Sep. 16th, 2010 01:36 am
Vows (3/?)
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savvyliterateTitle: Vows (3/?)
Series: Slayers
Characters/Pairings: Lina/Gourry
Rating: M
Summary: In the middle of the night, Gourry gets an unlikely visitor ... and it changes everything.
Note: Please note that this story follows the novel storyline of Slayers and derives nothing from the anime, other than an homage to a certain kingdom in this chapter.. As such, technology from beyond the Mazoku border such as cannons, bombs and gunpowder are new concepts to the majority of the cast novel-wise -- whereas these were introduced in the second episode of Try and the technology adapted in Saillune in the form of "Jillas cannons" by the time of Revolution/Evolution-R. There is also some liberty taken here in explaining why a landlocked kingdom like Saillune has a navy.
Vows: Chapter 2
Lina sat at the small table in their room and re-read the letter from Amelia. She kicked back, resting her feet on the table as she translated it again. All the other letters from the princess had been in the common language shared by the nations within the barrier that had developed over the past 1,000 years. She knew it, because she had a thing for languages. As a member of the Saillune royal family, Amelia would be required to know it. It was often used for sending messages in code. Lina straightened. Code!
Lina yanked out her reading glasses and took a closer look at the letter. Fifteen minutes later, she had her spellbook out and notes of all the codes she was familiar with spread on the table. She even held the letter up to a candle to see if there was something written on it in secret ink. She was about to give up when she noticed some of the letters appeared strange. She frowned.
Old Saillune was written using different slants for the individual letters. Her eyes widened as she realized that some of them were written as if in standard. She wrote down the letters that were in standard, then consulted one of her code sheets. Another half hour passed, and Lina read the newly revealed message.
"Be careful. Don't come without being appraised of the news."
Lina frowned at the scrap paper she jotted the note on. "What in the world are you trying to say, Amelia?" she murmured. She sighed, crumpled the paper and tossed it in the fire. "What news? Ah well." She glanced at the unoccupied twin bed on the other side of the room. Gourry had disappeared shortly after dinner, and she was surprised he wasn't in bed asleep. Talk about people being weird, she thought as she headed downstairs to find him. Gourry had been acting strange all day, and it was a little creepy.
She didn't find him in the small pub attached to the inn, nor at the restaurant they ate at earlier. She took to the air, scanning the streets and growing more worried until she saw a flash of yellow in a field outside of town. She flew toward the spot, afraid she would find him bloody and battered. But, he was just laying on a wool blanket he'd procured from somewhere, staring at the sky.
Lina landed at Gourry's feet and scowled at him, hands on her hips. "Just what the hell've you been doing?"
"Looking at the stars," Gourry replied, his gaze still on the sky.
Lina sighed and dropped onto the blanket next to him. "You could at least said where you were going." She tilted her head, and her breath caught. "It's beautiful out here."
"Isn't it? Didn't you ever go star-gazing while you were at home?"
"Some, but I don't think I appreciated it as much as I do now." Lina laid back, resting her head on her hands like Gourry was doing. She suddenly flinched. Going to Saillune meant that they weren't going to see her family, and for once, that had been Gourry's choice.
She sidled a glance at him. Gourry really didn't know what it meant to go visit a girl's family ... did he? He'd been oddly insistent about going, but said it was for grapes. Really, they could get good wine just about anywhere. She fidgeted and wondered if she should bring it up. There was no use having him be blindsided by her parents and sister. Then again, who knew how long they'd be in Saillune? Something about Amelia's letter - about the language used and the hidden message - led her to think that something wasn't right.
She levered herself onto one arm. "Hey ... um ... sorry about this. I know you wanted to go meet my folks, but ..."
"It's OK. Amelia needs us, right?"
"Yeah." Lina dropped back down. "She does, I think." She filled him in on the code she discovered. "We need to figure out what news she's talking about."
"Weren't you saying something about expeditions?" Gourry finally looked at her.
"True. It's a safe assumption to start there. Maybe that messenger knows something." Lina mulled it over. "No use fretting over it now. We'll have a few days to figure out what's going on, and Amelia will clue us in."
"Yeah, suppose."
Pushing the matter from her mind, Lina turned her attention back to the stars. It was nights like this that she was amazed that she was still alive. Not just alive, but healthy and happy. Her thoughts drifted to Luke and Millina. She hadn't cried for them, not since that horrible night when Memphis and Milgasia had wanted to know the outcome of the battle, and Gourry urged her to let go. She had cried, his hand cupping her cheek the entire time, his thumb stroking away the tears as he held her other hand.
She really was lucky. She'd channeled the Mother of all Beings and survived. She'd survived two battled with Shabranigudu fragments, Dynast, Gaav, Phibrizzo and more. Still, part of her wished that she could have done something - anything - so it was Luke and Millina sitting under the stars together. Who knows, she thought wryly, maybe they'd actually get it together.
She knew there was something painfully ironic in that statement.
