1 THE GIFT OF THE MAZOUKU -- A SLAYERS STORY
2 Chapter 7 - The Surprise!
Alas, regardless of their doom the little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come, nor care beyond to-day. - Thomas Gray
The purple-haired man held up four pink cards like a fan and waved them a little for effect. Smiling, he said, "You see it's all right, we are all invited. But we don't want to be late!"
SHIMMER
And instantly Lina & Co were teleported away. The group reappeared in front of Filia's 'Mace and Vase' shop, a little disoriented from the sudden Astral jump.
"Wow! Is the place really Filia's?" gawked Amelia, "This is great!"
"What just happened?"
"Jellyfish brains! We just got the Xelloss express ride to Filia's place because the Valgaav egg is hatching!" answered Lina with more than a little exasperation at Gourry's denseness.
"So, she DID open an antique store," the Chimera muttered mostly to himself, "I'm glad something good came out of that idiotic escapade on the Ghost ship."
"That, and we all learned you could play the guitar," winked the purple-haired trickster, then flashed out of the way of :
"BURSTO RONDO!"
"My, my, young shaman, you are becoming predictable.oof!" Xelloss wasn't prepared for the rock-hard punch to his stomach. He suffered only momentarily, then the smile returned, " Then, maybe not. Shall we go in?"
Xelloss opened the shop door, without knocking of course. He was pushed aside by Lina and Gourry, then Amelia and Zelgadiss, but remained outside himself. From a side hall burst a frazzled looking Filia, holding a red-faced, screaming bundle of baby dragon. Visible was a tuft of green hair, pale-brown cheek-stripes, and two tiny fangs inside the gaping mouth.
"How wonderful! You got my invitations!? How amazing! Well, here he is! Val-chan hatched last night and already he's grown so much stronger. Gravos and Jillas were up all night, so I sent them up to their rooms to get some rest. Oh, Lina here! Meet Val. Isn't he just precious?"
Filia's eyes became all watery and glittered with stars, then she practically threw the bundle into Lina's unprepared arms. Gourry jumped to her side and steadied them.
"He's.he's," Lina struggled to find words to express her feelings, "heavy, Filia. And noisy.and (whispered) awfully ugly. Here, Gourry, it's your turn."
Lina hastily pushed the squirming baby into Gourry's strong hold and hailed Filia. Filia was proudly displaying Val's new wardrobe to a fascinated Amelia. Val stopped screaming.
To everyone's amazement, Gourry was 'koo chee koo chee koo-ing' and the dragon baby was gawking wide-eyed, but silent, at Gourry's antics. "Hey, Lina! I think he likes me. Filia, he sure has funny eyes. Ha, ha, ha."
"Lemme see! My turn!" cried Amelia.
"You should sit first. He's a real handful," suggested Gourry. Zelgadiss pulled out a chair for the princess.
"Oh Val-chan you are soooooo cute!" gushed Amelia, " Mr. Gourry, his eyes are lovely gold-slitted dragon eyes! And he still has those handsome stripes!"
Zelgadiss blushed as Lina whispered in his ear, " She does have exotic tastes, eh?"
Amelia was still rattling on," .but thankfully he dropped that nasty Mazouku horn."
"Yes, thank whatever Gods were at work that time," piped up Filia on her way out, "Young dragons can get feisty when they start teething and with a horn too, well."
Zelgadiss, composure under control, ventured a peak over Amelia's shoulder.
"Miss Filia?" Amelia cried out, "Where did you go? I think sniff Val needs changing. Oh, here Mr. Zelgadiss, its your turn. I'll go find him some clean clothes."
"Er, ah.AMELIA, I don't really, oh.shit, AMELIA, I can't just. AHHHHH, help me someone!"
"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA," screamed the baby once again.
"Miss Filia, I think he's hungry too!" and Amelia practically danced out of the room to find Filia.
" 'Cuse me Zel, but you look really uncomfortable there. I'll take him if you like. He needs his diaper changed," offered Gourry , who proceeded to deftly carry the baby to a table and clean him up expertly.
"Gourry, you're good at this!" praised the Chimera.
"Oh, thanks. I had four younger brothers so I had lots of practice. There now who's next?"
Xelloss chose Filia's exit to the kitchen as his chance to enter quietly. He paused inside the bedroom door long enough to smile down at her giant mace resting against the wall. He set his tall priest's staff alongside it, so they just touched. He strode swiftly to the Dragon lady's bed negotiating around the unhappy Chimera holding Val, and slinked with cat- like grace onto her bed. There the grinning monster sat, arms outreached," That would be me, I think Gourry! MY turn."
