Dramata Kurage! Chapter

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.

30.0

Night was falling by the time we reached the camp point on the outskirts of the capital. I noticed off in the distance to the side of us was another camp set up. I couldn’t see much signs of activity and wondered what was going on. Then I heard the sounds of sword clashes and screams of pain and death. It was in the direction of the capital. I quickly turned to the colonel with narrow eyes.

“What the hell is going on? Why are they attacking now!?”
“The Zephilians have set up a defensive perimeter. That group is breaking it down and then waiting for the rest of us to turn up before we take on the capital. Now rest up, we have a big day tomorrow.”

I turned back towards the sounds of battle and wondered if tomorrow I would end up facing up to Lina. I then cut those thoughts out immediately thinking how silly it would be for them to waste a sorceress in an army. I then returned to Bale who was sat down by a campfire, warming his hands. I winced slightly sitting down next to him.

“Is your leg ok?” He asked me, handing me a bowl of stew.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve suffered much worse than this. It’ll be fine in the morning.” I then took a few spoonfuls of the stew and grimaced at the taste.
“Pretty bad huh?” Bale grinned as he finished his bowl off.
“Now I’ve definitely not suffered worse than this. This is disgusting!” I continued eating though. Just because it tasted bad didn’t make me any less hungry!

Once I finished the bowl off, I dumped it on the ground next to me and stared into the fire.

“You don’t think we’ll have to face Lina tomorrow, do you?”
“Why do you ask?” I replied to Bale.
“Well, I don’t fancy our chances if she’s out there.”
“True, I’m sure she could wipe the lot of us out with one single Dragon Slave. I don’t think they would risk her though. They never usually put sorcerers and sorceresses out on the battlefield, and if they do, it’s to protect someone important. She’ll probably be one of the few protecting their queen and making a right old fuss about it too!” I smiled a little, just imagining Lina throwing a fit because she was on guard duty instead of adventuring.
“Anyway.” I added. “We should get some rest. It’s going to be a pretty big battle tomorrow.”

Bale nodded and we headed off to our tents, the sounds of the battle disappeared and were replaced by cheers of rejoice and drunken partying from the nearby camp. I didn’t know what was going to happen the next day. I didn’t know if I would survive and I think for the first time, even if I did survive, would I be able to go back to a normal life with Lina. I shook those thoughts from my head and just knew the first thing to worry about was to survive no matter what happened. I didn’t care who won, I just wanted to stay alive so at least I would have a chance to see Lina again.

The next morning we waited for the rest of the groups to arrive and throughout the day they came one by one. As far as the eye could see, to the left and the right, groups of Elmekian army appeared. We were slowly surrounding an area outside the capital, ready to mostly attack one side. I was pretty sure that from the Zephilian side, it would look really intimidating. I then noticed messengers running between the various groups and then once the colonel was informed, he turned to the rest of us.

“Ok men! Now it’s time to move out! This is the moment we’ve been waiting for! Now it’s time to show those Zephilian dogs what we’re made of! Destroy them! MOVE OUT!”

At that moment, all of the groups roared in unison and began marching towards the capital. The groups all started to move closer together as we closed in and soon the several groups merged into one massive army. Soon the mass of the Zephilian army was in view and my instincts on what would happen were coming true. Their numbers were not as great but from their stance, they seemed to be a little better prepared.

I glanced to Bale at my side who was looking nervous but I was very much the same. There wasn’t much I could say at that point. We knew what might happen and there wasn’t much we could do about it except fight with all we had.

As we moved closer, the pace started to pick up and the march turned into a jog, and then soon enough it was an all out sprint. The front line raising there swords and an almighty war cry was let loose. The front line clashed with the Zephilians. I followed in close behind and noticed the small gap between the front line of Zephilians and the reserves behind them. I knew that what I was about to do was not going to be expected which was why it would work despite how crazy it sounded. I managed to leap over the front line as the two lines were clashing with each other. I then landed into a roll and quickly took out several of their men.

The Zephilian frontline heard the cries from behind and lost their concentration. That allowed the Elmekians to break through easily and quickly I was supported before I was surrounded. Bale soon joined me and looked at me with shock.

“Are you stupid? You could have got yourself killed!”
“If I didn’t do anything, we would have all been killed. They’re too good for us despite our numbers. Now stop talking and concentrate on fighting.”

Now the two armies were together and small battles between groups formed instead of having one line against another. If the line had stayed, the Zephilians would have held us off easily as our numbers would have been cut down. By getting into the group, our numbers could overwhelm them and they wouldn’t be able to defend as well.

I gritted my teeth as I swung my sword powerfully, deflecting away the initial sword attacks by a couple of Zephilians. I let the momentum swing me around and so I was able to slice into them before they had a chance to block me off. Then I noticed someone coming in from the side. I managed to push my body backwards to avoid the downward strike. His blade stuck into the mud and I drove my knee up towards his stomach, doubling him over and then I repeated it, striking his jaw and knocking him out.

I pulled the sword out with my left hand which was a little smaller and lighter then the one in my right. I felt I would be more effective against a group of men this way instead of using just one sword which I would use against one person who was highly skilled. I used this new technique to get through several men at a time as quickly as possible. As I dealt with another group, I heard a cry of pain and the voice sounded familiar.

“Bale!?” I yelled and turned sharply with the swords ready to strike only to freeze part way through.

Bale was holding his leg which had suffered and nasty slash, but above him with the sword ready for the final blow was “Lina?” She immediately turned to me with a look of shock.

Millions of thoughts went through my head and I couldn’t work any of them out at all. I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t understand why she was there. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.

“Lin…unghh…” I felt the cold steel drive into my thigh and I dropped both blades to the ground.

~Kurage

Sometimes, when a person thinks long and hard enough about things, when they try to go into things expecting the worst, it still isn’t enough to prepare you for the much said worst.

When they came at us, I jumped into the fray. I figured that, somehow, I wouldn’t be up to snuff with sword-to-sword combat, at least not up the soldier caliber. However, the crash training that I had gone through seemed to kick in just fine.

When they came at us, I didn’t think. My brain kicked into automatic, and I felt as if I was going into some sort of blank trance. I turned, I stepped in, I slashed my sword, I blocked attacks. I cut, I hurt, I dodged, I even slid on the blood that I had shed and launched attacks from the ground.

I think the only way I could have coped with the fact that I was doing all of these things with little or no thought was to have little or no thought about it. I didn’t want to think about the people I was hurting or killing. I didn’t want to think about whose families I was destroying or whose screams I had caused. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to find Gourry. I just wanted to forget.

So I did, even when I was on the battlefield.

However, I was aware of one thing, one glaring factor, as I did these things.

I could hear a heartbeat. A constant, steady thumping. It seemed to take over my sense of hearing as time went on. It seemed to get louder and louder, even over the clanging of swords and the screams of the dying.

And I knew it wasn’t mine. I could feel my heart within my chest, pounding fast and hard in fear and in adrenaline.

So what was it?

Soon, I felt a hard slam crash right in my gut. I doubled over and gasped, but managed to swing my arm out and parry the oncoming sword. I ended up on the ground, on my back, parrying a stupid chauvinist jerk. He pushed hard against my blade, and I pushed back, gritting my teeth.

The whole time I could hear that heartbeat, growing louder, like waves crashing into my head. It wouldn’t stop, it wouldn’t go away. And the whole time I faced this guy, I thought, he even looks younger than me.

I reached to my side and grabbed my dagger from its hilt on my side. With one final push of momentum, I sat up and managed to slash his thigh quick a bit. He cried out and clutched at the wound, which turned his fingers red quickly. I jumped to my feet as he fell to the ground, and in an instant I had both my sword and my dagger out and pointed at him.

The heartbeat was louder, now. It was almost making me deaf. I felt so numb inside. I could even feel it, deep in my bones, the power of it, the strength of it…

And then I heard his voice.

I turned, and saw Gourry. He, too, was covered in blood. He, too, was fighting for his life. But he seemed to know this man, boy, really, whom I was about to kill.

Our eyes met, and for a second, I saw my own confusion reflected in those eyes of his.

And the numbness faded to raw pain, as Sobold jumped in and slashed at Gourry.

I felt my eyes widen. I felt the red-hot rage light inside of me and burn at the back of my throat. I heard my own voice, screaming in rage.

I rushed forward, my sight blurring, and I swung my sword towards Sobold. I didn’t even care that this was my ally, my commanding officer. I wanted him dead, and I wanted him dead now.

When I missed with my sword, I slashed vertically with my dagger. He parried it. I could hear him saying something to me, something urgent, but I couldn’t hear it. All I could hear were my own strangled sobs, my own ragged breaths.

I felt something bite into my side, but when I turned, all I could see was a blur in red. I jumped away from Sobold and swung my sword toward it, then turned back to Sobold. I could feel it. I could feel myself surrounded. I could feel that I was about to get killed by either my own people or my love’s people, but I didn’t care.

