Diana-sama
Disclaimer: Ah, if only. But I don't.
Summary: Zel/OC, some Xel/OC, Lina/Gourry, possible Ame/OC in the future. Xellos says he has found the cure for Zelgadis! However, Zel is a little more than simply 'disappointed', and embarrassed, when he finds just what- or, more precisely- who Xellos thinks his cure is…
Chapter 1
"Xellos!" Lina growled, her crimson eyes flaring with anger. "Where is this village you keep talking about? And where's all their FOOD you keep promising?"
Xellos giggled nervously, backing a few floats away from the sorceress. "We're nearly there, Miss Lina! I promise!"
"Why should we believe a Mazoku?" Zelgadis grumbled.
Xellos floated to the gloomy Chimera with a cheerful grin on his bland face. "Because I know there's a cure for you here!" he answered happily.
"And what does this cure entail?" Zelgadis snapped, remembering the last 'cure' Xellos had tried to make him perform… that was more than embarrassing to be told in private, let alone in front of his friends!
Xellos smiled his usual smile. "That… is a secret."
Everyone sighed. "As usual," Amelia muttered.
Abruptly, Gourry perked up. "I see it! I see it!" he exclaimed loudly and excitedly.
Lina ran forward. "Finally! FOOD!"
"Lina, wait for me!" Gourry chased after. "I was to eat too!"
"I'm sure there will be-"
"Miss Lina! Mister Gourry! It's rude to eat everything and leave nothing for me!" Amelia shrieked, also running toward the town.
"-plenty of food for everyone," Xellos finished, noticing everyone had left.
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "Plenty of food for everyone? Somehow I doubt that, with their appetites."
Xellos smirked. "I don't. Just wait until we get there, you'll see."
"You're so obviously plotting something, I'm sickened."
"Why, Zelgadis! You wound me so!"
"It's true, isn't it?"
"Um… that's a secret."
Zelgadis sighed. "I knew it…"
Reaching the town, Zelgadis and Xellos headed for the Inn and only restaurant in the small village. Lina, Gourry, and Amelia were surely already there. Entering the large but cozy building, they immediately saw they were right, as the trio were just finished ordering to a perturbed waiter. Zelgadis had barely taken a step toward them when-
"Mister Xellos!" a girl's light soprano voice yelled happily, and a young girl came running down the stairs toward them. She looked to be seventeen or so, with wavy, waist-length dark brown hair and large, innocent brown eyes. Her skin was pale and made her slightly flushed cheeks look even pinker than they were. She wore what had to be the waitress or maid uniform here, a dark brown dress that ended at her ankles with puffy short sleeves and a cream-colored apron over top, with a matching cream-colored bandana keeping her hair out of her face.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she leapt up into the air toward the new arrivals, grinning. Xellos smiled and caught her as she came down, spinning her. "Why hello again, May!"
She smiled as he put her back down on the floor, oblivious to the dropped jaws of four other people in the room. "Oh, Mister Xellos! I was worried you wouldn't come tonight!"
"Now, why would I break a promise?" he asked charmingly.
She chuckled. "I can think up lots of reasons…" He sweatdropped. "But I won't list them for you." She noticed Zelgadis staring at her, and the three already seated, and her face lit up. "Oh! Are these your friends?"
"Why yes," he said, his tone sly. "And you recognize them, I'm sure." He chuckled. "Everyone, this is May." And to Zelgadis: "Your cure!"
The jaws were dropped even further. "What?" Zelgadis yelled.
"I'm not magic!" May protested.
He smirked knowingly. "Oh, May, your very existence here is greater than any magic on our world or science on yours."
She frowned. "That doesn't mean I'm a messiah."
Lina caught the snag in Xellos' sentence. "'Her' world, Xellos?"
Xellos grinned merrily. "Yes! She's… not from around here."
They stared at her and May frowned at the Mazoku. "Thank you, Xellos, for making me sound like a freak." She smiled at the others. "It's very nice to meet you, but I'll speak with you after the show tonight. I've got work to do, good bye." And she was off, hustling toward the kitchen with a tiny smile.