Life is what you make of it. Lina found herself looking at Gourry once more, and felt the final piece slide into place and click as if it had been there all along. Her breath hitched, then smoothed again. She never imagined the moment she'd realize what had most likely been apparent all along would be this quiet, this simple. The corners of her mouth quirked. This non-dramatic. Amelia would be disappointed. Maybe I'm just growing up. We've been together for nearly three years now. And, somehow, this new line of thinking didn't terrify her the way that it once would. She gave the heavens a wry smile. Suppose I have you to thank for that, Luke.
She took several deep breaths, testing her newly realized emotions, then decided she was comfortable enough to talk. "See any good constellations?" she asked.
Gourry scratched at his cheek. "I don't really know any."
"How can you not know any? Geez, look." Lina pointed at the North Star. "You know the North Star, right?"
"Of course. Even I know that."
"You're not half the idiot I thought you were. OK, follow my finger to the south ... there, see that bright star diagonal to it?"
"Yeah?"
"Follow it around." Lina pointed to the different stars, sketching out a shape in the sky. "It's called the Northern Dipper. See? It's shaped like a water dipper."
Gourry gave her a puzzled look. "It just looks like stars to me."
"Use your imagination! Imagine there's lines connecting those stars. What do you see then?"
"Uh ... stars?"
Lina snarled, reaching for her slipper before she remembered that she'd left it in their room. "Try imagining a little harder," she growled. Why did I decide I had feelings for this idiot again?
"But, why would I want to?"
"Because it's fun," Lina replied. She sighed. "You just don't get it, do you? Constellations are often used to teach about different historic events and figures. Did you pay attention in school at all?"
"I never went to school." Gourry shifted his focus back to the sky.
Somehow, that didn't surprise Lina. Private education was the realm of the rich, or at least landed gentry. She'd suspected for awhile that Gourry, due to his heritage with the Sword of Light, had at least come from a knight's household. "Who taught you to read?"
"My mom did." He glanced at her. "After my dad died, we stayed with my grandma, and she taught me more."
In two sentences, Gourry had told her more about his past than she'd ever heard before. Curiosity piqued, Lina carefully weighed her next question. "When did that happen?" she asked.
"When I was eleven." He fidgeted nervously, and Lina knew they were treading into very sore territory. Still ... "Is your mom still alive?"
"No," he snapped and she immediately clamped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"It's OK." He smiled at her, the same bright, sunny smile he'd always given her, and for the first time she wondered what all he was hiding behind it. He reached over and started running his hand through her hair. It felt good, and she remembered a similar time when he had told her that he didn't need a reason to travel with her. Traveling aimlessly ... that was fine for both of them. It hadn't been all that long ago.
She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. Instinctively, she shifted closer until she was tucked against his side and his arm supported her neck. They stayed like that, curled into each other and gazing at the stars. When exhaustion overtook her, she shifted, resting her head on his chest. As she fell asleep with Gourry's strong, steady heartbeat in her ear, Lina hoped that in the afterlife, Luke had found Millina at last.
Gourry stayed awake a bit longer, staring at the sky and fighting back the worry that had driven him on his walk in the first place. The weight of the two small stones in his pocket pressed against his thigh, a constant reminder that he needed to give them to her and explain what they were for. Something about this trip unsettled him, but it probably had to do with the weird dream he'd had the night before the letter came.
No, he corrected himself, it wasn't a dream. It couldn't be a dream. Lina was now wearing the exact same clothes as the future Lina wore. The bracelet she'd had was in his pocket. He wasn't sure how far in the future she'd come from. Lina would know, the Lina sitting across from him. But, he couldn't tell her. What if he said something and that caused the future to change? He'd gone back and forth on it. If he told Lina now, maybe they could prevent this war. Or, maybe it'd make things worse. No matter what though, Gourry had promised Lina not to breathe a word. It was killing him not to tell her. Other than his family, he'd never kept anything from her. It's to protect her, he told himself. She'll understand whenever that time comes.
-----
The trip to Saillune City took roughly a week. As the hired carriage rolled through the streets of Saillune's capitol, Lina peered through the dusty windows. It'd been roughly two years since she and Gourry had last been here, when they escorted Sylphiel to stay with her grandparents after her father's death at the hands of Copy Rezo. At the time, the king had been gravely ill and Prince Phil the target of assassins.
"Strange," Lina muttered to herself. From the impression she got from the messenger, the expedition from the southern lands was suppose to be a big deal. Yet, there was nothing indicating that the city was preparing for such a visit. Whenever an official visit from neighboring royalty passed through Zefielia, all the cities and towns along the route were required to hang streamers and have week-long celebrations. But, not here, she mused. It was almost like Saillune was trying to hide the fact that this visit was even happening.
She thought of the cryptic message that Amelia had written. She tried to pump the messenger for more information and kept her ear to the ground as they traveled, listening for any more news from the southern lands. Absolutely nothing. It was bugging her more and more by the day, and the closer they got to the palace, the more unsettled Lina felt.
The carriage paused at the front gates, which were even more secured than the day Lina and Gourry had escorted Phil from hiding back to his rightful place at the palace. Gourry had joined Lina in looking out the window at that point.
"It's almost like they're preparing for war," he observed.
"It does, doesn't it?"
The carriage rolled to a stop, and Lina was out the door almost as soon as it stilled. She carefully surveyed the area. Guards were posted at every entrance to the buildings around the palace grounds, even the temple. The air was still, tense. No one said a word to either of them, their focus instead on something in the distance that Lina couldn't quite see.
