Part 1: The War
Chapter 4
Never Give Up
"One only gets to the top rung on the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly, all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you --- suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, 'Well, I'll have a go, too.'" ~Margaret Thatcher
Lina leaned over the starboard [1] side of the boat, watching the water as the boat cut through it. So far, the trip had gone fairly smoothly. The boat she was on was small, but speedy, and they were making good time down the coast. They flew under the sail of a fisherman, which kept them out of people's suspicions. They were simply a team of fisherman sailing down the coast looking for a good fishing spot.
Even the food on board the ship was really good. Lina and the cook spent a long time talking about food the first couple days. The galley was also small, like everything on the boat, but it produced amazing food. Just last night, they'd had this wonderful fish soup, spiced to perfection.
Lina nearly tipped over when the boat turned. She still hadn't quite gotten her sea legs yet, but at least she didn't get sick. She looked around to see why they turned to suddenly, and saw that they were bringing the boat into port at a local dock outside a small city.
"About time," she said to herself, leaning against the rail as the boat docked. Traveling by sea was all well and good, but after several days of seeing nothing but water, one does want to get back on dry land. Not to mention she needed something to eat other than fish.
As soon as the boat was tied off, the captain gave her directions to where she would most likely be able to find Aka-Houshi Rezo if he wasn't off at Feron's army. If Rezo was away, Lina was to wait there for him to return, because it would be too dangerous to try to find him in an encampment full of Feron's men. Lina didn't need to be told that. She wasn't stupid. She knew better than to go waltzing through Feron's army. But the captain treated her like a little kid. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd sailed her all the way down the coast to the Outer World, she'd have drop kicked him by then.
Lina jumped over the side of the boat and landed onto the dock. The first thing she did when she reached the city was head to one of the better restaurants. Sea port food was always great and really fresh. Unfortunately, she didn't have too much money to spend on food, and the sea port didn't have anything good for dessert, either. So Lina was on her way in good time, and headed towards where she was to find Rezo.
..::*~*::..
The sun was getting low on the horizon, and the sky was turning dark purple by the time Lina reached the shrine that was the home of Aka-Houshi Rezo. She was tired from walking all day, and half hoped that Rezo wouldn't be there so she'd have time to rest before she had to fight him. She searched the shrine cursorily, and decided that he wasn't there. So she took the liberty of borrowing his bed for a short nap. Lina snuggled deep into the heavy scarlet comforters, her cheek against the soft silken pillows, and was asleep before she could count to ten.
..::*~*::..
Lina sat bolt upright to the sound of a slow voice close by her.
"I would very much like to know what a little girl is doing in my bed."
Lina looked around, only dimly aware that sunlight was flooding into the room from the opened windows. She caught sight of a red robe in front of her. She looked up... and up... and up... Until she finally saw the face of a man with violet hair which greatly contrasted with his red robes. His eyes were closed, but it still seemed to her that he was glaring at her from behind his lids. "Are you Aka-Houshi Rezo?" she demanded, standing up from the warm bed, wishing she didn't have to leave the comfortable blankets and pillows.
"That would depend on who is seeking after him," the tall man replied. He wore large shoulder guards over his robes, and held a staff taller than himself which held a single red orb on the very top.
Hands on her hips, Lina drew herself up to her full height (to which the priest still towered over her) and declared proudly, "I'm Lina Inverse!" She pointed a finger at the other, and poked him hard. "Now tell me who you are! Are you Rezo?"
The man smiled a little. "Yes, I am Aka-Houshi Rezo. What business do you have with me?" He looked down at her with his eyes still closed, his amused expression on his pale face.
Lina's hands automatically went into the position to cast a spell. "It's my job to take you out," she said coldly.
His smile unwavering, Rezo asked, "And for what reason are you doing this?"
"You've been helping Feron's army," Lina told him. That guy really needed to get a clue. Just look at him standing there, all calm and collected, not even bothering to open his eyes. "Phil doesn't like that. So I've got to kill you."
Rezo let out a sigh, and shook his head slowly. "Is violence really a way to solve this?" he said mostly to himself. "You could just ask me to stop aiding Feron's army. You see, King Feron asked me to help him. If King Philionel asked, I'd be more than happy to oblige. Now, if you ask, I will gladly abstain from assisting King Feron, if only to make the war fair. King Feron had told me that King Philionel's army was stronger than his, but if King Philionel is worried about someone like me aiding in what little ways I do, then I must assume King Feron is in reality the stronger. He has therefore been lying to me. I don't appreciate dishonesty, and would be more than glad to leave him if you only asked."
Lina stared. Was this guy for real? Or was he just trying to get her off her guard? Opting for the latter choice, rather than suppose that someone like that actually existed anymore, she didn't drop her battle stance. "Drop the load of bull," she told him roughly. "I'm here to kill you, and that's just what I'm going to do."
Rezo held up one finger to forestall anything else she might have said. "Ah," he said. "But the thing is, can you kill me?"
"Of course I can," Lina said haughtily. "A Dragon Slave will blow up you and your whole shrine!"
