Butterflies, Dominoes, and Causality - Chapter 7

Author: RVincent Title: Butterflies, Dominoes, and Causality - Chapter 7

Butterflies, Dominoes, and Causality
Chapter 7 of 12

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A Hentai Slayers Fanfic by RVincent

Rob.Vincent@gmail.com

PLEASE READ - I do not own ‘The Slayers’ and have no relation or ties to those people that do own the series, aside from the various DVDs and VHS tapes that I have purchased over the years. In conjunction with this statement I further decree that I am not claiming ownership, nor am I making any money off this fan work. No copyright infringement is meant, I am writing this as an expression of my fandom. Furthermore, this fanfic will contain some blood (not much) and some female x female sexual encounters and is therefore meant for adults only. If you are under 18 years of age please go back now and ignore ever reading this preface. For those other people that intend to stay I can only hope you enjoy reading this.

This is just one chapter of a multi-chapter fanfic, reading previous chapters is necessary to understand what is going on in the storyline (yes, despite the age restrictions there is a story line). Please visit the Slayers Hentai Fanfiction Archive (http://slayers.destructve.com) to read previous and subsequent chapters.

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Prologue

- Sairaag-

7 Years Previous

“Hummm…” Gourry stared down at the note in his hands, wondering to himself just how someone had tracked him down or even how someone knew he had come to be the bearer of the Sword of Light. Briefly he glanced to his side at the hanging weapon, feeling a little bitter at the upheaval that it managed to cause in his family over the generations.

But the fact remained that someone did manage to get his letter to him. He decided that no time was like the present and expertly popped the wax seal with one handed, flipping the envelope open and pulling out the contents, unfolding it. It took his brain a moment to adjust to the fancy script of the letter and for a fleeting second he wondered if he should have devoted as much time to bookwork and reading as his teachers had suggested. Looking down at the letter he took a few steps to the side and out of the pedestrian traffic, hugging up against one of the buildings in the square.

Gourry Gabriev,

Hopefully this letter finds you well. I am a priest in the city of Sairaag and I am writing on behalf of everyone in the city to ask of your assistance. Your forefathers once defeated the great evil Zanaffar in our city, but it is our worry that a great evil may once again be awakening! You are the only person in this world that has the power to help us Mr. Gabriev. If you could make it to our city as quickly as possible we would be forever in your debt. Please, from the bottom of our hearts we are begging for your help in this matter and are praying for your arrival as soon as possible.

Eruk Lahda

“Sairaag…” Gourry thought aloud, scratching his head, “I think I remember something about that….” He shook his head to clear his thoughts, “I wonder where it is?” He glanced around to see if the Paige that had given him the letter was still afoot but apparently he had long since disappeared into the swelling afternoon crowds. “I guess I’ll have to get a map.” He conceded after a moments thought. Although the letter was pulling him away from his new freedom on the road, it still served to increase his happiness level. Suddenly he had purpose, his first real goal and he wasn’t about to let himself or his family down.

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In all, the trip wasn’t really eventful at all. He reflected as the city started to come into view. There had been a few bandits, but not a single one had decided to take it upon themselves to make it their bad day. Likely not from any skill they feared he possessed, but he looked the part of the mercenary, and mercenaries are not notorious for overflowing coin purses. What captivated him most as he neared the city was the overwhelming feeling he got starring at the large tree growing in the center of the city. The holy tree of Flagoon. He’d heard about it as soon as he mentioned the city of Sairaag when he had been searching for a map, and since then it had been mentioned synonymously with the city itself on nearly every occasion.

The tree proved to be so distracting that he hardly noticed the wall several meters high looming in front of him. That is until the top of the wall began to cut into this skyward field of vision. By then he was just to the edge of it’s shadow, the sun projecting from behind it. He took a moment to look over the gate in his path. It was slightly ajar and a trickle of traffic was making its way through either side. Around the gate a few guards were positioned, questioning the entries into the city, likely on what their business was there. In response Gourry fished around in one of his pockets, eventually retrieving the envelope from the priest. Effectively he considered it his permission to enter.

Strolling up to the gates he got in the meager line with just two people ahead of him. Standing there he noticed that the traffic exiting the city was substantially more than those entering… and they were considerably better packed than someone expecting to be gone for just a day or two. It looked like they were expecting to be gone for a very long time, if not forever. The contents of the message started to come back to him, “Maybe this is serious…” He mussed to himself aloud as he glanced back to the envelope, his gaze drifting to his sword a moment before his head snapped up upon realizing he was next up.

“Papers?” At the prompting of the voice Gourry thrust out his hand holding the letter. The guard, obviously the overworked and underpaid type, looked questioningly at the offering. Being that they were not quite the regulation papers he was asking for he prodded, “I don’t care about any letters, you need to show me your license to barter in Sairaag, proof of citizenship from your state, or proof of family to enter the city.” The guard droned on, a speech he had said more times in his life then he had cared to count.