"Well, looks like the welcome wagon forgot to greet us," Lina observed as the messenger climbed off his perch next to the rider.
"I apologize for that, Inverse-san. I sent word ahead that we were arriving today. I'll have one of the soldiers escort you to ..."
"Save it, I know where we're heading." Lina spun on her heel and headed toward the temple, with Gourry quickly following suit. They walked past the stiff, silent guards and into the cool sanctuary. The main room was a large dome-like area, with a section dedicated to prayer. Lina put out her hand to stop Gourry from proceeding any further. "Prayers," she murmured under her breath. "They have them several times a day."
The priestesses had gathered around the statue to Ceiphied, their voices reciting prayers in the same ancient language that Amelia had written her letter to Lina on.
"It's a standard prayer asking for the dragon god Ceiphied to protect the kingdom," Lina translated for Gourry's benefit. "They thank the dragon god for keeping the Mazoku away and also ask for blessings and guidance for the king and his successors." King Eldoran, from what Lina recalled, was still hanging in there.
The end of the prayers came and went. The priestesses kept reciting something Lina hadn't heard of before, but what they were saying made her blood run cold.
"Lina?" Gourry prompted her as her face went pale. "What's wrong?"
"They're asking for Ceiphied's protection in the lands that have been conquered by southern invaders and to come save Saillune in its hour of need," Lina replied. "Damn it, I haven't been paying attention."
"It doesn't look like Saillune's getting attacked to me," Gourry said, looking around at the soldiers. "They're nervous, yeah, but the kingdom's landlocked isn't it?"
"Yes and no. A long time ago, Saillune also included what's now the Alliance of Coastal States," Lina explained. "So, they had a water border to the south and a pretty respectable navy. When the states seceded from Saillune, they forged a treaty that guaranteed that Saillune could still maintain a navy as long as said navy continued to provide protection for the costal states and not try to take them back. It's worked fairly well up to this point."
The priestesses had risen from their prayers, but Lina did not see Amelia among them. She did, however, spot a familiar-looking woman in elegant robes with long, dark hair cascading down her back. She quickly raised her hand. "Hey, Sylphiel!"
The priestess turned, her lovely eyes lighting up at the sight of them. "Lina-san! Gourry-sama!" She quickly made her way over to them, her bright smile the first genuine expression of emotion Lina had seen since they entered the palace grounds. She approached them, then bowed deeply. "Amelia-san said that the two of you were coming. It's good to see you both. You look well."
"Thanks, you too," Lina replied. The last time they'd seen her was shortly after Phibrizzo's defeat. She waited for Sylphiel to blush or making some sort of endearing comment to Gourry ... but none came. Instead, Sylphiel beckoned them toward a hallway that led away from the worship area.
"I do apologize if no one has properly greeted you yet," Sylphiel said as they headed down the hallway. "Grandfather has been meeting with Prince Phil non-stop, and Amelia-san mostly stays in the castle now. She's in charge of making sure aid gets down to the coastal states and just returned from an expedition there herself." She opened an elegant wood-paneled door and stood aside so they could go in first.
Sylphiel had led them to small, but well-appointed living quarters, Lina realized. They stood in a neat sitting room. An open door to one side gave her a glimpse of an equally small and tidy bedroom. Sylphiel reached for a bell pull and pulled it. "Tea should be coming shortly. Won't you sit, please?"
"Hey, this is nice, Sylphiel," Gourry said, looking genuinely happy for her.
"Thank you, Gourry-sama," Sylphiel said without a hint of a blush. She took one of the chairs and Gourry immediately sprawled on the sofa. Lina hesitated, her gaze shifting warily between Sylphiel, Gourry and the empty spot on the sofa next to Gourry. She decided that standing was a better idea for now.
"It's only temporary," Sylphiel was telling Gourry. Now she blushed. "I'm to be married in three months."
"Congratulations!" Gourry said with pride and Lina found herself dropping onto the couch next to Gourry. "So, who's the lucky guy?" he asked.
"He's one of the royal librarians. He was helping me research some material on old Sairaag an we formed a friendship."
"Great. Congrats," Lina said breezily. "We have our small talk out of the way. What's going on here, Sylphiel?"
Sylphiel smiled. "You never change, Lina-san." Her face sobered. "Amelia-san said you two were involved in a serious issue regarding Mazoku, and I had heard reports that the two of you were seen in Sairaag not all that long ago. What do you know about the expeditions to the southern lands?"
"Only that they were taking place. Joint thing between Saillune and the coastal states."
"Yes, that's right." Sylphiel laced her fingers together, then slowly pulled them apart. "We had contact with the ships from one of those lands, also on a similar expedition. The only way we knew about that contact was that they got off a communicate spell linked to one of the orbs at the palace before the ship sank."
"Sank?" Lina leaned forward slightly and frowned. "Did they attack them?"
"No. They never had a chance." Sylphiel wrung her hands a bit. "I'm not quite sure of the technology, Zelgadiss-san knows that better."
"Oh! So, he's here too?"
