Slayers: To the End...
By Hotaru Kimiko Lai
disclaimer...
[please insert the standard and probably copyrighted disclaimer in between the brackets. Thank you! You guys know the drill..]
note... a few small revisions... nothing major....
Chapter 3
(Version 3.2)
Revisiting the Past Once More...
The three riders left the village of Seerin. It was a sunny late afternoon and there was a pleasent breeze. All in all, it was very pleasant.
"So, where are we going?" asked Lina as she rode with her two companions. Xellos, the one beside her spoke up.
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" he said with a grin. "Just kidding!" he added when Lina attempted to give him a punch in the gut.
"You better be, you fruitcake!" muttered Lina. Zel just nodded.
"Well," said Xellos. "We'll be going to visit Lord Beastmaster!"
"WHAT!!!!!" shouted Lina. "Zelas??? Why her?"
"Because she ordered me to lead you to her." said Xellos simply.
"You're going to take us to Wolf Pack Island!!!!" shouted Lina. Zel smiled to himself. Calm Tirla was gone, and in her place was Impulsive Lina. It was about time.
"No," said Xellos. "I'm taking you to Jinnia, a small city near Wolf Pack Island."
"Jinnia?!" asked Zelgadis, his turn to be startled. "Why are we going there?"
"As much as I don't like to admit it," said Xellos. "...Zelas is not feeling too well, because of an attack by the Tarzokus to her."
"They attacked her?!" shouted Lina. "How is she?"
"Resting, Lina," said Xellos. "Don't worry."
"And Lina is supposed to be the one to finish these Tarzokus off? What or who are the Tarzokus anyway?"
"Tarzokus..." started Xellos. "I don't know too much about them. Truth be told, I'm not sure. I've never heard of them until Zelas told me about them." The two looked at Lina. She had a faraway look in her eyes, as if recalling something.
"Hey, Lina," said Zel. "Are you OK?" That seemed to bring Lina back.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry." said Lina. "You were saying?"
"Do you know anything about the Tarzokus?" asked Zel. "I thought you might know a bit, since you've been doing research all this time."
"So that's what you've been doing for two years?" asked Xellos. Lina nodded an thought for a while.
"Tell you what," said Lina. "I'll tell you what I've been doing my past two years, you tell me what you've been doing, 'K?"
"Why would you want to know what I've been doing?" asked Xellos.
"Because you're different from the fruitcake mazoku general/priest I used to know." said Lina bluntly. "Let's face it, I've only heard you say 'Tha'ts a secret' only once! While we were at my place, you frolicked with Rhea, Rowan and Riza. You were actually generating good sentiments and feelings!!" There was a pregnant silance. Xellos had looked down, sheepishly. "Not that there is anything wrong with that," said Lina again after a while. "It's just that....I don't know, it doesn't seem like you... I'm sorry." The two guys looked up at that. The Lina they knew hardly ever said 'Sorry', especially for something as trivial as an outburst. What surprised them more was the fact that they saw a trail of silver tears fall from her closed eyes. Immediatly, Xellos was at her side and hesitantly touched her shoulder with his hand.
"Ne, Lina," he said quietly. "Do you want to rest for a while? We can have a small snack before going again to Zelas-sama." His voice was quiet and sincere, almost tender, Zelgadis noted.
"Yeah, Lina," he said. "Besides, there's a nice copse of trees over there, not too far away." Lina nodded and the three rode quickly there. Besides, it was getting dark. Perhaps it would be better if they stayed there for the night. Before long, they had arrived and the three had set camp. Lina had not spoken a word ever since her tears had come. Zelgadis and Xellos conferred for a while. Zelgadis nodded, gave him a withering look and then left to fill water skins at a nearby stream that they found while scouting the area. He had promised to leave the two alone so that they could talk. At camp...
Lina finished setting up camp with Xellos's help. They had a ring of stones to make a fire and the sleeping bags had been rolled out. There was also a pile of twigs and branches to make the fire for later. After everything was set up, Lina just sat on a log and stared into nowhere. A philosophical person would say that she was focusing on the end of infinity, in which Lina would probably bop said person on the head for spouting off such nonsense. A normal person would say that she was now on the moon, right before being Dragon Slaved by Lina. Fortunatly, Xellos was neither. He sat down beside her.
"Are you feeling better?" asked Xellos after a while.
"Yes, thanks," said Lina softly. There was another silence.
"Do you want to start, or should I?" asked Xellos.
"It doesn't matter," said Lina. Her eyes focused on him. She was surprised at the concern she saw in there, and felt herself blushing fiercely. Abruptly, she turned her head down and looked at her hands, studiying intensely her fingernails, which Xellos noted, where very nice.
Xellos was meanwhile looking at her carefully. He wanted to...he wasn't sure what. He had never felt this way to another person before. How could he describe it? It was care and concern, almost. Not quite. After all, he was a mazoku. But it was something like that. And he wanted to calm her fears, soothe her. But how? and more importantly for him...why? Before he had a chance to speak, Lina had looked at him. He had tried to read her eyes. She seemed so much like a little girl, her ruby eyes glinting with curiousity. Then she had turned her eyes down, her cheeks turning just as crimsom as her hair. He smiled inwardly. She probably had no idea how cute she seemed like that. He decided that he would start, but Lina beat him to it.
"I'll start," she said softly. "Two years and a half ago, around there, I disbanded our group. I had recently had several dreams that had disturbed them, and felt it was necessary to disband the group. I think the dream was prophetic. Whether it was or not does not matter, though. The group was disbanded, but my dreams continued. Each night, it would be different. But I was always there. So I decided that if I wasn't there, you guys wouldn't be pulled in it, as would I. Obviously, fate doesn't work that way, since you guys are here for me. Still, I had to trie. I had to trie to stop the prophecy from ocurring."
