Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Dramata Kurage! ❯ Chapter 22 ( Chapter 22 )

Disclaimer: Slayers and their characters are not owned by me. They belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi and any other companies which own them. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit and I promise to give them back all in perfect working order.

22.0
After travelling for the day and then settling down to camp, we had dinner and then Lina seemed to insist on taking the first watch. So that left me with nothing else to do but get some sleep and so I took advantage of it. I didn't remember anything from my sleep which I think was a good thing because some of the dreams I had been having recently weren't really all that much fun. So a dreamless sleep was something I didn't mind.

My mind had still been on what happened the previous night between Lina and me. What I had experienced was something I had never felt before. I hadn't really been told about any of that stuff and from some of the campfire stories I heard kind of put me off the idea. However with Lina, it kind of turned around my perspective on it and suddenly I was remembering more of what they said. I remembered what they said that sticky stuff was and I felt really bad remembering it was on Lina's hand. I was just glad to have wiped it off straight away.

Just some of the things they would always say use to make me angry and I would never want to treat Lina in the way they were talking. They made it sound like that they just used women for their own fun and that just went against everything I cared about. I cared for Lina and so I wasn't going to treat her that way, which was why I didn't pay as much attention to those guys around the campfire as often. What got my thoughts going was could Lina feel anything like I could when I had that experience and how would I do it to make her feel like that.

Anyway, I woke up around the time I was supposed. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, grumbling slightly at having to wake up in the middle of the night and stay up. Its times like that when you realise that you really enjoy sleeping at an inn. It's only when you step out of the tent and look up to see all those stars in the sky and the quietness that you realise why it's good to sleep outdoors.

I got out of the tent and walked over to Lina.

“You can get to bed now Lina, my turn to take watch.” I said to her.

I was surprised when she suddenly hugged onto me and hugged me tightly. I had my arms out in surprise and I looked down to her, with her head buried into my chest and her arms wrapped around me so tightly. I blinked and I wondered what brought this on, but I didn't linger with that thought. Instead I wrapped my arms around her just as tight and leaned my head down to rest of the top of hers gently.

She let go finally and I watched as she just went straight to the tent I had been sleeping in and closed it over. I sat down on a log by the fire and crossed my arms in wonder. Why was Lina hugging me like that, and just out of the blue? It had me thinking but I tried to remember that Lina would tell me if she wanted to and that I shouldn't bother her about it. She knew my feelings and so she would tell me when she felt ready for it.

The night went by quietly, nothing happened or bothered us so I just relaxed and looked up at the stars in the sky. I just stayed like that for the whole night, keeping my ears open for any strange noises. I watched as the stars slowly disappeared in the sky, one by one until only the brightest remained. Then soon they disappeared and the sky just kept getting brighter until the sun finally came up.

The sun rising was my cue to get the breakfast started. First thing I did was boil some of the water on the fire I had kept going through the night. Then that was ready to be used for coffee which I knew Lina would immediately have to try and wake up. I then started cooking with some of the supplies we had gathered and pretty soon the smell of the cooking had woken Lina and Sylphiel up.

They both joined me, Lina immediately taking the boiled water to have some coffee and then I began handing the food out as I cooked it all. Ok I might not be as good as Sylphiel at cooking but I know what I like and so I thought I was good enough!

After breakfast we gathered our things together and carried on walking. I was hoping to make it to his underground place before nightfall but I guess we were a little late heading off, but at least this meant we wouldn't have far to go and then we had the rest of the day to investigate.

A couple of hours walking and we had reached what we guessed was the place. It was a small building, maybe more like a shed but made of stone. I kind of wondered how that would contain a lab; at least until I opened the door and noticed it was infact a staircase heading downwards. Realising this was the right place, we set up camp just nearby and then once we were ready, we started heading down.

I went in first with Sylphiel behind me and Lina behind her. I insisted on taking the front because we didn't know what was down there so I wanted to be the first to come across it. After a couple of flights, the stairs opened up and suddenly the small space we had to walk in and turned into a massive round room, with the stairs spiralling downwards. I looked over the edge and couldn't even see to the bottom.

“That's a long way down.” I said, glancing to Lina and Sylphiel.

They both looked to each other and nodded. They then grabbed onto me, and cast a Levitation spell and proceeded to carry me down into the darkness. Needless to say I was freaked out and for the first few moments I was squirming like mad.

“Stop it Gourry. If you don't stop squirming, we might drop you!” Lina stated quite firmly.

That made me freeze like a statue and I almost didn't dare to breathe. However as we continued down I started to calm down a little and I realised that this was a quicker way, and we wouldn't have spent ages walking down all those stairs. So within a few minutes we finally reached the bottom and looked towards the only way we could go. A large doorway seemed to be that only way.

I went straight towards it and then pushed against it with all my strength and slowly the door creaked open. I kept pushing and it started to move more easily until it came to a stop against the wall. I looked on and noticed it was just a wide tall corridor, but it slowly moved downward, indicating we were going to go deeper down.

“Why are these places so far underground?” I whined a little.

Lina just crossed her arms.

“You're not going to make me explain it to you again?”

I blinked a little, trying to remember and suddenly remembered the last time we had done this was Rezo's lab, and I remembered the explanation.

“Because if something goes wrong it's so far underground that it won't affect anyone, and because it's difficult to get to so if you're working on something secret, people can't get to it so easily.”

Lina and Sylphiel just blinked at me, and I just shrugged and started walking off down the long corridor and the sound from behind me told me they had started to follow. I looked around me as we walked, looking at the stone carved out around us. Something about it had the hairs on my neck stand up. Suddenly everything about this was wrong and I didn't want to be there anymore. I stopped immediately and glanced to Lina sharply, and she knew from my look that I didn't feel right about the situation.

“I remember hearing the phrase `curiosity killed the cat'. I didn't know that phrase could be used so well until now.”

I turned my head back to see a woman stood infront of us. Something about her immediately told me that she was more than she looked. I knew instinctively she was mazoku, but she was strong also. She had an extremely muscular frame and I noticed the rather large sword held onto her back. Closer inspection made me notice that she only had one eye; the other had a long scar across it.

Lina moved forward and stood next to me. I glanced to her and I could see she had her game face on. I turned back to the woman but I could also tell there were others. Glancing behind me quickly I noticed some men behind Sylphiel. Looking more closely I noticed that they were the men who had tipped us off about this place. Great, not only did I have to protect Lina and Sylphiel but I had to worry about the safety of those men too.

Lina didn't pay attention to the men though and only looked towards this woman.

“Who are you?” She demanded.

“Riksfalto.”

Lina's eyes widened suddenly, meanwhile I began to wonder if I should recognise that person.

“Lina?” I asked discreetly.

Lina knew what I was asking before I had to say it and answered straight away.

“She's a general to Deep Sea Dolphin. Just think of her as being like Xellos but less powerful.”

I nodded, and although she said less powerful, because she said like Xellos I knew that she was just as deadly.

“Let me guess, you're part of this big thing that's about to happen and you've got Zelas in on it too.”

Riksfalto just smirked slightly but apart from that her expressions barely changed.

“I see Xellos couldn't keep his mouth shut. Just like him I guess. Anyway, because you're all about to be dead soon, I guess it can't help to tell you. We have a plan to bring about the end of everything, but we've realised from the mistakes of Gaav and Phibrizzo that you are not to be underestimated. Zelas was supposed to bring you on our side, but well, she didn't exactly do the best job.”

I looked to Lina and although her face didn't change, I could see in her eyes that the whole scenario of being a mazoku was still affecting her.

“So because you're not on our side, then it's best that you're on no side at all. That's why I've been given the job to defeat you. We've realised from the mistakes of the others that we should deal with you first so that we will no longer have any troubles when we try to complete our plan.”

I gritted my teeth and stepped forward, standing infront of Lina and glaring at Riksfalto.

“I have a problem with that. If you want to defeat Lina, you have to deal with me first.”

“Ahh, the swordsman with the Blast Sword. I wondered if we should have tried to make you mazoku too, but my lord tells me that the Blast Sword may no longer become effective if you were to become a mazoku because you would then be a different person. Anyway, it won't be me you have to deal with first, you'll have to deal with those first.”

I blinked at first and turned sharply to see the men and suddenly it dawned on me what had happened. They hadn't stumbled into trouble. They had directed us here on purpose. I gritted my teeth a little, feeling frustrated that we had been drawn here so easily. But then the surprise came when I noticed something strange about those men. As they slowly came closer, I suddenly sensed it and I knew Lina had too so I unsheathed the Blast Sword immediately.

“Mazoku…”

Kurage

22.1
What I want to know is what the hell did I do that earned the attention of a general that high up? I mean, dammit! Why was I always attracting the wrong sort of people? Where are my crowds of admirers? Where are my princes on steeds?

Ah, to hell with that crap. I knew what had warranted Dolphin's big smelly eye to look in our direction. The Blast Sword. And now, not only was Xellos on our ass, but so was this chick, Riksfalto. Not only that, but two big and bads were teamed up to take both Gourry and I down. And all for the Blast Sword, which of course, they would not share. So even if we did die, the threat to the world wouldn't be over. Zelas and Dolphin would duke it out until one of them got it, and of course they would take the whole world down with them.

