Hell's Breaking Point
Chapter III – Going Even Further
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers, if I did, Luna would have made her appearance in the anime.
Xellos was assigned a perculiar errand by the Lord Of Nightmare. At first, it was just a simple taunting game but as time goes by, the errand became more extreme until............. (Mostly L/G and a bit of Z/A) - Takes place after Next and before Try.
Lina's eyes drifted to the ground as she clenched her hand which earlier had Xellos in her grip and had stayed in that position.
"Damn that Xellos! What was he thinking?!" Zelgadis cursed under his breath. Everyone was baffled and furious at the same time and it was all Xellos' doing. Except for Gourry, who hadn't said a word after Xellos had left. He was looking at the patch of dirt where Xellos had been standing, his eyebrows furrowed as if he was in a deep concentration. Amelia looked at the unmoving figure with worried eyes and didn't like this situation one bit, the ever so gentle and cheerful Gourry had turned into....into an angst Zelgadis!!
"Forget about what Xellos-san had said, Gourry-san!" Gourry turned to Amelia, "He was just provoking you! Don't let his unjust words get to you!!" Amelia said.
"Amelia is right Gourry-sama! After all, he is a Mazoku...." Sylphiel joined Amelia.
"And Mazoku feeds off human's negative feeling," Even Zel tried to comfort his friend.
Everyone tried their best to cheer Gourry up except for Lina who hadn't said a word the whole time,"Well, well, Lina-san. You insult him everyday, don't you?" She didn't know why those words kept echoing in her mind. Maybe because he was right. No! Lina shook the thoughts away. I may have called him an idiot or a jellyfish for brain, but that's because it had become more out of habit, not because I was really insulting him.............maybe a little....But they were never as harsh as Xellos' Lina gritted her teeth as she recalled him insulting not only Gourry but his parents!? Her trains of thought was disrupted as she heard Gourry's voice.
"I know that, everyone. But, I'm fine. Really," his voice was soft as he gave them a reassuring smile but then his face turned back to it's earlier expression.
Urgh, this is driving her crazy. Seeing this out of characterness in Gourry scares the hell out of Lina. She has to do something, anything to get the old jellyfish back.
"Aargh!! For cripe sake Gourry! Snap out of it!!!" she suddenly screamed. Gourry turned his attention towards her, eyes widen. Pointing a finger at him, she continued her ranting, "This is getting really frustrating!! Are you gonna be like this for the rest of the day!?" Gourry raised an eyebrow. "You said it yourself that everything he said was a lie, that he was just trying to make you angry. And you're right!" Lina paused for a while, thinking about something encouraging to say.
"Cause if an expert swordsman who can masterly wield the Sword Of Light is an idiot, then that means that Zel is the second dumbest thing next to you!" Okay, that wasn't exactly encouraging.....
"Hei!!" Zelgadis huffed in protest, "It means that Lina-san thinks that you're the second best swordsman, Zelgadis-san," Amelia whispered reassuringly to him but Lina ignored them as her attention still glued to Gourry.
Her frustration quickly dissolved as she saw his mouth curved into that same smile she always see everyday, "Lina, it's okay. I'm over that already," He reasoned with her but that answer wasn't good enough.
"Okay!? Then why are you like this!?" she asked in a serious tone. She saw him scratched his head for a while before answering, "Well, I was just thinking,"
Lina's eye twitched, "Thinking!? You call being gloomy thinking!?" Oh boy, her annoyance level is rising critically....
Gourry took a step back, "Well, it's hard to concentrate when you guys kept talking to me about getting over something that I had already gotten over it in the very beginning," he simply stated.
"Well you didn't look like you've gotten over it!!!!" the three of them yelled back suddenly. "That's right," Sylphiel too joined in.
Gourry ignored their yelling and continue, "Anyway, I just realized that Xellos didn't denied it when I had accused him of trying to make me angry,"
Zelgadis crossed his arms, "So. He likes to make everybody miserable," Lina and Amelia nodded their head in agreement.
"But why me? He never tried anything like this to me before," he recalled back his earlier memories with Xellos while Lina and Zel pushed whatever memories they had with that Mazoku aside.
"Hei, Gourry-san is right! I noticed that in the past, Xellos-san bugs more on Lina-san and Zelgadis-san than the rest of us!" Amelia pointed out.
"Well, sorry for being Xellos' easy target....." Zelgadis muttered weakly.
