Search for the Darkstar - Picking Up the Pieces

Author: DQBunny Title: Search for the Darkstar - Picking Up the Pieces

Search for Darkstar
Chapter 19: Driven Almost to Despair ← Chapter 20: Picking Up the Pieces → Chapter 21: Loss of Innocence

Chapter Index

Disclaimer: "Slayers" isn't mine, but belongs to Kanzaka Hajime, Araizumi Rui and those who represent them. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while and will return them intact. Except for Gourry. He might be squished just a little. This story is set after the manga arc "Knight of Aqualord" and is an alternate take on the TRY season of the anime.
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Search for the Darkstar
Chapter 20: Picking Up the Pieces
One week after the battle at the gateway
Lina shielded her eyes from the sun and stared up at the tower where they had fought Valgaav a week earlier. There was a few, slight cosmetic changes to it, the sort of changes that were normally caused by a massive battle involving the use of at least one Dragon Slave. Some would say that that the alterations added a little bit of charm to the tower. Others would call it a condemned wreck. In any case, they had returned to the scene of their previous battle to get back to the room where Valgaav had summoned Darkstar to get the weapons they'd left behind.
Amelia pressed a hand against her chest and frowned. “There doesn't seem to be anyone here.”
“It's not like security was that spectacular the last time we were here, princess,” Shizuri commented.
They made their way through the maze of corridors into the main chamber. The ground level was a wreck, remains from the magical fight between Lina and Valgaav creating gaping holes in the floor. They picked their way through the debris and reached the middle platform. Lina scanned the instruments and wondered if there was a way that it could be used to get them up to the platform where Valgaav had opened the gateway. She approached a panel, then noticed a boulder planted in the middle of one of the attached machines and sighed.
“Well, we're just going to have to fly up there,” Lina announced and turned back to the group. “There's no point in all of us going. Zel, Amelia and I will fly up there and bring back the weapons. The rest of you wait here and try not to disturb anything. This floor could cave in at any second.” She nodded to Zelgadiss and Amelia and the three of them lifted into the air.
Lina hadn't noticed the previous time how high the gateway was. She'd been so distracted by Valgaav's insanity that she hadn't had a chance to take it in. She swapped from a Levitation to a Raywing, using the winds to accelerate her body.
“In a rush, Lina?” Zelgadiss teased as he changed spells himself.
“I don't like this place.”
“I agree,” Amelia said and gave a slight shudder as she followed suit. “It's entirely too creepy.”
Lina shot a grin down at her seconds before she slammed into something. The impact caused her to lose control of the spell and the Raywing bubble disappeared with a pop. Lina's eyes went wide and she shrieked before tumbling back. Zelgadiss swooped in and caught her before she fell very fall. With a muttered oath, Lina recast the spell and slowly drifted up again. She reached out with her hand, then stopped when her hand touched something solid. She lightly rapped her hand against it. “It's a barrier.”
“A what?” Zelgadiss placed his hand on it as well. “Was it caused by Valgaav activating the weapons?”
“I don't know. Amelia?”
“I can try, but I can't keep the Raywing spell going if I'm going to put too much energy into this.”
“I've got you.” Zelgadiss hesitated a moment, then wrapped an arm firmly around Amelia's waist. His cheeks promptly went red. “Um… You can release your spell now.”
“Thank you, Zelgadiss-san.” Her own face red, Amelia released the spell and placed both hands on the barrier. She closed her eyes, startling slightly when Lina added her own support to keep her steady in the air. She drew on her shrine maiden training, detecting the type of barrier. She frowned. “It's not a barrier that I've ever seen before. I'm not sure if this will even work.” She drew in a deep breath. “Flow Break.”
Lina saw a visible shimmer along the barrier, but it held fast. She kept one arm around Amelia's back and placed her other hand on the barrier. “Airlord's power will help me to form a barrier, not break it.”
“Could you try blasting it with raw power?” Zelgadiss asked.
“I can try.” An idea sprang into Lina's mind. “Or…we can utilize the one weapon we have at our disposal.” She let go of Amelia and flew toward the ground.
