Lina wrung out her hair, trying to squeeze out every last drop of water
from it. If she had said it once, she had said it a million times: she
hated dealing with monsters. The fact that she was now soaking wet and
slightly chilled only reminded her of that fact. Gourry pulled his still
damp shirt back on and sighed.
No one had been able to give him an answer for what had happened. "Isn't Xaina still little?" the blond asked again.
"For the tenth time, yes!" Lina snapped back. Zelgadiss squeezed his cloak. "Are you sure it was her and not some other monster?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" the red head argued. "She looked just like Xaina...except older... and taller. If someone was impersonating her, they got the age completely wrong."
"Maybe she can choose how old she appears," Amelia suggested while using her fingers for a brush. "She is a monster, after all."
"Yeah, but Xaina's not like other monsters. She's...different. That's the only thing I can think to describe her. The fact is, even she can change her apparent age, I don't think she knows how. She's only known she was part monster for three weeks."
"Then the question is: who did we see and why did she look like Xaina?"
~*~*~
Filia let out a small yelp after Lina and the others disappeared. "Ahhh!!! Where'd they go!"
"Away from here," Destiny supplied. There was a slight hint of anger in her cold voice. Filia glanced back at the creepy woman, half in fear, half in shock. This was the first time she had ever heard or seen the woman use any emotions. She reached out and grabbed Filia's wrist. "Don't let go," Destiny ordered.
"Why, what are we..."
The dragon was cut off as Destiny tapped the end of her staff on the ground. They suddenly disappeared in a dark mist. The mist wrapped around them, blocking out all other sights. A blasting cold covered Filia's body. She wanted to cry out, but her voice was caught in throat. Destiny seemed completely calm as she held on to the blond's wrist. The mist then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Destiny released the dragon. Her fac e was flushed with a little color and the woman nearly fell over. She caught herself against a tree. Filia watched, too shocked to say or do anything. For a moment, the blond could swear she saw red tints in Destiny's hair and her eyes were slightly bluish. She blinked and they were gone, so the dragon dismissed them as part of her imagination. Three of the birds all cawed at once as a white one flew towards them from several trees away. 'Where was that one,' Filia wondered.
One of the bushes groaned. Filia leaped away from it; her tail popped out. Destiny balanced herself and aimed her staff towards the bush. The giant frog monster sat up from the bush, rubbing a huge bump on his head. His eyes were spinning. He swayed slightly as he attempted to stand and gazed up at the women. He blinked several times, as if trying to remember something. Suddenly, it struck him and he jumped back.
"Ahhh! No! Don't hurt me! Not again!" the frog monster cried.
"Leave and don't bother us again and we will spare your miserable life," Destiny stated, her cold tone back once again.
"Y-yes yes, of course," he stated nervously before bounding off among the underbrush.
"Well, that was easy," Filia sighed. "Now we just need to find Miss Lina and the others."
~*~*~
"Would you stop reading and help, Zel," Lina scolded as she dropped the make shift hook back in the water. Gourry sat next to her, board. She had sent Amelia off to gather fire wood a little while ago when they (which mainly meant Lina) decided they should stay there for the night and figure out where they were in the morning. Zelgadiss didn't bother looking up from his book. "What are you reading?"
"I'm trying to translate this so we know more about the prophecy," the chimera replied irritably.
"Prophecy? Oh yeah, that. Any luck so far?"
"Not with you talking to me every five minutes."
The red head stared at him for a moment before shrugging it off. "What a grouch," she whispered to Gourry.
For the first time in an hour, the blond was suddenly alert. He looked down at her, confused. "What?"
"Nothing, never mind," she hastily replied, knowing better then to let him really know. Gourry had an annoying habbit of repeating everything he heard.
"But..."
"Just try an' catch some fish, jellyfish brains!" she snapped, though she wasn't exactly sure why. He hadn't done anything to provoke her. She was just angry all of a sudden. 'Must be that stupid monster's fault,' she thought in a dismissive tone.
"Kay," was the swordsman's only reply. He was becoming quite good at not questioning her or making any rude comments about her body. She smiled at the thought. She had been nervous the first two or three months they had been married, but things were looking pretty good now.
