c-chan: I should really get off my behind and draw some illustrations for this fic… The problem is I can't decide whether there are any scenes good enough for illustrating… if someone would suggest something, I might do it. *hint hint*
It took me several days to come up with a non-choppy way to let Filia and Lina's company meet up. This is probably the last non-adventure part of the fic. I didn't want to jump right to the action part so I wrote this chapter to gradually introduce the other parts. I must apologize if the characters appear to be OOC, it's so hard to make them IC, especially Xelloss. I tried, really!
Thank you for reading! *bows*
Disclaimer: Another brain racking disclaimer. I don't own Slayers at all.
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Slayers: Balance
Chapter 6: Gathering
Outside of Filia's cozy little cottage, the world was a magnificent scene to behold. Ribbons of majestic violet and gentle rose danced through the sky celebrating the arrival of the pale moon. Such beauty, however, was lost in Filia's eyes as she stared out the window absorbed in her thoughts; that Urien was sitting in a chair behind her was unnoticed. She had sent little Val home with Jillas and Gravos for the night. It had been a day full of surprises and revelations.
Where is he? He's been gone for several hours. Why has he not returned? At the very least, he could come back to let us know that he's located Lina… She frowned.
"You're worried." Urien stated as-the-matter-of-factly.
"No, I'm not. Why should I worry about the namagomi?"
Silver mane shook as Urien chuckled, "I hadn't said who or what you were worried about, Filia-san. Why do you deny your true emotions? Is life not easier if you don't hide from yourself? For all your fighting and bickering, you don't seem to hate him as much as you say. In fact, you don't seem to hate him at all."
"And how would you know?" Filia's heart skipped a beat.
"I can sense emotions and feelings, much like a mazoku would. You feel apprehensive and nervous around Xelloss-san, but most definitely not hate."
Filia sighed as she turned around to face him. "Xelloss is a very powerful mazoku. He's known as Beastmaster Xelloss, general and priest to one of the five mazoku lords, Greater Beastmaster Zelas. A long time ago, in the Kouma War, he single-handedly killed thousands of my kind. I once hated him with passion, but now…" She bit her lips. "I don't know how or what to feel… How can I hate him for killing my kind in a war when my own race, under false pretenses, committed the abominable sin of genocide against another race of our own?"
Urien just smiled warmly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. In time, you'll be able to sort out your feelings."
"Thank you." Silence settled once more as they both stared out the window, each deep in their own thoughts.
"Oh Filia!" Lina's voice broke the silence.
"Lina! You're here!" The dragon maiden exclaimed; relief washed over as she saw Xelloss floating behind Lina and her friends with a cheery smile. "Come in! You must be tired."
"Sure! You got something to eat for me? I'm starving!" The fiery sorceress said as everyone said their hellos and introductions were made. Oh dear… she'll definitely clean out my entire pantry. Filia sighed inwardly. "Yes, I'll go see to your dinners…" She twitched.
A wave of cheers responded to her statement as everyone, save Xelloss, made themselves comfortable in her living room. Oh my… I hope I have enough food to satisfy Lina and Gourry's appetite. But still, it's nice to see my friends again after such a long time. Filia thought absently as she diced vegetables to cook in a stew. Happily, she started to hum, easily picking up the song she had been humming that terrible night.
"My, my, Filia. You're awfully happy. I might just get sick." An overly-cheerful Xelloss suddenly appeared next to her. Filia jumped, her knife flying across the kitchen.
"Xelloss! This is not the time to be teasing me, especially when I have a knife in my hand." With a wicked smile, she added, "You never know where it might land. Now, go fetch it, wash it, and hand it back to me." Surprisingly, the fruitcake complied.
"What do you want? If you're just here to bother me, then make yourself useful and help me around."
"You know, Filia, not many people dare to order me around, especially dragons." Xelloss declared rather miffed.
Rolling her eyes, Filia said, "Honestly, I could use some help here. Since no one offered and you're the only one around." And I must be crazy to ask you to stay around.
"I can help!" Urien's voice piped up from behind them. "If it's ok with you, that is." He smiled shyly.
An invisible vein popped up on Xelloss' forehead. What? I'm not letting you show me up. "It's quite all right. You should stay out there and tell Lina about our situation. I haven't told them seeing how it would be best if they heard it from you." And get you out of my sight fast before I disfigure your pretty face… His voice dripping with sugar.
