Setback!

It's Time For a Plan B!

Episode 26

She was floating, surrounded by darkness. What had happened? Where was everybody? For that matter, where in the world was she? Why couldn't she see anything? What was this darkness that was surrounding her?

The last thing she remembered was fighting with Nakago for the Genbu no Shinzahou. Then those eyes, those same cold golden eyes had appeared. She had seen... seen terrible images. Prophecy? Hallucination? Then... then...

Far off into the distance, a gleam of light sparkled. She walked... well, walked wasn't the proper word. She couldn't tell if she was floating because she couldn't tell where the floor was, or even if any ground existed. It was an eerie and not very pleasant feeling to be missing the ground beneath one's feet. At least even in a Raywing or Levitation spell you could feel the magic holding you up. Here there was...

Nothing. Nothing, except for the strange light. And it was getting closer and brighter, so either she was moving towards it or it was moving towards her.

She could make out things, now. What was it? A large field of grass, dotted with wildflowers. Surrounding it was a lush green forest. It was a beautiful, pleasant, ideal place. But it was also...

Nothing. It was empty. There was no life. There was no wind to blow the leaves in swirled patterns, no breeze to make the flowers sway. There were no animals eating the grass, no children making daisy-chains from the flowers... No birds were singing, no insects were chirping, no bees were buzzing, no... no nothing.

So why did she feel so at peace here?

Her feet touched the edge of the grass. She stopped and looked around. It was beautiful... Still, there was no scent of soil, of grass, or of wildflowers. This place had...

Nothing?

That feeling of peace wavered. She was wary, and yet... and yet the calmness called to her. After such a hectic lifestyle, wouldn't it be nice to just lie down and rest for a little while?

Rest a little while?

Lina Inverse, famed bandit killer and dragon spooker, terror of no small amount of people (mostly folks who got the label of 'stock villain', but people nonetheless), rest? There were still bandits to bust, treasure to collect, and food to eat! She couldn't rest, not yet, not when a thousand adventures called to her!

And what of her current escapade? She still had to find the Shinzahou - two Shinzahou, in fact - and summon Suzaku and help Naga and save Konankoku! People were counting on her! The Suzaku no Shichi Seishi were depending on her! She couldn't lie down on the job!

And still the tranquil meadow attracted her. Hadn't she been through enough?

Couldn't she rest for just a few minutes?

Wait. Another glimmer of light, from far away. It was red. It was in a pattern of lines forming... The symbol of 'oni'?

Tamahome...

No. She couldn't sit down and rest. Not even for a minute! Nakago had taken the Genbu no Shinzahou! Every minute, every second was crucial. She had known this from the beginning, when she chose such a lifestyle. She knew it was going to be dangerous, she knew it would be stressful, she knew it wouldn't always be easy, but she took on those responsibilities and accepted the risks.

Lightly, her feet left the grass of the meadow. She floated again towards the character, towards Tamahome and the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi, back towards the battle between Suzaku and Seiryuu.

And when she reached it, she was dazzled by the bright light that flooded her with hope.

It wasn't working. Tamahome gasped for air, tears streaking down his face. Lina's inert body lay before him, lips already starting to turn blue. No pulse. No breath. No life.

It was a nightmare. A nightmare! Nothing was working out! Why was this happening? First, his friend and fellow Shichi Seishi Nuriko... now Lina, too? It wasn't true, it couldn't be!

Lina shuddered.

"Li...Lina?"

Her eyelids fluttered. Her lips twitched. And suddenly her eyes opened wide and she started coughing.

His tears turned to tears of joy. Speechless, he hugged her tightly, as if affirming that yes, she was actually living and breathing and complaining that she couldn't breathe because he was squeezing her too hard.

"Lina... I'm so glad... I thought you were gone forever..."

She smiled weakly and tapped him on the nose. "Baka," she chided. "Not even Ruby-Eyed Shaburanigdo could beat me!"

"I know... just... Don't ever do that. Don't leave me again."

Lina froze. She was supposed to return to her world when this whole story ended, wasn't she? Yet, staying here no longer seemed like such a bad choice.

What would her third wish be?

"So, what should we do know?" Lina asked herself as she rode with Tamahome down the path leading from Hokkankoku to Sailokoku. It had been two days since the failed attempt to recover the Genbu no Shinzahou, and their only plan had been to meet up with the rest of the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi and gain possession of the Byakko no Shinzahou first. It wasn't a very good plan and Lina didn't like it very much, but there wasn't much of a choice. They were running on bare bones at this point; despite having taken every salvageable thing from the Seiryuu camp, they had only enough money to buy a horse and a few supplies.

Setbacks, setbacks, setbacks. They probably wouldn't find their comrades until they reached Sailokoku, which would not be for at least another day. And even if Sailokoku wasn't as large as Hokkankoku was, it would still be difficult trying to contact the other Suzaku no Shichi Seishi. It was not a good situation to be in.

It was time to formulate a new plan. Unfortunately, Lina was out of ideas. Actually, she usually didn't plan things out. It wasn't her way; she usually just went with the flow of things. She couldn't remember a single time when she and Gourry had planned ahead for more than a handful of days. Still, you couldn't face the enemy without a plan. (Okay, Lina conceded, she had done this many times before, but this time was different!)

"Ne, Tamahome, where do you think we'll find the others?" One thing that had to be done was to find the Byakko no Shinzahou. "I mean, how will we get in touch with them? It's a big country, at least that's what I assume. Are you sure we shouldn't still try to get the Genbu no Shinzahou?"

"What!?" yelled Tamahome. "When Nakago nearly killed you? Are you insane? We can't fight him alone! I know this now. We're not strong enough if we're alone. We have to fight him as a team! We have to get the others before we even think about recovering the Genbu no Shinzahou, let alone face Nakago! Next time... next time you could die..."

