Amelia yawned, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Why are we out in the middle of the night, Lina-san?"
The girl sighed, and tapped a tree branch on her palm. "I'm the Slayer, Amelia. It means that I've got to be out when the vampires are out. Since they can't be out in the sun, I have to go out during the night." Lina turned her head sharply to the side as she caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of her eye.
Nothing. She forcibly relaxed herself, and looked back in front of her. It isn't Zel. Calm down. You'll just stake a few vamps, and then you'll go back to bed. The chimera's words echoed in her ears.
"It beats... for you."
Zel...
"So, the Bandit Killer is more than that, huh?" Lina growled softly as she saw the leader of the vampires that had hurt Gourry, and made Amelia think Zel was dead. "Little Slayer. Well, that was an interesting spell, the Dragu Slave." Taking her off guard, he reached out and grabbed her neck. "If you try to power up a spell, little girl, I will break the Slayer's neck before you can even chant the first word."
Lina looked over to Amelia, gulping. With a disgusted look, the princess lowered her arms, stepping back. The redhead let out a strangled cry as the vampire turned her around, and pinned her arms behind her. "A-amelia..." A soft, fanged kiss touched her throat, and she choked back bile. The girl stepped forward, opening her mouth in protest, but too late. The fangs descended into her soft flesh, and she cried out in pain.
I'm going to die... Oh, L-sama... Black haziness filled her vision as she held on to consciousness with all the willpower she had. The teeth ripped from her neck, and she fainted from blood loss.
Something was on her forehead. Lina rolled her head, realizing many things at once: she was in a bed; the thing on her head was damp; the thing on her head was no longer on her head. A hand touched her head, and then took the damp thing from beside her head. She opened her ruby eyes, and from the darkness, she saw Zelgadis dipping a washcloth into a bowl of water, wringing the excess water out of the cloth, and replacing the washcloth on her forehead. She smiled weakly at him.
"Hi, Lina," he said softly. "How are you feeling?"
It took several tries before her voice wanted to work. "Throat hurts. Why are you here?"
He smiled at her. "Someone has to watch over you. Gourry's suppose to, but he's asleep. I don't think it was wise on Amelia's part making him watch over you, especially after he's lost so much blood."
Lina grabbed his arm. "Zel. My neechan knows. She always knew."
He blinked. "Nani?"
Her ruby eyes bore intently into his sapphire orbs. "Luna always knew I was the Slayer. If she knows, the Ryuzoku know too. Xellos knew; that means the Mazoku know. That means that the Ryuzoku and Mazoku know about you too."
Zel's eyes widened. "Of course. I'm going to try and find Xellos." He stood up.
"Wait. Zel..." But he was gone. Lina sat up, and walked over to the window, ignoring the dizziness. She looked out the open window, trying to find the chimera.
He was well, and truly gone. She closed her eyes, and said to the empty room, "Zel... I..."
I what? Care about you? Hope you'll be fine?
"I love you..." she whispered.
The Slayer pulled on her boots, ignoring a wave of dizziness. She had to go out tonight. Staring at the walls were starting to make her insane. Lina placed a hand on the wall, and looked out the window. Zel...
"And where do you think you're going?"
Years of fear made her eyes widen when she heard Luna's voice. "Hi, neechan," she said weakly.
"You're going out to see the chimera, aren't you?" The Knight walked over to her sister, crossing her arms. "Aren't you?"
"Yeah. I am." Lina pulled out the tree branch, and tapped it against her palm, a nervous gesture. "And I do have to patrol."
"Lina." Something in her neechan's voice made her look at her. "Be careful."
"I will," she promised.
Luna shook her head. "Not that way. You two are bonded in a way that normal people can't break. However... if he hurts you, I promise, I will take the Hikari no Ken and drive it into his heart. I don't know if chimeric vampires turn to dust, but I'm not eager to find out."
The redhead blinked. "Luna..."
Her sister hugged her. "I do care about you, Lina. And I would never want to see you hurting in any way."
Lina closed her ruby eyes, and hugged her neechan back. "Arigato, neechan," she whispered.
Gourry snorted, and woke himself up. "Eh? Eh?" He looked around, then relaxed. That's right... I'm watching over Lina. The swordsman stood up, stretching. Wonder how long I've been out...
A fuchsia haired girl walked past him, nodding to him. "Oi! Matte!" He grabbed her arm. "Who are you?"
She smiled, her eyes hidden by her bangs. "Luna. Now, if you would let me go, I'll get back to my shift."
"Why were you in Lina's room?!"
Her head bowed, and she chuckled. "Can't I see my imouto-chan when I want?"
Gourry's eyes opened wide. "You're Lina's sister..." An errant memory shifted through the haze in his head:
"Compared to what my sister use to put me through, that was NOTHING!"
On that, he rushed into Lina's room, almost afraid of what her neechan had done.
There was no one there.
"What did you do to Lina?" he cried, turning around.
Luna turned around to go to the restaurant. "I tried to keep her here, but she was dead set on going out. Something about the walls driving her crazy. And something about a person... I believe she called him 'Zel'."
Gourry paled. "Zel? But he's... I'm going after her."
And he was about to when Luna said, "It's your funeral. I think it would be safer for you to stay away from my imouto-chan from now on. I think it'd be safer for you and the princess."
"And why do you say that?"
"Ask the princess." With that, Luna walked away, leaving a very dumbfounded Gourry behind.