrong. Gourry return with a full jar. Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing.
"Mr. Gabriev, we didn't require the /white/ sample yet. Now, please try again." Gourry flushed embarrassedly as the people in the waiting room snickered. She handed him another jar, and he went back into the room. By the time he returned, Lina was talking quietly with the doctor. Gourry joined them in his office.
"So you've been trying for several months, with repeated failure, I collect." Lina and Gourry nodded. "Well, thankfully, we've got all the samples we need. A few simple tests, and we'll find your problem." He took out a slide. "Mrs. Gabriev, you sent this sample to me a week ago, and I've already examined it. You are entirely normal." He took Gourry's sample and prepared a slide. He put it under the microscope. "Hm... Let's see..." His eyes narrowed curiously. "Oh, so that's it." He closed the light. "It's a very simple ailment. You have a very low sperm count." Gourry's eyes widened. "It's somewhat common in here, and easily overcome. We simply cultivate the seed in a smaller environment." The doctor took out a test tube, a syringe, and a small jar with a bit of red goo in the bottom. "I enjoy to work in front of my patients, you don't mind, do you?" Lina and Gourry shook their heads. "Well, what I'm going to do is carefully select one of these." He put the syringe into the jar. "Here's a nice one, easy to obtain." He put the bit he'd syringed into the test tube. "Now, we're going to pour all of Mr. Gabriev's sample into it. Well tested, not what all would use, and probably never done on more technology filled planets, such as Earth, or the like. It does work, I assure you. We just wait a few minutes, and it'll be ready." He smiled at Lina and Gourry. "The last step will be putting this into your wife. Very simple process as well. Your period ended one week ago, so your body is at an appropriate time for this." He gently tapped the test tube, and cleaned a needle. Lina swallowed hard. She hated needles. He removed Lina's pants, and cleaned a spot on her adobmen. She whimpered as the doctor sucked the solution into the needle, and came towards her with it. Lina panicked and tried to escape. "Mr. Gabriev, please hold Mrs. Gabriev still, it won't hurt a bit." Gourry grabbed Lina's arms, pinning her to the table she was sitting on. He inserted the needle into the clean spot, and Lina screamed out loud.
An hour later, Lina had managed to recover from the terrible trauma. She had required a good long cry in the bathroom, and a good while of curling up against Gourry and whimpering in a convenient lounge the doctor had set up for "cases like hers". Gourry saw one woman come in the room in the same shape, but Lina was too busy sniffling pitifully. It was obvious what Lina's second worst fear was (her greatest fear being losing Gourry). After some reassuring and recovery, Lina had regained a confident air. She stepped out of the clinic wearing a huge smile.
"So, Lina, we get a baby now?"
"Hopefully, yes."
"And it'll come from the stork?"
"No, it'll come from us."
"Oh... so it'll look like you?"
"Yes."
"And it'll look like me?"
"Yes."
"So it'll be perfect?" Gourry's eyes brightened.
"With a little luck." Lina kissed Gourry on the nose. "Oh, look, it's Zel and Amelia!" Eagerly, Lina dashed up to the group of people crowding around a horse.
Zel was making final preparations for departure. Filia, Martina, Zangulus, and Xelloss were crowding around them. Amelia stood at Zel's side, holding Alin shakily. "I trust you'll be taken well care of, Amelia." Zel was lecturing, as Lina and Gourry joined the group. "I'll return in eight months, or so, and then we'll all be happy. Oh, Lina, Gourry." He looked at the pair. "Right... I guess I better get going." He mounted the horse. "I suppose I'll see you all in eight months."
"Unless we're in the grave, of course you will!" Filia giggled. Zelgadis smiled slightly.
"Say bye-bye to daddy, Alin." Amelia murmured to her son. Alin waved his little hands.
"Buh-byeeee, da-da!" Alin cried grandly.
"Buh-bye, buh-bye!" Kinsei and Elijah chorused.
"Goodbye, Zelgadis!" Lina, Martina, Filia, and Gourry all chanted.
"Bye Zelly!" Xelloss teased.
"I love you, Zelgadis... goodbye!" Amelia cheered. "For all justice, return soon!" Zel rode off, calling back to Amelia.
"I love you too, Amelia, now and always!" He galloped off on the road, going to a place that existed only in one's mind, and the group waved until they saw him vanish.
____________________________________________________________________________ ___
Nayru: Like the ending to a good cowboy movie. Too bad it's not the end.
Zel: Why do I have a funny feeling I'm not going to be in the story until the very end?
Nayru: No reason... (hides the plot)
Ran-Ran: Review nicely, everyone. Next chapter will be up when Nayru comes home!
Xiao: Peaceout with the catlike, minna-san!
Nayru: Here it is, the first chapter of the final part of the trilogy. There will be two more chapters after this. I've got no time to make a big long blurb before the beginning, since I've got today to type this up and post it. Here goes!
