Diclaimer: I do not own the Slayers nor will I probably ever (even if I wish otherwise and make it a life long goal of mine).
Author's Notes: I will probably agree with you if you think this bites as a romance fanfiction but review anyway PLEASE *goes down on knees and begs*!!! Flames will burn my self confidence level to nothing what so ever so please try to refrain from flames except if you will curl up and die unless you say so. Don't get offended because none was intended in that remark. {}These will be my comments in the story, don't worry I won't use them much. This probably won't seem romantic at first but it will towards the end or next chapter definitely the trust me. (So much for my goal of a short AN *shrugs and grins*) ^_^;
~ ~ ~ (I've got to get squgglies in some how :P)
He didn't feel well and hadn't all week, yet he knew he couldn't leave Lina and the others. After all he was ordered to keep a close eye on them and he couldn't disobey orders. Of course he could hide that he wasn't feeling well but it was getting harder to do with each day that passed. So instead he just walked at the back of the group watching and listening.
"Whooooo hoooooo!!! We're almost to Clilke, the next city! We'll get there tomorrow and get some real food, soft beds, and hot baths!" yelled Lina as she walked on the road.
"Miss Lina its getting late don't you think we should set up camp now"? asked Amelia.
"That place looks good for the night," said Zelgadis pointing to a small clearing just off the roadside. "And I hear water over there, it may be a small stream."
Everyone then went into the clearing and set up camp, had dinner, you know the usual routine. Nearly everyone went to bed except Amelia who had first watch.
'Why do I get first watch' she thought as she looked around the campsite. On the ground between her feet was a black feather that had a sheen on one side. 'What a pretty feather' she thought as she picked it up and put it in her pouch.
Awhile later she was staring at the fire as if in a trance, her eyes started to close. 'No I will not fall asleep that is wrong I will stay awake in the name of justice' she thought determinedly as she stood up. She decided not to look at the fire otherwise it would put her to sleep.
She looked to the stars 'They are so beautiful.' She then looked at her friends as the slept. Lina was sprawled out as she tossed and turned Gourry was no different. Filia was curled up with her tail wrapped around her like a cat in a sense. Zelgadis leaned against a tree a slight distance away from the group. Xellos well looked like he normally did.
'Maybe I can talk to Xellos so I won't fall asleep,' she thought. 'After all mazukos don't sleep.'
"Mister Xellos" whispered Amelia as she sat back down near the fire.
"Yes Amelia?" replied Xellos as he looked up at her.
Amelia thought he looked a little pale but she ignored it. " you've been acting differently lately, like you haven't been causing trouble for one thing. Hey! Does that mean you have decided to join the cause of justice, truth, and love?!"
Xellos shuddered at the last remark 'I must be getting weaker,' he thought. "No, Amelia."
"You don't camp out with us normally, but lately you have been. Why?"
"Well Amelia, that's a secret."
Amelia sighed "Why can't you tell us answers when we want Mr. Xellos? Wait, don't even answer that, it's a secret right?"
"Correct" replied Xellos with his usual cheery expression.
"Mmmmm..."said as she stretched. 'My watch is almost over it's time to wake up Gourry now.' she thought as she stood up. She went over Gourry woke him up and then prepared to go to bed. 'It must be my imagination that Mr. Xellos is acting strangely, after all Miss Lina would have noticed.' A minute later she was sleeping and thought nothing more of it.
As Gourry took the next shift as lookout Xellos thought 'Amelia seems to have noticed but none of the others are aware yet, that's good.' He shook his head 'My head feels sort of fuzzy.' He looked up at the sky for the rest of the night.
~ ~ ~ ( ^_^ squigglies)
The next day the group walked along quickly hoping to get to the next city before lunch time.
Xellos was lagging behind the others though. 'Great,' he thought sarcastically as he started to lean heavily on his staff. His head hadn't cleared up at all and he was rapidly feeling even worse. It was getting hard to see clearly 'I'll have to open my eyes soon if I want to see,' he thought. He was also wondering how hot it was outside because he was beginning to sweat. The ground also seemed to want him to fall as it shifted every so often.
'I wonder what kind of food they have there,' thought Amelia as she walked just behind the others. She glanced at her friends. 'Hey Xellos looks even worse then he did last night.' When he looked at her she looked away quickly.
'Amelia knows something is wrong with me, I'm sure of it.' Then world as he saw it seemed to swirl and move. 'This isn't good, I think I need to sit down' he thought as he fell to his knees and opened his eyes.