Xellos walked to the table and took a seat, Zelgadis half a step behind him. "She's from another world?" he asked incredulously.
The Trickster Priest nodded. "Neither she nor I are sure how she got here, but she's from a world very, very different from ours. Her world has no magic, for one thing. They have 'science,' which is what May continues to think of as 'very, very logical magic'. It sounds odd, and confusing. Also, their planet erupts into wars that involve their entire world fighting against each other every so often." He paused for a moment. "She believes her world is very close to returning to Chaos."
"Poor Miss May," Amelia murmured. "It sounds horrible there!"
"It is," May said nonchalantly, placing the first couple of plates on their table. She flashed them a smile. "Let's just say I like it here a lot better and I'm not planning on going back."
As she walked back toward the kitchen, presumably to bring them more food, Zelgadis asked, "So what is it about her that's supposed to cure me?" His tone sounded impatient.
"Her past," Xellos replied mysteriously. He laughed at Zelgadis' expression. "And I don't think I'll say more than that!"
"You—" Zelgadis growled. The Mazoku had already disappeared.
May came back and put more plates on the table. "Would you like anything, Mister Zelgadis?"
He frowned. "Coffee, please."
"Right-o! And I'm sorry about Mister Xellos. I hadn't a clue he was going to say anything like that…" She shrugged. "Anyways, I'll be right back with that." And she was gone again.
Lina, Gourry, and Amelia were already digging into their food, happily ignorant of their friend's angst. His frown deepened. 'What the Hell? How can some girl who knows nothing of magic be a 'cure'?' She came back with his coffee and placed it on the table, smiling. 'Maybe it's that 'science' in her world?' "May?"
"Yes?"
"Is… Maybe Xellos was talking about the science in your world?" He watched her hopefully. "Something from there that could help me…?"
May's smile turned down. "I'm sorry, Mister Zelgadis. There is a science in my world that allows for people to change their appearance, but it is something painful-"
"I don't care if it hurts! I just want to be cured!" he snapped.
May averted her eyes. "It's also something that cannot be done with stone skin," she said quietly. "Only fleshy bits, and muscles, maybe bones. It's also something I wouldn't be able to do here, not without endangering your life greatly, because I know very little about the procedure. I was only a student when I fell here! I'm sorry, Mister Zelgadis."
"Maybe other people in your world-"
"I would never go back willingly," she said, her eyes angry and her tone serious and hateful. "Not for you to simply look a certain way. You'd only be tainted by the evil in my world. I wouldn't take you there for all the riches in the world; I wouldn't take you there even if someone's life was in danger! I will not go back. Not even for you." She turned and went back into the kitchen angrily.
Again, it was Lina who caught a snag in the sentence, and smirked to herself between bites. ''Not even for you,' eh…?'
May didn't come back out to serve the rest of their food, the waiter from before did. Zelgadis drank his coffee, feeling a little guilty. 'I will not go back.' It echoed in his mind. What kind of place could be so terrible? And- 'You'd only be tainted…'- 'tainted'? What did that mean?
So far, this otherworldly girl was making no sense to him. And she certainly didn't seem willing to cure him. He growled inwardly. '…simply look a certain way.' She had no idea what she was saying. She couldn't imagine how horrible it was to show your face to people and have them fear you. Zelgadis' eyes narrowed.
He'd make her understand, and cure him.
The adventurers' dinner was nearly over when the lights began to dim. The only lights that remained on were three spotlights hanging from the ceiling, which were pointed at a raised platform on one side of the restaurant. A well-endowed girl in a bunny suit (you know the one I'm talking about, not the one Zelgadis had to wear…) came out with a microphone, smiling. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" she called to the diners. Lina, Amelia and Zelgadis noticed that more people had filtered into the restaurant, and some were even standing against the walls, waiting for the show, obviously having eaten somewhere else.
"As some of you know, tonight will be May's last performance." There were a few "what?"-s and a couple of "no! May!"-s, but the bunny girl continued. "Tonight, we will have two performances. One by Elisa, and one by Brendan and May. Now, a round of applause for Elisa, performing 'My Strongest Suit'!"