“I overheard you earlier state that you wished things could go back to normal, back to the way they were before this mess. If you agree to my terms, Lina-san, they can be.”

Why were those words coming back to me now?

I felt another hit, and then another sharp pain, but I fought back against it. I could feel the battle cries ripping from my throat, could feel my blade slicing through flesh, could hear the cries and screams of pain, but all from far away, all from a distance.

A whisper of a thought went through my brain, and in that one second, everything turned over on its side.

What terms?

After that, suddenly, the heartbeat stopped.

So, apparently, did everything else.

It was like a slap to the face. I was able to focus again. I was able to regain my senses again. Everything, everyone around me, had stopped.

I closed my eyes, then opened them. I rubbed my fists over them. I even shook my head. But no, it was as I said.

Everyone around me was frozen in some sort of action. At my sides were two men in red, and Sobold. All three were bloody, from my sword, more than likely, and all had their swords pointed at me. But they weren’t moving. When I studied them closer, I could see that they weren’t even breathing.

In fact, everyone was like this.

I dropped my sword and sheathed my dagger without a thought. I turned on my heel and ran back to where I had left Gourry. I knelt down and leaned in close to him. He was lying face-down on the ground, eyes closed. He, too, wasn’t moving.

I felt a small bubble of panic rise in me, but I couldn’t surrender to it. I stood up and felt several darts of pain over my body. Clearly, I wasn’t numb anymore. I looked around, and saw that it was dark overhead. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly going dry.

I heard the sound of someone phasing in, and I turned to see Xellos standing in front of me. He was smiling, and his eyes were open and glittering.

“Greetings, Lina-san,” he said softly, his voice carrying over the silence.

“Xellos,” I croaked out, “what is going on? What happened to everyone?”

When he smiled wider, I felt my heart skip a beat. I lunged towards him. “What have you done?!” I shouted.

He sidestepped me, and I landed on my knees. I felt another stab of pain, this one in my side, and I clutched a hand to it, only to find it hot and wet with blood. I focused and mumbled the words to a healing spell, but nothing happened. In my pain I had forgotten that I had been silenced.

I looked up at Xellos through narrowed eyes.

He smiled at me, kneeling down in front of me. “Didn’t you ever wonder why Elmekia and Zephilia ended up fighting in the first place?”

I felt a wave of shock go through me.

“I can see by your reaction that you already know the answer to that question,” he replied. He shifted and sat down cross-legged in front of me. “Of course it was us.”

I could feel my body trembling. I was shaking all over, from the pain, from the fear, from the sudden unspent and blossoming rage that I was feeling.

“Do you think we would let you go so easily, Lina-san? Do you honestly think that you would have lived your life in Zephilia, with your family and with your swordsman, without hearing from us again?”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. All of this, the whole damn thing, had been because of Xellos?

“We knew that if you had to make a choice, a choice like this, you would pick the right one. And obviously, if you were willing enough to consider it, you’re willing enough to choose it.” Xellos reached forward, and in my shocked state I did nothing to move away. He touched my cheek lightly. “Such power is wasted on humans. Don’t you get it?”

The moment he said that, I heard it again. The heartbeat. Only this time, I knew it was my own heart.

That’s not true at all.

“Power belongs to us, the Mazoku.”

That’s not even close to the truth.

“You’ve tasted it. You know how beautiful and how powerful it can be. True power comes from our race.”

That’s not true and you know it, you can feel it, because you’ve known MY power, and you know which is better.

"It's purest from our hands."

Let me show you...

Those weren’t my thoughts. That wasn’t my voice. I knew whose voice it was, but I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t process it.

Then I remembered.

”You’re chaos, Lina-san. You’re both flawed and virtued.”

“Did it ever occur to you that it wasn’t my power that made it shatter?”

“Your sister, she’s the Knight of Ciephied, yes?”

“Think about that for a while, won’t you?”

And then I got it.

I looked up, looked right into Xellos’s eyes, and I smiled. I felt my whole face transform into that one smile, and I could see from the depths of his eyes that it terrified him. He stopped talking, that was how much it scared him.

Yup, that was a joke.

“Lord of Dreams that terrify,” I said softly, holding out my hands. I slowly got to my feet. “Sword of cold and darkness, free thyself from the heaven’s bonds.”

And it worked. I chanted the words, I spoke the spell, and it worked. Something must have broken the silence spell. Something must have been strong enough to do it without a second thought. At that moment, I didn't care. The point was that I could do it, and that was all that mattered.

Xellos jumped up to his feet, took a step back, and held out his staff. He pointed it right at me. “You’re not going to finish that spell, Lina-san,” he hissed at me. The gem of the staff began to glow brightly, and soon Xellos’s own dark power began to surround him like mist.

As I chanted the words, it felt different. I didn’t feel the tug of my lack of control or experience. I didn’t feel the drain on my power, or the fight against my will. Instead, I felt stronger. I felt like, with each word, I was growing in power.

I could see, now, the chaos energy coming to life between my hands. I held it tightly, focusing on Xellos, focusing on his energy pattern, one that I had known closer once. Nothing, not even if he phased out, would make me lose that signature.

I was close to the last of the words, but Xellos finished before me. He swung his staff to the side, and his power lashed out. It was like a wave of the most intense magic that I had ever felt, and it was headed right for me.

But then, I felt cool hands touch my shoulders, then arms slide around my neck. I even felt like what seemed to be a chin press on my shoulder. A flash of transparent but golden light shimmered and domed itself around me. Xellos’s wave hit me, it hit me dead on, and it encased me. I’ll give him that. But the golden light that had me surrounded swallowed it, and it faded like it was nothing more than a Sleeping spell.

I’m not joking you when I say this. I swear on my own hair that I heard him say this. I would swear on Gourry’s hair too, dammit.

Xellos looked right into my eyes. I looked right back. I felt calm, oddly. I held my now-finished Ragna Blade in my hands, its power pulsing in time with my own heartbeat, something that it had never done before. The pressure that had held me was gone, but at my back I could feel its presence.

Which was probably why Xellos looked like he was about to crap out bats. I smiled, and took a step forward, and I swear to you, this is what he said.

“Shit,” he muttered, gritting his teeth. Yup. He swore. “It’s too late.” He took a step back, but I was quicker. I lunged forward, shouted out, and swung the Ragna Blade at him. It reacted like I had never seen it react. It curved sideways, as if following Xellos’s very movements as he was trying to evade. I had never had that much control over it before.

To this day I’m not sure if I hit him or not. All I know is, when I pulled the Blade back for another swing, he was gone, and I was alone.

Almost.

~Dramata

Writer's note: Aaaaah! Sorry my part is so long! But I had to finish it or else nothing else could be written! So, here is the rest!

I turned around slowly, barely registering that whatever had held the soldiers dormant for that instant was certainly over now. I could hear some clashes, but, like me, the majority seemed to be distracted by the stranger standing in the middle of it all.

She stood much taller than myself (not much of a feat, if you think about it, actually), and had that sort of figure that every sane woman who cared about how she looked would want. Her hair was long and a dark blonde, and her bangs hid her eyes. She was sort of a dark peach colour, if you want to get into minute details, and she wore this really long white dress.

Even though all she did was stand there and smile at me, I could feel the power emanating from her. I could feel it in waves, the same power that, I saw now, I had barely touched when I uttered those spells.

I started to kneel down, but I winced and put a hand to my side, and she put a hand up to stop me. “Don’t bother,” she said, her voice soft, but carrying over the murmur of voices and confusion. “We’re pretty much on equal footing right now.”

I swallowed. “Hardly,” I said, my voice croaking out. “I use your power and make holes in the things you create.”

She laughed a little, and that made me blink harder. I couldn’t believe that I had just made the Mother of All Things giggle. “But you don’t abuse it like you could, Lina,” she replied. “In the past, when one utters my name, when one uses my power, nothing but destruction could be wrought from it. But you, you use it so that creation can go on. You destroy little, so that the rest of creation can grow stronger.”

I hunched over a little. “You lifted the silence from me, right?”

She nodded slowly.

I shut my eyes and mumbled under my breath. Within seconds, the healing spell was coursing over the wound on my side. In all of this, she waited patiently until I finished.

When I stood up straight and looked at her again, she started towards me. She walked, like a normal person, not like a god, towards me, and I stood up straighter, feeling a flutter of fear jump into my throat from my stomach.

She leaned forward and placed her hands on my shoulders. I realized then that it had been her who had protected me from Xellos’s attack, and that the golden light I had seen had been her own.

“Lina,” she said softly, smiling at me. “You really are my daughter, aren’t you?” I opened my mouth, possibly to say something smartass, but she shook her head and I shut up. “You use my power for both good and for chaos, but you never abuse it. That’s all a mother can truly ask for.”

“When you asked me, before, about my sister...” When she didn’t interrupt, I went on. “You want to offer me something like that, right? You want to make me your Knight?”

She smiled wider. It’s very disconcerting, seeing someone smile when you can’t see their eyes. “Something like that.”

