Hell's Breaking Point

Chapter XII – Truth Revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers, …..oh, whatever…

Xellos was assigned a peculiar 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 Z/A) - Takes place after Next and before Try.

Japanese Words:

Oka-sama : Mother aka L.O.N.

Oni-san : Big brother

Yare yare : Oh boy...(something like that)

Mazoku : Evil race/Monster

Juu Ou : Beastmaster

Minna : Everyone

'…….' Is for Phibby's thoughts

(….…) Is for Gourry's thoughts

"Gourry?"

(…minna…)

The grin on his face grew wider at their shock expression.

"What are you talking about Gourry? What are you doing here all of a sudden?" Lina yelled, dumbfounded by the swordsman's sudden appearance.

"What?" he feint a mocking surprise, "You still haven't figure out? I'm-" he stopped his sentences when he heard a dragging sound from behind. The others too looked to see what it was. A badly wounded guard was forcing himself to drag his limp body towards the swordsman with his arms.

(…!)

"Y-you… I-I'll kill you….!" the man struggled to let his voice out but could only whisper them as he coughed up blood. Even if it were only just whisper, the words echoed in the others' ears as clear as the church's bell.

"What?" Lina and the others gasped.

The swordsman let out a snort of disgust, "You're still alive, eh? What nuisance," he simply said as he kicked the injured man, causing the guard to yell in pain.

(Stop it! He can't do anymore harm to you!)

'Harm? Such naïve man…I'm just doing all this for my own entertainment,'

(..you bastard!)

"Gourry-san! What are you doing!" Amelia cried out loud at the swordsman's sudden change of attitude as she rushed to aid the now unmoving Seyruun guard.

Phibrizzo's eyes narrowed at the sprinting princess. With one swift movement, the light blade of the Hikari No Ken was now an inch away from Amelia's face.

"O-oi! Gourry?" both Lina and Zelgadis shouted simultaneously in confusion.

"G-Gourry-san….?" Amelia whispered a weak tone as she stared at the blonde man in front of her, afraid to move.

(A-Amelia? Don't you dare hurt her!)

'Oh shut up,'

"You still don't get it, do you?" he spoke with a smirk on his face, ignoring the protests from Gourry, "Still haven't figured out the one behind all this destruction," he emphasized his words by gesturing his free hand at the blazing surrounding. Lina's eyes twitched.

"Are you saying that you know who did all this..?" Amelia said in a stuttered voice as she eyed at the blade in front of her in uneasiness.

'...no' Lina thought to herself as she watched the swordsman intently from his smirking face to his legendary sword, '…that white beam…it's…it's the…'

"It's you, isn't it?" the words came out from the sorceress' mouth as she glared at him, her fists tightened, '..that beam was from the Hikari No Ken….'

The chimera looked at her as he too somehow was leaning towards that fact.

Phibrizzo lowered his sword much to Amelia's comfort, "Very good. I expect no less from you Lina Inverse," he replied.

(…Lina..)

'Lina Inverse…..Gourry rarely called me by my full name…..' "Who the hell are you?" Lina shouted in anger, finally realizing that the swordsman in front of them was not the one they knew. 'What's going on here? Why did the bastard took the form of Gourry and how did he got his hand on Gourry's Hikari No Ken?" Then a surge of panic rushed through her, 'Did something happened to Gourry?'

Phibrizzo nodded at the sorceress, "Ah, but first," His eyes quickly darted towards the princess, "You, get out of my face," he hissed at her evilly, utterly shocking her. One shaky leg made its way behind her as Amelia quickly diverted her gaze from the threatening man in front of her to the unconscious man on the ground. Phibrizzo noticed this.

"Oh, don't waste your precious time on him. He's dead….right about now!" he yelled as he strikes the lying figure with his charged sword, smashing it to bits. Amelia let out a sharp gasp as she just stares at the scene just in front of her.

A low growl catches the sorceress' attention. Peering to her right, she saw the chimera shaking violently as he balled up his fists.

"Stop torturing her!" he roared as he charged towards the swordsman, his hand already unsheathing his sword.

(Z-Zelgadis?)

"Wait, Zel!" Lina yelled in panic as she watched her companion run carelessly into danger.

But it seems the Hellmaster was being generous that night when he only dodged the attack before jumping unto one of the destroyed building.

Zelgadis stomped his foot in anger as he locked eyes with Phibrizzo, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" he yelled out loud.

The swordsman merely chuckled at him, "What? You don't even recognize your own companion Gourry Gabriev?"