"Was it that aweful?" asked Xellos. "I mean, you saw us all there; surely, together we could have pulled it through." Lina shuddered.
"No, it was awefull," she whispered. "I wouldn't want anyone to go through that...I still don't. Anyway, I thought it worked. By then, I had made good friends in Seerin and staged the death of Lina Inverse. While Lina was sick, Tirla, a cousin who happened to be travelling came and took care of Lina, but alas, Lina died. Zel was around there and he came as soon as he heard the news. He recognized me, although no one else did. I convinced him to be quiet, and ever since then, I've been researching. Seerin has amazing libraries. I researched a cure for Zel, and also took up teaching to make a living. That's when I met Rowan, Rhea and Riza. They came for classes. Before I started to teach, though, I took up painting to pass time, and well, you know about that. I got a horse and many times, I would go around Seerin just blasting bandits, or practicing with my sword and magic to not get soft. And the whole time, I researched new spells, and made some of my own up. Well, that's my life in a nutshell. Every once in a while, Zel would come over, and we'd train together, as well as research..." Xellos nodded. She seemed to have been fine.
"Looks like you spent the last two years well," said Xellos. It was getting late. "I'll light the fire, and tell you my story after supper, do you mind?"
"No, not at all," said Lina. She smiled at him. She felt so much better, after talking to the fruitcake, even though she still hadn't mentioned any of her problems. To her suprise, he had been a very well behaved fruitcake. "And I'll light the fire. That's my specialty!" Xellos laughed and Lina giggled slightly, glad to release some tension from her nerve racked body.
"Fireball," she whispered and a small flame shot from her fingers. The wood blazed and before long, there was a very cheery fire going. Zelgadis, who was watching from the shadows made his entrance.
"It was about time you two finished your chat," he said with a small grin. Lina blushed lightly and Xellos smiled crazily, as usual. They ate from rations they had with them from Seerin and the three sat around the fire. After a while, Xel spoke.
"O.K.," he said. His face still had a grin. "I'll tell you my story now, I guess. Let's see, two years and a half, that's a long time, you know. I remember leaving on an assignment for Zelas a while before you guys disbanded. I had been feeling very... how can I put it?... slightly sick, but quickly got over it. Then, Zelas told me to search for a set of scrolls. The same ones you have now, Lina." Lina looked surprised.
"It took you so long to find them?" she asked. "Amazing! I thought you knew everything!!!" She grinned to show that it was a joke.
"Yeah, I know," said Xellos with a slight grin. "Anyway, while still searching for the first scroll I heard about your death from Zelas. To say that I was surprised was an understatement. And when I learned it was a sickness, I got extremely suspicious. But Zelas had me working very hard, and I had no time to investigate. I had quite a few...um...adventures while searching for the scrolls. I'm still a mazoku, but you know how adventures are. One can't really go through them with out being changed. For me, it was a drastic change." There was an akward silence. No doubt, Xellos had planned it this way.
"Oh," said Lina quietly. "You didn't have to tell us,..."
"It's O.K.," said Xellos. "Don't worry about it. Perhaps, one day I'll tell you guys some of the adventures, perhaps..." There was silence again.
"I'll take the first shift," said Lina after a while. The others nodded.
"I'll take second," said Xellos.
"I guess I'll take third." said Zelgadis. Lina nodded.
"And we're leaving for Jinnia tomorrow, right?" she asked.
"Of course, LIna," said Xellos. The two guys started to sleep.
Lina smiled slightly and sat against a rock. She concentrated heavily for a second as she drew an extensive maze of magic traps around the camp. She saw the color lines of her trap glimmer as she closed her eyes to concentrate. It looked like an intricate string figure that not was only surrounding the camp on the sides, but seemed to form a dome around them. She actually was inspired by a game that her three students had played during a break. It was one of her invented spells. A shielding spell, a trap that could not be easily broken from the outside and had a slip knot on the inside that she could "pull" to undo the trap. To be able to disable it from the outside, one had to form a sort of "cut" on an actual "string" to be able to break it, yet the slightest nudge would travel through the lines and reach her. Simple yet effective.
She opened her senses to feel her surroundings and took out her journal. This was her third jounal. The other two were hidden in her pack. She took out a pen that Riza had given her and smiled at the memory that it brought to her. For a while, there was no sound except some wind rustling some leaves and Lina's pen scratching along on her journal's surface. She smiled as she wrote. It was an extremely peaceful watch. After her watch was over, she quietly walked over to where Xellos was sleeping. He looked extremely peaceful sleeping like that. But no doubt he was only half asleep. She gently nudged him with her hand as she knelt near him. He opened his eyes slowly, blinked rapidly and looked at Lina. She was just staring at him. It was one of the few times she had seen his amethyst eyes, and it took her breath away.
"Ne, Lina, what's up?" he asked grinning to himself when he saw her expression. That sort of shook her awake.
"Oh, sorry," she said quietly as she blushed. "It's your shift now." Xellos nodded and got up. He looked around him.
"You set a trap up, right?" he asked. Lina nodded. He seemed to study the trap around them. "Hm...very ingenious of your part, Lina. It is very good and has a wonderful craftsmanship to it. Simple but exquisite." Lina blushed again. What was with Xellos? All he seemed to do nowadays was to compliment her.
"Silly mazoku," she said with almost no heat. "Stop making me blush."