Disclaimer: Lady Auola, Itai, Atsui, and the Dark Lord are MINE. Alin, Elijah, and Kinsei are MINE. The rest isn't. Go figure.
____________________________________________________________________________ __________________
"My Lady." Two figures knelt before a very small person on a very big chair in a very big, very dark room.
"You have failed me again." Came the voice of a small girl, cold and angry, from under the hood of her robes. "I tried to get you to split the Ryuzoku and Mazoku. Itai, you were drunk that evening, and failed to keep them from bonding. I try a thousand times to get you, Atsui, to poison the castle's waters. You were caught every time. I try to kill the chimera's wife at her wedding, and try to kill the great sorceress at hers. What do you fools give me?! NOTHING!" She roared. "AND NOW, I'M ASKING YOU TO DESTROY THE BOOKS WITH ANY INFORMATION THAT COULD SAVE THE QUEEN, AND THAT MAZOKU FINDS IT! I DEMAND THAT YOU DESTROY THEM! NOW! NOW! NOW!" The girl was throwing a fit.
"Lady Auola, please forgive us!" Itai and Atsui cried.
"We're coming up with a plan to capture Lina and kill all of her friends." Atsui pleaded.
"I don't care about killing her friends. When my Dark Lord discovers your failures, he'll kill you." Auola cried grandly.
"What failures, Lady?" Came a young boy's voice. Another figure in a dark robe swept into the room. "Your yelling woke me from my sleep." Auola swallowed hard. "I don't care about their failures, as they have one more chance to suceed. We will bide our time. Itai, Atsui, continue spying on the castle, and kill that Mazoku if you see him." The servants bowed, saluted, and ran. "Kara, please don't scare my dollies."
"I won't anymore, Kai-san."
Deep in a forest near the Sailune City, Lina Inverse-Gabriev stared out her window. Two months ago, Zelgadis had announced his plans for a trip to a faraway place to save Amelia. He hadn't even considered going yet. Amelia was sick, and needed him. His devil of a son, Alionel (nicknamed Alin), was a burden on Amelia's tired body. Alin wasn't Lina's problem right then. It was early morning, a very grey morning, but the outlook was bright. A week before, Lina's "time of the month" had come and gone, and she was left empty handed. Gourry and Lina had made a promise to one another the night before.
"We go to the clinic tomorrow." Gourry had said, despite not knowing what a clinic was.
Meanwhile, Zelgadis was tending to a crying baby chimera. He loved his son, but taking care of him was hard work for him and Amelia. He was very energetic. He required a lot of feeding, and attention. Zelgadis didn't mind, he had plenty of time, but he knew Amelia wanted to play too. He was afraid for Amelia, despite knowing Alin couldn't possibly hurt her. Amelia did her part well enough, feeding him and bouncing him a bit, but the bigger jobs were Zel's. His least favorite job: diapers. It wasn't the smell, or the sights, it was the way it had to be done. Zel was very afraid Alin would roll off the table while Zel was trying to get him to hold still. He felt insecure, as a small person had been given to him from heaven for him to care for. His cries were starting to take form and purpose today.
"Da-da, da-da!" He cried anxiously. He wasn't calling for Zel; he was crying out of boredom. Zel quickly transferred his son from the crib to a play pen he'd set up with all sorts of baby entertainment. Amelia was watching languidly.
"Zel, I can't take this." She whispered. "I don't want to watch my son grow up from the sidelines."
"You won't." Zel sighed. "It's time."
"I hate to say it, darling, but it is time."
In the town square, two girls were playing. Their names were Elijah Rubis Del Xoana, almost 3, and Kinsei Sora Ul-Copt Metallium, about 1 and 8 months. They were the closest of friends. Filia and Zangulus watched them with careful eyes from a bench. Xelloss was working on "Mazoku business", and Martina was arranging a birthday celebration for her daughter. Zelgadis approached them as Lina and Gourry arrived.
"Good morning, Lina, Gourry, Filia, Zangulus." He babbled. "I'm going out on the road this afternoon. I need to ask you all a favor... stay in the castle and help take care of Amelia while I'm away." He scuttled off again to continue his hurried preparations.
"Well, that was fast." Lina murmured.
"What brings you two here?" Filia chirped.
"Food shopping?" Zangulus joked.
"Not this time. I'm going to get pregnant." Lina smiled happily. "And finally."
"We're getting a microwave, Lina?" Gourry asked cheerfully. "Cause we can heat food up faster with one..."
"Gourry, I'm not explaining this again." Lina growled. Gourry smiled innocently. Zangulus and Filia laughed. Lina managed to drag him into the nearby clinic.
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Inverse-Gabriev." The receptionist chirped. The waiting room was half full. "You're up first. Mr. Gabriev, please fill this while you're waiting for the doctor." Gourry was handed a jar, and directed to a room. He blinked slowly.
