Slayers belongs to Kadokawa Shoten.
KIRK: Captain's Log….Stardate………….TWOFIVESEVENEIGHTFOUROHFOUR!!!!
We've beamed down to…..Theta Rhodimus…………..Four… INANATTEMPT… to…
understand new…and different….cultures…
JIRAS: Your tea is ready. (Serves tea to Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, sitting at a table at
Filia's Tea and Mace Shop.)
SPOCK: Captain, as we sit here sipping these beverages, I cannot help but feel that there
is something more important happening on this planet that requires the reader's attention.
MCCOY: YOU AND YOUR DAMN VULCAN LOGIC!!!
Faces: After!
Part 14
Another Ambush!?
The Dark Past Returns!
"How much longer?" Scarrin asked his red-robed henchman as they looked down
at the town from the mountain pass.
Zero thought for a moment, looking up at the sun through his astrolabe. "Another
day, maybe," he said.
Scarrin smiled. "Excellent."
"What about Greysword?" Zero asked him.
The yellow-eyed man waved the question aside. "She'll be here. Do you honestly
believe she'd miss this opportunity?"
"Was it really a good idea to leave her unsupervised?"
Scarrin's lip quirked up. "That depends," he said. "Do you really think she is
capable of killing Greywords?"
"I suppose not…"
"Gandrav, can you sense it?"
The werewolf stepped forward and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the air.
"No. Your scent is drowning it out. We're still too far away."
"Can you sense ANYTHING?"
The werewolf nodded. "Enough to know it was here."
"Good enough. Let's go." Without another word, Scarrin started down the path.
"Oi, Zelgadis!"
The chimera, leaning up against the wall near the inn door, looked up at the
approaching swordsman with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Taking Lina out?" he
asked.
"Huh?" The mercenary blinked. "Oh! The flowers! No. These are for Amelia.
Is she feeling any better?"
Zelgadis sighed and pushed the door open a bit so that bits of conversation could be
heard from inside. "See for yourself."
"Now I'm not saying he isn't good," Lina was saying inside the sick girl's room.
"I'm just saying I stopped liking Darrin Daye when he changed his name to Bahamut Bali!
What kind of crap is that?!"
Amelia's irate voice came a second later. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! WAIT
A MINUTE!" she demanded. "A man has a right to change his name to whatever he wants
to change it to! And if a man wants to be called 'Bahamut Bali,' Cepheid dammit, Seyruun
is a free kingdom, we should respect his wishes and call the man 'Bahamut Bali!'"
"His mother named him 'Daye,'" Sylphiel spoke up, "I'm calling him 'Daye.'"
"Damn straight!" Lina agreed.
Gourry chose this moment to enter. He smiled at Amelia, who was sitting up in
bed, looking much better now after a few days of rest. Sylphiel was sitting in a chair
nearby, and Lina was leaning up against the wall across from the princess' bed.
"Hi, Amelia!" he said, beaming. "I brought you some flowers. How are you
feeling?"
Lina crossed her arms over her chest. "What about MY flowers?" she asked.
Gourry started. "Um…"
"Er…Thank you, Mister Gourry!" Amelia jumped in, taking the flowers and putting
them on the nightstand next to the other flowers and small gifts she had received.
Zelgadis entered the room. "So how DO you feel?" he asked. "Well enough to
travel yet?"
Amelia nodded. "Oh, definitely!" she said with a bright smile.
"Are you sure?" Lina asked. She looked to Sylphiel.
"Well," the priestess said, putting her finger to her lip in thought, "It should be
okay…"
"I feel much better, Miss Lina," Amelia told her, smiling for her benefit.
"Well, that's good," Zelgadis commented. "Because by my count, we're all out of
money, and the innkeeper just told me that if we're not out in two hours, he's gathering a
mob…"
Lina sighed. "I guess we have stayed longer than we meant to…"
Amelia hopped out of bed and posed. "THOUGH ILLNESS TEMPORARILY
STRUCK DOWN A HERO OF JUSTICE, THE DARKNESS CAN NEVER FULLY
DAMPEN THE LIGHT OF A LONE CANDLE, BURNING AGAINST THE EVIL
BLACKNESS OF EVIL!"
"She's better," the others agreed at once.
"'Evil blackness of evil?'" Zelgadis asked, handing Amelia her cape.
"I've been sick! Give me a break!" she cried defensively.
Max, stableboy in the small burg of Laketown, smiled as he brushed the silver
mare's shiny coat. He hummed to himself as he worked. The boy loved the horses put in
his charge by the Laketown Council. They were fast beasts, used by couriers on their way
to Seyruun. Each one was perfect.
He turned as he heard the sound of a horse galloping to a stop outside. A moment
later a woman entered the stable.
"You, boy!" she said, pointing at him. "Your fastest horse! Now! I'm in a hurry!"
Max frowned. "Are you a courier of Seyruun? I can't give you a horse unle…"
He stopped as the edge of a katana grazed his throat. He stifled a frightened sob.
Greysword glared. "Get the message?" she asked. He nodded. "Good. Horse.
Now." She pushed him away.
Max hurriedly saddled the silver mare.
Lina tested the weight of her pack and frowned. It was still uneven. She took it off
and plopped back down on the bed in her room. Nearby, Amelia was doing likewise with
some unwanted help from Sylphiel, who was still hovering around the girl like a mother
hen.
"Miss Sylphiel, really," Amelia complained, albeit politely. "I'm okay."
"I know, I know," Sylphiel said quickly, putting a small vial of a greenish liquid in
Amelia's pack. "I just wanted to give you this Yet's Lichen. I got it from the magic shop
downstairs. It should help if you begin to feel weak or disoriented." She produced a
small, folded cloth. "And this is Ranma's Wart powder. You mix it with your bath and it
makes you…"
"Hey, Sylphiel," Lina called, coming to Amelia's defense. "Can I ask you
something?"
Sylphiel paused in her rant and turned to the redhead, blinking. She smiled. "Of
course, Miss Lina."
Something had been tugging at the back of Lina's mind ever since she saw
Sylphiel's dream world several days before. "Just curious, you've seen Zel as a human,
right? On Zarak Tor?"
Amelia looked to Sylphiel, who looked just a bit uncomfortable. "Yes…That's
right."
"So what did he look like?" Lina asked.
"Um…"
"I still think he looks cool the way he is!" Amelia announced.
"Oh, come on!" Lina cried, nudging the room's door shut with her foot. "It's…girl
talk." She grinned evilly. The redhead turned that grin on the shrine maiden now.
"So…What's he look like?"
Sylphiel, feeling very trapped, backed herself into a corner. "Well…He was…"
"Was he handsome?!" Amelia asked. "Did he look just and heroic!?"
"Well…"
"Come on, Sylphiel," Lina coaxed her smugly. "Spill it."
Sylphiel blushed bright red. "Well…yes," she squeaked quietly.
"Yes to what?" Lina pushed.
"He…was very handsome," Sylphiel elaborated, twiddling her fingers.
"Oh?" Lina smirked. "Go on."
"WAIT!" Amelia cried suddenly. The other two women turned in shock, expecting
Amelia to have some sort of emergency. Instead, the princess plopped down onto her bed
on her stomach and put her chin in her hands. "Okay! I'm ready!"
Sylphiel and Lina sweatdropped.
"So?" Lina continued.
Sylphiel's blush continued to darken until she was the shade of a ripe tomato. She
blinked suddenly as she remembered the last time she was in this kind of situation, when a
fifteen year old Sylphiel Nels Lahda was telling her friends in Sairaag about a certain
swordsman who had saved her life. They were gone, but Amelia and Lina were the closest
female friends she had now.
She smiled. "Well," she began conspiratorially, "He was the same height and
build, but…softer. He had more roundish features too."
"What else?" Amelia asked excitedly. As a princess, she hadn't had many close
girlfriends. This was her first gossip session.
"Well," Sylphiel said quickly, getting into this new girl-talk episode, "You can't
see them, but he has some freckles on his face that make him look so ADORABLE!"
Lina started to laugh hysterically. "Zel! With FRECKLES!"
"I think they'd be cute!" Amelia cried, coming to Zelgadis' defense.
"And you can't really tell from the stone skin, but he's quite muscular under that
shirt," Sylphiel continued, counting off on her fingers. "And he has this soft, brown hair
that I just LOVED to run my fingers through, and…" She looked up to find Amelia and
Lina staring at her, a bit of red in their cheeks. The shrine maiden quickly covered her
mouth with her hand, realizing that she said just a bit too much…
"Um…Miss Sylphiel?" Amelia asked. "I don't think we needed to know that…"
Lina was actually blushing. "I…um…Didn't realize the two of you had…um…that
early… I mean…"
Sylphiel had exceeded the tomato blush she had worn earlier and was now near
meltdown. "Um…" She put her hand to hear ear. "Huh?!" she called out. "Oh! Okay,
Zelgadis dear!" With that, she made her escape out the door and down the hall.
"Well," Lina said. "That was…fun…"
"Zelgadis dear? Can I ask you something?"
The chimera didn't turn as he packed his belongings into his small satchel. "Sure,"
he said.
"Do you…think we moved too fast?"
He blinked and turned to face her. "No," he said deadpan.
The shrine maiden blinked. "You don't? I always thought you were…well…more
old fashioned…"
"I am," he told her, returning to his packing. "But if something is working well,
why second guess how it got to be that way?" He stopped for a moment. "Um…Things are
working well, right?" he asked just tad nervously. The chimera felt her arms wrap around
him from behind a second later and felt the priestess press against his back. "Oh, good,"
he said, going back to packing his pajamas.
"Zelgadis dear?"
"Yes?"
"You…don't think…less of me…for…well…on Zarak Tor when I…um…"
"Sylphiel, why would I think less of you?" he asked as he packed his underwear.