Amelia peered over Zelgadiss's shoulder as Lina faded into the distance. “I wonder what sort of idea she has?” She startled, noticing that Zelgadiss's arm was still around her waist. “Umm…Zelgadiss-san?”
“Hmm?” He glanced down, then jumped slightly when he realized where his arm still was.
Amelia smiled and recast her spell, settling on Levitation this time. She slipped out of his hold. “Thank you for helping me, Zelgadiss-san.”
“Ah, sure.” Zelgadiss sighed in relief when he heard the sound of bickering coming from down below. He glanced down and saw Filia flying in her dragon form toward them, Lina and Gourry on her back squabbling with each other over the fact that he had to leave the ground to begin with. When they reached the barrier, Filia rolled her eyes skyward and he choked back a laugh.
“I'm not going to risk my only sword on some fool's mission!” Gourry complained, holding the Blast Sword protectively. “Why don't you use your god power to break the barrier?”
“I will…if this doesn't work. Come on, Gourry!” Lina tugged at his arm.
“No,” he said firmly.
She gritted her teeth. “Do it, or else…” She proceeded to give a series of threats that caused Gourry's already pale face to go sheet white and Zelgadiss to wince and nearly cross his legs in reflex. “…got it?”
Gourry didn't say anything, but glared at her instead. “Fine then. I'll do it on one condition.”
Lina folded her arms over her chest. “What's that?”
“That you talk to Filia and Shizuri. I know you haven't done it yet.”
Lina winced. So maybe the subject of the prophecy had eluded her for the past couple of weeks. After all, they were occupied doing other things, right? Lina stared at the sword, then at Gourry's angry face and sighed. “Fine. I'll talk to them tonight. Now, do it. Please?”
His heart softened at the “please.” Gourry shakily got to his feet and faced the barrier. He reached out, tapped his hand against it, then reared back with his sword arm. He slammed the blade against the barrier. It sunk in slightly, then recoiled. Gourry slid back and Lina grabbed his arm before he could fall off Filia's back.
As soon as he was steady, Gourry whirled around on her. “I told you that a sword can't break a magical barrier! What if the blade had broken?”
“Relax, Gourry! It's the Blast Sword! It can cut through almost anything, weren't you listening a few days ago? I want to try one more thing. Hold out your blade.” Lina tapped her foot as he hesitated, then finally extended the blade toward her. Lina rubbed her hands together and started to chant the Fireball spell. Gourry eyed her warily, then yelped when a fireball formed in her hand and she hurled it at the sword. He ducked and the spell shot past him and into the barrier where it dissipated harmlessly.
He shot to his feet. “Why the hell did you try to fireball my sword?”
“I wasn't trying to break it!” Lina yelled back. “Part of the sword's ability is when you infuse it with magic, it becomes sharper!”
“Couldn't you do it with something less deadly?”
“Sure…if I wanted to use the Blast Sword to slice through melted butter. Now, hold out the blade again!”
Gourry was furious. Lina could see the anger simmering beneath the surface, so potent that Zelgadiss and Amelia were holding their breath. With a tight-lipped expression, Gourry held out the sword once more and Lina cast another fireball toward it. The spell hit the blade, then wrapped itself around it. It shimmered slightly, then gave off a slight glow as the metal absorbed the spell.
“Amazing,” Amelia breathed and Zelgadiss nodded, equally fascinated.
Some of Gourry's anger had changed into wonder when he realized that Lina wasn't trying to fool him. She lobbed a few more fireballs at the weapon. She didn't want to risk anything stronger while they were in midair. Gourry turned back to the barrier, grit his teeth, and slashed at the barrier. The blade penetrated the barrier, then held fast.
Then the barrier started to suck it in.
“My sword!” Gourry yelled and grabbed the hilt. He pulled back as hard as he could, but the weapon refused to budge and slipped further into the barrier.
Lina yelped and grabbed his waist, adding to the pull. “Filia, don't move!”
“It's kind of hard not to!” Filia cried as she was pulled closer to the barrier.
