Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Dramata Kurage! ❯ Chapter 23 ( Chapter 23 )

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.

23.0
Lina seemed to be really into the book whatever the hell it was doing, so after her initial outburst, I sat back down on the chair and watched her as she read the book. I noticed whilst watching her that she seemed more caught up into what she was reading than what she normally would so I figured it must be something really important. But well, I was bored of waiting and just sitting there with nothing to do whilst she was reading a book.

I knew she would have been annoyed with me but I had nothing better to do, so I took out the map and began working out where the nearest town was. I just thought if I could work it out, then we could figure out if we would make a town before nightfall or if we would be sleeping under the stars.

I was busy working out our position and the distances to the nearest town, and then also trying to work out how long it would take to travel, that I hadn't even noticed Lina had finished reading her book. I also didn't know how long she had spent glaring at me for looking at the book. I only realised that she had probably done all this when she smacked me across the back of my head with her hand.

“Ow! Lina, what was that for?” I snapped back a little, looking up at her. I was met immediately with that famous glare.

“Gourry,” she began calmly but I could tell with the sound in her voice that she was pissed off, “why are you looking at that stupid map? I know where we are!”

She hit me again, this time with the heavy book which sent me sprawling to the ground and causing stars to fly around in my vision. I then picked myself off the ground and rubbed the back of my head, looking over at Lina slightly. My look towards her was a mix of fear and annoyance but I just looked away when she narrowed her eyes at me slightly.

“Umm, Lina-san? You were able to read the book.” Sylphiel asked a little meekly, obviously a little shocked by the scene despite the amount of times she had seen similar scenes before.

“Yeah, it was pretty informative. And well. It's gonna help us make Gourry's sword stronger.”

I blinked immediately towards Lina and took in what she said. I knew such a thing would be really important considering what happened to the Blast Sword when I had two Dragon Slaves in it. If I was thinking of using that last ditch plan of giving Lina the sword to use a Ragna Blade or maybe more, then the sword would have to be strengthened.

“So how do we make it stronger?” I asked, now interested by what the book had to say.

“Just do as I say, and exactly what I say, and don't ask me any questions.” She said abruptly as she picked up the amulet and handed it to me straight away.

“What do I do with this?” I asked her again.

“Gourry! What did I just say?”

“No questions…” I mumbled and took a hold of the amulet, examining it a little.

“Ok. Gourry, place the amulet on the hilt of your sword and keep it sheathed.”

I nodded a little and did exactly as she said. Surprisingly as I did so, the amulet fit onto the hilt perfectly and suddenly the hilt whirred with a buzzing sound as though it was coming to life. The amulet started moving up the hilt and rotating around until it reached the end of the hilt by the blade and attaching cleanly to the guard. It sat flush and looked as though it was a part of the sword the whole time.

I looked up to Lina immediately who was staring at the sword along with Sylphiel. Lina's eyes then looked up to meet mine and nodded slowly.

“Ok, put your hand over the talisman tightly.”

Again I nodded and did as she said. As soon as I did so the jewel of the amulet glowed. The moment it did that I felt a strange tingle through my body, as though all the hairs on my body were stood up on end. At that point I felt Lina next to me and I knew she was concentrating at that point. Then she spoke.

“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.”

The moment she finished those words, the tingle turned sharply into a full blown shock which felt as though it was setting all my nerve endings on fire. I heard Lina scream beside me and I wondered immediately what had gone wrong. I opened my eyes and realised I was no longer in the room. I turned sharply to see Lina beside me but Sylphiel was nowhere to be seen.

“Lina, are you ok?” I asked her.

“Umm...yeah. I think so. Where are we though? Did I say the words wrong? No…I'm sure I got them right.”

I looked around and although I couldn't see anything since it was pretty much black in all directions, I had the feeling that I had been there before.

“I...I think I know this place Lina.”

“How? Where are we?”

“I don't know. I just feel as though we have been here before.”

As if those words were some sort of cue, a glow of golden light appeared and began to shine bright before Lina and myself. I raised my hands up to shield my face from the light, and then when it had died down, in place of the light was her. It was, L-sama.

“You summon me once again, human named Lina.”

“I what?” Lina replied in shock, blinking for a moment, her eyes caught on the figure that looked exactly like her but covered in a golden glow.

“Those words you spoke, summon me. Only with a special item and great potential can someone summon me and request something of me.”

I don't know why but I felt as though I knew what was going on. Normally in these situations, I would have left it to Lina, but at least this time, I couldn't do that.

“We ask for your help. We ask that you help strengthen this sword, to allow a stronger power to be contained by it without destroying it.”

“I see. The sword is only capable of holding Ruby-Eye's spells. What power do you want it to be able to contain?”

“Your power.” Lina came in at that point. “We believe that with your power and this sword, we can defeat the enemies that lie ahead. Without which we will be unable to survive.”

She seemed to pause at that point, as though she was in thought. I looked to Lina, feeling a little nervous. I remembered my last encounter and I knew I didn't exactly please her at that time, but to be honest I was desperate.

“You both cherish life. You are both willing to sacrifice everything including your lives just so you might have the chance to live them to the full. You are also willing to sacrifice those very same lives for each other. Some may say that it is foolish; others would say it is very noble. I find it particularly interesting. I will instil my power into your sword. It will strengthen it and allow it to contain spells which draw from my power, or even summon me.”

At that point, she moved her arm out infront of her and with a sudden crackle of black and gold energy, and streak of energy shot out from her hand and covered the entire sword. I held onto it tightly and I could feel the power surging through it. Then she suddenly stopped and everything turned to black.

I opened my eyes to see Sylphiel looking down with a look of worry in her eyes. I realised I was lying on the ground and I was really confused with what had just happened. I sat up slowly and noticed Lina was just waking up beside me.

“What happened?” I asked as I raised a hand to my head.

“After Lina spoke those words, you both looked as though you were suddenly in pain and then you just blacked out. You've been out for a few minutes and nothing I could do would wake you up.”

I looked to Lina as Sylphiel described what happened and I knew she was listening to what she said.

“So,” Sylphiel continued “did it work?”

I wasn't sure, but I figured looking at the blade could be a start. I took the sword that was still in my hand and I unsheathed the blade slowly. I looked carefully at the blade and noticed that once before it was a glittering shade of lavender; it was now more like gold.

“I think it has worked.” I said a little in awe of the blade.

“What now?” Sylphiel replied.

“I know a village that we can reach before nightfall.”

Lina glared at me slightly, but then smiled slightly.

“Let's go.”

We reached the town just before the sun had set in the sky and managed to get an inn with two rooms. We fought over dinner as usual, and for some reason we were both hungrier than normal which meant we were a little more aggressive towards each other at the dinner table. It also meant the service had to deal with a lot more plates of food but we were paying them a lot for it so they couldn't complain that much.

After the meal, we went on separate ways, with Sylphiel going to her room and Lina and myself going to ours. I sat down at a chair after taking off my armour and setting down my bags. I looked at the sword and unsheathed it slightly, watching the blade glitter a gentle gold.

“I wonder if she gets sick of us sometimes, you know, L-sama.”

Kurage

23.1
”I will instill my power into your sword. It will strengthen it and allow it to contain spells which draw from my power, or even summon me.”

Those words kept haunting me for hours on end after Gourry and I had woken up. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to understand it. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the irony of things, that each time I try to be good and try not to mess things up by using spells that could, oh, say, end the world, I end up finding out that I have no choice.

I really hoped this wasn't one of those times, and the Lord of Nightmares was merely warning me of the inevitable. I don't think I could ever reenact what had happened with Hellmaster, and to be honest, I don't think I wanted to. There was too much pain, and too much heartbreak to think about during that time.

Gourry's voice stole me away from these pensive thoughts, and I looked up, blinking. I was sitting on the bed, chin in my hand, staring off into space, when he said that. I noticed he was holding out the sword, and the blade glittered in the modest lighting.

“Hm,” I said in a non-committal tone. “Maybe we're just a hobby.”

Gourry sheathed the sword and blinked over at me. “What do you mean by that? And why haven't you got undressed yet? We need to sleep; it's late.”

I scowled at him. “Quit making me answer more than one question at once!” I snapped. I stood up and threw my shoulder guards at him, one at a time, which, to my chagrin, he caught easily and set them aside.

There was something I could never figure out about Gourry. When it came to facing higher-ups, like dragons, or Mazoku, he never seemed fazed by it. He never had any protocol when it came to speaking and he never seemed to think that he was lesser than anyone. I often wondered if it was because he was just too damn stupid to even get that there was a protocol to follow, but lately I was starting to wonder if it was something else.

When I had read the incantation, I had thought it was the standard activation spell, one that was in relation to my own activation spell for the Demon Blood talismans. The thing was, it didn't end up that way, and to be honest, I didn't know what to expect anyways. Especially since the book made sure that I knew that I had to say the incantation each time the amplifier was used.

