"Hey Zel!" the blond swordsman said with a goofy smile as he climbed in
to the water. "I didn't know you were here."
"Gourry! How...what...oh, never mind that, where's Lina?! I need to speak with her!"
"Um, in our room still, I think..."
"Actually, she was heading down to take a bath too," Xaina piped in. Both men reached down to cover themselves as the both turned towards to girl. The little monster was sitting on a small ledge so the water just covered her shoulders. She smiled, her eyes closed (looking a little too much like Xellos in Zelgadiss' opinion). She peeked one eye open curiously. "What's wrong? Why are you both blushing?"
"Xaina! You're not suppose to be in here!" Zelgadiss snapped.
"Why not?"
"Because this is the boy's side," Gourry said.
"The boy's side? There are sides!?!"
"Yes. This is the boy's side. Only boys are suppose to be here. Girl's are on the other side," Gourry explained. "Girls aren't allowed on the boy's side and boys aren't allowed on the girl's side.
"Oh, I didn't know there were sides." She glanced over at the wall, frowning with both her violet eyes open. "Maybe I should mention that to Xellos..."
The girl was interrupted by a series of loud screeches from the other side. The monster priest suddenly appeared in the water right next to Xaina, smiling as usual. "You're right, Xaina. Filia really does carry that mace absolutely everywhere with her."
Xaina sighed. "I suppose now I have to go over there and apologize for you. Oh well, it's not like I can stay here."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Apparently this is the boy's side, and I'm not allowed. So, I'll see you after my soak." The girl disappeared, teleporting to the other side. Xellos looked over at the blushing men. He leaned back, getting more comfortable.
"What do you want!?" Zelgadiss snapped.
"Now now, Zelly, you should know that's a secret."
The chimera growled. Gourry looked a little confused, but shrugged it off. He was use to being confused. "So, um, how's Xaina?" the blond asked.
"Quite fine. Didn't she seem fine a moment ago?"
"Uh...yeah, I think so...Oh, hey Zel, why'd you want to speak with Lina?"
Zelgadiss glared at the monster. He didn't particularly want Xellos to hear anything about the prophecy, though he suspected the monster already knew. "I found something that might interest her," he stated coldly.
"Really? What is? A treasure map?
"No."
"Some magical item?"
"No."
"Another bandit gang?"
"No," he replied, getting annoyed with the blond's guessing game.
"A hidden temple full of gold?"
"No!"
"A prophecy, am I right?" Xellos inquired. Zel shot him an evil glare.
"A prophecy?"
"Yes, I'll explain later..."
~*~*~
"A prophecy?" Lina asked, looking back and forth between Amelia and Filia. She had never been expecting to see either of them here, let alone hear about some sort of prophecy. Her friends nodded. Xaina sat on the edge of the poll, dangling her feet in the water, watching with amusement. "What kind of prophecy?"
"A bad one," Xaina replied. The woman all glanced over at her.
"How do you know?" Amelia questioned, a little suspicious of the girl. She was a monster after all.
"I can't tell you that. Xellos says if I do, he'll lock me up in a pit with the Master's wolves."
"That's horrible!" Filia cried. She reached over and scooped the child up in her arms. "That evil namagomi! How dare he do such a thing to an innocent child!" She glared at the wall as if she could see through it and know exactly where her enemy was.
"Uh...yeah...anyway," Lina sighed, looking over at the princess. "So, what is this prophecy about?"
Amelia blushed. "Well, we're not exactly sure, but it mentioned you in it so Mr. Zelgadiss and I came to find you..."
"So Zel's here too?"
"Yep! He's next door!" Xaina chirped, floating out of Filia's grasp. She dropped in to the water and purred with delight.
"Mr. Zelgadiss has a copy of it in his pack," Amelia supplied.
The red head sighed. "Fine. I'll read it later. I just wanna clean up right now."
*****
Lina read through the translations again. "There really isn't much here, is there?" Gourry was looking over her shoulder, though she doubted he was reading it.
Zelgadiss showed her the book. "I found it like this, I'm afraid," he commented.
"Wow, that's pretty bad. I surprised you got even this from it."
"You should see some of the pages in the back," Amelia said. "They're worse."
"So...what's all this mean?" Gourry asked.
"That something really bad is going to happen," Filia replied.
They were gathered around in Zelgadiss' room looking over the prophecy. Lina looked grimly at the paper. The last prophecy they had been a part of had nearly destroyed the world. Of course, they had all of that one. They only had pieces of this one. She glanced over at the book. They were missing huge chunks of it.
"I'm working on translating the rest of the book. It there is anything else about it in here, I want to know it."
