--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The morning dawned bright. A slight frost coated everything in a crystalline shimmer, melting into prismatic brilliance as it turned to morning dew. A bird twittered in gay euphoria. A young bushy-tailed animal blinked into the new day in silent wonder of all that life...
Meanwhile, there was chaos in the house of Lina Inverse. Fitting, eh?
Shall we recap Please, skip past this part if you know what's going on. And if you read the previous chapters, you may get a better idea of what's happening.
Lina Inverse, high school student, was heading home from school one Friday afternoon with her friends Amelia and Gourry. While going on their merry little way, they were confronted by two strangers, Zelgadiss and Xelloss. Not only did these strangers claim to be from another world, but they also said they were good friends/traveling partners with the counterparts of Lina & co. in their world. Lina is plagued by memories that may or may not be her own; Zelgadiss is amazed that he is human again; and Xelloss is trying his best to manipulate a slightly skewed love triangle/quadrilateral/polygon to his favour. The group's only lead is a grimy little bar called the Dragon Slave. When we last left off, Lina and her friends, and also the strangers, were getting a good night's sleep before heading down to the Slave.
Amelia was floating. No, she was dancing. Her shimmering gown of ivory iridescence outshone all the other garments at the ball and this was how it should be. Today she, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Sailloon would become a queen-in-training. Tonight was the night her father would become king. The other King, her grandfather Bryce, had finally passed on after a four-year ordeal with a painful disease. He was a short, slight little man who had ruled well and knew when the time had come for him to pass on the ruling to Phil, making him the crowned prince. His suffering was over. This was a day for celebration, not mourning.
A man clad in beige, with an obscured face entered the ballroom. Whispers laced throughout the crowd as they parted to let the beige shadow slip gracefully past. He moved towards her, and Amelia smiled. This was as it should be, too. He paused before her, bowing deeply and fluently. Ice blue eyes met her own shimmering pools of water. It was Zelgadiss, but his hair was metallic, his skin a soft teal with stones dotted throughout. But it was right, normal, and her heart sang when he took her ivory chin in a rocky hand. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, knowing that he did the same. A breath was shared between them, and -
IBANG BANG BANG /i
"Shit..."
"Dammit...Lina! Let us out!"
"Aw, I thought you'd like to be alone for a while, rrowrr..."
"AUGH! Forget him! Lina, just let me out. He can stay in here!"
"Hrmph. Cranky..."
"Shut the hell up, Xelloss."
With great consternation, Amelia forced her sleep filled eyes open. She watched blearily as Lina stumbled around her room searching for the basement key and growling to herself.
"Grr... Stupid fraggin' people banging around so early in the fraggin' morning. Ooh, I should just go down there and..."
"Lina?"
"What?" she snapped.
"Er... Well, did that Zelgadiss guy look a little, erm, green to you yesterday?"
Lina placed a hand to her forehead in exasperation, "Amelia, I'm tired, I'm stressed out, I have two complete weirdos locked in my basement, and I have a feeling this is gonna be one of those days. Just tell me what the heck your talking about and get it over with."
"Nevermind."
"Alright then!" Her bare feet made a padding sound as he wandered down the hallway, unlocking the door and swinging it wide to watch the two fall over and on top of each other.
Ow... "Lina..."
She waggled a finger, her early morning cheer neither convincing, nor cheery, "No complaining, no. We've got a busy day ahead of us." She dropped the act, "So get your arses into gear. The faster we get down there, the faster I never have to see you again."
"Er, Lina?"
"What, Xelloss?"
"Nice jammies"
Not only were the pajamas nice, Xelloss realized, but he matching slippers she was beating him over the head with were pretty snazzy too.
Amelia exited the room to be greeted with a po'ed Lina beating the snot out of a painfully smiling Xelloss, and a rather bedraggled Zelgadiss rolling his eyes in a most put-out looking way. Hrm, she thought, poor guy, he must not have slept very well...Wait, I'm not supposed to care.
The almost-princess's observations were correct, though. Zelgadiss had slept horribly. Xel had slipped into sleep easily, enjoying it after not having any use of it for so long. Zel hadn't been so lucky. He was assaulted with nightmares of all shapes and tones last night, and had slept fitfully because of it. Coupled with having a solid roof over his head and the strange noises of the magic house, it made for anything but refreshing.
Lina had slept like a log, but that didn't mean she was exactly chipper. When she had thoroughly beaten Xelloss, she stood, kicking him once more for good measure, "Alright, let's just get ready and GO!"
