HIDARITE NO KIOKU
Chapter Three - Meeting
by Kayoko (trublu39@hotmail.com)

Disclaimer: *puts down the permanent marker away from her nose* Heh heh...you didn't see that...Anywho...yeah, life kinda sucks right now, no da?  So don't yell at me if this chapter is shit, or it's too short, or whatever. You can email me with 'plaints if you REALLY want to mess with the Drunken Tiger TM, (Haha Boram, see, I do like Korean rap) but I wouldn't advise it.  Suggestoins are welcome.  With arms wide open.  Flames I'm going to stuff under my shoe and walk all over.  Then I might step in dog crappy.  Sigh. Oh I'm so tired...Don't sue me, whoever the hell owns Slayers.  But you know what?  I should sue YOU, Slayers company, for creating Saber Marionette.  Good Lord, I can't believe you made Takehito Koyasu play a gay man.  And honestly, a blonde, curly haired, bowtied wearing gay man? Yeah....NO.  I don't think so.
 
"Eyes that close forever…"   

As Xellos sprinted through the field, he could feel the tall grasses scraping wetly against his bare upper half.  He reveled in the cool night air and the damp gray all around him, wondering why he didn't run more.  It was just so much more convenient to teleport and fly everywhere.  There was almost never a time when he didn't have his staff in hand.  Now, with every appendage free, he was almost happy.  Almost, but not quite.  A Mazoku wasn't granted happiness.  It was one of the consequences for his dark magic, but it didn't bother him much.  He had come to accept the fact that nothing was strong enough to make him truly happy, so he kept his spirits up with his own annoying humor. 

He had been running for almost an hour now, but his limbs showed no sign of tiring, so he pressed on. Occasionally he would slow down to a jog as he caught his breath again, always listening for the howling.  He was certain Zelas wouldn't begin the hunt without him… Or would she? 

Xellos suddenly halted abruptly, not daring to move another muscle. Something had been following HIM, and had only just gotten close enough for him to sense the other being's presence.  Without moving his head, he gazed around the empty field, seeing nothing but feeling Something.  A twig snapped behind him, then there was- 

/Xellos./ 

"Nani??"  The priest turned around, forgetting his training and following his instincts to look for the owner of the voice in his mind. 

/Xellos-sama./ 

"Doko?  Where are you?"  Something shifted behind him, but he still could not see a damn thing. 

/Xellos-sama, you are needed./ 

"Needed?  By who?" 

/Xellos-sama, you are needed by Zelas./ 

Xellos quickly began to tire of this slow pattern of words.  He caught on, however, and combined all his questions into one.  "Why does she need me, who are you, what are you, and why can't I see you?" 

Before he received an answer, another, more familiar figure appeared in front of him.  He opened his eyes fully and narrowed them. "You're still as sharp as ever, eh Xellos?"  She cut off his reply as he opened his mouth.  "Nevermind my messenger, these things aren't used to speech, but they're ever so useful for my needs." 

Xellos opened his mouth again, but she held up a hand. "Hush for a minute.  Listen while your mother talks to you."  Xellos grinned without humour at that; Zelas was anything but maternal, though she was as good a substitute as any. "That's better.  Now, I'm disappointed in you, Xellos. You're getting fat off of other's misery.  You need to be focusing on the task at hand." 

"It's early, yet, Zelas!" 

She frowned and tsked at him.  "For shame, Xellos-kun, you know better than that!  Every hunt has a plan; you have no plan at the moment.  How can you be so sure that you're friends trust you?" 

"They're not my friends," he replied sullenly. 

"Come come, now, you joke with them and you've helped them in the past."

"I joke with everyone.  It keeps me from going insane." 

"You sound serious now." 

"No, I'm frustrated.  I thought I was going to get a rest." 

"And you will.  Once you finish this one eensy little hunt for me." 

Xellos sighed, knowing he really had no choice.  Still, he had to ask. "Doshite?" 

Zelas was already starting to disappear.  "The disciple does not question the master, disreputable though I am."  This earned another wry grin from Xellos.  "My messenger is an ordinary Mazoku breed wolf.  He'll be in the field, but he won't wait more than a week.  Do what you must, Xellos-kun.  You've never failed me before." 

As Zelas disappeared completely, she left behind an agonized Mazoku priest.  Xellos was torn between just doing the stupid job and refusing his Lord.  The wolf beside him had finally materialized out of the fog; now he looked up at his leader, cocking his shaggy head and waving his plumed tail.  He was a huge figure, with sinews running along the muscles in his powerful shoulders and legs.  He sat at Xellos' elbow.  If he had stood, he would have come to the Mazoku's shoulder.  Jagged white scars cut through his midnight black fur, and his eyes were a piercing, fiery gold.  Despite the wolf's fearsome appearance, Xellos knew that all of the Island Mazoku breeds were loyal and gentle at heart, except when hunting.  Xellos sighed and stroked the beast's head, watching as the large golden orbs closed in content.   

"So, what shall I call you, my furred friend?" he murmured to it.  

/Ko-riri./   

Xellos smiled slightly.  "Ko-riri?" The wolf dipped his head once, pawing his nose in embarrassment. 

/Hai./   

"Well then, I suppose the next move is mine…" Ko-riri waited patiently as Xellos thought quickly. 

"Ok…ok.  I have somewhat of a plan.  Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadiss.  You have those names?"  The wolf nodded. 

"Filia.  This is who Zelas is looking for.  However, she's not the one she's hunting for.  Do you understand?  You don't hurt the Ryuzoku priestess, hai?  All you need to do is get her scent and her sense, then wait for me here.  It will most likely be two days before I can get any of her blood, then you can hunt." 

The wolf nodded again.  Xellos ran a hand through his cropped purple hair, agitated.  He didn't know why Xellas needed one of Filia's relatives, and for all he knew, she didn't have any family to speak of.  His Mazoku lord wouldn't tell him anything other than what she needed for him, and usually if she hid things from her favorite servant, it meant what she was doing would hurt him or someone he cared about.   

Not that he cared about many. 

And certainly not that he cared about Filia.   

Though he couldn't ignore the voices in his head telling him otherwise...