I don't own any of the characters so don't sue me.
The song belongs to Phil Collins, Disney and a whole other people therefore it's
not mine.
This takes place in an alternate universe where Xel's only contact with humans
is those who Xelas caught on her island for 'dinner.' If you have any
suggestions for a title for this thing, please e-mail me! Also any C&C
welcome.
By Sakura
"Ne, Lina. Why are we here
again?" asked the perplexed blond man beside the rather petite red-haired
woman.
Lina hit her not so smart companion
on the head before explaining for the nth time. "Look Gourry, we were
heading back to Sairuun and got shipwrecked here, wherever here is, and now
we're looking for some help. Got it?" she said exasperated.
"Um, yeah, but why were we going
back to Sairuun?" he asked again.
Infuriated, Lina quickly cast a
fireball and promptly fried the blond swordsman.
The purple furred figure chuckled,
utterly fascinated with the woman and her companion. He knew he could cast
spells also, but never really had a chance to use them, since the beasts of the
island had orders from their lord and master not to harm him and humans almost
never came to the island.
Inspired to try a spell, he threw a
fireball, burning the bushes in the humans' way while the woman continued to
beat up the taller man. Neither noticed the path had been cleared for them, got
up from their scuffle and returned to their trek through the jungle.
And yet nothing to me
Why did they fascinate him? They were
only humans. To a mazoku like him, they were only a source of amusement and
food. Cattle. But these two, no, the girl had wormed her way under his skin. He
felt drawn to her.
It's all so close and so far
"Forgive me, Juu-ou-sama. I was
bored and wished to see if there was anything interesting on the island
today," answered the purple haired man, bowing before his master.
The mazoku lord chuckled and patted
her 'son's' head. "Well, did you see anything interesting, dear?"
"Hai. There are two humans on
our island, Juu-ou-sama. A man and a girl."
"A man and a girl, huh?"
The younger mazoku nodded, smiling with closed eyes. Peering through the
undergrowth, she spied on the two figures by the fire. "Well, I'll
be," she said.
Curious, Xellos cocked his head to
one side and patiently waited for his master to explain. "Juu-ou-sama?"
he asked when she didn't answer.
"It's Lina Inverse. It isn't
everyday SHE decides to visit," said the pale haired woman.
"Hai. Xellos, I want you to wait
back at the castle for me."
The purple furred mazoku pouted and
said, "Demo..."
"No buts Xellos. I will deal
with her myself, she is too dangerous for you alone. You have not yet mastered
all the magic I've given you."
Reluctantly, he bowed and teleported
back to the castle that was his and her home.
But now, after watching and listening
to the human Juu-ou-sama called Lina Inverse, he wondered what it would be like
to be human. His purple-black fur had shortened until it was a little bit above
the shoulders, the hair had faded from his face and smooth, pale skin was
revealed. He decided to keep his amethyst eyes, since he considered them to be
his best feature, besides, purple was his favorite color.
Next he conjured a set of armor
similar to that worn by the swordsman, but decided that he wasn't made for
wearing armor and quickly dissolved it away and decided on a simple outfit of
black trousers, yellow shirt, and a black cape.
Smiling at the pleasing image before
him, he next conjured a pair of shoes made of soft, brown leather and, on a
whim, a pair of periwinkle gloves.
Once he was certain he was
aesthetically pleasing, he crossed the room and picked up his staff, which had
been gathering dust leaning against a corner. It had been a gift from his master
once he had been strong enough to stand on his own. Since there was never a need
for it, he had discarded, until now.
He gingerly wiped off the dust,
sneezing when a speck of dust landed on his nose. When he was finished, Xel went
back to the mirror, staff in hand and gazed once more at his reflection. He
definitely looked like a human now and the staff was indeed a nice touch.
Brushing a stray lock out of his eyes, Xel turned and walked out of his room.
Bigger out there
Xel was in the castle library. As
vast as it was, he had memorized every book and could practically recite them
from memory. From them, he had learned about the outside world of humans and the
ryuuzoku, the dragon folk. He had seen pictures and paintings of breathtaking
landscapes, but was never allowed to visit them. Juu-ou-sama had forbade him to
ever leave the island, her excuse being that he was not strong enough to survive
on his own.
"Absolutely not, Xellos,"
said his 'mother.' The violet haired boy pouted. "You're not ready to go to
the outside world. There are many dangers for an inexperienced mazoku," she
reasoned.
"You always say that. When will
I be ready, Juu-ou-sama?"