"You want to know it?! What, you think I don't?!" Lina barked.
"No, that's not..."
"Good! If I'm involved in this, I want to know exactly what I'm up against!"
"Um...ok," he nervously replied. There was a long silence in the room.
Xellos, all the while, had been standing by the window, admiring the view. "What a nice view you have, Zelgadiss," the monster commented. Zel's face turned beet red. "You can see all the way to the bathing pools from here."
"I did not choose this room!" he cried in an attempt to confirm his innocence while the blush spread down the chimera's body.
*****
It was a change of pace to be with Lina and Gourry again. Amelia had almost forgotten how much they ate and how fast. It had been two years since she had last had to fight for a meal. She was finding it difficult to get anything at all. Zelgadiss was casually sipping his coffee with his hood up while Filia sipped some tea. Across the table from the golden dragon were the two monsters. Xaina was nursing a glass of orange juice she didn't dare put on the table, for fear it might be stolen. She had a hooded cape pulled over her head to hide her less then human features. She was held on Xellos' lap. The trickster priest was watching the morning fight over food with great interest, getting a light meal from the small bits of negative emotions.
After the usual slaughter of the breakfast dishes and the emptying of the inn's food stocks, the princess, sorceress, and swordsman sat back in contented heaps. Waiters scrambled about the table to clean up the carnage. Lina let out a satisfying sigh and rubbed her full belly. There was peace, for now. It was at this moment that Xaina dared to set her cup down.
"So where are we going now?" the child inquired.
There was a long pause while everyone glanced at Lina. The red head smiled. "Saillune." Her red eyes glanced over at Amelia. "You did say that's where we should go until we really know what this whole thing is about, right?"
"Oh, well, yes..." the princess trailed off.
"Yeah, but Lina," Gourry interjected, "I thought you wanted to go after another bandit gang...?"
"There are plenty of bandits on the roads. We'll take some of them out," Lina reassured him. "Besides, it'll be nice to stop by and say hi to Phil again."
Amelia and Zelgadiss exchanged a nervous glance that didn't go unnoticed by the monster priest. His smile brightened a little more, but he made no comments. Their nervousness was enough to appease him for the moment. He'd get a much bigger meal from Filia later.
"We really get to go to Saillune?" Xaina asked excitedly. She couldn't help but jingle the bell on her tail as it slid out from under the long cape. Xellos quickly snagged the lose appendage and stuffed it back out of sight.
"Yep!" Lina replied brightly. "And I'll even introduce you to the prince."
"Really?!"
Lina nodded and giggled. "Of course. Would I lie to you?"
"Haven't yet."
"Speaking of going," Zel stated coldly, "shouldn't we be leaving?"
"Oh, right," the sorceress sighed. "Waiter! Check please!"
*****
Feels just like old times, Lina thought as they walked down the road. Well, except for Xaina. She glanced back at the child Filia had cradled in her arms. She and Xellos were glaring at each other. They had run out of insults after two hours of yelling. No one was really sure what they were fighting over, just that Xaina and a pit of wolves had something to do with it. Once the argument had quieted down, Amelia had started lecturing Lina about how it was unjust not to invite one's friends to their wedding. The sorceress had long since tuned the little justice freak out. She was concentrating on the road, remembering old times.
"Boy, the birds here sure are weird," Gourry commented suddenly, out of the blue. Everyone stopped to glance up at the creature he had mentioned. Perched up in a tree was a small, bluish raven.
"Terquious!" Amelia cried after seeing the bird.
"Terquious?" everyone except Zelgadiss chimed in.
"A bird Amelia found in Saillune," the chimera explained. Amelia was busy trying to coax the bird down. "He's her pet."
"All the way from Saillune? He's pretty far from home then," Lina said.
Xaina watched the bird closely. "Hey! He looks like one of those birds the creepy person had on Wolfpack island!" she yelped. Xellos raised a curious eyebrow and muttered something no one could hear. The child leaped out of Filia's hands and floated up to the bird. He looked her up and down as if sizing her up. "What'd you say his name was? Terquious?" Amelia nodded.
"His name is Prince." A shiver ran down everyone's spine. The air seemed to drop in temperature. That voice. It had been as cold as ice. The sound of it was enough to freeze over hell. The bird fluttered off the branch and glided down to land on the hand of a woman only a few feet ahead of them. Lina was sure she hadn't been there before. Everything about this woman was cold and dark. Her long hair and eyes were as black as a starless sky. Her simple robe and cape were as dark as charcoal. The only thing standing out on it was a golden belt buckle. Her skin was ghostly white. In one hand she held a staff with a jewel that seemed to take in all the light and let none of it out. Perched on the end of the staff was a pure white raven. On her right shoulder was a black raven. A golden raven rested on her left shoulder. Xaina dashed down behind Xellos, hiding under his cape. Her tail had puffed up twice its normal size. "He belongs to me," she spoke in her emotionless voice. A blank expression was held on her face. Gourry reached for his sword. "There is no need for that," she tried to assure him. "I mean you no ill will."