Amelia came back through the trees and dropped some random dry debris from the forest. "There. That's the best I could find," the princess sighed.
"Great, now if we could just catch some fish..." the sorceress trailed off. "Why did I leave the food with Filia?" she sighed to herself. After several minutes with out so much as a nibble, even with her fishing spellin effect, Lina threw down her stick with a line tied to it. "Damn it! Doesn't this lake have any fish!?!"
"Obviously not," Zel replied.
Lina shot him an evil glare. "At least I'm doing something! All you've done is sit there and read that damn book!"
"Hey, whoa, Lina, calm down," Gourry said in a gentle voice.
"You keep out of this!" she snapped at the blond. Her anger quickly turned back to it's original target. "I don't care if that book has some stupid prophecy in it, or your cure, or any even the meaning of life!..."
"Miss Lina..." Amelia tried to break in.
"And you!" she roared, changing victims. "You over grown daddy's girl! I should have fireballed you back to that f..."
"Lina, calm down," Gourry interrupted as he placed his hands on her shoulders...
*****
There was a sudden explosion not too far from where Filia and Destiny were. Filia let out an exhausted sigh. "They must be over there."
"Very well then," destiny replied. She grabbed Filia's hand and tapped her staff on the ground. The black mist reappeared but only for a second this time. When it faded, they were surrounded by a startled Zelgadiss and Amelia, a panting, obviously furious, Lina, and one charred Gourry lying on the ground.
"Where the hell have you two been!?!" the red head demanded.
"You might not want to answer that," Gourry moaned. Lina gave him a hard kick in the side. "Shut up! No one's talking to you!" Destiny stepped forward. "We were looking for you. If you wish us to leave, we shall, but if you wish to attack anyone else further, I am afraid I shall have to stop you," the cold woman explained rather abrubtly.
"Oh, is that so," Lina growled while an evil grin appeared on her face. She was already starting up another fireball spell. Destiny shook her staff slightly and a cold chill ran through Lina's body. The sorceress suddenly dropped to the ground, shivering. The others watched, not sure whether to help Lina or let her take the punishment. "W-w-what was th-th-that?" she squeaked out.
"You have a hot temper. I thought you could use some cooling. It will wear off in a few hours or so," Destiny explained. Gourry managed to get back up to his feet and crawled over to the small woman. He wrapped his arms around her in a useless attempt to warm her. "If anyone else has a problem, I will be happy to correct their behavior." The others all shied away from her.
~*~*~
"They can't be too much further," Xaina insisted. (Bet ya thought I forgot about them, didn't ya? ;)
Xellos followed the floating child on foot, quite confused. "I don't think they are," he stated. "They wouldn't have gone this far."
"Then where are they?" the child half cried. She floated over and dropped in to the monster's arms. "You don't think they left us, do ya?"
"I'm sure they did. I'm just not sure where they went. Usually I can find them right away..."
"We could try Filia's house. We didn't look there." Xellos peered down at the child through his closed eyes. "Well, you do like going there."
"What makes you think that?" he asked, not sure what gave his student that impression.
"You like annoying her an' breaking her things, so I thought you liked it there."
An evil grin appeared on Xellos' face. "Well, the meals are sometimes good. I do enjoy those late night snakes from time to time..."
"Even if it is mean?"
"Because it's mean. We're monsters, remember?"
"Yeah, well you can go on being mean all you want. I'm not going to help you. I was always told it was wrong."
"And your early teacher was wrong."
"Mom was not wrong!" the neko girl protested. "She was never wrong!"
Xellos gave the child a gentle pat on the head. "Yes, just keep telling yourself that. Perhaps someday it will be true."
She jerked out of his grasp. "It is true! Yer just being mean again!"
"That's because you make the best little snacks for the road," he teased.
"Jerk," she grumbled.
~*~*~
Lina clung close to the fire. Gourry had her tightly wrapped up in his arms for warmth, but it was only now beginning to help. The sun had set and Filia had pulled the food out of her bag for dinner. While dinner smelled good, Lina couldn't find her appetite. She was too cold to eat. She hated being cold. Worst of all, this wasn't just a little chill; this was a bone numbing cold, like she had been standing out in the snow naked. She snuggled against her husband, trying desperately to absorb some of his warmth, and not caring who saw her.