"But I'm telling you the truth, Lina," he said with a smile as he looked at her with his amethyst orbs. There was an uncomfortable silence on Lina's behalf. Xellos grinned. "Good night, Lina," he whispered into her ear. Her back tingled. That was it.
"Fireball!" she said quietly and blasted Xellos into a tree. "Serves you right, fruity mazoku," she muttered as she went to sleep in her roll while clutching her journal. "And next time, save your stupid comments to yourself..."
"Itaii..." said Xellos weakly. Zel ignored them, and continued to pretend to be asleep.
As the night passed on, Xellos found himself getting extremely bored. He looked around and saw Lina's journal. With a wicked smile, he carefully levitated it from her grasp. His smile grew as he realized what it was. It seemed like Lina had a little habit of writing things that happened to her. He turned to a page.
Entry # 849
Hi, again! I had the most interesting day today. Zel came over early morning and we spent the morning in the woods sword and magic sparring. My hair got really annoying, I'm thinking about cutting it short again. But it grows really fast...oh well. We had a great time practicing. Zelgadis told me about Amelia and Gourry and how everything was going, as usual. I think he said that Amelia was travelling to a city from outside the barrier to establish even more trade. Gourry , as usual, is accompanying her.
Zel asked me today if I ever regretted pretending to have died. I can't lie to him, there have been times where I've missed everyone, even the fruitcake. Anyways, we had lunch and then I had Zel pose for me. I have a surprise picture for Zelgadis. It'll be of him and Amelia, but I'm not telling yet. I've asked him about his relation with Amelia, but he doesn't like to talk about it. Maybe the picture will force him to think about it. I can't wait to see his face when he sees it. ^o^ I really can't wait. Anyway, my students came and poor Zel was once again flocked by the three munchkins. They are so sweet. Riza learned her first spell today. She can now do a moderation I made up of the fireball spell. We had an unplanned party, and what made it even more special is that Zel was there also. It was so much fun!!!! Riza was so exited that she started to throw fire everywhere...I quickly started my next lesson when a fire started. How to cast a water spell I made up, Water Gush and Mini Wind to control the fire and steer it into one place...
Anyway, class was soon over, and we hugged the girls. It's so sweet how the girls call Zelgadis Uncle Zel. I think he likes children but that he's uncomfortable with his condition. Anyway, the people here don't care. After all, my next door neighbor is a kitsune, and the police man is a zombie every third full moon. I told Zel about my latest research. Nothing really concrete, but a few leads here and there. Anyway, he stayed for the night. While he was sleeping in my spare room, as usual, I was thinking (and still am) about my dream last night.
This time, it was different. It's always different. This time, everyone is there, but there is a new person in the shadows. I can't see anything of him, but I can feel him. I leave him alone, trying to defeat the foe in front of me, who is also a shadow... Somehow, I'm hurt, badly... I still don't understand how... and just when the shadow is about to kill me, the other one appears and stops the other shadow. I don't understand dreams... Can you love someone in a dream? Because just then, I though my heart would burst with it. I don't know who he is..., for I know it's a him. Does he love me back? Do I even know him? I think I do, but I can't place him. Perhaps he's someone I'm to meet in the future? Anyway, I'll go to sleep now, it's late, and tomorrow, I have to wake up early to bid Zel good bye. 'Night. Tirla L. Inverse
'Interesting,' thought Xellos as he turned the page. It seemed that Lina had very interesting dreams. 'I wonder who the shadow she fell in love was?' He checked the date. It was about three or four months ago. He read the next entry and skimmed it to find the section on her dream. 'Ah...here it is.'
Entry # 850
.....I had the same dream last night. Exactly the same, except that I saw his eyes. I'm fighting again, everyone is down, but I can't tell how hurt they are or how they were hurt. If I knew... I could try to stop it. But I can't. Zelgadis goes down protecting Amelia. Amelia and Gourry team up to fight, but they go down also. Once more, I notice the shadow who seems like a friend to us. Why won't he show himself? Is that how he is in real life? Once more I'm down, and once more I'm about to be killed. My attacker has teal colored eyes, and the other shadow rescues me. I look at the area where his face is... All I see is... the saddest pair of eyes I've ever seen. I don't remember the color, I wish I did. His eyes were so sad. I tried to croak a thank you to him, but he set me down, squeezes my hand and turned to fight my other shadow. The battlefield is empty. Perhaps the shadow is one of the fighters from before. I wish I knew... There's an explosion, and all is dark...I don't know what to do... Who is he? What happened to him? It's like a scene from a horror novel. Everytime, something else happens. I don't want them to die. I'll research dreams tomorrow. Perhaps... I'll find something, though I don't know what... 'Night. Tirla L. Inverse
'A mysterious person, indeed,' thought Xellos. He turned a few more pages. Did Lina ever find out who she had been dreaming about. It looked like Lina hadn't told anyone about the content of her dreams. He wondered who Lina had fallen for. He felt something squeeze inside him... After skimming a few entries, he found something interesting.
