Once Upon a Time
by Hotaru
Disclaimer: Slayers is not mine. But it's such an awesome cartoon I wanted to see what little bit I could contribute to its story line. ^.^
Chapter 12
Xellos walked away from his home, his steps slow and sure. He used his staff, but it was quite obvious to whoever cared to watch that he did not need to use his staff for walking purposes. But no one was there to make that observation, except one.
"Xellos?" asked a voice. Xellos stopped hesitantly. He thought he recognized the voice... He slowly turned around, his purple eyes taking in everything he saw. His gaze came to rest on a petite lady who stood a few meters from him.
"Xellos, is that you?" asked the lady. He looked at her and walked slowly towards her. He took in her black hair, the familiar curve of her face and the unsure purple eyes.
"M..m...mother?" he asked, not quite believing it.
"Oh, Xellos!" she cried and ran to him, giving him a tight hug as tears leaked out from her closed eyes. "I thought I'd never see you..."
"Mom?" he asked as he held her at arms length from him. He had grown taller than her and she looked different. She still had that slight look of nobility that others called pride, but she had changed. She looked more tired than before and sadder.
"Oh, Xellos. I'm so glad you came back!" she said. He hugged her awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Within a minute, she had composed herself. She wiped her tears and stood up straight looking like a noble with a regal look on her face. "Oh, forgive me, Xellos. You must be tired after your trip. Do come into your home." She led him to the house.
Xellos followed her as if in a dream. He hadn't known what to expect when he had come to Zephyria, but he hadn't been expecting this. The house looked just as neat and in order as he remembered it. There were new servants there, although he recognized one or two of them. They certainly remembered him and bowed to him. Xellos bowed back, forgetting that here, he was a rich family's son and was higher and more important than them. But living by yourself for a long time made you realize that everyone was too uniquely different to be judged simply. His mother clapped her hands and ordered for tea to be made. She led him into the living room and had him sit down on one of the very comfortable chairs around there.
"How are you Xellos?" she asked. Xellos looked at her. She was acting more normal now. She had composed herself too, and looked like the perfect hostess.
"I am doing fine, mother." he said as he accepted a teacup from a servant. "And you?"
"Oh, it's been fine here also." she said as she put a lump of sugar in her tea. Xellos declined the sucrose, preferring his to be bitter. "What have you been doing?" she asked.
"Nothing much. Traveling around." he said. "I went to many towns and cities. I'm even in a guild now."
"You work?" she asked, surprise coming over her features.
"Of course." he said. "I had to find a way to make a living. And it has been quite nice. It's an easy job for me and it pays well."
"What do you do?" she asked, curious.
"I'm part of the Guild of Healers." said Xellos.
"Oh, I'm glad!" said the mother. "Not that you have to work, of course. But that you are still practicing your white magic."
"Of course, mother." he said. He watched his mother finish the last of her tea and stand up briskly.
"Well, now that you're back, you won't have to work anymore." she said as she smiled at him. "You don't know how lonely I've been here this past year and a half. If you want, I'll send a letter to the Guild Head closest here to remove you from the list if you don't want to write it yourself. Now that you're here, you can finally relax after all that traveling you've done." she said with a smile. Xellos was shocked. "You know... I was thinking,... even if you do want to work, I'm sure we can find something that won't stress you too much. Perhaps tutoring, or even teach at the school. I'm sure the people would be thrilled to hear about you! And oh, so many things to be done! You know, there is a very sweet girl I know of. She's 15 and I'm sure she'd be absolutely thrilled if you became her tutor. She's from a good family also, you know. I'm sure you two will hit of so well!" She got up and walked about the room, looking excited. Then she glanced at the clock.
"Oh, dearie me!" she said. "I must be going! Take care Xellos. I'll take care of everything. You can relax now!" She hurried out before Xellos could say anything or stop her.
"What was that about?" he asked himself as he stood up. He hadn't understood what she had said. It was something about him quitting the Guild. She had actually spoken as if he were going to stay here to live! She probably had been thinking that. Well, he wasn't sure what he'd do. He'd first see what would turn about with the summoning. He took the teacups and cleaned up the table. A servant boy came and looked surprised on seeing Xellos cleaning up and drying up any spilled drops of tea.
"Sir!" he said as he ran forward. "I'm sorry. Here, let me take it for you."
"No, nonsense." said Xellos. "Here, grab a biscuit. I never liked tea with biscuits anyway." He passed the thin silver plate to him. The boy looked at him and Xellos smiled. "Go ahead. They're good, but I don't like anything with my tea, you know."
"Thank you, sir." said the kid. He took a little piece that had broken off from one of the other biscuits.
