Chapter 2
Lina and Gourry were eating their way through a meal laid out by Prince Phil's chefs. Amelia had started to eat, but had quickly stopped.
She was sad.
It had been a year since the battle with Dark Star, so Amelia had decided to throw a reunion party with all of her old friends. She even sent out messages to Xelloss and Filia. All the messengers had returned with the news that the message had been delivered. However, so far only Lina and Gourry had shown up and Amelia was fairly certain that they had only come for the food.
Of course, it was still early. Amelia hoped they'd show up for dinner.
Amelia stood up and turned to leave.
"Oi! Amelia! Where are you going?"
Amelia laughed nervously. "I was just going to make sure you two had enough to eat," she said, while edging her way toward the door.
Just then a servant burst in. "May I present to you the honored Zelgadiss Greywords and his companion Xalless," the servant announced loudly.
All three were shocked, especially since they all thought the servant had said Xelloss, and they all knew just how much Zelgadiss hated Xelloss. But the one who followed Zel was not the mysterious trickster priest, but rather a young girl.
Amelia found herself getting a bit jealous, but she forced the envy down and put on her best Saillune smile.
"Hello Mr. Zelgadiss. And I'm sorry, but what was your name again?"
The girl held out her hand. "Xalless. Xalless Metallium. Nice to meet you all finally. Zel has told me so much about you. You must be the Princess Amelia.
Amelia nodded and took the girl's hand, not quite sure what to think of this cheery girl.
Lina and Gourry had come to stand by Amelia Gourry looked clueless again, but Lina looked calculating.
"Hi. I'm Lina Inverse. Your name's Metallium, ne?"
"That's right."
"You wouldn't happen to know a Xelloss, would you?"
"Of course I do. He's my brother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, she had gotten all of them to understand, except for Gourry, but that was normal.
"A long time ago, Shabby had created his 5 High Mazoku. Each of them had created two Mazoku of their own who would help them: a priest and a general. Greater Beast Zelas was the same. She had also created two, though later it was thought that she only had one.
"From the day I was born from her I felt drawn away from her and the Mazoku race. Xelloss was the only reason I stayed for so long.
"Despite popular belief, the Mazoku have to be raised as children. Mazoku aren't just born full-grown. Like humans and Ryuzoku, we were born as babies and raised. The only difference is that Mazoku don't need to have a mate.
"So I stayed and trained with Xelloss. But one day, the pull became to great. I had to leave, but saying goodbye was too hard for me. So I left in the middle of the night. I traveled far, following the pull, until I found a cave. The door was sealed by strong magic, but it moved back when I touched it, as though it was waiting just for me. Inside was a giant stone seat and a pool of water. On the seat sat a mighty king.
"He smiled at me and said, 'Welcome. You are late. but never mind. We have chosen you to be our guardian. You will receive the power to properly protect us.' And he placed a hand on my head. In that moment I understood and accepted the task. He handed me a staff to help me focus my power and then he vanished.
"My task was relatively simple. I would go out and collect the souls of the dead to add to the pool so that they could be reborn. but every now and again some human would get big dreams and try to claim the pool for their own. For if they drink out of the pool, they gain the power of those spirits they have absorbed and can gain control of the world.
"That is why I am here. I need help. You see, I cannot take the life of a human, for theirs is a life too precious. And we are looking at defeating an army."
Xalless stopped there and waited for someone to say something. They had all been listening intently, including Zelgadiss, who hadn't heard her complete story.
Amelia leaned toward Lina. "She's slightly more talkative than Xelloss, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but I think we can trust her." To Xalless she said, "What's in it for us?"
Xalless laughed quietly. "Fame. Honor. Glory. Justice. And, of course, you would be handsomely paid." She tossed a bag of gold coins to Lina who caught it easily and opened it. She gasped. There was well more than 50 gold coins in the folds of the bag.
"That is, of course, just a sample. I have a lot more than that. I am not stupid. I would not ask people to go to war for me without compensation. Especially this kind of war. There will be sorcerers, and I believe a Mazoku. But that one I can take care of. I don't expect you to answer right away. Sleep on it. I'll come back in the morning."
"Wait!" Amelia ran over. "You're welcome to stay."
"That's kind of you, but I need to keep an eye out. I'll be back in the morning for your answer."
Xalless then turned and walked out the door, politely waiting until she was out of the castle to teleport back to her cave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That's right. She's going to get help. She works quickly so she may have it already."
"I wouldn't worry. My Mazoku can take care of it. Any help she gets is bound to be human. So we'll try to separate them. Send humans after her and send Mazoku after the 'help.'" Evil laughter filled the room. "For now, we will bide our time."
The young man bowed and left to relay the message to his army.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xelloss was kneeling before his mistress.
"She's up to something. I can feel it." Zelas was talking about her long time rival Deep Sea Dolphin. "And I believe that Lina-tachi will be drawn into it. Go keep an eye on them, Xelloss. And keep me updated."
"Yes, mistress." He disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Filia looked up at the sky. "We'll be a little late, but hopefully they'll all still be there. Come along Val-chan."
An adorable one-year old baby waddled over to Filia. She picked him up and placed him in a small basket, which she placed on a horse. Then she got up onto the horse, situated the basket in front of her, and started off.
She had been riding all the previous day and had stopped for the night. She had moved her shop recently and so was slightly farther away than Lina-tachi remembered. So it was taking her longer to reach Amelia's castle. Normally, she'd have flown, but she didn't want to risk Baby Val- chan.
"A few more hours Val-chan, and we'll be there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In fact, both Xelloss and Filia arrived at the same time, which is to say, just as Xalless was leading Lina-tachi out.
It was hard to say who was more surprised at seeing Xalless: Filia or Xelloss.