"Then what do you want?" Lina demanded.
"To assist you, Lady Inverse." Lina glared. Something about this woman screamed of danger. "I know of the prophecy. I have been sent to watch over you."
"By how?" This time it was Zelgadiss who did the demanding.
"That is information I am not at liberty to share at the moment. Just know that I have no will or wish to harm any of you. I have been ordered to protect her."
"Who are you?" Filia inquired. Her tail had sprung out and was stiff.
"My name is Destiny," she replied calmly. Simultaneously, the birds all fluttered off in to the air. She brought her staff across her body and bowed deeply. Her vacant black eyes never left the group. The birds gathered on the ground behind her. The black one pecked at the blue one once, causing Prince, as he had now be indetified, to back away and cringe behind the white bird.
Lina hesitated. She didn't want this woman anywhere near her, though she couldn't place the source of her distrust. She had a feeling that even if they tried to ditch Destiny, the black woman would simply follow them. In her gut, she could feel a power a strong power radiating from this creepy woman. She decided to try a different tactic. "What do you know about this prophecy?"
"More then you."
"And that would be?"
"Again, I am not at liberty to discuss it with you. All you need to know is that you are involved and those who know will hunt you down. I am here to make sure they do not succeed in retrieving or killing you."
Lina was about to ask something else, but Amelia broke in, "Why did you send those birds to the palace?"
"An' appear in my master's garden?" Xellos stated. Xaina was still quivering. She was almost as white as her clothes. Xellos was no longer smiling. He must feel it too, Lina reasoned.
"I am not at liberty to give you such information," she replied in her sterile tone. There was a long pause of silence. Not ever the birds in the woods dared to sing. The birds flew back on to their master's shoulders, hand, and staff. "Were you not heading down the road?" There was no response. "Should we not continue?"
Straightening up, Lina swallowed her anxiety. She would worry about this woman later. She had places to go and people to see. There was no way in hell one little woman was going to stop her.
"Gourry! How...what...oh, never mind that, where's Lina?! I need to speak with her!"
"Um, in our room still, I think..."
"Actually, she was heading down to take a bath too," Xaina piped in. Both men reached down to cover themselves as the both turned towards to girl. The little monster was sitting on a small ledge so the water just covered her shoulders. She smiled, her eyes closed (looking a little too much like Xellos in Zelgadiss' opinion). She peeked one eye open curiously. "What's wrong? Why are you both blushing?"
"Xaina! You're not suppose to be in here!" Zelgadiss snapped.
"Why not?"
"Because this is the boy's side," Gourry said.
"The boy's side? There are sides!?!"
"Yes. This is the boy's side. Only boys are suppose to be here. Girl's are on the other side," Gourry explained. "Girls aren't allowed on the boy's side and boys aren't allowed on the girl's side.
"Oh, I didn't know there were sides." She glanced over at the wall, frowning with both her violet eyes open. "Maybe I should mention that to Xellos..."
The girl was interrupted by a series of loud screeches from the other side. The monster priest suddenly appeared in the water right next to Xaina, smiling as usual. "You're right, Xaina. Filia really does carry that mace absolutely everywhere with her."
Xaina sighed. "I suppose now I have to go over there and apologize for you. Oh well, it's not like I can stay here."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Apparently this is the boy's side, and I'm not allowed. So, I'll see you after my soak." The girl disappeared, teleporting to the other side. Xellos looked over at the blushing men. He leaned back, getting more comfortable.
"What do you want!?" Zelgadiss snapped.
"Now now, Zelly, you should know that's a secret."
The chimera growled. Gourry looked a little confused, but shrugged it off. He was use to being confused. "So, um, how's Xaina?" the blond asked.
"Quite fine. Didn't she seem fine a moment ago?"
"Uh...yeah, I think so...Oh, hey Zel, why'd you want to speak with Lina?"
Zelgadiss glared at the monster. He didn't particularly want Xellos to hear anything about the prophecy, though he suspected the monster already knew. "I found something that might interest her," he stated coldly.
"Really? What is? A treasure map?
"No."
"Some magical item?"
"No."
"Another bandit gang?"
"No," he replied, getting annoyed with the blond's guessing game.
