Lina sighed contentedly, lost in her dreamless slumber.  She rolled over and curled up under her blanket, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.  It had been so long since she had had a good day's sleep that she had almost forgotten what it felt like.  But now, reality began to seep in and…

"Oh, god.  What an awful night."  Lina moaned and covered her eyes.  The sunlight was intolerably bright and her head was pounding.  She gingerly touched the knot on the back of her head and hissed in pain.  It was pretty bad.  Well, a couple more hours of sleep would probably make her feel a lot better.  After all, she thought, she had earned a break.  She rolled over and hugged the large pillow she had been resting her head on.

Lina's eyes flew open.  A pillow?  When had she ever been able to afford an inn that had pillows?  She quickly sat up, and even more quickly regretted doing so.  Holding her throbbing head, she stared around the room.  She muttered, "Where the hell?"

This was obviously not a room at an inn.  Clothes were neatly stacked in the corner next to a small table that had several personal effects scattered across it.  Leaning against a wall next to the door was a sword.  And hanging from a peg on the wall were her clothes.  Her clothes?!

Lina looked down at herself in growing horror.  She was dressed in a nightshirt covered with pictures of jellyfish.  Some guy's nightshirt.  Her mind was reeling with the implications.  She had had too much to drink last night and that blond guard had taken her home and…  She whispered, "He… he took advantage of me!"  Her face reddened with shame.  "How could I let this happen?"  Her mind quickly shifted gears.  "He's a dead man."

Just then, Gourry walked in carrying a tray with some food on it.  He smiled.  "Hi!  Finally awake, huh?  Are you hungry?  I brought you some food and…"  Icy silence was his only answer.  His smile faded as he saw the murderous expression on Lina's face.  "Is this a bad time?"  He cautiously backed towards the door.

"You…"

"Uh, me?"  Gourry chuckled nervously.

With a snarl, Lina launched herself at Gourry, scattering the breakfast he had made for her and knocking him to the floor.  She sat astride his chest as she proceeded to strangle him.  "Give it back!"

Gourry struggled to dislodge Lina's fingers from his windpipe.  "Ack!  Give what back?"

"My innocence!"  Lina began to slam Gourry's head against the floor.  "You ass!"

"Ow, no it's… Ow!  Not like… Ow!  That, Lina."

"Oh?  Then how is it, Gourry?  You'd better make this good."  She squeezed his throat even harder for emphasis.

Gourry hissed, "Air!"  Seeing that Lina wasn't going to loosen her grip, he instead decided on a crude form of sign language.  He pointed at Lina, made a drinking motion, and then pretended to be unconscious.

Lina growled at him.  "I know that Gourry!  Then you brought me here and… and…"

Gourry shook his head vigorously.  His face was starting to turn blue.  He managed to work her vice like fingers free of his throat.  Seeing his chance, he inhaled and quickly spat out his explanation.  "I changed your clothes."

Lina gave up on trying to strangle Gourry.  He really was pretty strong she grudgingly admitted.  "Okay, why did you change my clothes?"

"You were sick last night and I thought that you probably didn't want to sleep in them."

Lina sighed in relief.  That sounded plausible.  Maybe he wasn't a pervert after all.  Suddenly, another thought came to her.  Her scars.  She looked down at her arms.  He had dressed her in a short sleeve shirt and the marks on her arms were horribly visible.  She crossed her arms trying to conceal as much of her skin as possible.  "Did you see..?"

Gourry quickly shook his head.  "It was dark and I had my eyes closed anyway."

Lina nodded.  "Okay, I believe you."  She stood and walked over to where her outfit was hanging.  She looked it over with a doubtful expression on her face.  "My clothes are burgundy?  I thought they were black.  Wait a second…"  She sniffed them detecting the unmistakable scent of soap.  She giggled.  "They're clean!  Oh wow!"  She looked at some of the shoddy patchwork she had done.  It had been ripped out and redone so well that it was impossible to tell where it had been torn in the first place.  She grinned at Gourry.  "You did all this?"

