The group had been traveling for days on end, the forests eventually bleeding into the hills and back to woodlands again. It had been quite lovely at first; even Zelgadis seemed a little less surly than usual at the change in scenery, but seeing no sign of people for so long had taken its toll on everyone's spirits. Well, everyone except for Jillas and Amelia.
Jillas seemed incredibly pleased to be back in the wild and would disappear for hours on end. Always, he returned just when his companions were beginning to wonder (and sometimes hope) that he was gone for good. Thankfully, at the moment, he was on one of his excursions.
Amelia on the other hand, stayed with the group the entire time. Right with them. Infuriatingly close to them. Since she was usually cooped up in a wagon when she the circus had traveled from city to city, the glory of nature had been a pleasant surprise to her. And she took every opportunity to share that wonderment with the group. Such a zest for life and its miracles was quite endearing at first, but after a week and a half… well goddamn it, it was annoying!
"Miss Lina!" Amelia excitedly called from her perch in a tree atop the next hill. "Miss Lina, come look! Hurry!" She was eagerly pointing at something on the far side of the hill wobbling precariously on her branch.
Lina's shoulders slumped and she walked even slower than she had been before. "Coming Amelia," she halfheartedly called. "I swear, if it's another bird's nest or something like that, I'm going to crush her skull with a rock," she muttered to Gourry.
"Lina, that's kind of harsh, isn't it?" Gourry whispered. He briefly wondered if Lina had it in her to do something like that to poor Amelia. Taking a quick glance at her expression, he decided the answer was a resounding "yes". He hesitantly patted her on the shoulder and said, "Come on, it's not that bad…"
Amelia's voice drifted back to them again. "Mister Gourry! Come on! You have to see this too!"
"Not so bad', is it?" Lina muttered darkly.
Gourry scooped a fist-sized stone off the ground as they walked. "This one looks good. Do you want me to hold her down? Because she's kind of quick, you know?"
"Gourry," Lina said in a tone of mock sweetness, "that wouldn't be very sporting, would it? It's only fair to give her a running start."
Zelgadis just quietly snorted in amusement at their playful bantering. It had been the only sound to issue from beneath the hood besides snappish answers over the last few days. Glancing up at the hated sun high overhead, he scowled and pulled his hood farther down across his face. The cloak concealed the vast majority of his flesh, but he still fidgeted beneath it as if he were quite uncomfortable.
When Amelia called out again, Lina rolled her eyes and bellowed, "All right, damn it! We'll be there in a second!" as she broke into a jog. The faster she got up there, the quicker she could get this over with. "Okay," she growled as she crested the hill, "what's so important that… Ooh!" She clasped her hands together excitedly as she gazed down into the vale.
Sensing that Amelia may have actually found something noteworthy this time, Gourry and Zelgadis exchanged hopeful glances and hastened their pace until they were standing atop the hill beside the others.
Nestled in the middle of the tree-covered valley was an inviting looking village. Small, rustic, and best of all, it looked as if it were pretty isolated. Word of their crimes might not have reached this place and they could probably get some rest and a real bed for a change.
"Food," Amelia said eagerly. "I'll bet they have food." Visions of feasting on turkey or roast chicken sprang to mind. Anything would be better than the nuts and berries they'd been subsisting on for the last few days.
"I'd be willing to bet fifty gold pieces that they string us up as soon as they find out who we are," Zelgadis grumbled.
Lina sighed in exasperation and sarcastically muttered, "Well thank you, Captain Enthusiasm!" She roughly elbowed Zelgadis in the ribs, which did little to help his mood, but it made her feel better at least. "You're such a killjoy, you know that? Honestly, do you think anyone bothered to tell these people that there's a couple of fugitives around? It's in the middle of nowhere." Turning her attention back to the village, she scratched her head and said, "Speaking of that, where are the roads, anyway?" The woods seemed to stretch on forever in every direction with no other signs of civilization to be seen.
Gourry laughed and said, "Yeah, there weren't too many outsiders that I saw. The people around here pretty much keep to themselves."
"Thank you for that incredible insight into the lives of the locals, Gourry," Lina said with a confused nod. "And just how do you know that anyway?"
Grinning playfully, Gourry rapped Lina on the forehead with his knuckles. "Well, it only makes sense that I'd know that, Lina. I did grow up here, after all." His face lit up and he darted down the hill. "Maybe my parents still live here!"
Biting her lower lip thoughtfully, Lina struggled to imagine what sort of parents could have raised Gourry. After a moment of consideration, she concluded that one of them had to be an animal. How else did one explain Gourry's basic stupidity and keen instincts? "His dad's probably a jellyfish," she said with a nod before running down the hill after her protector.
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Thankfully, Lina had been right about the village. Not a single person had even heard of them, with the exception of Gourry of course. There'd been much ado about his return after such a long absence and an impromptu party was quickly arranged.
Gourry sat at the head of a long table in the village square, a sheepish grin plastered on his face. It'd been stuck there since they first arrived. He wasn't used to being the center of attention and truth be told, it was a little embarrassing. He just wanted to relax and visit with his family for a bit.
"What have you been doing for the last five years?" someone asked.
"Well, I traveled around a lot and then I went to Sairaag to be a guard. And then I-"
"Gourry, did you really make it into the Sairaag City Guard?" another man yelled.
"Yeah, I did, but-" Before Gourry could finish, he was cut off by another question. He laughed nervously and wondered why they didn't give him a chance to answer. They'd probably have a lot less questions if they did that.
"How was the big city, Gourry?" an elderly woman asked.
After a moment of thought, Gourry nodded and said, "It was pretty big." A chorus of oohs and ahs swept through the assembly at this bit of information.
Sitting under a tree a few feet away, Lina clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. These were Gourry's people all right. She watched him uncomfortably stumble over answers to the villagers' questions with a content smile upon her face. This was a nice place, full of good-hearted people. It was the antithesis of Sairaag. And they had good ale too, she thought as she refilled her stein from a nearby keg. A little dry but…
"Gourry, did you meet any nice girls while you were away?" a pretty young redhead shyly asked.
Lina glared at the girl over the edge of her mug, feeling a sense of intense jealousy. She was taller than Lina, bustier, and prettier too. Her eyes slid from the girl to Gourry and she unconsciously held her breath as she awaited his answer.
"Oh, sure I did! There was Sylphiel. She was pretty nice. And then there was that blonde… oh, and I can't forget the pair of brunettes can I? The twins and um… oh, and I met Lina too! She's right over…" Gourry started to point in Lina's direction and hesitated when he saw her glaring daggers at him.
