-Lina-
One night, I was reading a book peacefully in my inn room, when suddenly there was a VERY loud and VERY annoying knock at the door.
"What the hell do you want Gourry?" I shouted. I knew it was Gourry, even his knocks sounded stupid.
"Uh...someone left these in my room, it says one is for you." he said.
I groaned and got up from my VERY comfortable seat in some overstuffed arm chair and went over to open the door.
Gourry had that annoying blank expression on as usual, and as usual, it was annoying.
He handed me a pile of clothes.
"There's a card" I picked it up and started to read it outloud: "Dear Lina-chan, please accept these ADORABLE costumes and have you and your friends wear them to my costume ball tomorrow night at Yelran Mansion. Love, Xelloss. P.S.-Every costume had a lable on it, each one is for a different person. XOXO"
I sort of stared at it for a while. Wow. Xelloss had some reallly girlie handwriting thats for sure.
I knew I was blushing, GOD! Xelloss is so annoying!
I riped the card into a millon pieces and stomped on it.
"How did he even figure out where we were!?" I asked outloud.
"Uhh..maybe...Lina-senses?" Gourry guessed.
I hit him on the head. Dammit gourry!
"No Gourry. Just no." I said before picking up the costumes. "He's a mazoku remember? He probably followed us. I was just thinking out loud."
"Oh." he said, scracthing his big, dumb and blonde head.
I pulled him into the room and shut the door behind him.
"You can't just hang out in the hallway jellyfish brains!" I shouted.
"Sorry.." he said stupidly. "Anyway..are we going to this party?"
"OF CORSE WE ARE YOU IDIOT!" I said. "IF Xelloss is INVITING us, it probably means it's a trap, and were there's a trap, there's bad guys and treasure!"
Actually, I was secretly hoping it wasn't a trap.
"Ok, so let's take a look a these costumes!" I said, laying them out on my bed. Then I turned to Gourry.
"By the way Gourry, where are the others?"
"Oh, Sylphiel and Amelia were talking about something..pink...and Zelgadis was trying to read so they told me to handle whatever this was." he said.
I raised my eyebrows. "Okay.."
We looked at the costumes.
One was a blue, yellow and red princess dress, complete with a hair bow and everything. It was labeled "Amelia"
One was a ripped up shirt, with fake fur under it, and wolf ears. It was labeled "Zelgadis"
One was a fairy costume, with sparkly wings and a flower dress. It was labeled "Sylphiel"
One was a vampire queens dress, complete with a collar and little vampire wings. That one was mine.
And Gourry's was a lion. With a mane and everything.
"I like mine!" said Gourry, holding it up and smiling at it with pride.
"Thats nice Gourry.." I said sarcasticly. "But how are we gonna convince the others to wear these things, much less even come to this ball!"
He stared at me for a while.
"Lina! I just had an idea! I'll be right back!" he said, suddenly leaving the room.
I sighed and slumped down on the part of the bed that didn't have costumes all over it.
Gourry came back a few minutes later.
"Everyones in!" he said with a cheery smile.
"WHAT!" I said. How the hell did that idiot do it! "HOW!"
"I just told everyone that you would be wearing a dress." he said with a nod.
Oh fuck. I was blushing again.
I kicked Gourry in the balls cause he deserved it. He whined in pain and fear on the ground for a few secound until finally I made him get up.
Then, I picked up the defense teams costumes and set them in Gourrys hands.
"Give these to them" I said. Then I ushered him out the door and slamed it behind him.
After Gourry left, I picked up my costume, and ran over to the mirror.
It really was a beautiful dress, and truthfully, I was excited for tomorrow!
I smiled, before folding up the costume nicely and putting it on the table.
I noticed something fall out of the dress.
It was another card, this time, the handwriting was more elegant. It said "I'll be waiting, my dear." I guessed this was probably Xelloss' real handwriting, and he guessed the others would see that other card so he faked it. I smiled at it, and clucthed it to my chest.
"So will I.." I whispered. Then I cursed myself for thinking those kinds of things about a Mazoku, but I was still really excited. I hadn't seen Xelloss in a really long time. I kind of missed his annoying antics.
I got changed into a nightgown and went to bed.
-Gourry-
I looked at that awesome costume one more time before I went to sleep.
It was so real..I hoped it wouldn't come alive and try to eat me in the middle of the night!
in his brave lion costume! I can't WAIT!
Then I heard Zeldgadis whisper "Chicken" in his sleep. Then I started thinking about chicken,
and I was so relaxed I fell asleep. Ahhh, chicken.