Zelgadiss wrapped his hand above Gourry's on the hilt and started to pull as well. Amelia hovered above him, eyes wide with shock. She quickly landed on Filia's back, causing the dragon to grunt from the extra weight. “I'm sorry, Filia-san!” Amelia hastily said. She reached above Gourry and Zelgadiss's hands and placed her hand against the flat of the blade. “Flow Break!”
The blade released, sending Lina and Gourry flying backwards and landing in a heap on Filia's back. Amelia cast her Levitation spell once more and quickly moved off of Filia. Lina got to her knees and scowled at the barrier. “Well, looks like we won't get in that way. Let's go back down.”
As soon as they hit the ground, Gourry shot an angry look at Lina and stalked out of the chamber. She sighed, started to go after him then hesitated.
Shizuri placed a hand on her hip. “We heard the shouting. What's wrong with him?”
“Nothing,” Lina said in a voice that warned them not to argue with her. She turned and saw Zelgadiss, Amelia and Filia all giving her slightly annoyed looks. She raised her hands in the air and allowed them to fall. “Look, I didn't know the barrier was going to try to eat the sword. I'm just going off of what I know. Sheesh, I've tried much riskier things with him and he didn't bat an eye.” She stared up at the barrier. “In any case I don't think we're going to have much luck getting through it, not right now. It probably requires the fifth weapon. Let's start making our way down to that Ancient Dragon temple.”
——-
Xelloss faded into view and stared at the four weapons glowing slightly in their ports. With a purposeful stride, he approached the Sword of Light and reached for the hilt.
“If you remove that, you'll destabilized the gateway.”
Without flinching, Xelloss glanced up at Almayce. “Almayce-san. You have recovered from your injuries from what I heard.”
“I will always carry this reminder of my actions.” Almayce rolled the shoulder where his arm was once attached. “I released myself from my healing chamber before it was time and suffered from it. What is your role here, Mazoku?”
“I'm here on a business matter. You understand the delicate interworkings of governmental affairs,” Xelloss said easily.
“Those interworkings involve retrieval of the Darkstar weapons for yourself?” Almayce scoffed. “The gateway has been opened and was barely closed in the nick of time. Removal of even one of those weapons at this point will destabilize things to the point where Darkstar will enter this world. Without the fifth weapon to bring him down, he will destroy it without thought.”
Xelloss lifted cool eyes to meet Almayce's. That did change the nature of the game. Somewhat. “I have my orders, Almayce-san. Don't think I won't hesitate to fight you if you refuse to let me carry them out.”
“Are the subordinates of Shabrangidu trying to summon Darkstar for themselves?”
Xelloss froze. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
Almayce narrowed his good eye. “Ceiphied split the Dark Lord Shabranigdu into seven pieces before sinking into the Sea of Chaos. One of those pieces are sealed into the mountains north of here. A second was destroyed a couple years ago by Lina Inverse. I am aware of these actions. Do those that remain wish for Darkstar to aid them in taking over this world?”
“You can see that the summoning of Darkstar to this world is a concern of ours as well.”
“Forget the politics,” Almayce raged. “Do you have so little disregard for this world yourself? My world is on the brink of annihilation. Are you willing to do the same thing to yours? He will not work with the fragments of Shabranigdu. Instead, he will take down this world and those pieces along with it!”
Xelloss hesitated and opened his mouth to speak when a musical voice filtered through his thoughts. He is right, my priest. You, as always, have performed your duties in an excellent fashion. We have heard communications from those fragments left behind. They do not want Darkstar's dominance.
But our goals, My Lady…
Our goals will still be met. We are Mazoku. We know when to use things to our advantage. You, especially, are skilled at this my Trickster Priest.
A smile tugged at the corner of Xelloss' lips. My skills are always performed in service to you, My Lady.
Then see to it now. Form a truce with Almayce and we will proceed from here. If there is a way we can work things out to our advantages…well, truces are always made to be broken.
Xelloss inclined his head briefly. As you wish, My Lady.
