*Disclaimer: Slayers belongs to Mr. Kanzaka Hajime, Araizumi Rui, Tkyo TV soft, Fumination, etc, etc... I don't own anything of Slayers franchise. This is just a fanwork to be happy reading it.
*Author Notes: This is a contest story. Basically "What if Miwan would have been a real woman instead a man?" from NEXT-Ep 17. This story follows the events of that "drag" episodie, but this time Miwan is a real woman, and we know Zelgadiss felt very attracted by her in that episodie. Basically this explains what would happen in such case. I talked with my friend Nadessiko (another fanfic author), about this, so we got a conclussion. This story is, indeed, the narration of that conclussion. So enjoy it!
Also, special thanks to Earthstar-chan, who beta readed this form me. Thank you so mucho.
Chapter 1- The Disguise.
The "Lighting" spell over their heads and the table projected some illumination to the map extended over the wooden table. However, it also caused their heads project their shadow shapes over the same map that everybody, except Martina, watched with interest.
Fortunately the girls' room, with three beds and a nice balcony was big enough for all of them to gather together in there. They sat around a square wooden table, and watched something extended over it; only Martina remained a little apart of them, laid down over her bed, oblivious to the rest of the group's interest, which included Xelloss, for her own annoyance.
Lina poked her quill over a certain point on the map. A point that was traced around with a circle and showed a little place between mountains and several lakes inside.
"So… that's the problem. The kingdom is enclosed around this valley and the only way to enter is if we are all women…" Lina sighed. "That's a problem."
"It is a problem. We can't enter as regular travelers because only women can enter in Femille."Amelia spoke; Lina looked at her as she was saying something very obvious, but Amelia raised her hand, trying to add something else. "We cannot enter using the Seyruun royal crest, either." Amelia added, "Certainly Femille is like Seyruun… A holy kingdom focused on White arts, but its philosophy is completely different since it doesn't allow priests inside the kingdom. And Seyruun has no rights to send any division to there if it's formed by men. It would cause a diplomatic problem between the two countries. I really can't use my rank to enter there; even Seyruun's official delegations are always formed by women, never men."
Lina sighed heavily, almost groaning, in disappointment.
"What is the point in traveling with two princesses here, anyway?" the red sorceress complained waving her hands towards Amelia and Martina.
Martina' singsong voice echoed from some chair behind the rest.
"I already told you! Do not count me, Lina… My kingdom isn't powerful anymore since a certain flat chested sorceress destroyed it. I cannot enter Femille like this!"
Lina looked at Martina with an angry expression, but was suddenly cut off by Gourry. Even if the blond swordsman tended to make stupid remarks, perhaps it was better like that because they serve to change Lina's mind.
"…And wouldn't be better if only Amelia visit this place?" he asked. "After all, she's the only priestess in our group."
After asking that, Lina suddenly forgot anything related with Martina's comments.
"No way, Gourry!" Lina spate back, "Femille has something very powerful that helps to get excellent priestess… I cannot pass without finding out what's that is."
"Neither can I." Added Zelgadiss, who was sit next to Amelia and in front of Lina. "Perhaps it's the Claire Bible, or something else, but I won't let this chance pass by. I also want to see what it is."
Xelloss, sat near Martina, but also keeping a closer eye on Lina, nodded with a light move of his chin, making clear he also agreed.
Amelia kept talking.
"That's precisely part of the problem. Femille's priestesses are really good, even better than an average Seyruun's priest. Of course, Seyruun's clergy is more important and influential, but in terms of accuracy, they tend to be better than our own priests. And we don't know how they do that."
"Really?" Martina asked from her chair, again. "But wasn't Femille's clergy made by formed Seyruun's priestess?"
Such question would make Amelia a little angry, but instead she tried to clarify that point, which seemed to be some short of popular belief.
"No, not at all. The Femille kingdom was founded by women from many countries that decided to build a kingdom formed entirely by women. Some of them are from other countries, like Seyruun, but most of them were indeed born in Femille."
"That's causes an interesting question." Gourry said almost thoughtfully… "If men aren't allowed to enter in that country, how could those women have any children? There must be any men inside the country."
Amelia and Lina, both, blinked; none of them had thought about that point.
"I guess when a Femille woman wants to have a baby, she just makes a trip to some city from outside the frontier, and then she can get pregnant after finding a man willing to do it with her. Later, she just comes back to Femille and there, a new baby is born inside the kingdom's frontiers". Zelgadiss explained with his usual cold and descriptive manners.
