SailorStar9: Anyway, Chapter 1 goes up. This is Chapter 2. To all my non-reviewing readers, I love you all! Will love you more if you review! *hugs all round!*
Disclaimers: Nothing here is mine, well, except the plot and the pairing.
Chapter 2: CRASH! Red and White and Suspicious All Over!
"I don't buy it." Lina was suspicious.
"I'm sure I must seem very suspicious to you." Zelgadis remarked. "But for now, I have no intention of harming you. I merely wish to perform a business transaction."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Lina muttered.
"Do the terms 'for now' and 'intention' change once you're in?" Aria inquired.
"I suppose saying 'don't worry' would be useless." Zelgadis stated. "However, I believe you have a substantial bodyguard in there as well."
"I warn you now." Lina laid the terms. "Any funny business and you'll get a spell attack you won't forget."
"I'll do no such thing." Zelgadis assured.
"Wait, you're letting him in?" Gourry gaped.
"Just try to look threatening, Mr. Bodyguard." Aria joked. "Right, Gourry, open the door." She instructed, taking a seat on the window sill.
"No, nothing suspicious here." Lina noted. "Well, are you friends with the Mummy Man here?" she asked, Zolf entering as well."
"Mummy Man?" Zolf echoed.
"His name is Zolf." Zelgadis explained. "He's a responsible servant, which makes him impertinent at times. Please forgive him."
"No problem." Lina assured. "I'll just raise the price."
"You're a shrewd woman." Zelgadis admitted. "Now then, to business."
"You said you wanted something of mine?" Lina stated.
"Yes, an item you acquired from those bandits recently." Zelgadis replied.
"And what is this 'item'?" Lina pressed.
"That I won't say." Zelgadis insisted.
"Well then, I guess the transaction is cancelled." Lina shrugged.
"Wait, if I start off by saying 'I want that particular item', you might overcharge me." Zelgadis defended. "You may not wish to part with it out of curiosity."
"Well, excuse me." Lina pouted. "But you're right about that."
"Show me the items you acquired during the raid and name your price." Zelgadis bantered. "Then I'll tell you the one I want."
"You don't seem one of the bandits." Lina pointed out. "Why?"
"To find that item, I dispatched many of my minions to search." Zelgadis explained. "Then Zolf infiltrated the bandits and stumbled across it. But just as he was ready to take the item out of there…"
"I showed up, right?" Lina beamed. "Stealing from thieves, that's pretty low."
"Lina," Aria cut in. "That's called 'the pot calling the kettle black'."
"Now I understand the circumstances." Lina chuckled nervously. "Anyway, let's run through the inventory of what I took. There's the Orihalcon statue, the enchanted knife and some old coins. Can we leave out the gems? Let's start with the enchanted knife. The price for it is… twelve… million. What's with that reaction?" she fumed, the guys stumbling over their feet in shock. "Men have no balls. You said I could set the price. It's only 100 times the street value. Now for the statue, I'll charge you… thirty million."
Aria had, by now, fallen off the window sill and was rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter.
"I fail to see the humour in this." Zelgadis turned to the water mage on the ground.
"I'm sorry." Aria apologized, wiping off her tears as Lina pulled her up. "It's just that… it's kind of obvious you don't know Lina very well."
"You brats." Zolf snapped. "Make fools of us, will you?"
"Brat?" Lina echoed. "Third-rate wizards who can't tell the difference between a light spell and a fireball can't call me a brat."
"Third-rate wizards?" Zolf retorted. "Wait, that was a light spell?"
"Mr. Third-Rate figures it out." Lina grinned.
"And you're the most impertinent brat I've…" Zolf glared.
"Zolf, enough." Zelgadis cut in. "How about 100 thousand upfront with the rest to be paid later?"
"I don't think so." Lina grinned.
"I have one last idea." Zelgadis offered. "Why don't you join us? In six months, we give you two or even three times your price."
"I see you want it badly." Lina mused. "It must have one hell of a hidden value. The thing is, I really can't say I'd feel comfortable hanging out with your types. I don't have the logic to guide me, just call it woman's intuition. And this woman's intuition tells her that you're the type I'd sooner die than join up with."
"Then you're breaking up our negotiations?" Zelgadis questioned. "That's a pity. As promised, I'll retreat quietly for today. But I will take that item from you by force. Tomorrow morning, the moment you step outside this inn, we will be deadly enemies. Let's go, Zolf. Oh yes." He stopped. "My name is Zelgadis." Aria…? He frowned, stepping outside the inn and looked up at the lighted room. Is that really her?
"Why did you sell those ridiculous prices?" Gourry was confused.
"And if I played along and sold it to them, would you have respected me?" Lina explained.
"No, but won't they come after us now?" Gourry asked.
"I know his type." Aria cut in. "If he said he'll wait till morning, he'll wait."
"Is that your 'woman's intuition'?" Gourry blinked.
