Chapter Six
Her hair was pale
"Oh Trent..." came a sing-song voice.
The dark elf winced as he frantically managed to bury himself deeper in the barrels belowdecks. Despite the fact that most of them held either bilge waste or dried reeking fish, he found it immensely preferable to facing off with Deep Sea Dolphin again.
Like most people, he knew a bit about mazoku; they were empathivores. Rather than consume matter like animals (including elves and humans), they fed off of the emotional by-product energies of others. Then again, their bodies were essentially solid astral plasms, so food of any kind wouldn't do a great deal of good for them. The second thing he knew was that Mazoku fed off of negative emotions; anger, hate, mistrust, fear, and embarrassment all worked quite well. It was the overwhelming reason why Xellos went to such lengths to get the people around him royally snarked off; he was a glutton for lack of a better term.
The flip-side to feeding off of negative empathic energies was that the polar opposite made them nauseous; love, trust, joy, happiness, or any other positive emotion could give a monster the equivalent of a hang-over. As such, most monsters went out of their way to avoid even coming within range of a happy or lovey-dovey individual.
Which was why Deep Sea Dolphin's seduction/flirtation attempts puzzled and confused him so much. He could understand that it might be to try and get Filia riled up enough to feed off her, but she didn't seem to care beyond that the monster lord was after a dragon. He doubted it was to feed off of him; his level of patience was enough to try even Sylphiel.
So why the flirting? More specifically, why had she shown up in his cot last night?
Granted, he DID owe her for getting rid of Naga if nothing else. Watching her send the white serpent flying over the horizon (laughing maniacally the whole way) had brought joyous tears to not a few eyes. It was the fact that he only had to deal with ONE psuedo-amorous female that kept him from going completely stir-crazy.
"Silly boy. This ship isn't that big; you ran out of hiding places yesterday."
Trent winced at the voice, somehow sultry and perky at the same time; how she managed that still puzzled the daylights out of him. "Uh...did you need something?"
Her grin widened. "Oh, how sweet of you..."
"LAND HO!"
Trent shot up the gap at the sound of Zelgadis calling out their location. I'm going to have to try and thank him someday for this. It wasn't that he found Dolphin unattractive; that was just the problem. He was fully aware that her body was nothing but an astral projection of sufficient density and mass that it seemed solid. He was perfectly aware of the fact that underneath her islander appearance she was a demonic being who thrived on feelings of hatred and malice. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was only coming on to him like this for purposes of her own, purposes that likely had nothing to do with actual affection.
That didn't help much when he'd felt her remarkably real curves against his back the one time he'd failed to dodge one of her tackle-hugs.
On the decks, Lina watched as Wolf Pack Island swam into view. It was a fairly sizeable island; easily twenty miles by about thirteen, shaped vaguely like a maple leaf; a trio of peninsulas surrounding the central mass of the island. The only other mazoku she knew of had been Phibrizzo, who'd chosen the bleak and generally wasteland desert of destruction as his home base. Deep Sea Dolphin kept hers in the middle of nowhere at the bottom of the sea; Dynast in the frozen wastes at the north pole.
Despite what she'd expected though, the island was a beautiful tropical isle; a tall black stone volcano in the northeastern corner giving way to huge masses of palm trees and flowering tropical ferns, ending at the end in beaches of almost pure white sand. "So that's wolf pack island?"
Xellos nodded as Zelgadis began the final approach towards the docks. "Home of Beastmaster Zelas, the fifth lord of the monster race." He paused as he noticed the handful of creatures waiting for them at the end of the dock. "Odd. I can't seem to recall ever being met like this."
Lina stared at the creature. "Dilgear?!"
Xellos gave her an odd look as the leader of the mazoku group came into view. "Who precisely is dilgear? Or is Dilgear some kind of a what?"
Zelgadis had sat up in shock at the mention of his one-time henchman, but waved it off as the relative distance altered. "That's not him. I remember him being a bit...less imposing."
Xellos shrugged unconcernedly. "I don't know why you'd think of Zeltier as some kind of beast man. He's just a spear-carrier as far as the hierarchy goes."
For a spear-carrier, he was no less imposing; the werewolfish-looking monster looked to stand about twenty feet tall; Lina would have come up to his knees at best. Though he would have been a bit more impressive if his fur wasn't a soft lilac color.
Gourry and Sirius (grudgingly on the part of the overworlder) ran the gangplank down the side. As they began disembarking, 'spear-carrier' became a bit more appropriate; Zeltier leveled a thirty-foot halberd at them, smiling superciliously. "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY DO YOU DARE TO VENTURE INTO THE DOMAIN OF GREATER BEAST ZELAS METALLIUM?"
Lina gave him an odd look. "Um, we're here on business?"
