Disclaimer: Does it LOOK like I own the Slayers? I didn't think so. If
I did, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfics, I'd be buyin' all
the movies!
Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a poor merchant. Now,
this merchant lived with his four beautiful daughters. He loved them
all very much, but none did he smile upon more than the second youngest,
Lina. The other sisters were cruel & unkind, but inside our heroine
burnt a fire, a fire that was never quite complete, however long it
raged.
One day, Xellos was forced to travel to a newly discovered land, for
his trade was not going well, & there was a chance of some profit.
Just three minutes before he left,
he promised to return with a gift for each of his daughters.
Oh, but they had a hard time choosing!
Finally, Filia decided on a dress. But no ordinary dress would do, oh,
no. This dress was to be made of golden sunlight, with a collar made of
moonbeams, & decorated with stars.
Sylphiel was next. She asked for a necklace made of the rarest gold,
entwined with silver, & splashed with a Ruby's tears.
Amelia was slightly easier to please. She desired a kitten. But no
ordinary kitten, she wanted a pet from the Moon.
Lina was last, & easiest to please. When her turn came, she merely
spoke these words: "I need six petals from a blood-red rose, & make it
snappy!" You see, Lina was a sorceress - in - training, & these common
items were the final ingredients for a spell vital to the success of
her family.
And so, our favourite merchant started on his way. The journey was not
very prosperous, & so he was no less than exhausted when his business
was finally completed. He barely noticed how dark it was growing.
He decided to stop for the night in the city of Atlas.
There he purchased all but one of his daughters' desired gifts,
for the surrounding kingdom was very wealthy in all varieties of gems
& minerals. But so many tourists had torn up the ground, & not one
rose could he find. After many hours of searching, he gave up, &
started on his long trip home.
The journey supposedly took three days, but, on the night of the second,
a storm struck. Xellos was riding through a forest known as Darkness
when a lightning bolt lit up the sky. His terrified horse threw him off
as it galloped quickly away.
Being a hardy sort of fellow, Xellos merely got up & tried to continue
on his way, but the rain was so thick it blinded his eyes, & the wind
was so strong it was all he could do to stand.
Hearing all of this, you can imagine his relief when he saw the tall
gates of a castle looming up in the distance. He battled his way
through the storm. By the time he reached the so-called 'place of
refuge', he was too weak to walk much farther, & so was more than
relieved when the very heavy-looking gates swung open, as though by
magic . . . This thought was extremely frightening, Xellos thought,
remembering Lina's fireballs on a bad day.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the rose until it was only a
few feet away from him, though perhaps this was due to the heavy rain.
Without stopping to think, he drew nearer to it, the only thought in
his mind being Lina's happy face.
He reached out, & would have plucked it down had not a dark figure
leaped forward to stop him. Xellos felt iron-strong hands grip his
arms in a tight grasp that was excruciatingly painful. He looked up at
his capturer, whose mask had slipped down during the fight. Gasping at
what he saw, he almost fainted.
"M - monster!" he cried, & slipped into darkness, just missing the
look of sorrow pass through the chimera's eyes.
When he finally regained his senses, he was in a small, bare room, if
room it could be called. The only source of light was a tall candle,
in the dreaded 'monster's' hand. Xellos glared at him with hatred,
though he noted that his mask had been readjusted. He decided that
perhaps it was time to beg.
"Oh kind sir, please release me! I have four young daughters at home
who count on me for the very food they eat!"
The chimera laughed bitterly.
"You may leave, on one condition." His voice was low, calm. (AN: All
you Slayers fans out there, I guess you know who I'm talking about.)
"Sir, I'll do anything!" Xellos tried to imitate earnestness, but
failed miserably. This did not escape Zelgadis' notice.
"When you arrive at your . . . home, you must send to me the first
living thing you see, excluding, of course, organic material such as
plants. If you fail to do this, I will know. I will dispatch my
minions to find you, & they will succeed. You have three days. My
servant shall show you the way out." He turned, as though to leave,
then stopped. "Oh yes. I am Zelgadis. Remember that name." And he was
gone. (AN: I'm thinkin' that was from 'Red & White & suspicious all
over.' Am I right? If I got it wrong, please let me know & I'll fix
it. By the way, do you know the main title? Like, 'Angry.' In 'Lina's
furious Dragon Slave!'
A door ended, & a tall figure with long yellow hair entered. (AN: Any
fan should know who this is! He's Slayers favourite swordsman, apart,
perhaps, from Zangulus.)
"Hi!" the figure said. "My name's Gourry. I'm going to show you the
way out!" he sounded proud that he knew this simple fact.
Finally released from what he called 'The Hell House', Xellos rode
through the forest as though all hell was pursuing him. At last, he
arrived at his destination, only to be greeted, to his dismay, by an
eager Lina.
"So, did you get my petals? Huh, huh? You had better!" an angry light
appeared in his eyes, and Xellos knew that if he didn't tell her
everything he'd get majorly Fireballed. And so, he sat her down, &
began at the best place to start, the beginning.
