Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Unwanted Memories ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

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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The sorceress and swordsman decided to head off the next day and try to return to normality. It was Gourry's choice to try and return to their way of life but he had to make sure it was ok with Lina. He understood she hadn't been home for quite awhile and he didn't want to tear her away from that. However when they spoke about it, Lina seemed quite happy to go back out on the road.

 

She had missed her parents a lot and was glad to be able to catch up with them, but she didn't want to stick around too long in fear of what trouble her older sister could get her in. She'd already brought up the slugs on her and that was already one thing to many to be afraid of. The last thing she wanted was to leave home and be afraid of something else.

 

Gourry thought he would never forget the threat Luna gave him just as they were leaving that morning.

 

“If I find out anything happens to Lina, you break her heart or anything like that. I'll track you down and you won't like the consequences.” She glared at him with a slight smirk as they shook hands.

 

The two were walking side by side as those words kept going through the swordsman's head, over and over.

 

“Hey Lina?”

“Yeah?”

“Does Luna have low blood pressure or something?”

 

Lina smiled and couldn't help but laugh.

 

“Is this because of what she said to you before?”

“Of course!”

“Look, don't worry about it. I don't think she'd really do such a thing. I guess she's just looking out for me and that's her way of doing it.”

“You don't think she'll do it? Lina this is very important. Do you think, or do you know?”

 

Lina raised an eyebrow.

 

“Are you thinking of breaking my heart or anything like that?” Lina stated with a tone much similar to Luna earlier on.

“Umm…of course not!”

“Well then you have nothing to worry about!”

 

Gourry just stared ahead like he had seen a ghost. Lina looked to Gourry with the corner of her eye and could see the look on his face. She tried to play it straight and let the worry get to him but that face was too funny. She began to giggle and then the giggle turned into a full-hearted laughter. She stopped and doubled over slightly, holding onto her own stomach. Gourry stopped and turned to her and could see what she was doing.

 

“You were playing with me?” He asked.

“Yeah, but you should have seen the look on your face!” Lina replied in between bursts of laughter.

“That's nothing to joke about!” Gourry stated with a slightly hurt look.

“Aww c'mon Gourry. That was pretty fun.”

“I guess.”

 

Lina then spent the next few moments catching her breath back from all the laughing before standing up straight.

 

“Luna was just being protective, and that's the way she goes about it. She has a funny way of showing how she feels.”

“I could say the same about you.” Gourry grinned.

“Likewise, with the chest comments” Lina glared slightly. “Now let's get going, ok?”

 

As they continued walking, Gourry seemed to still be thinking about something and Lina was able to catch onto it pretty quickly.

 

“What's wrong now Gourry?”

“We have to go back.”

“Go back where?”

“To Lyzeille. If I'm going to get over this, we have to go back there. That's the place where all the problems began and that's the only place where I can end them.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Not really to be honest, but I have to get it done otherwise something really bad might happen. I want things to be back to the way they were.”

“To Lyzeille we'll go then.”

 

Lina reached her hand out to Gourry's and just squeezed gently. The fears Gourry felt inside suddenly vanished with that little gesture, and responded by squeezing her hand back gently. Lina then pulled her hand away pretty quickly and continued walking alongside Gourry hoping that she would be able to help him now with what he was going to face, worried that returning to that battleground in Lyzeille might bring up some of her own demons.

 

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After a week of travelling, Lina and Gourry had stopped off at an inn. They were already in Lyzeille and were now not too far from the battleground where Gourry lost his friends and where he was forced to fight Lina and the gang. They had already eaten and were in the rooms after leaving a trail of devastation at the restaurant downstairs. All of the staff were still busily cleaning the dishes long after most of the customers had left.

 

Lina kicked off her boots and shrugged off her cloak and shoulder guards. They hit the ground and were left as a pile on the floor. She then let herself simply fall back onto the bed and let out a loud sigh of satisfaction.

 

“Ahh, that meal was really good. I'm glad we decided to take an inn for tonight. We wouldn't have been able to do that without walking for longer those two days.”

“Yeah, but now I've got blisters on my feet from all the walking. And don't you learn. You leave your stuff lying about on the ground and you'll lose it! Or someone will trip over and get hurt.”

“Oh stop complaining Gourry. Come here and I'll heal your blisters.”

