"Linaaa, I'm hungry," whined Gourry. Lina rolled her eyes but didn't hit him for once, he and Seraya were walking behind Zelgadis and herself.
"Well, so am I, but do you see me complaining?" Gourry started watching her intently, then several seconds later, proclaimed she wasn't. Lina shook her head while Zel sighed.
"Is food the only thing you think about?" After not getting a response, Zel looked over his shoulder to see Gourry twitching on the ground, Ser kneeled beside him and calmly casting a healing on his forehead. "What'd he do now?" Lina paused as well and looked back at both blonds.
"You got him thinking so hard, he didn't see a certain tree limb," Seraya stated quietly, pointing up at a well-placed branch.
"Augh! Will he be alright?"
"Yeah, just a couple more seconds." The glow around Ser's hands faded and Gourry sat up suddenly.
"YES!" Lina couldn't resist this time.
thwack!
A mile down the road, Lina and Gourry were standing in the middle of the road where it split, having an animated argument on which way to go.
"We should go left, you always go left when faced with a decision like this!" Zel rolled his eyes and glanced at the blond girl standing beside him, who simply shrugged.
"Maybe we should continue without them." Ser smiled and nodded.
"It'd get us to wherever we're going faster." Any response from Zel was drowned out.
"YOU JELLYFISH BRAINS, WE'RE GOING LEFT AND THAT'S FINAL!!!" Lina hit him in the head a couple times to get the point across, then huffed and started down the left fork. Seraya walked beside the dazed swordsman and quietly casted a healing.
"Thanks, Seraya, though I think I would've survived."
"That's alright, I just don't like to sense pain. That's why I'm a healer." She, Gourry and Zel started after Lina when a burst of black flame suddenly erupted from the ground in front of the sorceress. Recoginizing the entrance, Zel ran forward to Lina's side, starting to cast Rah Tilt.
"Gourry, cover Seraya and stay back, both of you!" Lina shouted over her shoulder then started casting Dragu Slave. "I don't have time for demons like you!"
The demon that appeared could be considered normal, red cat-like eyes and several sets of teeth. The most dangerous feature it contained, though, were the very long, very pointy claws on its hands. "Liiiinaaaa Iiiiinveeeeersssseeeee...." it hissed, eyes glowing evilly.
Unfazed, Lina finished her spell. "DRAGU SLAVE!" The ball of energy flew at the demon while Zel's Rah Tilt followed after. Both were shocked when the spells reached the target... and were absorbed. "..."
"How the...?!?! AUGH! Not another Magic Lock!"
"That shouldn't even be possible, Sonjia destroyed the ability to cast it!" The demon didn't wait long as a strangely familiar spell flew out of its hands. Expecting it to completely destroy them, the sorcerers braced, but instead of disappearing, they were thrown aside by the powerful counterattack. Zel made a beeline for a tree and nearly split it in two when he smashed into it, and Lina flew back towards the swordsman and healer, crashing into Gourry.
"Augh.. how did he do that?!" Lina struggled to push to her feet, the blond man still dazed. Seraya looked at her concerned, burns starting to become visible. "Not now, get Gourry back on his feet then get the both of you out of here." Lina charged towards the demon again, more spells flying towards it. "FIREBALL! FLARE ARROW!"
Seraya shivered slightly, sensing something different about this particular demon. She felt distracted when she cast the healing on Gourry. It couldn't be...
Zel, meanwhile, had recovered more quickly and was already throwing more powerful spells at the demon. "FLARE BIT! ICICLE LANCE!" All the various attacks, however, were reflected, causing both to dive for cover. The battle continued for several frustrating minutes until both Lina and Zel were visibly weakened.
The demon chuckled evilly, it's voice sounding like metal screeching metal while a boulder whirled around inside a blender. "Yooooouuuu aaaare weeeeaaaak, Liiiiinaaaa..." The demon raised its hands over its head then started to speak in an unrecoginizable tongue, a large orb of dark energy growing above it.
"No, stop this!" Seraya called out to the demon as she started chanting silently. The demon ignored her and prepared to finish off Lina and Zel. I have to hurry, Ser thought urgently to herself as she closed her eyes and finished the spell.
Two white, angelic wings ripped out of the back of her shirt, effectively shredding the thin fabric. Seraya opened her white eyes, gently waving her wings as the last threads of material fell from her shoulders.
Lina and Zel didn't see, but Gourry did. "Oh, wow! They're beautiful!"
Seraya ignored him and drew a sword that had suddenly appeared at her side. "I know how to stop you, demon," she whispered as she closed her eyes again, slowly swinging the sword. The blade started glowing white, then seemed to be crackling with light energy.
Zel glanced over his shoulder and first blushed at seeing Ser topless, then blinked in surprise. "White magic..? What is she doing??"
Seraya held the sword over her head, then slashed downward, pointing the charged weapon at the demon. Her wings stretched upward as a beam of white light raced for the evil target, and it yelled in pain when the holy power struck it. Ser collapsed to her knees and held one arm over her chest, the sword hanging loosely from her other hand.
The demon, however, would not let this opportunity pass. Moving so fast it seemed like a blur, the demon grabbed Seraya in its sharp claws. Seraya's eyes widened, still faintly glowing white then she screamed in pain, the demon digging it's fingers into her flesh.
"SERAYA!!" Lina pushed weakly to her feet, anger fueling her fading energy. Zel did the same, a glow starting to come from his hands.
Seraya's eyes faded, "Use your magic...," then she fell unconscious in the demon's grasp. The evil thing grinned sadistically and raised one clawed hand, ready to neatly decapitate the limp girl.
"NO!" Not having enough time for something better, Lina threw another fireball at the demon's back. Surprisingly, it struck the demon and it screeched in pain, looking over its shoulder, red eyes fiery with rage.
