Slayers: Lina at The Temple of Doona
by: Amber Reynolds

Part One:

Lina Inverse, one of the most powerful sorceresses know to the world, lay on the cold stone floor of the Temple of Doona, unconscious. Her fiery hair was fanned out over the stones, the ends trailing in a

puddle of rank sewage. Her pale white skin was covered with bruises. A trail of blood wound its way

down her cheek from a large gash on her forehead. The black band she always wore across her brow was

in tatters, as were her clothes.

It broke Gourry's heart to see her like that and to not be able to help. He was chained to a wall,

along with Ameria and Zelgadis. He strained against the chains that bound him, the muscles in his arms

bulging.

"LINA!!!" he roared.

Lina didn't stir. She couldn't.

* "Where am I? What happened to me?" Lina's mind cried.

"You must help us....." voices echoed in Lina's mind.

"Who are you?" Lina's mind called back.

"We are the Children of Doona...... You must help us...." the voices echoed.

"Help you how?" Lina's mind called. "Hello?"

Lina's call met only silence. Then everything began to fade into blackness. *

Lina's eyes fluttered open and she looked up into a hooded face.

"I must help the Children of Doona," she whispered.

The hooded face drew back in alarm and began to talk urgently with other hooded people.

"Lina!" Ameria gasped.

Lina turned her head to look at Ameria, wincing at the pain the motion caused. Her eyes focused

on the chains binding her friends and she concentrated.

Ameria, Gourry, Zelgadis fell to the stones on a heap. Their chains had been broken. They slowly

got to their feet, unnoticed by the hooded figures.

Lina looked away from her friends, willing them to leave. She didn't want them around for this.

"You are to come with us to be prepared for the ceremony," a hooded figure commanded, pulling

Lina to her feet.

Another hooded figure joined the first and Lina was dragged away, struggling weakly.

'Please be safe my friends!' Lina whispered in her mind.

Part Two:

"We have to go back for her!" Gourry demanded.

"But how? There are so many of the hooded guys and only three of us," Ameria pointed out.

"I don't care! i'm going back for Lina. Whether you come or not doesn’t matter anymore," Gourry

said.

"I will come with you," another voice said.

"Why do you want to help Lina, Xellos?" Zelgadis demanded.

The Trickster Priest smiled.

"The Order of Doona has been a thorn in the side of Mazokus for hundreds of years. By helping

you rescue Lina, I can also destroy the Order. Besides, I don't like what they want to do to her," Xellos said.

He was suddenly serious.

"What are they going to do to her?" Ameria asked anxiously.

"It's not for you to hear. You're too young to know," Xellos said.

He drew Gourry and Zelgadis aside, turning his back to Ameria.

"They plan to torture her, then sacrifice her. Letting all of the men in the Order rape her until she

dies of blood loss is the chosen method for this sacrifice," he told them.

Gourry was horrified.

"We can't let that happen! We have to do something!" he yelled.

"I'm going after her too," Zelgadis announced.

"Me too," Ameria said defiantly.

* "Help us..... We need you Lina...... We need your help....." the voices echoed.

"How can I help you?" Lina's mind called.

"Find the Doona Star and set us free....." the voices echoed.

"Where is it?" Lina's mind called and met only silence. "Hello?" *

Part Three:

Gourry, Ameria, Zelgadis and Xellos knocked out four members of the Order and stole their

clothes, putting them on as a disguise. They walked into the Temple unchallenged and made their way

to the corridor the Lina had been dragged down earlier. They kept on their guard.

Lina stood on an altar, her eyes blank. She was dressed in a flowing white tunic and underdress,

a golden girdle around her waist. Her fiery hair was pulled up and away from her face in an elaborate

braided coil. Her neck, wrists, arms and ears were all decorated with golden jewelry, the Demon's Blood

talismans attached to the girdle on her waist.

* "You must fight the drug Lina...... It's the only way you can help us......" the voices echoed.

