A Fishy Situation
The Mayor Fish cackled evilly and floated above everyone and above the lake.
"Very good, young lady. You were the only one able to figure that out. Yes, I was the one who ordered the demon cat to attack us," admitted the Mayor.
"Why?!" demanded Gourry, Zel and Amelia.
"Because, you have a grudge against Lord Beastmaster," interjected Xellos's voice.
Xellos was now floating in the air with the Mayor Fish.
"Yes, that damn Dark Lord favors cat and dog demon beasts over other demon beasts. She is biased, a disgrace to the Dark Lord Mazoku, and a traitor to us all!" growled the Mayor Fish.
"That is where you've got things mixed up. YOU are the disgrace and a traitor to the Mazoku; that's why she sent me to take care of you. But if it should get out that a mutiny of any kind has occurred under her eyes; she will look bad so I can't lay a finger on you, or the other Mazoku will get suspicious," explained Xellos, with eyes opened and glaring at the Mayor Noonsa.
"That's right Xellos, just disappear like you always do! You two-timing smiling moron! I'll take care of this guy like usual!" shouted Lina with a fire sneeze.
"Gee thanks, but it's not like that..." replied Xellos, with a little whimper then he disappeared.
"You little girl have got to learn to stay out of other people's business," growled the Mayor Noonsa.
"I would but you're no person. Besides I'm Lina Inverse, getting into other people's business is what I do," she replied.
"Lina Inverse, are you? Well then, in that case I'll have to fight you with my true form..." retorted the Mayor Noonsa.
That's when he transformed into a gigantic and Dragon-sized.... Fish Man. Lina face faulted.
"That's your true form? It's your normal form just bigger!" scolded Lina.
"Lina, as much as we love hearing you taunt the big Fish Man; get us out of here!" interrupted Gourry.
"Oops, right," realized Lina.
She flew over to the others and quickly untied them (removing the bag from over Amelia's head too). The Giant Mayor Noonsa shot spikes from his scales (like the original Noonsa did) and the group dodged them.
They threw several spells and Gourry used the Sword of Light but nothing seemed to work on him because of his steel-like scales.
"No choice, looks like I'll have to blow it up in one shot! Zel, Amelia; throw a spell on him to keep him in one spot! Gourry, distract him and I'll finish him off with a Dragon Slave!" announced Lina.
"Right!" everyone agreed.
"Flow Brid!" Zel and Amelia cast.
Their spells combined and swallowed the giant Fish Man in a wall of bright light. Gourry threw some shots from the SoL at the Fish Man while Lina started casting the Dragon Slave. As she chanted; Zel, Amelia and Gourry got behind her so not to get caught up in the attack.
"...Let the fools who stand before me,
Be destroy by the power
You and I possess... Dragon Slave a...a...achoo!" finished Lina.
Her fire sneezed caused her hands to be propelled above her, the impact caught her off guard and she lost concentration long enough for the center orb of the spell to threaten the ground below her (and everyone behind her for that matter). She struggled with all her might to keep the spell from touching the ground.
Gourry sensed that something was wrong;
"Lina, what's going on?!" he shouted to her.
"Gourry, the Sword of Light! Quickly!" switched Lina.
He got the hint and used the light blade to absorb the Dragon Slave and throw it at the giant Fish Man. Totally exhausted, Lina fell back, Amelia and Zel stepped in and grabbed her before she fell on the ground.
The fish exploded and fish parts flew everywhere, filling the entire lake. When Gourry was done he turned his attention back onto Lina.
"Are you okay, what happened back there?!" he asked.
"Yeah, just my stupid cold got in the way," replied Lina and she sneezed fire on Amelia.
"You should go back to bed Lina, everything seems to be resolved around here," suggested Zel.
Lina nodded and the group walked back to the inn. Xellos who was standing by, grinned and started to walk away.
"You're not going anywhere," interrupted Nagha's voice.
Xellos looked behind him to see Nagha standing there with her hands on her hips ready to laugh.
"Stop! Don't laugh, I can't stand it! Now leave me alone!" he shouted at her.
"Where's the 500 gold coins you have?" Nagha interrogated him.
