Gourry struggled to get to his feet as Gaav charged at Lina. If Gaav was going to kill her he would have to go through him first! But Gaav was moving so fast and Gourry's horror rose as he realized there was no way he would be able to get there in time when a small, child like hand tore through Gaav's chest. Gourry blinked for a moment in disbelief as he saw a small boy behind Gaav.
But how could a small boy have punched a hole through Gaav's chest unless…Gourry's mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing and what it meant. But gradually he realized that the child was not a child. In addition to the evidence of his eyes was the fact that the bloodlust was not coming from Gaav alone.
Gourry moved towards Lina as he kept his eyes on Gaav, whose advance had been abruptly halted and the child like demon as he made a comment about only Xellos realizing he was there. Gourry quickly glanced at Lina, who appeared unharmed but stunned as she stared at the scene before her before he returned his attention to the demons.
"It's been some time, Lina Inverse," the child like demon said as he moved so that it was easier for Lina to see him.
"What...?" she said, her voice between a word and a groan. Gourry could not remember having seen the demon but Lina obviously recognized him. Had she seen him at the guild?
"I thought you were dead," she hissed.
Gourry kept his eyes on Gaav, who no longer seemed to be a threat as he writhed around the arm poking through his chest. He glanced at the child like demon who was their savior at the moment for reasons Gourry couldn't understand. Why would a demon help them?
"And that's why you never gave me your name..." Lina muttered.
"Oh, that's right. I still haven't introduced myself. I am Fibrizo. But you can call me Hellmaster."
An instinct was screaming at Gourry to get ready to defend himself. And though he was exhausted he hoisted the Sword of Light, preparing for the inevitable attack on Lina, "Is he a famous person or something?"
"Well, I am rather renowned in certain circles..." the demon said as his eyes lighted, "though I'm no person."
"That much is clear," Gourry replied, ready to get this over with.
"So... you and Xellos had me in the palm of your hand all this time," Lina hissed, her voice seething with suppressed anger.
"It's true that you followed my plans to the letter. Gaav also showed up right on cue. But we can rehash that shortly... There's something I must take care of first,"
Fibrizo turned his attention to Gaav as Gourry tried to form a strategy. But as Fibrizo tore Gaav's other arm off before ruthlessly slaying him Gourry wondered what he could do! He tried to fight off the rising panic but the fact remained that Lina had barely been able to cut off one of Gaav's arms! That Fibrizo had so much power…
"What does all this mean?" he asked, trying to figure out what to prepare for.
Lina's eyes did not leave Hellmaster as she replied. "It means that, all along, I was Hellmaster's pawn for luring out the traitorous Chaos Dragon Gaav."
"That's part of it, yes," Hellmaster said.
"Part of it?" Lina replied, an odd waver to her voice as though she could barely suppress her own panic. "You're saying there's more to it?"
"Oh, I thought you'd caught on by now... Or are you just feigning ignorance? Either way, my next move should be obvious..." Fibrizo turned his attention to Gourry who frowned in surprise. "Though I didn't expect to encounter Gorun Nova here. That forces me to choose you."
Had he heard that right? And what did Gorun Nova have to do with this? It seemed unlikely that a demon would care how he came to possess it. "Choose me? For what?"
"Bait," Fibrizo said as he walked towards him like a lion towards his prey.
"Bait?!" Gourry replied as he kept his weapon raised but backed away as he struggled to make sense of this new development.
"No need to be so frightened. No one's really going to gobble you up. Simply come along and…"
"Ra Tilt!" Amelia cried.
A blue pillar of flames encompassed Fibrizo but the demon remained unfazed as Gourry tried to think straight as a sense of helplessness overpower him. His sword could barely scratch Gaav. What could he really do against Hellmaster?
Memories of being surrounded by Gunther and his friends surfaced, of knowing he was going to be beaten and that there was nothing he could do about it. And he had trained so hard so he would never feel that helpless again. Only now as Hellmaster bore down on them he wondered if he had really come that far at all.