Entry # 856
......Another dream last night. As you can tell, I've been having dreams for ages now... I finally found out who he was, and I'm scared. Is the dream a premonition of what will happen? Or do I love him already... Is what I call love even...love? I saw his eyes. I remember their color. I won't right down who he is... for one day, perhaps the enemy will see this. I won't let them harm him, although I know he could defend himself. There were different people on the battlefield today. None of the guys were there, only Amelia, Sylphiel, Martina, Naga and Filia. I shudder to think why Naga is there. I don't want them on the battle field. It's my battle. The battle is somehow my fault, I know it, yet they are there, and dying because of my mistakes. I don't want them to fight, but I see them fall before me one by one. Amelia looks heartbroken...she's fighting with grimness and anger I've never seen. Something happened to Zel... Sylphiel is crying as she's struck down. I hear her scream. I can't stand it anymore! So I fight, knowing the shadow would be there for me. This time, he steps from the shadows and I see him. I can't help it, it's too late. I've tried so hard... We fight together. He gives me the strenght I need. Instead of ending in an explosion, the shadow we fought causes even more shadows to appear. I'm scared, terrified. The skies are blood red, the field is a barren wasteland. So many dead...but there is golden light shining above him and I... we are one, it seems...and then I wake up. It was scary, and I'm terrified. Years ago, I thought I could stop it if I died and wasn't there. Now I know that if I die, there's no one to stop the disaster. So I must fight... and I'll keep on fighting to the end. Now, if only I could remember that always. Tirla L. Inverse
Xellos looked at the journal, her writing blurring in front of his eyes caused by some liquid that had seemed to appear from nowhere. He blinked them back. Someone who didn't know better might mistake them for tears.
The last sentance had a feeling of hopeless hope. So tired, knowing that she'll have to fight, knowing that one of her dreams will come true, knowing that people will die. But hoping so hard that perhaps, something will happen to stear it away. She had stopped running away. She was ready to deal with it, but not ready at the same time. And who was Naga anyway? His watch was over and he carefully put the journal in Lina's arms again. He leaned over her. 'So innocent and peaceful in her sleep,' he thought. 'Who would have known that behind the sleeping eyes, there is probably a dream of unimagined horror playing in her tired mind. Sleep well, Lina- chan, and may you finally meet your watchful shadow...' He laid his hand gently on her forehead for a while before waking Zelgadis up for his watch. After explaining the trap to Zelgadis, he went into a half sleep. He needed to recuperate to be able to lead Lina and Zel to Beastmaster.
*****
The next day, the two were woken up by Zelgadis, who had breakfast laid out for them. After eating hurriedly and filling their canteens with water, they were ready to go visit Beastmaster.
The days and nights passed with out too much occurence. Usually, they rode hard all morning, took a break at lunch and rode hard again in the afternoon, trying to not tire their horses too much. At night, Lina would rest by a tree and basically read the prophecy and frown intelligently, giving her the air of an expert. She took many notes on a pad of paper with a quill she had brought along. Many times, she would mutter to herself and stare into nowhere in deep thought. Whenever her two travelling companions tried to talk to her, she would either wave them away or not answer. So the two learned to leave her alone during her time of meditation and study.
They met a few bandits on the way. Lina had decided to change her appearence. There was no need for people to know that Lina Inverse was back. To bandits, she was Tirla. Her coal black hair was put up into a ponytail. And her eyes were fucsia. Lina might be dead, but Tirla was here to replace her. And it was not a pretty sight when Tirla was in a hurry to go somewhere and bandits were in their way.
"Fireball!!!!! Diem Wing!!! Flare Bit!!!! Blast Ash!!!! Digger Bolt!!!!!! Ra Rilt!!!!!!! Burst Rondo!!!!!" BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! Oops, there goes another bandit flying merrily through the happy afternoon skies...
"Wow, Lina san is having fun, ne?" asked Xellos to Zel as they watched the fight from their horses. They had to watch from a distance at first, because the horses weren't really used to all the noise, but little by little they grew immune to the loud cries of agony from the bandits.
"Nice to know that some things haven't changed," muttered Zelgadis as he held on to the bridle to Lina's horse.
"Die you bandits!! Out of the way, for Tirla the Terrible is here!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" BOOM, CRASH, AAAAAAHHH, BOOM, BANG, ZAP...
"Tirla the Terrible?" asked Zel with a sweatdrop. On closer inspection, we can see that Zel isn't the only one sweatdropping. The bandits are also.
"Tirla the Terrible?" asked a bandit... "What type of stupid, idiotic, sissy, weak and pathetic type of name is that???" ...right before being Fireballed in the face.
"I gave her that idea," said Xellos. "I think it's quite nice. It has a ring of... cuteness to it." Zel face faulted on his horse. The two continued to watch Tirla/Lina release some pent up frustruation in very harmful ways. Xellos grinned happily, Zelgadis shook his head, and Tirla's laugh rang out into the skies. What a lovely afternoon.
The DAN...(all together now, the dreaded author's notes...)
OK, OK, so it's still going a little slow. Just a lot of thinking and talking going on here. Looking at the next title...next chapter will have some talking and reminiscing also. It's called Unwanted Reunions and Promises, something like that.... Even more background info, and more meetings with people. Before you know it, I'll probably have everyone tag along for the ride. ^_^;;
So, what do you think? Comments and Criticism always extremely welcome. Flames will be doused by the new fireman's hose I got the other day ^-^ BTW to all you wonderful and amazing, and cool and great and very nice people who reviewed, thank you sooooooooooooooooooo much!!!! You all deserve the very best!!! Yep!!!! Thank you for reviewing, you made my day!!!!!!! (thanx, thanx, thanx, thanx!!!!) Aaaaah!!! I'm so happy!!!! I'm already working out on the next chapter.
Enough...hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to get the next one out as soon as I can... Might take some time though, I'm starting classes soon...=( Anyway, have a great day, and till next time!!!
BTW, this chapter has some very minor changes here and there... sorry for any incovenience...
Hotaru Kimiko Lai
December 29, 2001
Second Revision... January 12, 2002
"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecrting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
--Thodore Rubin
By Hotaru Kimiko Lai
disclaimer...
