A/N: Wow, thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry I took so long- I like to prolong the inevitable a lot (a.k.a. procrastinate). Well, here it is! Please review some more for the next chappy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers- DUH!
Chapter One: Mission Initiated
The next morning, Amelia woke up bright and early to formulate her plan. The first objective was obvious, to her at least. She was to learn of what kept Lina away from her own family. The second was to find out a way to convince her regardless of it in order to visit her kin. Last was to pray to the Gods that the whole thing didn't backfire on her. She did the last objective first, and incredibly, her plea was heard by a part-time waitress Knight of Celphied, who smirked at the implications that the princess had confessed. This'll be fun, she thought. I haven't had a project as interesting as this in weeks.
Amelia sighed as she straightened and walked over to the charred remains of the fire. Now that that was done, the actual work had to take place. While she relit the fire and started cooking breakfast, Amelia pondered her tactics. She could always use truth serum, but then, Amelia realized with a pang that she certainly did not have any with her. On a wandering quest for justice, the crown princess had never thought that she may ever want to use it or even carry it with her. Truth should only be spoken when accepted by the heart.
She wracked her head for ideas, but oddly, she had either used them already or had dismissed the thought on account of having been witness to countless "Dragon Spooking Tantrums" as they were now called. Last night had not been the only confrontment by Amelia to ask about Lina's past or her family, but it was easily considered the most informative and with the least harm done.
Think Amelia, think! What could she do to persuade Lina to come home? The idea that was suddenly injected into her stream of thought was surprisingly easy and at the same time hard. All she had to do was contact Lina's family, and ask them to send for Lina. She would obey their summons, it was undeniable. Lina said so herself, after Filia had confronted her with a letter from her sister, that her sister's word was law to her. With another jolt, Amelia realized that in order to do this, she had to know where to send a message, or even what to contact them with. She didn't even know what country Lina was originally from. She couldn't imagine any country that bred fierce redheads who could destroy literally everything in their path.
Amelia shuddered at the thought. Had her companions not come out of their state of unconsciousness due to the wondrous smell of food, she would have had more time to think alone. Ah well, she'd just have to work on her first objective in the meantime. Mentioning implied threats her sister might give her? Plausible and yet, somewhere deep inside, Amelia's devil conscience was laughing maniacally out of pure joy for the future.
After they cleared out and started walking again, Amelia found that she had more plan formation time. Maybe she could scare Lina into going? While it would be hard to play her cards tactfully, Amelia believed it possible. What was she afraid of…? Through the years they had traveled together, she had learned of a few easily credible answers to that. First, Lina was deathly scared of what her older sister might do to her. Amelia could relate- she hadn't met her sister in a really long time, but she was sure that she couldn't have gotten much more annoying to her. Oh how wrong she was. Next in line, Amelia knew that Lina freaked out about snails and slugs as well. Amelia found them extremely slimy and she wouldn't touch one, but she wasn't exactly afraid of it. Third, she had learned from countless witnessing of Lina's wrath that she absolutely hated being mocked for her size, both horizontally and otherwise. Amelia never had a problem from others, considering she was well-endowed for her age and she was heir to the throne, but she had heard small rumors that spoke of "tactlessness unfit for ruling Seyruun." Well this would be the ultimate test.
Lina looked over her shoulder at Amelia, and immediately noticed the gleam in her eyes. She groaned inwardly. When would she give up? Lina refused to go home under any circumstances other than the dire. She knew a harsh punishment was waiting for her, and she still wasn't prepared to take it. She knew she was just running away, but when you have that option, you use it for all it's worth. Determination was everything – if you choose a path, you stick with it until the end. Lina would soon learn that though looped several times, her life had only one inevitable end.
That whole day, while they walked, Amelia pestered and poked about Lina's past and her family. Lina did her best to tune her out, and noted that neither of the guys took sides, only pretended that they didn't hear which, in Gourry's case, may well have been true. It was still excruciatingly annoying. Finally, as the sun was setting, Lina snapped. Turning around to face Amelia, Lina put her hands on her hips and bore her steadfast glare on Amelia's.
"Listen here, I must've told you more than a million times by now. I don't want to go home."
Amelia whined, "But why not? Family is important!"