And don't get me wrong. Gourry may have described me as being calm, cool, and collected him, and bless him, that's exactly how I wanted to be seen, but in all honesty, inside, I was terrified of what was in front of me. Completely terrified. Seeing the actual Lord of Nightmares, whatever makeshift form that she/he/it/WHATEVER may have, was enough to age me, oh, several years ahead of my time.

And I'm so glad that Gourry took over in speaking to her when he did, because I don't think I could have gotten a word out past my lips, my insides were already queasy and made of stone. I mean, look at it from my perspective. I have studied magic all of my life, and here I was, face-to-face with said creator of magic. Inside I felt sick, and scared, and all of those embarrassing things that people like me are not supposed to feel when faced with something like this.

And now, now that I actually had the chance to think about it all, now that I actually had the chance to feel about it all, I felt...strange. Used. Angry. The fear was still there, but the most glaring feeling was anger.

When I had tossed everything at Gourry (and when he had caught everything) except for my regular clothes, I brought my legs up and folded them under my chin, wrapping my arms around them. I glared off to one side, sighing deeply.

“What I mean by hobby, Gourry is simple. Doesn't it seem weird to you that it's always us that the Lord of Nightmares is always managing to show up to? Even though the Sorcerer's Guild still either denies her existence or acknowledges that there was an entity like her but there isn't anymore?”

Gourry looked like he was thinking about it, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something serious in his eyes.

“And,” I pressed on, looking right at him, “this is the same entity that you were told to plead to get me back, not once, but twice, Gourry. And here she comes a third time, easy as bread, and grants us whatever we want? Don't you think that's fisher? Don't you think there's an ultimatum?”

“You do,” he replied, blinking at me.

“Of course I do,” I growled. I wasn't angry at him, just at the situation. “No one does anything unless there is something in it for them. Xellos is practically the embodiment of that...” I froze, the words dying on my tongue.

“Maybe L-sama is different,” Gourry answered, apparently not noticing my freezing. “Maybe she likes doing nice things.”

I exploded. “Oh, get real, Gourry!” I snapped. “This is the same Dark Lord we're talking about whose ultimate spell can bring everything to an end and bring the world to chaos!” I flung my legs down and stood up, starting to pace. Gourry groaned, but I ignored him.

“Gourry,” I said calmly, walking past him, “Xellos led us to that temple.”

He shrugged. “Well, so? He's a shit-disturber. You say that all the time.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I know I do! But this is different! Why would he lead us to a temple that had items in it to make us stronger? Why would he allow us to get away with it unscathed?”

“Maybe he didn't know what was in there,” he answered.

I stopped in mid-pace. “Gourry, he knew. He had one of the coins in his hand, the very same coins left on the table to attract my gree...er, my eye.”

NOW Gourry seemed to get it. “So then why would he help us?”

“Damned if I know!” I answered, flinging my arms up in the air. “How does any of this make sense? The Lord of Nightmares coming into the picture and not even batting an eye when we demand power from her only makes the obvious glaringly so.”

“Which is what?” Gourry blinked, looking bemused.

I sat down on the bed, then just lay on my back, shutting my eyes. I flung an arm over my forehead and mumbled it out. “We're pawns, Gourry. Either the Dragons are using us to get rid of the Monsters for us or the Monsters are using us to get rid of the Dragons. Xellos probably helped us because technically the Lord of Nightmares is on their side, so to speak. We're in the middle of things, as usual, and we're not going to be freed from it, as usual, until we get to the bottom of it and solve all of the problems yet again.”

There was a short silence. I just let my mind stay blank, not wanting to think about it.

Gourry, however, said something that to this day amazes me. “What if Xellos didn't have a vendetta?” he said slowly. “What if he was just trying to help us for old time's sake?”

I sat up, blinking at him. “You honestly think he would put us before his duty, Gourry? Are you kidding me?”

“Well, think about it,” he continued, his expression so serious it was endearing, really. “I mean, you're always saying how he operates on his own agenda.”

“An agenda his master gives him,” I answered.

“Okay, but even then he alters them for his own enjoyment, right?”

I blinked, shocked. It was true. Xellos did have the tendency to twist around his orders to fit his own needs as well as the needs of his master. “Right,” I agreed.

“So maybe this was one of those times. Maybe he just made his boss think that it was a good thing for them when really it was a good thing for us,” Gourry concluded.

“Do you honestly think the Greater Beast is that stupid, Gourry?” I asked skeptically.

“I don't know, it's just a theory,” he shrugged, smiling as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Argh, it's hard to work with such an eternal optimist sometimes.

Dramata

23.2
I smiled towards Lina as it seemed the conversation was finished and stood up to head to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and leaned back against it closing my eyes. I let out a sigh and was just glad to have made it to an inn where I could sleep and not worry. Because to be honest, the whole thing with L-sama had freaked me out. I tried to not let it show but it freaked me out so much.

Each time I had come across the Lord of Nightmares, as I was pretty much willing to risk everything I had to defy her in someway. The first time was because she was taking Lina away and the second time was when I felt she wasn't going to help me. You see, I might not know a lot about all the things which happen with magic and all about the dark lords. All I knew was that the Lord of Nightmares was someone so much more powerful than that Shabranigdu guy who was pretty damn scary.

And then there I was for the third time, asking for her help once again and once again she helped me. This was why deep inside I was annoyed at Lina for saying that she or it wasn't on our side, and that she was sided with the mazoku. I wanted to shake her and tell her that without her she would be gone and that I would have been left alone.

I reached over to the bucket filled with hot water and poured it into the bathtub, and then took the scented oils on the side that Lina seemed to enjoy so much and poured a few of them in. I then took my clothes of and sat in the hot tub and took in the aromas made by the various oils which seemed to relax me instantly. I leaned back and closed my eyes feeling completely comfortably.

I then jolted awake with Lina banging on the door.

“You know I would like a bath at some point too!”

“Urrkk…umm, sorry Lina.”

I sat up and took the soap and began scrubbing my body, making it nice and clean as possible and then I washed my hair with some of the shampoo that was by the bath. I rubbed it in hard, making sure that my hair was nice and clean and then I washed myself clean with some water. I then stepped out the bath and wrapped myself up with towels and removed that weird plug thing and wondered where the hell all of that water was going.

I opened the door and was met with Lina standing right by the door, tapping her foot and glaring at me as though I had just offended her and her entire family.

“All yours Lina!”

“About bloody time!” She growled through gritted teeth and half pushed me out of the way and slammed the door behind her.

I just sighed a little and shook my head. Lina was just being Lina and I wouldn't have her any other way.

I used the towels to dry myself off and then put on some pyjamas, then finally combed my drying hair out, making sure not to leave it all knotted up or let it go curly. I just liked to keep it nice and straight and then once finished I waited for Lina to finish her bath.

I was sat on the bed at that point whilst waiting and thought about all that had happened. I did wonder why Xellos had lead us there and I did have the feeling that he was helping us genuinely and not just to lead us into some sort of trap. I know what he was like sometimes, but with the most recent events, like him helping me sort out a couple of problems with Lina and now this, I did think he wanted to help us.

But what if Lina's suspicions were right and that he had known about the item which could strengthen the Blast Sword. They wanted the Blast Sword after all, and so why not have it when it's even more powerful, it would just help them achieve what they wanted sooner, wouldn't it? I now started doubting things a little, and wondered if strengthening the sword was the right thing to do. Maybe the Lord of Nightmares was helping the mazoku all along.

I put my hands to my head and shook it firmly. I couldn't think like that, I had to realise that what we had done was the right thing. We always managed to do the right thing and we usually did so with out instinct. This felt like the right thing to do, especially with what happened to the sword with the two Dragon Slaves. I knew that if I managed to strike Riksfalto with the sword powered up that way properly, I would have killed her. But if we were going to have to deal with the dark lords, then the sword had to be even more powerful, and what we had done was the only way to do it.

The door opened at that point, and Lina came out wrapped up in towels and looked at me immediately, probably because I was staring at her.

“What's up, Gourry?”

“Lina…you said the Lord of Nightmares was probably sided with the mazoku.”

“Yeah?”

“Well how can you say that, after all she's done for us? Didn't you say that she created both the gods and the mazoku?”

“How the hell did you remember that?”

“I remember some things Lina; I'm not the complete idiot you take me for sometimes.”

I actually was slightly hurt by that comment as I thought she had known me a little better than that by now.

“I thought we were finished with this conversation though.” Lina said not really fussed as she started drying herself off and changed into her pyjamas behind the privacy screen to spare the both of us any blushes.

“Well I thought about it a bit more and well, I'm not happy with how we ended it. Lina, she's helped us so much, and the amount of times she should have destroyed me for the way I've acted towards her but yet she hasn't. I just don't think she works like that. Maybe you're right, that she treats us as some kind of hobby.”

I stopped for a moment and thought about things and I noticed Lina looking at me with her head tilted slightly.

“Xellos called her the mother of all things once, right? Then like any mother, she would never love one of her children more than the other. I know it probably doesn't work like that, but that's just something I've always believed a mother should do, and well, she's a mother after all.”