"Ah, b-but it's not your fault that you have a twisted personal-......" she stopped herself, realizing that she had just made Zel more self-conscious.
".....................," Zelgadis was hunched on the ground with an arm hugging his knees while the other hand was drawing circles on the dirt. A sweat formed on Amelia's forehead.
"I-I'm sorry, Zelgadis-san!!"
Ignoring the two of them, Lina realized where Gourry's statements were going, "So you're saying that instead of feeding your negative emotions, he has some other reason to get you angry?" Lina asked as she put a hand on her hip.
Putting a hand on his chin, he ponders for a moment, "Well, It's just a thought,"
Hearing Lina's suggestion, something clicked in Zelgadis' mind. Getting back on his feet, Zel spoked, "You know, as I think about it, Xellos was acting funny yesterday too. Isn't that right, Amelia?" he turned to the girl next to him.
Amelia's eyes lit up, "That's right!"
So, I was right! He is up to something...and it seems that Gourry is connected to this scheme of his.... Zelgadis thought in silent but Lina's voice interupted his thoughts, "So, do any of you know anything about Xellos' plan?" she asked in serious tone.
"We have no idea," Amelia and Sylphiel replied while Gourry and Zelgadis shook their heads.
Lina sighed in frustration, "Well, the next time that fruitcake comes to visit, I'll force his plan out of his mouth!" She made a strangling gesture to emphasize her point. But why Gourry? She thought to herself. Lina stole a glance at Gourry who was talking normally with the other three. How did the poor jellyfish get caught up in his plan....? Lina was determined to find out for Gourry's sake. Oh, and she remembered that she had a bone to pick with that purple fruitcake for his earlier actions because no one can insult Gourry but her.
"Well, there's no point in thinking too deep about something we don't know about. But, from now on, we have to stay alert whenever Xellos is around," Zelgadis warned them as his gazes landed on Gourry, "Ecspecially you Gourry," Gourry nodded in reply.
"So there's no point in standing here anymore. Lets move out," Lina suggested as she grabbed Gourry by his hand and tried to drag him with her. But Gourry didn't tried to budge frop his spot.
"Gourry?" Lina asked in a worried tone. Turning around, she saw him smiling at them and his eyes were glinting with happiness.
"Everyone, thanks for trying to cheer me up," it was directed to everyone but when Gourry had said it, he had locked his eyes with Lina who had turned pink and had reacted by slapping her hand hard on his back.
"Gah!" Gourry yelped in pain as he tried to rub his aching back, "What are friends for," she simply said with a large grin while his other friends gave him a smile. As Lina turned to face the road, she froze halfway as she saw two bizzare creatures standing just right in front of her.
"Lina Inverse," one of the creatures spoked.
"Mazoku," Lina replied. There was a long silent as the Slayers stood there in alert, hands ready either on their swords or chanting a spell and the battle began as one of the Mazoku slashed it's blade-like hand towards Lina but with a single step, she managed to dodge it.
Landing gracefully out of harm, she spoke, "Rude, aren't you. Ugh, I was hoping to bumped into some bandits....my purse is getting thinner and thinner every minute....," she muttered quietly to herself. "So, aren't you two at least going to explain why you want to kill me?" she spoked in a mocked tone as she cautiosly moved back towards her companions. Gourry walked to her side with the Sword Of Light already gripped in his hand, covering Amelia and Zelgadis who was quietly chanting a spell.
"It doesn't matter if I tell you or not. I, Xien and Ryist will kil-"
"Ra Tilt!!" Amelia and Zel cut him off simutaniously as a large pillar of blindingly white light enveloped the two Mazoku. It seems that they had foreseen it as they quickly jumped out of the light but one of them was too slow too react as it let out a pained cry as he lost an arm in that light.
Lina smirk, "Heh, you people could never stopped babbling away can you?" Lina smugly said, a satisfy look on her face as Zel and Amelia's Ra Tilt attack had work. She then braced herself for the coming battle.
The armless Mazoku, who had called himself Xine, gritted it's teeth as he plunged towards Lina who had already finish chanting a spell. With a determination glinting in her eye, she yelled.
"Come and get it! Elemenkia Lance!"
As the battle ensue, a lone figure was sitting on a branch of a tree nearby watching the fighters every movements. Emotional pain is harder to recover than physical pain. So, if I can't get to Gourry-san by 'hurting' him, I will get to him by 'hurting' his most precious person....And with that thought, his gazes started to focus on the petite Lina Inverse.