Zeltier laughed; with lungs his size, it made for rather impressive guffawing. "BUSINESS?! YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF WE DON'T DEVOUR YOU NOW, LEAVING WHAT'S LEFT OF YOU AS A SOURCE OF FEAR!"
"Now, now Mr. Zeltier. You don't really want to do that. They're guests after all."
The wolfish mazoku glared at Xellos as he followed Lina and Filia down the gangplank. "AND WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO BRING SUCH GUESTS? MERE HUMANS," he gestured to Amelia, "A CHIMERA," and finally his eyes fell on Filia and Valgaav. "...AND DRAGONS?! LORD BEASTMASTER WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
Xellos slowly opened his eyes, letting his pink irises start glittering with a strange, unhealthy violet shimmer. "Now Mr. Zeltier. You aren't actually presuming to ORDER me around, are you? You don't mean to try and assume Lord Beastmaster's authority, do you?" His eyes finished opening as he smiled diabolically. "You aren't going to make me...unhappy, are you?"
The second Xellos's eyes had started to open, Zeltier had been struck by a revelation. He was facing off against his master's most trusted advisor, not to mention a monster so strong that only one of the great lords could have possibly destroyed him. At the end of his statement, Zeltier had had an even more uncomfortable revelation.
He was nothing. And he'd just provoked someone who had a reputation of making sure the people he disliked didn't survive terribly long.
Xellos sighed, his demeanor shifting back to happy-go-lucky as Zeltier dropped his spear and ran off screaming, tail literally between his legs. "I really must apologize for Zeltier; he's an idiot. I think Lord Beastmaster keeps him around just for the ocassional comic relief; he's really useless in any other sense."
Amelia sweat-dropped at the sound of the hulking, twenty-foot monster thumping away yelping. "Yeah...I guess so..."
"Pardon me, Lord Xellos?"
The self-proclaimed trickster priest turned to the much calmer voice, his smile widening. "Oh, it's you Corlas. Would you be so kind as to inform Lord Beastmaster that I have a few guests? Also, Lord Deep Sea Dolphin is also here."
Corlas bowed formally to the blue-haired mazoku lord. Unlike Zeltier, he was in humanoid form; he had the air of a courier or politician. In form, he was among the most unremarkable people that Trent had ever encountered, let alone the plainest-looking mazoku. He stood all of five foot nine, his skin neither tanned nor pale. His short-cut hair was a non-descript brown, his clothing nothing more than a tank-top over simple shorts. The ONLY things that were out of the ordinary for him were his pink eyes; the same color as Xellos's, and presumably the same color as Zelas's herself."This way please."
As they were led through an actual paved road through the jungle, Trent was struck once again by the area. He'd have expected something a bit more...forboding as the primary base of operations for who was undoubtedly the most active monster in the world. Not something so...Alive. Zelas's citadel itself though, was nothing short of stunning.
The entire complex was carved from a multitude of native stones; various quartz species, shale, slate, but mostly limestone and sandstone. The entire area stretched easily five hundred yards, not counting the overgrown gardens of the island. It resembled a Hindu ruin; a multitude of thick towers, the central tallest with each successive one shorter to create an almost pyramid effect. Flowering creepers and vines climbed over the rough surfaces, giving it a more beautiful look than a run-down one.
Whoever this Zelas was, they had good taste.
As they walked further, Corlas turned to try speaking with Xellos. "I'm curious, but what are you all doing here? I was not aware of any reason for all of these people to the island."
Xellos shrugged. "I wasn't given much..." He paused as his senses activated, his face shifting towards serious.
Corlas paused to give him an arch look. "Is something the matter?"
Xellos looked around warily. "I sense something. I presence I've not felt since..." He returned to cheerful abruptly. "Excuse me, Mr. Zelgadis?" Not waiting for a reply, he pulled the chimera by the sleeves over. "Would you mind walking right...THERE. Yes, that will be perfect."
Zelgadis gave him a mistrustful look (granted, a completely founded mistrustful look) but kept walking. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
"XELLOS-KUN!"
"What the-" were Zelgadis's last words before a black and reddish blur slammed into him at the speeds you generally need a Concorde to attain. No, 'GLOMP' did not even begin to describe the raw force of this tackle- hug; mere glomps don't usually take the recipient through stone walls.
Eris (1) looked up from her nuzzling in puzzlement. "Xellos-kun? What happened, did you get sunburnt or something?" She paused as she noticed that the currently unconscious recipient of her attack was a blue-skinned creature. "Oh drat, he dodged again." Sighing, she stood to dust herself off. "Oh well, I'll try again."
Gourry gaped at her. "Who the heck was that?"
Xellos sighed a Zelgadis-esque mushroom puff. "Her name is Eris; one of Lord Beastmaster's servants. I'm not sure why, but she's obsessed with attacking me like that."