"I wasn't finished," Lina growled. "Maybe family is important, but my family totally and completely scares me. Maybe you don't feel the same way about your family, but it's how I feel and I doubt it'll ever change. I ran away from home. I haven't been home for almost six years now. Does that mean anything to you?"
Silence reigned for a few ill-stricken moments. Softly, Amelia squeaked, "You don't want to go home?"
Lina threw her hands up towards the heavens, rolling her eyes as she said, exasperated, "You're just now getting that? Celphied forbid if you put more thought into things, Amelia!"
Amelia was quiet again. Her next question was again slow and tentative. "Lina…are you a religious follower?"
The question struck a cord and Lina stopped. After a short spell of surprise, she gave Amelia a maxed out death glare before trudging into the forest, without giving her an answer. Amelia watched her go, uncertain if she should follow her. Out of seemingly nowhere, Gourry spoke. "Leave her alone. She'll be all right." Amelia consented, but Gourry's prediction lay in the far future.
Lina walked alongside the river they had decided to camp near. The translucent water quelled the emotions boiling up within her. She knew that Amelia's question strayed unbelievably close to the reason behind Lina's "running away". In truth, she technically hadn't run away. Her sister had sent her off to see the world, wishing her the best of luck. But after what she had done, and the pretenses of her sister bidding her farewell, Lina had as good as run.
She was twelve years old before the truth had finally come out. Her whole life, she had been an avid follower of Celphied, thanks to her sister's position. Instead of being a part of the local temple though, Luna had opted for being a part-time waitress, saying that "it paid better". With her parents having had a merchant business together for generations past, it was now down to Lina to not only inherit the shop upon their death, but be Luna's lackey to follow her every whim, and act as a substitution of sorts should she be absent or deceased. Lina knew that the latter was highly unlikely however.
With her future already laid out for her, Lina found herself constantly wondering if she was meant for something else, another calling in life. Lina knew that Luna could easily read her mind, but she had never said anything. As Lina grew in years, her sister had taught her the "art of waitressing" as she called it. It was the basic concept of merchants selling wares as well- show your assets and hold out for the big bucks. Of course, Lina couldn't do this in the same way as her sister, but her childish cuteness worked wonders, at the restaurant for tips, at the shop for selling expensive items, or at the temple for donations. Lina remembered how she had more often than not snuck in one of her own gold coins just to hear the tinkle in the box.
Lina learned her magic on her own, since, for some reason, she could never grasp white magic spells - Luna's favorite - very well. In the secrecy of a deserted bay, Lina had learned that she had a special knack for black magic, and she got the Dragon Slave down on her first try. Shamanistic magic wasn't all that hard to learn either, but she always found herself trying to learn more black magic. Lina had no doubt that Luna knew, but never did she say anything about it. Luna was a woman of little words.
Finally, the day had come. She had gone to mass as usual, to pay her respects to Celphied and his subordinates. Also like usual, she had gone to the beach to practice in solitude afterwards. The group of ruffians that always bothered her and teased her were waiting for her when she arrived. She hadn't seen them, but now as she reflected on it, she didn't think it would have really mattered. She still remembered their words as she practiced the words from an ancient tome.
"Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows; buried in the flow of time; in Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!-"
At that moment, one of the boys jeered, "HAH! What's a follower of Celphied doing practicing that spell? You're better suited to serve Shabrinigdo. Lina's the Knight of the Dark Lord! Hahaha-"
It was too late to stop it. His voice distracted Lina, but only enough for her to turn towards his direction. Just in time to utter, barely above a whisper, "Dragon...Slave."
They never stood a chance. She ran then. She ran without looking at the damage she had created. As she ran she realized a chilling sensation. A sensation, that reacted to harming others. A sensation, that made her feel good. She had no idea what it was from, but she was fairly certain that it wasn't a good sign. On the edge of town, she skidded to a stop. Luna was blocking her path. Luna produced a cape, and held it out to her. Uneasily, Lina reached out and took it. Instinctively, she looked at it, and threw it over her shoulders- it fit perfectly. Luna's next words were the last the Lina had heard from her face-to-face.
"Go out and see the world, Lina-chan. Harness your power, and only come back when you've achieved what you always wanted. Just remember- the world is your oyster, and you are the pearl inside it, always growing, and protected by a force much larger than your own."