[please insert the standard and probably copyrighted disclaimer in between the brackets. Thank you! You guys know the drill..]
note... a few small revisions... nothing major....
Chapter 3
(Version 3.2)
Revisiting the Past Once More...
The three riders left the village of Seerin. It was a sunny late afternoon and there was a pleasent breeze. All in all, it was very pleasant.
"So, where are we going?" asked Lina as she rode with her two companions. Xellos, the one beside her spoke up.
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" he said with a grin. "Just kidding!" he added when Lina attempted to give him a punch in the gut.
"You better be, you fruitcake!" muttered Lina. Zel just nodded.
"Well," said Xellos. "We'll be going to visit Lord Beastmaster!"
"WHAT!!!!!" shouted Lina. "Zelas??? Why her?"
"Because she ordered me to lead you to her." said Xellos simply.
"You're going to take us to Wolf Pack Island!!!!" shouted Lina. Zel smiled to himself. Calm Tirla was gone, and in her place was Impulsive Lina. It was about time.
"No," said Xellos. "I'm taking you to Jinnia, a small city near Wolf Pack Island."
"Jinnia?!" asked Zelgadis, his turn to be startled. "Why are we going there?"
"As much as I don't like to admit it," said Xellos. "...Zelas is not feeling too well, because of an attack by the Tarzokus to her."
"They attacked her?!" shouted Lina. "How is she?"
"Resting, Lina," said Xellos. "Don't worry."
"And Lina is supposed to be the one to finish these Tarzokus off? What or who are the Tarzokus anyway?"
"Tarzokus..." started Xellos. "I don't know too much about them. Truth be told, I'm not sure. I've never heard of them until Zelas told me about them." The two looked at Lina. She had a faraway look in her eyes, as if recalling something.
"Hey, Lina," said Zel. "Are you OK?" That seemed to bring Lina back.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry." said Lina. "You were saying?"
"Do you know anything about the Tarzokus?" asked Zel. "I thought you might know a bit, since you've been doing research all this time."
"So that's what you've been doing for two years?" asked Xellos. Lina nodded an thought for a while.
"Tell you what," said Lina. "I'll tell you what I've been doing my past two years, you tell me what you've been doing, 'K?"
"Why would you want to know what I've been doing?" asked Xellos.
"Because you're different from the fruitcake mazoku general/priest I used to know." said Lina bluntly. "Let's face it, I've only heard you say 'Tha'ts a secret' only once! While we were at my place, you frolicked with Rhea, Rowan and Riza. You were actually generating good sentiments and feelings!!" There was a pregnant silance. Xellos had looked down, sheepishly. "Not that there is anything wrong with that," said Lina again after a while. "It's just that....I don't know, it doesn't seem like you... I'm sorry." The two guys looked up at that. The Lina they knew hardly ever said 'Sorry', especially for something as trivial as an outburst. What surprised them more was the fact that they saw a trail of silver tears fall from her closed eyes. Immediatly, Xellos was at her side and hesitantly touched her shoulder with his hand.
"Ne, Lina," he said quietly. "Do you want to rest for a while? We can have a small snack before going again to Zelas-sama." His voice was quiet and sincere, almost tender, Zelgadis noted.
"Yeah, Lina," he said. "Besides, there's a nice copse of trees over there, not too far away." Lina nodded and the three rode quickly there. Besides, it was getting dark. Perhaps it would be better if they stayed there for the night. Before long, they had arrived and the three had set camp. Lina had not spoken a word ever since her tears had come. Zelgadis and Xellos conferred for a while. Zelgadis nodded, gave him a withering look and then left to fill water skins at a nearby stream that they found while scouting the area. He had promised to leave the two alone so that they could talk. At camp...
Lina finished setting up camp with Xellos's help. They had a ring of stones to make a fire and the sleeping bags had been rolled out. There was also a pile of twigs and branches to make the fire for later. After everything was set up, Lina just sat on a log and stared into nowhere. A philosophical person would say that she was focusing on the end of infinity, in which Lina would probably bop said person on the head for spouting off such nonsense. A normal person would say that she was now on the moon, right before being Dragon Slaved by Lina. Fortunatly, Xellos was neither. He sat down beside her.
"Are you feeling better?" asked Xellos after a while.
"Yes, thanks," said Lina softly. There was another silence.
"Do you want to start, or should I?" asked Xellos.
"It doesn't matter," said Lina. Her eyes focused on him. She was surprised at the concern she saw in there, and felt herself blushing fiercely. Abruptly, she turned her head down and looked at her hands, studiying intensely her fingernails, which Xellos noted, where very nice.
Xellos was meanwhile looking at her carefully. He wanted to...he wasn't sure what. He had never felt this way to another person before. How could he describe it? It was care and concern, almost. Not quite. After all, he was a mazoku. But it was something like that. And he wanted to calm her fears, soothe her. But how? and more importantly for him...why? Before he had a chance to speak, Lina had looked at him. He had tried to read her eyes. She seemed so much like a little girl, her ruby eyes glinting with curiousity. Then she had turned her eyes down, her cheeks turning just as crimsom as her hair. He smiled inwardly. She probably had no idea how cute she seemed like that. He decided that he would start, but Lina beat him to it.
"I'll start," she said softly. "Two years and a half ago, around there, I disbanded our group. I had recently had several dreams that had disturbed them, and felt it was necessary to disband the group. I think the dream was prophetic. Whether it was or not does not matter, though. The group was disbanded, but my dreams continued. Each night, it would be different. But I was always there. So I decided that if I wasn't there, you guys wouldn't be pulled in it, as would I. Obviously, fate doesn't work that way, since you guys are here for me. Still, I had to trie. I had to trie to stop the prophecy from ocurring."