(Cht!)

Now it was Lina's turn to yell in anger, "Like hell you're Gourry! Gourry would never do something as inhuman as this!"

Phibrizzo smirked at them, "That's true. He was such a nice, caring and chivalrous man. I guess his disgusting personality never changed even after I caught and turned him into my puppet at Kataart Mountains," he simply spoke, ignoring the fact that he's giving away hints about his identity.

Lina, Zelgadis and Amelia gasped simultaneously.

'Kataart Mountains? That's where we fought Gaav and…..? ….puppet? It can't be!'

"Y-you're Hellmaster?" the three of them shouted in shocked.

"Bingo!" Phibrizzo exclaimed cheerfully.

'The most powerful subordinate of the dark lord Ruby Eye Shabranigdo. The one that had turned Gourry against us who seeks to fulfill the dark lord's wish; bringing the world back to chaos. …but, he was destroyed by the Lord Of Nightmare..'

"How can you sill be alive?" Zelgadis asked the question first.

"You can thank that to your Gourry friend," Hellmaster grins, "I possess his body,"

(Like I have no choice?)

That respond received a chuckle from Hellmaster, "I guess you're right. Now would you stop complaining and let me do my job in peace," he asked Gourry in a cheerful manner.

(It's the only thing I can do to you!)

"Heh!" he scoffed.

"W-who are you talking to..?" Lina suddenly spoke, her tone unsure.

"Why, I'm talking to your beloved companion. For you see, when I possessed him back in Sairaag, I couldn't consume his body properly as I had little strength left. The only choice I had left was to combine my spirit and his, which will lead to me becoming one of the lesser demons. But, I had used the rest of my power and the ones that I had instill in him to control him before, to split my spirit with his. Which means this body now contains two spirits and the effect of that, we can communicate with each other mentally. Which is a bit of annoyance lately," he ended with a hmph.

As Hellmaster was explaining, a hand made its way to grasp the shirt above her heart as Lina took deep huge breaths, 'T-this can't be happening again….G-Gourry is…Gourry is…'

The chimera who heard her loud breathing, peered at her in, "Lina…," he whispered in sympathy.

"Unforgivable!" the thought of the sorceress was spoken aloud by Amelia, "Possessing our friend of justice to take advantage of us!" she yelled, somehow she had snapped back into herself.

'Cht, it's not like I have any choice!'

(That's what I said!)

'Oh, shut up!'

Hellmaster wiggled his forefinger, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. That is not important. The important is the reason why I'm here. Lina Inverse!" he called out as he aimed the tip of his light blade at the sorceress. Lina quickly snapped her head towards him as her eyes locked into his now hazy blue eyes.

"Cast the Giga Slave now!" her body jerked at the command, "If not, this man dies!" he ended with an evil grin.

"What?" Zelgadis and Amelia shouted in unison while Lina just stood there, staring at the swordsman in disbelief.

(Lina won't do something as stupid as that!)

'Oh, we'll see about that'

(…….)

Somewhere on top of the Seyruun's palace, a figure was happily watching the scene with a smile, "Yare yare, threatening to kill Gourry-san even though the action will destroy himself as well since like oka-sama had said; that is his very last physical body. But, it seems Lina-san and the others are oblivious to that. Very slick of you, Phibrizzo-san," Xellos mused to himself as he swayed his legs back and forth which was dangling from the rooftop, "So, Lina-san. What will you do now?"

"Well? What is your answer Lina Inverse? Will you cast the spell that will consume this world in chaos or let the man you're willing to sacrifice anything die?" Hellmaster asked again, his stare pierced into the sorceress eyes. The chimera and the princess too watched her, waiting nervously for her respond. But when the sorceress found their eyes on hers, she quickly bowed her head and let her bangs covered her expression, as if she was ashamed of herself.

'S-she's not seriously wants to consider…is she..?' Zelgadis thought to himself in alarm.

Amelia was literally speechless with the sorceress' action. She knew that Lina will try to protect Gourry's life even at the cost of the world. She had done it once, there's no doubt that she will do it again. But she couldn't force herself to persuade the silent sorceress otherwise since she too doesn't want to lose her dense yet lovable blonde companion. 'What to do! What to do!' she thought in panic as she switched glances from Lina to Phibrizzo.

"Zel, Amelia," her two comrades turned to the soft voice and when they saw the sad smile on Lina's lips, they knew what her answer was, "I'm sorry…,"

"Lina!"

"Lina-san!"