"500 gold coins? What are you talking about?"
"Lina told me that you have 500 gold coins with you, now give them to me!"
"I'm a Monster! What would a Monster need 500 gold coins for?!"
Nagha laughed and Xellos covered his ears in pain. She then grabbed him by a leg, hung him upside down and a small bag with gold coins in it fell out.
"For human negotiations of course!" she replied, letting go of him and he lands with a "thud" on the ground.
Nagha turned around and began to walk away.
"You can never fool a Fooler!" she called out behind her at Xellos.
"Really? Don't you know who one of Miss Lina's companions is...?"
"No I don't and I don't care to know either! Don't you know how to keep things to yourself?" she replied.
Xellos huffed then disappeared. Three days passed and the group was still at the same inn they were at the beginning of the story. Gourry and Zel were eating when Amelia entered the scene, walking down the stairs to where they were sitting and carrying a plate of food.
"Any luck?" Zel asked.
"Nope, none. She wouldn't even wake up. It's been three days and she's still sleeping. She won't even wake up to eat," replied Amelia.
"What happened with that Dragon Slave must've really taken a lot out of her. She needs sleep to conquer that cold of hers but how long is it going to take...?" wandered Zel. "Say Gourry, why don't you try? I don't know if it'll make a difference but maybe you can get her to wake up," suggested Zel.
"Really... hey, I know! I'll bring her something special to eat!" a flash of an idea went off.
Gourry ran out of the inn, then came back a few minutes later with a plate of food in his hand. It was covered with something to keep it from getting cold so you can't tell what it is. Then he ran up the stairs and opened the door to Lina's room.
Lina was mumbled something about her sister when a smell woke her up.
"Oh, what's that horrible smell?!" she cried, covering her nose.
"A special meal just for you," replied Gourry, indicating the plate in his hand.
Lina quickly looked away with a green face.
"Put it away! Put it away!" she begged.
"Lina, it's food. Come on, you have to eat something and I got this for you," coaxed Gourry.
"No, it smells gross!" replied Lina sneezing firing onto Gourry.
There was a minute of silence.
"Hey Lina, I've been thinking..." began Gourry.
"Come on, the smell of that gross thing is bad enough but I don't need your stupid..." interjected Lina.
"No, I want to say this. You know how before you said you wouldn't use a Dragon Slave on that Apple Cat because you like cats? Was that the real reason why you didn't want to use it?" continued Gourry.
Lina looked away and didn't respond.
"You know if you were too sick too use it; you should've said something. We would've understood and tried something else,"
"No I couldn't do that, it would make me seem like I was too weak and couldn't handle anything," mumbled Lina.
"You always throw Dragon Slaves with such ease that I never knew how dangerous and powerful they really are... until today. I could tell that you were struggling to keep it under control because of that cold. You don't need to worry about seeming weak. You're only human, it's okay to not be 100% all the time. There are times where you can't do everything that you normally do and if you need to you can ask for help. That's nothing to be ashamed of, trust me. Now then, get over that cold quickly 'cause I don't want be toast anymore," explained Gourry.
Lina sighed then turned around and looked weirdly at the plate.
"So what's in there anyway? What did you bring me to eat that smells that bad?" she asked curiously.
Gourry uncovered the plate and revealed a part of a fin complete with an arm from that giant Fish Man that was blown up. Outside of the inn, Lina's shouting can be heard;
"You idiot!"
"What did I do?!"
"You were going to give me THAT to eat!"
"But Xellos said it was the best thing for your fire sneezing..."
"That was a lie!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that?!"
"That doesn't matter, you were going to give me something that I just blew up with a Dragon Slave to eat?!"
"Be happy I brought it to you, I was going to eat it myself..."
"It's a friggin Fish Person!"
"So, it's still part fish!"
"Yeah, but it's part human! It's got arms and legs!"
"You can eat around that!"
"You have got to be kidding, that's disgusting! I wouldn't be caught dead near one of those, I can't stand them!"
"Why's that?"
"None of your business you Jellyfish Brains!"
"Hey now, calm down!"