Gourry was massaging his bruised throat.  "Me?  Nah, I'm no good at that kind of stuff."  He began to pick up the food that he had dropped when Lina tackled him.  "I asked Sylphiel to do it for me."

Lina's grin slipped a little.  "Sylphiel?"  She looked out the window at the setting sun and coughed.  "Well, tell her I said thanks."  She hesitated a moment before continuing.  "So, I guess she's your girlfriend, or something?"  She felt a little sad all of a sudden.

Gourry thought for a moment.  Sylphiel was definitely a girl and she was his friend, so… "Yeah, I guess you could say that.  She's a priestess at the church down the street.  I've known her for years.  You know, I'd probably be dead from starvation if I hadn't met her!"  He laughed for a moment and gave Lina a puzzled look when she didn't laugh with him.  "Are you alright, Lina?"

Lina forced a smile.  "I'm fine."  She took her clothes down and gestured to the door.  "Can a girl get some privacy?"

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Zelgadis sat in the darkness and pondered.  A rogue Slayer.  Such a thing was unheard of.  And hunting in his city?  And these other incidents at the same time.  A coincidence perhaps?  He shook his head.   Coincidence was a fool's excuse, and Zelgadis Greywords was hardly a fool.  Still, he might be able to turn this to his advantage…  He glanced up and his cultured voice echoed through the chamber.  "Dilgear?  A word if you please."  He beckoned to a large loutish looking man.

Dilgear was a huge and hideous human with crimson tattoos covering every exposed inch of flesh.  "Huh?" was the oafish brute's brilliant response.  He picked a small bug out from behind his ear and popped it into his mouth.

Zelgadis sighed and shook his head.  He muttered to himself, "Father, grant me patience."  He looked at Dilgear with no small amount of disgust on his face.  "Come over here for a moment."

Dilgear nodded as he chewed on his snack.  "Uh, right.  What's up Zel?"

"You see this?"  Zelgadis produced a piece of paper from a fold in his cloak and handed it to Dilgear.

Dilgear slowly read the neat script on the parchment.  "An address?"  He looked at Zelgadis questioningly.

"Go there.  You'll see a redheaded woman and a blond man.  I want you to follow them.  Find out where they're going and what they're doing."  Zelgadis looked at Dilgear skeptically.  "Do you think you can handle that?"

Dilgear nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Dilgear?"

Dilgear turned and looked at Zelgadis.  "Yeah?"

"Be discreet."

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"Jeez, how long is that guy going to follow me?"  Lina glanced over her shoulder causing Dilgear to leap behind a tree that was far too small to conceal his massive frame..  "And besides that…"  She glanced at Gourry.  "Why are you still following me?"

Gourry shrugged.  "I'm not.  I'm a member of the city guard and I'm on patrol right now."

Lina looked at him skeptically.  "Oh, really?  Well, correct me if I'm wrong Gourry, but aren't you supposed to be patrolling an area of the city designated by your commanding officer?"

Gourry blinked in surprise.  "You think so?  Hmm, maybe that's why Zangulus isn't here."

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A few blocks away, Zangulus was cautiously backing away from a group of heavily armed and highly irate thugs.  "Come on guys!  Can't we talk about this?"  He muttered, "Damn you Gourry!"

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Lina threw up her arms in frustration.  "Never mind, Gourry!  If you're going to follow me, you might as well make yourself useful.  She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a dark alley.  "Now when that guy comes around the corner, you grab him, alright?"

"But, that would be an unprovoked assault, banned by guideline 10.61.4 in the Sairaag City Guard handbook."

Lina looked impressed.  "Wow, Gourry.  You remember all that?" 

Gourry grinned sheepishly.  "Well, no.  I kind of made that up."  He held his hands up defensively as Lina rolled up her sleeves.  "But that guy's pretty big Lina.  You think we can take him?"

Lina smiled at Gourry sweetly.  "Gourry, did I say we were going to fight him?"