“I’m not sure if I can go around and be that kind of person for you,” I said honestly. “I’ve seen my sister at work. She drops everything when something of Ciephied’s nature comes up. I don’t think I could do that. I don’t think I could live my life like that.”

“What do you think you’re doing now?”

I pondered that. “Trying to have fun, and adventure, and trying to get Xellos out of my hair.”

“Xellos set this whole thing up, you know,” she said, the smile fading. She sounded, for the moment, like Drianne. I wondered if traits of humanity rubbed off on her after all of these years. “He wanted to trap you, to keep you away from me and my power. He and Zelas.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Why would he care so much? Why would either of them care?”

“Because if you became my Knight, nothing would stop you from destroying them.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “But wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose of their existence? I mean, aren’t they supposed to exist? You created them, after all, just like you created humans.”

She smiled, shook her head, and laughed softly. “That’s not for you to know, Lina,” she replied.

“You expect me to be your Knight and keep me in the dark all at once?” I demanded.

“You needn’t get angry with me,” she chided softly. “The fact that you know about that was something I never really intended.”

“Not my fault.”

She didn’t say anything that time. She just smiled, leaned down more, and placed a hand on the top of my head. When she did that, I felt something warm course through me, from head to toe. It was warm at first, then hot, then almost scalding. Before I could react from the pain, it was over.

I didn’t realize I had my eyes close until I opened them. When I did, I found myself staring into eyes almost identical to my own, except that they were rimmed with gold. They were her eyes, I realized. I blinked hard, trying to figure out if I was supposed to be seeing them, but she smiled at me. I guess I was. They had depths, those eyes. No human could ever have eyes like that...

She took her hand away, and reached down and grabbed my right hand into her own. She held it tightly between her own. “Do you accept?” She said softly.

“What do I do?” I asked again.

“What you always do. Only this time, you’ll always have me by your side. You won’t have to look for me so hard.”

I actually considered this for a moment. If it was true, and the Mazoku weren’t going to give up pestering me, it may be good to have her on my side. It felt right, even. “What will it cost me?” I murmured, afraid of the answer.

“That’s the thing with Chaos,” she said, her eyes dancing. “It’s not the same as white magic or black magic. There is no cost to it.”

“I really doubt that. I mean, the Giga Slave alone can swallow the world without control.”

“You’ll have me to control it with you.”

She had a point. “But why do you need me to do this?” I wondered.

She shook her head. “I don’t NEED you. I just want you!” She smiled again. “Never have I seen a human fight so hard and get back on her feet with little or no thought. People who have gone through a tenth of what you have shatter under the pressure. I thought, well, if I were to have a Knight, she should be it.”

“But why do you NEED a Knight?” I wondered.

She shrugged. “I don’t. It just looks fun.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but she reached down and grabbed my dagger out of its sheath. She held it up and pointed it forward, the tip pointed at me. “Do you accept?” she asked again, all serious now.

“Sure,” I said, grinning. “Why not?”

Again, she laughed. “I probably would have withdrawn if you had been more serious,” she admitted. She held the dagger up to her lips and kissed the blade. It flashed brightly, a dazzling and blinding gold colour, then dulled. It looked the exact same to me, but when she handed it back and I touched it, it felt far more powerful.

“Use this as a catalyst to your spells if you need it,” she advised. “It’s like a sort of primer to my spells. You’ll never fail if you have this with you.”

I sheathed it at my side again. “Aren’t you even going to ask how I got it back from Sobold?” I wondered jovially.

She stood up to her full and tall height, her hair hiding her eyes again. “You think I don’t know this already?” She laughed, then grew serious. “You can unseal the Giga Slave now, if the situation turns that grave. Nothing, not even your death, will cause it to go out of control.”

“Huh,” I breathed, deep down truly floored by this proclamation. “Imagine that.”

“I’ll be seeing you again, daughter.” She promised. She turned, started walking away, and vanished in a pillar of golden light.

I stood there, staring at where she had been, before reaching to my side and grabbing the dagger. I stared at it. The blade glinted in the light.

It was when I noticed that all the surrounding soldiers were staring at me. And it was then that my brain clicked and I remembered.

“Gourry!” I cried, racing back to where I had left him.

~Dramata

The pain in my thigh seemed to jolt through my body but something didn’t feel right about my back. I collapsed in shock which only made the pain in my thigh worse. I gritted my teeth and felt round towards my back. When my hand came back, it was covered in bright red blood and I noticed the short dagger protruding from my back. Smart guy was my initial thought. The pain from the stab in the thigh and the shock took my mind away from the fact that moments later he stabbed me in the back, close to the side.

I fell onto my front and glanced up at Lina. To be honest it didn’t even seem like Lina. Her hair was tied back and she was fighting so powerfully. She had improved her sword skills. The thing that got to me was the pure anger in her face and eyes. I wanted to tell her off for getting that way. Getting angry was the perfect way to get you killed. I didn’t care about what had happened to me, and despite feeling weak I tried to call out to her. Nothing but croaks came out and the last few moments of energy I had left disappeared. I closed my eyes and stopped face down in the mud.

I heard the clashing of steel and the blood-curdling screams from Lina. She had so much anger and hate in her voice. From the foot movements, the sword strikes, the grunts, the gasps, the breathing, I could almost visualise the battle. It was getting more difficult to concentrate on it though. My back felt cold and sticky and I knew I was losing too much blood. It felt so much easier to give it up and give in to the silence and calm.

The moment I gave into that, the silence came. The sounds of the battlefield disappeared. Lina’s screams had also gone too.

“Wake up.”

Huh? What was that? It wasn’t Lina’s voice but it felt so familiar like it would have been Lina’s voice. Only I couldn’t put a name to it.

“Wake up…now.”

I opened my eyes slowly and started to push myself off the ground. The silence remained but I was still on the battlefield. I reached behind me and pulled the dagger out. I felt nothing but numbness over my body. No, that wasn’t right. I couldn’t feel anything like heat, pain or the wind. However I felt something deep inside that I hadn’t felt before so it was hard to describe it.

I looked around me and the fighting had stopped. Instead everyone was staring at one point behind me. Their chests were heaving as they tried to recover from the toll of fighting. I turned around, in wonder of what they were looking at and immediately I froze. Lina was just stood there, frozen like in a block of ice, only it was a golden light.

Sairaag.

Not again.

No wait. This wasn’t the same. That strange feeling inside me pulsated. It told me not to be afraid, not to be scared. I wasn’t going to lose her like I nearly did last time.

“She needs you.”

“ATTACK!” Came the cry from afar by the Elmekian commanding officers.

I was about to shout out no, but nothing came out. Four men charged forward and slashed their blades straight towards her. I moved forward in the hope of stopping them, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it. Instead their blades simple broke apart into nothing. Some sort of golden light was surrounding Lina like a shield. The men looked in shock as they pulled their swords back with very little left of their blades. One of them tried throwing the hilt in, but it simple shattered and disappeared the moment it came into contact.

The sight of what happened seemed to strike fear into everyone, but I just simply walked forwards towards her. I wasn’t scared of what happened; I just knew that I had to be with Lina. I trusted this voice and although I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, I just knew I would find out when I was with her.

“Stop! What are you doing?” Bale moved in front of me to try and stop me. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

I looked back at him and shook my head, then smiled slightly. He seemed to understand and get the message before moving aside. I continued forward until I was right next to what seemed to be the shield. Without hesitation I stepped forward and felt the charge of energy as I entered. I gritted my teeth momentarily as the pain from my back and thigh returned momentarily, but soon it was gone. I felt like nothing had happened to me and everything was back to normal.

I looked to Lina who was still frozen in position. This definitely was not like last time. Last time she seemed possessed. The Lina I saw then wasn’t the normal Lina; it was like someone else was controlling her. Lina now was definitely the Lina I knew. She just seemed frozen in position, her eyes open and determined.

“She needs you. Hold her and believe in her.”

I didn’t need those instructions from the voice. I always believed in Lina, even though I had no idea what was going on, or why she was like this. I just felt trust in this voice and there was a reason behind this. If this voice said Lina needed me, then I would do everything I could do to help. I stepped around behind her and carefully wrapped my arms around her. I closed my eyes and buried my head in her hair, holding her closely.

Lina disappeared from my arms.

“True power comes from our race.”

Xellos? I opened my eyes and reached for my sword to move forward only I didn’t go anywhere. Instead there was a woman who I didn’t recognise but I felt some sort of attachment.

“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I’m giving my power to Lina and she’s about to use it against Xellos.”
“So you’re pretty strong then.” I replied without thought.

The woman chuckled and nodded a little.

“That’s correct. I believe we have met before.”
“Really? I’m sure I would have remembered something like that.” It was then I noticed Lina summoning some sort of power and Xellos was doing the same. “I have to help Lina though!”
“You are…”
“Huh? But how?”

She pointed behind me and when I followed the direction of the finger I saw myself holding Lina as I was before.