But the sorceress didn't heed her companions' harsh protests as she took a couple of steps closer to the grinning swordsman and stopped when she was close enough to him.

"Phibrizzo! I'll do as you say!" she shouted to him.

(L-Lina? NO!)

'Such gullible child. Why would I want to destroy my only physical body?'

(..? What do you mean…?)

'How dense of you. I have bound my spirit into this body for a chance to survive after oka-sama's attack. Which means if I destroy this body, I had destroy myself with it,'

(So you're saying if you kill me, you'll be dead too?)

'Precisely. But this is a secret between you and me,'

(Damn it! If only Lina knew!)

Hellmaster snorted at Gourry's words but then he ignored him and turned to the sorceress below, "Well then. I'm waiting," he spoke sarcastically.

Lina managed to growl at him before bowing her head and closed her eyes in concentration, 'I gotta do this. I can't lose Gourry…not now. Not when I just found out my feelings for him……That's why I'm going to save him. Save him so I can tell him that I…that I…' Lina gritted her teeth as she tried to control her emotion, 'If only I can somehow control the spell….' the sorceress eyes suddenly flew open, 'That's it! It's a long shot but I have no other choice!'

She finally made her final decision; casting an amplified Giga Slave, 'This trick will increase the power of the spell but it'll also increases my magic capability which also means that it will probably increase my chances on controlling it,' Her eyebrows furrowed, 'It's now or nothing! This is for you….Gourry,'

(A/N : Sorry but I couldn't find an the translation for this so bear with the Japanese incantation, kay?)

"Shikai no yami o suberu ou. Nanji no kakera no enishi ni shitagai. Nanjira subete no chikara mote. Ware ni sarenaru chikara o atae yo," she whispered the incantation as Hellmaster plus Xellos watched her in amusement (The fruitcake was feeling amusing for other reason). But something went wrong.

"L-Lina-san..! The talismans are not glowing!" Amelia exclaimed, snapping the sorceress to reality.

"W-What….?" Lina spoke in panic as she outstretched her arms so she could see her talismans. Sure enough, her blood talismans didn't emit any respond to the chaos words.

"What does this mean?" Zelgadis interrupted.

Then it hit her hard just like the time when she received back the pain from kicking Gourry's crotch, thanks to Martina's curse, 'I-it can't be….I know it'll be soon…but now?' Lina thought in distress as her face turned pale before she dropped to her knees. Zelgadis and Amelia ran to her side, wanting to know the cause of the problem. Even though the sorceress was muttering in a quiet voice, the two of them was able to hear the troubling statement.

"I-It's the time of the month….,"

"Eh?" Amelia yelped while Zelgadis had his mouth hanging wide openand his face shows a hint of red.

Hellmaster arched an eyebrow at their sudden change of the situation, "What is the problem? Cast the spell now!" he commanded again.

Far away, Xellos who had watched the turn of event was laughing hard on top of the palace's roof.

"I-I can't! I- it's the…it's the….," Lina couldn't continue. Why should she lecture the Mazoku who threatened to kill her protector about women's time of the month? Hell, it was embarrassing!

(Can it be?)

'What is it now!'

(I knew it! She's having her time of the month!)

'Eh..? The time of what?'

(You know! The time when sorceress or priestess couldn't use their magic powers!)

'You mean that at this moment, she can't cast the Giga Slave? Aw, for Ruby Eye-sama's sake!'

Man, if Lina knew that Gourry was discussing the 'topic' with Hellmaster, she would have died of embarrassment.

'So when can she use her magic?'

(…..I have no idea…)

'…this is a very crappy night..'

"Lina Inverse!" Hellmaster shouted at the kneeling sorceress.

"H-hait!" she quickly got back on her feet, her face blazing red.

"When will you be able to use your magic?" he asked sternly, his face was dead serious but all that was lost to Lina as his question echoed inside her head.

'Oh crap! He KNOWS? Oh, let me just die now!' Lina mentally cursed at Phibrizzo, her face now completely red in embarrassment.

"Answer me! Have you forgotten that your beloved companion's life is in my hand?" That did it. That simple threat easily snapped her back to normal.

'Damn it! My magic will be back after two or three days but……Gourry….,' the sorceress thought to herself as she turned her gaze at the ground.

"On the-"

"After seven days!" Amelia suddenly blurted.