 

Gourry got up from the chair after examining his feet and hobbled towards Lina when suddenly his feet got caught in her cape. He lost his balance and ending up falling, straight towards Lina. He collapsed on top of the sorceress and pinned her beneath him, his body straddling hers.

 

“Gourry!”

“I told you, Lina. Someone would trip with all that mess.” He blushed, noticing the closeness.

“That's just because you're so clumsy. So…are you going to get off me?”

“Umm…sure.”

 

The swordsman started to push himself off the bed and away from the sorceress when she reached up to the back of his neck and pulled him towards her closely.

 

“Wrong answer, kurage.”

 

Lina blushed, not really believing how forward she was being. However, with Gourry being so close to her like that enabled her to smell his musky scent and feeling his strong body so near just made her snap and suddenly she was filled with desire.

 

Her lips brushed against his as his body quickly began to relax into hers. He had frozen solid at first with the surprise but now he was responding to the kiss, his fingers finding their way into her red/brunette locks. His other hand found its way sliding down her side and resting just gently on her hip, ready to start tearing her clothes apart and have them join the other clothes in the pile.

 

Lina was already pulling at Gourry's tunic and was stopped by his arms. Only when she started to grunt into his lips with frustration did he give in and lift his arms away from her body. She flung the tunic off and her hands immediately pressed against his bare skin, his long blonde hair falling off his shoulder like a golden waterfall. She pulled away from his lips and placed hers on his bare flesh, enjoying the satisfied moans he was releasing.

 

Gourry lost his concentration after what Lina was doing to him but soon found the need to get his own back a little. He managed to think a little despite what she was doing and began trying to undo her tunic. She conceded her arms but continued her assault with her lips and soon Gourry had undone her tunic and pulled away. His hands quickly found her breasts and began to massage them under his strong fingers.

 

Instantly Lina pulled away and groaned through the back of her throat. Quickly her arms wrapped around her neck and she hung on for dear life even though she was lying down. Gourry took that opportunity to lean down and kiss her neck, occasionally nipping her very gently.

 

Conceding to his attentions, Lina just enjoyed the sensations she was receiving from the blonde swordsman for a few moments. However she soon grew bored of not participating and found her fingers slipping beneath his trousers and attempting to pull them down. He complied but learnt from his previous encounter and began to remove hers at the same time, refusing to let her take the advantage.

 

The pair pulled each others trousers off and flung them onto the ever growing pile. They then found they couldn't wait any longer and began to attack the others underwear. Lina of course won having only to remove one piece of underwear, but Gourry wasn't far behind. The pair then quickly embraced one another and soon headed beneath the sheets in a tangle of blonde and red-brown hair, limbs and quiet moans of delight.

 

It seemed to be over all too soon for the sorceress and swordsman as they lay together with the sheets wrapped around the pair. Lina had her back to Gourry, resting against his chest. His blonde hair had fallen over his shoulders and over hers, mixing with her own hair. She snuggled into him comfortably and listened to the sounds of his slow deep breathing and the rhythmic beat of his heart coming down from its ecstatic high.

 

“I think we're getting better.” Gourry said sleepily.

“Well you know what they say, practice makes perfect.”

“Why practice when we can actually do it?”

“It doesn't literally…you know what, forget it.” Lina laughed and snuggled into him again and had a little thought. “You know, you've not had any episodes for awhile.”

“No I haven't.”

“You think that means you've got over it, so we don't have to go back there.”

“I don't think I'm over it. I think I'm just preparing myself for when we get to that place. Like my mind is putting it on hold until its ready.”

“Oh I see…”

 

Gourry could hear the little downhearted tone in Lina's voice. He couldn't mistake it.

 

“What's wrong Lina?”

“Nothing.”

“You would be a good liar if you didn't give it away so easily with the way you speak.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can just tell with the tone. No wait. You're trying to change the subject. What's the matter?”

“Its…just. Going back is going to be pretty tough for me too. Maybe I've not had such traumatic memories as you, but I think they're pretty bad for me. We tried to kill you. We didn't know who you were. We all thought that Phibrizzo was using some minion and he was using your sword. I didn't know what to say when we found out it was you. I think I was more concerned about getting you back then to comprehend what we were doing.”