"Yes. His travels took him to the southern lands as well, and Prince Phil sent for him as well. They did something involving a non-magic explosive, that's all we know. We never heard from the crew again. That was four months ago. A month later, one of those ships arrived at the ports in Ralfaga, one of the outlying islands that was just inside the barrier. The survivors said that the ships used the same sort of explosives - no magic at all."
"If they weren't using magic," Gourry asked, "what were they using?"
"Zelgadiss-san called them 'cannons.' They used a strange mixture called 'gunpowder' that allows them to shoot large metal balls into walls and ships to sink them."
"I've heard vaguely about them," Lina said. "There was some experimentation to that effect as a means of targeting Mazoku more than a thousand years ago. Then the barrier went up and magic quickly overtook that sort of technology." She sat back and frowned. "Who would be insane enough to use that sort of primitive technology against magic? Magic wins every time."
"Ralfaga did not have a lot of magic users," a new voice said from the door.
Lina and Gourry peered over the sofa to see Zelgadiss standing in the doorway, a tray of tea in his hands. "Hey, Zel! Playing servant on the side?"
"Very funny," he said dryly and placed the tray on the small table in front of the sofa. "You were spotted accompanying Sylphiel to her rooms. Amelia should be along any second ..."
"Lina-san!" A joyous squeal came from the door, and before Lina could react, she had her arms full of excited princess. Amelia squeezed her hard, then did the same thing for Gourry. "You're both safe! I heard what happened with your friend ... I'm so sorry. You two look fine, and I love your clothes!"
"Thanks, Amelia," Lina said with a genuine smile. Amelia had grown a couple of inches in the years since she'd seen her last. She now stood slightly above Zelgadiss's shoulders. The chimera looked the same as when she last saw him, but stood quite at ease at the princess's shoulder. Lina's eyebrow winged up. Well, well, did something happen between those two lately?
"I was telling Lina-san what was going on," Sylphiel explained.
"I deciphered your code," Lina told Amelia, "but I didn't find out much on my way here."
"No news at all?"
"None."
Amelia and Zelgadiss exchanged a worried look. "It's like you feared," he said to her.
"No one is expecting a thing," Amelia replied, biting her lip.
"Hello!" Lina waved her hand at them. "Expecting what? Just cut to the chase!"
"I wanted you to find out whatever news you could, because I wanted to see if the other kingdoms were aware of what was going on," Amelia explained. "You not finding anything confirms our worse fears that no one outside of Saillune is aware of this issue."
Her temper was fraying fast. Lina almost massaged her temples out of frustration - and the urge to smack some sense into them. "Just what is the issue?" she ground out
"There's a country who used to be closely linked to the barrier lands," Zelgadiss said. "In the thousand years since the Kouma Sensou, the kingdom pioneered new technology that caused them to be quite efficient. They used to have magic, but thanks to the barrier, it died away. They've always been resentful of that and vowed to extinguish magic, no matter what the cost. I happened to find my way into one of the kingdom's larger cities during my travels and barely escaped with my life when they found out I was a magic user."
"Around this time" Amelia continued, "our expedition ships were attacked. Zelgadiss-san informed me of what happened to him in one of his letters, and Daddy sent for him. Not long after Zelgadiss-san got here, Ralfaga was attacked and taken over. We've sent out naval ships to try to negotiate with them ... but they never came back."
"Three weeks ago, I was out on a walk with my fiancé when we saw a trio of strangely dressed men arrive at the palace," Sylphiel said. "They really didn't know our common language ... but they knew old Saillune. I'd been studying the language, so I took them to see Amelia-san and Prince Phil. They identified themselves as being from Deme, the kingdom that Zelgadiss-san had encountered."
"They made it pretty clear that their intentions were to declare war on the barrier lands and said that at that time, the kingdom of Taforashia was in the process of being taken over. Zelgadiss-san confirmed it for us." Amelia bowed her head and the joy she'd shown earlier was gone. "We explained that Saillune fights for justice and peace ... we will do whatever it takes to win back freedom for Ralfaga and Taforashia. We're actually providing sanctuary to the crown prince of that country, Posel."
"This is ridiculous," Lina informed them, throwing up her hands. "They don't use magic! Look, is that what you want me here for? A couple of Dragon Slaves and they'll go slinking back to their podunk kingdom that apparently has a huge stick up its ass? Fine, I'll do it. But, it's going to cost you."
"That's not exactly it, Lina," Zelgadiss said. "When they attacked Taforashia, they had a device that neutralized all the magic in the kingdom. Almost like when your magic was sealed, except we're pretty sure that it's not caused by a Mazoku."
"So, they're sealing away everyone's magic, then taking over the kingdom?" Gourry asked.
"Taforashia was the victim of a vicious epidemic of durum disease a few years back," Lina told him. "As far as I know, they have very few defenses to speak of. I doubt they could get hold of a good mercenary army in time. While an army is all well and good, and don't pout Gourry, a nation's defenses lie in its magic. All kingdom defenses include the best magic-users. If they have large explosives to blow away an army, and then have something to neutralize the magic users ... even a kingdom like Saillune or Zefielia could fall." She turned her attention back to Amelia. "So, where do we come in?"
