<"No, Gourry, please, you can't do this...it's impossible for you..."> <"Shh, Lina, it's all right now...don't worry, I'll be back in no time, all right?"> <"No, you can't...you don't have your sword of light anymore...GOURRY!!"> <But Gourry surged forward, regardless of Lina's genuine screams of concern. Suddenly, a new flash of light came from the already bright area ahead, and Lina could not see Gourry's tall figure any longer. She reached out, but her feet did not allow her to go forward. She screamed Gourry's name one last time, but did not receive an answer.> <"Oh my Cepheid...please...no..."> ~*~ Lina sat up suddenly in bed, her forehead covered with sweat, but she did not make any effort to wipe it. She looked upward, to the bland ceiling of the inn. Lina would have wanted desperately to say it was merely a nightmare, but that wasn't true. Lina was revisiting an event that had completely changed her life. It had been real. Her eyes were once again wet, and she was hardly surprised when a drop of her tears landed on her hands that were clasped before her on the bed. She had no strength to wipe those away either. Finally, she let her head fall, and the tears fell freely to the bed, dampening the thin sheets. Only one thing pulsed through her mind: Gourry was dead. ~*~ When Phibrizo had taken Gourry, Lina's heart had ripped, but she was determined to get him back. But now, she hardly even had the incentive to wake up in the morning. But her stomach had insisted, and Lina was frustrated to learn that even her feelings could not overcome her appetite. So Lina dressed, and slowly stepped downstairs into the inn's small restaurant nook. She sat down, sighed and slunk down into her same old degenerate state since Gourry's death. But that wasn't before she ordered four helpings of the breakfast course. There was some noise outside the restaurant, but Lina completely ignored it. She was so into her personal thoughts that she didn't notice that everyone else had left. Suddenly, a hand was slapped down on her table and she gradually looked up to find herself staring into the eyes of someone she presumed as the leader of a group of bandits. The man was taken aback at the lack of fear or concern in Lina's face. "Look around you girl, every single person in this place has left, so it's just you and me...want to take a guess why everyone left?" "Because...they're all cowards," answered Lina, and she stood up. The man gave Lina a look of disgust that changed into surprise, and finally, fear. "It's...it's you..." he stammered, backing away and recklessly overturning chairs. "It's you...the bandit-killer...I gotta get out of here..." he scrambled out the door with on last, fleeting look. Lina continued to stand there, as if in a daze. Then, she carefully lowered herself down into her chair again. The manager of the inn lifted himself from behind the counter and looked around the dining room first, then at Lina. "Thank...thank you, miss." He gulped, still staring at Lina. "That's great...now about my breakfast..." The manager nodded immediately, and headed into the kitchen. "Waitress! Give this young lady her food!" "Right away, but we're still getting it all ready!" "All...?" He turned to give Lina a confused look, and nearly fell when the waitress came out with a tray full of food. "Young lady..." he managed to gasp. "You're going to eat this all?!" Lina did not answer, and the manager followed the tray of food with his eyes. Lina dug in, but only half-heartedly. She was concentrating so hard on the tabletop that she didn't notice the girl that walked in. ~*~ "Lina...?" Sylphiel whispered quietly to herself. Then, she cleared her throat and tried once again. "Lina...?!" Lina paused and turned to look, and to Sylphiel's surprise, with nothing in her mouth. "Sylphiel!...what...what are you doing here?!" "Well, I was about to ask you the same thing...but since you asked first... I'm just on vacation. Now, what brought you to these parts?" Lina shrugged, and continued in her gorging. "Wait, something's missing here...of yes!" Sylphiel slapped herself on the forehead. "Where's Gourry? Isn't he usually with you, sneaking food from you?" Again to Sylphiel's surprise, Lina stopped eating at once, literally dropping everything from her hands. "Gourry's..." Lina tried to choke back tears. "Gourry's...not here." "Oh...well, that's nothing to cry over...right?" Sylphiel tentively put a hand on Lina's shoulder. Lina did her best to smile. "It's just that...the food here...it's just SO good!" She continued to eat. <But at a slower pace,> Sylphiel noted to herself. "Well, Lina, it's so nice to see you again...how are things?" Lina shrugged again, so instead of forcing her to talk, Sylphiel went ahead and talked about her good life ever since Slayers NEXT. She was still talking when Lina finished her breakfast. She was so incredibly happy with the progress that she didn't notice that Lina was barely listening. In fact, Lina had her head down, and she was frowning. <*How can she be so happy when...when Gourry's <dead>?!*> Suddenly, she found herself resenting Sylphiel's presence. "That's just great..." she mumbled, highly aware of the fact that her voice indicated the opposite. "I'm sorry...Lina, am I bothering you? Maybe I...I should just go...I'm sorry..." Sylphiel made a move to leave, but Lina grasped her arm, lightly at first, but her hold gradually tightened. Sylphiel noticed that Lina's head was down, and she sat down again. "I'm the one that should be sorry Sylphiel...please don't leave me..." The last plea came in a soft whisper, so that Sylphiel could barely hear. "Lina..." moments passed, "where <is> Gourry?" Lina took in a shaky breath. "Gourry...Gourry's..." She blinked rapidly, but Sylphiel had already seen the tears. "Gourry's dead."
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