"Now then...I'm going to ask you to come with me... to the stage I've set."
A brief moment of hope flared through Gourry. So he wasn't going to be beaten or killed. And just how could Hellmaster refuse to take him anywhere he didn't want to go to? "And if I refuse?"
"You're free to try, though you can't actually stop me."
Fibrizo snapped his fingers and the blade of his sword extinguished. "What!?" Gourry exclaimed as he looked at his sword and tried to understand what had just happened.
"Humans shouldn't be using that in the first place!"
Fibrizo snapped his fingers again and a dozen black tentacles sprang forth from the blade and ensnared him, pinning him down. While it didn't hurt him their grip was tight, constricting his breathing, making the sense of panic coursing through his worse as he shouted, "What!?"
"The Sword of Light... what an arbitrary name you humans have given it. Its real name is Gorun Nova. It's one of Dark Star's five weapons."
Gourry had no idea what that meant and was barely listening as Fibrizo droned on about the weapon. There had to be a way out! But then, all of his life that sword had held such a mental grip on him and his family. Was it so surprising that it turned physical? What could he really do against it?
"You son of a…" Lina spat as she looked at Fibrizo with pure hatred in her eyes. Gourry felt his heart lurch as he wondered what would happen to her if Hellmaster did take him.
"Have you caught on to my intentions now? Of course, I doubt you'd willingly oblige me if I asked, and you can't do it right now anyway... So I'm going to take him with me. To my city, Sairaag."
"Wait!" Lina shouted as Fibrizo snapped his fingers. He had one last look of Lina's face, gripped with despair before the view of Dragon's Peak was replaced with a room composed of blue crystal.
"Even if they come for you you'll never see them again." Fibrizo's disembodied voice said as Gourry looked around the room for some form of escape as the tentacles retreated. He stared at the Sword of Light, unsure whether or not to grab it as it started to float away out of his grasp.
"Why are you doing this?" Gourry asked as he couldn't fight back against the tears. He knew better than to let his enemies see that they'd gotten to him but he couldn't help it.
"What other purpose do I have but to destroy the world?" Fibrizo replied.
Gourry felt as though he was going to throw up. Fibrizo had said he was bait. But for what sort of trap? "But how will taking me do that?"
Hellmaster chuckled, "You aren't worthy of knowing that."
A blue mist rose from his feet and Gourry tried to move away, but no matter where he moved it followed him! He lifted one foot and tried to scrap it off the other with it but it clung to him persistently. "What is this?" Gourry demanded to know but no one responded.
Breathe, Gourry reminded himself. But it was hard to get a breath in, hard to focus on his breathing and not the overwhelming fear he was feeling. And the disgrace. He'd not been able to help Lina stop this. If anything he was now putting her in danger, perhaps even putting the world in danger. What sort of idiotic idea was it that he could do something worth doing? He'd reached too far and now Lina and everyone else in the world would pay for it.
Observe. But everything he observed was terrifying. There was the strange building he was in with no doors or windows ad the strange blue mist pooling at his feet as he looked down. He could still walk, so he got up and looked at the walls, trying to find some sign of a door or other way out. His panic grew as the smooth blue surface proved to be impossibly perfect. If he still had the Sword of Light he could cut his way through it but…
The pain in his chest bubbled up as he had to fight the urge to stop and cry. He'd hated that sword for as long as he could remember. He'd felt enslaved by it even. If he'd lost it before he'd met Lina he would have felt liberated. But now that he'd met Lina, that she was traveling with him for the Sword of Light…
If he somehow survived this, if he ever saw her again, would she want anything to do with him if he didn't have the sword? The possibility that she really was only traveling with him for the sword and nothing more…
That's if I even survive. Gourry thought as he looked down and, was it his imagination, or was the mist climbing up his legs? Before it was pooling at his feet. Now it seemed to be a quarter of the way up his boot. Or was it his imagination?