“I don’t understand.”
“Lina is capable of great destruction, but also knows when and where to use it. Her reasoning for summoning my power is pure in heart and for the greater good.”
“So why am I needed?”
“You are the counter-balance to Lina. Her chaotic nature is calmed and controlled by your calm, gentle nature.”
“Isn’t that bad? I mean, doesn’t Lina need to be able to do what she can without someone holding her back.”
“You don’t hold her back. Her magic is strong but right now, you’re helping her control magic that was normally beyond her ability to do so. You’ve seen her summon my power before, and she has struggled greatly to control it. With my help and a little of yours, she will be unstoppable.”

At that moment, Lina finished her spell after the shockwave of Xellos’ spell hit me. I held an arm up and watched the dark blade swing and curve straight towards Xellos and then all went dark.

“I still don’t understand…”

She simply smiled. “I thought she was exaggerating…What is it you don’t understand?”
“I’m just holding her right? How am I helping her? It’s not like I’m giving her any extra magic.”
“Actually you are.”
I blinked in confusion. “I am?”
“You know how you’re sometimes able to understand what she’s thinking. Like there are times you can do something without telling each other. You’re linked to one another. Only you’re not just linked by thoughts, but by your magical capacity to. You have quite a little reservoir there. I’m helping Lina tap into that link more easily. Your magical reservoir helps her ability to control magic rather than manifest it. Understand?”
I shook my head.
“It just works, ok?”
I nodded.
“Good. Now I have some things to discuss with Lina, but one last thing, and please remember this. I am chaos, but I am also the creator. They are my powers. Now sorry about this.”
“Sorry about wh…”

I was flung backwards and hit the ground hard. I then realised I was back in the battlefield. I felt the air getting knocked out of me as I hit the ground and just lay there a little dazed. Moments later I felt a presence kneel down next to me.

“Lina?”
“Yeah…it’s me. Are you ok?”
“Umm…I think so.”
“That’s a yes then.” She chuckled.

“Who was she?” I asked.
“Who was who?” She replied a little confused.
“That woman who was helping you.”

I could hear the words getting stuck in Lina’s throat. She was surprised.

“You saw her?”
“Yeah, she said I was supposed to help you. I just didn’t understand how, you seemed to be doing everything yourself.”
“I was getting help from her that was for sure.”
“You’re much stronger now…aren’t you?”
She nodded a little.
“So is he gone?”
“Xellos? I’m not sure. If he’s not, I think it will be quite some time till we see him again. Now if you can get up, we have to end this before things get too far.”

I nodded a got up slowly with a little help from Lina. We then stood side by side and looked around us. Both armies had stopped and were staring at us in confusion. I glanced to Lina wondering what it was she was going to do. She looked back and nodded with a slight smile. She then turned back to the others.

“This war was brought about by the mazoku! We have no reason to fight each other! I call for a truce before there is anymore bloodshed!”

“NEVER! They’ve massacred our villages! Even if this war was brought upon with false pretences, they still killed innocent people. We still have a reason to fight!”
“Death to Elmekia!”
“Destruction of Zephilia!”

“Lina…this isn’t turning out to well.”
“I know. There’s too much anger between the two to settle this.”
“If only Amelia was here…”

~Kurage

There are those times, those few times that you don’t forget. When you think everything is so dire and final, and you feel like panicking. And then, when you’re about to fall on the ground, suck your thumb, and demand a blankie, your comrade says something that makes all of the bunches of nerves loosen up.

That was one of those times.

I turned to Gourry and stared at him in disbelief. “Amelia? You want Amelia to be here? And how productive would THAT be? All she would do is climb up to the highest vantage point and bleat out justices epithets!”

Gourry blinked at me, in that innocent way. “Of course. That’s the idea.”

I gaped at him for a moment. But then, in my heart, I just felt glad to have him back at my side. I smiled at him, and, in a rare gesture of PDA, reached forward and touched his cheek. At my touch, his eyes softened a little, and that, too, touched my heart.

I pulled away slowly and turned back to the morons who were already bickering and shouting at eachother. I was about to just give up when I heard the clash of swords, and I lost it. Without thinking, I held up my hand, shouted curtly, and fired the Fireball in the general direction that I had heard the swords. There was a mild explosion, but I made sure it wouldn’t be life-threatening or fatal for those involved.

That got their attention, let me tell you.

I stepped forward, glared, and then put my hands on my hips. “Honestly, are you all children or soldiers?” I snapped.

I saw a couple of men and women go red, with both embarrassment and anger. Others just rolled their eyes, or worse, continued to glare at eachother. I decided to go on.

“Yes, both of us, both sides,” I shot death glares at everyone, emphasizing each word, “did some pretty screwed up, nasty and unforgivable things. But do we really need to keep it up? Do we really need to kill more and more and more until we’re all dead?”

I hadn’t realized that I was shouting until I stopped and heard the dead silence. Everyone, even the people who had rolled their eyes, were staring at me, now.

I fought the urge to whine, ‘Stop looking at me!’ I’m not good at inspirational speeches like this. I’m more comfortable with telling everyone to shut up or to piss off. This was something else. My words held the balance of two different countries and the peace they could have.

No pressure or anything, right?

I felt the sweat leap up on my forehead. “Damn,” I muttered, losing my train of thought. “Um, uh...”

A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I could feel the warmth it supplied. I jumped and looked up at Gourry, grateful for the comfort and support. He didn’t say a word; he just smiled at me. I sighed. Support was nice, but help was better. I guess I was on my own on this one.

“Okay...” I mumbled. “You all...just need…” I heard some dark muttering from one corner, and I lost my temper. “You all need to shut up!” I snapped. Their eyes were on me again, but I had a head of steam once more so I ignored it. “You guys were completely played, and instead of blaming yourselves for it, you blame eachother!” I took a breath. “Here’s an idea! Face reality!!”

I stomped my foot, furious now. Furious at the incompetence, at the costs, at the entire situation. “You let a couple of morons whisper condemnations in your ears without even checking up on the facts, and then you go ahead and create some of your own! You’re all a bunch of idiotic hypocrites!”

I then spoke the words I KNEW, I KNEW would screw me over one day. “Me, I’m ashamed of my own country! What kind of leader do we have, what kind of queen do we have, that allows her army to run around like a bunch of bloodthirsty four-year-olds without any proof or fact? What kind of ruler do we HAVE, people?!”

I said this while staring right at Sobold. He met my gaze, blanched, and looked down. He had been one of the duped, and he knew he had to shoulder much of the blame.

“And YOU,” I glared at the Elmekians now. “You idiots didn’t check the facts, either! I don’t know WHAT kind of ruler you have, but obviously they’re of the same stock as ours!” I waved my hand at everyone in front of me. “So we all have something in common after all! The incompetence of leaders!”

For some reason, that seemed to tickle a couple of people. I heard a smattering of laughter.

“Politics are the same everywhere!” I shouted. I think I was actually starting to enjoy it all, to be honest. “What do they care about us, anyways? We’re fodder to them! We do their bidding! I mean, come on! None of us even have any idea what started this or what was said! So why should we keep fighting for a bunch of fat-cats who spend our money and sip at their saucers of milk all day?!”

This time, there was more laughter. I let my breath whoosh out of me in relief. So far, so good. They were laughing, and as far as I could see, no one had their hands hovering over their hilts anymore.

I opened my mouth to go on, but Gourry squeezed my shoulder. “You might want to ease up on the slander,” he said softly, leaning down to whisper it in my ear.

I reddened. I hadn’t actually thought that perhaps what I was saying could be construed as slander. I hoped, really hoped, that no one would say a word about this, on either side.

“Er, right,” I said nervously. Everyone had their eyes on me now.

I found that, now, I didn’t feel very passionate anymore. If anything, the speech made me feel tired. I was tired, and covered in blood, and I just wanted to go home and sob on someone.

“I think,” I said softly, “that we should all just go home, and mourn our losses. We all have had quite a few in this, and I think it’s time to lick our wounds instead of reopening old ones. However, when we do, we have to remember this one thing: An army is the creation of its leader, and its doings are based on the words that come from the lips of sovereigns. Don’t blame eachother for this.”

I tried to meet everyone’s eyes, every single soldier there. “We’ve all been screwed over here. Blaming ourselves...it’ll just make it worse.”

I swallowed down the sudden lump in my throat, looking up at Gourry. He was staring at me, as somber as I had ever seen him look before. “Let’s go find that friend of yours I sliced open, and patch him up, shall we?”

Amidst the silence, Gourry reached down and took my hand. I let him. I needed some comfort anyways.

It was in this silence that we walked together, all eyes on us, towards where we had left Gourry’s fallen friend, on the way to make amends for both sides.

I figured, if it was I who did the healing, then maybe, just maybe, the rest of the soldiers around us could start the healing, too. Their own.

~Dramata

I really thought that was a good idea. I didn’t get why Lina wasn’t too happy about it. I overheard the conversations sometimes. She was always going on about how her father was dealing with important people from other countries to stop them from going to war. So why wouldn’t she be able to do it. Also if it didn’t work, she would be able to distract them long enough so we could run away. I thought it was perfect.