"How long does that spell last, Miss Destiny?" Amelia asked as she poked the fire.
"Four to five hours. It will wear off soon," the black mage replied.
"Where did you learn a spell like that?"
"A temple. A priest taught it to a child for self defense when he was traveling and I have obtained the knowledge from the child."
"How?" the chimera demanded suspiciously.
"By seeking him out for the spell. I am a keeper of knowledge. I make it my life to know all that was, is, and will be. He had knowledge I required, so I found him." The woman pulled out her bag of birdseed and small dish. She poured in the birdseed and the feeding frenzy of the feathered began.
Several minutes of silence passed by. Filia dished out the soup just as the cold spell was wearing off of Lina and her appetite was returning. The second feeding frenzy began. Zelgadiss, Filia, and Destiny gave Lina, Gourry, and Amelia plenty of room to fight. Filia and Destiny calmly drank tea while Zel continued to translate more of the book. Just as the second frenzy was reaching as end, Zel stopped to read what he had translated. He read it twice...three times...four...checked the translation...checked again...
Amelia noticed the slightly panicked look on the chimera's face. "Is something the matter Mr. Zelgadiss?" He stared at her blankly and then handed her the page. Just like him, the princess read the note over and over again. "No, this can't be right."
"What?" Lina inquired now that she was in a much better mood.
"Are you sure this is what it says?" Amelia asked Zel, completely ignoring the sorceress. Zel nodded. "But...but then..."
"Then what?!" Lina snapped.
"We're all doomed," Zelgadiss muttered.
"Doomed?" Filia inquired.
"Why?! What does it say!?!" Amelia held the paper out to the red head. Lina read it...then read it again...and again...and again... A look of horror spread across her face. "No, no nononono." Her eyes shifted slightly up to look at the confused Gourry. She suddenly smacked him in to a tree. "NO! NO! This is your fault! Your fault!!!" she wailed at him.
(Oh, evil clif hanger, huh? Oh, and the little Xellos/Xaina thing was because I was missing them and they were getting cut so much out of the story. Don't worry, they'll be back again soon. Hopefully, they'll find the others in the next chapter.)
No one had been able to give him an answer for what had happened. "Isn't Xaina still little?" the blond asked again.
"For the tenth time, yes!" Lina snapped back. Zelgadiss squeezed his cloak. "Are you sure it was her and not some other monster?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" the red head argued. "She looked just like Xaina...except older... and taller. If someone was impersonating her, they got the age completely wrong."
"Maybe she can choose how old she appears," Amelia suggested while using her fingers for a brush. "She is a monster, after all."
"Yeah, but Xaina's not like other monsters. She's...different. That's the only thing I can think to describe her. The fact is, even she can change her apparent age, I don't think she knows how. She's only known she was part monster for three weeks."
"Then the question is: who did we see and why did she look like Xaina?"
~*~*~
Filia let out a small yelp after Lina and the others disappeared. "Ahhh!!! Where'd they go!"
"Away from here," Destiny supplied. There was a slight hint of anger in her cold voice. Filia glanced back at the creepy woman, half in fear, half in shock. This was the first time she had ever heard or seen the woman use any emotions. She reached out and grabbed Filia's wrist. "Don't let go," Destiny ordered.
"Why, what are we..."
The dragon was cut off as Destiny tapped the end of her staff on the ground. They suddenly disappeared in a dark mist. The mist wrapped around them, blocking out all other sights. A blasting cold covered Filia's body. She wanted to cry out, but her voice was caught in throat. Destiny seemed completely calm as she held on to the blond's wrist. The mist then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Destiny released the dragon. Her fac e was flushed with a little color and the woman nearly fell over. She caught herself against a tree. Filia watched, too shocked to say or do anything. For a moment, the blond could swear she saw red tints in Destiny's hair and her eyes were slightly bluish. She blinked and they were gone, so the dragon dismissed them as part of her imagination. Three of the birds all cawed at once as a white one flew towards them from several trees away. 'Where was that one,' Filia wondered.