Breath. Observe. He was still for seconds that stretched on to minutes that stretched on for longer than he cared to think about. But when it got to his ankles he knew it was no longer his imagination. The mist was slow moving but crawling up to his body! "The mist!" He yelled, "What's it going to do to me!"
There was no reply which infuriated him more as he imagined Fibrizo hiding in the astral plane feasting on his emotions as he toyed with him, "Answer me!"
The silence was infuriating as he started pacing the room. Figuring he had nothing to lose he charged at the wall and kicked at it but it didn't give in the slightest but jarred his muscles, already stiff from the fight earlier in the day. He was so exhausted but terrified to sleep. What would happen with this mist?
How much time had passed since Fibrizo brought him here? An hour? Two? More? And was Lina safe? He thought of how scared she'd looked, how drained the battle had left her. If she was okay, for how long would she stay that way? And…it was better that she wasn't here with him but he missed her! He missed having someone to talk to. To focus on helping her to feel better.
But there was no one to distract him from the terror of seeing the blue mist slowly creep up his leg. No one to distract him from the thoughts crawling through his brain nor the slow passage of time. Had it been a day or an hour? He started to feel unmoored from reality as he wondered if anyone was coming from him or if he would die here. Whatever happened he hoped it happened soon!
He looked down and the mist was at his knees! How far up would it go and what would it do to him? Should he try to bat it away? Or would it stick to his hands? Was there anything he could do about it?
He'd never know unless he tried. He tried to swat it away but it stayed persistently to his legs. "Planning to enjoy a snack before you kill me?" he yelled as he wondered what sort of miasma he was making. He wanted to deny Fibrizo the satisfaction of feeding on him. But how do you just shut off your emotions? Especially in a situation like this?
So he thought of Lina. Of dancing with her by the charcoal kiln. Of laughing with her and fighting over food with her. Of the way she reacted when he told her she was eating fish guts. Or how she buried her face in his chest after Zuma nearly killed her. Of saving the world together!
But then it led to the thoughts of all the things he'd wanted to do with her but hadn't. And the grief that flowed was hard to stem. The sense that he had failed her, a prospect so terrifying that he could barely stand it!
How long is this going to last? Gourry wondered miserably as the panic renewed. How long had he been there as the mist slowly climbed up his body? He felt as though he was losing his grip on reality. Aside from the wall of blue crystal there was nothing to check it against, no way to measure time, no one to talk to, so way to tell if his was missed or if his friends were okay. If they were okay would they give him up for dead? And if they did, how long would if be until they forget him? How long would Lina remember him?
Time passed. The mist was gradually swallowing his up, encompassing his arms and chest and up to his neck. His grip on reality became more tenuous as he started to hear voices telling him how worthless he was. Was it Fibrizo? Or was his own mind manifesting them somehow? He didn't know how Fibrizo would know how Gunther and his parents sounded.
You couldn't protect her. You lost the sword. She'll never come for you, she'll leave you here to die and never miss you. You're a bad guardian! The worst guardian that there ever was! Without the Sword of Light you're nothing to her. She would have been better off if she'd never met you.
He tried to ignore the voices as he focused on a song he knew and the lyrics. But it was hard to drown out the voices, to pay them no mind and he couldn't fully suppress the fears that he would be better off not even fighting death. The mist covered his mouth and he held his breath and struggled with whether or not to try and breath it. Eventually he passed out. When he woke up he was on the ground, the mist covering his mouth and nose. He could still breath but it felt different somehow. Before he could think about it too much he saw someone standing over him. Was it Hellmaster or some other trick of the place he was in? Whatever it was laughed, evil and menacing.
"Why don't you just end it already?" Gourry asked as he felt his mind fray.
But it was when the mist covered his eyes and ears that the things he saw and heard that he realized this reign of terror had only begun as he witnessed horrific sights as his grip on reality slipped and he gave up on even trying to figure out what was real or fake as he delved into the land of nightmares.
