Butterflies, Dominoes, and Causality
Chapter 1 of 12
A Hentai Slayers Fanfic by RVincent
Rob.Vincent@gmail.com
PLEASE READ - I do not own ‘The Slayers’ and have no relation or ties to those people that do own the series, aside from the various DVDs and VHS tapes that I have purchased over the years. In conjunction with this statement I further decree that I am not claiming ownership, nor am I making any money off this fan work. No copyright infringement is meant, I am writing this as an expression of my fandom. Furthermore, this fanfic will contain some blood (not much) and some female x female sexual encounters and is therefore meant for adults only. If you are under 18 years of age please go back now and ignore ever reading this preface. For those other people that intend to stay I can only hope you enjoy reading this.
Originally as I was writing this it was set in some miscellaneous time after TRY however with Revolution being currently aired now there is no hard and fast location to set this. So now it is being somewhat ambiguously set since I don’t know how Revolution will end. While writing this I read a lot of the novels so the characters might seem a little off with respect to the anime. Then again you can just blame it on me being a crappy writer… heh… your choice.
*****************(Classic Snowflake Openings Rock!)*****************
.... It was just too hot....
Trudging along Lina wiped her brow while shakily shambling along the dusty road. She was surrounded on all sides by nothing... scrub grass, tumbleweeds, and some brittle trees lacking leaves. It was one step shy of a desert. Lina’s normal lively locks of hair had long since become weighed down from sweat and dust and as a result they hung heavily in Lina’s vision. Some of the locks of hair were so swamped they stuck entirely to her face and headband. Despite the wheather she continued on, sweat bleeding through her clothing along her spine, between her breasts, and especially under her arms. “It’s soooo hot...” She wined to anyone willing to sympathize, running her hands disgustedly over her somewhat stripped-down outfit. She was lacking her usual mantle, gloves, and cape. Sighing she went back to picking her finger nails as she walked, noting the distinctly different shade her upper arm had acquired in the last few days compared to her hand which had been gloved till that day.
Gourry and Zelgadiss were traveling side by side just a few paces behind her, but even their normal ‘tough guy’ demeanor was breaking down from the never-ending afternoon sun. Gourry was taking the heat especially bad, not willing to sacrifice his armor or his workload; he was drenched in sweat. Each step was accompanied by a squish as the perspiration that had traveled down his body accumulated in his leather boots, their water-tightness working against its original intention.
“This is just terrible...” Zelgadiss mumbled to Gourry.
“What’s terrible..?”
Zelgadiss sighed and swallowed dryly, desperately hoping to get some water soon, “We haven’t had any water since we left this morning.... and it’s been so hot for so long now-- I have to wonder if something is wrong.”
“Wrong?” Gourry started questioningly.
Zelgadiss continued, “Like, maybe some dark lord somewhere is watching us and getting his kicks from seeing us break down like this...”
Gourry thought for a second, “It’s hot because it’s hot, there doesn’t have to be a reason for it...” The simple logic was almost too much for Zel causing him to grit his teeth, the heat was making his temper short, especially because his statement had been a fleeting attempt at levity. But it was too hot to do anything so they continued on in silence.
“Whaa!” Lina teetered unsteadily after stumbling over her own feet. She was thankful to have avoided falling on her face, but held still a moment to fully regain her balance. “This sucks!” She kicked up some dirt making a mini dust cloud. There was no relief from the heat. When the days had first started to get hot Zelgadiss had used a weakened version of the wind barrier to cool everyone down, but it had also proved to be a most effective desiccant. Chapped lips were the immediate result but eventually their eyes began to stick shut and breathing along with swallowing became harder. Not to mention the sandblast to the face. So they opted to tough it out, but Lina felt that she was finally beat.
Without another word Lina dropped to the ground on her butt, and reached into a pouch she was carrying over her shoulder she pulled out a map. “That’s it.. I need a vacation… I quit…” Meanwhile Gourry and Zelgadiss caught up and stood around Lina, looking down to see her plotting. Normally Lina would have been upset at the invasion of personal space, but at the moment they were blocking 80% of the sun and Lina could live with that sort of trade off. Tracing her finger along the map Lina finally exclaimed, “Ah hah!” She turned up toward her compatriots, “We’re in luck! If we just make a little detour here…” Without prompting Lina continued, “There’s a little resort town just up in the hills to the west of us, it’s right on a lake, it’ll be so much cooler!” Enthusiastic for the moment Lina made a wide overhead gesture, “Come on, we need a break don’t we!?” In response Gourry sat down and pulled off one of his boots, dumping out a significant quantity of sweat before wiggling his now webbed toes.