"The twins?" Lina mouthed silently as she balled up her fist angrily.
Thinking better of his decision to point out Lina at the moment, Gourry quickly glanced around before saying, "Yeah, Lina. Right over there! Say hi, Lina!" He waved at Amelia, silently pleading with her to wave back.
Amelia glanced up from the opposite end of the table where she was polishing off her eighth turkey leg. Was Gourry talking to her? "Um, hi…" she said while tentatively waving to the swordsman. Before she knew what was going on, the villagers had swamped her throwing questions at her from all sides. "Oh dear… Yes, Gourry's very nice. No, I'm not his girlf- No!! We haven't done that!"
Gourry nodded at Amelia gratefully as he took the opportunity to slip away from the table, taking two glasses of ale as he did so. "Sorry about that," he said as he took a seat in the shade next to Lina. He offered her both glasses with a grimace.
"Two?" Lina asked coolly.
"Yeah, I saw the way you looked at me so I kinda figured that you'd probably want to throw one of them in my face," Gourry said with a shrug of resignation.
"You're a smart guy," Lina admitted as she took the glasses and as he'd suggested, dumped the contents of one of them over her protector's head. Try as she might, she was unable to maintain her stern expression at the sight of an alcohol soaked and honestly contrite looking Gourry. "You jellyfish," she said as a warm smile crept over her face.
Gourry took that as a sign that Lina wasn't going to hit him and grinned. "Feel better now?" When she nodded, he sighed in relief and leaned back against the tree. "Honestly, I don't understand what the deal is with women. Sylphiel wouldn't talk to me for a week after I told her about the twins."
"You're lucky she talked to you at all," Lina said with a sigh. "What's your problem, anyway? Do you think you're some kind of Casanova or something?"
"Lina, I don't even know what that word means," Gourry explained. "I got lost on my patrol route one day and the twins gave me directions. I don't know what the big deal is."
Lina chuckled and asked, "Is that what happened? Why'd you even mention them, then?"
Gourry nodded at the villagers and said, "They asked if I'd met any nice girls. The twins were nice girls. Do you know how long I'd been wandering around before I met them?"
"Oh, that makes sense," Lina said with a roll of her eyes. Sipping her ale, she glanced around and nodded in satisfaction. "This really is a nice place, Gourry. Why'd you ever leave?"
"My grandson wanted to see the world, didn't you Gourry?" A short elderly woman stepped out from behind the tree and smiled at Gourry. "And you can't see much of it living in the middle of a forest, can you?"
Lina shook her head and smiled. "No, I guess not, Missus Gabriev."
"Missus Gabriev," the old woman repeated with a warm smile. "My, my. Aren't you a polite young lady?" She put a hand on Lina's shoulder to support herself as she carefully lowered herself to the ground beside them. There was an audible pop as something in her back gave way and she fell the last few inches. Noting Lina and Gourry's concerned looks, she quickly shook her head and waved them off. "I'm fine, dears. Goodness, it's been a while since I've sat under a tree! Bad back, you know. I sometimes worry that if I sit down I may not be able to make it back up again."
"Did my parents get back yet?" Gourry asked with an eager smile on his face.
Gourry's grandmother shook her head. "Oh, not yet dear, but I expect that they'll be back by tomorrow. You know how much they love to travel." She turned to Lina and explained, "They run the local store and travel around a lot to pick up their stock. Nobody really delivers out here." She smiled at Gourry and said, "That's where Gourry picked up his desire to see the world and when that wandering swordsman came through five years ago, he was gone just like that. Oh, they'll be so excited to see you, dear! I swear you've sprung up like a weed. Only seventeen and already so tall."
Lina raised a questioning eyebrow at that last bit. Gourry was only seventeen? That'd make him younger than her. And here she'd thought he was at least twenty. How strange…
The old woman nodded at a group of girls that were pointing at Gourry and giggling and said, "Why don't you go talk to them? This party's all for you and here you are hiding from your friends."
"Well, it's not quite like that…" Gourry said with a pained expression on his face. He didn't want to be fawned over by a bunch of women that he didn't even remember. He wanted to talk to Lina. They rarely got to do so without being interrupted by some demon popping out of the wall or something else equally ridiculous and annoying.
"Well, if that's not how it is, then run along and be sociable." A pleasant, but stern look from the woman convinced Gourry that there was no winning the argument and, sparing Lina an apologetic glance, he reluctantly got up and made his way over to the ladies.
"He's… popular, isn't he, ma'am?" Lina quietly asked, pointedly looking away from Gourry as the girls practically drooled over him. He hadn't wanted to go. She'd seen that in his expression, but she still thought that he was better off than she was. For some inexplicable reason, she felt like she was putting on a performance for the benefit of the woman beside her. She found herself desperately wanting to be liked and sat up a little straighter and put on a painfully large smile.
As if reading Lina's mind, the elderly woman smiled and said, "I promise that I don't bite, dear." She reached out and patted Lina's knee in a friendly matter. "We don't really worry about formalities out here, so you don't have to be so polite. Just call me Aquamine. Or just Auntie Aqua. All the youngsters do."
Lina's smile became more genuine and she said, "Okay, Auntie." She found herself liking the old woman. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad…
"See now isn't that better? No foolish fumbling about for the right words." Aqua examined Lina's torn and patched outfit with the practiced eye of one who had mended clothes for a lifetime. Some of those tears were a little large to have resulted from normal wear. "That's an interesting outfit, dear. Do you mind if I ask what you do for a living?"
Oh. Well, this could be awkward. Lina tried to think of a way to describe what she did without sounding like a total nut. A terrified expression crept over her face and she said, "I kill people." What had she just said? She knew that she wasn't stupid enough to tell Gourry's grandmother that she killed people for a living… was she?
"Oh… well, that's interesting," Aqua said with a hesitant nod. Her expression explained to Lina that, yes, she had just claimed to kill people. Thankfully, the old woman didn't immediately start screaming for help.
Lina smacked her forehead in frustration and moaned, "I am that stupid!"
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"Boss? Boss? Where are ye, boss?" Jillas had been wandering through the woods for hours searching for Zelgadis and the others. "A fox los' in th' woods? Jillas, yer mum'd call ye a bloody fool if she could see ye now," he growled to himself. It wasn't really his fault though. He'd been wandering, yes, getting in touch with nature again, but he'd never been that far away from the group and even when he did, he invariably found them again by smell. He couldn't do it now though.
