Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Da Capo of Love: Lina's Unlucky Days ❯ Aftermath ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: "Slayers" and all of the associated characters belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi and the companies that represent them. This story is loosely based off the movie, "Lupin III - Da Capo of Love: Fujiko's Unlucky Days" (known in the U.S. as "Lupin III - The Columbus Files") and some scenes will be similiar to that film. "Lupin III" was originally created by Monkey Punch.

Other notes: This story is set following the anime version of Slayers and Slayers NEXT, then novels 9-15. Therefore there will be references to events that took place in Slayers and Slayers NEXT and to certain novel events that took place post- NEXT. This story is dark and does contain sexual situations, living up to the M rating.

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Da Capo of Love: Lina's Unlucky Days

Chapter 2: Aftermath

 

City of Nazca - Sorcerer's Guild

Six hours after the disappearance of Lina Inverse

 

The Nazca Sorcerer's Guild was located in the center of the city. Like many of the buildings surrounding it, the walls were crumbling away, the victim of the passage of time and a mass exodus of much of the city's population. It was the only place, other than the tavern and inn on the opposite side of the street, that regularly had any activity going on.

 

The few lingering sorcerers weren't prepared to see a tall man in blue come rushing in, sword in hand and tear streaks etching a dusty face.

 

Gourry's hand trembled slightly as he wildly surveyed the room, settling on one of the gawkers that seemed to be middle-aged and eying him with mild curiosity rather than the slack-jawed look of his companions. He rushed to the man and did his best to keep his voice calm. "I need your thingy," he said in a rush.

 

The sorcerer arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me, sir, you need a what?"

 

"You know!" Gourry gestured with his free hand and wished that Lina was there. She would know what specific term that was needed. "That thingy! The one you use to talk to someone far away. I need to contact Saillune."

 

The sorcerer straightened slightly, sensing the rare chance to earn a bit of money. "You wish to use our communication center?"

 

"Yes, whatever it's called." Gourry dug in his pocket and found several gold coins. He thrust them at the man. He could hear Lina yelling in his head already, telling him that he needed to haggle the price, and that the sorcerer would take advantage of him. But, he didn't care. He had to get ahold of Amelia and this was the only way he knew how to do it.

 

The sorcerer grabbed the coins and bit into one. Satisfied that they were authentic, he quickly stuffed them in his robes and beckoned to Gourry. Feeling a little steadier, Gourry sheathed his sword and followed the man down a short hallway to a small room. There was nothing in the room except for a small table with a sphere on it. Gourry frowned, thinking he'd seen a sphere like that somewhere before. It was probably his imagination though, or even one of the many items that Lina came across.

 

The sorcerer crossed over to the sphere and motioned for Gourry to come closer. The man laid one hand on the sphere. "Who did you want to contact, young man?"

 

Young man. At 26, Gourry certainly didn't feel very young, especially after spending the past four years getting Lina out of one nasty scrape after another. And after seeing her plunge off the cliff... His heart gave a painful lurch and he felt much older than his age. "Amelia. Amelia wil Tesla Saillune. She's the princess, well one of them. I think there's another."

 

If the sorcerer thought it odd that Gourry would be contacting a Saillune princess, he didn't indicate it. He began to chant the spell, then fell silent. The sorcerer caught Gourry's eye, then pressed a finger to his lips - indicating that he shouldn't say a word. Gourry nodded back. From his experience, magic users got very cross if they were interuppted in the middle of a spell. Lina had made sure that knowledge was literally beaten into him.

 

After a minute or so, a man's voice echoed through the room. "Who is contacting the Saillune Royal Palace?"

 

"This is the Nazca Sorcerer's Guild," the sorcerer replied. "We have umm...," he glanced at Gourry. "Your name, young man? Speak clearly so they can hear you."

 

"Gourry. Gourry Gabriev." His voice echoed off the walls of the chamber and sounded oddly distorted.

 

"This man wishes to contact Amelia wil Tesla Saillune," the sorcerer continued.

