Meanwhile, the black energy sped towards it's target. Strangely, it slowed as it flew, and even more strangely, it took on the shape and sillouhete form of a woman, a lovely woman with long flowing hair. Then, as the amazed onlookers stared, the form landed in the Silver Lord's arms, and as it touched him it snapped into full colour, and was revealed as a stunningly beautiful woman with long blonde hair. She did a perfect landing into the arms outstretched to greet her, and as the Silver Lord hugged her to himself, she gave him a sweet kiss.
The others were shocked speechless by all of this, except Lina, who stared at the woman, a strange look on her face.
"Hail, Oh Golden Lady!" said the Silver Lord with a tone of holy awe. "Well Met, Oh Silver Lord!" she replied, pure worship in her voice. Then, still in his arms, she looked to Lina, a gentle smile on her face and asked "Thus in love I greet my husband, Lina Inverse. Are you pleased by this?"
Lina stammered "I, I-I know you..."
"You WERE me." came the bemused reply.
"Yes..." Lina whispered. Then "I, I think I remember now... we passed as you entered my body, and I, I was floating in pure bliss..."
"You were absorbed back into the chaos from which all things have come." the Golden Lord replied, still cradled in the Silver Lord's arms. "Absorbed, but not forgotten, or else you could never have been sent back when Gourry showed himself worthy of rescuing you. Alas that it turned out as it did, but, even then I knew. I wept for the love you two had, Lina"
Zel spoke up, obviously nervous "Pardon me, my Lady, how came you to weep? I thought you had told Hellmaster your mind was your power, and in the purity of your mind you were strongest? Surely weeping is of the heart?"
The Lord of Nightmares smiled a very non scary smile at Zel. "I said I was strongest when my mind was pure, yes, and I meant that when I operated only in thought I was at my most powerful, in my own right. That phrase had a different meaning for Hellmaster, by the way, but it was for him to work with, so I will not explain it to you now. But, I never said I couldn't or didn't feel emotion. I do. You saw the symbol of the Way that was on the floor a few minutes ago. I am the dark shape, and my Lord is the white. Yet buried in me is the power of the white, the masculine, just as buried in him is the power of the dark, the feminine. And as our children, so it is with each of you."
"My mind is my power, My Lord's heart is his, but we work together, being the masculine and the feminine principles of the unity of true god. We are one and the same, even while we are different. Is this hard to understand? It is because you have much to learn yet, but peace be with you, you will understand one day, and rejoice." With that, she swung down off the Silver Lord's arms and stood upon the ground.
Lina, still a bit shocked, babbled "oh, your feet are bare..."
The Golden Lady laughed. She walked over and kissed Lina gently, motherly, on the forehead. "And with what would you have me shod, my daughter?" she asked softly.
Lina suddenly felt her fear drop away. "Nothing, Lady Mother." she replied. "I was just surprised, though I don't know why it should be so that I am." Suddenly, she gave the great Lady before her a spontaneous hug. It felt so right somehow...
The dread Lord of Nightmares certainly presented a mixed up picture. The great and terrible, dread Lord of Nightmares herself, the living power of the giga-slave itself, the most potentially destructive force ever, was hugging little Lina Inverse and gently stroking her. "Lina," she said quietly, though all could here. "I love you, for you are my child. I love all of you. I am, in the ultimate sense, your mother, and behind me is your ultimate father. We wouldn't ask you to do anything that was bad, nor would we appoint you a diffucult task that we wouldn't be ready to help you do successfully. Have we regained your trust?"
Lina looked up, an open, honest, childlike trust on her face. Zel gulped, Lina had always been pretty, but that look made her look, well, beautiful! Xellos smiled, and Filia found herself relaxing into the moment. Lina looked up and simply said "Yes."
"Is there anything we need to know about hell before we go?" asked Zelgadiss in a quiet voice. "How will we know the path, for example?"
The Golden Lord smiled over at Xellos.
"I shouldn't worry about that too much if I were you Zelly boy." he replied with a chuckle. "Some of us are all too familiar with that place. Still, it will be nice to never have to go there ever again once this mission is finished. It's the sort of place only a Mazoku could love, I'm afraid."
Zelgadiss cocked a perturbed eye at Xellos over the phrase "Zelly boy" then chuckled. "I can only agree with you there, fruit cake..." he replied.
"Well, aleast it isn't "garbage" eh Filia?" Xellos replied, chuckling too.
Filia sighed "Leave me alone..."
"Well, are we all ready then?" asked the Silver Lord. The affirmitive was given. "Good, well then everyone, in that case... Go to Hell!" he laughed.
There was laughter, and bravery for the task awoke in the four hearts. The Silver Lord beconned them to follow him, and the group set off, the two gods leading. As they moved a faint hymn seemed to come out of the ground and slowly grow in volume. Soon it was evident that they were surrounded by the singers on all sides as well as above and below. Soon the beings were becoming visible, beautiful men and women, angelic in their loveliness.
The hymn swelled in both volume and grandure, until it caught up all who listened to it. Lina wasn't sure when but eventualy she realised she wasn't walking any more, she was floating, and dancing, now with Zelgadiss, now with Xellos, now even with Filia. Ahead of them the Golden Lady and the Silver Lord were also dancing, and the angelic beings too. Yet is seemed right, even more natural than walking.
Somehow, she ended up dancing with the Silver Lord himself. "A faint rememberance of life on the other side, Lina. The beings you are thinking are angels are infact human souls awaiting a re birth. You see, after each death you do spend some time in heaven readying yourself for the next life. Only those trapped in hell haven't the chance to renew themselves. But you are going to change all that!"
"And this dance you marvel at is but a human representation of the cosmic dance in which everything interacts with everything else. In this dance, a grain of sand can partner with a star. I wanted you to know this, so you could remember what is here, and sooth your fear. Death is but coming home for a visit..."
Lina smiled, and opened her mouth to thank the Silver Lord. Suddenly she realised she had started to sing the hymn that was all around. Funny, she hadn't known the words before now, yet suddenly, she knew everything about the music, it was more natural than talking. She sang with unbounded joy for what seemed like an eternity and like no time at all.
Then they were at the gate, and reality, as they knew it, was before them once more. There were last hugs, and Lina looked as hard as she dared into the faces of the gods. Somehow she knew she wouldn't see them again in this life. Finally, they were through the gate. The Lord and Lady smiled a final blessing upon the travelers, and the door swung shut...
