A Sailor Moon/Slayers Fic
Episode Three: Garv! Meeting with Maryuuou
By Sakura
As the travelers
made their way through the burning hot desert, they tried not to think about
the vultures flying overhead. At least two of them were. Their other companion
was enjoying himself as if he were just taking a walk in a park.
"Xel, why
didn't you just teleport us there instead of making us walk around here and
burn into a crisp while we're at it!?" complained a red haired girl. She
was thirsty as hell and all that heat wasn't doing much for certain 'monthly
problem.' "Stupid time of the month," she grumbled under her breath.
"I could
Lina-chan, but -" began Xellos.
"Lemme
guess, you don't feel like it," the redhead, Lina, shot back.
"True, but I
don't think Xylia-chan is up to another teleport just yet. She hasn't adjusted
to life here yet." The purple haired mazoku turned to their remaining
companion. "Do you want to stop and rest for a bit?"
The purple haired
girl, the mazoku's twin, wiped the handkerchief he had given her across her
brow. "Hai. It's so hot now and I don't think Lina-san is feeling any
better," she said sympathizing with the red haired girl.
"All right
then," he said smiling, "We'll wait til the sun sets." He then
phased out of sight only to come back into view carrying two tents a split
second later.
When the tents
were pitched, Lina had immediately took one of them and fell fast asleep, not after helping herself to a
nice cool drink from one of their canteens of course. Xylia, whose real name
was Hotaru, took the other tent and was looking forward to a nap, since she
hadn't gotten all her strength back. Besides there wasn't anything else to do
in the middle of a desert except watch yourself dehydrate from the heat.
Xellos entered
his sister's tent and sat down next to her. "Not much of a place,
ne?"
"When do you
think we'll reach Garv-sama's place?" she asked.
"Not sure.
Probably within the next couple of days if we don't stop too often."
"Nii-san,
what did you really come in here for?" she asked, knowing somehow her
brother wanted something.
"You know
there was a huge battle not too far from here," he said remembering the
war between the ryuuzoku and the anczoku.
"What kind
of battle?" she asked. She really didn't want to hear about this, but she
also knew there had to be a reason for her brother's change of subject.
"I told you
about the ryuuzoku and the anczoku, right?" Hotaru nodded. "Well the
ryuuzoku feared the power of the anczoku so they fought a war not too far from
this desert. They slaughtered every single one of the anczoku."
"That's
terrible! They shouldn't have done that!" she didn't like ryuuzoku much
because of what Xellos had told her. From what he had said they seemed like a
sanctimonious, self-righteous race, now she liked them even less. 'How could
they do that!? How could they murder an entire race because they were
different!?'
Sensing his
sister's hatred, Xellos mentally smiled to himself. "I know how you must
feel imouto-chan, but don't worry. The lizards got theirs." With that the
purple haired mazoku rose and left the tent. But not before leaving a strange
purple pen behind. "Sleep well, Hota-chan," he called from outside.
She was angry.
She had wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but he had left before she
could get the first word out. However she could tell by the look on his face
that she and he were somehow involved in giving the gold dragons their just
deserts.
Picking up the
pen, she looked at it. The pen itself was black while the cap was purple and in
the shape of the planet Saturn, the rings around it were silver. "I wonder
where Xellos nii-san got this from," she said putting it in one of her
pockets. Seeing that her answers had to wait, Hotaru lay down and went to sleep.
Inside the other
tent occupied by Lina, Xellos had wrapped his arms around the redhead and was
now contentedly cradling her against his chest as he too began to drift off to
sleep.
Meanwhile, a
group of mazoku were surrounding the camp, with orders to kill whoever it was
that dared to enter the domain of Maryuuou. The group consisted of ugly brutish
looking orcs and ape creatures, which weren't too smart since they failed to
recognize two of the three people were the infamous Lina Inverse and Xellos
Metallium, servant to no other than Juuou Xelas herself. Had they known this,
they would have left them alone.
One orc had snuck
into Hotaru's tent and was about to do more than just slit her throat when the
girl opened her eyes and screamed when she saw it. Upon feeling his sister's
fear, Xellos shot up and phased into the tent, leaving a confused Lina.
"Now what's
going on!?" She quickly ran out the tent to be seized by one extremely
hairy ape man. Sighing she said, "Why does this ALWAYS have to happen to me!?"
She then managed to grab her sword and slash at the creature only to slice air.
Inside the other
tent, Xellos now had his arm around her shoulder, a pile of ashes lay on the
floor. "Are you all right, Hota-chan?"
The girl was
still trembling a little, but otherwise over the fright. "Hai, thank you
'nii-san."
"You're
welcome, 'mouto-chan. By the way do you still have that pen I left you?"
She reached into
her pocket and pulled it out. "This?"
"Good. I
knew it'd come in handy. That's a focus for your power until you're able to use
it by yourself," he explained. Just then a yell from Lina outside forced
him to phase out.
