Slayers in the Night
Chapter 1: Beginning With Life
"Alright, guys! We made it!! 'All you can eat for a silver-coin' here we come!!" Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme said happily.
"My stomach is ready, Lina!" Gourry cheered.
"Let's do it!" Amelia said bubbily.
The three starved travelers, plus an irate chimera, rushed down the green hills that lead to the village of Margous. A small village that did not realize what a terrible mistake they made in opening up an all you can eat restaurant for only a silver-coin. The chimera, probably the only sensible one at the moment, sweatdropped as he predicted that these three fellow companions of his was going to eat the restaurant out of business. Poor villagers...
-----
Spring was befalling them and as such, the grass was green, the flowers bloomed, it was mating season for the live stock, the sun hung brightly in the sky. None of this mattered as the three travelers gorged down food like there was no tomorrow. Zelgadis calmly sipped his cup of coffee. The owner only stood by helplessly, silently crying.
After they were done, and as Zelgadis predicted, ate every last bit of food the restaurant could provide, they leaned back on their chairs and patted their bulging stomaches, particularly Lina.
"Whew! That was worth the travel, yknow!" Lina said happily.
"Uh-huh," Gourry lazily agreed.
A vein popped out of the chimera's rocky forehead. "Have you forgotten that the reason we've traveled all across the lands was to look for clues for my cure?"
Lina waved his comments away. "C'mon, Zel. We need a few accomodations on the way, right? What's wrong with indulging ourselves a little?"
"This," Zel waved his hand across the table full of dirty dishes, "isn't a little."
"A silver-coin says it is," Lina said and winked.
Zel sighed. "What I meant to say was: every where that we've head to was just for you guys to indulge your stomaches! Nothing in this village will lead me any closer to my cure!"
"Geez, Zel, you need to calm down a bit," Gourry commented, unable to comprehend Zel's irritated mood.
Amelia nodded in agreement. "Mr. Gourry's right! You stress out too much, Mr. Zelgadis! Sometimes we just need to enjoy peace and justice across the lands!"
"More like peace and justice in your stomach," Zel mumbled.
Amelia sweatdropped. "That's just an added bonus, heh heh."
"Yes, well I'm not looking for an 'added bonus', Amelia. I've dedicated my life into finding this cure! It's really annoying when you guys don't take it seriously!" Zel said and slammed his hands on the table, causing what little customers the restaurant had to look at them.
He gave an aggravated sigh. "I'm done for the day. Do whatever you people want, I'm going to find an inn."
The three sweatdropped as the chimera stomped out of the restaurant.
"Ya think we daddle too much?" Lina asked.
"Paddle? We paddle alot?" Gourry blinked.
Lina bonked him on the head. "DADDLE, jellyfish brains!"
Amelia looked at the door. "I didn't realize he'd get so upset...oh, Mr. Zelgadis..." She sighed. One more step back from him...
"There's an inn in this village?" Lina asked.
Amelia nodded and said, "Yup, I noticed it on the way into the restaurant. It's cute, with a hot spring too!"
"Alright! Then what are we waitin' for?!" Lina cheered. "Let's go! Then, when Mr. Stone-head is done sulking, we can really start looking for his stupid cure!"
"Ms. Lina, that's mean," Amelia said. "You know it's important to Mr. Zelgadis."
Lina waved Amelia's comment aside. "He needs to start accepting it. He's not the ONLY one that's suffering, yknow. Geez, he makes it seem like all the enhancements on his body is such a tragic error! With all the adventures we've been through, that body of his saved his ass."
"...well, yea..."
Lina grunted. "Anyway! Let's go to that hotspring! I haven't had a nice soak since the last village!"
"Which you blew up," Gourry commented.
"Hey! I was trying to save it from the bandits! Gimme some credit!" Lina said defensively.
The two sweatdropped. From their point of view, it was more like a ruthless pursue. The bandits had ran into the village for safety, they were surrendering to the villagers to take them to the proper authority. But the leader had insulted Lina Inverse and she was not one to be reckon with. It was proof when she blew them and the whole village up with a Dragon Slave. With pitchforks and whatever they can find handy, the villagers drove them all out. Everyone, particularly Zelgadis, was especially irritated ever since.
"Hey, hey! What's with the look?!" Lina asked. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Uh-huh...."
"Anyway! Let's go check into the inn!" Lina said and stomped out of the restaurant. The other two followed cautiously behind, afraid that at any minute, she'll whip around with a Fireball in hand.
"You people don't appreciate me at all..." They heard her grumble.
------
The hot springs turned out to be bigger than the inn itself. It was more like a public spring for the whole small village. It was behind the inn but it was not only for the guests who stayed at the inn, it was for anyone who was willing to pay the entrance fee and abide by the policies. The springs was actually built from part of the forest and being so, all that was separating them from trees and wildlife were giants rocks. They could not tell whether some strong villagers gathered them together or it was naturally that way.
It was a plain spring, not too shabby but nothing luxurious either. The group could not have cared less since they did not bathe for over three days now. The place was basically made of sticks and stones, or rather really, really big rocks. Entering the place, the wooden walk way creaked under their feet. Various paintings and decorative vases stood to the side of the wooden walls.
