Author's Note: Sorry to interrupt the chapter transition, but I couldn't resist saying something for very much longer. This story is a bit different from what I used to write--it doesn't have the usual drama/darker tones that characterize my other stories. I tried for a more lighthearted tone this time around, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit at the moment. It's also not completely-explicitly Xelloss x Lina sappy romance. Instead, I'm just playing around with the coupling, letting them interact with one another a bit more naturally. Don't worry though; my biases haven't changed.


An Oath to Oblivion – Chapter 3

After Lina was sufficiently fed, the two traveled down the road toward Saillune on horseback. Lina insisted on having the reins, so Xelloss took to lounging behind her backwards on the saddle. She wondered if he would fall off sitting that way but figured it wasn't something she needed to be concerned about. He could take care of himself.

She started off with a casual trot. The time was already midday, so reaching Saillune before nightfall was probably out of the question. She wasn't in particularly any hurry to get there either.

She heard Xelloss sipping a cup of tea behind her and rolled her eyes. He turned his head around slightly to ask, "Would you like some?"

"No, that's alright," she responded. Even after three years, he still liked to drink his afternoon tea. She couldn't help but smile a little at the strangely heartwarming thought.

Xelloss noticed that she was suddenly pleased with something, and opened an eye curiously to see if he could figure out what the reason for that was. Lina continued to be lost in thought, and though Xelloss couldn't quite decipher the reasons behind her actions, he found that a silly little grin had also formed on his face. He dismissed her strange behavior from his mind and went back to enjoying his tea, grinning all the while.

ooooo

Since they had made good progress during the day, Lina decided it would be fine to retire a bit early. Fortunately, despite passing around a couple of towns, they were able to avoid any sort of confrontation with people. The lack of delays put them ahead of schedule--the sun was still setting--and thus Lina decided to stop for dinner and rest.

Lina crouched down next to a stream with a makeshift rod and line in her hands. She was using her magic to attract fish for dinner while Xelloss monitored the small campfire they made. They kept the fire small to prevent the production of larger amounts of smoke, thus keeping their location a bit more concealed from travelers on the road. As a result, it seemed ready to blow out at any second, so Xelloss was stuck watching it.

"Yes!" Lina shouted enthusiastically, pulling out a large trout from the water. Xelloss sighed and shrugged, wondering if she realized she was attracting attention by being noisy.

"Oh well," he thought, but ended up smiling anyway. "Lina-san will be Lina-san."

When she was satisfied with her pile of fish, she began to skewer them and stand them up next to the fire. She was humming a happy tune, much to Xelloss's discomfort, but she was so absorbed in her task that she failed to notice the grimace on his face. He watched her silently with his chin propped in the palm of his hand. It must be tedious to have to do this all the time, he thought, not understanding how the sorceress could be enjoying herself.

Despite being twenty-years-old, Lina was still very immature. He did, however, notice that her physical attributes matured. Her face no longer had a childish shape; her cheeks were not as round as they had been before. It gave her face an overall longer shape that made her look older, and consequently more attractive. Despite those changes, she still retained generally the same height and body shape. Her shoulders still looked so small from behind.

She laid her cape down on the ground and sat upon it to stretch and relax. While the fish cooked, she turned to Xelloss and asked, "So what have you been up to all this time?"

"Huh? Oh…just annoying duties and things." Honestly, he had gotten really bored over the years carrying out small errands for his master. That's why he was so glad to see Lina. She at least made things a little more interesting, and she had a habit of attracting trouble--trouble that included him.

"That's all?" she asked, turning back to gaze at the fire. "I haven't seen you around, so I figured you were really busy with something."

A moment of silence passed before she spoke again. "I kind of thought for a while that I couldn't get rid of you, but then you suddenly disappeared," she said and paused again. "It's weird of me to say this, but I kind of missed having you around."

He raised an eyebrow. Was he really hearing her right? "You missed me?"

"Yeah," she said, and looked at him again. "I mean, you always caused a lot of mischief and sent us on wild goose chases, but somehow it still felt like you were part of the group." She scratched her head, then smiled and added, "Zel might not agree, but I know Amelia and Gourry thought of you as one of us."

She missed the disconcerted look on his face. As she began to feast on the fish, Xelloss sat quietly in confusion. They've just been deceived because I appear human, he thought. I've always been a mazoku, and thus I will never be one of you.

And that was the truth.

ooooo

Lina snored quite loudly in her sleep. She also had a habit of tossing and turning, along with sleep talking. Xelloss watched her amusedly for a while before temporarily leaving her side.