 

"Please wait a moment," the voice on the other end replied.

 

A moment turned out to be more than five minutes. But since the spell itself seemed to still be going, Gourry guessed it was a good thing.

 

"It's pretty common," the sorcerer said at one point. "Usually, the person has to be contacted and taken to a communication center so they can respond to the spell. Because of the status of your recipient, I was able to send this straight to Saillune's palace. Some times, people have had to wait for hours while the person on the other end is located. It's why utilizing these communication rooms is very expensive."

 

Gourry frowned, wondering if perhaps he'd been the one to shortchange the sorcerer and not the other way around. Before he could ask, something began to shimmer in front of him. A figure started to form and about a minute later, Amelia stood before him. Gourry blinked. It seemed like Amelia, but at the same time, it wasn't her. She looked more like a ghost than a human.

 

But it was Amelia, all the same. She was clad in one of those fancy gowns that she wore at the palace. Her hair was mussed and she was missing a slipper. She pressed a hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "Gourry-san," she wheezed after a moment. She scanned the area. "Where's Lina-san? Is she the one casting the spell?"

 

Gourry's voice caught in his throat as the scene of Lina slipping from his grasp and falling into the darkness replayed in his mind once more. "She's..." Tears stung at his eyes once more. He looked away, blinked rapidly and tried to find the words to tell Amelia what had happened. Instead, several tears rolled down his cheeks and splashed on the cracked tile floor. The sorcerer startled and gave him a concerned look.

 

On her end, Amelia went pale. "Gourry-san, did something happen to Lina-san?"

 

He tried to speak again and managed a nod. He took several deep breaths to regain control of himself. "Amelia, there's been an accident," he said in an odd-sounding voice that didn't quite sound like his own.

 

He forced himself to relay the details, much as if he was still serving as a mercenary and reporting to the one who hired him. By the time Gourry finished telling Amelia what had happened, tears were rolling down Amelia's cheeks as well. She trembled and wanted to bury her face in her hands and sob. At the same time, she wanted to reach out and give Gourry the biggest hug that she could. Lina was his lifeline. If she was dead... Amelia refused to even think about it. This was Lina Inverse. She had faced the Lord of Nightmares and emerged from it alive. She'd taken down two pieces of Shabranigdu, Phibrizzo and Dynast. After that, a fall off a cliff was nothing.

 

"I don't know where Zelgadiss-san is," Amelia said. "But, I will come down as soon as possible. I've been training since you and Lina-san left. She taught me the basics of the Raywing spell and I've been perfecting it. It's very tricky, but I think I've mastered it enough to where I can use it to help speed up my travel time immensely. Still, it'll be four days before I get there."

 

"But, you'll come." Relief gushed through him.

 

"Of course I'll come! What made you think I wouldn't?" Amelia's focus shifted to the sorcerer. "Sir, I want this man to have unlimited access to this communications chamber. I will more than compensate the Sorcerer's Guild for their time and trouble. I have an amulet with the Vision spell embedded in it that I'll be carrying with me. Whenever Gourry-san needs to contact me, please do so with no questions asked."

 

"It is no problem, Amelia-sama," The sorcerer replied with great formality. "We are more than happy to assist the royal family of Saillune with whatever they need."

 

"I thank you." Amelia turned sympathetic eyes back to Gourry. "I'll come as fast as I can. Please, keep looking for Lina-san until I get there. If you need to talk to me, come back here and do so."

 

"Thanks, Amelia." Gourry watched as his friend faded from view, then took a deep breath. Find Lina. That was going to be as easy as searching for a needle in an extremely big haystack. He startled when the sorcerer laid a hand on his arm.

 

"I'm sorry about your wife," he said in a low voice. "That is, I assume..."

 

"She is. Eight months now."

 

"Still in the honeymoon stage." The sorcerer smiled when Gourry flushed. "Don't worry, young man, I've been there. Tell me, your wife's full name. I heard you call her Lina. It's not Lina Inverse, is it?"

 

He gave the sorcerer a crooked smile. "Yeah, it is."