Gourry scratched his head.  "Well, no I guess not…" 

"I just want to ask him why he's following us.  There's nothing wrong with that is there?  After all, you want to know why he's following us, don't you Gourry?"

"Well…"

Lina had a dangerous glint in her eye.  "Don't you, Gourry?!"

A moment later Dilgear came around the corner.  He looked around, a confused expression on his face.  "Where'd they go?"  Sniffing the air, he looked up in surprise.  "What?"

Lina and Gourry were perched rather precariously on a second story window ledge.

Lina grinned confidently.  "Idiot.  You walked right into my trap.  Go get him, Gourry!"  She shoved Gourry, launching him away from the ledge and down towards the shocked Dilgear.

Gourry screamed rather unheroically as he fell ten feet onto the much larger man's back.  Shaking off the jolt of the impact he looked under himself to see the unmoving form of Dilgear.  He shouted up to Lina.  "Hey!  Warn me before you do that!"

"Lovely."  Lina nimbly leapt from the ledge and landed gracefully and silently in the alley.  "Now to get some answers."  She began to lightly slap Dilgear's face.  "Hey ugly, wake up!  Oh no…"  Her eyes focused on some strange markings on the man's arm.

"What is it Lina?"  Gourry climbed off Dilgear and looked at the marks.  The light wasn't very good in the early evening, but they looked like strange letters written in crimson ink.  He shrugged.  "They look like normal tattoos to me."

Lina looked visibly shaken, all her bravado drained.  She spoke softly.  "It's blood magic Gourry.  See?"  She pointed at one of the marks.

"Blood magic?"

Lina nodded.  "Servants of darkness use blood magic to more closely tie themselves to the dark lord.  For them to function properly, the user has to inscribe patterns on his body with the blood of the innocent."  She trembled slightly.  "Usually children.  Each mark requires a that a new life be taken."  She wiped away a tear as she looked at the dozens of marks crisscrossing Dilgear's body.  "So much death…"  Glaring at him, she stood and drew her sword.

Gourry looked at Lina nervously.  "Lina, what are you doing?"

"My work."  Lina raised the sword over her head and was about to drive the point into Dilgear's skull when Gourry grabbed her sword arm.  She snarled, "Let me go!  He has to die!"

Gourry quickly subdued the struggling woman.  "You'll never find out why he was following you if you kill him!  Wait a second!"

Lina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  "You're right.  Let me go Gourry."  She quickly sheathed her sword and examined the marks.  She traced one of the runes on Dilgear's arm with a finger.  "This one's an appeal for control.  This one too.  Control over what?"  Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she tried to unravel the mystery hidden in Dilgear's skin.  She muttered, "Control, control, power, control, violence."  She stopped as she reached a particularly large mark on the man's back.  She whispered, "The moon.  That could only mean…"  She whirled to face Gourry, an expression of panic written on her face.  "Gourry, get back!  He's…"

Dilgear grabbed Lina's cloak and flung her into a nearby wall.  She struck face first and fell to the ground, unmoving.  Turning to Gourry, his muscles began to ripple and twist, while gray hair began to grow over his entire body.  Snarling, he took a step towards the swordsman.  "You're the guy that jumped on me, right?"  He flexed his clawed fingers.   "I'm gonna rip your guts out." 

Gourry smirked and drew cold steel.  Werewolf blood flew.

For an instant, Dilgear looked puzzled. Then his throat fell open.  He collapsed to his knees, trying in vain to hold his injured neck closed.  He made a gurgling noise as blood ran between his fingers.  A moment later, he fell onto his face and shuddered once before lying still.

Gourry waited a moment to see if his foe would rise again.  He still remembered what had happened the previous night with the headless guy.  Seeing that Dilgear was staying down, he cautiously sheathed his sword and moved over to where Lina was lying.  He whispered, "Lina?"

Lina groaned in response.  "This really sucks.  I think I broke my nose."  She sat up and looked at the motionless Dilgear.  "Good job, Gourry."