"Ah, sure Xelloss. Hey I didn't know you were here," and he settled the hungry, crying baby into the Mazouku's arms.
"Here's his bottle!" cried Amelia, prize in hand, "Miss Filia says that he throws it around so keep a grip on it. Oh, you've got him, Mr. Xelloss. I guess that's okay. Do you know anything about baby Dragons?"
"Live ones.or dead ones?" smirked Xelloss.
Amelia blanched. Zelgadiss growled. Filia entered, as if on cue. You could cut the atmosphere with the Sword of Light, if they still had it.
"XELLOSS! You disgusting hunk of raw garbage! When did you get here? Get your filthy boots off my bed! In fact, I don't like the thought of ANY of your body parts on my bed! And.what are you DOING to my baby Val-chan!"
"My, my Filia. It's good to see you too! And to answer your question, I'm feeding him."
"Give Val to me this instant. No, give him to Gourry, I want my mace. I'll smash you to a pulp your boss won't recognize!"
Xelloss's eyes flew wide open in horror. Lina and Zelgadiss turned to look at the wall where a throbbing red and gold miasma swirled wildly.
"Whaaaa!!"
Xelloss transported from the bed and reappeared for a fraction of a second in front of the miasma of energy pulses. He thrust both arms into the pulsating center, then suddenly disappeared. The wall was untouched, but the Mazouku's priest staff, the Dragon's mace, and Xelloss himself were gone.
Filia, who had missed the light show, turned to follow Lina's line of vision. "Where did you go, Xelloss? And my mace! Where's my mace? That horrid Mazouku stole my mace!"
Lina placed her hand on Filia's arm to stop her, "Filia, shut up! If I understand what just happened, Xelloss just saved all of our lives. And if he doesn't return soon, it was probably at the cost of his own life."
* * *
It was a very subdued group of friends that gathered around the table. Gourry was still holding baby Val after catching Xelloss' mid-air toss.
"GA-Ga."
"Very good, Val. GOW-REE. Gow-ree"
"Ga-Ga, 'chortle', Ga-Ga."
"It must have been a reaction between the power of his Mazouku staff and some of your Dragon power that's rubbed off onto your mace, Filia. It's a dangerous combination. He must have left it by the door when he came in and in all the commotion maybe it fell over and the two powers came into contact and." Zelgadiss explained.
"Do you think he sent them to the Astral Plane, Mr. Zelgadiss?" asked Amelia.
"Most likely."
"Miss Filia, it wasn't your fault. You know that, don't you? Mr. Xelloss may have gone to get a new staff or something. That could take awhile. Even if he got hurt, he seems to repair better than we do, right Lina?"
"Yeah, right Amelia." Lina answered, then brightening, she asked, "So, Filia, what did you name Val? That's just a nickname, right?"
A weak smile fluttered at the corners of Filia's mouth, "Valentine, Valentine Ul Copt."
CRASH!!!
"Gourry! Give Valentine-baby back to his mom, and give me a hand here. Zel's got his hair stuck in the table." shouted Lina. Gourry and Lina took hold of the chimera by the shoulders and helped to wrench him free of the table, leaving a few pieces of lavender wire poking up out of the table.
"Val-Val.en..tine.?" Zelgadiss sputtered. "He'll really appreciate that when he's older, Filia. I'd be prepared for some teen-age rebellion, if I were you." Zel chuckled madly and rubbed his head.
"That's the second time I've seen that happen," Amelia whispered to Filia and fingering one of the wire hairs.
"Really? Hey, if you curl his hairs around your finger, they make cork- screws!" Filia discovered. The two girls looked up at Zel with an unholy interest.
Zel knew when things were getting too ridiculous for him. They were NOT going to touch his hair. This would be time for a prudent exit.
"I'm going upstairs to check on Jillas," he said quickly, and escaped the room.
"Do you think that he'll ever become a team-player?" Amelia asked, sadly.
"I don't think that he considers makeovers a part of team playing, Amelia," Lina grinned.
"Anyway, now that we're all together again, what do we do?" Amelia asked.
"Well, I, uh." Lina scratched her head.
"Lina?" Gourry looked at her, surprised. "You mean you don't know why we're all here?"
"I hate to say it, but if Xelloss had some other plan, I don't have any inkling about what it might have been. But! We can't let that get in our way, can we guys? Filia, time for lunch!" Lina called.
