So sorry for the cliffie last time! This chapter is longer, and it has a dash of fighting, a sprinkling of fluff and generous pinch of humor. Bon appetit!
I do not own Lina, Zelgaddis, Gourry, Amelia, Rezo, or any other "Slayers" characters. To the best of my knowledge, they belong to Hajime Kanzaka.
The chimera swung the magical sword to behead him, but a voice startled her so completely that she stopped the stroke and stared at the third-floor window of the tavern.
"You who live in darkness, tremble, for I, Amelia, will cut Å you down in the name of Truth and Justice!" Flinging her cape over her shoulder, Amelia launched herself off the window ledge.
She'll kill herself, Zel thought, using the distraction to land a crippling kick to the winged woman's knee. She gasped, sagged against the wall and readied her sword to block, but Zel wasn't even looking at her. Amelia's leap had turned into an unfortunate dive towards the street. Zel jumped into the air and caught her, then shook her thoroughly. "You idiot!" he yelled, before dropping her in an undignified heap. "Are you trying to kill yourself?
Inside the tavern, Lina was shaking Gourry's shoulder. "Gourry. Gourry! Wake up!" Lina Inverse yelled. "Something's happening outside, and I can't find Zel or Amelia." Gourry snored so loudly that Lina's hair blew about in the resulting wind. "GOURRY, WAKE UP!" Lina delivered one of her trademark kicks that sent the large warrior flying through the air to the opposite side of the room.
"Hunh?" Gourry muttered intelligently. "Lina, what's wrong? And why are you upside-down?
"Because you're standing on your head, numskull!" Gourry acknowledged that he was, in fact, the one upside-down, propped up against the wall with his weight resting on his shoulders.
"Wow. How'd I get here?" he asked, wonder coloring his voice. Noticing the livid color of his companion's face, he decided that it might be less painful to skip the question. "Lina, what is it? What's wrong?
"A battle has been raging outside your window for the last five minutes, with flashing lights and explosions, and you don't even wake up! Come on!" She made for the stairs while Gourry, strapping on the Sword of Light, ran after her.
Amelia turned to the winged woman and accused, "You tried to kill a champion of truth and justice. Your punishment will be swift and severe. Fireball!
"Amelia, no!" Zel cried, but it was too late. The moment the fireball struck, the wooden house would go up in flames, and half the city would be destroyed in the ensuing inferno.
Cursing, the winged woman allowed her sword to flicker and vanish; she raised a glimmering magic shield just in time to deflect the fireball towards the sky. Fifty feet above the city, it exploded like fireworks. Before Amelia and Zel could tear their eyes away from the glowing spectacle, the woman readied her attack. "Diem Wing!" she howled, channeling a stream of blue energy from her palms that sent the pair crashing into each other and the smashing through the tavern's front door.
Just as Lina and Gourry reached the front door, it exploded into splinters as Zel and Amelia were hurled through it. All four heroes collided, slid across the hardwood floor and came to rest in a pileup of tangled limbs.
All around, confused and sleepy voices were being raised in alarm. What was that noise? What was that light? Then everyone heard the clicking of steel-toed boots as twenty guards rounded the corner at a run. "Elmekia Lance!" the winged creature screamed, desperation coloring her voice. The regiment scattered to avoid the lance, and she managed to take off despite her crippled leg. Without the strength to raise a magical shield, she was forced to dodge the crossbow bolts the guards sent after her. Every swerve jarred her injury. Fighting against the darkness creeping into the edge of her vision, the winged woman escaped over the city walls but landed with bruising force when she reached her master's camp, hidden in the thick forest. Her right knee buckled backward, and the pain of the tendons snapping made her lose consciousness.
At the inn, the situation wasn't much better.
"Lina, get off me!" Zel's sarcastic tenor snapped. "I'm crushing Amelia.
"I can't, somebody's on my foot." She tried to free herself, earning her groans from all of her companions.
"Ow! Miss Lina, you kicked me!" whined Amelia.
"Sorry, I'll try to get off.
