Once Upon a Time
A Slayers Fic
by Hotaru

Disclaimer...
characters not mine. BUT! the story is... ^^

Chapter 6


Merlina woke up and slowly opened her eyes, letting her red eyes look around her from her laid out position on the bed. She noticed many things at once, as if the many emotions came in a whirlwind and knocked her with so many things in so small of a moment.

She noticed her PJs... an important fact since she didn't remember wearing them. She saw a different roof, and felt a different bed under her. She felt loose and relaxed muscles, but a tiredness that could only come from sleeping in all morning long when one was normally an early riser. She yawned, got up and stretched softly. She didn't make any noise as her covers rustled softly about her. After she had finished stretching, she looked about her. To her surprise, she saw that there was someone snoozing in a chair beside the bed. It was Xellos.

His head was leaning towards the right, his eyes closed, and his face looking relaxed but a little sad and melancholy. In his hands were a damp towel, and beside him was a small basin on the night table. She got up, and looked around. It was one of the rooms in the Healer's Guild. Why she was here instead of her room was beyond her. Seeing that Xellos was sleeping and that there was nobody else around there, she carefully levitated him to the bed after fixing it so that it was comfortable. She set him gently on the bed and then she explored her room. To her great relief, she found her sword and her staff untouched in a corner. The blade hadn't been wiped and the staff looked a bit muddy, but she didn't mind too much. It was proof, she thought, that they hadn't bothered her weapons and it would give her something to do. She heated up some water and then got a rag, and then began to wash and clean her weapons.

After about half and hour later, Xellos stirred in his sleep. Melrina looked up from polishing the clear crystal on her staff and smiled softly before replacing that with a 'no nonsense' type of look. Xellos woke up slowly and looked puzzled to be in a bed.

"Good afternoon." she said as she changed her grip on her staff and began to polish the wood.

"Oh... good afternoon." he said. He got up and shook his head. "Um... I take it you woke up and then put me to bed?" He had a wry look on his face. The past few days had given him a bit of spunk and he was more sure of himself now.

"Yeah." she said. "After all, I can't have you fainting on me. Besides, it was probably your turn to have the bed." He got up and fixed himself, grabbing his comb and running it through his purple hair. "So, care to explain to me what happened?"

"You don't remember anything?" he asked as he stopped in mid-comb.

"Well, I remember the dragon, and I remember that I froze him.... out of curiosity, how long have I been out?" she asked.

"Two days." answered Xellos. "Well, at least... that's what it was before I fell asleep. Don't know how long I slepted."

"Two days...." muttered Merlina to herself. "Well, I'll be more careful next time. So, what happened?" She sat on a chair and he sat on the bed.

"Well, the next day, after you went, I got a message from the Healer's Guild." started Xellos.

"So, how well did you do on the test?" asked Merlina.

"I passed, as you can imagine. It was pretty simple, but took lots of time." said Xellos.

"Good. I knew I could trust on you to pass." said Merlina. She smiled. It wasn't a waste of money after all.

"I told you I would pass." said Xellos with a wry smile. He then continued. "So, I flew to the
guild and you were there all banged up. I was hired by both the leader of the Guild of Mercenarie's and the man who hired you."

"Oh." said Merlina. There was some silence. Then Merlina sighed. "OK, out with it. Go ahead and ask. I won't bite your head off."

"Why did you accept?" asked Xellos, his eyes stern. Heck, his whole demeanor was serious. "I may not know you too well, but I do know something, and that you are no idiot. So, why, pray tell, did you go of a fool's errand?"

"Well," said Merlina. "...It's not as if I've never done this in my life. If you really must know, There are three main reasons. I did it for the money, I did it for the blood, and I did it for a personal reason."

"That's not the point!" shouted Xellos. "There are jobs that are many times easier than that. Jobs that are many times safer! You could have been killed had the Dragon's blood splashed you more. You could have died if the man didn't find you. You could have died if the toxins in the blood weren't flushed out of your blood circulation within half a day!"

