Author's Notes: This was RSBI's (and Swords and Magic's) Valentine's Day fic for 2003. I know from the description I put for this fic that this might seem like it's a Sylphiel/Zelgadis fic. Now I want to state this now this is not going to end up an S/Z fic. So I'm sorry to any S/Z fans that might have decided to read this thinking it was. This is a Gourry/Sylphiel fic that is going to have some Lina/Zelgadis in it as well. I guess in a way you could say Ah/Oh My Goddess! Was a bit of an influence on this story.
Playing Cupid
Part One
By Relm
Gourry snuggled in his blankets very contently sleeping. He was having a very nice dream and if he had it his way he wouldn't be waking up any time soon.
"Gourry!"
Gourry mumbled in his sleep but didn't wake up.
"Wake up Gourry! You've got a job to do today!"
"Another few more moments mommy…" Gourry mumbled still half asleep.
"You asked for it." The man standing in front of Gourry said before a rain cloud developed above Gourry's head. "Give him a wakeup call please." The man instructed to the rain cloud.
The rain cloud started to rain and a flash of lightning struck Gourry in the butt.
"OWWWW!" Gourry yelled jumping out of his bed.
"Good afternoon Gourry."
"Did ya really hafta to do that Zangulus?" Gourry asked getting up rubbing his sore bottom.
"Sorry had to wake you up somehow. You were summoned this morning and you slept in." Zangulus chided.
"What?"
"Yup and Cepheid is really angry you ignored his summon."
Gourry's face lowered. "Is he really angry with me?"
"If I were you I'd get your butt in gear and get over there as soon as possible." Zangulus said while crossing his arms.
"Thanks Zangulus!" Gourry thanked him while changing.
"Hey what are friends for? Besides what kind of an angel would I be if I didn't help out?" Zangulus grinned. "Now get ready quick and get over there. I'll see you later." Zangulus gave his friend a wave before leaving the room and flying off.
Gourry checked himself in his mirror. "Okay I guess I'm ready." Gourry said nervously. 'I've got to stop sleeping in like this!' He thought looking back over to his bed and noticed that the rain cloud was still hanging over his bed was still raining on it. "Hey!" Gourry yelled at the rain cloud and it disappeared. 'Great now my bed's all wet. Oh well gotta go!'
...
Gourry left his home and flew off to the main summons. Gourry was an archangel, a holy warrior of truth and justice fighting evils wherever evils may be. He was one of Cepheid's best but certainly not one of his brightest.
"Gourry." Cepheid's voice was deadly. He glared at Gourry as he approached.
"Hi Cepheid." Gourry greeted his lord with a nervous laugh.
"I summoned you this morning."
"I know I-"
"Slept in." Cepheid finished off.
"I'm sorry." Gourry apologized.
"You should be sorry. You've wasted valuable time on your new job." Cepheid summoned a large round viewing orb that floated midair in between the two of them.
"What is it this time? An evil advisor plotting to kill his king to gain the throne? A demon ransacking a town? Or a-"
"It's a mission of love." Cepheid interrupted him.
"A love mission? Like setting two people up? I'm an archangel not cupid! I fight the forces of evil!" Gourry protested.
"Loneliness is a force of evil too Gourry." Cepheid chided Gourry. He held out his hand and caused the orb in front of Gourry to glow. "This is your mission." A picture of a man appeared on the orb. "His name is Zelgadis. He's gone through his whole life without love. In less than two months he is going to sell his home and will leave his town and make the biggest mistake of his life. He needs a reason to stay and not leave. You need to get him to fall in love before he chooses to leave. Because nothing else will get him to stay." The picture in the orb faded away.
"So would just any girl do? Or does it have to be someone specific?"
"It has to be a woman that he would find true love with. Because normal love would not be enough." The orb lit up again this time with a picture of a dark blue haired woman with green eyes.
Her emerald green eyes were hidden behind large owl timed glasses. But the glasses weren't what Gourry focused on. The woman had one of the purist, innocent, warm smiles he had ever seen. She truly looked like an angel.
Cepheid almost smiled at the notable reaction Gourry had. "This woman is named Sylphiel. She works at a diner that Zelgadis regularly drinks coffee at. She's never really ever talked to him. She's only greeted him and taken his order and she doesn't even know his name. But despite that she's admired him for years."
Gourry frowned after Cepheid said that. "You're not thinking of having her set up with him are you?" Gourry's obvious distain was evident in the tone of his voice.
"With Sylphiel, Zelgadis could find true love. Your mission is to help Sylphiel get his attention and get him to fall in love." Cepheid said carefully observing Gourry's reaction.
Gourry snorted.
"Need I remind you Gourry, that you are an angel and not a mortal. You can't get evolved; you must stay focused on your mission." Cepheid said sternly.
Gourry frowned. "Maybe someone else would be better for this job."
"No Gourry. This mission is yours. Now you are going to pose as a human while you're down there. So you cannot tell anyone except Sylphiel that you are an angel. Plus no public displays of your powers either. No one else must know what you are."
