It's peaceful.
That worries me.
We haven't been attacked for over a week. Even Xelloss hasn't shown himself for days. It's almost idyllic, at least for our little troupe.
Perhaps not for all of us. Amelia is off pouting again. I don't think it's even my fault this time; she hasn't made her usual advances for days, either. She's been quiet, even withdrawn.
That worries me, too.
"...and I thought maybe we could all visit Zefilia," Lina is saying.
"That would be pleasant," I comment. Well, as pleasant as visiting a town can be when one is a Chimera.
Gourry, ever the eloquent one, nods in agreement.
"Lina-sam? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Amelia calls from the edge of the clearing.
Lina shrugs, "Sure." She glances expectantly at Amelia, waiting for her to join us.
"Alone. It's girl stuff," Amelia clarifies.
Oh. 'Girl stuff.' I feel myself blush.
Lina rises and walks over to Amelia. I wonder what Amelia is asking about...
I shake my head slightly to clear it. Gourry and I stare at the fire in silence for a long while.
"Gee, they sure are taking a long time," Gourry comments.
"Mm-hmmm." Witty repartée, that's me.
We go back to regarding the fire in companionable silence. It's so quiet I can hear the crackle of the fire, the hum of life from the forest.
Inexplicably, that worries me.
"Have you ever been to Zefilia before?" I ask, mostly to dispell the unnerving silence.
"Um...I don't think so. Is that the place - "
Gourry stops speaking as a scream of pain comes from within the forest.
Lina!
I jump up and run on the direction of the scream, using all my Chimeric abilites to speed my way.
I soon find the source of the scream. I see before me the stuff of nightmares: Lina is hunched over, clutching a dagger imbedded in her stomach. Amelia stands next to her, not helping...Amelia's hands are covered in blood! Lina's blood!
Amelia must've heard me; she looks at me and smiles. Smiles! How can she have done such a thing?
I feel suddenly an intense, not entirely rational hatred for Amelia, as intense as the hate I felt for Rezo when he betrayed me and turned me into a Chimera.
Amelia looks confused. She takes a step toward me and says, "I freed you! Lina had you and ourry-san and Xelloss-san bewitched!"
What the bloody hell is she talking about? Lina's moan of pain reminds me that Amelia's motives are unimportant at the moment.
I don't have time to deal with Amelia, so I push her away from Lina. Lina swoons, probably from blood loss. I catch her and lower her to the ground, supporting her as best I can. I carefully remove the dagger and apply pressure to the wound; I must keep her from losing more blood.
Gourry arrives, skidding to a stop as he sees Lina. I don't have time to explain. I simply tell him, "Keep her - " I nod toward Amelia, " - away from Lina. Make sure she can do no more harm."
I look at Lina's face, which is tight with pain. Her eyes are starting to lose focus. "Stay with me, Lina," I whisper.
"Zel?" she utters weakly, seeming to only now notice my presence.
"Lina, you have to cast a healing spell. I'll augment your power."
She nods once in understanding. She places a hand above the still-bleeding wound and starts casting a healing spell. I position my hand over hers and concentrate on feeding her power.
The spell is complete, and I examine the wound: it has closed. I breathe a sigh of relief. For a moment, I feared...
I notice Gourry standing between us and Amelia like a living sheild.
Now I turn my attention to Amelia; I think I'm glaring at her. She looks both confused and panicked, then bolts, running deeper into the forest.
I want to pursue, but Lina is still weak, so explanations - and vengence - will have to wait.
"Are you okay?" Gourry asks Lina, kneeling down beside us.
"I've been better," Lina responds with dry humour. Gods, she is amazing.
I carry Lina back to camp, despite her protestations. "You need to rest," I tell her, and she just pouts. She is exausted, however; she falls asleep in my arms. She doesn't stir as I set her down on her bedroll.
Gourry refuses to let me take teh first watch, so I have to lie on my bedroll and try not to think about what could have happened. I doesn't work, as when I finally fall asleep, I'm trapped in nightmares wherein Lina bleeds to death in my arms, while Amelia and Rezo look on, laughing.
Morning finally arrives. The first thing I do is check on Lina; she is still sleeping, snoring softly.
Gourry nods at me in greeting and I return the gesture. He goes to get some sleep and I take up the watch.
It's midmorning when Lina finally awakens. Of course, she asks for breakfast right away. I oblige; I'd started some stew earlier and it is still simmering over the fire.
I wake Gourry, and we three share a rather quiet breakfast. Afterwards, I do my best to help Lina clean her wound, although despite the circumstances, I can't help but blush as I rinse her bare stomach.
She protests when I insist on wrapping the wound, but I ignore her. Better she be annoyed than ill.
"We probably ought to look for Amelia," Gourry says, voicing what we all are thinking.
"I'm coming," Lina announces unsurprisingly.
"Of course you are," I agree, and she smiles. "And I'm carrying you."
She scowls without any real malice. "Zel, I can - "
"I'm certain you can. And you can also reopen your wound. This isn't negotiable, Lina."
To my relief, she capitulates. We return to the scene of the attempted murder. It's easy to find; my trek through the woods left an obvious path. Amelia's route, while less obvious, is no real trouble to locate and follow.
I think we all gasp at the same time as we see the body. Amelia is lying on the ground, still clutching her dagger, which she plunged into her own stomach just as she'd plunged it into Lina's.
There is a long silence. Finally, Lina says, "Do you think she went crazy?"
I shrug, not a simple thing to do whilst carrying someone. "I suppose."
I look again at Amelia's corpse and cannot help but feel relieved. Now I don't have to worry about that any more.