Gourry grinned and helped Lina to her feet.  "Thank you."

Lina looked at Dilgear grimly.  "Now, I suggest we run for our lives."  She got a pained expression on her face as Dilgear stirred.  "Too late."

Dilgear climbed to his hands and knees and glared at Gourry and Lina.  He snarled at Gourry.  "I'm gonna rip your head off and shove it down her throat little man." 

Lina made a disgusted face.  "Ouch.  That sounds painful.  I must admit, you're pretty creative with your threats.  However…"  She grinned as she drew her sword.  "…I think you're all bark and no bite, dog boy."

Gourry nervously whispered to Lina, "What are you doing?  Are you trying to get him mad?"

Lina nodded and muttered, "That's the idea Gourry."  She could see the heavily trafficked street a few feet behind the hulking werewolf.  "If he's after us, he's not eating innocents."  She called out to Dilgear, "You're not a natural werewolf are you?  I could tell by your marks.  And given the skill with which they were crafted, I'm sure you didn't make them.  You're some dark priest's brainless lackey, huh?  Pathetic."

Watching the confrontation from a nearby rooftop, Zelgadis smiled.  This Slayer certainly knew her stuff.  He thought for a moment.  She looked vaguely familiar.  Where had he seen her?

Dilgear crouched down and snarled.  His ears were laid against his skull and his fur was bristling.  Another moment and he would pounce. 

Lina nodded.  Now she had his attention.  She looked at Gourry.  "Run."

Gourry shook his head and drew his sword.  "I'm not leaving you."

"You'll just get in my way!  I know what I'm doing."  Lina pointed her sword at the werewolf's heart.  When he leapt, he would be dead before he touched the ground again.

There was a moment of stillness, then the combatants moved as one.  Dilgear leapt towards Lina.  At the same time, Lina stepped forward with her sword raised.

Gourry watched this with a concerned expression on his face.  A little girl fighting a monster like this alone?  It didn't seem right.  Making his decision, Gourry leapt into action.

Lina felt Gourry's arm around her chest and she was yanked off her feet.  "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"What does it look like?  I'm getting us out of here!"  Gourry effortlessly slung Lina over his shoulder as he charged down the alley away from Dilgear.  He ran towards a set of stairs leading to the rooftop of a nearby building.

Lina pounded on Gourry's back as he carried her.  "Damn it!  Put me down Gourry!  I can take care of myself!"  Fangs snapped mere inches away from her face.  She looked up to see the furious Dilgear a few feet behind them.  "Gourry, run faster."

Gourry ran up the rickety steps with Dilgear right on his heels.  Reaching the rooftop he tossed Lina aside roughly and turned to face their pursuer.  He reached for his sword, but the werewolf was already upon him.

Dilgear snarled, "Not this time!"  He plowed into Gourry, throwing him roughly to the ground.  He raised clawed hand, planning to tear the stunned swordsman's throat out.  A small hurt on his arm drew his attention away from the swordsman.  Looking down, he saw a trickle of blood running down his bicep and laughed.  "Oh look!  The gnat has a sting."  He loomed menacingly over Lina.

Lina held her sword in one hand and a pouch in the other.  "You are really starting to piss me off."  She pointed to her injured nose.  "Look what you did to my face!"  She flung the pouch into Dilgear's face where it exploded in a cloud of silver.

"What?!"  Dilgear covered his face and staggered back a few steps.  He cautiously opened his eyes and looked at Lina.  "Well, what was that?"

Lina muttered, "Back to the drawing board, I guess."  Apparently, the werewolf hadn't inhaled, making the powder somewhat useless.  She glanced down at the pile of silver dust.  That had been expensive.  Now she had to do things the hard way.

Zelgadis nodded, apparently impressed with Lina's ingenuity.  "Silver dust.  How very clever."  He crouched down on the rooftop across the alley, curious to see what the Slayer would try next.

Lina and Dilgear engaged in a deadly dance, each trying to find an opening without leaving themselves exposed. 