"That's very harsh, Mr. Zelgadiss." Amelia pointed.
"I'm just being descriptive." The chimera man answered, "I also heard that the men that are captured inside Femille's frontiers, before being executed, are used for breeding." The corner of his mouth just flicked, "A funny way to die, but there are many idiots that would think a kingdom made entirely of women is weak."
"Well, if you enter Femille, perhaps that's your possible future." Lina pointed in mocking tone.
"I don't want to run that risk, Lina." Zelgadiss answered, his voice was even colder.
"Now, now!" Lina answered waving the quill in her hand. "Well, if all us have to enter Femille, and only half of us are women… then…" Lina's face turned mischievous, "We only have a way to do it."
They knew Lina for long enough to know that when Lina made *that* face, she had some twisted idea in her mind.
"Aaaaah! No!" Gourry shouted; it was kind of strange to see him so angry, "I refuse, Lina. I do not want to be disguised as a woman, again! I already had enough last time!"
"Last time?" Zelgadiss asked, surprised. "What happened last time?"
"We had to disguise ourselves when Eris' men were chasing us." Amelia explained to him in a low voice, "It was before I met you, Mr. Zelgadiss."
The chimera nodded and added "It had to be a very bad experience if Gourry can remember it."
"Well, it was because he had a little trouble with a mercenary back then."
As they talked, Lina and Gourry were still having an argument about the matter. Usually, Gourry made a "stupid" remark or question, Lina pulled out her slipper, hit him with that, and later she explained to him what was going on with one of her long speeches. But this time it was different; Gourry was, indeed, angry with Lina with the sole idea of being in "drag" again. Seeing Gourry defending his male dignity so passionately made Zelgadiss jealous of his own skills, and it also made the chimera man wonder what had happened to Gourry with that mercenary, because he was really infuriated by his memories of that "last time".
"Gourry…" Lina started, breathing heavily as she tried to gather all her patience. "We must enter Femille. And the only safe way, even for me, is getting a disguise. If we are all going to run the risk on entering in disguises, you just can't remain outside, waiting for us!"
Gourry's mouth stopped to shout complains and he step back; his face showed a rare sign of disbelief. The blond mercenary always had had a very high overconfidence, but Lina's words had changed it, and for once, he truly felt overwhelmed by the current situation. Besides that, Lina had pointed out, in very subtle terms, something that he understood perfectly "You're my bodyguard, so you must accompany me to Femille, no matter what." In fact, Lina was almost blackmailing him because she knew Gourry had promised her to be next to her till the end of the world.
Finally, Gourry just gave it up.
"Ok… I'll wear a disguise and I'll go with you." He buffed, "But please, I'm really asking you: no more buns on my hair!" the blond swordsman said.
Lina's triumph smile was obvious, "Ok! Then you'll come with me in disguise."
"Ok, I'll do…. But what about Zelgadiss?" Gourry inquired, pointing with his thumb to the chimera man. Zelgadiss looked at him angrily, but he answered,
"That's true. I barely can pass as a human… how can I pass as a woman?"
"Well, you aren't too tall, Zel" Lina pointed with a smile.
"I'm serious, Lina" Zelgadiss spat back.
In spite of her words, Lina knew Zelgadiss was right; the chimera man had to cover himself almost completely if he wanted to pass unnoticed. Most of the human chimeras could not do that because their looks were very bizarre, but at least Zelgadiss could pass as human if he was properly covered. But even so, how could he pass as a normal woman being a chimera man?
"…Perhaps as a female elf?" Gourry suggested his face totally serious, so nobody could say if he was making fun on Zel, or just suggesting something seriously. The blond swordsman was prone to make pranks on Lina, but not on the others.
"What do you mean with that?" Zelgadiss barked, annoyed by Gourry's bizarre idea.
"Oh… I just was thinking on how you could camouflage your long ears and your eyes." Gourry answered, not paying attention to Zelgadiss' angriness.
"Mr. Gourry… how could Mr. Zelgadiss being disguise as a female elf?" Amelia asked, reflecting Zelgadiss' thoughts about the matter.
"Well. It's obvious he can't pass as a regular man, but I think with the proper elements, he can pass as for a female elf." The blond swordsman said, "Elves tend to be pale skinned, with sharp eyes and long ears… Most people know this, but they actually only know those details. So if they saw a woman with such features, they will think she's an elf, even if she isn't'."
After Gourry' speech, everybody was obviously shocked. None of them had even though the so-called "jellyfish brain" guy was capable of such reasoning. Lina, of course, was the first to talk.