The bunny girl bowed away, and another girl, dressed in very fancy clothing, came up on stage. She began to speak, at first, with only a slight tune, but soon turned completely to singing. The song was about… clothing. It was a good song, and a good performance, but not all that 'inspiring' or anything. The music was done somewhere backstage, they supposed, because they couldn't see anyone playing the music.
Everyone applauded, and May stepped out next, followed by a by they presumed to be Brendan. Xellos appeared in his chair again as the music began to play, and May moved close to Brendan. Both were wearing beautiful, dramatic costumes.
"A valley green, so serene, in the middle ran a stream so blue," May sang, her voice a high, light soprano. The stage erupted into greenery, a lifelike stream running between May and Brendan. "A maiden fair in despair once had met her true love there," she and Brendan moved together, "and she told him… She would say:
"Promise me," May leaned into Brendan, and he held her, "when you see," May opened her hands and a delicate white rose appeared between them, "a white rose you'll think of me." She dropped the rose and it fell to the ground, planting itself. "I love you so!" She placed her hands on his chest. "Never let go!" He held her tightly. "I will be… your ghost of a rose." And somehow, she slipped out of his grasp and leapt over the little stream, dancing away from him.
"Her eyes believed in mysteries," she grinned backwards at him and waved her hands over the ground, and the grass aged, and autumn leaves appeared. "She would lay," she fell into the leaves cheerfully, "amongst the leaves of amber." Brendan moved toward her, stepping over the stream as well. She rolled to look up at him. "Her spirit wild, heart of a child," he pulled her up and she smiled at him, "yet gentle still, and quiet and mild, and he loved her… when she would say:
"Promise me," May leaned into Brendan, and he held her, "when you see," May opened her hands and a delicate white rose appeared between them, "a white rose you'll think of me." She dropped the second rose and it fell to the ground, planting itself between leaves. "I love you so!" She placed her hands on his chest. "Never let go!" He held her tightly. "I will be… your ghost of a rose." And somehow, she slipped out of his grasp again and leapt over the little stream, dancing away from him. This time, he didn't follow, but reached out to her.
"When all was done, she turned to run," May danced slowly farther away from him, "dancing to the setting sun," and indeed, the spotlight suddenly moved, as if they were a setting sun, "as he watched her." Abruptly, she disappeared.
"And ever more, he thought he saw," small catches of May's dress winked in and out of existence around the stage, Brendan spinning around and trying to catch them, "a glimpse of her upon the moors forever. He'd hear her say:
"Promise me," May appeared in front of Brendan and leaned into him, and he held her, "when you see," May opened her hands and a delicate white rose appeared between them, "a white rose you'll think of me." She dropped the third rose and it fell to the ground, planting itself. "I love you so!" She placed her hands on his chest. "Never let go!" He held her tightly. "I will be…" she leaned forward, and their lips nearly touched, "your ghost of a rose." And then she faded, right before they could kiss, and Brendan was left with a single white rose in his hand, as the three roses on stage wilted, and he kissed a petal.
Applause erupted. May appeared again, and waved her hands. The stage was bare once again, and the lights were back on. Elisa came out and the three of them bowed, all of them grinning from ear to ear. "We'll miss you May!" Elisa shouted over the applause, and everyone howled and whistled in agreement. "You were our little bit of excitement here," Brendan laughed, and ruffled her hair.
"Hey now, watch the do." She smiled back at him, and waved her arms once again. The outfits disappeared, and they were once again dressed in uniform. She smiled at the audience. "Thank you all, for taking me in until I could travel! I'm eternally grateful."
"Come back and visit sometime," Elisa nudged her, before walking offstage.
Brendan nodded. "We'll keep a meal for ya." He left as well.
May hopped offstage and said good-byes to the people from the audience who approached her. A while later, she sat down at Lina and co.'s table, looking slightly ruffled and flushed. "Hoo! I didn't think I had that many fans in here."
"Where are you traveling to?" Amelia asked, smiling.
May blinked. "Xellos… didn't tell you…?"
