"Lina! Lina!"

Lina finally came to to the sound of a worried Gourry. She blinked up from her place on the cell floor, seeing Gourry leaning against the bars of his cell, and sure enough, a worried look on his face. She saw a relieved expression on his face as he saw her open her eyes.

"Lina, are you okay? You were out for so long..." Gourry looked pitifully down at Lina.

Lina blinked a few more times, trying to clear the haziness that sleep brought. She gradually sat up as she looked around the jail. Gourry was definitely up and about, and didn't even look too roughed up. He was still looking at her waiting for a response... She glanced over to the other cell, a bit alarmed to see Zelgadis just laying on the floor. It looked almost like he wasn't breathing. She wouldn't be able to tell if he wasn't by looking at the color in his cheeks, either...

"I'm okay, Gourry. Just a bit groggy. What happened?" Lina rubbed her forehead, trying to collect her thoughts.

"The guards bound and gagged you, then someone touched your forehead and you passed out. I was afraid they might hurt you if I resisted, so I cooperated with them. Then they tossed us all down here." Gourry tugged uselessly at the bars of his cell, more out of boredom than desperation. "You were quiet for a long time, Lina. I thought maybe they did something bad to you..."

Lina shook her head. "More likely they hit me with a Sleep spell." She glanced over at Zelgadis, watching him closely, just to make sure his chest moving up and down wasn't her imagination. "What about Zel? Has he done anything at all?"

Now it was Gourry's turn to shake his head. "No, Zelgadis hasn't moved at all the entire time. What did you do to him?"

Lina sighed, but scooted over to sit near Gourry. "I cast an Elmekia Lance. I was going to shoot it nearby him, just close enough to distract Amelia, okay? I never meant to hit him with it..."

"Is he going to be okay?" Gourry asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Lina shook her head and looked down at the floor. "I hope so, because I need to talk to him. He mentioned having a dream, and I need to know what he knows."

Gourry looked curiously at Lina. "Did you find something out?"

Lina scratched her nose. "Yeah, somehow while I was stuck sleeping, I came in contact with Amelia."; Lina clenched her fist and grit her teeth. "She was able to confirm that Martina and Xoana had nothing to do with her murder."

Gourry cocked his head. "Then who was it?"

"Xellos." Lina spat.

Gourry sat in silence as he thought it over, and also gave Lina a chance to calm down slightly. "Where is Amelia now?"

Again, Lina shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know!" Tears stung her eyes, as a feeling of uselessness passed over her. "That's why Zelgadis needs to wake up!" Lina moved over to the opposite side of her cell. "Do you hear me? Zelgadis! Wake up!"

Gourry could only watch Lina as her shoulders shook. Even if he couldn't see her face, he knew Lina was crying. "Lina?"

"What, Gourry?" Anger was still evident in her tone as Lina turned to look at him, her face streaked with tears.

Gourry stuck his arms through the bars, gesturing for Lina to come back. After a tense moment, she did, and he wrapped his arms around her best as he could. "It's going to be okay, Lina. You've been through much worse than this. Somehow things always worked out for us then, and they will again this time."

Lina cried quietly into his arms, letting his words sink in. Finally she was able to regain her composure, and nodded. "You're right. Of course you're right! Who made you so smart, Gourry?" Lina gave him a small smile.

Gourry smiled back down at her. "I don't know if it's smarts, I'm just telling you what I know from experience. You always have a way of making things turn out."

Lina buried her face back into his arms. "Gourry?" her muffled voice asked.

"What is it, Lina?" Gourry looked down at her in curiosity.

"Thanks."

Author's notes: You bet I still live! People probably think I totally abandoned this story, but that's not the case at all. Truth be told, the next part is rather heavy, so I've been pondering and debating over it for a long time now. I have finally been able to come to an agreement on how to write it, but it's still coming slowly. I was originally going to include it, but seeing as it still needs work, and this part was all ready to go, I figured I'd not include the next part yet. (Besides, Lina and Gourry need some time to themselves...)

Speaking of Lina and Gourry, as usual I didn't plan on it, but this was heavily inspired by the later books of Knight of Aqualord. (The newest Slayers manga, not yet translated into English.) Aside from the whole rotting in jail thing.

Next chapter: We learn what happened to Amelia and Zelgadis! ...just as soon as I finish plotting it all out...