Gourry stared at her. Unlike Corlas, she looked odd enough to qualify as a monster in his eyes. She was a little bit shorter than Corlas; about Amelia's height. The weird part was her hair; it was a darker red than Lina's, and hung all the way down to her ankles in thin dreadlocks. Add to that her current ensemble of a heavily embroidered maroon blouse and black skirt, and she just plain looked weird. Kind of like some new age hippy.
He started getting a bad feeling as she drew nearer. And after living for several years with Lina Inverse, his danger/bad feeling sense was nothing to sneeze at. "Uh..."
Eris tutted in consternation at the swordsman. "You know, long hair went out of style quite a while ago." Seemingly out of nowhere, she managed to produce a seven-foot long pair of scissors. "How about a quick trim?"
THWAM!
Gourry sighed in relief. "Thanks Filia."
The golden dragon returned her mace to the holder on her garter (how she keeps it there is beyond me) and shook her head. "THAT she had coming."
Xellos chuckled weakly, sweat-dropping. "Well, I guess we'd better get going. It wouldn't do to keep Lord Beastmaster waiting."
"Oh, don't run..."
Xellos winced as Eris's remarkable powers of recovery resurfaced. Not that he could do much; she'd come whether he allowed her to or not. Wordlessly, he began leading the remaining group into the court of Zelas, Eris floating behind them.
They found the mazoku lord waiting in an open-air portion of the palace, the walls regularly seperated by huge windows. The dark lord proved to be as female as Deep Sea Dolphin, lounging on a wicker couch waiting for them. "Oh, hello Xellos. Who are your friends?"
Trent got his first good look at her, and his face paled. A part of him heard the explanations and such (something about a sword), but he wasn't listening.
Zelas didn't look demonic. She didn't look 100% human, but she could have passed for one, albeit an exotic one. She was only slightly taller than Lina was, though their builds were similar in some regards. The differences were noticeable, to say the least. Her eyes were the same rose- quartz pink as Xellos's; it seemed to be a large part of what defined the mazoku who served her. Streaks of darker color marked each cheek, seeming more like tattoos than scars. Her figure wasn't anywhere near Naga's hour glass, nor was it Lina's A-cup figure. She was somewhere in between; slender and athletic-looking, shapely and curvy. Her garments did little to hide her appearance; all she wore was a simple draped pale yellow garment belted at the waist, an orange headband keeping her hair back.
None of that really registered to Trent though. It was her hair that stunned him. Her PALE, lavender hair. "...forgotten that pale-haired girl," he whispered to himself. She didn't really seem familiar; he was fairly certain that he'd remember meeting one of the five Dark Lords. That didn't make her impact any less stunning.
What broke him out of his reverie was a scream of "VALGAAV-SAMA!" coming closer, with that odd doppler effect.
Not one to waste time, Valgaav grabbed the nearest person and tossed them into the path of the hurtling figure.
Unfortunately, the nearest person was once again Zelgadis.
"Oh, Valgaav-sama!"
THWAM!
Kashura groaned quietly, echoing the pained moan from her target. "Oh Valgaav..." she froze as she took in the figure. "Hey! What happened to..."
"Kashura?"
The blue-haired priestess of Dynast looked up in surprise at the voice. "Huh? Oh, hi Eris. What are you doing here?"
"I work here, remember?"
Zelas cleared her throat, interrupting the two as they began giggling. She immediately zipped out of the crater containing pate au Chimera to formally present herself to Zelas.
The Greater Beast gave them a strange once-over, then turned to the nearby Xellos. "Would you mind stepping exactly ninety four centimeters backwards?"
"Huh?"
Zelas smiled as her general-priest complied, a handy cord extending down next to her. "Thank you Xellos." She yanked the cord, opening a formally concealed pit in front of the throne.
"BANZAI!"
Zelas sighed a mushroom puff as the two plummeted out of sight. "Honestly, you'd think they'd never grow up." She peered curiously at the still moaning Zelgadis. "Will he be alright?" she asked, watching Amelia trying to dig him out of the rubble.
Lina shrugged unconcernedly. "Ah, he does this all the time. Besides, he's a lot tougher than you'd think."
Zelas shrugged. "If you say so. Now then Xellos, would you be so kind as to explain WHY you've brought these people to my citadel?"
Xellos laughed nervously; Zelas Metallium was about the only person he actively got the heebie-jeebies over. "It's a rather funny story. Um, do you remember those odd ruins we found in the Ancient Dragon ruins so long ago?"
Zelas allowed her cheerful smile (similar to Xellos's, though hers made her look cute rather than just plain odd) to fade into seriousness. For her, it just made her look proffessional, as opposed to the flat out creepiness that it had for Xellos. This was not a good sign. If her priest was being serious, than it required immediate attention. "What of it?"