Gourry looked up at Lina, smiling back at her, “Yeah... that sounds like fun.” Zelgadiss nodded, despite his want to continue their quest for his cure he really did feel like they needed a break. Finally Lina turned her head and body further facing the last party member whose vote was yet to be cast.
“What do you think Amelia-- Actually.... you don’t look so good.”
Amelia had just caught up to the group despite the fact they had been stopped in the road by Lina’s antics. She was completely flush, her whole outfit was soaked and Lina had to wonder what possessed her not to give up just a little bit of her attire to fight the heat. Taking in her condition further though the group went silent.
Zelgadiss was first to act, “Amelia?” He quickly made his way over to her as Lina started to stand and Gourry struggled to get his foot back in his wet boot. When both their attention was focused back on Amelia, Zelgadiss was pulling her eyelid down and looking her over. Without delay, Gourry and Lina both walked to Zelgadiss and Amelia but it wasn’t until they were within arms reach that they could make out Amelia’s raspy, weak voice. Lina reached out and wiped Amelia’s hair out of her eyes and wiped some of the sweat off her face.
Looking at her eyes it was obvious, “Amelia, why didn’t you say anything, you should have never let your heat stroke get this bad....” On the verge of passing out Amelia nodded, but the normal life in her actions was gone, her face was taught, she was teetering, ready to collapse.
“Zelgadiss, can you carry Amelia?” Zelgadiss nodded and made an affirmative noise, putting Amelia over his shoulder with no protest from her until there was a slight sizzling sound, the stones covering Zelgadiss’ body superheated from the sun evaporating Amelia’s sweat. Hearing her struggle for breath and from the heat he changed her position so she was in his arms, “Let’s find some cover and get out of this sun.” But even with renewed purpose, everyone was listless in their actions. Lina licked her lips, her tongue relinquishing the tiny bit of moisture it possessed to help alleviate the pain coming from the miniature fissures developing in her abused lips. The three of them on their feet made it step-by-step, eventually coming to a small grove of trees. Completely dead, they were still fairly tall and wide. As such the trunks provided enough cover from the sun to make the area near them a few degrees cooler. Taking a deep breath Zelgadiss laid Amelia on the ground in the shadow of the trees before removing his cape and non-essential clothing.
However, over the last few days the definition of non-essential clothing had changed. Whereas previously Zelgadiss would have found himself blushing if he caught a glimpse of Lina wandering around in in just a chest wrap, panties, and only covered by a narrow piece of fabric not quite coming to her knees, it had quickly become commonplace as the temperature increased daily. He too had found new levels of modesty, unable to sleep with a shirt on, he took it off as soon as everyone broke for camp and Gourry did likewise. Amelia was the slowest to adjust in the group. Her sense of modesty prevented her from being comfortable, prevented her from looking out for her own well being. Slowly Zelgadiss started to move in on Amelia, determined to remove some of her clothing, at least until she cooled off. Thankfully for him, Lina stepped in, “I’ll take care of it Zel...” Relieved Zelgadiss took a few steps back and left Lina to strip down Amelia.
Squatting down, Lina hovered over Amelia and started to undo the broach around her neck but Amelia feebly batted her hand away. “Amelia...” Lina growled out, Amelia’s condition not allowing Lina to accept an excuse of modesty. She glared at Amelia who was likely trying to do the same back, but the fire was gone, her pupils were dilated and Lina felt all more the inclined to get Amelia buck naked if she had to. Though defiant, there was no more protesting as Lina undid the clap around Amelia’s neck. She was forced to handle it quickly by the edges, the heat the metal had accumulated through the day was enough to make handling the trinket akin to grabbing a heated skillet. Likewise she nearly burned herself when she removed Amelia’s broach just letting it drop to the ground. She then grasped the collar of Amelia’s shirt around her neck, tugging it upward and onto her chin. There was no help from Amelia, passive resistance forcing Lina to put more work into it. Lina grunted from the effort and stood up slightly, bent over Amelia. She tugged on Amelia’s shirt as a farmer would struggle with a stubborn mule. Eventually though she got it up and over Amelia’s head and after manually pulling Amelia’s arms up, it finally came free of Amelia’s body.
