The Slayers: Reward
Chapter 9: Relax. A Moment to Recoup.
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; 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.
Lime Warning: The reason why this warning is here is very evident in this
chapter. Sexual comments WILL be made in this part, but nothing descriptive.
-------------------*
A casual observer would view the activity around the table as an all out brawl
over every last morsel of food. For those who knew the chief two combatants, the
battle was actually quite tame. The surprise of surprises was when Gourry and
Lina fed each other meatballs.
"Are they always like this?" Ravven asked.
Zelgadis shook his head. "Normally they're not that civilized."
Amelia sighed dreamily. "And they've never fed each other before either."
Both Lina and Gourry attacked the noodle-heaped plate and then forked over to
each other a large helping of noodles. They both slurped a rather long noodle
strand.
Amelia giggled when she noticed they were eating the same noodle. When they got
to the middle of the spaghetti strand, their lips met in a kiss. Lina and Gourry
paused for a moment, pulled away, blushed, and went back to the spaghetti plate
to see if they could do that again.
Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "I think I liked it better when they wouldn't admit
their feelings."
Amelia's eyes widened in shock. "Mr. Zelgadis, how could you say something so
UN-romantic?!"
Zelgadis looked away. "More like being afraid of romance."
Amelia looked like she was about to cry.
Ravven leaned over and whispered to her, "You just have to show him there's
nothing to be afraid of, and he'll be following you like Gourry trails Lina
around like a whipped puppy... a horny pussy whipped puppy, that is."
Amelia blushed fiercely and punched Ravven into a wall. "How can say something
like that!"
Zelgadis scowled angrily. "What did he say?"
Amelia fidgeted. "Nothing really...."
Ravven smirked. "Until you're ready to commit to her, she's fair game. So, don't
get jealous over someone taking a chance." He winked at Amelia.
Amelia blinked cluelessly.
Zelgadis growled. "Just stay away from her, pervert."
Ravven chuckled. "Or what? You don't have a right to keep other guys away from
her yet. What commitment does she have to you? None. And why? Because you're
afraid. Well, I'm not afraid to take a chance."
Zelgadis stood up.
A butter-knife imbedded itself into the table next to Zelgadis, and a fork shook
in the wall above Ravven's head.
"That's enough from both of you," Lina said flatly. "Or will Gourry have to use
the spoon?"
A spoon twirled between the fingers of Gourry's right hand.
"He started it." Zelgadis motioned toward Ravven.
"You won't finish it," Ravven sarcastically remarked, motioning toward Amelia.
Amelia grabbed her head and rubbed in fiercely. "I don't understand. First
Ravven suggests I pussy whip Zelgadis and then he acts as if he propositioned
me. What does pussy whip mean anyway?"
Zelgadis blinked he repeatedly. "He what?!"
Ravven thumped his head against the wall. "You just defeated everything I was
trying to do."
Lina laughed. "That's a very dangerous game you were playing. It wouldn't take
much for Zel to kill you."
Ravven shrugged. "You guys would've stopped it if it ever got that far, right?"
Those at the table looked away.
"Right?" Ravven repeated.
"Maybe," Lina offered.
"MAYBE?!" Ravven freaked.
Lina glance back at Zelgadis. "All right, what's the next plan? We were out of
Gemi before any nobles showed up and spotted Amelia. But I don't have any leads
for your cure."
"The only clue I have is that it might be in mazoku hands." Zelgadis sighed.
"Know of any places the mazoku might use to store Claire Bible Manuscripts?"
"Xellos said something about being a priest of a temple that contained a
manuscript when we first met him. Do you think he wasn't really lying about
that?" Amelia questioned.
Lina folded her hands. "It's possible. But he's Zelas's 'priest' meaning it
could be located at Beast Island."
Ravven took his seat at the table. "If they have been collecting those
manuscripts, I doubt they'd concentrate them at any one place. Each of the
Greater Lords are likely to have some of the manuscripts." He leaned back. "But
I know for a fact Gaav didn't have any."
"And how would you know that?" Zelgadis questioned.
Ravven shrugged. "You're just going to have to trust me on that."
Zelgadis glared. "But I don't trust you at all."
"Your loss." Ravven smirked. "But there might be some at Dynast's fortress."
Lina waved him off. "We can't be sure of that and I hate snow. Any idea Gourry?"
"Ah... early to bed, late to rise," Gourry offered since he hadn't paid any
attention.
Lina smacked Gourry in the head. "Should've seen that coming. Amelia?"
Amelia looked deep in thought. "About the only solution to finding out where
they would store the manuscripts is getting Xellos to tell us where they are."
Lina rolled her eyes. "Like Xellos is going to walk in a say, 'hello, Lina'
and-"
"Hello, Lina," said a firm voice.
Lina looked over at the door and blinked. "With that cue Xellos should've showed
up, not you."
Towermere stepped forward. "Lina Inverse, your blasphemy against Ceiphied has
gone on too long."
