Search for the Darkstar - Interlude II: The Prophecy

Author: DQBunny Title: Search for the Darkstar - Interlude II: The Prophecy

Search for Darkstar
Chapter 17: Those Who Serve the Gods ← Interlude II: The Prophecy → Chapter 18: A Breakdown in Negotiations

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.
Note: There is an alternate version of this interlude posted at MediaMiner. See the author's note at the end of this chapter or my profile for more information about it.
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Search for the Darkstarâ€¨
Interlude II: The Prophecy
Milgazia stood and nodded to them. “I invite you all to rest here for the night. We've a number of rooms that we maintain in case any unexpected human visitors arrive here. A holdout of the war, you can say, from when we had refugees hiding with us here in the mountains.”
Lina vaguely remembered hearing tales about that the last time they had come up to the Kataart Mountains. At one point during the Kouma Sensou, not long before Xelloss had been unleashed on the dragons, humans had fled into the mountains seeking sanctuary from those who worshipped the gods. It said a lot about the golden dragons that despite everything, they were willing to keep those rooms just in case.
“We have plenty of rooms for you. Memphis, tell Madeline that we need seven rooms prepared for our guests.”
“Six,” Lina automatically corrected, her mind still focused on all the information that Milgazia had just given them.
“No, that's not right, Lina-san,” Filia corrected her. “There's seven of us.”
“Yeah, but we only need six rooms,” Lina said dismissively. I'm going to go ahead and take a look at that map. Maybe the fifth weapon is where the pillar of light is, but could it had been right beneath Valgaav's nose all along if it is his headquarters?
“But if there's six rooms and seven people, then someone's…sharing…,” Amelia's voice trailed off as her eyes moved from a concentrating Lina to a half-asleep Gourry back to Lina. She clasped her hands over her mouth and gave a little squeak.
Lina startled, then frowned at her. “What are you doing, Amelia?”
“I think what the princess is trying to imply is that two of us are now sharing a room voluntairly,” Shizuri gave Lina a knowing smile.
“Huh?” For the first time, Lina realized what she had told Milgazia. “Wait a minute, wait a minute!”
“Yes!” Amelia cheered.
“Well, it was just a matter of time,” Zelgadiss acknowledged and coughed slightly, somewhat embarassed at the direction the conversation was turning.
“Hey, just because I asked for six rooms instead of seven doesn't mean a damn…what are you doing?” Lina screeched as everybody but Gourry and Milgazia gathered around the table, looking over a roll of parchment that Lyos had suddenly produced.
“Let's see, you were down for this… And Shizuri-san was down for that…” Amelia stood at the head of the table, quill in hand as she drew lines over a chart. “Zelgadiss-san, you had the 7th-13th, right?”
“I thought I had the 14th.”
“No, that went to Lyos-san. You had the 14th of next month.”
“Gourry.” Shizuri shook the swordsman until he was fully awake. “When did you and Lina have sex?”
Lina's jaw fell as Gourry looked up at the illusionist with sleepy eyes. “Last night, why?”
“Was it your first time?”
“Huh? Yeah…”
“Gourry!”
Whatever remained of Gourry's sleepiness was quickly beaten out of him with Lina's slipper. “Ow, what was that for?” he yelped as she smacked his arm repeatedly with it.
She bared her teeth at him. “You just told all of our friends what we did last night!”
He gave her a matter-of-fact look that made her blood boil. “Well, they're going to find out anyways. We're sharing a room now.”
“Even so, you don't just share intimate details like that!”
“Well, I'm not going to lie to them.” Gourry folded his arms over his chest and pinned Lina with a steely gaze. “Lying's not a good thing and it won't make things better in the end. You lie enough for all of us.”
“I can't believe this! You just blurted out details of our sex life and now you're lecturing me about lying?”
“Ah hah!” Amelia planted a finger on the parchment. “Filia-san wins the bet!”
“You were betting on when Gourry and I were going to sleep together?”
“Thanks, Amelia-san!” Filia happily accepted a pouch of coins from the princess. “It won't begin to cover the costs of feeding everyone, but at least we'll have enough to keep us going for awhile.”
“Well, it did help that Daddy tossed in some money as well.”
“Prince Phil betted on us?”
“Uh huh,” Amelia said, not bothering to look up from the list. “Let's see, the five of us, Daddy and Sylphiel-san.”
Lina moaned and turned her permanently red face to the ceiling. Well it could had been worse… Sis or my parents would had joined it had they known about it. She started to imagine using all of her friends for fireball practice.
“Okay, so who's in for the next stage?”