"I don't know," she sighed. "I just worry about these things."
Zelgadis buttoned the bag closed. "Sylphiel, if you're that worried, let me set you
straight. With the exception of maybe Filia, you are the most prim, proper, traditional, and
old-fashioned woman I know. Your morals are the highest of anyone I know, and I know
that…" He broke off.
"That what?" she asked.
She couldn't see him blush with his back turned, but he was. "I…um…know that
for you to…want to do…what we did…on Zarak Tor…" He was quiet for a moment.
Sylphiel waited for him to continue. "I know that you must have loved me," he finished
quickly. She smiled. "Because," he went on haltingly. "You…wouldn't have done it
otherwise…"
The priestess hugged him tighter. "That's sweet, Zelgadis dear," she said quietly.
He coughed nervously. "Well…um…Are you all packed?"
"Mmm hmm," she said, releasing him and sitting down on the bed next to his bag.
She looked up at him with smiling, green eyes.
"What about the others?" he asked, lifting his bag to his shoulder.
"Miss Lina is eating one last breakfast buffet…to the innkeeper's regret," Sylphiel
told him, still smiling.
Zelgadis sighed. "Figures." He put his bag down. Sylphiel laid back on the bed
and sighed. "How have you been sleeping?" Zelgadis asked her suddenly. "You haven't
woken up for the past several nights."
"Actually, I've been sleeping well," she told him. "Whatever Miss Lina did in my
dreams, it seems to have worked."
"And she still won't tell you?"
She shook her head. "I guess it's her revenge for whatever I did to her in my
dream."
"Ah…"
Sylphiel stretched out on the bed. "I liked the bed in Laketown better," she sighed.
The chimera coughed nervously again. "Er…Sylphiel…"
"What did you call me that morning?" she asked with a smile. "'Syl chan?'
Wasn't it?"
"Um…Yeah, I think so…" Zelgadis replied, suddenly feeling warm under the
collar.
"Zelgadis dear, would you do something for me?" Sylphiel asked.
"Um…Like what?"
"Would you call me that from now on?" she begged. "I like the way it sounds."
He blushed. "You…want me to call you…'Syl chan?'"
She smiled and nodded.
"Um…In public?"
Another nod.
"Ah…"
The shrine maiden blinked, then frowned in disappointment. "You don't have to if
you don't want to…" she said.
The chimera sighed inwardly. On the surface she was so easy to please. So it
sounded a little embarrassing. So what? Right?
He sighed again. "All right, Sylphiel," he relented, trying to smile. (It won't be so
bad,) he thought to himself.
One of Lina's belly-laughs was already echoing in his head…
Sylphiel stood up and put her finger to his lips. "Syl chan," she corrected.
He actually chuckled. "Syl chan," he repeated.
She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "I love you, Zelgadis dear," she whispered.
"I love you too, Sylph…er…Syl chan."
The shrine maiden smiled, and her eyes went wide a second later. "Zelgadis dear,
would you like me to call you, 'Zel chan,' from now on?!"
A massive sweatdrop formed on the back of his head. He had to think quickly.
"Um….'Zelgadis dear,' works for me," he said quickly, waving his hands at her.
She smiled and nodded.
"Well? Were they here?" Scarrin asked the werewolf.
Gandrav sniffed the bed where the innkeeper told them the chimera had been
staying. "The astral scent is here," he growled to the yellow-eyed man.
"How long ago?" Zero asked.
"Four hours. No more," the werewolf replied, rising to his full height.
"To miss them by four hours," Zero muttered in disdain.
"Means that Gandrav can track them," Scarrin finished. "Can't you?" he asked,
walking up to the werewolf.
Gandrav bared his fangs in a wolfish smile. "Easily."
"Then get on it." He turned to the red-robed man. "Zero, it occurs to me that the
tactics used during your last encounter will be insufficient. Here's what I want us to do…"
Lina was frowning as she walked down the road. She was thinking back to her
conversation with Sylphiel, which had thrown up an entirely new question that she hadn't
considered before.
Should she sl…
"Oi, Lina!"
Her thoughts interrupted, she turned and found Gourry walking next to her. She
blushed madly as she was reminded of her earlier thoughts.
"Lina? You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, Gourry!" she said quickly.
"Oh…Hey, so where are we headed now?"
Faced with a problem she could sink her teeth into without having hentai thoughts,
Lina thought. "We need money," she said. "Time to roll up our sleeves and waylay some
bandits!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Gourry agreed wholeheartedly. He put a hand on Lina's
shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Caught off guard and in the middle of a rather…intimate thought, Lina reacted.
"HENTAI!!! FIREBALL!!!"
"They're in that direction," Gandrav told them, pointing down one fork in the rode
that led down into a forested valley.
"How can you be so sure?" Zero asked.
"I'm a shaman tracker," Gandrav noted with just a touch of defense. "I can pick up
the astral scent of anything living or dead and follow it to the ends of the universe if need
be. That's how I know…"
"It wouldn't have anything to do with THAT, would it?" Zero asked, pointing
towards the forest.
There was a loud boom in the distance, and a ball of smoke and fire rose from the
sky near the horizon.
"Well," Gandrav said nervously. "You…um…DID say Lina Inverse was with
them…"
"I…Itai…" Gourry moaned from the bottom of the crater.
Lina stood on the edge of the hole, her arms folded over her chest. "Ha!" she
cried. "Figured it out! A spell can't hurt you DIRECTLY, but that sword doesn't help you
any if I blow up the ground at your feet, does it?!"
"Itai…"
"Quit milking it, you hentai!" Lina screamed.
"Is it just me," Zelgadis noted, "Or is Lina a little more touchy today than usual?"
"Perhaps I should try to talk to her?" Sylphiel asked.
"Oh yeah!?" Lina was screaming down into the hole. "How about this!? FREEZE
BRID!!" A chunk of ice the size of a bowling ball appeared directly over the hole and fell.
"OWWW!!" Gourry cried.
"Or…Maybe not," Sylphiel amended.
The group walked for another hour before Sylphiel worked up enough courage to
approach Lina. She trotted up to the front where the redhead was marching.
"Miss Lina? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Lina muttered.
"Miss Lina…Don't you think you were a little hard on Gourry?"
Lina bowed her head regretfully. "Yeah…I know…I guess he just caught me by
surprise."
Sylphiel blinked. "Miss Lina? Is there anything wrong? Anything you want to talk
about?"
The redhead actually growled. Taken aback, Sylphiel took a step away. She could
hear Lina mumbling under her breath.
"Great…I've killed more Mazoku than Cepheid, stole more gold than the church,
am feared by everyone from Dynast to Deep Sea Dolphin, and now I'm going to ask for
THE TALK from Sylphiel….SYLPHIEL!"
"Miss Lina?"
The sorceress growled again. "Sylphiel…Tell me about sex."
You could hear a pin drop between them.
Sylphiel turned deep red. Lina had already done her blushing and just wanted an
answer.
"Stop blushing!" Lina hissed at the shrine maiden. "Jeez, you even still ACT like a
virgin!"
"Miss Lina, I…" Sylphiel faltered.
"Look," Lina said desperately. "I'm not asking for details. It's just that…This
wasn't something Luna ever went into. I left home before it was…you know…necessary to
talk about…"
"Oh," Sylphiel said in understanding. "You and Gourry want to…"
"This is a purely hypothetical situation!" Lina bit back.
"Of course."
Before Sylphiel could even begin to wonder how she was going to explain it, Lina
was ranting again. "I mean, I'm EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!" she cried. "You KNOW all
the sluts back in Zephilia were putting out when they were fifteen! So TECHNICALLY
I'm already three years behind!"
"Yes, but…"
"And it's MY decision, right?!" Lina went on. "I mean, it's MY body! I can do
whatever the Hell I want with it right?!"
"True, however…"
"Hell! If I wanted to, I could paint it blue and dance naked for gold pennies in
downtown Seyruun! Because when all is said and done, I'M the one making the
decisions!"
"Yes…and…"
"I'm a mature adult, dammit!" Lina went on. "And if I want to…experiment…a
little, I should be able to! I've done my bit for king and country! What am I?! That Devil
Hunter in the action-adventure novels!? What'shername?!"
"Yohko, but…"
"Yeah! What?! I have to STAY a virgin forever?! I love Gourry, dammit! And
there's nothing wrong with me wanting to express that to him however the Hell I want!"
Sylphiel was silent.
"Well?!"
"Oh," Sylphiel began. "Well, if you want MY opinion, I think…"
"Who the Hell does society think they are, anyway?!" Lina cried angrily. "You
can't CONDEMN someone for expressing how they feel!"
"I feel the…"
"And you know what!?" Lina asked. "I'm not going to let someone else tell ME,
LINA INVERSE, what to do with MY body or MY boyfriend!"
Sylphiel was silent again.
"Thanks, Sylphiel," Lina said. "This talk really helped."
"Um…No problem, Miss Lina!" the shrine maiden said quickly.
Walking not far behind the pair, three people sweatdropped.
Gourry looked kind of pale at the thought. Zelgadis rested a hand on his shoulder
and squeezed it reassuringly. "My friend…You are so screwed."
The swordsman nodded pitifully.
Amelia grinned and patted his other arm. "Gambatte, Mister Gourry!"
The horse under her was practically gasping for breath. Greysword kicked it with
her spurs again, not giving it any choice but continue forward. Her lead with the other Lina
Inverse may have been false, but if she hurried, she could catch up to the others…
And kill that god damn Mazoku once and for all.
Gourry was lying on his bed readying the lastest issue of "Swords and Swording."
It was a slow night. Everyone else was asleep, and he had the whole room all to himself.
He was considering just turning in and going to sleep when he heard a soft tapping
at his door. He lowered his magazine and blinked.
"Um…Who's there?"
