As always happens to be the case when a member of the Slayers crew was in residence, the situation was not quite normal. Increasing that number to three only leads Chaos right to them with the aid of giant red flags and a pathway marked in large orange traffic cones.
Irony decided that Chaos was given far too much leeway; it was time to throw in her own bit of pence. So Chaos provided the entertainment, and Irony the stage.
Thus it was that the sun was shining everywhere else in the world, and a small valley seemed to repel it's light. Trees were bashed and fire burned down what was left of the small forest, before the fight between monster and humans reached into it.
'What the hell am I gonna do?' Lina thought desperately. 'He's stronger, faster, and he has the powers of a mazoku. Well, duh Lina. He IS a mazoku, but that isn't the point right now. Powering up a spell takes too long, and a normal sword can't hurt him much. If I'm not careful, I'LL be the one who dies instead of Xellos. Or Gourry will die. No, no. Don't think of things like that.'
'Besides,' she wryly reconsidered, 'Gourry isn't smart enough to die.' She thought almost fondly on the yogurt she was sure replaced his grey matter.
Frantically dodging a random bolt of purple, sizzling energy, she signaled to Gourry that they needed to regroup. The two of them had long since split forces to distract Xellos while they thought up a plan.
It had become something of a tradition to face down deadly enemies while waiting for a spark of inspiration to bring about a 'skin-of-the-teeth' victory.
'Well, I've got a plan this time, but that doesn't mean it's going to work.' It was more of a vague hope at this point, really. Everything seemed rather surreal.
Both Lina and Gourry were exhausted and bloody, cuts and scrapes showed everywhere on their bodies. But only their bodies were beaten. Their minds continued to work full force, trying to figure out a way to defeat Xellos.
It was only the two of them, Zelgadis had gone to find his cure, Amelia had been called back to her duties, but only Amelia had contacted, and that had only been once. True, it was probably quite difficult for either the chimera or the princess, who was now a queen, to get a hold of the two wanderers. They hadn't stayed in one place for longer than a week at a time, so it was expected, and they weren't sour about it. Lina and Gourry had actually been going off to visit Amelia when Xellos had shown up. The three had been in battle for hours and all were showing signs of weariness.
"Gourry," Lina whispered when he made it over to her. "I need you to distract him long enough for me to power up a spell to kill him with. To be blunt, it's extremely risky. I can't move while the spell is in progress-and once I've begun, I can't stop until it's complete. It's the only thing I can think of. Will you do it?" She sounded anxious, but she didn't know why. Well, she did, but she didn't want to admit it to herself. She was scared, and being scared didn't suit Lina Inverse. Like always, she tried to hide it and put on a brave façade.
"Of course I'll do it." Gourry said, happy to have something concrete to. "What are you going to do to him?"
"A spell that my sister taught me when I was 4. She said never to use it except in a situation like this, where all other possibilities are worn out, and there's NOTHING else left to try. All right, let's get this over with."
"OK!" How did Gourry sound so happy in such a situation! It was something she knew she'd never understand. Moving off to use a tree for slight coverage, Lina started her spell.
"Silver bindings on the heart unleashed,"
As Lina chanted a soft, golden glow surrounding her. Gourry's shouts of pain could be heard as Xellos took him on in a one-on-one battle.
"Hateful creations who know only destruction, things of the night, things of the-"
And somehow, unbelievably, the rest of the incantation fled her mind. She knew the words. She knew she knew the words; but she couldn't remember them, and she couldn't stop the spell. Vaguely, she registered that it was silent.
That wasn't a good thing at all.
The only thing left to do, really…was improvise. She began where she left off.
"-darkness, these are what fuel my enemies. Use me as you wish, but destroy the one who wishes to give me my death blow. Oh Mother of All Creation!
GOLDEN HATRED
The spell partly created by Lina, using the powers of L-sama, fired a red and gold blast with black streaks from her hands. It went straight through the tree AND through Xellos just as he gave the killing blow to Gourry. Xellos doubled over, but did not die, and Lina, who had no strength left, not even to stand, collapsed on the ground.
"Nice try, Lina" Xellos wheezed out. "I never knew such a spell existed." He smirked nastily through his pain. "But you used the last of your strength to defeat me, and failed like the pathetic human you are. True, it will take me quite a long time to heal from this," He made something resembling a gesture to the large, swirling hole that covered his leg, waist, and left half of his body. "But I suspect that I have nothing to worry about from you. I can feel the Lord of Nightmares draining away your life force. Your efforts will never be enough. Think about that as you lat there with your lover. And die."
He laughed despite the pain he must have been in and teleported out. Lina crawled over to Gourry and tried to heal him, but didn't have the strength. Xellos had been right, she was completely used up--but he was incorrect in assuming that she was going to die. She let out a sob and cried, something no one had ever seen her do and lived to tell the tale.
"Lina," Gourry managed to get out, coughing up crimson blood and reached up to touch her tear-streaked face. "Lina, please don't worry about me. Get out of here. Take my sword of light, and stay away from Xellos so he doesn't kill you. He thinks you're going to die, so use that to your advantage. My time is almost up and I just wanted you to know that... I... love you."
Gourry tried to hold back more coughing but was unable to do so and even more blood splattered all over Lina's outfit. "Lina...live a good life, and please...please...try and stay alive...for...me."
And Death's scythe cut through the last string holding him to her.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Lina cried out, heartache clear in her voice. "GOURRY!! GOURRY! It's not fair...IT'S NOT FAIR!! You can't die on me Gourry! I love you! Gourry!! Gourry! Gourry. Gourry." Lina's voice dwindled off as Gourry died in her arms. "It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair." She continued to repeat the mantra both mentally and verbally. It made no difference.
She could just imagine Xellos saying, "Life isn't fair, my dear Lina-chan. And orders from my superiors are always to be followed, as much as I didn't want to do that, I didn't have much of a choice. I'm sorry. Now if you will excuse me? I have better things to do with my time."
She could never forgive him. Never forgive him for killing the one she loved the most, and the next time he showed his sorry face around her, she would kill him. She'd kill him no matter what life threw in her way.
"Xellos...just you wait. Just wait until I get my hands on your scrawny little neck. You'll pay, you'll pay dearly." Lina spoke as if she was already dead. All life was gone from her voice, her eyes. It was as if the grim reaper had come and taken her away, kindly gathering her up with the last vestiges of Gourry, and leaving only a lifeless shell in her place.
EDITED as of September 23, 2008. I fixed some absolutely unbelievable spelling errors and Gasp a fragment or two. But I left the ending almost the same just so you and I can always remember what my writing looked like…so very long ago. .
Myth