“I'm in.” Shizuri tossed some coins on the table in front of Amelia. “Are we doing dates by random draw or should we block out weeks like we did this last one?”
“Random draw of weekly blocks is probably best for this one,” Amelia said, chewing on the end of the quill thoughtfully. “After all, I'm not quite sure when he'll get around to asking her. Lyos-san, can you take that blank parchment, write out dates in weekly increments for the next year in little squares, cut them up and put them in that empty bowl over there?”
“I'm on it, princess!”
“This is Gourry we're talking about,” Zelgadiss said, placing some coins next to the ones Shizuri contributed. “I'm in on the stipulation that Lina does the asking.”
Asking? Next stage? Lina's mind worked frantically before it hit. “Oh no! You're not betting on that!”
“Too late!” Amelia said cheerfully and accepted a bid from Lyos.
“Say, does that cover years, princess? I don't think these weekly blocks'll cover it.”
“Lyos-san, that's really not a fair thing to insinuate.”
“Excuse me.” Lina whirled around to see Milgazia standing in the doorway to the room. He inclined his head slightly. “I wanted to let you know that your rooms are ready and to ask a question.”
“Certainly, Milgazia-san,” Lina replied, grateful for the change of topic.
Milgazia approached the table. “I overheard your conversation and I want to know if I can be included.” He dropped a small pouch of money on the table in front of Amelia.
Lina sank lower into her chair.
“Hey, can I be in on it?”
Everyone's attention swung to Gourry, who had his own money pouch out. He fished out five gold pieces and dropped them on Amelia's parchment. “There you go!”
“Ah, Gourry, do you realize what this betting pool is for?”
Gourry grinned at Zelgadiss. “To see when Lina and I get engaged.”
No one said a word for a moment. Then Amelia gave a business-like nod. “We'll draw your dates for you, Gourry-san.”
“Thanks!”
Lina fled from the room. She had no wish to stick around in case they began planning a wedding and the number of kids she was planning to have. Beyond mortified, she took the chance to kick at every door she passed while growling beneath her breath about the fun she was going to have using certain friends and jellyfish for target practice when she got a chance.
One of the dragons showed her to the room that she was sharing with Gourry. Once the door was closed behind her, she opened the Astral plane pocket where she kept hers and Gourry's things and pulled out their bags. She tossed his on a chair and started rooting through her own for pajamas. A door led to a surprisingly modern bathroom and Lina was grateful that Milgazia made sure that the dragons kept up with human technology. There was even running water, which greatly pleased her. She ran a bath and soaked until her skin had turned pink and wrinkly.
She walked out of the bathroom, running a towel through her hair, and was surprised to see that Gourry hadn't returned to the room. She tossed the towel into a chair and brushed out her hair. She yawned, getting a little sleepy. The bath had done a lot for relieving her anger and, had it been Zelgadiss and Amelia they were betting on, she would had been the first to lay a wager. An evil idea popped into Lina's head and she shot herself a most evil grin in the mirror. What's to say she couldn't start her own betting pool on a certain chimera and princess? She dropped her brush and went to find parchment and ink.
Gourry found her sprawled on the bed, an elaborate chart drawn out. He let out a breath when she didn't immediately start lobbing fireballs at him and started to change. “Whatcha doing?” he asked as he pulled his shirt off.
“Oh, let's say I'm going to get revenge on a certain chimera and princess, especially the princess. Want to join a betting pool on when they'll…,” Lina looked up and she promptly forgot whatever she'd been about to say as her mouth went dry at the sight of her shirtless jellyfish.
“They'll what?” Gourry moved his bag out of the chair and sat down to pull off his boots.
“Ah, you'll hear about it in the morning.” Lina tossed the parchment aside as a warm, heavy feeling started to form in the pit of her stomach, then spread through the lower part of her body. Well, if everyone was expecting them to get on with things, might as well live up to their expectations. She started to get up, ideas forming in her head, grateful that the Recovery spell had fixed up the soreness she had experienced the night before.
Gourry didn't say anything. He hunched over slightly and seemed to be staring at the ground very intently. Then he looked up, giving her such a serious look that thoughts of seduction quickly fled. “Is something wrong, Lina?”
She sat on the edge of the bed and tried to ignore the nerves that replaced the nice, warm, feeling of arousal she'd been feeling. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, you've been acting odd today.” Gourry worried his lip, looking like he was trying to puzzle things out for himself. “You were acting really odd last night too, with you crying and everything.”
“Gourry, I don't want to talk about it,” she said in a low, dangerous voice that she prayed got the point across to him. What he wanted to talk about was strictly off-limits.
