Something More Chapter 6

Author: DQBunny Title: Something More - Revenge is Best Served a Few Years Later

Something More

Chapter
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Disclaimer: "Slayers" does not belong to me, but belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

Note: This fic was originally written for the LiveJournal community, "30 romances", a themed community similar to "30 kisses". All 30 parts will be combined to form one complete story that is the prequel to "Law of the Land." This chapter contains theme #10 - Dictionary ; Search, theme #11 - Mission (Im)possible ; Limitation, theme #31 - The Library ; Bookshop and theme #14 - Craven ; Democracy ; Aristocrat

oOoOo

Chapter Six: "Revenge is Best Served a Few Years Later"

"You are dead when this is over with," Lina seethed at Gourry. "And I'm getting Mama after you for going along with it!" she yelled at her father, who stood a few feet away with his back turned on the couple.

"Hold still, Lina," Gourry said as he struggled to buckle his armor on her. "They wouldn't think to search three men. They're looking for a flat-chested girl." He stood back and admired his handiwork. "Though, right now isn't much of a difference from your normal look."

Lina didn't have her magic. But she did have her hands and used them to grab Gourry's neck and strangle him.

"It's the truth," he choked out. "That yellow band thingy makes you flat-chested."

Yellow band thingy? Lina frowned. Was Gourry trying to tell her that without it, he found her breasts attractive? Feeling naked despite the armor, she pulled away from him and stomped back over to her father.

Apparently, Gourry had felt this was ample time to get revenge on her for all the times she'd dressed him up as a girl (though one of those had been solely Amelia's doing.) Her clothes were stored in his pack and she wore his extra shirt over her leggings. Over all that, she wore his armor, which was two sizes too big for her. Her hair was braided and shoved underneath the collar of the shirt.

Lina was convinced she looked like a top-heavy lump of metal. She wondered how Gourry could even move in the stuff, it was so heavy. Granted, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as when she stuffed him into a pair of bra, panties and a pink dress, but she still wasn't pleased with this - especially with the additional breast cracks that came with it, though she wasn't quite sure if that last comment had been a crack or not.

"Don't worry, Lina! Your sacrifice won't be in vain," Gourry grinned at her. "There really isn't much of a difference anyhow." He nodded seriously. "They're looking for someone who actually has breasts."

That was it. Lina took two steps toward him, and promptly fell in a tangle of armor and limbs. "Gourry!"

"You do have the part of inept squire down, don't you, Lina-chan?" Raulf approached them.

"Papa," Lina moaned.

Gourry grabbed the back of Lina's shirt collar and hauled her up. "There we go, sunshine!"

"I'm not Little Miss Sunshine at the moment!"

"Sure you're not," he replied, ruffled her hair and started to walk ahead of her.

Raulf gave him a bemused smile, then started after him. "Are you coming, Lina-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lina took two more steps forward, tripped and landed in a heap again. She sighed. At this rate, it would take three days to reach the Zefielia border - and they were about 200 yards away!

Gourry wound up toting Lina on his back until they reached the guards. Raulf took charge then, pulling out his passport and presenting it. "Has there been any news of Lina the Pink?" he asked.

"No, Inverse-san," the guard replied as he stamped his passport. "Your family will be notified once she is in our posession, that Josef the Blue has declared."

"I thank you." Raulf stepped back to indicate Gourry and Lina. "These are cousins of the family from Saillune City. My nephew Kansul and his younger brother and squire Tansul."

Lina cocked an eyebrow. Her father was just as creative with coming up with names as she was.

The guard approached them and stuck his nose in Gourry's face, then in Lina's. He sniffed at her. "Boy, you smell of blood."

Lina's eyes popped open wide. He could smell her? Then she realized that was from where Gourry's armor was cutting into her arm and not from her period. She exhaled in relief and nodded. The guards motioned and they passed into town.

oOoOo

Lina was getting antsy. Getting through the barrier into Zefielia had been too easy, and if she learned anything during her travels, that meant there was a trap lying in wait.

"She wants me here," she informed her father and Gourry over lunch a couple of days later. "She sends out a bounty, but not a single bounty hunter has approached us. She has a fancy magical barrier put up, but I know if Amelia had been with us, it would had been wiped out. Even with those...disguises...," she slanted a dark look at Gourry, "we still had no problems getting in. They treated you like a neighbor, Papa. It doesn't make sense."

Lina had finally gone with her earlier instincts and changed into a disguise - a white shirt and tan leggings with a dark blue robe over the ensemble. She had considered wearing a dress, but didn't want to be hindered in case she needed to use her magic - which was mostly back to normal.

