Fleeting Glory

Part III:

Treachery (If it Counts)

Lina knew something was wrong as soon as she stepped into the other world. For one thing, she couldn't see very well. And besides that, there was something wrenching about the dimension, something so alien and powerful that it tore at your gut, your lungs, your very soul. She felt herself begin to slip, in the vaguest way.

Zel caught her.

"You can see in this place?" she asked. She almost saw him shrug.

"I have mazoku blood, remember?" He sounded as though he would have liked to forget. "I guess this world is in my genes." Lina nodded, or thought she did.

"Where's Gourry?" she asked fuzzily. Zel pointed beyond her. She turned slightly, and caught a glimpse of a yellow-haired figure wobbling drunkenly across what she supposed could be considered ground. "And Xelloss?"

On cue, the trickster appeared, albeit tricklessly.

"Here, Lina-chan," he answered carelessly. The air of his own world was working...well, if not wonders, then some small magic.

"What are we supposed to do now?" she asked him.

"Wait," came his helpful reply. She sighed in annoyance. Her sight had begun to adjust, and she considered using the improvement to take aim at Xel.

"For that." he pointed a gloved finger into the distance. Lina barely caught sight of a shape- no, two- moving towards them at no small speed.

"Your mistress?" she inquired.

"So I would assume."

"Then is it?"

"You shall see soon enough."

"Xelloss!" He grinned, not quite apologetically.

It was indeed Xelas. Accompanying her was someone she would rather not have been near at all. She would not have had him if she didn't need to, for many reasons, not the least of which was his smell. Pain and hurt are all very well, but bad hygiene is never acceptable. She did her best to ignore him and his unstoppable odor entirely. There were other things to think about, fortunately: Lina Inverse and her companions were at the top of that list. And indeed, here she was, just on time. Xelloss had done well. He very nearly always did.

"Lina Inverse," she said by way of greeting when she arrived.

"Lord Beastmaster," Lina answered politely. There was fire behind the words.

"I am pleased that you are here," said Xelas, sounding as cordial as any good hostess. She fought back the urge to rip out the girl's throat and tear her to pieces. "As you have been told by Xelloss, our world and yours are in trouble. That is true, just not in the way you think. In fact, everything that Xelloss told you is true; it just isn't all connected."

"What do you mean?" demanded Zelgadis. A strange green tint had come to his rocky skin.

"Well, my world is in trouble from another, and yours is in danger as well. The thing I made sure he neglected to mention is that I'm the only thing that's thinking of destroying your world." Lina kicked herself mentally. She had known, not so deep down, that it was probably a trick. She had chosen to believe anyway. "Besides which, Xelloss here is sick, but not in any way that would hurt you." Xelloss gave Lina another weak grin. She chose not to acknowledge the glance. "You would find yourselves with an affliction that would be just as terrible, but not the same one."

"Why didn't you just give us your demands straight out?" wondered Lina. Xelas snorted, pulling out a cig. It lit itself, and she took a long drag.

"On your own turf? Not likely. You would have skipped off to find some way of beating the whole mazoku race in the middle of it. This way you're stuck. You have nothing to get you back to your world without the mazoku, and your world's fate rests on your assistance. Besides, it's a lot more fun to make you worry. Worry actually has more flavor to it than you'd expect; all those scenes you imagine when you're worrying give it a creative zing."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Lina asked.

"Go with him." She jabbed a well-manicured thumb in the direction of the foul-smelling thing. Lina looked skeptical. "He's not much interested in fighting, but he can't be harmed by magic and his strength is really quite impressive. Well, I guess you can tell, him being in human form.

"I suggest you don't get any ideas. There's no way out of here." Lina thought of the summoning spells she and Zel had at their command. "After all," Xelas continued, "this dimension isn't a low-level mazoku plaything. It's real. Nothing you can summon can break this place." So that took out Lina's big idea. She watched Xelas begin to saunter away, her general by her side.

"Xelas!" she called after them. The mazoku Lord turned, eyebrow raised. "What did you do to Xelloss?" She laughed as she replied.

"I made him almost human."

So that was it. She had wondered about it, but decided it laughable since it wouldn't effect humans. That had been stupid of her.

Xelas and Xelloss started away again, and the other mazoku turned to them.

"Come on," he said. "Your going to the Dungeon for a while."

"Why?" The mazoku looked surprised.

"So that I can tell you what Master Xelas ordered me to."

"I mean, why in a dungeon?"

"Not a dungeon, The Dungeon. It's a pub, more or less." The mazoku shrugged. He appeared as a young man in perhaps his early twenties. His hair was a surprisingly unobtrusive navy blue, and was bound into a short pigtail at the base of his neck. Lina noticed that he smelled very unmazoku- like (they didn't usually smell bad, but they did smell as though they were evil). In fact, asked to name the scent, she would have said lilac.

"But mazoku don't eat, do they?"

"They drink well enough. And why not? Beastmaster-sama smokes, doesn't she?"

"That's true," answered Lina.

"Look, I don't mean to rush you two, but do you think we could save this for later?" Zel appeared, dragging Gourry behind him.

"Where were you?" asked Lina. She hadn't even realized he had gone.

"Getting Gourry, where else?"

"Oh." She had forgotten about him as well.

"Your friend is right," interrupted the mazoku. "We should go."

"Of course," said Lina.

"Wait...who's this? Where's Xelloss? I missed that part." Lina sighed.

"This time, Gourry, you don't want to know.

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The Dungeon was a noisy place that, with the exception of being full of Mazoku, was like any other tavern they had visited. There was the requisite drink, although it was steamy and seemed to be inhabited. Tables were packed side by side just so that it was impossible to stand up or sit down without shifting them. It was full of ugly people arguing pointless subjects, and all of them were drunk.

"Home, sweet home, ne, Lina?" muttered Zel. She nodded. She would have replied, but their new acquaintance, who had told them his name was Mikechi, had returned with drinks. He set them down, then settled into a chair.

"Have a drink. It's not as scary as it looks." he took a gulp to illustrate. "And it will be a longish story," he added.

"What kind of story?" asked Lina.

"An interesting one for you, I suspect. For my race, though, it's a horrible tale." Lina leaned forward.

"We've been tricked, lied to, and kidnapped to hear it, so go on." Mikechi grinned, and it was so reminiscent of Xelloss that Lina wondered if they all did that at one time or another.

"You say that now. I wonder how you'll feel when I've finished."

"We can only find out by trying."

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Author's notes: Yay, I did it!!! In case you were wondering, 'Mi' is more or less 'un' or 'not', and kechi means stingy. Strange name for a mazoku, ne? BTW for Amelia fans, she WILL have a role in this story; she just isn't hangin' with the usual crowd. R&R, onegai shimasu!