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Tell the Northern Lights to Keep Shining	By : QueenHimiko Category: +S to Z > Slayers Views: 3352 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Slayers, I make no profit.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
AN: Chapter title from Sugarcane by Missy Higgins

Captain Brody grinned sardonically at her challenge as he tapped his pen on his pad. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

Gourry’s instincts screamed, and he found himself drawing his sword before he even knew why. A whooshing sound filled the room, accompanied by a white orb. His sword cut clean through it, diverting the spell from his and consequently Lina’s path. “What the…” Lina said, and then she looked at Captain Brody who was asleep at the table, “A sleep spell!”

“Lina!” Gourry cried as a group of men charged through the door.

“How did they dodge it?” one asked bewildered.

“Dam Brass!” Lina said as she turned towards the wall.

It shattered, and Lina turned around briefly and cast “Diem Wind!” The men who were attempting to pursue them were blown back and she and Gourry ran.

***

The woods were thick enough to block out the light. Lina leaned against a tree, her stomach spinning in somersaults. Gourry regarded her carefully. “What do you think happened back there?” he asked.

“I think that our good captain was so desperate to get me that he would allow a sleep spell to be cast on him because it would be an easy way to apprehend me without a fight. The coward.”

“And my sword cut through the spell.” He said, a slight tone of awe in his voice.

She nodded, “It saved my neck today.”

“What are we going to do?”

Lina took a deep breath, “He knew.”

“Knew?”

Lina looked at the ground, “The way he phrased his choice between death or life. How he emphasized death with an ax. I’m not the first one his brother did this to!”

It seemed dubious to Gourry. “But Lina, his brother was the one with the ax to the stomach, wasn’t he? Couldn’t he just have mentioned it just because it was the weapon found at the site?”

“I guess. But I’d bet anything that this wasn’t a first time thing, and that Captain Brody has been there while his brother did it.”

“But we’re miles away from where it happened.” Gourry pointed out. “How could he have?”

Lina stared ahead grimly, “We have to talk to Baron Rolat. I’d bet anything that Captain Brody got here recently.”

“You’re wanting to march back into the city when the whole of the police force is likely looking for us!” Gourry cried.

“Yes, Gourry, I am!” she said as she stood up and started to head out of the woods.

He grabbed her arm. She shook him off, “Don’t touch me like that!” she screamed.

“We’ve got to put as much distance between us and this town as possible!” he yelled.

“You can put as much distance as you’d like!” Lina shouted back, “I’m seeing the Baron whether you like it or not!”

“What does it matter if you were the only one or not?” he asked incredulously, “Is this really worth risking your life for?”

“Yes!” Lina screamed, “Because if there are others it means that it wasn’t something I did!”

“That makes no sense!” he countered.

“Just because you’re too stupid to understand doesn’t mean that’s not the way it is!”

He felt like he was going to go cross eyed at her statement. He sighed. “This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

She nodded.

His eyes set in a determined manner, “Then I have your back.”

***

“Miss Inverse! Mr. Gabriev! Thank goodness you’re here!” Yandell exclaimed as he answered the door.

Lina and Gourry exchanged a glance. Was this about the bounty? “What happened?” Lina asked.

“They released Det Ybund.” Yandell said as he backed away from the door frame so that they could walk in.

“What?” Lina exclaimed as she and Gourry stepped into the hallway.

Yandell led them to the parlor, “Miss Rolat is in hysterics. She’s understandably frightened that he’ll come back for her. They said something about apprehending him only if you would speak to Officer Brody.”

“The bastard.” Lina snarled as they were shown to the parlor.

“I’ll get Master Rolat.”

“See that you do. Just one thing.”

“Yes?”

“How long has Captain Brody been here?”

“You’d have to check with Master Rolat to be sure, but he transferred here from a town called Anilorac several months ago.”

“Thanks.” Lina said quietly.

Once he left Gourry turned to her and asked, “What are we going to do?”

Lina put her hand to her temples and shook her head. “This is such a mess. And they’re going to want to know why the man who kidnapped and raped their daughter is walking free.” She was quiet for a moment before adding, “They have a right to know.”