She didn't have
the time to properly digest what her brother said because another ape creature
burst into the tent. Suddenly she felt a surge of energy flow through her and
before she knew it she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Saturn Planet
Power, make up!"
Black and purple
ribbons surrounded her and replaced her black outfit with a sailor fuku she had
seen the Sailor Senshi wearing. She had purple trim on hers and knee high
purple boots. In her hand was a staff with two curved blades, one shorter than
the other. "What the!?" The ape creature finally decided to attack
her and rushed at her. Hotaru swung the staff and sliced the ape's head off.
Rushing out side
she saw an orc about to impale her brother with a scimitar. Raising her glaive,
she yelled, "Silence Glaive Surprise!" Everything fell silent for a
millisecond then without warning, Hotaru slammed the glaive into the sand. A
fissure suddenly opened up where the orc stood and he fell into the crevice.
Other fissures sprang from that one and swallowed up the mazoku surrounding the
tiny camp.
The mazoku
holding onto Lina, fell into another fissure, taking her with it. However,
Xellos was quick enough to catch her and phase them back out just as the
crevice filled with sand. "Thanks, Xel," said Lina giving the purple
haired mazoku a fast peck on the cheek.
"Don't thank
me, pet. Thank Xylia-chan. She's the one who saved both of us."
The red haired
sorceress stared at the sailor suited girl next to them. Xellos' sister had
been a shy, timid girl who was content to just let others lead, before her
stood a young woman who was used to giving orders and wasn't afraid to speak
her mind. "X-Xylia?" she asked.
"Hai, it's
me, Lina-san. I'm still the same person, this is just my Sailor Senshi uniform.
I am Sailor Saturn," she said. She then closed her eyes and concentrated
her clothes melted and Lina briefly covered her own eyes. When she dared to
look again, Hotaru was back in the outfit she had on earlier.
"I don't
understand any of this! First you're Xel's sister then you say you're a Sailor
Senshi. Which are you really?" she asked completely confused now.
"She's my
sister all right," Xellos said giving her a huge bear hug.
"B-b-but
-"
"I think
we'd better leave the explanations for later, Lina-chan," he said and then
teleported them away to Garv's castle.
The blue haired
figure frowned. "Dynast-sama definitely isn't going to like this,"
Sherra said as she too teleported but to somewhere outside the desert. "I
should have known those damned idiots would mess up. Never send a man to do a
woman's job."
*****
Inside Garv's
castle, the three travelers stood before the Demon Dragon King. Beside the
hulking redheaded man stood a young mazoku with aqua hair and a horn on his
head. Scars littered his face, giving it a striped appearance.
"It's been a
while, Val-kun," Xellos said smiling.
"Just what
the damn hell are you doing here, bastard."
"Tsk, tsk,
you still haven't learned to mind your manners, Val."
"That's it!
I'm gonna -" The half dragon mazoku lunged for the wolf mazoku,
brandishing a whip that looked like two cherries attached a stick.
"Val! That's
enough! And as for you, Xellos, stop baiting him!"
"B-but
Garv-sama," Valgarv stammered. It only took a lift of one bushy eyebrow to
make the mazoku change his mind. "H-hai, Garv-sama," he said backing
off and returning to his master's side. Of course, Xellos was looking as smug
as ever.
"Thank you
for coming so quickly, Xel-kun."
Valgarv's jaw
dropped and hit the floor. "Y-you invited THAT here, Garv-sama!?" he
asked flabbergasted.
"Yes I did
Val-kun, I came across some information that concerns Xellos' mistress, but I
didn't ask you to bring others, Xel-kun," he said glaring at the purple
haired mazoku.
Throughout their
conversation, Lina was standing rather quietly since she was still suffering
from the shock of being teleported directly to the lair of one of Shabranidgo's
most powerful lords. Hotaru decided to keep a safe distance between herself and
the mazoku lord by standing not too far from her brother.
"I recognize
you Lina Inverse, but however I don't think I've met you before," he said
as Maryuuou's eyes went from the petite red haired sorceress to Hotaru who now
began to tremble slightly.
"Oh come on
now, Garv-sama. I'm sure you remember my sister Xylia," Xellos said gently
pushing her in front of him.
"Have you
gone mad, Xellos? We all know your sister was lost during the Kouma War,"
he said. But his eyes could not believe it. Here was Xellos' twin sister right
before his eyes. True he had recognized her as the girl he'd seen on that other
world, but he'd never think she could possibly the trickster's long lost
sister. "However, since most believe seeing is believing, I won't say
another word about that." He then smiled at the purple haired girl.
"Okaeri nasai, Xylia-san."
"Um, thank
you Garv-sama," she said bowing.
"Wait a
minute! Are you saying that THAT has a sister!? Since when!?" Val asked,
shocked once again.
"I do have a
name you know," Xellos said hurt. "And yes I do have a sister, lizard
brain."
"Xellos
'nii-san! That wasn't very nice!" she bopped him on the head.
"But he
started it," he said with mock hurt, "You saw it didn't you,
Lina-chan?"