“But…” Gourry started, for a moment he was worried that he might not be able to get in so he pushed on, “That guy,” Gourry cursed himself for not being able to remember his name, “Sent me a letter asking me to come here, you can look at it…”

Trailing off, Gourry hoped for the best. The guard gave an exasperated sigh and opened the letter up. He paused for a moment looking at the crest of the seal and his eyes widened slightly. Upon reading through the letter his eyes continued to show his complete surprise, “Yor- you’re the Swordsman of Light.” He muttered out disbelieving.

“Yeah.” Gourry got out nodding, happy to be recognized and his hope growing that he might actually get within the city walls.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry about all of this, this way please.” The guard extended his hand and gestured Gourry through the gates. The letter was this time moved toward Gourry prompting him to take it.

A thought crossed his mind though, “Where do I go…?” He managed out, trying no to sound entirely clueless.

Nodding profusely the guard pointed down the main street directly ahead, “Just follow Flagoon street and at the end of it you’ll come to the temple. It’s so big you can’t miss it.” Gourry nodded and turned toward the main street as the guard called out behind him, “Good luck!” And after that last bit of encouragement Gourry committed himself once again to the task, taking great strides down the street.

Through his elated mood, Gourry started to feel something amiss as he continued to walk. Right on the edge of his senses there was this darkness, hard to discern from… Gourry turned sharply, his gaze drawn to the far away sight of the forest just beyond the wall of the city- something there. He tried to concentrate for a minute, as if his will might bring any threat lying there into a better focus but forced himself to turn away. There was definitely an odd feeling there.

He reminded himself that he was the Swordsman of Light. Pushing away the foreboding feeling he turned his attention back to the structure in the distance. The temple. In the shade of the Holy Tree the temple emitted just the opposite feeling that the forest had. Serenity, confidence, strength. The crowd swum turbidly at the edges of the moving mass of people, Gourry almost had to pause to gather himself again, his height was giving him an edge but he wasn’t quite used to a city as bustling as Sairaag.

Giving a sigh of relief, Gourry finally made his way out of the crowd, ascending the staircase to the main temple. People were still moving up and down the grandiose granite steps, but considerably fewer residents were visiting the temple than were in the main crowd. He stopped himself for a moment just to the side of the main entrance way. He took a moment to adjust his sword and tighten his chest plate. Futilely he tried to force down his mussed hair as he imagined the state of it after several days of travel. His hands came back dusty and oily and convinced him of the pointlessness of the effort which caused him to crack a bit of a grin before he convinced himself that he had at least made an effort.

Grudgingly he admitted to himself that he was stalling. Despite the bravado of heading to Sairaag without delay now he was anxious about actually talking with Eruk. He forced out a deep breath, pushing himself to stand all the taller and straighter before turning abruptly with new purpose and nearly barreling into an elderly woman making her way out of the temple. Thankfully he stopped himself short, she didn’t even realize that she had almost been toppled by the armor clad swordsman.

Inside he was nervous but he hid it well. It was becoming easier to project that cool calm exterior he had always associated with his father when he was carrying the Sword of Light. Inside the massive stained oak double doors of the temple was a huge dome. It was ornate with golden accents and had a perfectly spherical hole at its apex which flooded the center of the room with an almost unearthly glow. The statue there glowed from the light despite it only being made of marble or some other even less brilliant stone. After his eyes acclimated to the juxtaposition of light and dark across the circular room he spotted the tell-tale robes of a priest. Finally, he headed across the room on a collision course with the religious figure.

“Hello!” Gourry called out as he closed the distance between himself and the robbed person. They stopped at the greeting.

“May I help you with something young man?” His tone was formal but there was the slightest edge there, like Gourry had disturbed him during the middle of some important errand.

“Yeah, you see I got this letter-” Gourry paused as he reached into his pocket to retrieve it and hold it out. The priest didn’t seem inclined to take it from him so Gourry continued, “So, I need to find Eruk if you could help me?”

The man looked side to side, obviously trying to find someone else to pass the task onto, “And what do you need with Eruk if I may be so bold to ask?”

Gourry scrunched up his forehead, “I don’t know, the letter didn’t say.”

Finally the man let out a great huff, “And who are you?”

“I’m Gourry.” He stated standing more upright, then after seeing the look of unresponsiveness on the Priest’s features he added a little awkwardly, “The bearer of the Sword of Light.”

“Oh, I’ll go get him immediately, just wait right here.” And with that the man rushed away, heading off into one of the corridors that honeycombed the outer peripherals of the dome.