In a rare moment of mental clarity, Dilgear had determined that Lina might actually be a threat and shouldn't be trifled with.  Her silver blade struck several times, wounding his pride more than anything else.  Whenever he retaliated, he found the redhead to be just out of reach of his talons.  She was incredibly quick and irritating and he was swiftly losing his patience.

Trying to keep her breathing even, Lina desperately hoped that the werewolf would do something stupid soon.  She was getting tired.  She spared Gourry a quick glance.  Out cold.  He wouldn't be any help.  Not that she needed it.  She feinted to the left, trying to throw Dilgear off guard.  It worked and a moment later, her sword was buried to the hilt in his stomach.  She smirked.  "Gotcha."

Dilgear grunted and grabbed Lina's head.  He shook her violently, causing her to lose her grip on the sword.  He flung her away and pulled her sword from his abdomen, howling in pain as he did so.  He tossed it off the edge of the roof, savoring the panicked expression on her face.  "No more toys, little girl."

Lina grinned as she stood and dusted herself off.  "I don't need it anyway."  She concealed a handful of silver dust behind her back.  She eyed the wound in his stomach with no small amount of satisfaction.  "You're bleeding to death.  Nothing can save you now, dog boy."

Trying to stem the steady flow of blood from his abdomen, Dilgear snarled and advanced on Lina.  "You'll see hell before I do girlie."  He roared and took a clumsy swipe at her, which she deftly avoided.

A moment later, Lina had her hand halfway down Dilgear's throat.  "Eat it!"  She quickly pulled back before he could snap his jaws shut on her arm.

Dilgear grabbed his neck, the stomach injury totally forgotten.  "Ack!"  It felt as if the inside of his throat was burning up.  "Ack!"  He fell to his knees, his eyes bulging in terror as he struggled to breathe.

Lina sat down in front of him with a sigh.  "Well, aren't you verbose?" she asked with a wry grin.  "Who sent you wolfy?  Give me a name and I'll finish you quick."

Dilgear tried to speak, but only managed to vomit up a large amount of blood mingled with silver.  "Ack!"

Gourry sat up, rubbing his head and wincing.  He watched the exchange between Lina and Dilgear with an expression of revulsion on his face.

Lina nodded solemnly.  "Well, unless your employer's name is Ack, I really don't think we're getting anywhere, so…" she scooped another handful of silver off the roof and continued, "…maybe we'll do your eyes this time.  How does that sound?"

Dilgear's breath was coming in short ragged gasps.  "…elga…"  He quickly shook his head as Lina raised her hand.  He sounded as if he were pleading as he struggled to speak.  "…elga!  …elga!"

Gourry grabbed Lina's wrist, forcing her to drop the dust.  "Stop it Lina!"

Lina glared at Gourry.  "What are you doing?!"

Gourry shook his head.  "He's beaten.  There's no need to torture him like this!  Nobody should suffer needlessly."

Lina snatched her hand away from Gourry.  "He's a monster Gourry.  His power is derived from the blood of the innocent.  He doesn't deserve any mercy!"

"I concur" a soft voice spoke from the edge of the roof.  Lina and Gourry turned just in time to see the man in white flick his wrist. 

An instant later, a silver dagger was buried between Dilgear's eyes.  He almost looked grateful as he fell onto his face.  He twitched before shifting back to his human form.

Lina looked at Dilgear's body then at the man.  "I wasn't done with him!  Who the hell are you anyway?"

Zelgadis ignored Lina's question as he strode across the roof towards them.  Brushing past Lina he leaned down and yanked his silver dagger from Dilgear's skull.  He wiped it on the werewolf's tattered shirt before concealing it in his cloak.

Lina grabbed the front of the man's cloak and pulled him down to eye level.  She snarled, "I asked you a question."  She looked him over suspiciously.

