Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Brave Breeze ❯ Chapter 4

Brave Breeze

Part 4

 

“Lina!!!!” the now middle aged Gourry bellowed as he burst through the dungeon door. His eyes bugged at the sight of the petite redhead's naked and abused body hanging from the ceiling, Val lying unconscious at her feet. He immediately began to blush profusely and promptly passed out - due to extreme blood loss, this being the first time he ever really got a good look at the cute sorceress - he was way too much of a gentlemen to even think of peeping on her all those times they'd shared a room.

“Yare, yare,” Xellos muttered at the blond's antics as he materialized in the stone room. He glanced curiously at the prone teen on the floor but ignored him for the moment. He almost didn't recognize the redhead when he had phased into the dungeon due to the fact that he could feel no human presences within the chamber. He had recognized Valgaav's own unique signature and was still curious as to what had happened to bring back their former enemy. However, it wasn't that what mattered at the moment. Turning to the unknown mazoku presence he was sensing, he gripped his staff and proceeded cautiously to the girl hanging by a set of old thick chains.

Amethyst slitted eyes widened slightly before narrowing upon taking in the full extent of her current state. That long red hair and rather small chest were unmistakable, before him was the human sorceress he'd come to adore and lust after. Xellos felt his black blood boil when he realized that the mazoku presence was coming from his beloved Lina-chan.

“It seems I may have gone too easy with Dynast-sama after all,” the purple haired mazoku said in an icy tone that could rival the coldest temperature of their current locale. True he had used most of his power with helping in the fight with the Lord of the North, but he held back slightly, not killing him when presented with the chance. Instead, he had left the mazoku lord drained and badly wounded - thanks to combining Zelgadis and Filia's white and holy magic with his own dark. He quickly unsnapped his cloak and wrapped it around the naked girl once she was freed from the rusty chains. “Juuou-sama isn't going to like this new development,” he said gingerly holding Lina close to him.

“Lina!”

“Lina-san!”

The others soon came rushing through the now mangled door. Zelgadis' eyes flared before going into narrow slits noticing what, or rather who, Xellos had in his arms while Amelia gasped. There was a tiny whimper from the golden haired dragon priestess just before she fainted upon seeing the ancient dragon she'd once fought against on the floor.

The black haired princess immediately ran to Filia's side and began attempting to revive her. A groan drew the chimera's attention and he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, eying the aqua haired anczoku/mazoku as he struggled to regain full control of his faculties. “L-Lina…” he choked.

“I have her Val-kun,” the mazoku priest replied, “Grausherra will think twice before pulling another stunt like this again.”

“G-Good.”

“Just what happened here,” Zel asked, still unable to trust the teen, “Why do you look like that Val?”

Xellos raised an amethyst eyebrow, noticing the slash on the aqua haired teen's side. “Hmm…. It looks like Dulgofa got to him.”

“Dulgofa?” queried Zel.

“That b*^#h's sword,” the newly restored Valgaav spat, sitting up.

“So she did manage to nick you did she, Val-kun,” the mazoku priest supplied.

“Yeah, but I got her good. Thanks for that spell Zelgadis-san.”

“You're welcome. Not to be rude here, but you're not going to try and kill us again are you?” the chimera asked, still not taking his hand off his sword.

There was a hurt look on the teen's face as flashes of his former life flooded his memories. “I-I wouldn't!!” Val stammered shamefully, “Though I don't blame you at all for not trusting me anymore now.”

“Well, you don't seem like you want to kill anyone now,” Amelia interjected, “So it'd be very unjust if we didn't trust you.”

Zelgadis inwardly groaned at the princess' obsessive talk about justice, but she did have a point. It was as clear as day that even though he looked like Valgaav on the outside, the aqua haired half-breed was still Valteira on the inside.

“Now that's all cleared up,” Xellos spoke up, “I think it'd be best that we all leave this nasty place, ne?” With that said, he promptly dematerialized, still carrying Lina.

“Just where do you think you're going with her namagomi?!!!” shouted a very irate, not to mention jealous, Val.

Zel looked at the teen quizzically, but chose to keep silent. Instead, he decided to take the mazoku's lead and left the dungeon.

“V-Val-kun…” Filia began timidly, but soon found herself unable to say anything else, her throat restricting any further words.

“I'm still me okaa-san,” he said avoiding her eyes, still ashamed of his former self.

