Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Inner Beings ❯ Lina's Past - She's a WHAT?! ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Here you go! I present the next chapter! I hope you like it. :)

I. Lina's Past - She's a WHAT?!

"Hmm…Gourry, you can go first. Ask me a question." Lina relaxed and waited for Gourry's question. 'I can't believe I'm about to tell them about my past. Oh well, it's either now or never.' "Uh…" Gourry looked at Lina, trying to think of a question (He actually listened to Lina this time). "Why do you look so short and err- underdeveloped?" Zelgadis and Amelia face faulted at Gourry's dumb question and waited for Lina to throw a fireball. Surprisingly, she didn't. She twitched a little, but calmly told Gourry her answer.

"Heh. Figures you'd ask something like that. Well if you really must know, it's because of the magic I use. You see, black magic has the power to dramatically slow down the user's aging, so that they look young and stay alive longer than most people, even other magic-using people. In my case, when I first cast the Dragon Slave, I was still pretty young and I used a lot more black magic than I should have, so my body has stayed the same ever since. Well, I imagine that my body has grown a bit in the last eight years or so, but unfortunately, not enough to be noticed." Lina sighed with disappointment.

Amelia was beginning to cheer up a lot now and had been listening to Lina intently. "How did you learn the Dragon Slave in the first place? I've always heard that Zelphilia was mostly grape vineyards." Lina smiled a bit in pride. "You're right. Zelphilia is mostly grape vineyards, but the urban part of the country is pretty resourceful and wealthy, due to the fact that Zelphilian wine sells wonderfully. In fact, I believe Zelphilia is the second largest and wealthiest city, next to Seyruun, of course. Anyways, when I was there, I had access to both of the huge general and restricted areas of the libraries in the castle and the local Sorcerer's Guild. I learned the Dragon Slave in the restricted area of the castle's library."

Zelgadis looked up from his after-dinner cup of coffee. "Hold on. How did you get access to the castle's library, let alone the restricted area? Weren't you a commoner?" Lina bit her lip, but then smirked again. 'Uh Oh. The inevitable question will be coming soon. I just know it.' "Ah. You'd think so, wouldn't you? Well, yes, my mother was once a 'commoner', but I never was. You see, a couple of years before I was born, the prince of Zelphilia, Prince Inverse, hosted a beauty pageant in hopes of finding himself a bride. He was just a little older than a teenager, 26, at the time. In the pageant, all of the princesses from around the neighboring countries, along with a few of the most beautiful women in the kingdom, presented themselves to the prince in hopes of being chosen. My mother was among the selection of beautiful women in the kingdom, in fact, she was the most beautiful. It was evident that she was the prettiest when she was the last to present herself to the Prince. So obviously, they got married a month later. My father didn't care if his bride was royalty or not - he only cared about looks and personality because he preferred a beautiful and kind wife than a bossy and rough queen. Anyway, during that month of engagement, they fell in love completely. Then, one year after they married, they had me. Need I say more?"

Zelgadis, Amelia, and Gourry blinked. Then, as the bit of information sunk in, their eyes widened and they simultaneously exclaimed, "YOU'RE A PRINCESS?!?! (Even Gourry got this concept somehow.)" Lina winced at their volume, but nodded in affirmation. Zelgadis, Amelia, and Gourry stared at Lina with wide eyes. With her attitude and personality, they never even dreamed that LINA of all people was a real princess. And hey, who can blame them? She was known as Dra-mata and Enemy of All Who Live. They sat a few minutes in silence, everyone thinking of what they could say. Gourry was the first to speak.

"Uh…How does being a princess allow Lina to get into the restricted area of the castle library?" Amelia, Lina, and Zelgadis face faulted. Amelia answered his clueless question. "Isn't it obvious? She's in the immediate line of successors to the throne. Even as a KID, Lina had authority in Zelphilia. She could get practically anything she wanted and get people to do almost anything for her. Right, Miss Lina?" Lina smiled and nodded again. Gourry looked down in thought (or something like that), then he looked up with a deceiving expression of understanding and replied, "Huh?" Everybody shook their heads and sighed at Gourry's thickness.

