Slayers: To the End...
By Hotaru
Disclaimer...
Yeah, yeah, I know... here we go. I know, and you know and I know that you know that Slayers doesn't belong to me. Satisfied? Good. Now, on with the story!
Chapter 9
Just Another Calm Day in Seerin...
Xellos woke up, feeling better than he had in years. It was amazing what a few dreams can do for you when you're tired. He looked out the window. It was a few minutes before dawn. He checked himself. Not a Mazoku anymore, he could feel the change coming over his body already. This body still fed from feelings, though. But, now, it wasn't just negative. Oh well, he found his bag. Xellos looked at the stand that usually held his staff, but it wasn't there. He had to get the silly thing back from that Megrim. His eye caught a white paper on the desk. It was a note.
Xellos, forgot to tell you. You have to submit a withdrawal form to Zelas. You don't have to specify. Just write that you're changing jobs on my orders. She'll understand. And if not, oh well, too bad for her. She has to learn not everything will go her way. My daughter is so stubborn, so watch out. Chaos Amph
'Must I?' thought Xellos. He quickly wrote a note to Zelas.
To Beastmaster Zelas.
Switched jobs on orders from the Lord of Nightmares. It was fun to work under you. Perhaps we'll see you later. Xellos
He put the letter on his desk and wrote TO BEASTMASTER in huge letters. He smiled at his room and flew out the window. Now, to find Lina. He felt for her magical signature and the aural signature from the demonsblood talismans. He smiled. She was in Seerin already. Good. She'd probably stay there for some time. With that, he phased out of sight.
"How could you let him escape?" asked Madabar, her aquamarine eyes flashing. "You idiot!"
"I told you," said Megrim. "It's not my fault! There was no way to escape, it was an anti magic barrier I put up!"
"That's not the point." said Madabar. "You had no orders to kidnap the Priest, and now, he has escaped! What do you think Zelas will do when she finds out?"
"Then we don't tell her!" said Megrim. "And we attack Seerin. I know that's where he is. After all, that's where Lina is going. We attack, and catch both the Priest, the chimera and the human. Then, we can tell Zelas that we have caught them." Madabar thought about it.
"Fine, I'll put you in charge." she said. "But one more failure and you are finished! Understand, Megrim? I don't want any more mistakes!"
"Your orders will be fulfilled." he said sarcastically before phasing out.
"Idiot," mumbled Madabar under her breath. 'Sure, everyone else gets the intelligent allies. I get stuck with an idiot who is bent on revenge...'
Lina looked at the town she had called home for almost two years. Melf had wanted to stay outside, since he wasn't too used to interacting with other humans. Lina and Zel were an exception. It was good to be home again, but now was not the time to reminisce. She had things to do, people to warn, and people to whip in shape in case Megrim and his henchmen came to attack.
"Ms. Tirla!" said a girl running to them, followed by two others. Lina shaded her eyes in the morning sun.
"Riza? Rhea? Rowan?" asked Lina. Seeing that they were, she broke out into a speed run, usually reserved to running to buffet tables before anyone else got there, namely Gourry.
"Ms. Tirla!!!" shouted the little tikes as they jumped her and hugged her silly. "You're back!!!"
"We got your invitation Aunty Tirla! That's so cool!!" said Riza.
"Yeah!" said Rhea.
"Definitely!" said Rowan. And Lina hugged them as hard as she could. She had missed her three little students.
"And what am I?" asked a voice. "Last nights left over brussel sprouts?"
"Uncle Zel!!" screamed the girls as they got off Lina and climbed all over Zelgadis. And Zelgadis laughed and hugged them also. Lina looked at them and smiled, before sensing another presence. She looked up and gasped.
"Heads up! Barrier!" she shouted. Zel immediately went down, taking the girls with him, and Lina's barrier appeared around them. Just in time also, since a ball of green fire hit the barrier, sizzled and died, one second after the barrier was in place. Lina and Zel looked up. Megrim smiled at them, holding a oak staff with a ruby red orb at the top.
"Well met again, Lina Inverse." he said.
"What are you doing here?" asked Lina angrily. She flew up to him. "We're going to Wolf Pack and decided to take care of a few things. I still have a few days. And what are you doing with Xellos's staff?"
"You may not believe me, but it's not anything you did." said Megrim, crossing his arms. His tail flicked lazily behind him. "I'm here for Xellos. And this staff? It's mine."
"Xellos?" asked Lina confused. "Helloooo. The reason we're going to Wolf Pack is to get Xellos. You idiot!"
"Hey! I resent that!" said Megrim. He looked up at the sky. "Well, since he isn't here yet, maybe he just needs to be encouraged." He snapped his fingers, and immediately, more creatures appeared all around the town skies. "Attack!" he said. "Perhaps this will speed the Priest." Lina's eyes widened as all the monsters started to fly around the city and began to attack.
"Shoot!" said Lina. "Zel! Take care of them! I'll take care of the idiot here... Flare Light!" A light flew forth from her hands and shot up into the sky, blinding almost everyone. Zel nodded and took the girls with him.
"Here, hide. Don't do anything." said Zel as he deposited the three near a house. With that, he dashed off. Lina had called for help with her flash of light, and it was his job to lead the troops... just like they had practiced before. It was to this scene that Xellos appeared. His eyes opened in surprise. He had felt lots of magic, but had thought it was due to the surroundings of Seerin. He looked up and saw Lina fighting against Megrim. She had drawn her sword and was casting magic and using it at the same time. But Megrim blocked all her attacks with the staff. His staff. On the other side, he saw Zelgadis leading a bunch of wizards in a fight against three million monsters whose goal seemed to blow up the town. They were doing fine though.
"Uncle Xellos!" He turned around and saw Rhea, Riza and Rowan hiding beside a house. He ran to them, trying to keep his magic signature down.
"What's happening?" he asked.
"Aunty Tirla and Uncle Zel came and then that guy appeared." said Rhea.