“Humm?” Gourry followed the man with his eyes wondering why he had gotten so helpful at the end. Could the Sword of Light have been really that important outside of Elmekia? Sure, he’d heard the stories growing up though he had never really paid attention to them. It was true that his father had been somewhat of a celebrity around town, but Gourry had always put that off as something that stemmed from his unmatchable swordsmanship. Not from… Gourry directed his gaze downward to the sword on his hip, it was so much trouble, had he made the right choice?

With time to kill he continued his inspection of the dome, there were some murals along the upper edges of the walls but they were difficult to discern from a distance. So instead he eyed the statue in the center of the room. It was a soldier, a young one, maybe just a little younger than Gourry. He looked it over, head to heel until his eyes locked on the sword the figure was carrying, the Sword of Light. His eyes widened slightly.

“I see you recognize your ancestor Mr. Gabriev.”

Gourry spun around to the voice, he didn’t recognize the bearded priest, however from his tone it sounded like he expected Gourry so he hazarded a guess, “Eruk?”

“Yes Mr. Gabriev, and I appreciate you traveling so far on such short notice.” The priest bowed deeply and Gourry bowed slightly in return because he wasn’t really sure how to respond.

“So, Eruk…” Gourry paused trying his best to play the part of the wielder of the Sword of Light. “What is it you need my help with?”

Eruk’s face tightened, “First, there’s someone I would like you to meet Mr. Gabriev, if you would just come with me.”

“Oh, who are we going to meet?” He asked curious.

“My daughter, now please, come along.” And with that the two of them headed out of the dome, leaving a sinking feeling in Gourry’s stomach.

Chapter 7

It was bright and early when Lina had decided it was time to round up the troops. Reluctant to go straight to Amelia’s door, she tried Gourry and Zelgadiss’ first. She knocked with a restraint befitting the time of day and quickly enough Gourry was opening the door. A bit bleary eyed but apparently awake.

“Morning already?” He asked with a bit of sleep in his eye.

“Yup, time to get ready, all of our supplies are in.” Lina said with a grin.

“How do you know that?” Gourry asked curious, surely Lina hadn’t got that much of a jump on anyone, the sun hadn’t even fully risen.

“A whole caravan of supply wagons came right past here this morning.” Then seeing Gourry’s questioning look she added, “A merchant’s daughter knows these things.”

Gourry nodded, leaving it at that, “Okay, see ya in a little bit, I’m going to try and get in a bath before we head out.” Lina smiled back in return as he closed the door.

Right after she left he scrambled to grab a towel and get down to the baths to catch up with Zelgadiss. He’d woken up a short time previous and headed down already. Gourry entered the changing room and stripped down, wrapping a towel around his waist before entering the bathing area. “Hey Zel!” He called out to announce his arrival. Zelgadiss gave a wave but otherwise went back to soaking against a nearby rock.

Dropping his towel Gourry carefully put one foot into the water, wary not to step on any kind of slippery scale that had a tendency to develop along the inside of these types of in-ground baths before making his way over near Zelgadiss, lowering himself into the chilly water and sitting back against the rocks himself.

“I‘ve got to know what to do.” Gourry fussed, moving his hands beneath the water and creating eddies and small splashes.

Zelgadiss looked up from the water, “Have you thought about just talking to her?”

Gourry flushed a little, “But-- Well, what can I say?”

Zelgadiss graciously offered a small show to give Gourry a demonstration of how things should go down. He took his hands above the water and lifted them up. With his right and left hands separated by some distance he lifted them so that the index and middle finger were dangling and made them ‘walk’ through the air to confront each other. With his hands in front of his face, meeting just like they were people Zelgadiss tried his best Gourry voice, “Hey Lina!” Gourry for his part was still, wondering where Zelgadiss was going with this. Meanwhile Zelgadiss’ other hand took on Lina’s voice, well, what was likely an impression of Lina’s voice, “Hey Gourry!” Zelgadiss shook his ‘Gourry’ hand up and down to indicate that its turn to speak had arrived, “You know, I couldn’t help but notice that you and Amelia have been acting really close lately.” The Lina hand bobbed up and down a moment before Zelgadiss responded in her voice, “Yup!” Zelgadiss took the two ‘walking’ fingers of his Gourry hand and rubbed them together, like a child would kick their toes while telling someone something embarrassing, “Well…” Zelgadiss started in Gourry’s voice, “I just wanted to tell you that I love you too!”

“No I don’t!” Gourry lifted out of the water, splashing Zelgadiss heavily in the process.

Zelgadiss was unfazed and responded in mock surprise, “Oh, you don’t? So you’re just upset she might end up with Amelia on some kind of ethical grounds?”

The play was over and Zelgadiss had decided to be tough on Gourry for a moment, “I-- well, I don’t know!” Gourry waved his hand out before him, like he was defending himself from unseen attackers. “It’s just--”

Zelgadiss broke in, “Just what Gourry! You’ve been obsessing about this for over a week, just get it over with or you know you’ll regret it!” Gourry snorted, then let out a deep breath, letting his hands fall to his sides, “Just talk to Lina, you’ve been with her longer than any of us Gourry, if you just talk to her, I’m sure she’ll be honest with you.”