"When you're older, perhaps. Now
run along and play, Xel-chan." She ruffled the boy's hair and went back to
puffing on her cigarette.
"Aww, man," he said leaving
the throne room in search of something or someone to take his anger out on.
Strangers like me
Moments later, he reappeared in a
tree near the makeshift camp and watched as the human girl and man fight off his
a pack of large wolves. Hidden in the undergrowth near the pack was an enormous
she wolf, watching the humans as well, thankfully the tree hid him from her or
she would be furious. 'Either Juu-ou-sama was lying about the girl or she's
afraid of her if she hasn't taken care of her by now,' he thought.
Watching his 'brothers' fly in a
panic after half their members fall to Lina's fireballs and the man's
swordsmanship, he admired them for a moment before dropping down to the ground
before them and clapping.
"That was amazing. Very few
humans have ever been able to defeat so many of the wolves on this island,"
he said, eyes closed and huge smile on his face.
Gourry relaxed a little seeing the
figure made no threatening moves, in fact he sat down before the fire. Lina,
however, kept her fireball in hand. "Who are you?" she asked eyeing
the strange man suspiciously.
Smiling, he took one of their fish
and began to roast it on the fire as he had seen them do. He was curious as to
what human food tasted like. The next second, he found himself lying on the
ground, burnt from head to foot.
"Guess I should have warned you
not to touch the food," said the blond man offering his hand. Staring at
it, he realized the human had intended to help him up. 'How quaint. A human
who's so dumb, he doesn't know a mazoku when he sees one,' Xel thought as he
took the proffered hand and returned to a sitting position.
"I am Xellos," he said
offering his hand to the woman who slapped it away.
"Just what are you after? Are
you the one who sent those wolves after us?" she asked, glaring at him.
'My what a fascinating creature this
one is,' he thought. 'She suspects something, but doesn't know what it is. She's
more intelligent than I thought.'
"I'm not after anything Lina-san.
I'm just a traveler from nearby." It wasn't a complete lie. He was after
knowledge. About them and the world outside. You see, the books were old and
horribly out of date. Also he did travel, around the island that is.
"A traveler, huh? Then I suppose
you could know where we could find a ship off this jungle island?" asked
Lina. "And how do you know my name?"
"I overheard you two talking
during the fight. You are Lina, ne? And he is Gourry-san?" he said
gesturing to the blond swordsman.
"How'd ya do?" Gourry said
shaking Xel's hand. 'He's strong, I'd better be careful around him as well,' Xel
thought.
"As to your other question I
don't know of any ports on this island, but I know someone who may know a way
off the island," he said glancing at the fish. "May I, Lina-sama?"
he asked.
Lina regarded him, then the fish.
There was just enough for the three of them. Lucky for them the wolves had not
gotten to her dinner. "All right I guess. Help yourself, just save some for
me. Fighting a bunch of wolves works up an appetite," she said digging in
to the pile of fish.
"Arigatou," he said and
began roasting another fish.
"So who's this 'someone' of
yours," Lina asked around the fish in her mouth.
Xellos smiled, held up a finger and
said, "Sore wa himitsu desu," before biting into the cooked fish. It
was delicious! Almost as delicious as a human's negative emotions, but delicious
nonetheless.
Lina shrugged her shoulders and
quickly grabbed a fish out of Gourry's hands. Soon the two began fighting, while
the mazoku smiled, watching them with great amusement.
Gourry ooh and ahh'd like a child as
she sent multicolored fireballs up into the night sky causing a rather beautiful
fireworks display. Xel clapped and sat smiling with his eyes closed. Being a
mazoku, he really needn't use his eyes to see the brilliant colors.
"Please Lina-san, show us what
else you can do," said Xel clapping after she had run out of ideas for more
fireworks.
"I don't do tricks!" she
shouted.
"Aww, but you're sooo good at
them, Lina," Gourry said.
"Who asked you?!" The
petite sorceress elbowed him in the head.
"Perhaps, you can tell me what's
going on in the world Lina-san, since it's been a while since I've been off this
island," Xel suggested.
"Well, I don't see why
not," she said returning to her seat between the two men and began to fill
Xel in on the current state of the world, which caused Gourry to immediately
drift off to dreamland.
"Nyah, nyah! Can't catch
me!" a smaller boy with short, purple hair teased.
"I'm gonna kill ya!" the
taller boy lunged at the other boy, but only tripped when he sidestepped out of
the way.
"You're such an idiot Dalen! No
wonder sensei kept you back TWO years," the smaller boy said, laughing.