"Who's this guy?" Zelgadis thumbed the new arrival.
"High priest Towermere, of Flare Cathedral. And he's the one that got me married
to Gourry, only he thought I was the princess of Edo-- since I kind of switched
places with her," Lina informed.
Towermere grumbled. "Will you accede to Ceiphied's will now, or will you
continue to go against your god?"
Lina smirked. "Sorry, but my God is Ceiphied's mother. So, I don't have to
follow your line of hypocrisy."
Towermere shook in anger. "How dare you say such things?!"
Zelgadis glanced over. He was still upset at the crap Ravven had pulled earlier
and he didn't particularly like the priest's attitude. "Mind if I take out the
trash?" Zelgadis offered.
"Trash?!" Towermere cried out in outrage.
"Be my guest," Lina chirped.
Amelia touched Zelgadis on the arm. "Don't hurt Teacher too much."
"I won't." Zelgadis blinked. "Teacher?"
"Yes." Amelia nodded. "He taught me almost everything I know about white and
spirit magic."
Towermere level a grave look at Zelgadis. "I am acting upon Ceiphied's will, so
do not interfere."
Zelgadis scowled back. "You're annoying my friends, so I'm afraid I must do
that."
"Oh, Zel, he's immune to magic somehow, so you'll have to beat him up
physically," Lina informed.
"Not a problem." Zelgadis smirked.
"Your loyalty to friends is admirable, construct, but this does not concern
you-- only Lina Inverse." Towermere tried to push past Zelgadis. "Step aside or
I will have to unmake you."
Zelgadis gave a short laugh. "I wish."
Amelia glared at Towermere and then looked softly at Zelgadis. "Dear, you should
know Teacher can hold his own in a fist fight against my father."
Zelgadis stared at Amelia.
"Dear?!" Towermere squeaked. "That's the man you've ran away from home for? That
freak isn't even human!"
Zelgadis growled and punched Towermere.
"And it's a long flying Towermere out of the inn," Ravven called out and then
blinked. "And Zelgadis is running to catch him?" He sweat-dropped. "Ow, and the
throw to bank wall. And yes, that's the orihalcon siding of the bank vault he
bounced off of. Ew. He'll be feeling that in the morning. Just how does Zel run
so fast?"
Ravven was ignored.
Zelgadis dusted his hands off as Towermere's legs hung out of a garbage can.
"What now?" he asked.
Lina sighed. "Time to go to a new town."
-------------------*
Another day, another town, another inn, another morning of screwing Gourry back
to sleep after waking up, but no clue as where to go next.
Lina sighed. She hated this part of the adventure. She knew something great lay
over the horizon, but wasn't sure which path to take to get there. Her new
spell, Dragon Slayer, was yet another spell to add to the do not cast list,
which meant she would probably have to cast it again for some reason.
About all they could do at the moment was to avoid the annoying priest until the
annoying mazoku decided to show up.
"Do you have to do that every morning, Lina?"
Lina turned around and waved cheerfully. "Morning, Zel. How was your night?"
Zelgadis sat down at the Lina's table. "Fine. But I could have done without the
early morning wake up call from you and Gourry. Besides, did you have to lie to
me?"
"Lie? Which lie?" Lina questioned, but was relieved Zelgadis wasn't pursuing the
first part of his conversation.
Zelgadis folded his arms. "About the vacancy of the inn."
"Sorry. Amelia made me do it," Lina chirped.
Zelgadis growled, and then opened his mouth to say something but relaxed a
little. He began to massage his forehead. "Before this adventure I'd know you
were lying, but now...."
"Amelia is running out of options and time." Lina leaned forward. "So...
anything happen?"
Zelgadis blushed and turned away. "That's none of your business."
Lina scooted closer to him. "OH! Something did happen. What did you two do?"
Zelgadis scowled. "I said it was none of your business."
"Is she no longer a shrine MAIDEN, or did one of you get a tongue lashing?" Lina
pressed.
Zelgadis flattened his eyes. "I'll tell you if you answer a question for me."
Lina shrugged. "Sure, now give me details."
Zelgadis turned away while his blush deepened. "We just kissed, that's all."
Lina blinked and pouted. "Just kissed?"
Zelgadis nodded. "Yes. Just a kiss."
"How long?" Lina inquired.
Zelgadis fidgeted. "About an hour."
Lina laughed and patted him on the back. "Way to go."
Zelgadis grumbled. "Now about that question."
"Sure, what is it?"
"I want you to explained what happened with Dragon Slayer."
Lina froze for a moment. "W-why do you want to know about that?"
"Not all of my senses are human, Lina. I know there was something odd going on
when you cast that spell."
Lina turned away. "It's nothing to worry about. Consider the spell banned. I
certainly won't use it again."
"What if Dynast, Dolphin or Zelas decides to claim your head? Won't you use that
spell before Giga Slave?" Zelgadis questioned.
"I just won't use it. Okay!?" Lina insisted.
