Slayers: Reward
Chapter 2: Decision! The Choices That People Have To Make!
By: Lord Archive
The Slayers belong to Hajime Kanazaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX,
Software Sculptures Ltd., and many others. I do not own them. I'm only
borrowing them. I'll return them as quickly as I can since Lina and
Gourry are eating away bank account.
This begins a few months after Slayers: Try. There are a few spoilers in
this, but I won't specifically explain anything, but I will refer to
them. If you don't want even vague spoilers, I suggest that you don't
read this.
-------------------*
"Princess Alicia."
The princess gulped. So close to the safety of her room, and yet so far.
"Yes, High Priest Towermere?"
Towermere glared angrily. "I want to know of your involvement in
Inverse's plans to ruin what was supposed to be your wedding."
Alicia turned away from the priest. "Lina forced me to do that. There is
something about that sword fighter that is important to her and she
wasn't about to lose him. If I didn't go through with the plan, she
would've destroyed Edo."
"Do you think so little of Ceiphied's protection?"
"Of course not. But I'm sure she would've done something destructive to
get him back. If I saved even one life, I do not regret my actions."
"You know that her blasphemy must be put to an end. Ceiphied has decreed
Sir Gourry is to be your husband and ruler of Edo, and I shall make sure
that will come to pass." Towermere turned and stomped down the hall.
The princess hurried into her room, shutting and locking the door behind
her. Tears started to stream down her eyes. Why did Ceiphied have to
make that decree? Why couldn't Towermere interpret it differently?
Alicia found herself wrapped into a tight hug and heard, "Everything
will be all right."
She turned and smiled a little. "You're always there for me."
-------------------*
Lina gazed off to the horizon. She didn't really mind sharing the horse
with Gourry and when they make it to the next village, she could sell
it. Horses weren't bad for the short trips, like the one were on from
Edo to the village Shinjo, but the longer trips caused a few problems
and she doubted the horse would fare well if they had to take it all the
way to Sailoon. She never had much faith in them since they were too
easy to scare. Besides, they could use the money to buy food.
Lina glanced back and sighed. Now what to do about what happened earlier
that day? She had gone through the princess's plan, and it had worked.
The only problem was the one aspect Lina hadn't thought about: that by
replacing the bride, she would technically BE the bride. How could she
have missed that?
Lina thought back to the ceremony and realized that at no point had
either of them declared their names. That was odd for a noble marriage,
but it wasn't hard to guess why. Normally the bride would take the
groom's name, but Alicia was a princess and Gourry a mere swordsman.
Chances are, that if Gourry had married the princess, he would've been
forced to take her name. By not having names declared, it would not call
any attention that Gourry already had a family name. Since they had not
used names during the ceremony, it wouldn't be considered nullified
since Lina hadn't used the princess's name.
As far as Lina could tell, the ceremony was legitimate and she was
married. But did she want to be married? Did Gourry?
"Um, Gourry?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we're really married?"
Gourry scratched his head. "Of course we are. I mean we both said 'I do'
and Towermere declared us man and wife. What more is there?"
Lina sagged. Worse than not having noticed it until after it was over
was that Gourry had picked it up before she had. "Do you want to be
married to me?"
"Haven't really thought about it." Gourry shrugged. "I promised to
protect you for the rest of my life. This pretty much cements it,
right?"
"I guess." What Lina wanted at the moment was a nice thick wall, to beat
her head into it. "Isn't there anyone else you'd rather be married to?"
Gourry thought for a moment. "Can't think of anyone."
"Not even Syphiel?"
"She's a good friend, but I don't see how I could be married to her."
"Oh? Why not?"
"Don't know. Just the idea of living at a home with someone willing to
do whatever I wanted doesn't appeal to me. I'd feel like I was using
her."
Lina blinked. For a 'don't know' that was a pretty well thought out
answer, especially from Gourry.
"Um, Lina? Did you want to get married?"
"Hadn't thought about it." Truthfully she hadn't because she never
really thought too much about the future. She had only lived the life of
adventuring and didn't know what she'd do after that ended. She guessed
she'd set up a magic shop or something, but living in one place sounded
boring to her. But that was part of the distant future.
One thing Lina was sure about was that part of that distant future was
marriage. Something she didn't really want to consider yet. But she was
married now, technically, and that would mean she should be looking for
a place to settle down in. Or could she continue to adventure while
married? Lina shook her head, knowing if she stayed married she should
have sex with her husband and that led to having children. The life of
adventuring was not the way to raise a child, particularly considering
the child would be a liability and pregnancy tended to have the same
effect as a period in terms of spell casting, just a lot longer.
Lina glanced back at Gourry. Maybe she should suggest annulling it...
for now at least. Gourry wasn't too bad of a guy to be with, but this
was too soon. Sure most eighteen-year-olds would wonder if they would
end up being old maids if they weren't going to be married soon, but she
wasn't some farm girl-- she was the greatest spell caster of her
generation, not counting Luna who has an unfair advantage in this case.