A pit formed in her stomach and she wondered if she could leave some of the key details out, pass it off merely as a vicious attack on her life. She realized Gourry was talking and worked to focus on what he was saying, “Then there’s the matter of what to do. Pearl’s life is in danger with Det on the loose, but if we stay here to protect her…”

“I know.” She said quietly, overwhelmed by how out of the control the situation was becoming.

There was the clapping sound of someone running in heels on the marble floors, and suddenly Pearl was there, hugging her. “You heard! Why would they let him go? They said that there wasn’t enough evidence. How could there not be?”

It made Lina feel worse as she awkwardly returned the hug. Eric and Chloe joined their daughter, and Lina had a hard time looking at their faces. Dammit, why was she feeling so cowed! It wasn’t like her to take responsibility for the action’s of others. She sighed as she pulled Pearl away from her, “Sit down. It looks like you got caught up in our mess.”

Pearl looked at her questioningly, and then joined her parents on the couch opposite them. Lina stole a quick glance at Gourry for support, and then began, “A few months ago we were staying at an inn in Anilorac. I woke up one night and found three men in my room with every intention of killing me. So I fought back and killed them. It looks like one of them was Captain Brody’s brother. And now he wants to arrest me for killing his brother in self-defense.”

An awkward silence hung in the air, interrupted by Gourry saying, “We’re truly sorry about this. We didn’t mean to get you involved in our mess.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Chloe said understandably.

For some strange reason, Lina would have felt better if she had gotten mad. Lina bit her lip as Pearl stated, “They hurt you, didn’t they?”

Lina looked at her like a cornered fox. Her reply came out as an anguished choke as she looked down at her legs. Gourry put a hand on her shoulder as she finally nodded awkwardly. Pearl looked at her parents, “She can’t turn herself in.”

“No, she can’t.” Eric agreed solemnly.

Lina took a deep breath, “I just can’t believe he would stoop so low to get me. Especially with your rank and…”

Eric shook his head, “The Brodys are very respected in law enforcement. I’m ashamed to say now that I engaged in a rather fierce bidding war to get him to Rolat. He most likely figured he’d have his pick of jobs and wasn’t too concerned about burning a bridge here. Actually, excuse me for a moment while I take care of some things at the precinct.”

As soon as he left Pearl looked at Lina pleadingly, “Will you stay with us until Det Ybund has been captured?”

Lina smiled tiredly, “There’s a problem there. One of the other men I killed was the son of a duke, and there’s a huge bounty on my head. If word gets out that you’ve retained us as bodyguards, everyone will know where to find us.”

“Is there a guard, someone in the ranks that you trust?” Gourry asked. Both would feel better about bolting once they made sure that the Rolats were safe.

“Well, yes.” Chloe conceded, “But none of them got our daughter back. Or prevented her from being kidnapped in the first place. When your life is in danger you don’t want to settle for second best. I’d feel much better knowing that you two are on the job.”

Lina wondered if she should point out that she had all but admitted to being assaulted to them, and then decided not to spell it out. “But by being with us at the moment you are putting yourself in far more danger.”

“So you’re just going to run away and leave me to get kidnapped all over again?” Pearl snapped.

“No!” Lina insisted, “We need to come up with a better plan.”

Chloe patted Pearl’s knee. “You know, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen our cousins in Seyruun.”

Lina frowned, unsure what her angle was as she continued. “And if we make the trip there, we will need some bodyguards to keep us safe.”

“I don’t want to go to Seyruun.” Lina found herself saying before she could consider whether or not to voice it out loud.

Chloe looked at her evenly, “You’re in a lot of hot water, and you have powerful friends there. And right now, you need a powerful friend.

“Besides,” she said as she stood for dramatic effect, “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to have our stuff packed right away.”

“This won’t be some holiday trip.” Lina said, “The last time we had a bounty on our head we couldn’t get near a town and had to use the back roads and sleep in tents. We were attacked every day. If this is your idea of a good solution…”

“I’ve made up my mind.” She repeated as Pearl stood up.

“I have too!” she declared, “Come, Mother, let’s have our stuff packed.”

Lina stared after them dumbfounded. She knew that they meant well, but she felt what little control she had over her life slip away and she resented it. “Fine.” She muttered to Gourry, “We’ll get them to the damn palace safely and then we’ll dump them with that oversized dwarf and his justice freak daughter and hightail it to the Outer World.”