I grow tired from this method of communication. See me as soon as possible.
Of course. Xelloss turned his attention back to Almayce. “My orders are to ensure the stability of this world by whatever means possible,” he said easily, hoping he gave off the sense that he was thinking over Almayce's words instead of communicating with Zelas Metallium. “I believe that we can work together on this.”
Almayce relaxed slightly. “We must find the fifth weapon.”
“If I have learned anything in the past, it is easier to let others do the work for you whenever possible.” Xelloss offered him a small smile. “Lina-san and her group are heading to the very temple I had planned to investigate next. Why not let them uncover the weapon for us while we prepare for the final showdown?”
Almayce nodded. “Very well. We must also locate Valgaav's whereabouts.”
“A sentiment I agree with completely. But for now, I must return to my mistress's side.” Xelloss gave the Overworlder a courtly bow, then teleported away to Wolf Pack Island.
——-
Three Days Later
Although she didn't play it that often, Lina was familiar with the rules of chess. She knew a stalemate when she saw one. She was currently engaged in one with her partner and she honestly had no idea why.
Filia estimated that it would take close to a week to get to the Ancient Dragon temple. In the three days since they revisited the gateway and tried to pass through the barrier, Gourry had barely spoken to her. He was often looking at her, she realized, with a tight-lipped expression that she had seen a few times before. It stung even worse when she found herself rooming with Filia, Shizuri and Amelia whenever they managed to reach an inn.
The thing was, Lina couldn't understand exactly why Gourry was so angry with her. She thought it had started at the gateway, but the more she thought about it, he had started acting strange when they were recovering from the battle. It started the day they had gone over the battle itself. After being talkative during the discussion, he had suddenly fallen silent and hadn't said much for the rest of the evening. Lina was quite certain that they had overloaded his brain and he was trying to process everything.
Then came the visit to the gateway. When Lina had flown down to retrieve Gourry, he had insisted that the sword couldn't cut through the magical barrier. Okay, maybe she should had taken him a bit more seriously. He was an airhead, but he knew his stuff when it came to swords and the role of a swordsman in battle. Gourry had been right all along, there was no sword that she knew of that would cut through a magical barrier. The closest candidate would be the Blast Sword. Lina actually wanted to try it out on some lesser barriers. She was pretty sure it could cut through those. The Blast Sword couldn't cut through the barrier created by the weapons because they were created from the power of a dark lord. That was her best theory regarding the matter.
Lina picked up the map leading to the Ancient Dragon temple and tried to focus on it. If Milgazia was right, the weapon would be in that temple. They could take it use it to get through the barrier and retrieve the other four weapons. With all of the weapons combined, they could easily take down Valgaav. She sighed. Then there was Darkstar. Would removing the weapons cause the gate to reopen? She wasn't comfortable with the idea of handing them to Almayce. And what was Xelloss's role in this?
What was wrong with Gourry?
Think, Lina, think. You've got bigger issues than a grumpy jellyfish, she ordered herself. Lina smoothed the map on the table once more and stared at the island where the gateway was. It was an idea that she had rejected earlier, but maybe they really could destroy one of the weapons. It would eliminate anyone from using all of them and would leave only Valgaav to deal with.
She didn't notice Filia at first and did a double take when she saw that the priestess had seated herself across the table from her. “What's wrong, Filia?”
“I figured now would be a good time for us to talk,” Filia suggested and Lina looked around. Most of their party and other inn patrons had retired to their rooms. They were the only ones left in the dining room. Amelia and Shizuri stood in the hall, mumurming in low voices. Shizuri nodded to Amelia before walking into the dining room. She strode toward the table and took the chair next to Lina's.
Lina eyed both of them with growing suspcion. “What is this?”
“We've come to a vote,” Shizuri announced. “We're kind of sick of you and Gourry enacting your own version of the Kouma Sensou.”
Lina scowled. “He started it!”
“Maybe. But, he did ask something of you and I have a feeling that you've been stalling about it,” Filia explained as she produced a pot of tea from her robes. She set it on the table, followed by a plate of cookies. “Now that we're comfortable, what do you have to ask the two of us about?”