Anyway, Lina didn’t think it was that good of an idea so that was the end of that. Instead Lina, decided to try and sort things out her way. My first thought was that everyone was going to end up on the end of a Dragon Slave and we would end up having two countries after our hides. So I was pretty surprised when Lina took hold of everyone’s attention and talked to them all. Ok, the fireball scared me a little, but it was a good way to get their attention.

I didn’t know Lina was able to do something like that but there she was, commanding several thousands of people. I guess she thought the same way because she started to struggle. I couldn’t really tell her what to say but I just thought that as long as she knew I was there, then she would be ok, no matter what. It seemed to help because she was able to continue on.

I looked around to the others who were listening to Lina closely. Now I would like to say that was a surprise also but I had a feeling many were listening in fear. That quickly turned though when Lina started making a few jokes which at one point started to go a little too far I thought. So I pointed it out to her and she blushed slightly in response. I didn’t mean to do that to her in front of everybody but I just didn’t want to get her into trouble.

She then finished her speech and it seemed to do the trick. The soldiers didn’t seem so angry anymore and I wondered if that was it, if that was how it would end. Lina then turned to me and suggested we helped out Bale although she didn’t know his name at that point. I took her hand and I walked with her, trying to find wherever Bale was. It was only when he started waving that I noticed where he was, since there were quite a few people and he was still on the ground.

I knelt down beside him whilst Lina knelt down on the other side.

“This is Lina” I stated. Lina and Bale looked at each other a little awkwardly.
“Um, we’ve met.” He smiled slightly.
“Maybe not under the best of circumstances though.” Lina replied, smiling sheepishly. “Let me help you out.”

Lina placed her hands over him and closed her eyes. White light formed from her hands and slowly she started to heal Bale’s wounds. I noticed that there were a few people around us who were watching. Some seemed almost shocked to see a Zephilian helping out an Elmekian. Others took it as a sign that they should start doing the same.

I just turned back to Lina and tried to work out what was going on with that woman. I was pretty sure I had met her before but couldn’t remember where from. Bale seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Ms Inverse? Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Bale asked. Lina had just finished healing him at that point.
“Sure, but just call me Lina or I may have to heal you again.” She smirked, whilst Bale paled.
“She’s joking…I think.” I replied with a sweat drop.
“What happened before? Why were you glowing gold? A lot seemed to happen and I don’t understand any of it.” He questioned with confusion across his face.
“It’s…difficult to explain. Let’s just say that with some help I’ve grown a little stronger. Strong enough to worry a few people I think. I’m not sure. I still think I need time to work it out myself.” Lina did her best to explain.
“I am chaos, but I am also the creator. They are my powers.” I said softly, the words coming to mind without much thought.
“What did you say Gourry?” Lina blinked.
“That’s what the lady told me. I was supposed to remember it.”
“You mean The Lord of Nightmares?”
“That does sound familiar.”
“You met her not long ago when we asked for help to power up the Blast Sword! How can you forget her?
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” I smiled. “I remember her now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“This isn’t one of those times you pretend to know just so you don’t annoy me, because you know that annoys me even more.”
“I remember her. She almost took you away from me that time.”
Lina paused for a moment. “That’s right, Gourry. You do remember her.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but what are you guys talking about.” Bale looked really confused now.

Lina laughed a little. “Don’t worry about it. We should find you somewhere to rest so you can get over your injuries.
“Thanks.”

A small area was set up for people to rest. It was mixed with people from Zephilia and Elmekia who were all injured. Healers from both sides were tending to them, helping each other in the worst cases. Bale was set up on a bed to rest in and we said our goodbyes. I told him that although he was a good fighter, he should try his best to avoid it. There were much safer ways to get by in life and hopefully there wouldn’t be any wars in the near future. Although there was no harm in practicing for self defence.

We both left him and looked around at the battlefield as we walked away.

“What can we do to make them pay?” I asked Lina as I continued to look about the area.
“Make who pay?”
“The mazoku who set this up. At least in a real war, these people would have died for something they believed in. Instead they died because some mazoku were selfish and wanted to cause pain and bloodshed for their own desire. I want to make them pay.”

I was angry seeing the dead bodies. I was really annoyed. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight at that moment. I wasn’t really thinking about what I was saying. Lina was nice about it though. She didn’t make me feel stupid for saying something which was actually pretty stupid. She understood my reason for saying it.

“I know Gourry. I want to make them pay too.” She squeezed my hand and looked up to me, offering a soft smile.

“Gourry Gabriev. You’re under orders to come with us.”

I blinked and turned to the pair of Elmekian soldiers. Just behind them I noticed the general and my brother Graudy. I tensed up immediately and Lina sensed it straight away.

“And which idiot ordered that!?” Lina scowled, stepping forward slightly.
“This idiot did! I mean me!” The general replied. Lina and the two soldiers snickered a little. “Quiet!”

I stepped forward in front of Lina, glaring towards my brother.
“I’m not fighting you, and I’m not coming back with you. I’m staying here with Lina. I fought with the army, and you beat the crap out of me. If that’s not enough payment for what I did, then that’s your problem, not mine.”

Lina poked me in the side and whispered over to me. “He’s not your…”
“Yeah, my brother. Graudy.”

“This isn’t about your sibling rivalry!” The general growled. “You’ve committed treason and theft and you’re still to be sentenced for those crimes. You are to come with us to be sentenced and punished accordingly.”
“Well what do you call the beatings I got before?”
“What beatings? We were not witness to such things.” The general smirked as did Graudy.
“As I said already, it wasn’t theft because it wasn’t our sword to begin with. Also if you hadn’t noticed, this war was set about by the mazoku, not the Zephilians. I don’t see how travelling with Lina is treason. I’m not going back.”
“Well if you won’t come back willingly, we’ll have to do so by force…” The general stated, and then pointed his arm forward. “ATTACK!”

~Kurage

Sure, they were fast.

But I was faster.

I felt the power rush up in me before I could even blink. In all of my years of dabbling with sorcery, it’s never been that fast. Usually, it takes a minute or two to locate and channel the power to me.

Not that time. It was a matter of seconds, that time. When it blossomed up in my chest and to my fingertips, I reached to my side, grabbed my dagger, jumped forward in front of Gourry. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Gourry had already tensed up and had his sword halfway out of its sheath, but, like I said, I was faster.

Both Gourry’s brother and the unnamed soldier had their swords out and were ready to hack down either me or Gourry (whoever came first), but when I held my dagger out to fend them off, something else threw them off balance, and it sure as hell wasn’t my swordsmanship.

Honestly, I was just trying to block the nearest guy’s attack. Instead, the blade of my dagger burst into a blinding sheen of light. Both men jumped back from me, and to be honest, I almost dropped the damn thing myself. But as the light faded, I felt that same feeling I got before...that intense, powerful feeling, and I let everything else go. I just let instinct take over, and when I did, I felt warmth spread up my arm from the dagger and fill my whole body, and with it came strength that I didn’t even know I still had.

I swung the dagger with my right hand, instantly blocking Graudy’s non-hesitant lunge towards me. (That’s one way to meet the family of the guy your with, isn’t it?) I felt the force of the impact sing up and down my arm, but I felt no pain from it. I stared right into his eyes, and if I had been in any other state but the calm one that I had been in at that moment, I knew he would have been able to skewer me. Because, when I looked into his eyes, I saw that they were a mirror-image of his own.

Something clicked in the back of my brain, like I was supposed to remember something important...something I was supposed to focus on, to remember...

However, the second soldier’s attack was enough to distract me from it. I swung my dagger down and managed to push Graudy away. I then used the momentum gained from that move and jumped back, narrowly missing the blade of the second soldier’s sword.

I think all of this happened in a matter of seconds. It’s harder to convey the time passed when you’re trying to describe it to someone, and it sounds like it took much longer than it did. I can honestly say that all of this happened as fast as a blur. And, no, that’s not just me bragging.

I heard Gourry’s panicked shout of my name, and before I could gain my balance, Graudy was already gearing to attack me again. Before I could respond to it, Gourry had already jumped in and parried Graudy’s swing with his own sword.

I could see that the strain was hard on Gourry. It looked as if both brothers were very skilled in the craft that my bodyguard was so renowned for.

I didn’t like that.

I didn’t like it one bit.

I was tired and bloody. My hands hurt, and I was still trying to adjust to this new power level that I had been given. Also, I was trying to figure out what to tell my family, and how to face Gourry behind closed doors. I wasn’t in the mood for fighting, and certainly not from some upstart and Gourry’s only relative that I had even seen.

With that sudden burst of emotion came another burst of power. I held onto my dagger, walked slowly over to the two grappling brothers, and thrust my arm forward recklessly between the blades. Gourry jumped back, but Graudy decided to make chase, and swung his sword up to attack Gourry again.