"Look, don't yell at me." said Merlina. "I know you could care less about the money. I could too. But you know, dragon cuisine is really quite delicious." She got up. Xellos got up also.

"And why would you need fresh dragon's blood?" he asked. "If you needed some, you could have gone to the apothecary." Merlina raised an eyebrow and thought for a while.

"You know, I actually thought of that." she said sweetly. Then her tone turned serious. "The only reason I'm telling you this is because you have proved yourself to be patient and actually useful for something. The blood they give you at the apothecarrys is too weak. They water it down. And if I had asked for something more potent, they would have required a physician's note or some idiotic thing like that." She saw her bag at the corner of the room and slung it up. After that, she put on her cloak and strapped her sword. She rummaged in her bag and came up with a glass flask with a cork stopper. Then she turned to him.

"Are you coming or not?" she asked. "I have my pay to collect, as you probably do also." Silently, Xellos picked up his things, smoothed out the bed and put away the basin and cloth.

"I'm ready." he said. The two walked out.

*****

Merlina had collected her prize. There was payment, a flask of blood from the dragon and a promise to be called when the dragon was cooked. Xellos too received his payment.

"Thank you so much for healing her!" said Hakuma, the owner of the restaurant 'The Dragon's Den', the man who had hired Merlina. Xellos bit back any scathing remarks he had for the man.

"Thank you for the promised meal!" said Merlina. "I'll be waiting. At this rate, I'll have three or four dragon meals in a few years!"

"Of course, Ms. Merlina." said the man. "I can't express my sincere gratitude in helping me with this. Be sure to tell Ms. Jera that I said hello. I'm sure she's quite proud that you defeated the dragon by yourself." There was an awkward silence. Xellos looked stunned. He couldn't imagine both Merlina and her mother fighting dragons... it almost seemed like a tradition for the two women to fight dragons. He seemed to be the only one stunned at the fact that they fought dragons.

Merlina was quiet because she didn't know what to say. Then she looked up and grinned, a face of extreme sadness passing her face before anyone registered it.

"I'll be sure to tell her next time I see her." she said.

"Travelling by yourself, Ms. Merlina?" he asked as he passed her the flask, filled with a thick crimson fluid. Merlina took it carefully and put it in her bag.

"Perhaps." said Merlina.

"Will you be leaving our town so soon, Ms Merlina?" asked the head of the Guild of Mercenaries, Mejire.

"I might stay." she said. "I just came back to kill the last dragon since my mother and I didn't finish the job totally last time. Oh, and see how much longer I must wait for my free meal. So, I might end up staying here some more time depending on how long this meal will take." She grinned.

"That is good." said the head of the Guild of Healers, Kitsuo. "That way, the lake is safe for fishing once more." There was a cheer from those that had surrounded them.

"Anyway, are there any more jobs?" asked Merlina.

"Not for now, Ms." said Mejire. "I'll send you notice as soon as I hear of one."

Xellos and Merlina walked away from the crowd. As they walked away, the various onlookers began talking amongst themselves.

"Did you see her?"

"Did you see HIM?"

"Who is he?"

"And he seems to be friends of Merlina..."

"You know, they say it was he who healed her."

"Well, I heard that he rooms with her."

"No! Oh my goodness!"

"And so young also!"

"I wouldn't mind! He's pretty cute looking."

"He's a priest, you know."

"Well, Merlina doesn't seem to care..."

And the rumor mill was hard at work once more.

*****

The days turned into weeks. The two had settled down and had gotten used to each other's presence. Every morning, they would have breakfast sent to their rooms. If they ate in the dining room, everyone would begin to talk. But having breakfast sent to them caused people to talk also. So since no matter what they did, the outcome was the same, Merlina opted for eating in their room since it gave them more privacy. Xellos had agreed.

