Watch your Diet
"This will get that pesky little sorceress," the woman
laughed as she continued mixing the substances on the
desk in front of her. "And in the name of the monster
Zomalgustar, I shall have my revenge!!!!
Hahahahahahahaha!!!!"
"Now for the last ingredient of the curse," The
green-haired princess turned to leashed fox and bent
down with a knife.
"Grr," *snap*
"AHH!!! Get off my face!! Get off my face!! That hurts
you little creep!!!" The puff of fur snapped one more
time and then rushed off, leaving Martina with a
number of shallow cuts and scratches. "Laugh all you
want you nasty little beast. I still got your blood.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
*********
"Real lake dragon cuisine!!" someone was shouting.
"Did you here that?" Lina demanded of the nearest
person. The other Slayers were still at the inn, she
had gotten bored and decided to go looking for some
fun. Maybe a pickpocket or something to beat up.
"Real lake dragon cuisine, come and get it while it
lasts!"
"There it is again!!" Lina rushed through the crowd of
people, getting bogged down at first by sheer numbers.
At least until she began rapid firing dill brandos.
After that it didn't take her long to reach the vendor
calling out dragon cuisine.
"Lake dragon cuisine!" the woman shouted again.
"Lake dragon cuisine, you said lake dragon cuisine
right?" Lina demanded.
"Err...yeah," the woman appeared quite nervous, but
that was to be expected considering how Lina managed
to get there. Not to mention the mob of annoyed people
gathering behind the sorceress. "Would you like some?"
"YES!!!" Lina screamed in her face. The vendor shakily
handed over a plate of wonderously prepared meat.
"GIMME! GIMME!"
Lina snatched the plate from the scared woman's hands
and began tearing into the meat with a vengence. She
finished quickly and then stared at the plate for a
moment.
Hey, this is just roast beef, you...." the vendor was
no where to be seen.
"You know she looked a little familiar," Lina
scratched her head. "Oh well. Hey what are you all
staring at?" She turned to the mob.
"Just who do you think you are?" somebody demanded.
"Me, I'm Lina Inverse, who did you think I was?"
"LINA INVERSE!!!!!!! NOT THAT!!!" Suddenly the street
was deserted. Lina sweatdropped.
"What's that about?" Then she shrugged and started
walking irritably back to the inn. "At least I didn't
have to pay for it."
********
Amelia got up and stretched out the kinks in her
muscles. She looked over to Lina's bed and instantly
noticed that the red-headed sorceress wasn't there.
"I don't get it," Amelia yawned. "Her clothes are
still here, all of them, where could she be?"
*Thump*
"Oww! What the---?" Amelia looked under the bed and
found a naked Lina rubbing her head.
"Miss Lina? What are you doing under the bed?"
"I don't know I just...aahhh!!" Lina screamed. "Where
are my clothes?"
"They're on the bed up here." Amelia said simply.
"Give them to me!" Amelia did so, and the room was
filled with the sounds of Lina trying to get dressed
under the bed.
"What's this?" there was a long pause. "Ewww!!!!" A
half-dressed Lina rushed out from under the bed and
into the closet. Amelia looked under the bed again and
saw a half-eaten rat.
"Miss Lina, are you okay?" Amelia asked, trying not to
gag.
"I'm fine, just a little confused," Lina said coming
out of the closet completely dressed with the
exception of her gloves which were stuck in her belt.
"Don't tell the guys about this, okay?"
"Uh, sure," Amelia said, following the sorceress out.
***********
Breakfast went about normal, Gourry and Lina ripped
through the food, supported in the endeavour a little
by Amelia while Zelgadis contentedly supped his
coffee, ignoring the other three's antics.
The routine was cut short when some was thrown into
their table.
"That does it!" Lina shoutted.
"Oh no," Gourry sighed.
"Miss Lina," Amelia started, concilatory. "Please
don't do anything."
"I'd like to get out of an inn while its still intact
for once," Zelgadis agreed.
"No he's getting it!!" Lina shouted. Everybody at the
table tensed. "FIREBALL!!!" Nothing happened.
"Look at the little girl that thinks she's a
sorceress." The inn brawl stopped as the first laugh
was heard.
"FLAME ARROW!!! FREEZE ARROW!!! DILL BRANDO!!" With
each attempted spell the laughing got worse. Lina was
steaming as she prepared one more spell. "Darkness
beyond twilight, redder than blood that flows..."
"Lina don't..." Zelgadis held out a hand to stop
Gourry.
"Nothing's going to happen." Zelgadis assured him. The
three of them watched Lina with growing concern.
She reached out desperately finishing the incantation,
but drawing no power to her.
"Go on home little girl," someone laughed.
"Yeah you wouldn't make it in the real world."
"Stop it!! I AM a sorceress! I'm Lina Inverse!!!" The
laughing got worse.
"Lina Inverse, yeah right, you're the bandit killer,
sure." Gourry stood up and walked forward to the most
recent speaker.
"Excuse me, are you laughing at my friend?" he asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" Gourry smiled and cracked his
knuckles.
"I don't need help!" Lina shouted. "I'm...I'm..." Lina
ran out of the inn, apparently on the verge of crying.
"Miss Lina, wait!!" Amelia followed her quickly.
"Gourry," Zelgadis adressed the blonde swordsman as he
stood up.
"Yes?"
"Shall we?" Gourry cracked his knuckles again,
smiling.