Xellos's nervous laugh reappeared as he pointed to Trent. "I was kind of ordered to show this man here the ruins. Apparently, they're some kind of inheritance for him."
Zelas gave him a hooded look. "And WHO...would presume to order my general around?"
"Falaris," Trent spoke up, his gaze never leaving her face. "The Forcerian God of the night; shadows, darkness, and all places where the light does not touch. And a force far stronger than Shabranigdo."
Zelas turned to him in shock. No one in THIS world worshipped him, but the monster race knew OF him. "And who are you, that He would give such orders?"
Trent tore his face away from her hauntingly familiar one as he formally kneeled and bowed before her. "My name is Trent Shadowlight. Assassin, warrior, mage, and as I recently discovered, an heir to the Ancient Dragons of your world."
Zelas gave him an odd look, carefully keeping her surprise masked at the knowledge of a second ancient dragon. "What did you mean, 'your' world?"
Trent looked back up to the now smiling face, if not a quite so cheerful one. "I was born on the world known as Forceria; I don't remember how I came to this one. All I know is that I'm here now, and I wasn't born of this soil." Rising to his feet, he forced the odd memories surfacing back down. He could recall them later. "What can you tell me about the altar itself?"
Zelas's face remained unreadable, then abruptly her eyes narrowed as a sultry smile crossed her lips. "Oh, you don't need to bother about that silly altar, do you? There are so many other things, so many things I'm sure you could appreciate..."
Trent dead-panned at the blatant innuendo; he'd started to get used to this odd habit monsters had of hitting on people they respected. At least that's how he interpretted it; that or getting a rise out of someone was the only explanation for the times he'd heard about where Xellos had hit on Lina or Amelia (or even Filia once.) Looking at the less-than-subtle monster, he allowed a tight grin. "Oh, what could you possibly mean?" His tone had shifted to low, dramatic, romantic overtones. "What truth could flow within those honeyed words? To a fool, such declamations could be construed an act of attraction...buy nay, such blandisments they are not. For what base fool would dare to imagine that such a beauty could make such advances? What man, save one possessed by madness, could ever dare to contemplate the thought of mere approval from such fairness of face, let alone (dare I say it), an embrace?"
Xellos's staff clattered to the ground as he sank to his knees, his eyes glassy and face sweating. "Oog, I don't feel so good..."
Deep Sea Dolphin blinked in surprise. Huh. THAT came out of nowhere. Looking around at the thunderstruck handful of dragons humans and overworlders, she could only conclude that they were as confused as she was.
Zelas just smiled at him, blushing prettily (more for effect than actual embarassment). "Why Trent, I'm flattered. Treating a demon like me to such words; you naughty boy you."
Trent blink-blinked in shock, then frowned in thought. "Huh. That's odd; last time I tried that around a monster, they keeled over in a diabetic fit of pain. Should have worked here too..." he muttered, his hand stroking his chin.
THWAM!
Trent paused at the sight. "Well that's new." It was the first time he'd caught Sirius actually face-faulting.
Zelas smiled, her blush gone though not her curiousity. And if nothing else, it HAD been rather flattering. "That was an excellent attempt, but Mazoku Lords like myself are capable of feeding off positive emotions as well. In truth, any monster can, it's just that negative emotions are more abundant and easier to provoke." (2)
Trent nodded absently, still in thought. "That's right, I remember hearing about a monster who did that at some kind of resort." He shrugged it off, returning to the present. "Anyway, would you mind telling me where to find the altar? I think I might be able to get in."
Zelas shook her head, standing up as Eris and Kashura finished hauling themselves out of the pit. When it had been dug, she'd laced a tiny bit of orihalcon into the first hundred or so feet; it suppressed their flight powers just long enough for them to hit hard. "In due time. For know, make yourselves at home on my island." She clapped her hands for lower- ranking monsters, instructing them to find a connected wing for everyone, and also making sure that her guests understood that they could blast any monster who tried to eat them in the night.
As the last of them trooped out, she stopped her general from leaving. "Oh Xellos?" She smiled hungrily. The elf/dragon had been quite flattering, and more than that he provoked her curiousity, something that ran extremely strong in her particular line of monsters. "Tell me more about this Trent."
To be continued.
(1) - Similar to Kashura, Eris is based on a friend. I don't think she writes fanfiction though. Anyway, she's intended as a comic relief more than anything else.
(2) - This was proven by Joyrock in Slayers the Motion Picture. Just FYI.
Author's Notes: I reccomend that anyone with questions go to the site for pictures of the remaining mazoku lords. Take a good look at Zelas, and THEN tell me that she's not even remotely similar to Deedlit or Pirotess.