“It'll help you to talk about it,” he told her in a matter-of-fact tone that set her teeth on edge. “You've been acting really strange all day. You haven't fought me for food and you didn't try to blow up the temple after finding out about the bets.”
“You didn't help matters either,” Lina growled through gritted teeth.
“So, you need to talk about it.” Gourry folded his arms over his chest and sat back in the chair. “We're not leaving this room until you do.”
“Okay, fine.” Lina crossed her legs and pinned him with an equally steely glare.
They glared at each other for a good five minutes, barely blinking as they waited for the other to break first. Lina rested her head in her hands and thought about how she could get Gourry to stand down. Then she grinned. “So,” she said in a casual voice, “you plan to sit there all night and wait for me?”
“That's right.”
“And not leave the room?”
“That's right.”
“Okay.” Lina stood and stretched, making sure to thrust her chest forward slightly. Might as well use the assets that you have. She spotted a water pitcher and several glasses on the dresser and crossed over. “You know, it has been a really long day.”
“Yeah, it has,” he agreed and for the first time she could hear the weariness in his voice. She ignored it and reached for a glass.
“We spent several hours getting here, then we got a little break before spending all of those hours with Milgazia-san going over those memories. Not even one tiny break. Then we had that big, absolutely divine dinner that lasted awhile.” Lina turned, glass and pitcher in hand. “The dragons have wonderful wine here, but you stuck to tea. How many cups of tea did you have, Gourry?”
He started to look a little pale and, to her delight, looked like he was squirming a bit. “Several,” he admitted.
“Then we all sat around after dinner and I'm sure you had something to drink then as well after I went back to the room. Probably a few more cups of tea, right?” Lina flashed him a beautiful smile, held the pitcher in front of him and poured water into the glass.
Gourry bolted.
Lina quickly abandoned the glass and pitcher and hopped into bed. Moments later Gourry stepped out of the bathroom and scowled at her. “That was pretty low, Lina.”
She ignored him, pressed her eyes shut and tried to count sheep.
“You're not sleeping, Lina.”
“How can I sleep when there's jellyfish yelling at me?”
“I'm not yelling!”
“Yes, you are!” Shizuri's voice came through one of the walls.
“Shut it, Shizuri!” Lina yelled.
“Look, why do I have to get put next to the bickering couple?” Lyos' voice came through the other wall.
Lina growled, sat up and cast a room silencing spell similar to the one Rezo had used years earlier to hide the sounds of battle. When she didn't hear anymore of Shizuri's smart remarks or Lyos's complaining, she glared at Gourry. “Happy?”
“Yeah.” He plopped back down in the chair. “Now that I'm sure you can't distract me using that particular method again…”
“We're still not talking about it. If you keep bringing it up, you're going to be sleeping on the top of the mountain tonight.”
Lina was prepared for yelling. She wasn't prepared for the crestfallen look that Gourry gave her. It tore something deep inside of her as he looked at her with eyes so sad that it made her throat clog. He sighed and got up. “I'll go ask Milgazia-san for another room.”
“Wait a minute!” Lina tossed the covers aside. “What the hell are you doing?”
He gave her another mournful look as he reached the door and she felt like she had just kicked a defenseless kitten. He pushed a hand through his hair and suddenly looked very weary. “I thought you trusted me, Lina.”
“I do trust you! What the hell makes you think that I wouldn't trust you?”
“You've always talked to me before. Why won't you talk now?”
“It's no use,” Lina said, sitting back on the bed. She closed her eyes and pressed the palms of her hands to them. “It's no use because talking about it isn't going to change anything. I don't want to talk about it, because then it'll be real and there'll be no turning back from it. I have to go through with it and…I'm afraid,” she admitted.
Gourry didn't say anything and she sighed, feeling the resistance drain from her. “You'll find out anyhow. You've got to promise not to blabber any of this to anyone, got it?”
He nodded and sat next to her. She drew in a deep breath and told him everything that Luna had told her the day before regarding the prophecy. He didn't say anything for a long time and for a moment, Lina was afraid that she had overloaded his brain. He leaned forward, drummed his fingers against his knee, then looked up at her.
“So, this is really no different from the other times you've nearly gone and gotten yourself blown up.”
Lina threw up her hands. “No, it means if my sister is right, I will definitely get myself blown up no matter what we do.”
“No, she said you might. There's a difference. But it's really not anything different than we've done before.”
“Yes, it is!” Lina jumped up and began to pace. “Don't you see, Gourry? Every other time, it's been my decision to face the things we have. Now I've got some stupid prophecy ordering me around!”