Amelia heard the soft thump sound and turned around to see Xellos kneeling. She also noticed that his eyes were open and unfocused.
"There's Clilke!" yelled Lina as she pointed to the close city.
"Miss Lina!" shouted Amelia as she ran up to Lina. "Something's wrong with Xellos!"
"He's a mazuko what else could be wrong with him other then that?" asked Filia.
"Look at him!" yelled Amelia as she pointed at Xellos. When they saw him they were inclined to believe Amelia. They rushed over to him.
"He could be faking just to make us worry," said Filia.
Xellos felt a hand on his forehead and heard a voice he couldn't make out. It was really getting hard to focus or even just to stay awake. He knew that he was losing this battle and that he was going to pass out any second.
Amelia gasped "He's really burning up Miss Lina. We need to get him to the city so he can rest." Xellos then collapsed onto Amelia. "Ahhhhh!!" yelled Amelia yelled in surprise.
Everyone was quiet for a moment until Lina said "Well looks like we can still get to Clilke before noon. Zel, Gourry you can carry Xellos."
"Hold it why me?" asked Zelgadis. "Why can't Filia carry him?" When he got deadly stares from Lina and Filia he changed his mind.
As Gourry and Zelgadis lifted Xellos, Amelia picked up Xellos's staff. "I'll carry his staff," she announced as they continued on into the city.
~ ~ ~ ( no comment necessary for squigglies :)
The group (minus Xellos) is seen sitting around a table eating. They are discussing the plan for the rest of the day.
"Alright Amelia we're going to go look around Clilke for the rest of the day," said Lina.
"But I want to look around too, I'm sure he'll be fine for a hour or two," pleaded Amelia.
"Wouldn't that go against your justice code Amelia," said Filia as she sipped some tea. "I thought as a shrine maiden you help the sick."
"Aren't you a priestess though, you're under the same belief!"
"Not for a mazuko, humans maybe, dragons of course, but as a mazuko it goes against my being a priestess."
"How about we vote then?" suggested Gourry. When everyone stared at him he said "What?"
"Alright all in vote of Amelia raise their hands" said Lina. Everyone except Amelia raised their hands.
"But...but..."stuttered Amelia as she watched the others walk out the door. 'How do I take care of a sick mazuko?' she thought as she walked up stairs to the room they put Xellos in.
After she walked in she felt guilty. 'It's not Xellos's fault he got sick. I didn't even think mazukos even got sick at all. Wait, mabye that's why he's been acting so strangely lately, I'll have to ask him when he wakes up' she thought as she got a chair and sat a little distance away from him.
~ ~ ~ ( do you like the squigglies? ^o^)
Some time later Amelia heard a groan. She looked over to Xellos to see he was starting to waking up. 'At least his fever dropped a little but he still looks really sick.'
'How did I get here?' Xellos thought. He then started to sit up but found out he was too tired. He could barely move.
"Mister Xellos don't do that," said Amelia as she walked into his line of vision. "You need to lie down and rest for the best and fastest recovery."
He looked at her with his eyes open "How did I get here?"
"We had to carry you after you fainted. I didn't know mazukos get sick, but if I'm going to help you get better I'll need to ask some questions."
"What makes you think I will answer them?"
"I will then explain why you should answer every question in the name of justice. And I'll use the full speeches not the abbreviated ones I use most of the time." She then looked at him confidently.
Xellos tried to teleport but couldn't. 'I can't use my powers,' he thought with alarm 'and I won't be able to listen to any of her justice speeches now!'
Amelia watched him think and nearly laughed at the expression he had on. 'I don't think he can get out of this one, he'll have to answer any question I ask him now,' she thought.
"My first question is if you eat anything can you draw energy from it?" When she received no answer she started to talk. "Truth is a large factor in justice. This is mainly due to the fact that..."
"Alright, alright, alright!" Xellos quickly said. As he began to answer he couldn't help but pout (think about it, anyone would in that situation). "Yes, eating physical food gives me energy."
"But how much energy does it give you compared to what you usually have?"
"Around one-third I suppose, negative emotions come in different power levels so it is hard to say."
"What do you mean?"
"Well some emotions are naturally stronger then others, and it also depends on the person and cause as well."
"Explain a little more" Amelia didn't need to know this but she always had been curious about it.
"Anger is a strong emotion but if you have someone who gets angry often, its not quite as strong as someone who rarely gets angry if they get mad for the same reason. But if you get angry over something that is stolen it not as strong as you being mad at losing a friend or something like that."
{My opinion for the whole how mazuko's feed}
"Ok, last question for now do you sleep at all and how often?"