It was a half awkward situation that they were each half comfortable with. They spoke to each other, but still kept a wall up. They weren't wonderful buddies, but they weren't absolutely silent to each other. Xellos had staid in Merlina's room. He could care less about the rumors. Basically, it cost less to share a room than to order another one. Merlina hadn't questioned or challanged his decision, so Xellos assumed it was OK with her.

And there was the small fact that no one had news. No news had come from out of Zephirya. No news of death, no reports of missing children, nothing, zilch, and nada. It was as if they had never existed and that the happenings of that one night had never happened, as if everyone were trying to evade and hide the fact. Merlina didn't talk, so he didn't either. People thought they were friends who were staying together and that any adults related to them were still alive and knew what was going on.

It was a quiet town, this place. There were some odd jobs here and there for both of them, since they were the best, but there wasn't much going on. Merlina had opted to spend her nights poring over a thick book she would check out from the library. One time, Xellos had tried to read over her shoulder, but she turned and covered the book while trying to not look like she was actually covering it.

"Yah?" she had asked.

"Nothing much. Just curious about what you were reading." said Xellos as nochalantly as he could. Merlina thought a bit and then smiled.

"Now, that... is a secret." she said with a grin. "But if you truly must know, it's a book about magic."

And they had left it at that. She would volunteer some information, but if he wanted to know more, then he'd have to do the digging. So, he too began to spend his nights reading books. It kept him from slacking off and he learned quite a bit. And they had begun to get accustomed to each other.

*****

One day, during breakfast, Merlina broke the ice. Which was pretty amazing since it was usually Xellos who began the conversation.

"What are you planning to do today?" she asked. She spread some strawberry jelly on her bread and took a bite.

"Nothing much. I don't think there's anything from the Guild." said Xellos. He took a forkful of scrambled eggs and ate that. Merlina poured some milk into her glass and gulped it down.

"So, since you have nothing to do, I was wondering, do you know how to fight?" she asked. Xellos chewed and swallowed.

"Not really. Mother never allowed me to partake in such activities." he said. No, they never mentioned that night, but that didn't mean he couldn't mention people.

"Would you like to learn?" asked Merlina. Whether she was affected or not by his mentioning of his mother, couldn't be told because she didn't even blink an eye.

"Are you offering to teach me?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?" she asked. She speared a piece of ham. "Besides, it'll give us something to do. And it's not like we're worried about what others think."

"Sounds fun." he said. "I don't know anything though."

"You'll learn." she said with confidence. "You've yet to let me down. Anyway, what do you prefer, hand to hand? Sword? Staff?"

"Um...." he said. Merlina looked at him as if sizing him up, which was what she was doing.

"You probably would do better with staff fighting." she said. "How about a bit of each, and you choose for yourself which one you like best?"

"Sure. Sounds good." he said, glad that he didn't have to come up with a choice just then. "When do we start?"

"After you finish breakfast." she said. With a start, he noticed that her plates were all empty, the food all gone, and her glass drunk dry.

"You're fast." he said.

"I know." she said smuggly.

*****

The weeks turned into months, and the months soon turned into one year. Xellos had started off slowly in his new learning, but soon picked up speed. Time and time again, Merlina was forced to admit some grudging respect to him.

"You are a quick learner." she said. She held a staff in her hands before her, in a defensive position. Xellos smiled eagerly as he twirled the staff in his hands.

"Thanks!" he said. And with that, he charged. Merlina easily blocked his attacks. With a twist of her staff, she switched their positions so that he was on the defensive and she was on the offensive. Xellos quickly parried her attacks and jumped over her with a small aid of magic and tried to get a back hit in, but Merlina switched her grip and used her staff behind her back. She hurriedly twirled so that she was facing him once more and then the two began to fight once more.

After about fifteen minutes of fighting, they finally called it quits. Merlina claimed the bath first to wash off and Xellos, out of the kindness of his heart allowed her the privilage. Besides, if he didn't, she'd hit him on the head with her staff and then take it anyway.

