Something More Chapter 12

Author: DQBunny Title: Something More - Orders to Assassinate Lina

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 #24. The puppet master ; strings ; control freak, theme #25. Maillot ; paradox and theme #30. Aesthesiogen

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Chapter 12: Orders to Assassinate Lina

When she came to, Lina found herself stretched out on a bench with her head being cushioned in someone's lap. She quickly figured it was Gourry's, because the lap definitely belonged to a male. If it had been Xelloss, she'd kill him instantly, no matter what the condition of her hands.

"How long was I out?" she muttered.

"Good morning, sunshine. About 20 minutes."

"Only that long?" she whined.

"Yeah," Gourry replied casually, absently running a hand through her hair. She blinked. His focus, she noticed, wasn't on her, but on something across from them. "We have a visitor."

She turned her head, wincing at the pressure suddenly dropped on her forehead. She was going to get Xelloss for this when she got over this, Lina silently vowed. Just when he least expected it.

The she spotted her.

"The Eternal Queen," she whispered.

Dinasa was much like Lina remembered her from her childhood. She wore a ball gown that appeared to be otherworldly, but suited her perfectly. A high, starched collar of lace created a fan effect at the back of her neck and her blonde-grey curls were pulled back into a twist. She appeared both young and old at the same time, and she had incredible power. She carried an elaborate staff that reminded her a bit of Rezo's.

Lina scrutinized her further, tried to see behind the heavily made-up face. Was there really a Mazoku lurking in there? She scanned the area and noticed her sister on one knee before her. Xelloss stood beside her, his head inclined. Lina frowned. If Shabranigdu really was in there, wouldn't Xelloss have bowed as well? No, she decided. That would had been the fasted way to give himself away. She sat up and ignored the way the world began to spin around her.

"Forgive me for not bowing to you, Dinasa-sama," she called out. "I'm a bit incapacitated at the moment."

Dinasa advanced a few feet, her gaze flickering between the two sisters. "Luna and Lina Inverse," she muttered. "It's been years since both of you graced my presence at the same time," she said a bit louder. "It seems that not only have you done so at the present time, but provided me a small game to enjoy as well."

She watched us? Lina's eyes shot over to Luna's, but her sister kept her attention focused on Dinasa. An uneasy feeling crawled up Lina's back and she was grateful to have both her sister and Gourry there in her corner. Her hands tingled with pain and she prayed that Zelgadiss and Amelia figured out where they were. It would still take them some time to get to the top of the city.

"Thank you for carrying out your assigned orders, Xelloss," Dinasa told him. "I will tell Zelas-sama about the change in plans. You will not be at fault for this little incident."

Xelloss chuckled. "It is okay, Dinasa-sama. I'm used to dealing with such from Lina-san and her friends by now. They never cease to amaze me."

Amused, Dinasa gave him a small smile. "No, I suppose they never do." Her focus switched to Luna. "As your queen, I do order you to leave this area now. My issue is with your sister, not with you."

Luna got to her feet, Gourry's sword still in hand. "Majesty, I'm sorry, I refuse this order. I answer to Ceiphied and in this case, I am here as the god's knight. Therefore, it take precedence, even over you."

Lina saw a slight sneer before Dinasa managed to school it. The queen's body vibrated for a moment before inclining her head to Luna and making her way over to Lina and Gourry. Someone's controlling her, Lina realized. She really is nothing more than a puppet and her association with Xelloss only adds to the mix.

Dinasa paused in front of the bench. Ignoring the pain, Lina drew herself up as straight as possible.

The queen turned her attention to Gourry. "You are from another kingdom."

"Yes, Elmekia," he replied.

"They say you stole your family's heirloom sword and ran away from home. Technically, you're a fugitive." She lifted an eyebrow. "By all rights, I should have you arrested and turned back over to your family."

Lina noticed Gourry stiffen, saw the flicker of shock in his eyes. "Leave him out of this," she ordered. "Your issue's with me, not him."