The changing area was separated into two sides, however, the spring was not. Since the village was so small, the group figured it was not so well populated. To have a separating wall would have wasted more money for its construction.
Soaking in the hot spring, the group relaxed. Even Zelgadis seemed to relax. The others found him cleaning his wirey, blue hair in one of the tubs meant specifically for cleaning. He ignored them for the time being and the group decided to leave him alone.
Gourry and Zelgadis moved away from the girls, letting them have some of their privacy, although other travelers like themselves grouped together and chatted lively.
"So where do you think we'll go next, Ms. Lina?" Amelia asked.
Leaning on the towel-padded rock, Lina looked at Amelia and said, "I dunno. Wherever Zel wants to go, I guess. If he doesn't take off on his own again, I mean." She closed her eyes lazily and relaxed.
Amelia sighed. "Yeah..." She peered at the chimera and quickly looked at the open night sky. It was filled with stars and Amelia noticed that the moon was full...and blue...? She never noticed it before but the moon was blue?
I guess I should have paid more attention in astronomy lessons, Amelia thought to herself.
Shrugging, she scanned the springs, casually, of course. There were both travelers and villagers in there. Sticking to each other's groups, not mingling with outsiders or insiders. Her eyes fell on a man and a girl, that sat side by side. She lingered on them longer than the others she had no interest of. The man had white hair, in the moonlight, it almost looks silver. He had red eyes, however it was a dull old red, not like Lina's ruby-red. Amelia seen those eyes before, it was held by old men that's been through too many years in life, old eyes, she'd call them. Odd how she thought the man had looked like he was only in his early thirties. What was even more odd was The girl looked no older than Amelia was, perhaps even younger, with soft-looking brown hair that fell from her little, oval-shaped face. But her eyes, red, old eyes as well, made Amelia think twice calling her a young girl. How can a young girl and fairly young man look like their life has been sucked out of them?
For some reason, Amelia could not take her eyes off of them. Out of the corner of her vision, she noticed that others were looking at them too. Turning back to their friends, then taking another glance at the two, man and girl.
"...melia...Amelia!" Lina snapped Amelia back from her reveries.
"Huh? What?" Amelia turned back to look at the sorceress.
"Amelia, what's wrong with you?" Lina asked. "Don't you know it's rude to stare at people? What was so interesting anyway?" She looked at what Amelia was looking at. "Tell me what's so interesting?"
"I...I'm not sure...I just couldn't keep my eyes off of them," Amelia replied. She took another glance at them.
Lina grunted. "Other people are doing it too. That is SO rude. I wouldn't want anybody to stare at us when we're in a hot spring, yknow."
As if the two mesmerizing strangers heard what was being said about them, they turned to look at Lina and Amelia.
Amelia flinched. "Th-they're looking at us, Ms. Lina." She hid behind Lina's back, not sure as to why she suddenly felt a little scared.
"Ugh, see, Amelia? They're mad because nobody would give them any privacy," Lina said and sighed.
Lina looked back at the two strangers, indeed they were now staring unblinkingly at them, and shouted, "Hey, you guys! I'm sorry my friend here's been starin' at ya, but she didn't mean to. She apologizes for her rudeness!"
The two blinked in mild surprise, as if something Lina had done was simply beyond belief. The others in the spring were also surprised as Lina noticed them flinch.
Lina arched an eyebrow, curious as to what was so surprising that she had done.
Murmur began around the spring as people turned back to chat with their friends.
Lina turned to look at Amelia. "Was it something I said?"
"Uh..Ms. Lina, th-they're still staring at us..." Amelia said helplessly.
"Amelia, WHAT is wrong with you? Why are you shivering?" Lina asked. Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to the two people who was still looking at them. "Look, we apologized! What else do you people want?!" Again, she did not wait for a reply as she suddenly stood up. "Ugh! This just ruined my bath!" With a pink bathing suit, and a towel around her waist, she left Amelia, who tried to cling onto her, and stomped off towards the exit.
The girl suddenly stood up as Lina neared the door, the man followed suit.
As Lina pulled at the sliding doors, she felt a shiver down her spine and turned back. She didn't know why, but she looked at the thick forest that hung from the rocks. She abandoned the doors and went back into the shallow waters. The leaves suddenly moved.
"Guys!" Lina called out to her friends. "Something's moving from the trees!"
Everybody, not just her friends, stood up and looked towards the direction Lina was pointing too.
"Eek! A peeping tom!" one of the travelers shrieked.
Some girls panicked and promptly left the spring. Other were still not convinced and stayed.
Lina went back to her friends.
"Are you sure, Lina?" Zelgadis asked, readying a spell.
For some reason, none of them believed that this was a regular peeping tom.
Lina nodded. "Of course, I'm sure! Something was moving from the trees!"
No one noticed the man and the girl looking at the moon with brows furrowed, and stood in the shadows.
"I'll prove it!" Lina said. "FREEZE ARROW!" The ice arrows shot into the bushes of trees.
At first nothing moved. Until hell broke loose.