"Perhaps." Aria shrugged. "We're hitting the sack now." She shooed Gourry out. "Go to your own room. Good night."
"They must be waiting to ambush us." Lina reasoned, the trio entering the forest the next morning. "Since the best place to do that will be here."
"And knowing that, we still go forward." Gourry sighed.
"Just as we suspected." Aria grinned, spotting the Berserkers around them. "So they think they can get us with all these Berserkers?"
"That'd be a safe bet." Gourry noted, the trio surrounded by the Berserkers.
"Water Dragon!" Aria let her water construct loose as Lina and Gourry cut down the Berserkers. "Blue Tornado!" she blasted the rest of the Berserkers out of the forest.
"Fireball!" Lina cast her spell for good measure.
"Dragon Spooker, huh?" Gourry joked as Lina cast another 'Fireball' spell.
"Water Slicer!" Aria blasted a Berserker off Lina, but not before it wounded her.
"The sun's so warm today." Lina stretched on the slope.
"Now look, Lina." Gourry panted. "Don't you feel sorta of silly letting people fight your battle for you?"
"Sorry about that." Lina apologized. "But I did fight a little."
"At first, and then left us to handle the rest." Gourry corrected.
"You may have a point there." Lina admitted. "Just let me rest a while longer."
"If we don't make it to the next village before sunset, we'll be easy pickings for them." Gourry reminded. "Let's go."
"A little longer." Lina whined. "It's so nice and warm here."
"Would you cut it out?" Gourry chided, grabbing her wrist, only to have her clutch her stomach, the blood from the wound seeping through. "Lina, are you hurt?"
"I just overexerted myself." Lina defended.
"But you're bleeding." Gourry protested.
"I'm all right." Lina assured. "It's just… I'm casting a healing spell."
"It's that Berserker, huh?" Aria reasoned. "Hold on. Healing Mist." She let her vapour of healing waters wash over the wound.
"I'm sorry." Gourry apologized. "I misjudged you."
"What are you doing?" Lina gaped when Gourry picked her up.
"I'm carrying you." Gourry replied. "You're in no condition to walk, right?"
Aria just chuckled as the swordsman carried the protesting sorceress off.
"Where is she?" Rodimus asked, he and his troops burst into Lina's room later that night.
"Right here." Lina jumped down from the top of the door and released a 'fireball' spell into the room, shutting the door afterwards.
"What happened?" Gourry asked, as he and Aria hurried over.
"Bad guys." Lina replied.
"Did you get them?" Aria wondered
"Don't know." Lina shrugged. "A direct hit from my fireballs might melt iron, but…"
"It just had to be troll, didn't it?" Aria sighed, Gourry cutting down a troll that emerged from the room.
"Are you with her, boy?" Rodimus asked, blocking Gourry's blade. "You shouldn't underestimate your elders."
"We'll cover you." Aria assured, restraining one of the trolls with a 'Chain of Water Ring' while Lina knocked the troll out with a spell.
"Those eyes…" Rodimus gaped, staring at Aria. "Luce?"
"What happened to them?" Gourry wondered when Rodimus and his group fell asleep.
"It's a mind control spell." Aria realized. "But who could do so many at once?"
"Midnight visitors can be a nuisance, can't they?" Rezo inquired. "Seeing those suspicious fellows skulking about at night, I couldn't help be stick my nose in here."
"I assume you've put the other people staying here to sleep." Aria stated.
"I expected nothing less from Luce Waterfist's daughter." Rezo remarked. "It avoids the nuisance of having to deal with people who have no connection to this." with a snap of his fingers, he sent Rodimus and his group off. "They were apparently sent by Zelgadis. He is my enemy. He is attempting to resurrect Shabranigdo, the monster king. Zelgadis is a mixture of human, golem and demon; a creature of utter evil. He wishes to revive the Dark Lord and destroy the world. He is now your enemy as well as mine. I am but a humble priest. But I cannot overlook this evil ambition to revive the Dark Lord. Zelgadis is after the key to its revival which fate has placed in your hands. To recover it, he will surround you with enemies. Why don't you give it to me? Then you can spare yourselves this trouble. They are formidable enemies, but I, Rezo, should be able to take care of them."
"Rezo, the Red Priest?" Lina echoed.
"That is a name they sometimes call me." Rezo admitted.
"Then, let me hold the key." Aria offered. "I can't back out of this after hearing the Dark Lord is being revived. They don't know yet we've made contact. If we keep the key, they'll attack us again. When that happens, you can sweep in to help us defeat them."
"That would be dangerous." Rezo objected. "I should be the decoy."
"Great Priest, please, you must trust me." Aria insisted.
"Very well." Rezo relented. "I can see Luce's blood in you." Walking before Lina's room, he cast a time reversal spell to revert the room back to its original state. "From tomorrow on, I will support you from the shadows. Until next time, Luce's daughter." With that, he exited the inn.
SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is finally down. Read and review folks.