A/N: WAHHHH!!! What HAPPENED?!?!?! Nobody reviewed the last two chapters T_T *Sniff* Fine. I can deal w/ this… I'll…I'll continue writing…I have to finish this story anyway.
*Shuddering Sob* P-please review?
Disclaimer: If I owned Slayers, I wouldn't be writing Fanfiction. Same goes for Pokemon.
Ch. 13 – It's a Secret!
After getting hit twice with the force of his own body weight, Zel realized something and quickly tried to put his plan into motion. He carefully calculated where the central support for the boards were on either side of him. Then he simultaneously balanced both of his feet on those two mid-points. Zel anxiously waited to see if there would be a response. There was none. Satisfied, Zel carefully took a wide stride to the next support beam. Nothing happened. Using extremely long strides, Zel managed to travel a fairly safe distance without hurting himself. When nothing eventful happened by the time his poké-morphed body became tired from the extra effort of striding, he let his guard down, and his foot slipped.
As if getting payback for attempting to avoid it, the wood tipped down just like a see-saw would. Before he could stop himself, Zel slid into the tight hole that the wooden plank eased him into. Zel squirmed, trying to get out. He couldn't. Zelgadis was stuck in the floorboards, shoulder down hidden underneath the floor. Someone somewhere howled with laughter, letting it echo within the near empty halls. As Zel was forced to listen, he seemed to have trouble deciphering whether it was a madman or a ... hyena.
Eventually, since it was not a hard matter at all to annoy Zelgadis, Zel had had enough. Groping with his stoned hand, he reached for one of his pokeballs on his belt and released it underneath the surface. Zel grunted his command. "Pidgeot Wing Attack through the wood!"
A loud squawk was heard before Pidgeot crashed through the floor in a flurry of speed. Pidgeot flapped its wings slowly as it picked Zel up by his collar and flew him out of his jam – breaking the plank further in the process. With a deft movement of his hand, Zel flipped onto Pidgeot's back. "Good. Now let's get going."
Pidgeot squawked in response and started flying through the halls, in the direction its master meant to go. Neither bird nor master expected what they found around the next corner.
Gourry was currently taking a breather within a hole. He had run around the room twenty consecutive times thus far. He was beginning to wonder if the cycle ever ended. Striking a thinking pose, he tried to remember how Lina would have handled it. After what seemed like hours of thinking to him, which ended up being about twenty minutes, Gourry finally came to a conclusion. He would leave a little marker or something in this hole and if he saw it again, he knew he'd been traveling in a circle. He would do it for the other holes too. Now then. . . what could serve as markers; something that he had plenty in supply of?
After another exaggerated period of time, Gourry came up with a solution: his hair! Gourry had long, blonde hair that came down to his knees almost. So with a painful yelp, Gourry plucked some hairs, rolled it into a ball around a good sized rock, and set it down in the middle of the hole. Satisfied, Gourry hoisted himself up once more and began his round again. This time, instead of getting out right after falling into the next hole, he stopped to look for the hairy rock (^_^). To his dismay, he found what he was looking for. The rock lay innocently, just where he had left it. Growling in frustration, Gourry lifted himself up again, and collapsed face-down on the floor. He turned over, panting slightly. His mind began to wander…
What luck. Lina's here for her fifty-somethin' badge and I'm stuck in an endless circle of traps. I wonder where Lina is anyway? I hope she's alright… Zelgadis, too. Maybe we shouldn't have split up like that…Who knows what this place has in store for us…this place must be getting old 'cause I can see a crack in the ceiling… Wait. Crack? That looks an awful lot like one of those square things… I know! Maybe it's a trapdoor! An exit! Come to think of it, how did I get here in the first place? . . . Hm… oh wells. Back to the exit!
Finding his goal, Gourry flipped himself onto his feet, and took another look at the ceiling. His suspicions were confirmed; the trap door was obvious to him since there were no other special formations on the ceiling. He decided to try jumping to it. As he leaped through the air, his goal seemed to get farther and farther away. The verdict: Gourry was nowhere near able to jump to it. Snapping his fingers with a plan in mind, Gourry dropped down into the hole. He began his plan as quickly as he could – piling the rubble and broken wood to form a sort of stairway to the trapdoor. More than one and a half hours had passed before the trapdoor opened to reveal. . . a secret.
Lina huffed angrily. Moments before, the walls had moved to trap her in a sort of Z-shaped hallway. Attempting to smolder her annoyance enough to think, Lina took out her compass. She had entered from the south entrance, so. . . that way (pointing with finger) was North. Slowly, she put away her compass and held out Pyro's pokeball between her and the offending obstacle. Lina commanded Pyro to use Flamethrower. The pokeball opened as if releasing a pokemon, but instead, a bright, strong stream of flame. It fully enveloped the wall in flames, but surprisingly, when the attack ceased, the wall remained uncharred. Puzzled, Lina slowly took a few steps forward and touched the attacked deterrent. She let out a startled yelp when her hand went through the wall, as if it were transparent. Lina quickly retracted it.