Unless the collaboration was actually legit and they were actually going to do something together that would no doubt benefit them but screw the rest of the world over. But of course there was no way of knowing any of that until the sword was theirs. And then by that time we would be dead, so by then none of us would care.

Man, I really hate politics.

What made me think was this: Gourry told me all of those times that Xellos baited him into trading the Blast Sword in exchange for me while I was Mazokuing it up. Why didn't Xellos just take the sword then? He had so many opportunities to do so. Wouldn't that of made things easier for them all? Wouldn't that mean that it would all be over?

Maybe Xellos was bound to contracts he couldn't even warp? Or was he working from his own agenda?

Thinking about it made my head hurt.

Now, back on track.

Is there ever a time that baddies don't have minions? I mean, why is it that they always feel the need to harass us with petty annoyances that prance around in the guise of real men? It made me wish I knew the Ra Tilt.

In any case, now that I had my magic back, I wasn't going to hesitate. The moment the idiots started coming for us,

I shouted out, “Sylphiel, you take defense! Do not attack unless you HAVE to!” She nodded and jumped back.

“Gourry, you take those ones over there!” I pointed over to the left, and he ran in that direction.

“And me, I'll take the rest,” I muttered, my eye on the idiots in front of me. They looked like the same skuzzy men we had met at the inn, but they felt much different. There were about three in front of me, and that was plenty for me.

They decided to formulate a strategy and circle me. I watched each of them, my hand on the hilt of my sword, concentrating and muttering as quietly as I could under my breath. I would be damned before I let them make the first move. As they started closing in on me, I lashed out.

I fired the Burst Rondo with everything I could muster, turning in a quick circle to nail them all at once. They staggered back, and one looked down for the count. Probably the weakest one in the lot. The other two were already back on their feet by the time I had started chanting my next spell.

“Don't let her finish,” One said to the other. I glared in his direction, but he grinned back, and his buddy came at me, holding onto what looked like a huge broadsword, but was more likely a part of his own body made to look that way.

When he swung at me, I grabbed my dagger and barely parried it in time. The clang the two blades made when they met sure sounded real, but I knew better than to be fooled by this. We stayed, locked there for a moment, trying to push eachother away, when I managed to shove him just enough away from me to get a few paces backward from him. He followed, of course, but I was too quick for him, and he was caught in a Dynast Bras before he even knew it. The pentagram burst out at his feet and crackled upwards, the onslaught of electric magic firing into his shell of a body. When it faded, he collapsed, but I knew he was down but not out.

Buying time, I chucked a mild Fireball at the remaining guy, preparing myself for a larger spell. It hit him, and it was a good shot, but within a few seconds he was back to normal and merely singed.

I opened my mouth to shout out the words to the spell I had ready, but the sudden flare of hatred and Sylphiel crying out, “Lina-san, look out!” stopped me, and I jerked and turned around, just in time, it seems. The blow of the second guy's sword would have killed me right then and there had I not moved in time. Instead, the blade merely nicked my arm, and I felt damn lucky that that was all it had done.

Great. Now I had two angry and singed Mazoku after me at the same time. Just what I needed. I really hoped Sylphiel was watching Gourry's ass as well as mine, because at a time like this, there was no way I could keep an eye on him.

Okay. I'm tired now. No more messing around.

I switched my dagger to my left hand and managed to parry Two's swipe while blasting Three away from me with another low-grade Fireball, again. I was sure that would piss him off, but by that time I had switched the dagger back to my right hand and was locked blade-to-blade with him.

I jumped back and, before he could lunge, darted forward and stabbed my dagger into his exposed shoulder. I knew that would do nothing, but what mattered was that it gave me time to chant my real spell.

“Elmekia Lance!” I shouted, firing the spell right into his gut. Just as I had hoped, it blasted right through, leaving a very nice gaping hole, which grew by the second. He choked, cursed at me, and vanished.

I was mentally gloating when a swish of a sword woke me up, and Number Three ran right by me, this time aiming for my stomach. He missed, barely, and I wondered where Sylphiel was. I hoped she was helping Gourry, but it made me worry, because if she was, then he was in trouble and might need my help.

I turned to see, but Three came at me again, and I had to jump down onto the ground to miss his hit. That left me at a huge disadvantage, for he must have premeditated my tactics and was hovering over me before I had a chance to gather my wits. He sliced his sword down, and I squeaked and managed to roll over to avoid it. I started to get to my feet, but he slammed a foot down on my shoulder and held me still.

I grunted and held out my hands as the next swing came down, and I managed to grab the blade, before it impaled me, between my hands. I hissed as the sharp edges bit into my palms, but it bought me time, and I started chanting as fast as I had even chanted before. He heard me and started pushing downwards, and I swear, it would have gone through my hands if I hadn't finished the spell in time.

My hands started glowing, and I let go of the sword and fired the spell, hoping my timing was right and in doing that I wouldn't get impaled. It was, and the Elmekia Lance skewered the guy right through the chest. He clutched at the hole there, staggered, and vanished, probably going home to cry to his mommy.

I lay there, wincing, for a moment. My shoulder would be fine; I can take a few bruises. It was my hands that were painful. They were soaked in blood, and cut deep, but I would survive.

I sat up slowly, concentrating on healing my hands, while I looked ahead, trying to see how Gourry and Sylphiel were faring.

Dramata

22.2
I nodded immediately as Lina gave the order and I ran straight for the two men I had been ordered to attack. As I ran I quickly looked them over and something in me told me they were strong. If they really wanted my sword, then they would set their strongest on me right. Right? Or would they have them on Lina instead to try and force me to give up the sword in exchange for Lina's life if they overpowered her just like Xellos had done with me.

I glanced to Lina and saw her get to work and I noticed she had to deal with three. They wouldn't use three on her and two on me if the two were weaker and they wanted the sword. I realised that I shouldn't have done all that thinking because they weren't waiting around for me to think about my problems.

I turned my head just in time to see one of them fire off a ball of dark energy, the second did the same but it was way off and hit the roof of the cave/corridor. I dived to the side to avoid the ball of dark energy but something about the grin on their faces worried me slightly. It was only when I heard the shout from Sylphiel and the breaking apart of rock that I realised and looked up.

The ball of energy hit where it was supposed to and caused the roof to suddenly fall in on me. I bit my lip and froze slightly, watching the heavy rocks falling down on top of me. I then gritted my teeth and slashed hard with the Blast Sword, and used my fast pace to dodge the smaller pieces. I zigged zagged between the rubble and sliced apart the bigger pieces and then leapt finally out of the way.

“Gourry-san!” Sylphiel yelled as I coughed slightly with the dust that was thrown up by the falling rocks. I heard the two men/mazoku laughing away, thinking their job was done. I stood up slowly and ruffled my hair slightly. Then moved forward and slashed through the wall of rock with ease and back to confront the two mazoku, greeting them with a glare on my face.

The two of them returned my glare with surprise, not expecting to see me alive and Sylphiel had relief on her face. I swung the sword in my hand and prepared to fight, this time paying attention. The two did the same, with their own styles, preparing to fight me. Then we stood there for a few moments, waiting for the other to make the first move. No one was willing to make that first move at first, but I knew I couldn't hang round forever, considering Lina had her own problems to deal with.

I charged forward but the second I moved the two of them phased out. I stopped and blinked in confusion but then suddenly they had phased back in, either side of me and both let off a dark energy ball towards me. I leapt backwards and knew that was a bad idea because the second the two balls hit; they let out a strong shockwave that threw me back into the side of the cave.

I hit it pretty hard and felt the shock ring out through my body and rattle right down to my bones. All my body tingled at that point and I took a deep breath before getting back up to my feet. I held my sword before me and glanced between the two men and that one movement they had done told me that they had worked together for along time. That meant they knew exactly what the other was doing and so doubled their effectiveness, making them twice as deadly compared to if they had been forced to work together.

I charged to my right and watched as the mazoku crossed his arms and waited for me to attack. I was confused by his actions but I attacked nonetheless. I swing out with the sword hard and swore I would hit him but he phased out just before I would have hit him. Instead the other guy had sent another energy blast whilst I was distracted.

I leapt to the side only to jump right into the first mazoku who greeted me with an uppercut to the chin. My head snapped back and I stumbled backwards. The second guy had closed the distance then and swung out with his leg, kicking me at the base of the spine. It sent me into the ground and I curled up immediately as I felt the pain coursing through me.

I turned my head and watched the two mazoku walk to each other and began laughing at me.

“Why does this puny human have such a powerful weapon, when he can't even use it?” One of them mocked.

“I don't know, but at least this makes it easy to take it from them. Thank Dolphin-sama he wasn't turned into a mazoku, he would be destroyed so easily.”

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself off the ground slowly, and grabbed my sword. I glanced to Sylphiel and I could see the worry on her face. I wished she had a bit more trust in me some time. I glared to the two mazoku again, and held my sword out infront of me once more.

“You underestimate me way too easily.” I growled, whilst the two mazoku just gave me a bemused look.

“Oh and why is that?”

“You'll see…” I replied and then charged down once more.