*************
Amelia found Lina a few blocks away, frantically
trying to cast a spell, any spell.
"What's the matter Lina?" Amelia asked. "Are you on
your period?"
"No I am NOT!" Lina shouted. "Do you think I'd even
try to cast a spell if I were?"
"Then why can't you...you know?"
"I DON'T KNOW!! I DON'T KNOW!!" Lina slumped to her
knees. "I don't know." She noticed a glint of silver
beneath her and instinctively reached forward to pick
it up. The moment she scooped the coin into her palm
she screamed, dropping it again.
"What's happened," Amelia asked nervous.
"That thing's burning hot!!" Lina said, she turned her
hand to show Amelia. "Look." There was a circular
brand mark where her flesh had touch the coin.
Amelia bent down to look at the coin, it didn't look
hot. She touched it experimentally and found it cool
to the touch.
"What are you..." Lina started as Amelia picked it up.
The Princess looked worriedly over at Lina, who just
appeared to be in shock. "How can you hold that?" The
sound of an explosion further down the street
signalled the downhill slide of the inn battle.
"It's cool to the touch," Amelia said. "but its
silver. Oh no..." Amelia looked at the sorceress
pityingly.
"What do you mean its silver," Lina asked. "What does
that have to do with anything?"
"You woke up naked under the bed, silver burns you,
and you can't cast magic. You know this better than I
do Miss Lina what do you think is the problem?"
"But that's impossible," Lina protested. "I can't be
a..."
"Werecreature," Amelia ended, nodding. Lina slumped.
"Last night was the last day of the new moon, that
gives two weeks until the full moon and it gets really
bad," Lina said resignedly. "Don't tell them anything
about this."
"We really..."
"Please, Amelia."
"Alright, Miss Lina."
"Thank you," Lina said as Gourry and Zelgadis appeared
around the corner.
*****************************************************************************
Suscipsions Confirmed
"Hey Lina," Gourry called out. "What's the matter?"
"I...must have caught something," Lina said, subdued.
Zelgadis arched an
eyebrow, "Uh oh, that probably gave too much away."
Fortunately he didn't
ask any questions.
"It's not...." Gourry twiddled his fingers,
embarrassed. "....that time
of month...is it?"
"No," Lina smashed an uppercut into the swordsman's
chin. "It is NOT
that time of the month! I wouldn't even bother casting
spells if it was."
"So what exactly did you catch?" Zelgadis asked.
"How should I know?" Lina demanded. "Look, let's just
get back to
travelling and maybe it will go away." Amelia shook
her head, pityingly, Lina
was still hoping it wasn't lycanthropy.
"Yeah, she doesn't seem sick," Gourry noted, wearily.
"Nasty burn on your hand there," Zelgadis pointed to
the circular mark.
Lina blushed and hid her hands behind her body.
"Come on now, those people in the inn were bad
enough," Amelia lectured.
"We're supposed to be her friends, we shouldn't be
hounding her like this."
"Yeah, did you want people poking at you when Rezo
made you a chimera?"
Lina demanded. Zelgadis arched his eyebrow again,
"Damn it, I gave him too
much again."
"Point taken, but if she can't cast magic, she
shouldn't..." It was
obvious that he had come to the conclusion that the
situation was a little
more permanent than Lina or Amelia wanted them to
know.
"I shouldn't what?" Lina asked, dangerously.
"Shouldn't keep travelling with us," he continued
addressing Amelia,
merely glancing at Lina. "She might get hurt."
"Yeah she's not that much without her magic," Gourry
agreed.
"Excuse me, I'm right here!" Lina shouted.
"I'm aware of that," Zelgadis said. "What's your
point?" Lina winced.
"Okay, THAT is enough," Amelia shouted. Everybody
looked at her
surprised.
"Now, I have some things to do in this city any way,
you two might as
well go on to the next town and we'll meet you there
tomorrow."
"You want us to split up?" Zelgadis asked, not really
expecting an answer.
"Lina needs some time away from you two to settle
down, and you both need
to find some manners, so yes, we'll meet you at the
Dragon Ball Inn,
tomorrow. Okay?"
"Do I get any say in this?" Lina asked.
"We'll see you there then," Zelgadis agreed,
reluctantly.
"Fine, come on Lina," Amelia responded. The princess
grabbed Lina's arm
and walked determinedly out of the alley.
"She's mad," Gourry said, unnecessarily. "Hey
Zelgadis, did you ignore
her again?"
"What are you talking about?" Zelgadis asked, still
trying to figure out
what the girls were hiding. "Why would I ignore
Amelia?"
"Oh, so you know she has crush on you then?" Zelgadis
facefaulted
"WHAT?!?"
***********
"Would you let go of me, Amelia?" Lina demanded.
"You should have told them," Amelia said. "It's
neither just or fair to
keep this from them."
"I'll tell them, okay," Lina promised. "Just stop
acting like I can't
make my own decisions! I'm still me, I just can't
cast...anything."
"Let's get some shopping done, and not think about it
for a little
while," Amelia suggested sweetly.
"Your still doing it," Lina said. "And what are we
shopping for anyway?"
Then they stopped in front of an armorers forge. "Oh."
************
"They were hiding something," Zelgadis muttered.
"Who were hiding something," Gourry asked as they
walked along.
"Amelia and Lina!"
"Oh, where are they anyway?" Zelgadis reached up and
nearly tore some of
his wire hair out.
