Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Unwanted Memories ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

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.

 

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Gourry knew that what he was going through was just a dream. Despite knowing that, the dream still felt very real and was so disturbing to him. He had it many times before but still it kept coming back to haunt him. Each time it seemed to get worse and worse and no matter how much he tried to fight it off, it continued to strike fear into his soul.

 

He was holding Lina's lifeless in body in his hands. Around her neck were darkly bruised finger marks where he strangled her. Her stomach was bloody from the sword wound. Her cheeks stained with tears as she refused to fight back against him. He'd seen this in his dreams repeatedly but it horrified him still. He wished there as some way to make them go away but he never knew how.

 

His eyes quickly flashed open as he felt the sweet relief of being awake which meant he wouldn't have to go through the sickening thought of murdering Lina. Only he quickly began to realise that his dreams were slowly becoming reality. His hands were around Lina's throat and this time he was fully aware of what he was doing. Before his brain registered to let go, he felt a pair of strong arms grab onto him roughly and throw him into the corner of the room.

 

He smacked hard into the wall and was left dazed. He was about to react and see what was going on, only to find himself pinned down forcefully. His eyes started to adjust to the darkness and noticed that it was Zelgadiss holding him down. He heard choking and coughing from Lina and couldn't describe the relief he felt knowing Lina was okay.

 

“Lina!?” Amelia spoke desperately as she placed her hands over the sorceress's neck and began a healing spell.

“Take me away now Zel…” Gourry said softly as his eyes drifted away to the side.

“What?” He replied, with a look of confusion in his eyes.

“Get me away from her now. I can't be near her.”

“Don't you want to be here?”

“NO! Get me away before I hurt her again!” Gourry yelled in fury.

 

Zelgadiss just nodded discreetly and pulled the swordsman up. He kept a tight hold of Gourry as he led him away. Amelia glanced up at the two of them with a worried look before returning her attention to Lina. The princess continued her healing spell and within a few moments Lina felt well enough to try and push her away. Amelia complied and stopped her spell, then moved away from her slightly.

 

“Are you alright?” Amelia asked with concern.

“If I'm being totally honest? I've felt better...” Lina croaked as she tried to joke.

 

Just speaking set her off into a coughing fit as her windpipe still felt about half the size as it should normally be. Amelia moved in close again and rubbed her back gently to help her. Once she managed to get past the coughing fit, only one thing remained on her mind.

 

“Where's Gourry?” Lina spoke, her voice cracking slightly.

“Mister Zel has taken him away.” The princess replied.

“Is he ok?”

“You should really be more worried about yourself right now, Miss Lina.”

“I'm fine Amelia! I'm breathing aren't I?”

“Well…barely.”

“I'm just worried about him. I'm…I'm scared of what he might do to himself.”

 

Zelgadiss continued to escort the swordsman through the corridors until he could find an empty room. Gourry went in first and went to the corner, falling to his knees and using the wall to keep himself upright. Zelgadiss closed the door behind him and then pulled up a chair.

 

“You know this wasn't your fault Gourry. You shouldn't be beating yourself up over this.” Zel told him calmly.

“I just nearly killed her, Zel! They were my hands around her neck! How can you say this wasn't my fault?” Gourry growled at the chimera.

“Was it your intention though? Did you decide to do it?”

“Of course not…”

“Then that's why it's not your fault.”

 

Gourry brought his hands up to his head and shook it slightly.

 

“It doesn't matter if I meant it or not. I still nearly killed her and it's happened more than once.”

“Gourry, don't say that…”

“I'm supposed to be her protector. How do you protect someone from yourself? I've just got to stay away from her until this all get's sorted out.”

“You know Lina won't let you do that.”

“How do you know? After tonight she probably wants to get as far away from me as possible…”

 

Zel smiled slightly as he leaned back into the chair and then shook his head a little.

 

“You make me wonder sometimes if you ever learn. You've seen what Lina has been through in the past. You were there beside me when she took down Shabranigdo. She's not going to give up on you so easily.

 

A knock came from the door which startled the pair of them. The door slowly opened and Amelia's head slowly appeared as she peered into the room.

 

“Is Mr Gourry okay now?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah, he's fine.” Zelgadiss replied despite the obvious look of disagreement from Gourry.