"Gourry?" he heard Lina's soft voice whisper from the other side of the door.
"It…It's me…Lina."
The blond man blinked. "Lina?"
"Please?" she begged. "Can I come inside? I…I need you…"
She sounded so helpless…so vulnerable…
He smiled gently. "Sure, Lina. Come on in."
Suddenly, the door burst open as Lina kicked it down from the other side! The
redhead marched in wearing a leather thong, bra, some chains, and not much else! She
raised a black leather bullwhip over her head and cracked it loudly.
"OJOUSAMA TO OYOUBI!!" she screamed.
Gourry sat up in his sleeping roll and screamed, pulling his blanket up to his chin to
hide and shaking like a leaf. His eyes darted from side to side, searching for signs of a
redhead in leather.
Lina was sleeping not far away, closer to the campfire than he was. She was
curled up under her blanket, snoring loudly.
It had just been a dream.
The Chibi Zelgadis appeared on his shoulder.
"Oh, Cepheid, not again," Gourry moaned.
Chibi Zelgadis shook his head. "What kind of man are you? You just found out that
she WANTS you, and hear you are crying like a little girl. You sicken me…"
Chibi Amelia appeared on his other shoulder. "Yeah, Mister Gourry, that IS pretty
freak'n lame…"
"I thought you were supposed to be my GOOD side!" Gourry accused her.
"Yes," Chibi Amelia said. "But because I'm a part of you, that means I love Miss
Lina too." She smiled. "And quite frankly, me and the other parts of your mind are rather
disappointed in you."
"You've known her for more than three years," Chibi Zelgadis told him
disdainfully. "Look at her! She's a beautiful eighteen year old woman who loves you!"
Chibi Amelia nodded in agreement. "And all we've been hearing in your brain is,
'Oh! I'm so scared! I'm a weak little girl!'"
"Hey!" Gourry cried indignantly.
"Stop being such a whiny little bitch," Chibi Zelgadis told him.
"Be a man for Cepheid's sake!" Chibi Amelia hounded him.
"And how the Hell am I supposed to do that?!"
Chibi Sylphiel appeared on top of his head. "Hi! It's me again!" she announced.
"Gourry dear, as the man in this relationship, YOU have to be the one that goes to HER."
"Since when?!"
"Since you kissed her! Now get a move on!" The tiny priestess bopped him on the
head with her scepter. The three chibi guides disappeared.
Gourry sighed and looked up at Lina again. Apparently, she hadn't been disturbed
by his conversation with his partially psychotic mind…
Lina growled as she waited.
(Come on, you doofus, DO SOMETHING!) she thought at him, as if maybe he
would pick up her thoughts and do something. Walk over and wake her up. Kiss her
goodnight.
SOMETHING!
Her eyes went wide a second later. (You idiot!) she shouted at herself. (Zelgadis,
Sylphiel, and Amelia are only a few yards away! You can't let him….well…YOU
KNOW!)
She heard Gourry rise from his bedroll.
(No! Gourry! Not yet! Not here!) she begged quietly. What if his shoulder finally
pushed him over the edge! What if he was so mad with love and lust that he didn't care
who was around!
Footsteps were getting closer…
What if he decides he simply can't wait any longer and climbs into her sleeping
roll!? What was she supposed to do?! How would she?! How COULD she?! The others
were only a few feet away!
Maybe she should kill them!
Yeah! That way there wouldn't be any witnesses!
She could…
The footsteps! They were here!
She shut her eyes!
The footsteps walked by her.
(Huh?!) She opened her eyes and strained her hearing. Gourry was at the other
side of their small camp. She heard a zipping sound from that direction…
Then the sound of flowing water.
Gourry whistling to himself…
Lina shut her eyes and started to growl.
(That….IDIOT!)
Here she was! All innocent and cute and vulnerable! And the first thing he decides
to do is TAKE A LEAK!?
The footsteps walked by her again. She heard Gourry plop back down into his
sleeping roll and sigh. A few minutes later….snoring.
"I'm going to kill him," she muttered. "I swear it. I'm going to beat the crap out of
him with a shovel! I swear!"
"Good morning!" Gourry cried with a smile as Lina sat down next to the fire and
yawned.
She looked over at him, her eyes narrow slits. "You are a stupid, stupid man…"
The swordsman blinked and scratched his head.
Sylphiel poured some soup into a metal cup and handed it to the sorceress. The sun
was out though it was still early. They'd have to start moving before too long.
Lina brought the cup to her lips and paused as something caught her eye. "Zel...The
trees on your left…"
The chimera sat there nonchalantly sipping his own soup. "I saw them. There's
also two in the trees behind you."
"And one to their right," Gourry remarked.
Sylphiel handed a cup to Amelia, the two seemingly oblivious to what Lina and the
two men were talking about.
"Berserkers by the look of them," Lina commented quietly from behind her soup
cup. "Either of you see Zero or Greysword?"
"No."
"Nope."
She nodded. "Well, that's good…FIREBALL!!!" The trees behind which she had
seen two berserkers hiding exploded, throwing the reptiles to either side. Several more
took that as their signal to attack and jumped out from the trees on all sides.
"DISLASH!" Zelgadis cried, firing several blades of light from his hands. Two
more berserkers fell.
Two more of the monsters charged Gourry, their scimitars raised for an overhand
slash. The swordsman gave them a half-smile and drew his sword in a quick slash! The
blades of the berserkers' swords fell to the ground, sliced neatly by Gourry's sword. The
monsters turned and charged the swordsman again…
Three more advanced on Amelia and Sylphiel. The princess posed and pointed at
the creatures. "IN THE NAME OF JUSTI…"
Most creatures would wait until she was finished. The berserkers got tired of it
LONG before that. They rushed forward.
Thrown off guard, Amelia hesitated.
Sylphiel raised her hands. "VU VRAIMER!!!" A stone stallion rose from the
ground between them, facing Sylphiel and Amelia. The golem whinnied, then kicked with
its hind legs! The berserkers went flying. The remaining reptilians started to run.
"Good horsey!" Sylphiel said with a smile, patting its snout.
Lina sighed before growling. "I'm not going to ask who taught that to you," she
muttered bitterly as the stallion reverted to a pile of rocks and dirt.
"Stop wasting time!" Zelgadis growled. "Those things weren't the main attack!
They were meant to slow us down! We have to get moving!"
"How do you know that, Mister Zelgadis?"
The chimera turned and started rolling up his sleeping bag. "Because," he growled.
"I used the same damn method against Lina."
Lina blinked. That's right. Zelgadis HAD used berserkers to slow her and Gourry
down when he was working for Rezo trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. "He's right,"
she said. "Let's get out of here. We'll eat later."
Floating three hundred feet in the air, his eye in a short field telescope, Zero
watched Greywords and the others break camp. He lowered the scope and disappeared a
second later, only to reappear next to Scarrin and Gandrav in their own encampment
below.
"They're on the move," he said quickly.
"Map," Scarrin ordered. A berserker unfolded a map and placed it on a small,
folding field table. "They'll try for the nearest town," he said. "Gandrav?"
The werewolf examined the map and growled. "The nearest town is Carvalho, but
to get there they'd have to take this valley that leads to the east." He pointed at its location
on the map. "But I wouldn't wish that kind of trip on my worst enemy."
"They won't see themselves as having a choice," Scarrin assured him. "Zero, you
and I will take half our berserkers to this point…" He pointed out a place on the map
signifying a rugged stone valley. "Gandrav will take the other half and push them in that
direction."
The two nodded.
Zelgadis hit the ground and turned, raising his arms to catch Sylphiel as she hopped
down from the rock outcropping above. He quickly steadied her and turned to catch
Amelia. Gourry caught Lina and they started quickly down the forested hill.
"So where exactly are we going, anyway?" Amelia asked.
"We have to make it to a town and hole up," Lina told her. "I don't want to get
caught out in the open here if Zero or Greysword show up."
At that point, Sylphiel let out a cry as her foot slipped. A log started rolling down
the hill, making enough noise to let anyone for miles around to know they were there. The
priestess landed on her butt with a cry.
"Itai…" she said, rubbing her backside.
"Shh!" Lina shushed.
"I'm sorry," Sylphiel said. "I didn…"
"No! I mean now! Hush!" She held her finger up, warning everyone to be quiet.
"Anyone else hear that?"
Zelgadis strained his senses as far as he could. Then he heard it.
The sound of metal clanking against metal…
Kind of like a bunch of men in armor running in their direction.
"Shit!" Zelgadis growled turning to look back up the ridge. Six berserkers had
cleared the ridge and were aiming bows at them.
"FIREBALL!" Lina cried, hurling a ball of flaming death at the reptiles. The
fireball exploded at the base of the ridge, engulfing the berserkers in an explosion.
"There are probably more on the way," Amelia pointed out.
"Then let's not let the grass grow under our feet," Lina replied seriously. She
started back down the hill at a fast clip. The others followed except for Zelgadis, who
paused for a moment before rushing back up the hill.
"Zelgadis dear?" Sylphiel inquired, turning to see that he wasn't with them. She
started up the hill after him. "Zelgadis dear? What is it?"
The chimera looked around for a moment before finding what he sought; one of the
berserker's bodies. He rolled the dead reptilian onto its back and examined its blood-
stained tunic.
Sylphiel finally caught up to him and touched his shoulder. "Zelgadis dear? What
is it?"
Zelgadis took a breath. "I didn't think to check before," he whispered.
"What do you mean?"
He pointed at a small patch on the creature's leather tunic. The small, square patch
sported a red "R."
"These are my berserkers," he said.
"What do you mean, YOUR berserkers?" she asked in puzzlement.
"I mean," he said quietly, "They're from the same tribe that swore its allegiance to
Rezo in exchange for saving them from a plague. The same tribe I used when I was hunting
Lina and Gourry…"
Sylphiel swallowed and squeezed his shoulder. "Come on, Zelgadis dear," she
whispered. "Let's catch up to the others…"
"They shouldn't be here," he whispered, ignoring her.