"Yes, I sleep once every couple of months. Why?"
{Also my opinion ^_^}
"Oh, okay!" said Amelia as she walked to the door.
Xellos watched her leave 'I can't believe I so weak right now. Me, Xellos Metallium priest and general for Lord Beastmaster. At least she didn't ask anything important.' He then tried to sit up again but just like before he found out that he couldn't.
Amelia walked back in with a bowl of soup. "Mr. Xellos I have some chicken soup that I think you'll like."
"..."
"This will help you get better Mr. Xellos" she said as she put it right next to him.
He looked up towards Amelia, then the soup, then at Amelia again with his eyes open. "I'm not eating that."
"Why would you like something else then?"
"No."
"But you should eat something Mr. Xellos. Or instead I could start another speech if you like."
"Fine!" Xellos snapped. "I'm just really tired and I don't think I can do that!" he said as he glared at Amelia. 'I hate admitting when I'm at a disadvantage or weak!' he thought angrily.
"Oh" said Amelia 'He must be worse off then I thought.' She brightened up as a idea came to her. "I can feed you Mr. Xellos" she said as she took the bowl and spoon.
"No."
"Justice is composed of many different elements..."
"Ok already," he said sulkily as he glared at her.' I can't believe I'm doing this...' he thought as he opened his mouth after she helped him sit up.
As Amelia gave him a spoonful she said "That wasn't so bad was it?" She received another glare as an answer. It went on like this until the soup was almost gone. On the last spoonful she thought 'He's sort of acting like a young child about this whole ordeal' When she thought this she laughed.
Hearing Amelia laugh Xellos looked at her. "What's so funny?" he said sulkily.
"Nothing really. Now I think you should go back to sleep. If you don't think you can I'll cast a sleep spell and I think it would work on you."
'She's probably right about the spell working '. He sighed "I'll just go to sleep, don't cast anything." 'Besides I'm already tired' he thought as he yawned when Amelia walked out of the room. He was asleep in a matter of minutes.
~ ~ ~ (Whooooo Hoooooo I love squigglies ^_~)
"So Amelia how was it," asked Filia. She and the others felt a little guilty about how they acted earlier.
"I think Mr. Xellos needs awhile longer before he can get out of bed," replied Amelia as she twirled her spaghetti with her fork.
"Tomorrow who will watch him?" asked Zelgadis as he sipped his (what else does he drink really ^.^') coffee.
Everyone was surprised when Amelia volunteered.
"But I thought you wanted to see the town."
"I was wrong earlier today, so in the name of justice I will help Mr. Xellos." When she received sweat drops and stares she knew what they were thinking. "No, I didn't make him feel worse by talking about justice all day." 'Well' she thought to herself 'that is partially true and there are a couple more things I want to ask him when he feels a little better. Things I've always been curious about.'
"Ok if that is what you want" said Lina shaking her head.
Amelia stood up and announced "I'm going back upstairs now I'll see you all at breakfast." As she walked up the stairs she thought 'I've always been curious about mazukos. After all humans and dragons don't really know anything at all about them. Mabye if I know more about them I can understand why they always act the way they do.' She opened the door and walked over to the bed.
'His fever is almost gone' she thought as she felt his forehead. She looked at Xellos more closely and thought 'He looks different when he sleeps, like he isn't hiding anything at all.' As she took her hand off she brushed his hair back with her hand. She was surprised at how silky and soft it was. She sat down and leaned back in her chair, later she fell asleep.
Later that night around midnight Xellos woke up. He didn't try to sit up this time though. 'I do feel a little better but it will take awhile for me to recover. Eating probably did help I won't admit it though.' He looked around the room and saw Amelia sleeping in the chair. 'I'm beginning to think everyone underestimates Amelia and she isn't naive as she seems. I don't think any of the others could of forced me to do the things she made me do, even if it was embarrassing. Of course, I don't think any of the others would even think of that. Can't believe I was hand fed' he thought dejectedly. Having nothing else to do he decided to go back to sleep, which he did.
~ ~ ~ ( be happy 'cause the squigglies are happy)
Amelia was waking up, the first thing she noticed was that her neck was stiff from the way she fell asleep. 'I won't go to sleep like that again for awhile' she thought as she stood up and stretched, She walked over to the bed and put her hand on Xellos's forehead. She jumped when he said "I don't think I have a fever anymore." After that he chuckled when she looked at him with a shocked expression.
"How long have you been up?"
"Not long."
"Oh, I'll be right back with some more soup, ok." she said as walked towards the door.