As he waited for his turn, he turned his own wooden staff in his hands. It was a simple staff, light and well balanced. He was the one who had made it, which made it half special for him. He had done this one all by himself. His first one, Merlina had had to help him fix the balance and adjust the length, but this one, Merlina had gaven him full marks for it. As his mind began to drift, he suddenly heard a soft melody. He cocked his ear towards it and realized what it was. Merlina was singing again. She had begun singing two months ago. He didn't know why, and she didn't explain. But it was a nice tune, simple and true. And she had a nice soprano voice.

He thought about life. One year. One whole year, he had spent with her. He couldn't help but wonder where this was going. They were more friends than enemies now. The training had given them something to talk about, something they shared in common. But neither knew the other very well. It was a strange situation, but he didn't really mind it. They were.... not exactly friends.... but comrades. They worked together and hung out. But there were still parts of her that he was not allowed to know, and the same with her. She came out and told him that the bath was his.

Over breakfast, they talked again.

"Do you have anything planned this afternoon?" asked Merlina.

"Nope." he said. He was still eating, but Merlina had long since finished hers.

"That's good to know. Wait a sec." she said. With that, she went under her bed and came up holding a wrapped, long bundle. "This is for you." She paused a bit and fixed her hair after shaking it.

"What is it?" he asked as he accepted it.

"Now, that... is a secret!" she said. "Well, it is until you open it." He grinned. He was beginning to get used to that type of humor.

He slowly undid the black cord and let the cloth fall down. Wrapped inside of it, had been a long slender piece of wood, as black as midnight. It had a few carvings here and there and was trimmed and smoothed down so that it was comfortable to grip. The edges were tipped with silver and the whole staff was extremely well balanced. He stood up and twirled it experimentally and revelled in how light it was yet how sturdy it felt.

"You like it?" she asked. With a start, he realized that she was acting nervously.

"Like it?" he asked. "It's wonderful! It's perfect!"

"I'm glad you like it." she said. With a relieved look, she sat on her bed.

"Thank you." he said. He wanted to ask her why. Why make it for him? It wasn't as if he couldn't make it. He could, albeit, not as nice as this one.

"You want to know why, right?" she asked. He nodded. She motioned for him to sit, so he sat on his bed. "Well, before I start, I want to ask you to not interrupt, K?"

"Sure." he said.

"OK." she said. She took a deep breath and began. "A bit over a year ago, mom died. You know that. Anyway, before that, she gave me explicit instructions. I don't know what for, but oh well... dying wishes you could call them. I left town, and you followed. Everything sounds normal, familiar, right?" He nodded. "OK. Mom told me to find my father. And before you ask, no, he's not here. I don't know if you knew or not. I'm sure there were rumors in Zephyria. Dad's a Mazoku. So I'm half. I'm off to find my dad. I've things to deal with. You aren't following me. I allowed you to follow me before since I was just training and all that. But now, I have all the ingredients I need. I have the materials I need. I'm off to seek him. You will not follow me, OK? And remember, you promised to not interrupt. Anyway, I'm leaving this afternoon. I've trained you for about a year now. You are stronger than you were a year ago. I don't have to worry about anyone beating up on you, or of you starving to death with out a job or something. I'm leaving this afternoon. You won't remember this until I'm gone." There was a pause and Merlina rapidly blinked her eyes. "I'm sorry, Xellos, to have to tell you like this. But then, had I told you straight out, you would have followed me. And it's too dangerous. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. So, take care, OK? If it works out, then I'll be back. If not, well..." Here she smiled and laughed, looking so carefree... "Oh well... it doesn't really matter anymore, right? So, like I said, take care."

Xellos all of a sudden felt a bright intense light and the world blanked out. When he came to, he was sitting on his bed.

"So, I have to do some stuff this afternoon and I can't do the job the Guild gave me. But I know you can handle it. After all, it's only a few robbers. Just round them up and then deliver them alive to the guards who are staying at the Crow's Inn. Easy, huh?" asked Merlina.