It happened all of a sudden. Any other who was not convinced to get out of the springs was now when something crashed into the springs. Causing the hot water to splash in all directions. Screams broke out as the groups rushed towards the exit. Lina and the others narrowly jumped away from the actually impact.
As the steam and water cleared, the group gasped at what they saw.
"A-a werewolf?!" Amelia exclaimed.
The hairy beast stood in the middle of the hole it caused in the middle of the spring, breathing in heavily. Saliva covering its mouth.
"No," Lina said, "That's no ordinary werewolf. That's a Lycanthrope."
"Give the girl," a deep, rumbling voice said, "a prize." It suddenly roared in laughter. "You humans look delicious. Who should I have for dinner first?"
"I'd like to see you try!" Lina challenged. "We won't loose to a hairy ass like you!!"
"Yeah! We won't let you do what you want! You unjust beast!!" Amelia shouted and raised her hands. "ELMEKIA LANCE!!!"
The werewolf merely swipe the spell away and charged Amelia. In a blink of an eye, he was upon her, claws ready to gash her stomach.
"AMELIA!!" Zelgadis shouted. "GOZO VROW!!!" The dark spell spread quickly, through Zelgadis' force. The spell reached its target, the Lycan, in a blink of an eye dodged the attack and was charging Zelgadis.
It landed a brutal punch onto Zelgadis' stomach. He flew across the spring and into the gigantic rocks. If it were not for his chimeric form, every one of his bones would have shattered. As it is, his breath was only blown out of his lungs. Even so, he collapsed.
"Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia shrieked and ran to Zelgadis' side.
"Light Come Forth!" Gourry shouted from Lina's side.
The Sword of Light glowing, Gourry charged the Lycan. With fangs and all, it only smirked and took Gourry's attack with one of its arm, the other one swiped Gourry away like a fly. He flew back and into the deep end of the springs.
"Gourry!" Lina shouted and summoned a spell. "FIREBALL!" She hurled the spell towards the Lycan. It jumped into the air. Lina made a gesture towards the ball of fire making its way to the trees and shouted, "BREAK!" Obeying the sorceress, the Fireball broke into tiny fireballs. Faster and somewhat more effective, one hit the monster's tail, spreading quickly to its body.
It howled in deep pain as it caught fire in the air. There was a sizzling noise as it hit the waters, smoke rising. A little tinged throughout its lower body, it howled again, this time in anger.
"You'll pay DEARLY for that, you little bitch!!" it growled and charged the sorceress.
Within a blink of an eye, literally, one moment he was a few ten feet away from Lina, the next, Lina saw him right in front of her, claws extended to swipe her neck.
"Oh shit!" she cursed as she narrowly dodged the attack. Strands of red hair flew freely around.
She ran backwards, having no time to turn around, she dodged each attack with narrowness.
"RAY WING!" She flew up into the sky.
"You can't run away from me!" it growled and jumped into the sky along with the sorceress. It threw, with full force, its claws at her.
"VALIS WALL!" Lina cast a barrier in time to catch the attach. Although it didn't hit her directly, it did hit the barrier directly, making Lina fall back into the springs. She fell, unable to cast a Levitation spell in time, flat on her face, having all the air punched out of her lungs.
"Lina!"
"Ms. Lina!"
Her friends shouted as Lina tried to stand up, wobbled and splashed back into the waters. She cough out water and gasped for air.
Unfortunately, they didn't have time to group back together as the monster, too, fell back into the waters.
With its pupil-less, dark eyes, it growled, "You're very good, sorceress." It spit the last word out like poison. "But not good enough. Although, I've enjoyed this...encounter, I must hurry." It raised its head slightly to look at the blue moon, dark clouds slowly moving over it.
Lina stood up shakily. No way she was going to let this monster get the best of her.
Her friends, she noticed, had edged their way towards her. Although, they weren't exactly clumped together, she could still rely on them for support...hopefully.
"Hmph! All bark and no bite," she said, "no pun intended, of course." She give it an overconfident smirk.
It made no replies. Then it suddenly moved. For an instant, Lina saw a smirk that gave her the a chill down her spines. For another instant, it rushed at her. It was a blur, a really fast blur. She didn't have time to react. She saw her friends running towards her, she saw the monster making its way towards her, hearing something like "I am no ordinary Lycan, sorceress" by her ear, she saw a man and a girl that stood silently in the shadows, then suddenly, she only saw darkness.
"LINAAA!" was all she heard before everything turned to darkness.
-----
The Lycan pulled its bloody claws out of Lina's stomach. It licked off her blood as Lina fell back into the waters.
"Virgin's blood," it commented. "Tasty." It grinned, its fangs bloody.
Everyone gaped at the fallen sorceress, shocked and horrified at what had happened and what was happening in front of them.
"LINAAA!" Gourry shouted. Swelling with anger, he rushed the monster, the Sword of Light glowed brightly in front of him.
"Amelia!" Zelgadis shouted at the younger girl. "Help Lina! Do whatever you can to stop the blood first! I'll back up Gourry! HURRY!"
Zelgadis, with sword drawn, went to Gourry's side.