"Yes. Yes it is, isn't it?" Dinasa's lips curled back into a sly smile. "You're a bright child."

Lina snorted. "I'm 20. I'm hardly a kid."

Dinasa titled her head to one side. "No, I suppose you're not. Though the last time I saw you was...10 years ago, am I not correct?"

"The Freeze Arrow." Lina's eyes widened. "There really was a Mazoku behind you!"

"You're very perceptive. Too perceptive." Dinasa stepped away from them. "You see, Lina-san, about five years ago, you started to engage in some very disturbing activities."

"When I killed Rezo the Red Priest, and the piece of Shabranigdu along with it, right?"

"You are correct. Since then, the list you've drawn up has been impressive." She ticked them off on her fingers. "Demon Dragon Lord Gaav. Hellmaster Fibrizo. Darkstar. You managed to have Dynast scurrying back to the Astral plane to lick his wounds. And, of course, your defeat of a second piece of Shabranigdu about a year ago."

"Damn, she really has done a lot," Luna mummered, slightly impressed.

"I give you everyone but Gaav," Lina replied. "Fibrizo killed him, not me.

Dinasa chuckled. "Okay, I will amend the list. But in any case, the balance has tipped a little bit."

Lina chuckled herself. "What, the ready supply of Mazoku is getting a bit too low for comfort?"

"Well, you have been quite busy the past few years, Lina-san," Xelloss supplied. Lina rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"In any case, after some consultation, I have decided that it's time to put an end to this. Unfortunately, that results in your death," Dinasa advanced on Lina and Gourry once more.

"Why? Because you're afraid that I'll discover that you have a piece of Shabranigdu inside of you, Dinasa-sama? Too late. I figured it out a couple of weeks ago." Lina watched, fascinated, as the color of Dinasa's eyes flickered between silver and red and back to their normal color again. Bull's eye.

Luna immediately lifted the Blast Sword. Xelloss approached her, leaned toward her ear. "Now, now, Luna-san, you can't murder your queen. Remember, it took Lina-san an enormous amount of power to kill off the first two pieces."

"I'm the Knight of Ceiphied. In my sister's words, bite me, Xelloss."

He lifted an eyebrow. "What do you think would happen though if you killed your queen? You wouldn't have killed Shabranigdu, you know this. The power would just pass on down to her heir, not to mention that the country would probably be plunged into anarchy."

"My sister or my kingdom." Luna's grip tightened on the sword.

"Your sister or the world. Consider the consequences."

"My job is to keep peace in Ceiphied's name and to stop Shabranigdu with all I have."

"Oh?" Xelloss cocked his head. "If that's the case, how come it was Lina-san who defeated the first two pieces and not you?"

Luna slammed Xelloss over the head with the flat of the sword, leaving a somewhat deep cut. "Shut up, nagagomi."

"Ah, talking to Filia-san again, haven't you?" Xelloss rubbed at the injury and wondered how long it would take for it to heal.

"Be quiet."

Still, he had a point, Luna realized. Along with the spells she sensed imbedded into the Blast Sword, she also detected some sort of sealing spell. Lina's letters regarding the sword had talked about how a seal had to be put on it in order for Gourry to be able to even sheath the blade. If she couldn't kill both Dinasa and the piece of Shabranigdu in one blow, the consequences to Zefielia would be grave.

Lina felt the situation turn weirder and weirder by the minute. It felt like they were sitting around having some sort of tea party, not discussing the fate of the world. She gauged her chance of getting past Dinasa and determined that they were slim. Her gaze shot over to her sister and their eyes met. She mouthed two words to her. Luna nodded. Lina turned her attention back to Dinasa and started focus everything she had into an Elmekia Lance.

Dinasa lifted her staff.

"Damu Brass!"

The spell shot through the wall behind Dinasa. Zelgadiss and Amelia charged through the rubble into the garden.

