Zelgadis looked up from his tea as Lina walked in, eyes dazed. He blinked. Then blinked again. The sorceress sat down, then dropped her head onto the table. "Uh, Lina? Everything OK?"
She raised her head, ruby eyes blazing. "I want to know where the namagomi Mazoku is. Now."
"Why, Lina-chan! All you had to do is ask!" Xellos purred, wrapping an arm around her. The purple haired Mazoku quickly became one with the table after that.
"I want to know if you knew!" she growled, holding Xellos' head down to the table. "And don't give me the 'Sore wa himitsu desu' shit."
"Well, Lina-chan," he said, his voice muffled from the table, "it's hard to say. What do you want me to tell you?"
Zel stood up. "If you'll excuse me, as much as I'd like to see this, I'm going to have my tea in peace."
"Bye, Zel," Lina said, offhandedly. "Now, Xellos, start explaining. Did you know?"
"First, let me up."
The sorceress let go of him, and sat down, crossing her arms. "Start talking, namagomi," she growled.
He opened his slitted eyes. "We all knew. All the Mazoku could tell. If we are to survive, we must develop a sense to detect you."
"Xellos, what is going on?! I just met a vampire out there, and my first instinct wasn't to Fireball it!"
Xellos closed his eyes again. "It's your birthright. Your sister is the Knight of Ceifeed, is she not?"
Lina gulped at the reminder of her older sister, Luna. "Y-yeah. What does that have to - "
"Being a Knight is her birthright," he interrupted. "Really, Lina-chan, I thought you'd be a Knight for Shabraningdo-sama. But it looks like you are just the Slayer."
Lina blinked. "Slayer...?" The word was familiar. A legend...
"One to stand against the forces of darkness. One girl in the entire generation." Xellos smiled sardonically. "When one Slayer dies, the next one is called. And it seems that you were called."
The girl slammed her fist into the table. "Damn it. Xellos, tell me the entire legend."
He tilted his head up. "I suppose the short version would work here. In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. And it seems, Lina-chan, you are the Chosen One."
Lina closed her ruby eyes. "Slayer... My birthright..." When she opened them again, Xellos was gone. "Damn."
Zel looked over at the redhead as they walked. Amelia bounced ahead of them, and Gourry wasn't paying much attention to anything. "Lina? Anything wrong?"
"Zel," she asked suddenly, "what do you know about the Slayer?"
He closed his sapphire eyes. Xellos had told her. "It's suppose to be a girl that has amazing strength, speed, and healing power. She also has a detection sense for anything supernatural."
Lina shook her head. "I don't understand. Xellos told me that being the Slayer is my birthright... but..."
Zelgadis sighed. "You are the Slayer. Even I can tell, now that you've awakened."
The redhead looked at him. "You can tell?" He nodded, and Lina sighed, shaking her head. "I was up all night, last night. And I'm not the least bit tired. Is this part of being a Slayer?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You're the first Slayer I know."
"Oi, Lina!" Gourry cried out, pulling her attention to the idiot swordsman. "Look!"
She followed his finger, and saw a group of bandits. Lina smiled evilly. Bandit bashing. She could do that.
Lina laid on her back, staring up at the stars, one hand behind her head. She looked around. Amelia was sleeping nicely; Gourry was supposed to be on watch, but he fell asleep; Zel was (probably) sleeping. She could very easily sneak away, and not let anyone know she was gone.
Slowly, quietly, she sat up, then moved into a standing position. As quietly as she could, she pulled on her gloves and boots, leaving her cape behind. Thankfully, she had gone to bed in her sorceress costume. Lina walked away, carefully, trying not to wake up any of her friends.
Amelia stirred as she left, and opened her cerulean eyes. The princess looked over at Lina's bedroll, and realized the sorceress wasn't in it. She sat up, and saw Zel had already gotten up, and was attempting to awaken Gourry.
"Zelgadis-sama?" she asked, her voice sleep clogged. "Where's Lina-san?"
The chimera looked over to her. "Amelia... I know where she's gone, but I don't think you want to go after her."
"Why?" Amelia picked up Lina's cape. "Her cape... Lina-san must have been kidnapped!" Her eyes shone with the Justice light. "We have to find her! Zelgadis-sama, lead us to her!"
Zel sighed, and stood up. "Follow me."
Lina tapped a tree branch against her palm, sighing. 'Bored. Bored. Why is so much of my heritage waiting?' She rounded a corner...
Only to bump into Gourry. "G-gourry! What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.
The swordsman grabbed her arms. "Lina! You're alright. Oi, Zel! Amelia! I found Lina!"
Through the said sorceress' mind was a steady stream of Shitshitshitshitshit... She smiled weakly. "You know, you guys didn't need to come after me..."
Zelgadis came up from behind Gourry. "You worried Amelia, you know. You shouldn't have run off like that without telling someone." The chimera tapped Gourry's shoulder. "You can let go of her now."
"Lina-san!" Amelia stood behind Zelgadis, tapping her foot. "How dare you wander off in the middle of the night, making us think you were kidnapped!"
Zel's head snapped to the side as Lina felt an odd chill run down her back. He said softly, "We're surrounded. And there are too many of them for all of us to take on." Lina mouthed "vampires?" at him, and he nodded. Again, the flood of cursing filled her head.
"Fireballs can take them out," she whispered. "Shit, I don't want to do this..."
"Then, girlie, you should have stayed in bed," a voice behind her said. Lina turned around, only to be met by a demonic visage. "Oh, it's you. The Dra Matta. Hey, guys! We're going to have Bandit Killer for dinner!"
The Slayer growled. "No, you won't." She staked a vampire that came for her without looking. "I'll dust you before you even think about laying a fang on me."
"Uh, Lina, what's going on?" Gourry asked.
"Shh." Her eyes narrowed. "Just fight anything that hisses at you."
And the fight commenced.
Lina staked another vamp, and looked around. Amelia was doing fine, incinerating vampires right and left. The redhead dusted another vampire, and saw Zel in front of her, Fireballing a vamp in front of him, but not seeing the one behind him...
She screamed involuntarily at the vampire threw the chimera into a tree, making toothpicks out of the poor piece of wood. Zel was picked up again, and thrown yet again. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gourry taking down a vamp with the Hikari no Ken. But... a vampire took him from behind, and started to drain him. Lina dusted it, but Gourry had lost too much blood.
Amelia watched as Lina started glowing a soft red color. Zel landed next to Gourry, and the princess thanked L-sama for the piece of luck as she Ray Winged them out of there.
The redhead raised her head, and pure Lina override the Slayer instincts. "You... hurt... him..." she growled, not sure why she said that.
"Darkness beyond twilight
Crimson beyond blood that flows
Buried in the flow of time
In thy great name
I pledge myself to darkness
Let the fools that stand before me
Be destroyed by the power you and I possess!
DRAGU SLAVE!"