"Sir Gourry! Sir Gourry!" A woman cried as someone held and shook him. Was he still hearing things or was it Sylphiel? But it being Sylphiel made no sense.
He groaned and opened his eyes as he felt as though he was coming out of a long dream, "Where am I?"
He had just registered the fact that he was still in a room of blue crystal when Lina kicked him in the chest as she yelled, "Don't 'where am I' me!"
"M-Mistress Lina?!" Sylphiel said, leaving no doubt to the fact that at some point she had joined the group with Lina, Amelia and Zelgadis.
Gourry was very confused now as he asked, "What was that for?!"
"I swear!" Lina yelled, her face red and her eyes fiery as her words hit him with the all weight of his mother's fists pounding against his chest all those years ago after Gunther had died, "You had us freaking out, man! I know we're dealing with Hellmaster Fibrizo here, but how could you let him make off with you so easily?! Are you going for a fairy tale princess look or something?!"
Was this another vision? He suddenly found himself hoping it was. But it felt too real as he struggled to gather his gearings, "Huh? Hang on a minute!"
"Anyway, everyone's safe, so crisis averted! You should really thank Sylphiel! I doubt we could've saved you without her!"
"Huh?" Was all he could manage to say. Sylphiel had saved him from Hellmaster Fibrizo? That made no sense.
"Sir Gourry..." Sylphiel said as she cradled him, showing him that love and cared that he longed for from Lina. He looked over at Lina who had her back towards him as she radiated anger and felt his heart constrict. "I'm so glad you're safe."
Sylphiel saw worth in everyone. But Lina? If Lina could see something within him then he really must be worth something! She was angry now but if he could deflect it, "Oh, that's right! I got captured! So... where is he, anyway?"
That at least got them talking about the mission at hand. He listened as they speculated about whether or not they had truly defeated Hellmaster as he tried to fight the sense of surrealness, that at any moment a new nightmare would begin as the images he had been tormented with receded from his mind like the dream they had been. This felt real and solid enough but he couldn't keep the niggling fear away as the group decided to get the hell out of there.
They started heading towards a staircase when Lina looked at him pensively and asked him question he had been dreading, "By the way, Gourry, the Sword of Light, er, Gorun Nova... What happened to it?"
I guess this is the moment of truth, he thought as he stammered, "I, uh... don't really know."
He looked at Lina carefully as he explained about being enveloped in a blue mist while fudging the details of the ordeal. Lina had been through so much and he didn't want to trouble her with all that he had experienced. And it wasn't as if he wanted to relive it!
Besides, she was already mad at him for being weak enough to get captured. Would she think him even weaker if she knew what he'd endured? Would it tip her in the direction of dumping him if he no longer had the Sword of Light?
But then he looked down in alarm as he saw the blue mist pooling at his feet. His stomach sank as he thought, Not this again! But it worked quicker this time and swallowed him up whole as he lost consciousness.
When Gourry opened his eyes again he saw the beautiful blue sky above him that meet a large dirt wall. He looked around and gradually realized that he was at the bottom of a ditch with Lina, Amelia, Zel and Sylphiel. He took a deep breath of fresh air as he asked himself, Is this real?
Zelgadis recovered first as he asked, "What happened?"
"Ah, well," Lina said bashfully, "when Hellmaster died, both the Hellpalace and the Sairaag he'd created disappeared too. I'm guessing we're where the Hellpalace used to be... probably in the hole left by Flagoon's roots."
"Hellmaster Fibrizo is dead?" Sylphiel said groggily before she exclaimed, "Mistress Lina, did you use that spell!"
Lina appeared unusually bashful as she stammered as Gourry tried to make sense of it. "But if I hadn't, you guys would've... y'know..." She stammered as she averted her eyes.