"We asked the Deme representatives what we could do to stop a war," Amelia said. "They asked to meet with you."
Series: Slayers
Characters/Pairings: Lina/Gourry
Rating: M
Summary: In the middle of the night, Gourry gets an unlikely visitor ... and it changes everything.
Note: Please note that this story follows the novel storyline of Slayers and derives nothing from the anime, other than an homage to a certain kingdom in this chapter.. As such, technology from beyond the Mazoku border such as cannons, bombs and gunpowder are new concepts to the majority of the cast novel-wise -- whereas these were introduced in the second episode of Try and the technology adapted in Saillune in the form of "Jillas cannons" by the time of Revolution/Evolution-R. There is also some liberty taken here in explaining why a landlocked kingdom like Saillune has a navy.
Vows: Chapter 2
Lina sat at the small table in their room and re-read the letter from Amelia. She kicked back, resting her feet on the table as she translated it again. All the other letters from the princess had been in the common language shared by the nations within the barrier that had developed over the past 1,000 years. She knew it, because she had a thing for languages. As a member of the Saillune royal family, Amelia would be required to know it. It was often used for sending messages in code. Lina straightened. Code!
Lina yanked out her reading glasses and took a closer look at the letter. Fifteen minutes later, she had her spellbook out and notes of all the codes she was familiar with spread on the table. She even held the letter up to a candle to see if there was something written on it in secret ink. She was about to give up when she noticed some of the letters appeared strange. She frowned.
Old Saillune was written using different slants for the individual letters. Her eyes widened as she realized that some of them were written as if in standard. She wrote down the letters that were in standard, then consulted one of her code sheets. Another half hour passed, and Lina read the newly revealed message.
"Be careful. Don't come without being appraised of the news."
Lina frowned at the scrap paper she jotted the note on. "What in the world are you trying to say, Amelia?" she murmured. She sighed, crumpled the paper and tossed it in the fire. "What news? Ah well." She glanced at the unoccupied twin bed on the other side of the room. Gourry had disappeared shortly after dinner, and she was surprised he wasn't in bed asleep. Talk about people being weird, she thought as she headed downstairs to find him. Gourry had been acting strange all day, and it was a little creepy.
She didn't find him in the small pub attached to the inn, nor at the restaurant they ate at earlier. She took to the air, scanning the streets and growing more worried until she saw a flash of yellow in a field outside of town. She flew toward the spot, afraid she would find him bloody and battered. But, he was just laying on a wool blanket he'd procured from somewhere, staring at the sky.
Lina landed at Gourry's feet and scowled at him, hands on her hips. "Just what the hell've you been doing?"
"Looking at the stars," Gourry replied, his gaze still on the sky.
Lina sighed and dropped onto the blanket next to him. "You could at least said where you were going." She tilted her head, and her breath caught. "It's beautiful out here."
"Isn't it? Didn't you ever go star-gazing while you were at home?"
"Some, but I don't think I appreciated it as much as I do now." Lina laid back, resting her head on her hands like Gourry was doing. She suddenly flinched. Going to Saillune meant that they weren't going to see her family, and for once, that had been Gourry's choice.
She sidled a glance at him. Gourry really didn't know what it meant to go visit a girl's family ... did he? He'd been oddly insistent about going, but said it was for grapes. Really, they could get good wine just about anywhere. She fidgeted and wondered if she should bring it up. There was no use having him be blindsided by her parents and sister. Then again, who knew how long they'd be in Saillune? Something about Amelia's letter - about the language used and the hidden message - led her to think that something wasn't right.
She levered herself onto one arm. "Hey ... um ... sorry about this. I know you wanted to go meet my folks, but ..."
"It's OK. Amelia needs us, right?"
"Yeah." Lina dropped back down. "She does, I think." She filled him in on the code she discovered. "We need to figure out what news she's talking about."
"Weren't you saying something about expeditions?" Gourry finally looked at her.
"True. It's a safe assumption to start there. Maybe that messenger knows something." Lina mulled it over. "No use fretting over it now. We'll have a few days to figure out what's going on, and Amelia will clue us in."
"Yeah, suppose."
Pushing the matter from her mind, Lina turned her attention back to the stars. It was nights like this that she was amazed that she was still alive. Not just alive, but healthy and happy. Her thoughts drifted to Luke and Millina. She hadn't cried for them, not since that horrible night when Memphis and Milgasia had wanted to know the outcome of the battle, and Gourry urged her to let go. She had cried, his hand cupping her cheek the entire time, his thumb stroking away the tears as he held her other hand.
She really was lucky. She'd channeled the Mother of all Beings and survived. She'd survived two battled with Shabranigudu fragments, Dynast, Gaav, Phibrizzo and more. Still, part of her wished that she could have done something - anything - so it was Luke and Millina sitting under the stars together. Who knows, she thought wryly, maybe they'd actually get it together.
She knew there was something painfully ironic in that statement.
Life is what you make of it. Lina found herself looking at Gourry once more, and felt the final piece slide into place and click as if it had been there all along. Her breath hitched, then smoothed again. She never imagined the moment she'd realize what had most likely been apparent all along would be this quiet, this simple. The corners of her mouth quirked. This non-dramatic. Amelia would be disappointed. Maybe I'm just growing up. We've been together for nearly three years now. And, somehow, this new line of thinking didn't terrify her the way that it once would. She gave the heavens a wry smile. Suppose I have you to thank for that, Luke.