“Lina!” he said admonishingly.

“Don’t, Gourry.”

“Chloe is right, we need powerful friends…”

“I don’t need jack!” Lina cried, “I’m not telling Amelia what happened!”

His blue eyes narrowed. “Just like you weren’t going to tell me what happened?”

“I don’t want people to know!” she insisted.

“What did you think would happen if I knew?”

Lina shook her head, “That you would think I wanted it or that you would leave and I would lose you.”

“And did that happen?”

She was quite for a moment before answering, “No.”

“What do you think Amelia will do?”

“She looks up to me!” Lina insisted. “I can’t tell her this! We’ll drop the Rolats off in Seyruun, see that they’re safe, and that’s final!”

“But Lina…”

“I said that’s final!”

***

Eric returned after having relieved Captain Brody of his duties and putting someone in charge to track down Det Ybund. To Lina’s surprise and dismay, he agreed to Chloe’s crazy plan. Time was of the essence, so as the Rolats hurriedly packed and changed into travel clothes, Lina and Gourry worked to disguise themselves as civilians.

Lina was seething. The last time she felt as though her life was this out of control was when she was caught in Phibrizzo’s web. She hated being manipulated and made to do things that she didn’t want to. From being forced to have sex to being dragged to Seyruun. Well, they could get her to Seyruun but damned if she was going to tell the world what had happened!

She sighed as she stared at her reflection. She looked like a normal young woman for a change. She doubted that anyone would suspect that she was now the infamous Lina Inverse. Her previous monikers of Dragon Spooker and Enemy of All Who Live were hardly flattering, but at least they emphasized her power. Now she was the insatiable slut and murderess. Her stomach curdled distastefully.

How did she fight this? Deep inside she realized that by running away she was letting them win, that she would be forever known as Lina Inverse the Slutty Murderess Sorceress. Her reputation would be forever ruined. But if she fought it and told her story she would be known as Lina Inverse, That Powerful Sorceress Who Got Raped. Neither were reputations that she had ever sought to cultivate.

But which one was worse?

Lina grabbed a brush and started to attack her hair vigorously. People always said all sorts of things about her. Some more believable than others. If she ignored the rumors then people could dismiss them and eventually forget about them. But if she told the truth people would know. Right now, running like hell seemed to be the better option.

***

They had tried sleeping in an inn the first night. It wasn’t long after stepping into the dining hall that they’d realized they’d made a mistake.

“I don’t know what Pearl did to provoke him to do that. He was such a nice man!” a middle aged woman said.

“I don’t know. I always got a funny feeling around him.” Another woman countered.

“She had to have done something.” Said a third. “Only an idiot would risk kidnapping and violating the daughter of a duke. There’s more to the story than we know!”

“Piffle!” said the second woman, “Det Ybund was creepy! He’d stare at girls as if he could see through their clothing. Pearl was pure, not like that Lina Inverse.”

The first woman snorted. “Now there’s a slut the likes of which this world has ever seen.”

The group tensed as it soon became apparent that similar conversations were being carried on at other tables. Pearl kept her eyes on the ground as Gourry watched Lina out of the corner of his eye. He was pleasantly surprised to find her hands balled in fists, as if she was restraining herself from going over and punching the lights out of the people talking such filth about her. That was more like Lina!

While he was relieved to see her fighting spirit reignited, he also knew that it was not a good time for a brawl. Especially as they were with the Rolats. He quickly suggested that they have dinner in their rooms, and fortunately everyone agreed.

They said little as they ate, and the air in the room became tense as the strains of a distasteful song that had been written about Lina could be discerned. Lina threw her fork on her plate and snarled, “You watch the Rolats, I’m hunting bandits.”

“You shouldn’t go out by yourself.” Gourry said.

“I’m a big girl, I can handle them!” she shot back.

He was torn. He wanted to go down and beat everyone in the dining hall up for singing such a crass song. And he understood her need to get out and kick some ass. Hell, he was feeling it himself! But they had to protect the Rolats. And he also had to keep her safe.

“There’s a bounty on your head! If you go out you’re a walking target!”