 

Amelia nodded and her head disappeared. Then moments later the door opened wider and Lina walked in with Amelia close behind. Zel took notice and stood up from the chair, walking past Lina and grabbing Amelia's arm so he could leave Lina and Gourry alone. Amelia initially protested but Zelgadiss ignored them, although one voice did make him stop.

 

“Don't leave her alone with me!” Gourry pleaded.

 

Lina looked a little shocked to see Gourry act like that and turned to Zelgadiss who also stopped in his tracks. He turned back to Gourry and then looked over to Lina. Lina shook her head in a sort of silent reply and Zelgadiss nodded and continued to walk away taking Amelia with him, closing the door behind the both of them.

 

“Don't do this Lina…I'm scared of attacking you again.” He stated, bringing his hands to his head.

“Well I'm scared of what you could do to yourself.” Lina replied bluntly with crossed arms.

“What are you talking about?” The swordsman responded in confusion.

 

Lina moved closer to him and grabbed his arm, pulling the sleeve of his nightshirt up his arm to reveal the scars from where he had been cutting himself recently. She didn't like seeing them but she did notice that there weren't any additions which meant he either stopped cutting or continued somewhere else.

 

“Maybe harming myself is the best thing to do. Maybe then I would stop harming you.”

 

Lina slapped the swordsman harshly across the cheek, her own face burning with anger. Gourry's head snapped to the side and left it there in shock. He brought a hand up to his cheek which started to glow a painful looking red. He then slowly turned it back to look at Lina who glared at him unapologetically.

 

“I don't want you to even think about that. Hurting yourself is not the answer to the situation and if anything it will make it worse. You think harming or killing yourself will make things better? That's such a defeatist attitude that I would never expect from you Gourry.” Lina spoke down to him with a low, cold and threatening voice.

“Then what am I supposed to do to stop harming you!?” Gourry yelled in reply, not liking the way he was being talked to.

“I…don't know.” Lina looked down to her feet.

 

She took a slow deep breath and closed her eyes as she felt like she had to come to terms with a few things she had kept out of mind for too long now.

 

“I don't know how to make this stop, so we have to find help. The only person I know who could probably help us…is my dad, back at home.”

 

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The journey to Zefiel City took a total of about two weeks. During that time the situation between the sorceress and swordsman was a little heated. They made their best attempts to keep things as normal as usual but Gourry was too on edge about hurting Lina that he couldn't relax. Lina struggled with that since she couldn't stand Gourry being on edge the entire time. It was as though she couldn't relax because he wasn't able to.

 

Night time was a particularly rough period. Initially Gourry would refuse to sleep in the same room as Lina in fear of causing her anymore harm. More so since he knew Zelgadiss and Amelia were no longer around to help in case anything did happen. Lina on the other hand refused to leave Gourry alone in fear of what he might end up doing to himself. They eventually settled with a compromise which meant that they would sleep in the same room but in separate beds and in the case of a room without two beds, Gourry won the coin toss to sleep on the floor.

 

However, the decision they both made and what actually happened didn't turn out to be the same thing. Gourry spent a lot of the night awake, refusing to let sleep take him back to that nightmare. He was scared of falling asleep and waking to find that the nightmare had come true. It was tough for him but it was surprising how well fear could make a person do something difficult.

 

Gourry tried his best to hide the side effects of not getting enough sleep but it was pretty obvious to Lina what he was doing. The dark rings around his eyes were the biggest give away. He also tended to doze off during their breaks in travelling. He never got into a deep enough sleep during those breaks for him to have those bad dreams but he also woke up with a startle in fear of what he might be doing to Lina.

 

Lina watched him every single time and it tore her up that she wasn't able to help him. Most of the time, magic was the best way to solve a problem. She could often just blow it up and make it go away. In the cases where that didn't work, Amelia or Sylphiel would help out by healing to make someone better. None of these things would work with Gourry's problem and it only made her think the one thing she despised the thought of. That she was some how inadequate. She was unable to do things herself and needed the help of others.

 

She never had to rely on others before and she refused to believe it even if she did need help. After all, she had managed to find her own way through difficult situations before. Only this time there wasn't a thing she could do because she knew there was nothing she could do. That was why she was making this journey back to her home. She never thought she would make this journey unless something happened to her family.

 

Her main fear of returning was the punishment she would most likely receive from her elder sister for a little money making stunt she performed. She left home before she got to find out what her reaction was and she didn't really have any intention of finding out. Her other worry was that going back home might mean she would never leave again.