Lina fell onto her rump. Lacking the strength to get back up, she instead scooted herself over to Amelia on her butt. Amelia’s chest was covered in sweat, and her shirt had been as soaked as thoroughly as could result from any bucket of water. Swallowing hard Lina couldn’t help but notice that Amelia’s profuse sweating had changed her normally pristine white undergarments nearly transparent. Quickly turning Lina verified that Gourry and Zelgadiss were too far away to see anything before looking around nearby for something that she could use to cover her, at least enough for ‘Little Miss Modest’ to keep her decency if one of the guys decided to check up on her. Inspiration came quickly and Lina removed her headband and laid it over Amelia’s nipples, effectively censoring her. She noticed that Amelia had lifted her head up some and smiled thinly at Lina, evidently happy with her ingenuity. Lina laughed and Amelia smiled a little wider before letting her head drop down to the ground again lightly.
Bracing herself in advance this time, Lina undid the strings holding Amelia’s pants up and hooked her fingers inside the band. The battle was less intense than the shirt had been, and within the minute Amelia was pants-less. This time though Amelia was quick to censor herself, she used both of her hands to cover her crotch and Lina chuckled, “Your luck, it’s probably see-through too...”
Amelia managed a sound in response but she didn’t have the energy to even differentiate it between a laugh or a grunt.
“I hate to say it Amelia, but you really need to take a bath, I mean, we all do, but I didn’t notice before about you...”
Amelia again lifted her head up shakily to meet with Lina’s eyes, “...thanks...” Amelia forced out , but the sarcasm was heavy enough to make it through causing Lina another smile.
“Oh, so you’re recovered to the point where you’re capable of sarcasm, I’d better watch out...” They both smiled at each other before Lina got up and paused, “In case you were too out of it, we broke for camp a little early. Just relax and if you need anything we’ll be over there.” Lina stopped before adding, “I’ll come back to check on you in a bit after I see if we have any water hiding somewhere.”
()()**()()**()()O0o.o0O()()**()()**()()
And as night fell, everyone gathered around the fire. Not that it was cold, that was a luxury afforded to only true deserts. No, this place held the heat. Every night the temperature dropped but only to tolerable, not comfortable, levels. Instead they all gathered around the fire simply to scare away some of the indigenous pests they had noticed in the area. But it wasn’t until the sun had been set for some time that Amelia joined the communal fire area.
“Hey everyone...” Amelia managed, sounding only slightly more like herself.
Gourry waved somewhat wildly, “Hey Amelia, feeling any better?”
Amelia nodded sheepishly, “Yeah...” She turned a little, “Thank you Zelgadiss...” Then turned again, “Thanks again Lina..”
Lina waved it off, “No problem, just glad you’re feeling better Amelia.” Amelia made her way between Zelgadiss and Lina at the fire, sitting down in the rough terrain, mostly sharp rocks and dark sand, regretting for a moment not wearing any kind of footwear.
With Amelia now settled in Lina decided to re-cap her plan. “Anyway, while you were recuperating we decided that we were going to make a little detour. It’ll only really put us a day or so behind but it’ll be worth it. Just to the west of here is a little resort town, it’s right on a lake and I bet it has plenty of cushy Inn’s, just so we can catch our breath and get a break from this heat.”
Amelia nodded happily, enthusiasm quickly springing to life at the hope of relief, “That does sound nice..”
Lina nodded in return, “Yeah, we deserve a break for once.” Lina looked Amelia up and down, she was wearing her white bra but after the sweat had dried out, it had once again become opaque, additionally she had put her pants back on. Hoping to bolster Amelia’s confidence so she might dress somewhat less modestly and to avoid a repeat incident of the heat-stroke trick, Lina made a show of appraising Amelia, raising her eyebrows exaggeratedly, “You know... that’s a good look on you, looks comfortable too.” Amelia blushed, though it was hidden by the orange light of the fire, her demeanor made it apparent.