Amelia, with shaking legs, made her way towards Lina. Blood was gushing out of her small body. The young healer casted a healing spell. Concentrating hard, she took a look at Lina's face and regretted it. Her face was pale, deathly pale.
"Ms. Lina! Ms. Lina! Please hang on! PLEASE!" Amelia begged the unconscious sorceress, tears threatening to flow down her face.
"Amelia! Watch out!" Zelgadis' warning shot through the commotion.
Amelia looked up and saw that the monster was making its way to finish its work. She refused to stop the healing spell to guard herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself for the attack.
A howl made her open her eyes again. The Lycan had burst into flames, blue flames, inches before it had reached her and Lina. Her eyes rolled over to Zelgadis and Gourry who was just as surprised as she was. Her eyes roamed around and found the man and woman disappearing into the shadows.
"Amelia! Stay focus!" Zelgadis' voices snapped Amelia back to their present situation.
Lina's wounds were closed but she was still deathly pale. Her blood had reddened the whole springs. Amelia paled, having no guts for these kinds of situation.
Gourry, after knowing that Lina was safe to move around, put a protective arm around her and lifted her up.
"We need to get out of here," he simply said and got out of what was left of the springs.
Zelgadis followed and looked behind to see that Amelia hadn't done the same. She was staring at a corner.
"Amelia?"
Pale faced, Amelia turned to look at him. "Ms. Lina...she...she's...." Tears welled up.
Zelgadis put an arm around her. "...Let's get out of here."
-----
Through the night, they all crowded around the bed the sorceress was resting on.
Gourry sat closest to her, holding one of her cold hands, soberly looking at the sorceress.
They noticed that her breath became shallower by the minute.
Amelia, still pale from earlier events, sat on the other side with the chimera, standing over her. Looking at Lina, she felt faint.
She stood up shakily, holding onto the chair for support and said, "I--I'll go get some wet towels..." She ran out of the room. Half way down the hall, she collapsed on her knees and sobbed into her hands.
A firm hand pat her shoulder.
"She's not going to make it, Mr. Zelgadis!" she sobbed.
Zelgadis didn't say anything as he kneeled down. "It is...inevitable..."
Amelia shook her head fiercly. "No! NO! It wasn't inevitable! She--she--it--" She cried harder, unable to continue.
Zelgadis hugged the young girl tightly.
"Lina..." Gourry called to the unconscious sorceress softly. "Lina...it'll be okay...you'll be okay..." He said, kissing the small, cold hands.
"Please wake up..." he said through dried lips.
As he looked at the pale face, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a finger flicker. He gasped.
"Lina! Lina?!" He said. Knocking the chair back, the swordsman stood up and rushed through the door. "Amelia! AMELIA!!!"
The door creaked close, eerily if anyone had been there and noticed it. From the shadows of the dark room, two figures formed beside the sorceress. A man and a girl.
"Awake," the girl said simply.
In reponse, the sorceress' lids opened slowly.
"Dying feels shitty..." she managed to say.
"You will die," the girl said.
Ruby-red eyes slid to the two people. She grunted and winced. "Tell me...something I...don't know..." She breathed heavily.
"You will Turn into one of Them," the girl continued. "We can't allow that. We have to kill you before then. Do you want to die?"
"...ha ha...don't say it so...calmly..." the sorceress complained. "You people think...I do...?"
"If not, then you can come with us, become one of US," she said as she looked at her tall companion.
"...and what are you...?" Lina managed to say. Her eyelids were suddenly heavy. She was so sleepy.
"You don't have time for twenty-one questions, girl," the man grumbled with a deep voice.
A hand rose from the girl, silencing her companion. "We...are one of the creatures of the Night. My companion is right, you do not have much time, do you or do you not wish to see another night?"
Lina managed to pop open her lids. She was Lina Inverse! No way was she going to stop here!
"...yes...yes, I wish to see another night..." she breathed out heavily. With that her eyes closed, unable to resist the sleep that crept over her.
The girl nodded to her companion who produced a knife from his black coat. It was silver, embroidered with ruby on its hilt. He put it over the sorceress' heart and pushed it in. The ruby glowed and something seemed to drain from the jewel, making it look dull.
Lina gasped as her eyes popped open. For an instant, her eyes glowed red.
"By the power of our Lord, our true Lord, our only Dark Lord" the girl chanted, a small hand placed on Lina's forehead. "Let this sheep be lost into the depths of Darkness and be one of Us. Nema."
With the last word, and a sudden whooshing sound, the two disappeared into the shadows.
Lina's red eyes stopped its glow, became hallow, closed and she rested.
Everything was as Gourry left it as the three came back into the room. Only to find that Lina Inverse, the Sorceress Supreme was no longer breathing.
Two figures and a third shadow hovered around the dark sky, observing the commotion in the small room. With a snap from one of the figures, they disappeared.
-----
Author's notes: So yea, there ya go! Chapter 1! Wasn't much, was it! D; anywhos, i revised it again and again, not sure how to connect it to the second chapter! AGH! I dont even know where I'm going with this! Oh wells! I'll surprise y'all! :D BTW, did anybody noticed Nema was Amen backwards?! Hope it isn't blasphemous or anything, i just put it in, thought it was kool. Forgive me if i sinned!
