Fleeting Glories
Part One
For the Sake of a Friend...Sort of.

Dismal. That's what it was.
He'd never felt a pain like this, one he couldn't find pleasure
in. He needed to find them quickly. They would set things right.
Oh, so? He knew better than to depend even on the most likely of
things. He may have had a means to convince them, but they had sur-
prised him before, finding out things he wouldn't have expected them
to. His means could be worthless if he wasn't very careful, and in
this state, he wasn't certain that his delivery wouldn't be flawed.
He stumbled from the haze in his mind to discover that he had
arrived in a village, and was outside its most prominant restaurant.
If they were in this town, they would be here.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, loud shrieks broke through
the tranquil air. Relief flooded over him. That was it, the sign he had
been waiting for. He watched a large quantity of chicken fly over his
head, and the next moment found himself being bowled over. The person
on top of him sat up and inspected her victim.
"Xelloss! What's up, fruitcake?" Lina grinned, waving the chicken
she had caught like a flag.
"I don't seem to be," he replied with a shadow of a grin. He hoped
that, for now at least, a shadow would be convincing enough to avoid
questions. Lina laughed, standing and stepping over him. She offered
her free hand to him.
"Sorry about that," she said apologetically, "but it's the last
piece, and you know how it is." He nodded, and reached up to take the
hand. She yanked up, and as he was pulled, he pitched forward. Lina
grabbed his shouulder to stop him.
"Hey Xel, you okay?" Funny. She sounded almost worried.
"Y-yeah." She looked at him strangely but said nothing about it.
"C'mon, the others are inside..." Together they turned to the
building.
Zel, as could be expected, was far from pleased to see him.
"Trying to get us killed again, mazoku?" he demanded.
"More or less," Xellos answered truthfully. He had to sit down.
Zel was saying something, but he was too busy trying to find an
empty chair to hear him.
"Sit next to me, Xelloss-san," piped Amelia. Sweet of you to
offer, but I don't have a deathwish, he thought. Any joy-of-living
rants today might take the small amount of joy that he had away.
"Arigatou, Ame-chan, but I think I'll sit here." He found a place
and took it as quickly as possible. They were looking at him, he saw.
That didn't happen too often of its own accord, so he thought he had
better take advantage of it. He took a deep breath.
"We need your help," he said. They stared. For one thing, the very
words went against all that was Xelloss. For another, never had they
heard him be so upfront about anything.
"No 'sore wa himitsu desu'? No wild goose chase? No riddles and no
games just to find out what you're talking about?" Lina sounded dis-
believing.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Lina-chan," he murmured. That was true,
but he knew that she would think it just a turn of phrase.
"You? Sorry? Now I really am worried," she snorted, but her eyes
showed that she was quite sincere. He slid his eyes open to look at
her. She twitched.
"I mean it, Xel, what do you want?" He blinked once, slowly,
before he answered.
"Our world is wrong," he said simply. Lina shivered, feeling as
though he were talking about two things, one very different from the
other. "Something is happening to us. We can't feel others' pain-"
Amelia looked at him "-and we don't enjoy our own." Zel gave a short
laugh.
"You want us to help the monsters feel good? I think you have the
wrong people."
"Zelgadis-san has a point, Xelloss-san. We spend a lot of time
justly fighting the powers of evil, and now you want us to give them a
reward?" She crossed her arms, looking doubtful.
"You want to help. Believe me."
"Why? Wait--what? Can we go back a minute or two? I can't quite
remember-oi!" Gourry rubbed his head where Lina whacked it.
"Because," said Xelloss, starting to get quiet, "the only thing
keeping it in place is my master. As soon as she weakens, your world
will be affected. Not as fast as our realm, nor as violently. But
after a time it will be like everyone is permanently stuck in the...
the doldrums. Eventually, you will all weaken and die."
"Is that so? Well, isn't that a nice little trap your Beastmaster
has got us in." Lina was sounding dangerously neutral.
"You're assuming he's telling the truth, Lina," warned Zel.
"Don't."
"Yeah, Xelloss-san, how much of that was true?" Oh dear.
"Most of it was pretty much not a lie." He squirmed.
"XELLLOOOSSS!!" growled Lina, seeming very large suddenly. "YOU...
WILL...DIE!" Well, there was an easy one to answer.
"Yes, Lina," he said. His voice was now close to a whisper.
That took the wind out of her sails. She snatched his arm.
"Wh-Xelloss, what's WRONG with you?" He blinked in sudden
frustration. Fool ningen. Having traveled so long with Zel, she still
couldn't see when to let things lie? Anger clouded his face as he
jerked away. Lina pulled back in surprise, hurt in her eyes. Though
why it should bother her that a mazoku was angry at her he didn't
know. Mazoku were always angry at her.
"Fine," she snapped after a stunned silence. "Just tell us what to
do and get out of here."
"You need me to get you to our dimension, so be careful what you
yell," he returned. A sick feeling stuck his throat. Was this what
humans felt in an argument? Was that what was happening to him? He
didn't like these emotions half so much firsthand. He let his
shoulders sag. He was so, so tired... A dampness tickled his lashes
unpleasantly. Lina was watching him still, and her eyes were growing
round.
"X-xel, I'm sorry if I...I..." her voice was lost. Suddenly she
shook herself. "C'mon, Xel, you want to get back to your old self,
don'cha? We have to go if we're gonna save your people and mine. Let's
go!" She dragged him to his feet, to his amazement as much as that of
her companions. Maybe there was a chance...
They left without paying *quite* as much as they should have, a
raggletag group of decidedly confused members. And they were the ones
on whom the fate of the world rested. Again.