Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, but Nick, Ricki, Faith, Josh, and Mapontalia are all mine, baby.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning was bright and sunny. Not that that really mattered to our... er, heroes, because they all slept in until about noon.
Well, except Zelgadis, and he used the fact that he had gotten up a good three hours earlier to sneak some food over to Nick and cover him with a blanket. He may have liked the title 'Heartless Mystical Swordsman', but he wasn't really heartless.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At noon, it was still bright and sunny, but the air had lost the brisk cold that usually accompanies mornings, even in summer.
As Ricki got up and stretched, the second awake, she was glad that at least the seasons were the same wherever it was they were.
She looked over to the fire the Zel guy had started to make his coffee and immediately perked up. She raced over to his side, holding out a travel mug that never left her side. Growing up in Washington, coffee wasn't just a part of life. It WAS life.
"What do you want?" Zel-something-or-other asked.
"Coffee." Ricki said, grinning.
"This is MY coffee. You want coffee, go get your own grounds and water," Zel said, scooting away with the Sacred Liquid.
"You're mean!" Ricki pouted, putting on her disgustingly cute puppy-dog eyes.
Zel sighed, about to remark on the fact that one Amelia was enough, then remembered what Nick had said earlier. "Bite me." he mimicked.
"When and where, baby?" Ricki replied, baring her teeth.
Zel sported a sweatdrop. These people... they had problems.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
An hour or so later, all the others had awakened. It was probably the fumes from the stew Zel was working on, because directly after rising, his three companions-in-arms had swarmed the pot.
Ricki was still hanging all over him, begging for some coffee, and Faith and Josh watched Lina, Gourry and Amelia eat, disgusted.
~*~
Yami: Zel certainly has a lot of stashed food for a guy who never eats, doesn't he?
Lady Akuma: *nod*
~*~
After the stuffing of the faces, Lina stood, the glint back in her eyes that made her... well, the Dragon Spooker.
"You need to go get your friend, Nick," she said, adopting her usual I-dare-you-to-argue-with-me tone of voice. "I have some questions I need to ask him."
Ricki started seething, giving Zel a chance to gulp down the last of his coffee, and Faith sighed. She turned to Josh.
"You go get him." she said.
"I don't wanna." he replied.
She fixed him with a glare. "Go get Nick. If I seem him right now, I'll beat the living hell out of him."
Josh sighed, then walked off mumbling to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amelia and Gourry watched the proceedings, both thoroughly lost. Amelia had understood what they were talking about for a while, but then Lina had just lost her. Gourry... well, Gourry had been playing with Mr. Butterfly since Lina opened her mouth.
"So, first off- how did you get here?" Lina asked, pacing.
Nick twitched nervously, looking at his three murderous 'friends'. All three fixed him with death glares.
"Well, I found this spell for time-travel, and I... well, I tweaked with it a bit." Nick said guiltily.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Zelgadis-san, what is 'tweaked'?" Amelia asked.
He shrugged.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What d'you mean, you 'tweaked with it'? What does that mean?" Lina demanded.
"I just changed some things around," Nick began to sweat, "Changed a language for incantations here, updated some stuff there..."
Lina had the sudden urge to smack Nick, but held her hand back. If she could get her hands on a spell like that...
"Where did you get the spell?" Lina suddenly asked.
"Internet."
Lina didn't know what the internet was, but she'd have time for that later. "Did it say who wrote it? Or how old it was?"
Nick shook his head for no on the first one, but brightened on the latter question. "It's supposedly from the Middle Ages." At her puzzled look, he continued, "In our history, it's about four or five hundred years ago, when there was supposed to be dragons and knights and princesses..."
He rambled on in this fashion, occasionally getting up to make actions, until Lina interrupted him.
"Hold on... it was written in a time that sounds remarkably like the one we live in."
Nick's eyes widened and tears started streaming. "You have all that stuff here?" he asked in a tiny whimper of a voice.