Instead, I jumped in front of Gourry and help my dagger horizontally between my hands. Before he could make another move, his sword crashed down onto the blade of my dagger...AGAIN.

This time, I felt the pain from the hit in my arms. The man was obviously holding back with me last time, and since he had been prepared to hit his brother, the force of the thrust was enough to push me back a few inches.

I dug my toes in and growled, gritting my teeth. I could feel my arms shaking from the weight of his sword as well as the strength. His eyes narrowed, and I could tell that he didn’t have an issue fighting a girl half his size. But I wanted to teach him a lesson, and I needed to do it before my arms gave out.

“Lina!” Gourry said tersely from behind me. I could hear him coming forward, but I shot him a death glare, and he stopped, blanching. I turned back to Graudy, and I said the words I knew I would be mocked for later.

“No one...can pick on Gourry...but ME!” I snapped out. I dug my feet into the ground, uttered a short cry, and pushed against him as hard as I could. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, reaching inside of me for something, anything, to get him off my back and off Gourry’s back, too.

I almost lost my concentration. While I had been quiet, the second idiot had caught up with Gourry. I heard the clash of swords and Gourry cursing, but then I blocked it all out and focused. This time, I felt the warmth in me, at it was easy to touch. It seemed to climb up, from my stomach, into my arms, and down to my toes. When I opened my eyes, I could see that my dagger was glowing brightly again, and in that light, I could see that Graudy was now wonderfully confused.

I pushed up with both hands against his blade. I could feel my arms straining, but I could also feel the metal of his sword giving away. Graudy, clearly, could feel it, too. He said something very rude to me and pulled back in a hurry, swinging his sword away from me.

But, like I said, I’m much faster.

I swung after him and brought down my dagger. He shouted out and brought up his already cracked sword, and, with fear in his eyes, watched as my much smaller dagger sliced through it like butter.

He lost his balance and landed on his ass, holding his arms in front of his face. I pointed my dagger right at him, close to him, so that he could feel the hear coming off of the blade. It was then, when things were calm, that I realized that I was gasping for breath, and that I was trembling all over.

I was at my limit, and I knew it.

“Gourry is mine,” I grated out, my voice hoarse. I blinked away the sweat that was dripping into my eyes. “He’s not your brother anymore. You make it clear. So why should you care about what he does? Go home. Go away, and leave us in peace.”

He narrowed his eyes and lowered his arms a bit. However, when he met my eyes with his, he cowered back, shrinking back away from me. I blinked, confused. What could be so frightening about my eyes?

I heard a shout, followed by a thud. Then, Gourry came and stood at my side, his own sword pointed at the second idiot. He glanced at me, then at my hand holding the dagger. “Lina…” he said softly. “Your arm is shaking really badly.”

I glanced down and saw that he was right, but for some reason, I didn’t feel it. It was as if the same power that I tapped when I made my dagger glow was able to keep me from feeling anything other than that power.

When the Lord of Nightmares gives you something, man, does she EVER give you something…

I glared at the general, who was now looking ready to dart into the horizon. “You gonna back off now, and let us go home?”

Graudy scrambled to his feet and whispered something in the general’s ear. I saw him look even more frazzled. He met my eyes and jolted. He reached down, grabbed the collar of his other comrade, and lugged him to his feet. Without another word, the three backed off, and, once they were a few feet away, started at a run.

“Cowards,” I mumbled, lowering my arm. The glow dimmed, then stopped. I heard Gourry sheath his sword beside me. “Hey, Gourry...” I murmured, putting a hand to my forehead. “Is it getting darker out or is it just me?”

“No, it’s just the normal lightness,” Gourry answered, sounding puzzled.

But it was getting darker. I rubbed my forehead and blinked hard, trying to focus. I sheathed my dagger at my side again, but it wasn’t helping.

“Huh,” I muttered, as it all went black. “Imagine that.”

I felt myself falling, but that was it.

~Dramata

I had no chance. By the time Graudy started his attack, Lina was off and attacking. I had never seen such a thing from her before. Where was that power coming from!? It didn’t take me long to figure it out as I stood there in confusion, my sword partially drawn from its sheath. The slightly glow from the dagger gave it away to me.

L-sama.

I just watched as she fought them off pretty much single-handedly. My jaw had dropped in shock. I knew how my brother would fight and in my mind Lina had no chance. Yet there she was holding him off with what seemed to be relative ease. To be absolutely honest, it scared me. This wasn’t normal to me and I have seen a lot of weird things. Lina didn’t seem human and it scared me deep down inside.

Lina seemed to lose her concentration for a moment and there was Graudy, ready to take advantage of the slightest of openings. I didn’t hesitate when I unsheathed my sword, shouting out Lina’s name and moved in front of her, blocking off the attack. It was then that I noticed in the corner of my eye, Graudy was holding onto something else and suddenly thrust it towards me. I grabbed his wrist before the dagger gutted me and I glared at him with a growl.

“Pretty low move, Graudy. Father didn’t teach that one.”
“Father was a fool…” He growled back.

I just gritted my teeth and forced his wrist backwards painfully, forcing him to drop the dagger. He then moved his hand back onto his sword and I did the same. That was when Lina did something completely crazy. She just strolled in between the two of us and it took every inch of my strength to stop Graudy from slipping out of the sword lock and slicing right into her. I screamed at her in my mind, since my body was so tense which stopped me from talking.

Lina brought her hand up and I thought that was it. I pushed with all my strength against Graudy and used it to push him back as well as myself. After I leapt backwards, it took me a few moments to get composed but Graudy was ready to attack again. Lina stopped him but she really struggled this time. Graudy wasn’t holding back this time and I could see Lina wasn’t up to it this time. I was worried for her safety and so I yelled out to her again.

I was coming in to help her in, but well, when Lina gives you that look, you don’t butt in. That look was pretty scary I tell you. I thought that she would have done whatever she was about to do to my brother and give it to me ten times worse. I didn’t want that so I just backed off and watched on worried.

Suddenly she said something and it spurred on a little more energy from her. She dug her heels in and it shocked me again. How could she get this much energy? And right in the back in my mind, I wondered if her body would be able to handle it. Those thoughts were nearly the end of me when I neglected to remember about the other goon. He nearly got to me too if I didn’t force distance between us to give me time to bring up my sword and block the blow.

I wasn’t sure what Lina was doing at that point as all my concentration was put into not getting sliced to bits. I continued to step backwards as the guy pushed into me with the sword. I then took a few extra steps as quick as possible so I could get a proper stance and put decent strength into a block and push him back. The push threw him off balance a little and then allowed me to start attacking.

I swung my blade pretty quickly with not much power, trying to scare him with the flurry of attacks. Now he was the one walking backwards, moving his sword about frantically to block the attacks off. I knew he wouldn’t last long at that rate and so I continued until I could see the blocks slowing. At that point I pulled the sword overhead and readied to swing down hard with a yell. The man cowered away and I hooked my leg behind his, tripping him to the ground. I then simply lowered the sword and pointed it at him.

I glanced to Lina and amazingly enough there was my brother, defeated and scared out of his wits. What had Lina done to him? I walked over to her, keeping the sword pointed at the goon on the ground, his knees shaking in fear. I looked over to Lina and her arms were shaking even more than the goons. She looked like she was running on empty, with her brown-red locks sticking to her forehead with sweat.

“Lina…Your arm is shaking really badly.” I told her softly, keeping an eye on my brother.

She seemed to glance to her arm but said nothing and instead looked to the general. When she spoke to them, it was then I noticed her eyes and I realised why they were so scared of her. Her eyes were glowing gold just like her dagger had been. It shocked me slightly too but I knew when I looked into them, that Lina was still in there. I started to wonder if this power was such a good thing after all.

After a few words from her, my brother, the general and the goon made a run for it. Lina relaxed and so I sheathed my sword as she mumbled about them being cowards. Then Lina asked me the question which still puts shivers through me even now when I think of this.

“Is it getting darker out or is it just me?” She asked.
I glanced around quickly, pretty confused and shook my head. “No, it’s just the normal lightness.”

Lina started rubbing her head and at that point I knew something was wrong. I was already behind her as her legs gave way and she fell. I grabbed onto her and I gasped in shock. I swore that for a moment my skin was burning from the heat she was giving off. I kept tight hold of her though, as I never thought of letting her drop to the ground despite the way I felt.

“Lina?” I shook her lightly. “Lina wake up!”

Her breathing got really fast but very shallow and although she wasn’t burning, she did feel hot. I didn’t think somebody could get that hot. I pulled her tighter into my arms when I realised I needed help. I then started running back to the area that was set up to deal with the wounded. I was scared of losing her; I was frightened of what might happen. Deep down inside I wanted to grab a hold of L-sama and shake her, then demand what she had done to my Lina.

I made it to the makeshift area and I think the healers could see the panic in my face. They rushed towards me and I refused to let her go. I held her out so they could look at her, but I wouldn’t let them take her away from me.