Amelia started prattling on about justice triumphing as Gourry noted that Lina seemed a bit relieved by her antics as Sylphiel stared at her in admonition. A sense that he was missing something important rose but he didn't want to call attention to what had happened at the moment until he had a better understand of where things stood between him and Lina. He checked for his sword but it was gone. And the only way he was going to learn whether or not that meant that she would leave as well was by moving forward.
If he wasn't going to get his heartbroken then he'd better just get it over with and not prolong it.
"Uh, can we get out of here already? The bottom of a hole isn't the best place for a chat." He said.
Lina glowered at Sylphiel as she moved closer to him and grabbed his hand as a flicker of hope flared within him as she chanted a levitation spell and soon they were soaring over the remains of Sairaag.
They landed in a field of budding wildflowers. Even amongst all of the devastation of the city life still flourished. And somehow they were here to experience it. They walked in silence through the remains of Sairaag, lost in their respective thoughts until they reached the border of the city when the talk turned to their plans.
Zel was planning to travel on his own again and Amelia was planning to return to Saillune. The only thing that was surprising about their plans was that it confirmed that they really had survived this challenge even if Gourry didn't understand how. And how seemed less important compared to the question of whether or not Lina planned to continue traveling with him!
"Er... so..." Sylphiel squirmed a bit as she asked. "What about you, Sir Gourry?"
"Huh? Me?" Gourry said as a moment of panic hit him as he looked at Lina, "What are we doing next?"
Lina's eyes widened as she stammered, "W-Wait, why are you asking me?!"
"I didn't know what else to do." Because while it was true that he no longer was chained to the Sword of Light, even without it his purpose hadn't changed. Settling down with Sylphiel or anyone else for that matter wouldn't protect Lina. Even settling down with Lina didn't seem right at the moment. Yes, he no longer had the Sword of Light, but he wanted to prove to her that he could be a worthy protector!
"I see," Sylphiel interjected as she gave a small smile. Guilt welled within Gourry as he reminded himself that he had never promised her anything. "I shall return to Saillune to rejoin my uncle. I'm his assistant now, but I'm slowly getting my own qualifications... And some day, I shall return to Sairaag to restore it."
He silently wished Sylphiel luck as he kept his eyes on Lina as she took an agonizingly long time to share her plans. Was she preparing to try to let him down gently? His stomach twisted as he realized that dancing around the demon in the room wasn't doing them any good. "Say, Lina, what ever happened to my Sword of Light?"
"Oh, that?" Lina said as her voice raised by an octave as she looked off into the horizon, "Hellmaster said he was returning it to its original owner, so I guess he sent it back to some other world."
"Huh..." Gourry said as her explanation pushed the boundary of things he was able to understand.
"Okay! I got it!" Lina said as she clapped her hands together as her eyes lit. "Let's find you a replacement for the Sword of Light!"
"What?!" he said as he wondered if he'd heard her right. That she wasn't ditching him. That she'd even planned to help him! "Lina! Did... Did you just offer to do something nice?!"
"What's that supposed to mean?! Look, Hellmaster only got his hands on the Sword of Light because he was after me in the first place. And no normal sword is going to replace it, so..."
"But are magic swords really that easy to come by?" he asked as a new worry crept up. What if whoever owned the magic sword they found didn't want to give it up and Lina wanted to fight them for it?
"Eh, no worries," Lina said, "Fancy blades like that aren't too uncommon. You just gotta look for 'em. I found a few unnamed magical swords on my journey before I met you. Even sent one back home to my sister as a souvenir. If we find a good one, I'll also be able to use it for magical research, so it's a win-win situation."
"Okay!" he said feeling a little better that she had found some swords before and hopefully hadn't roughed up too many people to get them. And over the moon that she was planning to travel with him still, that he would get another chance with her! "Sounds like we're sticking together until we find me a sword, then. You're not gonna make off with my purse while we're on the road, are you?"
"No, darn it!"
"Good! Then let's get going!"
"Where to?"
"I don't know! I'm not the brains of this operation!"
"At least try thinking!" Lina said.