"I'm trying. Where do I find the Doona Star?" Lina's mind called.

"Look inside yourself..... The answer lies within......" the voices echoed. *

Lina was told to sing to please the men of the Order, and in her drugged stupor, she complied.

Gourry, Ameria, Zelgadis and Xellos followed the sound of a female's pure soprano and were

surprised to see Lina standing on an altar and singing. They quickly recovered and Gourry rushed over

to grab Lina.

"Snap out of it Lina!" Gourry ordered as he pulled Lina off the altar.

Lina's eyes suddenly became clear.

"Gourry?" she asked, stumbling over the long skirts of her tunic and underdress.

Gourry swung Lina up into his arms and ran down a narrow corridor, followed closely by

Ameria, Zelgadis and men of the Order.

"Hurry!" Lina screamed as the doors in front of them began to swing closed. "FIREBALL!!!!"

she cried,one arm around Gourry's neck while the other swung in the direction of the men following them.

The men of the Order screamed as the spell hit them.

"Keep going, Gourry! We're right behind you!" Zelgadis cried, dragging Ameria with him as he

ran.

Xellos in the meantime was having the time of his life. Charred bodies of men of the Order

littered the floor of the Temple. He was laughing.

Gourry ran through the closing doors, his arms tight around Lina.

"Stop here Gourry," Lina said, struggling to get out of Gourry's arms.

When she succeeded, she stumbled to the doors and inserted herself between them. She closed

her eyes and pushed the doors apart, letting Zelgadis and America run through before slamming the large

doors shut. Lina stood there, panting from the effort of the whole escape.

Gourry, Ameria and Zelgadis finally got a good look at Lina's new outfit. Their mouths dropped

open. They had never seen Lina look so beautiful. It was a shock to them.

"I have to find the Doona Star. I have to free the Children of Doona. I promised them," Lina said,

looking around her.

She didn't seem to notice the reactions of the others to her costume. She walked to a wall and

pushed a raised carving of a seven-point star.

With a click, a panel opened, large enough for a person to walk through.

"Let's go. Those guys won't be held back by a set of closed doors for long," Lina said.

She picked up her skirts and walked through the panel opening.

Gourry, Ameria and Zelgadis recovered from their shock and quickly followed Lina, letting

the darkness swallow them as the panel slid shut behind them.

Part Four:

"What happened to all your bruises and the big cut on your forehead?" Ameria asked.

"I think they used a healing spell on me. I really don't know because they drugged me," Lina said,

following the soft globe of light in front of her.

"That must be when they put those weird clothes on you," Ameria said, thinking aloud. "Your hair

is nice though. I do like that gold ribband threaded through the braids. I wish I could wear my hair like that.

It looks very royal," Ameria chattered at Lina.

"Thank you Ameria. And these clothes aren't weird. They're just old. Centuries old , in fact," Lina

explained to the bubbly princess.

"I think you look very beautiful," Gourry said shyly, blushing.

Lina turned around, startled. Her lips formed a round "O" of surprise. Then she blushed prettily.

"Thank you Gourry," she said shyly.

Zelgadis remained silent, watching this exchange. His lips quirked in a lop-sided smile.

'Those two are meant for each other. It's destiny,' he thought.

Lina's blush grew even brighter at Gourry's latest batch of compliments.

"Thank you Gourry. We have to keep going. If we stay here, we might get caught. And that's not

something I'm looking forward to," Lina said and started walking again.

She pretended not to notice when Gourry walked beside her and took her hand in one of his. She

didn't want to ruin the moment.

After what seemed like hours, Lina and her friends finally found the end of the tunnel.

Lina found another switch in the shape of a seven-point star and pushed it, letting another

panel slide open in front of her.

"Let's go," she ordered.

The four stepped out into bright light, so bright they had to cover their eyes. When their eyes

had finally adjusted, they saw that they stood in a room of mirrors and polished gold.

"What is this place?" Ameria asked in awe.