Lina and Gourry were eating their way through a meal laid out by Prince Phil's chefs. Amelia had started to eat, but had quickly stopped.
She was sad.
It had been a year since the battle with Dark Star, so Amelia had decided to throw a reunion party with all of her old friends. She even sent out messages to Xelloss and Filia. All the messengers had returned with the news that the message had been delivered. However, so far only Lina and Gourry had shown up and Amelia was fairly certain that they had only come for the food.
Of course, it was still early. Amelia hoped they'd show up for dinner.
Amelia stood up and turned to leave.
"Oi! Amelia! Where are you going?"
Amelia laughed nervously. "I was just going to make sure you two had enough to eat," she said, while edging her way toward the door.
Just then a servant burst in. "May I present to you the honored Zelgadiss Greywords and his companion Xalless," the servant announced loudly.
All three were shocked, especially since they all thought the servant had said Xelloss, and they all knew just how much Zelgadiss hated Xelloss. But the one who followed Zel was not the mysterious trickster priest, but rather a young girl.
Amelia found herself getting a bit jealous, but she forced the envy down and put on her best Saillune smile.
"Hello Mr. Zelgadiss. And I'm sorry, but what was your name again?"
The girl held out her hand. "Xalless. Xalless Metallium. Nice to meet you all finally. Zel has told me so much about you. You must be the Princess Amelia.
Amelia nodded and took the girl's hand, not quite sure what to think of this cheery girl.
Lina and Gourry had come to stand by Amelia Gourry looked clueless again, but Lina looked calculating.
"Hi. I'm Lina Inverse. Your name's Metallium, ne?"
"That's right."
"You wouldn't happen to know a Xelloss, would you?"
"Of course I do. He's my brother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, she had gotten all of them to understand, except for Gourry, but that was normal.
"A long time ago, Shabby had created his 5 High Mazoku. Each of them had created two Mazoku of their own who would help them: a priest and a general. Greater Beast Zelas was the same. She had also created two, though later it was thought that she only had one.
"From the day I was born from her I felt drawn away from her and the Mazoku race. Xelloss was the only reason I stayed for so long.
"Despite popular belief, the Mazoku have to be raised as children. Mazoku aren't just born full-grown. Like humans and Ryuzoku, we were born as babies and raised. The only difference is that Mazoku don't need to have a mate.
"So I stayed and trained with Xelloss. But one day, the pull became to great. I had to leave, but saying goodbye was too hard for me. So I left in the middle of the night. I traveled far, following the pull, until I found a cave. The door was sealed by strong magic, but it moved back when I touched it, as though it was waiting just for me. Inside was a giant stone seat and a pool of water. On the seat sat a mighty king.
"He smiled at me and said, 'Welcome. You are late. but never mind. We have chosen you to be our guardian. You will receive the power to properly protect us.' And he placed a hand on my head. In that moment I understood and accepted the task. He handed me a staff to help me focus my power and then he vanished.
"My task was relatively simple. I would go out and collect the souls of the dead to add to the pool so that they could be reborn. but every now and again some human would get big dreams and try to claim the pool for their own. For if they drink out of the pool, they gain the power of those spirits they have absorbed and can gain control of the world.
"That is why I am here. I need help. You see, I cannot take the life of a human, for theirs is a life too precious. And we are looking at defeating an army."
Xalless stopped there and waited for someone to say something. They had all been listening intently, including Zelgadiss, who hadn't heard her complete story.
Amelia leaned toward Lina. "She's slightly more talkative than Xelloss, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but I think we can trust her." To Xalless she said, "What's in it for us?"
Xalless laughed quietly. "Fame. Honor. Glory. Justice. And, of course, you would be handsomely paid." She tossed a bag of gold coins to Lina who caught it easily and opened it. She gasped. There was well more than 50 gold coins in the folds of the bag.
"That is, of course, just a sample. I have a lot more than that. I am not stupid. I would not ask people to go to war for me without compensation. Especially this kind of war. There will be sorcerers, and I believe a Mazoku. But that one I can take care of. I don't expect you to answer right away. Sleep on it. I'll come back in the morning."
"Wait!" Amelia ran over. "You're welcome to stay."
"That's kind of you, but I need to keep an eye out. I'll be back in the morning for your answer."
Xalless then turned and walked out the door, politely waiting until she was out of the castle to teleport back to her cave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That's right. She's going to get help. She works quickly so she may have it already."
"I wouldn't worry. My Mazoku can take care of it. Any help she gets is bound to be human. So we'll try to separate them. Send humans after her and send Mazoku after the 'help.'" Evil laughter filled the room. "For now, we will bide our time."
The young man bowed and left to relay the message to his army.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xelloss was kneeling before his mistress.
"She's up to something. I can feel it." Zelas was talking about her long time rival Deep Sea Dolphin. "And I believe that Lina-tachi will be drawn into it. Go keep an eye on them, Xelloss. And keep me updated."
"Yes, mistress." He disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Filia looked up at the sky. "We'll be a little late, but hopefully they'll all still be there. Come along Val-chan."
An adorable one-year old baby waddled over to Filia. She picked him up and placed him in a small basket, which she placed on a horse. Then she got up onto the horse, situated the basket in front of her, and started off.
She had been riding all the previous day and had stopped for the night. She had moved her shop recently and so was slightly farther away than Lina-tachi remembered. So it was taking her longer to reach Amelia's castle. Normally, she'd have flown, but she didn't want to risk Baby Val- chan.
"A few more hours Val-chan, and we'll be there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In fact, both Xelloss and Filia arrived at the same time, which is to say, just as Xalless was leading Lina-tachi out.
It was hard to say who was more surprised at seeing Xalless: Filia or Xelloss.