She should be the one to decide when she would get married.
"Um, Gourry?"
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking that maybe...."
"Lina Inverse! I, Towermere, High Priest of Ceiphied can not allow for
the blasphemous action to continue. You must annul your marriage and
allow Gourry to marry the princess."
"That's Gabriev!"
Lina smacked Gourry. "Stay out of this." The sorceress dismounted and
approached the priest. "I will not allow you to take Gourry."
"It is not your place to interfere in Ceiphied's will. The Ceiphied
Knight may be your sister, but that does not give you the right to do as
you please."
Lina paled slightly at the mention of her sister. "This has nothing to
do with my sister! This only has to deal with the ridiculous notion that
just because Gourry killed your dopey dragon, he has to marry the
princess. I have news for you, he'd rather be married to me!"
"Ceiphied has decreed that 'the one who is quested to destroy the
terrible dragon shall marry the princess after the beast is slain.' By
being called to destroy the beast, Gourry is that quested fighter and
must marry the princess."
Lina growled. "The only reason Gourry killed it was because it hurt me,
and the only calls he beckons to are mine and food."
"Your are mistaken. Gourry is not to be your husband."
"Forget it. Fireball!"
"Force wall!" Towermere stood calmly after the blast dissipated. "I had
hoped that I did not have to resort to using violence. Knights, take
her!"
Nothing happened.
"Knights?" Towermere looked around and saw his soldiers had been knocked
unconscious. Gourry was standing near them while idly twirling his sword
around.
Lina smirked. Just her verses Towermere, and her powers were coming
back. This would be no contest. "Flare bit!" She knew the priest
wouldn't be hurt by it, but her intent was to weaken his shield since
the multiple hits would do more against it than a single blast of a
fireball.
Towermere's shield wavered as numerous balls of light exploded. "I shall
stop this blasphemy. Elmekia Lance!"
Lina dodged it and was impressed he could do that while having a shield
spell active. However, now was the time for a little insult. "Lord of
the Darkness and the Four Worlds, I call upon you, grant me all the
power that you possess! Flare Arrow!"
A swarm of flaming arrows streaked towards the priest. It was like
trying to block flare bit but each of these missiles came at him with a
lot more power to them. His shield gave out and the entire area he was
in exploded in flames.
"Come on, Gourry." Lina sighed noticing their horse had run off during
the little battle. At least they had changed back and none of their
stuff was on the horse.
"Is he going to be okay?" Gourry pointed at the smoking priest.
"When a priest gets to Towermere's level of ability, they can be harder
to kill than a mazuko. He'll be back to annoy us, but not for a few days
at least."
After several minutes of walking, Lina grinned. "Looks like we won't
have to walk to Shinjo. They left us their horses."
"I don't think they left those for us." Gourry gulped as Lina glared at
him. "But, I guess we can use them since they were going to attack us."
"Exactly."
-------------------*
It was just after midnight that Lina and Gourry finally made it to
Shinjo. Being a small village, the local inn was easy to spot since it
was easily the largest building there. However, when they tried to enter
it, the doors were locked. Lina pounded on the door.
"We're closed," came through the door.
"We need food and a place to sleep!"
The door opened and tired eyes looked at them. "I can rent you a room,
but the restaurant is closed."
"We spent all day traveling from Edo to get here!"
"Sorry, but the chef already went to bed."
Lina's stomach growled. She wanted food and didn't care how she got it.
"Have a heart, mister. We're newlyweds and haven't really had a chance
to eat since breakfast."
"Newlyweds, huh?" The man brightened a little.
The pair nodded.
The man sighed. "I'll see if I can get the chef to wake up." He sat the
pair down and then went to a side room. "Hey, Reena! We've got some
newlyweds from Edo who'd like something to eat... if that isn't a
problem."
"Newlyweds?" Reena chirped as she bounded out of her room. She sighed
dreamily while looking at Gourry and Lina. She then glanced at the
scrawny man that had greeted them at the door. Considering that Reena
weighed more than everyone else in the room combined, Lina understood
why the guy looked deathly ill under her gaze.
Reena looked back at Lina. "You don't look like the princess."
"Oh, ah.... We got married before the princess."
"But she didn't...." Gourry was interrupted by Lina stomping on his
foot.
Reena raised an eyebrow. There was more to this particular story.
Hopefully they would talk about it over food and wine. "What would you
like to eat?"
"Food, and lots of it. I don't particularly care what it is at the
moment, as long as it's enough to feed at least ten people."
Gourry nodded. "Sounds good to me."
Reena smiled. "People after my own heart."
Lina was very tempted to make a joke about the woman's waistline, but
didn't want to risk losing her meal.
The plates had piled up and the pair had devoured enough food to feed
forty. Reena was upset that they hadn't spoken much about anything, even
after downing a couple bottles of their strongest wine.
