Disclaimer: Slayers does not belong to me, but belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi and the companies that represent them. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while.

Author's Note: This story takes place toward the end of the fifth novel and all of the spoken dialogue is taken verbatim from that novel. This was an exercise in writing from Gourry's point of view after a discussion about Gourry thinking about so much that he drifts off into his own world and doesn't think about what's going on around him.

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Story #21: "Living Like a Jellyfish"

"Let me get to the point. I want you to deal with Grouj. Or rather ... Zanaffar."

We were following the strange-looking beast-man down the hallway. It wasn't the strangest-looking beast I'd ever seen, and I've seen some strange ones - Zel included. But, Zelgadiss is a pretty nice guy, even for someone who got his skin turned to stone.

I wasn't quite sure what was going on at this point. Everyone else looked real worried, even Lina. I don't think I've seen her look this worried since we were trying to stop Prince Phil from being killed. We stopped walking and the guy kept talking about something called a Zanaffar and how it was alive.

I glanced over and saw this interesting series of cracks running up the wall. Well, if this Zanaffar thing was a being, of course it would be alive. All monsters were alive to some degree. Even Mazoku are, I suppose, though they don't eat and breathe the same way we do. I do have to wonder though - if they don't eat or drink, does this mean Mazoku don't need to use the bathroom? I wonder if they sleep? I wonder if I should tell Lina about that Xelloss guy being a Mazoku?

Suddenly, Lina, Amelia and Zel gasped. I glanced up and saw that their faces were now the color of chalk - even Zel's, which was quite a feat. "Did something happen? Sorry, I think I missed it."

Lina's face went from white to purple about two seconds before she started growling at me. It was an interesting shade of purple as well. I'd put it at about an eight on the "Lina on a rampage" scale, which probably means I should pay attention.

"...body is entirely consumed, Zanaffar is complete!"

Uh oh. I frowned down at her and noticed that the color of Lina's face was quickly edging toward a blotchy purple-blue. Nine on the "Lina on a rampage" scale. "I still don't get it," I admitted a bit sheepishly.

Lina didn't say anything for a moment and I wondered what would happen if she literally exploded. Then again, I don't think I would like if she exploded. I like having her around too much. Besides, do humans really explode? No, wait, spontaneously combust. That's it!

"Okay!" Her voice had risen to a near shout and this time I forced myself to listen. "Pretend that Zanaffar's a sketchy guy who sweettalks a girl - that's Grouji - by saying things like, 'I'll always be there for you' and 'I'll take care of you forever' and all of that. But then, after he's won her trust, he eats her food, steals her money and kicks her out of her own house!" Lina threw her arms up. "You get it now?"

Funny. In a way, this Zanaffar guy sounds a bit like Lina herself. She likes to go sweettalk people, eat their food and steal their money. She's even a bit sketchy. But, this Zanaffar has got to be the bad guy. Well, what do we normally do with the bad guys? Duh, we kill them. Why didn't Lina just say that to begin with?

Because she was staring at me with that particularly deadly look of hers, I slowly nodded. "I think so. Sorta," I told her, then placed my hands on my hips. "So, we just have to kill this guy, right?"

Lina growled and whirled around to start peppering the beast-man with questions again. She didn't say I was wrong, so I suppose I was right. Still, I suppose I should pay closer attention, even though I wish sometimes that Lina would explain things just a bit more clearly.