"They stayed behind to do 'things' at the last town,"
Zelgadis said
through gritted teeth.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Gourry nodded. "I wonder why
Lina can't use
magic."
"I wonder that as well," Zelgadis agreed. "But it
appears that we'll
have to wait a little while for answers."
********
"Amelia, we really don't have to do this," Lina
pleaded. Her hands and
feet were manacled together forcing her to curl into a
ball. Her clothes and
new supplies were set off to the side of their camp
site. They were about an
hour away from the main road. "You and I both know
that I won't be dangerous
until the full moon."
"Have you ever met a werecreature?" Amelia asked.
"Other than burning them to a crisp, no," Lina
admitted.
"Neither have I," Amelia said. "I'd rather not take
the chance."
"These things hurt you know," Lina complained.
"Yeah, that's probably the silver threaded through the
iron," Amelia told
her.
"The what?" Lina was conscious of her hair standing on
end, and an
itching sensation at the base of her spine.
"Well, the sun's going down," Amelia noted.
"I...oww...noti...err...ced.." Lina responded. Amelia
whirled to see
Lina in the middle of a transformation. Amelia gasped
as she saw a short
lengthed red fur erupt over Lina's body. Her teeth
lengthened, and her ears
grew large, pointed and coated in black fur. All the
while a bushy red tail
with a white tip was growing as her legs were changing
shape. It sounded to
the princess as if her mentor and friend was in a lot
of pain, but she was
afraid to approach. Even if she could bear to get near
the obvious were
creature now, she couldn't think of anything to do.
The process took nearly a full two minutes, and left
Lina panting and
exhausted on the ground.
"Miss Lina?" Amelia asked cautiously.
"I'm...still me..." Lina gasped wearily, voice hoarse.
She looked up and
Amelia saw that the face was still mostly human, just
covered in fur with
reflective eys and long canines. The black furred
ears, drooping dejectedly
at the moment, were the most obvious inhuman feature.
In fact the whole
seemed more cute than frightening. "The reports are
right."
"I guess so," Amelia agreed. "So on the new moon
you'll be a
normal...uh, fox I guess...Most nights you'll be like
this, and on the full
moon you'll..."
"Be a rampaging infectious monster..." Lina finished.
Then she started
crying.
"Miss Lina, it's okay," Amelia gingerly reached over
and patted the
sobbing fox-girl. "We'll find a way to cure you."
"Just get me out of these manacles and stop trying to
cheer me up," Lina
asked, half-growling. The sound was more resigned and
depressed than angry.
Lina couldn't help but notice Amelia's reluctance to
approach her.
"You shouldn't give up Lina," Amelia tried to comfort
her friend as she
hesitantly unlocked the manacles. Amelia winced as she
saw the rashes the
silver threaded metal had made on her friend's wrists
and ankles. "Zelgadis
hasn't given up, and he's been a chimera for years.
You've only been a
were-fox a couple of days."
Lina only paid half attention to Amelia's commentary
as she got dressed.
The red-head had to cut a hole in the back of her
breeches to let the tail
out, and her shoes didn't fit over her fox-like feet.
Otherwise everything
was relatively normal.
"The chimera curse is unique, lycanthropy is
documented," Lina sighed, it
came out a whuff. She felt the steel of the short
sword she had just bought
that afternoon, and glanced at the studded leather
armor and greaves. She
was going to have to get used to those. "There is no
cure, and you know
that."
"We don't know that Lina..." Amelia started. Then
Lina's tail began
twitching wildly.
"The only thing I can do now is find out who did this
to me!" Lina
shouted.
*****************************************************************************
Breaking News
Zelgadis sipped his coffee and stared out the door,
waiting for Amelia and Lina to walk through the door.
He thought back to the scene from the previous day and
worried a little more.
**************
Upon entering town they had quickly discovered a large
gathering of people around a particular wall. A number
of the crowd appeared to be bandits and other
ne'erdowells. Intrigued, Zelgadis had approached
cautiously to see what the excitement was about.
"Ha, look at that," somebody laughed.
"Do you think we can believe it?"
"Either its true and banditry is safe again or its a
hoax and we're no better off than before."
"Yeah, life should get easier without the bandit
killer to stomp us into the ground." That caught
Zelgadis's ear, he heard somebody stop behind him and
turned to see Gourry standing there.
"I don't like the way they're talking about Lina." The
swordsman commented. Zelgadis moved forward a few feet
and looked at the paper tacked to the wall that was
causing such a fuss.
"Lina Inverse has lost her magic."
"Damn it," Zelgadis muttered as he worked his way out
of the crowd. "Somebody is playing with Lina again."
"Should we go back to find Amelia and Lina?" Gourry
asked.
"How would we find them?" Zelgadis asked. "We'll meet
them as we planned and work from there."
************
Zelgadis watched the growing light outside and
continued waiting. Amelia hadn't said at what time in
the morning the girls would get there, just that they
would be there in the morning.
***********
Amelia yawned and stretched, she'd had the last watch
of the night, and now it was time to gather the camp
together and leave for town. Zelgadis and Gourry would
be waiting for them.
"Come on, Miss Lina," Amelia said, yawning. "We have
to get going." She kicked the bedroll lightly and
frowned. "Miss Lina?" Amelia sat down to more
thoroughly shake the...ex-sorceress. Her first attempt
proved that whatever was in the bedroll, wasn't Lina.
Amelia opened the roll and found a collection of
leaves and twigs.