Lina blinked at me slowly. In reaction to that I scratched the back of my head and laughed nervously.

“But don't worry about it; I'm just talking stupid as usual right?”

Lina sat down next to me at that point, not right up next to me, but still pretty close for her.

“It's not stupid Gourry. Maybe you're right about her since she has done a lot for us.”

“I think we just need all the help we can get right now and where better can we get help from than the person that created everything.”

Kurage

23.3
Gourry did have a point. After all that had happened, and after all that we had seen, it did seem as if the Lord of Nightmares really didn't have any ill intent against us. On the contrary, it seemed more like she was busting her ass to help us.

I guess that whole thought process was what made me pause the way I did. And actually think about the whole thing from that perspective. The whole thing still made me feel ill and nauseated, but given how it could be a whole lot worse, it wasn't as bad as it could be.

I smiled over at Gourry sheepishly, feeling like the biggest troublemaker on the planet, and not feeling the least bit proud of it. He blinked back at me, looking bemused, and I walked over to him, then sat down beside him on the bed.

“Hi,” I said, glancing up at him and leaning back a little.

“Hey,” he smiled, oblivious to my self-doubt, as usual.

He's so trusting of me, I suddenly thought, keeping my eyes on his. Anyone could see it in his eyes. Why hadn't I seen it before? Or had I seen it, and I just took it for granted? And even then, had he known I did such a thing and still trusted me for it? And if THAT was the case, then why the hell would he do such a thing?

“Lina?” Gourry blinked down at me, and I noticed now his eyes were soft with worry. I focused, and he looked closer, leaning in to me. “Are you okay?” he wondered.

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. Instead, I found myself reaching up to him. I brushed my fingertips over his cheek, feeling the smooth texture and the softness. He smiled a little, closing his eyes against my touch, and I swear, I just wanted to shut my eyes and bawl into his shoulder for hours and hours.

But I'm not that kind of girl. Sometimes, especially at moments like that, I wish I was that type of girl. But I'm not. I'm me, and I'm quite happy being me.

So instead of submitting to my already overworked emotions, I replaced them the sad feelings with something else.

You can think whatever you want about me. Honestly? I don't regret the things I do unless ultimately they hurt people. I don't think I hurt anyone here, except maybe myself, and even then, not really. Sometimes, people react a different way to their own personal grief. I reacted my own way.

I leaned in close, pressing my back against his chest, and I cupped my hands over his face. He opened his eyes again, and I stared back at him, trying very hard not to blush but failing the attempt. He opened his mouth to say something this time, but I shook my head and pulled him down towards me, pressing my lips right up against his.

It was awkward, since I had my back to him, but it didn't make it less arousing. I kissed hard. I took. I savored and I demanded more all at once. His lips were so soft and moist, and I couldn't get enough. I wanted to somehow express all of my feelings inside with simple action instead of stumbling over words all the time. I wanted my feelings to be clear for him, this man who forced his way into my life.

Either way, the kissing was having the most satisfying effect on Gourry. He slid his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, kissing me back. From his throat, I could hear a slight groan of restrained passion, and I admit that was a pretty good warning that I knew I had to remember, because next I knew, he was licking my lips open and sliding his hands up from my stomach to my chest.

I have to admit, it was wonderful. I shivered a little, resting my head on his shoulder and tangling my hands into his hair, purring deeply as his hands made their way over my breasts. I licked his lips, ran my tongue over his own, and the fire that had ignited itself in my tummy slowly made its way downward.

Slowly, I pulled Gourry down onto the mattress. He pulled away, briefly, so that he could rearrange himself and face me. I squirmed a little and lay down on my back, and he dove right in, sliding his arms around my waist and pulling me up, kissing me again. I kissed back, harder, and again I heard him groan against my lips. He pushed against me again a little, and I could feel already that he wanted me. Hell, the evidence was pressing right up against my thigh.

I shifted a little so that I could hook my legs around his waist. When I did, he pulled away from the kiss and buried his face into my neck, kissing and nibbling. I shut my eyes and pushed my hips up, aiming close, so that I not only could feel that he was aroused, but I could feel his arousal in sensitive places. That time, he wasn't the only one who made a sound.

He pressed me right against the bed and practically melted against me. Already his nibbling on my neck was intensifying to long nuzzling using both his tongue and his teeth. I kept my eyes closed, feeling warm all over, especially my cheeks and between my legs, but I didn't pull away and I didn't ask him to stop. I ran my hands up and down his back, even sometimes daring to slide my fingertips over his backside, but not for lingering touches. Call me nervous if you want. You would be right.

Oh, and yes, he has a nice butt.

Soon, I could hear myself saying his name, quietly. I couldn't help it. Everything I felt was so overwhelming; it was like being overwhelmed with every single cell of HIM. I heard him grunt out my name a few times in reply, and soon, I just couldn't resist anymore.

I grabbed onto his shoulders and pushed him away a little, keeping my legs around him. He sat up, his eyes already a little glazed over, blinking at me in confusion. Both of us took a second to catch our respected breaths. Then Gourry said softly, “Lina, are you okay? Is it too much?”

I wanted to laugh a little. I shook my head. “No, Gourry, it's not,” I admitted. “I was just wondering...” I trailed off, feeling my cheeks burn, with embarrassment this time, instead of passion.

Gourry leaned down closer to me, blinking. “What were you wondering, Lina?” he asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. Oh, you would not believe how beautiful he looked, hovering over me like that and just LOOKING at me.

“Oh, you know...” I grabbed onto one of his hands, swallowing hard. I looked over to the side, unable to look up at him, but I pulled his hand down and set it right on my thigh. I felt his body stiffen against mine, but I didn't let go. Instead, I led his hand all the way up from my thigh to right between my legs.

I then gathered up the nerve to look up at him, shyly, and I could tell that he was surprised, but not offended. I don't know why I thought he would be offended, to be honest.

Clearly, though, Gourry was not offended. He pulled away from me, then rested himself right next to me, so that he was still pressed close. He kept his hand there, but I think only because my hand was still on his. Then he did something that to this day I have always been grateful of. He just leaned down and kissed me again, in a gesture so sweet that it made me almost want to cry.

I kissed back, feeling butterflies in my stomach. I mean, what if he didn't LIKE touching me? What if he thought the whole thing was gross? However, he set my mind at ease real fast, because soon, I could feel his hand moving to the front of my pants, undoing them carefully.

He was still trying to kiss me as he did this, but he couldn't figure out how to undo my pants, and eventually we both laughed and broke apart. I did it for him, and before I could even gather my wits, his hand was THERE, right there, and I gasped, my hands on his shoulders so fast.

It's different, you know, feeling someone else's fingers on your bits rather than your own. It's more pleasurable. Because you know it's not your own, and it's someone else that is touching you, it makes the whole thing much more arousing. His fingers, calloused from many years of swordsmanship, weren't too rough at all, as I had thought they would be. They were warm, and they felt just right.

I inhaled sharply, shutting my eyes and lying back on the bed, my hands still clutching onto his arms tightly. I could feel him hesitating, but I nodded slowly. Soon, I could feel his fingers moving slowly, awkwardly. It dawned on me that maybe I was a little too hasty in my “Gourry has played the field” judgment, unless he was merely just nervous with me. Either way, he was nervous, and I could tell.

“Just relax, Gourry,” I said softly. It truly touched me that he was this way. “If I don't like it, I'll tell you. I promise.”

I felt him nod slowly. He pressed up against me again, shifting to get more comfortable. When he did this, his fingers darted right between the folds of my skin and poked a little in the middle. I knew he hadn't meant to do it, but honestly, it was good accidental aim. I squirmed and bit my lip, feeling another nice little peal of pleasure snake its way through me. You can bet on it: he most certainly had hit on the nicest part.

Since I wasn't protesting, he slid his fingers slowly down, right between the folds of skin. This wasn't as pleasurable, but still felt nice, and I purred little, moving closer to him. He moved his fingers up again, and he hesitated.

I have to say this about the guy; he is VERY considerate.

“Move your fingers up,” I said softly, nuzzling his ear with my nose. He nodded, and I could feel him edging his fingers up slowly. I spread my legs a little wider, reaching down and tugging my pants down a little so that he could reach better. This seemed to help, because soon his fingers hit again, and I gasped, my fingers digging into his shoulders.

“There?” he asked nervously, keeping his fingers over the small little nub. I nodded, biting my lip hard. “There,” I agreed, shutting my eyes. “Keep rubbing there until I tell you to stop.”

He nodded, a little shyly, and soon his fingers traveled up and down, and over again. The peals of pleasure coming from his touch were nothing like the ones I had felt before with my own hands. This was so much better, although, to be absolutely honest, Gourry wasn't doing it perfectly. Sometimes his fingers would slip, and he would miss, or sometimes he pushed down way too hard, but I would always tell him when he was messing up, and gradually, he got a feel to it, and he soon was doing it just right without any instruction.

