"My my, either you're getting more perceptive, or I'm getting sloppy," says the self-declared Trickster Priest, floating down behind her.
"Stuff it, fruitcake!" Lina replies, a bit more irritable than usual.
"Did somebody get up in the wrong bed this morning?" before she can reply, the Mazoku is behind her, "You should do that more often; I like it." He whispers, his mouth very close to her ear. Shortly following is the sound of her fist meeting his face.
"Such gratitude for a compliment," says Xellos, shedding crocodile tears, "What would your mother say?" the sorceress just glares at him. After the passing drama troupe beats up Xellos and takes back the crocodile tears he stole, Lina begins.
"I… I have to ask for a favor."
"Shame shame, Lina-chan! But I do love it when you talk dirty."
"Hentai!" while a singed Mazoku peels himself off the tree, Lina decides to ask, before she chickens out entirely, "I need something… it's for Zel, and I know you can get it."
"And what might that be?"
"Don't act stupid."
"It will cost you."
"I know." Lina sighs, "What's your price?"
"Eye for an eye: you lose any chance of fulfilling your wish to grant his." The priest explains, solemn for the moment.
Okay, so I won't end up being the richest and most powerful sorceress in the world… but wait, I don't think he could really stop that, and it's not so much a wish as a goal. So what could he possibly… of course; my appearance, his appearance will change, per his wish, and mine will not. Is it worth the price? Xellos watches as Lina's lips move without sound, her forehead wrinkled in thought, To make him happy? Perhaps to make him realize…? Yes, it's worth it.
"Alright, Xellos, I accept." She says, trying to keep herself from going off into la la land; she would put herself in rehab if she started seeing those little hearts everywhere, like Amelia was prone to.
"They say to be careful what you wish for, it might just come true."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" Xellos smirks, waggling his finger. Lina's eye twitches; Xellos quickly shuts up to avoid another fireball.
* * *
Zelgadis, on the opposite side of town, is sitting on a rock. His expression is as stony as usual, his eyes almost searing in contemplation, bottomless in deep thought. Finally, he closes his eyes and stands, as though having made a decision.
"Fruitcake," he says quietly.
"Well, I guess I have been getting sloppy." The priest floating above him says. Zel looks up and raises a questioning eyebrow; Xellos just waggles a finger in his 'that is a secret' gesture.
"I need to ask you a favor…"
"Hmmm… wonder if it's the new cologne that's making everyone throw themselves at me?" The Mazoku says, sniffing himself. Zelgadis grabs him by the front of his robes and brings him down in front of himself, his mouth on the verge of a snarl.
"Now now, force will get you nowhere Zelly-kun… then again, I do like it rough!" Xellos has to pry himself off of a tree for the second time that day.
"I need something for Lina… I know you can get it." Zelgadis begins, gritting his teeth.
"Great minds really do think alike." The Trickster Priest whispers to himself, "This could be good, or even better, bad."
"I think you know what it is…"
"Know what what is?"
"Don't screw with me, Xellos."
"Really, I'm clueless." Xellos says, trying to sound as sincere as possible. He fails horribly.
"I'm going to have to spell it out to you, aren't I?" Zelgadis asks, at Xellos' still attempted-confused expression, he grits his teeth, "She wants… to be more developed."
"More developed? Well, I do admit she's a bit immature… always fireballing first and asking questions later." If looks could kill, even Zellas would have died beneath that glare.
"She wants to be more developed… physically."
"So she wants bigger…"
"Don't even say it, fruitcake."
"It will cost you."
"I know…" Zelgadis sighs, "What's your price?"
"A wish for a wish… your appearance for hers."
So, I'll never find a cure? Is she worth it? She'll never accept me as I am now… but perhaps I should take her advice… I'll never be accepted, even if I were human; I would be helpless to help anyone… and she would be happy; she wants to be the richest, more powerful, and most beautiful sorceress in the world… at least I can help her with the third part. She's worth it.
"I accept." Zelgadis says finally. Xellos just smiles, the way he does when he knows something that no one else does.