It didn't take much more looking for Amelia to
discover that the rest of Lina's gear had been taken,
including the manacles and their key. Pinned to
Amelia's bag was a short note.
"Zel's right I shouldn't travel with you, don't tell
them anything, I'd rather they think I just lost my
power than let them know this. - Lina." Amelia sighed
and realized that Lina was probably hours gone by now.
"I didn't act very tolerant last night," Amelia
thought to herself. "I'd better go meet Zelgadis. Lina
knows how to take care of herself." She scanned about
the campsite one more time before packing up and
heading for the next town.
************
"There was a woman selling lake dragon cuisine here
two days ago, do you know where I can find her?" Lina
asked the shop-owner in front of her. He squinted at
her, but with the hood of her new cloak up, couldn't
recognize the sorceress that had caused so much havoc
on the day Lina mentioned. The armor and weaponry also
helped conceal the sorceress's identity.
"Yeah, an obvious fraud," he answered. Lina tried to
avoid growling in irritation. "Left after she got one
customer, some sorceress with an attitude."
"Do you know where she went?"
"Yeah, I think she had a room in that inn over there,"
the shopkeeper pointed across the street. "Quite a
shame, good cook going by her product, shouldn't have
to defraud people."
"Thanks," Lina said reluctantly. She looked up to the
sky and saw that it wasn't yet afternoon, she had
plenty of time. The transformation back to completely
human form hadn't been much less painful than the
transformation to a fox girl. She was trying to figure
out why the first night went by without her noticing
it still. This line of thought ended as she approached
the innkeeper.
"Someone selling food across the street?" the
innkeeper repeated. "Oh yeah, I remember her, that
crazy green-haired girl with the weird laugh. Lina's
eyes narrowed.
"Where can I find her?"
"She left town yesterday I think," the innkeeper
answered. "She said something about needing to pass
some news along. Something about the bandit killer
losing all her power." Lina restrained herself from
attacking the man and left the building.
"Martina, of course its Martina," Lina muttered.
*************
"Amelia?" Zelgadis addressed her as she entered the
Dragon Ball Inn. "Where's Lina?"
"She left on her own last night, I don't think she
wanted to be a burden to us," Amelia didn't like to
lie, but it wasn't her secret to let out.
"What is wrong with her Amelia?" Zelgadis asked. "I've
decided that it is some kind of curse, the fact that
someone is running around telling everybody that Lina
has lost her bagic proves that." Amelia had seen the
signs and crowds, and didn't like the look of them.
Lina could be in quite a bit of trouble.
"You'll have to ask her when you next see her," Amelia
told him. "Where's Gourry?"
"He's still asleep. You think we will see her again?"
"I hope so," Amelia admitted. "I'd like to apologize,
I don't think I treated her well last night. Our
behaviour might have something to do with why she
left."
"Perhaps I was a bit callous," Zelgadis admitted.
"Where is this next cure anyway?" Zelgadis rolled his
eyes at her.
"I want to talk to a certain hermit that lives north
of here," Zelgadis answered. "He apparently knows
something about beating ones own curses."
***************
Xellos rubbed his head and grumbled a little
underneath the smile. That woman got to him far too
easily. Why the world did he put up with that when it
didn't involve something his master had asked him to
do. Too make matters worse, as far as he was
concerned, he was actually now considering how to get
back into the dragon maid's good graces. Or at least
as close as he could get to being in her good graces.
Xellos's planning stopped when he saw the poster.
"Lina Inverse has lost her magic." The mazoku's eyes
widened and he glared at the sign angrily.
"That is an ugly rumor," he muttered. "Usually I like
ugly rumors, but I'd prefer they weren't about my
friends." The purple haired mazoku appeared in front
of the gathered men and women and glared at them.
"Would someone mind telling me who put this up?"
Xellos's smooth voice ran chills down the spines of
the gathered citizens and bandits. "Well?"
"It was some green-haired girl, strange laugh" one of
them told him, frightened. Xellos teleported away and
frowned.
"That Martina girl again," Xellos snapped. He was
angry, and not all because of the situation he
imagined Lina to be in. He wasn't about to admit it,
but he was looking to get back a little at Filia. Let
her be ignored for a couple of days and then
consider...what...consider that he seemed to accept
things from her that would get other people killed.
No, this was nothing to do with his personal affairs.
This was him going off to help a friend pure and
simple. Now he had to find Lina and the others.
******************************************************************************
Gathering of Jackals
"You're acting like we shouldn't go look for Lina,"
Zelgadis noted, as Gourry came down the stairs
yawning.
"You don't think I want to make sure she's safe?"
Amelia responded, insulted.
"Make sure who's safe?" Gourry asked. "And where's
Lina."
"We don't know," Zelgadis said.
"I don't think we should get involved, Zelgadis-san,"
Amelia said once again. She hated her own thoughts and
kept them to herself. She didn't want to admit that it
was probably a good thing that Lina was gone.
"Zelgadis-san might think he's a monster, but Lina
actually is."
"Well, wouldn't she start from where this all
happened?" Gourry asked. Amelia and Zelgadis blinked
and looked at the swordsman as he started to order
breakfast.
"That's a good idea," Zelgadis said, surprised.
"Perhaps we should look for her at the last town."
"What about this hermit of yours," Amelia asked.
"Shouldn't you be heading to see him about your cure?"
"I didn't suggest that she stop travelling with us
just to leave her to every bandit looking for a
reputation," Zelgadis asserted. "The hermit will be
there after we find Lina."