"Please, Zelgadis dear. We'll work this out later."
For a second, she thought she was going to have to drag him away, but finally he
turned and started back down the hill. She gave the berserker one last glance before
hurrying after him.
"I don't like it," Zelgadis said bitterly, looking down at the gully below them. "It
FEELS like a trap."
"This is the quickest way through to Carvalho," Lina told him. "It's either this or
another day of climbing through the foothills."
The chimera leaned against a nearby boulder and took a breath. The gully WAS the
quickest way through to the next town, and they WERE being pursued…
He still didn't like it.
The others were still eating a hasty lunch. Gourry chewed thoughtfully on a piece
of travelbread. "Well," he mumbled through the bread, "So far we haven't seen Zero or
Greysword…Maybe they're still behind us."
"And maybe they're not," Zelgadis pointed out. "Maybe they're down there,
waiting for us."
"Zel, the sun is going to be down in two hours. If we don't get to Carvalho before
then, we're going to be stuck up here for the night, and I do NOT want to be ambushed in a
mountain pass in the middle of the night by Cepheid knows how many berserkers,
Greysword, and Zero. If they're down there, I'd rather face them now while we still have
the light and a CHANCE that they're not down there at all."
"And I'd rather face them on my own terms than be HERDED into a trap!"
Zelgadis argued.
Gourry and Amelia watched the debate go back and forth. Finally, it was Sylphiel
who put an end to it.
"Zelgadis dear, I think Miss Lina is right. How do we know that they've been
herding us HERE? What if they've been trying to slow us down and keep us AWAY from
this path?" The chimera didn't look convinced. "The point is we just don't know,"
Sylphiel went on. "And Miss Lina has always led us on the right path before. Shouldn't
we trust her judgement on this?"
He said nothing.
"The longer we delay, the…" Lina started to say when Zelgadis cut her off.
"Fine," he said curtly. He started down the path towards the gully.
"Zelgadis dear," Sylphiel started after him, but Lina grabbed her arm.
"Let him sulk," Lina advised. "It's his way."
Sylphiel watched as he walked off. "Zelgadis dear…"
Zero looked down into the gully and waited. He had his doubts about this plan, but
it was hardly up to him to criticize Lord Scarrin. The sounds of a horse galloping his way
caused him to turn. He shook his head and smiled. He should've expected this…
Greysword, looking exhausted and sweaty, climbed off of a panting, slavering
horse and rushed towards him. "The berserker at the base of the gully told me everything,"
she said, searching the valley with her eyes. "What is Scarrin thinking?"
"LORD Scarrin," Zero said curtly, "Is thinking why risk losing them when
negotiation might work just as well."
"Negotiating with a Mazoku like that?" she bit out. "I prefer my idea…" She
started for the path leading downwards, but Zero took her arm.
"We're back-up," he told her. The woman glared at him, and the red priest
wannabe smiled. "Please, Miss Greysword," he said, "Don't you trust Lord Scarrin? He
has everything planned out. Trust him."
She took a breath. "Fine," she said, sitting down. "But don't say I didn't warn
you."
Zelgadis scanned the sides of the valley as he walked, his hand on his sword. They
had been walking for forty-five minutes. Another half an hour and they'd be out. The
sooner the better. He tossed a look at Lina and found her also searching the walls for
reptilian faces. At least she wasn't being overconfident about this.
He threw a quick look over his shoulder at Sylphiel. The priestess didn't look very
happy. He wondered what was bothering her. His thoughts went back to the berserker he
had found. Perhaps it was just coincidence. After all, once Rezo died, they would've been
left to their own devices. Maybe they hired themselves out as mercenaries, or…
A stone moved to his right. He stopped. "Lina," he said quietly.
"I see them," she muttered. "Dammit."
"I really hate it when I'm right, you know," he told her with a slight smile, letting
her know there wasn't a grudge.
She smiled back. "Don't worry, Zel. You're not right all that often…"
"It's them, isn't it?" Sylphiel asked.
Gourry drew his sword. "Is it Greysword?" he asked, eager for another chance at
the swordswoman.
Before someone could answer him, berserkers were filling the gully in front and
behind them.
"Mister Zelgadis," Amelia whimpered, "I really hate it when you're right too…"
The berserkers raised their weapons but made no move towards them.
"Sylphiel," Lina whispered in low tones, "If I Dragon Slave the ones in front of us,
can you get the ones behind?"
"I…I think so…"
"Darkness beyond twilight…"
Before Lina could say more, the berserkers in front of them parted, allowing a man
in black to step forward.
An image of Zelgadis disappearing in a cloud of black smoke shot into Sylphiel's
mind. She gasped. "It's him."
"Zelgadis Greywords?" the yellow-eyed man asked with a smile. "You're a hard
chimera to find."
Zelgadis' eyes narrowed. "Have we met?" he asked.
The man smiled again. "I am Scarrin, and no, we've never met." He waved his
hand, and the berserkers on either side of them backed away. Only a werewolf remained
behind them, blocking their escape. "I apologize for my methods, but I've been searching
for you for a long time."
"So you've found me," Zelgadis congratulated him. "Kudos."
Scarrin smiled.
"Now if you don't mind, we'll be on our way."
"There IS something we must discuss first, Zelgadis," Scarrin told him.
"I've nothing to discuss with you," Zelgadis replied deadpan.
"Not even your cure?" Scarrin asked.
The chimera blinked. It was then that he noticed Scarrin's yellow eyes.
"Yes," Scarrin said quietly. He pointed at his eye. "As you can see, I'm a
chimera too. Human…tiger…and one other part. A part we share."
Zelgadis said nothing.
"Oi…Lina," Gourry whispered. "What's going on?"
"Gourry, for the first time since we've met, you know as much as I do," the redhead
whispered back.
"Zelgadis dear," Sylphiel whispered fearfully.
"What are you talking about?" Zelgadis asked the chimera before him.
"You believe you are one-third human," Scarrin told him. "This simply isn't so."
"What are you talking about?!" the chimera demanded. "Dammit! Stop speaking
in riddles!"
"You are, in fact, ONE-FOURTH human," Scarrin explained. "Human…blue
demon…golem…" He paused. "Mazoku."
Zelgadis shook his head in disbelief. His eyes were wide. "You're lying," he
whispered quietly. "You can't make a chimera with a Mazoku…"
"You can," Scarrin assured him, "And Rezo did…Six times."
"What?!"
"Such a complicated…experimental process…" Scarrin commented. "Did you
honestly think that you were the FIRST one?" Zelgadis was floored. He looked back at
Sylphiel who looked at him in complete shock. "Oh, don't look so distraught, Zelgadis!"
Scarrin went on. "The amount of Mazoku in you wouldn't fit in a thimble! It's merely
there as a kind of glue."
"Shut up," Zelgadis whispered.
"We are BROTHERS, Zelgadis!" Scarrin hissed.
"Shut up."
Scarrin regarded him for a moment. "That's hardly any way for a man to speak to
someone who wants to grant him his salvation."
"I said SHUT UP!" The chimera glared at the yellow-eyed man. "You attack us,
torture Gourry, and now I'm supposed to believe you want to help me?!"
"I apologize for my methods," Scarrin said remorsefully. "You have to understand
that we ARE eager to right the wrongs committed by Rezo. Not just for you, but for the
others. Some of my associates were…overzealous. I apologize."
Zelgadis eyed him. "Help me how?" he asked.
"Zelgadis dear!" Sylphiel cried urgently.
Scarrin smiled. "We want to make you whole again…human."
"How?"
"The Mazoku portion of you…it's minute, but it acts as a type of glue keeping the
other parts of you working as a coherent being. Very advanced work. Rezo and Eris were
rather proud of it, as I recall. Without the Mazoku portion, the other pieces fall away."
"And?"
The yellow-eyed chimera's eyes were predatory as he smiled. "We want to take it
out of you."
"Tell me how I do it."
"The process is very complicated," Scarrin told him, stalling. "If you were to
accompany us back our lab, we could begin right away."
Zelgadis eyed him. The others watched the two chimeras carefully, wondering
which way the pendulum was going to swing.
Could this really be the key to reversing his curse?
He took a breath.
"Screw him, Zel!" Lina growled. "If this is what he REALLY wanted, he
could've sent you a letter! Instead he's been hunting us like wild animals! Maybe you DO
have a piece of Mazoku in you, but if you do, he wants it for something else!"
"We want to kill it, and let you finally find peace," Scarrin assured him quietly.
He took a step towards Zelgadis. "You're a young man, Zelgadis. The youngest of the six,
and the last one aside from myself. There's still time for you." Zelgadis listened to him,
still unsure. "You can still have a life of your own. A home…wife and kids…a normal,
quiet life…"
The chimera looked over his shoulder at Sylphiel. She was looking at him
fearfully. A wife…kids…a normal, quiet life…
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" he asked, turning back to Scarrin. "For
all I know Lina's right, and you want the Mazoku piece for something else."
"You're just going to have to trust me," Scarrin told him quietly. "I know how you
feel. I was the first. So I know how distrustful you are of others. Let me help you." He
reached out with his hand.
"Please? Trust me?"
Zelgadis looked at the man, unsure of what to do. Behind him, Lina, Gourry,
Amelia, and Sylphiel watched on, ready to assist however they could.
"Zelgadis dear?" Sylphiel asked quietly.
The chimera looked at the yellow-eyed man, at his outstretched hand. Slowly, he
reached out to him…
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
Once again, a conversation about boxing inspired by "Coming to America." Star Trek is
the property of Gene Roddenberry.
"Ojousama to oyoubi," is a Tenchi Muyo in-joke. The phrase means, "Call me princess!"
