Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ The Slayers: Reward ❯ Clash! The Love That Hates Justice! ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Slayers: Reward

Chapter 3: Clash! The Love That Hates Justice!

By: Lord Archive

The Slayers belong to Hajime Kanazaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX, Software Sculptures Ltd., and many others. I do not own them. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them as quickly as I can since Lina and Gourry are eating away bank account.

This begins a few months after Slayers: Try. There are a few spoilers in this, but I won't specifically explain anything, but I will refer to them. If you don't want even vague spoilers, I suggest that you don't read this.

Lime Warning: The series gets a bit lime from this point on. Nothing detailed, but occasional references to sexual relations and innuendoes occur.

Note on magic: Spirit magic verses normal humans. Humans can be harmed by spiritual magic, since people do have a spirit. Elmekia Lance is noted as being able to only stun a person because it doesn't do much damage, while Elmekia Flame and stronger spirit attacks can potentially kill. These spells are not only effective against ghosts and mazoku; they are just the normal targets of this spell group. People are rarely attacked with spirit magic since other schools of magic can be more effective and the damage is harder to heal.

-------------------*

The sun peeked through the window. Lina tried to hide from it and rolled over. Nicely shielded from the light by a large bare chest, she started to drift back asleep.

Bare chest?

Lina's eyes shot open and she squealed in fright. She backed away from the guy and fell off the bed.

"Uh?" Gourry blearily sat up and looked down at Lina. "Why are you on the floor?"

Lina's mind began to process the information. She was lying nude on the floor, Gourry was in the bed that she had slept in, she doubted that he was wearing any clothes, and she was pretty sure that she wasn't a virgin anymore.

Lina began to smack the back of her head into the floor repeatedly.

"Lina?"

Lina stopped and looked at him. "I'm fine. I'm just trying to get used to us being married."

"By pounding your head into the floor?"

"Let's just say I feel like a Gabriev and need some intelligence slammed into my head."

Gourry smiled since Lina finally used his family name. He reached down and picked her up, bringing her back into the bed.

Lina scowled. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I was told the 'wedding night' tended to last a few days."

"Gourry," Lina said, annoyed.

"Gourry!" she squeaked.

"Gourry...." she moaned.

-------------------*

"Have you seen Lina Inverse?"

"Inverse?" Reena thought for a second. "Nope. Never met anyone with that name."

"How about a blond swordsman called Gourry Gabriev?" The knight crossed his arms, which caused his silver pauldrons to flash light briefly into the cook's face.

Reena answered with a shrug. The handsome muscular knight with the distinguished graying black hair may be the captain of Edo's knights, as his shoulder guards indicated, but giving a straight answer to that question would not be good for her inn.

"Captain Marcus, do you think they avoided this town?" a knight asked.

"It would appear that way, and that would be the wisest course of action for them."

"Where do we go next?"

Marcus thought for a moment. "I'm not sure we're done here yet."

A shadow scowled at them as they left. Once they were gone, she approached the kitchen.

"Good afternoon, Misses Gabriev. I trust you had a wonderful night." Reena smiled.

Lina blushed. "You could say that."

"You had better keep a low profile. The knights are searching for you and your husband."

"Gourry could fight them in his sleep and he's less dangerous than I am."

Reena nodded. "You have a point. But it still would be a little inconvenient considering that you are on your honeymoon. Besides, I'd rather you didn't get into a fight while you stayed here."

Lina laughed nervously. "Ah, right. Anyway, I'd like to order some food."

"Twelve portions of the honeymoon special sound good?"

"Honeymoon special?"

Reena grinned. "My personal recipe to help recover from a passionate night and give the energy needed to go at it again."

Lina sweat-dropped. "Well, I guess that'll be good."

-------------------*

Lina checked over her clothes. "Ready?"

"I guess, but why do we have to leave now? It's the middle of the night."

"Besides the fact that we've slept for most of the day, I'd rather not get into a fight here."

"Why not?"

"Because, pudding-head, Reena helped us a lot and I don't want to wreck her inn."

"Oh." Gourry followed Lina out of the second story window and into the nearby woods. "Why aren't we going to get the horses?"

Lina scowled back. "Because the knights must have found them by now and probably have set up a trap."

"Like that one?"

Lina looked at what Gourry was pointing at; a large pot roast cooked to perfection hung from a tree. "Like I would fall for something that cheesy."

"I don't see any cheese on it." Gourry's eyes scanned the area. "We've got company."

"Yep. Not much to this group. Hey, Captain, get your butt over here and we'll talk! If you try to attack us, your men will end up dead!"