Sniffing the air for the hundredth time in the last hour, Jillas grimaced and muttered, "Bad air." There were many scents on the breeze, but none of them were those of his adopted masters. The smells that he did detect could hardly be considered pleasant either. The rank stench of decay was the most overpowering of them, but try as he might; he'd been unable to find a trace of blood or a carcass. It was impossible when death permeated every breath of air, seeming to have no beginning or end.
As disgusting as the smell was, it wasn't the worst thing in the area. There was something masked beneath the decay, something that made Jillas's incredibly uncomfortable. He got the sense that if malice had an odor, this would be it. "Bad things are comin'," he whispered. "Wicked things." He quickened his pace, meaning to find his master. He didn't have any idea of where he was going, he realized, but at least he would get there more quickly. Before things got too bad.
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Amelia glanced around the table looking for more food. Two whole turkeys and she was still incredibly hungry. Eyeing a pot of stew, she briefly wondered if eating that as well would make her look like a glutton. Almost certainly, she decided as she lunged across the table to grab the pot. A child's laughter diverted her from her meal.
"Wow, you're hungry, huh?" said a cheerful looking boy of twelve. He sat in the chair next to Amelia, his elbows on the table and his chin cupped in his hands. "What's your name, Miss?"
"Amelia," the acrobat replied, reluctantly sitting down without any food. A puzzled smile on her face, she looked the boy over. She hadn't seen him sit down. Was she really pigging out that much? "I didn't see you there. Did you want something to eat?"
"Nah, I'm not hungry. I was just passing by and I saw someone new, so I wanted to say hello. We don't get many strangers around here." Noting that Amelia was still giving him a questioning look, he grinned stupidly and said, "Sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Marco." A concerned look quickly replaced the smile and he asked, "You haven't seen Sarah around have you?"
"Sarah? I don't know… What does she look like?"
Marco scratched his head thoughtfully. "Um, she's taller than me, but only by one stupid inch." He admitted this begrudgingly as if it had been a bone of contention between them. "Oh, and she's got blond hair. I think that's about it. She lives in the next village and she was supposed to be here a little after noon. We were going to pick berries in the forest."
Amelia glanced up at the setting sun and frowned. "Oh my. She's really late then, isn't she?" When she didn't receive an answer she glanced back down at where Marco had been sitting. The seat was vacant and was pushed under the table as if there hadn't been anyone there to begin with. "Marco?" she called out curiously, looking around the village square. The boy was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure that your scarf collection is nice. I'm just kinda hungry now, but I'll be glad to look at them after I eat."
"He wouldn't…" Amelia muttered as she turned to see Gourry trying to spoon her stew into a bowl while trying to listen to several women talk at once. "Unhand my food, Gourry!" she shouted, leaping up on the table and pointing down at him accusingly.
"Aw, come on, Amelia! Haven't you had enough?" Gourry complained as he continued to claim the acrobat's food. "I'm hungry too, you know." Seeing that she wasn't feeling terribly sympathetic at the moment, he sighed sadly and said, "Okay, I guess you can-hey, isn't Zel calling you?" nodding at a point over her right shoulder.
Amelia glanced over her shoulder hopefully. Mister Zelgadis had been so aloof lately, spending long periods of time alone. She sometimes thought that he was intentionally avoiding her and when Gourry suggested that he was actually calling her, she was excited. So, it was especially disappointing to see that there was nobody behind her. "What are you talking about Mister Gourry? He's not-" She turned to see the swordsman beating a hasty retreat with her dinner in tow. Without thinking, she lunged forward, running along the table for a moment before launching herself onto his back. "Give it back!" she demanded. Of all the dirty tricks for him to play, she thought.
Apparently, Gourry's company misconstrued Amelia's actions as a sign of affection, and in an instant, half a dozen women were latched onto his arms and torso. Despite this fact, the swordsman never lost his composure. He'd been in worse situations than this. Not many, but he had seen them. His warrior's instincts told him to duck and he obeyed, dropping into the tangle of grasping hands. He felt Amelia's hands slip from around his neck as she was removed by the other women and grinned. "Sorry Amelia!" he called. "All's fair when it comes to food!" He then began to slurp the spoils of war straight from the pot.
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Zelgadis had slipped away as soon as the festivities started. He hadn't belonged there. He'd known that as soon as the feasting and drinking had begun. For some reason, he'd found the smiles and laughter to be quite unsettling, almost sickening, really. That combined with the afternoon sun had driven him from the village into solitude.
Coming upon a small stream, Zelgadis sighed and sat on the bank. Glancing around almost guiltily, he unfastened his cloak and let it drop to the ground. He groaned happily as he stretched his wings, savoring the popping noises as he worked the kinks out of them. Twelve hours a day was too long to keep them folded up like that. It was like trying to constantly flex a muscle.
Spreading the leathery monstrosities to their full span, almost ten feet, Zelgadis looked at his reflection in the water. He wanted to feel disgust at the sight of the things, but instead found himself unable to suppress a feeling of pride. He didn't know where they'd come from, but they were a part of him.
Jillas stood in the nearby shadows, trying to come to grips with what he'd just seen. Okay, the boss had wings. It was no big deal. He grew fur and ran around the forest like an animal. Same difference, right? But still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something dreadfully wrong about this. He whispered, "Boss?" not so much to alert Zelgadis to his presence, but more to reaffirm for himself that it was indeed Zelgadis who was standing before him.
The leaves had begun to fall from the trees, as it was early autumn. This combined with the breeze and the chirping of the birds created a cacophony of noise in the forest. Somehow, out of all those sounds Zelgadis's sensitive ears had managed to pick out Jillas's voice. "Who's there?!" he demanded, whirling to face the fox man.
"Eaven 'elp me..." Jillas whispered in fright. It was all he could do to resist bolting into the forest. Somehow, he knew if he did so, Zelgadis would be on him in an instant. The man who stood before him looked almost bestial, his eyes bloodshot with fangs and claws bared. As he turned, he'd instinctively spread his wings wide in an attempt to make himself look more imposing. It worked.
"You?" Zelgadis curiously whispered as he recognized the intruder. He sighed tiredly and turned back to sit by the stream. "What do you want, Jillas?" His wings drooped, almost as if they were disappointed by the fact that violence had been averted.
Creeping forward ever so carefully, Jillas watched for any sign of the thing that he'd seen in Zelgadis's eyes a moment before. Deciding that there was no danger for the moment, he sat down on the bank, making sure to stay well out of reach of his master. He cleared his throat and said, "I was lookin' f' ye, boss. Saw ye leave th' village, I did."