 

His eyes widened with respect. "I've heard all sorts of tales about her. The Dramata. The enemy of all who lived. But, there's rumors inside the guild that she's brought down some extremely high-ranking Mazoku in the past few years and saved all of our worthless hides in the process. Those people say she's the best the Sorcerer's Guld has to offer. My name is Randall Cummings. Would you like to stay with me and my wife while you search for yours?"

 

Gourry gave the man a relieved smile. "Yeah, I'd appreciate it. Thank you." It was much better than finding another inn room - alone.

 

-----

 

City of Nazca - Cummings residence

Seven hours after the disappearance of Lina Inverse

 

Randall escorted Gourry across the city to a two-story building on a street lined with relatively intact homes that seemed to be decently kept. The sun beat down on the back of their necks and Gourry guessed it was around noon. It'd been close to dawn when the battle had taken place, and he hadn't gotten much sleep before then. Part of him was exhausted, but the other part screamed to keep looking for Lina.

 

But, he had looked, as much as he could without falling to his death himself. As soon as he'd gotten over the initial shock of Lina's fall, Gourry had been forced to wait while Rikufalso took a look for herself. He had managed to pull himself onto the small ledge and wedged himself behind a piece of rock. He'd drawn the Blast Sword and waited. If he was going to die, he'd take down the Mazoku with him.

 

When Rikufalso had left, it had taken Gourry awhile to climb back up the side of the cliff and do an initial search for Lina. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the distance between the top of the cliff and the bottom. He sank to his knees as the horrible realization came over him.

 

No one could survive this. Not even Lina. He couldn't stop the tears then, and wasn't quite sure that he wanted to. What am I going to do?

 

The memory that normally failed him recalled the last orders she'd given him. Find Zelgadiss and Amelia. Find the Magnus Eye. They repeated over and over inside his brain until he managed to get ahold of himself and get back to his feet. He would do what Lina would had wanted him to do.

 

Even so, Gourry thought as he followed Randall into his home, why do I feel that Lina's still alive?

 

Randall escorted Gourry to a guest room, with a double-bed and little amenities that made it seem nicer than an ordinary inn room. “You can rest here,” he said. “I'm sure you're exhausted. My wife has probably gone to market. I'll go catch up with her. There's a chamber pot beneath the bed and a full bathroom on the first floor. Get some rest, son. You're going to need it.”

 

Gourry thanked him and closed the door after Randall. He removed his armor and stacked it on a chair next to a washstand, then took off his boots. He'd managed to get fully dressed before they'd fled the inn, but that was because he was so used to having to throw on his armor and run after Lina at a moment's notice. He poured clean water into the basin and washed his hands, face and arms.

 

He picked up a towel and patted his face dry. Lowering it, he caught sight of the bed and froze. I haven't slept in a bed without Lina for a year. He walked over to the bed, sat down on the edge and stared at the place that Lina normally occupied. She always liked being closest to the door and he preferred the window. If anyone came in that way, they'd have to get through him first.

 

He stretched out on the bed and waited for the bone-deep exhaustion to take over. But each time Gourry felt himself starting to slide toward sleep, his mind tortured him with images of Lina - her selfishness, her laughter, her lack of womanly proportions, the heart that was bigger than she wanted people to believe, the powerful sorceress, the greedy bandit hunter, the immature brat and the woman he'd fallen in love with.

 

He turned onto his side, stared at the empty spot on the bed and remembered....

 

-----

 

They had just defeated the second piece of Shabranigdu embedded in Luke and were on their way to Zefielia to visit Lina's family. At least, Gourry thought, they were supposed to be going to visit her family. Every time they approached the Zefielian border, Lina suddenly developed a severe and violent case of cold feet and insisted that there was some rare treasure to obtain or a particular bandit group that begged to be looted.

 

Gourry was quite sure that it was because Lina didn't want to see her older sister, but when he questioned her on that, she shoved her chicken pot pie in his face and stole the rest of his dinner.