She pulled out the bounty and studied it again. Something seemed off about it. That's when it clicked. There was no money amount!

"The Zefielia Sorcerer's Guild is seeking a wayward member known as Lina the Pink," she read aloud in a soft voice so no one could overhear them. "Said member is considered rogue and is wanted by the guild for questioning. A reward will be offered upon presentation of said sorceress to the guild" She lowered the paper. "No firm money amount. A bounty hunter would be a fool to go after this. It's an impossible mission. They wouldn't know if they were walking into a trap or not."

She glanced outside. They were in the town of Mylenta, about half a day's walk from the entrance to Zefiel City. Although they could had pushed and made it to the capital city by nightfall, Lina insisted on stopping. Mylenta boasted the second-best library in Zefielia, and one of the few not run by the Sorcerer's Guild. Zefiel City also had a non-Sorcerer's Guild library, but it was devoid of any books regarding magic. She wanted to access both history and magical tomes.

She explained her wish to use the library to do some research before entering the city. "I'm willing to bet even with a disguise, I'll be grabbed as soon as I enter the city. Before that happens, I want to be armed with some information."

"You're going to let them capture you?" Gourry asked incrediously.

She nodded to him.

"Absolutely not! You're not that crazy!"

"It'll be the easiest way of finding out what the queen wants with me, jellyfish!" Lina patted his back. "Besides, I have the utmost confidence that you'll rescue me. You're my protector, right?"

He slanted a dark look at her. "Sometimes, I question the sanity behind that decision."

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Lina-chan?" Raulf laced his fingers together. "There are places to hide you inside the city."

"No," Lina replied firmly and stared into her wine glass. "I'm not going to put you, Mama and Luna at risk like that."

"We can take care of ourselves."

Not if my theory about why Dinasa wants me here is right. "Trust me on this, please? We'll develop a plan and I'll escape without a scratch." She gave him a bright smile.

Raulf sighed. "And to think I once boasted to your mother about being proud to raise two headstrong girls. I want to run an errand into the city. Promise me you won't leave here until I get back."

She nodded. "I promise."

oOoOo

The Mylenta branch of the National Zefielia Library was specifically constructed for use by travelers after members of the Sorcerer's Guild complained that the amount of travelers in the building was placing undo stress on its members. Lina privately thought that the ranked members of the guild simply didn't want to associate with whom they termed commoners. If it was a rich patron, ambassador or royalty, there seemed to be no problems accessing the Sorcerer's Guild library.

Because of this, the Mylenta library had garnered a reputation as a safe haven from Sorcerer Guild politics. There was even magical tomes here that the guild library didn't have and Lina knew that really got stuck in their craw. So with amazing cheerfulness, she dragged Gourry along with her to the library.

Books on magic and magical history were kept on the top floor, along with some practice rooms for those who wanted to try out spells. It was less dangerous to have the roof cave in than to have an entire floor of books crash down on patrons due to a wayward spell, though the library did discourage practicing inside of its facilities. Lina inhaled the smell of old books and felt excitement start to tingle low in her abdomen. She could easily spend days here discovering new spells and figuring out different ways to work them. It had been a trip like this that led to her discovering the Giga Slave.

She located a pencil and small pad of paper and scribbled down the name of a book. "Take this down to the second floor and have a librarian find this book for you," she told Gourry. "Don't attempt to find it yourself. It'll take you hours. Bring it right back here."

"What is it?" He accepted the paper and glanced at her spidery writing.

"A generic history of the royal family of Zefielia. You look for that, I'm looking for something else. Go on." She pushed Gourry toward the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, she raced through the stacks to an area she was very familiar with.

Lina levitated herself to the top shelf and pulled out the book where she initially learned about the Giga Slave. Like the book she'd sent Gourry after, it was a history book, but this one focused a lot more on the battle between Ceiphied and Shabranigdu and the subsequent Kouma-sensou, or War of the Resurrection. It was here that the spell was mentioned, but not in any specific context. Lina had deduced the power of the spell and had tried it out from there, but she had always believed that Ceiphied called upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares to seal Shabranigdu.

She lowered herself to the ground and re-read the history that she knew so well. During the war, Mazoku had created the god-sealing field using Fibrizo, Deep Sea Dolphin, Greater Beast Zelas-Metallium and Dynast Grauscherra as the anchor points. When she destroyed Fibrizo, the field had been destroyed.