"Spying on me were you?" Zelgadis asked with a sigh. "I don't really blame you. I don't even trust myself anymore."
Jillas hesitantly smiled, not really knowing how to react to Zelgadis's statement.
"I came out here for the peace and quiet. I needed time to think and I couldn't do it around a bunch of singing and dancing idiots." Zelgadis turned to face his servant causing Jillas to jump nervously. "What about you? Why aren't you back with the others? For that matter, where have you been for the last couple hours?"
Jillas shuddered briefly and nervously glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the village. "I been snoopin'."
"Snooping?" Zelgadis muttered. "Why?"
"I don' like this place, boss. No' te' bit." The wind picked up briefly and swirled the dead leaves about, causing Jillas to look around anxiously. "Somethin's a littl'… off. Can't ye feel it?" Seeing that Zelgadis wasn't getting it, he shook his head impatiently and explained, "It's somethin' in th' air. Some strange smell on th' breeze." He looked down at the stream distrustfully and scooted back from it a bit. "An' in the wata'. Th' wata's bad. No' fit f' drinkin'."
Zelgadis watched Jillas spook himself with an annoyed expression on his face. "You know that you're making even less sense than usual, right?" He shook his head dismissively and resumed his brooding.
"Boss, we need t' leave. Somethin' terrible's about t' 'appen."
At that very moment, the breeze momentarily became a gale and mournfully howled through the trees. The branches creaked menacingly and almost seemed to reach out in an attempt to grab Jillas. A whirlwind of leaves swept out of the dark forest towards the pair sitting on the stream bank. Then it was over.
"Well, that was strange wasn't it?" Zelgadis muttered. He glanced around the clearing, noticing that Jillas was gone. "Jillas?" he called. He hadn't taken the fox seriously, but maybe there was something to his concerns…
"Right 'ere, boss," Zelgadis's left wing seemed to say. It shook like a leaf and for some inexplicable reason, it'd apparently grown a bushy orange tail.
Zelgadis rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, for the love of… get out of there!" He swatted Jillas on the back of the head causing the fox to scamper a few feet out of reach. "It's nonsense, Jillas!" he growled. "I'm not leaving until Amelia and the others are ready. If you want to go, that's fine. I won't try to stop you." Silently he pleaded with the fox to go. It'd be one less thing he had to worry about.
"I-I won' leave ye an' Miss Amelia," Jillas said in a shaky voice.
Muttering curses under his breath, Zelgadis shook his head. He'd been so close to freedom. "That's fine then. If you're going to stay, I don't want to hear any more of this foolishness. There's nothing wrong with this place. You're probably just tired from traveling, that's all." He waved Jillas away before the fox could protest. "Go bug Amelia or something. I've got some things to sort out."
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"But, you know what the worst part is?" Lina asked, her features scrunched up in an expression of disgust. "After you stake them, you still have to cut the head off. It's not that big a deal for Gourry. He makes it look easy. Just a quick tap with a sword and the head goes flying." She pointed to her decidedly puny bicep and said, "I don't really have the strength to do that, so I usually try to use a sawing motion." She demonstrated the proper sawing technique with her hand and added, "but sometimes the spine is a real pain to get through. And it always gets messy."
"Oh my, that does sound dreadful," Aqua said with a shake of her head.
"On top of that, you have to burn the body, just to make sure. And do you have any idea how hard it is to burn a corpse in public? Especially after you've taken its head off. People ask all these questions and occasionally they try to arrest you. It's such a pain." She shrugged and said, "But it's all in the name of crushing the forces of darkness, so I deal with it."
"You poor dear. You do so much for so many and get nothing in return."
Lina grimaced and rubbed the back of her head. "Jeez Auntie, when you put it like that, it sounds like I'm kind of getting a raw deal here. Do you think I should start charging for my services or something?" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and muttered, "I suppose I could get fifty gold pieces per vampire…"
Aqua laughed and shook her head. "I'm not suggesting that, dear. I'm just saying that it takes a remarkable individual to do what you do. I expect that it's a hard road without any friends and anywhere to call home."
"It's not that bad. Not anymore." Lina said quietly. She recalled long lonely nights spent stalking some unspeakable horror with a shudder. During that time, she'd always been one step ahead of death and sometimes found herself wishing for it. Fear kept her going. Fear and a desire for revenge on- "Hey, what was that for?" she asked when Aqua embraced her. She returned the hug and smiled, her dark thoughts dispelled as if by magic.
"You looked upset, dear, and I thought that you needed a hug. We all do sometimes," Aqua explained. "Please, do go on with your story."
"Yeah, I was lonely for awhile, but… things changed. I've got friends now. I never really had any friends before I met them." Lina nodded over at Amelia and Gourry who were currently locked in a life or death struggle for the last of a pot of stew. The swordsman was at a disadvantage, as he was still fending off a half dozen clingy young ladies.
"Good friends, I assume?" Aqua said with a knowing smile as she watched Lina gaze at Gourry.
"The best," Lina agreed. "I'd be dead now if it wasn't for them. I know that I would. Somehow, they help me keep going, no matter what." She smiled sadly as she thought of Xellos. "Some of them might still be alive if it wasn't for me."
Aqua climbed to her feet with a grimace. "Oh dear. Do you think you were responsible for your friend's death? You didn't kill him yourself, did you?"
Lina glanced up sharply, Martina's prophesy springing to mind. "What?! No. No, I didn't." Even as she said those words, she wondered if she had. Had she killed Xellos by going to him for help? Had the prophecy been fulfilled? Martina had told her that the death would happen "by her hand", but what did that mean exactly? Could it mean because of her actions? Maybe that was why Xellos had allowed himself to die, to save her from her sad destiny. Could that be it?
A hopeful smile on her face, Lina gazed at Gourry lovingly. As if sensing that she was watching, he glanced in her direction and waved. Her face a bright shade of red, she shyly raised her hand in return.
Aqua patted Lina on the shoulder and said, "You see? Things aren't as bad as you make them out to be. Your friend made his own choices and you aren't responsible for that. However, it does make you think, doesn't it?"
"What's that Auntie?" Lina whispered, never taking her eyes off Gourry. She was feeling so euphoric at the moment that she almost missed what Aqua had told her.
"There was something you wanted to tell your friend before he died, wasn't there? There always is. That's the truly sad thing about death. It's never an end. There's always something unfinished."
"Yeah, I guess so." Lina glanced up at Aqua and bit her lip thoughtfully. "I wish I had a chance to say, 'thank you'. He helped me so much."