“Dear Ceipheid, she’s boiling!” One of them exclaimed.
“Bring her to a bed, now.” They said once they realised I wasn’t letting her go.

I followed them as quick as possible and then gently laid her down on the bed. I grabbed her hand, again so they couldn’t take her away. One was placing her fingers on Lina’s neck whilst a couple of others started using their magic.

“What happened to her?” The healer asked with her fingers still on her neck.
“We were attacked. We just fought them off but she was doing it like I’ve never seen her do before.” I didn’t know how to explain it all.
“It looks like she’s over exerted herself, but I’ve never seen it this extreme before.”

I had a feeling I knew why it was so extreme as I watched the healers continue their work. It seemed to be doing the trick as I felt her hand cooling slowly beneath my hand. Her chest also slowed so she was taking normal breaths instead of those horrible, short, straining breaths.

I sat there for several hours until the healers had to stop before they were exhausted. Lina was still sleeping but they told me she just had to rest and she would be ok. I was too busy staring at Lina and stroking the hair out of her face.

It was the middle of the night by the time Lina started to stir, and a few moments later she opened her eyes.

“How are you feeling Lina?”
“Mnnggh…I’ve…felt better.” She replied tiredly.

I squeezed her hand a little and for the first time since I sat with her at bedside I looked away.

“You got carried away.” I stated sharply.
“Was that it?”
“They said you overexerted yourself. Only they’d never seen it that bad before…”
“I guess I’m not used to my new powers.”
“That’s why I demand that you give them back before they end up killing you.” I pulled my hand away from hers and stood up turning away. I was ready for her fight.

~Kurage

What?

Was he kidding?

I mean, okay, if I looked at it objectively, I could understand his point. I had passed out, and I had basically been a pretty good target for anyone who wanted to off me in that space of time that had been blurry and dark.

But at least now I knew what my limits were, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to overstep them again.

I sighed and sat up, wincing as a stab of not-so-nice pain lanced my temples. I rubbed my head and was secretly glad that Gourry had his back to me. If anything, he would just use that as ammunition against me. Or worse, start worrying about me more.

I let him sulk for a moment. What was the point in trying to argue with him while his head was full of self-righteous steam? Instead, I did the one thing I had wanted to do since L-sama’s power had left me. I checked out my hair.

Hmm...maybe Gourry had a point. Instead of the threads of silver I had been expecting, about 3 inches of my hair was pure white. I’m sure it had been worse before I had rested.

I sighed and dropped my hair, glancing over at Gourry. He was still sulking, his back to me. I grumbled, and his shoulder twitched up a millimeter, indicating that he HAD heard me but he wasn’t done making a point.

Whatever. I had a point of my own. I leaned forward on my knees, steadied myself on one hand and, with the other, grabbed a bunch of long blond hair and tugged, hard, towards myself.

With a yelp (and to my satisfaction), Gourry fell ass-over-teakettle off his chair and landed on the floor beside my cot. I yanked harder, and he whined something incoherent with my name thrown in the mix. I tugged him towards my lap and, once his head was rested there, let go of his hair. He stared up at me with watery eyes, and I could see that he was still angry at me. I glared back at him, but my fingers, which were brushing through his hair, belied my angry look.

“Look, Gourry,” I began, my voice quiet. “This is no big deal. What happened out there was a fluke, and it won’t happen again. I was mad, and tired, and I wasn’t thinking straight. But rest assured: Now that I know my own limits, I doubt I’ll go out of my way to push them again.”

He still looked mad, I noticed. I didn’t get why. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I wasn’t saying anything wrong. I was telling him the truth.

I, now, was getting angry.

“You don’t have a say in this,” I snapped, letting my hands drop from his hair. From the look on his face, though, I softened my tone. I really didn’t want to fight about it anymore. “Okay, I guess you have a tiny say in this,” I admitted. “I know you care about me, Gourry. I know that. But this...” I touched my hair and shrugged one shoulder. “This is my life. This is what I do. You’ve had plenty of time to notice that I attract trouble. It’s always been up to you as to whether or not you stick around. So why be mad now?”

The anger softened, and this time, I knew he was listening to me. “I always take risks,” I went on, staring into his eyes. “Always have. Sometimes, I get hurt. Sometimes, YOU get hurt,” I added, poking his nose, hard. He went cross-eyed for a moment, and that made me smile. “Isn’t that just what makes life more fulfilling?”

He opened his mouth, but I covered it with my hand. “I’m not saying that we should both go out of our ways to thumb our noses at people and get ourselves killed. But, just...sometimes great thing come with risks, you know?”

He sighed, closing his eyes. I took that as a yes. I leaned down and pressed my cheek against his, breathing in his scent. I had really, really, missed him, and I was tired of fighting about something as stupid as this.

“Could you at least try NOT to get into trouble?” Gourry then said. I opened my eyes and looked over at him. He had that worried-eye thing going again. I don’t know how he does that so well.

“I can try to try,” I said sweetly, giving him an innocent smile.

He obviously was not buying it. “Liiiiinaaaaaaa…” he whined.

I grumbled, leaning down and burying my face into the mattress. “I’ll try to stay out of trouble with protest as it’s not fun,” I answered.

When I looked up, Gourry was smiling. He patted my head. “Good,” he replied.

Sometimes I wonder if that chivalrous side makes him forget my age, even after all of this time.

I shifted a little, so that when Gourry leaned back, his head was resting on the mattress, and I was lying on my stomach. I leaned over him, and he smiled at him.

“Can we stop fighting now? I really missed you. This whole thing was torture, and I know we didn’t exactly reunite on good terms.”

He reached up and brushed his fingertips over my cheek. “I know,” he admitted.

I patted a spot beside me. “Come up here,” I said softly.

He got up and sat down next to me, leaning over on one arm. I sat up and scooted closer to him, putting my arms around his waist and burying my face into his neck. I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to think about anything else. I felt his arms go around me, and he rested his head against mine.

I didn’t want to think about how close I came to losing him, but of course I did. I didn’t want to think about how, in some alternate timeline, I would have come back alone, or not at all, but of course I did. I clutched onto him tighter, not wanting to say a word, just wanting to feel.

I felt him stroking my hair slowly, from the very top of my head down to the ends. I purred a little, moving closer to him. However, when he reached the ends of my hair, I heard him sigh deeply.

“You should get your rest,” he said gently, pulling away from me. He put a hand to my cheek again. I pouted, visibly, disappointed that he thought so, but I knew he was right. My hair was still messed up, and even though it was something I didn’t want to do, sleep was really the only cure.

However, I had a more pressing issue to think about. “Can we eat first?” I wondered. “Are they serving anything decent here? Or should we just head back to Zephilia and eat there?” I was starving, but didn’t want to eat crappy rations.

Gourry seemed to think about it. “I don’t see why you shouldn’t eat anything here,” he said. “Making the trek into the city will just make you more tired, won’t it?”

He had a point, but I didn’t want to admit it. “Merph,” I answered grouchily. He smiled at me, knowing that he was right (one in a few). “I’ll be back with some food,” he replied.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing onto his arms before he got up. I got closer to him, put my hands on his face, and pulled him close. I kissed him, deeply, putting as much as I had into it, wanting him to know how much I hated being away from him, how much I hated fighting without him, and how much I was glad to be back with him.

He put his arms around me and kissed me back, his response one that I had hoped for. His kisses were insistent, needy, and full of passion. I purred again. This was the kind of attention I needed. I didn’t want to think about what would happen next. I just wanted to think about Gourry’s lips and his arms around me.

Sadly, though, my stomach intervened, making loud sounds of protest. Have you ever wanted to punch yourself in the stomach? I never thought of such a thing until that moment. Gourry pulled away slowly, giving my cheek a nice nuzzling with his lips, before murmuring into my ear, “I’ll get you some food, now.”

He got up slowly, looking at me the whole time, before he walked away.

I lay back, curled up into a ball, and shut my eyes, trying to block out all of the sounds around me, and trying hard not to think about the messes I had made.

But of course I thought about them anyway. Isn’t that how it always works?

~Dramata

I wanted to carry on. Honestly. I wanted to continue what we were doing and I wanted to hear her make those purring noises all over again. I missed all of that and I missed her so much. Only I knew she really had to get her rest.

I still wasn’t sure of what she told me and still had this fear deep inside that she would go too far. That wasn’t because it would be Lina’s fault because she was pretty careful with that stuff. You might think she’s careless from the look on the outside but she’s pretty darn smart. She won’t just go blowing things left, right and centre unless she is pretty sure it’s the right thing to do. I trusted Lina.

I just didn’t trust L-sama.

I headed over to where they were serving the food with those thoughts still running through my head. I mean once before she almost took Lina away from me. No that’s wrong. She did take her away from me if only for a few moments. No that’s wrong as well. It felt like eternity when Lina was gone. Ok she gave her back but that was pretty scary and lonely when she was gone.