When that finally happened, I could hardly breathe. When he realized that moving his fingertips over me faster, then slower, then faster again brought somewhat animal cries from me, he didn't quit. Soon, I was begging him to quit. It was too much. The pressure, the anticipation, everything, it was getting to much for me, and if I didn't have release soon I was going to SCREAM...

I buried my face into his neck, bit down onto his shoulder, and clung to him, groaning out his name. Finally, the dam broke, and it wasn't sunshine and a daisy, but gods, was it wonderful. It was quite possibly the best orgasm I had ever had, and not only did it take my breath away, it took my senses away. I cried out, I shut my eyes, I clung to Gourry, and after that, I honestly can't remember for a while.

When I came to, I opened my eyes to see a blurry Gourry face. I smiled a little. He looked so worried. I reached up and touched his face, giggling a little. He instantly looked relieved, and he pulled me into a tight hug again, burying his face into my neck.

It took me a few minutes to recover from being absolutely boneless to having somewhat a skeleton underneath. Gourry noticed and sat up a little, stroking my hair. I purred again, and he smiled.

“Nice?” he asked.

“Mmhmm,” I agreed.

“You bite hard,” he admitted.

I blushed, reaching up and touching his shoulder lightly. I could feel the indent of my teeth on his skin, even through his shirt. “Sorry,” I murmured.

“Nah, it's okay,” he shrugged. He lay back down beside me and held me closely. It wasn't sexual this time, but sensual, and I gave in, too tired to really want to do anything else, anyways. I snuggled close and fell asleep, and I had good dreams.

It was nice to momentarily forget that things were getting slightly insane. It was even nicer to have someone right there with you, someone you not only loved, but respected, and trusted.

Plus, you know, the whole orgasm thing helps a person sleep soundly, too. But, eh, that goes without saying, doesn't it?

Dramata

23.4
When Lina took my hand like than and directed it down there, well my heart that was already racing from the feelings I had just doubled in pace. She moved my hand up slowly and I felt a little worry at first, but then excitement and curiosity. I then changed position because I wanted to get comfortable and the position wasn't really the best. I then kissed her softly because I had a feeling she was nervous about it.

It didn't take long though for my curiosity to take over and soon I began moving my hand over her. I then knew I had to take her pants off but I wanted to kiss her at the same time, but I had no idea how to take her pants off and so I was just there, kissing and fumbling around and not getting anywhere.

Before I could be any more embarrassing, Lina did the job for me. Then the second she had opened her pants up, my hand was beneath her pants and I was touching her. Just that action seemed to be good enough as I heard her gasp and grip onto me tightly. I first thought that I had hurt her somehow, but she nodded to me to say it was ok since I wasn't doing anything.

I just decided to rub my hand over her, because I just wanted to feel her and work out how things were. I remember some of the stories, and some of them played over in my mind. Some of them I knew straight away were wrong because she didn't feel like what some of the people described. Others seemed to be correct. But the best bit about doing this, was seeing how such a simple action had Lina squirming in my grip.

Maybe it was because I had power over her or because I just enjoyed the thought that what I was doing to her was making her feel so good. I closed my eyes then and concentrated on what I was feeling. I remembered hearing about a special point which was supposed to make a woman scream with pleasure. I moved my fingers up and felt a little nub and so I figured that was it. I rubbed my fingers over that point and her reaction told me that what I did was right.

I moved my fingers back down at that point and started pushing my fingers into her. I held onto her a little closer and thought more about the other things that was said. That there was another point on the inside and so I wanted to explore there. However as I carefully rubbed my fingers over her, her reactions weren't the same and my thoughts of making her feel good overrode my thoughts of exploration.

At that point, she started giving me directions, which I was really thankful for because I honestly couldn't remember where I had rubbed her in the first place. I kept following her directions until she told me that I was in the right place and that I shouldn't move from there. I stuck to that task and I just kept rubbing her in that spot. I nuzzled her gently as I started rubbing over her, and pretty soon I had her breathless and then she started crying out in pleasure.

I kept going and refused to back down because I wanted her to have an experience like she had never had before, and I wanted her to feel the way I felt when she did the same for me. I guess I must have achieved that because suddenly her face buried into my neck and her teeth sunk in. She had turned slightly and clung tightly onto me as her teeth still were in my shoulder. I bit my lip a little, but I just held onto her as I let the feelings wash over her like they had for me.

I stayed like that with her for quite awhile until finally she opened her eyes and looked up to me. I thought for a moment that she might have fallen asleep but that wasn't true. Then after a little small talk, I lay back down next to her, and just kept her in my arms until she quickly fell asleep. I guess that she was worn out and I could understand considering I had been the same when she made me feel that way.

I just looked at her in the darkness as she slept peacefully, her face highlighted slightly by the few moonbeams which crept through the curtains in the window. I thought about how mad it seemed. That I had probably the most dangerous woman in the world in love with me and I was in love with her. If I thought about it in that sense, it seemed insane. However when I thought more about how she really was, well then it seemed to be perfectly normal, and the idea of us being apart felt more insane. I then pulled her into me slightly and took in the scent of her hair and I let that help me fall asleep.

I woke up first the next morning, and noticed that our positions in the bed hadn't really changed all that much, which made me think she must have been too tired to do all that thrashing about she normally did. I then carefully pulled myself away from her, not wanting to wake her up, and quickly got ready for the day. Then when I was ready, I was about to wake Lina but realised she was still fast asleep. I didn't want to bother her and we weren't in a rush, so I decided to keep quiet.

I headed down to get some breakfast and ordered my usual pretty quickly. Then whilst I was waiting for my order to come, Sylphiel had come down and joined me.

“Morning Gourry-san.”

“Morning Sylphiel, sleep well?”

“Yes, I had a nice sleep. Where's Lina?”

“She seemed in such a deep sleep, I didn't want to disturb her. If I woke her up, I probably wouldn't be here.”

Sylphiel laughed a little, placing a hand over her mouth. At that point, my food order came and Sylphiel gave her order at that point. I then got down to eating the breakfast, and just enjoyed the fact that Lina wasn't there to steal any of my food! I soon finished my meal as did Sylphiel and we just sat there, waiting for Lina to come down.

“So do you have any idea what we're going to do today? Did Lina have any ideas?”

I shook my head in response.

“If she does have any plans, well then she hasn't told me what they are. It's why I let her sleep in, because I knew we weren't in a rush.”

Sylphiel nodded, but something in her expression told me something was bothering her.

“What's wrong Sylphiel?”

“Oh. Nothing really. But, it just seems a little strange for Lina to be asleep for so long. I would have thought she'd be here by now.”

“I guess she's just a little tired. That incantation could have taken a bit out of her.”

However Sylphiel's thoughts had put doubt into my mind and I knew I wouldn't feel better until I checked in on her. I then excused myself and headed back to the room. I listened carefully by the door, but I couldn't hear anything, so I opened it. When I looked in the room, I felt my heart miss a beat. The bed was empty and my immediate thought was that she was kidnapped. I rushed to the open window and looked out, frantically searching the landscape.

“LINAAA!” I yelled in panic.

“What are you yelling about?”

I smacked my head against the top of the window and cursed slightly, as I held onto it. I then looked back into the room and noticed Lina changed, just coming out of the bathroom.

“I thought you were kidnapped!”

“You what? I was just getting ready! Someone didn't wake me up.”

“You were peaceful; I didn't want to disturb you.”

“Why did you think I was kidnapped?”

“Well you weren't in your bed, and you hadn't come down for breakfast yet. Plus the window was open.”

I rubbed my head a little as the pain slightly subsided and I watched as Lina had a little smirk on her face.

“What's so funny Lina?”

“You are, when you get all protective like that!”

She then just walked past me and giggled slightly, whilst I rubbed the back of my head.

After Lina had her breakfast, we were heading on our way again. We decided to just travel the new continent as we had before, despite what happened with the Lord of Nightmares and our battle with Riksfalto. It wasn't as though we could just go right up to wherever they were staying and demand they stop with all their plans. The best we could do at that point was wait until more information was given. At which point a familiar voice was heard.

“Ahh, Lina-san, Gourry-san and Sylphiel-san. Looks like you came across something interesting in that house.”

Yep…Xellos…again.

Kurage

23.5
Honestly! Can't that idiot take a hint?

Especially if, after all of this time, he knew what my reaction would be. Last time, I was shocked at seeing him. And, er, distracted by money. This time, however, he wasn't going to leave unscathed.

I turned right on my heel, looking towards the sound of the voice. Of course, Xellos was standing right behind us, grinning as happy and as eyeless as usual.

I still wasn't quite over what he did to me. It's hard to forgive someone like that, who did something like he had, and still remember that a day ago he helped you. Since I was pretty sure his motives were selfish and had nothing to do with my well-being but his own, I decided that punishing him was better than anything else.

