Lina woke the next morning and looked out the window.  She saw that the
sun hadn't even risen yet. Checking to make sure she had enough travel
rations, she got dressed and opened the window.  She cast a simple
Levitation spell and hovered out the window.  Turning, she closed the
window and then used her boosted Raywing, this time with the
Philosopher's Stone, to leave the village behind.  She came to a hill
top and used her spell to find which direction Gorun Nova was in.  She
nodded as it was still South-east of her.  She flew in that direction
until she came to a village and landed south-east of it and cast her
spell again.  She proceeded to fly to each village and change her
direction accordingly.  After the seventh village, her spell pointed
back the way she came.

 'Hopefully, I found him,' Lina thought, and a worrisome thought struck
her. 'This is before I met Gourry.  It might be his father that has it.'

 Quickly stowing the Demon Blood Talismans away, Lina entered the
village and saw that there was a group of mercenary warriors that were
gathering at a local hiring hall.  Lina tugged on a mercenary's sleeve.

 "Pardon me, but what is going on?"  Lina asked.

 The hired swordsman looked down at the girl and replied, "Nothing
much.  Just some punk who thinks he's a swordsman.  He's going through
an initiation ceremony.  If he can last a few rounds against the
champion, he'll be hired."

 Lina asked, "So what's the punk's name?"

 "Hmm?  Oh.  Gourry Gabriev."

Lina nodded and moved through the crowd and saw Gourry and a large
fighter, carrying a great sword.  Lina quickly walked up to them.  The
great sword carrier looked at Lina and laughed.

 "Don't tell me you're here for a job as well?"

 Gourry said, "A little girl like you should go home, where it is safe."

 Lina held her temper as she said, "I'm not here for a job.  I'm here
because of a vision of the future.  The warrior Gourry Gabriev was
mentioned in the vision.  By the way, which one of you is Gourry
Gabriev?"

The great sword wielder slapped Gourry on the back and laughed.  "Go
with her kid.  You wouldn't stand a chance against me.  Maybe in a
couple of years you'll be enough of a challenge to join our group."

 Gourry looked at the mercenary leader, sighed, and whispered, "Great.
Guarding a big-eyed, flat chested, little kid."

 'I wish he wouldn't say that about me,' Lina thought, as she led Gourry
outside of town.

 As the two of them walked, Lina felt a bit better.  Soon the two were
far away from the village

 Gourry asked, "So, you had a vision of the future.  What is it about?"

 Lina replied, "To save the entire world."

 "Well, all right.  Since you already know my name, what's yours?"

 "It's Lina.  Lina Inverse.  By the way, here," Lina said, as she pulled
out a ruby and handed it to Gourry.  "That should cover standard
mercenary fees."

 Gourry looked at the ruby and nodded.  "More than enough.  By the way,
why me and not one of the others?"

 Lina pulled Galvayra out from her cloak. "Light come forth!"

 With eyes bugging out, Gourry stared at the Bow of Light. "Wh-what?
B-but, the Sword of Light belongs to my family."

 Lina smirked as she put Galvayra away and walked on.  "Gorun Nova is
the name of the Sword of Light.  My weapon is Galvayra, the Bow of
Light.  We need to gather all five of the weapons to save this world,
along with a couple other things."

 Gourry ran to catch up with her.  "I have the feeling that this is not
going to be an ordinary quest.  Well all right then, I'll do it."

 Lina pointed North and said, "We're off to the Dragon's Peak.  So, we
had better hire passage on a ship heading North."

 Gourry nodded.  "When we reach the next town, I'll buy you some
lollipops."

 'He still thinks of me as a kid.  Oh well, I am a bit younger than I
was when I first met him.'

 The two of them made their way to western edge of the Alliance of
Coastal States and found a shipyard.  They quickly found a ship that was
heading to the city of Krimzon in the empire of Lyzeille.

 As the ship moved along, Lina watched the waves roll by.  Gourry walked
up beside her and joined her in watching the waves.

 "So little girl, what is that you do?  Are you a waitress or a
fishmonger?"

 Lina's face hit the railing of the ship with a heavy thunk.

 "No, you idiot.  I'm a sorceress,"  She replied with exasperation.

 Oh.  Well your outfit doesn't look like it."

 "I refuse to have this conversation."

 As the ship moved on, Lina lost her temper a couple of times with
Gourry, but refrained from using her spells on him and just physically
beat him up.  On the fourth day, Lina was back looking at the waves.

 'Why do I put up with that jellyfish brain?  I don't have a dragon to
work the Dragon Slave on to get him to stop calling me little girl.'