Nodding wordlessly Gourry turned away before raising his voice, “And where do you stand in all of this Zel?”

Pausing for a second Zelgadiss looked down into the water, its surface settling and his image starting to rise up from the depths of its occluded surface aided by the morning sun. “I don’t have time for love…” His usual mask was there, but Gourry could sense the emotions were barely contained. Still, it was a rare frankness that Gourry felt the need to take advantage of,

“So, did Amelia have a chance with you?”

Again, a pause, “Yeah… she did. But, I knew it would have been too hard on the both of us.” Gourry nodded and started walking away before Zelgadiss stopped him.

“Honestly though, Lina had a much better chance…” Gourry turned barely, just catching Zelgadiss with the slightest of smiles.

“Oh, are you saying that even if Amelia isn’t in this, then I still have a bit of competition?” Gourry chided.

In response, Zelgadiss raised his eyebrow ever so slightly, “At least you’ve got Sylphiel to fall back on.” The seriousness of the statement took Gourry aback for a moment before Zelgadiss’ smile again came through, causing the two of them to share a bout of laugher.

“You know, for a second there I thought you were serious.”

Zelgadiss’ mirthful smile showed the playfulness, “Why, is there something wrong with Sylphiel?” But his follow-up question further fed Gourry’s doubts. He sat back down in the water though, on the far side of the pool.

“You know Lina’s waiting for us to get out there and eat some breakfast….” Zelgadiss made an affirmative sound, “… But I think I still need some time to think…”

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The sun made it hard to focus on the road. Lina squinted, it would figure that they were heading toward the rising sun again. It was always such a pain in the butt. Her grievances with the morning continued with the temperature. Somewhere during their ascent into higher altitudes they had lost all sense of heat. Until recently she could see her breath and her footsteps were greeted with the gentle crunch of ice as she walked through the heavily frosted grass.

She had no doubt that the weather would warm to tolerable levels as the day progressed but for the moment she held her arms tightly against her chest and folded her cape protectively around herself. Lina looked over her shoulder to the group behind her. Even in short sleeves Gourry looked comfortable, and Zelgadiss looked equally at ease, though Lina would have personally enjoyed his heavy woolen outfit and cowl. If there was anyone in her group that sympathized with her plight it had to have been Amelia.

The princess looked even more miserable, alternating between shivering and rubbing her hands together. At some point during the start of their journey she had even pulled a blanket out of her backpack. Though the end of it was still inside the backpack, it flowed down over her shoulder and covered her arms. A bit unorthodox, but something Lina herself would have enjoyed were her own blanket not buried completely at the bottom of her own pack.

As the road took a steeper pitch she grumbled to herself. She’d been the one getting everyone moving so early in the morning. Even Zelgadiss had seemed content to wait a little longer before leaving. But she had pressed it and got everyone on the road with hardly a bite to eat. She wondered if that was something contributing to the silence. Amelia, Gourry, Zelgadiss, they’d hardly said anything at all amongst themselves.

Lina looked back to Amelia uncomfortably, eyeing her blanket but remembering what had happened that morning. They had both been waiting downstairs for Gourry and Zelgadiss when Lina had felt Amelia take her hand. She’d felt her breath catch in her throat as Amelia gently squeezed her fingers. Lina had turned enough to catch Amelia’s expression before the princess pulled away like she had touched debris from a fireball blast.

It had been unsettling to say the least. Any game that they had been playing with Gourry and Zelgadiss was over. Lina didn’t know what to say to the princess that she already hadn’t. Things were getting…difficult. Lina hated the tension, something would eventually have to give there. She wasn’t going to be able to deal with it forever.

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They’d continued on a steep ascent most of the day. The air continued getting thinner and colder by the step. It was arduous work, and Lina was definitely starting to feel winded for it. Sometimes the trail lead around the mountain and other times it lead straight up the mountain. Next time she swore she was just going to use a dragon slave and go through the mountain. The thought made her smile. That and the fact they were nearly there, another day at the most before the four of them finally made it to their destination.

She turned slightly to her right and back, keeping an eye on the swordsman and the chimera. The Kakarat mountains were dangerous and by keeping an eye on the two of them and their stress levels she got a feel for the situation and any danger they might have been in. Despite the danger, and the sometimes biting wind, her mind continued to find its way back to the princess traveling behind her. They’d hardly said five words to each other since they’d left the last town and Lina wasn’t sure if things were ever going to look up from there. She thought for sure that Amelia was plotting to leave the group sometime soon, and maybe with no warning. She hadn’t even been talking to Zel.