In a flash, I had Xellos tackled to the ground and his head caught in my arm. Both Gourry and Sylphiel shouted out, but shortly after I heard what suspiciously sounded like snickering. Good, at least they had a sense of humour about my revenge.

“Xellos!” I shouted, as loud as I could, right into his ear. He squirmed and whined a little. “You have GOT to stop popping in and out, looking like the good guy, when it's pretty damn obvious you aren't!”

“You wound me, Lina-san!” Xellos wheezed out. “Why would you think I wouldn't genuinely try to help you?”

“When have you ever helped me without a vendetta attached?”

He seemed to consider this. “Touché, Lina-san. We can discuss this, but not like this, so please let go of me.”

I did what he asked, but reluctantly. I stood up and went back over to Sylphiel and Gourry, and I made it clear that I still didn't like Xellos and that whatever he said, I wouldn't trust it.

Obviously, he got the message. He brushed his clothes off and looked pretty upset. “Lina-san, if you broadcasted your ill feelings to me any clearer I would probably explode from too much nourishment,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Of course I knew that. I, of all people, would know that. “You deserve it, anyways, Xellos!” I snapped, my hands on my hips. “Why are you here, anyways?”

Xellos held up his hands, as if trying to obtain peace from me. Something he was obviously not going to get. “Listen, I think you may have touched on something big here, and, all past aside, we need to talk about it rationally.”

I snorted. Since when did the words “Xellos” and “rational” ever go together?

I crossed my arms, waiting for Xellos to start explaining, but he merely kept on smiling. This stalemate went on for a good five minutes, until I couldn't take it anymore. “Well!” I snapped, “Say something!”

Xellos smiled calmly. “Oh, you were waiting for me to speak?”

I had the Fireball out and ready before he could even take another breath. He started, then cleared his throat, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “Ah, so you were,” he trilled.

I let the Fireball fade, but mentally, I kept tabs on Xellos's every move. I can't say I knew his every trick, but I knew a lot more then than I ever had before. When you wake up one day and discover yourself thinking exactly like a Mazoku, you tend to understand their tricks and pretenses. And, I must say, it definitely gave me the upper hand, one I felt I truly deserved for once.

“Basically,” Xellos began, holding out a hand. “Your escapades have not only caught Juuo-sama's eye, but it apparently has caught the eye of Dolphin as well. You knew that when you faced her general.”

“Of course I did,” I snapped. “Question is, how did you?”

Xellos grinned. “Please, Lina-san, did you really expect me to let you traipse around after escaping the wrath of my master unscathed? Of course I tailed you.”

Of course, I thought sourly.

“In any case, not only is Dolphin interested, she is also wasting no time. Notice how you weren't bombarded by lesser demons? And how she sent her general before anyone else?” Xellos wagged his finger, opening one eye. “You're in trouble, Lina-san.”

I wanted to break his finger.

“What else is new, Xellos?” I said, trying to sound bored. Instead, I just sounded tense. “Let me guess; Dolphin wants the Blast Sword, too.”

“Mm,” Xellos shut his eye and tapped his finger to his chin. “That could be part of it.”

“Or...?” I waved my hand at him, urging him on.

“Or...the rest is a secret!” he quipped, obviously proud of himself.

“Or,” I snapped, “Gourry and I can just wipe the floor with you right now until you give us a straight answer.”

“Ah, that's not likely, Lina-san,” he replied. “Gourry-san may have gotten in a good shot with his distracting ploy last time, but you will discover that I will not be so easily fooled again.”

Something about the way he said that gave me the creeps.

“So then, what is this all about?” I wondered, feeling frustrated all over again. “It's obvious you're still after us. Why are you being so civil to us right now, and why did you help us find that temple? You obviously knew something in there would help us.”

“Oh, did I?” Xellos blinked, trying to look bemused. However, he still had that stupid smile on his face, so it only made him look constipated.

“Yes, you did, and you KNOW you did!” I snapped, clenching my fists at my sides. “Why are you here now, anyways? Are you just here to drive me crazy? Or do you actually have anything to say?”

Xellos shrugged. “I basically said what I wanted to say; You've attracted Dynast's attention, although I'm not sure why or how.”

“Okay, obviously,” I rolled my eyes at him. “But why would you want to tell us this? It sounds to me like you're trying to warn us. Why would you even want to? Aren't you supposed to be the one to get rid of us?”

Xellos waited patiently until I was done. Then, predictably, he held up a finger to his lips, winked, and said, “That is a secret!”

“Okay, that's it!” I shouted. I started forward towards him, ready to use my hands, fists, teeth, ANYTHING to take him down. He merely phased out before I could, and he phased back in, standing in a tree above us.

“Temper, temper!” he scolded, wagging his finger.

On that stupid note, he vanished again.

I really wish there was some way to attach a mousetrap to him, so that every time he did that, it would snap and break his neck. Or something equally disturbing and gruesome.

When I turned around, both Gourry and Sylphiel were looking at me. I bared my teeth, holding up a fist. “I've had it,” I declared. “We're not going to walk around pretending everything is normal when it's not. We're taking the fight to them. I'm tired of hiding!”

It was true. Although I didn't mind acting as though things were normal, the moment we managed to achieve some level of normalcy, all hell broke loose. That kind of instability is really quite annoying, and I was tired of it.

“Alright, Lina-san,” Sylphiel said calmly, in what I could tell was her `peacemaker' tone of voice. “But where do we go? We don't know exactly where they're located.”

“We have two Dark Lords against us right now,” I said, holding up two fingers. “The one that has been making the most trouble is the Greater Beast. Only recently has Dolphin and her groupies decided to annoy us.”

Gourry then had a flash of such startling insight. “Do you think they're teamed up?” he asked.

The thought made me feel ill. One Dark Lord was bad enough. Two were even worse on their own. But teamed up? That was impossible to even deal with.

“I don't even want to think about it,” I said honestly. “Right now, we should start with the Greater Beast. I'm getting tired of Xellos popping up everywhere. If we somehow get Zelas to back off, maybe her fanboy will go with her.”

“Back off?” Sylphiel echoed.

I sighed. “I'm not so much of a fool to think that I can defeat Zelas,” I admitted. “I got lucky with both Gaav and Phibrizzo, and Dark Star...well...that was a special circumstance. However, I know I can get her to back off, or at least make her some sort of deal.”

“The only thing she wants is the Blast Sword,” Sylphiel pointed out.

“That, and my life,” I shot back. “I'm not going to bargain with her unless there isn't any other way. I just want to get to the bottom of this whole thing. Once we actually get to Zelas, then I'll start thinking up a better plan.”

“But what about the other one, Dullpin?”

“Dolphin,” I corrected Gourry lightly. “We'll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, we should just head to Wolf Pack Island and get this over with. That is,” I added, looking at both Gourry and Sylphiel seriously, “if you're willing to go. If you have any better ideas, I'm all ears.”

Dramata

23.6
If I was perfectly honest, I wasn't surprised with the way Lina reacted towards Xellos. I think she had had enough with the guy and the way he was constantly tormenting her. That was why I stood out the way and let Lina do what she needed to do, but I was ready for Xellos if he decided to try anything funny. I wasn't about to lose her again, but thankfully nothing happened, and Xellos left us alone with a rather angry Lina.

I also stayed back whilst Lina and Sylphiel talked the options out, with Lina's suggestion we go and attack Zelas a suprising one. I just knew each time it was mentioned that either Zelas or Deep Sea Dolphin wanted the Blast Sword, then it also meant they wanted me too, since that was the only way the sword was going to work. I have to admit, the thought of confronting Zelas was a scary one, and I wondered if that was just playing the sword into her hands.

I looked to Lina as she gave her ultimatum and I just crossed my arms, giving her a knowing look.

“Well you should know my answer Lina. Wherever you go, I'm going too.”

Lina nodded and then turned her gaze to Sylphiel.

“I suppose you two are going to need me to keep you out of trouble. I'm in.” Sylphiel responded, smiling softly.

“Ok then, it's off to Wolf Pack Island we go.”

I won't bore you with the details of our journey, because it would mean I would have to write down the details which would just bore me. The gist of it was that we had to head back out into the Demon Sea back north, and luckily we weren't far from the coast. So it only took a couple of days travel to get to the coast, and then it took a bit of haggling to get someone to take us in their boat.

The journey on the boat left us with very little to do, and it was gonna take a few days to get to the island. I just spent the time, maintaining my sword and getting in a little practice when I could. For some reason, things between Lina and myself became a little quiet, but I think that was because we were realising the scale of what we were about to do.

During one of the days, I spent a bit of time resting and so I leaned against the side of the boat. The sea was pretty calm but the wind was good enough to keep us going at a bit of speed. I looked down into the water which was a clear blue except the water near the boat which was foaming white from the break. I felt the wind in my hair and I closed my eyes, enjoying those few moments where I could relax and not worry about anything.

I felt a presence next to me, and so I opened my eyes to take a look. Lina had joined me and was looking out at the horizon. I turned my head back and looked at the same thing as Lina.