"What if she doesn't want to be found?"
"It never stopped us from following Zel," Gourry
noted, making a second useful observation in one
conversation.
"What are you hiding, Amelia?" Zelgadis asked.
"You'll have to ask Lina," was all Amelia said.
"You sound like Xellos," Gourry noted.
"Speak of the devil," Xellos whispered from the
shadows. He watched the three make preparations to
leave, not wanting to reveal himself to them. The
resulting suscipision, chaos and anger would be
delicious, but it would just be diversion. "So there
really is something wrong with Lina." Besides, Amelia
and Zelgadis were more than making up for the lack.
He wanted this to be a short jaunt, Xelas wouldn't
tolerate him being away from his post for too long. He
affirmed to himself again that the only reason he was
out and about was that he needed some time away from
that over-violent, insolent, dragon-girl. Xellos cast
about with his senses for Lina's magical signature
while the Slayers beneath him gathered there things
and waited for Gourry to finish devouring breakfast.
He couldn't feel anything, either she was out of his
range. Or else whatever had happened to her hadn't
just blocked her magical power, it had stripped it.
"She must be out of range," Xellos decided.
************
Lina hurt all over, she couldn't move any part of her
body, breathing ached, the blood roared in her ears.
All she could do was stare through the trees and wait
for the sun to set. She felt herself healing slowly,
but at this rate it would be a while before she even
looked alive to the outside world, much less be able
to move. The fact that her new state of being kept her
alive didn't soothe her much. If she could still cast
magic, she never would have even had a problem.
She shouldn't even be in this situation now, she had
been cocky. After all, bandits had never caused her a
real problem before. The amount she had depended on
magic was painfully clear now, very painfully. She ran
over the scene in her mind one more time, analyzing
her mistakes again.
************
"Okay, you little creep," Lina snapped as she landed
from the tree in front of the courier. "Who paid you
to deliver these?" She snatched the scroll case from
his hands and recovered one of the "Lina Inverse has
lost her power." posters.
"What's it to you?" the courier asked nervously,
taking in the hooded cloak, armor and swords. "You're
a bandit aren't you?"
"I just want to know if the information is genuine,"
Lina asserted. She paused and sniffed at the air then,
something had attracted her attention. Lina didn't
know if the enhanced senses were a bad sign or not,
her sense of smell especially was getting more acute
with each passing hour.
"What does it matter if its genuine or not?" the
courier asked nervously. Lina shook away the
uncomfortable feeling the "scent" gave her. It was
probably just her imagining things anyway.
"I don't like being used as a decoy," Lina told the
courier. "Now where is the person that hired you to
deliver these."
"Are you interferring with the mail, little girl?" a
voice behind her demanded. Lina knew she wasn't
imagining things now as the sound of men surrounding
her and the courier carried through the forest.
"You know what," a second bandit asked.
"What?"
"I think she's the 'bandit killer' and I'll bet that
information there is correct."
"Are you crazy," Lina shouted. "If I was her, I'd have
dug myself into a hole by now."
"Hey, isn't Karl a survivor of the Bandit Killer?"
someone demanded. The courier edged away and was
blocked by two large bandits. "Oh let him go,
everybody should have that information after all." The
circle of bandits parted a little to let the man by,
he ran at a breakneck pace away from the developing
scene.
"Yeah, let's pull that hood back and see if Karl
recognizes her."
"Just try it," Lina snapped, drawing her blade. She
looked frantically for a way out, but found nothing.
She should have left when the first twinge of danger
came to her, now she was stuck. "I don't want to die
quite yet, I still have to find Martina, and thank
her."
"I don't care, I just want that sword of hers."
"Oh, you want that little baby sword?" somebody
teased.
"Mind your own business, let's just kill her and
figure out who she is later."
The following battle didn't last long, Lina had put up
a good fight, but without magic there were just too
many of them. Still five of them weren't going to be
anybody's problem again. What happened after the
battle was the real horror.
"It looks like she's still alive," the speaker ran her
through one more time as he spoke. The pain was
incredible, but Lina wasn't able to respond. "Look at
her eyes."
"Don't be stupid," somebody closed her eyes, but she
lifted them open moments later.
"Yeah, that's the 'bandit killer' allright," a
burn-scarred man she assumed must be Karl told the
others. He lifted her head up by bloodsoaked her and
spat in her face, Lina blinked. The man let her head
drop back down to the ground, it hit hard. "She's
still alive." He kicked her, several times, Lina
thought she felt one of her remaining ribs break.
"It's just a reflex action, don't worry about it," he
closed her eyes, again, but she popped them open. She
was going to make sure she knew who these people were.
"See, look, they just pop open. It's odd, but we've
all seen dead bodies do stuff like that before."
"Come on let's get out of here," somebody said. "We've
pretty much taken everything of value." The men around
her stood up and started walking away, all agreeing in
various ways. Each of them paused to give Lina's
conscious, but immobile body a kick or stab. Lina
thanked L-sama that there wasn't a single silver
weapon among the lot of them.
"I wonder what she used the manacles for?" The voice
was fading away, she was alone in a ditch on the side
of the road in the middle of the roads. Which brought
her to her current situation.
