"The Betrayal"
Disclaimer: The concept of Slayers and it's characters do not belong to me.
Author's Note: This story was written for fenm on slayersrequest, my "Secret Santa" community on livejournal. If you have a livejournal and you're a Slayer's fanatic, you should come check it out. We have some great authors and artists already, and some great stories have come out of it. I've already seen DQBunny's great story posted on here based on nightfallrising's plot bunny, and I adore Earth Star's fiction based on my own plot bunny. I couldn't have asked for a better product from my Secret Santa! Err.. anyway, enough shameless plugging.
... but you really should come check it out.
Randomly running into Zelgadis and Amelia and continuing their travels together wasn't really a new experience for Lina and Gourry. They were used to their seemingly coincidental meetings. Sometimes Zel and Amelia were together, sometimes they were separate. Sometimes Lina and Gourry came upon each separately, strolling into camp that evening with a surprise for the other. They never really were surprised, though.
It was just a fact of life—Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia traveled. A good deal of the time, they all traveled together.
Yet—it was still a great surprise to the sorceress and swordsman as to where they had most recently acquired their friends and inconstant traveling companions.
"You sure you were just looking?" Lina asked before the campfire that night, the smirk on her lips belying her innocence.
"Yes," Amelia blushed, looking away, "I wasn't going to buy one."
"What about you, Zel?" Gourry asked, "Were you looking for one, too?"
"No!" Zelgadis blushed as well, his blue skin tinged with red and the glow from the fire turning his appearance a vibrant purple, "What would I be doing buying one of those?"
"Oh, I don't know," Lina shrugged coolly, "But you guys seemed pretty interested..."
"I liked the lace one," Gourry commented, his eyes turning glossy with that far away look that indicated his mind had vacated the premises. He turned those faded eyes on Lina, "You'd look good in the leather one, Lina."
Lina vindicated slapping Gourry because his face should be as red as hers was.
"Anyway," Gourry rubbed his sore cheek, "They were pretty unique."
"Yeah," Lina brightened, "I understand why you guys would want to buy from there."
"But we weren't!" Amelia protested weakly.
"Why the hell would we need a wedding dress anyway, Lina?" Zelgadis growled.
"Hmmm... maybe you were picking one up for... or with your bride-to-be?"
"Congratulations!" Gourry shouted jovially as Zelgadis sputtered indignantly.
"I'm not getting married!"
"When's the date?" Gourry continued.
"I'm not getting married!"
"Am I your best man?"
"I'm not getting married."
"Does that mean no?"
"I'm NOT getting married!"
"Not with an attitude like that, you're not," Lina muttered, casting a sympathetic glance toward Amelia.
"It's OK, Mister Zelgadis," Amelia smiled, "I understand."
"What?" Zel quickly got to his knees before her, "Amelia, that's not what I meant!"
"Oh, is he proposing now?" Gourry asked.
"Yeah, it looks like it," Lina snickered.
Zelgadis and Amelia blushed deeply as Gourry asked, "But... shouldn't he have done that before they started shopping for a wedding dress?" his face melted into a pleasant, contemplative look, and it was obvious how little the situation made sense to him.
"There's no logic to love," Lina responded, leaning backward and resting her hands behind her head, "Especially concerning justice-loving princesses and revenge-seeking chimeras."
"I think they're just in denial," Gourry looked at Lina meaningfully.
"Could we please get off the subject of marriage and love?" Zel asked, rising from the ground and taking a seat closer to Amelia than before, "It's giving me a migraine,"
"I'm surprised your skull isn't too thick," Lina muttered beneath her breath. She smiled brightly when Zel shot her a death glare.
"I quite agree!" a cheery voice rang out from the darkness.
The group, save Lina, immediately jumped from their seats, their hands reaching eagerly for their weapons.
"Xelloss," Zelgadis growled, his sword glinting in the dying firelight.
Lina remained relaxed as she picked at her teeth with a fish bone, "What do you agree with, Xelloss?"
"Both," Xelloss appeared from the shadows, his usual disarming smile pasted firmly onto his lips, "Zelgadis has quite a thick head, and talk of love and marriage gives me shooting pains all the way from my head to my fingertips!"
"You should really learn to accept love and justice into your heart," Amelia nodded emphatically, taking her seat one again, "Then you could join the human race and give up the evil ways of the Mazoku!"