 

She always felt like she wanted to go travelling and her sister even advised doing so. However the thought of leaving was so difficult to her because of what she was leaving behind. She didn't like the thought of leaving her loving parents behind. Maybe that was why she pulled that little stunt. That was her incentive to leave before she found herself stuck there for the rest of her life. Now she was heading back, she wasn't sure what she could do to make herself leave once more.

 

So why was she making herself go back home despite all these other things that kept her away for all that time? She knew her father had spent time as a mercenary himself much like Gourry. Her thought was that maybe he had been through a similar experience and would be able to help Gourry get through his. Her father never really talked to her about those times but maybe he would do so with Gourry since they would have that link in their pasts.

 

That was all that was helping her fight down the growing nervousness in the pit of her stomach. She had to do something to help Gourry, and if she couldn't do it herself then she was going to find someone who could. She had made that promise to him after all and she wasn't going to start going back on her promises. It still didn't make any of this easier for her.

 

The sorceress and swordsman walked through the city gates of Zefiel City and continued along the main path. Gourry spent much of his time taking in the sights of the city. He had been to Zephilia before, but had never been to the capital before so this was a new experience for him. Lina on the other hand just stared at the cobbled road a few feet in front of her. The fear of returning home started to overwhelm the sorceress as she ground to a halt.

 

“I can't do this.” Lina spoke quietly, her feet refusing to move another inch forward.

 

Gourry turned around as he just noticed that Lina was no longer beside him. He looked towards her and despite looking down to the ground he could see the fear in her body language. He moved back towards the diminutive sorceress and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and noticed despite his tired look, the calming expression he used to have before his problems began.

 

“It's ok Lina. I'm your protector remember? I won't let anything bad happen to you.” He told her.

 

Lina looked at him, feeling a little warmness overcome and expel some of the fear she felt inside. She nodded slowly and felt a little smile creep across her face. She took in a deep breath and moved a tentative foot forward and then continued with a slowly growing confidence as the swordsman walked beside her.

 

Gourry glanced back towards the sorceress and could see that confidence come back slightly, but the fear was still there. However her confidence was over riding the fear which made him realise she would be able to handle whatever was worrying her. It was something he admired in her and knew she had around the time they fought Shabranigdo.

 

They continued to walk through the streets of the city, as Lina continued to keep focused on walking home and not turning foot to run away. Gourry was busy noticing the people going about their daily business with a certain number of those people turning towards the pair and starting to whisper between each other. Glancing to Lina once more, he realised that she probably didn't even realise people were looking at them. Suddenly being stared at and knowing people were talking about him made him feel uncomfortable. His best way to handle it was to just smile slightly and continue walking, and hope that they would get wherever they were going soon.

 

They turned the corner and Lina froze mid step once more. Gourry stood beside her and could see her focusing straight ahead. He followed her line of sight which led to a well kept house which didn't seem overly large, or really small. It was a house you would expect a typical family to live in. Definitely not the type of home you would expect the most powerful sorceresses in the world to come from.

 

This wasn't like before where it was as though Lina was about to turn back. This time she was preparing herself to move on, and with a deep breath she did just that. Gourry continued alongside her and automatically she hooked her arm with his, taking great comfort that he was beside him.

 

Gourry opened the small wooden gate and allowed Lina through before closing it behind the both of them. They walked along the stone footpath which had a colourful garden either side of it. The pair then reached the door where Lina raised her gloved fist and knocked a couple of times on the door. Then they had to wait for what seemed like an eternity, Lina clutching onto her cape and biting her lower lip with the anticipation.

 

The clanking of the metallic lock on the door was heard and then with a slow creak, the door opened.

 

“Hello? What can I…? Sweetie?” The unknown woman to Gourry spoke.

“Mama!” Lina replied with tears already filling her eyes and then quickly falling off her cheeks.

 

She fell into her mother's arms and started to sob uncontrollably. The mother held onto her daughter just like she had many years earlier whenever she scraped her knee after falling over. She comforted her, stroking her hand gently down the back of her head and through her brown locks. She soothed her with calming words which seemed to quieten down the sobbing until Lina was left just sniffling into her mother's shoulder.

 

“Who's at the door Ma?” Another voice was heard from further in the house and then the growing sound of footsteps was heard.