Meanwhile Gourry and Zelgadiss had simply lain down where they were sitting. With the rigors of the day taking their toll they just wanted to get some sleep. Without any flourish Lina pulled her own cape from her satchel and laid it out on the ground, dropping down on top of it and exhaling heavily before rolling over to face Amelia, “You should get to sleep soon Amelia, we need to head out early, as usual, to beat the heat. At least we should make it into town early enough so we won’t have to spend a whole day in this furnace again.” Yawning, Lina rolled away from Amelia leaving the princess to her own thoughts.
....{}[](){][}(}{)[)(]()-/*\......../*\-()(][){)(}[}{]()[]{}....
For the first time, Amelia felt vindicated in wearing the same level of clothing that she had worn to bed. A modest white bra along with her usual pants and jewels. Being that Zelgadiss and Gourry were being especially careful not to stare too long at the soft white skin of Amelia’s chest, framed by her well-developed tan, she felt less exposed than she actually was. However that didn’t change how appealing her body was, as Lina noted during occasional glances at her friend. They had all set out early for the town, and by the time the sun had fully risen, Lina and her group had already put some distance between themselves and their camp site.
Despite how tired they where, despite how hungry and thirsty they were, and despite how dirty and smelly they felt, the promise of a shower and some cold water was enough to rouse them from sleep that morning without prompting. A week in such a harsh climate would deaden most anyone’s spirits. However, despite the drought they had managed to keep a positive outlook, eagerly anticipating their arrival in town. So they pushed themselves more vigorously than they had been in previous days, and before the regular drudgery of the day sat in they were pleasantly surprised to find signs of civilization. Although they were along a back road the quality of the road way was dramatically improving, and off in the distance the town was coming into view.
With the return of civilization though came the return to modesty. Despite the heat and the fact that the locals were probably used to dressing in a similar fashion, Lina and her friends still felt the need to cover up before greeting the city folk. Amelia pulled her shirt over her head, feeling slightly constricted after her short bout of freedom. Likewise Gourry and Zelgadiss re-attired themselves, with Zelgadiss also forcing himself to don his usual cloak to conceal his nature. Lina though didn’t care enough to put her gloves or shoulder guards back on.
Despite the once better quality of the road, it was impossible to deny that the road had laid in neglect in recent years. Whereas they had previously been traveling on a well-worn dirt road, the cobble stone road they had upgraded to was missing stones left and right and although it looked better from a distance, it was hell to walk on. So, when Lina tripped a short time later it was not something unexpected. “Uhnnn!” Lina cried out as she fell, her foot stuck in one of the many holes marked by a missing stone and her hands scraped cruelly on the uneven blocks in front of her. Hissing a little as she got up, Zelgadiss and Amelia backed away to give her some room and Gourry reached out to give her a hand. She either didn’t notice or intentionally denied it though and stumbled to her feet under her own power. “Damn..” She muttered looking at her scratched up hands. Lina was used to life on the road, but she wasn’t used to life on the road without her gloves, her hands were delicate beneath them, truly feminine, the fairest, most fragile skin of her body.
Now they were scratched and scoured, and she had a little bit of a limp too, her ankle or knee twisted in the fall. “Damn... damn...” Brushing off her hands she winced and Gourry moved in a step showing his concern. Lina turned towards Amelia, “Amelia, could you heal me quick?”
Amelia smiled and cracked her knuckles. “Just hold still.” Amelia pulled her hands up and laid them on Lina’s hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated a moment. But she just held her hands there. Curious; Lina looked at Amelia’s face and could see she was struggling with something.
“Amelia..?” Lina questioned.
Amelia let out a deep breath, “Hummm.. Something’s wrong..”
Lina raised her eye brows, “Is it that bad..?” She questioned, experimentally opening and closing her hands.
“No, it’s not that...” Gourry and Zelgadiss stepped in, there was a feeling that something unusual was happening. “It’s just... I don’t know... my powers feel off today..”
Lina smiled reassuringly, “It’s okay, it happens, I know we’ve all been working on almost no food, or water..”
“Or sleep.” Zelgadiss continued before Lina picked back up.
“It’s a wonder we’re even on our feet. When you really push yourself, something has to give, right? Once we get to town everything should be okay…” Lina paused a moment, moving the back of her hand to Amelia’s forehead in a futile attempt to check for a fever despite the sweat and ambient temperature, “Are you feeling okay though?”