2 Chapter 7 - The Surprise!
Alas, regardless of their doom the little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come, nor care beyond to-day. - Thomas Gray
The purple-haired man held up four pink cards like a fan and waved them a little for effect. Smiling, he said, "You see it's all right, we are all invited. But we don't want to be late!"
SHIMMER
And instantly Lina & Co were teleported away. The group reappeared in front of Filia's 'Mace and Vase' shop, a little disoriented from the sudden Astral jump.
"Wow! Is the place really Filia's?" gawked Amelia, "This is great!"
"What just happened?"
"Jellyfish brains! We just got the Xelloss express ride to Filia's place because the Valgaav egg is hatching!" answered Lina with more than a little exasperation at Gourry's denseness.
"So, she DID open an antique store," the Chimera muttered mostly to himself, "I'm glad something good came out of that idiotic escapade on the Ghost ship."
"That, and we all learned you could play the guitar," winked the purple-haired trickster, then flashed out of the way of :
"BURSTO RONDO!"
"My, my, young shaman, you are becoming predictable.oof!" Xelloss wasn't prepared for the rock-hard punch to his stomach. He suffered only momentarily, then the smile returned, " Then, maybe not. Shall we go in?"
Xelloss opened the shop door, without knocking of course. He was pushed aside by Lina and Gourry, then Amelia and Zelgadiss, but remained outside himself. From a side hall burst a frazzled looking Filia, holding a red-faced, screaming bundle of baby dragon. Visible was a tuft of green hair, pale-brown cheek-stripes, and two tiny fangs inside the gaping mouth.
"How wonderful! You got my invitations!? How amazing! Well, here he is! Val-chan hatched last night and already he's grown so much stronger. Gravos and Jillas were up all night, so I sent them up to their rooms to get some rest. Oh, Lina here! Meet Val. Isn't he just precious?"
Filia's eyes became all watery and glittered with stars, then she practically threw the bundle into Lina's unprepared arms. Gourry jumped to her side and steadied them.
"He's.he's," Lina struggled to find words to express her feelings, "heavy, Filia. And noisy.and (whispered) awfully ugly. Here, Gourry, it's your turn."
Lina hastily pushed the squirming baby into Gourry's strong hold and hailed Filia. Filia was proudly displaying Val's new wardrobe to a fascinated Amelia. Val stopped screaming.
To everyone's amazement, Gourry was 'koo chee koo chee koo-ing' and the dragon baby was gawking wide-eyed, but silent, at Gourry's antics. "Hey, Lina! I think he likes me. Filia, he sure has funny eyes. Ha, ha, ha."
"Lemme see! My turn!" cried Amelia.
"You should sit first. He's a real handful," suggested Gourry. Zelgadiss pulled out a chair for the princess.
"Oh Val-chan you are soooooo cute!" gushed Amelia, " Mr. Gourry, his eyes are lovely gold-slitted dragon eyes! And he still has those handsome stripes!"
Zelgadiss blushed as Lina whispered in his ear, " She does have exotic tastes, eh?"
Amelia was still rattling on," .but thankfully he dropped that nasty Mazouku horn."
"Yes, thank whatever Gods were at work that time," piped up Filia on her way out, "Young dragons can get feisty when they start teething and with a horn too, well."
Zelgadiss, composure under control, ventured a peak over Amelia's shoulder.
"Miss Filia?" Amelia cried out, "Where did you go? I think sniff Val needs changing. Oh, here Mr. Zelgadiss, its your turn. I'll go find him some clean clothes."
"Er, ah.AMELIA, I don't really, oh.shit, AMELIA, I can't just. AHHHHH, help me someone!"
"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA," screamed the baby once again.
"Miss Filia, I think he's hungry too!" and Amelia practically danced out of the room to find Filia.
" 'Cuse me Zel, but you look really uncomfortable there. I'll take him if you like. He needs his diaper changed," offered Gourry , who proceeded to deftly carry the baby to a table and clean him up expertly.
"Gourry, you're good at this!" praised the Chimera.
"Oh, thanks. I had four younger brothers so I had lots of practice. There now who's next?"
Xelloss chose Filia's exit to the kitchen as his chance to enter quietly. He paused inside the bedroom door long enough to smile down at her giant mace resting against the wall. He set his tall priest's staff alongside it, so they just touched. He strode swiftly to the Dragon lady's bed negotiating around the unhappy Chimera holding Val, and slinked with cat- like grace onto her bed. There the grinning monster sat, arms outreached," That would be me, I think Gourry! MY turn."