"He said that he was waiting for you to come." said Riza as she clutched him.
"And Aunty got mad and the guy ordered that they attack us. But Uncle Zel is leading the troops to fight!" said Rowan. "I want to fight too, but Aunty and Uncle wouldn't let me."
"Aunty Tirla!!!" shouted Rhea, who had been looking at the fight. Xellos looked up and gasped as Megrim twirled his staff and caused a shower of ice diamonds fly to Lina. Lina looked tired, and hastily summoned a barrier spell, which wasn't enough to stop the barrage. She flew back and crashed against a house.
"Lina!" shouted Xellos. He quickly phased out to reappear beside Lina.
"Lina-san, are you OK?" he asked as she got up slowly.
"It's about time you got here, fruitcake," she said as she stared at Megrim. "May I ask what he's doing with your staff?"
"Long story. I'll tell you after this is over, 'k?" asked Xellos as he kept an eye on Megrim.
"Fine." said Lina. Her eyes were burning with anger. "We fight now." With that, Lina once again entered the fight. Xellos did too, and this time, the fight began in earnest.
'Dodge, parry, strike, Flare Arrow, duck' thought Lina grimly as she fired up for a Freeze Arrow. She sent that one at him, but he dismissed it with the staff again. If only he didn't have that silly staff. Xellos concentrated on his staff, while trying to get behind Megrim's defenses.
'Come back to me,' he thought as he dodged a strike from Megrim. With satisfaction, he saw the orb respond to him. Megrim frowned.
"Sorry, Xellos," he said. "But the staff is mine." and he cut off Xellos's connection.
"So, you want a real fight?" asked Xellos. "So be it." He opened his eyes and let his self confidently pupils start to glow an eerie purple. "Lina, get out of the way! Cast a barrier on the girls." Lina looked up and quickly floated out.
"What are you doing, you idiot?" she shouted to him as she quickly cast a magical barrier around the girls. Megrim just smiled self confidently. Didn't Xellos know that he knew all the attacks and could easily counter them?
"Lina, get ready to attack with all you've got." said Xellos telepathically, something Knights of Chaos could do. See? He had read the manual! Lina blinked. But quickly started to chant silently, her demonsblood talismans glowing, matching the eerieness of Xellos's eyes. Megrim frowned. What was Xellos doing?
Xellos concentrated. Megrim was too self-confident to run, which made it perfect. With a blink of an eye, the staff in Megrim's hands started to glow blood red. But it didn't stop there. Xellos smiled, as he continued to chant silently. The orb started to pulsate. Megrim watched astonished until he realized what Xellos was doing.
"Impossible!" he shouted. He tried to get rid of the staff, but found that it was too late. Xellos had already began. It was a trick, learned long time ago, when they had just gotten the staff. If you wanted to destroy the staff, you pumped it to its limits and beyond with energy, until the orb couldn't handle the power and shattered. Of course, nobody really wanted to do it, since the orb amplified ones powers. What was the use of breaking it? But Xellos was doing exactly that. Breaking it.
"Staff, Rupture!" he whispered as he held out one hand and snapped his fingers in the other. "Now Lina!" he shouted. Lina nodded and fired off a Double Dragon Slave, one coming from each hand.
"Double Dragon Slave!!!!" she shouted as the power pulsated from her hands. She didn't want to use the Giga Slave and she didn't want to risk a Laguna Blade. So a Dragon Slave it was. Two, to be exact.
"What?" asked Megrim, as he felt the orb start to crack. All of a sudden, there was a splintering sound and light enveloped the are where Megrim was. Xellos was right. Megrim had been too self confident to move, and was caught unawares as Lina's spells ran into him. That sudden increase in power, caused a chain reaction with the orb, causing that to explode sooner than Xellos thought. He put down his hands in fatigue. He saw the explosion, and saw Lina put down her arms tiredly also. The two stayed up, waiting to see if Megrim had survived it. On the other side of town, Zel saw the huge explosion. On the ground, the girls covered their eyes against the sudden brightness. The smoke cleared, the light disappeared and Megrim had vanished. A solitary oak staff with a pronged end slowly fell towards the ground.
"Yes!" said Zel as he ran a Balus Rod through the last enemy on their side. He could here the rest of the troops cheer raggedly. Lina smiled tiredly... that had taken too much from her... and her vision became blurry. Her eyes closed, and she fainted from exertion. Xellos saw her falling in the distance and quickly caught her before she hit the ground. He put her on the ground before he too, fainted.
Zel saw this and quickly flew towards them.
"Aunty Tirla, Uncle Xellos!" shouted the girls as they ran toward the fallen pair. Zel arrived on the scene first. He saw the white turned hair on Lina and saw the white strands in Xellos's hair. He called a few people and had them carry the two into a house to rest.
Xellos woke up with a pounding headache. He opened his eyes for one second before closing them again. They hurt so much. Gosh, his hair hurt. How had this happened? Usually, it took longer to burn him out like this. Whatever... he felt around him. He could feel Lina's presence across the room. She seemed to be sleeping. He could feel her tiredness. That last spell of hers had probably taken a lot out of her. He tried to get up and finally succeeded with out falling down in the process. He laid his head against the dashboard and thought about the last battle. There went his staff. Broken by his own hands. When Zelas had told him about how you break the staff, he had laughed, along with the rest of the other Mazokus. Why break such a staff? Why forsake all that power? There had been a catch. The owner had to really want to break it... it almost pained him to see such a marvelous staff broken like that. His thoughts drifted and he fell asleep again. He was so tired.
Lina woke up shortly after. With a groan, she opened her eyes and tried to move. She gasped in pain. She was really sore from breaking her fall against the house. She got up slowly. What had happened? Oh yeah, she cast a Double Dragon Slave. She had been really rusty if casting that had sapped all her power. When was the last time she had cast such a thing? A looooong time ago...