Gourry tilted his head to one side. “Well, if there wasn't a prophecy, wouldn't you still stop Valgaav?”
“Of course!”
“Well, there's your answer!” Gourry slapped his knee and stood. He ruffled her hair fondly and went hunting for his pajamas. “After all, it's not like something such as that has stopped you before,” he commented as he changed.
Lina stared after him, jaw sagging. No, the answer couldn't be that simple, could it? She thought it over and realized that he was absolutely right. If the exact same thing had come up and she had not ever heard of the prophecy, she would still be doing the same thing. She would still do what it took to stop Darkstar from being summoned and to get Valgaav off her back. Prophecy or no, he still wanted to kill her for what had happened to Gaav. The prophecy had brought Filia to her, but even without it, everything would had still happened.
She crossed to Gourry, wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her cheek to his back and felt the incredible burden lift from her shoulders. “Thanks,” she whispered.
He smiled and patted her hands. “We've been through worse, haven't we? I'm sure that no matter what happens, you'll be fine. You always are.”
She laughed a bit bitterly. “Seems like things keep coming to chase us down over and over again. Wonder if we'll ever have a normal life?”
“This isn't normal?”
She laughed at his surprised tone and it felt good. “I think I'll keep you around, you're good for a laugh,” she said, dropping her hold and slipping into bed. When he joined her, she smiled at him. “You really made me feel better. I may let you have the first dibs at breakfast tomorrow. I'll wait a whole five…no, two…no, one minute for you to go first.”
“Well, well,” he murmured, “that's quite generous of you.”
“I said I may. There's a difference,” she replied saucily.
“I think I'll have my breakfast now.” Before she could react, he flipped and pinned her to the mattress. The kiss was slow and gentle and she wound her arms around his neck as they gently explored each other.
He broke off the kiss, then lightly pressed his lips to her forehead before pulling back to look at her. “Are you… Is it…”
She laughed. “I told you this morning, it won't hurt. I used a healing spell and I'm fine. Here,” she said with a seductive smile, “let me prove that it doesn't.” She started to shift their bodies so she could straddle him, but he resisted.
“No, wait,” he said and she could detect a slight tightness in his voice. “Let me do it. Please.”
For the first time she could see it, the worry that he did his best to keep behind a cheerful mask. It moved something deep inside of her that he was expressing these emotions. The last time she had seen those shields drop was shortly before she went to the Tower of Wind and he had looked at her with such concern that part of her hadn't wanted to go after Airlord's power at all. She lifted a hand and ran it through his bangs. “You really are worried for me, aren't you?”
Gourry gave her a tight smile. “A little bit,” he admitted.
Lina gave him a cocky grin. “You worry too much.”
“Sometimes, I don't think you worry enough.”
“You were the one who just proceeded to snap me out of a funk after I spent more than a day moping over the fact that my sister tried to predict my death. I'm going to be fine,” she said, and she actually believed it. She was going to be fine and they were going to get out of this alive. There was no other option.
She pulled his head down to hers and they kissed again, the deeper and a little more urgent. His hand slipped down to lightly cover her breast and she arched into his palm. He rewarded her by lightly pinching her nipple through the thin material cover it and she whimpered slightly into his mouth. He reached for the hem of her pajama top and she helped him pull it off. His hand returned to what it was previously doing as she cupped his face between her hands and kissed him deeply. Her legs splayed open to accomodate him and she felt his hardness resting against her lower stomach.
It was still a little new and slightly scary, the amount of feeling they could evoc from each other just through touch. She hadn't expected their activities the previous night to have gone as well as they had gone. She'd been prepared to be uncomfortable and expect some amount of pain. And while the pain had happened, she had developed a joy out of seeing him reach fulfillment and it didn't matter that she hadn't done so herself that first time. The second was a different story completely as he had done his best to use his lips and tongue to create an experience that paled their experimenting a few months earlier.
Which reminds me… Lina struggled to think as the question that she had wanted to ask shortly before drifting off to sleep the previous night came back. “Gourry?”
“Hmmm?” His lips were on his throat and that one busy hand of his had moved beneath the waistband of her pajama bottoms. She felt his fingers brush against the curls shielding the apex of her thighs and knew she had to ask it fast.
“Hey, stop for a moment. Wait a minute.” She pulled her neck until it was out of his reach and he looked up at her with hooded, hungry eyes. She swallowed to clear her mind. “Where did you learn how to do that?”
“Learn what?”
She blushed. “You know…that.”