Chapter 1: Beginning With Life
"Alright, guys! We made it!! 'All you can eat for a silver-coin' here we come!!" Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme said happily.
"My stomach is ready, Lina!" Gourry cheered.
"Let's do it!" Amelia said bubbily.
The three starved travelers, plus an irate chimera, rushed down the green hills that lead to the village of Margous. A small village that did not realize what a terrible mistake they made in opening up an all you can eat restaurant for only a silver-coin. The chimera, probably the only sensible one at the moment, sweatdropped as he predicted that these three fellow companions of his was going to eat the restaurant out of business. Poor villagers...
-----
Spring was befalling them and as such, the grass was green, the flowers bloomed, it was mating season for the live stock, the sun hung brightly in the sky. None of this mattered as the three travelers gorged down food like there was no tomorrow. Zelgadis calmly sipped his cup of coffee. The owner only stood by helplessly, silently crying.
After they were done, and as Zelgadis predicted, ate every last bit of food the restaurant could provide, they leaned back on their chairs and patted their bulging stomaches, particularly Lina.
"Whew! That was worth the travel, yknow!" Lina said happily.
"Uh-huh," Gourry lazily agreed.
A vein popped out of the chimera's rocky forehead. "Have you forgotten that the reason we've traveled all across the lands was to look for clues for my cure?"
Lina waved his comments away. "C'mon, Zel. We need a few accomodations on the way, right? What's wrong with indulging ourselves a little?"
"This," Zel waved his hand across the table full of dirty dishes, "isn't a little."
"A silver-coin says it is," Lina said and winked.
Zel sighed. "What I meant to say was: every where that we've head to was just for you guys to indulge your stomaches! Nothing in this village will lead me any closer to my cure!"
"Geez, Zel, you need to calm down a bit," Gourry commented, unable to comprehend Zel's irritated mood.
Amelia nodded in agreement. "Mr. Gourry's right! You stress out too much, Mr. Zelgadis! Sometimes we just need to enjoy peace and justice across the lands!"
"More like peace and justice in your stomach," Zel mumbled.
Amelia sweatdropped. "That's just an added bonus, heh heh."
"Yes, well I'm not looking for an 'added bonus', Amelia. I've dedicated my life into finding this cure! It's really annoying when you guys don't take it seriously!" Zel said and slammed his hands on the table, causing what little customers the restaurant had to look at them.
He gave an aggravated sigh. "I'm done for the day. Do whatever you people want, I'm going to find an inn."
The three sweatdropped as the chimera stomped out of the restaurant.
"Ya think we daddle too much?" Lina asked.
"Paddle? We paddle alot?" Gourry blinked.
Lina bonked him on the head. "DADDLE, jellyfish brains!"
Amelia looked at the door. "I didn't realize he'd get so upset...oh, Mr. Zelgadis..." She sighed. One more step back from him...
"There's an inn in this village?" Lina asked.
Amelia nodded and said, "Yup, I noticed it on the way into the restaurant. It's cute, with a hot spring too!"
"Alright! Then what are we waitin' for?!" Lina cheered. "Let's go! Then, when Mr. Stone-head is done sulking, we can really start looking for his stupid cure!"
"Ms. Lina, that's mean," Amelia said. "You know it's important to Mr. Zelgadis."
Lina waved Amelia's comment aside. "He needs to start accepting it. He's not the ONLY one that's suffering, yknow. Geez, he makes it seem like all the enhancements on his body is such a tragic error! With all the adventures we've been through, that body of his saved his ass."
"...well, yea..."
Lina grunted. "Anyway! Let's go to that hotspring! I haven't had a nice soak since the last village!"
"Which you blew up," Gourry commented.
"Hey! I was trying to save it from the bandits! Gimme some credit!" Lina said defensively.
The two sweatdropped. From their point of view, it was more like a ruthless pursue. The bandits had ran into the village for safety, they were surrendering to the villagers to take them to the proper authority. But the leader had insulted Lina Inverse and she was not one to be reckon with. It was proof when she blew them and the whole village up with a Dragon Slave. With pitchforks and whatever they can find handy, the villagers drove them all out. Everyone, particularly Zelgadis, was especially irritated ever since.
"Hey, hey! What's with the look?!" Lina asked. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Uh-huh...."
"Anyway! Let's go check into the inn!" Lina said and stomped out of the restaurant. The other two followed cautiously behind, afraid that at any minute, she'll whip around with a Fireball in hand.
"You people don't appreciate me at all..." They heard her grumble.
------
The hot springs turned out to be bigger than the inn itself. It was more like a public spring for the whole small village. It was behind the inn but it was not only for the guests who stayed at the inn, it was for anyone who was willing to pay the entrance fee and abide by the policies. The springs was actually built from part of the forest and being so, all that was separating them from trees and wildlife were giants rocks. They could not tell whether some strong villagers gathered them together or it was naturally that way.
It was a plain spring, not too shabby but nothing luxurious either. The group could not have cared less since they did not bathe for over three days now. The place was basically made of sticks and stones, or rather really, really big rocks. Entering the place, the wooden walk way creaked under their feet. Various paintings and decorative vases stood to the side of the wooden walls.