This time I was ready though, and their routine was suddenly predictable. They both phased out but this time I concentrated everything inside me into the blade just like I remember Lina had told me. I swung through the air but I felt something drag on the blade as it went through the air. I knew I caught one of them, how well I don't know, but I knew I got one of them.

I jumped to the side without having to look and turned to face the two of them as the energy blast hit the ground I had been standing on a few moments before. I looked closely and then smirked.

“Looks like one of you is pretty badly hurt.”

“I don't think so. There's no way you could have hit us.”

However the one who wasn't talking, suddenly slumped to the ground, and a wound burst open right across his chest leaking out black smoke. The other looked surprised and then glared towards me as the wounded mazoku phased out and I knew he wouldn't be coming back.

The second the injured mazoku phased out I charged towards the last mazoku. I watched as he suddenly narrowed his eyes and then phased out. I repeated the move, concentrating everything I had into the blade and swung it through the air. However this time I knew I missed, and that was confirmed when I felt a fist smash hard across my jaw. My head snapped to the side, but I used the momentum and swung around hard, suprising the mazoku and slashing right through his body.

The momentum from the swing caused me to stumble to the ground. Suddenly being reminded that willing all that energy into the sword took more out of me than usual. I was going to have to get used to that, but I knew why it affected Lina so much if she used a Ragna Blade.

Sylphiel suddenly ran over to me and her hands were over me in an instant as she started to heal me straight away. I craned my neck to look over at Lina and was glad to see she had dealt with her lot. She was on her knees though and I could see the blood on her hands. I panicked but Sylphiel held me down and knew why I was worried.

“She stopped a sword with her hands. She's healing herself though so she's ok Gourry, don't worry about her.”

I nodded a little but it didn't make me any less worried.

“Oh I was hoping you would get through those few. I really want to test myself against the infamous Lina Inverse and also this legendary Blast Sword in the hands of a real swordsman. Looks like you can use your own magic to power up the blade too. Very impressive considering what Xellos has told me about you.”

I looked to Lina and she returned a look and we both knew that this wasn't over yet. I felt better after Sylphiel's healing and so stood up but I didn't let her finish. I didn't have time to let her finish though. I walked over to Lina, keeping my eyes on Riksfalto who looked ready to start fighting. Once I got to Lina, I noticed her hands still hadn't healed over yet.

“You have to let Sylphiel heal you up quick, and you need to conserve your energy. I'm gonna fight her alone whilst you heal up, then you can join me. I'm not going to be able to do this on my own but if I wait for you now, she's gonna attack us both.”

I could see Lina didn't like the idea but she knew there wasn't any other choice and nodded. Sylphiel came over at that point and quickly got to work on Lina's hands. I looked to Riksfalto and moved towards her with my sword ready in my hand. Riksfalto barely had any emotions so it was kind of hard to judge her. Something about her made me realise that Lina's description was right. She might not be as strong as Xellos, but she didn't look any less dangerous.

I readied myself, but the second I did so she charged in towards me so I had to go on the defensive. I held up the sword and used the flat side and blocked the attack. Despite knowing her danger, I was still surprised by her strength and I nearly buckled under the first attack. She repeated the downward strike and I prepared myself for it more and blocked it more effectively, holding the block a bit more strongly.

I had to endure this blocking routine for a few minutes and I knew at that point she was playing with me, which frustrated me slightly. I knew I had to fight back otherwise I would be no help to Lina at all by the time she was healed. I blocked an attack once more but this time, I pushed her back and knocked her off balance.

I charged forward quickly and slashed out quickly with the blade, but I hit nothing but air. I glanced and noticed Riksfalto had turned and was now swinging her sword hard towards me. I did all I could to move out the way but she was too quick for me. Luckily I had moved enough to not get seriously hurt and instead I was cut in the arm. It wasn't a small nick but it wasn't all that deep either.

I didn't let it stop me though and the second I had started to move out the way, I was already beginning my next attack. So despite being cut in the arm, I reacted immediately and swung out hard. Riksfalto showed a rare moment of emotion with a look on surprise at my attack. I cut fair deeply into her arm and forced her to stumble backwards. I knew that it didn't really mean as much as it appeared. I had only damaged her slightly despite the cut on her arm looking pretty bad.

Now she looked a little angry and I knew this meant that she wasn't going to be playing games anymore. She was going to want to attack me even harder and less mercifully. I grit my teeth, ready for the attack to come, but then I noticed her eyes move from me to someone else. I turned quickly and noticed that Lina was healed and was ready to join in on the action. I knew this was still gonna be tough, but with Lina fighting alongside, the odds suddenly seemed a bit healthier.

Kurage

22.3
It's creepy to have someone stare at you and know exactly what they are thinking the moment they stare at you. When she looked at me, I knew exactly what Riksfalto was thinking: `I want to kill you and make sure you suffer each step of the way.'

And how did I know this? Because I had thought the exact same thing when I was fighting Zelgadis. And did this comfort me?

Nah. It made me feel, oh, five times worse than normal. But did it strengthen my resolve to beat her?

Oh, yes. You can bet on that.

“Gourry,” I mumbled, “do you think you can distract her while I cast a spell?”

He nodded, barely, so that only I would notice. I swallowed, my eyes set ahead of me, and I clenched my fists, clearing my mind of my thoughts. I knew, by doing this, I was putting him in danger, but it was the only way I could have enough time to cast the spell. Sylphiel would be there to protect him if need be.

Ultimately, I knew that if Gourry was sloppy, Riksfalto would have the sword and that would be that. I also knew that getting the sword was her ultimate goal, and dealing with both Sylphiel and me would be mere distractions. By setting Gourry and Riksfalto head-to-head, I would be giving her what she wanted: the chance to get the sword.

So I had to be quick about my move, because although Gourry was strong, he wouldn't last forever.

I shut my eyes and started chanting the amplification spell, and instantly I felt Gourry leave my side. I kept my eyes shut. I couldn't watch, or else my concentration would be shot and that would be that. Although I really wanted to, just to make sure Gourry would be alright…

Each time I heard Gourry shout out, I flinched, but didn't stop concentrating. It seemed to take way too long to cast the spell, but finally it was done, and finally, I started casting the one I wanted to.

Each time I heard Gourry shout out, I wanted to stop and run to his side, but I didn't. Instead, I held out my hands, summoned up the Ragna Blade, and held it, crackling and electric, in my hands. Already, with the force of my will, I could feel it straining against my control, but I held on, the talismans a great help.

I opened my eyes, and saw that all eyes were on me, including Riksfalto's. I grinned, and before she could do a thing, I had come forward and had the Ragna Blade ready to impale her.

However, I was sorely disappointed. And freaked out. As I swung the Blade towards her, she reached behind her back, grabbed the sword strapped there, and parried it.

Yes, she PARRIED my Ragna Blade. My freaking RAGNA BLADE.

I gritted my teeth, and she grinned at me, and I swear I wanted to smack her. Every ounce of my will was going to this spell and nothing was coming from it. And the worse thing was that my effort was amusing her.

“Now, now,” she grinned, and I felt a bead of sweat roll down my cheek from the effort of holding the Blade in check. “You shouldn't bet it all on something as feeble as this.”

She was calling my Ragna Blade feeble, now? When it managed to cut through Gaav? When it managed to even cut through a God's corporal body and render him a wuss for a long time afterwards? A spell that called on a Dark Lord higher up than her own, and she still had the NERVE to mock me?

Okay, bitch is going down.

“Now, now,” I chided back, the anger coursing through my veins and giving me, oh, five times the amount of willpower I had to hold on. “You should never underestimate your enemies!” I pushed down as hard as I could on the Blade, and with a grating sound, followed by a small `ping!', the Ragna Blade sliced through her broadsword.

However, she managed to jump back before I could even nick her, and the Blade slammed into the ground where she had once been. The Blade cut through the floor a little before I could bring my brain to pace and call it off.

It vanished, and before I could control myself, I fell over on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and both Gourry and Sylphiel were at my side, Gourry's hand on my shoulder. I shook my head and got to my feet, and Sylphiel hovered close by, annoying me. I waved them both away and turned back to Riksfalto, who was holding her sword's hilt loosely, gazing at it in a dejected manner.

“What's the matter?” I taunted, a little out of breath. “Worried that you're next?”

She glared at me, then tossed the hilt aside. It clanged against the wall and lay on the floor. “Hardly,” she snapped. Finally, she was ready to get into the game, seriously.

She stood, her hands out at her sides, her eyes focused on all three of us. I knew that look. I knew it like it was the back of my hand. She was getting ready to summon up a huge spell.

I swallowed, then turned to Sylphiel and Gourry. “Sylphiel,” I said, trying to keep calm, “I need you to cast the Dragon Slave. I'm going to cast it at the same time, and when we both have it ready, Gourry, you hold out the Blast Sword and get ready to take charge, okay?”

“Uh...what exactly is going to happen, exactly?” Gourry stammered, looking very nervous.

“The inevitable!” I snapped. “Get ready!”

Sylphiel had already started, so I scrambled to catch up with her. By the time I was almost done, she was ready, and apparently, so was Riksfalto. Sylphiel definitely noticed, and she fired the Dragon Slave into the blade of the Blast Sword without hesitation. It almost seemed as if it was too much, until the blade absorbed the magic and suddenly glimmered, looking razor sharp.