"Oh Trent..." came a sing-song voice.
The dark elf winced as he frantically managed to bury himself deeper in the barrels belowdecks. Despite the fact that most of them held either bilge waste or dried reeking fish, he found it immensely preferable to facing off with Deep Sea Dolphin again.
Like most people, he knew a bit about mazoku; they were empathivores. Rather than consume matter like animals (including elves and humans), they fed off of the emotional by-product energies of others. Then again, their bodies were essentially solid astral plasms, so food of any kind wouldn't do a great deal of good for them. The second thing he knew was that Mazoku fed off of negative emotions; anger, hate, mistrust, fear, and embarrassment all worked quite well. It was the overwhelming reason why Xellos went to such lengths to get the people around him royally snarked off; he was a glutton for lack of a better term.
The flip-side to feeding off of negative empathic energies was that the polar opposite made them nauseous; love, trust, joy, happiness, or any other positive emotion could give a monster the equivalent of a hang-over. As such, most monsters went out of their way to avoid even coming within range of a happy or lovey-dovey individual.
Which was why Deep Sea Dolphin's seduction/flirtation attempts puzzled and confused him so much. He could understand that it might be to try and get Filia riled up enough to feed off her, but she didn't seem to care beyond that the monster lord was after a dragon. He doubted it was to feed off of him; his level of patience was enough to try even Sylphiel.
So why the flirting? More specifically, why had she shown up in his cot last night?
Granted, he DID owe her for getting rid of Naga if nothing else. Watching her send the white serpent flying over the horizon (laughing maniacally the whole way) had brought joyous tears to not a few eyes. It was the fact that he only had to deal with ONE psuedo-amorous female that kept him from going completely stir-crazy.
"Silly boy. This ship isn't that big; you ran out of hiding places yesterday."
Trent winced at the voice, somehow sultry and perky at the same time; how she managed that still puzzled the daylights out of him. "Uh...did you need something?"
Her grin widened. "Oh, how sweet of you..."
"LAND HO!"
Trent shot up the gap at the sound of Zelgadis calling out their location. I'm going to have to try and thank him someday for this. It wasn't that he found Dolphin unattractive; that was just the problem. He was fully aware that her body was nothing but an astral projection of sufficient density and mass that it seemed solid. He was perfectly aware of the fact that underneath her islander appearance she was a demonic being who thrived on feelings of hatred and malice. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was only coming on to him like this for purposes of her own, purposes that likely had nothing to do with actual affection.
That didn't help much when he'd felt her remarkably real curves against his back the one time he'd failed to dodge one of her tackle-hugs.
On the decks, Lina watched as Wolf Pack Island swam into view. It was a fairly sizeable island; easily twenty miles by about thirteen, shaped vaguely like a maple leaf; a trio of peninsulas surrounding the central mass of the island. The only other mazoku she knew of had been Phibrizzo, who'd chosen the bleak and generally wasteland desert of destruction as his home base. Deep Sea Dolphin kept hers in the middle of nowhere at the bottom of the sea; Dynast in the frozen wastes at the north pole.
Despite what she'd expected though, the island was a beautiful tropical isle; a tall black stone volcano in the northeastern corner giving way to huge masses of palm trees and flowering tropical ferns, ending at the end in beaches of almost pure white sand. "So that's wolf pack island?"
Xellos nodded as Zelgadis began the final approach towards the docks. "Home of Beastmaster Zelas, the fifth lord of the monster race." He paused as he noticed the handful of creatures waiting for them at the end of the dock. "Odd. I can't seem to recall ever being met like this."
Lina stared at the creature. "Dilgear?!"
Xellos gave her an odd look as the leader of the mazoku group came into view. "Who precisely is dilgear? Or is Dilgear some kind of a what?"
Zelgadis had sat up in shock at the mention of his one-time henchman, but waved it off as the relative distance altered. "That's not him. I remember him being a bit...less imposing."
Xellos shrugged unconcernedly. "I don't know why you'd think of Zeltier as some kind of beast man. He's just a spear-carrier as far as the hierarchy goes."
For a spear-carrier, he was no less imposing; the werewolfish-looking monster looked to stand about twenty feet tall; Lina would have come up to his knees at best. Though he would have been a bit more impressive if his fur wasn't a soft lilac color.
Gourry and Sirius (grudgingly on the part of the overworlder) ran the gangplank down the side. As they began disembarking, 'spear-carrier' became a bit more appropriate; Zeltier leveled a thirty-foot halberd at them, smiling superciliously. "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY DO YOU DARE TO VENTURE INTO THE DOMAIN OF GREATER BEAST ZELAS METALLIUM?"
Lina gave him an odd look. "Um, we're here on business?"