"Wow, Gourry!" she exclaimed, "How… why do you know all those things?"
Gourry scratched his forehead, "Well… My family has always been closer to elves, so I know a little about them. Besides, I've noticed many people are really unable to recognize a real elf because they never have seen one. So I think Zelgadiss can pass as one of them using the right disguise."
Lina and everybody, even Xelloss, seemed to be shocked by Gourry's idea.
"Mr. Gourry… did you know elves?" Amelia asked in wonder.
"Hmmm, yes." He answered, sounding as it was something natural.
"Oh, my…!" Lina mused, but then, her usual mischievous expression got back to her face, "Ok, Zel! What do you think?" She meant the disguise, of course.
"It could work. At least, if I have to pass as an elf, my features wouldn't be so strange in Femille." Zelgadiss had to admit that Gourry was right.
Lina had a triumph smile.
"Ok, then! Gourry will wear the pink dress he had last time and Zel will be a female elf." She exclaimed, "And what about you, Xelloss?" she asked turning towards the smiling priest.
"Oh. I don't mind disguising as a woman… surely it will be a lot of fun." Xelloss answered, making Gourry and Zelgadiss, both, to cringe. "I think I know what kind of clothes I'd like to wear. And perhaps a fan, to hide myself behind."
"Ooooh! My lord Xelloss… you're neat!" Martina exclaimed in joy. She was very happy to see her so-called *current- boyfriend* was prone to play a feminine role.
Lina and everybody else had big sweat drops on their faces. However, Zelgadiss long ears caught how Gourry muted something like "I didn't know its kind liked to be in drag".
After recovering of such an impression, a new problem popped out.
"I… well… We cannot pass being like this, either" Amelia announced. "Even if we're women, we're sorceresses, and that's highly suspicious on a kingdom like this."
"What do you mean?" Martina asked, "I thought only men could be in trouble on Femille."
Even if Martina also was a princess, she seemed unable to learn about the subtleties of politicians. Was that because her lack of common sense? Amelia couldn't help but sigh heavily. Lina also has a wondering expression on her warm eyes.
"Lina is a sorceress, Martina is a princess, and I am a priestess… of Seyruun" Amelia began, "Even if Femille's royal family doesn't know me, I'm a Seyruun's priestess, and Lina is a sorceress." The dark haired girl made a pause, "Better if we camouflage ourselves, too. We'll avoid trouble and diplomatic discussions."
"Hmmm… I see" Lina reflected, "Perhaps you're right."
"Mostly if you think on your fame" Gourry commented, "People call you 'dra-mata' and stuff like that everywhere."
Lina's eyebrow flicked.
"Yeah, that's right. If we want to find out what happens on Femille, we can't be suspicious."
"Sooo… what do you suggest?" Martina asked.
"You should disguise yourselves, too." Zelgadiss said, "With something that can hide your true identities."
"I refuse to be dressed as a Zefirian country girl!" Lina shouted; she seemed to have issues about her homeland's typical folk dresses.
"Perhaps we should wear something with trousers". Amelia suggested.
"Trousers?" Lina exclaimed, "Only priestess, sorceress and mercenary women can wear those. And we're supposed to pass unnoticed."
Amelia nodded, "Yeah, but Femille's society is quite open to receive women inside its frontiers, and better if the women are of many kinds. So wearing trousers like mercenaries or wandering women do, would help a lot."
Lina listened carefully Amelia's words and nodded, but Martina seemed surprised.
"Wow! How did you know that?"
"Seyruun always wanted to strike up nice relationships with Femille. I know her queen has a young daughter and the royalties wear crest-cameos on their necks." Amelia explained making a gesture on the base of her throat. "Fortunately they don't know me, so it will help to pass unnoticed, even if I also have to be in disguised. It also may be a wonderful chance to learn about the kingdom itself, and it will help to Seyruun's politics."
"Ms. Amelia… you're truly a politician." Xelloss encored from his place. The rest couldn't point if Xelloss was making fun on her or just being serious.
"Ok, then!" Lina agreed, "Now we have to solve what we need for our disguises."
"You should check the local stories and get some clothes." Xelloss commented, this time with his usual mocking manners.