"Was it that aweful?" asked Xellos. "I mean, you saw us all there; surely, together we could have pulled it through." Lina shuddered.
"No, it was awefull," she whispered. "I wouldn't want anyone to go through that...I still don't. Anyway, I thought it worked. By then, I had made good friends in Seerin and staged the death of Lina Inverse. While Lina was sick, Tirla, a cousin who happened to be travelling came and took care of Lina, but alas, Lina died. Zel was around there and he came as soon as he heard the news. He recognized me, although no one else did. I convinced him to be quiet, and ever since then, I've been researching. Seerin has amazing libraries. I researched a cure for Zel, and also took up teaching to make a living. That's when I met Rowan, Rhea and Riza. They came for classes. Before I started to teach, though, I took up painting to pass time, and well, you know about that. I got a horse and many times, I would go around Seerin just blasting bandits, or practicing with my sword and magic to not get soft. And the whole time, I researched new spells, and made some of my own up. Well, that's my life in a nutshell. Every once in a while, Zel would come over, and we'd train together, as well as research..." Xellos nodded. She seemed to have been fine.
"Looks like you spent the last two years well," said Xellos. It was getting late. "I'll light the fire, and tell you my story after supper, do you mind?"
"No, not at all," said Lina. She smiled at him. She felt so much better, after talking to the fruitcake, even though she still hadn't mentioned any of her problems. To her suprise, he had been a very well behaved fruitcake. "And I'll light the fire. That's my specialty!" Xellos laughed and Lina giggled slightly, glad to release some tension from her nerve racked body.
"Fireball," she whispered and a small flame shot from her fingers. The wood blazed and before long, there was a very cheery fire going. Zelgadis, who was watching from the shadows made his entrance.
"It was about time you two finished your chat," he said with a small grin. Lina blushed lightly and Xellos smiled crazily, as usual. They ate from rations they had with them from Seerin and the three sat around the fire. After a while, Xel spoke.
"O.K.," he said. His face still had a grin. "I'll tell you my story now, I guess. Let's see, two years and a half, that's a long time, you know. I remember leaving on an assignment for Zelas a while before you guys disbanded. I had been feeling very... how can I put it?... slightly sick, but quickly got over it. Then, Zelas told me to search for a set of scrolls. The same ones you have now, Lina." Lina looked surprised.
"It took you so long to find them?" she asked. "Amazing! I thought you knew everything!!!" She grinned to show that it was a joke.
"Yeah, I know," said Xellos with a slight grin. "Anyway, while still searching for the first scroll I heard about your death from Zelas. To say that I was surprised was an understatement. And when I learned it was a sickness, I got extremely suspicious. But Zelas had me working very hard, and I had no time to investigate. I had quite a few...um...adventures while searching for the scrolls. I'm still a mazoku, but you know how adventures are. One can't really go through them with out being changed. For me, it was a drastic change." There was an akward silence. No doubt, Xellos had planned it this way.
"Oh," said Lina quietly. "You didn't have to tell us,..."
"It's O.K.," said Xellos. "Don't worry about it. Perhaps, one day I'll tell you guys some of the adventures, perhaps..." There was silence again.
"I'll take the first shift," said Lina after a while. The others nodded.
"I'll take second," said Xellos.
"I guess I'll take third." said Zelgadis. Lina nodded.
"And we're leaving for Jinnia tomorrow, right?" she asked.
"Of course, LIna," said Xellos. The two guys started to sleep.
Lina smiled slightly and sat against a rock. She concentrated heavily for a second as she drew an extensive maze of magic traps around the camp. She saw the color lines of her trap glimmer as she closed her eyes to concentrate. It looked like an intricate string figure that not was only surrounding the camp on the sides, but seemed to form a dome around them. She actually was inspired by a game that her three students had played during a break. It was one of her invented spells. A shielding spell, a trap that could not be easily broken from the outside and had a slip knot on the inside that she could "pull" to undo the trap. To be able to disable it from the outside, one had to form a sort of "cut" on an actual "string" to be able to break it, yet the slightest nudge would travel through the lines and reach her. Simple yet effective.
She opened her senses to feel her surroundings and took out her journal. This was her third jounal. The other two were hidden in her pack. She took out a pen that Riza had given her and smiled at the memory that it brought to her. For a while, there was no sound except some wind rustling some leaves and Lina's pen scratching along on her journal's surface. She smiled as she wrote. It was an extremely peaceful watch. After her watch was over, she quietly walked over to where Xellos was sleeping. He looked extremely peaceful sleeping like that. But no doubt he was only half asleep. She gently nudged him with her hand as she knelt near him. He opened his eyes slowly, blinked rapidly and looked at Lina. She was just staring at him. It was one of the few times she had seen his amethyst eyes, and it took her breath away.
"Ne, Lina, what's up?" he asked grinning to himself when he saw her expression. That sort of shook her awake.
"Oh, sorry," she said quietly as she blushed. "It's your shift now." Xellos nodded and got up. He looked around him.
"You set a trap up, right?" he asked. Lina nodded. He seemed to study the trap around them. "Hm...very ingenious of your part, Lina. It is very good and has a wonderful craftsmanship to it. Simple but exquisite." Lina blushed again. What was with Xellos? All he seemed to do nowadays was to compliment her.
"Silly mazoku," she said with almost no heat. "Stop making me blush."