When Amelia closed the door Xellos struggled but managed to sit up. 'Well at least I can move, but it still takes a lot of energy.' He rearranged the pillows and leaned back.
Amelia came back in and frowned. "Mr. Xellos your suppose to conserve your energy." In reply Xellos just shrugged and smiled. "Well I can tell you're feeling better, but you're still going to eat this and stay in bed. Do you think you can feed yourself today?"
Xellos thought 'It was hard to sit up, I hate to admit but I don't think I'll be able to eat that whole thing by myself.' He looked at Amelia and sighed "No."
Amelia smiled, then held up the first spoonful. She couldn't help but smile at his expression the whole time. Minutes later after the bowl was empty she said "That wasn't so bad was it Mr. Xellos? You're being more mature about this today."
"There is nothing I can do about it now, except go along with what you say even if..." he stopped quickly as his eyes widened. 'I didn't want to say that!'
"You're right there Mr. Xellos." she said as she surpressed her laughter. She knew that she liked that shocked expression on his face. "I have a couple more questions too. How long have you been sick any way?"
"About a week."
"No wonder why your so sick right now." She glared at him "Why didn't you say anything, you probably could have avoided getting this bad."
When she glared at him he sweat-dropped. "It didn't concern any of you so I just ignored it. Besides would any of you believed me, or even cared?"
Amelia was quiet she knew he had a point. "But I would've. I noticed you had been acting differently lately and you also did look pale the night before you fainted."
Xellos winced at the term fainted but looked at her and replied" You were the only one who noticed then, Amelia."
"I was but Miss Lina noticed I think or Mr. Zelgadis did."
"No they didn't."
Amelia looked up at the ceiling and tried to think of something to say. "Ummm...my next question is ummm..." she blurted the next thing which came to her mind which surprised herself and Xellos. "Can you only feed on negative emotions Mr. Xellos?"
"I was raised to feed off of negative emotions." After he said that he put his hand on his forehead and thought 'I didn't want to say it that way! Keeping secrets and being ill obviously don't mix.'
Amelia looked interested "Can you tell me more? I mean you know how we all grew up and stuff. So how did you grow up?"
"Would it change your mind at all if I said I didn't want to talk about it." She shook her head no. He sighed "Then what if I said I can't and shouldn't tell you." Amelia remained with the same expression on her face.
"I promise I won't tell anyone then. I promise on justice and give my word as a princess of Sailune."
Xellos was quiet for a moment then he started talking in a dead sort of voice. " We were taught to follow orders first of all simple or complex it didn't matter. Anyone who disobeyed in any way was severely punished, severely enough where some died from it. The next thing was to learn how to push back our emotions so they don't interfere with orders. Almost all types of emotion positive particulary, negative feelings were allowed. I think I won't go into detail of how they did that Amelia let's just say it is very unpleasant and leave it at that. I don't really remember much anyway and I don't want or care to." He looked at her and said "Don't ask me any more about it."
{This is my opinion about mazukos acting the way they do, that they aren't born evil just raised like that. If you agree with me or not is entirely up to you. ^_~}
Amelia looked at Xellos with a thoughtful and symphathetic expression on her face. "You know Mr. Xellos I'm going to go have lunch. Why don't you go back to sleep." She picked up the empty soup bowl and left. 'I think he needs a little time by himself' she thought sympathetically.
Xellos watched her leave. 'After this I wouldn't be surprised if Lord Beastmaster decides to send me for retraining' he shuddered at the thought. 'I hope she is in one of her good moods when I tell her this. Mabye I should just go back to sleep this isn't helping me any.' He fell into a deep sleep minutes later.
~ ~ ~ ( ... I'm running out of comments -_-;)
"Amelia! Over here!" yelled Lina from the table the group sat at.
"Hi everyone." said Amelia as she joined them and started to eat.
"How are you," asked Filia.
"I'm fine don't worry" she said as she started to eat slowly still thinking about what she learned.
"Are you sure you looked troubled?" said Filia.
'I promised I wouldn't tell I'll think about it later' Amelia smiled at her "I'm ok just a little tired that's all."
"One of us could look after him Amelia it isn't fair that you have to do all the work" commented Zelgadis as he looked at her.
"I don't mind." when everyone looked at her she said "Really, I don't mind at all." She thought about Xellos's earlier comment about no one noticing how he had acted differently. "Did any of you think Mr. Xellos was acting weird just before he got sick."
Everyone appeared to think for a moment then shook their heads no.