KIRK: Captain's Log….Stardate………….TWOFIVESEVENEIGHTFOUROHFOUR!!!!
We've beamed down to…..Theta Rhodimus…………..Four… INANATTEMPT… to…
understand new…and different….cultures…
JIRAS: Your tea is ready. (Serves tea to Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, sitting at a table at
Filia's Tea and Mace Shop.)
SPOCK: Captain, as we sit here sipping these beverages, I cannot help but feel that there
is something more important happening on this planet that requires the reader's attention.
MCCOY: YOU AND YOUR DAMN VULCAN LOGIC!!!
Faces: After!
Part 14
Another Ambush!?
The Dark Past Returns!
"How much longer?" Scarrin asked his red-robed henchman as they looked down
at the town from the mountain pass.
Zero thought for a moment, looking up at the sun through his astrolabe. "Another
day, maybe," he said.
Scarrin smiled. "Excellent."
"What about Greysword?" Zero asked him.
The yellow-eyed man waved the question aside. "She'll be here. Do you honestly
believe she'd miss this opportunity?"
"Was it really a good idea to leave her unsupervised?"
Scarrin's lip quirked up. "That depends," he said. "Do you really think she is
capable of killing Greywords?"
"I suppose not…"
"Gandrav, can you sense it?"
The werewolf stepped forward and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the air.
"No. Your scent is drowning it out. We're still too far away."
"Can you sense ANYTHING?"
The werewolf nodded. "Enough to know it was here."
"Good enough. Let's go." Without another word, Scarrin started down the path.
"Oi, Zelgadis!"
The chimera, leaning up against the wall near the inn door, looked up at the
approaching swordsman with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Taking Lina out?" he
asked.
"Huh?" The mercenary blinked. "Oh! The flowers! No. These are for Amelia.
Is she feeling any better?"
Zelgadis sighed and pushed the door open a bit so that bits of conversation could be
heard from inside. "See for yourself."
"Now I'm not saying he isn't good," Lina was saying inside the sick girl's room.
"I'm just saying I stopped liking Darrin Daye when he changed his name to Bahamut Bali!
What kind of crap is that?!"
Amelia's irate voice came a second later. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! WAIT
A MINUTE!" she demanded. "A man has a right to change his name to whatever he wants
to change it to! And if a man wants to be called 'Bahamut Bali,' Cepheid dammit, Seyruun
is a free kingdom, we should respect his wishes and call the man 'Bahamut Bali!'"
"His mother named him 'Daye,'" Sylphiel spoke up, "I'm calling him 'Daye.'"
"Damn straight!" Lina agreed.
Gourry chose this moment to enter. He smiled at Amelia, who was sitting up in
bed, looking much better now after a few days of rest. Sylphiel was sitting in a chair
nearby, and Lina was leaning up against the wall across from the princess' bed.
"Hi, Amelia!" he said, beaming. "I brought you some flowers. How are you
feeling?"
Lina crossed her arms over her chest. "What about MY flowers?" she asked.
Gourry started. "Um…"
"Er…Thank you, Mister Gourry!" Amelia jumped in, taking the flowers and putting
them on the nightstand next to the other flowers and small gifts she had received.
Zelgadis entered the room. "So how DO you feel?" he asked. "Well enough to
travel yet?"
Amelia nodded. "Oh, definitely!" she said with a bright smile.
"Are you sure?" Lina asked. She looked to Sylphiel.
"Well," the priestess said, putting her finger to her lip in thought, "It should be
okay…"
"I feel much better, Miss Lina," Amelia told her, smiling for her benefit.
"Well, that's good," Zelgadis commented. "Because by my count, we're all out of
money, and the innkeeper just told me that if we're not out in two hours, he's gathering a
mob…"
Lina sighed. "I guess we have stayed longer than we meant to…"
Amelia hopped out of bed and posed. "THOUGH ILLNESS TEMPORARILY
STRUCK DOWN A HERO OF JUSTICE, THE DARKNESS CAN NEVER FULLY
DAMPEN THE LIGHT OF A LONE CANDLE, BURNING AGAINST THE EVIL
BLACKNESS OF EVIL!"
"She's better," the others agreed at once.
"'Evil blackness of evil?'" Zelgadis asked, handing Amelia her cape.
"I've been sick! Give me a break!" she cried defensively.
Max, stableboy in the small burg of Laketown, smiled as he brushed the silver
mare's shiny coat. He hummed to himself as he worked. The boy loved the horses put in
his charge by the Laketown Council. They were fast beasts, used by couriers on their way
to Seyruun. Each one was perfect.
He turned as he heard the sound of a horse galloping to a stop outside. A moment
later a woman entered the stable.
"You, boy!" she said, pointing at him. "Your fastest horse! Now! I'm in a hurry!"
Max frowned. "Are you a courier of Seyruun? I can't give you a horse unle…"
He stopped as the edge of a katana grazed his throat. He stifled a frightened sob.
Greysword glared. "Get the message?" she asked. He nodded. "Good. Horse.
Now." She pushed him away.
Max hurriedly saddled the silver mare.
Lina tested the weight of her pack and frowned. It was still uneven. She took it off
and plopped back down on the bed in her room. Nearby, Amelia was doing likewise with
some unwanted help from Sylphiel, who was still hovering around the girl like a mother
hen.
"Miss Sylphiel, really," Amelia complained, albeit politely. "I'm okay."
"I know, I know," Sylphiel said quickly, putting a small vial of a greenish liquid in
Amelia's pack. "I just wanted to give you this Yet's Lichen. I got it from the magic shop
downstairs. It should help if you begin to feel weak or disoriented." She produced a
small, folded cloth. "And this is Ranma's Wart powder. You mix it with your bath and it
makes you…"
"Hey, Sylphiel," Lina called, coming to Amelia's defense. "Can I ask you
something?"
Sylphiel paused in her rant and turned to the redhead, blinking. She smiled. "Of
course, Miss Lina."
Something had been tugging at the back of Lina's mind ever since she saw
Sylphiel's dream world several days before. "Just curious, you've seen Zel as a human,
right? On Zarak Tor?"
Amelia looked to Sylphiel, who looked just a bit uncomfortable. "Yes…That's
right."
"So what did he look like?" Lina asked.
"Um…"
"I still think he looks cool the way he is!" Amelia announced.
"Oh, come on!" Lina cried, nudging the room's door shut with her foot. "It's…girl
talk." She grinned evilly. The redhead turned that grin on the shrine maiden now.
"So…What's he look like?"
Sylphiel, feeling very trapped, backed herself into a corner. "Well…He was…"
"Was he handsome?!" Amelia asked. "Did he look just and heroic!?"
"Well…"
"Come on, Sylphiel," Lina coaxed her smugly. "Spill it."
Sylphiel blushed bright red. "Well…yes," she squeaked quietly.
"Yes to what?" Lina pushed.
"He…was very handsome," Sylphiel elaborated, twiddling her fingers.
"Oh?" Lina smirked. "Go on."
"WAIT!" Amelia cried suddenly. The other two women turned in shock, expecting
Amelia to have some sort of emergency. Instead, the princess plopped down onto her bed
on her stomach and put her chin in her hands. "Okay! I'm ready!"
Sylphiel and Lina sweatdropped.
"So?" Lina continued.
Sylphiel's blush continued to darken until she was the shade of a ripe tomato. She
blinked suddenly as she remembered the last time she was in this kind of situation, when a
fifteen year old Sylphiel Nels Lahda was telling her friends in Sairaag about a certain
swordsman who had saved her life. They were gone, but Amelia and Lina were the closest
female friends she had now.
She smiled. "Well," she began conspiratorially, "He was the same height and
build, but…softer. He had more roundish features too."
"What else?" Amelia asked excitedly. As a princess, she hadn't had many close
girlfriends. This was her first gossip session.
"Well," Sylphiel said quickly, getting into this new girl-talk episode, "You can't
see them, but he has some freckles on his face that make him look so ADORABLE!"
Lina started to laugh hysterically. "Zel! With FRECKLES!"
"I think they'd be cute!" Amelia cried, coming to Zelgadis' defense.
"And you can't really tell from the stone skin, but he's quite muscular under that
shirt," Sylphiel continued, counting off on her fingers. "And he has this soft, brown hair
that I just LOVED to run my fingers through, and…" She looked up to find Amelia and
Lina staring at her, a bit of red in their cheeks. The shrine maiden quickly covered her
mouth with her hand, realizing that she said just a bit too much…
"Um…Miss Sylphiel?" Amelia asked. "I don't think we needed to know that…"
Lina was actually blushing. "I…um…Didn't realize the two of you had…um…that
early… I mean…"
Sylphiel had exceeded the tomato blush she had worn earlier and was now near
meltdown. "Um…" She put her hand to hear ear. "Huh?!" she called out. "Oh! Okay,
Zelgadis dear!" With that, she made her escape out the door and down the hall.
"Well," Lina said. "That was…fun…"
"Zelgadis dear? Can I ask you something?"
The chimera didn't turn as he packed his belongings into his small satchel. "Sure,"
he said.
"Do you…think we moved too fast?"
He blinked and turned to face her. "No," he said deadpan.
The shrine maiden blinked. "You don't? I always thought you were…well…more
old fashioned…"
"I am," he told her, returning to his packing. "But if something is working well,
why second guess how it got to be that way?" He stopped for a moment. "Um…Things are
working well, right?" he asked just tad nervously. The chimera felt her arms wrap around
him from behind a second later and felt the priestess press against his back. "Oh, good,"
he said, going back to packing his pajamas.
"Zelgadis dear?"
"Yes?"
"You…don't think…less of me…for…well…on Zarak Tor when I…um…"
"Sylphiel, why would I think less of you?" he asked as he packed his underwear.
"I don't know," she sighed. "I just worry about these things."