He arrived at his master's lair to check in. He had been absent for two days, and she had not yet sent word for him. That wasn't too strange, but if she knew where he had been, it was strange that she had not called him back during that time period.

Beastmaster was not present inside of her chambers, so that probably meant that she was outside spending time with her pets. He went outside to see, and sure enough, she was standing in the middle of a pack of wolves. They were all competing for her attention--a normal sight. Strong creatures desired the affection of stronger beings, and Zelas was the strongest of them.

"Is that you, Xelloss?" she asked without turning around. In her left hand she had her usual smoke; her right hand reached down to stroke the muzzle of one of the wolves.

"Yes, juu-ou-sama."

"Back from your little excursion?"

He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well… I thought you might have an assignment for me."

She tapped the ashes off the tip of her cigarette before responding. "And if I don't?"

He hesitated before responding, unsure whether or not his master was dissatisfied with his actions. If she was, the act of hiding it was strange; if she wasn't, that in itself was strange. He thought carefully about his reply before speaking, "Then I will continue to wait for your command."

She petted the wolf on the head gently before turning around and approaching her subordinate. She stopped before him with her arms crossed, weight shifted onto one leg. "Xelloss, I don't care what you do as long as your allegiance remains with me," she said. "If you find the girl that interesting, then by all means go and amuse yourself. Just make sure to return."

He kneeled before her. "Of course, juu-ou-sama."

She reached down with her left hand to stroke his hair, keeping in mind that he did not appreciate being felt with the same hand that she used to please the other creatures on Wolf Pack Island. She exhaled a long stream of smoke before finally saying, "You're free to go."

He kept his head down as he vanished from her presence. Her reaction had been on the extreme mild side, which confused him, but he figured there was nothing more to what she had shown. Beastmaster wasn't the type to hide feelings of discontent from him.

ooooo

Xelloss returned to find Lina exactly where he had left her. It seemed that her snoring got quieter as the night went along; it had been reduced from a loud rumble to a small hum. She had rolled over onto her side with her cape lazily pulled over her midsection in an effort to fight off the cold. The fire had long been out, and all that was left of it was cinder.

He pulled off his own cape and set it down atop Lina's sleeping figure, careful not to disturb her rest. He then sat down next to her and rested his head on his arms and knees as he watched her from the side. "Rest well while you can, Lina-san," he whispered.

ooooo

Breakfast the next morning consisted of the rest of the reserves Xelloss had bought from Zefielia. Lina was just biting into the last loaf of bread and stash of fruits when they were interrupted by unwanted visitors.

"Tell us, are you that ex-convict with the twelve-million ransom on your head?" the group of bounty hunters asked. There were three people present: one seemed to be a skinny looking sorcerer, one wielded a long sword, and the last was a robust man with an axe slung over his shoulder.

"You should turn tail and run now while you have the chance," Lina muttered through a mouth stuffed with food. After she swallowed, she added, "You don't have a chance in hell against me."

Her comment seemed to bring about the opposite reaction. "Now that you've provoked us, there's no way we're leaving without your head!" the swordsman--seemingly the leader--declared. "We, the mighty Dragon-"

"Fireball!"

When the smoke cleared, Lina found Swordboy and Axe-wielder unconscious on the ground, covered in soot. She scratched the side of her head in confusion. "Hm? I could have sworn there were three."

"Flare Arrow!"

Lina caught the glint of fire out of the corner of her eye and rolled to the side to dodge the attack. The surrounding area went up in a small explosion, and after the dust cleared she could see that the Skinny One had escaped into the refuge of a tree above her. She coughed and wafted the dirt away from her face, then stood up to confront her attacker. "Seems like you managed to survive my attack," she said loudly, and put one hand on her hip. She gave him a smug, cocky look, trying to provoke him into letting down his defense.

Xelloss discreetly scooted over to her side and leaned over to whisper, "Lina-san, look there."

She followed the direction of his finger with her eyes and noticed that the rest of her breakfast had been caught in the explosion before. "Ahhh," she whined, jaw dropping in disbelief. "My food."

The sorcerer was not willing to wait until they were done talking, and thus began chanting a spell. "Freeze-"

"My food!" Lina screeched angrily, and let loose a spell from her hands. "Mega brand!"

The entire tree went up in smoke, sending the Skinny One flying off into the sky. Lina huffed furiously, but then she suddenly dropped to her knees with waterfalls of tears pouring down from her eyes. "Why do these bullies always show up when I'm trying to eat? I just want to be able to enjoy my food in peace! Why am I always being picked on?" she whined childishly.