 Lina sighed and hoped the journey to the Dragon's Peak would be over
soon.  After a few more days, the ship pulled into the port city of
Krimzon.  Leaving the ship, the two bought up some supplies for the
journey to Dragon's Peak.  The quickly left the city and headed cross
country.  After an hour from leaving the city, a group of five men
wearing tan assassin suits popped up from behind some bushes.

 "Are you the one known as Lina Inverse?" the leader of the group

 "That I am,"  Lina said with a smile.

 "If you don't want any trouble, you'll come with us."

 Gourry stepped in front of Lina and said, "If you don't want any
trouble, you'll leave."

 "Why you?  Who do you think you are?"

 "I am Lina's guardian, Gourry Gabriev."

 "It doesn't make any difference.  Attack."

 Lina watched as Gourry quickly dispatched four of the assassins with
one stroke of his sword and left the leader.  She smiled at the leader
and winked.

 "Tell Diol that I have no intention of letting him turn me into a
chimera.  Run along little man."

 Gourry pointed the sword at the assassin and stated, "You'd better do
as she says."

 The assassin ran off whimpering.  "He didn't tell me that she had a
bodyguard that powerful.  I thought she was travelling with some bimbo."

 Gourry sheathed his sword and looked at Lina.  "What was that all
about?"

 "There's an old loon who has this crazy idea of turning me into a
chimera.  Normally, I'd blow him up and be done with it, but I have this
mission I have to complete."

 "I might not be the brightest guy in the world, but turning someone
into a chimera against their will seems to be incredibly stupid."

 "We'd better get moving.  Diol must have agents all over the place,
hunting for me.  I have made myself kind of scarce, since I found out
about Diol's little goal."

 Gourry nodded and muttered, "She's definitely going to need protection
if she's ignoring something like that.  At least it won't be boring."

 Lina smiled a bit when she heard that.

 The two of them made it to Dragon's Peak without further incidents.
Lina led the way through the natural maze to the valley.  One of the
gold dragons flew down and met them

 "Welcome back, Lina Inverse."

 Gourry backed up a step and said in shock, "That guy can talk."

 Lina said, "You do not call a gold dragon 'that guy'.  At any rate, I
have everything I can get from this side.  Do you have the plans,
Milgasia?"

 Milgasia nodded. "Yes.  Rest now, and we begin the next phase after
sunset."

 "Well Gourry, let's get some food and catch some Z's"

 Gourry only shrugged his shoulders and joined Lina.  Soon the two of
them were back to battling over food.  The both caught a nap waiting for
the sun to set.  Milgasia woke them up after sundown and nodded.

 "Come on, Gourry.  It's time to go."

 Before doing anything, Lina put the Demon Blood Talismans back on.  The
two humans climbed onto Milgasia's back and the gold dragon lifted off.
The trio flew westwards, towards the center of the world.  Lina drew out
Galvayra.

 'Using the talismans, the stone, and Galvayra, the spell should be
strong enough to open a hole for a short period of time.'

 "Lord of the dreams that terrify."
 "Sword of cold and darkness,
      "Free yourself from the heavens' bonds."
 "Become one with my body.  One with my power."
 "And, let us walk the path of destruction together."
 "Power that can smash even the souls of the gods."
 "RAGNA BLADE!!!"

 Lina loosed a black arrow of energy at the Great Barrier Seal.  There
was an immense explosion of black and gold energy.  When the light
faded, a slowly closing hole could be seen in the seal that was at a
lower level than the flying dragon.

 "Move it, Milgasia.  Let's get through that hole, before any of the
Monsters figures out what's going on."

 Milgasia dove through opening and Lina looked behind her to see the
hole close up.

 'That should give the Monsters something to worry about. If we move
fast enough, no one but us will know what's really happening.  At least
out here, I won't have to deal with Naga.'

 Milgasia asked, "Where are we heading now?  The temple of the Fire
Dragon King?"

 "No.  This is something I want kept as quiet as possible.  We're
heading to the kingdoms of Alto and Baritone to pick up the next two
pieces."

 Lina gave directions to Milgasia on how to reach Alto and Baritone.
They soon reached a hill overlooking the bay that held the two rival
kingdoms.  Gourry and Lina jumped off and Milgasia transformed into a
human.

 "Now, we have a problem," Lina said.

 "What's the problem, Lina?"  Gourry asked.

 "Gourry, you called me Lina."

 Gourry backed up with both hands in front of him.  "If I treat a
sorceress that can blast a hole through the Great Barrier Seal like a
kid, who knows what punishment I'll end up eating."