Lina flinched. She hoped that Filia hadn't heard what Gourry had said. At the time he suggested it, it had sounded like an excellent idea. It'd been enough to get her to forget about Luna's interpretation for awhile. Her sister's words had started to drift back after the battle at the gateway, but Lina did her best to ignore it and the nagging internal voice that told her to have this exact conversation with Filia and Shizuri. She shrugged and gave them a bright smile. “It's nothing much. Just wanted to go over some theories with you. It can wait until after we find the final weapon.”
Filia and Shizuri exchanged pointed looks. “Lina-san, I think whatever problem that Gourry-san has with you is due to what he asked of you.”
Lina got to her feet and slammed a hand on the table. “Look, I don't want to deal with this right now. We've got bigger worries. We've got to find the final weapon, do something about Valgaav, convince Almayce that maybe there's some other way to deal with Darkstar, deal with your elder, figure out what the hell Xelloss is doing and all without getting ourselves killed. As for Gourry, whenever he wants to take the stick out of his ass, then that's his deal. I'm going to bed.”
She whirled around, intending to march upstairs, and had taken two steps when she realized that Gourry was standing in the entrance to the dining room. His eyes were hooded and were so filled with hurt that she flinched. She sucked in a breath and strode past him, trying her best to ignore the little knives that were stabbing her heart.
She was nearly to the stairs when he spoke. “If you don't tell them, I will.”
What? Lina nearly tripped over the bottom step. She grabbed the railing and faced Gourry's rigid back. “You wouldn't!”
“I would.” The look he shot over his shoulder was both sad and furious and she froze. “I'm not going to sit by and watch you kill yourself because you're too proud to ask for anyone's help. I promised to protect you for the rest of my life, even if it's from yourself.”
The blood roared between her ears and anger rolled in the pit of her stomach. Fury mixed with the sick feeling of betrayal and she knew there was no way out of this. She shoved past Gourry and retook her seat at the table. Without saying another word, Gourry took the seat beside her. Lina nearly scooted her chair away, but decided that it was a bit too childish.
“I want to know what you two think of the prophecy,” she said in a neutral voice. “Your personal interpretations of it. You both are in service to the gods, you've received training in this.”
Shizuri held up a finger. “Not exactly. I never entered formal training.” She closed her eyes and shook her finger slightly. “I can give you my opinion, but I wouldn't put stock in it the way I would Filia's. After all, she's the one who brought up the prophecy to begin with.”
Filia flushed slightly. “What I brought you was my Elder's interpretation of the prophecy. Since I've met you, Lina-san, I've started to consider my own.”
“And what is that?”
Filia folded her hands in her lap. “Well, before I convinced the Elder that you were the right one to fulfill it in place of Luna-san, I had to convince myself. I wasn't quite there yet, but when you displayed your powers, I realized that the prophecy never talked about Luna-san at all. It was about you the entire time.”
The dread that she had managed to bury since the talk with Luna was back. Lina swore silently at her sister, wishing that she had gone into this situation blind. It would had been better than sitting back, waiting for the ax to drop.
“We know that the controller of a Darkstar is now Valgaav,” Filia continued. “I was wavering between Almayce and Valgaav, but the prophecy has to refer to Valgaav himself.”
“He's going to try to open the gate again, isn't he?”
Lina nodded to Shizuri. “Oldest villain cliche in the book. He's insane, he wants revenge, he's pissed, so on and so forth. I'd eat my headband if he didn't attempt to finish what he started.”
“I'm wondering about Almayce myself,” Shizuri replied. “He sounds determined to summon Darkstar no matter what. If he does and the weapons don't work, we're finished.”
“That brings me to the next part of the prophecy,” Filia said. “Following the power between light and darkness, a single star shall be awakened. The rest of the prophecy refers to the power that the single star has. The Elder thought it meant the Knight of Ceiphied, which is why I was sent for Luna-san. But she isn't a magic-user, and I believe that the prophecy refers to it.”