 

They ran into Zelgadiss about a day's walk from Zefielia's border and once again delayed their journey so they could spend time with the chimera. They had talked long into the night as she updated him on what happened with Dynast and Luke, as well as showed off the Blast Sword. This find even impressed Zel, though he seemed just as fascinated by the runes that Milgasia had carved on it to dull the blade as he was by the weapon itself.

 

Zelgadiss discussed his own journeys and Gourry found himself nodding off at times, mainly because the conversation contained a lot of spell discussions that went over his head. At one point, he floated between sleep and wakefulness when Zelgadiss asked Lina what their plans were.

 

“Oh, we're doing this and that,” Lina replied with a wave of her hand. “We're going to see my folks in Zefielia. It was Gourry's idea.”

 

Zelgadiss nearly spat out his coffee and carefully lowered the cup. “Gourry suggested that the two of you go see your family? I take it then he actually proposed to you?”

 

“No. Jellyfish brains probably doesn't even know what it means,” Lina said with a hint of disappointment, then shrugged. “What can you expect?”

 

“He is from Elmekia. Perhaps they do it differently there.”

 

Gourry nearly opened his eyes, nearly asked what they were talking about. Somewhere, in a part of his gut, he knew what they were implying. Did Lina think that he was going to ask her to marry him? That was the only thing he could ask her that was linked to families and proposals.

 

Marry Lina... The idea didn't sound like a bad one at all. He knew they would stay together no matter what, they'd been through enough together that the discussion of eventually going their separate ways never came up. That's why he never thought of marriage. He knew that Lina would never leave him and he certainly didn't want to leave her.

 

The more Gourry turned the idea over in his mind, the more he liked it. Better yet, it sounded like something she would like as well. He wanted to make her happy and she did sound a little wistful. Maybe he could bring it up to her.

 

“Well, let me go dump Sleeping Beauty in his bed,” Lina announced and got to her feet. Gourry opened one eye a slit and his mouth went dry as she tossed her arms behind her and stretched. Maybe she was getting a little more developed...just a tad. A mere smidgeon. Still more than was there before.

 

“I'll be in this area a couple of days,” Zelgadiss told her. “Do you want to do some library research with me tomorrow?”

 

“Count on it. Nice to see you wanting to actually interact with people, Zel.” Lina gave him a hearty slap on the back.

 

Zelgadiss glowered at her. “I'm not that morose.”

 

“Uh huh. C'mon, Gourry.” Lina kicked at his leg and he opened his eyes. “Time to get some sleep.”

 

Gourry got up, stretched, and wished Zelgadiss a good night. He followed Lina up the stairs. They'd been lucky enough to get separate rooms for the night, having been crammed into a single room more times in their partnership than he could count. They reached his room first and he laid his hand on the knob.

 

“Night, Lina,” he called out, started to turn the knob, then hesitated. He wondered if it was a good time to bring the marriage thing up.

 

But Lina didn't say anything in return. She didn't even go into her room. Instead, she turned around and stared at him with an unreadable expression. Gourry swallowed nervously. Oh great, she had to pick now to remember the fact that he stole two pieces... no, three pieces of her chocolate cake at dinner. He swore she hadn't been looking when he swiped that third piece!

 

Lina took several deep breaths and Gourry knew he was going to die.

 

“Oh, screw it,” she muttered. Before he could react, Lina jumped at him. Her arms locked around his neck and her lips were suddenly on his.

 

Gourry was grateful that his body seemed to know what to do, because his mind suddenly twisted into a tangled knot. His arms clamped around her, pulling her off the ground until their faces were nearly level. Then his brain finally caught up to the rest of him and something clicked on inside his mind.

 

He turned, hitching her up at the same time until her back was against the wall and her legs wrapped around his waist. Their kisses were a bit sloppy, but heated as they started to explore each other and hands began to wander. Her hands slid down his back to waistband of his pants, yanked on his shirt until it came free and she slid her hands beneath the cloth to smooth over his back.

