Lina grinned, shouldering the now very full pack. "I didn't think I would find actual sapphires here. Not to mention ones with such a wide range of colours!"

Panting, Gourry glared up at her as she walked down from the dais. "Hey, Lina, next time, could you use your magic to help me? Those golem things were really hard."

"Well…" Lina shook her head, her face turning serious. "I wouldn't be able to help you until you shattered the seal on their forehead. It was an anti-magic ward. Any magic that got close would fail. And once you shattered the seal, the golem itself should have been dead anyway."

Gourry sighed, sheathing his sword. "I guess. Are you okay? I know you were thrown into that wall pretty hard." He reached up, his hand hovering over her head.

She scowled, but didn't move as he ran rough fingers over her head. "I'm fine. It's going to take a lot more than a little bump to get me."

"Yeah, but… maybe you should see the healing woman when we get back to town." Worry crossed his face as he looked down at her. "Your eyes look a little weird."

Lina let her scowl deepen. "What does that mean?"

"Aah-" Gourry lifted both hands, laughing nervously. "I mean, it doesn't look like you're focusing on things right."

A Gourry way of saying she might have a concussion. Lina sighed, shifting the pack and feeling how it rested against developing bruises. "Fine. I'll talk to the healing woman when we get back to town." Even if she didn't have a concussion, it wasn't a bad idea. "If!"

"If?" The word came out slightly suspicious, but still on the right side of innocent.

"You also get checked out."

Gourry blanched. The healing woman had met up with them before they left town, and made it very obvious she found Gourry very attractive. She had also been the town's healing woman for the past sixty years. "Lina!"

"You took more hits than I did. Need to make sure that jellyfish up there is still working right."

"You're mean." He sighed. "Fine."

"That settles it. Let's go!" Lina grinned and started to walk. A concussion would be worth it all. These sapphires would go for a lot, and she was certain at least a third of them could have some good enchantments put on them. The colour was amazing, and they were so clear.

But… Lina found her steps slowing. The golems that had protected the sapphires. It was obvious she had disturbed something that ancient people wanted to keep protected. Carefully, she shifted the pack, hearing the stones click. They were good sapphires. But she hadn't found them in any sort of pattern. Not- a pattern she could discern, anyway. Her eyes tilted over to the walls, seeing blank stone as they walked.

She stopped.

Gourry pulled his sword as her steps stilled. Either his jellyfish brain figured it out too, or his gut instinct told him something wasn't right. Lina turned slightly, looking behind them.

And sighed as nothing came out of the darkness after them. "And here I got worked up over nothing," she grumbled, turning back around.

The ceiling cracked and collapsed. Gourry ran to Lina, using his body to shield her as the stone rained down around them. Against the ground, blue lines tumbled forth, running for them.

"Hnng!" Lina slammed a hand against the ground. "Dill Brand!"

She timed it right. The ground exploded just as the lines hit it, disrupting the spell for a moment. She grabbed Gourry's hand, yanking him up. With the ceiling gone, they could Raywing out of there easily. And then she could see what she was dealing with.

But sunlight streamed in, hitting her eyes and-

Lina nearly screamed in pain. Her head…

Something choked her. Held her tightly. She held up a hand, ready to cast a fucking Dragon Slave blind if she had to when her mind cleared and-

Gold. Everywhere. Gold…

Lina fainted.

Warmth brought her back around. Lina groaned as something warm and damp patted its way across her head, and slowly opened her eyes.

They were back at town. Back at… Nostos, wasn't it? The wizened healing woman pulled the cloth away from her head and smiled at Lina. "Welcome back to the world of the living, little one," she said kindly. "You've been asleep for two days."

"Sorry to put you out for two days," Lina told her, smiling weakly. She shouldn't have been put out at all. She and Gourry- "Gourry!" Lina sat up, wincing at the lance of pain in her head as she did so.

With a tut, the healing woman pressed a hand against her shoulder, guiding her back down. "Your bodyguard is fine. He was more worried about you. What were you doing that caused your head to be bruised so badly, little one?"

Lina looked away. "Just… looking for some treasure."

The healing woman shook her head. "To be young again. Well, next time you go treasure hunting, little one, be a little more mindful of where you stick your head." She reached over, taking a mug Lina hadn't seen previously and helping Lina sit up so she could drink from it. "It's not going to taste good," she said just as Lina took a sip. Lina just barely kept from spitting the fowl liquid back out. "But it'll help with the pain while you heal."

"What about a Recovery?" Lina asked, taking another sip.

"If I wasted all my magic on you, what would happen if the men working in the nearby mines were caught in a cave in and needed my help? You'll heal without a spell."

Lina made a face. But she was right. The healing woman probably had needed to save the lives of the miners more than once, and she knew what would absolutely require magic, and what would be healed through time and patience.

Patience. Ugh.

"Thank you," Lina said instead. "Gourry should be able to pay you-"

"Oh, yes." The woman's eyes twinkled a little, and Lina found jealousy rising. "Payment's already taken care of."

It was probably innocent, but Lina wanted to smack Gourry right about now anyway. The healing woman left, letting Lina stew in those thoughts as she sipped at the nasty tasting brew. When Gourry finally came in, looking rather exhausted, Lina sighed. "So. I hear you took care of payment."

Gourry shuddered. "Never leave me alone with her again."

"Noted." She looked out the window, her fingers wrapped tightly around the mug. This wasn't like her. She could get out of anything. Nothing could take her and Gourry down.

"Hey, Lina… what was that spell you used?"

She blinked, looking back at Gourry. "Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well…" Gourry rubbed the back of his head. "You just… kind of threw a black ball of something at what was trying to get us and it stopped. Like, completely. And then you fainted. Did you find a new spell while you were getting the sapphires?"

Lina blinked, a chill running down her spine. "I guess I was casting spells even when I wasn't aware of what was going on because we were in danger. I don't know. Can you tell me more?"

"Um…" Gourry frowned, hand to his chin as he thought.

"Nevermind." Gourry wouldn't even know what to tell a sorceress about a spell she didn't even know she cast. "We'll sell the sapphires and move on, okay?"

"When you get better." Gourry's face fell into resolute lines.

"Fine." Lina smiled a little. Then she looked away, out the window, to the street.

Spellcasting without realizing it. Unconscious spellcasting. If that's what she did… and she used a spell that she didn't know consciously… Her eyes narrowed.

It didn't bode well.