"Lina-san," Xellos said as he tapped on her shoulder.

"What is it," she began in a threatening tone, but her face brightened when she saw what he had to offer. "Ah! For me?" she asked, and clasped her hands together joyfully.

He gave her the handful of apples that he managed to save from the explosion before and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, well," he said, and left her alone to devour the fruit as he walked away to offer the horse some water.

ooooo

It wasn't a good idea to approach Saillune as she was--someone might recognize her--so Lina planned to change into a disguise to hopefully offset her pursuers for a little. The city, with all its justice maniacs, would probably be in an uproar over her escape. Parading into it was probably out of the question.

She pulled half of her hair back with a couple of hairpins and pulled on a common blouse and skirt that hopefully wouldn't make her stand out as much in the crowd. She ditched her usual accessories and fought with a pair of boots that an average country girl would wear. Then she handed her possessions over to Xelloss for safekeeping, since he didn't plan on following her into the capital. They both figured that Amelia wouldn't respond well to their current partnership, so they decided to save themselves some hardship and avoided the situation entirely.

Lina let Xelloss handle the reins for the rest of the trip and consequently sat sidesaddle behind him. She wasn't particularly used to sitting that way, but she figured it was unavoidable while wearing a skirt. She sighed. That's why I hate wearing skirts, she thought.

"We'll probably reach Saillune before noon," Xelloss commented, glancing around the area to see how much further they had left to travel. If he was correct about their location, they would be able to see the city after crossing the large hilly area in front of them on the road.

"Most likely," Lina replied. She was struggling a bit with her balance as the horse trotted along. She had one hand atop the horse's back and the other clutching onto Xelloss's cloak, but that overall did not offer much help. Enduring it for the rest of the trip might be a bit uncomfortable.

Xelloss glanced over his shoulder. "Lina-san, are you sure you're okay back there?"

"Of course," she replied, forcing a smile.

He opened an eye to look at her. "Really, now?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, and averted her gaze.

He closed his eye again and turned his head forward. "Wouldn't it be better for you if you sat in front of me?" he suggested.

Her eyes widened for a second, but then she laughed nervously and replied, "No, that's okay…W-wait what are you-"

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her around, placing her down gently in front of him. "See, isn't that better?" he asked, fully aware of the bright red color that swept across Lina's cheeks. He even poked his face into her space to further annoy her.

She buried her face in her hand and turned away from him. "This guy…" she muttered at first, knowing that the mischievous priest enjoyed playing these games with her. But then she soon changed her sentiments. "Oh well, whatever is fine," she thought, and gave in. It certainly was more accommodating for her to sit in front of him, supported by his weight and arms. It just felt a bit out of character.

ooooo

Saillune was just a bit further down the road, so they abandoned the horse and traveled the rest of the trip on foot. As they approached the entrance to Saillune, Lina initiated a conversation topic she had been trying to avoid. "Hey, Xelloss… I know I owe a lot to you right now, so if you think of something just let me know," she humbly said. Somehow, the thought that he would ask for something completely outrageous never crossed her mind, and she would soon come to regret making the offer.

"Hmm repayment…" Xelloss paused for a second to think, but then an interesting idea came to mind. Expecting a great reaction out of it, he suggested, "How about a kiss?"

"K-k-k-kiss!?" Lina repeated, alarmed and blushing furiously at the idea. "S-stop joking around! How could you even ask for such a thing from a pure-hearted maiden like myself?"

He chuckled and leaned in closer. "Then what else would you have me ask for?" he inquired, giving her a serious look in the eye.

Lina took a step back.He's not being serious, is he, she wondered. Too shocked to react, she gazed at him with the helpless look of a deer, unmoving.

Xelloss managed to keep the joke up for only a second longer before he burst out into laughter. He fell to the ground clutching his sides, laughing hysterically like a hyena. Lina was dumbfounded for a moment before anger took over, spreading slowly across the features on her face. "Why, you..."

Xelloss phased out, dodging her elbow that smashed into the ground and sent chunks of debris flying into the air. He reappeared behind her in the air, still fighting to catch his breath as he laughed uncontrollably. Numerous veins began to pop out of Lina's skull; fire ignited in her eyes. She quietly began to mutter a spell.

Xelloss paused in his laughter. "Hm?"

Lina suddenly whirled around. "…by the power you and I possess! Dragon Slave!"