Marcus approached them. "Do not take my soldiers lightly. They are among the best in the land."

"So?" Lina shook her head. "Listen, Captain, let's make this an honor duel. You fight Gourry and if you win I'll annul my marriage to him."

Marcus smirked. "If I lose?"

Gourry looked at Lina with a confused expression. "You said not to...."

Lina smacked him. "Annul, as in to end, not anal, as in ass."

Gourry looked even more confused. "Isn't your ass and your end the same thing?"

Lina punched her husband into a tree. "Anyway, Captain, if you lose, you and your knights stop chasing after us and let us live our life."

Marcus watched Gourry staggered back to Lina. "What if I don't agree to this challenge?"

"Simple, I'll change the map again by making a nice little lake here. The Princess might decide to honor you by naming it after you since you would be dead."

Marcus had heard the rumors concerning this sorceress, but felt they were grossly exaggerated. There was still the point that she was a powerful spellcaster and some of his men would probably die in a fight against her. Especially considering that these two had already fought Towermere and some of his men and won. Marcus drew his sword. "I accept the challenge."

"He's all yours."

Gourry nodded and drew his sword. "You go first."

"As you wish." Marcus charged forward and thrusted his sword towards Gourry's stomach.

Gourry casually deflected the blade and made a minor cut to the captain's armor.

Marcus growled angrily. The idiot was playing him for a fool. He slashed at Gabriev, but was parried and cut again.

"You might want to give up now." Gourry blocked another attack and added another minor wound to the captain.

The captain snarled in rage. "By Ceiphied, I will defeat you." His attack failed and he was hit again.

"You sure about that?"

"Positive," Marcus snapped. He then heard the sound of metal clattering onto the ground. He looked down and saw that his armor had been completely removed. "Why you...." The captain charged again, intent on planting the sword into his opponent's chest.

Gourry disarmed Marcus and held his sword tip under the captain's chin. "I really think you should give up."

Marcus looked down at the blade and gulped. "Perhaps it is not Ceiphied's will that you marry the princess."

"Finally some intelligence," Lina chirped. "Make sure you tell all your knights that."

Marcus fell to his knees; thankful to be alive but not looking forward to explaining to Towermere why his knights could not go after the Gabrievs.

Lina began to walk off. "Come on, Gourry."

"Um, Lina, if they're not chasing after us anymore, perhaps we can stay at the inn a few more days."

"I created a monster!" Lina glared at her husband. "Listen, dick for brains, we still have Towermere coming after us. While I wouldn't mind spending a few days in a locked room with you, now isn't exactly the best time. Now let's go."

Gourry pouted and followed her.

-------------------*

Lina smiled as she went through the local shops. Since they were now a week away from Edo and only a few days away from Sailoon, she felt it would be okay to stay here for a couple days. Hopefully Towermere had already given up on them, considering they hadn't seen him.

She still couldn't believe she was married now. What was more was how little things had changed. Sure, she was sleeping with Gourry, he couldn't get enough sex, and she now had to be worried about getting pregnant, but everything else was pretty much the same as it had been before. He was still an idiot and she still insulted him. As for when they'd stop adventuring and settle down was when her spells went away for more than a few days.

Lina shivered at the thought of no spells, pregnancy and soon to become 'Mommy Lina.' That had better be a couple years away, as she was not ready for that. But with Gourry there, she believed she could handle being a parent.

At the moment, there was technically one thing that was different. Gourry wasn't with her, but that was because she had exhausted him into slumber. A little shopping would help keep her busy until he woke up.

"I've finally found you."

Lina groaned. "Why, hello Towermere. I thought you had given up."

"I can not rest until the word of Ceiphied has been fulfilled."

"You've been reading it wrong."

"Hardly. The marriage was not meant to take place."

"Says you."

"It must be annulled."

"Not a chance in hell."

"Why do you insist on this?"

"Why do YOU keep butting your head in where it doesn't belong?!"

"Do not make him a widower. I do not want to have to...."

"High Priest of Ceiphied, how can you seek to destroy a marriage born of love? For Miss Lina to defend it, it must be true love indeed! Love is the noblest and strongest of emotions. So why, WHY must you try to destroy it? If you persist in this vile quest, you will have to face me as well!"

"Amelia?!" Lina chirped in surprise.

"Hi, Miss Lina!" Amelia jumped down from a nearby roof. The princess looked like she added another couple centimeters to her height since the last time Lina had seen her and seemed to be missing her left bracelet.

