Promises

A Slayers One-shot by Majo-chan

Author’s notes: Hmm…a little supplement to Lina and Luna’s fight in chapter 10-11. Hopefully, it’ll clarify things without being essential. I couldn’t get this out of my head, I guess it’s because I haven’t written serious angst in a while.^_^ Er…so, after saying that, I warn everyone. Serious angst ahead.

**

            It was cold and she was frightened. Why wasn’t nee-chan back yet? Why did the dragons take her sister away?? Why did they try to take her away?? She didn’t know. She was scared.

            It was dark out, the night of the new moon, and she didn’t dare leave the house. Not because she was afraid of the dark, but because she was told very firmly not to. Mother and Father will be right back, they had told her, whatever happens, stay inside.

            What happened to nee-chan? To mother and father? Why is it so dark in here?

            She jumped when she heard sound. Noises, scuffles. Strange thumping and muffled cries. Flashes of brilliant light in the deep darkness. Then the noise abruptly ceased to be quiet and turned loud and deafening. Before she knew it, one side of the wall blew in and she screamed as she was tossed back like a rag doll by the explosion. Her body didn’t have enough mass to keep her on her feet. She was too light and too small…

            A large black shadow with red glowing eyes reared up in front of her and stared at her. It seemed curious about the small human girl in front of it with the messy red hair and frightened red eyes. She tried to scramble backward, away from the strange creature, but her feet slipped and she couldn’t get up. Then it lunged.

            She screamed at the same time it did. The creature froze in the middle of the air, red flame seemed to materialize, slashing ruthlessly into the blackness. She cried out as she felt the searing heat near her, flinching back instinctively, raising her hands in front of her to shield her face. Then arms were around her and shielded her from the heat. The familiar scent of jasmine and bread penetrated her consciousness, the feel of subtle power beneath the skin, all covered with the metallic tinge of blood, forced recognition.

            “Nee-chan…” she whimpered.

            Weightlessness.

            The wind blew past her ears and she knew they were up high in the air. She dared not open her eyes until she felt the solid *thump* of feet against ground again. Not her feet. She was way too short to reach the floor from her current position, but her sister’s feet. A soft, controlled landing, like always.

            It was too bright to be the middle of the night, she thought, opening one eye carefully, looking for the origin of the red-orange light. She found the source in the flames that were currently engulfing their home. Her large eyes traveled over the burning building, to the random corpses lying around…then back to her sister, who had wearily knelt down beside her.

            “ Lina-chan…” Her sister started. She shook her head wildly.

            “ No, nee-chan…what happened to mother and father?” She refused to recognize the familiar bracelet that was hanging around the charred hand sticking out of a pile of rubble, nor the mangled and bloodied face that she would recognize even if it burnt to ashes. “They’re all right, aren’t they? Right?? RIGHT?!”

            Warm and strong arms came around her and she wanted to fight them. She wanted to stamp her feet and scream out against Gods, demons, whoever would listen, and challenge them for the fate that had befallen her. She wanted to cry like a spoiled child and demand her parents and her comfortable life back. Most of all…she wished it was just a nightmare. That it was different, that it never happened.

            Her sister didn’t say anything, just took her shoulders in that firm grip she always did and pulled her into a loose embrace. She couldn’t hold in the torrent of emotion, a part of her knew she was hysterical, but didn’t care. Her sister just held her as she screamed and cried and pounded her fist against her futilely. Her sister didn’t say anything, not one word…she could only guess at what her nee-chan was thinking. Her own words made just as little sense…she vaguely knew she was rambling on incoherently about how it wasn’t fair, why did it happen, they’re not really dead, and she wished she was stronger. That it was all her fault.

            That thought echoed in her mind. If only she had been stronger. If only she had been able to prevent it.

            “Lina!” The grip firmed and was almost painful. She was grabbed and shaken roughly until she stopped her hysterics. She opened her eyes to meet her sister’s blue ones. “Don’t say that!”

            She sniffled hard and tried to talk around the lump in her throat. “It IS. It IS my fault!” The truth of it flowed through her and she reached out to grab her sister by her arms. “ If I had kept them home, if I had gone out to find them! If only I was stronger!”

            “ Lina-chan, you’re barely seven!”
            “I wish I was stronger.” She whispered, gritting her teeth. Her hands were fisting the material of her sister’s clothes as she shook. “I wish I was strong enough to protect all of you. I wish…” She couldn’t go on and felt the tears start again. She ducked her head, ashamed at her own worthlessness.

            “Don’t say that.” The choked note in her sister’s voice was what made her look up again. “ Don’t EVER say that…you don’t have to be strong, Lina-chan. Don’t be strong.” It was the first, and last time she had ever seen her sister’s tears, glittering faintly in the flickering light of the dying flames, clear against the blue. “I’ll be strong enough for both of us. I swear.” This time she didn’t fight the embrace, stunned by her sister’s tears and promise. “I’ll be strong enough for the both of us. So don’t cry, Lina. Let me bear the burdens. Let me be strong so you don’t have to be.”

            “Nee-chan…” She had never, ever, seen her stern and aloof sister cry. It was almost as unthinkable as what had happened to their parents. “Nee-chan, what’s wrong? Don’t cry, please!” She scrubbed at her own eyes to stop the tears. Another thing that was her fault. Everything was her fault.

            “I have decided.” Her sister whispered. She had a feeling that her sister was no longer talking to her, but talking beyond her, to some other being beyond her vision.  “ I have decided. I will accept. I will protect this world for you. For her.”

            And no matter how hard she tried, Lina Inverse could not remember when the fire had died and the cool, vivid darkness started dimming their surroundings. It fell like night around Luna and herself, until there was nothing but the darkness and them... And white feathers. Feathers glowing a pale white, spiraling lazily from the above them.

            As if something with great white wings had taken off into the sky, leaving only the feathers as a sign of its passing.

End