"Ah, sure Xelloss. Hey I didn't know you were here," and he settled the hungry, crying baby into the Mazouku's arms.
"Here's his bottle!" cried Amelia, prize in hand, "Miss Filia says that he throws it around so keep a grip on it. Oh, you've got him, Mr. Xelloss. I guess that's okay. Do you know anything about baby Dragons?"
"Live ones.or dead ones?" smirked Xelloss.
Amelia blanched. Zelgadiss growled. Filia entered, as if on cue. You could cut the atmosphere with the Sword of Light, if they still had it.
"XELLOSS! You disgusting hunk of raw garbage! When did you get here? Get your filthy boots off my bed! In fact, I don't like the thought of ANY of your body parts on my bed! And.what are you DOING to my baby Val-chan!"
"My, my Filia. It's good to see you too! And to answer your question, I'm feeding him."
"Give Val to me this instant. No, give him to Gourry, I want my mace. I'll smash you to a pulp your boss won't recognize!"
Xelloss's eyes flew wide open in horror. Lina and Zelgadiss turned to look at the wall where a throbbing red and gold miasma swirled wildly.
"Whaaaa!!"
Xelloss transported from the bed and reappeared for a fraction of a second in front of the miasma of energy pulses. He thrust both arms into the pulsating center, then suddenly disappeared. The wall was untouched, but the Mazouku's priest staff, the Dragon's mace, and Xelloss himself were gone.
Filia, who had missed the light show, turned to follow Lina's line of vision. "Where did you go, Xelloss? And my mace! Where's my mace? That horrid Mazouku stole my mace!"
Lina placed her hand on Filia's arm to stop her, "Filia, shut up! If I understand what just happened, Xelloss just saved all of our lives. And if he doesn't return soon, it was probably at the cost of his own life."
* * *
It was a very subdued group of friends that gathered around the table. Gourry was still holding baby Val after catching Xelloss' mid-air toss.
"GA-Ga."
"Very good, Val. GOW-REE. Gow-ree"
"Ga-Ga, 'chortle', Ga-Ga."
"It must have been a reaction between the power of his Mazouku staff and some of your Dragon power that's rubbed off onto your mace, Filia. It's a dangerous combination. He must have left it by the door when he came in and in all the commotion maybe it fell over and the two powers came into contact and." Zelgadiss explained.
"Do you think he sent them to the Astral Plane, Mr. Zelgadiss?" asked Amelia.
"Most likely."
"Miss Filia, it wasn't your fault. You know that, don't you? Mr. Xelloss may have gone to get a new staff or something. That could take awhile. Even if he got hurt, he seems to repair better than we do, right Lina?"
"Yeah, right Amelia." Lina answered, then brightening, she asked, "So, Filia, what did you name Val? That's just a nickname, right?"
A weak smile fluttered at the corners of Filia's mouth, "Valentine, Valentine Ul Copt."
CRASH!!!
"Gourry! Give Valentine-baby back to his mom, and give me a hand here. Zel's got his hair stuck in the table." shouted Lina. Gourry and Lina took hold of the chimera by the shoulders and helped to wrench him free of the table, leaving a few pieces of lavender wire poking up out of the table.
"Val-Val.en..tine.?" Zelgadiss sputtered. "He'll really appreciate that when he's older, Filia. I'd be prepared for some teen-age rebellion, if I were you." Zel chuckled madly and rubbed his head.
"That's the second time I've seen that happen," Amelia whispered to Filia and fingering one of the wire hairs.
"Really? Hey, if you curl his hairs around your finger, they make cork- screws!" Filia discovered. The two girls looked up at Zel with an unholy interest.
Zel knew when things were getting too ridiculous for him. They were NOT going to touch his hair. This would be time for a prudent exit.
"I'm going upstairs to check on Jillas," he said quickly, and escaped the room.
"Do you think that he'll ever become a team-player?" Amelia asked, sadly.
"I don't think that he considers makeovers a part of team playing, Amelia," Lina grinned.
"Anyway, now that we're all together again, what do we do?" Amelia asked.
"Well, I, uh." Lina scratched her head.
"Lina?" Gourry looked at her, surprised. "You mean you don't know why we're all here?"
"I hate to say it, but if Xelloss had some other plan, I don't have any inkling about what it might have been. But! We can't let that get in our way, can we guys? Filia, time for lunch!" Lina called.