Lina's eyes flew open at the false statement and stared at the determined princess in disbelief, 'That's the time when the period will end not when the day when I recover my magic. Amelia should know that! Phibrizzo would know-'

"Very well,"

"Eh…?" That was shocking. It seems that Hellmaster had bought Amelia's lie, '..wow, nice job Amelia. Hook, line and sinker…but, this is no time for personal joke!' Lina babbled mentally as the princess secretly let out a sigh of relief.

"Seven days. That is the maximum time I will give you to prepare yourself. On that day, be sure to meet me in, oh why don't we make this easy, in Sairaag," Phibrizzo slowly sheathed the Hikari No Ken as he spoke, "But, if you decided to flee. You know what the consequences will be,"

Lina gulped as she and the others stared at the swordsman.

(..Don't worry about me Lina..)

Suddenly without warning, Phibrizzo jumped from the broken building's rooftop and landed gracefully in front of the sorceress.

"Lina-san!" Amelia yelled in alarm.

"Don't move," Hellmaster voiced out at the moving princess and the chimera making both of them stopped. Blue eyes connected to deep amber.

"I always wonder why oni-san has any hopes for you?" he spoke with a grin as he cupped the sorceress' chin.

Lina's breath hitched behind her throat as he viciously crushed his lips unto hers.

Her body shook against the swordsman's but the sorceress couldn't move. She couldn't force herself to struggle against his assault even though she knew that the man in front of her was not the one she had care and come to love. Her only attention was the swordsman's lips moving against hers; Gourry's lips. The lips that she had dream of tasting with her own for a long time.

(You bastard! Stop it!)

'Why? Aren't you enjoying this? This is what you want, isn't it? I'm just doing you a favor,'

(I said stop it! Stop it! Stop it! STOP-)

"-IT!" the swordsman suddenly shouted against Lina's swollen lips. Both he and the sorceress gasped in surprised and as they try to catch their breaths.

For a moment, both of them just stared at each other in silent. Both Zlegadis and Amelia too was too shocked to think of an action.

"…L-Lina…?" Gourry slowly whispered her name as he gazed her with his clear blue eyes.

Lina's eyes widen at his sudden gentle voice, "G-Gourry?"

'H-how can this be? How did you?'

Using the strength of his spirit, Hellmaster forced himself to be dominant over Gourry's body again.

"Gourry..?" the sorceress brought her hand to touch the swordsman's face but she suddenly withdrew her hand when she saw his eyes. They had turned hazy again as they glint with malice.

"And that's the end of that!" he smirked. The sorceress unconsciously took a couple of steps back away from the menacing man in front of her.

"Oh, that is pathetic Lina Inverse," he mocked her retreating figure as he brushed away his long bangs, "Are you afraid of me? Afraid of your own companion's form?"

'No!' the sorceress shouted mentally, 'I-I'm afraid of my feelings for Gourry…of the power this emotion called love took hold of me…..making me…vulnerable and…weak' she gripped her fists as she try to push away the emotion that had weaken her.

"You're wrong! I, Lina Inverse is not and will not be afraid of you or Gourry!" she suddenly shouted as she pointed an angry finger at him making Phibrizzo arched an eyebrow in surprise.

(Lina..)

A grin made its way to the amused swordsman, "Very good. Well then, I'll see you in seven days then. Remember, you're friend's life is in my hand," he spoke before slowly retreating away from them.

Seeing Gourry's figure slowly walking away madethe memories when Hellmaster had first captured him fill her mind. She couldn't help it but her emotions came back full force.

"G-Gourry!" she yelled in panic as she tries to run after him. Even though she knew that her emotions are her weakness, she couldn't deny them. She loved Gourry. She needed Gourry.

"Lina! No! You can't do anything in your condition!" Zelgadis shouted as he grabbed her hand, preventing her from getting away.

Hellmaster who had watched the sorceress change of behavior, smirked to himself before quickly disappearing from their sights.

"Gourry!"

To Be Continue…

Author's Note :

First I wanna say thank you to those who had given me their opinions. They make my life so easy. So I guess I'll do this story the long way then.

Lina & Zel : (sarcastic) Oh, whoop diddy…..

Amelia : L-Lina-san….(eyes watery)

Lina : W-what…?

Amelia : I-I'm so sorry for you….G-Gourry-san is…

Lina : Oh, don't worry about that. Although I don't know what's going to happen next, I do know that it'll all work out in the end. (Glares at me) IT BETTER BE!

…ehehe…Lina-chan, you're scaring me….

Gourry : Oh, don't worry. Yumekage-san said that this story will have a happy ending.

Lina : (blushes) What kind of happy ending..?

Xellos : Sore wa himitsu desu!