Zeltier laughed; with lungs his size, it made for rather impressive guffawing. "BUSINESS?! YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF WE DON'T DEVOUR YOU NOW, LEAVING WHAT'S LEFT OF YOU AS A SOURCE OF FEAR!"
"Now, now Mr. Zeltier. You don't really want to do that. They're guests after all."
The wolfish mazoku glared at Xellos as he followed Lina and Filia down the gangplank. "AND WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO BRING SUCH GUESTS? MERE HUMANS," he gestured to Amelia, "A CHIMERA," and finally his eyes fell on Filia and Valgaav. "...AND DRAGONS?! LORD BEASTMASTER WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
Xellos slowly opened his eyes, letting his pink irises start glittering with a strange, unhealthy violet shimmer. "Now Mr. Zeltier. You aren't actually presuming to ORDER me around, are you? You don't mean to try and assume Lord Beastmaster's authority, do you?" His eyes finished opening as he smiled diabolically. "You aren't going to make me...unhappy, are you?"
The second Xellos's eyes had started to open, Zeltier had been struck by a revelation. He was facing off against his master's most trusted advisor, not to mention a monster so strong that only one of the great lords could have possibly destroyed him. At the end of his statement, Zeltier had had an even more uncomfortable revelation.
He was nothing. And he'd just provoked someone who had a reputation of making sure the people he disliked didn't survive terribly long.
Xellos sighed, his demeanor shifting back to happy-go-lucky as Zeltier dropped his spear and ran off screaming, tail literally between his legs. "I really must apologize for Zeltier; he's an idiot. I think Lord Beastmaster keeps him around just for the ocassional comic relief; he's really useless in any other sense."
Amelia sweat-dropped at the sound of the hulking, twenty-foot monster thumping away yelping. "Yeah...I guess so..."
"Pardon me, Lord Xellos?"
The self-proclaimed trickster priest turned to the much calmer voice, his smile widening. "Oh, it's you Corlas. Would you be so kind as to inform Lord Beastmaster that I have a few guests? Also, Lord Deep Sea Dolphin is also here."
Corlas bowed formally to the blue-haired mazoku lord. Unlike Zeltier, he was in humanoid form; he had the air of a courier or politician. In form, he was among the most unremarkable people that Trent had ever encountered, let alone the plainest-looking mazoku. He stood all of five foot nine, his skin neither tanned nor pale. His short-cut hair was a non-descript brown, his clothing nothing more than a tank-top over simple shorts. The ONLY things that were out of the ordinary for him were his pink eyes; the same color as Xellos's, and presumably the same color as Zelas's herself."This way please."
As they were led through an actual paved road through the jungle, Trent was struck once again by the area. He'd have expected something a bit more...forboding as the primary base of operations for who was undoubtedly the most active monster in the world. Not something so...Alive. Zelas's citadel itself though, was nothing short of stunning.
The entire complex was carved from a multitude of native stones; various quartz species, shale, slate, but mostly limestone and sandstone. The entire area stretched easily five hundred yards, not counting the overgrown gardens of the island. It resembled a Hindu ruin; a multitude of thick towers, the central tallest with each successive one shorter to create an almost pyramid effect. Flowering creepers and vines climbed over the rough surfaces, giving it a more beautiful look than a run-down one.
Whoever this Zelas was, they had good taste.
As they walked further, Corlas turned to try speaking with Xellos. "I'm curious, but what are you all doing here? I was not aware of any reason for all of these people to the island."
Xellos shrugged. "I wasn't given much..." He paused as his senses activated, his face shifting towards serious.
Corlas paused to give him an arch look. "Is something the matter?"
Xellos looked around warily. "I sense something. I presence I've not felt since..." He returned to cheerful abruptly. "Excuse me, Mr. Zelgadis?" Not waiting for a reply, he pulled the chimera by the sleeves over. "Would you mind walking right...THERE. Yes, that will be perfect."
Zelgadis gave him a mistrustful look (granted, a completely founded mistrustful look) but kept walking. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
"XELLOS-KUN!"
"What the-" were Zelgadis's last words before a black and reddish blur slammed into him at the speeds you generally need a Concorde to attain. No, 'GLOMP' did not even begin to describe the raw force of this tackle- hug; mere glomps don't usually take the recipient through stone walls.
Eris (1) looked up from her nuzzling in puzzlement. "Xellos-kun? What happened, did you get sunburnt or something?" She paused as she noticed that the currently unconscious recipient of her attack was a blue-skinned creature. "Oh drat, he dodged again." Sighing, she stood to dust herself off. "Oh well, I'll try again."
Gourry gaped at her. "Who the heck was that?"
Xellos sighed a Zelgadis-esque mushroom puff. "Her name is Eris; one of Lord Beastmaster's servants. I'm not sure why, but she's obsessed with attacking me like that."