“Are you ok, Gourry?” She asked me gently.

“Yeah, of course I am.” I replied with a slight hesitation.

“Don't lie to me Gourry, I know you too well. Something is bothering you.”

“And I told you I'm fine.” I said a little more sternly.

“Fine. It's your problem” Lina huffed, and then turned away.

I sighed a little in frustration. I hated being this way around her. I was supposed to be the protector, and so I'm the one that's supposed to make it all seem ok. But there I was, worrying about what we were heading into, and Lina read me like an open book.

“Hang on.” I said softly, and Lina stopped, turning back to me.

“Is it really that obvious?”

“It's as obvious as a big red pimple on your nose.”

“I've got a pimple?” I replied and stood up straight suddenly, reaching up to my nose.

“No you jellyfish. I was using a metaphor!”

“Meta…four…Is that better than just a normal four?”

Lina smacked me across the back of my head, and I rubbed it, pretending it was hurting like hell. I then leant back down against the side of the boat, and gave Lina a little smirk. She was so easy to piss off sometimes.

“I'm just a little worried, ok? I didn't want you to know, but well, it's not really worked.”

“I did give you the option to not come along.”

“But Lina, I'm going to go wherever you go. It could be the scariest place in the world, but I'm still going to follow. Still it's not going to stop me getting worried about it.”

“I know. I just don't know what else we're supposed to do. I can't just pretend everything is ok anymore, because it isn't.”

I paused a little, and gave myself some time to think before making a suggestion.

“Why don't I just give them what they want? Then we won't have anything to worry about.”

“Yeah, if the end of the world is something you don't worry about.”

“Well ok. What if we make them think they have the sword?”

Lina turned to me and looked at me a little funny.

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno. What if I let them take me and the sword, and let them think they have it, but then I turn against them?”

“That's probably one of the stupidest things you've come up with! If they took you Gourry, they'd change you and you wouldn't be able to stop them. And trust me; you don't want to go through what I did.”

“Well at least I'm trying to come up with ideas.”

Lina sighed.

“I know. Just try and give them a little more thought, ok?”

I nodded a little, and looked out at the ocean again, and I could see in the distance that Wolf Pack Island was nearing.

“Promise me something Lina.”

“What is it?”

“Don't do anything stupid to get yourself killed.”

“I only promise to that, if you promise too.”

“Ok then.”

“Good.”

I know we both never meant our promises. We wouldn't keep them if the situation came up, but I think just saying it somehow made me feel better inside, and I think it did the same for Lina. I watched as we got closer to the island, and I could see why people didn't want to come to it. It definitely had a creepy vibe about it, as most of it was covered in trees, hiding everything on the island and leaving it a mystery.

I didn't know what we were going to do and I'm sure Lina felt the same way, but I knew that at least we were going to try and stop everything that was going on and so that when we tried to live our lives in a normal way, then it would be for real and not just to escape from the truth.

Kurage

23.7
Back to Wolf Pack Island…

I won't pretend. I'll be honest, here; I was pretty nervous. I mean, the last time I had been here, it wasn't exactly the best of circumstances, and it certainly hadn't left me better off.

However, it was pretty obvious that the situation was different. For one thing, I wasn't alone. I had Gourry, and Sylphiel. Both were willing to fight at my side, and even though I wished I could, there was no way I could translate my gratefulness to them and not stumble over myself in the process.

And, we also had the Blast Sword. Not to mention, it looked like, the Lord of Nightmare's blessing. That was weird enough to even think about, let alone digest and take advantage of. Sometimes, however, you just have to take what you get, no matter how weird or hard to believe it all was.

However, despite all of these obvious blessings, I was still a little apprehensive about the whole thing. Was this is? Was this my last walk into battle? I have always thought that thinking fatally would make things end fatally, and I still think that it's true. Sometimes, even with that point of view, I can't help but still think about things fatally, even for a moment.

And if I didn't walk away from this fight, what would happen to Gourry and Sylphiel? They were involved now, and they couldn't get out of it safely unless we won. And I felt this overbearing weight of responsibility for them, like I had to take care of them no matter what happened, despite the fact that they were both full-grown individuals more than capable of taking care of themselves.

The thing was, I didn't have a plan at all. I knew that going in without one was pretty much suicide, but I really had no idea what would happen the moment I touched down on Wolf Pack Island.

Well, too late now. Sink or swim, and I was going to swim, either way, plan or not.

By the time the boat skidded onto the shore of the Island, I was more than a little nervous. I was...urgh, I admit it with embarrassment...scared. I was scared. The last time I had been here, I wasn't even myself, and yet I could remember everything. Every single memory was still embedded into my brain, and it was hard to push them away and ignore them.

Both Sylphiel and Gourry got out of the boat long before I did. I felt like I was made of stone. I wasn't quite ready to set foot on the land yet, but I knew I had to. I just...couldn't yet.

Before I knew it, I had waited too long. Both Gourry and Sylphiel were looking at me, concern obvious on their faces. I felt my cheeks burn, and hurriedly I jumped out of the boat, landing right near them. “Sorry,” I said, pasting a faux-smile on my face and making sure my voice was cheery. “Just getting the bearings of the area.”

I walked past them quickly, before they could say anything. I could feel their eyes on my back, and knew that I hadn't fooled either of them. I didn't care. I wasn't going to address it. What was the point? The point was to get to the bottom of this, and that was what I intended to do, emotional baggage or not.

Soon, I heard them following me. About time, I thought sourly. They took me way too seriously. Or, more realistically, they gave a damn and wanted to make sure I was fine. Either way, at the time, it was annoying.

We walked in silence. It wasn't too far from the beach to the main building. However, once we got closer, I could feel the starting of an uncharacteristic panic attack creeping up on me, and I lagged behind, hoping to put enough distance between myself and the others so that I could conquer it in peace.

Don't get me wrong, here (I say that a lot, don't I?). It's not like I felt I didn't have a right to feeling the way I did. I think I did. After all that I had been through, and even though I had had proper time to mourn it, some things like that you just can't forget easily, no matter how hard you tried. And to be honest, it was just too soon for me to set foot in there again without getting overwhelmed.

For a few minutes, it worked. I was able to get in a few deep breaths before the anxiety took over and I became a complete idiot. My heart raced, and my palms felt sweaty, but that was the least of my worries. What mattered was that when it came to who ruled, me or my emotions, it was me.

However, my relief was short-lived. Soon, I felt a hand on the top of my head, and when I looked up from my bended over position, Gourry was looking down at me. I stood up to my full height quickly, forcing myself to smile, even though inside, I felt like I had swallowed glass.

“Lina,” he said softly, keeping his hand on my head. “If you're not ready, you shouldn't force yourself...”

I really appreciated the gesture. I really, really did. Gourry always knew what to say at times like this, and I've always been forever grateful.

But right then, I had to be strong. Right then, I had to face my demons. And this place was full of them.

I smiled for real this time, patting his hand lightly. I pulled it gently away from my head, tugged him close, and gave him a hug. I needed his warmth at that exact moment. I knew it would keep me on my feet. Reassurance is a wonderful thing.

When I felt that I would be okay for the rest of the trip, I let go of him. I patted his back roughly. “I'm ready,” I said truthfully. “Let's go.”

This time, there were no stops, and no interruptions. We made it to the stony building without a fuss. I had at least expected a few lesser demons on the way, to either slow us down or annoy us into turning back, but no. There was nothing.

“Strange,” I muttered, as we walked through the tall doorway. The place from the outside was hardly different than the outside, except that it was smaller-looking. Both Sylphiel and Gourry were looking around with interest, but I felt like it was all an old hand for me. Stupid, isn't it?

Either way, we walked into the main hallway without incident. I stopped, glaring at the surroundings. The main hallway was bare, and the only signs of living were a few dusty paw prints scattered randomly on the floors.

“One would think a greeting would be in order now,” I mumbled, clenching my fists. My showdown was seriously running into an anticlimax. I hadn't really expected that.

“Do you think we should keep going?” Sylphiel asked softly. “Maybe see if we can attract their attention?”

“No need,” Gourry answered gruffly, his hand on the hilt of his sword already. I blinked, looking over at him, but then I heard it seconds after he had.

Footsteps.

I turned in the direction it was coming from, and sure enough, who else would be walking towards us but the Greater Beast herself?

Dramata

23.8
When I heard those footsteps, my heart suddenly began racing. It was like I knew who was coming just from the sounds of those footsteps, probably because I could tell from those footsteps on the marble floor that the person was a woman and well I figured the only woman around the place would be Zelas herself.

I gripped onto the sword immediately out of instinct and protection because everything we had gone through was about to boil down to this moment. Lina tensed up and got ready for attack just like I had and Sylphiel had done the same, on the other side of Lina but was a little more defensive for obvious reasons. I then watched nervously as Zelas continued towards us, slowly walking and making it feel like she was taking forever. I was beginning to wonder if this was all some trick to throw us off and she would surprise us by suddenly attacking.