"No, take a whole one." said Xellos. He plucked one with a napkin and gave it to the kid. "It may seem a bit dry on the outside, but it has jelly inside. You'll like it. Unless you don't like strawberry jelly." He grinned and took the tray with all the tea things and went to set it in the kitchen. The kid just looked after him with a surprised look on his face. Then he smiled. His new master was a nice person, it seemed. He looked at the biscuit in the napkin. He had even used a napkin so that it was totally clean. He smiled and took it out back to where the servant's quarters were and split it with his mother, who did the gardening at the huge house.
*****
Merlina walked about the city. She had decided that it would be better if she didn't make her presence too obvious. She would only stay for one day anyway. So she walked in the shadows and put all her skill in sneaking along the streets of what used to be her home. She noticed with some satisfaction that no one really saw her and that many things were still the same. Her home was on the outskirts of town. She remembered it with a slight smile on her face. She came across her house and just stood before it. It was a small, tiny house. They were only two people. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It may be small, but it had the woods as a backyard, and she remembered all the lessons that her mother had given her in sword fighting. She had been the Swordsman of Light even though she had been a girl instead of a guy. She shook her head. Enough about memories. She opened the door and preceded to wait in there for the messenger of whoever it was that was sending a note to Zelas. She wondered who it'd be. Would the messenger be a townsperson? Or a stranger who wouldn't recognize her? Or maybe a lower Mazoku who served as spy for Zelas. She draped her black cloak over a chair. She noticed with satisfaction that the place wasn't too vandalized. People had been probably too scared to enter the witches home. She looked through the cupboards. She found some food, all moldy, rotten and decomposing after so long. She did some clean up, throwing away all the dirty and dead stuff in the house. She summoned a small wind and used it to blow the dust out the window. A small water spell served to wash the simple wooden table and the small pieces of furniture here and there. She thought a bit and then grinned. It would be nice if she had something small to offer to the messenger. It would certainly put them off balance. She went out and chose the newest looking shop and bought some cookies and bread with nuts and a small simple plate to put them on. She also bought some juice and two glasses where she poured the juice into. Merlina stood in the middle of the kitchen and looked.
'There.' she thought to herself. 'It looks decent now. I can entertain some company in here, now.' She took out from her bag a small watch. She had saved some money from her small fights with bandits and robbers and from the allowance her father gave her once she started going to town, and had bought a small pocket watch. It had a simple silver cover and you opened it like a locket. Inside was the face of the watch, all in black with small silver numbers and two small silver hands. She had liked it a lot. The clock's soft ticking accompanied her as she sat down at the table, facing away from the door. It was called setting up an atmosphere. She had put her cloak back on, but left the hood down, letting her now, long red hair tumbling down her back. In two minutes there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." she said, loud enough for the person outside to hear. And the door creaked open slowly. "In the kitchen, please." The footsteps got closer and closer, louder and louder.
"You are the messenger?" asked Merlina. She didn't look at whoever it was who came in. She motioned for the person to have a seat. "Sit down, and have a snack. The bread is fresh."
There was a gasp from behind her. Normally, Merlina would have turned around hurriedly to see what was happening, but months of training to look composed had changed her a bit and all she did was turn slowly to look at the messenger. What she saw, could be said to have shocked her.
Five minutes later, the messenger was sitting across from Merlina looking into Merlina's cold, red eyes.
"So we see each other again." said Merlina. She offered the messenger a glass of juice. "Like I said, help yourself to some bread. Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything like that."
Mrs. Kyuzan's face was set in a resolute mask of uncaring. Only her eyes betrayed her, and they were scared and surprised.
"I take it you have a note for me, Mrs. Kyuzan?" asked Merlina with a cold smile on her face. She took a bite out of a cookie and then took a small sip of juice.
"Yes." said the messenger trying to sound brave. Her purple eyes wavered a bit.
"Oh, don't get it now." said Merlina. "We have some time. Do have a small bite to eat. I'm so dreadfully sorry that I can only offer you some bread, cookies and juice. But you must know that I just came in today." Xellos's mother took a small sip of juice. She cleared her throat and spoke.
"Although this is a most opportune moment to talk, I'm afraid I must get going. I have many duties to oversee." she said. She reached into her pocket and drew out a note.
"Why, thank you." said Merlina. "So nice of you to send the message to my boss." Mrs. Kyuzan left as quickly as she could.
