Slayers: Growing up - Chapter Two


Yes, I changed the title. And yes, I know the new one isn't any better. But I
couldn't think of anything better, and my previous title just had to go. That being said, if
you can think of a good title, send it by email to madame_meow@hotmail.com, and I'll
see if it works for me. I'd actually really appreciate it. ^_^
So, tell me. What do you think so far? Good? Bad? Horrible? But regardless of
what you think, I have continued to write it, and so I hope you will continue to read it. If
all goes well, Lina and Xelloss will meet Zelgadis in this chapter. Ooh, excitement!
*sighs* Okay, I've hit the bottom of the barrel when it comes to inspiration for author's
notes. I reiterate everything I said in the prologue's AN. Just go read the damn story
now.


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"NOOOOOOO, I don wanna! I don't wanna go to school!" Lina tried
desperately to tug her hand out of her sister's larger one, but to no avail. That having
failed, she dug her heels into the dirt road, and leaned all her weight back, trying to slow
their progress. Luna pulled her on regardless.
"You're six years old, Lina. You're going to school."
Lina jerked on her sisters arm, hard. "No! I don't wanna go! Xel is waiting for
me, an-" Oops! Well, at least she stopped…
And stop Luna did. Only to whirl around, grab her little sister, and haul her up so
her face was level with her own. With a low growl, she said softly "I told you. Don't
talk to that boy." In her head, she went on. 'He's different somehow, too dark for my
little sister. And Cephied doesn't like him. Which is good enough for me.' However,
Lina could hear none of this, and so thought her sister was simply being unreasonable, as
usual.
"NO! I will if I want to, he's my friend!" Lina tried to make this statement as
firm as possible, but as her sister continued to stare at her intimidatingly, she could feel
herself weakening. Finally she burst into tears and wailed. "H-he's my frieeeend…"
Luna placed her sister back on the ground, took her hand, and continued walking.
Lina, still crying, stumbled along behind her. "So go to school. Make new friends."
Walking quickly, she soon dragged her sister over the threshold of the small school.
Entering the room for first years, she deposited her sister in a seat by a window, then left,
with nary a glance back.
Through the first half of the day, Lina stubbornly sulked in her chair, ignoring any
attempts at communication that were made. Around lunchtime, however, someone
tapped on her shoulder. When she ignored it and continued to stare out the window, they
tapped on her shoulder again, a little harder. When she continued to ignore them, the
person pinched her, then quickly leapt out of the way, to avoid the fist she brought around
right where they're head would have been. Growling, she glowered at the boy, who
looked remarkably like Xelloss, except that his hair and eyes were brown. The boy
grinned, with his eyes closed. "Hey Lina-chan."
Lina gawked. "X-Xel? What happened to you? Your hair…your eyes, they're
brown, and they're NORMAL! And what are you doing here at all?"
Xelloss opened one eye, put a finger to his lips and whispered, "That…is a
secret!" However, when the look on Lina's face threatened grave bodily harm, he
grinned again and explained. "When you didn't show this morning, I went home and
mommy told me about this school thing that you have to go to. And since she figured
that I could probably use a more formal education, and I look about the same age as you,
she taught me this neat illusion spell that helps me look more normal, so I can fit in." His
grin grew wider when she cheered happily. "Heh, you happy to see me? But you can't
call me Xelloss here. My school name is Dale."
Lina grinned happily. "This is great, Xe-erm Dale! Now we can hang together,
and Luna will never know!"
Xelloss simply smiled. Then the teacher announced that lunchtime was over, and
pulling a desk over beside Lina's, they sat down and waited for class to resume.