She looked around her and saw Xellos resting against the headboard. His breathing was deep, and his eyes were closed. She brushed aside her white hair. Xellos had a few strands of white, not as much as she had, though. It'd be funny, if he had white hair. He'd look pretty weird. She smiled tenderly at him, he looked so sweet like that. Her thoughts turned to the Lord of Nightmare's statement. Finding the love of her life... but she already found him, and wouldn't let him go. She hadn't told the Lord of Nightmares that, though. She didn't want to know who it was supposed to be. She already knew who she loved. Lina smiled sadly. That was one part that she didn't want to do. Find out who it really was. And she smiled sadly at Xellos and tried to fall asleep.
A few minutes later, she gave up. It was afternoon, and she wasn't used to sleeping at these hours, even though she had zapped her energy. Her stomach chose that moment to agree and grumbled loudly. She blushed and crossed her fingers, hoping it hadn't woken anybody up. Unfortunately for her, she turned and met Xellos's amused face on the other bed.
"Ah...Hi!" she said, beet red. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."
"Oh, don't worry, Lina-san," he said. He grinned at her. "How are you doing?"
"Hungry," said Lina with a smile. "But that's about it. Not too tired. How about you?"
"About the same," he said. "Just that I have better control over my body than you do." She flushed red, and he laughed. A real happy content type of laugh, and Lina joined in. And Xel was happy. He could talk with Lina. Maybe, he would tell her what he thought. Then again, maybe not. As Knight of Chaos, he'd outlive her probably...
Downstairs, Zel watched Rhea, Riza and Rowan dutifully study. Since Lina was sleeping, he gave them the magic lesson. Melf had finally come into the town and was sitting across the room, looking like he was meditating. He looked out the window. Fortunately, the damage had been minimum, and not many houses had been damaged. Lina had taught the troops how to work together. They already knew magic. After all, we are talking about Seerin, a town full of mages.
"Uncle Zel?" asked Riza quietly.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Are Uncle Xellos and Aunty Tirla OK?" she asked, with a scared little voice. "They've been sleeping for a long time."
"And Aunty Tirla had white hair." said Rhea.
"So did Uncle Xellos." said Rowan.
"Well," said Zelgadis. "Both are very tired after attacking the bad person who came. Do you remember the big explosion?" They nodded. How could they forget it? "Well, that took a lot of power. How much power did Tirla use?"
"What spell did she cast?" asked Rowan
"A Double Dragon Slave."
"But Uncle Zel, we don't know that spell." said Riza.
"Could you teach us?" asked Rhea. Zel smiled and shook his head.
"The reason Aunty Tirla didn't teach you was because it's too powerful. But that isn't the strongest spell she knows. It's one of the strongest though." The three nodded and continued with their work. Their parents had left to see matters in the city. After all, they were the mayors. Melf cleared his throat.
"What happened Zelgadis?" he asked.
"Megrim attacked." said Zel. "The same guy who attacked Jinnia."
"Oh," said Melf. "Who is this person?"
"Some idiot with black hair and silver fox ears." said Zelgadis. "It doesn't matter. He tried to hurt the people Lina cares about, Lina trashes him." Melf took a moment to process the information.
"Will we be going to Wolf Pack Island next?" he asked. The three heard the name and looked up, surprise evident in their faces. Immediately, they hammered Zel with questions.
"Are you really going to Wolf Pack Island?" asked Rowan.
"Why?" asked Rhea.
"Can I go too?" asked Riza. Zel sighed. He calmed them down and then answered Melf.
"I'm not sure." he said. "We'll have to see what happened to Xellos and how they are feeling. Something tells me that Xellos has quite a story to tell us, if he won't hold it as a secret." Melf nodded and left the room to go on a walk. As soon as he was gone, the girls surrounded Zel again.
"Uncle Zel," said Rowan. "Who was that person?"
"Yeah, who was he?" asked Rhea.
"He looked weird." said Riza.
"He's an acquaintance of your Aunty Tirla." he said, not quite sure how to explain it.
"But is he your friend?" asked Rhea.
"Ask Tirla to explain it to you," he said finally.
"And Uncle Zel," asked Riza. "What is Aunty's name? Is she Tirla, or Lina?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because Uncle Xel called her Lina when she got hit by the bad person." said Riza.
"Tirla will explain it to you, but call her Tirla until you ask, OK? She needs to rest." said Zel, not quite sure how to explain it all. "Now, I'm going to check on Tirla and Xellos. Who's coming with me?"
"Me!!!" shouted the three.
"OK, but you have to be quiet, OK?" he asked, putting a finger to his lips. The three mimicked his actions and nodded solemnly. And that is how the four walked up the stairs.
Zel listened at the door and whispered to the kids to be quiet. They giggled quietly. They were spying on Aunt Tirla. And what was best, they had an excuse... Uncle Zelgadis started it!
Xellos, felt their presence and walked quietly towards Lina. She was still laughing softly. He pointed at the door and made the motion of holding a glass to his ear. He quickly wrote down a note for her.
'Zel and your three munchkins are at the door,' Lina read quietly, the whole time, Xellos talking about food. She giggled.
'Let's surprise them.' she wrote. She laughed out loud and made a few suggestions on food she wanted to eat. Xellos nodded and made motions of opening the door on them suddenly and watching them topple. Lina watched the pantomime, and tried to hold back the laughter. They smiled and quickly yanked the door open. Zelgadis, Rowan, Rhea and Riza, who were each holding a glass to their ear, found that their support had vanished and fell into the room.
"Aaaaagh!!!" shouted the girls. They fell on top of Zelgadis.
"Ouch," said Zel, under the girls. "Hi, Tirla, Xellos..." Tirla put on an angry face.
"Zel, Rhea, Rowan, Riza.... what are you doing with a glass each??" She looked very scary like that. Zel sweatdropped, while the three tried to hide behind Zel.