When she had left, Merlina let out a depressed sigh. She walked about the kitchen cleaning up while speaking to herself. "How depressing!" she said. "Life stinks... to think that Mrs. Kyuzan, the town's leading white priestess... sending a note to Zelas Beastmaster... " She sat down on a chair and sighed some more. Sometimes... you wondered about people. People could be just as tricky and as evil as Mazoku. She decided to just rest for a bit. She felt like she had no energy to do anything else. Even finding Xellos took a back burner to the suffocating sense of tiredness and apathy she was feeling. She locked the door of the house and went up to her room. She aired out her bed and rested on it for a bit, letting her tired eyes close.
*****
Xellos had left the house as soon as he finished helping put the tea things away. He had nothing too great against his mother and that is why he had left a note saying that he'd be back later because he had important matters to attend to. He walked to the place where the summoning site was supposed to be. He opened up his senses to see where the actual weakening was. He walked through a few streets he didn't recognize and soon came upon a small house that looked abandoned. He stopped in front. He recognized this house. Merlina used to live here along with her mother. It was probably just another coincidence...
Here, he sat on the small porch of the house and looked about him. It was a nice place, he had to admit. He still remembered how he used to look down on Merlina's place with scorn. It was overrun with plants and trees because it was right at the edge of the forest. Not only that, but the house was small, compared to his home. But after months of traveling and seeing inns in worse shape than this, he began to realize how nice the place was. Due to its growth of plants, it looked like it was in the woods instead of Zephyria. It had a huge backyard that was connected to the woods, providing a nice place to rest, to practice or to just look at. The house was simple and practical and the whole area was extremely picturesque. He closed his eyes and imagined how it must have been when Merlina was here along with her mother. She remembered those few times when Merlina had walked into class looking tired and sporting bruises but her eyes had always been satisfied. He had wondered about it and found out later through one of his constant companions that she had been in a fight. They had, of course, forgotten to mention that she had been training with her mother. He had figured that out by asking one of the servants who knew the Quertwen family.
He abruptly got up and walked to the backyard. That was were the weakening of the fabric of reality was. It sort of made sense to him that one of the weak spots was where Merlina and Jera had lived. They had probably taken good care of it since they usually didn't let others come into their home.
He stood in the middle of the yard and traced his circles and stars. He then proceeded to place amplifying talismans around the yard. He hadn't seen any dragons around Zephyria who would stop him, but he had to be sure. When they were set, he threw his strongest barrier spell through one of the talismans. It immediately activated, rising a foot above ground. It gave off a shard of light. As if in reply, the other talismans also rose from the ground. The shard of light jumped from talisman to talisman, looking as if it were running and jumping from one to the other. He smiled as he saw the spell work. Before leaving on his trip to Zephyria, he had done even more research. Mostly from Merlina's notes. He had read through all of them and had been surprised to see at all the notes she had. They were written in two hands, some written by Jera and others by Merlina. It was surprising to see all the knowledge that Merlina had in sheets of paper. Jera had written many spells and notes on various things that had been passed from her family of white mages and had given to Merlina. Which was where he had found this barrier spell. He stepped in, sprinkled the ingredients about and performed the summoning.
*****
Merlina was having a dreamless sleep. Her consciousness was relaxing slightly, and all around her mind there was an all encompassing blackness that sucked out the light out of anything. She was in that darkness, resting against nothing as she drifted in her sleep. Suddenly, there was a hole forming to one side of her where the darkness began to lighten up. It formed a tunnel that began to reach for her. As soon as it touched her foot, Merlina jumped awake in her consciousness and looked wildly about her.
"What the.." she started. She jumped back, getting out of the way of the tunnel that seemed to be reaching for her. "What is this!?" She got out of the way and frowned. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. Hurriedly, she summoned her power to her and used it to manipulate her consciousness. The tunnel got smaller and smaller but still tried to reach her. "Stay away!" she shouted at it as she once more manipulated her astral surroundings. With a final twist of her wrist, the tunnel was smashed and it faded. She rolled her eyes and fixed her hair. "Stupid thing. This is the last time I'm sleeping on the Astral Plane ever again!" She closed her eyes to concentrate and then woke herself up.
*****
Xellos sank down into the ground, fatigue sweeping over him. It hadn't worked. For a moment, the spell had been pulling on something but it was only momentary and then the spell had been sent back to him with nothing. He sighed. It was supposed to find Merlina... and this seemed to show that Merlina wasn't a Mazoku. Which left the possibility that she was gone or that she was locked up somewhere that not even a summoning spell would be able to pull them from. He rested on his knees, trying to concentrate on something other than the deep sense of desperation that was beginning to wash over him. He trembled and clutched the grass wildly in his hands as he tightened his eyes. He had been staking all his hopes on being able to find Merlina even though he had told himself that it might not work. He sighed as he let a few tears drop down onto the ground, quickly absorbed by the dry land.