"Err," Xelloss scratched the back of his neck, "I don't think it works that way, Amelia."
"So, why exactly are you here, Xelloss?" Lina asked, leaning forward in her seat, her eyes gleaming with the possibility of treasure and adventure. After all, Xelloss only showed up when there was something important going on.
Xelloss shrugged and sat down to join the party—uncomfortably close to Zelgadis. "I'd heard a rumor that the four of you had reunited. I thought I'd drop by and see how it fares with my favorite humans!"
"Don't lie," Lina sneered, "What do you really want?"
The mysterious priest heaved a heavy sigh, glancing at Lina with a disappointed look. "You really like to get to the point, Lina. Well, if you must know, I'm here because it seems as though you are once again putting the world in danger."
Lina sat back suddenly, the weight of the Mazoku's words felt like a physical blow. "What? How?"
"Do you remember, Lina, when you risked the entire world in order to save the human that sits next to you?"
Lina blushed and grumbled, "Of course I do, idiot. Get to the point."
"Oh, my!" Xelloss' eyes narrowed, his true nature shining dangerously, "When you summoned the Lord of Nightmares, Lina, you gave Chaos a physical form. And in doing so, you stored that chaos within your own body. You've dealt quite well up till now, most likely due to your outstanding ability as a sorceress. But soon your body will grow weak, and the Chaotic energy stored within you will escape. When that happens, disastrous things will come to pass."
Lina's mouth had grown dry, and she felt the tempo of her heart beat rapidly. "What," she had to swallow in order to speak, "What do I do?"
"We simply need to drain the energy from your body!" Xelloss sat back, his cheery facade painted carefully once more on his face.
"And how do we do that?" Zelgadis asked, suspicious and uncomfortable from the Mazoku's close contact.
"Well, I must admit, it's a difficult procedure that could leave Lina extremely weakened or even dead," his narrowed eyes watched the reactions of the companions, and he couldn't help the small smile that curved his lips.
"No way!" Gourry immediately stood up, his sword clasped tightly in his hand, "She won't do it!"
"But guys--" Lina began, her voice unsure.
"I agree with Gourry," Zelgadis interrupted, his voice somber as he continued to glare at Xelloss.
"Me, too!" Amelia piped in cheerfully, "We'll find another way, Miss Lina!"
"I'm afraid there is no other way," Xelloss confirmed their fears, "Either Lina undergoes the procedure, or the Chaotic energy within her will eventually escape and destroy the world."
"I really have that much inside of me?" Lina asked, her voice small.
"You've probably been drawing on it unconsciously this whole time, releasing some of the pressure," Xelloss explained, "But no matter how many spells you let loose, you'll never be able to expel all of it in time."
"Then I have no choice," Lina concluded with false cheerfulness, standing, "How do we do this, Xelloss?"
"No," Amelia stood as well, "I can't let you do this, Miss Lina! You're capable of anything! You've proved it!" Tears glittered in her eyes.
"Amelia," Lina smiled, and began to sit down.
"Oh, my," Xelloss looked to the sky, as though asking for divine guidance, "This certainly won't do..."
"Don't you try anything, Xelloss," Zelgadis growled, his sword ready in one hand and a fireball already glowing in the other.
"I'm afraid," Xelloss said softly, opening his eyes to slits, "That I have no choice but to take action." Before anyone could react, Zelgadis had been thrown, his back slamming into a tree and a sickening groan issuing from his mouth as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Zel!" Lina yelled, and immediately began whispering the incantation for a Dragon Slave.
Gourry yelled as he charged, only to be thrown back as well, landing an unknown distance away.
"Gourry!" Lina's spell was interrupted as she yelled. She couldn't see Gourry, and she didn't know how badly he was hurt. Her worry intensified when he didn't return immediately, and her head snapped around quickly when she heard Amelia scream, terror echoing in her cries.
"Amelia!" Lina began working on her spell again, but allowed the Dragon Slave to dissipate in her hands.
Xelloss was gone. And he had Amelia.
More Author's Notes:
This fic was based off of the following challenge:
"I'd like to see a fairly short story featuring Xellos' dark side. Nothing too dark; no (main) character deaths or anything, but him tricking/betraying the group (at his master's orders, of course!), or really messing with their heads or something along those lines."
This is not yet completed, so expect a second chapter!
Oh, and, um... unedited.