Gourry stared at her. Unlike Corlas, she looked odd enough to qualify as a monster in his eyes. She was a little bit shorter than Corlas; about Amelia's height. The weird part was her hair; it was a darker red than Lina's, and hung all the way down to her ankles in thin dreadlocks. Add to that her current ensemble of a heavily embroidered maroon blouse and black skirt, and she just plain looked weird. Kind of like some new age hippy.
He started getting a bad feeling as she drew nearer. And after living for several years with Lina Inverse, his danger/bad feeling sense was nothing to sneeze at. "Uh..."
Eris tutted in consternation at the swordsman. "You know, long hair went out of style quite a while ago." Seemingly out of nowhere, she managed to produce a seven-foot long pair of scissors. "How about a quick trim?"
THWAM!
Gourry sighed in relief. "Thanks Filia."
The golden dragon returned her mace to the holder on her garter (how she keeps it there is beyond me) and shook her head. "THAT she had coming."
Xellos chuckled weakly, sweat-dropping. "Well, I guess we'd better get going. It wouldn't do to keep Lord Beastmaster waiting."
"Oh, don't run..."
Xellos winced as Eris's remarkable powers of recovery resurfaced. Not that he could do much; she'd come whether he allowed her to or not. Wordlessly, he began leading the remaining group into the court of Zelas, Eris floating behind them.
They found the mazoku lord waiting in an open-air portion of the palace, the walls regularly seperated by huge windows. The dark lord proved to be as female as Deep Sea Dolphin, lounging on a wicker couch waiting for them. "Oh, hello Xellos. Who are your friends?"
Trent got his first good look at her, and his face paled. A part of him heard the explanations and such (something about a sword), but he wasn't listening.
Zelas didn't look demonic. She didn't look 100% human, but she could have passed for one, albeit an exotic one. She was only slightly taller than Lina was, though their builds were similar in some regards. The differences were noticeable, to say the least. Her eyes were the same rose- quartz pink as Xellos's; it seemed to be a large part of what defined the mazoku who served her. Streaks of darker color marked each cheek, seeming more like tattoos than scars. Her figure wasn't anywhere near Naga's hour glass, nor was it Lina's A-cup figure. She was somewhere in between; slender and athletic-looking, shapely and curvy. Her garments did little to hide her appearance; all she wore was a simple draped pale yellow garment belted at the waist, an orange headband keeping her hair back.
None of that really registered to Trent though. It was her hair that stunned him. Her PALE, lavender hair. "...forgotten that pale-haired girl," he whispered to himself. She didn't really seem familiar; he was fairly certain that he'd remember meeting one of the five Dark Lords. That didn't make her impact any less stunning.
What broke him out of his reverie was a scream of "VALGAAV-SAMA!" coming closer, with that odd doppler effect.
Not one to waste time, Valgaav grabbed the nearest person and tossed them into the path of the hurtling figure.
Unfortunately, the nearest person was once again Zelgadis.
"Oh, Valgaav-sama!"
THWAM!
Kashura groaned quietly, echoing the pained moan from her target. "Oh Valgaav..." she froze as she took in the figure. "Hey! What happened to..."
"Kashura?"
The blue-haired priestess of Dynast looked up in surprise at the voice. "Huh? Oh, hi Eris. What are you doing here?"
"I work here, remember?"
Zelas cleared her throat, interrupting the two as they began giggling. She immediately zipped out of the crater containing pate au Chimera to formally present herself to Zelas.
The Greater Beast gave them a strange once-over, then turned to the nearby Xellos. "Would you mind stepping exactly ninety four centimeters backwards?"
"Huh?"
Zelas smiled as her general-priest complied, a handy cord extending down next to her. "Thank you Xellos." She yanked the cord, opening a formally concealed pit in front of the throne.
"BANZAI!"
Zelas sighed a mushroom puff as the two plummeted out of sight. "Honestly, you'd think they'd never grow up." She peered curiously at the still moaning Zelgadis. "Will he be alright?" she asked, watching Amelia trying to dig him out of the rubble.
Lina shrugged unconcernedly. "Ah, he does this all the time. Besides, he's a lot tougher than you'd think."
Zelas shrugged. "If you say so. Now then Xellos, would you be so kind as to explain WHY you've brought these people to my citadel?"
Xellos laughed nervously; Zelas Metallium was about the only person he actively got the heebie-jeebies over. "It's a rather funny story. Um, do you remember those odd ruins we found in the Ancient Dragon ruins so long ago?"
Zelas allowed her cheerful smile (similar to Xellos's, though hers made her look cute rather than just plain odd) to fade into seriousness. For her, it just made her look proffessional, as opposed to the flat out creepiness that it had for Xellos. This was not a good sign. If her priest was being serious, than it required immediate attention. "What of it?"