"You're dead, Xellos!" He
picked up a rock and prepared to throw it at the other boy.
"Dalen! Get your ass back here
and clean up these stables!" yelled a man with dirty brown hair and equally
dirty clothes.
"You're lucky my old man's
calling me, teacher's pet! Next time, I'm gonna beat the snot outta ya!"
Dalen ran back certain he was going to get another beating from his father and
prepared himself for another day of dreary life on the farm.
"We shall see, Dalen. We shall
see," Xellos said smirking and walked towards home.
The mazoku priest lay on his back for
a while, pondering the dream until sleep once more overtook him.
Makes me feel like never before
Most human females were weak, timid
creatures who shrieked and struggled when they saw him. He was in his original
half-man, half-wolf form of course, but still they were nothing compared to Lina.
She was feisty, intelligent,
stubborn, greedy, and not at all displeasing to look at. In fact, he thought she
was rather cute. But she somehow changed from a cute girl/woman to a beautiful
temptress.
He loved the way her ruby eyes
sparkled when she told him of the treasures she'd 'saved' from bandits or the
'feasts' she'd enjoyed during her adventures. And when she slept, the brave,
independent veneer faded and she became an innocent, beautiful angel to him. He
had spent the last couple of nights staring at her while she slept, and now he
was staring at her from behind, glad the swordsman decided to walk alongside
her.
This growing need to be beside her
The mazoku sat alone, keeping a
polite distance between them. He had seen enough of their fights to know to stay
clear out of Lina's way when she was eating. Suddenly a strange pang hit him,
one he'd never felt before. For no reason at all he wanted to be the one arguing
with her, sitting next to her, feeling her hands on him.
He sighed, causing the two combatants
to stop in their tracks and turn toward him.
"Ano, gomen nasai. I think my
legs need a bit of stretching, I'll just go check on the area." Xel said
getting up and walked out of the campsite. Lina and Gourry shrugged their
shoulders and went back to battling each other for what was left of the bird.
When he was sure she wasn't looking,
Gourry looked at where the mazoku priest had been with a knowing look. 'I'm not
sure, but I think he's falling for Lina. At least it think it's Lina he's
falling for,' he thought.
"Hey! Jellyfish brains! You in
there?" Lina waved a hand in front of the blond's face, when that didn't
seem to work, she shook him, violently. "Hey! I'm talking here!!!"
"Huh? Were you saying something
Lina?" he queried coming back from his wandering.
"Yeah, I was saying something. I
said I'm going to sleep now, I'm full," she said patting her belly.
"Well, goodnight then Lina."
She took off her cape and lay on the
ground, covering herself with her cape. "G'night Gourry." With that,
she promptly closed her eyes and within moments, was snoring up a storm.
'Lina, whoever you decide to be with,
I won't stand in your way. I know I'm not as smart as him so I know you can't
possibly feel about me the way I feel about you,' he silently said and went
about polishing the hilt of the Hikari no Ken.
True, she was a human and he knew
almost next to nothing about human nature, but that didn't explain why his heart
beat a little faster whenever she was near or whenever he did something to make
her smile. He didn't even mind it when she hit him or did other nasty things to
worm 'secrets' out of him.
In fact, he wanted her attention. The
day's events mostly consisted of him teasing Lina only to have her fireball and
beat him as well as put him into the occasional headlock. Gourry was secretly
glad it was the mazoku who got Lina's 'special care' instead of him. As much as
he liked her, he really didn't need anymore bruises from the fiery tempered
sorceress.
Xel could see the blond man was in
love with the sorceress, but he felt that he really didn't suit her nor deserve
her. 'Lina-chan deserves someone more intelligent than a fool like him,' he
thought. Lina-chan?! When did she become Lina-chan? He'd always called her Lina-san
not Lina-chan. "Am I falling for her, too?" he mused out loud.
It was a strange feeling, for him to
actually miss someone when she was only a few feet away. But that wasn't all he
wasn't sure, but he felt something new whenever the swordsman got closer to the
girl. Was this what humans called jealousy? How interesting. He was certainly
learning some very interesting things from these humans, he was glad Juu-ou-sama
hadn't gotten rid of them just yet.
Beyond the trees, above the clouds
There it was again with 'Lina-chan.'
Maybe he was falling in love with the human and maybe he wasn't, but he wasn't
going to stop traveling with her, not until he'd gotten every secret from her
and she was no longer needed.
Jumping down from the tree, he looked
one last time at the night sky, sighed, then went back to the camp.