Zelgadis was a handsome man with pale features who looked to be about twenty.  Unruly black hair spilled out from under the hood he was wearing, concealing one of his eyes.  The other one was fixed on Lina angrily.  He hissed, "Zelgadis Greywords."  He grabbed Lina's wrist and squeezed it, forcing her to release her grip on his cloak.  "Never touch me again wench."

"Ow!"  Lina tried to dislodge Zelgadis's fingers from her wrist, but the man apparently had far more strength than his slim form revealed.  The two of them glared at each other, locked in a test of wills that neither one wanted to lose.

Seeing that Lina wasn't going to surrender and Zelgadis was probably going to break her arm, Gourry intervened by putting the point of his sword to Zelgadis's neck.  "Let her go." 

Lina glared at Gourry as she continued her futile struggle.  "I don't need your help!"

Gourry ignored her.  "Right now, Zelgadis."  He pressed his blade into the pale flesh of Zelgadis's neck.

Zelgadis briefly considered snapping the impudent girl's arm off, but released her instead.  He sighed and pushed Gourry's sword away from his throat.  "No need for that."  He begrudgingly extended his hand to Lina.  "Please accept my apology.  I'm a Slayer, like you.  I'd like to make you an offer."

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Tony was a cheerful boy despite troubles at home.  No normal parent would allow a child of eight to wander the streets alone, especially in Sairaag.  Tony's "parents" weren't normal though.  Spending most of their lives highly inebriated, they were barely aware that they even had a son.

That was why Tony was wandering around the rough part of town well after dark.  He didn't mind though.  He knew enough to stay away from strange adults.  Truth be told, he was actually proud of how well he could take care of himself.  Right now he was thinking about getting down to the tavern and sponging some free food off of Mr. Walters.

Tony stopped and cocked his head, listening for some noise.  There it was again.  Quiet footsteps in the alley ahead of him.  He peered into the gloom and cautiously called out, "Hello?"  He took a step back as a silhouette stepped away from the shadows into the street.

It was a little boy who looked to be about the same age as Tony.  He grinned mischievously.  "Oh, hello."

Tony smiled back.  If it had been an adult he would have already run away.  There were some weird people in Sairaag after all.  But, there couldn't be anything wrong with a kid, right?  "I'm Tony.  What's your name?"

The boy brushed his shoulder length dark hair out of his face.  "Phibrizzo.  Hey, do you want to see something cool?"  He pointed to the window of a dark warehouse.  "We can get in there if you help me reach.  The latch has been broken for a while now."

Tony nodded excitedly.  "Okay!"  The opportunity to explore an old warehouse couldn't be passed up, especially by a young boy prone to mischief.  Maybe there was still some stuff in there.  He darted down the alley to the broken window.  "Okay, let's go!"

Phibrizzo smiled wickedly.  "Alright."

Tony was too busy imagining what treasures lay within the old building to notice Phibrizzo pull something out of his pocket.  He didn't even have an opportunity to scream when the boy clapped a hand over his mouth and cut his throat with a rusty blade. 

Phibrizzo held onto him, giggling as he listened to the gurgling noises Tony made as he died.  He whispered, "Wasn't that fun?"  He released Tony and looked around to see if he had been observed.  Seeing that he was alone, he dragged Tony's body into the darkness while humming a jaunty little tune…

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Next Chapter:  Zelgadis claims to be a friend, but after that introduction does Lina dare to trust him?  And is there a method to Phibrizzo's madness?

Notes:  I guess I should get this out of the way.  There's going to be some humor in this fic, but there are going to be some pretty graphic scenes as well.  It's listed as Horror for a reason.  So, if that's not your thing, don't say I didn't warn you.  Admittedly, I warned you after the fact, but a warning is a warning, right?  I'm also toying with the idea of upping the rating to R.  Tell me what you think.  There might be some implied sex down the road and more gore as well.

Let's get on to the reviews.

Zaber, my story made your favorite list?  I'm flattered.  I hope you decide to stick around for the rest of it.

*watches Boo hop around*  I knew I shouldn't have given you those marshmallows…  Thanks for reviewing.

Until next time!