“Oh Valteira!!” the dragon priestess cried as she rushed toward her adopted son and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

“A mother's love is soooooo beautiful!!!” Amelia sobbed, making Val feel a bit queasy with all the positive emotions the princess was giving off.

“Oh hi, Val-kun,” the blond swordsman said finally haven regained consciousness, “Um… why do I have the strangest feeling I missed something?” he asked vaguely.

Filia shook her head in amusement. “We'd better get going Gourry-san,” she said, hurriedly wiping at her tears.

“Oh ok. Um… where's Lina?”

 

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The aqua haired anczoku/mazoku snapped out of his doze at the sound of a groan. Blinking the fogginess from his sleep deprived brain, he realized that his head was on the mattress and that yet again he was about to fall asleep.

He had been sitting at Lina's bedside ever since the purple haired mazoku had brought them to Wolf Pack Island, much to Xellos' annoyance. It was plain as day that the sneaky priest had considered the petite girl to be his to Val, but there was no way in heck he'd let that creep anywhere near her. Not especially after what happened with Dynast Grausherra. So he - with help from his `mother' - had practically thrown the mazoku out of his own room - which Xellos had said was the only safe place to put her - much to the purple haired man's irritation.

Another groan drew Val out of his musings and he looked over to the redheaded mazoku beside him. Lina's ruby feline eyes blinked confusedly as she sleepily rubbed at them. “Val?” she asked upon seeing him.

“You're safe now, Lina,” he said tentatively brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. “We all got you away from that b@$^@rd.”

“That much I kinda figured. But just what the heck's going on here?! How come you look like you us… uh that?” She quick stopped herself from breaking Filia's number one rule - no mentioning of Val's past whatsoever.

“I already know what I did Lina, what I once was, you don't need to hide it anymore,” the teen replied forlornly.

“But… how?”

“Forget about it, Lina,” he said a little too forcefully making her flinch slightly. “How are you feeling?”

The sorceress yawned, causing her to smile sheepishly. “I do kinda feel a bit tired, but what I am right now is hungry!” Val nodded, remembering his own hunger after having woken as a mazoku. “But the weird part is, I don't feel like eating a single thing.”

“Lina…” the aqua haired anczoku/mazoku attempted.

“H-He did something to me didn't he?” He nodded again, turning his head away. “Spill it, Val. What did he do?!” He just couldn't do it, couldn't bring himself to say the words `turned you into a mazoku.' “Val, please!” she begged, desperate now, her already calculating mind coming to its own conclusion. She needed someone else to confirm it otherwise; she'd go insane from the rapidly mounting mental stress.

“Tell her Val-kun. She deserves to know,” Xellos said phasing into the room.

“Xel?” she asked, turning to the newcomer. The somber look on his handsome face looked extremely wrong there, as if it were an abomination for the trickster priest to wear such an expression.

Still unable to speak, the aqua haired teen balled his hands into fists. Xellos gave the younger mazoku halfbreed an oddly sympathetic look and produced a hand mirror, giving it to him. Val looked at it as if it were a giant neon green spider with pink roller skates singing bad Andrew Lloyd Webber show tunes for several moments before handing it to the now frantic Lina with equally trembling and unsteady hands.

Lina stared at her reflection, wincing at the rapidly fading bruises and bite marks. Then she saw her eyes and let out a heart wrenching scream of “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Upon hearing the scream, Filia burst into the room, ready to pound whoever dared attack her dearest friend with her trademark mace. When she saw the sobbing and heartbroken redhead on the bed, she dropped the mace - onto Xel's head, by accident of course - and rushed to her side. “Oh Lina, I'm so, so, so sorry!” she cried, pulling her to her chest, “We tried to get there as quick as we could, but…” The dragon priestess broke down and sobbed along with her friend.

“Lina, this is all my fault,” Val said remorsefully, “if I hadn't tried to… if you hadn't gone after me…you'd still be…”

“That's enough!” Three pairs of eyes stared at the puffy eyed mazoku. “Even if what happened at your mom's never had happened, Dynast would still come after me and I'd still be like this only worse.” The petite mazoku cringed inwardly, remembering the cold hearted mazoku lord's whispered words as she hung in that horrid dungeon. She was beginning to understand Dynast's words just before he robbed her of her most precious treasure.