Zelgadis buttoned the bag closed. "Sylphiel, if you're that worried, let me set you
straight. With the exception of maybe Filia, you are the most prim, proper, traditional, and
old-fashioned woman I know. Your morals are the highest of anyone I know, and I know
that…" He broke off.
"That what?" she asked.
She couldn't see him blush with his back turned, but he was. "I…um…know that
for you to…want to do…what we did…on Zarak Tor…" He was quiet for a moment.
Sylphiel waited for him to continue. "I know that you must have loved me," he finished
quickly. She smiled. "Because," he went on haltingly. "You…wouldn't have done it
otherwise…"
The priestess hugged him tighter. "That's sweet, Zelgadis dear," she said quietly.
He coughed nervously. "Well…um…Are you all packed?"
"Mmm hmm," she said, releasing him and sitting down on the bed next to his bag.
She looked up at him with smiling, green eyes.
"What about the others?" he asked, lifting his bag to his shoulder.
"Miss Lina is eating one last breakfast buffet…to the innkeeper's regret," Sylphiel
told him, still smiling.
Zelgadis sighed. "Figures." He put his bag down. Sylphiel laid back on the bed
and sighed. "How have you been sleeping?" Zelgadis asked her suddenly. "You haven't
woken up for the past several nights."
"Actually, I've been sleeping well," she told him. "Whatever Miss Lina did in my
dreams, it seems to have worked."
"And she still won't tell you?"
She shook her head. "I guess it's her revenge for whatever I did to her in my
dream."
"Ah…"
Sylphiel stretched out on the bed. "I liked the bed in Laketown better," she sighed.
The chimera coughed nervously again. "Er…Sylphiel…"
"What did you call me that morning?" she asked with a smile. "'Syl chan?'
Wasn't it?"
"Um…Yeah, I think so…" Zelgadis replied, suddenly feeling warm under the
collar.
"Zelgadis dear, would you do something for me?" Sylphiel asked.
"Um…Like what?"
"Would you call me that from now on?" she begged. "I like the way it sounds."
He blushed. "You…want me to call you…'Syl chan?'"
She smiled and nodded.
"Um…In public?"
Another nod.
"Ah…"
The shrine maiden blinked, then frowned in disappointment. "You don't have to if
you don't want to…" she said.
The chimera sighed inwardly. On the surface she was so easy to please. So it
sounded a little embarrassing. So what? Right?
He sighed again. "All right, Sylphiel," he relented, trying to smile. (It won't be so
bad,) he thought to himself.
One of Lina's belly-laughs was already echoing in his head…
Sylphiel stood up and put her finger to his lips. "Syl chan," she corrected.
He actually chuckled. "Syl chan," he repeated.
She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "I love you, Zelgadis dear," she whispered.
"I love you too, Sylph…er…Syl chan."
The shrine maiden smiled, and her eyes went wide a second later. "Zelgadis dear,
would you like me to call you, 'Zel chan,' from now on?!"
A massive sweatdrop formed on the back of his head. He had to think quickly.
"Um….'Zelgadis dear,' works for me," he said quickly, waving his hands at her.
She smiled and nodded.
"Well? Were they here?" Scarrin asked the werewolf.
Gandrav sniffed the bed where the innkeeper told them the chimera had been
staying. "The astral scent is here," he growled to the yellow-eyed man.
"How long ago?" Zero asked.
"Four hours. No more," the werewolf replied, rising to his full height.
"To miss them by four hours," Zero muttered in disdain.
"Means that Gandrav can track them," Scarrin finished. "Can't you?" he asked,
walking up to the werewolf.
Gandrav bared his fangs in a wolfish smile. "Easily."
"Then get on it." He turned to the red-robed man. "Zero, it occurs to me that the
tactics used during your last encounter will be insufficient. Here's what I want us to do…"
Lina was frowning as she walked down the road. She was thinking back to her
conversation with Sylphiel, which had thrown up an entirely new question that she hadn't
considered before.
Should she sl…
"Oi, Lina!"
Her thoughts interrupted, she turned and found Gourry walking next to her. She
blushed madly as she was reminded of her earlier thoughts.
"Lina? You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, Gourry!" she said quickly.
"Oh…Hey, so where are we headed now?"
Faced with a problem she could sink her teeth into without having hentai thoughts,
Lina thought. "We need money," she said. "Time to roll up our sleeves and waylay some
bandits!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Gourry agreed wholeheartedly. He put a hand on Lina's
shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Caught off guard and in the middle of a rather…intimate thought, Lina reacted.
"HENTAI!!! FIREBALL!!!"
"They're in that direction," Gandrav told them, pointing down one fork in the rode
that led down into a forested valley.
"How can you be so sure?" Zero asked.
"I'm a shaman tracker," Gandrav noted with just a touch of defense. "I can pick up
the astral scent of anything living or dead and follow it to the ends of the universe if need
be. That's how I know…"
"It wouldn't have anything to do with THAT, would it?" Zero asked, pointing
towards the forest.
There was a loud boom in the distance, and a ball of smoke and fire rose from the
sky near the horizon.
"Well," Gandrav said nervously. "You…um…DID say Lina Inverse was with
them…"
"I…Itai…" Gourry moaned from the bottom of the crater.
Lina stood on the edge of the hole, her arms folded over her chest. "Ha!" she
cried. "Figured it out! A spell can't hurt you DIRECTLY, but that sword doesn't help you
any if I blow up the ground at your feet, does it?!"
"Itai…"
"Quit milking it, you hentai!" Lina screamed.
"Is it just me," Zelgadis noted, "Or is Lina a little more touchy today than usual?"
"Perhaps I should try to talk to her?" Sylphiel asked.
"Oh yeah!?" Lina was screaming down into the hole. "How about this!? FREEZE
BRID!!" A chunk of ice the size of a bowling ball appeared directly over the hole and fell.
"OWWW!!" Gourry cried.
"Or…Maybe not," Sylphiel amended.
The group walked for another hour before Sylphiel worked up enough courage to
approach Lina. She trotted up to the front where the redhead was marching.
"Miss Lina? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Lina muttered.
"Miss Lina…Don't you think you were a little hard on Gourry?"
Lina bowed her head regretfully. "Yeah…I know…I guess he just caught me by
surprise."
Sylphiel blinked. "Miss Lina? Is there anything wrong? Anything you want to talk
about?"
The redhead actually growled. Taken aback, Sylphiel took a step away. She could
hear Lina mumbling under her breath.
"Great…I've killed more Mazoku than Cepheid, stole more gold than the church,
am feared by everyone from Dynast to Deep Sea Dolphin, and now I'm going to ask for
THE TALK from Sylphiel….SYLPHIEL!"
"Miss Lina?"
The sorceress growled again. "Sylphiel…Tell me about sex."
You could hear a pin drop between them.
Sylphiel turned deep red. Lina had already done her blushing and just wanted an
answer.
"Stop blushing!" Lina hissed at the shrine maiden. "Jeez, you even still ACT like a
virgin!"
"Miss Lina, I…" Sylphiel faltered.
"Look," Lina said desperately. "I'm not asking for details. It's just that…This
wasn't something Luna ever went into. I left home before it was…you know…necessary to
talk about…"
"Oh," Sylphiel said in understanding. "You and Gourry want to…"
"This is a purely hypothetical situation!" Lina bit back.
"Of course."
Before Sylphiel could even begin to wonder how she was going to explain it, Lina
was ranting again. "I mean, I'm EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!" she cried. "You KNOW all
the sluts back in Zephilia were putting out when they were fifteen! So TECHNICALLY
I'm already three years behind!"
"Yes, but…"
"And it's MY decision, right?!" Lina went on. "I mean, it's MY body! I can do
whatever the Hell I want with it right?!"
"True, however…"
"Hell! If I wanted to, I could paint it blue and dance naked for gold pennies in
downtown Seyruun! Because when all is said and done, I'M the one making the
decisions!"
"Yes…and…"
"I'm a mature adult, dammit!" Lina went on. "And if I want to…experiment…a
little, I should be able to! I've done my bit for king and country! What am I?! That Devil
Hunter in the action-adventure novels!? What'shername?!"
"Yohko, but…"
"Yeah! What?! I have to STAY a virgin forever?! I love Gourry, dammit! And
there's nothing wrong with me wanting to express that to him however the Hell I want!"
Sylphiel was silent.
"Well?!"
"Oh," Sylphiel began. "Well, if you want MY opinion, I think…"
"Who the Hell does society think they are, anyway?!" Lina cried angrily. "You
can't CONDEMN someone for expressing how they feel!"
"I feel the…"
"And you know what!?" Lina asked. "I'm not going to let someone else tell ME,
LINA INVERSE, what to do with MY body or MY boyfriend!"
Sylphiel was silent again.
"Thanks, Sylphiel," Lina said. "This talk really helped."
"Um…No problem, Miss Lina!" the shrine maiden said quickly.
Walking not far behind the pair, three people sweatdropped.
Gourry looked kind of pale at the thought. Zelgadis rested a hand on his shoulder
and squeezed it reassuringly. "My friend…You are so screwed."
The swordsman nodded pitifully.
Amelia grinned and patted his other arm. "Gambatte, Mister Gourry!"
The horse under her was practically gasping for breath. Greysword kicked it with
her spurs again, not giving it any choice but continue forward. Her lead with the other Lina
Inverse may have been false, but if she hurried, she could catch up to the others…
And kill that god damn Mazoku once and for all.
Gourry was lying on his bed readying the lastest issue of "Swords and Swording."
It was a slow night. Everyone else was asleep, and he had the whole room all to himself.
He was considering just turning in and going to sleep when he heard a soft tapping
at his door. He lowered his magazine and blinked.
"Um…Who's there?"
"Gourry?" he heard Lina's soft voice whisper from the other side of the door.