Shizuri thought it through. “The power between light and darkness, darker than twilight and brilliant beyond the dawn. The single star is whoever can control those powers.”
“Exactly. It didn't hit me myself until Lina-san started to cast the Giga Slave. I knew about it, of course, but I didn't realize it until then. She can draw upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares, Airlord and the Dark Lord Shabranigdu. There's no other human alive that knows how to do this, especially since Holy Magic was lost to your lands when the Mazoku barrier was erected.” Filia directed her last sentence to Lina. “So I think your powers, combined with that of the weapons, must be used to bring down Darkstar.”
Lina closed her eyes and turned the information over in her mind. It had been similar to Luna's interpretation, but not quite. “Do you think I would have to draw upon any of those powers simultaneously?”
Shizuri nearly jumped out of her chair. “Are you crazy? Do you realize the chance of losing control over such a massive amount of power could possibly do to you? Remember what Oren said, if you're not careful with the gods power, you'll kill yourself. Imagine trying to combine that with Shabranigdu's or the Lord of Nightmares!”
“I'm fully aware of that, Shizuri,” Lina said through gritted teeth.
Filia looked at Lina, then at a stone-faced Gourry, then back at Lina. “You said you mentioned that you had talked to Luna-san. Is that her interpretation of the prophecy, that you would have to use both powers at once?”
“Yes,” Lina snapped at her. “But, as someone decided to tell me a couple weeks ago, there's different interpretations for prophecies. We just had more important things to deal with at the time. Besides, prophecies don't necessarily have to come true, right? I don't want my life to be dictated for me by the vague words of some idiot Elder who had his own priestess cast out of her temple.”
“The thing about prophecies is that they almost always come true.” Filia's voice was cold now as she bristled about her own disgrace. “Otherwise we wouldn't take heed of them in the first place. I do think you're correct, Lina-san, in that whatever role your power plays in the fulfillment of the prophecy isn't of importance yet. We need to find the final weapon before we can proceed any further with things.”
Yay, score one for me. Lina shot a furious look at Gourry, who had remained silent through the entire talk. His eyes were slightly unfocused. Her hands clenched into fists. If he had spaced out during this entire conversation that he had started to begin with, she was going to pound him sometime into next week.
Shizuri and Filia stared at the couple, then exchanged knowing looks and pushed back from the table. They didn't want to be around when the explosion occurred. “We're going to bed,” Shizuri announced. “If you're going to scream at each other, just do it in a manner that won't get us thrown out of this inn, okay?”
They were alone. Lina closed her eyes and took in her surroundings using just her sense of smell and hearing. She heard the remains of the fire crackling in the hearth and a light scratching from the walls. There was probably a mouse behind the boards. She could smell the faint smoke from the hearth and the clove oil that the man sitting beside her used so often on his weapon that it was more comforting to her than any sort of cologne.
“Why did you do that?” It was a loaded question and the only one she could think of at the moment. “Why did you force this?” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and startled. The anger was gone now and he stared at the table looking so sad and lost that she wanted to hug him.
“I wanted to protect you.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I was worried before, but it didn't seem so bad, you know. You said you were going to be fine, and I thought that everything would be fine. Then Zel and Amelia told us what that Almayce guy said and I thought about it for a long time. I don't get everything that's going on, but I do know this much.” He looked at her and her eyes went wide when she saw tears shimmering in his. “I realized that your sister might be right after all and because you hadn't talked to Shizuri and Filia, I got scared. I don't want to lose you. I love you.”
Her throat tightened. He hadn't said those words to her since that one time they were forced to do so to be freed from the matchmaker's spell. Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids, but she quickly covered the emotion with a casual smile and a wave of her hand. “You're starting to worry too much. Besides, I'm going to be fine. I think you've had too much time to think lately. Filia and Shizuri have a point. We don't have to deal with it yet, so we will when the time comes. We've got too much to do first.”
Giving into impulse, she stood, wrapped her arms around him and simply held on. He relaxed into her embrace and she leaned her head against his. They stayed like that for awhile, not saying anything at all.