"Run!" Luna ordered them and Gourry shot off the bench, snatching Lina up at the same time. He pushed past Dinasa and dodged a beam of energy that she shot from her staff.

"Elmekia Lance!" Amelia called out, shooting the attack at Dinasa. She deflected it with the staff.

"You! Zelgadiss!" Luna pointed at Zel. "Distract her as long as possible. Amelia-sama, with us. Lina's hurt."

"Right!" Amelia fell back and followed Gourry as Zelgadiss prepared his next attack.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lina yelled at Gourry.

"You're hurt!"

"My hands are hurt, not my legs!"

"Shut up!" Luna yelled back to them and Lina shrank slightly into Gourry's chest.

Luna, Gourry and Amelia raced through the palace and saw guards rushing for them. "This way," Luna ordered, pointing down a hallway.

They ran until they reached a door, then were outside once more. The Temple to Ceiphied loomed before them. With the guards on their heels, they made it to the entrance of the temple. Amelia whirled around and cast Sleeping on the group and the remaining four headed inside.

At the base of the statue to Ceiphied, Luna motioned to Gourry and he knelt down. "It's her hands," he told Amelia.

"Lina-san, what happened?" Amelia asked.

"Just heal them, I'll tell you later."

Amelia started the Recovery spell and Luna began to pace. After a minute or so, she stopped and faced them. "There is one thing we can do to stop her for now without killing her." Luna turned back to them. "Lina, do you have any sort of magical boost?"

Amelia finished the spell and Lina flexed her hands. She gave a nod and desperately missed her gloves. "Orihalcon pebbles. It's the same type of stone used to make the Philosopher's Stone. The golden dragon Milgasia gave them to me."

"Give them to me!" Luna stuck her hand out at her.

Lina whirled around to face Gourry. "Gourry, give her your sack of pebbles," she ordered.

"Why?" His hand protectively covered the small sack.

"Because I'm not about to give mine...hey!" Lina cried, lunging after Luna, who'd promptly snatched them from her belt. "Give those back!"

"If you need them so badly, use his!" Luna yelled as she raced back down the hall. "Amelia-sama!"

"Right!" Amelia sprang to her feet and followed Luna.

Lina reached over, yanked Gourry's sack off of his belt and chased after her. He stared after her stunned, then scrambled to his feet and took off after her.

"Hey, give those back, Lina!" He fell into step next to her.

"I need them, Gourry!"

"Use your own!"

"My sister took them! Besides, we're engaged, right? That gives me a right to take your pebbles!" Lina shook the bag at him.

"Fine then! You want them, you pay for them."

Lina skidded to a stop and gaped at him. "You want me to pay for these?"

"That's right." Gourry halted as well and folded his arms over his chest. Lina shrank back slightly at the wicked gleam in his eyes - a gleam she'd only seen a few times before, including when he'd come up with the asinine idea to have her dress up like a boy when crossing into Zefielia.

"You have one of two options. One." He held up a finger. "You have to give me a single kiss for each single pebble you use."

Her eyes widened. "You...you've got to be serious," she stammered, hoping he was joking with her, but knew deep down that he wasn't.

"Or two." A second finger joined the first. "You are in debt to me. I get to call in a single favor on you. It can be anything in the world that I want."

Lina grabbed Gourry's shirt and yanked him so they were nose to nose. "You are completely insane! Where did you come up with such a stupid request? That's not even like you! Did some sort of clone take over your mind when I wasn't looking?"

He grinned. "Maybe I've been around you too long." Then he lifted the pebble sack from her slackened grip.

Lina screamed with frustration and grabbed her head. "I can't believe this! Out of all the times you have to be assertive, it has to be now! I feel like I've wandered into some strange paradox."

"So, which one do you choose?"

She eyed the pebble sack and considered reeducation Gourry as to how powerful a Burst Rondo could be. "Fine, then. I'll take the favor. Now, gimme!"