"But I'm telling you the truth, Lina," he said with a smile as he looked at her with his amethyst orbs. There was an uncomfortable silence on Lina's behalf. Xellos grinned. "Good night, Lina," he whispered into her ear. Her back tingled. That was it.
"Fireball!" she said quietly and blasted Xellos into a tree. "Serves you right, fruity mazoku," she muttered as she went to sleep in her roll while clutching her journal. "And next time, save your stupid comments to yourself..."
"Itaii..." said Xellos weakly. Zel ignored them, and continued to pretend to be asleep.
As the night passed on, Xellos found himself getting extremely bored. He looked around and saw Lina's journal. With a wicked smile, he carefully levitated it from her grasp. His smile grew as he realized what it was. It seemed like Lina had a little habit of writing things that happened to her. He turned to a page.
Entry # 849
Hi, again! I had the most interesting day today. Zel came over early morning and we spent the morning in the woods sword and magic sparring. My hair got really annoying, I'm thinking about cutting it short again. But it grows really fast...oh well. We had a great time practicing. Zelgadis told me about Amelia and Gourry and how everything was going, as usual. I think he said that Amelia was travelling to a city from outside the barrier to establish even more trade. Gourry , as usual, is accompanying her.
Zel asked me today if I ever regretted pretending to have died. I can't lie to him, there have been times where I've missed everyone, even the fruitcake. Anyways, we had lunch and then I had Zel pose for me. I have a surprise picture for Zelgadis. It'll be of him and Amelia, but I'm not telling yet. I've asked him about his relation with Amelia, but he doesn't like to talk about it. Maybe the picture will force him to think about it. I can't wait to see his face when he sees it. ^o^ I really can't wait. Anyway, my students came and poor Zel was once again flocked by the three munchkins. They are so sweet. Riza learned her first spell today. She can now do a moderation I made up of the fireball spell. We had an unplanned party, and what made it even more special is that Zel was there also. It was so much fun!!!! Riza was so exited that she started to throw fire everywhere...I quickly started my next lesson when a fire started. How to cast a water spell I made up, Water Gush and Mini Wind to control the fire and steer it into one place...
Anyway, class was soon over, and we hugged the girls. It's so sweet how the girls call Zelgadis Uncle Zel. I think he likes children but that he's uncomfortable with his condition. Anyway, the people here don't care. After all, my next door neighbor is a kitsune, and the police man is a zombie every third full moon. I told Zel about my latest research. Nothing really concrete, but a few leads here and there. Anyway, he stayed for the night. While he was sleeping in my spare room, as usual, I was thinking (and still am) about my dream last night.
This time, it was different. It's always different. This time, everyone is there, but there is a new person in the shadows. I can't see anything of him, but I can feel him. I leave him alone, trying to defeat the foe in front of me, who is also a shadow... Somehow, I'm hurt, badly... I still don't understand how... and just when the shadow is about to kill me, the other one appears and stops the other shadow. I don't understand dreams... Can you love someone in a dream? Because just then, I though my heart would burst with it. I don't know who he is..., for I know it's a him. Does he love me back? Do I even know him? I think I do, but I can't place him. Perhaps he's someone I'm to meet in the future? Anyway, I'll go to sleep now, it's late, and tomorrow, I have to wake up early to bid Zel good bye. 'Night. Tirla L. Inverse
'Interesting,' thought Xellos as he turned the page. It seemed that Lina had very interesting dreams. 'I wonder who the shadow she fell in love was?' He checked the date. It was about three or four months ago. He read the next entry and skimmed it to find the section on her dream. 'Ah...here it is.'
Entry # 850
.....I had the same dream last night. Exactly the same, except that I saw his eyes. I'm fighting again, everyone is down, but I can't tell how hurt they are or how they were hurt. If I knew... I could try to stop it. But I can't. Zelgadis goes down protecting Amelia. Amelia and Gourry team up to fight, but they go down also. Once more, I notice the shadow who seems like a friend to us. Why won't he show himself? Is that how he is in real life? Once more I'm down, and once more I'm about to be killed. My attacker has teal colored eyes, and the other shadow rescues me. I look at the area where his face is... All I see is... the saddest pair of eyes I've ever seen. I don't remember the color, I wish I did. His eyes were so sad. I tried to croak a thank you to him, but he set me down, squeezes my hand and turned to fight my other shadow. The battlefield is empty. Perhaps the shadow is one of the fighters from before. I wish I knew... There's an explosion, and all is dark...I don't know what to do... Who is he? What happened to him? It's like a scene from a horror novel. Everytime, something else happens. I don't want them to die. I'll research dreams tomorrow. Perhaps... I'll find something, though I don't know what... 'Night. Tirla L. Inverse
'A mysterious person, indeed,' thought Xellos. He turned a few more pages. Did Lina ever find out who she had been dreaming about. It looked like Lina hadn't told anyone about the content of her dreams. He wondered who Lina had fallen for. He felt something squeeze inside him... After skimming a few entries, he found something interesting.