Whether good or bad, this will certainly be interesting. The Mazoku thinks.
* * *
As we all well know, Zel hates crowds. So Lina had no idea why he would be right in the middle of one, making it all the more difficult for her to get to him.
Why does he have to pick now to become sociable? She thinks, looking for a spot where she can cut into the crowd, but nothing reveals itself. Zel is in the flow, unable to get out, spinning around as though looking for something, Perhaps planning to do this during the festival wasn't such a good idea after all… then Zelgadis seemed to spot what he was looking for; their eyes locked for a second, then he began pushing his way through the crowd to her. Unfortunately, it took a moment for the people in the crowd to realize the man pushing through them was made of stone; a few of them end up with bruised noses before they begin getting out of his way in advance.
He finally makes his way through the crowd to her, "Uhhh…"
"Well uhhh to you too." Lina replies, grinning at his nervousness. Wasn't she usually the emotional one? So why did she feel so calm while he seemed so nervous? She thought it must be that her nerves had frazzled themselves hours ago.
"Why don't we get out of the crowd a bit more?" he asks, fidgeting somewhat.
"Sure." They manage to shove their way out of the main festival grounds only by virtue of a walking wall and one easily recognized Dragon Spooker. Eventually they made it to a bench just outside of easy view from the festival grounds.
"So…" they both say at once. Zelgadis stops and begins fidgeting again; Lina grabs a hand to stop him from doing that.
"What's the matter, Zel? You seem nervous." Lina berates herself for making such an obvious and slightly cliché statement, but waits for him to speak.
"Umm… it's just… Did you notice that we met exactly one year ago?" the tremors in his voice strike her as more than they should be.
"As a matter of fact, I did. I even got you a present!" She says, digging in her dimensional pocket for something.
"You did? Funny, so did I." His gift is much more easily accessed, and they end up pulling both out at the same time. Lina holds out a plushie of Zel, but fully human, just as he holds out one of her, except older, and more developed. Both sets of eyes snap to what the other holds in their hands; they narrow.
"Did you get that where I think you got it?" Lina asks, sensing the magic about it.
"Did you get that where you think I got this?"
"Xellos…" they both growl at once. Lina suddenly bursts out laughing, almost hysterically.
"He really got me this time… he made that invalid with what I paid for this…" she says. Then she notices the sour look on Zelgadis' face, "Oh no, you didn't…"
"I did." He answers, closing his eyes in a grimace.
"I never imagined…"
"Never imagined what?" he asks, curious.
"That you would give up your hope for a cure… especially for me."
"Seems we're both in the same dilemma…"
"Dilemma? I see no dilemma for me; I don't care what you look like… especially if it makes you weaker for it. I just thought you could be happier…"
"So we both…" Zel starts, and then stops. Their eyes meet, both realizing what the other had given up for them; they lean slowly toward each other, and their lips meet softly. They pull slightly apart, then they are embracing, the small figures forgotten; because of that, they do not notice them changing back, into the form they really are.
"If fruitcake tries to use this as a lever…" Lina whispers when they have to come up for air.
"We'll beat him to a pulp." Zel finishes with a chuckle.
* * *
Said Mazoku was hiding in the bushes, listening, "Well, at least I got a snack out of them before they got disgustingly mushy." He mumbles to himself, "I knew this would end up this way… even if there could have been more anger involved… am I going soft in my old age?" Xellos looks out of his hiding place, toward a corner of the festival; there's a juggler, with torches, wearing only a loincloth, as most of the fancier fire-jugglers do. Xellos grins; one of the torches slips out of his grip, setting his loincloth on fire on its way to the ground. Xellos gets his evening meal as the juggler runs around, looking for a barrel of water, all of which in the area having seemed to have tipped over…
"Nope, still evil."
Author's note: Yeah, I know it might be a little OOC, but I attribute that to whatever oddball magic Xellos worked to do it.
Author's conscience: It's called Justification.
Author: You shut up