Through Sickness and HealthA Slayers Fanfic by Majo-chan Author’s notes: It sounds serious…it starts serious…it seems like a deep, thoughtful, possibly angsty fanfic…is it? Sore wa himitsu desu. Let’s just say…personal experience.Warnings: OOC…some parts. I tried to stay in character, I really did! ** The note from the messenger was short and to the point, penned by a surprisingly neat hand. Not that it looked feminine or anything, but she was surprised by the perfect spelling and grammar from someone who occasionally misread signs. On the top of the folded half sheet was her name. At first, she was confused. After all, not many people write her notes, and the print was unfamiliar. Her confusion was soon alleviated, replaced immediately by surprise and a deep sense of worry. Immediately, she re-read the note and then stood up. The address on there was of an inn not far from the temple she helped out at. A ten-minute walk. "Syphil-sama? Where are you going?” One matron asked kindly as the normally smiling priestess walked by her in the ornate halls with an unusually worried expression. "To see an old friend.” She replied with a small smile thrown over her shoulder as she hefted a bag that the woman recognized as her medicine bag. “I’m sorry to hurry off like this, but it seems urgent.” "Aa.” The old woman nodded sagely. “ Friends.” Dear Syphil, How are you? I would guess that you are surprised, since I never write you and all. I hope you have been well and I apologize for suddenly bothering you like this. I need your help, Lina is sick. We are staying at the Lion’s Inn on Stradda. I can’t leave her so I hope you can stop by soon. Sincerely, Gourry Gabriev ** As she walked, she pondered. Actually, worried, stressed, fretted and agonized would be better words. Syphil was a worrier, she knew that very early on in her life. Her mind liked to imagine worst case scenarios, liked to paint her fabricated tales of grief and despair… A part of her said logically, he didn’t mention how sick she was, or with what. For all we know, it could be a case of indigestion from eating like a horse. That was true, Syphil mused. But she also believed that Gourry had known Lina long enough that he could tell the difference between a small sickness and a large one. And he would have never asked her for help if the situation had been anything but serious… Right? She shook her head, ignoring strange looks cast her way by some people on the street. So she didn’t know him as well as she should…but he wouldn’t joke with anything like this. Children’s laughter woke her from her musings, and she looked up at the garishly painted sign of red and gold. Lion’s Inn. She was here. ** The feeling of disquiet grew as she entered, feeling oddly conspicuous. Maybe that was because everyone…EVERYONE, looked up when she pushed through the heavy double doors. Or maybe it was the quaint quietness that settled quickly after, and all those pairs of eyes that fixed on her immediately turned away, down, left, out, anywhere but at her. Syphil swallowed. “ May I help you?” The innkeeper said politely, if a bit fearfully as he approached her. Syphil smiled kindly at him, out of habit and out of a desire to show that she was as harmless as she looked. “ I am looking for a Mr. Gourry Gabriev-“ “ GOOUUUUUURRRRYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!” Everyone in the inn, including Syphil, jumped at the pained screech that stabbed through the walls and vibrated, lingering in their ears even after the actual sound waves faded. Alarmed, the priestess looked upstairs. That voice was definitely Lina… “ What room are they in?” She asked urgently. The innkeeper looked slightly terrified as he stuttered out the number, and Syphil was off. She took the stairs two at a time, panting as she reached the second floor. Please let me be on time, she thought desperately, remember another time when life and death had hung in the balance on a fine thread of seconds salvaged and weaved together. Room 27. This time, Syphil didn’t wait to knock. Instead, she ran up to the door and twisted the knob, relieved that it wasn’t locked. Her mind was humming, mentally going over the various healing spells she knew, weighing the merits of various herbs and magical potions as she pushed the door open. ** The first thing she noticed was the smell. She was expecting the sickening, decaying scent of sickness…but instead, a strong, pungent smell of delicately blended sauces and herbs assaulted her nose, tickled it with tantalizing hints of well marinated meat and fresh vegetables and noodles… Wait, noodles? The second thing she noticed was that the very man that had sent her the note, Gourry Gabriev, Swordsman of Light himself, was standing in the room, at the foot of a long bed…covered in the noodles. Syphil blinked. Then blinked again. Yes….it was Gourry Gabriev…and he WAS covered in noodles, which were covered in a rich reddish sauce that smelled heavenly. He turned to her with puppy eyes. “ Syphil!” He wailed. “ I can’t believe it but she won’t eat!!!!” Now that was a wade into dangerous mental thought. Syphil could handle the thought that Lina Inverse knew how to cast the Giga Slave. She could handle the knowledge that both Rezos tried to destroy the world and that Copy Rezo destroyed Sairaag as a prelude…But Lina…refusing to eat? It was