"It was Uncle Zel's idea." said Riza meekly. Lina grinned, along with Xellos.
"Oh, you guys are just impossible!" said Lina with a smile. Xellos smiled. "Hey, Xellos and I are starving! We want to eat!" Xellos walked till he was beside Lina and leaned against her.
"So, if you want to be in Tirla's good graces, you better get her something to eat, or else..." he said with a smile. Lina raised an eyebrow at him.
"And if you, Mr. Xellos, want to be in my good graces also, you better stop leaning against me!" said Lina, half jokingly. Xellos pouted but stood up straight.
"Have you guys eaten yet?" asked Lina to the four, who were smiling again.
"Not yet!" said Riza, whose stomach decided to back her up. She blushed. They all laughed and went downstairs to have lunch.
After lunch, Rhea, Rowan and Riza went out to play with their friends, while Lina had a talk with Zelgadis and Xellos and Melfinusty..
"So, Xellos, care to tell us what happened?" asked Lina. "We were about to go to Wolf Pack Island to rescue you. We stopped at Seerin to warn the people to be on the look out."
"Let's see..." said Xellos thoughtfully.
"It'd be nice to know how the other got your staff, Xellos," said Melfinusty. "I know you wouldn't give it to someone else. And you wouldn't normally destroy it either."
"So, talk," said Zelgadis.
"Weeeeeell," said Xellos. "Sore wa himitsu desu!" That was the last straw for Lina.
"You IDIOT!!!!" she shouted as she slammed her hands on the table. She started to throttle him. "Don't you realize just how worried we were!!! I'm studying the scrolls, a fire appears, and this idiot called Megrim appears. Lights up the whole place with cute little balls of fire. Threatens to burn up Seerin, and holds you as hostage. And then you come tripping by, two days later, bust your own staff and say SORE WA HIMITSU DESU!!!!???" She ran out of breath and stopped shaking him. "Don't you get it, we were worried sick!!!" She finally let go of him and sighed. "Of course, what am I supposed to expect. You're a Mazoku... Zelas's Chief General and Priest. I thought... nothing, never mind." She sank into her seat, her eyes defeated. "Sorry for the outburst..." There was silence. Melf cleared his throat.
"Anyway, Xellos," he said. "Where's Zelas?"
"Last time I saw her, it was in Jinnia." answered Xellos meekly.
"Anything worth telling us?" asked Zel, since it looked like Lina didn't want to talk. Xellos thought for a while. He sort of wanted to say that he wasn't working for Zelas, but then, he didn't want them scared off by that. And besides, he only invited Lina, so Zel would wonder. So he decided that he'd tell Lina later, if she was still speaking to him.
"Not really," said Xellos. More silence. Lina stood up.
"Then that's that," said Lina. "I have no idea what to do next. I'll think up of something later. So don't bother me for the rest of the night." She went upstairs to take her stuff and five minutes later, she was going to her house. More silence...
"You really screwed it up, this time Xellos," said Zelgadis, leveling Xellos a withering glare.
"Grow up, Xellos. Stop playing jokes with the Inverse girl." said Melf. Xellos looked up, shocked.
"What are you talking about?" he asked as he quickly put on his happy face.
"If you want to play with her, then fine. But don't hurt her, or you'll deal with me." said Zelgadis as he left the table. So only Melf and Xellos were left.
"Are you going to give me a lecture on the treatment of humans?" asked Xellos, sarcastically.
"Watch your place, Xellos," said Melf. "For once, listen to your elders and betters. You think I'm the only one who noticed that you're different. Your whole aura reeks of change. And of course, Lina noticed that. She won't say a thing. She won't pry. But you could have told her the bare minimum. She told me about the mission she has. She needs to know. She does not need you playing pranks. Zel hasn't noticed your change, but sees Lina worried. You think he wants a dangerous sorceress on the warpath? Especially Lina, his friend, the one who stands up for him?" Xellos remained quiet. "There. Call it lecture, or whatever you want. I'm staying outside the Inverse household if you need me. I'm trusting you on this one. I'm looking for Zelas. Tomorrow I'll leave to go back to Jinnia. It's my duty to protect Beastmaster. Till next we meet." Melf stood up and walked outside. Xellos sighed. This time, he had really blown it.
Melf left the next day. Lina was sullen and spent the whole day locked up in her study. Every once in a while, you could hear her curse loudly and throw something at the wall. Zel taught the three girls their magic classes and warned them not to bother Lina, since she was in a bad mood. Xellos spent the whole time looking through the Chaos magic manual or looking out the window. Tomorrow, was the day for the swearing in. Tomorrow, he'd explain it to her. Hopefully, everything would work out... hopefully.
Author's Notes!!!
Wheeeeeeee!!! ... ^.^;; Anyway, here's the next chapter. Another little battle scene... just in case you're wondering, battle scenes are not my specialty. Why are Lina and Xellos feeling so weak? Why is Lina so moody? (Wait, isn't she always moody?^.^) How will they react during the ceremony? You'll find out next chapter! Yeah!!! Anyway... my Easter break (Spring break type of thing...) just ended, which means... back to school for me... So, if I don't update like, in a month, well... I might have died from homework over load. ^^ Probably not, it probably means I'm too lazy or tired to do anything...^^
Anyway, how do you guys like it so far? Comments? Criticisms? Reviews? Suggestions? Flames? Call me at 1-800-HOTARU or 1-800-KIMIKO or 1-800- SNEAKY CHIBI OTAKU GEEK... just kidding.... ^^ (how about just emailing me or writing a review? hint, hint) I'm sort of tired... ignore the weirdness...
I just finished my SATs... and I just took the ACT assessment stuff... ugh....I know... I hate those tests... Well, till next time!!!!
Till next time!!!
Hotaru Kimiko Lai
PS (Read NONE OF THE ABOVE by David Owen ( I think that's his name). He gives astounding info on the SATs, even though written some time ago...)
Quote...