As Lina tried to push herself up, a startled Gourry grunted, "Lina, watch where you're putting your
"Oof! Lina, your elbow
"Unh," grunted Lina as she finally broke free of the various limbs. Zel struggled to move off of Amelia, accidentally kneeling on Gourry's face. When all the participants finally sorted out whose limbs were whose, Zel knelt beside his apprentice, who still didn't sit up.
"Zel?" she murmured in a much more subdued tone than was usual. "It hurts." She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.
As gently as he could, the chimera scooped Amelia up in his arms and carried her up two flights of stairs to her bed. She whimpered at first, but soon quieted. Zel tucked her in and stroked her hair until the last traces of pain relaxed from her young face. "Healing power, flowing white . . ." he whispered, moving his healing power from her head to her torso and then along her limbs.
Lina asked, "Zel, is sheÐÐ" but Zel shushed her. He led his two friends outside the room, before turning to them with a serious expression.
"Thank Maternessa; I was worried that she might be bleeding inside. She'll have some bruises in the morning, but she'll be fine. Still, we need to talk." He sat at a table in Lina's room and Gourry took the other chair.
"Ah-hem," Lina cleared her throat, looking at Gourry. He didn't notice. "Ah-HEM," she tried again. Gourry still didn't give up the chair, but he did turn to Lina with a concerned expression.
"Lina, do you have a cold?" Rolling her eyes, Lina gave up on chivalry and pulled the bed closer before perching on its edge. Both turned to Zel, who was sitting motionless with his eyes closed. He hadn't made one of his snide comments since Amelia was hurt; recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Lina and Gourry waited quietly.
"When I went out for a walk tonight, I got into a sword fight. My opponent was a winged creature the size of a child
"Like Lina?" Gourry interjected.
"--but it had the voice and body of a woman," Zel continued
"Oh. Definitely not like Lina," Gourry interrupted again, "'Cause Lina doesn't even haveÐÐ" WHAM!
"Hey!" Lina shrieked, "How dare you--
The two stopped and blushed under Zel's icy stare. Then his expression melted into an unexpected smile.
"No," Zel murmured to himself, "definitely not like Lina." He remembered how she had felt in his arms when he had pinned her arms to her sides. Warm, with soft, smooth skin and those curvesÉ No, not like Lina at all.
Zel suddenly realized that the two heroes were staring at him in bewilderment. "Zel," Lina said in awe, "you were blushing." Zel cast her a withering glare, but Lina only giggled. Zel had a crush on the woman! Zel, the man of stone, was blushing about a girl! Lina paused, put two and two together, and said, "Wait a minute. You said it had WINGS. A monster? You fell in love with a MONSTER?
"She wasn't pure monster. She was a chimera.
"Like you?" Gourry asked. Hissing at him, Lina tried to shut him upÐÐ Zel was very sensitive about being a monster.
She was surprised when he simply nodded. Plowing through numerous interruptions, Zelgaddis described the fight and also the chimera's message.
"An army led by a powerful sorcerer?" Lina asked.
"But why would anyone want to attack such a lovely city? Besides, the pendant of the mother-goddess protects Illidar.
"Gourry, you're a genius!" Lina exclaimed, leaping to her feet. Gourry blinked stupidly. He had never been accused of this particular virtue before, so he had no idea how to respond. Lina hurried to explain her compliment: "The sorcerer must be trying to steal Maternessa's pendant.
Lina was quite pleased with herself, but Zel just snorted. "Baka, no one can steal the pendant. It protects the entire temple against those who have evil intentions. Surely it can protect itself from being stolen.
"Oh." Deflated, Lina sat back down. "So, what do we do?
"Relax. Between my ÔVlave Howl', Gourry's ÔSword of Light' and Lina's ÔDragon Slave,' we have enough power to blast three armies into oblivion. Actually, I feel sorry for anyone who chooses to cross us.
"Uh, um, er, ah, Zel?" Lina stammered.
"Lina?" She was never hesitant. "What's wrong?" Zel asked.
"Well, it's just that, uh, about my magic . . .
Zelgaddis did some quick mental calculations. The last time Lina's magic had failed was . . . almost one month ago. "Kisama!