"All right. If you say so, Xelloss-san."
Xelloss let out a sigh of relief after Urien left.
"What was that about?" Filia asked.
"Oh nothing…" The priest smiled secretly. He peered into a jar, accidentally rubbing his nose on the edge of the container. Looking up, he asked confusedly, "What is this?"
"That is,…" Filia's eyes widened with surprise and amusement. "Hahaha! Flour, you make bread and cake with it. Hahaha!"
"What is so funny?!" Xelloss demanded irritably.
"You have *hic* some *hic* flour on your *hic* nose."
Spotting a basin of water, he bent over to examine his reflection. Well, if this amuses her so much, I wonder how funny it would be if I got some on her! He grabbed a handful of the flour and threw it at her general direction.
Thus, the Great War of the Flour started.
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"So, Urien-san, you're saying that since you're not in your world, your powers are weaker? What would your sister want to do with Xelloss-san?" Amelia asked from Zelgadiss' side.
"I don't know. All I can infer from Filia-san's visions is that Xelloss-san knows of something Reia wants. Otherwise, she would have absorbed him right away."
"Something Reia wants…" Lina's voice trailed off as Zelgadiss and Amelia pondered and Gourry, well, Gourry just sat there.
"Shabranigdo!" All three suddenly shouted.
"So Xelloss might be right! She wants to resurrect Shabranigdo to absorb him! We can't let her do that. What if she can't absorb him? Our world would surely be destroyed since I can't cast the Giga Slave again." Lina exclaimed.
"Oh no! What should we do?" Amelia asked.
"What else?! Make sure Xelloss doesn't get kidnapped."
"You're right! Urien-san! As warriors of justice, Lina-san, Gourry-san, Zelgadiss-san, and I will make sure that your sister's evil plan does not come to pass!" An extremely enthusiastic princess struck a pose and declared.
"Amelia-san, you're a true knight of justice! How can I ever thank you?" Urien exclaimed as he caught Amelia's hands in his, completely missing the slight hostile growl that emanated from a certain unhappy chimera.
"Eh… Urien-san. That's not necessa-" Amelia blushed.
"Namagomi!" A shriek pierced through the night.
Hurried footsteps approached Filia's kitchen ready for action, only to be greeted by two white figures locked in a struggle—more specifically, a flour covered dragon and a flour covered trickster.
A pair of crimson brows creased and the volcano erupted. "Xelloss! Filia! Stop it! Where is MY dinner?" The last question accentuated by a loud rumble from Lina's ever-empty stomach. Amelia whimpered. Zelgadisss rolled his eyes. Urien stared. Gourry nodded.
"Lina! I was just having some fun. Filia-chan is so violent!" The priest wheezed from under Filia's fierce headlock. I was able, however, to enjoy from Fi-chan's soft breasts!
"What?! You pervert! How dare you?" Filia screamed before she promptly fainted from extreme embarrassment and irritation.
"Ah…haha…" Xelloss laughed uncomfortably. "Did I just say that out loud?"
"Xelloss-san! How unjust! How can you do that to Filia-san…"
"Stop, Amelia. This is no time for your speeches," Lina interrupted. "We have a much more important issue at hand."
"Right. We must protect the fruitcake." Zelgadiss growled grudgingly.
"No. We must feed the stomach of the beautiful sorceress supreme Lina Inverse! Now, let's go to an inn. Xelloss, bring Filia with us."
"Why me?" Xelloss whined.
"You're the only one strong enough to pick up a dragon, that's why! So shut up an do it NOW!" A rather scary Lina yelled.
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c-chan: Yay! Chapter 6 is done! Is it me or does Urien seem to have split personality? Haha… Well, some people are just unusual.
A clarification: Urien is weaker in the Slayers world because it's not as pure or just as his homeworld. This is also the reason why Reia wasn't as strong in her homeworld.
The flying knife part was from personal experience…
I've been reading manga and watching anime a lot. The other day I watched NightWalker. It was ok, the story wasn't what I'd call great, but I thought the character design was really nice. Being the lech that I am, I thought Shido was really, really bishy. ^^ I'm most definitely officially hooked on Inuyasha hehe…
Sometimes I wonder if people really do read the author's notes…