The changing area was separated into two sides, however, the spring was not. Since the village was so small, the group figured it was not so well populated. To have a separating wall would have wasted more money for its construction.
Soaking in the hot spring, the group relaxed. Even Zelgadis seemed to relax. The others found him cleaning his wirey, blue hair in one of the tubs meant specifically for cleaning. He ignored them for the time being and the group decided to leave him alone.
Gourry and Zelgadis moved away from the girls, letting them have some of their privacy, although other travelers like themselves grouped together and chatted lively.
"So where do you think we'll go next, Ms. Lina?" Amelia asked.
Leaning on the towel-padded rock, Lina looked at Amelia and said, "I dunno. Wherever Zel wants to go, I guess. If he doesn't take off on his own again, I mean." She closed her eyes lazily and relaxed.
Amelia sighed. "Yeah..." She peered at the chimera and quickly looked at the open night sky. It was filled with stars and Amelia noticed that the moon was full...and blue...? She never noticed it before but the moon was blue?
I guess I should have paid more attention in astronomy lessons, Amelia thought to herself.
Shrugging, she scanned the springs, casually, of course. There were both travelers and villagers in there. Sticking to each other's groups, not mingling with outsiders or insiders. Her eyes fell on a man and a girl, that sat side by side. She lingered on them longer than the others she had no interest of. The man had white hair, in the moonlight, it almost looks silver. He had red eyes, however it was a dull old red, not like Lina's ruby-red. Amelia seen those eyes before, it was held by old men that's been through too many years in life, old eyes, she'd call them. Odd how she thought the man had looked like he was only in his early thirties. What was even more odd was The girl looked no older than Amelia was, perhaps even younger, with soft-looking brown hair that fell from her little, oval-shaped face. But her eyes, red, old eyes as well, made Amelia think twice calling her a young girl. How can a young girl and fairly young man look like their life has been sucked out of them?
For some reason, Amelia could not take her eyes off of them. Out of the corner of her vision, she noticed that others were looking at them too. Turning back to their friends, then taking another glance at the two, man and girl.
"...melia...Amelia!" Lina snapped Amelia back from her reveries.
"Huh? What?" Amelia turned back to look at the sorceress.
"Amelia, what's wrong with you?" Lina asked. "Don't you know it's rude to stare at people? What was so interesting anyway?" She looked at what Amelia was looking at. "Tell me what's so interesting?"
"I...I'm not sure...I just couldn't keep my eyes off of them," Amelia replied. She took another glance at them.
Lina grunted. "Other people are doing it too. That is SO rude. I wouldn't want anybody to stare at us when we're in a hot spring, yknow."
As if the two mesmerizing strangers heard what was being said about them, they turned to look at Lina and Amelia.
Amelia flinched. "Th-they're looking at us, Ms. Lina." She hid behind Lina's back, not sure as to why she suddenly felt a little scared.
"Ugh, see, Amelia? They're mad because nobody would give them any privacy," Lina said and sighed.
Lina looked back at the two strangers, indeed they were now staring unblinkingly at them, and shouted, "Hey, you guys! I'm sorry my friend here's been starin' at ya, but she didn't mean to. She apologizes for her rudeness!"
The two blinked in mild surprise, as if something Lina had done was simply beyond belief. The others in the spring were also surprised as Lina noticed them flinch.
Lina arched an eyebrow, curious as to what was so surprising that she had done.
Murmur began around the spring as people turned back to chat with their friends.
Lina turned to look at Amelia. "Was it something I said?"
"Uh..Ms. Lina, th-they're still staring at us..." Amelia said helplessly.
"Amelia, WHAT is wrong with you? Why are you shivering?" Lina asked. Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to the two people who was still looking at them. "Look, we apologized! What else do you people want?!" Again, she did not wait for a reply as she suddenly stood up. "Ugh! This just ruined my bath!" With a pink bathing suit, and a towel around her waist, she left Amelia, who tried to cling onto her, and stomped off towards the exit.
The girl suddenly stood up as Lina neared the door, the man followed suit.
As Lina pulled at the sliding doors, she felt a shiver down her spine and turned back. She didn't know why, but she looked at the thick forest that hung from the rocks. She abandoned the doors and went back into the shallow waters. The leaves suddenly moved.
"Guys!" Lina called out to her friends. "Something's moving from the trees!"
Everybody, not just her friends, stood up and looked towards the direction Lina was pointing too.
"Eek! A peeping tom!" one of the travelers shrieked.
Some girls panicked and promptly left the spring. Other were still not convinced and stayed.
Lina went back to her friends.
"Are you sure, Lina?" Zelgadis asked, readying a spell.
For some reason, none of them believed that this was a regular peeping tom.
Lina nodded. "Of course, I'm sure! Something was moving from the trees!"
No one noticed the man and the girl looking at the moon with brows furrowed, and stood in the shadows.
"I'll prove it!" Lina said. "FREEZE ARROW!" The ice arrows shot into the bushes of trees.
At first nothing moved. Until hell broke loose.