"Ooooh," Gourry nodded wisely, "that time of the month again. By the way, Lina, what does that mean? Every time I ask a woman to explain, she blushes and hits me in the nose--" WHAP! A blushing Lina punched Gourry right in the nose.
"Ow, ow, ow-- what'd you do that for? And why does no one ever explain anything to me?
"Anyway, Lina ," Zel cut him off, "how long until we can depend on your magic again?
"For two days, nothing bigger than a light spell. For the next two days, I can do fireballs and levitation, but nothing as big as the ÔDragon Slave'." Lina pouted. "This is so unfair. It never happens to guys.
"Yes," Gourry admitted, "but women always gather their magic together successfully. When a man gets really nervous, he might fail to Ôget it up'.
"No way!" Lina exclaimed.
"It's true, I've seen it. The sorcerer was terribly embarrassed." Gourry turned to Zel, and asked, "Has that ever happened to you?
"If you like your head attached to your shoulders, you won't ask that again," Zel snapped. "If we can't rely on Lina's ÔDragon Slave' to reduce the city to a crater, this might be difficult. Tomorrow, you two should tell the city guard about the threat.
"OK. But why not you?
Zel laughed bitterly. "You really think they would listen to me? A masked stranger? Or worse, a monster of stone?
"Zel, I didn't mean to . . ." Lina started.
"Forget it. I'm going to bed; you two should as well.
After he left, Gourry leaned over to Lina. "He's pretty sensitive, hunh? I mean, for a guy made of rock.
Lina shrugged. "Cities make him nervous. Remember how hard it was to convince him to come?
Standing by Amelia's bed, Zelgaddis wondered when this girl had become so important to him. It certainly hadn't been earth-shattering; maybe it was when she grabbed his hand to drag him somewhere, or when out of curiosity she had touched the stones that framed his eyes.
In the darkness, the winged woman's warning came back to him: "You risk your freedom if you stay . . . I will not allow any other to fall into the hands of the Puppetmaster." She didn't warn him that his life was in danger, only his freedom. His hands tightened automatically into fists. If this ÔPuppetmaster' thought that Zelgaddis would let himself be manipulated again . . .
I do not own Lina, Zelgaddis, Gourry, Amelia, Rezo, or any other "Slayers" characters. To the best of my knowledge, they belong to Hajime Kanzaka.
The chimera swung the magical sword to behead him, but a voice startled her so completely that she stopped the stroke and stared at the third-floor window of the tavern.
"You who live in darkness, tremble, for I, Amelia, will cut Å you down in the name of Truth and Justice!" Flinging her cape over her shoulder, Amelia launched herself off the window ledge.
She'll kill herself, Zel thought, using the distraction to land a crippling kick to the winged woman's knee. She gasped, sagged against the wall and readied her sword to block, but Zel wasn't even looking at her. Amelia's leap had turned into an unfortunate dive towards the street. Zel jumped into the air and caught her, then shook her thoroughly. "You idiot!" he yelled, before dropping her in an undignified heap. "Are you trying to kill yourself?
Inside the tavern, Lina was shaking Gourry's shoulder. "Gourry. Gourry! Wake up!" Lina Inverse yelled. "Something's happening outside, and I can't find Zel or Amelia." Gourry snored so loudly that Lina's hair blew about in the resulting wind. "GOURRY, WAKE UP!" Lina delivered one of her trademark kicks that sent the large warrior flying through the air to the opposite side of the room.
"Hunh?" Gourry muttered intelligently. "Lina, what's wrong? And why are you upside-down?
"Because you're standing on your head, numskull!" Gourry acknowledged that he was, in fact, the one upside-down, propped up against the wall with his weight resting on his shoulders.
"Wow. How'd I get here?" he asked, wonder coloring his voice. Noticing the livid color of his companion's face, he decided that it might be less painful to skip the question. "Lina, what is it? What's wrong?
"A battle has been raging outside your window for the last five minutes, with flashing lights and explosions, and you don't even wake up! Come on!" She made for the stairs while Gourry, strapping on the Sword of Light, ran after her.