"Yeah." said Xellos. "OK, I can do that."

"Thanks!" said Merlina.

*****

Mission complete. Success. Merlina would be quite glad. Well, that is what Xellos imagined. He had just brought back the robbers and had the pay. It had been quite thrilling to use his staff in actual combat instead of sparring. It would be fun to try it out against Merlina also. He made it back to their room and seeing that Merlina wasn't back yet, decided to take a bath. His already half tired mind didn't notice the small details here and there. He reverently put the staff on his bed. As he relaxed in the tub, he felt a slight nagging sensation at the back of his head.

"I must be getting a headache." he said to himself. He closed his eyes and relaxed. His
eyes slowly closed as he felt himself fall asleep. A few minutes later, his eyes snapped wide awake. No... it couldn't be, right? As the implications of his vision/dream hit in, he jumped out of the tub, put on his bathrobe and ran out of the bathroom. It was true. Sure, the bed was still a mess, which threw him slightly off before since Merlina always had a messy bed. But all her other belongings were gone. He opened the drawers on her desk and found that they didn't zap him fro trying to open it and that her notes and books were gone. He sat on his bed, dazed.

"She left." he whispered to himself. "Just like that. Up and out..." He felt slightly hollow, as if there were part of him that wasn't quite right. No more Merlina. She had left. No more training classes, no more of her wry jokes. No more. No more.

He knew it shouldn't matter that much to him. After all, they weren't even really close friends. Just friends, and sometimes, not even that. She hadn't really abandoned him. They both knew in the back of their mind that one day, one or the other would leave. But he hadn't expected it. Not now... it seemed so soon. Why know? He was so tired of questions. He wanted some answers so badly. But he was too tired, too worn out to handle anything else. So he collapsed on his bed and slept, his one hand holding on to his staff. His one last physical link to her. No, he wasn't missing her in the romantic sense or anything like that... it was just that... well... after one year of being together, comrades wasn't the word anymore. It was more like friends. And it always hurt when one of those leaves you.

*****

The next morning, Xellos woke up with a headache. He had slept wrong on his damp hair, and it was sticking up and out in weird angles. He was glad Merlina wouldn't see him like this... she'd probably laugh till she fell off her bed or something. Then he sobered up. Of course Merlina wouldn't see him like this, she was gone, after all. For a few minutes, he just laid there, thinking about everything and nothing at all. Staring at a place past the wall, but not at it.

"Well, I'm not getting anything done by just sitting here." he said. He stood up and washed up so that his hair looked passable and then held his black staff. He had never asked Merlina where she got the wood. He fixed the room a bit and put a few of his things away. Well, whether Merlina wanted his company or not, he would follow her. After all, she was a friend, and it sounded as if she were going to do something dangerous. Well, he'd be there and help her. She had helped him all this time. Now, it was his turn to help. He wondered where the most logical place to start looking for her would be. Then it struck him. Merlina was looking for a Mazoku. OK, for her father, same thing. But she was only human. Well, half human. So, she couldn't just... find him easily. And she talked about ingredients.... she was planning to summon him. Of course! After all, that is how one found Demons. Well, usually.

Then it all clicked. All the nights Merlina would read her tomes, forwards and backwards. The vial of blood she had taken from that one dragon. How she said she needed something stronger. And all the time she spent training and those trips she'd take every once in a while to the forests here and there.

He donned on some clothes, grabbed his staff and flew out of the window. He'd ask Merlina's Guild Leader on where he could find tomes of magic that Merlina had looked at. So, with a purpose and a mission before him, Xellos began to feel slightly better.