"A hidden temple full of gold?"
"No!"
"A prophecy, am I right?" Xellos inquired. Zel shot him an evil glare.
"A prophecy?"
"Yes, I'll explain later..."
~*~*~
"A prophecy?" Lina asked, looking back and forth between Amelia and Filia. She had never been expecting to see either of them here, let alone hear about some sort of prophecy. Her friends nodded. Xaina sat on the edge of the poll, dangling her feet in the water, watching with amusement. "What kind of prophecy?"
"A bad one," Xaina replied. The woman all glanced over at her.
"How do you know?" Amelia questioned, a little suspicious of the girl. She was a monster after all.
"I can't tell you that. Xellos says if I do, he'll lock me up in a pit with the Master's wolves."
"That's horrible!" Filia cried. She reached over and scooped the child up in her arms. "That evil namagomi! How dare he do such a thing to an innocent child!" She glared at the wall as if she could see through it and know exactly where her enemy was.
"Uh...yeah...anyway," Lina sighed, looking over at the princess. "So, what is this prophecy about?"
Amelia blushed. "Well, we're not exactly sure, but it mentioned you in it so Mr. Zelgadiss and I came to find you..."
"So Zel's here too?"
"Yep! He's next door!" Xaina chirped, floating out of Filia's grasp. She dropped in to the water and purred with delight.
"Mr. Zelgadiss has a copy of it in his pack," Amelia supplied.
The red head sighed. "Fine. I'll read it later. I just wanna clean up right now."
*****
Lina read through the translations again. "There really isn't much here, is there?" Gourry was looking over her shoulder, though she doubted he was reading it.
Zelgadiss showed her the book. "I found it like this, I'm afraid," he commented.
"Wow, that's pretty bad. I surprised you got even this from it."
"You should see some of the pages in the back," Amelia said. "They're worse."
"So...what's all this mean?" Gourry asked.
"That something really bad is going to happen," Filia replied.
They were gathered around in Zelgadiss' room looking over the prophecy. Lina looked grimly at the paper. The last prophecy they had been a part of had nearly destroyed the world. Of course, they had all of that one. They only had pieces of this one. She glanced over at the book. They were missing huge chunks of it.
"I'm working on translating the rest of the book. It there is anything else about it in here, I want to know it."
"You want to know it?! What, you think I don't?!" Lina barked.
"No, that's not..."
"Good! If I'm involved in this, I want to know exactly what I'm up against!"
"Um...ok," he nervously replied. There was a long silence in the room.
Xellos, all the while, had been standing by the window, admiring the view. "What a nice view you have, Zelgadiss," the monster commented. Zel's face turned beet red. "You can see all the way to the bathing pools from here."
"I did not choose this room!" he cried in an attempt to confirm his innocence while the blush spread down the chimera's body.
*****
It was a change of pace to be with Lina and Gourry again. Amelia had almost forgotten how much they ate and how fast. It had been two years since she had last had to fight for a meal. She was finding it difficult to get anything at all. Zelgadiss was casually sipping his coffee with his hood up while Filia sipped some tea. Across the table from the golden dragon were the two monsters. Xaina was nursing a glass of orange juice she didn't dare put on the table, for fear it might be stolen. She had a hooded cape pulled over her head to hide her less then human features. She was held on Xellos' lap. The trickster priest was watching the morning fight over food with great interest, getting a light meal from the small bits of negative emotions.
After the usual slaughter of the breakfast dishes and the emptying of the inn's food stocks, the princess, sorceress, and swordsman sat back in contented heaps. Waiters scrambled about the table to clean up the carnage. Lina let out a satisfying sigh and rubbed her full belly. There was peace, for now. It was at this moment that Xaina dared to set her cup down.
"So where are we going now?" the child inquired.
There was a long pause while everyone glanced at Lina. The red head smiled. "Saillune." Her red eyes glanced over at Amelia. "You did say that's where we should go until we really know what this whole thing is about, right?"
"Oh, well, yes..." the princess trailed off.
"Yeah, but Lina," Gourry interjected, "I thought you wanted to go after another bandit gang...?"
"There are plenty of bandits on the roads. We'll take some of them out," Lina reassured him. "Besides, it'll be nice to stop by and say hi to Phil again."
Amelia and Zelgadiss exchanged a nervous glance that didn't go unnoticed by the monster priest. His smile brightened a little more, but he made no comments. Their nervousness was enough to appease him for the moment. He'd get a much bigger meal from Filia later.
"We really get to go to Saillune?" Xaina asked excitedly. She couldn't help but jingle the bell on her tail as it slid out from under the long cape. Xellos quickly snagged the lose appendage and stuffed it back out of sight.