Gourry nodded sighing slightly. This wasn't the first job he'd done where he had to pose as a human. He'd done it before but he never liked it. While he was pretending to be a human he would not have his wings so he could not fly. And he hated that. Without his wings he felt like a caged bird with no freedom. But he loved his job so he's sacrifice his "freedom" to help another.
"Here's your job information." Cepheid handed Gourry what looked like a little crystal shard. All job information is stored on these little crystals. You just hold it and think about what concerning your job that you want to know. And then the information would visualize in your mind. "And do try not to lose this one like the last time."
Gourry sweatdropped. "I won't lose it." Gourry said sheepishly. His last job, Gourry was supposed to guide some travelers lost in a dangerous wooded terrain. Only he lost his crystal and then he himself got lost. He had to beg for help and Zangulus came down and delivered another crystal. Zangulus didn't mind but it really made Cepheid really mad. And of course 'someone' had blabbed the incident to everyone and they all thought it was damned hilarious. So when he got back they bugged him to no end about it for months. To make matters worse it took the council almost a year to find the missing crystal. As punishment Gourry was put on job suspension for a long period of time.
"I plan to hold you to that promise Gourry. Now get going you've already wasted enough time as it is."
Gourry grinned sheepishly again. "Can't I get something to eat first? I'm hungry." His stomach grumbled in agreement.
Cepheid sweatdropped. "Get going, NOW!" He ordered in a loud voice.
Gourry jumped. "Alright, alright I'll go." Gourry flew off to the check out station.
Cepheid just sat in his chair shaking his head. 'For Gourry's sake he'd better not mess this job up.'
...
Gourry flew over to the check out station and got in line. It was quite a large line and it was going to take a while got him to get through and sent down to earth. Gourry's stomach grumbled wildly, voicing its evident hunger.
'I'm so hungry! And it's going to take forever for me to get down and eat!' Gourry frowned. He looked behind him and noticed how many people that had lined up behind him. He's only been there a few moments and there already were lots of people waiting after him in line. 'I can't quickly run off and get food; I'll lose my place in line. And if I lose my place it will take longer for me to get going on my mission. I don't think Cepheid would be too happy if I failed.' Gourry thought miserably.
"So did Cepheid yell your ears off?" Zangulus asked flying up next to Gourry.
"No but he didn't look too happy."
"So what mission did he give you? It must have been something important because he refused to let anyone else take the job."
"A love mission." Gourry said in a monotone voice.
"A what?" Zangulus burst out with laughter.
"A love mission." Gourry repeated.
"Oh that is just too funny! Are you going to get a little love bow and arrows too?" Zangulus roared with laughter.
Gourry just grumbled.
Most of the time love missions were given to child angels (or cherubs as they are sometimes called) or female angels. The easier jobs were given to the cherubs and the more difficult jobs were given to the female angels. The main reason why most male angels didn't do these sorts of jobs was because they usually refused to do them. And usually the female angels did a better job at the love missions because they put effort into it.
"Must be an easy job if they are giving it to you." Zangulus half joked.
Gourry was great at fighting the faces of evil but when it came to love he 'sucked'. As a cherub Gourry bogged all his assignments. It wasn't till he did an archangel job that they realized where his strength was.
"Just don't go tell everyone about it. They are all still tormenting me about the crystal shard."
"Oh don't worry I won't. Bye." Zangulus said snickering as he flew off.
Gourry lowered his head sighing. Zangulus wasn't known to keep secrets well. And Gourry was pretty sure that it was Zangulus had blabbed about the crystal incident. 'Great… when I get back they are all going to know.' Gourry thought miserable. His stomach grumbled and another thought dawned on him. 'Why didn't I ask Zangulus to get me food?' "AHHHHHHHHH!" Gourry screamed out in frustration. Everyone in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and starred at Gourry.
Gourry blushed and lowered his head.
It hadn't even been an hour into his day and Gourry could already tell it was going to be a long bad day.
...
After what seemed like hours Gourry finally got to the beginning of the line. By now the hunger was making Gourry very very grumpy.
Gourry approached the check out angels glaring.
"Name and registration please." One of the angels sitting at what looked like a computer requested.
"You know who I am." Gourry nearly spat out.
"Name and registration please." This time there was a little edge to her voice.
"Gourry Gaberieve, archangel."
The check out angel typed in Gourry's information. "May I have your mission crystal please?" She asked holding out her hand.
Gourry fished in his pockets for the crystal and handed it to her.
The check out angel took it and scanned the crystal into the computer. The job information displayed on the computer screen. The check out angel read the information to make sure it was the right crystal. (They did sometimes get mixed up.) She blinked and read it over again. And then she started snickering.
"Are you finished?" Gourry asked dryly. The check out angel was taking too long and Gourry's stomach wasn't appreciating it.
The check out angel tried to suppress her giggles and handed Gourry back his crystal. But when she looked at Gourry's face she burst out into laughter.
Gourry glared at her and continued on to the next check out angel.
The other check out angel looked back confused as the previous check out angel was making a spectacle of herself laughing rolling on the floor. "Could you walk through the scanner please?" The check out angel requested.