She lifted her head and found her lips just inches from his. Because they were there, she kissed him. It was a gentle kiss, one that they needed after what had happened. She kept her arms looped around his neck and he brought one of his behind her back. Before she realized what he planned to do, he had pulled her onto his lap and skimmed his hands up her back and into her hair. He tasted and smelled wonderful and it quickly became apparent that she was having the same effect on him that he did on her.
When was the last time we did this? Before we got to the gateway. She tried her best to think, but it was rather hard when a pair of teeth lightly closed over one earlobe and wrecked havoc with her concentration. They couldn't keep going with this, that much was for sure. Granted, it was probably midnight, but they were in the middle of a public dining room. Her body was protesting her brain's logic, especially after he slipped one hand beneath her bandeau and over her breast.
“We can't do this here,” she breathed, but allowed him to remove her bandeau while she wrestled his shirt free so she could touch bare skin.
“Why not?”
She allowed herself one small smack on his shoulder. “Because a certain jellyfish pitched a fit and now we don't have our own room.”
“I don't want to stop.” His lips covered hers and silenced the next round of protests she was about to issue. She tilted her head to one side as the kiss went from gentle to knee shaking in the time it normally took her to cast a fireball. She heard the scrape of the chair and realized that she was now in his arms. He placed her gently on the table and reached for the hooks holding her tunic together.
“What the…we can't do this in here!” she hissed as her tunic fell to the floor, followed by his shirt.
He ignored her. She wasn't exactly stopping him either, not the way her hands moved over his chest and teased sensitive parts of his body. He pulled down the straps of her one-piece and let the fabric pool at her waist as he teased her breasts with both hands, lightly pinching the nipples between his thumb and index fingers as she moaned and thrust against his waist. Her legs were splayed on either side of him and he swore he could feel the heat coming from her.
“Lie down,” he said hoarsely, letting instinct and his own private fantasies guide him at this point. He made quick work of her boots, then reached for her pants and the one-piece, drawing them both off at the same time.
She struggled to focus as his fingers lightly skimmed over the flat of her abdomen and drew small circles around her belly button. Room silencing spell. She had to cast a room silencing spell. She began the chant as his hands smoothed over her waist and hips. It stuttered to a gasping halt when his hand cupped her. He slid one finger between her folds and lightly explored them while he leaned forward and took her breast into his mouth.
Spell, spell, spell. Her hands curled into fists as he slipped that finger inside of her and she wanted to scream. She wanted to push him to the ground and fuck him blind. His thumb started manipulating her sex and she grabbed the edge of the table and drew upon all of the self control that she had. Instead of chaos words, all she could managing was breathless little cries that drove them both insane.
His fingers were suddenly gone and he began kissing his way down her abdomen. It gave her the chance that she needed. She started chanting the spell again, focusing on the walls and ceiling as she raced through it with a speed she normally gave to food. She knew she succeeded when the room gave off a blue glow, followed by a slight shimmering. The spell wasn't suppose to shimmer like that, but she quickly chalked that up to the fact that his mouth had replaced his fingers in exploring her intimately.
She couldn't keep quiet any longer. Her hands dug gouges into the table as he did an extremely throughout job at exploring her intimately his tongue before lightly skimming it over her sex. He spread her open wider and used his lips as well. She could feel her release building and wanted him inside of her. She wanted his arms around her, his lips against hers. She wanted to hear his laugh and say something so stupid that she wanted to throttle him. Memories of him flashed through her mind in an instant before she let go with a scream that would had waken up everyone had she not gotten the spell off.
Before she could begin to get her bearings, he shoved her a bit farther onto the table, hands shaking as he fumbled with his belt. She dimly heard the sound of pants falling to the floor before he slid inside of her. Even though she was still giddy from her orgasm, she could feel her body start to react once more. She lifted her head and met his eyes as they began to move in sync. Somehow, they seemed to convey everything that she wanted to say and couldn't. He was her world, the center of her universe. It shook her to the core to realize that, to know that he had worked his way in so deeply that life wouldn't be worth much without him beside her.