Amelia turned to the winged woman and accused, "You tried to kill a champion of truth and justice. Your punishment will be swift and severe. Fireball!
"Amelia, no!" Zel cried, but it was too late. The moment the fireball struck, the wooden house would go up in flames, and half the city would be destroyed in the ensuing inferno.
Cursing, the winged woman allowed her sword to flicker and vanish; she raised a glimmering magic shield just in time to deflect the fireball towards the sky. Fifty feet above the city, it exploded like fireworks. Before Amelia and Zel could tear their eyes away from the glowing spectacle, the woman readied her attack. "Diem Wing!" she howled, channeling a stream of blue energy from her palms that sent the pair crashing into each other and the smashing through the tavern's front door.
Just as Lina and Gourry reached the front door, it exploded into splinters as Zel and Amelia were hurled through it. All four heroes collided, slid across the hardwood floor and came to rest in a pileup of tangled limbs.
All around, confused and sleepy voices were being raised in alarm. What was that noise? What was that light? Then everyone heard the clicking of steel-toed boots as twenty guards rounded the corner at a run. "Elmekia Lance!" the winged creature screamed, desperation coloring her voice. The regiment scattered to avoid the lance, and she managed to take off despite her crippled leg. Without the strength to raise a magical shield, she was forced to dodge the crossbow bolts the guards sent after her. Every swerve jarred her injury. Fighting against the darkness creeping into the edge of her vision, the winged woman escaped over the city walls but landed with bruising force when she reached her master's camp, hidden in the thick forest. Her right knee buckled backward, and the pain of the tendons snapping made her lose consciousness.
At the inn, the situation wasn't much better.
"Lina, get off me!" Zel's sarcastic tenor snapped. "I'm crushing Amelia.
"I can't, somebody's on my foot." She tried to free herself, earning her groans from all of her companions.
"Ow! Miss Lina, you kicked me!" whined Amelia.
"Sorry, I'll try to get off.
As Lina tried to push herself up, a startled Gourry grunted, "Lina, watch where you're putting your
"Oof! Lina, your elbow
"Unh," grunted Lina as she finally broke free of the various limbs. Zel struggled to move off of Amelia, accidentally kneeling on Gourry's face. When all the participants finally sorted out whose limbs were whose, Zel knelt beside his apprentice, who still didn't sit up.
"Zel?" she murmured in a much more subdued tone than was usual. "It hurts." She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.
As gently as he could, the chimera scooped Amelia up in his arms and carried her up two flights of stairs to her bed. She whimpered at first, but soon quieted. Zel tucked her in and stroked her hair until the last traces of pain relaxed from her young face. "Healing power, flowing white . . ." he whispered, moving his healing power from her head to her torso and then along her limbs.
Lina asked, "Zel, is sheÐÐ" but Zel shushed her. He led his two friends outside the room, before turning to them with a serious expression.
"Thank Maternessa; I was worried that she might be bleeding inside. She'll have some bruises in the morning, but she'll be fine. Still, we need to talk." He sat at a table in Lina's room and Gourry took the other chair.
"Ah-hem," Lina cleared her throat, looking at Gourry. He didn't notice. "Ah-HEM," she tried again. Gourry still didn't give up the chair, but he did turn to Lina with a concerned expression.
"Lina, do you have a cold?" Rolling her eyes, Lina gave up on chivalry and pulled the bed closer before perching on its edge. Both turned to Zel, who was sitting motionless with his eyes closed. He hadn't made one of his snide comments since Amelia was hurt; recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Lina and Gourry waited quietly.
"When I went out for a walk tonight, I got into a sword fight. My opponent was a winged creature the size of a child
"Like Lina?" Gourry interjected.
"--but it had the voice and body of a woman," Zel continued
"Oh. Definitely not like Lina," Gourry interrupted again, "'Cause Lina doesn't even haveÐÐ" WHAM!
"Hey!" Lina shrieked, "How dare you--
The two stopped and blushed under Zel's icy stare. Then his expression melted into an unexpected smile.
"No," Zel murmured to himself, "definitely not like Lina." He remembered how she had felt in his arms when he had pinned her arms to her sides. Warm, with soft, smooth skin and those curvesÉ No, not like Lina at all.
