Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers. They belong to...um... some people .
Im introducing the rest of the little characters since everyone does them!
I would have made a story of them long ago if I had the time and I managed to piece the plot together, but this'll have to do for now.
Ral: Uhh..hello. Nice to meet you..
Taka: Yo. I'm her love interest and she's mine. Which would make me a guy.
AC: ONE of your love interests, anyway..
Ral: Not so loud..!!-squirms-
Taka: Hey, hey, you're not talking, Take.
Take: What shall I say..?
Taka: That guy looks like me and he's the practically non-existent member of the group. He never lies or cheats, which is going to lead to his downfall one day because he's a shapeshifter.
Ral: Taka...
Taka: Yes, Ral-chan?
Ral: ...
Taka: Speaking of which, we haven't told everyone AC's gender yet!
AC: WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??
Take: Enjoy.
Setfiregirl: Ehh!! Now that you mentioned it, I typed TEA instead of COFFEE! Shoots! But it is startling to think that you were thinking of coffee too. Maybe I'll review your fics when I find myself a competent reviewer. xD.. Thanks a lot, really. Dont know what to say. . (edit: I changed it to coffee!)
If even one person hangs around to read to the end of this super long story, then I'll not stop :).
That said, what is a writer but one who promises to improve for her readers?
Filia awoke to the faint rays of sunshine, finding herself laid on a soft bed. The opened an eye and cringed at the bright light barely filtered from the thin white curtains. She blinked, slowly opened both her eyes and adjusted to the illuminated surroundings quite unlike yesterday night.
Yesterday night!
Filia bolted upright, hissed in pain and immediately fell back on her pillow.
Sitting across the room near the door, Lina snapped awake. She looked at her for a moment, then gave her a warm smile.
"Morning, Filia."
Filia chewed her lip. She wasn't sure if she could respond. Lina stood up, stretched and gave a big yawn.
"I'll go check up on the guys."
Filia trusted herself to give a small nod. Lina returned her with one, got up, stretched slightly and left the door wide open as she left. Fresh air wafted in. It was a brand new, crisp morning.
The extertions of yesterday left her muscles sore and aching. She lifted a hand, and examined it to her shoulder. Then the other. She looked across her legs, and felt about her face and neck.
No injuries. She threw him laser breaths the near equal speed of bullets and he'd returned minimal offense.
There was a particularly spot of purple bruise around her thighs, though...
She grit her teeth. She'd never be able to take him on. Too strong. Too powerful.
Just what was she really fighting for...? Was it worth it? It had to be, because..
She looked around the room, and noticed that Amelia wasn't around. That was odd - didn't the girls usually share a -
"WHAT DO Y'MEAN YOU FELL ASLEEP?"
The scream was followed by a blast, the unhingeing of a door and finally a lot of dust.
Gourry, crawling backwards on his back, was moving across the hallway such that Filia could see him with a perpetually confused look.
"What are you so mad about, Lina?!"
"What am I mad about? What. Am. I. MAD ABOUT?"
Filia sweatdropped from her position of hugging her blanket and blinking.
"Alright jellyfish, I'll tell you what I'm so mad about. First I ask a perfectly strong and capable swordsman to carry Filia because she'd fainted, but the genius oh-so-accidentally DROPPED her -"
Oh. So that's how she got that bruise. She poked it and her muscles tensed in pain.
" - then I ask him to make sure Amelia returns by midnight, but he very conveniently chose to fall asleep especially after I'd told him to keep watch!!"
Gourry blinked.
"Do you understand, jelly brains??"
"Well, yeah, sort of I guess, Lina.. But who's 'Swordsman'?"
"GOURRY!!!"
Filia ducked under the covers as a very furious Lina in pink nightgown sent a huge fireball down the hallway.
"Heyhey, what's with the noise..?"
Zelgadis lumbered out of his room and yawned, barely registering a burnt Gourry down the hall. He sniffed the air.
"Do I smell coffee...?"
"Go do whatever you want! Sheesh."
Lina stomped away.
"Lina..?"
Then Zelgadis turned to Filia, and one side of his mouth tautened to form a half-smile.
"Morning."
"Morning, Mr.Zelgadis."
"Did you sleep well? I don't think my arms were very comfortable for a priestess."
"Ah, no, I'm fine. You did carry me all night after all.. Thank you."
"Well you were sorta heavy.." Zelgadis murmured.
"..What did you say??"
"Seriously..." muttered Lina. She was viciously tearing away at the pile of pancakes. Every now and again, she said this and that under her breath, unwilling to let her anger go.