I finally finished and followed suit, already feeling that sleepy tugging at the back of my eyes when I've done way too much for the day and now it was time to sleep. Both Sylphiel and I jumped back, and Gourry faced Riksfalto, his sword gleaming even in the dim light.

I don't even think Riksfalto noticed what had happened, to be honest. I think she was just too lost in her own power to care. She even had her eyes closed still, and speaking from experience, that may seem careless, but in fact it wasn't. She still had all of her nerves on hair-trigger, and could leap into action at any second.

That was what worried me. I stood there, beside Sylphiel, my hands clenched together, and although I should have felt tired, all I felt was scared.

Gourry tightened his hands on the sword and started forward, and that was when Riksfalto opened her eyes. In her hands, she cradled two crackling orbs of dark power, power I could taste on my lips and remembered but truly hated.

It was then I think that maybe Riksfalto realized that she was in trouble. Gourry looked pretty damn threatening, standing there with both hands on the sword, the blade glimmering red and brimming with the power of not one, but yes, two Dragon Slaves. Gotta love Sylphiel and her weird quirks. They really come in handy in situations like this.

Okay, back on track.

When Riksfalto realized that, hey, maybe it wouldn't be as easy as she thought, she clenched her hands into fists, and the black energy intensified quite a bit. Gourry took that as a hint, and he charged forward, swinging the sword back, getting ready for a huge uppercut.

Riksfalto seemed to have pre-meditated this move, because instead of moving away, she merely held out one hand in front of her, her fingers encased with the crackling magic. Gourry, however, was unfazed. He powered forward, not even caring what she had in mind, and with a sharp shout, swung the sword forward towards her.

This still makes me cringe, thinking about it.

I think Riksfalto intended to grab the blade and stop it from hitting her. However, the sword was so highly charged, instead of stopped at her hand, it went THROUGH her hand, actually severing it, with a very sickening burst of black blood. Riksfalto shrieked, and her power faded from her hands.

Gourry turned back for another hit, but Riksfalto appeared to have had enough, really. Honestly? I think she underestimated us. I don't think she really thought we would have been able to hurt part of her corporal body. And once we had, she must have realized, hey, oops, she's in trouble.

She clutched her severed arm to her chest and glared at us, looking like she was truly in pain. I darted over to Gourry's side, chanting under my breath, in case she got any ideas, but instead, she merely hissed at us and vanished.

I terminated the spell and looked up at Gourry, feeling, for once, like I had truly missed something. Gourry, however, looked down at me and grinned.

“You do realize she'll be back,” I said, wiping the smile from his face. He gave me a look that clearly meant he was annoyed, but thankfully, Sylphiel distracted us from fighting.

“Let's just get out of here and recover,” she said, looking just as tired as I felt.

That was quite possibly the sanest thing said all day.

Dramata

22.4
I just barely nodded to Lina because I wanted to try and keep things as secret as possible. The truth was I wanted to shout out at her and say I was trying to distract Riksfalto already whilst she was getting healed and I was barely holding my own. But really I knew I had to do what she needed, and I had to do everything in my power to give her the time she needed.

The second she closed her eyes I knew that was my cue to begin. I looked to Riksfalto and I could tell that she was concerned for the moment at what Lina was doing. I knew she wanted to react and attack her, but that was my job to stop her from doing so. So that's what I did, without thought or worry for my own safety. I ran into the fray and attacked her with all that I had inside; knowing I would risk it all to give Lina the one shot it took to take her out.

I let out a yell as I swung the sword towards Riksfalto, which she was able to evade with total ease. I was expecting that, and I was expecting the counter-attack to which quickly followed. I twisted my body sharply and watched the blade of her sword swing past the front of my face, slicing a few strands of my hair.

I didn't allow it to faze me, as I used the twisting as my body to allow myself to turn sharply on the spot. I slashed hard with the sword, gritting my teeth tightly as I put every bit of effort into the attack. I watched from the corner of my eye where I wanted to attack as I continued turning around. I watched where I wanted to attack, but as the sword came to meet that point, I realised I was never going to hit it.

Riksfalto leapt backwards with inhuman power. Well of course, she was a mazoku after all! I let the power go out of the swing but I knew immediately that was my mistake straight away. By jumping away from me, she left herself with enough room to attack Lina freely without any bother from me. I cursed under my breath as I watched her close the distance quickly.

I knew I had to stop her so I closed the distance just as quickly. I was going to head her off before she even got to Lina and as I started moving, I knew I was going to beat her. I ran as fast as I felt my body could go and as I got near, I leapt towards her, with the sword ready to thrust out at her. I watched on as suddenly she turned her direction and headed straight for me.

She tricked me! She knew I was going to protect Lina as best as I could and she used it against me. It was only in those split seconds that I realised that she was after me all along. She wanted the sword. My sword.

She thrust the sword out towards me and I bit my lip as I thrust my sword back to parry her blow. My sword grinded up alongside hers, sending sparks flying in the air, and I managed to push her sword blade away from me. But that was what she wanted all along and along came her other hand, clenched tightly into a fist.

I felt it strike against my side, and she directed it upwards slightly. The shock of the punch shook me all over. I felt the pain follow that shock, right along my side and upwards across my chest and spine. I shouted out in pain slightly, and watched as the world that was once in slow motion, suddenly speed up and the ground coming up to greet me at an almighty speed.

I hit the ground and grunted in pain, the momentum from my speed and jump caused me to roll along the ground a couple of times. I lay there, taking a minute to catch my breath and let the pain subside. I glanced up and saw Riksfalto glaring down at me. She reached down and grabbed me, pulling me up a little unceremoniously. She thrust me hard against the wall and I closed my eyes momentarily but then I looked back towards her.

She readied the sword to take the final blow but I was a step a head of her. I flung both my legs out behind her knees and kicked back against them hard. Her knees buckled from underneath her, forcing her to let go of me. The moment I touched the floor I pushed hard away from her and managed a quick roll and stood up with my sword ready having gained a bit of distance between us already.

I was about to go onto attack her just as she stood up but I got the sign from Lina that she was done casting the spell. I thought a large black blade which snapped and crackled with enough energy to put the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end was a sign if there ever was one.

It didn't take long for Lina to take advantage of the momentary pause, and she leapt straight into action with the Ragna Blade ready to strike. I watched her lunge out and I was waiting for the inevitable where she would be struck down with the intense energy. I knew Riksfalto was strong but this would beat her for sure.

So I was left to stand there in shock as I watched the Ragna Blade blocked by the sword of Riksfalto. I wondered what went wrong, and why this mazoku wasn't already destroyed. I quickly started to wonder what I needed to do to help as the two of them exchanged a few words. However I didn't have to think all that much at that point as suddenly Lina added new strength to her attack. I heard the familiar ping of a sword breaking and I thought Lina had done it.

However before Lina could continue through with the blade, Riksfalto was out of the way having leapt backwards. I watched the Ragna Blade strike the ground, destroying everything it touched and causing the ground to shake violently. I thought for a moment the whole place was about to collapse on us but soon the blade had vanished and left Lina exhausted as she slumped to her knees.

I ran over to her immediately and left a hand on her shoulder, showing signs of worry and wondering if Sylphiel who was now beside me, needing to do some more healing. However Lina was having none of it and with a little time she was standing up on her own two feet.

I turned back to Riksfalto and noticed she had got rid of her sword and looked to be powering up something pretty big. My reaction was to look at Lina to see if she knew what she had planning, if anything, or were we to just get out of there. It seemed she did have a plan as suddenly she began asking Sylphiel to cast a Dragon Slave. She was also going to do the same and they were both going to cast them on to my sword.

“Uh...what exactly is going to happen, exactly?”

I have to admit I was a little nervous about having to handle that much power into the blade and I began to wonder if it could handle it at all. I didn't have time to think though because Sylphiel had already begun to speak the words to the spell. I stepped forward towards Riksfalto and held the Blast Sword out to my side and then took a deep breath.

“Well here goes nothing.” I mumbled to myself.

I turned to watch Sylphiel speak the final words as Lina was quickly catching up. Sylphiel let the spell go and I held the sword out infront of it, willing everything I had to make sure it would consume the power and make the blade sharpen. I watched it brighten and I could feel all the power being contained in the sword. I could feel it wanting to escape but I refused it, and I had to concentrate to keep a hold of it.

Then Lina had her Dragon Slave ready and before I knew it, I was absorbing all the power from the second spell into the blade. I grit my teeth as I struggled to control it; the blade gleamed and shone brightly, which glowed with a strong red similar to the colour of the spell. It was like the two spells were rattling around in the blade, and it was like it was trying to shake lose and break away.

I kept my concentration going though, and held onto the sword with two hands. I looked to Riksfalto with a glare but she was still too busy concentrating on her own spell. I had to strike now before it was too late. I ran with the blade down low at my side, still holding onto it with two hands. It was like the second I did that, Riksfalto knew what was happening because she opened her eyes with two orbs of blackness crackling away in her hands.

I grit my teeth and ran quicker and as I closed in on her, I let it all lose. I struck upwards with the blade as if I was trying to attack with an uppercut but with my blade instead of my fist. I watched as she held her hand out to catch the blade and I wondered if she was just going to hold onto it and kill me on the spot.