It happened all of a sudden. Any other who was not convinced to get out of the springs was now when something crashed into the springs. Causing the hot water to splash in all directions. Screams broke out as the groups rushed towards the exit. Lina and the others narrowly jumped away from the actually impact.
As the steam and water cleared, the group gasped at what they saw.
"A-a werewolf?!" Amelia exclaimed.
The hairy beast stood in the middle of the hole it caused in the middle of the spring, breathing in heavily. Saliva covering its mouth.
"No," Lina said, "That's no ordinary werewolf. That's a Lycanthrope."
"Give the girl," a deep, rumbling voice said, "a prize." It suddenly roared in laughter. "You humans look delicious. Who should I have for dinner first?"
"I'd like to see you try!" Lina challenged. "We won't loose to a hairy ass like you!!"
"Yeah! We won't let you do what you want! You unjust beast!!" Amelia shouted and raised her hands. "ELMEKIA LANCE!!!"
The werewolf merely swipe the spell away and charged Amelia. In a blink of an eye, he was upon her, claws ready to gash her stomach.
"AMELIA!!" Zelgadis shouted. "GOZO VROW!!!" The dark spell spread quickly, through Zelgadis' force. The spell reached its target, the Lycan, in a blink of an eye dodged the attack and was charging Zelgadis.
It landed a brutal punch onto Zelgadis' stomach. He flew across the spring and into the gigantic rocks. If it were not for his chimeric form, every one of his bones would have shattered. As it is, his breath was only blown out of his lungs. Even so, he collapsed.
"Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia shrieked and ran to Zelgadis' side.
"Light Come Forth!" Gourry shouted from Lina's side.
The Sword of Light glowing, Gourry charged the Lycan. With fangs and all, it only smirked and took Gourry's attack with one of its arm, the other one swiped Gourry away like a fly. He flew back and into the deep end of the springs.
"Gourry!" Lina shouted and summoned a spell. "FIREBALL!" She hurled the spell towards the Lycan. It jumped into the air. Lina made a gesture towards the ball of fire making its way to the trees and shouted, "BREAK!" Obeying the sorceress, the Fireball broke into tiny fireballs. Faster and somewhat more effective, one hit the monster's tail, spreading quickly to its body.
It howled in deep pain as it caught fire in the air. There was a sizzling noise as it hit the waters, smoke rising. A little tinged throughout its lower body, it howled again, this time in anger.
"You'll pay DEARLY for that, you little bitch!!" it growled and charged the sorceress.
Within a blink of an eye, literally, one moment he was a few ten feet away from Lina, the next, Lina saw him right in front of her, claws extended to swipe her neck.
"Oh shit!" she cursed as she narrowly dodged the attack. Strands of red hair flew freely around.
She ran backwards, having no time to turn around, she dodged each attack with narrowness.
"RAY WING!" She flew up into the sky.
"You can't run away from me!" it growled and jumped into the sky along with the sorceress. It threw, with full force, its claws at her.
"VALIS WALL!" Lina cast a barrier in time to catch the attach. Although it didn't hit her directly, it did hit the barrier directly, making Lina fall back into the springs. She fell, unable to cast a Levitation spell in time, flat on her face, having all the air punched out of her lungs.
"Lina!"
"Ms. Lina!"
Her friends shouted as Lina tried to stand up, wobbled and splashed back into the waters. She cough out water and gasped for air.
Unfortunately, they didn't have time to group back together as the monster, too, fell back into the waters.
With its pupil-less, dark eyes, it growled, "You're very good, sorceress." It spit the last word out like poison. "But not good enough. Although, I've enjoyed this...encounter, I must hurry." It raised its head slightly to look at the blue moon, dark clouds slowly moving over it.
Lina stood up shakily. No way she was going to let this monster get the best of her.
Her friends, she noticed, had edged their way towards her. Although, they weren't exactly clumped together, she could still rely on them for support...hopefully.
"Hmph! All bark and no bite," she said, "no pun intended, of course." She give it an overconfident smirk.
It made no replies. Then it suddenly moved. For an instant, Lina saw a smirk that gave her the a chill down her spines. For another instant, it rushed at her. It was a blur, a really fast blur. She didn't have time to react. She saw her friends running towards her, she saw the monster making its way towards her, hearing something like "I am no ordinary Lycan, sorceress" by her ear, she saw a man and a girl that stood silently in the shadows, then suddenly, she only saw darkness.
"LINAAA!" was all she heard before everything turned to darkness.
-----
The Lycan pulled its bloody claws out of Lina's stomach. It licked off her blood as Lina fell back into the waters.
"Virgin's blood," it commented. "Tasty." It grinned, its fangs bloody.
Everyone gaped at the fallen sorceress, shocked and horrified at what had happened and what was happening in front of them.
"LINAAA!" Gourry shouted. Swelling with anger, he rushed the monster, the Sword of Light glowed brightly in front of him.
"Amelia!" Zelgadis shouted at the younger girl. "Help Lina! Do whatever you can to stop the blood first! I'll back up Gourry! HURRY!"
Zelgadis, with sword drawn, went to Gourry's side.
Amelia, with shaking legs, made her way towards Lina. Blood was gushing out of her small body. The young healer casted a healing spell. Concentrating hard, she took a look at Lina's face and regretted it. Her face was pale, deathly pale.