He handed the sack over and made a note to record this moment for posterity. Lina attached the sack to her belt and prayed that Gourry would manage to forget. After all, how likely would it be he'd actually remember it anyhow?

oOoOo

Zelgadiss barely dodged the attack from Dinasa and could see the change coming over her. It was just like Rezo, he realized. The piece of Shabranigdu was trying to break free from her. He let out a shot of pure energy at her, then spun around to face the guards that came to back her up. He let loose a fireball that tore through the group.

He whirled around to face Dinasa, wished for Lina's Ragna Blade to back him up. With those together, he could possibly take them her down. "Ra Til..."

"Wait!" Luna raced up to him. "Don't try, it's useless. If you kill her, it'll only send the piece of Shabranigdu into her heir. The princess is in the lower reaches of the palace, it'll do absolutely nothing but to move the venue."

"What do we do?" Zelgadiss yelled.

"Sis! Zel!" Lina, Gourry and Amelia reached them.

"Here." Luna handed the Blast Sword back to Gourry. "I appreciate the use. Here's what we do. Lina, she's after you. Distract her any way that you can. Gourry, cover her. Amelia-sama, Zelgadiss, keep the guards off of me. Lina, whatever you do, don't kill her. Don't use the Dragon Slave either, we'll blow the top of this mountain off."

"Give me a little more credit than that, Sis," Lina muttered.

They broke apart, Lina formulating her own plan. "I'm going to cast the Ragna Blade," she told Gourry. "It held up well without the tailsmen last time, let's see what I can do with it now."

Dinasa focused her attention on them. "You won't get away with this, Lina Inverse!"

Lina sputtered. "That has to be the most cliche thing that's been uttered yet!" She then turned her attention to activating the Ragna Blade. She saw Dinasa shoot at her out of the corner of one eye, then Gourry step in to intercept it. The blade of darkness formed and she willed the size of it down some to not affect Luna or Gourry.

She swung the blade out at Dinasa and parried her staff. She noticed Luna coming up behind the queen and Gourry suddenly move to cover her. Good thinking, Lina thought as she swung at Dinasa again with her own blade.

Luna jumped at Dinasa, slammed a hand on her back. "In the name of Ceiphied, I seal you within this mortal body," she yelled. Dinasa jerked as a tingling sensation started to radiate through her body and she was surrounded by blue light. "Lina! Cast Sleeping on her, now!"

Lina dissipated the Ragna Blade. "Sleeping!" she called out, sending the spell washing over Dinasa. The queen slumped and Luna caught her just before she hit the ground. Lina and Gourry rushed to her side.

"What was that?" Lina asked.

"A sealing spell using those Orihalcon pebbles you gave me." Luna wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I wasn't quite sure that I could actually get away with it. I've studied it, hoped to Ceiphied that I would never have to use it. It turns out I was wrong."

"Is it like what the Aqualord did to Lei Magnus?" Zelgadiss asked, approaching them.

Luna shook her head. "Only a fraction of the power. I'll explain more later. For now, the four of you need to leave here. I'll summon the heir, explain that a random Mazoku attacked her mother and that you saved her. It's not safe to stay in Zefielia much longer. I'm sure I can talk Dinasa out of this one, I'm pretty sure she wasn't in her right mind for most of it. She probably won't believe me, but if I get the heir on my side, it'll buy us enough time to get you out of here. But she does have a vengeance against you, little sister."

"For that one Freeze Arrow?" Lina snorted. "That was years ago! Or is she really miffed that I didn't attend the Sorcerer's Guild graduation?"

Luna's voice gentled. "I wish it was just that simple. Unfortunately, from what I've determined, her sympathies really do lie with the Mazoku. It wasn't all just the Shabranigdu inside of her that was pushing her to bring you back to Zefielia in a somewhat covert manner. She hates you, little sister, and would give a lot to see you dead. It's only because of me that you aren't."

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