Wanting to get a reaction, anything out of Amelia, Lina purposefully slowed her pace. Gradually Amelia caught up with her and eventually, with careful movements was traveling along side her. Timidly Lina reached out with her hand and took one of Amelia’s in her own. The reaction was instantaneous thought not what Lina was hoping for. Amelia quickly pulled away from the contact, nearly loosing her footing in the process.

“Hey!” Amelia called out glaring at Lina before regaining her balance.

“What?” Lina answered back cockily, it was easier to feel the anger. That Amelia’s reaction had been uncalled for.

In response she was snubbed, Amelia wasn’t even looking her way again. Lina looked to Gourry and Zelgadiss for their take on things but neither one wanted to meet her eyes. She wasn’t sure what they thought. She was pretty sure they were convinced that herself and Amelia were in fact a couple. They probably just thought it was some kind of quarrel that would work itself out. Something that a strong relationship would work through.

She tired to think of something other than Amelia as she walked faster to catch up with Gourry and Zelgadiss. Eventually she found herself walking between the two of them, matching them stride for stride. She wished that her relationship with Gourry and Amelia was as honest as hers was with Zelgadiss. At least she knew his stake thing things. Sure, he was selfish and seemingly just in it for the cure. But she knew he also cared deeply for his friends. She knew that when it came down to it, he would choose them over a cure. Though she didn’t delude herself to believe that he even realized that tidbit.

That was it though, he was a good friend. The loyalty may have been lacking at times, but he would always come through in a pinch. It was Gourry who was more difficult to decipher.

Even when she came right out and asked him he could never give her a straight answer about their relationship besides the usual cryptic ‘guardian’ routine. She wasn’t even sure he knew what it was. Whether he was just her protector, or something more. She wondered if their relationship only seemed to become more romantically inclined simply because they both expected it to end up that way. The more she became entangled in it though the more it seemed like something there was being forced. They’d been traveling together almost her whole adult life, she’d only really become a woman a few months before she started traveling with the blonde swordsman.

Did she honestly expect to end up with the first person she ran across for life? Her stomach growled and she tried to ignore it. Her thinking would be more productive on a full stomach but they had forgone the most important meal of the day in order to make haste over the mountain before less favorable weather came in. Reluctantly her thoughts came back to Gourry. They’d been traveling so long and still she didn’t know much about him either. Whenever she asked about his home he dodged the issue as eloquently as she could. He was so much older than her, and had been a soldier for hire to boot. For all she knew he could have bastard children running all over Elmekia.

She doubted it though, it wasn’t in his nature and his nature was one thing he couldn’t hide. Maybe if she knew more the situation would be more easy to think about though. A torrid wind blew down the mountain causing Lina to pull her cloak more tightly around her body, partially covering her face. After a month of traveling though, to have the goal so close at hand. Lina tried to think of that instead of more uncomfortable issues. There would be time enough to dwell on those things later. That is, unless her princess decided to take flight.

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Their ascent into the mountains eventually turned into a decent. Then they were again climbing to mountain peaks. Up and down until Lina’s ears ached from the pressure changes and her feet throbbed and burned in her tight leather boots. The others were not faring much better. Hours had passed since they left but the sun didn’t look like it was moving much at all. The temperature had risen but instead of a bearable heat it was more humidity, more arduous climbing.

“Gahhhh….” Lina groaned, her hands were sticky from the humidity but at the same time she was cold from the occasional breezes the blew all about them. Somehow it was simultaneously the worst that both hot and cold weather could offer. Lina hated it. They continued the journey, mountains covered in roots and brambles, stones and dirt. Occasionally Zelgadiss and Lina would take Gourry by the hand and travel by levitation between adjacent mountains to save time. But they were partially conserving their strength for anything that might lie ahead. What little they did though helped to keep up good time.

Finally, the day wore near to the end. The sun was still up. There was still some time left, but they had found a good place to camp in one of the rare patches of forest that dotted the mountain sides. It wasn’t much, but the meager cover it offered for them outweighed the potential danger of someone sneaking into their campsite. Still, they setup their tents in a tight circle to keep things centralized around the fire. The trees were huge, larger around than any of their arms could encircle by far, and densely packed in areas too. Thankfully they seemed to shed a lot of limbs and there was plenty of firewood to collect for the night.

If there was one good thing about traveling with a decent sized group of people, it was that night watch was much easier. When someone didn’t have to spend half of their night starring off into the woods, it not only made it more effective, but gave everyone a heck of a better night sleep too. Lina set Zelgadiss up with the first shift, Gourry with the second, and decided to take the third for herself. She didn’t offer up Amelia’s services on her own and Amelia didn’t offer them either. It wasn’t a problem, just another oddity in a list of oddities for the day.

The four of them sat around the fire for some time, until one by one they dozed off. Amelia was first, then Gourry, and finally Lina. “Good night Zel.” She waved as she made her way to her new tent. He gave a nod in her direction. And then, it was time to sleep.