"Yeah."
"I'm home!" he yelled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dinner that night was an oddly silent one. Lina had eaten with manners (for, Zel suspected, the first time in her life), pondering the information she had gotten from Nick. Which hadn't been that much, really. It struck her as odd, though, that the time periods were so alike, but nobody had recognized the kingdoms they had listed. It just didn't seem right.
Faith came by after they had eaten and sat down by Lina.
"Hi." she said carefully, pulling Lina out of her reverie.
"Hi." Lina replied.
Faith paused for a few moments, then spoke again, "I wanted to talk to you."
Lina waited a minute, then said, "Okay. Talk."
"Why were you so shocked when you... uh, 'scanned', my talismen?" Faith asked.
"It's talismans, and that was because I found my own magickal signature on them. Didn't we already discuss this in the last chapter?" Lina asked, looking at the author.
~*~
Yami: Stop bringing attention to me!
~*~
A short explanation later...
"But what does it mean?"
"I already explained all I know," Lina said, then looked into Faith's eyes. "Tell me honestly, do you know which of your ancestors these-" she held up the talismans still tied to Faith's wrists, "originally came from?"
Faith thought about it. "Not really. My mom said my grandma Delsey traced it back once and wrote down her name, but I never bothered to read the paper."
"No offense, but I'm tired," Lina lied, "So if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna hit the hay."
"Yeah, sure." Faith replied.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lina rolled over on her pallet, unable to sleep. So many thoughts were racing through her head. She had asked Nick what he changed the spell to, and after having him recite it she confirmed that it would indeed work for inter-dimension travel.
So what about Faith? She had an inkling, just an inkling...
"I'm going crazy," she murmured, then rolled over and did a minor sleep spell on herself. Thinking about things she didn't need to know just yet wasn't going to do her any good when she was on the job.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
What's Lina's little inkling? Whatever happened to Mr. Butterfly? Will Zel ever understand twenty-first century slang? And why did the author resort to the shameless act of self-insertion?
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be' and review so the author can keep writing!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning was bright and sunny. Not that that really mattered to our... er, heroes, because they all slept in until about noon.
Well, except Zelgadis, and he used the fact that he had gotten up a good three hours earlier to sneak some food over to Nick and cover him with a blanket. He may have liked the title 'Heartless Mystical Swordsman', but he wasn't really heartless.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At noon, it was still bright and sunny, but the air had lost the brisk cold that usually accompanies mornings, even in summer.
As Ricki got up and stretched, the second awake, she was glad that at least the seasons were the same wherever it was they were.
She looked over to the fire the Zel guy had started to make his coffee and immediately perked up. She raced over to his side, holding out a travel mug that never left her side. Growing up in Washington, coffee wasn't just a part of life. It WAS life.
"What do you want?" Zel-something-or-other asked.
"Coffee." Ricki said, grinning.
"This is MY coffee. You want coffee, go get your own grounds and water," Zel said, scooting away with the Sacred Liquid.
"You're mean!" Ricki pouted, putting on her disgustingly cute puppy-dog eyes.
Zel sighed, about to remark on the fact that one Amelia was enough, then remembered what Nick had said earlier. "Bite me." he mimicked.
"When and where, baby?" Ricki replied, baring her teeth.
Zel sported a sweatdrop. These people... they had problems.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
An hour or so later, all the others had awakened. It was probably the fumes from the stew Zel was working on, because directly after rising, his three companions-in-arms had swarmed the pot.
Ricki was still hanging all over him, begging for some coffee, and Faith and Josh watched Lina, Gourry and Amelia eat, disgusted.
~*~
Yami: Zel certainly has a lot of stashed food for a guy who never eats, doesn't he?
Lady Akuma: *nod*
~*~
After the stuffing of the faces, Lina stood, the glint back in her eyes that made her... well, the Dragon Spooker.
"You need to go get your friend, Nick," she said, adopting her usual I-dare-you-to-argue-with-me tone of voice. "I have some questions I need to ask him."