Soon, however, her curiosity got the better of her, and she tentatively eased her fingers into the wall again. She shivered at the sensation. It felt cool, refreshing even, as if a peaceful babbling brook were passing across her hand. Taking a deep breath, Lina plunged into the depths of the transparent wall, in hopes of reaching the other side safely. Fortunately, she did.
Lina blinked with surprise as she did a double-take. She seemed to be in an identical hallway. Finally shrugging it off, she walked forward and tried the same thing on the northernmost wall. Again, she managed to walk through with ease. After repeating this several times with no change in scenery, she grew anxious and began running. Lina soon lost count of the numerous walls that she passed through until…
*BANG* Lina lay sprawled like a swatted fly against the first real wall she had come to since entering the maze. Plopping down onto the wooden floor, Lina readily rubbed her squished nose.
Lina softly muttered to herself, "Why didn't I see that coming? This wall doesn't look exactly like the transparent ones… My poor nose…"
Grudgingly, the young pokemon trainer stood up and lightly tapped on the wall with her knuckle. From the echo it produced, Lina surmised that it was hollow – there was a room behind it. Quickly making her decision, she pulled out Pyro's pokeball again and repeated her previous action. "Flamethrower!"
This time, it worked; Lina maneuvered the pokeball so that the flame made a complete circle wide enough for her to go through. As soon as the circle was complete, the chunk of the wall fell away from her. Nodding with silent approval, Lina walked through the thick barrier. She found herself in a dojo-style room. When the silence was met by an ominous clapping, Lina whirled to see where it was coming from.
"Bravo, bravo. Your skill with your pokemon is exceptional, Miss Lina."
Lina declared to the male voice, "Show yourself!"
Like magic, the owner of the voice appeared before her, their noses a mere inch apart. "Is this better?"
Startled, Lina took a step back, tripped on the bottom of the hole she made, and remained on the floor as she stared up at the person, the youngster before her.
He didn't look to be any more than thirteen or fourteen, but he had an energy about him that told Lina otherwise. His neat, purple hair came down to just above his shoulders, and matched amazingly well with his light yellow shirt, and black drawstring pants. His outfit was outlined by a long black cape that he let flow around him. His face emitted pure childish bliss, as he offered a gloved hand to help Lina up. Suspicious at first, Lina finally took it and Xellos hoisted her to standing position. Brushing off the debris, Lina began the interrogation; at least, she tried to.
"So what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"
He happily replied, eyes still closed, "I could ask you the same thing."
"I'm not a guy!" Lina huffed. "I'm a girl who just happens to be here to earn her eighth badge. What about you?"
"Eighth already? You must be an excellent trainer, Miss Lina."
Lina became slightly red at this. "Well thanks…" Before she realized what Xellos was doing. "Hey! Don't change the subject! What are you doing here and how do you know my name anyways?"
The boy put a finger to his chin and made a little thinking pose. "Hm…" Quirking an eyebrow, he asked her, "Do you really want to know?"
Lina's lips were set in a way as if preparing to pout. She nodded almost solemnly.
Smiling all the more, the boy moved his finger from his mouth to hers and responded, "Sore wa. . . himitsu desu! (In case you really don't know, it's 'That is…a secret!")"
Lina nearly exploded with embarassed rage; actually, she did. She launched herself towards him, preparing to strangle him, when he disappeared into thin air. Caught completely off guard, she stumbled and almost fell again where he stood earlier. Lina straightened and looked around in surprise. She called out, "Where are you?!"
"And who might you be looking for, pray tell?"
Lina whirled around again to find herself face to face with a young woman dressed in a pink ninja suit. Her green eyes blinked with surprise as she watched Lina from behind a large bag of groceries. Lina realized who this was with a start: Iya, the Ninja Warrior, a.k.a. the Fuchsia City Gym Leader's younger sister. As if an unbidden force told her to, Lina straightened before bending down in a quick bow. This apparently surprised the woman, because Lina looked up to see her eyes slightly wider, an eyebrow raised. Lina spoke quickly as if trying to get it all over with.
"Hello, my name's Lina Inverse. I'm here to battle for the Soul Badge. I was looking for a guy about this high *gestures with hand* that was pestering me a little, but it doesn't matter. Um…do you know where Koga, the leader of this gym, is?"
"I'm right here."
Lina and Iya looked towards the door that she had just entered from. Walking towards them was a young man in a blue tunic and pants. He was also carrying a grocery bag.
He continued as he set the grocery bag down. "I am Koga. The one you are referring to, is most likely Xellos Metallium – a troublemaker third cousin of ours."
Now it was Lina's turn to be surprised. "Third cousin? I've heard of second cousins…but third?"
Koga shook his head. "It would take much too long to explain. We're only looking after him while his parents are away. Now then, did you say you wanted to battle?"