Her feet itched now, it was a good sign, the feeling
was returning to her limbs. It was still taking to
long, somebody might come along and decide to do
something more than just beat the bandit killer's
corpse. She sighed and wondered just how long she was
going to have to stay in this hideous state of
immobile consciousness. It wasn't all that much
longer, fortunately, as the sun began to sink and the
transformation was triggered, her rate of healing
accelerated. The pain was incredible as bones knitted
and nerves reconnected to each other. It was
comparatively short lived though, and Lina was soon
nearly completely healed. As soon as the full
transformation ended the healing slowed down again,
but it was still at much higher rate than before.
"First piece of business is to get my stuff back,"
Lina growled, tail swishing smoothly. "Without them
learning it was me." She didn't want it getting around
that she was a were-creature, and if the rumors spread
that she was dead, well that was so much the better.
If she suspected her senses were enhanced in human
form they were incredible now. She had been too
preoccupied with moping on the previous night to
notice them. For one thing it was easy to follow the
bandit's trail through the woods, and moving silently
and swiftly.
The bandit lair was more of a challenge, but the level
of drunkeness and chaos still made it easy for her to
get in and out with her stuff and a little extra
without being seen. She left only one exception, one
of her earrings planted in one of the bandit's packs
to implicate him in the loot's disappearance.
Lina sighed as she left to the sound of a rising
fight, but if she had fought some of them would have
escaped. Then Lina Inverse would be known as a
werecreature and she'd never be able to find Martina.
The fighting grew louder as Lina began travelling down
the road, hood pulled deep over her head. As she
neared the next town Lina settled in to another
solitary camp site to wait for daylight to come.
*************************************************************************
Findings False and True
"Look it at," the man with the eye-patch gloated over
his prize, a single globular earring. "Its hers I tell
you. We took it off her corpse right after returning a
little of wot she gave to our profession."
"All I see is a pretty bauble," the man he was talking
to grumbled. "You think I'm going to believe you
because of that, get real. Show me a head or something
and I'll believe you then."
"I lost five o' me crew taking her down," the patch
complained. "And then three more when we found them
trying pinch some o' the loot. Still can't find ware
the bugger 'id the rest o' 'er gear. But he'll be
talking to soon enough I wager."
"Bring out all the gold and jewels you want, no one
will believe you until they see the corpse."
"Well, we can show that as well, we can," the eye
patch answered.
"Excuse us," The two large bandits turned to face a
blue-skinned person dressed all in baige. The hand on
his hilt spoke volumes.
"Would you mind telling us where you got that
earring," this time the speaker was a tall blonde
swordsman.
"Wot's it to you then?" the patch asked. "Wot is you,
bounty hunters, bandits, mercenaries?"
"Please just tell us where you found the earring," the
third member of the party, a young woman with black
hair, asked reluctantly.
"Soldiers o' fortune lookin for a rep," he jabbed his
thumb at the three as he turned back to his amused
companion. "I pulled it off the dra matta's corpse, so
go somewhere else for your fun." The girl winced,
while blonde looked pained.
"Take us to the body," the blue skinned warrior
demanded icily.
"You gonna make me?" the man with the eye patch stood
up, towering over the blue swordsman. "Go ahead and
try!" He punched out and was surprised when his much
smaller opponent easily stopped the attack with one
hand.
"Try that again and I'll rip the arm off," he
promised. The blonde stepped in front of the other
bandit, cutting off his escape.
"You're coming along too, don't want to miss your
proof do you?"
"Fine! I'll take you to the body, but after that I'll
dice you so fine they'll never find the pieces." The
threat didn't bother the three whatsoever. Nobody in
the tavern interferred with the unofficial arrest as
the slayers escorted the bandits out of the building
and eventually out of the city.
A little more than forty-five minutes later they came
to the battle site.
"We tossed her in that ditch o'er there," Zelgadis
shoved the veritable giant to the ground and followed
Amelia to the indicated spot.
The grass was still stained red in places and the
remains of a hauberk of studded leather lay discarded
in a little to the side. The item was useless for all
the great bloody holes in it.
"That's the armor I bought for her," Amelia whispered,
stricken.
"There's no body," Zelgadis noted.
"Is it Lina?" Gourry called out, not taking his eyes
off the two bandits.
"No body," Zelgadis called back.
"No body, eh?" the patch's companion repeated. "I know
you were full of hot air."
"Listen you, there weren't much left after we was
through, I suspect that for the past two days the
crows have had a wonderful feast." he started to laugh
but was cut off as Zelgadis roared and rushed at the
bandit from across the field. Before the big man could
react the inhumanly fast chimera had skewered and
gutted him. Coming away from the eye-patch's corpse in
a circular motion, Zelgadis took the second bandits
head.
Finished with the thugs Zelgadis planted his sword
point down in the ground and kneeled, head against the
hilt.
"We found Lina," he said hoarsely. He turned to
Amelia. "We can go talk to that hermit about my cure
now."
"Shouldn't we do something," Gourry asked.
"We could bury the armor," Amelia suggested. "Raise a
cairn."
"It's the least we can do," Zelgadis agreed. Gourry
nodded.
"I think I saw some rocks over this way," the blonde
noted. And the three friends set about giving their
lost comrade a memorial.
"Perhaps this is the best," Amelia thought to herself,
hating that she could even consider it.
*******************
"I'm looking for the courier that delivered
this...trash," Xellos handed the poster over and
sneered.
"It's not my business to keep track of who puts up
what on that board for every passing mercenary."
"Someone else has asked about this?" Xellos arched an
eyebrow. "What did they look like."