"A...a...choo!"
The Mayor Fish cackled evilly and floated above everyone and above the lake.
"Very good, young lady. You were the only one able to figure that out. Yes, I was the one who ordered the demon cat to attack us," admitted the Mayor.
"Why?!" demanded Gourry, Zel and Amelia.
"Because, you have a grudge against Lord Beastmaster," interjected Xellos's voice.
Xellos was now floating in the air with the Mayor Fish.
"Yes, that damn Dark Lord favors cat and dog demon beasts over other demon beasts. She is biased, a disgrace to the Dark Lord Mazoku, and a traitor to us all!" growled the Mayor Fish.
"That is where you've got things mixed up. YOU are the disgrace and a traitor to the Mazoku; that's why she sent me to take care of you. But if it should get out that a mutiny of any kind has occurred under her eyes; she will look bad so I can't lay a finger on you, or the other Mazoku will get suspicious," explained Xellos, with eyes opened and glaring at the Mayor Noonsa.
"That's right Xellos, just disappear like you always do! You two-timing smiling moron! I'll take care of this guy like usual!" shouted Lina with a fire sneeze.
"Gee thanks, but it's not like that..." replied Xellos, with a little whimper then he disappeared.
"You little girl have got to learn to stay out of other people's business," growled the Mayor Noonsa.
"I would but you're no person. Besides I'm Lina Inverse, getting into other people's business is what I do," she replied.
"Lina Inverse, are you? Well then, in that case I'll have to fight you with my true form..." retorted the Mayor Noonsa.
That's when he transformed into a gigantic and Dragon-sized.... Fish Man. Lina face faulted.
"That's your true form? It's your normal form just bigger!" scolded Lina.
"Lina, as much as we love hearing you taunt the big Fish Man; get us out of here!" interrupted Gourry.
"Oops, right," realized Lina.
She flew over to the others and quickly untied them (removing the bag from over Amelia's head too). The Giant Mayor Noonsa shot spikes from his scales (like the original Noonsa did) and the group dodged them.
They threw several spells and Gourry used the Sword of Light but nothing seemed to work on him because of his steel-like scales.
"No choice, looks like I'll have to blow it up in one shot! Zel, Amelia; throw a spell on him to keep him in one spot! Gourry, distract him and I'll finish him off with a Dragon Slave!" announced Lina.
"Right!" everyone agreed.
"Flow Brid!" Zel and Amelia cast.
Their spells combined and swallowed the giant Fish Man in a wall of bright light. Gourry threw some shots from the SoL at the Fish Man while Lina started casting the Dragon Slave. As she chanted; Zel, Amelia and Gourry got behind her so not to get caught up in the attack.
"...Let the fools who stand before me,
Be destroy by the power
You and I possess... Dragon Slave a...a...achoo!" finished Lina.
Her fire sneezed caused her hands to be propelled above her, the impact caught her off guard and she lost concentration long enough for the center orb of the spell to threaten the ground below her (and everyone behind her for that matter). She struggled with all her might to keep the spell from touching the ground.
Gourry sensed that something was wrong;
"Lina, what's going on?!" he shouted to her.
"Gourry, the Sword of Light! Quickly!" switched Lina.
He got the hint and used the light blade to absorb the Dragon Slave and throw it at the giant Fish Man. Totally exhausted, Lina fell back, Amelia and Zel stepped in and grabbed her before she fell on the ground.
The fish exploded and fish parts flew everywhere, filling the entire lake. When Gourry was done he turned his attention back onto Lina.
"Are you okay, what happened back there?!" he asked.
"Yeah, just my stupid cold got in the way," replied Lina and she sneezed fire on Amelia.
"You should go back to bed Lina, everything seems to be resolved around here," suggested Zel.
Lina nodded and the group walked back to the inn. Xellos who was standing by, grinned and started to walk away.
"You're not going anywhere," interrupted Nagha's voice.
Xellos looked behind him to see Nagha standing there with her hands on her hips ready to laugh.
"Stop! Don't laugh, I can't stand it! Now leave me alone!" he shouted at her.
"Where's the 500 gold coins you have?" Nagha interrogated him.