 

He was quite sure they would had done something more if not for the quiet cough that sounded behind them. Dazed, Gourry lifted his head and saw Zelgadiss standing a few feet away.

 

The chimera quirked an eyebrow. “I figured it'd be good idea to finish this in a bedroom. Preferably not mine.”

 

Gourry felt Lina wheezing against him and the reality slammed into him. He and Lina were... Seeing his life flash before his eyes, Gourry summoned every bit of courage he had and stared into Lina's eyes. Instead of anger, there was challenge and a good deal of desire. His breath hitching, he realized the same thing she did.

 

They weren't finished. Far from it.

 

Gourry never gave much thought to his non-existent sex life. His world was centered completely around Lina. Sure, he had urges. Every guy had urges. He took care of them in his own manner by channeling the excessive energy into his swordsmanship. Taking care of Lina was a full-time job times ten. Ever since the Copy Rezo incident, he had a growing number of urges regarding Lina but never acted on them. He valued his life and his manhood. Part of him always figured that they would arrive at this moment some day, but he never allowed himself to imagine what it would actually be like.

 

Yet, it didn't surprise him when they finished the job right where they were after they stumbled into his room. He figured that not everyone could say they lost their virginity on an inn floor, but since when did he and Lina do anything in a normal fashion to begin with?

 

It'd been sloppy. It'd been messy. They hadn't quite known what they were doing beyond the absolute basics, but the fun in it was discovering the extremely powerful feelings they could evoke from each other. When they had finished, she collapsed onto him, wheezing just as hard as he was.

 

“Damn,” she panted and he silently agreed. After a minute, she lifted her head and gave him a very saucy grin. “That was interesting.”

 

“Yeah,” he gasped and managed a weak smile. He felt like he'd just done battle with one of those Shabra-thingys, though the end result of this felt a hell of a lot better than one of those fights did. “Are you all right?”

 

“Yeah. You?”

 

He couldn't muster up the energy to vocalize anything, so he simply nodded and closed his eyes, intending to fall asleep right where they laid.

 

Lina pushed herself up slightly and stared at the rather spectacular mess they'd made. “Hmm...hope they can get the stains out of the rug.”

 

Gourry choked back a laugh. “You're the one who didn't want to wait to get to the bed.”

 

“But, it's all the way on the other side of the room!” Lina said with a slight pout. Humor and a bit of desire started to glimmer in her eyes. “Think we can make it to the bed this time?”

 

“You want to do it again? I thought the first time was suppose to hurt for girls.” Gourry bit back a groan as Lina suddenly trailed her lips down the side of his neck and started to nip at his pulse, sending fresh signals to his groin.

 

“Oh, I think we've got another two or three rounds to go before I get it out of my system. Besides, it didn't feel half as bad as some of the things I've had rammed into me.” With that, her hand started to slide between their bodies as he choked back a laugh.

 

-----

 

Gourry grinned at the memory. They'd only done it one more time and slept on the floor, exhausted and throughly scandalizing the maid that came in the next day to change the sheets. Zelgadiss had stood out in the hall and smirked at them, proclaiming it was the first time he'd ever heard of either Lina or Gourry ever missing a meal.

 

Gourry turned onto his back and held up his left hand, where the thick wedding band Lina had given him gleamed dully in the sunlight that came through the windows. Their newfound intimacy had given Lina another reason to delay the inevitable trip into Zefielia, but even then they couldn't put it off much longer. Zelgadiss had accompanied them, wanting to do research in the city's libraries. The experience had been one to remember, and the marriage subject had finally come up - when they walked into the kitchen of Lina's house and Gourry suddenly found a knife being held to his throat along with an overly cheerful Luna Inverse telling him that he was going to do right by her sister... or else.

 

They fled the city shortly thereafter and it took Gourry a good three months to convince Lina that he really did want to marry her and it wasn't her sister's threats that were causing him to want it. By the time they got to Saillune, Lina had believed Gourry and accepted the proposal. This had thrilled Amelia so much that she offered up the palace as a place for them to marry. Not wanting to face her sister again and immensely cheered by the thought of all the food they could eat and not have to pay for, Lina had immediately accepted.