"It…It's me…Lina."
The blond man blinked. "Lina?"
"Please?" she begged. "Can I come inside? I…I need you…"
She sounded so helpless…so vulnerable…
He smiled gently. "Sure, Lina. Come on in."
Suddenly, the door burst open as Lina kicked it down from the other side! The
redhead marched in wearing a leather thong, bra, some chains, and not much else! She
raised a black leather bullwhip over her head and cracked it loudly.
"OJOUSAMA TO OYOUBI!!" she screamed.
Gourry sat up in his sleeping roll and screamed, pulling his blanket up to his chin to
hide and shaking like a leaf. His eyes darted from side to side, searching for signs of a
redhead in leather.
Lina was sleeping not far away, closer to the campfire than he was. She was
curled up under her blanket, snoring loudly.
It had just been a dream.
The Chibi Zelgadis appeared on his shoulder.
"Oh, Cepheid, not again," Gourry moaned.
Chibi Zelgadis shook his head. "What kind of man are you? You just found out that
she WANTS you, and hear you are crying like a little girl. You sicken me…"
Chibi Amelia appeared on his other shoulder. "Yeah, Mister Gourry, that IS pretty
freak'n lame…"
"I thought you were supposed to be my GOOD side!" Gourry accused her.
"Yes," Chibi Amelia said. "But because I'm a part of you, that means I love Miss
Lina too." She smiled. "And quite frankly, me and the other parts of your mind are rather
disappointed in you."
"You've known her for more than three years," Chibi Zelgadis told him
disdainfully. "Look at her! She's a beautiful eighteen year old woman who loves you!"
Chibi Amelia nodded in agreement. "And all we've been hearing in your brain is,
'Oh! I'm so scared! I'm a weak little girl!'"
"Hey!" Gourry cried indignantly.
"Stop being such a whiny little bitch," Chibi Zelgadis told him.
"Be a man for Cepheid's sake!" Chibi Amelia hounded him.
"And how the Hell am I supposed to do that?!"
Chibi Sylphiel appeared on top of his head. "Hi! It's me again!" she announced.
"Gourry dear, as the man in this relationship, YOU have to be the one that goes to HER."
"Since when?!"
"Since you kissed her! Now get a move on!" The tiny priestess bopped him on the
head with her scepter. The three chibi guides disappeared.
Gourry sighed and looked up at Lina again. Apparently, she hadn't been disturbed
by his conversation with his partially psychotic mind…
Lina growled as she waited.
(Come on, you doofus, DO SOMETHING!) she thought at him, as if maybe he
would pick up her thoughts and do something. Walk over and wake her up. Kiss her
goodnight.
SOMETHING!
Her eyes went wide a second later. (You idiot!) she shouted at herself. (Zelgadis,
Sylphiel, and Amelia are only a few yards away! You can't let him….well…YOU
KNOW!)
She heard Gourry rise from his bedroll.
(No! Gourry! Not yet! Not here!) she begged quietly. What if his shoulder finally
pushed him over the edge! What if he was so mad with love and lust that he didn't care
who was around!
Footsteps were getting closer…
What if he decides he simply can't wait any longer and climbs into her sleeping
roll!? What was she supposed to do?! How would she?! How COULD she?! The others
were only a few feet away!
Maybe she should kill them!
Yeah! That way there wouldn't be any witnesses!
She could…
The footsteps! They were here!
She shut her eyes!
The footsteps walked by her.
(Huh?!) She opened her eyes and strained her hearing. Gourry was at the other
side of their small camp. She heard a zipping sound from that direction…
Then the sound of flowing water.
Gourry whistling to himself…
Lina shut her eyes and started to growl.
(That….IDIOT!)
Here she was! All innocent and cute and vulnerable! And the first thing he decides
to do is TAKE A LEAK!?
The footsteps walked by her again. She heard Gourry plop back down into his
sleeping roll and sigh. A few minutes later….snoring.
"I'm going to kill him," she muttered. "I swear it. I'm going to beat the crap out of
him with a shovel! I swear!"
"Good morning!" Gourry cried with a smile as Lina sat down next to the fire and
yawned.
She looked over at him, her eyes narrow slits. "You are a stupid, stupid man…"
The swordsman blinked and scratched his head.
Sylphiel poured some soup into a metal cup and handed it to the sorceress. The sun
was out though it was still early. They'd have to start moving before too long.
Lina brought the cup to her lips and paused as something caught her eye. "Zel...The
trees on your left…"
The chimera sat there nonchalantly sipping his own soup. "I saw them. There's
also two in the trees behind you."
"And one to their right," Gourry remarked.
Sylphiel handed a cup to Amelia, the two seemingly oblivious to what Lina and the
two men were talking about.
"Berserkers by the look of them," Lina commented quietly from behind her soup
cup. "Either of you see Zero or Greysword?"
"No."
"Nope."
She nodded. "Well, that's good…FIREBALL!!!" The trees behind which she had
seen two berserkers hiding exploded, throwing the reptiles to either side. Several more
took that as their signal to attack and jumped out from the trees on all sides.
"DISLASH!" Zelgadis cried, firing several blades of light from his hands. Two
more berserkers fell.
Two more of the monsters charged Gourry, their scimitars raised for an overhand
slash. The swordsman gave them a half-smile and drew his sword in a quick slash! The
blades of the berserkers' swords fell to the ground, sliced neatly by Gourry's sword. The
monsters turned and charged the swordsman again…
Three more advanced on Amelia and Sylphiel. The princess posed and pointed at
the creatures. "IN THE NAME OF JUSTI…"
Most creatures would wait until she was finished. The berserkers got tired of it
LONG before that. They rushed forward.
Thrown off guard, Amelia hesitated.
Sylphiel raised her hands. "VU VRAIMER!!!" A stone stallion rose from the
ground between them, facing Sylphiel and Amelia. The golem whinnied, then kicked with
its hind legs! The berserkers went flying. The remaining reptilians started to run.
"Good horsey!" Sylphiel said with a smile, patting its snout.
Lina sighed before growling. "I'm not going to ask who taught that to you," she
muttered bitterly as the stallion reverted to a pile of rocks and dirt.
"Stop wasting time!" Zelgadis growled. "Those things weren't the main attack!
They were meant to slow us down! We have to get moving!"
"How do you know that, Mister Zelgadis?"
The chimera turned and started rolling up his sleeping bag. "Because," he growled.
"I used the same damn method against Lina."
Lina blinked. That's right. Zelgadis HAD used berserkers to slow her and Gourry
down when he was working for Rezo trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. "He's right,"
she said. "Let's get out of here. We'll eat later."
Floating three hundred feet in the air, his eye in a short field telescope, Zero
watched Greywords and the others break camp. He lowered the scope and disappeared a
second later, only to reappear next to Scarrin and Gandrav in their own encampment
below.
"They're on the move," he said quickly.
"Map," Scarrin ordered. A berserker unfolded a map and placed it on a small,
folding field table. "They'll try for the nearest town," he said. "Gandrav?"
The werewolf examined the map and growled. "The nearest town is Carvalho, but
to get there they'd have to take this valley that leads to the east." He pointed at its location
on the map. "But I wouldn't wish that kind of trip on my worst enemy."
"They won't see themselves as having a choice," Scarrin assured him. "Zero, you
and I will take half our berserkers to this point…" He pointed out a place on the map
signifying a rugged stone valley. "Gandrav will take the other half and push them in that
direction."
The two nodded.
Zelgadis hit the ground and turned, raising his arms to catch Sylphiel as she hopped
down from the rock outcropping above. He quickly steadied her and turned to catch
Amelia. Gourry caught Lina and they started quickly down the forested hill.
"So where exactly are we going, anyway?" Amelia asked.
"We have to make it to a town and hole up," Lina told her. "I don't want to get
caught out in the open here if Zero or Greysword show up."
At that point, Sylphiel let out a cry as her foot slipped. A log started rolling down
the hill, making enough noise to let anyone for miles around to know they were there. The
priestess landed on her butt with a cry.
"Itai…" she said, rubbing her backside.
"Shh!" Lina shushed.
"I'm sorry," Sylphiel said. "I didn…"
"No! I mean now! Hush!" She held her finger up, warning everyone to be quiet.
"Anyone else hear that?"
Zelgadis strained his senses as far as he could. Then he heard it.
The sound of metal clanking against metal…
Kind of like a bunch of men in armor running in their direction.
"Shit!" Zelgadis growled turning to look back up the ridge. Six berserkers had
cleared the ridge and were aiming bows at them.
"FIREBALL!" Lina cried, hurling a ball of flaming death at the reptiles. The
fireball exploded at the base of the ridge, engulfing the berserkers in an explosion.
"There are probably more on the way," Amelia pointed out.
"Then let's not let the grass grow under our feet," Lina replied seriously. She
started back down the hill at a fast clip. The others followed except for Zelgadis, who
paused for a moment before rushing back up the hill.
"Zelgadis dear?" Sylphiel inquired, turning to see that he wasn't with them. She
started up the hill after him. "Zelgadis dear? What is it?"
The chimera looked around for a moment before finding what he sought; one of the
berserker's bodies. He rolled the dead reptilian onto its back and examined its blood-
stained tunic.
Sylphiel finally caught up to him and touched his shoulder. "Zelgadis dear? What
is it?"
Zelgadis took a breath. "I didn't think to check before," he whispered.
"What do you mean?"
He pointed at a small patch on the creature's leather tunic. The small, square patch
sported a red "R."
"These are my berserkers," he said.
"What do you mean, YOUR berserkers?" she asked in puzzlement.
"I mean," he said quietly, "They're from the same tribe that swore its allegiance to
Rezo in exchange for saving them from a plague. The same tribe I used when I was hunting
Lina and Gourry…"
Sylphiel swallowed and squeezed his shoulder. "Come on, Zelgadis dear," she
whispered. "Let's catch up to the others…"
"They shouldn't be here," he whispered, ignoring her.