“I can handle any damn thing they throw at me!” she countered as she strode to the window.

He was there in a heartbeat. Keeping in mind that she didn’t like having her arms grabbed, he grabbed her shoulders instead. “Lina, please…”

Her elbow hit him in the gut, and in a second she was free from the confines of the inn. The night air felt cool and welcoming as she sped through it, the pangs of guilt she felt for leaving Gourry behind ebbing under the exhilaration of getting out and the knowledge that she would soon be proving her strength. It didn’t take long for her to find a bandit camp. She decided to forgo an elaborate strategy. What she really wanted to do was pound the daylights out of an evil doer.

Her fireball hit straight in the middle of the camp. Bandits screamed her name in fear. She grinned mirthlessly as she stopped her ray wing spell and entered the camp. “Diem wind!” she cast as she realized a slew of arrows had been lobbed her way from the north.

They fell harmlessly to the ground just as a slew of arrows from the south hit her. She cried out as a sharp pain seared through her torso. “Hold it!” a man shouted, “I want her alive.”

Lina saw red as she recognized Captain Brody’s voice. This wasn’t a bandit camp, it was an ambush! She was aware of the fact that a group of men were descending upon her. She moved to run only to find that she couldn’t. A quick glance found that she had been snared in a shadow snap. “Lighting!”

She ran a quick distance only to find someone blocking her path. She drew her sword as she dodged, ignoring the pain that charged through her every time she moved. For some reason she was feeling sleepy. She could try to out run them or she could cast a ray wing. Unfortunately that would leave her vulnerable. While ray wing would protect her from arrows, there was obviously a sorcerer with the group. And she would be vulnerable to his spells. Still, it wasn’t as it she had much of a choice.

“Ray wing!” she cast, and soon enough a spell she could not identify sped towards her and she dodged it, swiftly making her way to the woods.

Once she was secure that she had lost them she sat herself down to assess the damage. She wanted to lay down and sleep but she knew that would be a bad idea. She took off her mantle and rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for. A potion. She suspected the arrows were poisoned, and she always carried an antidote that would cure the more common ones. She drank it one gulp and before turning to her body.

She tried not to faint. One arrow had pierced through her rib cage, another had gone clean through her arm. The third was protruding from her hip. She took a deep breath. This was going to hurt! She pulled the one from her hip out and nearly passed out from the pain. “Recovery.” She said weakly once she was able to.

She had not finished healing herself when she heard the first signs of pursuers. She swore as she stopped her spell and pulled another arrow out and worked to heal that area. It was better to have three partially healed wounds than two completely unhealed ones. She was almost to the point where she was ready to pull out the third one from her arm when the hair on the back of her neck raised and she ran from the tree she was leaning by, and just in the nick of time!

The tree exploded in flames. Some idiot had sent a volley of flare arrows her way. Before she could think about it too much someone grabbed her arm. “Gotcha!”

“Lighting!” she cried, blinding him with a shining bright light. He let go of her arm, and Lina felt the blood pounding in her ears as she ran.

She was tired. She was sore. And she had no doubt at all what would happen to her if she stopped. Her foot snagged on something, and she fell forward, causing the arrow lodged in her arm to pull through her flesh painfully. She cried out as people started gathering around her. Survival depended on getting back on her feet. It was agonizing, but up she went, drawing her sword just in time to parry a coming blow.

“Flare arrow!”

“Freeze arrow!” she cried, turning to counteract his spell as another man came at her with a sword.

She wasn’t going to be able to keep this up for much longer. Between being wounded and the sheer number of men she was fighting it was merely a matter of time before she was overpowered. The smell of smoke didn’t help, especially as it made breathing more difficult and clouded her vision.

Smoke, fire! The forest was ablaze with the flames that the careless sorcerer had created to capture her! Around her, her pursuers were coughing, some complaining of stinging eyes. She coughed, wondering if she could use it to her advantage somehow. Fortunately it soon proved easy. She couldn’t see a foot in front of her due to the smoke. She hoped they couldn’t as well. “Ray wing!”

Up into the air she floated, and fortunately the hunters were too busy getting themselves out to pay much mind to her. She had barely enough energy to get herself back to town and by the time she had found a healer she had about passed out. She dressed in fresh clothes. She wouldn’t want Gourry to notice the holes and the blood.

