Chapter Ten: Kera joins Lina's group?
Lina opened her eyes. She wasn't dead, she thought. Why? Looking up, she saw Xelloss with his staff in front of her. So he was the one who saved her. "Lina! Hurry, there isn't much time," urged Xelloss. "Kera's getting ready to cast another powerful spell."
"What am I supposed to do?" Lina muttered. "Kera's being controlled by a spell, so… ok! Xelloss, you distract her. I need to get close to her."
"Understood, Lina-san," said Xelloss. "Leave it to me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, a flood of tears was coming from Amelia's eyes. "Lina-san! Waaaaahhh!!"
"Wait, Amelia," said Zelgadiss as he spotted Lina. "She's still alive! There! Look!"
"Huh? Where?! Oh, Lina-san! You're alive!" Amelia exclaimed, wiping her tears.
Lina flew swiftly behind Kera, who seemed to see something in front of her. Kera continued to attack the image that she saw. As soon as she was close enough, Lina cast Flow Break. Kera stiffened, then started to fall. "Zel! Catch her, quick!"
Zelgadiss flew directly below Kera and caught her in his arms. "Phew, that was close," said Lina as she wiped off perspiration from her forehead.
"Are you all right, Lina-san?" Amelia asked as Lina and Zelgadiss landed on the ground.
"I'm fine, thanks to Xelloss," said Lina, winking at the priest.
"You're welcome, Lina-san," said Xelloss as he winked back.
Amelia glanced at the two of them and was relieved that Gourry was not here. "Ahem, so what do we do about Kera?" she asked.
"I'll keep watch over her this time," said Xelloss, walking over to where Zelgadiss was standing. "You three did a really great job the last time. Falling asleep on the job, indeed!"
"Hey!" Lina exclaimed angrily. "It wasn't our fault, ok? The thing that was controlling Kera made us sleep! And Zel, what were you doing in the corridor?"
"I… er…" Zelgadiss looked rather embarrassed.
"You didn't trust us, did you?!" Lina accused.
"Well… it wouldn't have much difference if I hadn't been there," retorted Zelgadiss.
"Lina-san, Zelgadiss-san, please stop arguing," pleaded Amelia. "Shall we go back to the inn now?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Xelloss took Kera limp body from Zelgadiss and went to Amelia's room. "Eh? Then where do I stay?" Amelia asked Xelloss.
He shrugged, then smiled and said, "Either Lina's room or Zelgadiss'. You decide."
Amelia glanced at Zelgadiss and the both of them blushed simultaneously. "Er… I think I'll go to Lina's room," Amelia said, blushing.
"Good luck to you, then," said Xelloss, still smiling.
"Hey, what did you mean by that, Xelloss?!" Lina demanded.
"Nothing, nothing," said Xelloss, sweatdropping.
Lina stalked off and Amelia followed her back to her room. "You'd better take good care of Kera, understand?" Zelgadiss said, looking at Xelloss directly in the eye. "If anything bad happens to her, I'll hold you responsible."
"Sure, don't worry, Zelgadiss," said Xelloss. "You can rely on me."
"Hmmph!" snorted Zelgadiss as he gave Xelloss a narrow-eyed glare then returned to his own room.
"Aw," said Xelloss, as he opened the door. "They don't trust me all that much, do they? Well, at least Kera-chan trusts me… I think."
He walked into the room and laid Kera on the bed, as he had done just a few hours before. Pulling a wooden chair beside the bed, he sat down on it and looked around the room. As cheap inns went, this one wasn't all that bad. There was a small vase of flowers on the dressing table and there were some pictures hanging on the walls. These added some colour to the otherwise drab-looking room. After he got tired of looking at the room, he looked at Kera instead.
Kera Yurion is a nice name, he thought, smiling. Much better than Xelloss. The name fitted the girl who bore it. She was basically a nice girl, who had the misfortune to meet Lina Inverse. He grinned. Lina would hurt him considerably if she ever heard that. However, her ability for learning magic was amazing. She must have been given that special ability for a reason, he thought. What was the reason? As he pondered on this, the hours seemed to pass quickly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The sun's rays shone through the window. Kera stirred, then opened her eyes. Where was she? was her first thought. She only remembered fighting Garv, then collapsing in exhaustion on the sand… after that, she couldn't remember. She glanced around her. "Ah, you're finally awake," came a familiar voice. "How are you feeling, Kera-chan?"
Xelloss?! Why was he here? Wherever here was. "Where… am I?" Kera said as she sat up.
"You're in an inn," replied Xelloss. "I brought you here, remember?"
Kera shook her head drowsily. "I can't seem to remember anything after the battle with Garv. Did you heal me?"
"So you did fight Garv," said Xelloss thoughtfully. "No, I didn't heal you. Amelia did."
"Amelia? The princess of Seyruun?" Kera asked. "But she's with Lina Inverse, isn't she? Don't tell me- you-"
Smiling, Xelloss nodded. "What? Lina Inverse is my enemy, you Mazoku!" Kera exclaimed, then grasped her head in pain. "Ahh… damn this headache."
"You shouldn't have gotten up so quickly," commented Xelloss. "You haven't recovered completely. Especially after last night…"
"What happened last night?!" Kera demanded, looking at Xelloss through narrowed eyes. "Don't tell me you…"
"No, no. I didn't do anything to you, Kera-chan," said Xelloss, waving his hands frantically. "You really don't remember a thing? Ah well, I'll tell you. Zelgadiss, Amelia and Lina were guarding you, but they fell asleep and you walked out. Then when I followed you, you attacked me. Fortunately, I woke the others earlier and they came to my rescue… sort of. Anyway, you Dragon Slaved Lina but it didn't work because I was shielding her. Then, Lina cast Flow Break on you and we brought you back here."