At that moment, Zelgadis realized something. "If you really could have had anything in Zelphilia AND you were a princess, why did you ever leave? It seems like the ideal life for you." Lina inwardly groaned. 'There it is. *Takes deep breath* Okay, here goes.' "Let me explain this in a little story. Before I was born, my father roamed the lands in search of power and money. On these little trips, he met many kings and princes in many kingdoms, weak, poor, strong, and wealthy alike. Well, one day, when I was 8 years old, my grandfather died and my father became king, with my mother becoming his queen. Just two months later, my father sent for me for a private conversation between my parents and me. He told me that he had arranged for me to marry a 10-year-old Prince of Salazar because after doing so, the two kingdoms could merge and become much more powerful and wealthy. Upon hearing this, I flat out refused to comply with his wishes. Hey, I may have only been eight, but I wasn't stupid enough to get married yet (sound familiar? Yup, that's almost what Lina said in the series! :P). My mother hadn't heard of this plan until then, and she wholeheartedly agreed with me. A girl, even the princess of a wealthy kingdom, shouldn't be forced into marrying a man, no a boy, that she didn't even know. Disgruntled, my father finally compromised to hold off the marriage until I was 18. That's the main reason I ran away from home. The other reason is my sister - her and her ways just plain scared me out of town."

Gourry, realizing something, ventured to ask Lina, "Hey, how old are you now?" Lina frowned. She muttered a short answer. "10 days from now, I'll be 18." Lina's companions sat in silence once again, knowing exactly what Lina's current problem was. Zel then asked, "Is there any way of breaking the engagement?" Lina nodded. "If I can beat the prince in five specified battles before my 18th birthday, I won't have to marry him. So, at age 8, I started my magical training at the Sorcerer's Guild. I would have quickly risen in the ranks if it weren't for the facts that I had to take etiquette lessons as well and that my sister often substituted for my teacher whenever he was away or couldn't teach me for whatever reason. In any case, I beat him in a hand-to-hand combat when I was 8 and 1/2. I easily beat him in a magic fight at age 9 and a sword fight at age 10. Then, at age 11, I beat him in a game of wits and strategy. At age 12, I ran away from home so I couldn't face him anymore."

Amelia quickly summarized what Lina just said. "So 6 years later, you have to beat him one more time before the engagement is broken, right?" Lina merely nodded again. "The final battle is an arena showdown where it's anything goes." After pausing to think a few moments, Lina continued. "And I want you guys there to see me through my victory (Lina made a peace sign and grinned happily)…or my defeat and wedding (in a blink of an eye, Lina's face changes to completely sad and sullen). So can you come with me (Lina now looks up to her friends with a face full of hope, or hopefully)?"

Gourry immediately replied, "No matter what, I'm following you wherever you go. After all, what kind of protector would I be if I abandoned you?" Amelia soon stated in her justice-speech-voice, "Yes, and I'll accompany you because you're my best friend… and I'm interesting to see what this prince, Zelphilia, and your sister are like." Zelgadis slowly replied in a quiet voice, "I'll follow Amelia wherever she goes to make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble." Amelia smiled at Zelgadis and went over to hug him tightly around the neck. As Zelgadis began turning purple, Amelia let go and he gasped for breath. Lina smirked and laid out her travel map. "Okay then - Next stop, Zelphilia! According to this map, it should take us 3 days with minimal stops to get to Seyruun. From there, it will only take two days on horseback to get to Zelphilia. We'll start first thing in the morning, so get a good night's sleep!" With that, Lina stretched, yawned, went into her tent, and quickly fell asleep. The others soon followed her example, excluding Zelgadis who stayed out for first watch.

A/N: More to come soon. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Any questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, but I prefer positive reviews! ^__^ Stay tuned for the next chapter!