"What in the world ... going to do now.. honestly.. Amelia.."
Filia mentally sighed as she stared in her swirling cup of tea. Even the intricate patterns embedded in the interior of the vessel didn't cheer her mood one bit.
Gourry reached for another pancake.
"Gourry, THAT'S MINE!!"
She slammed his hand down.
There was a pause, then Gourry blinked.
Lina continued gobbling away. Zelgadis let a breath of air out, stretched his arms and had a faraway look in his eyes. So he was worried about Amelia.
Lina finished off her breakfast with a slam of her emptied cup of juice.
"Lina.."
"Yeah?"
"Can you tell me what happened yesterday..? After I was unconscious..? What happened?...And where's..Amelia..?"
Lina directed her gaze at Filia.
"Well then, I suppose I had better fill you in...
"A cloaked figure approached us not long after we started leaving for this inn, and requested to see Amelia - alone - on private matters from Seiruun."
Filia's eyes narrowed. This didn't sound good.
"Why were we separated? And did Amelia recognise him?"
"I didn't trust her - the cloaked figure had a woman's voice - but she showed us the seal of Seiruun. She told us she'd been waiting for a long time, and that Prince Philoniel himself had urgent matters to tell her. She then handed Amelia a letter afterwards and Amelia seemed to trust her well enough."
"But I don't understand why we were still separated. You could have waited for her nearby.."
"She said that she was going to follow the woman to a nearby town to solve some problem for the townspeople and would be back by midnight. Apparently there was something embarrassing about the problem... she didn't want us to know."
"She was going to solve a whole town's problem by midnight??"
Everyone stared.
"You've been sleeping for a day and more, Filia," Zelgadis said. "And my body's still tired..."
"Oh.." Filia took the information in slowly. "Oh."
"Well then, everyone! I think it's time we got to the bottom of this."
Lina stood up, and prepared for a whole new day of fighting.
"Xellos. Do you remember when I told you there would be ... complications if we were to keep this egg here?"
Xellos closed the travel guide he was reading and put it away in his bag.
"What complications, Mistress?"
To be truthful, he hadn't remembered a single word about complications. He knew was that the egg was hardly going to cause trouble, being an egg, and that Filia wasn't going to be mad enough to come storming for it.
"It's hatching. Very soon. It will hatch when it receives certain...stimuli."
"Then, Mistress, why don't we not give it certain stimuli?"
Zelas released her pipe.
"If we do not give it that stimuli, Xellos, the egg will die in less than a week."
Oh, dear. But that was hardly a problem, was it?
"Well then! Why don't we just let Val...die?"
Xellos' lids lifted lazily at the last word, revealing eyes that, like dark amethyst, reflected a unique shade of purple. Unlike amethyst, however, it was hardly coveted and showed no sparkling light.
"I would prefer not to."
Xellos' eyes widened slightly. What was this now? Had she not been reluctant to house the egg in her retreat?
"Ancient dragons," she began, a wisp of smoke rising slowly, then disappearing as it was replaced with more clouds of grey. "I never got to explore the species much itself. Now, one of its last has turned in my hands...and from the very start of its life, too.."
"Say no more, Mistress! I shall acquire this certain stimuli we need! What shall my lady require?"
Zelas put down her pipe and took a swig from her wine glass. She raised it to eye level, gazing at Xellos through it.
"The last golden dragon weapon since the rest was destroyed from the wars."
Xellos looked to his left, clearly devising a way to liberate Filia's mace. The Ancient Dragon weapons would have been long gone - the next best were the Golden ones. And since the weapons were hardly around for anyone to take...
His head perked as he remembered the town where the Slayers were bound next. He knew that she would approach them right after he'd left, and he was in Amorteria... Word travels fast, and they were already planning to rid the Slayers.
"No worries, my Lady. There is a perfect way..."
Taka: Oh dear. Whatever will Xellos do now.
Ral: He sure seemed kind of sly...
What did that evil travel guide tell Xellos?
Why were the villagers unhappy?
And what is AC's gender??
AC: Review! Review! Or I'm gonna go on a rampage!
Taka: Yeah, if we get 3 reviews from different people by next week we'll reveal AC's gender.
AC: Shut up, Taka.
Taka: Her real first name or her real first last name or her first name or her last name if we get 6.
Ral: Wow, that's a lot of reviews, Taka.
AC: Are these people really gonna care?
Taka: Dunno. Well, one way to find out..!!