On the next morning, the group went to buy some clothes and accessories for making up the men as women. They found that local stores had many accessories that, ironically, served for their purpose of disguising men as women, so they bought things like stuffed corsets and bras –which caused some remarkable comments from Gourry-, wide girdles, or frilly petticoats for simulating women's wide hips. All those things were just very useful for transforming a man into a woman, and they were very easy to get in the local stores of that town. It could be because several reasons, such like the local fashion was very found in that kind of things, or it could be because many men wanted to be disguised as women… as stupid it sounded. At least the town was well provided of feminine complements since Femille kingdom was at other side of the mountains valley and commercial caravans had to stop at that town.
"My beloved Xelloss said he will seek for her own dress to disguise himself." Martina complained with a purr, "It seems he doesn't want me to help him."
Amelia laughed nervously, but it was Lina who spoke
"Yeah, well, let's see what he does… At least I still kept the pink dress that Gourry wore last time we had to disguise him as a girl. I just need the padding stuff and some make up… Fortunately he barely has a beard and a moustache."
Somehow, Lina seemed to be proud of herself for playing to customize dolls with Gourry as doll, but suddenly she turned towards Amelia, who was carrying all the dress packages in her arms. "And what about Zel? Did you finally convince that stubborn chimera to get disguised as a female elf? Last night he seemed to agree, but later he was still complaining about that."
Amelia barely saw the path where the three girls were walking around the market place where the stores sold their items. A flick of black hair pocked from behind the big boxes and talked.
"Yeah, I convinced him. Since female elves wear different clothes than humans, he could use hoses, and over them, a thin skirt; therefore the change won't be so hard for him. I have to buy a lot of makeup for his skin, though."
Lina's grin was quite wide. She was laughing at the mental image of Gourry with a big red ribbon on the top of his head, and Zelgadiss covered in makeup… However, the idea of seeing Xelloss turned into a woman, and the fact that the priest didn't want any help, wasn't as funny as the others. Xelloss reserved behavior wasn't as funny as the mocking character wanted to be.
Finally the group entered in a cosmetic store and, as usual, Amelia had to carry all the packages; Lina didn't want to do the hard work and well, she didn't trust on Martina.
After getting all the clothes they needed, the group abandoned the inn and went to a closer forest. At first they had thought on changing their clothes in their inn's rooms, but later they decided to do it in the path towards Femille, because doing it at the inn would be heavily suspicious. The innkeeper would have found really odd that the rooms he had arranged to a group of three men and three women, was suddenly turned into a group of six women. It was like having a big cartel on their foreheads saying "We're going to enter Femille being disguised as women". Better to avoid that kind of suspiciousness, so they just left quietly.
After leaving the town, the group headed towards the caravans path that crossed Femille's frontier, and at a certain point, they left the main path and hidden themselves in a near forest of beeches and ashes trees placed around a little grassland, quite away from the main path. There weren't any cattle, farm or anything else around, thus it meant they were hidden from the country people's eyes.
Since it was summer, the group didn't have troubles in changing their clothes in the middle of a forest. Lina, Amelia and Martina changed their usual clothes for mercenary wandering clothes, wearing trousers and shirts with low boots in order to make an easier trip. Lina also hid her weapons in order to be unthreatening to Femille's people, who wouldn't agree with a woman that wears blades. Gourry, however, hid his sword's hilt in the padding of his fake breast… perhaps thinking nobody would dare to look in there; but Zelgadiss just hided his sword in the enchanted cloak of his own disguise. He never would abandon his weapons.
The result was Lina wore black clothes; she always liked the dark ones, similar to Xelloss', which caused some remarkable comments from the mocking priest, but she spat back she needed those wide clothes to hide all her things with her spells. Martina and Amelia, though, wore short clothes with unusual colors… Seeing Amelia dressed with something that remembered a Lincoln green outfit wasn't anything usual.
After that, the group split up into three different couples. Every one of the girls helped the boys to disguise as women. Gourry would wear the same pink dress from that previous time; Zelgadiss would be disguised as a female elf and Xelloss… When the wandering priest appeared, everybody become heavily surprised; the girls had changed their own clothes already, he came back in totally drag. Martina seemed to be the only really pleased with Xelloss' disguise, but the rest where just revolted. Zelgadiss, who had enough reasons to dislike Xelloss already, and Gourry, who had already enough issues to be disguised like that, felt their guts being revolted when the priest appeared in front of everybody eyes with that womanly shape: his hips looked very wide, his usually broad shoulders appeared now even thinner than usual, and overall, his long legs were perfectly shaped and hairless; and a pretty curved body covered with a qipao-like dress, some kind of clothes from the past. Was that womanly shape hidden behind those black velvety priest clothes? How could he be disguised like that? It was hard to believe.