mind-boggling. The tiny Enemy of All Who Live was glaring at Gourry while eloquently brandishing the emptied plate that must have held the noodles before their unfortunate relocation to the proximity of his body. The priestess looked her over quickly. No pale, gray, paper-dry complexion. In fact, Lina looked a little flushed. No painful, hacking coughs…she was sneezing cutely in that way petite people had. And no delirium…unless you count the gleam in her eyes, but that could be explained by an obvious dissatisfaction with the food selection. “Gourry you jellyfish…Syphil?” She was coherent and aware of her surroundings, Syphil noted. The voice was more nasal and raspy than usual, and she added those onto her mental list of notes. The woman walked forward determinedly, and Lina blinked at the expression on the shrine maiden’s face. It was a curious blend of amusement and resolve. Within seconds, Lina felt Syphil’s hand on her forehead, her pupils examined, and her symptoms noted and diagnosed. The priestess then nodded, as if satisfied, and turned on the swordsman. “ Is she going to be okay?” Gourry asked anxiously. Syphil fought the urge to shake her head. That would be interpreted in a wrong way and she definitely want him to pay attention to her when she said her piece. “ Gourry Gabriev…you are getting all worked up over nothing. Lina is just suffering from a slightly serious case of the common cold.” “ I don’t get sick!” That protest was punctuated with a well-timed sneeze. Syphil raised an eyebrow and the sorceress sank down in the pillows, slightly embarrassed. Gourry was looking slightly confused. “ But Lina doesn’t get sick.” He echoed. “ I should know. I’ve traveled with her for three years, remember?” Syphil shrugged. “ These are the symptoms. Sneezing, runny nose-don’t deny it, Lina, I hear you sniffling- a sore throat and a slight fever. Though I suppose she would have to explain why she won’t eat, ne, Lina?” Lina stuck her tongue out. “ My throat hurts and I don’t have an appetite because I’m going stark raving mad from all this babying! Gourry’s worse than a mother hen!” Syphil raised an eyebrow. “ What exactly did he do, Lina?” Gourry cleared his throat but before he could open his mouth, Lina cut in. “ He insisted I stay in bed. And he did everything for me. And I mean everything. He wouldn’t even let me go to the bathroom on my own power.” Gourry protested, “ But you were really sick those first few days!” Syphil signaled for a time out. “ What did you feed her, Gourry?” The swordsman began ticking off things. “ Chicken-“ “ Cut in super tiny bite sized chunks.” Lina supplied resentfully. “ Yeah, that. Bread-“ “Which he refused to butter for me because he thinks it’ll upset my stomach.” “ Soup-“ “More like stew that he let sit for five minutes so it won’t be too hot, then spoon fed me when I could’ve finished that bowl in three seconds.” “ Juice-“ “Through a straw! I haven’t used a straw since I was five!” “ Fruit-“ “ Picked out all the seeds, peeled off all the skin, also fed me when I can use my hands perfectly well, thank you very much!” Syphil fought the uncharacteristic snicker that wanted release from her throat. Instead, she coughed. “ Well, Gourry, I can’t fault your food choices, though I suggest more fluids.” “ Are you ENCOURAGING him!?” Lina screeched, then coughed a little. Syphil shook her head. “ No. I was getting to the part where I tell him to stop making everything so easy for you.” She replied mildly. “ The more unpleasant sickness is, the faster people get better. Let Lina do what she wants, Gourry, short of going out to hunt down bandits.” She held up a hand to stem his objection. “ It’ll help her to rest in bed, yes. But exercise in moderation is good and doing everything for her will just make her lazy.” “ Lazy!?” Lina screeched….then sneezed. Gourry couldn’t help but chuckle as he automatically handed her a handkerchief. “’m not lazy…” she muttered. “ Aa.” The priestess agreed placidly. She then turned her attention to her bag, rummaging around until she came up with a small cream-colored bag that held a faint, sweet aroma. “ Here’s some tea you can make for her. It’s chrysanthemum, add lots of honey.” She smiled. “ It’ll help with the fever and soothe the throat.” Gourry took the bag. “ ‘Kay. But I don’t understand something, Syphil.” “ Hmm? What?” Syphil asked as she fluffed some of Lina’s pillows and ordered the sorceress to make herself comfortable. “ Why don’t you just cast Recovery on Lina?” Silence. Both woman turned pale, then slightly gray at the thought. Syphil shuddered. If Lina Inverse was Demon Incarnate when stricken with a cold…she’d hate to see what she would be like with pneumonia. “ Jellyfish!” ** Syphil left after leaving final instructions for Gourry to NOT seek out any other healers to cast Recovery on the sneezing and coughing sorceress. Of course, Lina’s form of persuasion was more to the point, and a lot easier to understand. Last she saw, Gourry was valiantly trying to get himself out of a Sleeper Hold… How Lina managed to get him in one while she was in bed under a pile of blankets, she will never know. Syphil chalked it up as another one of the unsolved mysteries regarding the Dra-Mata, somewhere between the mysteries of where she puts away all the food she eats and why she’s deathly afraid of Luna. The End |