-Amelia-
I loved costume balls! They were so exiciting! I hoped Zelgadis would dance with me...but why wouldn't he? Oh, my costume was just adorable! AHHHHHH!
-Zelgadis-
Why did I agree to this?
-Sylphiel-
Gourry dear was going to look sooo hansome in his brave lion costume! I couldn't wait!
-Xelloss-
I couldn't stop thinking about her.
Her long firey hair, her ruby eyes, that smile, that voice.
All of it haunted me like a curse.
I truly invited Lina to the ball, simply to spend time with her.
I sighed. When I thought about that, I realized how pathetic that truly sounded.
I created an orb spell, it was a finding sort of spell. You could watch anyone as long as you knew basically the general area they were in.
I watched Lina, her soft, silky hair spilled out along her pillows.
Her lips parted jsut slightly as she slept.
I smiled, suddenly I felt warm and light.
I dismissed the orb spell, and thought about what tomorrow would be like.
-Lina-
The supporting cast and I ate breakfast and then we wandered around the town for a few hours.
I guess I was just trying to waste time, I wanted to be outside because the weather was really nice.
I loved the fall, and it happened to be one of those perfect days when it was just the right mix of warm and cold.
We tried to find some bandits or something, but there was nothing.
So we just wandered around, and THEN Gourry and Sylphiel started holding hands, and I was about to kill Gourry when Amelia said I was just jealous so I flipped out and fireball-ed em all, and Zelgadis was about ready to kill me for flipping out. It just wasn't pretty.
The rest of the day went much like that, until finally it was time for the ball.
We all got dressed and headed to Yerlan Mansion, which was right outside the town conviently enough.
-Amelia-
The Mansion was beautiful! People were coming from all directions walking up to the party. Some people were in masks, others in headdresses. Everyone looked so cool! The others looked just about as amazed as I did!
"Isn't this just amazing Mister Zelgadis?" I asked him.
"Yeah." he said, smiling, which was a rare treat.
I smiled back and we held hands as we walked through the grand entrance.
-Gourry-
I was glad we weren't the only people in costume, boy, that would've been awkward.
Lina and Sylphiel were already headed into the party, so I had to run to catch up with them, when suddenly I tripped over my tail and fell face first into the ground.
Lina, of corse started yelling at me for being clumsy and then she kinda laughed. Sylphiel helped me up though.
"Are you alright Gourry-dear?" she asked.
I wasn't really sure why she always called me Gourry-dear, but it's not like it was a bad nickname. Sylphiel was really pretty, and she could cook, and she was always nice to me, and she looked really hot in her fairy costume. I think the hot part was what made me kiss her though.
I could hear Lina growl.
"Would you two GET A ROOM!" she said before stomping off into the party.
I didn't care what Lina said, I was kissing the woman I could quite possibly be in love with.
When finally I pulled away, Sylphiel had tears in her eyes.
"Sylphiel?" I asked. "What's the matter? I I accidently bite you or something?! Oh god! We have to find you a bandaid!"
I was about to rush off, but Sylphiel grabbed my hand.
"No Gourry-dear, I'm crying because I'm happy." she said smiling.
So, we kissed again. Until we finally decided people were looking weirdly at us and we should really go inside the party.
-Lina-
The party was pretty nice from the inside, it had a good atmosphere, and people were laughing and talking everywhere. No dances had started yet, so everyone was just kind of standing around with their glasses of punch and talking. Some were eating, as you probably guessed Gourry was one of those people. Sylphiel was sitting with him, and every so often he would stop eating and talk with her.
So then there's me. Standing awkwardly in a corner glaring at Sylphiel, and nearly crushing the glass that was in my hand.
Xelloss probably didn't invite us to just hang out, so why did I keep looking for him and wondering when he was going to show?
Trying to forget about Xelloss, I looked at the other people in the party. There was a tall man with a demon-looking mask trying to scare younger girls. They were screeching ridiculously .
I groaned.
Suddenly I heard a familar voice.
I turned and looked at the stage.
It was Xelloss. Dressed Head to toe in steampunk. I was already laughing.
"Welcome, ladies and gentle man to Yerlan Mansion's anual costume ball. My name is Xelloss Metallium, and I'm not really sure why I'm up here. That gentleman over there.." he said pointing to a man in the crowd. "told me I should come up here, so while I'm up here, I suppose I'll just say what I want. "
He winked and turned his attention to me.
I could feel my face flushing, and then I froze.
"I invited Lina here you see, and she probably thinks it's a trap and I'm going to try and kill her and her friends, or ask them for a favor, or have them kill someone for me. Truthfully though, that's not why I invited her here."
All eyes were now on me. Just great, just fucking great. You're a real pal Xelloss.