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Amelia laid there for some time listening to the sounds of Lina laughing just outside her tent. Giving a huff she grabbed the pillow from beneath her head and put it over her ears. It didn’t help. Eventually she shifted again, putting it back behind her head but rolling onto her side and twisting the pillow around the back of her head and pinning it against her ear.

“Lina…” She mumbled to herself. Amelia marveled how in the course of just two days things had gone form planned to indescribably complicated. “What am I going to do?” She asked herself, again rolling onto her back. The tent blocked out the sharpness of the light but still on the front of the tent she could make out the distinctness of Lina’s shadow. Amelia set her face into a grimace, but felt like she wanted to cry.

She had been saving herself. And no matter the excuse she made for herself, she couldn’t forgive what she had done. Lina wasn’t the one. Them more she thought about it the more she realized she wasn’t her love. She was just… just… she couldn’t even bring herself to think in such vulgar terms, but she was just something to sate her lust. She tried not to think of the other feelings that she had during the deed. They only complicated things. She just needed to make it through the next couple days, get Zelgadiss his cure, and then everything would be right back on track.

Then maybe, just maybe, she might be able to look back on everything that had happened and laugh.

()()**()()**()()O0o.o0O()()**()()**()()

“Lina… Lina… time to get up.” Lina lifted her head. It was still dark in the tent and the fire had burned much lower than it had been when she had initially fallen asleep.

“Gourry?” She asked, seeing an outline against the outside of her tent. “Is it time for my watch already?”

“Yeah, but I can take over if you want.” He responded back, trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake the others.

“No, no, I’ll be out in a minute.” Lina forced herself upright, not wanting to take advantage of Gourry’s generosity for once. She’d fallen asleep almost fully dressed as she usually did in dangerous places so all that was left to do was don her boots and cape before she exited the tent.

“See anything strange?” She asked, sitting down quietly next to Gourry.

“Nope, I heard some weird noises, but I think they were pretty far away.” He added the last bit skeptically. Leaving Lina wondering if he was just trying to alleviate any stress she might be feeling.

“Okay, thanks, now you get some sleep.”

“Lina…?”

“Yeah?”

“….. nothing….”

Lina watched wordlessly as he entered his tent for the night. Carefully he buttoned up all of the buttons on his tent flap then Lina listened to his boots drop off, one at a time to the floor. And finally she heard him settle in. Her eyes had meanwhile locked on Amelia’s tent. It was time to settle things. Patiently she let the fire burn on just a little bit longer, “Sleeping…” She intoned, directing the energy to the other two tents.

“Amelia…” She called out, tapping her finger against the canvas wall, the tightness of it causing it to ring out hollow.

“Amelia, wake up.”

“What is it?” Called back a tired Amelia.

“Could you come out here, I’ve got to talk to you.”

Silence… then, “About what?”

“Just get out here!” Lina growled while still trying to keep her voice down.

“Okay,” Amelia started climbing out of her tent, “What do you want?”

“Come on.” Lina grabbed her by the hand, immediately Amelia pulled back to get away but Lina just tightened her grip, dragging Amelia along and into the woods.

The woods were dense enough to where they didn’t have to travel far. Only a short distance away the sounds and light of the fire were absent. Thankfully, despite the height and width of the trees, they lacked sufficient foliage at the top to blot out the light. And tonight being a full moon there was plenty of it.

“Can you tell me what this is all about now?” Amelia asked frazzled.

Lina moved in faster than she expected, planting a kiss firmly on her lips. Amelia responded almost as quickly, planting her hands against Lina’s chest and shoving her back into a tree, “What do you think you’re doing!” Amelia shouted at the intrusion.

Lina shook her head, regaining her bearings, she figured she probably deserved it, "I'm not sure." Lina decided to try and tell her exactly what she had planned on telling her before. It was the only thing she could think of, a basic kind of generalization of what she had been feeling herself, "It's just, I know you're embarrassed. I mean, your first time was with me and all. But look at the bright side, you're still a virgin, technically at least. We were just... Trying something new, right?"

"I know Lina. Technically I am still a virgin. but that doesn't matter to me as much as the fact that I was saving myself for the one I love!"

"Zel?" Lina questioned oblivious.

"I don't know!" Amelia shouted, "I just--" She buried her face in her hands and leaned up against the tree behind her. The silence of the forest rapidly settling in.

“I'm sorry..." Lina didn't really know how to put it in words, to make Amelia feel better, but she hoped it was a start. "I didn’t mean to- I mean... you came on to me if you remember." She stopped herself short, not wanting to make the princess feel worse. "It's just, it didn't feel wrong to me when we were doing it."