“We both did things that we didn't really mean. I think you have just as much reason to come with me as I do. Instead of dealing with it, we've both run away from our past. Now it's time to confront it so we can really move on.”

 

Lina just lay there for a moment and Gourry started to wonder if he said something wrong.

 

“You know, there are times when you come up with stuff that I don't think a stupid person is capable of. Then there are times when you make me wonder if I really am the smart one or you're just secretly pulling the strings in the background.”

“Wouldn't you like to know?” Gourry grinned.

“You've been listening to Xellos WAY too much.”

“If I was listening to Xellos too much, I would say `That is a secret'.”

 

Lina shivered suddenly at those particular words and tensed up.

 

“Don't say that Gourry. Every time that fruitcake says that, I wanna rip out his throat.”

“Umm…ok.” He sweat dropped in reply.

“I'm not gonna rip your throat out, stupid!”

“Good, just as long as we're clear.”

 

Gourry's hands slowly drifted down Lina's stomach and his fingers traced little circles around her belly button. Lina instantly reacted by squirming into him.

 

“Gyaah! Don't Gourry that tickles!”

“Haha! I've found Lina Inverse's weak spot!” The swordsman grinned as he continued on.

“No!” She squealed and struggled to pull away. “I swear I'll fireball you!”

“How can you fireball me if you're too busy squealing and laughing?”

 

Lina squirmed and suddenly found enough room to flip around and grab Gourry's hands before he could tickle her anymore. Soon she was straddling him and smirked at him as he began blushing.

 

“Up for another round, eh?” Lina grinned.

“You don't need me to tell you.” He replied as the blushing quickly disappeared when Lina started to move her hips slowly.

“Well this time, I'm staying on top.” Lina smiled as she lowered down and claimed the swordsman's neck with her lips.

 

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A few days later, Lina and Gourry were heading on a road which would lead to the clearing which had painful memories for the pair. Lina's stomach was twisting and turning, and the way she was feeling now was the same as she felt back then. Dread.

 

Soon the road opened up into a large clearing and immediately Lina stopped. Gourry took a few steps before stopping to turn around and see what was up.

 

“This is the place, Gourry.” Lina spoke quietly.

 

Gourry turned back to take a look once more and then slowly nodded.

 

“You're right.” He replied with a tight voice.

 

The swordsman walked off ahead and began to look around, the memories he had fought off were starting to return but he was managing them better. Now he was welcoming them and was thankful that he was keeping calm. He looked around him as he walked and was able to visualise what happened where. He could see the spots where long lost friends lay dead. He knelt down and placed his hand on those spots as though offering a proper goodbye before moving on.

 

Lina just watched from where she initially stopped, hoping that maybe once Gourry was done, they could just move on and get things back to normal. However she reminded herself of Gourry's words and realised she couldn't do that, so she moved forward and started to remember the fight she had with Gourry. She never would have fought the way she had if she knew the man she was fighting was Gourry. She would have held back, much too scared of harming him. Instead she threw everything she had at him and it was barely enough until the Ragna Blade.

 

Gourry continued on, stopping off at each point until he found the spot where he lay unconscious. He knelt down and noticed a few fragments of something. It seemed to be some sort of mask which had shattered. He picked some of the fragments up and looked at them closely.

 

Lina looked up to Gourry and noticed him suddenly twitching.

 

“Gourry? Gourry!? What's wrong!?” Lina yelled after him, quickly running over to where he was kneeling.

 

Painful memories suddenly invaded Gourry's mind and suddenly the fragments began to fuse together, forming an object that he feared. He stood up wanting to get away from it, but the moment the mask formed, it covered his face and then the memories came together. This was the mask he wore when he fought Lina.

 

Lina watched as the swordsman suddenly stood up. She was filled with concern, not sure if he was about to have an episode or tell her he was ready to move on. Slowly he turned around and Lina could see it in his eyes. He wasn't Gourry anymore. The last time she saw those eyes was when the mask shattered from his face. They were filled with hate towards her.

 

“No, Gourry…”

 

Within moments, Gourry had dropped his shoulder and drove it into Lina's chest. The momentum flung her backwards and she hit the ground hard, gasping harshly for air. She knew she didn't have the time for it and so forced herself back to her feet just in time for Gourry to swing his blade at her, barely missing her as the sword kicked up dust around the spot where she just lay.