She took several deep breaths, testing her newly realized emotions, then decided she was comfortable enough to talk. "See any good constellations?" she asked.
Gourry scratched at his cheek. "I don't really know any."
"How can you not know any? Geez, look." Lina pointed at the North Star. "You know the North Star, right?"
"Of course. Even I know that."
"You're not half the idiot I thought you were. OK, follow my finger to the south ... there, see that bright star diagonal to it?"
"Yeah?"
"Follow it around." Lina pointed to the different stars, sketching out a shape in the sky. "It's called the Northern Dipper. See? It's shaped like a water dipper."
Gourry gave her a puzzled look. "It just looks like stars to me."
"Use your imagination! Imagine there's lines connecting those stars. What do you see then?"
"Uh ... stars?"
Lina snarled, reaching for her slipper before she remembered that she'd left it in their room. "Try imagining a little harder," she growled. Why did I decide I had feelings for this idiot again?
"But, why would I want to?"
"Because it's fun," Lina replied. She sighed. "You just don't get it, do you? Constellations are often used to teach about different historic events and figures. Did you pay attention in school at all?"
"I never went to school." Gourry shifted his focus back to the sky.
Somehow, that didn't surprise Lina. Private education was the realm of the rich, or at least landed gentry. She'd suspected for awhile that Gourry, due to his heritage with the Sword of Light, had at least come from a knight's household. "Who taught you to read?"
"My mom did." He glanced at her. "After my dad died, we stayed with my grandma, and she taught me more."
In two sentences, Gourry had told her more about his past than she'd ever heard before. Curiosity piqued, Lina carefully weighed her next question. "When did that happen?" she asked.
"When I was eleven." He fidgeted nervously, and Lina knew they were treading into very sore territory. Still ... "Is your mom still alive?"
"No," he snapped and she immediately clamped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"It's OK." He smiled at her, the same bright, sunny smile he'd always given her, and for the first time she wondered what all he was hiding behind it. He reached over and started running his hand through her hair. It felt good, and she remembered a similar time when he had told her that he didn't need a reason to travel with her. Traveling aimlessly ... that was fine for both of them. It hadn't been all that long ago.
She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. Instinctively, she shifted closer until she was tucked against his side and his arm supported her neck. They stayed like that, curled into each other and gazing at the stars. When exhaustion overtook her, she shifted, resting her head on his chest. As she fell asleep with Gourry's strong, steady heartbeat in her ear, Lina hoped that in the afterlife, Luke had found Millina at last.
Gourry stayed awake a bit longer, staring at the sky and fighting back the worry that had driven him on his walk in the first place. The weight of the two small stones in his pocket pressed against his thigh, a constant reminder that he needed to give them to her and explain what they were for. Something about this trip unsettled him, but it probably had to do with the weird dream he'd had the night before the letter came.
No, he corrected himself, it wasn't a dream. It couldn't be a dream. Lina was now wearing the exact same clothes as the future Lina wore. The bracelet she'd had was in his pocket. He wasn't sure how far in the future she'd come from. Lina would know, the Lina sitting across from him. But, he couldn't tell her. What if he said something and that caused the future to change? He'd gone back and forth on it. If he told Lina now, maybe they could prevent this war. Or, maybe it'd make things worse. No matter what though, Gourry had promised Lina not to breathe a word. It was killing him not to tell her. Other than his family, he'd never kept anything from her. It's to protect her, he told himself. She'll understand whenever that time comes.
-----
The trip to Saillune City took roughly a week. As the hired carriage rolled through the streets of Saillune's capitol, Lina peered through the dusty windows. It'd been roughly two years since she and Gourry had last been here, when they escorted Sylphiel to stay with her grandparents after her father's death at the hands of Copy Rezo. At the time, the king had been gravely ill and Prince Phil the target of assassins.
"Strange," Lina muttered to herself. From the impression she got from the messenger, the expedition from the southern lands was suppose to be a big deal. Yet, there was nothing indicating that the city was preparing for such a visit. Whenever an official visit from neighboring royalty passed through Zefielia, all the cities and towns along the route were required to hang streamers and have week-long celebrations. But, not here, she mused. It was almost like Saillune was trying to hide the fact that this visit was even happening.
She thought of the cryptic message that Amelia had written. She tried to pump the messenger for more information and kept her ear to the ground as they traveled, listening for any more news from the southern lands. Absolutely nothing. It was bugging her more and more by the day, and the closer they got to the palace, the more unsettled Lina felt.
The carriage paused at the front gates, which were even more secured than the day Lina and Gourry had escorted Phil from hiding back to his rightful place at the palace. Gourry had joined Lina in looking out the window at that point.
"It's almost like they're preparing for war," he observed.
"It does, doesn't it?"
The carriage rolled to a stop, and Lina was out the door almost as soon as it stilled. She carefully surveyed the area. Guards were posted at every entrance to the buildings around the palace grounds, even the temple. The air was still, tense. No one said a word to either of them, their focus instead on something in the distance that Lina couldn't quite see.