Aqua nodded. "If you'd known that he was leaving I'm sure that you would have told him. But you didn't know. What you have to remember is that all you really have is today. Tomorrow is never a certainty, young lady." She yawned and tiredly said, "I think that it's just about time for a nap. I'm not really used to all this excitement. You will remember what I said, won't you?"
Lina nodded, somehow feeling as if she were in a dream. Everything was finally beginning to make sense. "All we have is today," she muttered to herself thoughtfully. She glanced up, meaning to thank Auntie for her advice, but the old woman was already gone.
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Jillas skulked silently through the woods, his ears twitching in anticipation of the slightest noise. Despite what the boss had said, he knew that there was something wrong with this place. "Why can't 'e see it?" he whispered to himself. He immediately cringed and glanced about as if his speaking might cause the trees to lash out against him.
Dusk had come and gone and the dark of night was reaching out to envelop the forest in shadow. In stark contrast to before, the woods were deathly silent. The breeze that had spooked Jillas before had died down. Far from making him feel comfortable, it drove home the fact that he was the only animal in the area. No birds sang, no squirrels ran through the trees. Aside from the village, the entire area was bereft of life.
The hairs on the back of Jillas's neck stood up and he had the horrible feeling that he was being watched. He glanced around wildly, expecting some shadowy beast to leap out of the trees and devour him. He briefly considered running. After all, the boss had said that he could leave, right? He actually turned and took a step towards the woods that actually felt right before stopping himself. "I won't abandon th' boss," he whispered determinedly. His head held high, he turned and began to walk towards the village. By the time he'd taken ten steps, he was cringing and had broken into a jog, and then finally a dead run. He barely resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder. He didn't want to know what might be behind him.
A ghostly figure clad in white watched Jillas run from a perch in one of the trees. A small smile crossed its features and it whispered, "Cowardly," in a voice as cool as ice. The wind blew again, stirring leaves about, but its ivory cloak never moved. It was as if the being was not a part of its surroundings. After a moment of silent contemplation, it moved, making nary a sound as it followed the fox man's path through the forest.
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The party had been a rowdy affair with much singing, dancing, and celebrating, but as parties tend to do, it died down as the evening wore on until at long last, Lina found herself alone under the tree, the last conscious person in the square. It was a beautiful night, without a single cloud blocking the view of the full moon.
Lina sighed contentedly as she gazed up at the moon. Normally, a full moon was cause for alarm as all sorts of dark creatures drew power from it. To let her guard down on a night like tonight was only asking for trouble. She yawned and stretched out into a more comfortable position. These weren't normal circumstances though. She felt happy now that she knew what she was going to do and no ill moon was going to spoil that.
The light of a fire briefly shined through an open door as Gourry finally stepped out of a nearby house. He shut the door behind him and leaned up against it tiredly, breathing a sigh of relief. The way everyone had treated him, you'd think he was the High Priest or something. Being a celebrity was exhausting. Deciding that he was going to go home and get some sleep, he turned to walk the short distance to his parents' house. Seeing as they weren't home, they wouldn't mind if he used their bed. It'd be a blessing after a week and a half of sleeping on rocks. He glanced at the tree that he and Lina had been sitting under before and was pleasantly surprised to see that she was still resting in the shadows. The effect on him was instant. He grinned and stood a little taller, the weariness and thoughts of sleep suddenly gone. "Hey," he said cheerfully as he took a seat beside the redhead.
Lina was glad for the shade of the tree. It hid the fact that her face was bright red at the moment. Trying to sound casual, she said, "Well there's a familiar face. I haven't seen you for hours. The girls finally let you go?"
"Jeez, that was a hassle," Gourry said with a roll of his eyes. "I didn't think they were ever going to leave me alone. Sorry I had to leave."
"It's okay. Your grandmother and I had a nice talk. Did your parents get back yet?" Lina immediately wished that she hadn't asked as she saw a pained expression cross Gourry's face. "So, I guess that's a no, huh?"
"It's like grandma said. They're probably spending the night in another village. I just wish they'd get back. I haven't seen them in ten years, you know?"
Something about what Gourry had just said struck Lina as odd, but she quickly dismissed it. There were more important things to think about at the moment. "Gourry, can we, um, can we talk for a minute?" She muttered, "Stupid," under her breath. She sounded like an idiot.
Gourry grinned. "I thought we were talking." Noting the way that the redhead was fidgeting, he scooted over next to her and put an arm around her. "Hey, are you alright?"
"I'm good," Lina whispered nervously, taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down a bit. She had everything she was going to say planned out and it'd disappeared as soon as Gourry put his arm around her.
A few moments of silence followed in which Gourry just enjoyed being close to Lina while she squirmed uncomfortably. Not at the idea of being held by Gourry, she'd be perfectly happy doing that all night, but because of what she was about to ask him.
"Gourry?" Lina whispered as she stared down at her hands. They were fidgeting in her lap and she had to trap them between her knees to keep them still. She forced herself to look up into his eyes and asked, "Do… Do you remember what happened in the tunnels, you know, when we were escaping from Sairaag?" She half hoped that he didn't. It would be a lot less nerve wracking.
"Sure," Gourry said with a nod. "I've been thinking about it a lot, actually."
"You have?!" Lina squeaked. She quickly shook her head and cleared her throat. "Oh, well, that's good. Because I was thinking about it too."
"Did you figure it out?" Gourry asked excitedly. "Because I can't figure out how that guy was still fighting without his arms. On top of that, he was almost cut in two. The only thing I was able to guess is that he must have been pretty tough."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess he was, huh?" Lina muttered sadly. He had forgotten, hadn't he? She felt her spirits sink. It must not have been that important to him then. How could she have been so stupid? "Well, it's late and I think I'd better get to bed." She slipped out from under Gourry's arm and arduously climbed to her feet, almost as if she were in pain. "G'night," she whispered. She made it maybe five steps before he called out to her.
"Lina, I do think you're beautiful." That's what she wanted to hear, Gourry thought. He knew it was either the thing with the monster or the 'beautiful' thing. It was just his luck to pick the wrong one first.
Lina stopped in her tracks and briefly struggled to remember how to breathe. Somewhere in the last two seconds, she'd forgotten everything. She felt her stomach turn a flip as her knees turned to jelly.
"Hey, are you sick or something?" Gourry quickly leapt to his feet and hurried over to the staggering girl. He put one arm around her waist and turned her face up towards his with the other hand. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked suspiciously when he saw the queasy expression on her countenance.