Zel suddenly realized that the two heroes were staring at him in bewilderment. "Zel," Lina said in awe, "you were blushing." Zel cast her a withering glare, but Lina only giggled. Zel had a crush on the woman! Zel, the man of stone, was blushing about a girl! Lina paused, put two and two together, and said, "Wait a minute. You said it had WINGS. A monster? You fell in love with a MONSTER?
"She wasn't pure monster. She was a chimera.
"Like you?" Gourry asked. Hissing at him, Lina tried to shut him upÐÐ Zel was very sensitive about being a monster.
She was surprised when he simply nodded. Plowing through numerous interruptions, Zelgaddis described the fight and also the chimera's message.
"An army led by a powerful sorcerer?" Lina asked.
"But why would anyone want to attack such a lovely city? Besides, the pendant of the mother-goddess protects Illidar.
"Gourry, you're a genius!" Lina exclaimed, leaping to her feet. Gourry blinked stupidly. He had never been accused of this particular virtue before, so he had no idea how to respond. Lina hurried to explain her compliment: "The sorcerer must be trying to steal Maternessa's pendant.
Lina was quite pleased with herself, but Zel just snorted. "Baka, no one can steal the pendant. It protects the entire temple against those who have evil intentions. Surely it can protect itself from being stolen.
"Oh." Deflated, Lina sat back down. "So, what do we do?
"Relax. Between my ÔVlave Howl', Gourry's ÔSword of Light' and Lina's ÔDragon Slave,' we have enough power to blast three armies into oblivion. Actually, I feel sorry for anyone who chooses to cross us.
"Uh, um, er, ah, Zel?" Lina stammered.
"Lina?" She was never hesitant. "What's wrong?" Zel asked.
"Well, it's just that, uh, about my magic . . .
Zelgaddis did some quick mental calculations. The last time Lina's magic had failed was . . . almost one month ago. "Kisama!
"Ooooh," Gourry nodded wisely, "that time of the month again. By the way, Lina, what does that mean? Every time I ask a woman to explain, she blushes and hits me in the nose--" WHAP! A blushing Lina punched Gourry right in the nose.
"Ow, ow, ow-- what'd you do that for? And why does no one ever explain anything to me?
"Anyway, Lina ," Zel cut him off, "how long until we can depend on your magic again?
"For two days, nothing bigger than a light spell. For the next two days, I can do fireballs and levitation, but nothing as big as the ÔDragon Slave'." Lina pouted. "This is so unfair. It never happens to guys.
"Yes," Gourry admitted, "but women always gather their magic together successfully. When a man gets really nervous, he might fail to Ôget it up'.
"No way!" Lina exclaimed.
"It's true, I've seen it. The sorcerer was terribly embarrassed." Gourry turned to Zel, and asked, "Has that ever happened to you?
"If you like your head attached to your shoulders, you won't ask that again," Zel snapped. "If we can't rely on Lina's ÔDragon Slave' to reduce the city to a crater, this might be difficult. Tomorrow, you two should tell the city guard about the threat.
"OK. But why not you?
Zel laughed bitterly. "You really think they would listen to me? A masked stranger? Or worse, a monster of stone?
"Zel, I didn't mean to . . ." Lina started.
"Forget it. I'm going to bed; you two should as well.
After he left, Gourry leaned over to Lina. "He's pretty sensitive, hunh? I mean, for a guy made of rock.
Lina shrugged. "Cities make him nervous. Remember how hard it was to convince him to come?
Standing by Amelia's bed, Zelgaddis wondered when this girl had become so important to him. It certainly hadn't been earth-shattering; maybe it was when she grabbed his hand to drag him somewhere, or when out of curiosity she had touched the stones that framed his eyes.
In the darkness, the winged woman's warning came back to him: "You risk your freedom if you stay . . . I will not allow any other to fall into the hands of the Puppetmaster." She didn't warn him that his life was in danger, only his freedom. His hands tightened automatically into fists. If this ÔPuppetmaster' thought that Zelgaddis would let himself be manipulated again . . .