 

Gourry folded his hands on top of his stomach and closed his eyes once more. His body finally started to edge into sleep and the memories were happy enough so that his heart didn't feel so heavy as he drifted off.

 

After all, Lina's out there alive somewhere. I'm sure of it. She has to be. I don't know what I'll do if she's not.

 

-----

 

The Demon Sea - Deep Sea Dolphin's palace

Seven hours after the disappearance of Lina Inverse

 

Lesser Mazoku knew when to get out of the way, and one of those times was when Rikufalso was throwing a fit. The moment the general appeared inside the corridors of the palace and stormed angrily toward the doors leading into Deep Sea Dolphin's chambers, the Mazoku servants decided it was a good idea to get some place far away. Fast.

 

Deep Sea Dolphin barely spared a glance from the book that she held when the doors burst open. “I take it you weren't successful.”

 

Rikufalso froze. Her master didn't word it like a question, but as a statement of fact. She swore and wanted to hurl something. Instead, she summoned every bit of self-control she had and dropped to one knee before her. “I'm sorry, master. I failed in my mission to obtain the Magnus Papers from Lina Inverse.”

 

“This isn't news. Get off your knees, you remind me of Xelloss.” Dolphin quirked a smile at the flash of temper in her general's eyes at the mention of Greater Beast Zelas Metallium's priest. “It's been seven hours by the human clock since this incident occurred. You mean to tell me you've found no trace of Lina Inverse?”

 

“None,” Rikufalso spat out, and that had been the most infuriating thing of all. She'd seen Lina's swordsman clinging to the cliff, had thought about finishing him off. But the despair and grief that rolled off of him was enough to where she decided that he was worth keeping around just because of the energy boost he provided her.

 

She had swept the bottom of the cliff and had done an extensive search of the area. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was like someone had taken Lina, or what was left of her, and vanished.

 

“Well, there's nothing you can do about it.” Dolphin commented absently, going back over her memory of Lina Inverse in her mind. She'd been a mere slip of a girl, accompanied by a blond-haired swordsman that towered over her. Her role in escorting Lina to the place where she fought, and defeated, one of the pieces of Shabranigdu, was as much to quench her own curiosity as it was following orders.

 

“We still need to acquire the Magnus Eye,” Dolphin continued.

 

“How?” Rikufalso rose. “Inverse took the papers out with her.”

 

“There's other ways around it.” Dolphin stood, setting her book aside. She picked up a piece of parchment and handed it to Rikufalso. “I want you to locate two potential candidates to enlist in our search. They have both traveled with Lina Inverse in the past. One is a master of the rune language needed to decipher the papers. The other just wants to be better than Lina, no matter what the cost.”

 

“But, without the papers...”

 

Dolphin narrowed her eyes at Rikufalso. “Are you questioning my orders, General?”

 

Rikufalso opened her mouth, then quickly shut it. She shook her head. “No, ma'am. Of course not. I will seek out these two sorcerers that you request.” Though searching for that damn artifact now will be the same thing as hunting a genuine copy of the Claire Bible.

 

Dolphin waved a hand in dismissal and Rikufalso strode out of the room, still seething. Now, this was starting to become some sort of wild goose chase. Really, trying to find that thing seemed a little desperate to her, but their entire race was starting to feel that way. Lina Inverse had taken down more high-level Mazoku during the past four years than had been done so during the past 1,000 years. Out of the direct subordinates of Shabranigdu, only Dolphin and Zelas were left. Well, there was Dynast, but he'd be licking his wounds on the Astral plane for a good many years.

 

As far as Rikufalso was concerned, their problems were solved by Lina's death. No more Dramata, no more Mazoku exterminations.

 

She turned a corner and groaned when she spotted Xelloss lounging against one of the columns, sipping at a mug of what appeared to be the tea that humans favored. My day just can't get any worse than this.

