SailorStar9: Anyway, prologue goes up. This is Chapter 1. To all my non-reviewing readers, I love you all! Will love you more if you review! *hugs all round!*
Disclaimers: Nothing here is mine, well, except the plot and the pairing.
Chapter 1: The Roguish Priest! His Name is Xellos!
"I told you I'm on a journey to find the Claire Bible, but," Zelgadis admitted, once the group made a pit-stop at a nearby inn. "And I made it clear that this is my own personal problem. But even so… would you please stop following and criticizing me? Are you even listening?" he roared amidst the sound of food gobbling.
"Wrong question, love." Aria reminded, swallowing her lettuce.
"Fine, either eat or talk." Zelgadis sighed.
"You dug into that one yourself." Aria grinned, stabbing a tomato slice as the others continue to eat.
"My bad." Zelgadis muttered. "Please stop eating and listen."
"Even if you say that, do you expect us to say 'Sure, whatever.' Like we're strangers or something?" Lina snapped.
"You're being so distant, Zelgadis." Amelia chided. "And after we're all finally reunited like this, too. We'll do whatever we can to help."
"You all just consider me your personal diversion." Zelgadis pointed out.
"Cut that out." Lina chided. "It's not like that."
"Yeah, of course not." Amelia agreed.
"Very well," Zelgadis relented. "I just ask you to stay out of my way. Because I'm risking everything on finding the Claire Bible, a mysterious book of sorcery which supposedly contains the deepest secrets of the sorcery and demons of the netherworld."
"And what will you do when you find it?" Amelia wondered.
"Now, look…" Zelgadis muttered, facefaulting off the table, Aria looking on in worry.
"Zel wants to use the spells in the Claire Bible to turn himself from a chimera back into a normal human." Lina explained.
"You still want to do that?" Amelia exclaimed. "But you're so cool the way you are now."
"Well, I don't like it." Zelgadis retorted.
"Considering he says he hates it," Lina pointed out.
"But why, Zelgadis?" Amelia pressed. "Even if you look different, our friendship is eternal. Besides that…"
"With friends like this…" Zelgadis sighed.
"Aspirin?" Aria offered him her mediation bottle.
"Amelia, can't you be a little more subtle?" Lina chided. "How he has skin like a rock and hair that's like wire."
"I never said that much." Amelia retorted, Aria giving her other half a fair bit of leeway when the chimera slammed his head on the table. "Besides, you should never give judge people by appearances."
"Enough, I'm going to bed." Zelgadis straightened himself.
"Think we teased him a little too much?" Lina wondered.
"We were teasing him?" Amelia gaped.
"Yare, yare." Aria shook her head. "Guess I'll have to calm him down later."
"You know Lina was just teasing, right?" Aria deathpanned, appearing via a water puddle on the floor of Zelgadis' room.
"Right…" the chimera muttered.
"And you, my dear." Aria chided. "Are too tense. Now," she kissed a pebble on his chin. "Don't we have lots of catching up to do?"
"What the…" Zelgadis was up in an instant upon hearing the explosion in the distance, later that night.
"What's the betting that's Lina's doing?" Aria joked.
"Sucker bet, Aria." Zelgadis smirked.
"Rain Cloud!" Aria doused the flames with an area spell. "I know you're there. Come on out!" she ordered, flickering an icicle at one of the high-rising wooden frames.
"My, my." Xellos applauded. "I'm quite impressed. So, it was worth my while to secretly follow you all." He landed before Lina. "I have a reason. I, too, am looking for the Claire Bible. If you don't mind, I was wondering if you might retrieve a manuscript of it from a bandit gang I've been following."
"Who are you?" Lina demanded.
"Have no worries." Xellos assured. "I'm not someone to suspect. As you can see, I am Xellos, the Mysterious Priest."
"Don't worry." Zelgadis assured, taking out the leader of the Fighting Dragon's Blood Macho Battlers with his sword. "I struck you with the back of the sword."
"But, isn't that sword double-bladed?" Aria reminded.
"Oops." Zelgadis smirked.
"You sure don't look apologetic." Aria sighed.
"Hey, Zel, Aria!" Lina shouted from the hole in the ceiling she and Xellos were hiding in. "You were after that thing right from the start, weren't you-? You acted like you were on your own and then just followed us in."
"Nothing personal." Zelgadis claimed the manuscript. "I never intended to involve in this." grabbing Aria, he took off. "Now then, no reason for us to stay here any longer. You…" he frowned when Xellos appeared before them.
"Forgive me, you need to let me check that out first." Xellos explained.
"Damn!" Zelgadis cursed when Xellos snatched the manuscript away. "Damn you! Give that back to me!"
"I'll give it to you now, once I know it's of no use to me." Xellos replied.
"Flare…" Zelgadis charged up his attack.
"Zel, wait!" Aria tried to stop him.
"Arrow!" the chimera fired his attack.
"Men…" Aria sighed, Xellos guarding the attack with a barrier.
"Such an impetuous person." Xellos chided.
"Xellos, wait." Lina protested. "You promised him he'd get the information he needs. Come back down here."
"Never mind, Lina." Zelgadis growled. "Nothing will stop me now…"
"He won't…" Aria gulped.
"Buday…" Zelgadis powered up another spell.
"Zel, stop!" Aria shouted.
"Wind!" Zelgadis blasted his attack anyway.
"Do we have to go through the 'Restrain' lesson again?" Aria deathpanned, her 'Water Lock' having deflected the falling debris.
"As long as I have this…" Zelgadis claimed the manuscript.
"Okay…" Aria blinked when the papers were burnt to a crisp. "Can't say I was expecting that."
"It seems that wasn't eh manuscript I'm looking for, after all." Xellos' voice echoed through the room. "I couldn't have you looking at those troubling pages now, so I took the liberty of destroying them. Don't worry. The information you wasn't in any of those pages."
"You think I can believe you?" Zelgadis snapped.
"Whether you believe me or not is up to you." Xellos replied. "I'm sure we'll meet again. And when we do, I'll have another job for you all."
"Xellos, what are you really after?" Lina demanded.
"That…" Xellos started. "Is a secret."
"Oh dear…" Aria went into full medic mode after Zelgadis passed out.
SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is finally down. Read and review folks.