'Screw, Juu-ou-sama,' he thought
bitterly as he secretly set up a kekkai. 'She never lets me leave the island and
I'm beginning to think she never will.'
I wanna know about these strangers like me
"Just what do you think you're
doing Xellos?" Her voice was sweet, but held undisguised anger.
"Forgive me, Juu-ou-sama,"
he said not at all remorseful. "I only wanted to know more about humans so
I could find more amusing was to torture them." It was a very good
explanation. After all it wasn't exactly a lie, but not completely the truth
either.
"I thought I told you not to go
near her."
"Pardon me, Juu-ou-sama, but you
didn't. You only told me to wait at the castle and I did," again another
half-truth.
Xelas smiled at her 'son's' answer.
"So I did, but you still disobeyed me."
"I know Juu-ou-sama and I am
willing to accept whatever punishment you have in mind," he said kneeling
before the giant wolf, his neck bared. He was really willing to be punished,
though he'd hate to see his chance at learning more slip through his fingers.
Again another smile from his master.
"Perhaps I spoke too hastily. It would please me if you kept an eye on that
girl for a while Xel-chan." She sat down on her haunches, tongue hanging
out.
"Juu-ou-sama?!" He asked,
truly surprised. She had never forgiven any servant of hers before.
"You heard me, Xellos. Don't
make me repeat myself," she growled.
"H-hai, Juu-ou-sama."
"Just don't let it happen
again." With that, she licked her 'son's' cheek and left the camp.
Xel couldn't believe his luck. She
practically gave him permission to leave the island, well she didn't exactly say
it, but she didn't say he couldn't keep an eye on Lina while she was OFF
the island. He went back to watching the beautiful sorceress sleeping, a huge
grin on his face.
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
"Yare, yare, you're up early,
Lina-chan," he said, "I thought Gourry-kun was supposed to be next.
'Lina-chan?!' For some reason, she
wasn't at all offended by the sudden familiarity. In fact, she kind of liked it.
"Well, you know how he is. He's so dense, he'd probably sleep through the
rebirth of Shabranigdo."
"Indeed," said the purple
haired priest, with his usual smiley face. "You don't have to do this if
you don't want to. I'm not really that tired."
"No it's all right, Xel,"
she said trying to hide the sudden blush on her cheeks, "I could use some
time to think."
"Oh what about?" he asked,
noticing not only her sudden use of his 'mother's' nickname, but the apparent
blush on her face. 'So that's what a blush looks like. It's rather cute on her.'
Lina stuck her finger in front of his face and said, "Sore wa himitsu desu."
Xellos smiled, utterly amused she should use his favorite saying. "Augh!!!
Now I'm doing it!" The red-haired sorceress immediately began to pummel him
into the ground. Meanwhile, Gourry kept snoring away through the whole thing.
"I'm sorry Amie, but I have to.
If I stay here, your brother would make sure we'd never see each other
again," said a young man with long, purple hair tied neatly in a ponytail
with a white ribbon.
"We'll never see each other, if
you do go. Take me with you!" she pleaded.
"I can't, that's just what Dalen
would expect. He'd use that as an excuse to set the whole village on me. You
know I'm not too popular around here," he said taking her hand in his.
"I don't care what that asshole
brother of mine or anyone else thinks! I love you!" She began to sob
against his chest.
"Amie, please don't cry. I'll
find a way to send for you or come back to get you. I promise," he said
stroking the girl's long, pale hair.
"Y-you promise?"
"I swear it." He titled her
tear-streaked face to his and kissed her.
"Amalthea! Where the hell are
you?!" came the most hated voice in their young lives.
"You'd better go, it'll be worse
for us if Dalen catches us,' he said gently pushing her away.
"But Xel-"
"We'll be together again
someday. I made a promise, so cheer up, ne?" He gave her one last kiss,
then picked up his meager belongings and ran off out of the village.
"Xel..." was all Amalthea
could say before breaking down into tears.
Wiping the rest of the tears from his
face, Xellos decided to forget about the whole thing and went about waking the
rest up. 'Nothing like a good hike to clear the mind,' he thought with a smile.
Where there's beauty beyond your dreams
"Xellos!!!!! What the hell in L-sama's
name are you doing?!!!" she screamed.
"Waking you up, Lina-chan. It
seems to have worked very well, too."
"Just don't try that
again," she said, her face as red as her hair.
'She's so kawaii when she does that,'
thought Xel, pleased with himself. "Ne, Lina-chan, I want to show you
something." Without waiting for an answer, he took her arm and phased them
out of the camp -
"Xellos where are we?" Lina
asked, more than just a little worried.