But Zelgadiss was able to think the worse about Xelloss, which included his twisted moral and lack of male pride.
In spite of that, the chimera had agreed to disguise himself as a female elf. He barely had an idea about what Amelia had bought to turn him into a different being, but once they both were quite away from the rest, he proceeded to get dress. First, he untied his cloak and pocketing all his possessions inside the magical pockets on the wide piece of felt fabric; after doing that, he caught the fine piece of white cretonne that formed the triangular shape of his disguise cloak. With a sigh, he also hid his sword inside the piece of fabric, which suddenly had become very heavy. His daggers, instead, were hidden inside his healed white boots, one per boot; fortunately Amelia knew what kind of clothes he needed to safely keep his properties.
As he pocked all his things and got undressed, Amelia had just turned away, looking towards the beech trees; basically she didn't want to make him feel uneasy as he undressed himself in front of the princess, and to tell the truth, Amelia felt some kind of pervert if she did that because she found herself liking to see him doing that. Any other regular woman would have find to watch him quite gross, but Amelia had a different opinion about that.
"Perhaps it's the same reason that Lina likes to dress and undress Gourry" she thought as she realized a light blush covered her cheeks. But soon she shook her head, denying that idea. It couldn't be she could have romantic feelings, or even just plain physical attraction for a man as selfish as Zelgadiss was.
On the other hand, Zelgadiss felt obviously annoyed. Since the very beginning, he did not want to be in drag, and he kept wondering if there was another way to enter in Femille and finding the kingdom's secret power only by himself. He had assaulted many "secret" and "holy" places when he was under Rezo's orders, seeking for the Philosopher Stone… so what was so different this time? Why he just couldn't do the same things that he had done in the past? He could just sneak in the kingdom; capture some priestess and force them to tell what their secret was and find out. End of the story and problem solved.
But no, he just couldn't do something like that again. Not only because he wasn't willed to do the same deeds that he did in the past, neither because Femille was an "only women" kingdom where his head was in danger for the sole reason to be male. He just couldn't do that because he wasn't alone; neither Lina, Gourry and even less Amelia would allow him to do such a thing, and if he did, he would put all of them in danger, besides the fact the Femille kingdom would declare him an enemy. And he just didn't want any of those results.
The only right way to do this was getting disguised, as the rest of the group. The chimera man had to swallow his male pride to get it.
Zelgadiss felt the summer sun over his now bare stone skin, something he wasn't used to feeling; then he caught one of the pieces for making him into a woman and looked to Amelia, who had remained back to him all the time. It was the first time he literally undressed in front of her, and that made him to feel uneasy. A regular woman would have screamed at his presence, but Amelia just remained quiet, trying to respect his intimacy. He sighed heavily at this; it was the first time that a woman was like that in his presence.
"Amelia" Zelgadiss called out, "What now? ...I don't know what pieces I have to put on, now."
The black haired princess made a light jump, surprised by his sudden question; but soon she turned back and then her cheeks blushed even more notoriously, but she fought the feeling of what she saw. Amelia remembered how revolting she had thought that chimeras were, just like a being made by random pieces of any other creature and put them all together; she also had found Zelgadiss was, indeed, very scary because of his looks… and his behavior. But now, she barely could think on him as having a hideous look, he was far more perfect than an average chimera, even if his behavior wasn't the best, either. His body seemed to be made of blue marble, like a statue back from the royal palaces in Seyruun, and his silver-lavender hair shined under the summer sun. Certainly the princess couldn't call him "hideous" anymore, but she knew it was only her.
Perhaps she was a stranger woman for thinking like that. But again, she shook those thoughts away and caught the frilly petticoat and handled it to him; who fortunately still held the cloak, hiding his lower body with that.
"You should put this on first" Amelia explained, "For shaping a woman's hips… Later, you put the black hoses over it."
Zelgadiss caught the weird structure of baleens and fabric that will shape his new hips and handled it, studying how to put it.
"Ok. I'll let you know if I need help for putting those things on." The chimera just answered.
And without further words, he dropped the white cloak and proceeded to hold the frilly petticoat around his own manly hips. Amelia couldn't help but watch how he put those things around his body. She had to guide him, after all.
Once he had put the black hoses over the fake hips, he caught the brown girdle and the stuffed corset in brown color.
"Now, what?" he asked, obviously annoyed, but in a hurry to finish as soon as possible.
"You should put the girdle around your waist; it will help to carve a thin waist. Later, put the corset and cover everything with the white blouse. If it is well placed, you'll get a woman-like shape."