"Yep!" Lina replied brightly. "And I'll even introduce you to the prince."
"Really?!"
Lina nodded and giggled. "Of course. Would I lie to you?"
"Haven't yet."
"Speaking of going," Zel stated coldly, "shouldn't we be leaving?"
"Oh, right," the sorceress sighed. "Waiter! Check please!"
*****
Feels just like old times, Lina thought as they walked down the road. Well, except for Xaina. She glanced back at the child Filia had cradled in her arms. She and Xellos were glaring at each other. They had run out of insults after two hours of yelling. No one was really sure what they were fighting over, just that Xaina and a pit of wolves had something to do with it. Once the argument had quieted down, Amelia had started lecturing Lina about how it was unjust not to invite one's friends to their wedding. The sorceress had long since tuned the little justice freak out. She was concentrating on the road, remembering old times.
"Boy, the birds here sure are weird," Gourry commented suddenly, out of the blue. Everyone stopped to glance up at the creature he had mentioned. Perched up in a tree was a small, bluish raven.
"Terquious!" Amelia cried after seeing the bird.
"Terquious?" everyone except Zelgadiss chimed in.
"A bird Amelia found in Saillune," the chimera explained. Amelia was busy trying to coax the bird down. "He's her pet."
"All the way from Saillune? He's pretty far from home then," Lina said.
Xaina watched the bird closely. "Hey! He looks like one of those birds the creepy person had on Wolfpack island!" she yelped. Xellos raised a curious eyebrow and muttered something no one could hear. The child leaped out of Filia's hands and floated up to the bird. He looked her up and down as if sizing her up. "What'd you say his name was? Terquious?" Amelia nodded.
"His name is Prince." A shiver ran down everyone's spine. The air seemed to drop in temperature. That voice. It had been as cold as ice. The sound of it was enough to freeze over hell. The bird fluttered off the branch and glided down to land on the hand of a woman only a few feet ahead of them. Lina was sure she hadn't been there before. Everything about this woman was cold and dark. Her long hair and eyes were as black as a starless sky. Her simple robe and cape were as dark as charcoal. The only thing standing out on it was a golden belt buckle. Her skin was ghostly white. In one hand she held a staff with a jewel that seemed to take in all the light and let none of it out. Perched on the end of the staff was a pure white raven. On her right shoulder was a black raven. A golden raven rested on her left shoulder. Xaina dashed down behind Xellos, hiding under his cape. Her tail had puffed up twice its normal size. "He belongs to me," she spoke in her emotionless voice. A blank expression was held on her face. Gourry reached for his sword. "There is no need for that," she tried to assure him. "I mean you no ill will."
"Then what do you want?" Lina demanded.
"To assist you, Lady Inverse." Lina glared. Something about this woman screamed of danger. "I know of the prophecy. I have been sent to watch over you."
"By how?" This time it was Zelgadiss who did the demanding.
"That is information I am not at liberty to share at the moment. Just know that I have no will or wish to harm any of you. I have been ordered to protect her."
"Who are you?" Filia inquired. Her tail had sprung out and was stiff.
"My name is Destiny," she replied calmly. Simultaneously, the birds all fluttered off in to the air. She brought her staff across her body and bowed deeply. Her vacant black eyes never left the group. The birds gathered on the ground behind her. The black one pecked at the blue one once, causing Prince, as he had now be indetified, to back away and cringe behind the white bird.
Lina hesitated. She didn't want this woman anywhere near her, though she couldn't place the source of her distrust. She had a feeling that even if they tried to ditch Destiny, the black woman would simply follow them. In her gut, she could feel a power a strong power radiating from this creepy woman. She decided to try a different tactic. "What do you know about this prophecy?"
"More then you."
"And that would be?"
"Again, I am not at liberty to discuss it with you. All you need to know is that you are involved and those who know will hunt you down. I am here to make sure they do not succeed in retrieving or killing you."
Lina was about to ask something else, but Amelia broke in, "Why did you send those birds to the palace?"
"An' appear in my master's garden?" Xellos stated. Xaina was still quivering. She was almost as white as her clothes. Xellos was no longer smiling. He must feel it too, Lina reasoned.
"I am not at liberty to give you such information," she replied in her sterile tone. There was a long pause of silence. Not ever the birds in the woods dared to sing. The birds flew back on to their master's shoulders, hand, and staff. "Were you not heading down the road?" There was no response. "Should we not continue?"
Straightening up, Lina swallowed her anxiety. She would worry about this woman later. She had places to go and people to see. There was no way in hell one little woman was going to stop her.