 

A young lady with purple hair just above her shoulder appeared behind Lina's mother. Gourry would have swore it was a relative of Xellos' if it wasn't for that Lina's mother and this person's mother was the same which made him come to the conclusion that this was Lina's sister, Luna. So then his next train of thought was how two sisters could have such different chest sizes.

 

“Oh, sis is back. And she's brought a pervert. Did he knock Lina up?” She spoke calmly with her eyes slightly covered. She was obviously aware of where Gourry's eyes were looking and so his obvious response was to look somewhere else. His boots seemed very interesting all of a sudden.

 

Lina's mother pulled away from her daughter and noticed the tall blonde man for the first time. Luna's words and Lina's reaction seemed to make sense in the mother's head and within moments she had pulled the rolling pin from her apron and started to repeatedly smack the swordsman.

 

“Aghh! Ow! Help!” Gourry replied with yelps of pain.

 

The only thing he could think to do was to try and raise his arms in defence as he was beaten to a near pulp. It wasn't until Lina moved between her mother and Gourry that she stopped.

“Stop it Mama! You didn't raise me to get knocked up by accident!” Lina blushed.

“So you got knocked up on purpose?” Luna smirked.

“NO! I'm not pregnant!” Lina growled, with clenched fists down at her side.

“That's silly. You can't get pregnant if you use protection.” Gourry responded whilst still recovering from his beating.

“Gourry!?” Lina screeched.

“Pro…tection?” Lina's mother replied with a stutter and then collapsed to the floor as she fainted.

“You're in soo much trouble.” Luna scolded her little sister slightly as she looked down to her mother.

“I knew I shouldn't have come home!” Lina whined and then punched Gourry in the arm hard who winced in response.

 

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Adalric Inverse returned home to find a tall blonde familiar looking man standing in the doorway while his two daughters were bickering with each other. His wife appeared unconscious on the floor.

“Lina's home…” He grinned to himself and then chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

 

Lina blinked and turned around when she heard the sound of footsteps from the path. That sound brought her right back to the days when she was much longer. Out of instinct she pushed past Gourry and ran into the arms of her father.

 

“Papa!” She yelled in delight, forgetting the embarrassment from moments earlier.

“Welcome back sweetie.” Adalric groaned as he took the initial force of her now fully grown daughter flinging herself towards him like she used to when she was a third of the size. “You've grown! What happened to your mother?”

“She found out Lina was pregnant.” Luna responded nonchalantly.

“I am not pregnant!” Lina growled, glaring at her older sister.

 

Her previous fears of her sister which once made her try and dig her own grave, now was quickly being replaced by annoyance.

 

“That guy wouldn't get Lina pregnant.” Adalric stated as his eyes moved from his daughter, to Gourry and then back.

“What makes you say that?” Lina asked looking a little shocked.

 

Meanwhile Gourry was knelt down by Lyra, making sure she was ok and hadn't hurt herself during her fall. Adalric smiled at the sight.

 

“Just a feeling.” He replied and then entered the house, kneeling down beside his wife.

“I think she's ok, she just seemed to be a little shocked from the news.” Gourry said.

“It's ok. I'm sure she'll come around in a few minutes. What was the news?” Adalric asked.

“DON'T!” Lina shrieked but she was too late.

“That we use protection.” Gourry said as simply as good morning.

 

Lina looked on with a slight cringe, waiting for the repercussion. She noticed the vein appearing from the side of her father's but was surprised that nothing more came.

 

“Protection, huh?” Adalric's voice was strained as he tried to hold off the anger. “Better than nothing I suppose. I'm just going to take Lyra upstairs.”

 

Adalric took a hold of his wife's unconscious body and carefully carried her upstairs. Lina growled angrily and shoved her way past Luna and Gourry, quickly following her parents upstairs.

 

“Welcome to the Inverse family.” Luna stated with a slight smirk before walking past Gourry then stopping, turning slowly towards the swordsman. “I'd like a little chat with you.”

 

Gourry gulped a little as he noticed the slight glare from the elder sister and quickly realised where some of Lina's fear for her sister came from.

 

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Adalric placed Lyra gently on the bed in their room where Lina suddenly burst in.

 

“I'm sorry for the blonde idiot downstairs but I'm not apologising for what's been done. I love him, okay? I'm not that little kid anymore. I'm a grown woman who is madly in love with a man who I care deeply for!” The sorceress spouted out quickly.

“I know, Lina. You don't have to apologise.”