Why had he been trying to find her in the first place? It's not as if they were mega awesome, wonderful, totally bonded friends... But lately, he had come to realize that there was a hollow ache somewhere in him that was driving him to finding her. He had hoped that on finding her, he'd figure out what was happening, but he hadn't found her yet. And with that last thought, he began to weep.
*****
Merlina woke up slightly grouchy. She had been enjoying her rest when that silly tunnel came for her. She sighed and stretched her muscles. She had been only sleeping for about half an hour, she found out as she looked at her watch. She got up from her bed and went over to her desk and took out her brush to fix her hair. She absentmindedly looked out of the window to see the scenery. Her room faced the backyard and always offered her a serene and picturesque view of the woods. Today, there was a shining, mother of pearl colored shield in her yard. There was a shadow of something in the middle that she couldn't quite make out. She frowned slightly and went out to see what was the matter. As she got closer to the shield, her steps slowed down. She got close to the barrier and studied it carefully, it's magic reminding her slightly of something. She reached out to touch it and was surprised when it made way for her to enter the shield. She shook her head. What use was a shield that let someone come in with out a fight? She looked toward the center of the dome formed by the magic and was surprised at what she saw.
"...Xellos?..." she asked hesitantly. She remembered the purplish colored hair of the boy she had talked to before. On hearing her voice, his whole body tensed and he slowly got up from his kneeled position to look at who had come into the shield. He wiped tears from his eyes with his sleeve. On seeing her, his eyes widened with surprise and then with joy.
"Merlina!" he shouted. He sprinted toward her and caught her in a huge bear hug. Merlina stood shocked, not knowing what to do. She recognized the patterns on the floor. They were the patterns used to cast a summoning of a Mazoku. She was slightly shorter than Xellos and he had crushed her to him, his eyes letting tears flow again.
"Xellos?" she asked again. He held her at arms length and smiled.
"See, Merlina? I can cast a summoning also!" he said as he took in her surprised expression. Then he fainted with exertion into her arms. She sighed. Poor guy. He had made the same mistake again, and this time, he had been so tired and exhausted and emotionally spent that he had just fainted. She sighed and took him inside the house and set him on her bed. Her home didn't have guest rooms since hardly anyone came and it would have been a waste of money. As soon as he was sleeping soundly, she went out to clean up the yard. When she had put Xellos's things away, she had only to deal with the barrier. She closed her eyes and concentrated on it, trying to see how it would fall apart. Suddenly, she remembered how she was supposed to get it to go away. She went inside and drew a small insignia on the earth and used a small fireball to cause it to break apart. With a satisfied smile she picked everything up, not caring to know how she had suddenly known how it had worked.
*****
An hour later, Xellos woke up. He looked around him and noticed the strange bed and room. It was big and it had a desk and a small closet. There were hooks on the wall to hang up clothes and as Xellos inspected them a bit more, weapons. He walked around and stretched his muscles, trying to remember how he got here. He walked about the room, stroking his chin as his calm purple eyes stared at nothing in particular. He remembered he was in Zephyria and had gone to Merlina's home to cast the summoning and it hadn't worked, but then he still saw Merlina...
"That's it!" he told himself just as the smell of cooking meat assaulted his nose. He was in Merlina's room. He went to the window and saw that it was the yard, although his barrier wasn't there. Not that it posed much of a problem for him. Merlina was here! She had probably deactivated it. She'd be the only one to know how to other than him and any other people Jera's family had told. He noted the position of the sun, noting that is was probably 2 or 3 in the afternoon. With an excited look on his eyes, he ran down the stairs into the kitchen.
"Merlina!?" he asked as he entered the kitchen. There she was, her vibrant red hair pulled back as she cooked some food. She looked back and smiled at him.
"Good afternoon, Xellos." she said. Her face changed for a bit. "Before you get your hopes too high, I must tell you that I am the girl you ran across long ago in that harbor city at the southern end of the continent." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Xellos."
"You're... not..." He slunk into a chair.
"No, I'm not." she said. She flipped some meet from the pan and then put a plate of food before him. "Here, have some. You need to get your strength back.
"Thank you." he said as he stared at the plate before him. So, it hadn't been his Merlina that he had seen... it was the other one. Wait... what was she doing here? He asked her.
"Me?" asked Merlina. "Why, I'm here in Zephyria on some business and decided to come home to rest so that I don't have to go to an inn."
"Home?" he asked. "But... this is Merlina's home." She looked at him quizzically.