I couldn't think like that for too long though so I continued on and yelled out loudly as I imagined the blade moving through and cutting her entire body in half. I watched as the highly sharpened blade travelled through the air, causing the air around it to wobble from the heat. It then struck her hand and continued right on through as though it wasn't even there.

I watched the black gaseous blood flow from the wound. I cursed slightly though because I had only caught her hand when I was supposed to go through her body but I knew I still had some power left so I let the momentum of the swing take me around allow me to go in for the attack again. However before I had the chance to attack once more, it seemed Riksfalto had had enough as she held the wounded arm against her chest before vanishing away.

I stopped myself and felt the nearly uncontrollable power in the sword, dissipate slowly away from the blade harmlessly. I had my concerns at that point, as I wondered if there was a limit to the amount of energy it could hold. I felt that if it had anymore inside, the blade was just shatter completely.

I tried not to worry about that for a moment and looked down to Lina with a nice big grin on my face. After all we had just survived against a powerful mazoku once again. But she decided to dampen my high spirits by telling me that she could be back anytime. I felt a bit annoyed at her being such a downer considering she would normally be the first to explain how she had saved the day in similar situations.

However, before I had the chance to let Lina know that, Sylphiel came in between us and told us that maybe now was the time to recover. I guess it was for the best and I could tell Lina was a little relieved by that, and I guess I was too. So with a little help from Sylphiel and Lina using levitation to get out of that massive hole, we returned to the campsite and with it getting late, we knew we would have to stay for the night. I don't think I would have been able to go walking though, as I felt too tired and it wasn't like we would make it to a town with an inn any time soon either.

I sat down on a log as I watched Lina set up a fire and Sylphiel sat down right next to me.

“Sit still for a moment please Gourry-san.” She told me gently.

I blinked in reaction and turned to her in confusion.

“Why? What's wrong?” I asked.

“I saw that punch you took from Riksfalto. The way she hit you I could tell meant you have internal bleeding.”

“I have what?”

“It's when you're bleeding from the inside. You can't see it but if left untreated, it can kill you.”

“Uhh. Well if its inside, how can you tell if I'm bleeding or not.”

“Because like I said, I can tell from the way she hit you. Also because you look tired and you're really pale too.”

At that point, Sylphiel chanted quickly and began casting a healing spell on me. I glanced to Lina who had heard the whole conversation, but the second I looked to her, she turned away and started making herself busy, making it seem as though she hadn't been paying attention. I shook my head a little and then sat there still whilst Sylphiel continued healing me.

When she finished, she headed straight over to Lina and I could tell that they were discussing something. Then not long after, she had sat Lina down and was healing her too. I started to wonder what had happened to her. However I continued on from what Lina was doing which was to prepare the dinner. I kept watch over the food as it cooked on the fire and not long afterwards, both Lina and Sylphiel returned and sat down around the fire.

“Hurry it up Gourry! I'm starving!” Lina demanded, patting her belly to make the point which responded with a little hollow sound.

“Nearly done now.” I grumbled in response, feeling all too much like a maid at that point.

After a few more moments, the food was finally done and I handed it out to everyone and began eating it all down feverishly, really enjoying the meal after feeling pretty hungry. Soon after, Sylphiel excused herself and went to sleep. She had looked pretty tired and I wasn't surprised considering all the healing that she had done.

I put my plate down and stretched out, letting a good long yawn out before looking over to Lina momentarily. I began to wonder if my plan if things got desperate was going to work anymore. You see, I had thought before about doing something that I knew Lina wouldn't be happy about but I knew if there wasn't much of an option left I would have to go through with it.

I knew the sword would sharpen with an increase in magical power, and of course who was the best for that than Lina. She had the likes of the Ragna Blade and even the Giga Slave which she could summon into the sword without casting them, if she was able to wield it. Of course the sword became useless in anyone else's hands so that messed up that idea. That was until I thought of what I could do to make the sword think it was still in my hands.

My plan was that if things were going bad, then I would have to give Lina the sword to channel all that magical power into the blade and use it. I had decided that to allow her to use the sword, then it had to be covered in my blood. I wasn't stupid though. I wasn't going to let it kill me, or well, I wasn't planning on letting it kill me. But I knew there had to be enough of my blood on it to let it work in her hands, and that would still only give her a small amount of time.

Of course, that plan was pretty much out the window after what had happened earlier. When those two Dragon Slaves were in the Blast Sword, I wasn't sure if the blade was going to handle it. I felt like that it could have just blasted the blade apart because it was too much energy for the blade to handle. So what would happen if Lina were to channel a Ragna Blade or a Giga Slave into it?

“Um Lina?” I asked, trying to gain her attention which I had. “You know I care about you, right?”

Lina looked a little confused at me for a moment and nodded slightly.

“What's brought this on?”

Well what had brought it on? I guess it was what I remembered Riksfalto said about needing the sword. I'm pretty sure they realised that the sword wouldn't work unless it was in my hands and it made me wonder if they would try to do what happened to Lina, to me.

“I dunno. I just hope you realise that I care about you, and that I love you.”

If they did come for me, then it would be very possible I would try to attack Lina and try to kill her. I had almost done it once before when I was taken away by Hell master. My memories of that time were still fuzzy but I still remember it being explained to me.

Lina blushed slightly at what I said, and I knew it was tough for her to say the same to me. I could see her trying to fight it out but I already knew how she felt about me and so I didn't mind that she wasn't able to tell me the same.

I think ultimately I told her it because I wasn't sure what the future had held for either of us. Whether Riksfalto would return and try to finish us off, or whether I would be taken away and somehow changed. I just wanted her to know how I felt about her.

Everything was confusing at that point, and I knew if I tried to think too hard, I would just be overwhelmed by it all and I wouldn't understand it at all. So I just tried to not worry about it and only worry when the problem actually came up.

I then smiled a little to Lina as I poked at the fire.

“I'll take first watch.”

Kurage

22.5
Why did I look away? Because no matter how much we had been through and no matter how much we had talked it over, I still felt guilty sometimes. No matter how many times Gourry declared that he was in it by choice, it was hard to accept. Think what you want, but that's the truth.

However, when Sylphiel was done with Gourry, she came over to me. I stared at her. “What?” I blinked slowly.

“You're next,” she answered. “Hold still, please.”

“Nu-uh,” I answered, jerking away from her. “I'm quite fine, thank you.”

Sylphiel sighed deeply, then reached forward and grabbed a lock of my hair. I was afraid she would tug, but she didn't. Instead, she just held it close to my nose. “THIS is why,” she answered.

The tips of my hair were white, but not by much. Maybe an inch.

I hadn't even noticed, to be honest with you. It made me a little confused as to why my power would be sapped so quickly, but then the answer was simple enough; when you spend time as a creature completely different than yourself, using magic completely different (although somewhat related) to what you usually used, you're bound to get out of practice. And when that happens, well...

I growled a little, tugging my hair back out of her hand. “Doesn't mean I need healing.” I muttered.

“And you would rather risk it in case she comes back?” Sylphiel reasoned.

Merph. She had me there.

I sat down begrudgingly. “Fine!” I huffed. Sylphiel sat next to me and started healing me. You'll never hear me say it twice, but after I was healed, I felt much better than before.

After we had eaten and I felt somewhat sleepy and satisfied, I noticed Gourry giving me a long look from the corner of his eye. I just sat there, patiently, knowing that if Gourry had anything to say, he would say it to me eventually.

And when he did, it made me wonder, deep down, what had brought this all on to begin with. Thinking about that alone made me feel a little queasy, like I was either missing something or that something bad was going to happen.

However, it was like he was dismissing me to bed. I shook my head slowly, getting up to go, but then I changed my mind.

I turned back and walked over to him. He looked up at me, blinking slowly, and I sat down beside him without a word. I could feel the beginnings of a blush, but I have to tell you, this blush wasn't as intense as the ones in the past. Maybe I was finally getting used to it all.

Without a word, I moved myself close to Gourry and slid my arm around his waist. He smiled faintly, then responded by putting his arm around my shoulders. I stiffened at first, then relaxed into it, and I leaned close to him, resting my head on his shoulder. I kept my eyes on the fire.

“I'll keep watch with you,” I muttered, feeling my heart racing. What was the matter with me? Just one touch from him was enough to get me worked up?

He didn't say a word, but I could feel his chin on the top of my head, and that was nice. “I'm not sleepy,” I further explained, and still he said nothing. However, I did feel him tug me closer to him, and I complied.

There was a long silence, as the two of us just sat together watching the fire. Sometimes, you don't have to say a word. Sometimes, it's okay to be silent. You don't need conversation to be comfortable with a person, especially with someone you have come to love.

I soon felt a little drowsy, but I didn't want to leave yet. I just pushed myself closer to him, so that I could smell him.

“Gourry, what's wrong?” I asked suddenly, my face buried into his chest, just below his shoulder. “You've been acting weird, like something bad is going to happen, and it's making me nervous. You're not telling me something, and I don't like it.”

He stiffened against me a little, and I pulled my head up from his shoulder and looked up at him. He was looking at the ground, chewing on his lip a little. I knew that look. He was trying to find the right words to say, searching the shallow contours of his brain to do so.

