Slayers Labyrinth
A Slayers/Labyrinth Crossover
By Sakura
Chapter Three
Stone Boy
After what seemed like hours, Lina
had finally reached the labyrinth at the bottom of the hill. The girl searched
the enormous wall before her for signs of a door somewhere, while she took a
breather. The hill had been pretty steep on the way down and her boots weren't
really made for a whole lot of walking. Seeing no doors anywhere, she let out an
exasperated sigh and said, "Great. Just great! Now how am I supposed to get
in?!"
Walking along the wall, she saw that
it was lined with all kinds of flowering bushes and plants. Tiny faeries and
insects flew among the fragrant flowers. Smiling, she was tempted to pick a
perfect red rose when a figure up ahead caught her eye.
Certain she was sure that he wasn't
there before, she took a good, long look at him. He was dressed in beige
trousers and a beige shirt with a hood, though the hood was down at the moment.
Polished black leather shoes covered his feet. But what really caught her
attention was the figure's lavender hair that shone like metal when the sun hit
it and that he had blue skin. Scattered over the skin were several protrusions
that she were sure were rocks.
The figure took out a spray can and
sprayed at one of the plants. Something flew out of a flower and staggered to
the ground, which he promptly stomped on. As he did that, he nonchalantly
brushed a stray lock on hair back over one pointed ear.
Thinking that this person might know
a way into the labyrinth, she strode up to him. As she approached him, she could
hear he was humming lightly to himself. (He's humming 'More Than Words' BTW ^_^)
"Hey you!" she said thoroughly startling the chimera.
"Um... sorry. I was just
leaving," said in a slightly nasal voice. He hadn't even bothered to look
to see who it was.
"Excuse me," Lina said
again. This time causing the chimera to turn around. He was a few inches taller
than her she noticed at that made her uneasy since she'd have to look up at him
to talk to him.
"Well, well, well," he said
regarding the petite red haired girl before him.
"I, um, have to get into the
labyrinth. Do you know how I can get in?" she asked.
He was about to say something, but he
quickly went up to a rosebush and took out the spray can again. A faerie was
hovering over the flowers. He sprayed it with a couple bursts and the faerie
began to fall. Lina quickly caught it.
"How could you?!"
she yelled. She gingerly held the tiny creature in the palm of her hand. "Kawaiso
na." The chimera just ignored her and put the can away again. Lina was
about to give him a piece of her mind when she felt a sharp pain on her finger
and let out a yelp. "ITAIIIIIIIII!!! It bit me!" she whined.
"Of course it did. What would
you expect faeries to do?" the chimera asked and quickly sprayed yet
another of the creatures.
"I thought faeries granted
wishes when you helped them," she said.
"Hmph. Goes to show how smart
you are. Here." He handed her a few purplish leaves and she looked him
puzzled. "Rub those on the bite," he explained.
Lina nodded at him gratefully and did
just that. However instead of making the pain go away, it made it hurt ten fold.
"What's the big idea! Now it hurts more! Much more!" she shrieked.
"Of course it would. Everyone
knows you don't use those for faery bites," said the chimera, smirking.
"Not too bright are you, kid?"
Lina's eyes teared. "B-but I
though you were giving them to make it better. How could you do that to a kawaii
girl like me?"
He looked at her and laughed. "Kawaii?!
Heh! That's a good one! Are you sure you're a girl? I mean where's you're chest?
I sure don't see one."
She was furious now and despite the
enormous pain in her finger, she began to chant. "Fireball!!" To her
surprise the ball of flame hit its mark, but all it did was singe the chimera's
shirt off. (Whoo-hoo!! This is for all you Zel fans out there! ^_-) "You're
despicable!" she spat.
"No I'm not. My name is Zelgadis.
You're the one who's not being nice here. Who are you anyway?"
"Lina Inverse," she said
proudly, though she doubted her name would do her much good in this weirded out
place.
"Thought as much," he said
and went back to spraying faeries.
The girl sulked, sucking on her still
aching finger. "Ouchie!" Who was this guy? Was he put here by Xellos
to prevent her from even entering the labyrinth. He seemed to know about, at
least what she looked like. But, he certainly didn't look like a spy. He was
more like a crabby old stick in the mud than someone the Mazoku King would use
as a spy. She bravely walked up to him and said, "Look you..."