Gourry just sighed and walked through the scanner. It scanned and Gourry was cleared.
"Okay may I have you crystal and could you please walk into the humanizer please?"
The humanizer was a machine that temporally took away an angel's wings and provided him or her with appropriate attire for the area they would be going. This was always the most depressing part of doing a new job for Gourry.
The check out angel took the crystal and put it into the machine as Gourry walked into the humanizer. Within seconds it was over and now Gourry was "human". His crystal popped out of the machine as well as three suitcases.
Besides changing an angel's appearance it also provided appropriate clothing and other travel needs for the area his or her was traveling to.
"Okay Gourry you're all clear. Now would you just stand on the transportation pad and we'll get you on your way to your mission. Good luck!"
Gourry mumbled a thanks as he stepped on the pad and braced himself. Using the pad was very hard on the stomach. It was like having someone suddenly pulling your stomach very hard. It wasn't Gourry's favourite mode of transportation but with no wings he really had no other choice. Plus it was pretty fast and it got you to where you're going with good accuracy.
It only took a few seconds and Gourry was on earth. Seeing how he had been traveling on an empty stomach the trip really took a toll on his gut.
"Oww my stomach… It's all upset now. I couldn't eat a thing even if I wanted to…" Gourry complained miserably out loud. A savoury aroma wafted his way. That was all it took to perk Gourry's hunger up. "FOOD!" Gourry yelled out in glee he raced over to the source of the delicious smell. It ended up being a little corner hot dog stand.
"I'll have fifty of them!" Gourry ordered.
Even though it seemed like a tall order for just one person, the hot dog vendor wasn't about to refuse a customer. So frank after frank he served till Gourry's belly was full.
Gourry reached into his "magical" wallet and paid the man. "Thank you very much it was very good."
"No thank you." The vendor said counting the money Gourry gave him and smiled. Gourry had given him more business in five minutes then he had gotten the whole day.
Gourry smiled back and was about to close up his wallet and put it away when he noticed a slip of white paper in the wallet. It read 'Gourry, no more over spending on food. - Cepheid' Gourry sweatdropped. 'Whoops. Oh well I'll guess try to be a little less crazy with the food. Hmmm… now where do I need to go first?' Gourry concentrated on the crystal shard and it gave him mental directions to the diner that Sylphiel worked at which was right across the street. It was called 'Debbie's Diner'. "Okay better start there then!" Gourry said to himself. Other people on the street around him looked at him a little funny.
Trying to carry three suitcases at once while walking was proving to be difficult for Gourry. Makes you wonder how he was able to run with all three of them to get to the hot dog vendor. But he reached the diner nether less.
Though Gourry looked like a normal human his appearance was still quite impressive. When he entered the diner doors everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Gourry was dressed in dark blue slacks, black shoes and a pale blue short sleeved polo shirt. His long blond hair hung loose but neatly down his back. And as always he wore his usual warm smile.
As he walked up to the counter everyone's eyes followed him. They didn't even try not to be obvious about it either. It wasn't till Gourry turned around to look at them that they stopped staring and went back to what they were doing.
"Hiya honey you seem to be new around these parts. What can I getcha?" A slightly stocky middle-aged woman with dark red curly hair asked. She was wearing a leopard print scarf on her head that matched her leopard print pants and she was wearing a loud purple shirt that said 'Don't Bite Off What You Can't Chew' in white letters. The woman was the only one of the waitresses that wasn't wearing a white and mint coloured uniform.
Gourry mentally guessed that this woman was 'Debbie'. "Actually I was wondering if Sylphiel was working today."
Everyone in the diner stopped what they were doing and let their mouths hang open in shock.
'Debbie' was the only one who looked semi surprised. "Sylphy? Sure I'll go get her."
Sylphiel whom had been getting orders from the kitchen hadn't witnessed this scene. Debbie came rushing into the kitchen nearly giggling like a schoolgirl. "Sylphy these some blond guy out there looking for you. And boy is he a babe!"
Sylphiel blinked in shock. "What do you mean? Are you sure he's looking for me?"
"Well I don't have any other Sylphiel's working in this diner. Go on you don't want to keep prince charming waiting!" Debbie pushed Sylphiel into front of the dinner right next to Gourry.
Sylphiel blushed furiously when she saw him. Gourry looked neat and hansom while she looked like a complete mess! Her hair was all messed up and she was covered in flour and muck from the kitchen. She felt like a slob compared to him.
"Hello Sylphiel!" Gourry greeted her warmly with an extra big smile.
"Um …ah… hello?" Sylphiel stammered out.
"Well now Sylphy it's about time you take a break, so why don't you and your friend go outside and catch from fresh air. Take as long as you like!" Debbie insisted pushing them both out of the diner.
Once out of the diner both Gourry and Sylphiel were silent. Sylphiel was the first to speak up.
"Do I know you?" She asked timidly.
"Nope." Gourry said cheerfully.
"Then how do you know my name?"
"Because I've been sent to help you."
"To help me? Why?"
"Because I'm angel. My name's Gourry." Gourry grinned.