"I… wanted it to be a surprise!" Xellos lied.
"He said I could travel with you, to wherever you're going."
"WHAT?" Lina grabbed Xellos by the collar and shook him furiously. "Xellos! We already have a big traveling party! You expect me to just say 'Oh, that's nice! Welcome aboard!'? That just means another mouth I'll have to feed and pay for—"
"I have some money saved up!" May interrupted, looking distressed. "I-I really am sorry, Miss Lina, I thought Xellos had already asked you if I could tag along!"
Lina sighed. "Well, why do you want to come with us, anyways? You could travel on your own…"
"Miss Lina!" Amelia protested.
May looked sheepish. "Well… I'm no good with swords, and I only know a little bit of magic, just what I could pick up here and there. I'm a fair shot with a bow and arrow, but nowhere near good enough to defend myself from bandits or anything. I was hoping I could maybe, um, learn some magic from you all until I could defend myself?" She fidgeted with a napkin. "I promise I won't be a burden, and I'll do whatever you ask! I—Xellos says I'm a quick learner for magic, so if you really want me out of your hair I can learn fast and then you can boot me out—"
"Alright, alright!" Lina stopped her. "You can come."
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou Miss Lina!"
"It's nothing," she muttered. "Now, let's see that money you said you had!"
The rest of them sweatdropped as May ran upstairs to grab it. She came back down and placed a large bag on the table. Lina raised an eyebrow. Untying the knot that held it closed, May gently poured out what was inside. Lina and Amelia and Zelgadis' eyes bugged out.
"I found some old ruins nearby when I was hunting," she explained. "I didn't know if anything there was valuable, so I just brought everything here. I think some of them are magic, but maybe I'm just too new at sensing things…"
"What ruins were these?" Lina asked, amazed, as she held up a very ornate cleric's wand.
May shrugged. "Looked like a small temple or shrine. I felt kinda bad when I raided it, so I remembered to pray for whoever had been worshipped there." She smiled, as if that made everything dandy.
Zelgadis examined a large bluish stone, which was emanating black magic. "Makes me wonder if you ought to be praying to whatever god was there…" he muttered, as the cleric's wand was the only white magic item.
"They feel powerful," Amelia murmured, touching a small gem and jerking her hand back. It felt like something had tried to grab her.
May picked up the stone casually and stared at it. The gem was a murky white color. "Yeah, I thought it felt funny." She put it back down.
"Are these Astral spells?" Amelia asked Zelgadis. He nodded.
"Of some sort. All done by a powerful black magic user…"
May looked to Xellos. He shrugged. Amelia piped up again. "Miss May, why didn't you feel anything when you picked that gem? It felt like it was trying to grab me or something."
"Oh… I have a very small Astral body here, in your world. Just a string, one that probably ties me back to my world. So, most Astral attacks don't hurt me very much."
"How do you know?" Zelgadis asked, looking at her puzzled. "Have you been attacked with one before?"
May sweatdropped. "Yes. Once. By him." She pointed to Xellos.
Xellos laughed. "I was just testing a theory…"
"Mister Xellos! You shouldn't just attack people!" Amelia proclaimed. "It's very wrong!"
"No harm done, Amelia," May smiled reassuringly. "I only got a little bloody."
Abruptly, Xellos seemed to notice something and disappeared. The five at the table ignored it. "So is this good?" May asked. "It's enough?"
"Well, I guess so," Lina said slowly, as if she wasn't sure. Quickly she gathered up all the items into the bag again and stuck it into a pocket.
May smiled happily. "Oh, good! I'm so glad, I don't want to be too much of a freeloader…"
"May!" Brendan called, sticking his head out of the kitchen. "Are you done yet? Come help with the dishes!"
"See you tomorrow morning," May smiled at them, hurrying off again.
Lina agreed. "I'm full, I'm richer, I'm ready for a good night's sleep!" she grinned, stretching and getting up. "We'll leave a little after dawn." They nodded, and went upstairs to their rooms.