 

It gave her the time to say the words she needed and with a gust of wind she darted her body away from him. She had to get room between herself and Gourry otherwise she would have no chance in this battle. Only she didn't want a battle. A battle meant two people fought each other and she certainly wasn't going to fight him.

 

“Gourry! Snap out of it!” She screamed in desperation.

 

The words passed through him as though he was a ghost and with lightning fast speed he quickly covered the ground between himself and Lina. Once the gap was closed, he swung his sword forcefully. Lina barely evaded the attack, ducking below the powerful sword swipe. Thinking she avoided the attack, she was about to back off only to find a boot drive into her gut and force her down to the ground.

 

The sword slash was a diversion away from his real intentions and she fell for it. She looked up to the merciless looking swordsman as he prepared to slash downwards. Lina cursed and drove her knee up and smashing it into the back of Gourry's knee. It threw him off balance and gave her the vital time to get away and increase the distance once more.

 

Gourry was slow to return to his feet and Lina thought desperately to find a way to end this. She thought of using a sleeping spell but she knew she couldn't get close enough with enough time to cast it without Gourry at least knocking her away if not easily finish her off. She didn't dare use any offensive attacks in fear of harming him. The only other option she had was to try and run away.

 

In the time she thought about her options, Gourry had recovered and was quickly closing her down. With not enough time to move out the way, Lina unsheathed her short sword and held it up to block the blow at the last moment. The shock sent shudders through her entire body and she almost dropped the blade. Gourry on the other hand seemed almost unfazed and was ready to deliver another blow.

 

She managed to shake it off and hold the blade up to block the oncoming attack, but with even less time, the jolt from the blow took her off her feet and the blade of her short sword to crack in several places. She gritted her teeth and threw the useless blade to the ground and rolled to the side to avoid yet another attack from Gourry.

 

Finding her distance yet again she gasped for breath and sighed in frustration. Screw running away. That was not how Lina Inverse did things. She realised that if it wasn't for fighting Gourry, she would never have survived that encounter and she was proving that now since she would last long without fighting back. She had to stop him some how and when she thought about it carefully, she knew this was what Gourry wanted. This was for his sake in the end.

 

Biting her lip she formed a flaming arrow in her hands after using the chaos words. She fired it towards him before he got close again. She watched it close in on target until Gourry simply swiped out at it with his sword. There was a slight flash within the simple blade and the arrow dissipated harmlessly.

 

“How?” Lina asked in shock.

 

How was he able to do that with just a simple sword? He no longer had the Sword of Light and they were still on the look out for a magical sword. How was he able to fend off her magic like that? She searched her mind for the answer as she flung a fireball towards him, just at his feet and then cast a quick Diem Wing to distance herself. Gourry evaded the explosion with ease but he had to move laterally where as she could increase the distance between them.

 

“Willpower?” She asked herself.

 

Luna had taught her father to focus will power into an object held in his hand. Maybe Gourry was doing a similar thing? When he had the Sword of Light, he was capable of absorbing magic attacks and then fire them back, and also he could extend the blade. He was essentially able to make it more powerful. That was Gourry's true potential with the Sword of Light. Maybe he was now tapped into that potential and using it with just a normal blade. If so, then Gourry was just as powerful with a normal blade as he could be with the Sword of Light.

 

Lina bit her lip as she realised her options were quickly disappearing. She wasn't alone last time and so her friends were able to deflect some of the attention, but now it was just her and him. At least he didn't have the Sword of Light or she would have been seriously confused, but with the way he was now, things still didn't look great.

 

After the dust had settled from the fireball, Gourry used his pace to close in on Lina. She quickly cast a Levitation spell to push herself high in the air and then threw several flare arrows down at him, thinking he couldn't dodge them all. However, Gourry looked up to the onslaught of arrows and then quickly starting swiping away at them with his sword. Lina watched in shock as he fended off every single arrow which could potentially hit him and avoided all of those which were going to miss.

 

Once the arrows had stopped, Gourry looked up and with a powerful spring leapt into the air. Lina was unsuspecting of how high he could truly leap and so was surprised to see him reach her height. He swung his blade rapidly towards her, with cold eyes staring her down. Lina twisted her body as she realised she wouldn't be able to move away. Only she wasn't fast enough and found the blade cutting through the shoulder of her tunic and cutting a decent gash in her arm. She yelped in pain and lost control of the Levitation spell and was sent spiralling to the ground.