"Couldn't see her face, she kept it hidden under a
hood the entire time." Xellos tapped his foot
irritably, this day was almost finished, and he didn't
have but one or two more before Xelas came looking for
him. Filia would be needing some help as well, but he
actively avoided thinking about that.
"Can you tell me anything about her?"
"Short girl, spoke quietly, I think she had red hair."
Xellos began to hope that he had struck upon an
incredibly lucky event.
"And do you know where she is?"
"She was on the verge of falling asleep in front of
me, sent her to that inn over there, two days ago."
Xellos turned to regard the building. "Haven't seen
her leave, but..." he shrugged.
"Thank you good sir," Xellos smiled. "I don't think
I'll kill you today." The purple-haired priest
vanished from in front of the annoyed man's face.
"Fruitcake," he muttered before going about on his
business.
"It can't be Lina," Xellos told himself, preparing for
the let down. "Her signature isn't here." Despite this
he began a quick survey of the rooms until he found
what he was looking for.
The snoring form was definitely Lina, magic or no
magic, Xellos could tell that. The red-head was lying
unconscious wrapped in blankets that appeared somewhat
shredded.
"Lina, what happened to you," Xellos wondered as he
walked over to attempt and wake her up. Curiously
enough he smelled something familiar. "If I didn't
know better, I'd say she just healed some major
damage." The mazoku priest reached out with his staff
and poked Lina in the side to shake her awake.
"What?" Lina muttered, blinking awake. The tired and
confused woman finally caught site of Xellos and
narrowed her eyes. "Xellos what are you doing here."
"I was looking for you," the priest smiled. "I
heard...rumors..." Xellos stopped talking as Lina's
eyes snapped wide and she looked at the window towards
the darkening horizon.
"Close the window," she demanded, sitting up, grabbing
the headboard, and biting down on the wood. Xellos
blinked in surprise but closed the shutters anyway.
As the trickster caught a last glimpse of the setting
sun he couldn't help but realize that Lina hadn't been
wearing anything when she emerged from the blankets.
When he turned around again it was to the sound of
restrained thrashing and cracking wood.
"Lina?" Xellos. gasped as he watched the
transformation proceed. The wood between Lina's teeth
didn't last long, shattering under the pressure.
"Ah!" the sound of bones cracking and reshaping came
as her legs changed. "Ahhh!! AHHHH!!!" Unlike Amelia,
Xellos had no worries about approaching Lina as she
was now. After the first couple of moments of surprise
he rushed forward and encircled the changing woman in
his arms. He clamped a hand over her mouth in an
attempt to keep her screams from alerting the rest of
the inn.
Xellos found it difficult to contain her, even with
his mazoku strength. As the seconds creeked by
undeterminably slow, he found himself almost hanging
on for dear life. Lina bit into his hand and the demon
had to supress his own expression of pain.
The transformation ended after a pair of measly
minutes and Lina began to relax, temporarily exhausted
by the process. When Lina stopped struggling, Xellos
released his grip, the exhausted Lina continued
leaning back against him.
"How long have you been like this?" Xellos asked.
"Three days," Lina whispered. She didn't yet know that
she had slept through the previous day, a side effect
of the natural stimulants her body had used to heal
her earlier. "Why are you here?"
"I was...worried about you," he usually didn't come
out right and say things like that, but his usual
"that is a secret" routine didn't seem appropriate at
the moment.
Lina turned around and faced him, her tail was now
flicking nervously behind her.
"You were worried about me," Lina repeated. "That's
it?" Zelgadis thought she was a weakling, Amelia acted
like she thought Lina was thinking about stalking her,
a gang of bandits had beaten her past the brink of a
human death. Now Xellos was...worried... about her,
and of course he wasn't afraid of her.
"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked. "You are a friend
after all, I never claimed anything else." Lina looked
at him and blinked.
The were-fox desparately wanted some control, wanted
something to go her way. Apparently the only rock in
her ocean at the moment was the mazoku trickster. He
wasn't prepared when Lina pulled his head down and
kissed him.
"What-?" Xellos started to ask as he managed to pull
away. Lina was stronger now, but still not as strong
as mazoku.
"Please..." was all Lina said, looking up at the
purple-haired mazoku with red reflective eyes.
Xellos considered refusing, but decided against it. He
had always been curious, and it wasn't like Filia
cared what he did. Or like he cared what Filia thought
about his actions. He smiled and initiated his own
kiss as they fell back to the large bed covered in
torn blankets.
*************************************************************************
Connecting (lemon)
Lina dropped back towards the bed, and was surprised
when Xellos turned them around as they fell so that
Lina ended up on top. Lina pulled back from their kiss
a moment and looked at him confused. He smiled,
reaching up to rub the thin skin of her black furred
ears. Lina sighed, almost crooning, as Xellos' face
came up to meet hers again.
"You have a tail," Xellos whispered into her ear,
blowing softly as he did so.
"Oh, right," Lina muttered, as she loosened Xellos's
cloak, and began hastily working on his tunic. She
nipped at his ear, as the mazoku's hand began moving
down her back.
"Its not so bad is it?" Xellos asked as he stroked the
shock of red fur about her tail. The light scrape of
claws trailing up his back were accompanied by a soft
canine croon that answered his question.
"Stop talking," Lina breathed roughly. Xellos had to
stop a moment to let her pull the tunic over his head,
but only for a moment.
Lina gasped as Xellos started tickling the fine fur
coating her breasts, she closed her eyes and relished
the exquisite feel of each fiber pulling lightly at
the flesh underneath. Like a soft breeze brushing
across her skin.