"I suppose you could say I'm not on of those people who falls in love." then he thought about that. "Yes. I suppose that works. Anyway, as you probably can tell I'm new at this sort of thing."
The audience laughed.
"Well, I'm just going to cut to the chase then." his eyes met mine. "I love you, Lina Inverse."
My jaw hit the floor. The audience clapped and cheered.
-Zelgadis-
Well, that was unexpected.
-Amelia-
OH MY GOD! A TRUE AND BEHOLD CONFESSION! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HH!
-Gourry-
What?
-Sylphiel-
Oh Miss Lina! I'm so happy for you! Someone has finally fallen in love with you. Now hopefully you will stop going after Gourry-dear...
-Xelloss-
If I could blush, my whole face would have been red. Luckily, I can't, at least, not really. My face did get a little red from time to time. It was never from embarassment oddly enough.
I jumped down from the stage. The metal on my costume jingleing.
I walked up to Lina, took her punch glass and handed it to someone behind us.
Then I just looked at her for a few secounds. I took her in. I let that warm, light feeling come back.
I inhaled her scent, then I wrapped my arms tightly around her.
"I've missed you." I said.
Lina was so shocked at first she could'nt move. I smirked at this.
Finally she returned the embrace, unsure of what else she should do.
I could still feel eyes on us, when suddenly there was a voice from the stage. Everyone turned to look, including Lina and I.
"Hi! I'm Chloe!" said a girl with impossible curly ginger hair. She was wearing all black, and had feathers in her hair, and fake wings on her back. Making her appear to be some sort of Raven or Crow.
"And I'm Jeevie!" said a boy who was just a bit shorter than the girl. He had dark black hair and was wearing a similar costume. "We will your Hosts for the night!"
"First things first though." said Chloe, pointing at us. "That took a lot of bravery Xelloss! Let's give this happy couple a round of appaluse!"
I could fell Lina blush. She covered her face with her hands. I wrapped my arm around her once more.
"Now we will start off with the dances, so please enjoy yourselves!" said Jeevie.
With that, the two weird teenagers in black walked off the stage.
-Lina-
The music started, and suddenly Xelloss bowed to me.
"Can I have this dance?" he said, opening one of this beautiful violet colored eyes.
"If you think you can handle a girl with two left feet." I said shruging.
"Challenge accepted." he said, leading me onto the dance floor.
All sorts of couples were dancing around us. Most glanced at us and smiled. As you probably guessed, the supporting cast was still in shock.
Xelloss lead me across the floor with expert skill. But no, seriously, he was a really great dancer. It made me look like I actually knew what I was doing.
When he put his hands on my hips, I blushed. It felt good when he touched me and I wasn't really sure why.
After a few songs, we went over to the food table so I could have a snack and something to drink.
Once we were seated, I turned to him.
"So are you really in love with me? Or was that just to make me embarassed."
He looked away.
"Oh my god!" I said, laughing. "Are you blushing?"
"Me? No! I don't blush!" he said, but he still wasn't looking at me.
I grabbed his head and turned it towards me.
His face was completely red.
I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard.
"I think this answers your question." he said.
He took a sip of punch.
We sat there and talked for about an hour.
Finally, we decided to out on the balcony and cool off for a while.
-Xelloss-
So much for not blushing when I was embarassed. I didn't understand how I was able to blush anyway, or feel embarassment for that matter.
I opened the door to the balcony and Lina wallked out.
I shut it behind her and walked out onto the balcony and put a hand on her back.
She was so warm, that was one thing that intrigued me about humans. How lively and full of warmth they were, and Lina had it on a whole other level.
When she felt my hand on her, she whipped around to face me, a little smirk on her face.
"Why Hello." I said, smirking back.
"Hi." she said.
Our lips were almost touching, when suddenly there was a sound from down below.
Lina leaned ever so slightly off the balcony to take a look, when suddenly the part where she was standing on collasped from under her.
She was falling fast, but the astral plane made me faster. I quickly teleported over and caught her in my arms.
"That was close." I said, smoothing out her hair. "You could have been seriously hurt."
"Thanks for rescueing me." she said, mustering a smile even though I could feel her heart was still beating fast. I could sense that she was scared, and it didn't taste as good tonight.
I carried her down to the ground, we were just outside the mansion.
"I dont understand how the balcony broke like that. It was perfectly strong when we were standing on it before.." she said. I sensed confusion.
"Yes, and this mansion is fairly new, it's not like the walls are falling apart." I said.
We went back into the party, now a little more cautious and watchful for any suspicious characters.
After a few minutes though, we decided to just go back to enjoying the ball.