"Whatever Ser did, we can hit the thing again! Get it away from her," she called to Zel as she threw more carefully aimed spells. Zel did the same, bolts of lightning and fireballs flying from his hands. Angry beyond belief, the demon pulled its claws from deep inside Seraya and dropped her heavily to the ground, then turned to face the more powerful sorcerers.
Gourry, seeing something he could finally do, rushed in and picked Seraya up. Her blood ran over his hands and shirt, but he didn't care as he cradled her, running away as fast as he could.
Lina spied the dust cloud that used to be Gourry and grinned back at the demon. "Alright, you're not getting away with absorbing this time! Darkness beyond twilight..." The demon roared and ran at her, but not quickly enough as the Dragu Slave slammed into it. Lina watched triumphantly as the demon disintegrated.
"No time for a victory dance, if we don't get to Gourry, he'll be in the next town." Lina blinked then nodded, casting a Raywing around herself and Zel, then chasing after the shrinking dust cloud.
Gourry stopped running when he heard his name called, and looked back to see Lina and Zel hovering back to the ground. "Did you defeat the demon thing?" Lina sighed and resisted the urge to hit him, instead walking to in front of him and looking down at Ser.
She was looking really bad, blood slowly oozing from several puncture wounds in her shoulders and front, her wings had disappeared somewhere along the line. As she watched, Lina noticed how shallow the blond girl's breathing was. "She... she's dying, we have to help her!"
"How... none of us know white magic."
"Gods, where's Amelia when you need her?" Glancing around, almost as if expecting the princess to appear, Lina sighed and shook her head. "What can we do...?"
Zel stepped to beside Lina, holding up a corner of his cloak. "At the least, dress her wounds." He gently wiped away from blood from Ser's shoulders, swallowing nervously as he did the same to the several wounds to her chest.
Lina shook her head, unaware of Zel's dilemma. "If we don't get her to a healer..."
"But the nearest town is miles away..." Gourry watched the girl in his arms sadly, his own blue eyes slowly turning glassy. "Don't die, Seraya..!"
Lina shivered. Even though she had been thinking the same thing, actually hearing the possibility that the young girl could die... Zel bowed his head, eyes closed. "She's.. she's stopped breathing."
The sorceress trembled, feeling a tear roll down her face. "Seraya..." All hope was lost... until a familiar voice broke through the mournful silence.
"What happened?!" Xelloss flew towards the group, his eyes open and dull with a strange emotion for him: sadness and sorrow.
"A.. a demon attacked her, but none of us know white magic."
Xel watched the girl hanging limply in the swordsman's arms a moment, then said quietly, "I see... give her to me, I think I can help her." Gourry glanced at Lina, who nodded, her cheeks wet with tears, then handed the blond girl to the Mazoku. Xel cradled Ser close to him and closed his eyes. "Don't leave me, Seraya-chan," he whispered to her.
Xel kept his eyes closed as he knelt to the ground, laying Seraya down gently. "Power of bright, give me light..." He traced his fingers gently over Ser's wounds, a light glow enveloping his hand as they slowly healed.
Lina, Zel and Gourry watched dumbfounded, amazed that a Mazoku had such powerful healing. It didn't change the fact that she wasn't breathing, however. She was still very close to death, and time had run out. Xel leaned down until his face was hardly an inch from her's. "Wake up, Seraya-chan," he mouthed, then kissed her gently.
A blinding white glow flashed from them both and the others watching staggered back, holding their eyes. "What was that?! Xelloss??" Lina rubbed her eyes and squinted at the two, still seeing spots dancing in front of her. To her surprise, Ser opened her eyes slowly and looked up at the Mazoku.
"... Xel-chan...?" Lina, Zel, and Gourry, who had both recovered as well, couldn't believe their ears. 'Xel-chan'?!?
Xelloss smiled warmly and helped Seraya back to her feet, discreetly wrapping his cape around her shoulders. She smiled weakly and leaned against him, still drained heavily.
"You're alright, Seraya..?" She nodded to Lina, eyes pale but recovering their normal sky blue color. "I was afraid you'd..."
"DON'T DIE, SERAYA!" blurted Gourry suddenly, earning himself another whack on the head. "Well, don't!"
Seraya laughed weakly, then nodded. "I won't, I promise.." Gourry instantly went cheerful.
"Oh, goody!" Deciding to let it slide, Lina looked back at Ser.
"Seraya, I'm curious... what was that that you used on the demon?" Ser watched her a moment, apparently thinking how to answer.
"Well, it's something like this... my magic is a higher level of white magic, I can use it offensively as well as for healing." Zel blinked then stepped closer.
"You have holy magic, Seraya?" She nodded slowly.
"Sometimes its referred to as holy magic, or lunar magic."
"Wow... and that might make you one of the most powerful white mages there is." Lina smiled to the smaller girl, eyes twinkling. "I'm glad you're on our side, Ser."
Seraya smiled back, and nodded.
"Well, can we get going yet? Demon's defeated, Ser's alright, and I'm still hungry!" Instead of hitting him, Lina patted Gourry on the shoulder.
"Why thank you, you reminded me why we were headed this way in the first place." Grinning widely, she started off again, Gourry following after, and Zel behind them both. Xelloss watched them start off then looked down at Seraya. She looked back and smiled lightly.
"I'm betting you can't walk, so..." He picked her up again, holding her close. "... I'll just have to carry you!" Seraya giggled softly and wrapped her arms around Xel's neck, closing her eyes.
"Thank you, Xel-chan..."
"Anything for you, Seraya-chan," he replied as he floated off after the other travelers, Ser quickly falling asleep in his arms. "Anything..."