I used to think that face meant that there actually was nothing in his head and that he was just double-checking this fact. Now, however, I've come to know the truth. I'm pretty sure, anyways.

In any case, I looked up at him, staring right at him, making sure to give him my best answer-or-die-right-now look that I knew he couldn't resist. Sure enough, he sighed deeply and looked back at me.

I waited patiently. Er, well, as patiently as I could be. Which somehow resulted in me snapping, “Get on with it, I'm not getting any younger!”

Really, anyone who has patience can say that.

Dramata

22.6
I admit that I was caught by her. I did my best to not worry about things and more importantly not have her notice I was worrying. But she saw right through it and knew I was thinking about something that was bothering me. Of course now she had caught onto it, she was adamant to find out what it was I was hiding. You know how it works. You do your best to tell someone not to do something, and in the end they do it anyway.

Anyway, I was trying to think of the best way to explain to her what I was thinking. Normally I would just say the first thing of the top of my head, but I started to learn that maybe this time wasn't the best time to do that. Of course, the time it was taking me to think of something decent enough to say to her, she was growing more and more impatient with having to wait.

“Get on with it; I'm not getting any younger!” She snapped at me finally.

I don't know what it was, but it annoyed me. It annoyed the hell out of me and as my brain thought it through I realised the reason why it annoyed the hell out of me. Only a few nights earlier, we got into an argument because she was frustrated with me trying to find out what was wrong with her when it was pretty obvious something was wrong. In the end, we had decided that I wouldn't bother her anymore, and she would tell me those things that had been bothering her when she felt ready.

Well now here she was, doing exactly the same thing to me. I was sat there, worrying about something but not wanting her to worry about it. And now she was there pestering me, demanding that I tell her what it was that was bothering me. So well I wasn't really happy with that, and I guess I let her know that.

My first action was to pull away from her, slowly enough to not harm her in anyway, but quick enough to make the point that I was pretty annoyed with what she had said. I stood up and took a few steps away from her and crossed my arms. I glared down at her and she looked back at me with those big red eyes of her and wondered what was wrong with me. So I told her.

“How can you even say that to me Lina?” I snapped at first, but then I remembered that I had to keep my cool around her. She wasn't happy with the way I snapped at her when she was fighting with Sylphiel. But I felt I had every right to be angry about what she had just done.

“How can you go on at me like that after everything we had just gone through before?” I glared at her once more and I could see her trying to work out where I was coming up with this stuff.

“What happened to the whole thing of me not bothering you if there is something wrong with you? Even if it worries the hell out of me, and I get so concerned and uptight that I feel sick inside because I don't know if you're going to do something crazy or stupid which might end up getting you hurt or maybe worse. No! I'm not allowed to ask you about that because you don't like talking about that sort of thing. And you'll only tell me when you're ready!”

I couldn't help myself at that point and I had my hands down at my side, clenching tightly into fists, also gripping slightly on my trousers.

“Now here you are doing exactly the same to me! Why can't you just leave me alone, and then I'll tell you when I am ready?”

I stopped at that point and breathed heavily as I felt I had just let a lot of stuff out. I looked down at the ground and tried to calm myself down, and so I couldn't really see Lina at that point. However I knew she was still there though, because I could sense her. I could sense the mix of confusion and anger that she had inside but she was doing her best to keep it in.

That pause allowed me to realise everything I had done in that outburst. The problem was that I was acting exactly like Lina. I stood up and had a fit and expected her to just take it all and the problem in that was that was what Lina did, and not me. I was acting like Lina when I should have been like myself. It wasn't that I felt what Lina did was wrong, far from it. I actually liked Lina getting angry and telling me everything that was annoying her. It meant that not long after, she felt better for getting rid of some of the tension she had inside. The problem was that I was doing something I shouldn't have.

I sat back down at that point and scooted along so I was sat next to Lina again, but not as close as before. I placed my hands gently on my knees and sighed slightly.

“I'm sorry Lina. I…I…”

I took a breath to try and relax a little and I thought about what I really was worried about.

“I'm scared of losing you again.”

I still wasn't looking at her but I knew I she had turned to look at me at that point.

“They're after my sword right? And the sword is only going to work in my hands. That means they're after me. I hadn't really thought about it much before, but Riksfalto made me realise that even if they took the sword and not me. They would realise pretty quickly it wouldn't work and they would come after me.”

I pulled my arms into myself, and crossed them over and started rubbing them over me as I started to notice the cold which I was never normally bothered by.

“If they take me, then they're going to take me away from you and then they…they'll probably do the same to me as they had done to you. So they would want to turn me against you. Or maybe not even that. They'll just make me like I was when Phibrizzo took me and so I won't even have control over my own mind.”

I bit my lip and hung my head down.

“I…I don't want to hurt you Lina. I'm scared that if they take me away, I'll…I'll never see you again.”

I gripped tightly onto my upper arms as though it was some sort of comfort. But that didn't compare to the feeling Lina gave me when she simply wrapped her arms around my waist, and pulled herself up against me. I suddenly felt relaxed and everything that I was worried about didn't matter anymore. You could say she was just holding onto me the same way as before, but that would be wrong. Everything about the way she was holding me now was different to the way she had a hold of me before.

I placed my arms back around her and I closed my eyes, just enjoying the moment then. I was just glad to have Lina with me, and it made me realise even more how lost I would be without her. It also made me realise that we would do everything we could to stay together; I know I was willing to risk almost everything for her and I was pretty sure she would do the same for me.

I wasn't sure how long we had stayed like that for, and to be honest, I didn't really care. That was until I opened my eyes and looked up and realised that we had been like that for at least half of the night.

“Lina…you really should get some sleep. I'll keep watch until the morning.” I said to her gently, trying to carefully pull away from her. She didn't reply and I blinked slightly wondering what was keeping her quiet. I looked down to her and noticed her peaceful look and the slow movement of her chest. She had fallen asleep.

I smiled a little and pulled her back close to me and decided that it might be for the best if I didn't move her at all. I would probably end up waking her up anyway and I didn't want to bother her, and break her sleep. So I just sat there with her in my arms for the rest of the night, taking guard of the camp but most of all enjoying the feeling of having the girl of my dreams asleep in my arms whilst being completely protective of her.

Kurage

22.7
Oh.

Sometimes the simplest of answers can make a person feel like a dumbass.

I don't know why I held him the way I did. Logic dictated that instead of doing such a thing, I should grab him and throttle him until he cried uncle. But in my heart, and in my guts, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't punish the guy for wanting to keep me out of harm, the very thing he had been doing for so many years.

Because of that, I wanted to touch him, to hold him close, to make him feel like I wasn't going to be hurt anytime soon and that I was always going to be at his side. I wanted him to stop fearing the future and start realizing that I was always going to be at his side, whether he had a choice or not, and that I would always love him, no matter what.

I guess he got them message because he didn't fight me and he held me back, which was nice. I snuggled closer, greedy for his warmth, and he held tighter. I rested my head on his chest and buried my face into the front of his shirt, sighing deeply.

Gradually, I was so comfortable, I dozed off. There is no other feeling in the world that can come close to falling asleep in the arms of someone you love so much it hurts sometimes. It's like warm cocoa on a really cold day, or being wrapped in a warm dry blanket after being caught in the worst rainstorm ever known in your short little life.

I had dreams, but they were muted, slow, drawn out. Content, lazy dreams that come with a good sleep.

Waking up wasn't so pleasant.

“Oh, HONESTLY, you two, can't you ever just keep watch for one night without sleeping!”

I jumped about a foot in the air and promptly ended up in a squirming mess with Gourry, who had also jumped up. Both of us detangled ourselves and managed to get apart, and when I looked up, Sylphiel was standing there, her hands on her hips. She was trying to look mad but was really doing a bad job at it.

“Hi Sylphiel!” I squeaked, my voice unnaturally high. “How are you this morning?” I could already feel myself blushing, and although I refused to look at Gourry in order to make more obvious my guilt, I knew he was too.

Sylphiel struggled to stay angry looking, but failed. She snorted, then rolled her eyes and smiled. “Fine, Lina-san. However, next time, for the sake of all of our necks, PLEASE don't fall asleep again. Or if you do, make sure Gourry is awake.”

I turned to Gourry quickly. “You fell asleep?” I snapped, glaring at him.

He paled and scratched at his head. “I was tired too, you know! And you wouldn't wake up to take the next shift, so I ended up falling asleep!”

I bristled, baring my teeth at him. “Oh, sure, blame me for your misgivings!”

“I'm not blaming you, although it wouldn't have killed you to stay awake...” he muttered angrily.

I darted over and grabbed him by his shirt collar. “Okay! Let's go! Here and now!” I shouted, ready to beat the crap out of him.

Sylphiel casually intercepted us and pulled me away. “Now now, come on. I'll cook you breakfast. We're safe now, so we might as well just move on with our lives.”

“Meh,” both Gourry and I mumbled stonily.

Sylphiel just smiled and started making breakfast. It turned out to be a real treat, and soon Gourry and I both forgot our mutual sour mood.

However, after the meal, Gourry pulled out his map.