The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
By Hotaru
Disclaimer...
Yeah, yeah, I know... here we go. I know, and you know and I know that you know that Slayers doesn't belong to me. Satisfied? Good. Now, on with the story!
Chapter 9
Just Another Calm Day in Seerin...
Xellos woke up, feeling better than he had in years. It was amazing what a few dreams can do for you when you're tired. He looked out the window. It was a few minutes before dawn. He checked himself. Not a Mazoku anymore, he could feel the change coming over his body already. This body still fed from feelings, though. But, now, it wasn't just negative. Oh well, he found his bag. Xellos looked at the stand that usually held his staff, but it wasn't there. He had to get the silly thing back from that Megrim. His eye caught a white paper on the desk. It was a note.
Xellos, forgot to tell you. You have to submit a withdrawal form to Zelas. You don't have to specify. Just write that you're changing jobs on my orders. She'll understand. And if not, oh well, too bad for her. She has to learn not everything will go her way. My daughter is so stubborn, so watch out. Chaos Amph
'Must I?' thought Xellos. He quickly wrote a note to Zelas.
To Beastmaster Zelas.
Switched jobs on orders from the Lord of Nightmares. It was fun to work under you. Perhaps we'll see you later. Xellos
He put the letter on his desk and wrote TO BEASTMASTER in huge letters. He smiled at his room and flew out the window. Now, to find Lina. He felt for her magical signature and the aural signature from the demonsblood talismans. He smiled. She was in Seerin already. Good. She'd probably stay there for some time. With that, he phased out of sight.
"How could you let him escape?" asked Madabar, her aquamarine eyes flashing. "You idiot!"
"I told you," said Megrim. "It's not my fault! There was no way to escape, it was an anti magic barrier I put up!"
"That's not the point." said Madabar. "You had no orders to kidnap the Priest, and now, he has escaped! What do you think Zelas will do when she finds out?"
"Then we don't tell her!" said Megrim. "And we attack Seerin. I know that's where he is. After all, that's where Lina is going. We attack, and catch both the Priest, the chimera and the human. Then, we can tell Zelas that we have caught them." Madabar thought about it.
"Fine, I'll put you in charge." she said. "But one more failure and you are finished! Understand, Megrim? I don't want any more mistakes!"
"Your orders will be fulfilled." he said sarcastically before phasing out.
"Idiot," mumbled Madabar under her breath. 'Sure, everyone else gets the intelligent allies. I get stuck with an idiot who is bent on revenge...'
Lina looked at the town she had called home for almost two years. Melf had wanted to stay outside, since he wasn't too used to interacting with other humans. Lina and Zel were an exception. It was good to be home again, but now was not the time to reminisce. She had things to do, people to warn, and people to whip in shape in case Megrim and his henchmen came to attack.
"Ms. Tirla!" said a girl running to them, followed by two others. Lina shaded her eyes in the morning sun.
"Riza? Rhea? Rowan?" asked Lina. Seeing that they were, she broke out into a speed run, usually reserved to running to buffet tables before anyone else got there, namely Gourry.
"Ms. Tirla!!!" shouted the little tikes as they jumped her and hugged her silly. "You're back!!!"
"We got your invitation Aunty Tirla! That's so cool!!" said Riza.
"Yeah!" said Rhea.
"Definitely!" said Rowan. And Lina hugged them as hard as she could. She had missed her three little students.
"And what am I?" asked a voice. "Last nights left over brussel sprouts?"
"Uncle Zel!!" screamed the girls as they got off Lina and climbed all over Zelgadis. And Zelgadis laughed and hugged them also. Lina looked at them and smiled, before sensing another presence. She looked up and gasped.
"Heads up! Barrier!" she shouted. Zel immediately went down, taking the girls with him, and Lina's barrier appeared around them. Just in time also, since a ball of green fire hit the barrier, sizzled and died, one second after the barrier was in place. Lina and Zel looked up. Megrim smiled at them, holding a oak staff with a ruby red orb at the top.
"Well met again, Lina Inverse." he said.
"What are you doing here?" asked Lina angrily. She flew up to him. "We're going to Wolf Pack and decided to take care of a few things. I still have a few days. And what are you doing with Xellos's staff?"
"You may not believe me, but it's not anything you did." said Megrim, crossing his arms. His tail flicked lazily behind him. "I'm here for Xellos. And this staff? It's mine."
"Xellos?" asked Lina confused. "Helloooo. The reason we're going to Wolf Pack is to get Xellos. You idiot!"
"Hey! I resent that!" said Megrim. He looked up at the sky. "Well, since he isn't here yet, maybe he just needs to be encouraged." He snapped his fingers, and immediately, more creatures appeared all around the town skies. "Attack!" he said. "Perhaps this will speed the Priest." Lina's eyes widened as all the monsters started to fly around the city and began to attack.
"Shoot!" said Lina. "Zel! Take care of them! I'll take care of the idiot here... Flare Light!" A light flew forth from her hands and shot up into the sky, blinding almost everyone. Zel nodded and took the girls with him.
"Here, hide. Don't do anything." said Zel as he deposited the three near a house. With that, he dashed off. Lina had called for help with her flash of light, and it was his job to lead the troops... just like they had practiced before. It was to this scene that Xellos appeared. His eyes opened in surprise. He had felt lots of magic, but had thought it was due to the surroundings of Seerin. He looked up and saw Lina fighting against Megrim. She had drawn her sword and was casting magic and using it at the same time. But Megrim blocked all her attacks with the staff. His staff. On the other side, he saw Zelgadis leading a bunch of wizards in a fight against three million monsters whose goal seemed to blow up the town. They were doing fine though.
"Uncle Xellos!" He turned around and saw Rhea, Riza and Rowan hiding beside a house. He ran to them, trying to keep his magic signature down.
"What's happening?" he asked.
"Aunty Tirla and Uncle Zel came and then that guy appeared." said Rhea.
