"What did they order this time!?"
"Everything on the menu, triple portions," the waitress replied. The tired inn keeper groaned and looked around the kitchen, seeing his entire cooking staff on the edge of exhaustion.
"Tell them the price also triples." The waitress nodded and slipped out of the kitchen to relay the message. What a day...
Outside, the source of all the exhaustion was obvious. The infamous Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev were sitting at a table piled high with empty plates and even higher with more food. It wasn't higher for long, though, because as the waitress watched, the tower of food was rapidly falling, almost directly into Lina and Gourry's mouths.
She also noticed two others sitting with them, though they weren't eating anywhere near the level as the sorceress and swordsman. One she recoginized as "Zelgadis," but the other woman she didn't know.
Sighing quietly, she walked up to their table and mustered the most cheerful voice she could, "In order to fill your order, the inn keeper has to triple the price as well." She blinked in surprise as Lina seemingly pulled a bag of gold out of thin air and handed it to her, somehow never stopping the flow of food.
The waitress looked into the bag, finding it held more than enough gold, then thanked Lina and disappeared back into the kitchen. "They know, and look how much they paid!"
The inn keeper looked into the bag and nearly face faulted. "That's.. that's..." Quickly recovering himself, he shouted to his staff, "Hurry up with that food!"
About half an hour later, Lina leaned back and patted her stomach with a satisfied smile on her face. "That was good! Hope they have enough for my midnight snack." In the background, the entire cooking staff was laying on the ground, deep asleep.
"Somehow, I doubt you'll get it, Lina," Zel commented, taking another sip of his coffee. She huffed and leaned back in her chair.
"Well, fine, I suppose I can wait until morning." She yawned suddenly. "What time is it?"
"Late, the sun set an hour ago."
"Well, I guess that means it's time for bed, ne?" She stood up, as did the rest of her traveling party. Before she could head upstairs though, Seraya leaned over to her and whispered.
"Lina-san?" Lina blinked and looked at the blond girl.
"Nani?"
"I was wondering if I could show you something, may I..?"
"Sure, Seraya-san." She looked back at Gourry and Zel. "We'll be back soon," then headed outside, Seraya close behind her.
Zelgadis watched them and frowned, he could sworn he sensed something strange from Ser. Probably nothing.
Once they reached the edge of town, Ser stopped. Lina looked around. "So what is it, Seraya-san?" Not finding anything interesting, she looked back at Ser and gasped in shock.
Seraya had transformed into a very evil-looking version of herself. Her golden hair had changed to black, her blue clothing had done the same. As Lina watched, Ser's wings folded out of her back, also black and looking sharper, more suited for a demon. The part that really shocked the sorceress, though, was her beautiful blue eyes had changed into evil red eyes, glowing with an intense... Hunger? Hate? ... Seraya-san, what's happened to you...
"S-Seraya..?!" Lina backed a step as Ser started walking towards her. Not sure what else to do, Lina launched a fireball at her friend. Her mouth fell open as Ser's wing deflected it away. Lina frantically threw more spells, more fireballs and flame arrows flying at the demonic Seraya.
Her wings deflected the spells as they came at her, still advancing towards Lina. Lina bumped a wall as she kept backing away, and hesitated just a moment, wondering what to do. In that moment, Seraya lunged at her and caught Lina's wrists in her hands, holding them above her head. Lina's eyes widened, Seraya pressed tightly against her and holding her against the wall. Ser smiled wickedly, red eyes glowing brightly. "You can't beat me, Lina-chan..." She leaned her head closer, lightly licking Lina's neck. The red head shivered and looked down at Ser. "Seraya, what are you doing..?!" Ser looked back up at her and grinned, showing off a pair of vampiric fangs. "Having dinner," she whispered then leaned forward again, her teeth sinking deep into Lina's neck. Lina screamed...
...and sat up in her bed at the inn, trembling. She glanced around the room, then quickly touched her neck, not finding any indication of a bite. It was just a nightmare...!
Lina sighed shakily and hugged herself, still shivering. It had seemed so real, Ser-san actually biting me and... and...
"Lina?" She jumped and looked towards the door.
"H-hai??"
"Breakfast is ready, you awake?" Lina closed her eyes, the familiar irony of the swordsman's question suddenly humorous and comforting. She laughed lightly and nodded, even if he couldn't see.
"Yes, I'm awake, I'll be down in a few minutes."
A few minutes later, as promised, Lina walked down the stairs, looking like her usual self. She smiled and flashed the victory sign to her friends then say down, promptly inhaling three loaves of toast.
It was after her fourth carafe of orange juice and seventh omelette that she noticed she was being watched. She looked up towards the far end of the table, fork hovering halfway between her mouth and the plate.
There, in the chair in the corner, was Seraya. And she was watching Lina intently.
Her red eyes glowing softly.