Lina was extremely excited. *This guy must be majorly rich to have
such a huge castle.* she thought. *I might be able to get something
out of it!* Aloud, she said: "Alright! Bye Dad! Say goodbye to
Sylphiel for me! Don't forget to tell all my friends where I am!" And
she ran off.
Unlike her father, Lina arrived at the castle in under an hour.
How did she do it? A very useful little spell called Raywing. (AN: If
you've read the books, you should know that it's also very useful if
you ever need to breathe underwater)
Lina was also unafraid when she saw the gates swing open. She knew it
was a very simple spell. All these thoughts were brushed aside,
however, when she saw the rose. *It's perfect!* she thought happily,
& she ran over to it. Like her father she was stopped. She had never
felt such strength as in those hands. She didn't, however, agree with
the position she was in.
She cast a fireball, with no affect. She cast a dragon slave. He
raywinged them both out of the way, & watched, amused, as she blew up
his garden (AN: Must have been a pretty big one, ne?).
Lina was livid with rage. She couldn't use Mono Bolt, 'cause that used
electricity, & as he was carrying her, she would get blasted as well.
Wait! He was carrying her?
"Ahhhhh! Hentai!" She cried, trying to wriggle away. "Put me down,
you pervert, or I'll give you a flare arrow you'll never forget!"
He did put her down, much to her relief. She looked up at him angrily.
*Wow! He's cute!* she thought. Then blushed. *Snap out of it, Lina!*
Glaring at him, she got an idea. "Hey, Zel?"
"Yes?" he asked.
"I'm your prisoner, right? Which means you've gotta feed me, right?
Which means it's lunchtime! Which means you have to show me the way to
kitchen, 'cause I'm starved!" she scrambled, through the wreckage, to
the door. "What'ya waiting for? Let's go!" And through pulled him into
the castle.
Thirty minutes later, Lina had devoured about eighty percent of the
castle's well-stocked larder, while Zel watched on, amused, as he
sipped his coffee. He was feeling a growing attraction for this
vibrant young sorceress. His thoughts came to a halt when he realised
that she was talking.
"Huh?" he said intelligently. She sighed.
"I said, Zel, that you've gotta eat something! Enjoying your food is
an art that should never be forgotten!"
This only succeeded in bringing back the chimera's bitter laugh.
"In case you hadn't noticed, Lina, I'm a rock golem. A demon. I
hardly need to drink, let along eat."
She stared at him. "Well excuse me for being concerned! Zel, the
world does not revolve around you! Other people have problems to ya
know! And that wasn't my point. I said you should eat something, not
you needed to."
"Oh."
After that, the dinner was a silent affair. Even Lina herself failed
to enjoy the food set before her, & this caused great worry among the
servants, for a Lina who refused her food was a sick Lina.
Finally, Zelgadis decided to swallow his pride & apologise. But there
was no way he was going to shout it out for the world to hear; there
wasn't a chance of that. So, one morning after breakfast, he invited
her into his study to 'talk'.
Lina accepted the apology with grace. "Of course I forgive you!" she
said warmly. "You're my friend."
These words struck a not in Zel's mind, for never before had they
been spoken to him. He felt as though nothing else mattered in the
world. For once, he felt happy.
The next few weeks were spent in much the same fashion. Hour by hour,
their feelings for each other grew. And they were both happier than
they had been for years, though neither of them realised the gossip
going 'round the servants' quarters . . .
One day, when Lina was paying Zel a visit in his study, she remembered
a long forgotten fact.
"Hey, Zel?" she asked; "You're lookin' for your cure, right?"
He looked up eagerly, boyish excitement playing across his handsome
features.
"Of course I am!" he resisted the urge to shout with much difficulty.
"Why? Do you know anything about it?" perhaps this was the day he'd
been waiting for.
"I dunno." Lina replied; "I just remember Dad telling me about a book
by that Zelas woman, about mutation? He said it had instructions for
making chimeras & stuff. If it has the recipe, it should have the cure,
ya think?"
Zel was growing very excited. "Yeah. Do you know where I can find this
book?"
The sorceress looked amused. "Have ya tried the library?" she asked
sarcastically. "It's usually the place to look."
He thought about this. It seemed a good idea, & it couldn't hurt to
try. But there was no way he was gonna show his hideous face for the
world to see . . .
"Why don't you go?" he asked. "I really don't feel like going outside,
& perhaps you could find a few books for yourself as well?"
Zel watched as Lina's face lit up. "Cool!" she said; "I've been wanting
to read that new Giga Slave spellbook thingy for ages. See you later!" And she ran off, just missing the starry - eyed look on a very dazed Zel's face.
A few hours later, Lina returned, with a very large bag of books. "I
found it!" she called happily to Zel; "But you better let me read it
with you, 'cause it took weeks to find."