One of the bushes groaned. Filia leaped away from it; her tail popped out. Destiny balanced herself and aimed her staff towards the bush. The giant frog monster sat up from the bush, rubbing a huge bump on his head. His eyes were spinning. He swayed slightly as he attempted to stand and gazed up at the women. He blinked several times, as if trying to remember something. Suddenly, it struck him and he jumped back.
"Ahhh! No! Don't hurt me! Not again!" the frog monster cried.
"Leave and don't bother us again and we will spare your miserable life," Destiny stated, her cold tone back once again.
"Y-yes yes, of course," he stated nervously before bounding off among the underbrush.
"Well, that was easy," Filia sighed. "Now we just need to find Miss Lina and the others."
~*~*~
"Would you stop reading and help, Zel," Lina scolded as she dropped the make shift hook back in the water. Gourry sat next to her, board. She had sent Amelia off to gather fire wood a little while ago when they (which mainly meant Lina) decided they should stay there for the night and figure out where they were in the morning. Zelgadiss didn't bother looking up from his book. "What are you reading?"
"I'm trying to translate this so we know more about the prophecy," the chimera replied irritably.
"Prophecy? Oh yeah, that. Any luck so far?"
"Not with you talking to me every five minutes."
The red head stared at him for a moment before shrugging it off. "What a grouch," she whispered to Gourry.
For the first time in an hour, the blond was suddenly alert. He looked down at her, confused. "What?"
"Nothing, never mind," she hastily replied, knowing better then to let him really know. Gourry had an annoying habbit of repeating everything he heard.
"But..."
"Just try an' catch some fish, jellyfish brains!" she snapped, though she wasn't exactly sure why. He hadn't done anything to provoke her. She was just angry all of a sudden. 'Must be that stupid monster's fault,' she thought in a dismissive tone.
"Kay," was the swordsman's only reply. He was becoming quite good at not questioning her or making any rude comments about her body. She smiled at the thought. She had been nervous the first two or three months they had been married, but things were looking pretty good now.
Amelia came back through the trees and dropped some random dry debris from the forest. "There. That's the best I could find," the princess sighed.
"Great, now if we could just catch some fish..." the sorceress trailed off. "Why did I leave the food with Filia?" she sighed to herself. After several minutes with out so much as a nibble, even with her fishing spellin effect, Lina threw down her stick with a line tied to it. "Damn it! Doesn't this lake have any fish!?!"
"Obviously not," Zel replied.
Lina shot him an evil glare. "At least I'm doing something! All you've done is sit there and read that damn book!"
"Hey, whoa, Lina, calm down," Gourry said in a gentle voice.
"You keep out of this!" she snapped at the blond. Her anger quickly turned back to it's original target. "I don't care if that book has some stupid prophecy in it, or your cure, or any even the meaning of life!..."
"Miss Lina..." Amelia tried to break in.
"And you!" she roared, changing victims. "You over grown daddy's girl! I should have fireballed you back to that f..."
"Lina, calm down," Gourry interrupted as he placed his hands on her shoulders...
*****
There was a sudden explosion not too far from where Filia and Destiny were. Filia let out an exhausted sigh. "They must be over there."
"Very well then," destiny replied. She grabbed Filia's hand and tapped her staff on the ground. The black mist reappeared but only for a second this time. When it faded, they were surrounded by a startled Zelgadiss and Amelia, a panting, obviously furious, Lina, and one charred Gourry lying on the ground.
"Where the hell have you two been!?!" the red head demanded.
"You might not want to answer that," Gourry moaned. Lina gave him a hard kick in the side. "Shut up! No one's talking to you!" Destiny stepped forward. "We were looking for you. If you wish us to leave, we shall, but if you wish to attack anyone else further, I am afraid I shall have to stop you," the cold woman explained rather abrubtly.
"Oh, is that so," Lina growled while an evil grin appeared on her face. She was already starting up another fireball spell. Destiny shook her staff slightly and a cold chill ran through Lina's body. The sorceress suddenly dropped to the ground, shivering. The others watched, not sure whether to help Lina or let her take the punishment. "W-w-what was th-th-that?" she squeaked out.