He was right, of course. Lina let out a long sigh.

Like it or not, they would have to face the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi at some time. Here, Lina paused and counted mentally: Nakago, Amiboshi, Soi, Suboshi, Ashitare... that was only five. Who were the other two?

- Tomo -

Tomo. The vision again, those dratted golden eyes with their strange images of disasters befalling her. Tamahome falling off the cliff.

Next time you could die...

No, realized Lina. Next time it might be you.

"Do you think we're in Sailokoku yet?"

"Um, well, I think so. According to the fellow the other day, we should be there pretty soon. Where should we look for the others first?"

Lina tapped her chin thoughtfully, trying to ignore the smells of the cooking food in front of her. Her stomach was gurgling unpleasantly, but dinner wasn't that far off. "Well, I'm sure they won't be hard to find. We do rather stick out, don't we? Ask for a guy in a smiling mask, another guy with red hair and a big metal fan, a tall guy with a cat, and a short little fellow, and I don't think there's anyone they could be mistaken for, ne?"

"That's true," nodded Tamahome. "We're like one big happy family. A strange family, to be sure, but one nonetheless."

"Ne, Tama-kun... tell me about your family. You really don't talk much about yourself outside of being a Shichi Seishi."

"Yeah, well..."

"Well?" Lina not-so-subtly prompted.

"What about your family?" Tamahome retorted.

"Me? I've got a scary big sister named Luna. So? Oneesama isn't someone you'd like to meet, I assure you."

"I'm the eldest sibling. I have two brothers, Chuei and Shunkei, and two sisters, Gyokuran and Yuiren. Yuiren's my favorite. Our mother died not long after having her, so I helped take care of her. My father is pretty sick, so I go out to get jobs in order to pay for food and stuff. Chuei helps out a lot in the fields, and Shunkei helps when he can. Gyokuran helps in the house, and Yuiren's... she's the little baby of the family, so we all love her... And, well..."

"ITADAKIMASU!" exclaimed Lina when it became obvious that Tamahome wasn't going anywhere.

"Oi, Lina, don't eat all of it!"

A scuffle broke out as they struggled to get enough to eat. By some luck, they managed not to spill or drop anything in the ensuing brawl, and each managed to get roughly half of the share of food. It's strange how things can work out sometimes, especially when nothing else seems to be going according to logic.

"You know what, Tama-kun?" Lina asked through a mouthful of her dinner.

"Mm?"

"We'd better find the others really soon, or we won't have anything left to eat! Imagine that! Me, without food? Ugh, the simple thought repulses me..."

He laughed and she joined him. "I bet that if you were really hungry and had to face down the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi you'd eat them! Or at least you'd scare them off by the loud sounds your stomach would be making!"

Lina bared her fangs. "Don't you know I'm my worst when I'm hungry? Well, actually I'm my worse when having to endure Naga's laughter, but I'm also pretty bad when I haven't eaten in a while."

They laughed again, but it had a slightly hollow sound to it, as if they were trying to convince the other that they were happy when they really weren't.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to get some sleep then," said Lina after an awkward pause. "Oyasumi nasai."

"Mm," replied Tamahome.

Lina opened her eyes slowly. Somewhere to her left, the fire had reduced itself to barely glowing embers. Somewhere on the other side, she could hear Tamahome snoring ever-so-softly.

She sighed quietly. She had fallen asleep only to be chased by nightmares filled with images of cliffs and of glowing blue ki. Tamahome fell again and again, and always in a different way. Here he slipped off when the rock gave way. Here he was forced backwards until he lost his footing. There he was blasted backwards by a strong blue ki. The result was always the same.

And it was because he was protecting her. Shielding her from attacks from the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi. The most prominent figure was the strange man holding a clamshell, his face painted gaudily with stripes of white, blue, and black. Tomo? But who was Tomo and how did she know his name? Nakago was also a dominant person, but glimpses of the others were visible from time to time. Then those eyes would appear, smiling at her, laughing at her, triumphing over her. And was it her imagination or did she hear Naga's infamous laughter echoing in the background?

Every time the laughter boomed, she woke up. Every time, she went back to sleep, only to be met with the same images.

It was not a good formula for a good night's rest.

Silently, she stood up, being careful not to wake the slumbering Shichi Seishi. Quietly, she walked away from the camp, needing space to move around without bothering Tamahome. Her footfalls made almost no noise in the grass underfoot. The woods were quiet, although the low murmuring noises made by the insects never ceased. The cool air did much to help her regain her composure. So did walking around.

At some point, she would have to go back and get some rest. She'd be useless if she was falling asleep while trying to find the other Suzaku no Shichi Seishi. Right now, however, it felt good to be strolling under the night sky, where a pale moon smiled down on her. She could easily imagine that everything was going beautifully, that when she went back to camp, Gourry would be there snoring loud enough to rival cicadas, that the only worries the next day would bring would be which spell to toss at incoming bad guys.

She was lost deep in thought, her mind not even registering the pattern of rocks as a rockslide but only as things to be detoured around. And when the rocks slid again, she was caught totally unprepared.

Dust clouds puffed up from the ground where Lina landed. The rocks were piled all around her, and her right foot and arm were trapped under one. Despite her struggles, she was unable to free herself.

Oh, just great, Lina Inverse. What a pathetic end for such a famous sorceress, trapped under a boulder.

Before she could gather enough breath to yell for Tamahome, she saw a light coming near her. It bobbed up in down, slowly growing larger, and finally resolving into a lantern. And holding it was...

"At last I've found you," he said, holding the lantern up high.

Suboshi!?

Continue: Episode 27: Confusion! Who Are You Really?