Ricki started seething, giving Zel a chance to gulp down the last of his coffee, and Faith sighed. She turned to Josh.
"You go get him." she said.
"I don't wanna." he replied.
She fixed him with a glare. "Go get Nick. If I seem him right now, I'll beat the living hell out of him."
Josh sighed, then walked off mumbling to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amelia and Gourry watched the proceedings, both thoroughly lost. Amelia had understood what they were talking about for a while, but then Lina had just lost her. Gourry... well, Gourry had been playing with Mr. Butterfly since Lina opened her mouth.
"So, first off- how did you get here?" Lina asked, pacing.
Nick twitched nervously, looking at his three murderous 'friends'. All three fixed him with death glares.
"Well, I found this spell for time-travel, and I... well, I tweaked with it a bit." Nick said guiltily.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Zelgadis-san, what is 'tweaked'?" Amelia asked.
He shrugged.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What d'you mean, you 'tweaked with it'? What does that mean?" Lina demanded.
"I just changed some things around," Nick began to sweat, "Changed a language for incantations here, updated some stuff there..."
Lina had the sudden urge to smack Nick, but held her hand back. If she could get her hands on a spell like that...
"Where did you get the spell?" Lina suddenly asked.
"Internet."
Lina didn't know what the internet was, but she'd have time for that later. "Did it say who wrote it? Or how old it was?"
Nick shook his head for no on the first one, but brightened on the latter question. "It's supposedly from the Middle Ages." At her puzzled look, he continued, "In our history, it's about four or five hundred years ago, when there was supposed to be dragons and knights and princesses..."
He rambled on in this fashion, occasionally getting up to make actions, until Lina interrupted him.
"Hold on... it was written in a time that sounds remarkably like the one we live in."
Nick's eyes widened and tears started streaming. "You have all that stuff here?" he asked in a tiny whimper of a voice.
"Yeah."
"I'm home!" he yelled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dinner that night was an oddly silent one. Lina had eaten with manners (for, Zel suspected, the first time in her life), pondering the information she had gotten from Nick. Which hadn't been that much, really. It struck her as odd, though, that the time periods were so alike, but nobody had recognized the kingdoms they had listed. It just didn't seem right.
Faith came by after they had eaten and sat down by Lina.
"Hi." she said carefully, pulling Lina out of her reverie.
"Hi." Lina replied.
Faith paused for a few moments, then spoke again, "I wanted to talk to you."
Lina waited a minute, then said, "Okay. Talk."
"Why were you so shocked when you... uh, 'scanned', my talismen?" Faith asked.
"It's talismans, and that was because I found my own magickal signature on them. Didn't we already discuss this in the last chapter?" Lina asked, looking at the author.
~*~
Yami: Stop bringing attention to me!
~*~
A short explanation later...
"But what does it mean?"
"I already explained all I know," Lina said, then looked into Faith's eyes. "Tell me honestly, do you know which of your ancestors these-" she held up the talismans still tied to Faith's wrists, "originally came from?"
Faith thought about it. "Not really. My mom said my grandma Delsey traced it back once and wrote down her name, but I never bothered to read the paper."
"No offense, but I'm tired," Lina lied, "So if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna hit the hay."
"Yeah, sure." Faith replied.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lina rolled over on her pallet, unable to sleep. So many thoughts were racing through her head. She had asked Nick what he changed the spell to, and after having him recite it she confirmed that it would indeed work for inter-dimension travel.
So what about Faith? She had an inkling, just an inkling...
"I'm going crazy," she murmured, then rolled over and did a minor sleep spell on herself. Thinking about things she didn't need to know just yet wasn't going to do her any good when she was on the job.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
What's Lina's little inkling? Whatever happened to Mr. Butterfly? Will Zel ever understand twenty-first century slang? And why did the author resort to the shameless act of self-insertion?
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be' and review so the author can keep writing!