Blind Faith

Chapter: 2

What Dreams May Come

Next chapter up and rolling. Sorry it took so long but mid-terms were terrible...

A/N: From the looks of it's going to take a little longer than expected on this fic. So it will continue after Halloween but won't be the only thing I am working on after Halloween.

He sat on a roof of a store as the night dragged by slowly. His sapphire eyes looked off into the distance as he waited for her to sleep. 'Well, I'll give her one thing. She can act like a good mother even though I doubt she's ever thought about it,' he thought as his patience began to wear thin.

He had been keeping track of Lina through the link he had made in the young girl's mind. He was waiting for Lina to fall asleep so that he could take control of her dreams but with her staying up and watching the young girl it was not going as quickly as he had hoped. "Just sleep Lina. The girl won't die if you just let down your guard for a few moments," he said to the air as his hands clenched in frustration.

Lina watched as the young girl slept in the bed of the room Lina had purchased for the night. She did not want to sleep for fear of the young girl's health but Lina could feel the need to sleep catching up with her. Her head drooped slightly before she recovered and shook her head to fight off the sleep. Lina looked at the girl for a moment before saying, "I guess about an hour won't hurt," as she laid her head on the bed. She felt sleep coming quicker than she had expected and was soon washed away to the world of dreams.

Lina opened her eyes to be surrounded by darkness and shadows. She looked around but could not find a source of light anywhere. The only thing she could see was herself and the blackness that was just beyond her. Lina stood and shouted, "Is anyone here? Where the hell am I?"

"Right where we want you Inverse," answered a gravely low voice as four figures appeared out of the darkness.

They looked human but Lina knew better as she saw the blood red eyes staring back at her. She smirked and replied, "So now you are as low as to attack me in my dreams? How far will the mazuko fall before they learn I'll beat everything they throw at me."

The mazuko growled as they jumped at Lina as quickly as they could. They all landed at the same spot and quickly stood to find that there was no Lina below the pile of them. "Where did she go," asked one of the four.

"Up here boys," Lina shouted down to them before continuing, "Fireball!"

The four mazuko were caught with their guard down and where hit dead on by the large fireball. Lina landed in the same spot and dusted off her hands as she surveyed her work. The mazuko were no longer there but there was something different. The ground did not seem as solid as it had before as Lina looked down all of a sudden the darkness was expelled to reveal a horrifying sight. Around Lina on the ground where bodies of men, women, and children. The corpses were fresh and still oozing blood as she covered her mouth to fight off the feeling of nausea. The ground and buildings were covered with blood and ichor that pooled in different spots in the town. The dead's eyes were wide open staring at anyone who entered the town with the blankness of death. She could hear moans from those that were just barely hanging on to life as the sound of fire joined the chorus of death and destruction that had over taken the town. Lina collapsed to her knees as she felt it coming and could not hold back any longer. The vomit came out of her system and joined with the other fluids as they slowly flowed down the hill she was on. As she was recovering from the feeling she heard a clapping coming from ahead. Lina lifted her head to see a man at the top of the hill sitting on a throne that looked like it was made of human bones. "You bastard," is all she could muster as she felt another wave of nausea attack her system.

The man on the throne clapped as he watched Lina become ill again. He smiled from under his hood as he lounged in his throne with his right leg resting on the other. He rested his head on the knuckles of his right hand, "Well, if that's what you think of my work aren't you going to do anything about it," he asked with a snide huff afterwards.

Lina recovered from another bout as she snapped her eyes up at the man with pure hatred flashing in them. She forced herself to stand and move forward towards her tormentor as quickly as she could. As Lina got closer her movement started to slow as his outfit seemed very familiar in some ways. He was dressed in all black from head to toe. But the make of his outfit was what caught Lina's attention. His long-sleeve tunic and black pants seemed familiar to her but for the life of her she could not remember where. The gloves cut off at the knuckles where made of a black cloth that looked like silk. She stopped five feet away from the man on the throne and looked at him for a moment before she asked, "So are you the one that sent the girl to find me?"

"That I am," the man replied as he stood in front of her.

Lina took in the last two bits of his outfit which where his cloak and his shoulder guards. The shoulder guards were made of a pure ebony that looked to almost dance in the light of the fires that burned in the town. The ebony was shaped in the form of black skulls one resting on each shoulder. From the skulls came spikes that went out in all directions and looked to be used to slam into flesh to cause a great deal of damage. The cloak was a black cloak that was worked into the shoulder guards so that they became one item. It had a trim of gold around the edges and seemed to portray it's owners arrogance that he was one of the strongest beings around. After a moment of taking him in Lina gritted her teeth before shouting, "Bastard," and launching a flare arrow at the mazuko.

The man dodge to the side quickly as the arrow slammed into his throne and caused it to fly apart as it exploded. He chuckled slightly before saying, "You'll have to do better than that to hit me Lina. I'm not some third rate mazuko that you can catch off guard so easily."

Lina smiled before moving towards him and going in for a punch. As he side stepped her Lina smiled and asked, "How about this then. Chaos String!"

To the man's surprise Lina used his dodge to help her bind him in the magical strings that she had summoned to her aid. He watched as she backed up from him with the same smile on her face. She then raised her hands and shouted, "Fireball!"

He smirked in anticipation as he summoned his last line of defense. "Let's see how strong you are," he called before the fireball hit.

