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Kitsune Lina
Prophecy Fulfilled Zelgadis and Amelia felt a ripple in the weave of magic, and paused to look out a window. There was nothing to see, whatever had happened had taken place beyond the horizon. Gourry past the two wary spellcasters disappearing around a bend in
"What was that?" Amelia asked as they started running again. It had taken only one look out a window to realize where Xellos and Lina probably were. "Gourry, wait up! How are you going to find the tower?"
"I don't know what that was," Zelgadis admitted. "It was big, very big." The first thing Lina was aware of as she blinked back into the waking world was a weight settled atop of her. Her senses were still confused, and she replayed what had happened while blinking her eyes and clearing her nasal passages. She had been chasing Zelgadis's Ra Tilt, then she came up into what looked like another throne room, Xellos jumping out of the Ra Tilt's tail and pushing her back. Her eyes snapped open wide as memory and her nose identified what...who was on top of her.
"Xellos?" She sat up, lifting the mazoku as she did. The mazoku didn't respond, he merely limply let Lina settle him to the ground gently. Lina fearfully noted the sweat streaked face and shallow breathing.
"Hold on," she said half-hysterically. She didn't think he was awake, but she needed to say something. "Just hold on, I'll go find Amelia, it'll be fine." The were-fox started to stand letting him down gently. She had forgotten about Regin.
Lina stood up and started running towards the downward stairs, when suddenly she was suddenly moving much faster than she had intended. She slammed into the wall outside the demolished room and then dropped to the ground trying to draw back in her breath.
"He's not dying first!" Regin shouted at the prone were-fox. He punched downward with a energy shrouded fist. Lina snapped up well before the mazoku's blow landed.
"Why didn't you just throw me off the tower?" she asked, noting that Regin didn't appear in very good shape. The astral explosion left no physical marks, but he smelled hurt and he was weaving dizzily.
"Don't insult my intelligence, the fall wouldn't kill you," he gathered energy and released it. Lina dodged again, and then charged to attack. Her opponent released a blast much quicker this time and Lina only barely dodged. The blast grazed her side, heating the behir scales before continuing on into the wall. Her armor may have spared her the blast's touch, but the impact still threw her off balance. This time she did go over the side, and catching the lip of the devestated tower room as she past it.
"So why didn't you just fall?" Regin mocked as he looked down at her.
"And leave you up here with my Xellos?" she snarled.
"You don't have to worry about him," Regin told her. "If he's the first to die, the prophecy is fulfilled and I'm doomed." He leaned over and held his palm in her face where she could watch it gathering power.
"Xellos ISN'T dying," Lina snapped. Regin smiled and then his eyes flew open in astonished surprise as he flew over and past Lina into the open air. She climbed up to the tower room and saw Xellos pointing out with his staff and leaning heavily on one arm.
"Get away from her," he muttered before his arm gave way and he fell limply again. Lina rushed forward and set Xellos to lie on his back against the wall, he settled with a trembling sigh.
Beyond Regin had gotten control of his descent and swooped about rising slowly back to the tower.
"Xellos, don't worry, I'll get you to Amelia," she picked up the half-conscious mazoku supporting him on her shoulder and heading downstairs. "She'll heal you. Everything will be fine."
"Lina...stop," Xellos whispered.
"There's no where to run, Inverse!" Regin roared behind them.
"No, we have to get you to Amelia," Lina ignored the other mazoku.
"Amelia...can't help," Xellos gasped, he wasn't helping in their flight at all, Lina wasn't certain that he could. She almost screamed for joy when she saw Gourry coming up from below.
"Lina, Xellos, down!" the swordsman yelled, the were-fox obliged and Gourry leaped over the pair of them to intercept the enraged mazoku behind them. He slashed out and took a hand as Regin rose them up in instinctual defense.
"I don't care! Any of you is as good as the rest, just as long as that fool doesn't dies first." He lashed out with his remaining hand and missed the ducking swordsman cleanly. Then Lina and Xellos passed around a turn and they could only hear the battle.
"Even...even if she could heal...ma..zoku," Xellos said. "There's...not enough ...left to heal." They hit a landing and Lina could hear and smell Amelia coming up along with Him.
"She's coming, Xellos," Lina ignored him, and sat down at the landing, cradling his head in her lap. "It'll be fine, she's coming." She frantically brushed the sweat matted bangs from his face and rocked him gently.
"It's...no use..." Lina leaned over him and wept.
"Why?" she asked through sobs. She faintly registered the fact that the battle was getting closer. Xellos smiled, his normal cheerful expression still strong on his face, and reached up to brush one of her black-furred ears, as he had done so often in the recent past. The mazoku answered her question, and though anybody else would have heard "Sore wa himitsu desu," Lina recognized the words "because I love you." Then Xellos's eyes, open for this last moment, glazed over and the his hand dropped to ground below.
"NOOO!!" Lina screamed as the amulet around her neck finally shattered completely. The remains slid off her neck as she desperately rocked the cooling form she held in her arms. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE!! AMELIA!! AMELIA HELP!!" Amelia and Him rounded the corner to see this and halted again.
"He needs to be healed, Amelia, he needs to be healed." Amelia leaned down and saw the sightless eyes and the lack of breath.
"He's dead, Lina."
"Then he needs to be ressurrected."
"He's mazoku, it can't be done." Lina snapped a glare up at the chimera.
"This is your fault! It was your spell!" Regin and Gourry appeared above her and she whipped around to look at them. The swordsman was holding his ground well considering the power of even this severely wounded mazoku.
Lina set Xellos's body gently to the ground and stood up. She released the straps on her armor, letting it clatter to the ground around her. She snarled at Zelgadis once before charging up the stairs.
If she could hold this form in the day, why not another. Why couldn't she take the form of something bigger, stronger.. Something more given to the wild vengence she wanted to take on the true architect of all of this. Zelgadis and Amelia watched amazed as Lina grew and shifted into the Fourth Aspect.
The mazoku finally managed to blast Gourry away, and the swordsman landed in a pained pile on the landing below. He found an enraged lycanthrope in his path and tried to back away. A clawed hand whipped down and across his abdomen, widening a slim cut obviously given by Gourry's blast blade. He tried to conjure enough energy to teleport and failed, suffering for the failure by the loss of leg to the lycanthrope's jaws.
Amelia rose from checking Gourry and ascertaining that he was more or less okay, he just had to clear his head a little. Then she walked forward.
"Come on," she shouted to Zelgadis, who was staring at Xellos's body.
"There's nothing that can be done?" he asked guilt-filled.
"Not for him, but we can kill Reginald," Amelia reminded him, trying to pull him back to the situation at hand. Zelgadis nodded grimmly and looked up at the one-sided battle between exhausted mazoku and enraged were-fox.
"Elmekia Lance!!" both shouted together, and let fly twin streaks of power that struck Regin full in the chest, blowing him upward.
"I can't fail!!" he shouted as Lina pounced on him and ripped the mazoku's head off. Lina whirled and snarled at the chimera below, enraged at him. She glanced at Amelia once and then let go of the Fourth Aspect.
"Its over," Lina said wearily. Then she glared at Zelgadis.
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