"Sore wa -"
"Don't," she said
threateningly, "even think of saying it." Smiling he just shrugged it
off and cast a light spell. Dancing in the light along the walls were thousands
of crystals each reflecting a million rainbows from the cascading water outside.
"Xel! It's- it's beautiful." She gazed in awe at the sheer beauty
around her.
"I knew you would like it,"
he said before daring to kiss her again.
Right now, with you
There's a world I need to know
Xellos smiled as he contentedly
stroked his lover's hair. "Lina-chan, I know you're awake. Why
pretend?"
Lina's eyes shot open, but she
refused to leave the comfortable position she was in. "How'd you
know?" she asked, holding him tighter.
"Sore wa-"
"Say it and this area's Dragon
Slave fodder," she said irritatedly. During their days together as
traveling companions, all she ever got to her questions was the now infamous
line he so loved to say: 'Sore wa himitsu desu.' And she didn't want to hear it
anymore. Quite frankly, it got on her nerves, if not Gourry's.
"You're no fun," he said
with mock hurt.
I wanna know about these strangers like me
"What is it Lina-chan?"
"You're a mazoku, right?"
she said looking at him straight in the face, now.
'Uh-oh, here it comes,' he thought.
He'd hoped Lina would never guess, but he knew she was too smart to fool for
long. He stayed silent for a long moment then, sighed. "I won't lie,
Lina-chan. I am a mazoku."
"I thought as much." She
rolled off him onto her back and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds
slowly roll by. "I knew you couldn't be human when you kept popping in and
out like that, and no human I know of can teleport like you just did with
me."
"You're angry with me?" he
asked, certain she'd never want to see him again.
"I should be, but I can't. First
of all, we never asked if you were so you had no reason to tell us you were.
Second..." Her voice trailed off, suddenly shy to admit what she was
feeling.
"Second?" he pressed.
"Second..." She paused
again then, swallowed before finishing. "I love you," she said turning
once again red as her hair.
He smiled, but not fully certain he
heard right. 'She loves me?!' At first he thought he might be dreaming again but
the warmth of the sunlight on his face was too real. He rolled over to one side
and clasped the little sorceress to him. "I love you, too, Lina-chan."
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
I wanna know
"We'd better get going,"
she said finding it extremely hard to leave his arms as she got up.
"I guess so," he said
annoyed at swordsman's intrusion. "But before we go, I have a favor to ask
Lina-chan." He gently placed his arm around her shoulder, causing her to
blush a little.
"Yeah sure, what is it Xel?"
"Don't tell him about this place
o.k. I want it to be our little secret, ne?"
Lina thought about it, glancing at
the serene beauty of the waterfall and lake before them, remembering the cave
hidden behind the waterfall. "It'd be a shame not to let him see this, but
all right, I won't tell him."
Xellos smiled. "Arigatou,
Lina-chan." He gave her another kiss, which she returned ten-fold.
"Oi Lina! Xellos!" came
Gourry's voice more insistent this time.
"Come along, love before he
hurts himself."
Lina, disappointed he broke their kiss, sighed and let herself be teleported
with him.
"Xel and I had a little, um,
discussing to do, and well we didn't want to wake you," she said feeling a
tiny blush cross her face.
'Xel? When did she start calling him
that?' he thought as he noticed the mazoku had his hand around her waist. 'That
must be why,' he thought forlornly. "Oh, that's all right, Lina. I had a
good nap, so I'm ready to go if you are," he said hiding the hurt and
disappointment he was feeling inside.
Unnoticed to her, but to Gourry, Xel
began to smirk once he picked up on Gourry's emotions. It seemed to say, 'You
never had a chance with her you fool. So go ahead and give up like a good boy.'
"Xel said there's a port nearby
so we should be able to find a boat," she said turning away from her
friend. She could see she had hurt him, but she really did love Xellos and
Gourry was more like her big brother than someone she could love.
Gourry smiled, falsely of course, and
started off after the two lovers.
"I've never been more sure in my
life, Lina-chan," he whispered back.
Satisfied, Lina gave him a quick kiss
on the cheek and boarded the ship.
Taking one last look at his home,
Xellos caught sight of a girl with long snow-white hair in a lavender dress. 'Juu-ou-sama?'
he asked but she was too frail, too transparent to be his master.
She smiled, waved good-bye before
saying, "I'll always love you, Xel."
Startled, he blinked, then looked to
see she had vanished. Shrugging it off, Xellos turned and followed his lover
onto the ship.