The next morning was uneventful, and they left without any problems. May was a bit disheveled at first, apparently unused to getting up so early (but wasn't she a maid or some such? Why wouldn't she get up early?), but soon she was chipper and peppy, talking animatedly to Amelia as they walked.
"How can you deal with being a princess?" May exclaimed, amazed.
Amelia blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, don't you have to learn all that etiquette and specific manners and how to dress properly and such? And get married to some prince you don't know? I'd go crazy!"
"It's not that hard," Amelia smiled. Her eyes turned starry. "And I would do anything to further the cause of Justice!"
May clapped. "You'll make a great Queen, Amelia!"
"Really? You think so?" May nodded enthusiastically and Amelia hugged her. The girl erupted into giggles.
Lina twitched. "Will you stop that?"
"But chatting is fun, Miss Lina," May protested timidly.
"It's annoying!"
"I'm sorry." There was silence for a while. "So how do I cast a Fireball?" May asked eagerly.
Lina sighed. Looks like there was no shutting up the girl. "It's… um, very complicated, May."
"Is it? I thought mostly you just waved your hands a specific way and said 'Fireball'…"
Lina snorted. "As if anything's that easy."
May blinked, tilting her head in slight confusion. "But that's how my magic worked…"
"What?" Amelia asked.
"The stuff I did during performances. Hmm… maybe that's just how you do simple magic tricks…"
"But even Lina's small magic is complicated," Gourry said, entering the conversation.
"Have you tried casting a Fireball?" Zelgadis asked.
"Only once… and I thought it didn't work just 'cause I had my stance wrong or something."
"No, no, no, May. There are rules for magic," Lina said, in her scholarly voice. Gourry felt his eyes getting heavier.
"Just like science!"
Zelgadis' pointy ears twitched. "Sure," Lina said, shrugging. "For each spell, you call on a specific magic, and for some, a specific god."
"So… a Gaav Flare would call on black magic and Gaav?"
"Right! In order to call on those gods and the specific magic, you have special incantations. Some are one-time only, some last the whole day."
"Oh! So that's why I rarely heard you or Zelgadis or Amelia ever actually saying an incantation…"
"What?" Amelia looked puzzled.
May realized what she had said and winced. "Ooops. Um, the reason I know about you is because, in my world, you guys are a story."
"What?" Lina looked just as puzzled.
"Err… It's… hard to explain. Do you have scrying crystals in your world?"
"Yes," Lina answered.
"Well, we have things like that, only they show you things that usually aren't real. Well, real in the sense that people from my world acknowledge its existence."
Amelia gaped. "And we're one of those things?"
"Right. I have a theory about that. See, our universes are connected together by stories. Your universe, or a piece of it anyways, recorded itself and sent that recording flying through other universes, until it landed in the head of someone in my world. That person thought it was an original idea, and made it into a story. And, the story was then sent into my world's version of scrying crystals. But, that's just one theory. There's a billion other reasons for why that could have happened."
"Wow," Amelia said.
Gourry snored as they walked.
"Now. Where was I?" Lina asked.
"Incantations."
"Ah. Okay, so, you need to learn the incantations for each spell you want to use. Having said incantations is what we call spell-ready. Other than that, it's just a question of how much magical power you have, whether with all magic or one specific type."
"Right. So when do I learn the incantations?"
Lina sweatdropped and began to recite spell incantations, May listening avidly and trying her best to memorize them. By the time they had camped, May could recite her incantations for Flare Arrow and a few healing spells. (Lina had gotten frustrated, and Amelia had taken over the 'lessons'.) They made camp, and May strung the longbow she had brought, heading off quietly into the forest to hunt.
"We have rations, you know," Zelgadis told her.
May smiled. "But isn't cooked rabbit stew much better?"
Lina and Gourry drooled. "YES!" Zelgadis sweatdropped and let her sneak away.
An hour later, they were all happily fed ("If you can call five rabbits in a stew a dinner for five people," Lina had grumbled.) and taking double-shifts. Currently, it was Zelgadis and May, the moment Zelgadis had been waiting for. All this time he had kept his hood up, and now he'd make her understand why he wanted his cure so badly.