"He said that he was waiting for you to come." said Riza as she clutched him.
"And Aunty got mad and the guy ordered that they attack us. But Uncle Zel is leading the troops to fight!" said Rowan. "I want to fight too, but Aunty and Uncle wouldn't let me."
"Aunty Tirla!!!" shouted Rhea, who had been looking at the fight. Xellos looked up and gasped as Megrim twirled his staff and caused a shower of ice diamonds fly to Lina. Lina looked tired, and hastily summoned a barrier spell, which wasn't enough to stop the barrage. She flew back and crashed against a house.
"Lina!" shouted Xellos. He quickly phased out to reappear beside Lina.
"Lina-san, are you OK?" he asked as she got up slowly.
"It's about time you got here, fruitcake," she said as she stared at Megrim. "May I ask what he's doing with your staff?"
"Long story. I'll tell you after this is over, 'k?" asked Xellos as he kept an eye on Megrim.
"Fine." said Lina. Her eyes were burning with anger. "We fight now." With that, Lina once again entered the fight. Xellos did too, and this time, the fight began in earnest.
'Dodge, parry, strike, Flare Arrow, duck' thought Lina grimly as she fired up for a Freeze Arrow. She sent that one at him, but he dismissed it with the staff again. If only he didn't have that silly staff. Xellos concentrated on his staff, while trying to get behind Megrim's defenses.
'Come back to me,' he thought as he dodged a strike from Megrim. With satisfaction, he saw the orb respond to him. Megrim frowned.
"Sorry, Xellos," he said. "But the staff is mine." and he cut off Xellos's connection.
"So, you want a real fight?" asked Xellos. "So be it." He opened his eyes and let his self confidently pupils start to glow an eerie purple. "Lina, get out of the way! Cast a barrier on the girls." Lina looked up and quickly floated out.
"What are you doing, you idiot?" she shouted to him as she quickly cast a magical barrier around the girls. Megrim just smiled self confidently. Didn't Xellos know that he knew all the attacks and could easily counter them?
"Lina, get ready to attack with all you've got." said Xellos telepathically, something Knights of Chaos could do. See? He had read the manual! Lina blinked. But quickly started to chant silently, her demonsblood talismans glowing, matching the eerieness of Xellos's eyes. Megrim frowned. What was Xellos doing?
Xellos concentrated. Megrim was too self-confident to run, which made it perfect. With a blink of an eye, the staff in Megrim's hands started to glow blood red. But it didn't stop there. Xellos smiled, as he continued to chant silently. The orb started to pulsate. Megrim watched astonished until he realized what Xellos was doing.
"Impossible!" he shouted. He tried to get rid of the staff, but found that it was too late. Xellos had already began. It was a trick, learned long time ago, when they had just gotten the staff. If you wanted to destroy the staff, you pumped it to its limits and beyond with energy, until the orb couldn't handle the power and shattered. Of course, nobody really wanted to do it, since the orb amplified ones powers. What was the use of breaking it? But Xellos was doing exactly that. Breaking it.
"Staff, Rupture!" he whispered as he held out one hand and snapped his fingers in the other. "Now Lina!" he shouted. Lina nodded and fired off a Double Dragon Slave, one coming from each hand.
"Double Dragon Slave!!!!" she shouted as the power pulsated from her hands. She didn't want to use the Giga Slave and she didn't want to risk a Laguna Blade. So a Dragon Slave it was. Two, to be exact.
"What?" asked Megrim, as he felt the orb start to crack. All of a sudden, there was a splintering sound and light enveloped the are where Megrim was. Xellos was right. Megrim had been too self confident to move, and was caught unawares as Lina's spells ran into him. That sudden increase in power, caused a chain reaction with the orb, causing that to explode sooner than Xellos thought. He put down his hands in fatigue. He saw the explosion, and saw Lina put down her arms tiredly also. The two stayed up, waiting to see if Megrim had survived it. On the other side of town, Zel saw the huge explosion. On the ground, the girls covered their eyes against the sudden brightness. The smoke cleared, the light disappeared and Megrim had vanished. A solitary oak staff with a pronged end slowly fell towards the ground.
"Yes!" said Zel as he ran a Balus Rod through the last enemy on their side. He could here the rest of the troops cheer raggedly. Lina smiled tiredly... that had taken too much from her... and her vision became blurry. Her eyes closed, and she fainted from exertion. Xellos saw her falling in the distance and quickly caught her before she hit the ground. He put her on the ground before he too, fainted.
Zel saw this and quickly flew towards them.
"Aunty Tirla, Uncle Xellos!" shouted the girls as they ran toward the fallen pair. Zel arrived on the scene first. He saw the white turned hair on Lina and saw the white strands in Xellos's hair. He called a few people and had them carry the two into a house to rest.
Xellos woke up with a pounding headache. He opened his eyes for one second before closing them again. They hurt so much. Gosh, his hair hurt. How had this happened? Usually, it took longer to burn him out like this. Whatever... he felt around him. He could feel Lina's presence across the room. She seemed to be sleeping. He could feel her tiredness. That last spell of hers had probably taken a lot out of her. He tried to get up and finally succeeded with out falling down in the process. He laid his head against the dashboard and thought about the last battle. There went his staff. Broken by his own hands. When Zelas had told him about how you break the staff, he had laughed, along with the rest of the other Mazokus. Why break such a staff? Why forsake all that power? There had been a catch. The owner had to really want to break it... it almost pained him to see such a marvelous staff broken like that. His thoughts drifted and he fell asleep again. He was so tired.
Lina woke up shortly after. With a groan, she opened her eyes and tried to move. She gasped in pain. She was really sore from breaking her fall against the house. She got up slowly. What had happened? Oh yeah, she cast a Double Dragon Slave. She had been really rusty if casting that had sapped all her power. When was the last time she had cast such a thing? A looooong time ago...