Gourry reached out and put a hand on her head, noting how she smiled slightly as he did. Sure, he had no idea how they'd survived this, but at the moment, it didn't matter.
It was strange to go to bed without the Sword of Light. It had been in his life from the moment he was born, a source of pain and discord. For years he had wished it would just disappear. And then one day it had only for him to find it again while taking a walk through the Elemkian desert. Then he'd been so angry and resentful. He'd wished it had stayed gone! And now, finally, it was.
And Lina was still here.
He wasn't sure what to make of it. He had so many questions he wanted to ask but he was scared to. Embarrassment at being taken prisoner and the trouble he had caused the group held his tongue. He had put their lives in danger by having him come to rescue him. All he'd been was a burden.
But still Lina was here.
He looked over at the wall separating them and could hear her even breathing. She was asleep. And likely safer than she'd ever been since Saillune. Maybe she didn't need him. But he needed her.
It was hard to sleep. Thoughts of his family, thoughts of the torment that Hellmaster put him through, questions about why he'd been kidnapped in the first place and how they were even alive plagued him. He eventually got up. Lina would be fine if he went down to the pub downstairs for a bit.
When he got there he found that Zel and Amelia were there, talking quietly. "I'm surprise you're still up." He said as he joined them.
"Hard time sleeping." Amelia said.
"That seems to be going around." Gourry agreed.
"You are okay Master Gourry?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah," he lied, "I'm surprised we survived all that."
"So are we." Zelgadis said.
"Do you know how?" Gourry asked quietly.
"I think Hellmaster was wanting her to cast that spell. In the hopes that it would go out of control." Zelgadis said, "And I think given that we're all here, Lina must have cast it."
"The ends justify the means!" Amelia said, "Justice triumphs!"
"And I guess you two never thought you needed to stop her?" he asked quietly.
Zel and Amelia looked at each other, "Look, after Hellmaster took you, we were all upset. Even Master Zelgadis. And for Hellmaster to resort to such wicked methods, well, it was easier to believe that Lina wanted no part in his schemes after that."
Zel averted his eyes as he said, "Lina was in a bad place emotionally after you were taken."
"She tried to put on that brave face she does." Amelia said with a small smile. "But she was heartbroken."
"Huh?" Gourry said as he wondered if Amelia was stringing him along.
"You're a good man Master Gourry. You didn't deserve whatever Hellmaster had planned for you. So we made a bargain with Lina that we wouldn't question her anymore and focus solely on getting you back. And we did!" Amelia said with a smile.
Gourry felt a lump form in his throat as his eyes grew misty as he wondered if it meant that they cared more than they let on, that Lina cared more than she let on! "Anyway, I'm going to head up to bed." Amelia said.
Once she was gone and Gourry had composed himself he asked Zel, "Was Lina really heartbroken?"
"I could hear her crying in her room at times." Zelgadis said in his deadpan manner.
"But then why did she kick me?"
"Sylphiel stole her thunder a bit by casting a Dragon Slave with Lina. For a moment we thought it had worked and destroyed Hellmaster. I think she was mad about it."
"I wish she'd taken it up with her then." Gourry muttered.
"For what, saving you?" Zelgadis said as he finished his drink, "I don't really understand these matters of the heart or why so many people desire them. It seems you just get a lot of pain for your effort."
"I guess I'm just an idiot for even thinking I have a chance with her." Gourry said. "Even if I don't, though, it's fun to be around her."
"So you think it's worth the pain?"
"Yeah, I do." Gourry said, "Especially once this whole mess with Fibrizo becomes a distant memory. We've not been together long but we've had a lot of good times. And now we can have more of them."
"I think I'm missing a pair of pants." Gourry said as he sorted through his supplies the next morning.
"You mean you remember that stuff?" Zelgadis asked.
"I keep track of what I have," Gourry said, "I had an old, worn pair in here."
"Lina was the one who kept up with your supplies while you were gone." Zel said as he hoisted his own pack up. "At anyrate, I'll be parting ways after breakfast."
