Lina stopped dead in her tracks.
There he was. Right there.
There, in the midst of the small market was the world's deadliest creature. Picking out a liter box of milk was the man she had tried to kill two years ago. Her sworn enemy.
She zipped behind a shelf before he could see his would've-been killer. She leaned against the tall shelving of tinned fruit still trying to recover from the shock.
W-what is he doing HERE?! she thought frantically to herself. I thought... I thought that I... 2 years ago...
She decided to cease her questions and run before he discovered her. Despite the annoyed glances shot at her, she ran down the aisle and raced past the --
crash :)
She ran into a young, aqua haired man -- who tripped back a few steps from the collision. Lina on the other hand, fell onto the floor because of her lighter weight.
"Woah," he said gently, "where are you going so fast?" He held out a hand to help her up.
Lina simply remained on the ground, mouth wide open. She'd just run into one of her biggest enemies in the past and collided into him.
There was only one thing to do. She stood in a flash (without his help), still trembling. "F-fireball!!" she cried.
As she turned to make a run for it, a sudden high shriek came from the direction in which Valgarv had flown. "Val!!"
Lina looked up. A very familiar yet angry looking woman came running down the aisle. "Who DARED fireball my Va -- ... Lina?"
Lina's eyes widened. "F..ilia?" she whispered increduosly.
"What are you doing here?" they asked each other simultaneously.
Both stood in silence.
"Forget that!!" Lina suddenly cried pulling on the tall blonde's sleeve. "Valgarv is back to revenge!! I just fireballed him and he's gonna destroy the whole city!! We've gotta run!!"
"Wha-Wait!" Filia yelled back refusing to budge. "Lina, Stop!!"
"What?! Hurry, there's no time!!"
Filia shook her head. "Lina!! Don't you remember? I adopted Valgarv as my son!!"
"wh...w..hat...? He's... your son?"
"Two years ago, remember?" Filia gestured with her arms. "The rebirth?!"
Lina crumpled to the floor on her knees. "Filia... you're not making sense. 2 years ago? That guy over there doesn't look 2 yrs old..."
"Lina, figure it out. He's a part mazoku and a part dragon!! Being mazoku, he'll age 8 times faster than a normal human like you!"
"B-but... I mean.. so... he'll look 80 in 6 years time?"
"uuuuuuuuu... no~! Lina. Stop making this so complicated."
Lina felt she could relate to Gourry. (sakura: speaking of which, where is he?! ) "Ok, ok. Forget it. I'll figure it out some day."
A groan came from Valgarv's fallen figure several meters away.
"Come on Lina, you've got to come and apologize."
"What?! But it wasn't even my fault..."
"Lina, he's got no recollection of anything. Nothing at all. He doesn't even know he's part mazoku and he can't do anything more than things like fireball and fire arrows."
The redhead blinked and laughed scornfully. "Fireballs and fire arrows? That's it?! Wow!!"
"Yes," Filia nodded uneasily. She didn't feel comfortable with that gleeful look in her eyes. "But Lina, that doesn't mean you're allowed to .. well. Bully him, if you know what I mean."
Lina pouted. "But after all that we've been through!!"
Filia grabbed Lina's collar, and dragged her over to Valgarv. "It wasn't his fault he ... oh never mind. Lina, cast a healing spell will you?"
"Oh this is just going to be great," Lina muttered under her breath. She held her hands over the fallen body and mumbled the healing incantation. "There. Happy?"
Valgarv slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He glanced slowly at Filia, and then the redhead next to her in confusion. "Filia... Just who is this girl?!"