 "That'll make things a little easier," Lina said with a smile.  "At any
rate, the problem is that the two pieces are magic vessels.  Each vessel
is held by one of the kingdoms and they are fighting a continuous war to
get the other kingdom's vessel.  If they are brought together, a new way
will open.   Now, we need to get both vessels and make the new way
without destroying them."

 Milgasia looked at the two cities as they exchanged cannon fire.  The
golden dragon shook his head, as the balls of iron blasted parts of each
city away.

 Lina said, "Gather around.  I have a plan."

 Milgasia and Gourry huddled around Lina as she outlined her plan.
After hearing it, Milgasia nodded, helped Lina prepare, and headed to
Alto with Gourry in toe, while Lina headed to Baritone.  As soon as she
entered, Lina made a beeline for the castle.   She waited to be shown in
and to meet the queen of Baritone.

 Bowing, Lina said, "Greetings, your majesty.  I was wondering what that
exchange of fire was all about."

 The queen replied, "We are having a war to get the kingdom of Alto's
vessel.  Once we have it, we can open a new way."

  Rubbing the back of her neck, Lina idly commented, "No offense your
majesty, but I think you're going about it the wrong way.  I think I can
get the new way opened in a single day for you."

 "You can?  How?"

 "I think if you bring your vessel to that central island, I can get the
other vessel as well."

 "I think this is a trick.  How do I know that you are not working for
Alto?"

 "Bring your guards if you want.  That way you'll have some way to keep
track of the vessel," Lina replied. 'Not that it matters to me.  I have
enough magic power at the moment to Sleep an entire kingdom.'

 "Very well then.  We shall try this experiment.  But, if the new way is
not opened by sundown, you'll be spending the rest of your life in the
dungeons."

 'Perfect.  Now, Gourry and Milgasia should have the other vessel.  I
gave Gourry firm orders to shut up and let Milgasia do the talking.  I
doubt that anyone here has seen magic as powerful as mine, so they won't
be expecting it.'

 Lina was shown to the vessel and was allowed to carry it.  Several
guards with halberds stood around Lina.  The small group boarded a ship
and sailed to the central island.  Her sharp ears allowed her to hear
that Milgasia and Gourry were also on the island and headed in her
direction.  Soon both groups met in the center.  The King of Alto saw
that Lina had the black vessel and the Queen of Baritone saw that Gourry
had the white vessel.

 'Now's my chance,' Lina thought and shouted several times, "Dil Brand!"

 After a rapid series of explosions knocked all the guards and royalty
into the drink, Lina motioned for Gourry to come with her.

 "Now then.  We push these two vessels against each other gently, so we
don't break them," Lina explained and held up her vessel.

 Gourry shrugged and did as he was told.  Soon, golden light poured from
both vessels and struck the waters in-between Alto and Baritone.  The
people in the water watched as a huge bridge rose from the waters,
connecting the two kingdoms.

 Leaning against a tree with one elbow, Lina called out in a sweet
voice.  "Oh, your majesties.  The new way has been opened and the
vessels are now worthless to you.  We'll be taking these worthless
vessels off your hands."

 The royalty cried out in unison, "YOU KNEW?!"

 "You stupid-head, you let them trick you."

 "So did you, you jerk."

 Lina and Gourry held onto their respective vessels firmly as Milgasia
transformed.  The two humans climbed on board, as the golden dragon
spread his wings.

 "Thanks for casting those charm spells, Milgasia.  I don't think we
could have done it so fast without them."

 Milgasia took to the air.  "Normally, I don't use them.  But since the
fate of the world depended on it, I made allowances."

 Pointing at the pillar of light, Lina said, "Now, let's head to the
center of the world."

 The trio flew away as a full scale water fight was going on between the
citizens of the two kingdoms.

 Gourry asked, "By the way, why was that bridge under water?"

 "Hmmm?  Oh.  It's nothing but a kid's fight over ideological
differences.  One's a group of thinkers and the other is a group of
doers.  Neither side can see that they need both.  I just ended the war
early for them."

 The trio cut through the air rapidly, as they approached the pillar of
light.  Lina looked down at the vessel she was carrying.

'The next three pieces I need are going to be harder to get a hold of.
I can't use my foreknowledge to find them either.  Milgasia is going to
have to make the alterations while Gourry and I hunt.'

 Milgasia flew through the outer wall of the light pillar and the trio
looked down.  Gourry and Milgasia were stunned to see such an elaborate
set up hovering in mid-air.  Milgasia landed and changed back to human
form as Gourry and Lina dismounted.  Lina carefully set her vessel down
next to where Gorun Nova would be placed.  She took Gourry's vessel and
placed it next to, but not touching, the other vessel.