Gourry looked confused "Who?" This caused everyone to facefault. Lina then pounced on him saying the usual insults while whacking him on his head.
Amelia stood up, stretched, and yawned "I'm going back upstairs now okay?"
When she walked into the room she knew Xellos was asleep. She sat down in the chair looked at Xellos and thought 'I thought mazukos couldn't feel emotions. Besides the shape they say the eyes are the window to the soul and you can usually tell what someone is feeling if you look into their eyes. Mabye that's why he keeps his eyes closed all the time. If they're raised to kill you really can't blame them, just the people who raised them.' She knew she would now think of Xellos differently, rather then just a mazuko who traveled with them.
Something that shimmered then caught her attention on the floor She bent down to pick it up. It was a small black feather, with a purplish sheen on one side.' Oh this is very pretty. It's like the one I found earlier,' she thought. She put the feather in her pouch with the other and leaned back. 'I'm going to take a nap now,' was the last thing she thought before she fell fast asleep.
~ ~ ~(hail squigglies ^_^;)
Downstairs the others were talking about Amelia's sudden change of mind.
"She seemed to really want to look around town earlier," said Lina.
"I wonder what brought this change of mind?" muttered Filia.
"I think we should check on her," said Zelgadis.
Gourry just listened the entire time.
"Yeah, Xellos could be up to something," said Filia as she looked towards the stairs.
"Or Amelia could be giving justice routines," said Lina following Filia's gaze.
"In either case let's check on them both," said Zelgadis as he stood up. Everyone else followed suit. They all went up the stairs but stopped just before the door.
"It is very quiet in there..." whispered Zelgadis.
"We're still going in" said Lina as she opened the door.
They saw Amelia's back first of all in a chair near the bed but not right next to it. They immediately knew she was sleeping from her deep even breathing. They then saw Xellos lying in bed also apparently sleeping (come on you can't easily tell if he is asleep or awake). Everyone was quiet.
"Well, we came to check up on them, but they're sleeping. Should we wake them up?" said Filia.
Gourry was in the back and couldn't see so he tried to inch quietly forward but tripped over someone's foot. This didn't make too much noise but it was enough to wake up Xellos.
He opened his eyes looked at them, then closed his eyes and smiled. "Well, hello. What brings you all up here?"
"We just came to check up on you guys," said Gourry from his position on the floor.
"And make sure you aren't killing each other or something like that," said Zelgadis.
"Well we're both alive as you can see. But can you lower your voices a little?"
"Why?" asked Lina in a quieter voice.
"I just don't want you to wake up Amelia." When everyone looked at him he shrugged as best he could and said "She's been working hard and not getting much sleep. Besides I don't want her to wake up, she's really taking being a healer a little to seriously."
"In other words she's taking care of you," said Filia flatly. "I should of agreed with Amelia yesterday if you don't show a little gratitude," she growled as she walked towards the bed.
"I never said it that way Filia," nervously said Xellos. 'I think being maced will hurt so I'd better not get her mad today,' he thought quickly.
With all the talking Amelia was starting to wake up. No one really noticed until stood up and said "What are you all doing in here?! Out! Out!" She shooed everyone out and turned around to Xellos before she went out the door. "I'll be back with food, ok?" She then closed the door and whirled around to her friends. "What were you all doing in there?"
"We were making sure you two were ok," said Lina looking at Amelia. She never saw Amelia get this worked up unless something seriously unjust had been done.
"Well you could of asked me at lunch you know Miss Lina. Besides you're not suppose to bother sick people," she said as she headed for the kitchen. "They need rest."
"Amelia he's a mazuko," said Filia "Don't forget he's dangerous."
"Well right now he's not," Amelia looking at her "You should of seen how bad he was yesterday. And it will be another day before I let him get out of bed at least." She turned to the cook "I want some soup and toast please."
"Well if you want to switch with one of us any time Amelia just say so," said Zelgadis.
"Thank you Mr. Zelgadis but I'm sure I won't need to," she took the food and headed for the stairs. "See you all at dinner, and next time knock or ask if you want to go in Xellos's room, ok."
"..." was everyone's response as they watched her walk up the stairs.
"Xellos was right, she is being very serious about this," remarked Gourry when they no longer saw Amelia.
Author's Notes: Don't flame me for spelling I don't have a spell checker thingiemajigger O_o; (don't I have a way with words ^_~) I think Xellos and Amelia are cute but I have many other favorites so don't hate me if you don't like the couple. I can't believe how long this is *then mutters under her breath* and it wouldn't leave me alone til I typed it.