The redhead only
snorted. "You shouldn't insult someone like that," Hotaru said.
"You're a
real ladies' man aren't you, Xelly. You must really enjoy being bossed around
by a bunch of females," Val shot.
"I don't
know who you think you are, mister! But you can't go around insulting my
brother like that!" Hotaru yelled, a purple aura began to glow around the
girl. "I admit he may not be the nicest person in the world, but he is
still my brother!"
Valgarv just
stood there in amazement. No one had ever talked to him like that except for
Garv. Besides he wasn't about to mess with someone who obviously had an
enormous amount of power. "Listen, I'm sorry for insulting Xellos like
that, but he did deserve it," he said apologizing AND for once curbing the
language.
Now it was
everyone else's, except Hotaru, turn to be shocked. Never had Valgarv, minion
of Maryuuou Garv, apologized to anyone but his master. "Apology
accepted," she said. "Um, sorry but I don't know your name."
"Val-kun why
don't you see to the ladies and Xel-kun and I can discuss things," Garv
said noticing the way his favorite servant began to look at Xellos' sister.
"Hai,
Garv-sama." He came over to Lina and Hotaru. "You two can rest in one
of the spare rooms. It's this way," he said leading them through one of
the doorways in the hall.
"You'd
better not hide anything from me, mazoku!" Lina called over her shoulder.
"I'd also
like to know what's going on 'nii-san," Hotaru added.
"Oh I
wouldn't dream of hiding anything from my two favorite ladies," Xellos
replied. "Have fun, Xylia-chan!"
*****
"Your name's
Val, right?" Hotaru asked the young mazoku leading them down the long
hallway.
"Actually
it's Valgarv," he said back. "Here's the room," he said opening
a large wooden door. "I'll come get you when their done."
"Hey! This
ain't too shabby," Lina said from the bed.
The room was
tastefully done in dark red and brown. A large four poster mahogany bed stood
against one wall. A table and chairs stood by a large fireplace and a vanity
and dresser stood on each side of the bed.
"Should you
need anything there's a bedpull," said the aqua haired mazoku and left.
"He seems
like a nice guy," Hotaru said.
"You've
gotta be kidding me! He's a mazoku!" Lina said sitting up on the bed.
"So? Xellos
'nii-san is one and you're his koibito are you?"
Lina just shut
her mouth and turned as red as her eyes. "H-he didn't tell you did
he?"
She shook her
head. "When he called you his Lina-chan, I just thought you might be his
koibito." The purple haired girl sat in one of the chairs. "I wish I
had one of my books with me. It'd really help pass the time til, 'nii-san's
done."
"Hey! I've
got an idea. How about you explain to me what happened back there in the
desert?" Lina said. She wasn't one to give up on mysteries, especially
when they concerned her.
"Sure. I
don't think anyone would mind me telling," Hotaru said coming over to the
bed.
*****
Meanwhile, Xellos
and Garv were discussing about what the Demon Dragon King had learned.
"Xel, I'm sure you're aware that Grausherra's up to something," began
the redheaded mazoku lord.
"Hai,
Garv-sama. I have heard rumors of rogue mazoku striking villages in the
north."
"Well
there's more to it. My spies and I have reason to believe that Dynast has been
gathering the rogue mazoku to build an army. An army he intends to use against
either Juuou or myself. But who knows with a warmonger like him, it could be both."
"Hmm. This
is indeed not a good thing," the mazoku priest said frowning.
"I agree,
however it is certain that he will definitely strike at Juuou first, since her
domain is between mine and his."
"You wish we
to warn her then?" Xellos asked.
"Yes, but I
also would like for you see if Grausherra really does have an army and find out
its strengths and weaknesses if possible."
"Ooo
political intrigue," said the purple haired licking his lips. "My
sister and I shall get on it at once, Garv-sama." Xellos bowed before the
mazoku lord.
"Once you've
your mistress, of course," he
returned.
"Of course,
Maryuuou-sama." Xellos then bowed again and promptly phased out in search
of his sister and Lina.
"You're not
really gonna trust that, namagomi are you Garv-sama?" Val asked.
"As much as
I really can't stand that fruitcake, I'd hate to see Xelas be destroyed. She
and I have a very long standing friendship, Val-kun."
"Forgive me,
master," Val said, kneeling before the large man.
Chuckling, Garv rose
from his throne. "Val, I want you to go with them. Make sure that none of
them gets hurt."
"Garv-sama?"
"Especially
the Inverse girl. Anything happens to her, L-sama would have my hide."
"I shall not
fail you, my master." Val said with such conviction that it was hard not
to smile at the fierce loyalty the mazoku had for him.
"I know you
won't. That is why I chose you to go this time. Just time back safely,
Val-kun." The mazoku lord then left through another door.
"I will,
Garv-sama," the aqua haired mazoku said to the air. Trying to curb his
temper, Valgarv took a few breaths before going to fetch Lina and Hotaru.
"Great, just great I get to hang around with that %@$^!@^ namagomi
%@&#@!^"