Lina straightened her back as Xellos worked his lips
down from her neck to her hardened nipples. The
were-fox reached down Xellos's back and pulled his
breeches down past his hips while her partner's hands
were split between dancing along her spine and
caressing the soft fur between her legs.
Xellos let Lina carry his head back up to hers and
they both locked lips as the mazoku kicked his pants
the rest of the way off. Their hands moved to each
other's backs as they crushed there bodies against
each other. Lips and tongues ranged over ears, necks,
and mouths while their lower bodies realigned.
Lina gave short cut off yelp as Xellos entered her and
her claw fingers dug shallow furloughs into his back.
Xellos' face laid by Lina's nibbling on the tip of her
ear. Lina's tail swished smoothly and rapidly as she
and Xellos adapted to each other's rhythm.
Periodically a sharp yelp or grunt escaped from
between gritted teeth. Lina's claws dug more furrows
into Xellos' back as the earlier marks healed.
A small amount of pain on both sides had triggered
natural stimulants to be released for accelerated
healing and activity. Already superior senses were
hyped as the intensity came to a boiling point. The
yelps, sighs and grunts were more constant than
periodic now.
Their eyes spent more time locked than roaming, each
delving the other's soul for something to cling to.
For a brief moment they were in total harmony;
physical, emotional and spiritual. Lina cried out,
almost a howl, and her eyes opened wide as she then
pulled several quick breaths in. Lina cried out twice
more, and then finally arched her back almost double
as she and Xellos cried in one combined voice.
Xellos fell back against the bed as Lina slumped
forward, supported by her arms on either side of the
mazoku's head. Their eyes remained locked as they
caught their breath and let there bodies come down
from the intense sensations they had just experienced.
Lina let herself fall forward and encircled her arms
around the mazoku, Xellos cradled the fox-girl in
response. They wearily kissed deeply one more time,
and then Lina slid off Xellos and snuggled against his
side. The were-fox softly fell asleep gripping the
mazoku, who closed his eyes and relaxed into a guarded
sleep of his own.
**************
Xellos woke up before the sun rose, and saw Lina still
sleeping next to him, snoring loudly as usual. He
wondered at the connection he had felt with the new
therianthrope earlier, that momentary joining of
souls. He had felt traces of it before with Lina, the
tendency to think along similar lines for instance.
Last night had been different, more complete and
intense. It reminded him somewhat of the bond he owed
to his master, Zelas.
He couldn't see the sun rising, but he did watch
enrapt as the fox-like features retreated from Lina's
form. This transformation seemed much smoother and
obviously without pain than the other. Xellos thought
he knew why. Awake, Lina was afraid as the change
approached, she fought it and the change was
difficult, painful. She was much better off to go
through the change asleep. That conclusion brought a
twinge of guilt for waking her up just before sun set.
The mazoku gently disengaged himself from the still
sleeping Lina, and he stroked a stray lock of hair
away from her face. A trace of silver was starting to
show at the roots of some of the hairs. Lina was going
to have a silver streak a little off center of her
forehead. He imagined what it would look like and
smiled as he collected his clothes. The woman was
beautiful, that was all there was too it.
Shuffling around, he found her gear, and a pile of
discarded clothes. The hooded cloak sitting off to the
side seemed fine, but the rest were mostly bloody rags
and some ill-fitting, for Lina, garments that she had
probably snatched as replacements. He was no longer
confused as to why Lina had been sleeping naked.
He shuddered when he saw them, the pain, despair and
humiliation oozing from the remnants were the very
sort of nutrition he required, but he didn't like the
source. Xellos glanced over at Lina again, no wonder
she was so tired. She was crashing from the
regeneration.
The mazoku dug a little further and found some coins,
looking back at Lina he estimated that she would be
asleep for at least another hour. That decided he
teleported away.
****************
Lina woke up to the sight of a half-empty bed, she
snapped to a seating position.
"Xellos?!"
"I'm here," the mazoku responded from her right. She
rose from the bed and embraced him.
"Don't leave," she said. "Everybody else left."
"I'm not going anywhere, yet," Xellos answered. "But
tomorrow I'll have to leave, annoying Zelas won't help
either of us."
"I know, I know," Lina sighed. "I just...."
"Need somebody?" the trickster smiled.
"Yeah, how'd you guess?"
"Sore wa himitsu desu," he waggled his finger at her
playfully, and she rolled her eyes. "I have a surprise
for you." He pointed towards the bundle next to him.
Lina released him and picked up the bundle, intrigued.
Unwrapping it she found a pile of clothes, breeches
dyed a deep-reddish brown and a loose tunic of dark
green leather. Next to the chair on the flor was a
pair of black riding boots.
"These are for me?" She asked.
"Well I used your money," she rolled her eyes at him
again in mock irritation, and then giggled at his
innocent smile. "The coloring should be useful when
travelling through the wilderness."
"Thank you, I needed some new clothes," Lina said.
"One more thing," Xellos lifted his amulet over his
head and handed it over to her. She took it
reluctantly, a little confused. "You'll always be able
to contact me as long as you have that. And I'll
always know where you are."
"Let's not turn this into a farewell," Lina demanded
as she started getting dressed in her new clothes. "I
have you for one more day, I want to enjoy that."
"As you wish," Xellos laughed, feeling pleased at the
substantial upswing of Lina's emotions.
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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