The sun was rising over the sky by the time she made it back to the inn. “Where have you been?” Gourry asked as soon as she made it through the window.

She did her best to look cute as she said, “Well, it took a long time to find a camp and…”

“Cut it out, Lina!” he said.

“Are the Rolats safe?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.

His eyes narrowed, “I just checked on them. It’s been a quiet night.” He sat on the bed and folded his arms across his chest, “Now, I answered your question. You answer mine.”

He was going to be mad. He was going to say he told her so. He might even yell. And Lina didn’t feel like dealing with it. All she wanted to do was sleep for a week, but she knew that would not be possible. They had to get as far from there as they could. “I was ambushed. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.” She said, “Now we’d better wake the Rolats and get out of here.”

“Are we in danger of being pursued?” he asked suspiciously.

He had her there. If there was a threat he needed to know about it. “Yes.” She said as she sat down beside him, “I’m starting to think this is all a very bad idea. Especially considering that we have to babysit the Rolats.”

He gently grabbed her chin and turned her so that he could look her in the eyes, “That’s why you can’t just run off in the night on your own right now!”

Guilt flooded her, “Sorry.”

“Do you understand? I’ve been worried sick about you all night! You left me torn between my duty to you and my duty to the Rolats. Do you realize what it was like for me…”

“I already said I was sorry!”

“Don’t just say that to get out of this! You knew what a risk you were taking and you still went out there by yourself!”

“I know!” Lina said, her voice catching a little. His eyes softened as he saw the regret and the lingering remains of fear in her face. “I won’t do it again. Now can we get going already?”

He held her gaze. “Promise?”

“Promise!”

He searched her eyes for a moment and then seemed satisfied with what he saw there. He stroked her hair gently for a second before pulling her close to him, “I was so worried.” He said.

She clung to him as she tried to not think about how close she had truly come to not making it back to the inn. Doubts about the wisdom of continuing to run rather than appealing to Amelia for help formed and were trampled down. She had survived! “I’m okay.”

“Just make sure you take care of yourself.” He said, “I love you more than anything in this world.”

Her eyes widened. Had he finally said it? Before she could think to respond he was kissing her. She returned it enthusiastically, working to put all that she was feeling into it before he pulled away. “We’d better get out of here before they come after you.” He said.

***

Despite donning civilian clothing as a precautionary measure, they found themselves under suspicion and attack on a daily basis. What they did not expect was the venom that was being slung around Lina was so hysterical that any diminutive redhead found herself under suspicion.

The men surrounding them made no pretense of being on some noble errand to take down some evil doer. They were a hodge podge of locals, and as they leered at her lecherously Lina was convinced that they didn’t care if she really was or was not Lina Inverse so long as they could vent their anger out on her.

“If you really aren’t Lina Inverse, then why don’t you let us search you?” one of them said lustfully.

Lina closed her eyes, disgusted. She’d had enough. “Dil Brand!”

With a sigh she stepped over the litter of men wounded by her spell, the rest of the party following behind her. They would live, but they wouldn’t be up to following them. Lina tried not to think of the innocent short, redheads out there who were defenseless and left to the mercy of scum such as these.

“That’s the sixth group.” Chloe said, stunned. “And that’s just today!”

Lina nodded grimly as Eric said, “And I thought no one took these roads.”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle.” Lina said, doing her best to keep her tone chipper.

Her tone might have put the Rolats at ease, but Gourry knew that this had been one of the most difficult trips they had ever undertaken. For one thing they were used to traveling with people who could pull their weight. While the Rolats did their best, none of them were fighters. And while Chloe seemed to relish life on the road, Eric and Pearl were of a more fragile disposition.

Camping out was torturous for them. They understood why it was necessary, but it did not make it easier. And while Lina and Gourry were used to roughing it out, they usually made sure that they stayed indoors when it rained. Now they couldn’t. And staying to the back roads meant that the trip took twice as long.

The worst part was being constantly under attack. They were never able to let their guard down. And while most of their attackers were untrained civilians, they occasionally faced someone who knew what they were doing. And Captain Brody was still hot on their trail.