However she just kept walking at the same pace and then as she got close enough, she stopped and smiled at the three of us.

“Lina. You have decided to return. You do realise though that unfortunately your friends can't come along with you.”

“Like hell I've decided to return.” Lina spat back angrily. “I'm here to end this. I'm tired of you and Dolphin on our backs all the time.”

With the sound of Dolphin's name, Zelas just rolled her eyes and I picked up on it immediately. Were we wrong in the thought that Zelas and Dolphin were working together?

“I grow tiresome of that woman's plans. Yes the Blast Sword is a very intriguing object, one that I really did like to get my hands on. However with Xellos' reports that the sword doesn't work unless it is in his hands,” Zelas pointed towards me at that moment, which caused a small shiver through my spine, “then I decided that I wasn't as much interested in it anymore. She however believes it can be used to destroy the world.”

I stepped forward at this time. I knew Lina normally dealt with this sort of thing, but I felt with the Blast Sword belonging to me and it being mentioned so much, then it meant they were talking about me, and I had a right to say something about it.

“Why are you telling us all of this stuff? I thought you were working with Dolphin, why tell us her plan.”

“As I said, it grew tiresome. The woman often has…well…how can I say it? “Eccentric” ideas. I only joined because she talked about the Blast Sword, an object I was interested with. However I have no desire to “play” along with her any more. The Blast Sword is useless to me.”

She then paused for a moment at which Xellos phased in just behind Zelas and to her right, kneeling down with his head bowed down. Zelas' lips turned upwards into a slight smirk for a moment before returning to a normal expressionless look.

“And the reason for telling you all of this? Well you see. We mazoku, desire the destruction of the world, but instead of working together to achieve that, we prefer to work alone, and to gain the achievement and reward of destroying the world all to ourselves. Very rarely do we work together, like Xellos with Phibrizzo where such an alliance would be beneficial to both parties, but not necessarily are those beneficial things, the same things.”

Xellos looked up momentarily and looked at me straight away, with gave a little knowing smile. I wondered what that meant, and was it linked to Zelas' slight smirk just before. Lina came back into the conversation at that point.

“You're saying you'd rather backstab your own kind, just so you can get all of the glory of being the ones to destroy the world.”

“You see, Lina? You understand us so well, which is why I always find it such a shame that you gave up the life of a mazoku. You would be good as one of us. You would be much more powerful. Also turning you back wouldn't be as hard this time either. It never really leaves you…Lina Inverse.”

I glanced to Lina and I could see her deep in thought at that point. I was starting to wonder if she was considering the offer. I felt angry and confused all at once, something I'm sure both Zelas and Xellos were picking up on and enjoying.

“I know what it's like to be a mazoku and I've had all of the experience I've ever wanted to have. Not that I wanted to have the experience in the first place.” Lina stated calmly.

I felt a little relief in that moment, just glad to hear Lina wouldn't want to do that again.

“Well on that sour note. I believe now would be a good time for you to leave. As you see, we have no quarrel with you at this moment in time and I would suggest you take that moment to leave otherwise you might regret it with your lives.”

I look back to Lina and she turned back to me and nodded slowly with a small smile.

“Let's get out of this hell hole.”

I nodded and turned away with Lina and Sylphiel as we all began walking back out of the temple. I turned my head back for a few moments to see Zelas addressing Xellos. It seemed then that Xellos was relaying information to her. Zelas nodded and turned to look at me once more and just smiled again slightly. I snapped my head back forward and felt that shiver through my body once more.

We left the temple and just headed straight back to the boat; the three of us were all in silence. I guess because we were ready to fight with our lives and the whole thing just came to nothing. All that rush of excitement inside of you can then just leave you a little low afterwards because nothing happened. Crazy as it sounds, we were looking forward towards the fight, and because it didn't happen, we were a little depressed.

We all got back onto the boat and we began heading back to the southern continent. We were all sat on the deck of the boat in silence for a few moments. Then Sylphiel broke the silence.

“Is it just me, or was that whole thing weird.”

Both Lina and I nodded a little.

“I'm just surprised at how willing she was to give us information like that. The whole thing stinks of something rotten going on in the background.” Lina replied

“Like what Lina?”

“A plan of her own?”

“So why align herself with Dolphin?” Sylphiel asked.

“You heard what she said in there. They would rather work alone to get the reward of being the dark lord to destroy the world. She's backstabbing Dolphin to get what she wants. Then that means Zelas has something tucked up in her sleeve which means we now have to dark lords with plans to end the world. It was for the best that we left though because we really didn't know what her plan was and it would be stupid to fight her with no knowledge of that.”

“But at least we have knowledge of what Dolphin wants to do right?” I said.

“Exactly, and because of that we know how to stop it.”

Lightning struck across the sky followed by the loud bang of thunder which caused the three of us to jump a little. The shout then came from the captain of the boat for all hands to come on to the deck.

“There must be a storm coming.” I said softly.

“Ugh, this is gonna make me sea sick isn't it.” Lina replied, whining slightly.

Another lightning strike flashed across the sky followed by the bang which was deafening, the lightning was also blinding. Dark grey clouds had quickly gathered and the boat began rocking as the waves started to hit the sides. Rain began pouring down from the sky. The dark grey clouds made it too dark to see out into the distance, with only the lightning strikes in the distance which gave a brief view of the surroundings.

We were all stood up at that point and clinging onto various parts of the boat as it began rocking more violently. I then looked out as another flash of lightning erupted not far from the boat and highlighted a gigantic wave. When the roar of the thunder died down, it was replaced by the roar of the wave and I knew it was capable of turning the boat over.

I ran over to Lina immediately as instinct told me I needed to protect her. I held onto her tightly and onto the mast of the boat and watched as the wave came. Lina noticed it too at the last moment and I felt her bury her face into my chest. I took a deep breath as the boat began to rise up the wave. Another flash of lightning hit and just before the wave hit me; I noticed a familiar looking figure.

The roaring suddenly stopped as we were submerged momentarily in the water of the wave. Time seemed to slow down and I clung on to Lina for dear life. I glanced to Sylphiel who was also managing to hold onto the ship despite the wave. Then suddenly the wave passed by as quickly as it came and we were all left drenched, bits if my bangs sticking to my face. I was glad that the boat had managed to stay upright.

Something felt wrong though and I glanced to where I saw the familiar person. I looked up above me and there she was.

“Riksfalto!” I shouted.

“What?” Lina yelled as she looked up.

But Riksfalto just smirked as she floated above us with her hands across her hips. At that point another wave hit us but something about this wave was different. I realised what was different when suddenly I felt the wave tugging onto me. I held onto Lina again and kept her close to the mass, but the tugging only became stronger.

The wave passed again but I could still feel water around my legs. I looked back to see that entire wave had not passed and some of it was still around my legs and it was climbing up my waist. Lina noticed it and I could see confusion in her eyes followed by panic as she realised I was being dragged away. Her arms wrapped around me and pulled me against her as best as she could, but the water continued to climb up my body.

I looked up to see Riksfalto laughing and looking down at us and suddenly it all dawned on me what was going on.

“Lina!” I yelled as the water continued to rise over my body and it felt cold. It was like the water had a life of its own and there was nothing I could do to shake it off. As the water covered more and more of my body, its strength on me was getting stronger and stronger. Soon my grip on the mast was slipping and Lina could tell. She began pulling me towards her even harder despite being covered by the freezing cold water herself.

The water quickly covered my arms and was reaching up around my neck. I felt it tug hard on me and my grip slipped away from the mast. Lina grasped my hand before I went any further, but the force was too strong. She kept a hold of my hand as her feet slid across the slippery deck and came to a halt by the edge of the boat. By this time I was already overboard and the water was now over my entire body and I couldn't breathe anymore.

I held onto Lina's hand tighter but I could feel the grip beginning to slip. I looked straight into Lina's eyes and I knew I couldn't hold onto her anymore. I realised I would only begin to drag her with me into the water and I wouldn't let that happen. My eyes softened and Lina could read it immediately. She pulled me harder but it was to of no use.

“I'm…sorry…” I managed to mouth and I then let my fingers slip from her grip. The water pulled me away and I splashed hard into the ocean. I looked up to Lina who was still reaching out for me and would have gone overboard if it wasn't for Sylphiel to haul her back. I reached out still for her but knew it was of no use. The cold then became too much and without being able to breathe, I blacked out.

Kurage

23.9
The cold didn't matter. What mattered was him. But I couldn't hold on, and in the end, I lost what mattered.

I jumped forward, determined to go overboard and grab him, but before I could, someone had their hands on me and wouldn't let go. I tugged, hard, against the hands that held me, already feeling my eyes burn and overflow. But they wouldn't let go.

“No...” I heard myself whisper, my eyes already blurred over. I could hardly see anything in front of me, but I could feel, and what I felt was dread. “No, no, no...”

“Lina-san!” Suddenly I was jerked back roughly, and I realized I was being pulled away from the edge. “Lina-san, come on, get back, or else you'll go under!”