When Lina nodded, Koga answered, "I accept your challenge, but it will have to wait until the groceries are put away. It should be done soon enough."
Lina bit her lip hesitantly before walking forward and offering her help. Koga and Iya exchanged glances before Iya told her that the ninja code would be disgraced if they accepted such help from a stranger. Lina pointed out that the average ninja probably wouldn't be caught shopping in the first place. They were stricken quiet by that remark; she had a point. In the end, the ninja duo accepted Lina's help, and they walked together to the kitchen. As they walked, Lina told them that she had come with two others. Iya told her that on the way in, they had noticed that several traps had been set off, and had gone to investigate. However, neither of them could find a trace of a person aside from Lina herself. Koga shrugged at this; he guessed that Xellos had taken them to have a little fun on his own. When Lina groaned, Koga assured her that they would get her friends back eventually.
The fiery young pokemon trainer laughed at this, saying that she was sure they'd come back, but her groan had really been her stomach growling, as she hadn't eaten for what must be several hours by then. Iya told her that she was welcome to join them for lunch after the groceries were put away and the gym battle had taken place. Lina thanked her graciously for this.
Lina's stomach growled again as she was putting away all of the delicious, but raw food; her mouth watered at the sight of steak. After what seemed like hours of waiting, and transferring, they finally returned to the dojo room for their battle. Koga promised to make it quick so that they could search for their friends more. Lina agreed and the battle commenced.
Iya refereed this one-on-one pokemon battle. Koga released his Venonat and Lina was about to choose Pyro, but at the last moment, thought better of it. She didn't want to risk burning the place down. Lina wondered which pokemon she had on her main team that needed the most experience. With a snap of her fingers, she figured it out and called on Victreebel.
Either Victreebel was much weaker than Lina had first thought, or Venonat was especially well trained, because the battle was a lot tougher than Lina had imagined. Nevertheless she stuck through it, and commanded her pokemon with complete confidence.
First, Lina started the battle with an experimental Razor Leaf which Venonat dodged in a twirl of a jump. Seeing how that didn't work, Lina was about to it with a Vine Whip when Venonat suddenly started releasing Stun Spore. In a spontaneous moment, Lina told Victreebel to extract its vines and twist them like a sort of fan. Fortunately, though it hadn't been practiced, it worked. Venonat was soon coughing out inhaled Stun spore, rendering it near paralyzed. Lina took this opportunity to have Victreebel use a surrounding Razor Leaf like she had practiced. It worked like magic; Venonat was again caught off guard. Nevertheless, it was persistent, staying on its feet until the very end. Lina commended its stubbornness, but decided to surprise it further by using the Underground Vine whip to take hold of its feet from underground, drag it back near Victreebel using the same pathway, and finishing it with a devastating Seismic Toss. Venonat was down and out. Koga was vastly surprised by this sudden barrage of attacks. He congratulated Lina after Iya announced her to be the winner. Smiling happily, Lina returned Victreebel to its pokeball and rushed forward to give Venonat some of her sweet potion. Venonat was instantly revived and jumping. Koga shook his head with a smile at this. "I don't think you'll ever stop surprising me, Lina. You're truly one of a kind."
Lina smiled up at Koga at this. Her smile brightened when he handed her the Soul Badge.
"Now then, it's time to go search for your friend."
"There's no need. I found them for you. ^_^"
They all turned to see Xellos standing happily by the doorway with one of Lina's companions in each hand. Both figures seemed unconscious as he unceremoniously dropped them onto the floor. With that, he disappeared before anyone could say another word.
Held slightly spellbound, Lina said in a daze, "Uh…thanks…I guess."
To her surprise, Xellos' voice echoed in the room, "It was my pleasure."
Lina sighed before going to check on her friends. After a little persuasion, they were both up and about. A swapping of stories took place shortly thereafter. Gourry and Zel had both been caught in traps, lost consciousness, and, according to Xellos, was rescued by him. Lina had met Xellos after getting through a maze, then met Iya and Koga, had the gym battle and won. Tired from their ordeal, whatever it was, Zel and Gourry only half-heartedly congratulated Lina.
Soon, they were all eating lunch together, with Lina and Gourry leaving the ninja pair utterly flabbergasted by their appetites. After the huge pile of dishes were washed, and they helped repair some of the traps they destroyed, the travelers were on their way again. Xellos lingered outside after Iya and Koga saw them off, watching them turn into specks in the sky. With a smirk, he disappeared once more.
As they took flight, Zel on Pidgeot, and Lina and Gourry on Charizard, Lina led the way. When asked where she was headed, she replied simply, "To visit an old friend of mine."
A/N: Well? What do you think? Come on, the only reason why I delayed this update so much is that I didn't get any reviews. If I don't get reviews, how can I know if anyone's reading my story? And if nobody reads it, what's the point of writing it? -_- See how much your opinion affects me? Please Review!