"Hey, thanks for sticking with us through all of this." Gourry said.
Zel waved him off as they set out for the breakfast table where Lina was already sitting with Amelia and Sylphiel. "I heard that there are some rumors of a powerful sword there, so I think it's a good place to start." Lina was saying.
"So I guess that means we'll be parting ways in Marga." Amelia said, "We should get there in this afternoon. Morning Master Zelgadis! Master Gourry!"
Lina turned abruptly in her seat and gave him a big smile as her eyes grew misty, "Morning!"
"Morning," he said as he took a seat beside her noting how her gaze followed him as he did.
"How are you feeling Sir Gourry?" Sylphiel asked.
"Well." Gourry said. "What's for breakfast?"
Was it his imagination or was Lina looking at him a lot? Well, they all seemed to. He wasn't sure how long he was gone but they all seemed to look at him as though they were scared he would suddenly disappear. Perhaps when he told himself that he'd been a worthless burden it was more of his mind being mean to him. Would they really have risked so much for a worthless burden?
They finished breakfast and said goodbye to Zel who took the road to the south. As they started walking to the east his eyes were drawn to Lina's pants and the fact that there was something familiar about them. "Say Lina," he said, "Where did you get those pants?"
"Oh," she said as she looked a little bashful, "Well, after the battle of Dragon's Peak my clothes were a little worse for the wear and we really didn't have time during the day for shopping. So I found an old pair of pants among your things and altered them. I hope you weren't too attached to them or anything."
"Nah," he said as he wondered if she'd seen the bracelets. "I would have had to throw them out soon but it always seems like a waste of good fabric. My grandmother would always find ways to alter what clothing we had to get the most use of it even if it was just a rag to clean with."
"Looks like someone in your family had some brains and knew how to make the most of her money!" Lina said.
"I'm surprised an adventuress such as yourself would know how to sew Mistress Lina." Sylphiel said.
"Sorcery is expensive!" Lina said, "I didn't come from money. I'd altered my dad's old pants to make traveling clothes in the first place."
"I'm just amazed you can do all that!" Amelia said, "Is it hard?"
"Not really." Lina said, "And it's relaxing on nights when I'm too stressed out to read."
"I've learned so much about the way common people live." Amelia mused.
"Common?" Lina repeated.
"It's not an insult!" Amelia said. "And my time here was challenging but well worth it. When I return to Saillune I will be a better princess and able to serve my people better."
"Well, I'm glad you got something from it." Lina said. "I'm just glad to have this target off my back and get back to life as normal."
Normal. Now that the danger was over they could finally pick up where they had left off and things could be the way they were before they'd traveled to Saillune. When they parted ways with Amelia and Sylphiel the feeling returned once more that things were returning to normal. It was just Lina, him and the road, enjoying their funny banter as it should be.
As the sun set they found a town with a restaurant and when they came in they noticed a woman towards the back singing folksongs and providing a nice, ambient atmosphere. They found a table and ate quietly as they listened, occasionally stealing food from the other's plate but being mindful to not make too much of a racket. When he finished his dinner he started to nurse his ale as he enjoyed the music and the fact that he was alive to enjoy a good meal and a show.
"Long have we parted been, laddie my dearie, now we have met again, laddie lie near me." She sang as she strung her mandolin. "Here in the firelight, what joy to see thee, all the long winter night, laddie lie near me."
Lina's breathing hitched. It was subtle and soft but enough for him to look at her in surprise as he noticed that tears were forming in her eyes. "Lina, are you okay?" he asked softly.
"I'm fine!" she snapped as she got up and went up to her room, leaving Gourry feeling stunned and confused as he wondered whether she really was fine and whether things could truly return to normal.
AN: "Laddie/Lassie Lie Near Me" is an old Scottish folksong first recorded in the 16th century (so it should not be subject to any copyright laws). I was first introduced to the song through the Connie Dover version.