Zelgadiss' eyebrow flicked, annoyed by the thought.
"I can't put this on!" he announced, perhaps too loudly. "The girdle is used to compress the waist and making it thinner, right?" Amelia nodded without understanding, but Zelgadiss kept talking, "My belly is covered in a tough stone skin; I'm able to hold a sword strike on there… so how could this thing to compress my waist?"
Amelia blinked, realizing Zelgadiss was right. Stuffed cloth pieces may work on his body, but not compressing pieces.
"Then, perhaps you should put it over the blouse. It looks a little odd, but it would help to emphasize a woman shape." The princess suggested.
To her surprise, Zelgadiss nodded. He seemed to have made up his mind to look like a woman. Or perhaps the idea of using such a piece of cloth made him even angrier.
"Ok… then, help me to put this thing on." He asked waving the stuffed corset.
Amelia nodded and a new blush covered her checks. She didn't know if Zelgadiss also felt uneasy because he allowed her to touch him like that, but he seemed he was angry enough to overcome any other feeling. Whatever it was, the chimera put the corset around his upper body, and Amelia helped to placed it correctly, noticing all the rough stones imbibed over his marble skin, but also his lacks of scars. At this point, none of them knew yet how big was going to be the scar that will cross Zelgadiss back in just some weeks.
Amelia, however, tried to avoid a direct contact with his stone skin, but even so, Zelgadiss twitched lightly when he felt her soft fingers over him. It was barely a touch, but he knew that feeling was like that because his stone skin avoided him to feel something else. But even so, the feeling was pleasing and he closed his eyes, wishing Amelia could touch him like that without concessions. At this point, an unknown feeling of blush burned on his checks, just like that day some weeks ago, when he thought Amelia was going to make the "mouth-to-mouth" to him; it was so similar and so disturbing that he sighed heavily.
"Are you ok?" Amelia asked, behind him, trying to adjust the corset's braces.
"It's ok… But I just don't like this." He complained.
And ironically he was honest, because the view of the fake breasts over his chest killed off the entire mood.
"We already have discussed this, Mr. Zelgadiss." Amelia answered, trying to calm him down, without knowing the original cause of his sight.
Zelgadiss shook his head in disappointment. Even if he had seek for Amelia's touch, the view of himself with such wide hips and a fake breasts was really annoying. Certainly he liked women with a body shape like this, but having one himself was a different matter.
Amelia, on the other hand, noticed something different: Zelgadiss didn't have any body hair, neither on the forearms or his arm prints; only his head had it, and it didn't included his eyebrows. But even if she wondered why, she couldn't find the moment to ask him why.
Finally, Zelgadiss didn't need Amelia's help anymore to get dressed; a white blouse, black hoses, a rectangular white skirt and the similar cape on his back, which was very heavy due to the fact that Zelgadiss carried all his properties in there. By then, Amelia helped him to place the brown girdle around his belly and waist; Zelgadiss was right, the firm piece of cloth couldn't compress his waist, but the piece of clothe itself had a visual effect that emphasized his thin shape. Fortunately Zelgadiss always has been quite slender, and it helped to keep the visual effect of having a thin waist.
Amelia clapped her hands, without thinking it could annoy him.
"Oh, my Cepheid lord!" she exclaimed in joy. "You look very nice with that! I'm glad I got the right clothes to turn you into a woman."
"Yeah; that's wonderful." Zelgadiss answered with a grunt.
Amelia, instead, looked at him with one of her smiles; Zelgadiss had become used to them, but even so, he didn't like what she was meaning to say.
"Come on, Mr. Zelgadiss… everybody is going to be in disguise. Just think Mr. Gourry doesn't like this, neither Lina. We are all making some sacrifice to enter Femille."
"Yeah, I know." Zelgadiss answered with a new buff, "I can hear Gourry's complaints from here." Amelia was a little surprised, but with those long ears, Zelgadiss certainly could hear it. The chimera man sighed once again, and then, he looked at the smiling face of Amelia; as usual, it cheered him. "Ok… Let's finish this."
"I'll help you to camouflage your features, Mr. Zelgadiss" Amelia said, encouraged by his words. "I've got makeup made of rice flour to cover your stone skin. And also some shadow for your eyelids and lips."
"Rice flour makeup?" Zelgadiss asked; he was too surprised to be annoyed.
Amelia nodded. "It's the most covering. Even if your face and hands look too white, it will simulate the stones on your face, and Mr. Gourry said elves tend to have pale skin."