 "Milgasia, while we hunt for the other Darkstar weapons, you're going
to have to make the modifications to this place."

 "What about the ones who built this place?"  Milgasia asked.

 Lina closed her eyes and shrugged.  "Oh, I'm quite sure that one of
them is aware of us as we speak.  That future vision I had, showed that
they aren't going to be entirely successful.  What I'm doing is giving
them a chance to take Darkstar out in a single go."

 Gourry scratched his head.  "What are you talking about?  I know you
had some sort of prophetic vision, but...."

 Lina winked and explained.  "That's easy, Gourry.  The people here
built this to try and fight Darkstar.  With my future vision, I saw what
needed to be done to completely defeat Darkstar.  Milgasia will make the
necessary alterations to this gateway, while we hunt for the other three
Darkstar weapons."

 "Darkstar weapons?"

 "Like your Sword of Light and my bow," Lina said.  "I have a spell that
can track the Darkstar weapons down.  It'll take them three or four
years to find the other three, but I think I can do it in a few months
at most."

 A strange voice came from the surrounding area.  "And what makes you
think your spell can find the weapons faster than our own spells of
detection?"

 A large blue skinned man with crystals on one arm stepped out of the
shadows.  He had one eye replaced by a red gem and was wearing blackish
armor.

 Lina winked as she faced him. "Because my spell uses one of the
Darkstar weapons as a compass pointing the way to one of it's brethren."

 The large man looked at Lina and sensed that she was hiding something.
"If you had a vision of the future, you know what I wish to do."

 Lina gave a short laugh.  "You intend to use the five weapons to bring
Darkstar here to this world.  While doing so, you will cut him in half
with this dimensional portal.  After cutting him in half, you will use
the power of the five weapons and kill him.  My plan adds another
element into the equation.  It will make the chance of victory much
greater."

 "So you do know.  You realize that you put your entire world at risk."

 "Maybe.  But, I want to face myself every morning.  I'm willing to help
out, so I can get back to my life."

 The stranger looked at the trio.  "I will need proof of what you say."

 "Gourry, unsheathe your sword."

 "Right."

 Holding up their respective weapons, Lina and Gourry chanted, "Light
come forth."

 The stranger blinked as he saw two of the Darkstar weapons in front of
him.  Lina dispersed the energy of her bow and put it away.

 "Now do you believe me, Almayce?" Lina asked.

 "H-how did you know my name?" Almayce stuttered and then shook his
head. "It must have been a very detailed vision."

 "That it was," Lina replied with a smirk.  "Now then.  Just so I don't
waste my time, do you have one of the weapons?"

 Almayce shook his head.  "No.  Right now, others are searching for the
one in our world.  We have yet to focus on the other three, or I should
say the other two."

 "Blast.  I was hoping that part of the job was already done," Lina
whispered to herself.  Looking up, she said, "I'll start searching for
the other two.  Milgasia get those alterations done and make sure that
those vessels aren't broken while doing so.  Those vessels are just as
important, if not more so, than the five weapons for the plan to
succeed."

  Almayce asked, "Why are you doing this?  It puts your world in
jeopardy."

 "If my sister found out that I knew that innocents were being killed
and I did nothing....brrr.  I don't want to think about it.  Besides, my
vision showed that Darkstar doesn't intend to stop with just your
world.  He intends to destroy the other three as well.  So in a sense,
I'm protecting my world from being destroyed.  Can you deny us a chance
to defend our world from destruction?"

 "You truly believe that your vision is accurate?" Almayce asked.

 Winking, Lina said, "It led me here, didn't it?  Two of the weapons you
were hunting for just showed up without a fuss, along with a plan that
gives a greater chance to defeat Darkstar."

 Almayce shook his head.  "At least tell me your names and I'll let the
others know of our allies."

 Lina and company quickly introduced themselves.  Almayce carefully
picked up the two vessels that Lina had set down and packed them away in
a storage box to prevent damage.  Lina explained that she was going to
have to take the weapons with her to hunt.  Almayce nodded at that, even
though he didn't like it.

 'This is one of the two reasons I needed the Philosopher's Stone.  I
don't know how much my magic is going to be affected on the other
worlds.  The talismans and the stone should offset any difficulties,'
Lina thought and blushed about the other reason she needed the stone to
complete her plan.  'At least I didn't have to delay because it was that
time of the month.'

 Grabbing two large packs that Milgasia had provided, Lina motioned for
Gourry to come near.  "It's time to go Gourry."

 "Go?  Go where?"  Gourry asked confused.

 "To find the other three weapons," Lina replied and cast the spell to
allow her to travel to other worlds.



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