Shaped Reflections
Xenith stared at the ceiling of her room, obstensibly Zelgadis's room, though his scent and emotions barely touched the place, he hadn't slept here last night. She was trying to go to sleep and not succeeding. For one thing, despite her initial intention to avoid the entire thing, she felt this incredible curiousity to see just what kind of funeral they were giving her...giving Lina. They'd want to be gone quickly, so it couldn't be anything big.
"They're probably just going to bury me....her in a shallow grave, say a few words and then leave," it was easier to think of the corpse as somebody else, she had quickly discovered this little fact. After all, her...Lina's sister had Ceipheed's soul, but she wasn't Ceipheed. "But I still love Gourry...don't I?"
~If you did before, you do now.~
"Juuou-sama?"
~Who did you think it was?~
"Xellos couldn't read my thoughts, could he?"
~Not unless you wanted him to, and you don't have to talk out loud, dear.~
"Oh," ~I mean...oh...umm why are you invading my thoughts?~
~Because I'd really rather my new minion didn't have a nervous breakdown in her first day of existence, and mind your temper.~
~Sorry, Juuou-sama~ She continued to stare at the ceiling for a little while and then stood up. ~I need to see this.~
~Try not to let Xellos notice you, stick to the astral plane~ Zelas admonished. ~Though I suspect that will prove impossible.~
~Can I ask you something?~
~What is it Xenith-chan?~
~How is it possible for THOUGHTS to smell like cigarette smoke?~
~....~
~Juuou-sama?~
~I REALLY need to quit smoking.~
"I'd like to give her a state funeral," Amelia said. "But I suspect we'd find that impossible." She wondered for a moment what the status of things were in Sailoon. She suspected, or knew rather, that her father had to be dead. That assassin wouldn't have called her by the title Majesty otherwise. But she didn't want to think about that.
"I suppose there is no doubt that it was Tes that did this," Zelgadis asked as he climbed up from the hole he had just finished digging. Gourry sat by the coffin they had bought for Lina.
"The assassin called Amelia 'Majesty'," Xellos reminded him. "And I don't suppose she was crowned queen in the last couple of months without us knowing."
"I believe it was a rhetorical question, Xellos," Filia quipped with a shadow of anger.
"Lina should have killed her when she caught her attacking Amelia," Gourry whispered. Amelia bowed her head.
"Yes, she probably should have," Xellos agreed, and Amelia winced. Xellos glanced in her direction and thought about apologizing, but he didn't want to let everybody know that it had been Amelia's decision to let the shadow go. Suddenly had a feeling that they were being watched. He narrowed his eyes and looked about. ~Couldn't stay away, could she. Where is the little...~
"Namagomi!!"
"Huh? What is it Filia?"
"We were talking to you," Zelgadis said, irritably.
"Xellos, are you okay?" Amelia asked timidly.
"I just thought someone was watching us," Xellos explained.
"Are you ready for this?" Zelgadis asked.
"Of course, I am, Amelia and Filia?" The princess nodded.
"Good, then let's do it." The mazoku, dragon and shaman all pooled their magical capabilities. The dirt solidified into solid rock of an unidentifiable type, blood red with gold and black veins. They paused for a moment to lower the coffin into the stone grave, and then restarted the spell. The stone closed over the coffin and grew, different colors taking precedence at different points until there stood a statue of a golden skinned Lina with the same blood-red hair and black cloak, standing in a pose of triumph. They looked to Gourry.
"I can't do this, I'm not good with words and such."
"You'll do fine Gourry-san," Filia said softly.
"I just keep expecting her to come back, you know like with the Lord of Nightmares? But this wasn't magic this time, this was just a pair of knives, and I was too stupid to see it coming."
"Don't blame yourself," Zelgadis said. "This is the fault of a spoiled little girl."
"And I suspect she took Lina first in order to split the rest of us," Xellos added.
"Let's go," Amelia said suddenly. "We have to get to Sailoon."
"No justice speech?" Gourry asked. Amelia looked at the memorial and shivered.
"Not yet."
They had been gone for nearly five minutes before Xenith stepped out of the Astral to view the memorial in the physical world. She had thought that this day couldn't shock her any further, but her she stood before a memorial dedicated to her...Lina formed almost purely out of magic. More than that, the three common forms of magic formed into one object, it had to be tied to the weave itself. The statue would be almost indestructible.
Xenith dropped to her knees and just quietly sobbed for a moment or two. Then she stood up straight and looked about.
"I need to blow something up," she declared to no one. Xenith looked to one mass of emotions that was the town, then she cast about and found another, somewhat smaller, mass of emotions further into the wilds.
The town was dominated by very average emotions, boredom and subdued levels of happiness and fear mostly. The other mass, however, was dominated by greed, lust, anger, bloodlust and other emotions she was more used to.
"Human or mazoku, bandits are still my meat and butter," she smiled viciously, teleporting away.
"Who's got the road watch tomorrow?"
"What are you daft, the damn dra-matta is in that town!" There was a sudden chorus of laughter. "You think she's a joke?"
"You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"Give him a break, we only got the news an hour ago, can't have gotten to everybody yet."
"A couple of knives sliced her up good." The bandit drew line with his finger across his throat. "The dra-matta is dead."
"Yer joshin'!"
"I ain't, taken in the street like a common mark!" Something dropped from the sky and landed in the middle of them all. As they watched, the something stood up and a pair of large raven-feathered wings peeled away from in front of the newcomer. Smiling at them was the predatorial beauty of Xenith's horned face.
"Hello and goodbye." She said, gathering power into her sharp-nailed hands.
The slayers whirled as the first explosions rocked the day.
"Lina?" Gourry asked as he recognized the sight of a bandit camp being destroyed. Then he slumped again. "No, not even I'm that stupid."
"Xenith must have gotten hungry," Xellos suggested.
"She's going to be a nuisance," Zelgadis noted.
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