A few days later, Xel was showing Lina how to change the color tone of her
illusion spell in a quiet corner of the playground, when a boy walked up to them. The
two children had seen him before in class, but knew nothing about him, since the kid was
painfully quiet, and was always wrapped up in the folds of his beige cape, with a fold of
material wrapped around his face. The two children looked up at his approach.
The boy said only two words. "Flow Break" And with that, the illusion fell from
a very startled Xelloss's hair and eyes. Quickly looking around to be sure that no one had
noticed, Xelloss quickly snapped the illusion back into place before turning angrily to the
intruder. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, strange boy nodded quietly. "I
thought so. You're a Mazoku, aren't you?" Xelloss shut his mouth with a snap.
Lina gaped. "You're a MAZOKU, Xel?" A whole lot of things would make
sense if that were true. Like his preoccupation with the whole death and destruction
concept. And why he was only amused when she beat him up for some silly thing he did.
And why he still looked six years old, when he was almost thirteen.
Xelloss spared one hostile look for the odd boy, before turning to smile sheepishly
at Lina. "Ahh, that is a secret?"
Lina scowled and hit him over the head. "Just tell me the truth, idiot."
Xel smiled and rubbed the back of his sore head. "Then yes, I am a mazoku,
Lina-chan. Does it matter?"
Lina shrugged. "Not really. But it makes a lot of things that puzzled me make
sense."
The strange boy watched their interaction with a curious expression on his face.
"You…you don't mind that he's a mazoku?"
Lina looked at him somewhat coldly. "No, why should I?"
A choking sound, slightly muffled by the boy's mask, emerged. "He's a monster!
He feeds on emotions, and he kills things!" The boy sounded truly bewildered.
Lina rolled her eyes. "Eh, he hasn't tried to kill ME yet, and until he does he's
okay by me. And who cares if he feeds on my emotions? It's not like it hurts me or
anything. He's gotta eat somehow."
Xelloss laughed. "I can't tell you how touched I am that our friendship means so
much to you, Lina-chan," he murmured with light sarcasm, before turning to the boy,
who was still mulling over Lina's words. "Now, you…who are you, and how did you
know I was a mazoku?" His voice, though still smooth and calm, now carried a tone of
violence that was clear to both Lina and the boy.
The boy cleared his throat. "My name is Zelgadis. And I knew you were a
mazoku because I'm part mazoku myself.*" He lifted his hands to his face and removed
his mask and pulled down his hood, revealing handsome (for a six year old) features, pale
blue stone skin crusted with dark navy barnacles, shiny lavender hair that looked like it
was locked in place and piercingly clear blue eyes. "I'm also part golem, and that's
where the stone comes in."
Xelloss snorted in amused incredulity, but Lina's eyes lit up, and she jumped up
and began poking Zelgadis's face. "Wow, that's so neat, Zelgadis. Is your skin stone all
over? Can you feel it when someone pinches you? Is stone ticklish?" She prodded at
one of the blue barnacles. "What are these for? Do they hurt? What happens if you pick
one off?"
Zelgadis stood there, looking rather stunned at the turn of events. When he
realized that he had a cute little girl playing with this face, a rosy blush spread across his
cheeks (a/n: c'mon, what else would Zel do?). While part of him had no problem what
so ever with this, another part of him wanted to shove her away and yell 'COOTIES!'.
While the conflicting parts of him did battle, he simply stood there and mumbled,
"Uhhhh…"
Xelloss was likewise torn. Most of him wanted to roll around laughing at the
stupid chimera, but a tiny, quasi-adolescent part of him, the part that said Lina-chan, who
had been his first real friend and his only companion for the last two years, was HIS,
wanted to yank Lina away from the freak, and make sure he stayed far, far away. But
since the quasi-adolescent part of him was small, and not fueled by raging hormones like
most boys his age were, it was easily squashed and shoved to the side. So Xelloss
laughed.
This was enough to turn the tide of Zelgadis's own battle. Still blushing
furiously, he shoved Lina away, and sullenly told Xelloss to shut up. Lina picked herself
up from the ground, where the 'gentle' shove had sent her, walked over to Zel, and
whapped him over the head. "If you want me to move, next time just say so." That being
said, she sat back down next to Xelloss, then patted the ground on her other side. "Come
sit over here. I want you to show me that neat spell you used to break Xelloss's illusion.
It was really cool. What did you call it? Flow Break?"
At this point, Zelgadis was dazed and confused enough to sit down obediently and
show her his Flow Break spell. By the time he was thinking clearly again, it was too late.
He was one of Lina's 'pals'.

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* Okay, I admit, I'm adlibbing a bit here. I know that if this was really possible,
Zelgadis would have figured out Xelloss was a mazoku the instant he saw him. But I
figure that darkness could resonate with darkness, and maybe Zelgadis knew
subconsciously, and that is part of why he hated Xel so much. But whatever the case, this
is how it is, in my world, and that's all that matters. ^_^ So there.