"It's a preparing room," Xellos said, appearing from thin air.

"Preparing room for what?" Ameria asked, confusion written across her cute face.

"The Order uses this room to prepare sacrifices for their ceremonies. It's a very beautiful

room," Xellos said.

He walked over to Lina.

"The swordsman is right. You do look beautiful and your singing is as sweet as a nightingale's,"

Xellos said , kissing Lina's small hand.

Lina drew her hand back as if she'd been burned.

"Don't touch me again Mazoku," she growled.

She looked around the room, a familiar feeling of light-headedness over-taking her and she

collapsed.

"Lina!!" everyone cried as Gourry caught the slight girl.

* "You are so close... Look inside yourself and you shall find the Doona Star..." the voices echoed.

"What do you mean? And why do I always have to faint to talk to you?" Lina's mind cried angrily.

"Look inside yourself for the Doona Star...." the voices echoed.

"What will happen if I accidentally drop the Star?" Lina's mind asked.

"We will be free and you will be rewarded.... Look inside yourself..... You will find it within....." the

voices echoed and fell silent. *

Lina came to and found herself cradled in Gourry's arms. Her wide russet eyes, framed by kohl

lashes, looked up to meet Gourry's worried blue ones. She smiled and got up. The something caught her eye.

Lina moved towards her reflection as if in a trance, one hand outstretched. Her fingers touched the

cool glass and passed through it. Lina drew her hand back, looked at it, then stepped through the mirror.

The others looked at the mirror and tried to go through it but they couldn't.

Lina stepped back through the mirror, something clasped in her hands. She had a determined glint

in her eyes as she opened her hands to let the others see what she held.

"What is it?" the others asked.

"It's the Doona Star," Lina replied.

Part Five:

Lina looked down at the glowing ice-blue stone cupped in her hands.

"This is what I was told to find. I know what I have to do with this," Lina said and dashed the

stone against the floor.

When the stone shattered, an immense burst of light and a huge tremor from the earth knocked

the group off their feet.

* "Thank you Lina.... We are free... We will be sure to reward all of you for your help..." the voices

echoed in everyone's minds. *

When the light faded and the ground stopped shaking , the group got to their feet.

"What just happened here?" Zelgadis asked as he got to his feet shakily.

"Lina freed us," a group of voices chorused.

The group looked up to see most of the room filled with children bearing strange green symbols

on their foreheads.

"Who are you?" Ameria asked as Zelgadis helped her to her feet.

"We are the Children of Doona. The Order sealed us inside the Doona Star to keep us from

destroying them. We have been locked in the Star for centuries, waiting for the One to come and set

us free. Lina is that One," the Children said.

Lina stood in the circle of Gourry's arms, barely conscious. She looked at the Children, a small

smile playing across her lips.

"I'm glad I could help. I hope you are all okay," she said to her friends and the Children.

Then she fainted.

"We didn't realize how much releasing us would take out of her. We can heal her now, if

you wish," the Children said.

"Please do!" Gourry exclaimed.

* "What happened?" Lina's mind called.

"You freed us but it took a lot out of you..... We're sorry... We will heal you now..." the Children's

voices echoed in Lina's mind for the last time. *

Lina came to. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up.

"Where's the Temple?" sha asked woozily.

The group looked around. They were surprised to see that they were in a grassy field near a town.

"The Temple has been hidden deep in the earth. We don't want a repeat of what just happened,"

the Children said from behind the group. "Thank you Lina Inverse."

"No problem," Lina said.

"We will reward you all for your help with whatever you wish," the Children said.

In the end, Zelgadis was cured and he and Ameria were betrothed, Xellos got a kiss from Lina,and

Gourry became a genius and proposed to Lina right after his wish was granted. And Lina's every wish, hope

and dream became a reality for her.

"Thank you," Lina said to the Children before they left to join the Temple.

She looked up at Gourry, love shining in her eyes, and kissed him.

************* THE END **************