He sighed. "Are you still here?
Fine, here." He handed her some different leaves, a somewhat apologetic
look on his face. She cautiously tried them on the bite, and found that he pain
had almost faded to nothing.
She smiled at him, thanking him. He
nervously smiled back not knowing what to do since no one really smiled at
him before. Suddenly self-conscious, the chimera blushed, turning his skin a
faint purple color.
"Look, I'm sorry 'bout what I
said before," Lina said. She hoped he did know the way in and would be
willing to tell her. "I really have to get in there and I was wondering if
you knew a way in."
"Maybe," he said, returning
to his work.
"So where is it?"
"Where's what?" He didn't
even bother to look up.
"The door!" she yelled,
"Are you stupid or something?!"
"What door?"
"The door into that damned
labyrinth, you great big idiot!" He was really wearing on her patience.
"The door into the
labyrinth," he repeated, laughing again. "Now why would you want to
know that?"
Lina huffed, deciding he was a waste
of energy and magic. "It's none of your freaking business. Why did I even
bother asking a jerk like you?! It's no good asking you anything."
"Not if you ask the right
questions," he said. Was it her or was this 'Zelgadis' beginning to sound
like Xellos? "You sure are no adventurer, greenhorn."
"Well what are the 'right'
questions?" she asked.
"Depends on what you want to
know." Yep, he was definitely sounding like the royal pain in the butt.
"Oh I know what I want all
right. Now, how do I get into the labyrinth?!"
Zelgadis put away his spray can and
said, "Now that's more like it. You can get in there. Now leave me
alone," he said pointing to the wall behind him. Lina's jaw dropped. As if
by magic, a humungous gate appeared as soon as she looked. "You've got to
ask the right questions if you want to get anywhere around here."
Lina gingerly pushed on the gate and
it opened, protesting loudly as it swung on its rusty hinges. Taking a deep
breath, she took her very first step into the unknown. 'Amelia,' she thought
trying to muster as much courage as she could.
Looking around, she saw another huge
wall, just like the first, in front of her. The two walls made a narrow hallway
and their sheer size made her terribly uneasy. Piles of bones and twigs and
branches littered the ground at various spots. Lichen and moss lined the walls,
indicating that this part of the labyrinth most definitely hadn't been kept up
in years, though the walls seemed to be very strong. Looking to her left and
right, the hallway seemed to go on forever in both directions with no visible
signs of turns.
"Nice place isn't it?"
Zelgadis said startling her. She shivered, but not from cold. He had turned
unusually somber and for some reason it began to unnerve her. "You're
really going in there, aren't you?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
"I have to," she said
remembering her sister again.
In a tone that implied 'It's your
funeral', the chimera said, "Now which way would you go? Left or
right?"
She looked around carefully and said,
"Well, they look the same to me."
"You won't go far with that
attitude."
"Yeah?! Why don't you pick then
since you seem to know so much," she said beginning to lose her temper
again.
"Me?" He humphed. "I
wouldn't go either way." He was dead certain she wouldn't pick up on the
subtle clue he'd just given her.
"Some guide you are!"
"Who said I was a guide?! I'm
just the gardener," He replied. "You know what your problem is? You
take too much for granted."
Lina's temper flared, but she was
trying to think of which way to go so she ignored the chimera. Since there
seemed to be no logic to this place, there was no real logical way to go.
Closing her eyes she began to point in each direction as she said, "Eenie,
meenie, minie, mo."
"Really scientific method,"
he said dripping with sarcasm. "Take this labyrinth for instance, nothing's
ever what it seems so you can't take anything for granted. Anyway even if you do
reach the castle, you'll never get out again."
"That's your opinion," she
snapped before going back to her deciding.
"Well it's a whole lot better
than yours," he said stomping off on his merry way.
"Thanks for nothing, Stone
Boy!"
"It's ZELGADIS!!" he
yelled back before shutting the gate.
Lina shook her head and sighed. Her
last 'eenie, meenie' had landed on the right so she decided to go in that
direction. As she began to walk she muttered under breath. "The sooner I
get outta here, the better. Stupid Stone Boy." She suddenly blushed as she
realized that he had been topless the whole time she was arguing with him.
"Shame he was a cutie though. His chest wasn't that bad either."