There were some benefits. Namely the bond that Lina and Pearl forged. As Pearl worked to process the trauma she had gone through, Lina found herself pulled into the process. And she found it helped her to help Pearl. As Pearl worried over who would marry someone who was sullied, and Lina rushed to reassure her that she was pure. As Pearl agonized over whether or not it was her fault Lina insisted that it wasn’t. As Pearl struggled with flashbacks and painful memories, Lina shared what had worked for her, and subsequently got better at dealing with her own.

Simply put it was hard to blame herself or feel impure when she kept arguing that Pearl was pure and blameless. And as life threatening as the trip was, there was that redeeming healing element to it.

After packing up for lunch one day Gourry felt the hair on his neck stir. He grabbed his sword and cut through a spell that had been lobbed at the group. “Get to cover!” he yelled to the Rolats as Lina cast, “Blast Ash!”

The sorcerer had not expected Gourry to have a sword that could cut through magic spells, and stunned as he was he didn’t have time to dodge Lina’s. “Finally got him!” she hissed as he vanished into a pile of smoke.

They were silent as they kept an ear open for sounds of further attack. “They’re retreating.” Gourry said.

“Captain Brody doesn’t want to risk it now that he lost his ace.” Lina said scathingly.

“He was with Captain Brody?” He asked.

Lina nodded, “He was the one who cast the sleep spell.”

He shook his head, “We’d better get out of here.”

Lina nodded in agreement as they quietly finished packing up their picnic lunch and set back on the road. Gourry walked so he was beside her and said quietly, “About how much longer until we reach Seyruun?”

“If things go well, sometime tomorrow afternoon may be.”

“Then what?” he asked.

“We’ve been holding up this long.” She said wearily. This was not a conversation that she wanted to have. Especially as with each passing day her resolve to keep running was waning.

She had thought it was bad when Copy Rezo put the bounty on her head. This was worse. Then no one was calling her a slut or whore or other filthy names. And there had been an end point in sight when they confronted Copy Rezo. If she continued to run, who knew how long it would be until people gave up on finding her?

“But is this really how you want to live for the rest of your life?” he asked.

“No.” she said quietly. But she was not ready to give up running yet. “But I’ll do what I have to.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“I don’t want to ask for Amelia’s help!” she spat.

“She’s probably already heard the rumors. Would you much rather her think that or the truth?” he pointed out.

“Why…”

“Lina, this is getting out of control! And in case you haven’t noticed the people who are coming after us are becoming of a higher caliber by the day!”

“I know.” She said meekly. “I’ll think about it.”

He wrapped and arm around her as she lost herself in thought. How long can one’s luck hold out? How long can one run from their problems? And since when we she ever one to run from them? But this time it wouldn’t involve finding the right spell. This was a different battlefield. And she felt way over her league. She suddenly wished that Gaav was her biggest problem.

They encountered two more groups before they set camp for the night. One group actually caused Lina and Gourry to break a sweat over. Even though the night was chilly they decided to forgo a campfire. They didn’t want to make it easier for their enemies to find them.

Pearl sat next to Lina, clutching a shawl she had wrapped around herself. “I heard that we’ll reach Seyruun tomorrow.”

“We should.” Lina confirmed.

“And what are you planning to do?” Pearl asked.

“Haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“You’ve helped me a lot. More than I can ever repay.” Pearl said.

“Thanks.” Lina replied, not sure where she was going with this.

“So now I wonder, if I was in your shoes with a bounty on my head, attacked day and night, and slandered near and far, what would you tell me to do?”

Lina inhaled. “I’d tell you to get your ass to Seyruun and start setting the record straight.”

Pearl patted her on the knee. “Good night, Miss Lina.”

Lina took a deep breath. She looked across the campsite at Gourry, and made her way over to sit beside him. He looked at her questioningly as she worked up the courage to say it. “We’re staying in Seyruun.” She said quietly.

He relaxed a little. “Good.”

“I’m not going to let them sully my name any further without a fight. I’ll tell my story and make people believe me. I’ll get that bounty lifted and I will travel again. And I’ll take down anyone who dares to call me a slut again.”

Gourry smiled as he took her hand. It was good to see the fighter fully awoken within her.
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Tell the Northern Lights to Keep Shining