Lina glanced up from the book and tapped her chin. She heard footsteps behind her. "You remember us fighting Dynast, right? He'd taken the king of Dilss and turned him into an immortal piece of meat. It was then that Milgasia came and told us about the efforts to start a second Kouma-sensou. But, I couldn't get him completely with the Ragna Blade either, I just destroyed a part of him. But, it was an indication of the beginnings that the Mazoku could be launching a civil war against each other, and I'm wondering if it's because of destroying the seal. That started the chain of events that led to us fighting the second piece of Shabranigdu several months ago."

"Actually, no, I've only heard rumors about all of that."

Lina froze when she realized the voice didn't belong to Gourry.

"And, be it that there's currently a bounty out for you, I have every right to seize you and turn you over to the authorities. But considering that I'm a friend, I don't feel inclined to do such a thing."

She turned and spotted a the cloaked and masked figure leaning against the bookcase a few feet away from her. "Zel!"

Zelgadiss pulled down his mask and flashed a grin at her. "It's been awhile, hasn't it, Lina?"

"A year or so, give or take." Marking her place with her finger, Lina closed the book. and studied the chimera. He'd seem little different from when she'd last seen him shortly after returning from Filia's lands. His image through the Vision spell had been hazy since supposedly he'd been in the Desert of Destruction at the time. "Considering you were suppose to be in the desert three weeks ago, you made a quick trip to Zefielia."

"That's because I came across some information while in the desert that could lead to a possible cure," Zelgadiss explained. "I was on the border of the desert and Elmekia, so the trip wasn't that long using Raywing part of the time. I was thinking that the library here would have more information about it."

"What is it exactly?"

He shook his head and frowned. "An artifact of some sort consisting of several pieces. When put together, they produce a powerful spell. Then I saw you running around in here and Gourry going downstairs. You're taking more chances than you did several years back."

"That's because you know it's a fool's bounty, Zel," Lina replied with a shrug. "No bounty hunter worth his reputation would risk his life. They'd figured if I didn't fry them - and I would - that the Sorcerer's Guild would. No, they're pretty much issuing a scare tactic. I mean, come on, it's a lame excuse. I didn't accept a set of ghastly pink robes seven years ago."

"Men have killed each other over less." Zelgadiss studied Lina's face and could see the worry in her eyes. "You're worried about your family."

Because it was Zelgadiss, she could admit it. "Among other things, yes."

It took her nearly an hour to recap the fights with Dynast and how their friend Luke had a piece of Shabranigdu sealed within him and how she had defeated it - losing her demon's blood tailsmen in the process. By the time she finished, she noticed Gourry hadn't returned from his errand. "I want to run a theory by you, but I want to look at the book the jellyfish is suppose to be finding me as well," she said. "Do you have time?"

"Considering I'm getting nowhere at the moment, I could use a break," Zelgadiss admitted.

They descended to the second floor to find Gourry snoozing at a table with a book sitting next to him. Lina rapped his head to wake him up. Spotting Zelgadiss, Gourry gave him an enthusiastic greeting before Lina proceeded to haul him back upstairs.

"I can't believe you fell asleep, jellyfish," she muttered. "It shouldn't had taken that long to find a book."

"I was tired," Gourry admitted. "Your father snores loud enough to wake the dead."

Lina winced. During the trip to Zefielia, Gourry and Raulf had roomed together, and she hadn't thought to warn Gourry about her father's little annoying habit and how to rectify it. She ushered both men into one of the practice rooms and sealed the door behind them.

She leafed through the history book that Gourry had gotten and made some mental comparisons to the one magical history one that she still had. "The kingdom of Zefielia was formed after the War of the Resurrection. Out of the Kataart Mountains came a young woman with hair that was black as the night sky and eyes as blue as the sea. She happened upon a feud between two families, their holdings encompassing the land that is Zefielia today."

She glanced at the men and was pleasantly surprised to see that Gourry was still following the story. "The heirs to both holdings fell for the woman and fought over her. She proclaimed that she would marry the winner of the fight and they would become the king and queen of a vast empire. One heir slew the other and took over his lands and this came to pass. A year later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Shortly thereafter, the king suddenly died and the popular theory of the day was that the queen had him killed."

"The woman, known as Leah or Queen Leah I, immediately took another husband from her court but refused to raise his rank to that of king. He started to rebel and she killed him even though he cried craven at that point."

Zelgadiss lifted an eyebrow. "That's where the reputation of the queens of Zefielia killing off their consorts began."