*****

That afternoon, Xellos came back with many books in his arms. He had taken all the ones that spoke about Mazokus. He had been lucky and found a slim book on summoning magic. There was very little information about summoning since it took so much energy and it was so dangerous. That night, he read up as much as he could. There was a list of places, he discovered to his surprise, that Mazoku summoning seemed to be easier, but were only open and accesible at certain times of the year. Merlina was probably going to the closest one, which was a weeks hike from here. Or a few days flight from here. She'd arrive about a week early. He'd have time to get there. He was glad. He carefully copied the places and dates and put it in his bag. He'd leave the next day, after buying provisions. He realized wryly that Merlina was right. He had learned a lot in one year. Namely, don't go out on an adventure without food and water and money and an ability to fight. With a start, he realized how self sufficient he was acting. He smiled a bit. Merlina had trained him very well.

*****

Merlina looked at the site before her. Here it was. She looked at her list. Yup. The pond over to her right was where she was supposed to cast her summoning. She smiled slightly. She had made it. She was here about a week early, with more time than what she had planned. As soon as she had left Tryyad, she had hiked furiously. At times, she had flied quickly, the forest under her turning into a blur of greens, browns and blacks. She had done everything in her power to keep herself busy and occupied. Anything so that she wouldn't think. She knew how to cast the summon by heart. She knew the way. And here she was. Now, she had a few days left until the time was right. A few days where all she could do was think and rest and get energy and think. She didn't want to think.

Leaving had been harder than what she had expected. She had it planned some two months ago, when she found the black wood. She had found it in a bandit hide out. Where they found it was beyond her, but she knew that if she didn't take it, it would be turned into firewood. So she had taken it and had come up with her brilliant plan. Two weeks later, she had all the ingredients she needed and had begun on his staff. It had taken her a long time, more than one month. She had smoothed it out carefully so that its balance was kept intact. She had carved some bits here and there so that it would look elegant to have everywhere. She had capped of the ends with silver to add to the look and to the damage power. It had been perfect. With that done, there had been nothing else to do. She needed to leave. She had promised herself to leave after the staff was finished anyway. So, the staff was given, and part of her cried when he saw how happy he was on receiving it. But enought about that! Merlina did not cry. Crying was for weaklings. She stiffled her tears, or at least, she tried to. Two small tears escaped her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

'Idiot.' she told herself. 'You idiot... stop crying!' And it suddenly hit her that she had left the only friend she had ever had in this world. And her tears wouldn't stop.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

Hi! Sorry it's been absolutely ages since I've updated, again. But this time, I have an excuse! Honest, I do! Some weird funky thing happened to my computer so I couldn't put my story into the computer. (I type it out somewhere else and then transver it via disk to my computer to upload...) So that had to get fixed... how annoying. And then, before that, Thanksgiving came about... and you probably wonder..."It was Thanksgiving, meaning, no classes, meaning more time to write, meaning an update...right?" Well, I went to Galapagos over the break! It was great! Anyway, as you can imagine, writing the next chapter just didn't have the same priority as before, especially with seeing all the sea lions, the blue footed boobies and the nazca boobies (formerly known as masked boobies) the marine and land iguanas, the lava lizards, Darwin's finches and penguins and flightless comorants, and frigate birds and the sea turtles, and the Galapagos land tortoise.... It was a blast! I was thinking of writing a new story...."The Slayers go to Galapagos" and I actually thought of a way to get it to work! But, not know. Lot's of things going on, like finals!!!!! and more homework and trying to finish this story. Besides, I might turn it into a file for Kamishibai with pics and sounds. Perhaps... if you don't know what Kamishibai is, check out www.otakuworld.com Anyway, enough of my babbling. Hope you all enjoyed the story and hope that it was worth the wait. I personally like it. I hope you do too.
Take care, people, and please R and R. Drop me a review, please? I'm a poor little girl who has to take three million finals for her silly AP classes who has a small job and who plays music in a jazz band. I need encouragement!!! That is how you, the reader, can help moi, the authoress.... OK, enought of that. *grin*
Take care, everyone!

Hotaru

ps... if you're all mega nice and write me some reviews (how about 5?) i'll have the next chapter up by next Saturday.... how's that for a deal? *grin*