"You know that's not what I meant, Lina Inverse," Rezo said. "Surely, if you are planning to kill me, you have heard something about Majutsu. That is, you must want to kill me. Think, Lina Inverse. Do you want to kill me? If there is even one sliver of doubt in your heart that I deserve to die, you cannot kill me."
Lina glared up at his closed eyes. Sure, she was told to kill him. And she wanted the reward money for doing so. But... did he really deserve to die? If all that crap about asking and being polite was true, then he was just some priest going around and helping people whom he thought were in need of assistance. If not, and he was just leading her on.... Still, what had he done to make her want to kill him? He'd helped Feron's army, but only because he thought he was making the war fairer. He hadn't done anything bad or wrong, really.
Lina delved deeper into her heart. She had to find a reason to kill this man. King Phil told her to! She couldn't disobey the King! He'd helped the enemy... To the enemy's benefit. But, from their point of view, they were the good guys... Lina closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. This was taking too much thinking!! She opened her eyes again, not dropping her hard gaze on Rezo.
"Having a silent debate with yourself, Lina Inverse?" Rezo asked, a slight smile playing on his lips once again. "I see you're having trouble finding a reason to kill me. You don't see any reason you would want to kill me, and you therefore cannot."
Frustrated, Lina let out a sigh. He was right. And there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Rezo nodded. "Now knowing that Feron is a liar, I will discontinue aiding his troops," he said. "If you wish, you may come back another time and try your hand at me again. Until you either find the need in your heart to kill me, or you loose control of yourself to the Darkness of Majutsu, you need not seek me out again. But when the day comes that either of those circumstances comes into being, feel free to search me out and attempt to destroy me. Until we meet again, Lina Inverse." With those last words, he offered a short, polite bow, and strode out of the room, his robes billowing out behind him.
Lina waited until she was sure Rezo was well gone before she lost it. She screamed, stormed around the room, and punched at the walls, trying to vent her frustration and anger at herself. She should have been able to do it! She should have found a reason to kill him! She should have just tried it! She should have killed him! She should have done her job!!
It wasn't until Lina's fist went through a wall that she stopped her fit. She slowly brought her hand out of the wall, massaging her knuckles. There wasn't anything she could have done. She could find no real reason to kill him. And even if she found something, he said that even a sliver of doubt wouldn't allow her to kill him. There was no way she could have done anything.
With a heavy sigh, Lina flopped backwards onto the large bed. Maybe she should go back to Seyruun and tell Phil she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill people. Phil didn't understand about Majutsu. It was a Black Magic thing, and he only knew about White Magic. She should just give up before she ran into someone less forgiving than Rezo, and decided to kill her before she could think of a reason they should die.
"What am I saying?" Lina demanded, standing up suddenly, her hand back in a tight fist. "I'm Lina Inverse!! I don't give up just because of one little mess up!! I'm Lina Inverse!! I never give up!!" Lina strode determinedly from the shrine, into the bright mid afternoon sun, and headed towards the nearest village to get herself an inn to stay at until she received her next assignment. Lina Inverse wasn't a quitter. She would do as Phil asked. If she couldn't defeat the next guy, then she'd move on. She'd keep going until she found someone she could kill. Then, according to Diol, it would become easier and easier every other time after that. It would only take once. Just once.
And, no matter what, she wasn't going to give up. Quitting is for losers.
Authoress Note
[1] Starboard = right. Port = left. Bow/prow = front. Stern = back.
Here it is! Another chapter of Dark Memories! Lina's gotten her first assignment, and realized that this isn't going to be as easy as she'd originally thought. Darn. Next chapter won't have Lina's first kill, but maybe the one after that. I have a really evil idea ^____^ I know what'll get her to kill someone. Bet you can't figure it out, can you? Huh huh? HAHA! Didn't think so. If you can guess it before I post it, I'll draw you a picture. The computer my scanner is hooked up to, Herman, is dead right now, but my dad will have him fixed in no time. I personally like how this fic is progressing, don't you? ^^ I hope I'm not the only one who likes this.
You may have noticed the last several chapters have all been Part 1: The War. I think I'm planning on having maybe four or five parts. Each part will be kinda long. There's Part 1: The War, Part 2: The Aftermath, Part 3: No Title as of Yet, and beyond that, I don't know. When I was watching Kenshin, I didn't have time to get through the Kyoto arc, so after part 2, it's all going to be straight from my imagination. I hope I can live up to the rest of the fic. And I seriously hope I don't turn into one of those people who doesn't update for months on end. No insult meant to those of you who do take months to update, I can understand that, but it does get a little frustrating, doesn't it? I'll try to update at least once every couple weeks, if at all possible. But lotsa things can get in the way and delay it. School is starting soon, I'm getting a LOT of anime in a few days and hafta take a LOT of time off to watch it all, not to mention I haven't succeeded in killing the Writer's Block Demon yet. He used to sleep on the spare bed in my room (his feet smelled really bad) but since we moved the bed out, I don't think he's hanging around anymore. Oh, I bet I just jinxed myself. Joy.
Anyway! Wish me luck with the rest of the fic! If you have suggestions, ideas, quotes, comments, or flames, please review and tell me. Anything and everything is welcome and accepted. I want to hear what you have to say. I won't know it sucks unless you tell me, right? ^___^