Lina's eyes took an evil glint. "Hey, Towermere, do you know who she is? She's Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Sailoon! If you don't get off our case, she can cause political trouble for Edo."

Amelia looked rather sheepishly at Lina. "Um, perhaps there's something you should know."

"Princess Amelia? My how you've grown." Towermere smiled. "Your father has been looking for you. He wants you to go back home."

Amelia glared at the priest. "Forget it, Teacher. I'm not going back."

"Teacher?" Lina didn't like the sound of that.

"You have to go back. By law you have to...."

"Dad can take that damn law and shove it up his justice loving ass!" Amelia screamed.

Lina face-faulted hard enough to leave a crater. Daddy's little justice freak said that?! Gravel fell out of her hair as she leapt into Amelia's face. "All right, who the hell are you?"

Towermere's eyes bulged out of his head and he looked like he swallowed his tongue.

"It is me, Miss Lina. I've just had a bit of an argument with my Dad." The anger from her outburst had not completely left her voice.

"Must be some argument to make you say that."

"Ahem." Towermere called attention to himself. "Now, Princess Amelia, I would hope there is good reason for you to say something like that. I will help you after I have dealt with her." The priest turned towards the red-haired sorceress. "Lina Inverse, the marriage must end."

"That's Lina Gabriev to you, and I will NOT end it!" Flames formed in the sorceress's hands.

Amelia added another crater to the street as she face faulted. She then got up and placed a glowing white hand on Lina's stomach. She was surprised that the glow didn't change color. "You're not pregnant? If you didn't rush to marry Mr. Gourry because of that, then why didn't you try to contact me? I wanted to be your maid of honor."

Lina scowled. "The wedding wasn't something I had planned on happening. I don't have time to explain it now."

Towermere folded his arms. "If you wish to resolve this matter in your usual style, let's take this outside of the city."

Lina nodded. "Fine by me."

"I'm with you, Mrs. Lina."

Lina grimaced.

-------------------*

Towermere faced off against the two sorceresses. "Lina, I beg you reconsider. I do not wish to hurt you, but Ceiphied's will must be upheld."

Lina folded her arms. "Riiiight. Tell me another one, Towermere. I'm not going to lose Gourry because of what some priest says. I wouldn't if Ceiphied came here personally."

"Such blasphemy."

"And you're still so full of yourself." Amelia pointed at Towermere. "Great Ceiphied is a lover of life and would not bring heartache by destroying love!"

"Princess Amelia?! How can you say such a thing?"

"I'm not a little kid who'll listen to you spout your one-sided view of the world! Since I met Mrs. Lina, I've learned that not everything is clearly right or wrong."

Lina looked amazed at Amelia. What in the four worlds happened to her in the past couple months?

Towermere shook his head. "Amelia, you are a princess of Sailoon, the capital of white magic. Lina is the strongest user of BLACK magic known. So, why are you helping her?"

"Because Lina and Gourry are my friends, and they belong together for they have found true love! Just because Mrs. Lina is a black sorceress changes nothing. She does more good for people in a month than you have done in your entire life!"

"This dark sorceress has had a negative effect on you. I must help you correct your ways. Laphas Seed."

Amelia was about to retort as bans of energy wrapped around her, one of them covering her mouth.

Lina scowled. "That was hardly a nice thing to do."

"It is your fault that Princess Amelia has abandoned her place."

"I had nothing to do with that. But, it is an improvement."

"It is time someone set you straight. Elmekia Lance!" A beam of light shot out of the priest's hand.

Lina scowled as she dodged. She wished Princess Alicia hadn't made her promise not to kill Towermere. He was asking to be fried to a crisp. "Fireball!"

The blast subsided and Towermere wasn't even singed. "Elmekia Flame!"

"What the?!" Lina rolled under the large beam of spiritual light, but was at a loss. How did Towermere defend against that spell? He didn't have a shield spell up. "Burst Flare!"

A pillar of fire erupted where Towermere stood, but after the flames subsided the priest had not moved. "As you can tell, your magic is useless. Give up now."

"Dynast Brass!"

A pentagram formed around Towermere and then lightning crashed through the area inside of it. The priest did not seem fazed at all. "Lina Inverse. You must give up this foolishness. You are acting against our god's will. Annul your marriage to Sir Gourry."

Screw the promise. "Darkness of twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows."

"That won't work."

"Buried in the sands of time is where thy power grows."

Towermere sighed. He wasn't sure what spell Lina was casting, but believed it to be her Dragon Slave spell. If it was, it simply would not work against him.

