Chapter 2

Prelude

Earlier that week...

Gourry gave a long suffering sigh as the tailor poked and prodded his outfit. He felt like he was trapped in his new jacket. The material was heavy and stiff, with beautiful brocade all in blue, but Gourry wanted nothing more than to be back in his simple comfortable clothing. He flinched slightly as the sadistic tailor once again pricked him with a pin while taking in the jacket. There was a knock on the door, and the tailor gave the ok to come in. Amelia poked her head in and smiled.

"You look wonderful Gourry-san!"

Gourry shifted his shoulders restlessly, before the tailor cruely jerked the jacket back straight. "This is really uncomfortable," he muttered. However the narrowing of eyes showed that he'd been heard.

"It's your own fault Gourry-san, I told you to get measured as soon as we got here. If you'd gotten measured then the tailor's would have had longer to get the fit right." At Gourry's suitably sorry expression she softened slightly, "besides it'll feel much better once the alterations are finished." Gourry still looked fairly gloomy, so Amelia tried once more. "If you stay still it will be done sooner, and as soon as you're done you can have lunch." As expected Gourry's eyes light up at the mention of lunch.

"Alright," he said in a happy voice. He went ramrod straight and seemed to freeze in place, Amelia wondered if she should check him for breathing. Shaking her head slightly Amelia turned and left the room. Continuing down the hall she knocked again, and was once again bid to enter.

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly. "Lina-san you look wonderful!" Lina stood on a small stool as the seamstress slowly pinned the hem in place. Lina was very carefully standing erect and sent a pained smile in Amelia's direction. "Is something wrong Lina-san?"

"No," said Lina shortly.

The seamstress looked up with a sympathetic smile. "I just accidentally made it a bit to big and had to pin it in place, if she moves around the pins prick her." Lina glared at the seamstress, who mildly went on pinning the hem in place. Amelia wisely chose not to comment.

"It does look wonderful on you Lina-san," said Amelia. Given Lina's irritation Amelia decided it would be safer to announce lunch after Lina was finished, after all if Lina decided to rip the dress to shreds in her excitement to reach lunch the damage could well be irreparable.

"Where's your dress?" growled Lina.

"Oh my dress was finished up last week." Lina went back to glaring down at the seamstress. Amelia sighed, Lina really did look wonderful, though she wondered if she'd be able to get her headband away from her for the ball.

"All finished dear, let me help you out of this so you don't get stuck again." Lina's gaze looked like it could smelt steel, but the seamstress continued in a grandmotherly fashion and helped Lina carefully out of the dress. "I'll get to work on this so we can check it once more before the ball." As soon as the dress was off Lina had practically leapt down of the stool and darted for her usual clothing.

"Now that you're done we can go have lunch on the patio," said Amelia in a happy tone. As hoped the mention of food remarkably improved Lina's mood as she jammed on her boots before running to the door. Amelia had carefully cleared herself from the path between Lina and said door, so she safely followed Lina at slower pace, as the redhead all but flew to the nearby patio where food was laid out. Unfortunately she hadn't realized Gourry would be done at about the same time, and was nearly flattened as he darted after Lina, begging her not to eat all the food. By the time Amelia reached the patio over half the food was gone and the rest was going fast. She sat at the far end of the table and ate at a considerably more moderate rate. When the food was gone at last Amelia decided it was safe to try conversation.

"I'm so glad you both agreed to getting nice clothes for the ball! It's going to be just great!"

"Lina's getting a new suit too?"

"I'm getting a dress!" snapped Lina.

"Oh, well that makes sense."

Lina gave him an exasperated look. "Why on earth would I be getting a suit?"

Gourry shrugged, "you don't usually do girly things." He said it like it was a self-evident fact of life, akin to the grass being green. "But it's probably better that you are getting a dress, that way no one will think you're a boy."

"WHAT?" yelled Lina.

"Well if you're wearing a dress it will be obvious that you're a girl even if you don't have a very big chest." Immediately following this statement Gourry experienced two nearly simultaneous impacts to the head, the first from Lina's elbow and the second from the table.

Lina didn't even bother to say anything as she stormed off. Amelia had been waiting for the rest of Gourry's punishment and was surprised to see Lina stalking down the corridors as fearful servants fled before her. The princess sent a reproachful look to the swordsman who was trying to realign his face.

"You really shouldn't say things like that Gourry-san, Lina-san is upset enough about wearing a dress without being provoked." Gourry blinked back at her with a blank expression on his face.

"What's provoked?"

"Never mind Gourry-san," said Amelia with a sigh. Oh I hope she doesn't destroy anything or anyone important.

In a forest not so far away...

"FIREBALL!"

Screams erupted from the bandit camp as Lina stalked into it, her figure practically glowing with the power of her rage. She leveled a glare at the nearest bandit, who predictably decided to make his fate that much worse.

"It's just some flat-chested kid!" he yelped in astonishment.