Lina heard a sniffle before Amelia responded, "I know, it's not your fault, it's mine. I was weak. My etiquette instructor always warned me that it could happen, but she always told me to watch out for the men that would seduce me. I guess she just never met a woman quite like you." Amelia finished with a sad giggle, sounding at least marginally like her old self.

Again, silence. Lina wanted to say something to fill in the dead air, but Amelia was first to act, “You know the worst thing about it?” Amelia laughed out, a slight bitterness to her tone.

What?” Lina asked after a moment’s pause when she was sure Amelia wasn’t just acting rhetorically.

“Now that I know what I’m missing, I want it even more now.” Amelia sighed. And it was the truth, earlier in the tent when she had been trying to fall asleep, with Lina, Gourry, even Zelgadiss outside she had cupped her womanhood, even slid in a few fingers, and brought herself off with the shadows of her friends playing across the wall in front of her. It was that action that had later caused her own bitter thoughts about herself and Lina.

“Yeah,” Lina muttered dryly, “I know exactly how you feel.” She watched her in the moonlight. Her eyes downcast, embarrassed. Gingerly Lina reached out and put her hand to Amelia’s shoulder. And seeing no negative reaction, allowed her hand to trail up along the smaller girls neck and to her cheek, cupping her face. Amelia shivered slightly at the feeling but otherwise gave no objection.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it either.” Lina started, rubbing one of her fingers along Amelia’s cheek, “I just never… I always thought sex would be more of a chore, at least for a woman.” She let out a sigh thinking of all the times she’d been fooled into that way of thinking growing up. “But with you- When you were calling out my name.” Lina gave a little shiver, “It had to have been one of the most thrilling things in my life.”

Amelia felt her breath coming faster, “When I called out your name?” Amelia responded, earnestly in wonder.

“Yeah, you had your legs wrapped around mine, and were grinding yourself against me. You called out for me.” Lina turned away, despite the darkness she still worried that Amelia might be able to pick up on her blush.

“Oh,” Amelia hadn’t remembered anything of the sort, it was kind of a surprise, “You know, you called out for L-sama…”

“Really?” Lina looked to the stars, “That’s weird.”

Over time Lina had continued stroking the side of Amelia’s face and her fingers had trailed over her entire cheek. One of Amelia’s hands went up to join Lina’s covering Lina’s own hand. “Have you ever heard anything about something like this?” Amelia asked off handedly.

“You mean,” Lina gulped, she knew exactly what Amelia was asking, “between two girls?”

“Yeah.” Amelia answered back feeling breathless.

“No, at least nothing public. I’ve heard rumors, but those were mostly from horny guys.” Amelia had taken a step forward, she was violating Lina’s personal space, but it wasn’t anything negative she felt.

“I’m worried.” Amelia said, rubbing her face against Lina’s hand. “I don’t know what about yet, but I can feel it in the pit of my stomach.” Fluidly Amelia took Lina’s index finger in her mouth, sucking it in to the second knuckle and pulling it back out again causing Lina’s eyes to widen before continuing. “It’s all so complicated now, with Gourry, with Zelgadiss…”

“Something about being this close to you…” Lina tried to reason as Amelia moved in, nipping her lip then taking it into her mouth. Lina slowly leaned into the kiss, taking her hand from the side of Amelia’s face and putting it behind her back, pulling herself into the princess.

“Hey--” Lina tried to ask something, pulling away, but Amelia drowned it out with another kiss. She didn’t want to ask any questions. She didn’t want to have to explain anything. It was just something she needed and she knew Lina wanted. And she really saw no reason to fight the feeling any longer.

Lina felt herself being pulled forward, she gave into the movement and allowed Amelia to pull her against her. This is what she had wanted from the start. To just feel her lips against Amelia’s again. To just give into those impulses. To make her moan and squirm and have her do the same in return. Feeling the princess start running her hands over Lina’s back, Lina did likewise but settled her hands on Amelia’s butt, giving it a tight squeeze, causing the princess to deepen the kiss.

“Please Lina, make me feel like you did the other day!” Amelia moaned into the kiss, not leaving Lina’s reaction to chance she pulled away enough to lift her shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the mossy ground. Lina took the command in stride and pushed Amelia’s bra up over her breasts and started fondling them just as she had before, still amazed at their size and firmness.

“Only if you’ll do the same for me.” Lina gasped out as a delayed response. In return Amelia moved one of her hands to the back of Lina’s head and pulled her roughly forward and into another deep kiss, their tongues meeting for the first time that night. Not at all timid as it had been before, both of them having looked forward to this most every waking moment for the last two days.

Lina felt Amelia sliding down the tree behind her, and dropped down with her. Finally with her knees fully bent, Amelia dropped to her side and landed on the ground on her back. The forest floor was covered in moss. Thankfully it was of the dry variety, but over the millennia it had built up a soft coating over most everything. Against Amelia’s naked back it felt great. She released her hands from behind Lina’s back, letting Lina pull up slightly.