Alright. She did help us too when we needed the Blast Sword to be much stronger. However this latest thing, with Lina being able to use more of her power, didn’t sit right with me. Watching Lina fight the way she did wasn’t right to me. I hadn’t seen anyone fight with such an improvement so quickly. Don’t get me wrong, Lina still wasn’t the best swordsperson-wise. However, her increase in strength and speed more than made up for it. I wondered if L-sama even knew a human could handle her power. Sure if anyone in the world could handle it, then Lina would. Still, was it too much for her? At that point, I thought so.

I stood in line holding onto several trays as I tried to ignore all the amazed and confused looks from the others who were just holding one tray. I stepped forward as the whole line moved forward and tried to get a decent look at what was being served, seeing if I could get any of Lina’s favourites. Yes, yes, I know, this wasn’t a restaurant, but you would be surprised what they can come up with some times.

Then I just stood there. I still stood there even after the line hadn't moved for a few minutes. I blinked a little and looked around a little. Why wasn’t the line moving? I stood on my tip toes and tried to see if someone had collapsed. That would have been strange because there wasn’t any sort of commotion. I leaned forward and whispered to the guy in front.

“Um, hey. Do you know why the line has stopped?”

No response. Well that was pretty rude I thought. I moved several trays onto one arm since they weren’t carrying any food yet and started poking him on the shoulder.

“Hello? You know we’re all friends now. You are allowed to talk to me.”

Again, no response. In fact, he didn’t even flinch and move when I poked him. I grumbled a little and turned to a woman who was stood behind me.

“Can you believe how rude this guy is? He won’t even reply to me.”
“Of course he won’t, you’ve been shifted from the physical plane.”
“Still, that’s no reason to be rude, no matter what plane I’m shifted too.”
“Actually it kind of does. You see, at the moment…You know what? I’ll save time if I don’t bother explaining. Yes, he is rude.”

I blinked as a little wave of recognition washed over me.

“You’re L-sama.”
“Yes, you remembered this time.”

I decided to get straight to the point. I mean, how often do you get the chance to talk to the creator of all things.

“Do you suck or something?” Ok, hindsight makes me think that wasn’t the smartest thing to say to an all powerful being.
“I beg your pardon?” I guess she was taken a back. I guess even the mother of all chaos can be shocked by a few things.
“I mean. This power you gave to Lina. Do you even know if humans can handle it?”
“I don’t really know. What I do know is if there is anyone capable of handling such power, Lina is the one to do so.”
“Then why did she nearly just die!” The emotions kind of blew up at that point.
“She's learning her capabilities. This is the nature of chaos. It’s a little unpredictable. Lina is quick to learn and she will understand this soon. However she does need your help. You remember what I told you.”

I thought for a few moments to her conversation and I pictured the conversation coming together.

“I can help Lina control your power.”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Well what did you do last time when she had to fight Xellos?”
“You told me to believe in her.”
“Then what did you do when she passed out.”

I froze and suddenly realised.

“I was scared, I was worried about Lina. I didn’t believe in her.”
“Correct, and so you didn’t open up to her. That meant she couldn’t get help from you.”
“How does she know to get my help?”
“She doesn’t. However when she uses her magic, she thinks about you and summons for help to protect you. It’s in those thoughts that she is able to draw from your power. But if you don’t open to her, she won’t get that help.”
“So it was my fault she got hurt…”

She smiled at me and shook her head. “Of course not. You’re so quick to blame yourself. No amount of protection can stop bad things from happening. You just keep moving on. That is all.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“That’s because it is Gourry. I’m surprised you didn’t see it yourself. That is your strength. You see the simple things when many others try to make it too complicated.”
“You really want to help us…why?”
“You’re interesting. That is all. Now Lina is hungry.”
“Move it blondie!”

I blinked a little confused with the new voice. I turned around and realised the woman behind me was annoyed with me.

“Sorry?”
“I said move it! We don’t have all day to watch you stare into space!”
“Oh...um…sorry.” I smiled a little. “Just glad the war is over I guess, he he.”

I stepped forward and grabbed lots of food from the servers and placed them upon all the trays that I had gathered. They were balancing on my arms but luckily I had a good balance and so I carried them all back to Lina.

“Hey Lina! Food’s ready!” I yelled to her as I noticed her curled up.

She sprung out of her position the second she heard me and I could see her practically drooling at the amount I had. She was pretty much yanking the tray off my arm just as I was ready to place them on the bed. I watched her shovel the food in her mouth and noticed her joy and happiness as she fed herself. I smiled a little as I watched her. I got Lina back. After all the craziness, the pain, the worry, the fear, I got the one thing I cared about in the world back.

My stomach grumbled.

“Oh c’mon Lina! Stop hogging all the food. I’m hungry too you know!? Just because you got yourself hurt doesn’t mean you get to have special attention!”
“I’m a growing girl! I need to eat more than you.”
“Growing!? You’ve not grown for the past two years!”

Did I mention trays really hurt when they’re bashed on top of your head?

~Kurage

For the rest of my stay, we didn’t talk about it, Gourry and me. We tiptoed around it as graciously as the two of us could tiptoe around anything serious. I could tell he was hiding something from me, and he could tell that I was in no mood to neither discuss nor be dissuaded from fighting at the Lord of Nightmares’ side. I think, deep down, he knew this, but because he didn’t agree with it, and because I was still shaky from my burn-out, he kept it to himself.

A day and a night was all it took for me to get back on my feet again. Well, alright, as long as I could possibly STAND staying there without going blindbat crazy.

I wondered, for a long while, as he and I walked carefully back towards my home, if Graudy and his lackeys would perhaps pursue us. I also wondered what the situation would be like at home. And deep down, I wondered what would happen once the Mazoku got their footing back.

As we walked, we walked in silence. It gave me time to look around at our surroundings. Scenery I knew as a child that I could probably draw from memory if asked were slightly marred from conflict, but other than that, things seemed more or less untouched. It was like a cold drink on a hot day, let me tell you. My deepest fear was that I would come home to find that the Elmekians had reached my family.

I wasn’t aware as to how relieved I actually was until I felt Gourry’s hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I looked up, blinking, and realised that, in fact, there were tears in my eyes. I frowned and brushed them away, trying not to notice Gourry’s worried expression on his face.

“I...” There was an excuse on my tongue, but I lost it in a second. “I was scared,” I said quietly. I swallowed. My throat hurt from the tears I was forcing back, but I knew that there would be time, alone, for that sort of thing later.

I sighed, looking down at the ground. I hadn’t realised until I said it how selfish those words actually sort of were. If you thought about it, here I was worried about my family, but Gourry’s family didn’t even really exist anymore…if the situations were reversed, I’m sure I would have been resentful.

I guess I just underestimate him all the time.

His hands were cupping my cheeks before I knew it, and when I looked up, he was drawing me up close to his face and kissing me. I curled closer to his warmth, feeling shaky and weepy, but unwilling to give into these feelings. Instead, I took the comfort he offered, comfort without resentment or regret.

We broke apart and he just held me. It was like a barrier breaking between us. Both of us seemed to sigh at the same time. I bit his shoulder lightly and pulled away, and we started walking again.

“Thanks,” I said quietly.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Gourry smile. “You’re so cute when you’re trying not to be grateful,” he replied.

I took a swing at him and landed a sweet hit on his left ear.

It was quiet when I reached home. The streets were deserted and I couldn’t hear a thing. However, when I looked closer, things seemed to be in place and unharmed.

When I got home, things were the same way, actually.

I was met at the door by this:

“Lina-chan! You can’t just up and leave and go off to war!” My mother exploded. From the corner of my eye, I could see my father and Luna nodding in silent agreement.

I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off.

“Not even a note! Not even a signal! Nothing!”

Again, my sister and my father nodded.

I tried to protest again, but of course was cut off.

“And you come back wearing such ugly, smelly clothes! The least you could have done was to come home and get proper clothing, and a proper sword!”

More nodding.

I shot Gourry a ‘help-me’ look, but he looked up at the ceiling. I turned back to Mom. “It’s not like I WANTED to go,” I snapped. “Sobold came in and grabbed me!”

My mother sighed, looking incredibly annoyed. “And that’s another thing. It would have been nice to see one of your old friends, and see how he had grown up.”

Again, from the corner of my eye, both Luna and my father nodded.

“You’re kidding, right?” I demanded.

My mother shot a stern look at me, and held it for about a minute, before she slowly nodded. “Of course I am,” she said, smiling sadly. “It’s wonderful that you’re home.” She walked over and took me in her arms, hugging me to her tightly.

Again, both Luna and my father nodded. I noticed that Luna had her eyes on Gourry for some reason, but I decided that I didn’t care. I hugged Mom back and shut my eyes, trying to forget, and trying to get on with my life.

But a problem presented itself.

I was home now. Did I want to even leave? Surely the Lord of Nightmares had things for me to do, or so I thought, so I couldn’t stay here for long, but at the same time…at the same time, I could feel my roots taking in, not wanting to leave this land very much anymore. My fears were slowly being confirmed.

It really did feel like my wanderlust was dead.

~Dramata