Gourry gave her a disbelieving look. “Well, when a man and a woman want to express their love for each other, sometimes they have certain feelings…”
She rolled her eyes. “I think we're past the point where we need to discuss the birds and the bees. I mean, I want to know how you learned to do well.. that. Not basic sex, geez you can learn that by seeing animals rut in a barnyard. Where did you learn how to… you know. Touch. Do that other stuff.” Don't make me spell it out. You're going to make me spell it out, aren't you?
Gourry hung his head for a moment and Lina was convinced he'd forgotten. She was about ready to give up on it completely when he looked up and she saw that the color of his face could very well rival the shade of her hair. “I…um…got it from a book,” he whispered.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
He pulled away from her and went to his bag. She propped herself on one elbow as he rummaged through his things, a bit pleased to see to see the embarassment. He turned back to her and she immediately recognized the thin red book he held in his hands. “Say, isn't that from the Shrigan Library? I thought it was some type of swordsmanship book.”
“Not really. It's umm… It's a book about sex.” Gourry handed it to her and Lina was instantly treated to pages of detailed diagrams and descriptions on technique. She paged through it. It wasn't just sexual positions, but also talked about kissing, foreplay and different types of sex. There was even a chapter dedicated to solo sex.
“I can't believe you stole a book about sex from the library!” Greatly amused, Lina flipped onto her stomach and went back to the beginning.
“It looked interesting and I was bored. And well… I figured we were going to… you know.” Now he was stuttering nearly as bad as she had been. “I was going to give it back! We left in such a hurry and I forgot it was in my bag until we were on the way to Zefielia.”
“Hush.” She waved him off as she started reading about kissing technique.
“Maybe we should get some sleep.” Gourry reached for the book and Lina twisted away from him. He made another grab for the book and she snarled at him. He sighed and turned away from her. Maybe it was better that they got some sleep. His stomach rolled at the thought of spending a day in the air…again. He'd do his best not to think about it.
When he heard the book suddenly hit the floor seconds before Lina climbed on top of him and started demonstrating her newfound knowledge, he lost the ability to think at all.
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Much later, she sprawled on top of him, their bodies still cooling from her “demonstrations.” His mind started to drift and he thought over what she had told him about the prophecy. He frowned, something about it nagging at the back of his mind. “Say, Lina?”
“Hmm?” she yawned and snuggled closer to him.
“Aren't prophecies just a guess?”
“Essentially, yes, though they tend to be well-educated guesses.” She traced light circles on his chest and wondered why they hadn't been intimate like this sooner. “A prophecy isn't like guessing what the weather's going to be like tomorrow. Well, I suppose it is, but on a different scale.”
Gourry didn't say anything for awhile and Lina thought he had fallen asleep. She rested her head on his chest and was nearly asleep herself when he spoke. “But don't people predict the weather differently?”
“Hmm?” she replied sleepily.
“Well, when I was in the war, we'd have different commanders insisting the weather was going to be different for the next day. One said that his knee ached, so that meant rain. Another said that he had this book telling him the weather for each day of the year…”
“An almanac.”
“Yeah, one of those. That commander insisted the next day would be clear.”
She yawned and began tracing circles over his chest again. “Do you remember who was right?”
“No, not really.”
“Eh, not surprised there.”
“Maybe you could ask Filia and Shizuri what they think the prophecy means. Weren't they fighting about it when we were looking for the Sword of Light?”
Lina bit her lip. She hadn't really planned on making this public knowledge, but it really wouldn't hurt to ask them what they each thought the prophecy meant. She smiled, relaxed and patted his chest. “Knew I kept you around for a reason.”
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Author's note: This Interlude came about while driving around towns doing errands. I'd been wanting to do a betting pool like this for ages. For those afraid that this is out of character for Amelia - she is the one who wanted to get Zel out of the area so Lina and Gourry could spend time by themselves after Seigram's attack. Also, in the sixth novel, she expressed disappointment when she and Xelloss learned that Lina and Gourry weren't going to engage in euphemistic sword practice. Some hints of this was shown back in the Shrigan chapters and the bets placed there.
Some other novel nods - one of Gourry's lines is taken directly from the fourth novel and that entire scene about his discovery of the prophecy is based off the scene the line is taken from. When Gourry says that line, it always reminds me of Roarke in J.D. Robb's "In Death" series. I suddenly get a flash of Roarke standing there with Lina instead of Gourry. Other banter in here pays homage to the sixth novel.

Chapter 17: Those Who Serve the Gods ← Interlude II: The Prophecy → Chapter 18: A Breakdown in Negotiations

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