"I see." Zelgadiss answered absently; "Who would guess Gourry would know about elves?" he smiled.
"Mr. Gourry always surprises us…" Amelia smiled him back, "Now, Mr. Zelgadiss sit down on that trunk, please."
The chimera man obeyed and he took a seat over a fallen trunk as Amelia grabbed the recipient with the white makeup and a cotton pad to spread the mixture over his face. He barely felt the touch of that piece, but the change on his skin's surface though him the dark haired princess was covering his face with that stuff. Amelia had a concentrated expression on her face, totally focused on her task, and he marveled at her casual gestures; a kind of behavior that was usual in somebody that trusted a lot on the other person.
That meant Amelia did trust Zelgadiss. And even a year after their unusual meeting, it still marveled him.
"Mr. Zelgadiss… close your eyes, please." Amelia asked, "I need to cover all of your face."
"Okay." He obeyed.
Again, Amelia felt the blush burning on her checks at the sight of Zelgadiss' peaceful face with his eyes closed, and she secretly thanked that he couldn't see her now. She had that chimera man in front of her, with his eyes closed as she spread the white makeup over his face and his neck. Amelia realized never had she been so close to a man before, touching him like that, except perhaps, for her deceased cousin.
Why did she think that? It wasn't that she liked him! Zelgadiss was just her best male friend, somebody she trusted her with life, not his lover. Not at all. He was too mean for to be that.
At this point, she had already finished.
"Okay, I'm done. You can open your eyes now." She said.
When Zelgadiss opened his eyes, the peaceful expression he had, just faced away. That made Amelia to be surer about her thoughts.
"How is it? Is this enough?" he asked, his usual serious expression on his face.
"Only some things remain… I have to put the lipstick on your lips and combing your hair."
Zelgadiss nodded, "Ok. But be careful. My hair is like metal wires and it can get stuck in your flesh."
"Sure, Mr. Zelgadiss. I'll be careful." Amelia answered, grabbing a brush of wild boar's bristles for his hair. Then she remembered about his body hair. "Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Asking? About what?"
"Your hair… It seems you only have hair on your head." Amelia knew Zelgadiss felt uneasy about things of his body, but she was intrigued.
"Ah, that… Well…" the chimera seemed to reflect a little before answering. "My lack of body hair is because when I was transformed into a chimera, I was very young. Besides …I age slower than a normal human so I just don't have as much hair as a man of the same age as me."
"Oh!" Amelia exclaimed, truly surprised by his answer. "I sorry if I asked something inappropriate
"Never mind, Amelia."
Then, she made a gesture with her fingertips, obeying him to raise his head and looking at her as she combed his fringe. It was a natural gesture that made a chill on Zelgadiss' back; since he was very young, nobody had done something like this in many years. A new chill run on his back when he felt the brush combing his messy hairs.
"I thought you couldn't comb my hair properly. It's very messy."
"I guess so…" Amelia smiled, she seemed to enjoy combing his hair, which made him even more wondered by her. "But I'll put a diadem that I bought."
Zelgadiss just sighed and Amelia did so. Even if he didn't like to be in drag, he felt pleased for Amelia's behavior towards him. But her touch finished when she put the diadem on his head and said,
"Oh! You look perfect! You're a very pretty female elf now!"
That spoiled all the fun.
When Amelia presented him in front the rest of the group, Lina was chasing Gourry with some makeup in her hands, and Martina was combing Xelloss' hair; everybody was just busy with their own disguises. But suddenly, every one of them stopped to look at him in drag and it was just too much for him… Zelgadiss barely could remain still on his healed feet; the fake breasts almost hid his foot and the rice makeup was annoying his face.
The last thing he needed was to be congratulated because of his feminine looks.
"That's perfect, Mr. Zelgadiss!" Amelia whispered to him, "Everybody is amazed with the result! You look beautiful!"
Perhaps Amelia was very proud of the result, but Zelgadiss didn't feel like that, and even felt a hint of angriness towards Amelia because, in the end, she was also doing the same that Lina did with Gourry: playing to dress up dolls with him.
"No way! That's enough!" he shouted, and Amelia stepped back, surprised by his sudden rage.
"I am going to leave this. The idea of being dressed as a woman is just stupid and insulting!" He turned down over his heels and began to walk away.
Amelia understood that perhaps she had pressed Zelgadiss too much; perhaps he trusted enough in her to allow the princess to touch him like she just had done, but it didn't mean he actually wanted it. Mentally, Amelia kicked herself.