-Lina-
After a few more dances I was sitting next to the window, looking out kind of dreamily while Xelloss talked to the locals.
Suddenly, I saw a figure in a dark cloack appear outside of the window, and then a few secounds later, there was another one.
"What the fuck...?" I mumbled.
Xelloss heard me.
"What is it Miss Lina?" he said, his expression serious.
I pointed to the figures outside the window. He saw them too, then, suddenly, they were gone.
"What should we do?" I asked.
"Well, we can't cause a big scene. I guess, for now let's just pretend like everything is normal." he said.
"This is getting interesting." I said with a smirk.
He smirked back and me.
"Remember that very public confession earlier?" he asked.
I could feel my face flush.
"What about it?" I managed.
"Are you going to give me a reply?"
He opened his eyes.
I didn't say anything. I took his face in my hands and leaned in, when suddenly, I was cut off by the sound of glass breaking.
We heard a lot of screams and gasps. Everyone was gathering together or hiding.
All the windows on the wall closest to us were shattering.
Xelloss quickly grabbed me and we took cover under a table.
After it was "safe", we stood up and looked around. I grabbed his hand.
Then, the two cloaked figures flew in.
All the other guests were scared.
They appoarched us, then took off their hoods.
One was a man, with long purple hair and ruby red eyes. He looked like an older version of Xelloss.
The other was a woman with long dark pink hair and eyes that matched. They both looked very angry.
"Get away from Xelloss you little slut!" shouted the pink haired one.
"Oh come on, you can do better than that! Besides, I'm not the one with trashy pink hair." I snapped at her.
"I don't think she's THAT slutty Emily. This ones cute, and fiesty." said the man.
'Offically very creeped out. Especially considering that this guy looks just like Xelloss.'
"Reven? Emily? What are you doing here?" demanded my sort of boyfriend/date to this costume ball/whatever the hell we were.
I twirled my hair, while glaring at 'Reven.' He waggled his eyebrows at me. Eww.
Emily, on the other hand, got right down to buisness.
"We are here on a mission from Lord Beastmaster. We were ordered to remove the problem." she said, looking at me.
Xelloss raised his eyebrows and looked at me, then Emily, and at Reven with digust. Reven waved at him, then winked at me.
"What exactly is going on here?" said Xelloss.
"Oh come on Little Brother! Don't tell me you haven't noticed? Seen the signs?" said Reven.
"LITTLE BROTHER?" I shouted.
Xelloss sweatdropped.
Zel, Amelia, Gourry and Sylphiel were next to me now. Ready to back me up if needed.
I glanced back at them and mouthed a thank you before turning to Reven.
"LITTLE BROTHER?" I repeated.
He looked offended.
"He hasn't talked about me?" said Reven, faking a pout.
Xelloss sighed.
" You're becoming human." stated Emily flatly. "And no one wants that."
"What?" said me, Xelloss, Zel, Amelia and Gourry. Sylphiel said something along the lines of "Oh My"
"Failing in love is making you human. Haven't you realized?" said Reven. "Side Effects?"
Suddenly, what that douche-bag was saying made sense! The public confession! The sudden attention! The nice-ness! THE BLUSHING! Ok, maybe I made some of those up but still!
"What the hell!" I said.
"Dido." said Zelgadis.
"So, you think killing Miss Lina will make it stop?" said Xelloss.
"We don't think, we do what Lord Beastmaster tells us, just as you should." said Emily.
"Aww Hell to the No!" said Reven.
Everyone stared at Reven. I flipped him off.
"What? It seemed like the right time!"
Then, we were outside, all of us, in a sudden brawl!
We were obviously winning. Xelloss could kick ass, and he had me, damn, I'm hot, and fucking powerful! Also...the supporting cast was there too.
I had an especially fun time kicking Reven in the balls, even though it didn't really matter because he's a Mazoku. A lower class one at that, but still. He deserved it!
We didn't end up killing them, because they escaped, but we still totally kicked some ass.
After the battle was done, and we made sure everyone was okay, I turned to Xelloss.
"So, you've got a shitface older brother who hits on your girlfriends, ANNNND a mother complex! How nice!"
"Yes, I'm sure you can see why I don't talk about him. Wait..did you just say girlfriend?"
"Hey, you're turning human, I figure you might need some help along the way. It'll be easier to call me your girlfriend." I winked.
"Would it be too Ironic to say 'You make me feel alive' "? he asked.
I punch him in the arm.
"Yeah!"
We all headed somewhere, away from the party, we weren't sure where, but we knew another crazy adventure would be waiting for us. This time though, we had Xelloss