"Not enough," Lina replied with a shake of her head. If she'd been drunk, she wouldn't be tripping all over herself right now. She took a deep breath and, looking into Gourry's blue eyes with an almost frightened expression on her face, whispered, "Kiss me." She gasped in shock as soon as the words escaped her lips. Had she really said that?
Gourry leaned down to do as Lina asked when his handy sense of self-preservation kicked in. He couldn't have heard her right. Last time he'd tried to kiss her she'd shoved him across the room, hadn't she? Better make sure. Smiling sheepishly, he cautiously asked, "I'm sorry, what'd you say?"
Of all the annoying times for Gourry to get stupid on her, Lina thought angrily. Did the jellyfish think that this was easy for her or something? She rolled her eyes and yelled, "I said, 'Kiss me,' you big dummy!" It was a wonder that she didn't wake half the village with her shout. Her ire quickly melted away when she felt his gentle hands caress her face.
Gourry didn't have to be told twice… or not three times in any case. He lovingly cupped Lina's face in both hands, hesitating just a moment to gaze into her fiery eyes. And then, showing a remarkable amount of restraint he leaned down and ever so gently brushed his lips against hers. He was afraid that he would scare her away if he kissed her too passionately.
That apparently wasn't a problem as Lina reached up to cup the back of Gourry's head and roughly yanked him farther down. If this was going to be their only kiss, she wanted it to be a memorable one.
Encouraged by Lina's actions, Gourry wrapped his arms around the small woman's waist and lifted her off her feet, savoring the sensation of her body pressed against his, struggling desperately to explain to her with his kiss just how much he cared for her. His hands drifted up her back and he ran his fingers through her shimmering locks of red and silver, just as he'd dreamed of doing for so long.
They stayed that way, kissing in the pale moonlight for what might have been ten seconds, ten minutes, or maybe even a few hours. Whatever it was, it wasn't long enough for either of them.
In the end, doubt was what made Lina break the kiss. As she pulled away from him, Gourry followed, meaning to reclaim her lips with his own. She turned her face away from him, denying him another kiss and instead his lips found a place just beneath her ear. Deciding that it was good enough for the moment, he began to rain feathery kisses down upon the side of her neck.
Lina smiled as she struggled to detach herself from the amorous swordsman. "Gourry, cut it out," she protested between giggles. "That tickles!" Somehow she wormed her arms between their bodies, finally managing to claim some small space for herself. As she felt he feet touch the ground again, she took a shaky breath, feeling incredibly thankful that he still had his arms around her waist. She wasn't sure that she could stand under her own power. "That was nice," she said quietly.
In response, Gourry hugged Lina tightly, clinging to her as if she were life itself. It seemed to be the only way to properly convey to her the gamut of emotions he was feeling at the moment. Joy, relief, love, he expressed them all incredibly eloquently with his silence.
Lina returned the hug with interest. Wrapped in Gourry's arms, she asked, "Can… Can we sit down somewhere? There's something that I need to tell you."
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A few minutes later, they were sitting at the table in the kitchen of Gourry's childhood home. It was a simple room dominated by a small fireplace and a small table draped in a faded floral print tablecloth.
Lina leaned back in her chair, a slate gray cat curled up on her lap. "Who's a good kitty?" she cooed, scratching the animal behind the ears. A loud purr rewarded her efforts and she giggled. "Ooh, that's right, you're the good kitty." She glanced around the modest kitchen, unconsciously nodding in satisfaction. She liked it here. It was modest and somehow it reminded her of her own home.
Gourry watched Lina coddle the cat with an expression of absolute contentment upon his face. This was what he adored about her, he thought. Not the bravado, not the arrogance. It wasn't even about her looks really, although as he had told her, she was quite beautiful. No, he loved what he was seeing now: the sweet girl that was usually hidden behind the Slayer.
Glancing up into Gourry's eyes, Lina favored him with a smile, albeit a nervous one. She took a deep breath and set the cat down on the floor. Never taking her eyes off of the swordsman, she released the clasp on her cloak.
"Uh, Lina? What are you doing?" Gourry asked as he watched her cast the cape aside, followed quickly by her gloves.
"Quiet," Lina commanded. "You have to see this and if you don't shut up, I'll lose my nerve." She jerked her right sleeve up, almost tearing the material in her haste to get the unpleasantness over with. "There," she said, laying her exposed arm down on the tabletop. "See?"
Curiously, Gourry leaned forward to see what Lina was showing him. He gazed at the pale skin thoughtfully before coming to the obvious conclusion. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lina," he said with a rueful shake of his head. He patted her arm in sympathy.
Lina quickly nodded, biting her lower lip to keep herself from whimpering. Gourry understood then. He saw how horribly she'd been marked by her years of hunting evil.
"You're kinda bony, but it's not that big a deal," Gourry said with a nod. "I really don't mind." He cringed when he saw her staring at him, mouth agape. Apparently, he'd said something wrong again. "Um, if it bothers you, you could always eat more, you know."
"You jellyfish! Are you blind or just stupid?!" Lina demanded, pointing at the glaringly obvious deformities in her skin.
Gourry looked again and chuckled. "Those little things? You can hardly see those." He stood and lifted his shirt to reveal a bone white mass of scar tissue in the shape of a crescent moon just below his breastbone. "See? I got that breaking up a bar fight one night. The guy stabbed me with a broken bottle. That's a scar, Lina." He nodded to the pale marks on Lina's arm and added, "Those are hardly even nicks."
Lina winced sympathetically. "That had to hurt. Take a look at this though." She quickly stood and loosened her shirt. Smiling smugly, she pulled it up to reveal three cruel scratch marks that had been drawn across her stomach. "Werewolf up in Atlas City. I didn't see him coming and he almost gutted me."
"Hmm, that's pretty impressive," Gourry said with a nod of admiration, "but take a look at this." He showed Lina his right forearm. A long scar snaked from the base of his wrist to his elbow. "Training accident. I was supposed to be practicing a disarming technique and I wasn't paying attention. I couldn't use the arm for a month."
"You not paying attention to something? There's a surprise. I've got that beat though," Lina said as she undid the top three buttons of her blouse. She slipped it down to reveal an old burn that covered most of her left shoulder. In the middle of that was an indentation that looked to be almost an eighth of an inch deep. "The burn is from a ghost that I tangled with about three years ago. The stab," she said, poking the wound for emphasis, "was from the blood demon, Grou."