Lina nodded and started pacing the length of the room. "There's always been rumors about a secret court that the queen has that helps her amplify her power. I've been thinking about this for a few days. The order for the Sorcerer's Guild to get ahold of me was issued after the fight with Hellmaster Fibrizo and the god-sealing field was removed. The bounty expanded beyond the Zefielia borders after I defeated the piece of Shabranigdu that was sealed in Luke. Someone's not very happy that I've been doing all of this and wants to stop me."

Zelgadiss frowned and started to connect the pieces together in his mind. "Are you thinking that the current queen of Zefielia has a piece of Ruby Eye sealed within her?"

"When I was 10, I saw something flash in and out behind her and attacked it with a Freeze Arrow. Even though she didn't acknowledge it, Dinasa figured out I had done it." Lina shuddered remembering the withering stare the monarch had given her that day. "I'm positive the only reason why I survived was because I'm related to the Knight of Ceiphied."

Zelgadiss hissed out a quick breath of air. "How?"

"The Knight's my sister, Luna," Lina explained. "Dinasa wouldn't risk pissing off my sister, or Ceiphied herself, by killing me - especially since I was just a child. But now I've done enough to where she possibly sees justifying getting rid of me without causing major backlash on herself."

"Or, if your theory is correct, based on what we saw with Rezo, if she has a piece of Shabranigdu in her, it's controlling her to do this."

"Exactly." Lina leaned against the wall and sighed. "It's all just a theory, of course. I could be wrong."

"I doubt it." Zelgadiss crossed his arms over his chest. "You nailed it when it came to Rezo."

"Except I didn't realize that the piece of Ruby Eye was sealed in him," Lina acknowledged. "It's not something I can go around asking other people either. About the only person I can ask is Luna, but I have to get into the city first. If everything goes to plan, I'll be captured as soon as I set foot in the city."

Zelgadiss shook his head sharply, then blinked at Lina. "Wait a minute, you're going to let yourself be captured?"

"No." That came from Gourry, who stood across from her with his arms crossed across his chest. "I don't care if I have to tie you up and carry you back to Saillune."

"I'll help you," Zelgadiss told him before turning his focus back to Lina. "Lina, that is the most stupid thing that's ever come out of your mouth."

Lina crossed over to the window and jabbed her finger at a mountain rising in the distance. "That, gentlemen, is Zefiel City. It winds in a loop all the way up the front of the mountainside to the top, where it is flat. That is where the royal family lives, as well as the temple to Ceiphied. There is no physical way I can levitate or Raywing that high without the altitude overwhelming me. It takes a good day's travel just to get from the bottom to the top. I know some shortcuts, but even so, there is a good risk I will get caught before I make it."

"That's not the point," Gourry replied. "You've never let anything like that phase you."

Zelgadiss leaned back. "It's your family, isn't it?"

Lina hissed out a breath. "Zel..."

It suddenly became clear for Gourry, why Lina would pull such a risky move. He moved over to her and gripped her shoulders.

"I thought you were going to consider my feelings more on things like this," he commented.

"I do!" She defended, feeling somewhat trapped.

Zelgadiss stared at the two and decided that maybe now it was time to slip out. He eased out of the room and wiped the sweat from his brow. That was definitely a conversation he didn't need to be privy to.

"How do you think it makes me feel to see you waltz into the city and allow yourself to be kidnapped?" Gourry argued. "Aren't I part of your family too?"

His words struck Lina with the force of a physical slap, much the same way they had after the fight with Kanzael. Before she could even think of a response, he pulled her to him and hugged her as tight as he could.

He's scared...for me. The realization awed and humbled Lina and she returned the hug. "Nothing's going to happen to me, you know," she mummered against his chest. "I've got more lives than a cat."

Gourry didn't say anything, just simply held onto her. He couldn't afford to let something happen to her now, not before he'd gotten everything straight with her and with himself as well.

"Yeah, and you lost what, three of those now?" His hold tightened. "Promise me you'll find another way up there?"

If anyone else, even Zel, had been in there, Lina knew she would had fought the request with all of her might simply because her pride demanded it. But it was just the two of them and she felt the slight trembling of his hands as they held her.

"Okay, we'll find another way." She pulled back so she could stare into his eyes. "I promise, I won't get captured on purpose."

"And, if I have anything to say about it, you won't get captured accidentally either." Gourry relaxed and ruffled her hair.

"You go way overboard on the protector bit at times."

"I've got to earn my pension somehow."

Lina sniffed. "What makes you think your pension would be worth anything?"

"I suppose I'll just have to stick with you until you pay me one." Gourry grinned at her and reached for the doorknob.

"Hah! That'll be the day!"

oOoOo

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