 

Flashback

“Honestly Lina,” Dynast Grausherra chided as he ran one ice cold hand along the sorceress's barely covered hip and thigh, causing Lina to shiver, and it wasn't just from the deathly cold of his skin. “How much more do you think you can survive this? Why not just give in. I could make it more than worth your while, my dear. I am not above pampering my pets.”

“R-Rot in hell!!” she spat as defiantly as she could manage.

The Lord of the North gave a wry chuckle. “No can do, Lina-chan,” he sneered. “I believe it's thanks to you that there no longer is a hell to rot in.” The redhead said nothing, continuing her rebellion in silence. The black haired mazoku sighed. “Suit yourself. I tried being nice, but apparently seduction's wasted on a…” He glanced at the girl's exposed chest - or lack of - and smirked, “child like you.”

Lina tensed at the stab at her chest size since that had always been her sorest spot. “It's time you realized, my dear,” Grausherra whispered into her ear. “You're mine. And always will be, there's no escape from me, Lina-chan.” The way he said it reminded her of what a lover might had sounded like if she had one, but she felt no joy at that voice, no butterflies in the tummy, no weakening of the knees. All she felt was sheer terror and revulsion at the mere thought of that `man' touching her. Lina was hard pressed to keep herself from vomiting onto the mazoku lord's neatly pressed military style clothing.

The screaming resumed when she felt him ripping the remains of her tattered stockings from the lower half of her body.

End Flashback

 

The redhead began to shake as the strange longing she felt upon waking to increase. The more she thought of the handsome mazoku lord who had tortured and raped her, she felt more and more disgusted by the increasing need to be by his side. It was taking all of her willpower not to burst from that room and fly, or whatever it was mazoku did to travel, to Grausherra's side.

“Lina…”

“Stop it Val,” the redheaded mazoku sorceress protested, silently grateful for the distraction, “I will not have you beating yourself up over this! So what if I'm a mazoku now?! It's not like I can waltz over there and say, `Hey Dyn-chan, change me back!'”

“That's why I…” the aqua haired teen tried once more. Lina placed a lone finger on his lips, effectively shocking and silencing him simultaneously. She couldn't help but think of how cute he looked as a faint tinge of pink began to color his cheeks.

“What's done is done,” Lina said solemnly, “But can be undone, right? I'm sure if I can get a hold of a copy of the Clair Bible, I'd find a way to turn us both back.”

“Lina-chan,” Xellos piped up, “whatever happened to being reasonable?” He was remembering a similar conversation between the redhead and Zelgadis in where she had emphatically tried to get the chimera to `be reasonable' about his constantly failed searches for a cure to reverse Rezo's spell.

“I am being reasonable!” she shouted. “If I was able to learn the Giga Slave from it, why not a way to reverse this?!”

“Do you even know where there are any copies?” Xellos asked. “I didn't think so,” he added rather smugly upon receiving no answer.

“It's time for you to leave,” Val growled, not liking the way the purple haired man was handling this.

Sighing, Xellos nodded and left. He knew she needed time to adjust, and that was one thing all mazoku had, plenty of time.

“Um… Val,” Lina began, blushing a bright scarlet red upon finally noticing her current state of dress. “WHERE IN L-SAMA'S NAME ARE MY CLOTHES?!!!”

 

~TBC~

 

Sakura: Phew! Another chapter done!! Damned writer's block! Anyhoo, I apologize for the lack of a fight scene between the rest of the gang and Dynnie. I really suck at fight scenes soooooo you'll just have to use your imagination folks.

 

Dynast: Dynnie?!!! It's obvious you haven't the slightest idea who I am woman!!

 

Sakura: And you have no idea whose miko I am! 8P

 

Dynast: Like that's going to scare me.

 

L-sama: Now, now, Dyn sweetie let's not be a naughty boy to my miko just yet.

 

Dynast: M-Mother?! I'm sorry! I'll be good! Don't punish me like Phibrizzo!

 

L-sama: That's nice dear. (pats him on the head) About time you got back to work on this one miko mine.

 

Sakura: I have noooooo apologies L-sama, just stop punishing me, please? I've learned my lesson.

 

L-sama: Hmm… alright. Just don't make me repeat myself. I was beginning to sound like a .mp3 thingy stuck on repeat.

 

Sakura: Y-Yes ma'am! Anyhoo, lemme know what you think so far ppl.