"But… why did I do all those things?" Kera asked, bewildered.
"I suspect that someone was controlling you," said Xelloss. "Quite a few Mazoku are after you, you know? Especially after that encounter with Garv. I'm sure he's after you now more than ever."
"What?! He's not dead?" Kera shouted, then clutched her head in pain again. "Ow…"
"Oh, relax, Kera-chan," said Xelloss, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "You did injure him terribly. How ever did you manage to do it?"
Kera worked Recovery on herself and said, "I'm not sure… I Dragon Slaved him but it didn't do much use, so I called upon some higher power."
"Higher power? The Lord of Nightmares?!" Xelloss said, staring at her in alarm.
"Who's that? No, I didn't call upon the Lord of Nightmares," said Kera. "I think it was the Lady of Light or something. I can't remember all that clearly."
"You mean you didn't use the Giga Slave? Lady of Light…? Hmm…" said Xelloss.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in," said Kera.
Lina opened the door cautiously. Amelia, Zelgadiss and Gourry were behind her. "Hi, Kera. Are you feeling better?"
Kera flinched. It was Lina Inverse! Her enemy. Xelloss whispered in her ear, "Pretend you don't know her, Kera-chan. There will be less complications, this way."
"Er… who are you?" Kera inquired nervously.
The others thought that her nervousness was because she was meeting Lina for the first time. "Oh, I forgot," said Lina, coming into the room. "My name is Lina Inverse. You may have heard of me?"
"Lina… Inverse? Oh, that famous Bandit-Killer Lina Inverse?" Kera said.
"Ah! Yes, that's me!" Lina said happily. "But I'm afraid that the rumours are a little exaggerated. I'm not that bad, really."
"Is that right? I've always thought that the rumours were quite accurate," remarked Gourry, scratching his head.
Lina kicked him in the shin. "Ow…" said Gourry as he hopped around the room in pain. Kera stared at them, sweatdropping. Zelgadiss looked embarrassed to have them as travelling companions. Amelia sighed. Xelloss just smiled.
"Er… don't mind him. By the way, he's Gourry Gabriev, she's Amelia and you already know Zelgadiss, right?" said Lina, smiling sheepishly. "Yup, Zel told us all about you… mostly. So, what really happened to you? And who was the 'powerful Mazoku' that Xelloss told us about?"
"Er… well…" Kera was at a loss of words.
"Lina-san," interrupted Xelloss. "Perhaps it's not a good idea to ask Kera-chan these questions at this point of time. She's still recovering from the shock she's had."
"Well, ok," said Lina reluctantly. "But you will tell me anytime you're ready, right? Kera?"
"Uh, sure," said Kera apprehensively. Phew, thanks, Xelloss, she thought.
"Shall we go for breakfast, then?" Lina suggested.
"Yes!" Gourry exclaimed enthusiastically, his injury forgotten. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
The two of them rushed out of the door while Amelia followed them more slowly. Zelgadiss stayed back to see if Kera needed any help. Kera was touched by his action. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Zelgadiss-san! I missed you so much!" Kera cried, impulsively hugging him around the waist.
The blue-skinned chimera turned completely red. Amused, Xelloss coughed abruptly. Once Kera realised what she was doing, she let go of him hastily, blushing deeply. "I'm sorry, Zelgadiss-san," she said hesitantly. "I… er…"
"…" There was a short silence. Xelloss glanced at both of them, smiling. Both Kera and Zelgadiss did not dare to look at each other.
"Zelgadiss-san! Kera-san! Xelloss-san!" Amelia's voice rang out. "Come on, it's time for breakfast now! What's taking you so long?"
"Er… I guess we should go now," said Zelgadiss, moving towards the doorway.
"Xelloss, are you coming?" Kera asked, giving the Mazoku a side-glance.
"Sure, sure," replied Xelloss as he stood up.
Zelgadiss walked in front, with Kera behind him. Xelloss walked beside Kera, looking at her red face. "What are you looking at, Mazoku?" she muttered.
"Oh, nothing," murmured Xelloss. "I've just never seen your face so red before. You really like Zelgadiss, don't you?"
Kera quickly cooled her burning face with her hands. "So what if I do? It doesn't make much difference to you," she said quietly.
"Of course it does!" said Xelloss, wagging his finger at her.
"Oh yeah? How?"
"My master won't be happy with a priestess who's in love with a mortal," said Xelloss.
"Your master doesn't have to bother," said Kera. "What priestess are you talking about?"
"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you," said Xelloss, smacking his forehead. "My master, the Greater Beast Zelas Metallium, wants to make you her priestess. You should be honoured, Kera-chan. She doesn't just choose any mortal, you know?"
"WHAT?!" Kera exclaimed. Zelgadiss glanced behind him to see what they were so excited about. "No way!"
"What's the matter, Kera-chan?" asked Zelgadiss. "Is Xelloss bothering you?"
"Er… not exactly," replied Kera, sweatdropping.
"Do consider it, Kera-chan," whispered Xelloss in her ear. "I'll ask you again soon. Meanwhile, just travel with Lina and her group and don't create any trouble, ok?"
"Why should I obey you?" Kera muttered.
"Because it's in your interest too," said Xelloss, disappearing. "I have something to attend to, but I'll be back soon."
"Good riddance," said Kera as she stuck out her tongue at the spot where Xelloss had been.
~ ~ ~ The End of Chapter Ten ~ ~ ~
Hope you enjoyed it! ^_^ Chapter Eleven is coming up real soon… I think. *sweatdrop*