She managed to wrap her legs around his waist and ignored her protesting muscles, which were already semi-numb from having dangled off the table for so long. His thrusts grew more powerful and she felt the table shake beneath them and prayed that it wouldn't break from their combined weight. Her hands skimmed down his back, then up into his hair, grabbing fistfuls of it as she fused her mouth to his, muffling his shout as he shook violently and they let go together.
Lina's world slowly came back into focus. She could hear the clock ticking from the main room, then began to chime. Midnight. She heard her shaky breathing and his and closed her eyes. “I should kick your ass for this,” she said in a lazy voice as she combed her fingers through his hair and felt the table sag beneath them. She winced when Gourry settled his full weight on her and the wood cracked. Geez, we're not that heavy. Crappy workmanship.
Gourry laid his head between her breasts and couldn't come up with the words for why he had wanted to have sex at that point. He had wanted to be with her and it didn't matter where as long as they were alone. Being with her eased the shaky, scared feeling that churned in his gut and grew as the days went by and they got closer and closer to finding the fifth weapon. She was his world and he didn't know what he would do if something ever happened to her. He'd nearly lost her too many times to count and it felt like he needed to seize moments like this and hold onto them as tightly as possible.
——-
“Lina-san? Why aren't you eating with the rest of us?”
Lina flinched and couldn't quite bring herself to meet Amelia's gaze. The princess stood next to the small two-seat table Lina had grabbed for herself after walking into the dining room for breakfast the next morning and seeing the rest of the group, sans Gourry, at the large table she, Gourry, Filia and Shizuri had occupied the previous evening. Somehow, she didn't think Amelia would had appreciated what had occurred on that particular table after Filia and Shizuri had left.
“It's just as well,” Shizuri said and shook the table slightly, jostling the food that had already been brought out. “This table's suddenly gotten rickety. Wasn't like that last night.”
“Shoddy workmanship,” Zelgadiss said and studied the wood. “They probably don't have access to the hardwoods that we do in the north. It's probably giving out due to the amount of food that's been placed on it in the past day or so.”
“Or other things,” Shizuri remarked smoothly and winked at Lina, who promptly choked on a piece of sausage. The illusionist picked up her plate and carried it over to Lina's table. She took the other seat and helped herself to one of the biscuits left in the basket. “You know,” she said casually, “the thing about room silencing spells is that while they do an excellent job at sealing the room against noise leaking out, it still doesn't stop anyone from walking downstairs and seeing some things they probably shouldn't.”
She grinned and took Lina's wide eyes, red face and hung jaw as a sign to continue. “Fortunately, you know a talented illusionist who just happened to come downstairs and knows how to create illusions that not only make a room appear empty, but cause others to not want to go in there for a certain amount of time.” She bit into a biscuit and chewed it throughly. It was a little too doughy for her taste.
“Thanks, Shizuri,” Lina managed and made a mental note to pound Gourry into next week for starting it in the first place. The illusion spell explained the shimmering she had noticed at one point.
“Don't worry. I didn't see enough to give away your privacy, only enough to realize what the two of you were doing.” Shizuri gave her a warm smile that reminded Lina of Luna in a particularly benevolent mood. “Of course, we'll give you two your space from here on out. You deserve all the happiness you can while you can still grasp it.”
Lina's hand froze, piece of bacon in midair. “Do you think…”
“I think any of us can buy it at any time. It doesn't stop us from pursuing our goals, that's the way humans are. I think the prophecy will reveal itself in its own time. If we've learned anything from this and what we've gone through in the past, it's to be true to our own feelings.”
Lina smirked and resumed eating. I wonder if Shizuri would appreciate meeting Martina? She could create an illusion of that so-called Zoamelgustar. That would be hilarious to see! The mental image of Shizuri tormenting Martina with her illusions kept her cheerful throughout the rest of the day.

Chapter 19: Driven Almost to Despair ← Chapter 20: Picking Up the Pieces → Chapter 21: Loss of Innocence

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