“Then why is Mama passing out while you're seconds from bursting in anger?”

“Shock. I'm sorry Lina but you've been gone for so long and you were still young when you left. We still have that vision of you in our heads. So to suddenly see that little girl grown up and finding out she's…well, it's a shock.”

“So you're okay with it?”

“Of course. I mean at least you're using protection, right?”

 

Lina started to blush a deep red.

 

“We're not talking about this anymore…” Lina replied meekly. “But there is a reason why I've come back. Gourry needs help.”

“With tact?”

 

Lina grinned slightly but then quickly shook her head and regained her composure as the troubles that she had shared with Gourry quickly returned to her mind.

 

“He's remembering some things from his past that he's spent along time trying to hide in his memories. They're coming back and they're affecting him really badly. Actually they're affecting the both of us.”

“So that's what he meant with protection?”

“Dammit Dad! If this keeps going he might kill himself! This is no joke!” Lina yelled but then quickly regretted yelling at her own father. “I'm sorry.”

“No it's my fault.”

“I love him and I don't want to lose him. I've always been able to solve things myself but there is nothing I can do to help him with this. I've tried my friends but no one can help. You're all I have left.”

 

Adalric stroked his wife's forehead gently as he took in the information.

 

“I'll speak with him and see what I can do.”

“Thank you.” Lina replied and hugged her father tightly who returned it.

 

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“So you've been fooling around with my sister?” Luna had her arms crossed as she stood in front of the seated swordsman.

“I'm not fooling with anything. I love Lina.” Gourry replied.

“Why my sister?”

 

Gourry blinked at the question and looked down at the ground to think seriously. The question confused him slightly and it made him feel as though Luna was telling him he could be in love with someone else. He simply shrugged and looked up to the elder sister.

 

“I don't know why I love your sister. I just know that when I'm around her I feel better and feel good about myself. I always felt the need to protect her and I've promised that I'll always do that. I guess maybe the need to protect her is because of the way I feel about her. I have no idea why I have these feelings for your sister though. I wonder if Ceipheid or maybe that Lord of Nightmares person knows why.”

 

Luna smirked at the mention of Ceipheid but she was more surprised by the response she received. She didn't really get the response she was looking for but found she learnt more about him than she thought capable of.

 

“You realise that as her elder sister I have a duty to protect her from anyone that might harm her. Specifically people like you.”

“If anyone needs protecting, I think it's me!”

“I guess she did learn a few things from me after all.” Luna smiled to herself. “You seem like a genuine person. If you're anything like my father was then Lina will be very lucky to have you.”

 

Gourry blinked a little but just nodded slowly as he wasn't really sure what to make of the situation. It felt like an interrogation at first and now it seemed like he was being given a blessing.

 

“You better not be giving him a hard time.” Lina stated as she walked down the stairs with her father not far behind.

“Now why would I waste that on him when I could just concentrate on you?” Luna glared towards her younger sister.

 

Lina gulped slightly.

 

“I would have thought the two of you would grow up by now to not bicker between each other.” Adalric groaned.

“It must be tough. Lina can get pretty bad but to have two must have been a nightmare.”

 

The Inverse sisters glared threateningly towards Gourry.

 

“I'm going to get some fresh air…” Gourry mentioned cautiously as he got up from the chair and carefully moved towards the front door, being careful not to turn his back on either of them.

“I hope you don't mind if I join you, Gourry?”

“I'm ok with that…” Gourry gulped.

“You two should go upstairs. Your mother should be waking up soon and you should help her out.”

“But Dad…” The pair whined in unison.

“Don't make me tell you twice.”

 

Lina and Luna sighed and then trudged upstairs with heavy feet while Gourry and Adalric stepped outside. They both went for a walk through the city.

 

“Jeez they can be scary. How do you cope?” Gourry asked.

“I'm their father. It's in the job description. I guess it makes them feel I have authority over them. Anyway, Lina tells me you have been having a problem.”

 

Gourry's eyes darkened slightly as he hung his head. Being brought back to reality hit him like cold water.

 

“Yeah I do. I'm not too sure I really want to talk about it right now.”

“Well Lina thinks otherwise. Maybe if you tell me about it, it might make you feel better. Who knows, I might even be able to help.”

“I don't know. It's kind of a long story.”

“Well, I'm not going anywhere. Just tell me about it from the beginning.”