Lina's eyes opened instantly. The girl's breath was short and ragged. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes. The bed was soaked with her sweat...The dream came to her again.
It was a dream she last had a good fifteen years prior ago...the voice of a man...a voice she'd never forget.
She dreamed of that man...
"Today is the day the Oracle comes," She muttered. Lina sat up and looked out the window to her room. The morning sun was shining brightly in the sky, signaling the beginning of a new day.
Lina got out of her bed and looked around the simple room. She didn't have a house in the village, instead, she lived with her brother and their(obviously) adoptive father. Lina looked at her hands and contemplated things. Today was the day she'd begin--
There was a knock on her door and the door suddenly slammed open as a young man with a short hair cut suddenly walked into the room. He was wearing a red shirt and some black pants. He had red boots and red gauntlets to match. "Hey Onee-chan--Argh!" Lloyd fell backwards as a large, blunt object collided with his face. "Hey, what gives?!"
"Don't you know how to knock?!" She yelled at him. “I could have been doing something!"
"But I did knock!" he yelled back, standing up. “You didn't need to do that! Jeez," He dusted himself off. "I came here to tell you that the priest is here to take you to the church place," he said.
Lina finally noticed his choice of dress and looked at him with a confused glance. "Oookay," she said with edge still in her voice. "I figured he'd be here today, ya moron," She said. "But where the heck are you going?"
Lloyd smiled. "Well the Chosen needs a guardian, right?"
Lina snorted. "I already have Gourry," She said.
"But Linaaaaa," Lloyd whined. "Dad made this spiffy outfit for me just for this! And look!" He said, unsheathing his wooden swords. "I made these myself! Hiya!" He swung the blades around in a ninja-like pose, but unfortunately, his grip loosened and one of his swords flew towards Lina.
"Uh oh."
Lina screamed as she jumped down in order to dodge the wooden sword. It flew out the open window and landed in the front porch. She looked up at him from the ground with a glare.
"I'll uh, go get the sword!" Lloyd ran through the door from her room to the balcony and jumped off the balcony to land on the ground.
The stairs wouldn't have been fast enough.
Lina growled as she walked down the stairs, fitting her new outfit on. “Where’s that brat?" She asked angrily. Dirk, the dwarf sighed and pointed outside where Lloyd was practicing his sword play.
"Did you actually tell him he could go?!" She asked. Dirk sighed again and nodded.
"The boy wants to be an adventurer. I can't keep him cooped up around here forever, ye know." Gourry had shown up finally and was sparring against Lloyd. The two were using wooden swords and neither one seemed to be landing a blow..."But I don't want to baby-sit him!" She grumbled.
"Then don't. The boy's only a year younger than ye, he can tek care of himself," the dwarf grunted, hefting a large slab of metal up onto the stove. There were several strange materials set aside, including ten blue crystals, a metal she'd never seen before(and being the "Daughter" of a blacksmith, she'd seen wide variety of metals) and an old looking scroll.
"Hey dad, what-cha workin' on?" She asked.
"Ah, just a little project I've always wanted to do," he said with a gleam in his eyes. "Could tek me months, mebee' even a year," He said.
The girl nodded. He'd done bizarre projects like this before. Lina walked over to the man and he looked up at her over his shoulder.
"Wotcha wait'n on?" He asked her. The girl crossed her arms, and looked to the side. "Oh, Ah think ah know what ya need," He turned around after setting his hammer down and opened his arms, the girl bent over to hug the diminutive man for a good ten seconds. "Ye behave yerself, ye hear?" He said when they were done. "And tell Lloyd ah've got somethin ta say to him when you go before ye leave," The girl nodded and walked outside. After a few seconds, Lloyd walked into the room.
"Yeah, dad?"
"You take care o' yer sister now," Dirk said. "An' keep an eye on that Gourry kid too - he seems nice enough but you know first hand how boys can get," he said with a wink.
"Aww, but dad, no one, not even Gourry would want to get with Lina like that. That's gross," He said. Dirk just snickered.
"Well o'course you think she's gross - she's yer sister! Other guys won't look at it that way," He snorted. "And you keep a leash on yerself too - It would be dishonorable to leave some maiden with a burden and then go off on ye own ta follow yer dreams of becoming the world's greatest swordsman," He finished. Lloyd nodded, taking all of this in, and blushing at the last part. Dirks gaze then became serious. "Now I believe ye and Lina have one more person ta see before ye go," He said. Lloyd nodded and went outside to get his sister. Dirk walked outside and watched the two walk away to the back of the house. "They'll be back in just a second," Dirk said. After a minute of light conversation, Lina and Lloyd emerged from the back of the house. The two looked a bit less energetic than before, but no one seemed to notice.
"All right," Lina finally said. "Let's go.
The priest, Lina, Lloyd, and Gourry finally left Dirk's house.
Dirk stood there for a good ten minutes before finally walking back into the house.
Chapel of Martel.
Lina and Gourry sat down eating lunch while Lloyd paced back and forth in the clearing beneath the chapel. "Come on Lina, I'm hungry too," Gourry whined.
"Tho?" Lina snapped with her mouth full. "The thothen hath ta eath enuf ta geth her threnth up," She said, swallowing the meat in her mouth. Gourry's face fell as she reached in and grabbed the last piece of meat -right- before his hand grasped it. "Awww..."
"Shh, both of you. I hear something."
Everyone stopped and after a few seconds. Gourry's eyes widened and his hand shifted to his sheathed sword. Lloyd's swords were already out and Lina blinked trying to hear what they heard.
"The sounds..." Lloyd finished.
"...of battle?" Gourry finished. Lina blinked, and heard it too.
"What the hell's going on?!" She asked. Blood started pooling down from the stairs and the trio stared in horror as the priest who had served as their guide slowly stumbled down the stairs and then fell. “Chosen...you must escape...the Mazoku have come for you," He coughed up his own blood and Lloyd surveyed the mans wound's When Gourry and Lina looked up at Ranma, he shook his head with a solemn look on his face. The priest rasped one last time. "Chosen...please..." his last breath came and he hacked up some more blood before falling limp. The three looked up at the stares in determination.
"We have to help the priests!" Lloyd said. Lina hesitated only for a moment but the three soon were running up the hills. There were several men on the ground, mostly the bodies of priests, although there were some enemy bodies as well.
"Chosen! Run!" the priest called out. The trio stopped running and Lina looked at the old man.
"So much for the element of surprise," She grumbled as a huge man turned to face them.
"So you're the chosen and her little gang," The huge man snorted. "Well it's about time to end your little journey," he slowly stomped over to the three and raised his spiked ball and chain into the air and started twirling it. The three teens stared up at the ball in horror, and at the other assorted weapons the huge man was carrying. The man sneered and brought down his mace at Lloyd.
"Lloyd!" two voices called out at once. Lloyd held up his hands in a hopeless attempt at defense and fear.
"Is this the end?!" He shouted fearfully.
Nothing happened. The three teens opened their eyes to see a red-haired man with a purple skintight suit as well as two cape like extensions on his back. The chain was twisted around his long sword.
"Don't just stand there," The man grunted. "Get him!" He turned his red haired head to look at Lina, Gourry, and Lloyd.
"Lloyd, Lina, you heard him!" Gourry said in rare moment of wisdom as he ran towards the larger man.
For a moment, everything stopped as he heard the names and saw Lloyd's and Lina's faces. The red haired man's face was distorted in surprise for a second. Lina's face was contorted in a twist of confusion and some fear as the two boys attacked the huge man with their iron swords as the red haired man snagged the ball and chain and then snapped it, taking it away from the man. The man grunted, taking out a war hammer.
That man had been the man in she dreamed about twice. The man she couldn't remember, and yet seemed so familiar. And his shock told her...that he was just as surprised as she was. Lina shook her head, and focused on the matters at hand. There would be time for questions later.
Lina remembered one thing before she let off a Fireball spell.
The man's name was Kratos.
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(Posted Thu, 20 Apr 2006 01:49)
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