He smiled and vanished, dodging the line of fire that shot into the sky. "I'll take that reaction for now until I think of something better," his voice echoed. Lina was left seething to herself, cursing him and his stupid sense of humor. She would get him back for that one someday.

ooooo

Luckily, it seemed like no one recognized her under the pretense of being an ordinary girl from the countryside. She was right in predicting that groups of bounty hunters and heroes would be on high alert after her escape from Noonbaga; they flocked the streets like a clan of rats in a maze. Fortunately, they were so wrapped up in proving their status as "most powerful" to one another that she was able to make her way to the palace grounds effortlessly. Knowing it would be difficult to actually get into the castle to speak to Amelia, she instead approached a guard and asked, "Is Princess Amelia going to appear in public today?"

"Yes ma'am. The princess will be delivering an important speech today in the town square. All are encouraged to attend," he replied.

"Great! Thanks!"

As Lina turned around to leave, the guard spoke up. "Wait a minute."

Damn, Lina thought, thinking her guise had been seen through. She slowly turned around and innocently asked, "What is it?"

The guard approached her slowly with a serious look on his face. Great, what do I do now, Lina wondered. She glanced around in all directions to see if there was somewhere she could lure him to first before disposing of him, but unfortunately the city was so populated at the time that it was an impossible idea. She hid her hand behind her back and prepared a sleeping spell, just in case there was no room to run.

He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling it forward. Lina panicked and prepared to fire off the spell, but she was interrupted when he asked, "Are you by any chance an expert pastry chef?"

"Huh?" Lina wondered aloud, making a strange face at him. The spell made a small popping sound as it dispelled from her fingertips, scattering a couple of small sparks into the air. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you should never judge a person by their appearances," he replied.

Lina sighed and slapped a hand to her face. Did everyone from Saillune make that assumption? "Now look here…"

"Then, are you trying to say you're some sort of dangerous criminal that's capable of mass destruction and chaos?" the guard asked, leaning in threateningly.

Lina backed up defensively and started to laugh nervously. "Of-of course not! That's absolutely absurd!" She put her hand effeminately in front of her mouth and laughed some more. "A beautiful young woman like me? No way!"

He glared at her for a good while before laughing along with her. "I was just joking! Don't look so scared little girl. I was just teasing you because you were cute," he said.

"Eh? Is that so?" Lina exhaled a sigh of relief. That scared me, she thought.

"Gah!"

Lina blinked. The voice sounded incredibly familiar. She spun around to find Amelia standing there before her, pointing at her in disbelief. The girl looked like she had seen a ghost.

"L-L-L-Lin-"

Lina quickly dashed over and slapped a hand over the princess's mouth, preventing the girl from saying another word. She turned to face the guard and awkwardly laughed again. "Well what do you know! I didn't think that little Amelia-san was the princess of Saillune."

The guard raised an eyebrow. "You've met?"

Amelia struggled to escape Lina's grasp, but Lina kept a firm hold on the princess. "Ahaha, we ran into each other before," she replied.

He paused. "What was your name again?"

Lina searched through her mind for a quick response. "L-Linda."

Amelia broke free of Lina's grasp. She turned around to face her and prepared to lecture the sorceress, but after seeing Lina's subtle look, she refrained from doing so. Instead, she turned to the guard and said, "Thank you for ushering my friend Linda-san to the castle. You are dismissed."

He saluted her and strode back to his post. After he left, Amelia turned to Lina and put her hands on her hips. "Lina-san, I hope you have a good explanation for all of this," she said.

Lina scratched her head, frustrated and unable to believe what just happened. "Trust me, I do," she said. "Well, I guess now I don't have to go around town thinking of a way to meet with you."

Amelia was skeptical of her friend's sudden appearance. She glanced around warily, afraid that someone might recognize Lina and make the incorrect assumption that the princess was consorting with criminals. She stepped closer to Lina and whispered, "Lina-san, why don't you go wait inside the castle for me? You'll be safe in the guest room. Do you remember where that is?"

"Sure I do," Lina replied, wondering why the princess was being all discreet all of a sudden.

"Then I'll return to hear your story later today. I have to take care of some things first."

Lina watched as the princess walked off, not once glancing back at her. She put a finger to the side of her head and thought, "She has gotten taller…" Then she scowled as she added, "And it seems like her breasts got bigger again."

She kicked a small rock in frustration and stomped off towards the palace, heading towards her destination to wait. She was not feeling pleased.