"Heck!" Gourry shouted as he swing the Sword Of Light, releasing an energy blast towards the two Mazoku but one of them had managed to flicked it away with his arm causing the blast to bounce towards Lina.
"Diem Wing!" Lina yelled before flying out of the blast's path. Behind them, Zel thrusts his sword which he had casted the Astral Vine on it earlier at them. But he let out a gasp of surprise as the Mazoku easily caught the blade in his hand before throwing the sword with Zelgadis still attach to it out of the Mazoku's way. As he was flying in the air, Zelgadis caught a glimpse of the Mazoku returning his attention towards attacking Lina.
What's wrong with them! It's like their possess in killing Lina!! Zelgadis worriedly thought. And he was right. All the Mazokus's attacks are aiming towards Lina unless someone steps in between them. But even if someone did, the Mazokus would quickly blast them away and starts focusing their attacks on Lina again. But, he couldn't think any further as he slammed painfully on the hard ground.
"Zelgadis-san!" Amelia cried as she ran toward the falling chimera. Helping him back on his feet again, she heard him said in a low tone.
"Amelia, those Mazoku focuses too much attention on killing Lina. This may give us the chance to win. Lets try the Ra Tilt again," Amelia nodded in agreement and they both started chanting the spell.
While dodging Gourry's multiple sword attacks, Xine could sense Xellos nearby and his earlier threat started echoing in his mind, "If you can't even do this simple job than you're not worthy of being a Mazoku. And do you know what I do to this type of Mazoku?.... I kill them......" Xine cursed at the Beastmaster's general. The 'job' was suppose to be easy, but thanks to these persistent humans, it had become frustratingly hard. But, the will not to return to chaos yet had pushed the two Mazoku's to cross over their limit.
Lina was having a hard time keeping up with the Mazokus' non-stop attacks and if it weren't for Sylphiel's white magic, she would have been long gone. Of course she wouldn't forget about Gourry who was fighting fiercely to protect her. As she was evading Ryist's attack, she caught a glimpse of Amelia and Zel chanting a spell. Knowing what the two of them had planned, Lina steel herself so that she could buy them some time.
Xellos drummed his fingers agaist the tree's branch, This is getting nowhere...This battle will be a tie if I don't do something, he cursedly thought as he jump of the branch. Spotting a small rock, he gently picked it up and carefully aim it at Lina's moving legs. Sorry Lina-san, but a Mazoku's gotta do what a Mazoku's gotta do, Predicting her next move, he quickly and cautiously flicked the rock using his forefinger with such strenght that made the rock zoomed in the air with an unbelievable speed towards it's target.
Lina, who was moving her right leg behind so that she was in a spell casting position felt a sudden pain as the zooming rock crashed unto her moving leg causing her to lose her balance and making her fall backwards towards the ground. The attacking Mazoku who had saw this chance, swooped it's hand towards Lina. Lina's eyes widen and had cried in pain as the Mazoku's hand speared through her body causing a large amount of blood gushing out of her stomach. She choked out her blood as her vision became blurry. The frantic yelling of her friends calling her name echoed in her ears before she went limp on the Mazoku's arm.
To Be Continue...
Ranting:
Gerao-A : Don't worry, Xellos is not desperate. It's all part of the plot. Hmm, about the punishment......I'll let L-sama decide. Thanks for the review.
CT : Yeah, you're right. There's more L/Z based story than L/G. Poor Gourry, poor Amelia. But, not in this fic. The canon couple will get all the lovin'!
Knight of L-sama : Thanks XP But, if they did get OOC, tell me.
Blue Jellyfish : ::gives candy:: I enjoy reading your review coz you get all hyper about L/G. Thanks for the compliment XD
Icekaia : .....okay...I'll try to update faster.
LeaMarie F. Rocket : Thanks lol
Author's Note :
Yumekage: ::points Xellos:: Oh my god, you killed Lina!!
Xellos: I-I didn't me- Hey, I did nothing but watch (and made her tripped)!
Lina: Ugh, oh the agony....My vision....it's getting darker...I can't see.... Oh, the pain.....The pain..... Help me....My life....I see it passing by.....
Gourry: Oi, Lina. Lets get some something to eat.
Lina: Ok!
Zel & Amelia: ..........review please.....
Sylphiel: Feel free to point out any mistake in this story.