The chimera chuckled, & refrained from pointing out that she'd only
been gone a few minutes. Then, he remembered the book, & grabbed at
it excitedly.
They had absolutely no success. They did manage to find the spell
used on Zel, but the note underneath was far from encouraging.
'Although researchers have proved that there is a cure, the exact
formula is currently unknown.'
Zel bit back angry tears, & sank down into his chair. Seeing him so
depressed almost made Lina's heart break. She then vowed that she
would stay by his side until they found his cure. Right then, though,
he needed comforting. And so Lina did something she'd usually never
even dream of. She sat on the arm of his chair, & slid her arms
around him, her tears falling where his refused to go.
Zel looked up in surprise when he felt two warm arms around him. A few
seconds later, he responded to the embrace. She looked up in surprise.
Their eyes met for a breathless second, then his lips were on hers. It
was a union planned by the Gods; a beautiful & fulfilling giving &
taking that delighted them both.
Lina tossed & turned in her bed. She just couldn't get to sleep! Then,
suddenly she froze, & the tears began to fall.
_*_She was surrounded by darkness. Ghostly figures danced around her,
almost invisible. Their voices called out to her, begging to be
released. Her tears fell for their misery.
Then, another presence caught her attention. She knew as though by
instinct that Zel was nearby, & in serious trouble. Pushing the
spirits aside, she ran towards him, praying that she was in time.
The sight that met her eyes shocked her immensely. He lay, a barrier
surrounding his lifeless body, spirits crowding around him, while three
figures fought by his side.
Lina, being an expert in magic, knew exactly what was going on.
By reading the Zelas book, she knew that Zel was made up of three
creatures, a rock golem, a mazoku, & a human. The golem & the Mazoku,
being unfriendly creatures, battled for complete control; the human
for defence. It was a battle that could not be won, for each element
was a thorough part of him, & its death would result in the death of
the body.
Suddenly, the golem thrust a sword through the human's chest, bringing
it to the ground. Zel's body convulsed, then lay still. (AN: How could
it convulse if the body was lifeless? Think of a chicken with its head
cut off.)_*_
Just then, Lina awoke. She had to save Zel! Throwing back her blankets,
she raced to his room. She didn't know how she knew where it was, but
it was too traumatic a time to consider such a minor fact.
She arrived to find him completely lifeless, surrounded in a puddle of
blood. Acting quickly, she cast a Shamanist spell that would transfer
her to the Stream of Life. *How ironic.* she thought; *Shamanism's
usually Zel's branch of magic.*
Arriving, she looked around breathlessly. As in her dream, spirits
plagued her mind. She tried to ignore them, but only succeeded when
she saw her love's body floating by. Quickly casting Raywing, she flew
towards him. *Boy, is he heavy!* she thought, struggling to hold on.
Panting, she pulled him towards the bank. Tears fell as heavy as rain
as she held him to her chest.
"Zel? Zel! Please wake up, Zel. I need you! Please wake up!"
_*_The current was strong. Almost too strong to resist, but still he
thrust his way forward. For her he would find a way. Just then, he
heard a sweet voice calling him.
"Zel? Zel! Please wake up, Zel. I need you! Please wake up!" he
threw himself towards her, praying to be in time.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Lina gasped. "Oh, Zel. I was so worried!"
then, she sat up, her tears long since dry.
"Don't you ever let anything like that happen again! You scared me
half to death!"
Her recent experiences were too much. She broke down, crying
hysterically. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, whispering into
her ear. What he said was of no importance.
Finally, Lina regained her senses. "Let's get out of this place." she
said; shivering. "It really spooks me out!"
Zel could do nought but agree. He nodded, & grabbed her arm.
Electricity shot through them, but they both agreed that it was no
time for romance. Combining their magic in a simple chant, they cast
the spell that would remove them from that dreadful place.
When Zel finally dared to open their eyes, they were back in his own
room in the gloomy castle. Although it was a melancholy place, it was
a welcome change from the horrors of the Astral world. Looking around,
he found Lina draped across a chair, fast asleep. He smiled fondly at
her. Never before had someone gone through so much, just for him.
Never before had he felt so loved.
Laying her gently down on the bed, he climbed in after her. Her arms
automatically slid around him. As he returned her embrace, he felt
his eyes close, & he slipped into his dreams, filled of a laughing
sorceress. Neither of them noticed as Zel's grey skin paled, or as his
metallic hair softened & fell. For Zel's cure had always been right
there in front of his eyes. Zel's cure was love.
The next morning, Zel propposed, & Lina, of course, accepted. She had
long since gained the petals, but felt she no longer needed them.
On visiting her sisters, they were so jealous of her good fortune, she
invited them to live with her, & so gained three new servants. As for
Xellos, he found a beautiful princess to settle down with, & lived
happily ever after.
For many years after that, the world was a happy place. Zel & Lina
continued to live in a union of love that surpassed that of the Gods
dreams. Her sisters also found contentment in the castle's servants,
though it can not be said that what they found was love. And life went
on.