Entry # 856
......Another dream last night. As you can tell, I've been having dreams for ages now... I finally found out who he was, and I'm scared. Is the dream a premonition of what will happen? Or do I love him already... Is what I call love even...love? I saw his eyes. I remember their color. I won't right down who he is... for one day, perhaps the enemy will see this. I won't let them harm him, although I know he could defend himself. There were different people on the battlefield today. None of the guys were there, only Amelia, Sylphiel, Martina, Naga and Filia. I shudder to think why Naga is there. I don't want them on the battle field. It's my battle. The battle is somehow my fault, I know it, yet they are there, and dying because of my mistakes. I don't want them to fight, but I see them fall before me one by one. Amelia looks heartbroken...she's fighting with grimness and anger I've never seen. Something happened to Zel... Sylphiel is crying as she's struck down. I hear her scream. I can't stand it anymore! So I fight, knowing the shadow would be there for me. This time, he steps from the shadows and I see him. I can't help it, it's too late. I've tried so hard... We fight together. He gives me the strenght I need. Instead of ending in an explosion, the shadow we fought causes even more shadows to appear. I'm scared, terrified. The skies are blood red, the field is a barren wasteland. So many dead...but there is golden light shining above him and I... we are one, it seems...and then I wake up. It was scary, and I'm terrified. Years ago, I thought I could stop it if I died and wasn't there. Now I know that if I die, there's no one to stop the disaster. So I must fight... and I'll keep on fighting to the end. Now, if only I could remember that always. Tirla L. Inverse
Xellos looked at the journal, her writing blurring in front of his eyes caused by some liquid that had seemed to appear from nowhere. He blinked them back. Someone who didn't know better might mistake them for tears.
The last sentance had a feeling of hopeless hope. So tired, knowing that she'll have to fight, knowing that one of her dreams will come true, knowing that people will die. But hoping so hard that perhaps, something will happen to stear it away. She had stopped running away. She was ready to deal with it, but not ready at the same time. And who was Naga anyway? His watch was over and he carefully put the journal in Lina's arms again. He leaned over her. 'So innocent and peaceful in her sleep,' he thought. 'Who would have known that behind the sleeping eyes, there is probably a dream of unimagined horror playing in her tired mind. Sleep well, Lina- chan, and may you finally meet your watchful shadow...' He laid his hand gently on her forehead for a while before waking Zelgadis up for his watch. After explaining the trap to Zelgadis, he went into a half sleep. He needed to recuperate to be able to lead Lina and Zel to Beastmaster.
*****
The next day, the two were woken up by Zelgadis, who had breakfast laid out for them. After eating hurriedly and filling their canteens with water, they were ready to go visit Beastmaster.
The days and nights passed with out too much occurence. Usually, they rode hard all morning, took a break at lunch and rode hard again in the afternoon, trying to not tire their horses too much. At night, Lina would rest by a tree and basically read the prophecy and frown intelligently, giving her the air of an expert. She took many notes on a pad of paper with a quill she had brought along. Many times, she would mutter to herself and stare into nowhere in deep thought. Whenever her two travelling companions tried to talk to her, she would either wave them away or not answer. So the two learned to leave her alone during her time of meditation and study.
They met a few bandits on the way. Lina had decided to change her appearence. There was no need for people to know that Lina Inverse was back. To bandits, she was Tirla. Her coal black hair was put up into a ponytail. And her eyes were fucsia. Lina might be dead, but Tirla was here to replace her. And it was not a pretty sight when Tirla was in a hurry to go somewhere and bandits were in their way.
"Fireball!!!!! Diem Wing!!! Flare Bit!!!! Blast Ash!!!! Digger Bolt!!!!!! Ra Rilt!!!!!!! Burst Rondo!!!!!" BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! Oops, there goes another bandit flying merrily through the happy afternoon skies...
"Wow, Lina san is having fun, ne?" asked Xellos to Zel as they watched the fight from their horses. They had to watch from a distance at first, because the horses weren't really used to all the noise, but little by little they grew immune to the loud cries of agony from the bandits.
"Nice to know that some things haven't changed," muttered Zelgadis as he held on to the bridle to Lina's horse.
"Die you bandits!! Out of the way, for Tirla the Terrible is here!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" BOOM, CRASH, AAAAAAHHH, BOOM, BANG, ZAP...
"Tirla the Terrible?" asked Zel with a sweatdrop. On closer inspection, we can see that Zel isn't the only one sweatdropping. The bandits are also.
"Tirla the Terrible?" asked a bandit... "What type of stupid, idiotic, sissy, weak and pathetic type of name is that???" ...right before being Fireballed in the face.
"I gave her that idea," said Xellos. "I think it's quite nice. It has a ring of... cuteness to it." Zel face faulted on his horse. The two continued to watch Tirla/Lina release some pent up frustruation in very harmful ways. Xellos grinned happily, Zelgadis shook his head, and Tirla's laugh rang out into the skies. What a lovely afternoon.
The DAN...(all together now, the dreaded author's notes...)
OK, OK, so it's still going a little slow. Just a lot of thinking and talking going on here. Looking at the next title...next chapter will have some talking and reminiscing also. It's called Unwanted Reunions and Promises, something like that.... Even more background info, and more meetings with people. Before you know it, I'll probably have everyone tag along for the ride. ^_^;;
So, what do you think? Comments and Criticism always extremely welcome. Flames will be doused by the new fireman's hose I got the other day ^-^ BTW to all you wonderful and amazing, and cool and great and very nice people who reviewed, thank you sooooooooooooooooooo much!!!! You all deserve the very best!!! Yep!!!! Thank you for reviewing, you made my day!!!!!!! (thanx, thanx, thanx, thanx!!!!) Aaaaah!!! I'm so happy!!!! I'm already working out on the next chapter.
Enough...hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to get the next one out as soon as I can... Might take some time though, I'm starting classes soon...=( Anyway, have a great day, and till next time!!!
BTW, this chapter has some very minor changes here and there... sorry for any incovenience...
Hotaru Kimiko Lai
December 29, 2001
Second Revision... January 12, 2002
"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecrting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
--Thodore Rubin