"What do I fill it with?" He wondered.
"I warn you, Ms. Receptionist, he's gonna be in there a while." Lina sighed.
Several minutes later, Lina was proved wrong. Gourry return with a full jar. Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing.
"Mr. Gabriev, we didn't require the /white/ sample yet. Now, please try again." Gourry flushed embarrassedly as the people in the waiting room snickered. She handed him another jar, and he went back into the room. By the time he returned, Lina was talking quietly with the doctor. Gourry joined them in his office.
"So you've been trying for several months, with repeated failure, I collect." Lina and Gourry nodded. "Well, thankfully, we've got all the samples we need. A few simple tests, and we'll find your problem." He took out a slide. "Mrs. Gabriev, you sent this sample to me a week ago, and I've already examined it. You are entirely normal." He took Gourry's sample and prepared a slide. He put it under the microscope. "Hm... Let's see..." His eyes narrowed curiously. "Oh, so that's it." He closed the light. "It's a very simple ailment. You have a very low sperm count." Gourry's eyes widened. "It's somewhat common in here, and easily overcome. We simply cultivate the seed in a smaller environment." The doctor took out a test tube, a syringe, and a small jar with a bit of red goo in the bottom. "I enjoy to work in front of my patients, you don't mind, do you?" Lina and Gourry shook their heads. "Well, what I'm going to do is carefully select one of these." He put the syringe into the jar. "Here's a nice one, easy to obtain." He put the bit he'd syringed into the test tube. "Now, we're going to pour all of Mr. Gabriev's sample into it. Well tested, not what all would use, and probably never done on more technology filled planets, such as Earth, or the like. It does work, I assure you. We just wait a few minutes, and it'll be ready." He smiled at Lina and Gourry. "The last step will be putting this into your wife. Very simple process as well. Your period ended one week ago, so your body is at an appropriate time for this." He gently tapped the test tube, and cleaned a needle. Lina swallowed hard. She hated needles. He removed Lina's pants, and cleaned a spot on her adobmen. She whimpered as the doctor sucked the solution into the needle, and came towards her with it. Lina panicked and tried to escape. "Mr. Gabriev, please hold Mrs. Gabriev still, it won't hurt a bit." Gourry grabbed Lina's arms, pinning her to the table she was sitting on. He inserted the needle into the clean spot, and Lina screamed out loud.
An hour later, Lina had managed to recover from the terrible trauma. She had required a good long cry in the bathroom, and a good while of curling up against Gourry and whimpering in a convenient lounge the doctor had set up for "cases like hers". Gourry saw one woman come in the room in the same shape, but Lina was too busy sniffling pitifully. It was obvious what Lina's second worst fear was (her greatest fear being losing Gourry). After some reassuring and recovery, Lina had regained a confident air. She stepped out of the clinic wearing a huge smile.
"So, Lina, we get a baby now?"
"Hopefully, yes."
"And it'll come from the stork?"
"No, it'll come from us."
"Oh... so it'll look like you?"
"Yes."
"And it'll look like me?"
"Yes."
"So it'll be perfect?" Gourry's eyes brightened.
"With a little luck." Lina kissed Gourry on the nose. "Oh, look, it's Zel and Amelia!" Eagerly, Lina dashed up to the group of people crowding around a horse.
Zel was making final preparations for departure. Filia, Martina, Zangulus, and Xelloss were crowding around them. Amelia stood at Zel's side, holding Alin shakily. "I trust you'll be taken well care of, Amelia." Zel was lecturing, as Lina and Gourry joined the group. "I'll return in eight months, or so, and then we'll all be happy. Oh, Lina, Gourry." He looked at the pair. "Right... I guess I better get going." He mounted the horse. "I suppose I'll see you all in eight months."
"Unless we're in the grave, of course you will!" Filia giggled. Zelgadis smiled slightly.
"Say bye-bye to daddy, Alin." Amelia murmured to her son. Alin waved his little hands.
"Buh-byeeee, da-da!" Alin cried grandly.
"Buh-bye, buh-bye!" Kinsei and Elijah chorused.
"Goodbye, Zelgadis!" Lina, Martina, Filia, and Gourry all chanted.
"Bye Zelly!" Xelloss teased.
"I love you, Zelgadis... goodbye!" Amelia cheered. "For all justice, return soon!" Zel rode off, calling back to Amelia.
"I love you too, Amelia, now and always!" He galloped off on the road, going to a place that existed only in one's mind, and the group waved until they saw him vanish.
____________________________________________________________________________ ___
Nayru: Like the ending to a good cowboy movie. Too bad it's not the end.
Zel: Why do I have a funny feeling I'm not going to be in the story until the very end?
Nayru: No reason... (hides the plot)
Ran-Ran: Review nicely, everyone. Next chapter will be up when Nayru comes home!
Xiao: Peaceout with the catlike, minna-san!