"In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I posses! Dragon Slave!"

Fiery death and destruction raged. The blast wave shook the nearby city with the tremendous power of the explosion. As the smoke cleared, Towermere remained standing in a crater with soot covering his entire body.

"Ouch." Okay, so maybe the spell wasn't completely ineffective, but he was still strong enough to continue the fight. "Won't you concede this now? You've lost."

"Never," Lina growled. The old goat had found some way to protect himself. Well, she wasn't about to let that geezer win even if her spells were useless. She could still pound him into submission with her fists.

Seeing the deadly intent in Lina's eyes, Towermere began to gather energy into his hands.

Amelia wanted to shout or scream, but remained rooted to her spot. She knew what spell Towermere was going to cast and there was no way Lina could survive it.

"Please accede to Ceiphied's will."

"I will not lose Gourry!" Lina lunged at the priest. Her eyes widened as noticed his glowing hands.

Towermere shut his eyes. "Ra Tilt!"

The area surrounding Lina was filled with a blinding light.

"NO!" Amelia cried out, breaking the spell. She began to cry, not wanting to believe that Lina was dead.

Towermere refused to look at where Lina had been. He didn't want to do that, but he had to follow what he believed was right.

"Was that your best shot?"

"What?!" Towermere and Amelia shouted.

Lina scowled at the priest, seemingly surrounded by some kind of shadowy aura. "Why don't YOU go away? You can't hurt me with your spells and I can't hurt you with mine. However, I can still beat you to a bloody pulp." She shook her fist in emphasis.

"I shall not. I can not let your blasphemy continue! Sir Gourry must marry the princess!"

Amelia's eyes bulged out. "I don't want to marry him! Besides, I don't even remember him on the list."

Lina looked over at Amelia and frowned, but said nothing. While her spell blocked most of the damage to her spirit, Ra Tilt still hurt like a bitch and could use the time Amelia would use arguing to heal.

"I didn't mean you, but Princess Alicia."

"Oh. But that still doesn't change that Mr. Gourry belongs with Mrs. Lina!"

Towermere folded his arms. "Princess Amelia, listen to me. Sir Gourry has completed Ceiphied's quest to defeat the dragon Grimhill. The quest was given to find the next prince of Edo. He must marry Princess Alicia!"

'...Amelia, listen to me...' echoed in the princess's mind, but the voice belonged to her father. "But why?!" Amelia screeched. "Shouldn't Cousin Alicia and Mr. Gourry have a say in this? You want them to marry each other out of some stupid obligation supposedly written by Ceiphied."

"Supposedly? My dear princess, you must not challenge this. If we do not follow Ceiphied's guidance, people might suffer. It is our duty to do what is needed of ourselves. We must do what is right."

"Not challenge this?!" Amelia growled. "Our duty?!" Her hand shook. "Do what is right?!" The princess stomped toward the priest. "That's the exact damned self-righteous garbage Daddy told me!" Her hands were engulfed in magical energy just as she threw the first punch.

Of course Towermere was protected against the magical enhancement of Amelia's punches. However, being struck one hundred and sixty-nine times was more than enough to knock him into blissful slumber.

Lina walked up to the winded princess. "You did good there. Now tell me about what happened between you and your father. He tried to engage you off to some prince, didn't he?"

Amelia sadly glanced at Lina. "Sort of. Can we go somewhere first? The local soldiers will move in to investigate soon."

"Sure. We can go to the inn where Gourry and I are staying. Hopefully, we won't have to explain things more than once to him."

Amelia smiled lightly. "You really shouldn't insult your husband."

Lina smirked. "Gourry wouldn't know what to do if I stopped."

-------------------*

"And that's how I married yogurt brains, here." Lina crossed her arms and peered down at the princess sitting on the floor of her chairless room at the inn. "Now it's your turn."

"Amelia is getting married?" Gourry asked.

Lina smacked him on the head.

"That isn't what Mrs. Lina meant." Amelia sighed as she sipped some coffee. What does Zelgadis see in this stuff? "Well, my problem comes in the form of a law that no one bothered to tell me about until a couple weeks ago. Though they have been pushing it on me since I got back after the fight against Valgaav."

"So what does this law say?" Lina prompted.

"That a princess must be married by her sixteenth birthday by someone approved by the noble council of Sailoon or she will forfeit her right to claim the throne."

"I see." Lina nodded. "They want to insure that the princess has a guy to rule with and is capable of producing an heir. And since your sixteenth birthday is in a few months, they're starting to apply the pressure."