Amelia looked away barely, “Actually, I’ve been feeling kind of sick since yesterday.” Lina set her face more somberly and laid a hand on Amelia’s shoulder.
“Well, just a little further to the town, okay?” Amelia nodded and Lina turned to Gourry, “And you, you’re going to have to carry me the rest of the way.” Gourry balked at the concept.
“Carry you!” He cried out.
Lina nodded wisely, “Yup, I certainly can’t walk with a bum knee.” Gourry tried to get in some more defense.
“But you haven’t even tried yet!” Lina looked up to him, their eyes meeting and she let her lip quiver a little.
“Do we even want to risk it Gourry?” She trailed off as she felt Gourry caving to her demands
“Well, I guess I can…”
Zelgadiss found his moment of attack, “Couldn’t you just fly?” Lina grumbled and turned slowly to Zel, pausing for a moment to develop a counter.
“I could... but look at Amelia, she can’t even pull off a healing spell, what if I started to fly and suddenly dropped like a rock.” Zelgadiss put his hand to his chin as he thought about it, and seeing no retort Lina continued, “So, see, I should have Gourry carry me, now get to it Gourry!” There was the slightest smile on his lips as he picked up Lina in his arms and as he started taking his first steps with his new weight Amelia noticed the smallest of smiles coming to Lina as well. Smiling herself, but a little worried over her magic issues, Amelia followed the duo as Zelgadiss brought up the rear.
They hiked together for awhile, moving just to the side of the main road as they found walking in the sandy soil easier than avoiding potholes in the roadway. The sun was at the apex of the sky and all of them were feeling as tired as ever just as they finally made it to the main branch of the town. Their mood only brightened slightly. The intense heat already causing them to sweat profusely and their clothes and brows were showing it. Nonetheless the heat was slowly wearing off. With a cooler wind blowing in off the lake and in the shade of the occasional building, things were feeling marginally better. With the outskirts gone they ended up traveling down one of the outlying streets, the road was much better and the shops surrounding them were actually open and functioning, there were people, dressed in all sorts of manner, a melting pot of sorts, the town understandably having few people living there full time and being for a most part a tourist attraction.
“Ice cream!”
Amelia and Lina shouted in unison. Lina rolled out of Gourry’s arms, nearly kicking him in the face as she matched Amelia in a sprint on their way to the ice cream cart on a nearby corner. Gourry stood there gaping for a minute, “Hey, I thought you were hurt!” He called out as he noticed Zelgadiss start to pick up his pace to the stand causing him to expediently navigate the same path as Lina and Amelia down an increasingly crowded street. “Hey, wait up!” Gourry shouted but his call wasn’t heeded as everyone rushed foreword.
It was unlucky that they found the poor ice cream peddler during the peak of the day, the selection was limited and what he did have, he didn’t have much of. Lina bought it all of course, but fortunately for the others she was in the mood to share. She even bought the piece of ice the man had used to keep his cart cool. Not caring about looks Lina took the sizeable hunk of ice, about a foot wide and put it on top of her head, locking it in place with the strap from her satchel. As Lina ate the ice cream the ice on her head melted rapidly in the heat and water from it ran in thick rivets down her hair and over her face. Her chest was soaked, as was her back. She honestly didn’t care how it looked with the intense relief she was getting for the first time in days.
As Zelgadiss and Amelia shared some shrimp and seaweed flavored ice cream, everyone looked around at the city. There were people everywhere and down the street closer to the lakefront the crowd was even worse. But they were all still happy just to be out of the hellacious wasteland that surrounded the city. Lina turned toward Amelia, “Hey, could you pull out that book that lists all the hotels we can stay at for free?” Swinging a tote around, Amelia started rummaging through it.
“I thought...” Then a moment later, “Here it is!” She pulled out the little book and thumbed through the pages, it was well worn and looked to be falling apart, except for the leather cover which was holding up well and displaced the signet for the Saillune royal family.
“So, is there anything in town?” Amelia stopped flipping through the pages.
“Just give me a second Lina.” She sounded slightly irritated and started flipping the pages again. “Here.” Amelia looked up and pointed down the main road, “It’s called Darlo’s, it’s probably somewhere on this road.”
Lina smiled and grabbed Gourry’s arm, “Okay, let’s go!”
But Gourry didn’t move, “You don’t need me to carry you!” He said in an incredulous voice.
