Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers
or any of its characters.
Chapter One: The Old Woman Knows the Path to Your True Love?
It was a lovely, clear
day in this small and quaint little town. It would have been perfect and
peaceful…except for the disruptive sounds of loud and violent eating behavior.
People in the diner looked at the obviously hungry group incredulously
with wide eyes. Lina, Gourry, and Amelia shoveled food into their mouths
like ravenous wolves. Zelgadis sat off to the side, embarrassed once again
to be seen with them.
"Couldn't you guys be
a little more quiet?" he asked. "People are starting to stare."
Either the others didn't hear him or just chose
to ignore him as they kept on. Zelgadis sighed and went back to drinking
his coffee as if he didn't know them.
Lina Inverse had been
traveling with Gourry for about a month when they ran into Amelia who was
taking care of some royal business in a big, important town. Being as important
as it was it held several old books and scrolls and such. So, needless
to say, almost immediately after they met up with the princess of Seyrunn
they found their chimera friend as well. It was inevitable. The group was
just made to be. Now they were just going from town to town, supposedly
helping Zelgadis find a cure. And trying all the food the town had to offer
them, of course.
"Ah," Lina sighed, leaning
back in her chair once all the food was gone. "That was so good!"
"Delicious!" Gourry and
Amelia agreed.
"Great," Zelgadis said.
"Now can we please be on our way?"
"Not so fast, Zel," Lina
said casually. "I wanna check out what else this town has going for it."
"Yeah. After all, what's
the rush?" Gourry asked.
Zelgadis stared at him for a moment.
"What?" Gourry queried
dumbly.
Zelgadis groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"It's okay, Mister Zelgadis,"
Amelia comforted, putting her arm around his shoulders. "We'll find you
cure soon, don't worry."
"Oh, look at that. What
a cute couple."
The four looked at who had spoken. An old woman
clothed in a dark dress and cloak.
"Do you think so?" Amelia
asked, blushing and Zelgadis sweatdropped.
"And the two of you must
be together as well," the woman said, turning to Lina and Gourry.
Lina looked at the swordsman, a slight bush lighting
up her face.
"Together?" Gourry repeated.
She saw his clueless expression and scowled.
"Yeah right, fat chance
of that happening!" she declared, whamming her fist in Gourry's face and
knocking him out of his chair.
The old woman looked amused.
"I take it that means
the four of you have not gone to see the Love Fairy," she said.
"The Love Fairy?"
The old woman smiled.
"Yes. You see, there
is a place in the mountains by this town where a fairy lives. She is called
the Love Fairy because she knows the true love of everyone in this world.
People go to visit her so she can send them a vision of their one and only
true love."
"Their one and only true
love," Amelia sighed, her hands clasped together. "Oh, how romantic!"
"If you four would like
to go see the Love Fairy, I could tell you how to get there," the woman
said.
Amelia was about to open her mouth, but Lina spoke
up first.
"Thanks for the offer,
but we'll pass."
The old woman nodded at them in good-bye and walked
away.
That night the gang stayed
at an inn. After eating dinner, they parted to bathe. Amelia was silent
when she and Lina first got into the bath. Lina frowned at her.
"Amelia, what's wrong
with you? You haven't said much of anything all night!"
"Oh, I was just thinking…about
what that old woman said earlier."
"Why were you thinking
about that?"
Amelia smiled.
"I just think it would
be so nice to know who your true love is."
Lina groaned. All this love stuff…
"Think about it, Miss
Lina. Your one and only. Someone who will always be there with you and
always protect you. Someone who'll love you, your faults, your violent
temper, and even your small chest!"
Lina stiffened.
"My what?!" she growled.
Amelia cringed nervously under Lina's death glare.
"All I'm saying, Miss
Lina," she tried, "is that it's someone who love you no matter what. Don't
you want to know who your true love is, Miss Lina?"
"No. I don't have time
for stuff like that," Lina said, nonchalantly.
"I'll bet," Amelia said
knowingly, "that your true love is a certain strong, handsome, blonde man,"
she giggled.
"Fireball!" Lina cried
out, unleashing the attack on the poor princess who was still laughing.
When they were changing
into the complimentary pajamas, Amelia made one last attempt.
"Please, Miss Lina! I
really want to know who he is!"
Lina sighed.
"Fine. You go and the
rest of us will leave."
"No, I don't want to
go alone," Amelia sniffled. "Please, Miss Lina…"
"Amelia!"
"Please!"
Lina scowled and went into her clothes pocket.
She produced a small coin.
"Okay, look. We'll flip
this coin. Heads, we move on. Tails, we go see this fairy."
Amelia took the coin from Lina and looked at it
to make it wasn't double-sided, then handed it back.
"Okay."
Lina flipped the coin in the air and caught in
her hand. She looked down at it then quickly closed her hand.
"It's heads. We move
on."
"Wait a minute, let me
see it!" Amelia said, reaching for it.
"No, it's heads!" Lina
protested, pulling her clenched hand away.
"Then let me see, Miss
Lina!"
After much yelling and reaching and such, Amelia
managed to pry the hand open.
"Miss Lina! It's tails!"
Lina sighed exasperatedly and flicked the coin
at the girl.
"Oh fine. We'll go."
Amelia cheered until Lina threw a pillow at her
and made her shut up so she could go to sleep.
"Now hold on!" Zelgadis
said, standing up at the breakfast table. "I thought we were going to search
for my cure!"
"We are," Lina said.
"After we do this."
"But…"
"Please, Mister Zelgadis,"
Amelia said, holding onto his arm. "It will be fun. Don't you and Mister
Gourry want to find out who your true love is?"
Zelgadis grumbled something and Gourry scratched
his head.
"Lina, can you explain
this to me again?"
"You numbskull! What
do you not understand about it?"
"What's a true love?
Is it some kind of food?"
Lina hit him on his head.
"No, it's not a food,
you moron!"
"A true love is someone
you'll end up with one day. Someone who you'll always be together with
and you'll always love. For the rest of your life."
"Oh," Gourry said, nodding.
"I get it. So we're going to see someone who'll tell us who that true love
is?"
"That's right, Gourry,"
Zelgadis said, stirring his coffee with an uninterested look on his face.
"Oh… But what if I already
know who it is?"
The three fell silent and looked at him.
"You do, Mister Gourry?"
He nodded, smiling innocently.
"Yeah. I already know
I'm going to be with Lina for the rest of my life. So I can protect her."
Lina blushed and looked away then looked back
with a frown.
"It's not the same thing,
Gourry!"
"It isn't?"
"No, it isn't!"
"Oh… Then I don't get
it."
Lina hit him on the head again.
"I don't think that helps,
Lina," Zelgadis remarked.
"Good morning, youngsters,"
the old woman greeted them as she passed the table.
"Good morning. Say…"
"Yes?" she said, stopping.
"You said you could show
us where to find that Love Fairy, right?"
A smile slowly crossed the old woman's face.
End of chapter one