"500 gold coins? What are you talking about?"
"Lina told me that you have 500 gold coins with you, now give them to me!"
"I'm a Monster! What would a Monster need 500 gold coins for?!"
Nagha laughed and Xellos covered his ears in pain. She then grabbed him by a leg, hung him upside down and a small bag with gold coins in it fell out.
"For human negotiations of course!" she replied, letting go of him and he lands with a "thud" on the ground.
Nagha turned around and began to walk away.
"You can never fool a Fooler!" she called out behind her at Xellos.
"Really? Don't you know who one of Miss Lina's companions is...?"
"No I don't and I don't care to know either! Don't you know how to keep things to yourself?" she replied.
Xellos huffed then disappeared. Three days passed and the group was still at the same inn they were at the beginning of the story. Gourry and Zel were eating when Amelia entered the scene, walking down the stairs to where they were sitting and carrying a plate of food.
"Any luck?" Zel asked.
"Nope, none. She wouldn't even wake up. It's been three days and she's still sleeping. She won't even wake up to eat," replied Amelia.
"What happened with that Dragon Slave must've really taken a lot out of her. She needs sleep to conquer that cold of hers but how long is it going to take...?" wandered Zel. "Say Gourry, why don't you try? I don't know if it'll make a difference but maybe you can get her to wake up," suggested Zel.
"Really... hey, I know! I'll bring her something special to eat!" a flash of an idea went off.
Gourry ran out of the inn, then came back a few minutes later with a plate of food in his hand. It was covered with something to keep it from getting cold so you can't tell what it is. Then he ran up the stairs and opened the door to Lina's room.
Lina was mumbled something about her sister when a smell woke her up.
"Oh, what's that horrible smell?!" she cried, covering her nose.
"A special meal just for you," replied Gourry, indicating the plate in his hand.
Lina quickly looked away with a green face.
"Put it away! Put it away!" she begged.
"Lina, it's food. Come on, you have to eat something and I got this for you," coaxed Gourry.
"No, it smells gross!" replied Lina sneezing firing onto Gourry.
There was a minute of silence.
"Hey Lina, I've been thinking..." began Gourry.
"Come on, the smell of that gross thing is bad enough but I don't need your stupid..." interjected Lina.
"No, I want to say this. You know how before you said you wouldn't use a Dragon Slave on that Apple Cat because you like cats? Was that the real reason why you didn't want to use it?" continued Gourry.
Lina looked away and didn't respond.
"You know if you were too sick too use it; you should've said something. We would've understood and tried something else,"
"No I couldn't do that, it would make me seem like I was too weak and couldn't handle anything," mumbled Lina.
"You always throw Dragon Slaves with such ease that I never knew how dangerous and powerful they really are... until today. I could tell that you were struggling to keep it under control because of that cold. You don't need to worry about seeming weak. You're only human, it's okay to not be 100% all the time. There are times where you can't do everything that you normally do and if you need to you can ask for help. That's nothing to be ashamed of, trust me. Now then, get over that cold quickly 'cause I don't want be toast anymore," explained Gourry.
Lina sighed then turned around and looked weirdly at the plate.
"So what's in there anyway? What did you bring me to eat that smells that bad?" she asked curiously.
Gourry uncovered the plate and revealed a part of a fin complete with an arm from that giant Fish Man that was blown up. Outside of the inn, Lina's shouting can be heard;
"You idiot!"
"What did I do?!"
"You were going to give me THAT to eat!"
"But Xellos said it was the best thing for your fire sneezing..."
"That was a lie!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that?!"
"That doesn't matter, you were going to give me something that I just blew up with a Dragon Slave to eat?!"
"Be happy I brought it to you, I was going to eat it myself..."
"It's a friggin Fish Person!"
"So, it's still part fish!"
"Yeah, but it's part human! It's got arms and legs!"
"You can eat around that!"
"You have got to be kidding, that's disgusting! I wouldn't be caught dead near one of those, I can't stand them!"
"Why's that?"
"None of your business you Jellyfish Brains!"
"Hey now, calm down!"
"A...a...choo!"