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Zelgadis's eyes flew open, and he quickly sat up in the dark. His sleep had been sporadic and unfulfilling of late as he was unable to sleep on his back anymore. That was only part of the problem though. Whenever he closed his eyes, violent images, horrible in their realism sprung to mind. Cruel laughter echoed on the edge of his consciousness, reminding him that he'd just experienced one such vision. Thankfully, the dark remnants of this last nightmare were fading fast. One thing stuck with him though. He'd heard a woman's voice saying a familiar phrase over and over. "The blood demon?" he whispered inquisitively, almost as if he expected the dark canopy of trees to answer.
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"On top of that," Lina said with a smirk. "This injury was reopened by Hellmaster a little while later. But I still continued the fight. No getting nicks and scratches from drunks for me, Gourry. I only get mauled by the best."
Gourry sat at the table, raptly listening to Lina's story. "Wow, those are some pretty impressive scars. You're great, you know that? I wish I could have seen Hellmaster. He sounds pretty intimidating."
"Yeah?" Lina growled. "Well you did, you chowder head! All that stuff happened a few months ago."
"Oh. Right!" Gourry said with an embarrassed grin. Noting that the redhead was smiling at him now, he said, "I'm glad you feel better. You looked like you were ready to cry a little earlier. What was wrong?"
"Well," Lina hesitantly said as she buttoned her blouse back up, "I thought I was ugly." Saying it aloud like that made her realize how foolish it sounded. She laughed and stared down at the tabletop, feeling more than a little silly, only glancing up when Gourry took her hands within his own.
"I don't think you're ugly," Gourry whispered. "You could be missing an arm and you'd still be beautiful. Or an eye. Or even a leg. Heck, you'd be beautiful if you were missing both legs. Or even…"
Lina chuckled nervously and interrupted Gourry's tirade before he got too graphic. "Let's not tempt fate, okay? I think I get the idea."
Gourry leaned across the table and lovingly kissed Lina's neck. "Did you really," he asked between kisses, "think that those marks made a difference?"
"Well, yeah… I kinda did," Lina replied as she turned her head to the side to give Gourry easier access to her throat. Running her fingers through his flaxen hair, she sighed happily. A girl could get used to this kind of treatment really quick. She stiffened up briefly when she felt his hands slide up her arms to her throat where they began to unbutton her blouse again.
This was going incredibly fast and Lina felt more than a little overwhelmed. She had half a mind to stop it. This was how it had started in Zelas's realm. The promise of love masking the darkness. The horrible darkness. She shoved Gourry back to arms length and timidly asked, "Do… Do you love me?" Even before he answered, she saw it in his face and all her fears were alleviated.
Gourry smiled warmly when he saw the relief in Lina's face. "You really didn't know, did you?" he asked, his blue eyes sparkling with mirth. "And you call me a jellyfish? Lina, I'd die for you." Noting the redhead's frightened expression, he asked, "What's wrong?"
The last lingering doubts about the prophecy came to mind and Lina quickly shook her head to dispel them. She was free of that. Xellos had done that for her. "Nothing," she said, and with an impish grin, she launched herself across the table to tackle Gourry.
"What are you doing?!" Gourry yelped as he struggled to maintain his balance in the chair. He could have caught himself, but his arms had embraced the redhead of their own volition.
Lina braced her feet on the table and shoved, riding the hapless swordsman down to the floor with a loud crash. "Making the best of today," she said breathlessly as she finished undoing that buttons that he'd started. "It's all we have." She leaned down and kissed him passionately while simultaneously struggling to wriggle out of her blouse. Finally free of the garment, she flung it over her shoulder without a second thought.
Gourry's eyes widened and he barely managed to mumble, "Kaf," through Lina's onslaught of kisses. When she intensified her assault, he repeated, "Kaf!" a little more insistently this time. Finally, he seized the redhead by her shoulders and reluctantly pushed her away.
"What? Why'd we stop?" Lina whispered breathlessly, her entire upper body flushed bright pink with excitement. Without waiting for an answer, she reached down and began to insistently tug upwards on Gourry's shirt. "Help me out a bit here," she grumbled when he didn't move.
Gourry took a deep breath and said, "Cat."
"Cat?" Lina muttered, a cute expression of puzzlement on her face. "Okay," she said after a moment. "It's kinda weird, but I guess you can call me Cat. Is it because of my feline grace and kittenish good looks?" she asked, putting her hands behind her head and thrusting her chest out in a provocative pose.
A pained expression on his face, Gourry shook his head and explained, "No, Lina. The cat. I think I landed on the cat when you knocked me over." Muffled yowling from beneath his back confirmed his suspicions. Grabbing Lina by the waist, he quickly rolled to the side and a moment later, their positions were reversed.
The gray tabby hissed at Gourry angrily and darted out of the room. However, he was too busy to care. Trailing kisses down Lina's throat to her chest, he smiled when he heard her hiss and felt her grab two fistfuls of his hair. She must have really been enjoying herself.
The sensations were quite pleasant, but that wasn't exactly what had caused Lina's reaction. "Fire," she whispered as she watched her blouse burn. She'd tossed it right on the lantern earlier and… oh boy, the tablecloth just went up too. She gritted her teeth as she watched the fire begin its eager consumption of the entire kitchen. "Gourry," she said, tapping him on top of his head to get his attention, "did you hear what I just said?"
Gourry nodded and mumbled, "Yeah, fire. I like fires too, Lina. They're good for toasting marshmallows and-"
"Marshmallows?!" What the hell was Gourry doing, thinking about marshmallows at a time like this?! Rolling her eyes angrily, Lina grabbed a handful of the swordsman's hair and violently tugged on it to get his attention. "There's a fire, bait for brains!" she yelled. Jeez, he could be so stubborn sometimes!
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Amelia lay curled up on the floor under a frayed blanket. It was nice. She was wondering what she was going to do tonight as far as sleep was concerned. Just when she had resigned herself to a fate of sleeping under one of the tables, an elderly lady had taken pity on her and offered her lodgings for the evening. Of course, she'd eagerly accepted.
Now, Amelia tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable spot. It wasn't like she wasn't used to sleeping on the floor. Being a part of a traveling circus pretty much required it. There were only so many cots in the wagons and they were pretty much shared by all the members.
No, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Amelia had so much on her mind. There was the strange way that Zelgadis had been acting lately, food, that Marco boy, food, wondering what had happened to Jillas, food, the brief sound of Lina yelling 'Put it out, put it out!', oh and did she mention food? Her mind was a veritable whirlwind of thoughts. No wonder she couldn't sleep. Her stomach growled loudly and she looked around embarrassedly as if she thought that it might have woken her host. She'd eaten so much, and yet she was still starving. It was odd.
"Excuse me, Miss?" a voice whispered from the shadows.