"Well, looks like the welcome wagon forgot to greet us," Lina observed as the messenger climbed off his perch next to the rider.
"I apologize for that, Inverse-san. I sent word ahead that we were arriving today. I'll have one of the soldiers escort you to ..."
"Save it, I know where we're heading." Lina spun on her heel and headed toward the temple, with Gourry quickly following suit. They walked past the stiff, silent guards and into the cool sanctuary. The main room was a large dome-like area, with a section dedicated to prayer. Lina put out her hand to stop Gourry from proceeding any further. "Prayers," she murmured under her breath. "They have them several times a day."
The priestesses had gathered around the statue to Ceiphied, their voices reciting prayers in the same ancient language that Amelia had written her letter to Lina on.
"It's a standard prayer asking for the dragon god Ceiphied to protect the kingdom," Lina translated for Gourry's benefit. "They thank the dragon god for keeping the Mazoku away and also ask for blessings and guidance for the king and his successors." King Eldoran, from what Lina recalled, was still hanging in there.
The end of the prayers came and went. The priestesses kept reciting something Lina hadn't heard of before, but what they were saying made her blood run cold.
"Lina?" Gourry prompted her as her face went pale. "What's wrong?"
"They're asking for Ceiphied's protection in the lands that have been conquered by southern invaders and to come save Saillune in its hour of need," Lina replied. "Damn it, I haven't been paying attention."
"It doesn't look like Saillune's getting attacked to me," Gourry said, looking around at the soldiers. "They're nervous, yeah, but the kingdom's landlocked isn't it?"
"Yes and no. A long time ago, Saillune also included what's now the Alliance of Coastal States," Lina explained. "So, they had a water border to the south and a pretty respectable navy. When the states seceded from Saillune, they forged a treaty that guaranteed that Saillune could still maintain a navy as long as said navy continued to provide protection for the costal states and not try to take them back. It's worked fairly well up to this point."
The priestesses had risen from their prayers, but Lina did not see Amelia among them. She did, however, spot a familiar-looking woman in elegant robes with long, dark hair cascading down her back. She quickly raised her hand. "Hey, Sylphiel!"
The priestess turned, her lovely eyes lighting up at the sight of them. "Lina-san! Gourry-sama!" She quickly made her way over to them, her bright smile the first genuine expression of emotion Lina had seen since they entered the palace grounds. She approached them, then bowed deeply. "Amelia-san said that the two of you were coming. It's good to see you both. You look well."
"Thanks, you too," Lina replied. The last time they'd seen her was shortly after Phibrizzo's defeat. She waited for Sylphiel to blush or making some sort of endearing comment to Gourry ... but none came. Instead, Sylphiel beckoned them toward a hallway that led away from the worship area.
"I do apologize if no one has properly greeted you yet," Sylphiel said as they headed down the hallway. "Grandfather has been meeting with Prince Phil non-stop, and Amelia-san mostly stays in the castle now. She's in charge of making sure aid gets down to the coastal states and just returned from an expedition there herself." She opened an elegant wood-paneled door and stood aside so they could go in first.
Sylphiel had led them to small, but well-appointed living quarters, Lina realized. They stood in a neat sitting room. An open door to one side gave her a glimpse of an equally small and tidy bedroom. Sylphiel reached for a bell pull and pulled it. "Tea should be coming shortly. Won't you sit, please?"
"Hey, this is nice, Sylphiel," Gourry said, looking genuinely happy for her.
"Thank you, Gourry-sama," Sylphiel said without a hint of a blush. She took one of the chairs and Gourry immediately sprawled on the sofa. Lina hesitated, her gaze shifting warily between Sylphiel, Gourry and the empty spot on the sofa next to Gourry. She decided that standing was a better idea for now.
"It's only temporary," Sylphiel was telling Gourry. Now she blushed. "I'm to be married in three months."
"Congratulations!" Gourry said with pride and Lina found herself dropping onto the couch next to Gourry. "So, who's the lucky guy?" he asked.
"He's one of the royal librarians. He was helping me research some material on old Sairaag an we formed a friendship."
"Great. Congrats," Lina said breezily. "We have our small talk out of the way. What's going on here, Sylphiel?"
Sylphiel smiled. "You never change, Lina-san." Her face sobered. "Amelia-san said you two were involved in a serious issue regarding Mazoku, and I had heard reports that the two of you were seen in Sairaag not all that long ago. What do you know about the expeditions to the southern lands?"
"Only that they were taking place. Joint thing between Saillune and the coastal states."
"Yes, that's right." Sylphiel laced her fingers together, then slowly pulled them apart. "We had contact with the ships from one of those lands, also on a similar expedition. The only way we knew about that contact was that they got off a communicate spell linked to one of the orbs at the palace before the ship sank."
"Sank?" Lina leaned forward slightly and frowned. "Did they attack them?"
"No. They never had a chance." Sylphiel wrung her hands a bit. "I'm not quite sure of the technology, Zelgadiss-san knows that better."
"Oh! So, he's here too?"