"You have a hot temper. I thought you could use some cooling. It will wear off in a few hours or so," Destiny explained. Gourry managed to get back up to his feet and crawled over to the small woman. He wrapped his arms around her in a useless attempt to warm her. "If anyone else has a problem, I will be happy to correct their behavior." The others all shied away from her.
~*~*~
"They can't be too much further," Xaina insisted. (Bet ya thought I forgot about them, didn't ya? ;)
Xellos followed the floating child on foot, quite confused. "I don't think they are," he stated. "They wouldn't have gone this far."
"Then where are they?" the child half cried. She floated over and dropped in to the monster's arms. "You don't think they left us, do ya?"
"I'm sure they did. I'm just not sure where they went. Usually I can find them right away..."
"We could try Filia's house. We didn't look there." Xellos peered down at the child through his closed eyes. "Well, you do like going there."
"What makes you think that?" he asked, not sure what gave his student that impression.
"You like annoying her an' breaking her things, so I thought you liked it there."
An evil grin appeared on Xellos' face. "Well, the meals are sometimes good. I do enjoy those late night snakes from time to time..."
"Even if it is mean?"
"Because it's mean. We're monsters, remember?"
"Yeah, well you can go on being mean all you want. I'm not going to help you. I was always told it was wrong."
"And your early teacher was wrong."
"Mom was not wrong!" the neko girl protested. "She was never wrong!"
Xellos gave the child a gentle pat on the head. "Yes, just keep telling yourself that. Perhaps someday it will be true."
She jerked out of his grasp. "It is true! Yer just being mean again!"
"That's because you make the best little snacks for the road," he teased.
"Jerk," she grumbled.
~*~*~
Lina clung close to the fire. Gourry had her tightly wrapped up in his arms for warmth, but it was only now beginning to help. The sun had set and Filia had pulled the food out of her bag for dinner. While dinner smelled good, Lina couldn't find her appetite. She was too cold to eat. She hated being cold. Worst of all, this wasn't just a little chill; this was a bone numbing cold, like she had been standing out in the snow naked. She snuggled against her husband, trying desperately to absorb some of his warmth, and not caring who saw her.
"How long does that spell last, Miss Destiny?" Amelia asked as she poked the fire.
"Four to five hours. It will wear off soon," the black mage replied.
"Where did you learn a spell like that?"
"A temple. A priest taught it to a child for self defense when he was traveling and I have obtained the knowledge from the child."
"How?" the chimera demanded suspiciously.
"By seeking him out for the spell. I am a keeper of knowledge. I make it my life to know all that was, is, and will be. He had knowledge I required, so I found him." The woman pulled out her bag of birdseed and small dish. She poured in the birdseed and the feeding frenzy of the feathered began.
Several minutes of silence passed by. Filia dished out the soup just as the cold spell was wearing off of Lina and her appetite was returning. The second feeding frenzy began. Zelgadiss, Filia, and Destiny gave Lina, Gourry, and Amelia plenty of room to fight. Filia and Destiny calmly drank tea while Zel continued to translate more of the book. Just as the second frenzy was reaching as end, Zel stopped to read what he had translated. He read it twice...three times...four...checked the translation...checked again...
Amelia noticed the slightly panicked look on the chimera's face. "Is something the matter Mr. Zelgadiss?" He stared at her blankly and then handed her the page. Just like him, the princess read the note over and over again. "No, this can't be right."
"What?" Lina inquired now that she was in a much better mood.
"Are you sure this is what it says?" Amelia asked Zel, completely ignoring the sorceress. Zel nodded. "But...but then..."
"Then what?!" Lina snapped.
"We're all doomed," Zelgadiss muttered.
"Doomed?" Filia inquired.
"Why?! What does it say!?!" Amelia held the paper out to the red head. Lina read it...then read it again...and again...and again... A look of horror spread across her face. "No, no nononono." Her eyes shifted slightly up to look at the confused Gourry. She suddenly smacked him in to a tree. "NO! NO! This is your fault! Your fault!!!" she wailed at him.
(Oh, evil clif hanger, huh? Oh, and the little Xellos/Xaina thing was because I was missing them and they were getting cut so much out of the story. Don't worry, they'll be back again soon. Hopefully, they'll find the others in the next chapter.)