Xellos's nervous laugh reappeared as he pointed to Trent. "I was kind of ordered to show this man here the ruins. Apparently, they're some kind of inheritance for him."
Zelas gave him a hooded look. "And WHO...would presume to order my general around?"
"Falaris," Trent spoke up, his gaze never leaving her face. "The Forcerian God of the night; shadows, darkness, and all places where the light does not touch. And a force far stronger than Shabranigdo."
Zelas turned to him in shock. No one in THIS world worshipped him, but the monster race knew OF him. "And who are you, that He would give such orders?"
Trent tore his face away from her hauntingly familiar one as he formally kneeled and bowed before her. "My name is Trent Shadowlight. Assassin, warrior, mage, and as I recently discovered, an heir to the Ancient Dragons of your world."
Zelas gave him an odd look, carefully keeping her surprise masked at the knowledge of a second ancient dragon. "What did you mean, 'your' world?"
Trent looked back up to the now smiling face, if not a quite so cheerful one. "I was born on the world known as Forceria; I don't remember how I came to this one. All I know is that I'm here now, and I wasn't born of this soil." Rising to his feet, he forced the odd memories surfacing back down. He could recall them later. "What can you tell me about the altar itself?"
Zelas's face remained unreadable, then abruptly her eyes narrowed as a sultry smile crossed her lips. "Oh, you don't need to bother about that silly altar, do you? There are so many other things, so many things I'm sure you could appreciate..."
Trent dead-panned at the blatant innuendo; he'd started to get used to this odd habit monsters had of hitting on people they respected. At least that's how he interpretted it; that or getting a rise out of someone was the only explanation for the times he'd heard about where Xellos had hit on Lina or Amelia (or even Filia once.) Looking at the less-than-subtle monster, he allowed a tight grin. "Oh, what could you possibly mean?" His tone had shifted to low, dramatic, romantic overtones. "What truth could flow within those honeyed words? To a fool, such declamations could be construed an act of attraction...buy nay, such blandisments they are not. For what base fool would dare to imagine that such a beauty could make such advances? What man, save one possessed by madness, could ever dare to contemplate the thought of mere approval from such fairness of face, let alone (dare I say it), an embrace?"
Xellos's staff clattered to the ground as he sank to his knees, his eyes glassy and face sweating. "Oog, I don't feel so good..."
Deep Sea Dolphin blinked in surprise. Huh. THAT came out of nowhere. Looking around at the thunderstruck handful of dragons humans and overworlders, she could only conclude that they were as confused as she was.
Zelas just smiled at him, blushing prettily (more for effect than actual embarassment). "Why Trent, I'm flattered. Treating a demon like me to such words; you naughty boy you."
Trent blink-blinked in shock, then frowned in thought. "Huh. That's odd; last time I tried that around a monster, they keeled over in a diabetic fit of pain. Should have worked here too..." he muttered, his hand stroking his chin.
THWAM!
Trent paused at the sight. "Well that's new." It was the first time he'd caught Sirius actually face-faulting.
Zelas smiled, her blush gone though not her curiousity. And if nothing else, it HAD been rather flattering. "That was an excellent attempt, but Mazoku Lords like myself are capable of feeding off positive emotions as well. In truth, any monster can, it's just that negative emotions are more abundant and easier to provoke." (2)
Trent nodded absently, still in thought. "That's right, I remember hearing about a monster who did that at some kind of resort." He shrugged it off, returning to the present. "Anyway, would you mind telling me where to find the altar? I think I might be able to get in."
Zelas shook her head, standing up as Eris and Kashura finished hauling themselves out of the pit. When it had been dug, she'd laced a tiny bit of orihalcon into the first hundred or so feet; it suppressed their flight powers just long enough for them to hit hard. "In due time. For know, make yourselves at home on my island." She clapped her hands for lower- ranking monsters, instructing them to find a connected wing for everyone, and also making sure that her guests understood that they could blast any monster who tried to eat them in the night.
As the last of them trooped out, she stopped her general from leaving. "Oh Xellos?" She smiled hungrily. The elf/dragon had been quite flattering, and more than that he provoked her curiousity, something that ran extremely strong in her particular line of monsters. "Tell me more about this Trent."
To be continued.
(1) - Similar to Kashura, Eris is based on a friend. I don't think she writes fanfiction though. Anyway, she's intended as a comic relief more than anything else.
(2) - This was proven by Joyrock in Slayers the Motion Picture. Just FYI.
Author's Notes: I reccomend that anyone with questions go to the site for pictures of the remaining mazoku lords. Take a good look at Zelas, and THEN tell me that she's not even remotely similar to Deedlit or Pirotess.
