Part 1: The War
Chapter 2
Midnight Warning
"Is this your life? No! It's mine, so let me make my own decisions for myself. They might not always be right, but making my own mistakes is what I learn from." ~Courtney L.
"We've discovered the whereabouts of Diol-san," the messenger in Seyruun livery reported.
Lina, who had been almost asleep on the window seat, staring out over the vast garden behind the palace, snapped to attention. "You did?" she asked. "Where is he?"
"He has agreed to meet with you tonight at midnight in the gardens," the messenger replied.
Frowning, Lina let the messenger go. It was just like Diol to drag her out of bed in the middle of the night so she could go talk to him. He knew it was important that they speak (she avoided him whenever possible) and so wanted to inconvenience her as much as possible. Well, she'd show him. She's go get a nap now, and arrive completely unflustered when she went to meet with Diol.
So that's just what she did. She went to her temporary room at the palace (it had taken three days to find Diol) and told the page outside her door to wake her at eleven-thirty that night. Then she closed the curtains, and went to sleep.
..::*~*::..
"Diol-jiisan?" Lina asked hesitantly, standing facing the back of the old man in the dark gardens of Seyruun Palace. "Master?" The moon above them was full, giving the place an eerie glow.
"Ah, Lina," Diol said, turning around to face her. He had been, of all things, making a daisy chain out of the flowers in the garden, Lina wondered for a moment if he was allowed to do that. "So, my young student, what brings you-- and me --here to Seyruun palace?"
Lina sat down on the bench beside her old master. He was nearly half her size, and had a beard that barely missed brushing the floor when he stood up. He was known to be slightly eccentric at times, but he was an amazing magic instructor, and had taught Lina nearly everything she knew. As much as she hated to admit it, she did respect the old geezer. "Well," she began. "King Philionel asked me to come here a couple days ago..." She paused for a minute. She wasn't exactly sure how her master would handle the news of her becoming a professional assassin.
"Go on," Diol prompted, tying a few more flowers onto his daisy chain.
"And he sort of asked me to be an assassin! Imagine that!" Lina said loudly with a laugh. Her laugh died off when she saw the very serious look in Diol's eyes. "Diol....-sama....?" It was the very rare occasion that her mentor had that look in his eye.
"Lina," Diol began. "Do you know what it means to be an assassin?"
Lina nodded. "You have to kill important people. You have to be fast and quiet about it so you don't get found out. You have to--"
"You have to kill," Diol said bluntly over Lina. "You have never before killed, in the exception of mazoku. [2] You use your magic against those bandit gangs you love to blow up so much, but have you ever killed any of them?"
Carefully, Lina thought back to every bandit hideout she'd blown to pieces. True, she'd charred everyone there, but she hadn't killed anyone... "Okay, so I've never killed anyone," she admitted.
Diol nodded slowly. "In order to kill a person using magic, you must have an understanding of Majutsu." [1]
"Majutsu?" Lina asked, echoing the new word. "What's that?"
"Majutsu is magic with the intent to kill," Diol told her. "You must want to kill that person with all your being, and manifest that want into your magic. Majutsu is also very hard to control. More than one good sorcerer has been consumed by the darkness within their hearts when they tried to master the art of Majutsu."
Lina stared at her master. "So, what are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm saying," Diol told her impatiently. "That I do not think this course of action is wise for you."
Okay, that did it. Lina crossed her arms and glared down at her diminutive instructor. "You can't order me around anymore," she told him sternly. "Ever since I graduated from the Academy, you lost your hold over me. You can't tell me not to do this. Besides, I've already accepted."
Diol set down his daisy chain. "I'm not telling you not to do it," he said seriously. "I'm just advising you against it. You're much too young to throw your life away and be controlled by the darkness inside you."
"Hah. I can handle it," Lina said haughtily. She defeated two of the most powerful Dark Lords in the world. She could handle anything.
With a heavy sigh, Diol stood up, shaking his head. "You always were overconfident, Lina," he muttered. "If you insist on going, let me tell you one last thing."
"Make it quick, Diol-jiisan," Lina said, letting out an exaggerated yawn. "I need my beauty sleep."
Diol glared up at her. "Pay attention, Lina Inverse," he said sharply, drawing Lina's attention down to him. "The first few times you are commissioned to kill someone, you may not be able to do it. You must want to kill that person. If, in your heart, you see no reason to kill that person, you are incapable of doing so. But once you start using Majutsu, it will become easier and easier to use. At the same time, it will become harder and harder to control. Before long, you will be consumed. You will kill without thinking twice. Your young hands will be stained with blood, and you'll not have a care about it. You can kill innocent women and children, and it won't register as wrong in your mind or heart."
Lina, who had started to doze off, jerked back to attention when she heard him stop talking. "Huh? What? You said something?" she asked, smiling mock-apologetically.
"Don't say I didn't try to warn you, Lina Inverse," Diol told her gruffly. Without another word, he grabbed his daisy chain, and waddled off into the darkness, towards the exit out of the gardens.
Lina just shrugged, and stretched, yawning. Even with that nap before, she was still tired. Oh, well. Now that old man Diol was gone, she could go back to her room and get some real sleep. As Lina walked through the empty palace corridors, she tried to remember what Diol had been ranting about. Something about not being able to kill the first time or something. "Oh, well," she said around a yawn, changing into her warm pajamas. "It must not have been too important if I wasn't paying attention." With that calm dismissal, Lina flopped into bed, pulling the covers up over her shoulders, and fell quickly asleep.
Authoress Note
[1] - Majutsu bascially means Battle Magic, or something like that.
[2] - For you dubbies, Mazoku is the Japanese word for the Monster Race in Slayers. "Ma" meaning "demon", and "zoku" meaning "race".
For those of you who noted by embarrassing typos in the last two chapters (^^;;;;) I fixed them. I guess I was so excited about having this fic up that I forgot to spell check. ^^;;;;;;; Gomen ne. To those reviewers who asked, yes there will be other Slayers characters in this fic (i.e. Zel, Amelia, Gourry, etc...) and yes, this will be a Lina/Gourry fic. There will also be a little bit of Zel/Ame I think. Maybe. Probably. Most likely. Anyway. I made sure to spell check this time (yay!) so there shouldn't be any typos, at least in the actual ficcie part. Not so sure about this lil Authoress Note, though.... ANYWAY!
Yah.... Read and review, all, and tell me what you think. ^___^ I love all my loyal readers, even if you don't review, and to those of you who just found out about me, I hope you stick around. *hugs n kisses all around*
(Ne, am I the only one who's noticed Lina's never killed anyone who wasn't a mazoku? She burns up bandits, but they never die.... Think about it.)