“Sylphiel...” I murmured in a daze, too numb to fight her. “I want to go under...”

She grabbed me and turned me around so that I was facing her. “Don't be an idiot!” she snapped, her eyes flashing. “Nothing will come from that if you do that! You need to focus!”

“I let him get caught...” I answered.

“Don't be absurd!” she snapped. “You tried all you could, Lina-san, and now you have to get back on your feet and pull yourself together!”

Pull myself together...Pull myself together? How could I, when Gourry was gone?

How could I NOT, if I wanted to get him back?

“We will get him back!” Sylphiel said sternly, her hands gripping tightly on my shoulders. “We will, if you can get a grip, hold on, and focus!”

Slowly, I nodded. I shut my eyes, feeling the tears captured there run down my cheeks. It took me a moment to gather my wits, but I managed, gradually. When I opened my eyes again, Sylphiel nodded back, letting go of my shoulders.

“The situation...?' I managed to croak out, rubbing at my eyes furiously. Sylphiel looked away, turning to glance around at the condition of the ship. It was pretty waterlogged, but it had held through the storm. It was then I even noticed that the storm was gone. There wasn't a sound of thunder anywhere, and when I looked up, harmless-looking fluffy clouds floated by.

I wanted to strangle something.

“We can manage to get back to shore without anything coming up,” Sylphiel reported softly. “However, I wouldn't bet on going anywhere else right now.”

“I have no intentions of going out to sea again,” I admitted. Even though, in my mind, all I could see was Gourry being pulled under there...

“Do you know where you're going, Lina-san?” Sylphiel asked.

I shook my head. “I haven't the foggiest. I can't really think right now. Once we get back onto shore, and we both get some rest and a meal, I'll be able to think.”

Sylphiel looked pensive. “Are you sure it's a good idea, taking a break, when Dolphin could end the world at any second?”

I swallowed, a lump forming in my throat. “Gourry isn't going to give up the sword without as fight,” I said, my voice strained. “We have time.”

The rest of the trip back was made in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I had to struggle to keep myself collected. I didn't want to accept what happened quite yet. I didn't want to face reality. I just wanted to keep myself distracted.

So I thought about what happened at Wolf Pack Island instead. Both Zelas and Xellos had been talking about something, shortly before the attack. What had they been discussing? And why hadn't they wanted to fight us at all?

Had they known that Riksfalto was on her way to come and get us? And if they did, why had Zelas sworn up and down that she found the alliance with Dolphin dull and pointless?

I wasn't too sure what the hell was going on, but I was hell-bent determined to find out.

Once we reached the shore, I started to feel the effects of the day weighing down on me. I wasn't hungry at all, but I ate. The food tasted like ashes in my mouth, and I had to struggle to keep it down. Sylphiel and I didn't speak. We just ate in silence, trying to suture our own respective wounds in silence.

I didn't want to depend on her. It felt wrong, somehow. She was in just as much pain as I was. One would think seeking comfort in eachother would be natural. But to me, it wasn't. I had to face this alone.

When I was done my meal, I trudged away from the table without another word, leaving Sylphiel behind. I could feel my shields breaking down with each step, and by the time I made it to the room I rented, they were down and out.

I staggered over to the bed and dropped down onto it face down, clutching onto the sheets tightly. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to cry, but of course it failed. I just let my mind shut down, and I let my emotions guide me, and in the end, all I did was lie there and cry.

Looking back, it occurs to me now that maybe I should be a little embarrassed to admit this. After all, my emotions are clear and stripped bare, no pretenses need apply. But I don't. I think, had you been in my place, you would have understood.

When I had cried myself out, I opened my eyes slowly, the lids swollen a little. I wiped my nose on the pillow case and sat up, rubbing my eyes with my hands. I got up off the bed and took off everything but my shirt and pants. I flung it all to the floor and curled back on the bed in fetal position.

My fingers went to my ring before I could control it. I raised my hand slowly, my eyes fixed on the ring Gourry had given me. In the dim lighting, it glittered cheerfully. I stared at the ring until my eyes went out of focus.

Had I failed him, somehow? I had I managed to mess everything up? It had been my idea to go to the Island. It had been my idea to confront Zelas and demand what was going on. In doing that, had I doomed us all, being duped by some level of duplicity that went over even my head?

I shut my eyes, curled up into a ball, and fell into a light doze, consumed by these feelings, and hoping once I woke up, I could shake them off, or, make sense of them all.

When I woke up, it was to Sylphiel shaking me awake. I struggled to bring my mind back to the present, but images swirled in my brain from my dreams and made the whole process difficult. When I finally managed, I sat up quickly. Sylphiel jumped back a little, but kept close.

“What is it?” I asked, jumping to my feet.

Sylphiel held up her hands. “Nothing,” she said calmly. “I just wanted to wake you up now. It's been a few hours, and I think we should start on our way now.”

I blinked, then looked out the window. Sure enough, night was edging on the horizon. I nodded. “You're right. We should.”

I got dressed hurriedly, splashed my face with some cold water, and together, the two of us set out.

As we walked, Sylphiel spoke calmly. “Do you have any idea where we're going?”

I shook my head. “I hadn't thought that far ahead,” I admitted, unwilling to disclose the fact that I had spent all the thinking time I had bawling like a baby.

Sylphiel met my reply with silence, but it was obvious what she was thinking. She obviously thought that I was so clouded with my emotions that I couldn't even take charge. I could read it all on her face. Whether or not I was right, it doesn't matter. The indication was there, and it upset me.

“Well, then, Sylphiel,” I said calmly, “Do YOU have any ideas?”

“No,” Sylphiel said softly. “All I can think about is saving Gourry-san.”

I heard a sound behind us, and it was a sound I dreaded, because it was a sound I had hoped to NEVER hear again in the near future. But it was there. The sound of someone phasing in behind us.

Both of us turned, and of course, standing there, was Xellos.

I growled, hands out, the glint of a Fireball ready. Sylphiel similarly had her scepter out and had it pointed at Xellos.

(On a side note, I still wonder where she keeps that thing. Sometimes she just brings it out of nowhere, and it's very disconcerting.)

He held up a hand, trying to placate us. “Easy, easy,” he trilled, still smiling. “I'm not here to start a fight.”

“True,” I snapped, “you already started it on the Island.”

“Ah, now how can you possibly blame me for that, when I had no control over it to begin with?”

“Bull,” I answered. “You were there. You didn't make a move on us, because you knew Riksfalto would.”

Xellos shook his head. “You can't blame me for following my orders, can you?”

“I can blame you for a good many things,” I replied.

Xellos paused and seemed to think that over. He put his hand to his chin and furrowed his brow in thought. Finally, he smiled and nodded. “Touché, Lina-san.”

I sighed and let my hands fall to my sides. If Xellos meant to attack, he would have done so by then. Sylphiel wasn't so convinced. She edged closer to me, keeping her scepter out and ready.

“Finally ready to talk, are you?” Xellos wondered.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I'm ready to listen, if you have anything of use to say.”

“I think I do,” Xellos agreed. “In fact, I think I have something you need, seeing as how you just admitted to having no idea what to do in order to save Gourry-san,”

I could feel my heart speeding up.

“Right?” Xellos opened one eye, the violent colour glinting.

“What do you know?” I whispered, clenching my fists at my sides. I could feel myself shaking, and this time, I felt embarrassed by it. It was like I had no control over anything I did, and why? Because I loved Gourry, and I knew I would do anything to get him back.

“I know exactly where Dolphin is hiding,” he admitted. “And I know how to get you there, no questions asked, with hardly any fuss.”

I felt my word stick in my throat. I wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped, turned, and saw Sylphiel right beside me. “There has to be a catch,” she said, her eyes narrowed.

“Of course there is,” Xellos agreed, nodding. “But that's not the issue. The issue is, I can help you get to Gourry-san, and I can help you save him. Isn't that what you have been striving for?”

“Yes,” I managed to get out, “but it would be worthless if we managed to throw our lives away in the process. Not even Gourry would appreciate that.”

Xellos waved a hand. “Fair enough. But you know the truth of the matter. I know the way to get there, and you don't. You need to know how to get there, or else Gourry-san, and the fate of the world as we know it, is gone. And that's the last thing you want, isn't it?”

I knew what I was going to say HAD to be a mistake. Allying myself with Xellos was never the smartest thing to do. But, in perfect honestly, I could see no other way out of it.

“Tell me what you know, Xellos, and I promise, we'll cooperate,” I said calmly.

Xellos looked as happy as a 5-yeear-old on his birthday.

“However,” I continued, my eyes narrowed. “One false move, and you're dead, Xellos. And I mean it.”

The air between us crackled with my threat, and he knew, as well as I did, that in the state I was in, I was quite capable of fulfilling this threat.

“Lina-san,” he smiled, his eyes open and flashing underneath his curtain of bangs. “You definitely have a deal.”

Dramata