 

She hit the floor with a thud which dazed her. She lay there confused and so by the time she recovered it was too late. Gourry was stood over her and ready to deliver the final blow. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and waited for the end to come. Only it never came. So she was surprised to open her eyes and see the swordsman with the sword at his chest, ready to impale himself.

 

During the entire fight, Gourry found himself a passenger of his own body much like he was when he was under the control of Phibrizzo. Only this time he wasn't under Phibrizzo's control. He thought back to the conversations with Adalric and realised he that he was in control. This wasn't like last time. He was in control of the situation but he wasn't sure how much control he had. He remembered last time that he momentarily gained control but then soon lost it and was about to deliver the final blow if it wasn't for Zangulus.

 

This time he knew that once he got the opportunity, he wouldn't let it slip like he did last time. This time he was going to face up to his fears. This was for Lina and he was going to protect her. Even if it meant he had to protect her from himself. He was at peace with his past and was ready. He found himself taking control of his own body and without a moment's hesitation turned the sword on himself.

 

“NOOOO!!!” Lina screamed. Without hesitation she threw her hands up and forced the words through a tight throat. “Diem Wing!”

 

A mighty gust of wind was blown towards the swordsman which became too much for him. His concentration was focused solely on driving the sword through himself that he wasn't able to defend the powerful wind. He lost his grip on the sword and was forced backwards into the ground.

 

Lina found her feet and ran towards the swordsman. Just as he started getting to his feet and reaching for the sword, she flung her body and tackled him into the ground. She knocked the air out of his lungs which forced him to groan in pain.

 

“Don't do it you stupid idiot!” Lina yelled with tears in her eyes, her fists driving down onto his chest. “Don't you dare take your own life! Don't you dare run away from this!”

 

The sorceress found herself sobbing and soon couldn't pound her fists onto his chest. She just collapsed into his chest and continued sobbing.

 

Gourry lay there looking at Lina with shock, surprised to see her expressing so much emotion like that. He realised that he had truly got over his problems them moment he placed the sword to his chest. It seemed that once he finally accepted everything for what it was instead of pushing it away and trying to forget about it, he was able to overcome his problems.

 

Those things that happened in the past were bad, but they were in the past and there was nothing he could do about it anymore. Instead of trying to forget about them, he realised that he had to just accept what happened. He tried to kill Lina, but he wasn't in control. It wasn't his fault and he tried his best. Things turned out for the best and so he should just accept it.

 

He wrapped his arms around Lina slowly and sat up slowly, keeping her close to his chest. Lina continued to sob into his chest, her hands still curled up into fists against him. His hands stroked her hair slowly as he tried to calm her down.

 

“I'm ok Lina. I think I'm ok. It's over now.” He said calmly.

 

Pulling away, Lina sniffled and looked up at him. She looked into his eyes and smiled. “You're back.”

 

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Lina and Gourry walked on from the clearing a few hours later.

 

“There's something still bothering me a little.” Gourry stated as they walked along the quiet road.

“What's wrong?” Lina replied with a little concern.

“When I was under Phibrizzo's control, I was able to get control for a moment and then lost it. I'm still frustrated that I wasn't able to stop myself the second time I was about to attack you.”

“I think that's because you didn't need to.”

“What do you mean?”

“You knew Zangulus was there, didn't you?”

“I…I don't remember.”

“You do Gourry, just think about it carefully. You weren't in control, but you could feel another presence nearby. You're an incredible swordsman; you're in tune with that kind of stuff.”

 

Gourry thought back to the time he was taken under control, now no longer fearing the thoughts. He carefully remembered his feelings when he just about lost control of himself after stopping himself from delivering the final blow to Lina. Momentarily he felt that other presence. His instinct told him it was Zangulus and that he was nearby.

 

“I knew Zangulus would rescue you. I just needed to give him enough time to do it.”

 

Lina nodded in reply.

 

“So where to now, Lina?” Gourry asked.

“Same as usual, wherever there is good food or bandits that need to be taught a lesson or two.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Good. You wouldn't have had a choice anyway!”