“Nu-uh,” I snapped, grabbing at it. “Put that horrible thing away. We haven't gotten lost yet!”

Gourry glowered at me, but complied, knowing that I was right. Sylphiel suggested then that we started on our way, and both he and I agreed.

The time in between then and what happened next is pretty boring and uneventful. We walked and looked around, and all of that boring scenic stuff. It was what happened when we looked around for a place to stop for lunch that ended up being important.

I was tired and bored, and was sick of Sylphiel's constant attempts to try and make me play a stupid word game with her and Gourry (one, I might add, that Gourry kept messing up). I let my mind wander around a bit, trying to avoid listening to Gourry's sad attempts and Sylphiel's encouraging chiding.

“Hey,” I stopped right in the middle of the road, squinting in the distance. From the corner of my eye, I could see something out there, something glittery and shinnying. Both Gourry and Sylphiel stopped when they noticed I had. “Gourry,” I called, pointing out into the distance, “Can you see that's there?”

Since Gourry has far better eyesight than I do, I decided to take advantage of that fact and use him as a sort of telescope. He looked in the direction I was pointing and squinted too, then nodded slowly. “Yup. That shiny thing? It's a little small building.”

“Building?” Sylphiel echoed. She stood on her toes and tried to look out, but I don't think she could see it any better than I could.

“Yeah, although that's all I can really tell. Why is it all shiny like that?” he sounded confused, just as confused as I felt.

I shrugged, but inside I felt a surge of excitement at the very prospect of it all. “I don't know,” I admitted, “but I think we should take a look.”

“What about lunch?” Gourry said, sounding shocked.

I shook my head. “Listen, we can check it out, and if it's nothing, we can eat there! That's not so hard, is it?”

It was agreed that perhaps it wasn't, and together the three of us set off in the direction of the building in silence. Personally, I was having one of my intuitive moments. I knew this had to be important, much too important to ignore. Something about it made me feel like something was finally tipping the scales in our favour.

Dramata

22.8
I didn't totally understand what her problem was with me using a map. I just liked using them so we could plan out where we were going. I guess she didn't like to use them because it made her feel as though it was like she needed help. Well of course, Lina Inverse, the beautiful sorcery genius, never EVER needs help from anyone or anything. I just wanted to use them so I knew where we were going, and if Lina happened to suddenly run off course because something fancy caught her eye, I would know how to get back on track.

I tried to fight back against her slightly over the matter by giving her a slight glare, but I knew I wasn't going to win the battle and folded the map away and stuffed it back in my bag.

We travelled for awhile where nothing happened, thankfully, and that word game was stupid. It made no sense whatsoever, and I wondered what the point of it was anyway. Lina didn't even want to be included in it, but Sylphiel seemed to insist I tried, and kept going on at me as I kept getting it wrong. To be honest I didn't want to play it anymore, but Sylphiel wouldn't give it up.

I was saved when Lina had caught her eye on something and so she asked me to take a look. I wasn't sure why she was asking me. Surely she could see that building for herself but I knew better than to argue with her so I just did as she said and told her what I saw. I had no idea why it was shiny though but Lina didn't seem to have an answer.

I turned to her and noticed straight away her losing battle to contain the excitement that was building up in her. I sighed a little, as I knew immediately what that meant. She wanted to take a look and of course doing that threw out the idea of going for lunch.

I was HUNGRY!

I mean we'd just survived a fight with a pretty powerful mazoku and to be honest, I wanted to rest off a little and enjoy some really nice food, but here Lina was, ruining those plans, and wanting to go off on yet another adventure. I let her know about the idea for lunch but I guess she persuaded me a little with her own idea. Also I knew if I disagreed, she was going to snoop out the place anyway, either with or without me, so I felt better to stay with her and miss lunch.

We walked towards the shiny building, noticing it was up a small little hill. If it had been flat on the ground along with most of the scenery, then we probably wouldn't have noticed it.

As we moved closer, the shiny building seemed to disappear and instead it was a normal building with something small shining on the roof of the building. I stopped at that point in the middle of the road whilst Lina and Sylphiel walked a few more steps before stopping and realising I wasn't walking.

“C'mon Gourry! We can take a break when we get there.” Lina replied, now sounding a little annoyed with me.

“I dunno Lina. There's something strange about that building. What if it's Riksfalto back to attack us again?”

“She wouldn't be back that soon, you hurt her pretty badly. It'll probably take her a few days to recover from that.”

“Ok, if not her, then maybe it's somebody linked with her. I just think a big shiny building in the middle of nowhere is pretty weird and I'm a little worried that you two don't think the same as me.”

“You know, Gourry's instinct is pretty sharp, if he thinks something is wrong, there probably is.” Sylphiel turned to Lina as she spoke.

Lina just growled and rubbed her head in frustration, then looked at me as though I was trying to ruin everything for her.

“You sure it's your instinct and not just because you're hungry!”

I thought for a moment.

“Well…maybe.”

Both Lina and Sylphiel hit the floor simultaneously and I just rubbed the back of my head. They both got off the ground, and carried on walking.

“Move it Gourry…we'll eat when we get there.”

“I don't like how you two are working together.” I mumbled, and followed reluctantly.

As we got closer, it appeared that the building was surrounded by several trees. There were enough of them to obscure the view of the building but not enough for it to be considered a forest. It was only a few minutes walk until we got to the other side and were stood just infront of the building. Our first action was to look at the roof of the building and well, it was a bit of a surprise.

“Oh. Look who's turned up!”

“Xellos….” Lina answered through gritted teeth and with clenched fists.

I wasn't very happy to see him at that point, but also I had to resist the urge to tell the others that I had told them so. I was wondering that with Riksfalto out of action for a bit, maybe Xellos had to step in. But first of all, I was wondering what was causing the building to shine. It was then I noticed a really shiny coin in his hand that he was playing with. I was about to tell Lina, but I think she realised before I did.

“You lured us here on purpose. Didn't you?”

“Oh Lina-san, why would I do such a thing?” He replied rather calmly, as he began flicking the coin in his hand. Every so often, it would catch the sun and shine a bright light into my eyes.”

“Oh I don't know!” Lina replied sarcastically. “Maybe to kill us?”

“How could you say that about me? I'm deeply offended. Tell me of one time I actually tried to go out of my way to kill you.”

I coughed a little.

“That one doesn't count. I was under orders too.”

I had to think at that point and I looked to Lina straight away, wondering if she knew of a time.

“You see? I've never done such a thing.”

“That doesn't explain why you so happened to accurately shine a light from that coin into our eyes from so far away. I'm sorry but from that kind of distance, for it to be accidental, the chances would be tiny!”

Xellos' eyes opened ever so slightly, and he gave a trademark smile.

“Why Lina-san? That is a secret.”

At that point, he flicked the coin up into the air which spun rapidly in the air and he disappeared as the coin was making its flight. I looked up as it came down and I just reached up absent-mindedly to catch it. It dropped in my hand and as I brought my hand down, I was tackled ferociously.

I hit the floor and on top of me was Lina with greed in her eyes, clawing at my hand to open it up and grab the coin. I blinked slightly and decided to just let her have it, so I opened my hand and she took it immediately, smiling with delight as she examined.

“This coin is so rare! You realise how much money I could get for this, Gourry?”

“Uhh Lina?”

“You can't have it!”

“It's not that.”

“Well what is it?”

“Can you mind getting off me?”

Lina was sat astride me on top of my lap with her legs either side of me. I looked to Sylphiel who was blushing pretty deeply and I was really uncomfortable with the situation. I looked back to Lina and I could see her processing the situation for a second or two. Then when she finally worked it though, she squeaked and jumped away from, gripping tightly to the coin and standing there for a moment, her face red with embarrassment.

We stood like that for a few moments until finally Sylphiel broke the silence.

“Well since we're here, we might as well take a look inside.”

Lina nodded silently and headed straight for the door, opening it and running inside to what she felt was safety, at least that's what I though she was doing. I looked back to Sylphiel who was still blushing and then decided to follow Lina inside. I just scratched the top of my head at that point and tried to forget about what happened.

As I joined the other two inside, I noticed that really it was a small building. On the far side was a shelf full of books and between me and the far shelf was a large open space with a table in the middle. On the table where several items, a few more books which looked like they had been read through and then left open, as though someone had been called away urgently whilst in the middle of reading.

There were also a more things; one was a strange looking object. It appeared to be some sort of metal object that had a hole in the middle in the shape of a narrow diamond, and then two long arms either side with small clips on the bottom. Then on the side by the hole was what I guessed was an amulet.

The rest was just a bag of coins, which I guess was where Xellos took the coin from, a couple of blank pages, and a pen. Lina was the first to the table and was gathering up the rest of the coins whilst Sylphiel had gone to the shelf and was looking at the various books.

I walked to the table and sat down at it, picking up a few of the books that had been left open, and took a look at them. I didn't really read them, because I couldn't even understand what was in them. The writing seemed strange to me and also the books themselves seemed really old. Infact, just holding them made me worried that they would fall apart.

“Gourry-san?” I turned to look to Sylphiel. “Can you read this book? I don't understand any of this and it's the only one so far that I can't read.”