Sitting upright, Lina grasped the bottom edge of her shirt just under her belt and pulled it up and over her head. Struggling a bit at the unforgiving fabric. She tossed it to the ground, thankful for the darkness. Even if Amelia had already seen her chest, it was something she still felt a bit of trepidation with regards to.

Apparently though Lina’s chest was only causing Lina indecision on her part. Amelia knew exactly what to do with it. Reaching out she took a breast in each hand and pulled herself up and Lina down to meet her. Catching her with a kiss in the middle. It was different now Lina realized. Already the feelings that she had before, the exploratory nature was gone. But the feelings in her head, the swimming heady sensation, was stronger than ever.

Amelia rolled to her side, taking Lina with her. Side by side. Face to face. Kissing, and occasionally dipping lower and sucking. Lina was the first to sneak a hand down Amelia’s pants and Amelia followed suit soon enough. Amelia gasped at both her own wetness and the dripping wetness that greeted her between Lina’s legs. “Please…” Amelia whined out as Lina stopped moving her fingers a moment into the act.

Again they were in motion. Lina couldn’t help but buck her hips against her lover. Taking Amelia’s fingers even deeper into her own body while she worked her fingers in and out of Amelia. With each withdraw her panties got even wetter. Clenching, tightening, Lina kept working through it. She felt Amelia tense up, then slowly she started again. Moments later it happened again. Lina was sweating. She was getting close but she was working harder for it. The taste of the sweat was salty in her mouth and her bangs were plastered to her forehead. She kept it up, her stomach muscles cramping from the constant tightening.

“Ohh…ohhh…..” Lina gritted her teeth, groaning out as she felt her emotions fall on her all at once. Amelia responded by working her fingers out of her faster, taking advantage of the sudden excess of lubrication, the almost frictionless feeling, putting her fingers as deep into her friend as her body would allow and working in a third finger for the first time.

Lina responded, moving her free hand around the princess’ back and pulling her against her tightly. A third finger, then another went into Amelia. And as Lina rode out her orgasm she worked Amelia to her biggest one yet.

“La…la… Lina!” Amelia cried out, pulling her dripping fingers from Lina’s panties and using them to massage her own nipples.

Lina laughed as Amelia lost control, but it came out as little huffs. She was spent. Letting out a deep breath she rolled onto her back in the moss. Bits of it were stuck to her arms and were over her hands and in her eyes from when she had rubbed them. She was sticky, wet, and with every breath she shuddered. It felt as if the organ between her legs was contracting with each breath.

Lina looked over at the princess, still in the throes of her own passion. Lina gave them both a few minutes to recover, starring off into the stars high above. Finally, she tried the waters, “Amelia…?”

“Hummm…?” Amelia answered back fairly quickly.

“Are you still mad at me?” Lina asked, tilting her head to the side in an attempt to discern the princess’ reaction.

“I was never… It was just…” Amelia stopped, taking a few breaths, she was still winded from her orgasm, “I shouldn’t have, we shouldn’t have ever done any of this.” The last bit came out defeated. Lina held her tongue, prying would do no good here. Eventually Amelia continued, “It’s not love, it’s lust. It’s what I was always warned about growing up. They told me something like this could happen, that my emotions could do strange things, things that didn’t make sense. Especially during certain times of the month when my body wanted a baby.”

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about that.” Lina couldn’t help but chide.

“Yeah.” Lina saw the smile on Amelia’s face despite the darkness. “But Lina… you’re not the one I love. I-- I don’t know anymore, but what I feel for you--” Again she didn’t know how to continue. “You’re not my night in shining armor. My prince on a white horse, what we did. It might not mean anything to you since my hymen is still intact but I wanted to maintain my purity for the one I love.”

“Well, I guess we could give marriage a shot.” Lina joked again in an attempt to lighten the princess’ mood.

“Don’t get me wrong Lina, I care for you, but despite how much I’ve been trying these last two days, I couldn’t convince myself it was love.” Amelia sighed, “No matter how much easier that would have made things.” She added at a fraction of the volume.

“Wait, wait a second, how do you know it’s not love, we haven’t even been out on a date.” Lina added defensively, again, half-joking.

“Hummmm… maybe after we get back in town then.” Amelia pondered thoughtfully.

“Yeah, well, it will all work out.” Lina offered, pushing herself up from the forest floor and looking around for her shirt.

“Still…” Amelia started again, “We can’t be doing this, any of this….” Amelia muttered defeated, “I wish we could just go back to how things were before.” All at once her depression returning at the thought of a hopeless relationship and a ruined purity.

Lina turned down the look at the princess, “I can’t make any promises, but I guess I can try to stop.”

/\/\||/\/\-=End of Chapter 7=-/\/\||/\/\
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