Lina smiled, “Well, maybe not but I enjoy it.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
In turn, Gourry sighed and scratched his head, “But you’re all wet.” Lina looked down at herself, the ice had certainly not been long for this environment, it had almost entirely melted, the largest piece left had fallen off Lina’s head as it shrunk under the strap that Lina had used to hold it in place. Looking down at herself, her red clothing colored a deep maroon from the water, her hair matted to her head and shoulders, she suddenly realized why she was so comfortable.
“Your loss.” She laughed as she started working her way through the crowd and down the street.
()()**()()**()()O0o.o0O()()**()()**()()
The Inn was beautiful, marble columns flanked the entrance with two fountains in the main entry that served to constantly cool the air. And to Lina’s surprise, despite their appearance they were readily granted a room under their pretense as being emissaries of the kingdom of Saillune. Lina figured the luxurious Inn might have twenty or so rooms considering its size. They were however large rooms, lavishly furnished, each one with large open windows leading to a beautiful wide verandah to keep cool in the sweltering climate. The rooms on the second floor where Gourry, Zelgadiss, Lina, and Amelia were given rooms also had these beautiful balconies where you could go out and see all around what the town had to offer.
As was the norm, Lina and Amelia were paired off into one room with Zelgadiss and Gourry in another. Although they had some status it was still a stretch to expect four rooms in such a resort so they hadn’t even tried. Besides, the rooms were plenty large as they soon found out. Each room was furnished with a huge bed, a large table complete with chairs and a chandelier, numerous thick, heavily embroidered rugs and even the rooms on the second floor had toilets. The walls were speckled with ornate candleholders and gold flake. The beautiful craftsmanship of the woodwork that hugged the border around the ceiling was astounding. Then, blanketed over everything, an incredible, almost overwhelming array of ivory and other shades of white touched off by perfectly placed golden accents.
The first impulse in the new town though was not to enjoy their ornate rooms, but instead to go out and explore. To enjoy their first touch with civilization in a while. But there was an even greater motivation to simply lie around in the shade and enjoy the breeze off the lake. As such everyone took a break until dusk before they finally got the motivation to head down to the mineral springs.
The whole area that they were in, immediately around the lake, was rich with water. It literally came out of the ground, little springs dotted the nearby countryside and in the streets there were troughs positioned frequently that collected water from under buildings and from under roads, shuttling it to its final destination in the lake. But it was by no means a hot spring, the water that flowed from the aquifer beneath the surrounding land was colder and pleasant and currently filled two pools behind the Inn. At the thought of a cool bath, Lina finally felt her motivation rise above that break even point. Rising to her feet she turned a bit and looked back down a little upset at the mess she made, a print of her body left in dust on the bedspread and water stains evident atop that. “Come on Amelia, we need baths… bad.”
Amelia sat up off the floor lazily, smelling herself under her arms she wrinkled her nose initially for effect and subsequently out of disgust, “Yeah... I don’t really feel like a bath though...”
Lina frowned, “Still feeling bad?” Amelia nodded.
“A little….” Lina reached down to Amelia and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet.
“Well, that doesn’t mean you don’t need a bath, I mean, I have to sleep in the same room with you ne?”
Amelia smiled back, “Yeah, you’ve got a point.” Lina nodded her head, satisfied.
“Um hum.” Then looking back at the bed she continued, “Maybe we should strip off these nasty clothes up here and give them to the front desk to get them cleaned, you know, just bum around in some robes for awhile.” Again, a simple nod showed Amelia accepted the argument and stripped off her shirt, despite the bra, her breasts jiggled a bit as the bottom of the shirt cleared them. Lina bit her lip a little at the show, slightly jealous. Then tossed off her own shirt. Leaving Amelia to finish getting undressed she walked to the bathroom in just her pants and underwear, “Second floor plumbing, not bad...” She observed as she grabbed two robes from the hooks inside.
“Lina....”
Something was wrong. Without further prompting Lina turned around and jogged the few feet back to Amelia. Amelia was turned away from her, fully naked, “What is it?” Slowly turning back around to face Lina, Amelia kept her gaze fixated downward, afraid to meet her friends’ eyes.
“I’m bleeding...”
/\/\||/\/\-=End of Chapter 1=-/\/\||/\/\