The morning dawned bright. A slight frost coated everything in a crystalline shimmer, melting into prismatic brilliance as it turned to morning dew. A bird twittered in gay euphoria. A young bushy-tailed animal blinked into the new day in silent wonder of all that life...
Meanwhile, there was chaos in the house of Lina Inverse. Fitting, eh?
Shall we recap Please, skip past this part if you know what's going on. And if you read the previous chapters, you may get a better idea of what's happening.
Lina Inverse, high school student, was heading home from school one Friday afternoon with her friends Amelia and Gourry. While going on their merry little way, they were confronted by two strangers, Zelgadiss and Xelloss. Not only did these strangers claim to be from another world, but they also said they were good friends/traveling partners with the counterparts of Lina & co. in their world. Lina is plagued by memories that may or may not be her own; Zelgadiss is amazed that he is human again; and Xelloss is trying his best to manipulate a slightly skewed love triangle/quadrilateral/polygon to his favour. The group's only lead is a grimy little bar called the Dragon Slave. When we last left off, Lina and her friends, and also the strangers, were getting a good night's sleep before heading down to the Slave.
Amelia was floating. No, she was dancing. Her shimmering gown of ivory iridescence outshone all the other garments at the ball and this was how it should be. Today she, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Sailloon would become a queen-in-training. Tonight was the night her father would become king. The other King, her grandfather Bryce, had finally passed on after a four-year ordeal with a painful disease. He was a short, slight little man who had ruled well and knew when the time had come for him to pass on the ruling to Phil, making him the crowned prince. His suffering was over. This was a day for celebration, not mourning.
A man clad in beige, with an obscured face entered the ballroom. Whispers laced throughout the crowd as they parted to let the beige shadow slip gracefully past. He moved towards her, and Amelia smiled. This was as it should be, too. He paused before her, bowing deeply and fluently. Ice blue eyes met her own shimmering pools of water. It was Zelgadiss, but his hair was metallic, his skin a soft teal with stones dotted throughout. But it was right, normal, and her heart sang when he took her ivory chin in a rocky hand. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, knowing that he did the same. A breath was shared between them, and -
IBANG BANG BANG /i
"Shit..."
"Dammit...Lina! Let us out!"
"Aw, I thought you'd like to be alone for a while, rrowrr..."
"AUGH! Forget him! Lina, just let me out. He can stay in here!"
"Hrmph. Cranky..."
"Shut the hell up, Xelloss."
With great consternation, Amelia forced her sleep filled eyes open. She watched blearily as Lina stumbled around her room searching for the basement key and growling to herself.
"Grr... Stupid fraggin' people banging around so early in the fraggin' morning. Ooh, I should just go down there and..."
"Lina?"
"What?" she snapped.
"Er... Well, did that Zelgadiss guy look a little, erm, green to you yesterday?"
Lina placed a hand to her forehead in exasperation, "Amelia, I'm tired, I'm stressed out, I have two complete weirdos locked in my basement, and I have a feeling this is gonna be one of those days. Just tell me what the heck your talking about and get it over with."
"Nevermind."
"Alright then!" Her bare feet made a padding sound as he wandered down the hallway, unlocking the door and swinging it wide to watch the two fall over and on top of each other.
Ow... "Lina..."
She waggled a finger, her early morning cheer neither convincing, nor cheery, "No complaining, no. We've got a busy day ahead of us." She dropped the act, "So get your arses into gear. The faster we get down there, the faster I never have to see you again."
"Er, Lina?"
"What, Xelloss?"
"Nice jammies"
Not only were the pajamas nice, Xelloss realized, but he matching slippers she was beating him over the head with were pretty snazzy too.
Amelia exited the room to be greeted with a po'ed Lina beating the snot out of a painfully smiling Xelloss, and a rather bedraggled Zelgadiss rolling his eyes in a most put-out looking way. Hrm, she thought, poor guy, he must not have slept very well...Wait, I'm not supposed to care.
The almost-princess's observations were correct, though. Zelgadiss had slept horribly. Xel had slipped into sleep easily, enjoying it after not having any use of it for so long. Zel hadn't been so lucky. He was assaulted with nightmares of all shapes and tones last night, and had slept fitfully because of it. Coupled with having a solid roof over his head and the strange noises of the magic house, it made for anything but refreshing.
Lina had slept like a log, but that didn't mean she was exactly chipper. When she had thoroughly beaten Xelloss, she stood, kicking him once more for good measure, "Alright, let's just get ready and GO!"