Amelia barely suppressed a surprised yelp as she sat up and looked around. "Marco?" she whispered curiously, when she saw who was kneeling next to her. How had he gotten in without her noticing?
Marco frowned apologetically and whispered, "Sorry to wake you, but I still can't find Sarah. Will you help me?"
Glancing out the window, Amelia frowned. "It's after midnight. Are you sure that she just didn't come to visit today? Maybe she was sick or something."
"That's not what happened," Marco said with an emphatic shake of his head. "Sarah promised to visit today and even if she was sick, she'd come to tell me at least. Will you please help me find her?" Swallowing nervously, he reluctantly admitted, "I'm… I'm kinda sorta afraid to look by myself."
"Alright," Amelia said after a moment of thought. "I'm sure that she's fine though. How far away is her village?"
"About three miles," Marco replied, a smile of relief on his face. He took Amelia's hand and insistently tugged on it. "Come on, Miss, we have to hurry!"
Amelia allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and followed Marco out into the cool night air. It'd be two hours to get there and back and he'd be happy then, so it wasn't that big a deal.
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An hour later, Lina and Gourry lay in the bed, snuggled against one another under the sheets. Smiles adorned both their faces as they savored the bliss that came from being near one another.
Lina shivered as a cool breeze drifted through the open window and quickly shoved her back into Gourry's finely muscled form while pulling his arms tighter around her. She had to admit that he made an excellent blanket. "Jellyfish, are you awake?" she whispered quietly, planting a kiss on his bicep.
In response, Gourry mumbled something that might have been a "yes" and leaned forward to rest his chin on her shoulder. "Still got to toast the marshmallows," he muttered tiredly, his face smudged with soot. It had been a near thing with the fire, but thankfully they'd managed to put it out before it'd done too much damage. It'd be a pain to clean up in the morning though.
"You've got some kind of weird thing about the marshmallows, don't you?" Lina asked with a grin. Savoring Gourry's warmth, she squirmed around a bit before deciding that she was comfortable. "I know that you're not awake," she whispered teasingly. She turned and gave him a quick peck on the nose, which made him snort and recoil a bit. "That's good though. I'm glad you're asleep. It makes it a lot easier to talk to you. It's less embarrassing this way and I can pretend that you understand what I'm trying to say." She clapped a hand over her mouth as she was momentarily seized by a giggling fit.
Getting herself under control a moment later, Lina took a deep breath and whispered, "Did you know that you're the reason I'm here today? You saved me so many times. And not just when we were together. You saved me when I was alone too. When I fought Hellmaster, you were one of the things that kept me going, kept me alive." She sighed tiredly, recalling the battle. "I wanted so much to see you again. Oh, and do you remember when we were in the tunnels? And I helped with the Sword of Light? That was because of you too. I thought of you. It wasn't lust, desire, or anything that base," she whispered thoughtfully. "Those are chaotic thoughts. They would have put the sword out in an instant." Blushing brightly, she quietly confessed, "I… I think it was love, Gourry." She shook her head and snorted in amusement. "Jeez, I'm starting to sound like Amelia."
"I understand, Lina," Gourry sighed into the redhead's ear.
If it was possible, Lina appeared to turn even redder and whispered, "You heard that?" She quickly glanced over her shoulder to see Gourry slumbering peacefully, his features looking angelic in the moonlight. He'd heard. He might not remember tomorrow but he'd understood and that was enough. Happy to have all that off her chest, she looked out the window at the stars above as she felt drowsiness start to overtake her. Sleeping at night? Not six months ago, she would have cringed at the idea. So many things could happen in the dark, after all. But now she understood that not all of them were necessarily bad. Comforted by that thought, she allowed herself to drift away into sweet unconsciousness.
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Next Chapter: Following the call of her kind heart, Amelia investigates the depths of the night in search of a little girl who never made it home. But the darkness hides more than an innocent child…
Notes: Ah love, and on Valentine's Day too! I'm so good. Actually, believe it or not, I didn't plan it this way at all. It was all a big coincidence. This is one of my favorite chapters of the story thus far. It's also the longest I've ever written, so good for me, I suppose. Just don't get to used to it. I'd probably drop over dead if I had to churn out 10,000+ words a week.
Well, chapter 30 and we're about halfway through the story if I've calculated correctly. Oh, I'm sorry! I can see all of you rolling your eyes and muttering, "Halfway?! When's this drivel going to be done with?!" Well, I can safely say, when you see me write "The End" the story will be over. It'll happen within another 30 chapters, I promise.
I've got a silly little story for anyone that cares. Lina's, "I said, 'kiss me,' you big dummy!" line isn't an original. I pulled it from another source. You won't see it on TV or in any book though. Those exact words were said to my grandfather by my grandmother on their 50th wedding anniversary. He was a little hard of hearing and when he was supposed to kiss her for some pictures, he didn't get it the first time. So dear old grandma put it in terms (and volume) that he could understand. It was funny then and I hope it was funny now. It's just one of those cherished memories that everyone has, I suppose. End of silly little story.
Reviewer Response:
Wow Sami, yet more amazing praise! *grins sheepishly* You're too kind. I really hope that you enjoyed the L/G portion of the chapter. And you're not allowed to start on anymore fanart right now! You haven't finished the first one and I want to see it! Still haven't seen that e-mail yet, either (hint, hint).
Otaku girl, have I ever told you that you scare me sometimes? No, really. First you tell me to look you up and then I'm not supposed to look you up and… well, damn it, I'm confused! I refuse to do anything else until you tell me what I'm supposed to do! *hides in a corner* Just kidding of course!
Miss Gabriev, I thought in the last review you were saying that Try was your new favorite? What happened?
"Kinda sexy," Raven? I preferred Lina in the cute little waitress uniform myself, but whatever floats your boat, I guess. You know what? As a special treat for you, there's going to be a scene of a shirtless and incredibly buff Zel in the next chapter! You see what I do for the fans? And I promise you that it's not a coincidence. No way! *crosses fingers*
Ooh, kinda boring, Dragonet? *winces* Harsh words, indeed. Pray tell, how would you have improved the chapter to make it more interesting? I thought it had a nice mixture of action, romance, humor, and gore myself, but you're the reader and it's your opinion that counts in the end.
Until next time, my beloved reviewers! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this and taking another few minutes to comment on it. And as always, thanks to Pogo (who seems to have forgotten to check in this week. Yeesh, you'd think that just because she reads each chapter 5-10 times she'd still check out the finished product). Either way, she's a fine beta reader.