Yet she couldn't allow him to run away like that.
"But Mr. Zelgadiss… we have to enter Femille all together." She said.
"I don't care! I'll do this by myself!"
Lina knew what that meant if Zelgadiss refused to follow their plan with them, so she also rushed to stop him; she knew arguing with Zelgadiss wasn't a good idea at all, so she tried to make change his mind with soft words, pushing him back as Amelia tried to do the same thing by grabbing him by his waist. Even if Lina hadn't liked that idea, when she put her hands over his chest, her eyebrow flicked softly as she noticed Zelgadiss' fake breasts were bigger than hers. No wonder why Zelgadiss was so angry about everything: Gourry watered eyes were watching him; Xelloss looked like a total pervert in drag, and Martina enjoying the show since everything was meant to put Lina in danger was fun for her.
Definitively he will run away from here, will destroy those stupid clothes, and will enter inside Femille's frontiers by himself, doing things under his own rules.
---Although Amelia's hands grabbing his waist were very nice feeling.
But then his sharp ears caught something that made him to stop suddenly. It was a hard breath and very strong footsteps that very getting closer. The sudden flick of several bushes also revealed something was moving throw them. And it couldn't be an animal.
Zelgadiss had stopped just there; Lina caught there was something wrong, and Amelia also did.
"What's that?" the redhead sorceress mused. She couldn't feel any danger. The chimera tensed, ready for anything.
Then, suddenly, a much unexpected thing happened. A long haired girl just popped in the middle of the bushes and rushed towards them. Everything happened too fast, the three magicians basically couldn't catch any remark of the unexpected newcomer, but the girl rushed totally reckless towards them, her face reflecting a great fear, and she just let her drop over Zelgadiss' chest, almost crying.
Amelia and Lina watched the scene completely surprised, but the shocked one was Zelgadiss: an unknown girl had just dropped over him in the middle of a forest, and now she was crying on his chest. Finally, she said something coherent.
"Help me…. Please! Help me!" were her pleads.
"Eh?" Lina exclaimed.
But Zelgadiss seemed to have learned better what was going on. That girl was scared by something, so he just raised his head and saw the object of her fear: a were-lizard man was chasing her with a spiked truncheon.
The chimera knew the were-lizards very well. They were one of the minor beings that lived in the world, usually hidden from humans, who were their most direct competitors, but they also were aggressive towards them. When he served Rezo, Zelgadiss had used many of those to accomplish the tasks he was ordered to do, and he had learned that, even if many humans feared them, those weren't as dangerous that they seemed to be. So the chimera just shrugged and extended the right hand, muttering a spell.
"Flare arrow!" he shouted almost lazily.
The spell was quick and precise. A fire arrow just emerged from his palm and was shouted and it reached the target easily. More were-lizards that came behind the one with the truncheon saw what happened to their companions and just rushed away, fearing the same fate that the fallen one.
"Well done, Mr. Zelgadiss!" Amelia exclaimed next to him.
"Wow!" Lina exclaimed, "I didn't imagine that a tribe of were-lizards could live around here."
However, it had been too much for the unknown girl, who just dropped to her knees in a shock state. Zelgadiss could barely catch her by her back, holding her. It was then Lina and Amelia, both, centered their attention on her.
"Who can be she, anyway?" Lina asked, noticing the rich summer clothes she wore.
"I don't know…" Zelgadiss answered, still holding her and taking note of her soft features. "But she's covered with bruises, too. Perhaps she also is hurt and that made her to faint."
"Perhaps, but… Eh!?" Amelia exclaimed.
"What's wrong, Amelia?" Lina asked.
"That cameo on her neck… look at it! This girl belongs to Femlie's royalty!" Amelia was shocked.
"What!? Really!?" Lina exclaimed back and Amelia nodded.
"Then that can turn the events totally." Zelgadiss mumble, taking care of holding the girl, because he knew what could happen.
Then more human voices sounded from the forest. All were feminine.
"Princess Miwan!? Your highness! Where are you!?" they called.
"They're looking for her." Amelia announced, "We haven't any other option, Mr. Zelgadiss. We have to play the roles we agreed yesterday."
The chimera in disguise nodded. "Ok… I'll make my voice softer and I'll pretend to be a female elf." His voice was serious; he knew there wasn't any other option.
At this point, Lina started to make signals with her hand. "Heeeereee!" she shouted, "We're here with the princess." Then, she turned back and blinked an eye towards Amelia and Zelgadiss. "We've been lucky!"