The newlyweds were now ready for bed, however there was only one key for
them. A key that went to one room with one bed. A bed they were both
meant to sleep on.
This was her wedding night. She was married to Gourry and they were
supposed to sleep with each other. While she hadn't really thought about
marriage, she had more than a few dreams about the wedding night.
After Towermere attacked them, she hadn't thought once about getting it
annulled. She hated that the old priest was insisting some 'divine
message' claimed Gourry had to marry another girl. He promised to
protect her for the rest of his life and he couldn't do that married to
someone else. She didn't want to give up Gourry, but if she were to
annul it that would give Towermere more ability to force his will. Not
annulling it meant that tonight was her wedding night and she was
supposed to sleep with her husband. Was she ready for that?
"Excuse me. Can I talk to you dear?" Reena asked.
Lina looked up, shrugged, and followed Reena into the kitchen.
"You're scared," Reena said simply.
"No, I'm not!" Lina snapped.
Reena crossed her arms. "This is going to be your first time being with
a guy, right?"
"Well... yes. I'm kind of _nervous_ about that."
"It is scary doing it for the first time. Has anyone explained what it's
like?"
Lina nodded. "I've had a few friends tell me and I do have some idea
what it's like. It's just that I'm worried about... complications."
"Oh, complications." Reena smiled gently. "What I wouldn't do to have a
'complication' in my life. Dear, if you love that man then there is no
problem in the world you can't face. And children are never a problem,
they're a blessing."
"I'm still worried... and I'm not sure if we really love each other."
"Tell me, do you know how far you would go for him?"
"How far?" Lina looked down at the floor. "Well... I was willing to risk
destroying the entire planet in an attempt to kill Hellmaster Fibrizo
because he was going to kill Gourry."
Reena blinked. "How far would he go for you?"
"According to Amelia, he was willing to challenge the Lord of Nightmares
to get me back when I sort of became his avatar."
Reena clucked. "Dear, if that isn't love, then it doesn't exist." The
overweight chef started to walk away and glanced back. Her mind tried to
process that this petite girl, who was scared about her wedding night,
was the same person responsible for the death of Hellmaster, and was
failing. The girl was probably lying, but she seemed to be telling the
truth. "May I ask what your maiden name was?"
"Inverse."
Reena swallowed. "Lina Inverse?"
Lina nodded.
Okay, maybe the petite red-head was responsible. Well, as long as her
inn survived the sorceress's stay, it wasn't any real concern for her.
"Um, have the best night of your life."
"Best night of my life? If this isn't love, it doesn't exist?" Lina
tried to steady herself and walked out of the kitchen. "Come on, Gourry.
I-it's time to go to s-sleep."
Gourry picked up the key from the table and then nearly dropped it. He
didn't know much about the wedding night since his mom had never
explained all of it, but he knew something special was suppose to
happen. Lina had to know what it was, since she knew almost everything
else. He just hoped she'd tell him what it was.
-------------------*
Towermere had reached his cathedral late at night and spent the rest of
it healing his wounds. The following morning he walked up to the altar
of Ceiphied and made a prayer. He then pulled out an amulet from the
altar. He looked carefully at the amulet and then at the image of his
lord. With a look of determination, he put the amulet on.
There was no way to defeat someone with Lina's level of skill without
help but, with Ceiphied's guidance and the amulet, she would not get
away with her blasphemy.
Towermere held the amulet and looked at it again. If only this was one
of Ceiphied's artifacts and not an unholy item of the mazuko race. He
didn't like having to use the amulet, but without it he'd have no chance
to defeat Lina.
-------------------*
Author's Notes:
Coming Soon:
Chapter 2b - Lemon! A Girl's Fantasy Comes True!
Chapter 3 - Clash! The Love That Hates Justice!
The area that Slayers occurs in is very similar to medieval Europe. Back
then, only important families had family names and it was not unlikely
that a knight's only distinction past his personal name is to be a son
or descendant of an important individual. By extension, it is possible
to use this to apply to peasants in the Slayers verse.
Special thanks to everyone who has preread and/or has given C&C for this
series so far; especially Michael A. Chase, Jussi Nikander, Harold
Ancell, JJang, and HPackrat.
Towermere's additions to the Slayers spell book so far:
Death Vision
Category: White Magic
Replays visually in the caster's mind the final moments of a recently
deceased individual. The spell will not reveal anything that the dead
person was not able to see. The spell does not give any of the other
senses to the caster, so he will not be able to hear anything that the
dead person had heard just before he died.
Force Wall
Category: White Magic
This spell erects a one way barrier in front of the mage that blocks
magical and physical attacks. It will defend against all but the most
powerful spells. It's main weakness, besides using a lot of magical
energy to cast, comes from that a low level spell or even a fist can
cause almost as much damage as a larger spell. A spell that causes
multiple hits or arrows from a group of attacking archers will count
each hit separately and not one for the entire group.