Lina smiled as the fireball exploded and watched the smoke begin to thin. It was once the smoke cleared that her smile dropped. There he stood without a scratch on his being and the chaos string ripped apart at his feet. The astral shield that protected him still shined in the fire light as he began to laugh at her attempts to kill him. Lina ran towards him frustrated with her failure to undo the evil in front of her. She disregarded the idea of putting herself in danger as she closed with the mazuko and threw a punch. Lina smiled as she connected with his stomach and hit with so much force that it caused him to buckle. "Now let's see who under the hood," Lina replied as she threw the hood back.

Lina's head shot up from its resting position on the bed. She looked around to see that she was still in the room she was sharing with the young girl. Lina stretched as she began to wake up and looked out the window to see that the sun was slowly starting to rise. 'Well, this is one of the few times that I've beaten the sun up,' she thought as the horrible dream played back in her mind.

She remembered the blood and gore of the scene which shook her to her core. She fought off another fit of nausea as she stood up from her chair and looked at the young girl under her care. The feeling in her stomach started to fade as she watched the girl sleep without any notion of a nightmare. 'I'm glad. Just imagine what horror she saw compared to what I dreamed,' Lina thought as she shook her head to try and get rid of the nightmare.

After a moment she began to think about the horror of the town and could not help but wonder, 'Speaking of which where the hell did that dream come from? Did I just have something that didn't agree with me or is there something else at play here?'

Lina looked at the young girl again before sighing and pouring some water into the wash basin that sat on the dresser. Lina dipped her hands in the basin and splashed her face with water to help her wake up. She kept her hands in front of her eyes for a moment as she tried to forget the horrible images in the dream. As she let her hands drop she looked down into the basin to see the water turning red as it mixed with blood. Before she could even think Lina let out a ear piercing scream while she leapt away from the basin. No more than a second later Lina's door blasted open and entered bandaged and battered Gourry with sword at the ready. The blonde swordsman looked around before asking, "What's wrong Lina? What's going on?"

Lina was behind the chair and using it for a prop. She was noticeably shaking and holding onto the chair for dear life while saying, "There...there...there's blood in the water!"

Gourry's eyes widened at the statement before he walked over and looked into the water basin. 'It's just water,' he thought as he looked back at Lina with concern and asked gently, "Are you sure you weren't having a walking nightmare?"

Lina shook her head vehemently. She was sure that there had been blood in the water and the flow was increasing before she had jumped away in fright. "I...I know what I saw," Lina said a bit hotly before continuing, "Just...Just get rid of it please."

Gourry shrugged before opening the window closest to him and tossing the water out on the street. He placed the basin back on the dresser before sheathing his sword and walking over to Lina. He placed a hand on her shoulder before asking, "Are you sure you're okay? I mean ever since that fight with that mazuko you haven't been the same."

Lina pulled away from the caring gesture and turned away from Gourry. Her body convulsed as she held back the emotion that wanted to pour from her. Ever since that attack on her and Gourry she had to question if she could ever be happy with someone. 'The person I love will become the main target to get to me if this keeps up. I...I don't want anyone getting hurt on my account. Maybe I...,' Lina shook off the idea and held her head high.

She looked out the window and at the rising sun before announcing, "Don't worry about me. I can handle things here,' she then turned and looked pleadingly at Gourry before continuing, "Just make sure to take care of yourself."

Gourry nodded and smiled before he replied, "Okay, now I should probably go get dressed for the day," before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

As soon as Gourry left the room; Lina collapsed in a huddle on the floor. He body shook with silent cries as she remembered the dream, the blood, and the overwhelming sense of doom for the man she care for when he entered. 'What...What is happening to me?'

Zelgadis smiled with an evil glint in his eyes as the sun continued to rise in the sky. 'Step one complete,' he thought as he motioned with his hand and a goblet of wine appeared in it.

As he took a sip of the alcohol he heard from below, "Aren't we partying a little earlier there? Lina might be phased a little by those last two visions but she is a strong girl and will recover."

Zelgadis looked down at the Trickster priest as they looked at each other for a moment. "I know. I'm not seeking to break her mind...I'm just looking to sow a little discord in their relationship. Enough strain and Lina will feel like she is alone in the matter and that Gourry either doesn't understand or doesn't care anymore."

Xellos rested his chin on the knuckles of his right hand while nodding. "Then in steps the new and cured Zelgadis Greywords."

Zelgadis nodded before taking another sip of wine. After finishing he replied, "Yes, hopefully the feelings of rejection and my new body will cause an interesting conflict in Lina. I'm sure she's never thought of me as a human...so hopefully my human visage will throw her for a loop."

Xellos nodded before opening one of his dark purple eyes that glinted in the morning light. "But, this won't be enough...something else has to happen for her to lose a lot of hope in how her life is going."

Zelgadis smiled down at the trickster. His sapphire eyes glinted with pure evil in the earlier morning light as he replied, "The girl."

"The girl," Xellos asked while cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes, you don't think I just put a tracking spell on her did you. No, once the time is right I will take control of the girl's body and make Lina fight her. I'm sure having to destroy such a young girl will almost snap her mind in two," Zelgadis replied as he grinned.

"And, thus why you picked a girl that looked a lot like Lina. You're hoping that she will become attached because the girl reminds Lina of herself," Xellos snapped his fingers before cackling into the air and saying, "Perfect!"

"Indeed," Zelgadis replied as his sapphire blue eyes turned pure crimson and he said in a much deeper voice, "Lina Inverse will fall before I raise her as my new queen."

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

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