"Ms. Lina! Ms. Lina! Please hang on! PLEASE!" Amelia begged the unconscious sorceress, tears threatening to flow down her face.
"Amelia! Watch out!" Zelgadis' warning shot through the commotion.
Amelia looked up and saw that the monster was making its way to finish its work. She refused to stop the healing spell to guard herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself for the attack.
A howl made her open her eyes again. The Lycan had burst into flames, blue flames, inches before it had reached her and Lina. Her eyes rolled over to Zelgadis and Gourry who was just as surprised as she was. Her eyes roamed around and found the man and woman disappearing into the shadows.
"Amelia! Stay focus!" Zelgadis' voices snapped Amelia back to their present situation.
Lina's wounds were closed but she was still deathly pale. Her blood had reddened the whole springs. Amelia paled, having no guts for these kinds of situation.
Gourry, after knowing that Lina was safe to move around, put a protective arm around her and lifted her up.
"We need to get out of here," he simply said and got out of what was left of the springs.
Zelgadis followed and looked behind to see that Amelia hadn't done the same. She was staring at a corner.
"Amelia?"
Pale faced, Amelia turned to look at him. "Ms. Lina...she...she's...." Tears welled up.
Zelgadis put an arm around her. "...Let's get out of here."
-----
Through the night, they all crowded around the bed the sorceress was resting on.
Gourry sat closest to her, holding one of her cold hands, soberly looking at the sorceress.
They noticed that her breath became shallower by the minute.
Amelia, still pale from earlier events, sat on the other side with the chimera, standing over her. Looking at Lina, she felt faint.
She stood up shakily, holding onto the chair for support and said, "I--I'll go get some wet towels..." She ran out of the room. Half way down the hall, she collapsed on her knees and sobbed into her hands.
A firm hand pat her shoulder.
"She's not going to make it, Mr. Zelgadis!" she sobbed.
Zelgadis didn't say anything as he kneeled down. "It is...inevitable..."
Amelia shook her head fiercly. "No! NO! It wasn't inevitable! She--she--it--" She cried harder, unable to continue.
Zelgadis hugged the young girl tightly.
"Lina..." Gourry called to the unconscious sorceress softly. "Lina...it'll be okay...you'll be okay..." He said, kissing the small, cold hands.
"Please wake up..." he said through dried lips.
As he looked at the pale face, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a finger flicker. He gasped.
"Lina! Lina?!" He said. Knocking the chair back, the swordsman stood up and rushed through the door. "Amelia! AMELIA!!!"
The door creaked close, eerily if anyone had been there and noticed it. From the shadows of the dark room, two figures formed beside the sorceress. A man and a girl.
"Awake," the girl said simply.
In reponse, the sorceress' lids opened slowly.
"Dying feels shitty..." she managed to say.
"You will die," the girl said.
Ruby-red eyes slid to the two people. She grunted and winced. "Tell me...something I...don't know..." She breathed heavily.
"You will Turn into one of Them," the girl continued. "We can't allow that. We have to kill you before then. Do you want to die?"
"...ha ha...don't say it so...calmly..." the sorceress complained. "You people think...I do...?"
"If not, then you can come with us, become one of US," she said as she looked at her tall companion.
"...and what are you...?" Lina managed to say. Her eyelids were suddenly heavy. She was so sleepy.
"You don't have time for twenty-one questions, girl," the man grumbled with a deep voice.
A hand rose from the girl, silencing her companion. "We...are one of the creatures of the Night. My companion is right, you do not have much time, do you or do you not wish to see another night?"
Lina managed to pop open her lids. She was Lina Inverse! No way was she going to stop here!
"...yes...yes, I wish to see another night..." she breathed out heavily. With that her eyes closed, unable to resist the sleep that crept over her.
The girl nodded to her companion who produced a knife from his black coat. It was silver, embroidered with ruby on its hilt. He put it over the sorceress' heart and pushed it in. The ruby glowed and something seemed to drain from the jewel, making it look dull.
Lina gasped as her eyes popped open. For an instant, her eyes glowed red.
"By the power of our Lord, our true Lord, our only Dark Lord" the girl chanted, a small hand placed on Lina's forehead. "Let this sheep be lost into the depths of Darkness and be one of Us. Nema."
With the last word, and a sudden whooshing sound, the two disappeared into the shadows.
Lina's red eyes stopped its glow, became hallow, closed and she rested.
Everything was as Gourry left it as the three came back into the room. Only to find that Lina Inverse, the Sorceress Supreme was no longer breathing.
Two figures and a third shadow hovered around the dark sky, observing the commotion in the small room. With a snap from one of the figures, they disappeared.
-----
Author's notes: So yea, there ya go! Chapter 1! Wasn't much, was it! D; anywhos, i revised it again and again, not sure how to connect it to the second chapter! AGH! I dont even know where I'm going with this! Oh wells! I'll surprise y'all! :D BTW, did anybody noticed Nema was Amen backwards?! Hope it isn't blasphemous or anything, i just put it in, thought it was kool. Forgive me if i sinned!