 

“Ah, Rikufalso-san!” Xelloss chirped in that sugary polite tone that immediately set her teeth on edge. “I take it you're done with Dolphin-sama for the moment?”

 

“What's it to you, priest?” Rikufalso sneered.

 

“I just have a little business to conduct with Dolphin-sama, that's all.” Xelloss took another sip from his mug. “I'm sure it'll be good news to her, especially after the sad tidings you brought back.”

 

Rikufalso narrowed her eyes at him. “You... You're the one who told Dolphin that Lina Inverse destroyed the Magnus Papers.”

 

“I did no such thing, Rikufalso-san. I did, as per my orders, tell Zelas-sama. What she did with the news upon my telling her is none of my concern.”

 

Rikufalso was by Xelloss' side in two large strides. She fisted his tunic and hoisted him slightly off the ground. “You little shit. You were spying on me.” She reached for her sword. “Give me one reason why I don't rid the world of you right now.”

 

“Because,” Xelloss replied patiently, “my staff is currently being held at your hip. One little misdirection of my power and I'm afraid I'll be left with the very unfortunate task of explaining to Dolphin-sama why her general has returned to the Sea of Chaos. Since I really don't want to deal with all the paperwork, I suggest that you unhand me, Rikufalso-san.” His eyes narrowed. “Now.”

 

Rikufalso swore and let him go. It irked her to no end that technically, Xelloss was higher in the Mazoku pecking order than she was, due to Zelas channeling the power she would had split between a general and a priest into a single priest. Without another word, she stalked off.

 

Xelloss watched her go, the ghost of a smile hovering around his lips. Knowing that his task would immensely piss Rikufalso off was adding a great deal of enjoyment to his work. He teleported out of the palace, before Dolphin could question why he was lingering. Instead of returning to Zelas' side, he decided to check on the package he had in storage for safekeeping.

 

It was being kept in a spot on Wolf Pack Island that not many ventured into, and for good reason. When Xelloss revealed his little secret to the world, it would send Dolphin into a tailspin and quite possibly ruin the relationship between the only active Mazoku lords on this plane. But, orders were orders.

 

Xelloss walked into the small chamber and smiled at his charge. “My, my, you are causing quite the stir out here. Though, were the circumstances different, I'm sure that Rikufalso could had easily been dealt with. I wasn't suppose to step in when I did, but...orders are orders. The game will be much more interesting once you're added back in.”

 

-----

 

Author's Notes: For those of you who haven't read "Slayers: Knight of Aqualord," Rikufalso is taken directly from there. She really is Deep Sea Dolphin's general. The other main enemy in "Aqualord," Hureika (or Hureiker) is rumored to be Deep Sea Dolphin's priest.

 

As for Gourry utilizing the communications center at the Sorcerer's Guild to contact Amelia, that wasn't pulled out of thin air. QP-Diana has kept a detailed dictionary of magic in Slayers, which is translated into English from the original Japanese. The Slayers Universe and Kanzaka Wiki also have the same information. The Vision spell allows an illusion of the caster to be projected over a large distance. However, there must also be a sorcerer on the receiving end to get it or a special area where a ritual has been performed to allow the spell to work. Once the spell is established, the two people can converse normally. This is normally for guild to guild communications, but in some places ordinary people like Gourry could utilize the room at a cost. Since both Gourry and Amelia were in designated communications rooms, the magic of the spell applies to them. Amelia's amulet being embedded with the Vision spell is a fanon invention and one that I've adopted for this story.

 

In case anyone's following the timeline: Lina and Gourry had defeated Luke-Shabranigdu about three weeks before they run into Zelgadiss. They finally made their way to Zefiel City a month after they first become intimate. It takes Gourry the next three months to convince Lina to marry him and it's been eight months since the wedding. And for those curious about the movie, we've already strayed from it a lot just by having Lina and Gourry be married. Lupin and Fujiko were never this intimate and while there was no question that Lupin is in love with Fujiko, her feelings are never quite returned and they'll never have the same relationship that Lina and Gourry do.