"Exactly."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "How far is Princess Alicia from Sailoon's throne?"

"Even though she is only a fourth cousin of mine, recent incidents have caused her to be fourth in line as long as she marries before her sixteenth birthday next year." Amelia stirred her coffee while trying not to remember her part in removing her Uncle Randy or what happened to her Cousin Alfred. "That was close enough to prompt her nobles to request a divine prophecy to discover if she would be capable of sitting on Sailoon's throne, and they actually got a response which had to deal with her marrying someone who will slay a dragon."

"Which numskull did."

Gourry scratched his head. "Did what?"

Amelia set her coffee down. "Anyway, it also explained why my sister ran away. She was too freewilled and would never settle for a noble dad picked out nor be cooped up with political work."

"Glad I didn't marry a prince." Lina leaned toward the princess. "As for your father's list of candidates... Zelgadis wasn't on it."

"No." Amelia's head hung sadly.

"Did you suggest him?"

Amelia nodded.

"What did your father say?"

"That Mr. Zelgadis can't be my husband since he's a chimera. Even if he could father children, that they might be chimeras too. And that the noble council would never approve of someone who wasn't human."

Lina grimaced. "Don't repeat that to Zel, he'd beat Phil into a bloody pulp."

"I don't know how to explain any of this to Mr. Zelgadis." Amelia held up her right arm. "I gave him one of my bracelets promising that I'd wait for him while he searched for his cure. But if Dad has his say, I'll be married to Uncle Christopher next week."

"Your uncle?!" Lina hopped off the bed. "Is he nuts?"

"I always thought he was a bit insane."

Lina stared at Gourry. He actually made the correct association, but did so rudely.

Amelia shut her eyes. "You might be right, Mr. Gourry. When I tried to talk Daddy out of it, he went on a long speech about how justice would be served by me getting married, if not to Uncle Christopher, then to some other noble." Tears started to streak down her cheeks. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't follow what my father said, because I knew he was wrong."

"I won't ask how your father made forcing you to get married sound like it would be good for justice. He could do that to anything." Lina frowned at the sobbing princess, not entirely sure what to do. She hated to be in the role of big sister, especially since it reminded her of Luna.

Amelia nodded. "I didn't know what I could do to stop Daddy except by running away."

"So where were you planning on going?"

"To find Mr. Zelgadis. I was hoping... even though I know he's not... the council wouldn't...." Amelia couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

Lina gathered the princess into a hug, wishing she knew what to do. "Well... we'll all go looking for Zel and then we will find some way of fixing your mess."

Amelia sniffed while she pulled away. "But what about your problems with High Priest Towermere?"

"He's just an annoyance. He can't do much against me." Lina smirked. "We leave first thing in the morning to find Zel!"

Gourry nodded his approval.

Amelia wiped away a few of her tears. "Thank you, Mrs. Lina."

"Do you have any clues as to where he is?"

"Um, a merchant said he saw Mr. Zelgadis in Caldon a few days ago."

Lina blinked. "We were in Caldon a few days ago."

"Well, we were only at the inn. We could have missed him." Gourry place his hand on his wife's ass.

Lina blushed as she whacked Gourry on the back of his head. "That's not the point."

Amelia's face became red. "I'd better go rent a room for the night. Goodnight." She ran out of the room quickly and hoped to get a room on the other end of the inn.

Gourry smiled.

"You don't have to go yeee... Gourry!" Lina screeched as her husband pulled her closer. "Couldn't you have waited a little longer."

"No." Gourry kissed her.

Amelia was already gone, so there was no reason to fight this. She returned his kiss.

-------------------*

Amelia cover her head with a pillow. The noises in the next room were driving her up the wall. She knew it was natural for them to do this, but four times! At least she thought it was four times considering that was the number of times she clearly heard Gourry groan. Lina wasn't a good reference considering how much noise she was making. They had been going at it almost non-stop for the past two hours, and showed little sign of stopping. If only she had gotten a room sooner and had not been stuck with the one next to the Gabrievs.

-------------------*

Author's Notes:

Thanks to those who pre-read this chapter, particularly Michael Chase, JJang, and Jason The Unbegotten Source.

Added spell:
Dark Shroud
Category: Black
One of the few defensive black spells. It surrounds the caster in a black aura that protects against white and spirit magic. This does nothing against black magic, any shaman magic besides spirit nor against physical attacks. The spell takes a lot to cast and maintain, and there aren't many white spells that can be used offensively so this spell is rather rare due to its limited use.