She looked around her and saw Xellos resting against the headboard. His breathing was deep, and his eyes were closed. She brushed aside her white hair. Xellos had a few strands of white, not as much as she had, though. It'd be funny, if he had white hair. He'd look pretty weird. She smiled tenderly at him, he looked so sweet like that. Her thoughts turned to the Lord of Nightmare's statement. Finding the love of her life... but she already found him, and wouldn't let him go. She hadn't told the Lord of Nightmares that, though. She didn't want to know who it was supposed to be. She already knew who she loved. Lina smiled sadly. That was one part that she didn't want to do. Find out who it really was. And she smiled sadly at Xellos and tried to fall asleep.
A few minutes later, she gave up. It was afternoon, and she wasn't used to sleeping at these hours, even though she had zapped her energy. Her stomach chose that moment to agree and grumbled loudly. She blushed and crossed her fingers, hoping it hadn't woken anybody up. Unfortunately for her, she turned and met Xellos's amused face on the other bed.
"Ah...Hi!" she said, beet red. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."
"Oh, don't worry, Lina-san," he said. He grinned at her. "How are you doing?"
"Hungry," said Lina with a smile. "But that's about it. Not too tired. How about you?"
"About the same," he said. "Just that I have better control over my body than you do." She flushed red, and he laughed. A real happy content type of laugh, and Lina joined in. And Xel was happy. He could talk with Lina. Maybe, he would tell her what he thought. Then again, maybe not. As Knight of Chaos, he'd outlive her probably...
Downstairs, Zel watched Rhea, Riza and Rowan dutifully study. Since Lina was sleeping, he gave them the magic lesson. Melf had finally come into the town and was sitting across the room, looking like he was meditating. He looked out the window. Fortunately, the damage had been minimum, and not many houses had been damaged. Lina had taught the troops how to work together. They already knew magic. After all, we are talking about Seerin, a town full of mages.
"Uncle Zel?" asked Riza quietly.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Are Uncle Xellos and Aunty Tirla OK?" she asked, with a scared little voice. "They've been sleeping for a long time."
"And Aunty Tirla had white hair." said Rhea.
"So did Uncle Xellos." said Rowan.
"Well," said Zelgadis. "Both are very tired after attacking the bad person who came. Do you remember the big explosion?" They nodded. How could they forget it? "Well, that took a lot of power. How much power did Tirla use?"
"What spell did she cast?" asked Rowan
"A Double Dragon Slave."
"But Uncle Zel, we don't know that spell." said Riza.
"Could you teach us?" asked Rhea. Zel smiled and shook his head.
"The reason Aunty Tirla didn't teach you was because it's too powerful. But that isn't the strongest spell she knows. It's one of the strongest though." The three nodded and continued with their work. Their parents had left to see matters in the city. After all, they were the mayors. Melf cleared his throat.
"What happened Zelgadis?" he asked.
"Megrim attacked." said Zel. "The same guy who attacked Jinnia."
"Oh," said Melf. "Who is this person?"
"Some idiot with black hair and silver fox ears." said Zelgadis. "It doesn't matter. He tried to hurt the people Lina cares about, Lina trashes him." Melf took a moment to process the information.
"Will we be going to Wolf Pack Island next?" he asked. The three heard the name and looked up, surprise evident in their faces. Immediately, they hammered Zel with questions.
"Are you really going to Wolf Pack Island?" asked Rowan.
"Why?" asked Rhea.
"Can I go too?" asked Riza. Zel sighed. He calmed them down and then answered Melf.
"I'm not sure." he said. "We'll have to see what happened to Xellos and how they are feeling. Something tells me that Xellos has quite a story to tell us, if he won't hold it as a secret." Melf nodded and left the room to go on a walk. As soon as he was gone, the girls surrounded Zel again.
"Uncle Zel," said Rowan. "Who was that person?"
"Yeah, who was he?" asked Rhea.
"He looked weird." said Riza.
"He's an acquaintance of your Aunty Tirla." he said, not quite sure how to explain it.
"But is he your friend?" asked Rhea.
"Ask Tirla to explain it to you," he said finally.
"And Uncle Zel," asked Riza. "What is Aunty's name? Is she Tirla, or Lina?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because Uncle Xel called her Lina when she got hit by the bad person." said Riza.
"Tirla will explain it to you, but call her Tirla until you ask, OK? She needs to rest." said Zel, not quite sure how to explain it all. "Now, I'm going to check on Tirla and Xellos. Who's coming with me?"
"Me!!!" shouted the three.
"OK, but you have to be quiet, OK?" he asked, putting a finger to his lips. The three mimicked his actions and nodded solemnly. And that is how the four walked up the stairs.
Zel listened at the door and whispered to the kids to be quiet. They giggled quietly. They were spying on Aunt Tirla. And what was best, they had an excuse... Uncle Zelgadis started it!
Xellos, felt their presence and walked quietly towards Lina. She was still laughing softly. He pointed at the door and made the motion of holding a glass to his ear. He quickly wrote down a note for her.
'Zel and your three munchkins are at the door,' Lina read quietly, the whole time, Xellos talking about food. She giggled.
'Let's surprise them.' she wrote. She laughed out loud and made a few suggestions on food she wanted to eat. Xellos nodded and made motions of opening the door on them suddenly and watching them topple. Lina watched the pantomime, and tried to hold back the laughter. They smiled and quickly yanked the door open. Zelgadis, Rowan, Rhea and Riza, who were each holding a glass to their ear, found that their support had vanished and fell into the room.
"Aaaaagh!!!" shouted the girls. They fell on top of Zelgadis.
"Ouch," said Zel, under the girls. "Hi, Tirla, Xellos..." Tirla put on an angry face.
"Zel, Rhea, Rowan, Riza.... what are you doing with a glass each??" She looked very scary like that. Zel sweatdropped, while the three tried to hide behind Zel.