"Please, Zelgadis dear. We'll work this out later."
For a second, she thought she was going to have to drag him away, but finally he
turned and started back down the hill. She gave the berserker one last glance before
hurrying after him.
"I don't like it," Zelgadis said bitterly, looking down at the gully below them. "It
FEELS like a trap."
"This is the quickest way through to Carvalho," Lina told him. "It's either this or
another day of climbing through the foothills."
The chimera leaned against a nearby boulder and took a breath. The gully WAS the
quickest way through to the next town, and they WERE being pursued…
He still didn't like it.
The others were still eating a hasty lunch. Gourry chewed thoughtfully on a piece
of travelbread. "Well," he mumbled through the bread, "So far we haven't seen Zero or
Greysword…Maybe they're still behind us."
"And maybe they're not," Zelgadis pointed out. "Maybe they're down there,
waiting for us."
"Zel, the sun is going to be down in two hours. If we don't get to Carvalho before
then, we're going to be stuck up here for the night, and I do NOT want to be ambushed in a
mountain pass in the middle of the night by Cepheid knows how many berserkers,
Greysword, and Zero. If they're down there, I'd rather face them now while we still have
the light and a CHANCE that they're not down there at all."
"And I'd rather face them on my own terms than be HERDED into a trap!"
Zelgadis argued.
Gourry and Amelia watched the debate go back and forth. Finally, it was Sylphiel
who put an end to it.
"Zelgadis dear, I think Miss Lina is right. How do we know that they've been
herding us HERE? What if they've been trying to slow us down and keep us AWAY from
this path?" The chimera didn't look convinced. "The point is we just don't know,"
Sylphiel went on. "And Miss Lina has always led us on the right path before. Shouldn't
we trust her judgement on this?"
He said nothing.
"The longer we delay, the…" Lina started to say when Zelgadis cut her off.
"Fine," he said curtly. He started down the path towards the gully.
"Zelgadis dear," Sylphiel started after him, but Lina grabbed her arm.
"Let him sulk," Lina advised. "It's his way."
Sylphiel watched as he walked off. "Zelgadis dear…"
Zero looked down into the gully and waited. He had his doubts about this plan, but
it was hardly up to him to criticize Lord Scarrin. The sounds of a horse galloping his way
caused him to turn. He shook his head and smiled. He should've expected this…
Greysword, looking exhausted and sweaty, climbed off of a panting, slavering
horse and rushed towards him. "The berserker at the base of the gully told me everything,"
she said, searching the valley with her eyes. "What is Scarrin thinking?"
"LORD Scarrin," Zero said curtly, "Is thinking why risk losing them when
negotiation might work just as well."
"Negotiating with a Mazoku like that?" she bit out. "I prefer my idea…" She
started for the path leading downwards, but Zero took her arm.
"We're back-up," he told her. The woman glared at him, and the red priest
wannabe smiled. "Please, Miss Greysword," he said, "Don't you trust Lord Scarrin? He
has everything planned out. Trust him."
She took a breath. "Fine," she said, sitting down. "But don't say I didn't warn
you."
Zelgadis scanned the sides of the valley as he walked, his hand on his sword. They
had been walking for forty-five minutes. Another half an hour and they'd be out. The
sooner the better. He tossed a look at Lina and found her also searching the walls for
reptilian faces. At least she wasn't being overconfident about this.
He threw a quick look over his shoulder at Sylphiel. The priestess didn't look very
happy. He wondered what was bothering her. His thoughts went back to the berserker he
had found. Perhaps it was just coincidence. After all, once Rezo died, they would've been
left to their own devices. Maybe they hired themselves out as mercenaries, or…
A stone moved to his right. He stopped. "Lina," he said quietly.
"I see them," she muttered. "Dammit."
"I really hate it when I'm right, you know," he told her with a slight smile, letting
her know there wasn't a grudge.
She smiled back. "Don't worry, Zel. You're not right all that often…"
"It's them, isn't it?" Sylphiel asked.
Gourry drew his sword. "Is it Greysword?" he asked, eager for another chance at
the swordswoman.
Before someone could answer him, berserkers were filling the gully in front and
behind them.
"Mister Zelgadis," Amelia whimpered, "I really hate it when you're right too…"
The berserkers raised their weapons but made no move towards them.
"Sylphiel," Lina whispered in low tones, "If I Dragon Slave the ones in front of us,
can you get the ones behind?"
"I…I think so…"
"Darkness beyond twilight…"
Before Lina could say more, the berserkers in front of them parted, allowing a man
in black to step forward.
An image of Zelgadis disappearing in a cloud of black smoke shot into Sylphiel's
mind. She gasped. "It's him."
"Zelgadis Greywords?" the yellow-eyed man asked with a smile. "You're a hard
chimera to find."
Zelgadis' eyes narrowed. "Have we met?" he asked.
The man smiled again. "I am Scarrin, and no, we've never met." He waved his
hand, and the berserkers on either side of them backed away. Only a werewolf remained
behind them, blocking their escape. "I apologize for my methods, but I've been searching
for you for a long time."
"So you've found me," Zelgadis congratulated him. "Kudos."
Scarrin smiled.
"Now if you don't mind, we'll be on our way."
"There IS something we must discuss first, Zelgadis," Scarrin told him.
"I've nothing to discuss with you," Zelgadis replied deadpan.
"Not even your cure?" Scarrin asked.
The chimera blinked. It was then that he noticed Scarrin's yellow eyes.
"Yes," Scarrin said quietly. He pointed at his eye. "As you can see, I'm a
chimera too. Human…tiger…and one other part. A part we share."
Zelgadis said nothing.
"Oi…Lina," Gourry whispered. "What's going on?"
"Gourry, for the first time since we've met, you know as much as I do," the redhead
whispered back.
"Zelgadis dear," Sylphiel whispered fearfully.
"What are you talking about?" Zelgadis asked the chimera before him.
"You believe you are one-third human," Scarrin told him. "This simply isn't so."
"What are you talking about?!" the chimera demanded. "Dammit! Stop speaking
in riddles!"
"You are, in fact, ONE-FOURTH human," Scarrin explained. "Human…blue
demon…golem…" He paused. "Mazoku."
Zelgadis shook his head in disbelief. His eyes were wide. "You're lying," he
whispered quietly. "You can't make a chimera with a Mazoku…"
"You can," Scarrin assured him, "And Rezo did…Six times."
"What?!"
"Such a complicated…experimental process…" Scarrin commented. "Did you
honestly think that you were the FIRST one?" Zelgadis was floored. He looked back at
Sylphiel who looked at him in complete shock. "Oh, don't look so distraught, Zelgadis!"
Scarrin went on. "The amount of Mazoku in you wouldn't fit in a thimble! It's merely
there as a kind of glue."
"Shut up," Zelgadis whispered.
"We are BROTHERS, Zelgadis!" Scarrin hissed.
"Shut up."
Scarrin regarded him for a moment. "That's hardly any way for a man to speak to
someone who wants to grant him his salvation."
"I said SHUT UP!" The chimera glared at the yellow-eyed man. "You attack us,
torture Gourry, and now I'm supposed to believe you want to help me?!"
"I apologize for my methods," Scarrin said remorsefully. "You have to understand
that we ARE eager to right the wrongs committed by Rezo. Not just for you, but for the
others. Some of my associates were…overzealous. I apologize."
Zelgadis eyed him. "Help me how?" he asked.
"Zelgadis dear!" Sylphiel cried urgently.
Scarrin smiled. "We want to make you whole again…human."
"How?"
"The Mazoku portion of you…it's minute, but it acts as a type of glue keeping the
other parts of you working as a coherent being. Very advanced work. Rezo and Eris were
rather proud of it, as I recall. Without the Mazoku portion, the other pieces fall away."
"And?"
The yellow-eyed chimera's eyes were predatory as he smiled. "We want to take it
out of you."
"Tell me how I do it."
"The process is very complicated," Scarrin told him, stalling. "If you were to
accompany us back our lab, we could begin right away."
Zelgadis eyed him. The others watched the two chimeras carefully, wondering
which way the pendulum was going to swing.
Could this really be the key to reversing his curse?
He took a breath.
"Screw him, Zel!" Lina growled. "If this is what he REALLY wanted, he
could've sent you a letter! Instead he's been hunting us like wild animals! Maybe you DO
have a piece of Mazoku in you, but if you do, he wants it for something else!"
"We want to kill it, and let you finally find peace," Scarrin assured him quietly.
He took a step towards Zelgadis. "You're a young man, Zelgadis. The youngest of the six,
and the last one aside from myself. There's still time for you." Zelgadis listened to him,
still unsure. "You can still have a life of your own. A home…wife and kids…a normal,
quiet life…"
The chimera looked over his shoulder at Sylphiel. She was looking at him
fearfully. A wife…kids…a normal, quiet life…
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" he asked, turning back to Scarrin. "For
all I know Lina's right, and you want the Mazoku piece for something else."
"You're just going to have to trust me," Scarrin told him quietly. "I know how you
feel. I was the first. So I know how distrustful you are of others. Let me help you." He
reached out with his hand.
"Please? Trust me?"
Zelgadis looked at the man, unsure of what to do. Behind him, Lina, Gourry,
Amelia, and Sylphiel watched on, ready to assist however they could.
"Zelgadis dear?" Sylphiel asked quietly.
The chimera looked at the yellow-eyed man, at his outstretched hand. Slowly, he
reached out to him…
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
Once again, a conversation about boxing inspired by "Coming to America." Star Trek is
the property of Gene Roddenberry.
"Ojousama to oyoubi," is a Tenchi Muyo in-joke. The phrase means, "Call me princess!"