"Yes. His travels took him to the southern lands as well, and Prince Phil sent for him as well. They did something involving a non-magic explosive, that's all we know. We never heard from the crew again. That was four months ago. A month later, one of those ships arrived at the ports in Ralfaga, one of the outlying islands that was just inside the barrier. The survivors said that the ships used the same sort of explosives - no magic at all."
"If they weren't using magic," Gourry asked, "what were they using?"
"Zelgadiss-san called them 'cannons.' They used a strange mixture called 'gunpowder' that allows them to shoot large metal balls into walls and ships to sink them."
"I've heard vaguely about them," Lina said. "There was some experimentation to that effect as a means of targeting Mazoku more than a thousand years ago. Then the barrier went up and magic quickly overtook that sort of technology." She sat back and frowned. "Who would be insane enough to use that sort of primitive technology against magic? Magic wins every time."
"Ralfaga did not have a lot of magic users," a new voice said from the door.
Lina and Gourry peered over the sofa to see Zelgadiss standing in the doorway, a tray of tea in his hands. "Hey, Zel! Playing servant on the side?"
"Very funny," he said dryly and placed the tray on the small table in front of the sofa. "You were spotted accompanying Sylphiel to her rooms. Amelia should be along any second ..."
"Lina-san!" A joyous squeal came from the door, and before Lina could react, she had her arms full of excited princess. Amelia squeezed her hard, then did the same thing for Gourry. "You're both safe! I heard what happened with your friend ... I'm so sorry. You two look fine, and I love your clothes!"
"Thanks, Amelia," Lina said with a genuine smile. Amelia had grown a couple of inches in the years since she'd seen her last. She now stood slightly above Zelgadiss's shoulders. The chimera looked the same as when she last saw him, but stood quite at ease at the princess's shoulder. Lina's eyebrow winged up. Well, well, did something happen between those two lately?
"I was telling Lina-san what was going on," Sylphiel explained.
"I deciphered your code," Lina told Amelia, "but I didn't find out much on my way here."
"No news at all?"
"None."
Amelia and Zelgadiss exchanged a worried look. "It's like you feared," he said to her.
"No one is expecting a thing," Amelia replied, biting her lip.
"Hello!" Lina waved her hand at them. "Expecting what? Just cut to the chase!"
"I wanted you to find out whatever news you could, because I wanted to see if the other kingdoms were aware of what was going on," Amelia explained. "You not finding anything confirms our worse fears that no one outside of Saillune is aware of this issue."
Her temper was fraying fast. Lina almost massaged her temples out of frustration - and the urge to smack some sense into them. "Just what is the issue?" she ground out
"There's a country who used to be closely linked to the barrier lands," Zelgadiss said. "In the thousand years since the Kouma Sensou, the kingdom pioneered new technology that caused them to be quite efficient. They used to have magic, but thanks to the barrier, it died away. They've always been resentful of that and vowed to extinguish magic, no matter what the cost. I happened to find my way into one of the kingdom's larger cities during my travels and barely escaped with my life when they found out I was a magic user."
"Around this time" Amelia continued, "our expedition ships were attacked. Zelgadiss-san informed me of what happened to him in one of his letters, and Daddy sent for him. Not long after Zelgadiss-san got here, Ralfaga was attacked and taken over. We've sent out naval ships to try to negotiate with them ... but they never came back."
"Three weeks ago, I was out on a walk with my fiancé when we saw a trio of strangely dressed men arrive at the palace," Sylphiel said. "They really didn't know our common language ... but they knew old Saillune. I'd been studying the language, so I took them to see Amelia-san and Prince Phil. They identified themselves as being from Deme, the kingdom that Zelgadiss-san had encountered."
"They made it pretty clear that their intentions were to declare war on the barrier lands and said that at that time, the kingdom of Taforashia was in the process of being taken over. Zelgadiss-san confirmed it for us." Amelia bowed her head and the joy she'd shown earlier was gone. "We explained that Saillune fights for justice and peace ... we will do whatever it takes to win back freedom for Ralfaga and Taforashia. We're actually providing sanctuary to the crown prince of that country, Posel."
"This is ridiculous," Lina informed them, throwing up her hands. "They don't use magic! Look, is that what you want me here for? A couple of Dragon Slaves and they'll go slinking back to their podunk kingdom that apparently has a huge stick up its ass? Fine, I'll do it. But, it's going to cost you."
"That's not exactly it, Lina," Zelgadiss said. "When they attacked Taforashia, they had a device that neutralized all the magic in the kingdom. Almost like when your magic was sealed, except we're pretty sure that it's not caused by a Mazoku."
"So, they're sealing away everyone's magic, then taking over the kingdom?" Gourry asked.
"Taforashia was the victim of a vicious epidemic of durum disease a few years back," Lina told him. "As far as I know, they have very few defenses to speak of. I doubt they could get hold of a good mercenary army in time. While an army is all well and good, and don't pout Gourry, a nation's defenses lie in its magic. All kingdom defenses include the best magic-users. If they have large explosives to blow away an army, and then have something to neutralize the magic users ... even a kingdom like Saillune or Zefielia could fall." She turned her attention back to Amelia. "So, where do we come in?"
"We asked the Deme representatives what we could do to stop a war," Amelia said. "They asked to meet with you."