"It was Uncle Zel's idea." said Riza meekly. Lina grinned, along with Xellos.
"Oh, you guys are just impossible!" said Lina with a smile. Xellos smiled. "Hey, Xellos and I are starving! We want to eat!" Xellos walked till he was beside Lina and leaned against her.
"So, if you want to be in Tirla's good graces, you better get her something to eat, or else..." he said with a smile. Lina raised an eyebrow at him.
"And if you, Mr. Xellos, want to be in my good graces also, you better stop leaning against me!" said Lina, half jokingly. Xellos pouted but stood up straight.
"Have you guys eaten yet?" asked Lina to the four, who were smiling again.
"Not yet!" said Riza, whose stomach decided to back her up. She blushed. They all laughed and went downstairs to have lunch.
After lunch, Rhea, Rowan and Riza went out to play with their friends, while Lina had a talk with Zelgadis and Xellos and Melfinusty..
"So, Xellos, care to tell us what happened?" asked Lina. "We were about to go to Wolf Pack Island to rescue you. We stopped at Seerin to warn the people to be on the look out."
"Let's see..." said Xellos thoughtfully.
"It'd be nice to know how the other got your staff, Xellos," said Melfinusty. "I know you wouldn't give it to someone else. And you wouldn't normally destroy it either."
"So, talk," said Zelgadis.
"Weeeeeell," said Xellos. "Sore wa himitsu desu!" That was the last straw for Lina.
"You IDIOT!!!!" she shouted as she slammed her hands on the table. She started to throttle him. "Don't you realize just how worried we were!!! I'm studying the scrolls, a fire appears, and this idiot called Megrim appears. Lights up the whole place with cute little balls of fire. Threatens to burn up Seerin, and holds you as hostage. And then you come tripping by, two days later, bust your own staff and say SORE WA HIMITSU DESU!!!!???" She ran out of breath and stopped shaking him. "Don't you get it, we were worried sick!!!" She finally let go of him and sighed. "Of course, what am I supposed to expect. You're a Mazoku... Zelas's Chief General and Priest. I thought... nothing, never mind." She sank into her seat, her eyes defeated. "Sorry for the outburst..." There was silence. Melf cleared his throat.
"Anyway, Xellos," he said. "Where's Zelas?"
"Last time I saw her, it was in Jinnia." answered Xellos meekly.
"Anything worth telling us?" asked Zel, since it looked like Lina didn't want to talk. Xellos thought for a while. He sort of wanted to say that he wasn't working for Zelas, but then, he didn't want them scared off by that. And besides, he only invited Lina, so Zel would wonder. So he decided that he'd tell Lina later, if she was still speaking to him.
"Not really," said Xellos. More silence. Lina stood up.
"Then that's that," said Lina. "I have no idea what to do next. I'll think up of something later. So don't bother me for the rest of the night." She went upstairs to take her stuff and five minutes later, she was going to her house. More silence...
"You really screwed it up, this time Xellos," said Zelgadis, leveling Xellos a withering glare.
"Grow up, Xellos. Stop playing jokes with the Inverse girl." said Melf. Xellos looked up, shocked.
"What are you talking about?" he asked as he quickly put on his happy face.
"If you want to play with her, then fine. But don't hurt her, or you'll deal with me." said Zelgadis as he left the table. So only Melf and Xellos were left.
"Are you going to give me a lecture on the treatment of humans?" asked Xellos, sarcastically.
"Watch your place, Xellos," said Melf. "For once, listen to your elders and betters. You think I'm the only one who noticed that you're different. Your whole aura reeks of change. And of course, Lina noticed that. She won't say a thing. She won't pry. But you could have told her the bare minimum. She told me about the mission she has. She needs to know. She does not need you playing pranks. Zel hasn't noticed your change, but sees Lina worried. You think he wants a dangerous sorceress on the warpath? Especially Lina, his friend, the one who stands up for him?" Xellos remained quiet. "There. Call it lecture, or whatever you want. I'm staying outside the Inverse household if you need me. I'm trusting you on this one. I'm looking for Zelas. Tomorrow I'll leave to go back to Jinnia. It's my duty to protect Beastmaster. Till next we meet." Melf stood up and walked outside. Xellos sighed. This time, he had really blown it.
Melf left the next day. Lina was sullen and spent the whole day locked up in her study. Every once in a while, you could hear her curse loudly and throw something at the wall. Zel taught the three girls their magic classes and warned them not to bother Lina, since she was in a bad mood. Xellos spent the whole time looking through the Chaos magic manual or looking out the window. Tomorrow, was the day for the swearing in. Tomorrow, he'd explain it to her. Hopefully, everything would work out... hopefully.
Author's Notes!!!
Wheeeeeeee!!! ... ^.^;; Anyway, here's the next chapter. Another little battle scene... just in case you're wondering, battle scenes are not my specialty. Why are Lina and Xellos feeling so weak? Why is Lina so moody? (Wait, isn't she always moody?^.^) How will they react during the ceremony? You'll find out next chapter! Yeah!!! Anyway... my Easter break (Spring break type of thing...) just ended, which means... back to school for me... So, if I don't update like, in a month, well... I might have died from homework over load. ^^ Probably not, it probably means I'm too lazy or tired to do anything...^^
Anyway, how do you guys like it so far? Comments? Criticisms? Reviews? Suggestions? Flames? Call me at 1-800-HOTARU or 1-800-KIMIKO or 1-800- SNEAKY CHIBI OTAKU GEEK... just kidding.... ^^ (how about just emailing me or writing a review? hint, hint) I'm sort of tired... ignore the weirdness...
I just finished my SATs... and I just took the ACT assessment stuff... ugh....I know... I hate those tests... Well, till next time!!!!
Till next time!!!
Hotaru Kimiko Lai
PS (Read NONE OF THE ABOVE by David Owen ( I think that's his name). He gives astounding info on the SATs, even though written some time ago...)
Quote...
The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow