Heart of Darkness
Chapter 43
Under normal circumstances, Lina Inverse was in no way, shape, or form what one could remotely consider classifying as a shrinking violet. However, these weren’t normal circumstances, so she was even farther from it. She’d bathed in her borrowed room, and then she’d used the necklace that Zelgadis had given her as a focus for her Astral Gate. Anyone capable of attacking her physically on the Astral Plane had to be either Astral themselves… or of the Astral Plane.
That specialty was reserved for those such as herself… or a Mazoku. Given that any Mazoku with a half of a grain of sense knew better than to try to attack her… it had to be one of a very select few. Namely Cassandra and her ilk. If Lina had truly destroyed Kessary, there was little doubt in her mind that Cassandra would want revenge.
With that firmly in mind, Lina had started to fight whoever it was that had grabbed her. She tried to cast spells, and failing that, she kicked, bit, tried to scratch, anything to get free. It had worked, had caught her assailant by surprise, and she’d gotten free, but a strange leaden sensation made her arms and legs heavy. It was getting hard to think, hard to focus her thoughts, hard to…
She opened her eyes, though it felt as if it required every ounce of her concentration to do even that. Physical… self. She wasn’t Astral. How did that happen? She’d been… Astral… it was hard to think while trying to focus her eyes. She should close her eyes. Nothing was in focus anyway, she couldn’t focus. Thoughts, vision, nothing made any sense. Close her eyes, yes, that’s what she ought to do.
Crimson eyes closed, and Lina lay there for a moment, trying to think. What in the name of L-Sama had happened to her? She felt like been run over by… Ambervale? She’d been in Ambervale… Astral… why had she gone there… Zelgadis? Yes, Naga said to be a Mazoku in her bath. Careful hadn’t done the spell. Around the koi pond, standing in Ambervale. Yes, Ambervale. It all came back to Ambervale. A glittering gem in a pendant, lost to fire.
A slight groan escaped her lips as her thoughts spiraled into chaos, and she felt a warm wet cloth placed on her forehead. A voice, strange and yet familiar spoke softly in her ear. “Shh.” She ought to know that voice, ought to know… she knew who that was, but couldn’t… couldn’t what? Couldn’t decide what? Oh, who that was. Who was that, anyway? Lina opened her eyes and frowned blearily.
“Rest, Lina.” Rest. That sounded like something that she could do. The necklace would stand in the fountain. As she closed her eyes, two maddeningly familiar voices conversed quietly to the side, and she tried to listen to attempt to identify them.
“She’s tougher than she looks.” That was a dry voice, male, rather raspy. It reminded her of old oiled leather sliding over rocks.
“And you aren’t as tough as you look. Whatever happened got you both. Now you be still too…” The first voice, the one that wanted her to rest. Oh… right. Rest… Whatever else was said was lost as Lina faded into the release of unconsciousness.
A soft
warmth crept into Lina’s awareness, a warmth of light on her cheek and she
opened an eye to see that it was a tiny ray of sunlight that had peeked its way
through the curtains to shine on her. Taking a chance, she opened her other
eye, lifting her head from the pillow to look around. This was her room in
Saillune’s
“What the…?” Her voice cracked and Lina blinked at herself, then blinked again as Naga’s face came into view. The wide blue eyes of the Eldest Princess were worried, and on second glance, it looked as if Naga hadn’t slept in at least a day.
“Ah, Lina! You’re awake! Here, lay back down, you probably shouldn’t be up yet,” the eldest Princess of Saillune said, moving to help Lina lay back down. At first the older woman seemed a touch nervous about touching Lina, but she pushed past it to press a hand to Lina’s good arm and offer assistance.
It didn’t take much persuasion, for Lina had to admit that she wasn’t feeling all that well at all. As she settled back into the pillow, she shifted her gaze to Naga. “What happened, Naga? I feel… like…” her voice trailed off. She couldn’t think of words to describe how bad she felt.
“Lina… do you remember what happened to you?” Naga asked as she pulled the blanket up to Lina’s waist. “We found you on the floor of your room.”
“I…” Lina frowned as she thought it through. “I cast the Astral Gate and went looking for Zelgadis. But… I didn’t stay long…”
Naga sighed and shook her head. “Lina, we returned to the Palace around ten in the morning. It was slightly before dinner when we found you. You’d missed lunch, and that’s what found you. The maid brought a meal to your room.”
Hours…? Lina frowned and looked at Naga. “No, I wasn’t there that long. In fact… “ Memory filtered back, hands grabbing her, someone dragging her back into the darkness, back into the depths of nothingness. “Someone grabbed me. Someone… took me forcefully from the Astral Ambervale.”
“That, Lina, would have been me,” a quiet voice said from outside of Lina’s line of sight. Regardless, the redheaded sorceress knew who had spoken. No matter how weak, how raspy or faintly whispered it might have been, there was no missing that voice.
Xellos had been the person who had grabbed her.