"I answered your question, now I want you to answer mine." Zelgadis glared. "And
don't lie to me."
Lina looked like she was going to protest, but shriveled under Zelgadis's gaze.
"Fine." Lina sighed. "Truthfully, I'd rather use the full-perfect of Giga Slav
before the full-perfect of Dragon Slayer."
Zelgadis blinked. "Why?"
Lina looked down. "The Lord of Nightmares still has a use for this world, but
Shabranigdo wants it destroyed."
A cold shiver ran down Zelgadis's spine. "You don't mean that the Dragon Slayer
would summon Shabranigdo, do you?"
"Well... only one of the shards."
"But you cast the full version...." Zelgadis paled even further. "Have you
become a shard?"
"I didn't cast the FULL version... I left out a verse. So there's a good chance
I'm not a shard." Lina forced a smile.
"You left out a verse?" Zelgadis wondered.
"Yes." Lina nodded firmly. "After I said 'I pledge myself,' I was supposed to
add 'I bind myself.' So, by failing to add that in, it should keep me safe as
long as I don't cast it again." She patted her friend on the shoulder. "Now
don't worry about it."
"Ah, sure...." Zelgadis got up and walked back toward his room. "Don't worry
about it, she says.... Who is she kidding? Of course I'm going to worry."
Lina glanced out the window. "Xellos... you have a lot to answer for." She
slumped back into her seat. "Now if only you'd show your ass so I can pound the
answers out of you."
Zelgadis blinked and stared as he noticed Ravven exiting a room with the bar
maid that served them last night.
"So, how long are you going to be staying in town?" the bar maid asked shyly.
"Not long, I'm afraid." Ravven brushed some hair out of her face. "But I should
be around for the next couple days at least."
The bar maid blushed. "Too bad we didn't make the most noise last night."
"Those two are newlyweds and are normally noisy. But we can try again tonight,"
Ravven smiled suavely.
"It's a date if those newlyweds don't break my back first with all their food
orders." The bar maid giggled.
Zelgadis stomped past. "Pervert."
"And proud of it." Ravven smirked.
-------------------*
"Care for a sparring match?" Zelgadis asked.
"Sure." Gourry shrugged. "Don't know how good I'll be against you with this
sword, though."
"The sword is merely a tool. Talent makes it useful."
"Whatever." Gourry motioned for him to attack. "Ready when you are."
Zelgadis swung several times, but came nowhere near touching Gourry as the
swordsman parried each attack.
"You need to attack seriously if you hope to win," Gourry commented.
Zelgadis sweat-dropped. He was fighting seriously. He decided to try to distract
Gourry. "When did you get that sword?"
"Lina bought it for me shortly before we got married. It proved to be a lot
better than we expected," Gourry answered.
"What happened to the one those Peace-Men guys gave you?" Zelgadis questioned.
Gourry smiled weakly. "It broke when I used it on a bandit wearing some oreocon
armor."
"You mean orihalcon armor?" Zelgadis guessed.
"Yeah, that's it." Gourry nodded.
"How well do you think it'll work on a mazoku?" Zelgadis asked.
Gourry shrugged. "Not sure, haven't used it on any yet. It won't work as good as
the Sword of Light, I can tell you that."
"You'd need the Blast Sword powered by Lina's magic to do that." Zelgadis was
annoyed that despite the conversation Gourry showed no signs of being
distracted.
"What's that?" Gourry parried and smacked his opponent on the head.
"Just another legendary blade." Zelgadis pressed his attack.
"Oh." Gourry blinked.
"Gourry, keep an eye on Lina." Zelgadis caught Gourry's blade with his own.
"I like keeping both eyes on her." Gourry pushed Zelgadis away.
Zelgadis growled. "What I mean to say is that she'll have more mazoku problems
now that she knows Dragon Slayer."
"What else is new?" Gourry didn't seem bothered.
"Some of them, Xellos particularly, may try to hurt her."
"I'm her protector. If anyone hurts her, it means I'm dead and there wasn't
anything I can do to stop it." Gourry disarmed Zelgadis.
Zelgadis nodded and picked up his sword. "Should've expected that. Just be
careful, Gourry. Without the Sword of Light, you're not much good against a
mazoku."
"I'll just do everything that I can." Gourry smacked Zelgadis on both cheeks
with the flat of his blade.
Zelgadis smirked. "And somehow I think that'll be enough, even if you can't hurt
a mazoku."
"Thanks." Gourry brought the pummel of his sword down on Zelgadis's head.
Zelgadis collapsed to the ground. "OW! So maybe you can hurt a mazoku."
-------------------*
Xellos's notes:
Stay tuned for the next wonderful chapter staring me, Xellos! As I finally join
Lina's rag tag bunch and play a game of twenty stupid questions.
As for the Blast Sword, no Gourry doesn't have it. Archive put in the reference
since his next Slayers series, The Slayers: Finesse, will not follow Try
continuity, but more of the novel continuity with an anime slant to them.
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