I got up and walked over to her, and took the book from her, then took a quick look at it. I turned the various pages and looked at the writing. It was different from the other book, and seemed completely strange to me. At least the other book looked like normal letter but just rearranged with a few extra ones which looked similar to the letters I was familiar with. But these were just strange symbols.

I walked back over to Lina and handed the book to her, taking her away from the books on the table that I was looking at before.

“Can you understand it Lina?”

Kurage

22.9
I frowned at him. “Gourry, if you can't read it, and if Sylphiel can't read it, what makes you think I could read it?”

He shrugged. “You have more knowledge of languages than we do?”

My eye twitched. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

He smiled. “Which one would make you more mad?”

“Okay, ignoring you now,” I answered, examining the book in my hands. The book was made of hard leather, meant to withstand harsh elements and fight of the evils of age. I was actually quite impressed with the condition, seeing as how all of the other books in the place were on their last legs. This one looked as if it had quite a few years left in it.

I opened it and pondered a little over the pages and the script. The pages themselves were made from thick parchment, and were slightly yellowed, but impressively, only around the edges.

I examined the symbols next. There wasn't anything similar to any written language I knew. Indeed, it was independent all on its own, and no matter how closely I tried cracking it (checking for patterns and whatnot), I couldn't figure it out.

I was about to hand the book back to Gourry in a huff, but I stopped. Something on the page seemed to...jump a little. I frowned, pulling the book back to me, and gave it a closer look. I narrowed my eyes at the weird, inky-black figures that also appeared to have avoided the turmoil of age.

Again, I saw it happen. The figures MOVED.

I yelped and dropped the book. Both Gourry and Sylphiel looked over, and I felt a little embarrassed at shouting out like that.

“Lina-san, what happened?” Sylphiel called, holding a stack of books in her arms.

I pointed an accusing finger at the book. “The figures MOVED,” I answered, not caring just how insane that sounded.

“Moved?” Gourry blinked, looking at me with his head tilted to the side. “How can they move? They're written in ink.”

“I know that, you idiot!” I snapped, baring my teeth at him. “But I also know what I saw! They moved!”

Sylphiel came over and gingerly picked up the book. Opening it, she examined a few random pages, then shrugged a little. “Lina-san, I can't see what you're seeing.”

Gourry, however, suddenly looked as if a light went on in his head. “Lina,” he said excitedly, coming right over to me. “Keep reading it!”

“Eh?” I blinked up at him, taking the book back from Sylphiel. “Why should I read some freaky book? It could have a spell on it to make high-level magic users go insane.”

“That doesn't matter,” Gourry answered, making me mad. “Just keep trying to read it!”

I opened my mouth to say something really mean, but Sylphiel interrupted me. “He may have a point,” she said softly. “If the pages are only dancing for you, maybe you should just wait and see what happens?”

Two to one. I was outnumbered. “Fine!” I snapped. “But if I die it's BOTH of your faults!”

I grabbed the book back and opened it to the first page. Inside, I was nervous. I knew better than to mess with magical relics by choice, unless I absolutely knew it was harmless. This was one of those times when I had a reason so be nervous, as I had no idea whether or not it was safe.

But, I'm as adventurous as the next person, so I decided to try anyways, thinking that at least my epitaph would say something along the lines of “She was awesome and died being awesome for the sake of research.”

I sighted a little, then allowed my eyes to fall over meaningless symbols. Just as I had seen before, after a moment, the moment my eyes fell on a symbol, it started jittering and moving under my gaze. I inhaled sharply, willing my eyes to stop moving and focus on one figure, and when I did that, it stopped moving.

Swallowing, I started reading again, and this time, they were moving much more erratically than before. I narrowed my eyes, trying to understand why exactly this was happening, when suddenly...the whole page went blank.

“Gah! What the hell!” I cried out, dropping the book again. However, this only lasted a few seconds, and, ignoring the other two, I snatched the book up again and glared at it. Indeed, the page in front of me was now blank.

And then the most messed up thing happened. Words started appearing. Words I could actually understand.

Hello, there, Lina Inverse! It said, the words scrawling across the pages in a strange, spidery script. We recognize your power aura as the one we've been waiting for, and now present to you a plethora of information at your fingertips! We've been waiting quite a long time, and we're glad you finally decided to get up off your lazy butt and find us here, and we guarantee it'll pay off.

Huh.

“Uuh...” I mumbled, as more words appeared on the paper in front of me. “I'm gonna be here for a while.”

“You can understand it, Lina-san?” Sylphiel asked, sounding excited.

“Yeah, shh,” I answered, not wanting to miss anything that was being written out. “I'll explain later.”

I heard Gourry say something, but I blocked them both out.

The words kept coming.

So, it read, clearly you are Lina Inverse, the sorceress; otherwise these words would not have appeared in front of you. So, in assuming this as fact, can we also assume that you have the bearer of the Blast Sword, Gourry Gabriev, with you?

I felt a chill go up and down my spine.

Obviously, you can't answer us! The words went on. But we think it's moot, so we shall continue.

There is a great need for both you and Gabriev at this moment. Clearly, this is the truth, for then we wouldn't be writing this to you if it wasn't. This you hold in your hands, Miss Inverse, is a key that even Veryna the Dragon had no idea existed, although we know she exists. You may want to turn the page now.

Blinking, I did so. After a moment, the words started up again.

Ah, thanks for that, now we can continue. As you know, the Blast Sword was something with a prophecy attached to it; You and Gabriev were meant to stumble across the other book that only he could read and find the sword. We are going to assume you did so.

However, it went on, Gabriev also stumbled upon a book that we can tell has been lost, one that was meant to channel power into the blades of enchanted swords. The circumstances are not clear to us as to why such an invaluable find has been lost, but we can only assume that the need must have been great if you had to give it up.

In saying that, your task is going to be a little bit harder without it, but it won't be completely hopeless. This book you hold in your hands is a key to using an item that will help you on your upcoming journey, and honestly, you need all the help you can get. Turn the page again, please.

I bristled a little at that. Even a book was taking shots at me! It wasn't fair. We had to leave the book behind! Neither Gourry nor myself were sure if the book was safe or not, and honestly, we didn't have the time to properly consider it, seeing as how our lives were on the line and all. Just little small details, right?

Grudgingly, I read on, becoming a little pissed off with this stupid little book.

This won't take long for you to really do, so don't panic. All of the necessary items are all here on this table, just for your convenience. In fact, we're sure that you already pocketed the coins left with it, just as we hoped you would. You see, those coins were meant to attract you, as we know how greedy you are. So now you can take this time to go and get it. We'll wait.

Growling, I got to my feet and walked over to the table where I had indeed found the coins. Lying there was the dingy little amulet thing I had left behind, unintentionally. Yes, okay, I had been distracted by the coins. I didn't need a book to rub it in as well.

I picked it up and looked it over critically. There was nothing interesting about it, really. But then, that could have easily been said by the Blast Sword itself, and look how that turned out.

The words started up again.

Now we can feel the presence of the item and we're glad that greed doesn't make you too blind. This item you hold in your hand is an amplification talisman, much like the ones we can sense you are wearing right now. However, this one does not have the properties akin to your own. It is designed only for the Blast Sword, and is meant to increase the capacity of the blade. As you may have already discovered, the Blast Sword cannot handle high-level spells beyond that of a Dragon Slave or a Ra Tilt, which means that it would be useless against what is yet to come. Turn the page yet again.

Gee, that didn't sound ominous much.

So, it continued, this talisman was designed to bring up the receiving ability of the Blast Sword, so that the spells used to sharpen and increase its power can have as high a level as humanly possible.

Of course, that was before we sensed your power level. In this case, judging from the amount of spells you can control, the talisman can amplify the highest spells that MOST humans can muster. I.e., not you, as your spells are insane and would most likely break it anyways. Try not to break the legendary sword, okay?

I growled under my breath, but apparently, there was more to be said after that bit of pleasantry.

Now, to use the talisman, all you have to do is attach it to the very base of the hilt and cast the following spell. And yes, it has to be you, Miss Inverse. Each time.

Instigator of all things terrifying
Mother of all things dark
Lend the power of your holy chaos to me and grant this blade your dark power.

Quickly, I ran my eyes over the incantation as many times as I could, muttering the words under my breath. Each time I did it, I felt the little object in my hand respond to the words. When I finally had it memorized, the final time I chanted it, the whole thing glimmered in response.

I could sense the curiosity around me, practically oozing off of Sylphiel and Gourry, but I ignored them both. The words kept appearing.

Now you have the item and you have the spell. All you need to do now is actually put the talisman on the sword, which is something you cannot do, Miss Inverse. Read the following instructions:

Keep the sword sheathed at all times, and place the talisman at the very base of the hilt. There should be a clockwork mechanism that allows the two to join instantly. Once they have done so, tighten your hand over the talisman so that it can read your individual aura, and once it shines, once, you're all set. If none of this happens, the you have messed up, dummy, and you need to start over again.

and then instruct Gabriev to abide by them. Once you are finished, the sword should be ready for anything you can come across. Turn the page again!

I did so, and the last words that ever appeared gave me the creeps.

Given that you actually survive after this trial, however. Good luck with that! You'll need it.

Glamour.

Dramata