The glow around Lina went from red to black. "GAAV FLARE!" The bandit and the area immediately around him shortly ceased to exist on any but the sub-atomic level. While Lina was an acknowledged master of Black Magic, most of what she used often was actually Shamanist magic. Black Magic was more potent than was usually needed, though Lina was prone to throwing the Dragon Slave around... it was more a power demonstration than anything else. Little girls didn't cast the most powerful spell in Black Magic, Lina Inverse did. So why wasn't she casting it now? Because she still had too much aggression to work off.

"BURST RONDO! FLARE ARROW! MONO VOLT!"

The bandits were almost all gone, and Lina was still mad. But her anger was low enough now that one big spell should do it.

"Darkness beyond twilight-"

Terror reached a new height as one of the bandits recognized the glow surrounding Lina's form as she chanted. The remaining bandits made a made scramble to get out of the way, but Lina had cast this spell often, and could do it with an ease that was truly impressive.

"DRAGON SLAVE!" What little remained of the bandits disappeared... along with several square acres of forest. Lina heaved a sigh and stretched. She was still a bit irritated, but she felt much better. She happily began to rummage through what little remained of the bandits lair. Selling off the loot would help further improve her mood. Really it was a wonder there were any bandits this close to Seyruun. Well maybe she had put quite a bit into her Ray Wing spell, but she was still fairly near the castle. Really it just went to show that she shouldn't have been laying around the palace so much if there were bandits within spell flight. She smiled suddenly at a piece of jewelry she'd just spotted, it was a hair comb done in gold and set with pearls and rubies. While Lina wasn't wild about this ball, she knew that this was a nice piece to have landed in the bandits camp and that it would look nice with her hair and dress. She grinned and carefully placed it in a cloak pocket before scooping the rest of the haul into a bag and swinging it over her shoulder. She'd sort through the rest of it back at her room in the palace.

In the palace...

Lina was waltzing in through one of the entrances off of the garden when she froze mid-step.

"Gourry-dear I made some cookies for you, would you like them?"

"Thanks Sylphiel!"

Lina's good mood evaporated. She slowly turned and walked towards the voices, stopping just before entrance to the room and looking in quietly. Sylphiel stood in a pretty dress with a platter full of cookies that Gourry was happily devouring. He was smiling at her between bits and she was blushing up at him, oozing femininity and charm. Lina sighed, when had Sylphiel shown up? As if I needed any more reminders of how unfeminine I am. Putting a determined look on her face she walked into the room with a smile.

"Sylphiel! Hi I didn't know you were here!"

"Lina-san! How are you?" asked the shrine maiden.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, I just got here. When I got the invitation to the ball I was so excited!"

Lina twitched ever so slightly at the mention of the ball, "good. I'll just go on to my room now, lots to do." Lina walked quickly back the way she'd come, and while both Sylphiel and Gourry sent a cheerful farewell after her she couldn't help but feel as if she was escaping.

The day of the ball...

Lina ate heartily, she had been offended when Amelia had explained that she was giving both her and Gourry a full banquet before the banquet in hopes of curbing their appetites. But Amelia had said firmly that she didn't want the other guests to go without and she wasn't sure the kitchen could handle everyone if they were meeting her and Gourry's appetite. The idea had merit, and besides, all this yummy food was completely hers since she was in her room. That Amelia had chosen to mention this as she led Lina into her room to "prepare for the ball" had been exceedingly helpful to her cause. Lina smiled lovingly at the remaining food, before picking a new dish to consume. Few things in life gave her the pleasure she got from eating a good meal. When at last Lina felt completely full, and there was no more food to be had she stretched in contentment and went to the bathroom to clean up. She still had a few hours and a good soak before tonight would help her mood.

Lina peeled out of her clothes and scrubbed off, before rinsing and climbing into the tub. She sighed as the hot water enveloped her, leaning back against the edge she relaxed into the mellow feelings that accompanied the lightly scented water. As her mind drifted she thought about the past week. She'd spent most of it avoiding everyone, especially Gourry and Sylphiel. She sighed slightly as she thought about Gourry. She loved him, she knew that, but sometimes she wondered what kind of love it was. Her world had shattered when Hellmaster had taken him, and he was certainly good looking. Ah hell, Gourry was beautiful, in every sense of the word. Tall and muscled with beautiful blue eyes, and even more beautiful blond hair, Gourry was what almost any young girl would describe when asked for the perfect looking man. Unfortunately having conversations with any depth happened only on occasion, and he was completely unable to discuss magic or complex theories. Gourry's insights were on a completely instinctual level when they occurred. She idly wondered how someone who seemed to lack so much in the cognitive thinking department had such amazing instincts about things, it was like he had a sixth sense about everything. Lina rubbed her temples as she realized that her mood of relaxation was fast disappearing. A knock on the bathroom door cut off any further introspection.

"Who is it?"

"My name is Holly, I'm a maid. Princess Amelia sent me to fix your hair."

Lina sighed, she wasn't remotely relaxed.