"No,... this is my home." she said. She looked at him. He looked tired, but not delirious. There was a reason for him to claim that this was some other girl's home. "Look, Xellos. It' s obvious that there is something strange going on. Now, I'm curious as to all of this and if you would be so kind as to tell me about your friend Merlina, maybe I can figure something out." Xellos stalled a bit. He didn't know how much he should tell her. But then again, she looked trustworthy. She also seemed worried also. Seeing his hesitation, Merlina spoke up.
"Here, I'll tell you what I know about you and your friend. Some is guesswork, I must admit, but I've been thinking about this for some time now. After that, if you think I'm being honest, you fill in for me the rest of the details, OK?" That sounded OK to Xellos and he nodded. "Here's what I know. You're looking for a girl who vanished about half a year ago. Her name is Merlina and she looks pretty much like me. You are here in Zephyria to cast a summoning spell, and looking at your materials, I'm guessing you're trying to summon a Mazoku. You were last caught in Senarry or something like that, and you were also trying to summon a Mazoku there. If I guess correctly you were also in Trystamine, right?" He nodded. "Now, you wonder how I know? I have a list saying where all the summoning places are where the fabric of reality is weak on certain days." There was some silence. "That's what I guessed. Now, I'm asking you for your story. I only have two questions for you, OK?" He nodded again. It seemed amazing to him that someone else seemed to know so much of what he had been doing.
"Here goes... question #1. You said that this was your Merlina's home..." she started.
"Not my Merlina." interrupted Xellos. "We were friends. We're not together or anything like that." She nodded with a smile.
"OK... if this is Merlina's home... she was a Zephyrian. What was her mother's name?" she asked.
"Her mother?" asked Xellos, not expecting that question. "Let's see... her name was Jera Quertwen." Merlina paled and sat on a chair to avoid falling over.
"OK... #2 Why was Merlina summoning Mazoku?" she asked, her eyes piercing his.
"How did you..." he started.
"I just knew. I put a few clues together. You and her visited cities where Mazoku can be summoned. This place also. And you were trying to summon one just now. Why?" she asked. Her fingers were gripping the wood of the table. Xellos took a deep breath.
"Merlina was not just summoning any Mazoku. She was looking for one in particular, called Merlin. What's wrong?" The last part was said with a touch of concern as Merlina gasped and started breathing quickly. She waved him away.
"I'll be OK." she said. She took a deep breath to calm herself. After a bit, she began to speak. "OK, you've been honest with me. I'll be honest with you." And with that, she told him what she suspected.
"My name is Merlina Quertwen." she began. Xellos looked at her with surprise. "I think... I am the Merlina you're looking for. But I'm sorry, I don't recognize you."
"What?" he asked. "But you can't be!"
"Says the one who has mistaken me twice for the other Merlina." said Merlina wryly.
"But... Merlina... you can't be. She was different!" he said, not knowing how to tell the girl before him.
"As in she was half mazoku and half human?" asked Merlina wryly.
"How did you know?" he asked, surprised.
"Because I happen to be half mazoku and half human." she said. "It's too coincidental. There's no other way it works out."
"But... but..." started Xellos as he looked at her.
"I too was looking for Merlin. I too was summoning Mazoku." she said. "I vanished from the human world when I found him and stayed with my father, Merlin." said Merlina.
"You... Then you are... Merlina?" asked Xellos.
"Yes." she said as she nodded her head.
"But... you don't remember me?" he asked. He felt empty. It was a victory. He had found her... but she didn't remember him...
"No, I'm sorry." she said as she looked at him, straight in the eyes. They were sad and pained.
"Well, that's OK." said Xellos trying to sound cheerful. "I'm glad you're all OK, Merlina!" Merlina felt even more rotten than she had before. She looked out the window, away from his gaze.
"So... well, I'm here. What did you want to tell me?" she finally asked.
"Huh?" asked Xellos.
"Well, I'm guessing that since you spent so long looking for me that there must have been a reason." said Merlina. "Something like... I don't know... I owe you money?"
"Well, not that." said Xellos. "I wanted to see how you were doing. You vanished when Merlin kidnapped you..."
"Wait... hang on a sec..." said Merlina. "He... kidnapped me?"
"Yeah." said Xellos. "We were in the temple building and you had just summoned him. He found out who you were, cast a sleep spell on you and took you away. That's why I spent so long searching. I feared he had done something to you."
Merlina fell silent as she thought through what he had told her.
"Are you sure?" she asked him. Xellos cocked his head at that weird question.
"Yeah. Anyway, some time ago, I finally completed a summon... the one you read in the newspaper. Merlin came and freed me but he didn't tell me anything about you and I feared the worst. I knew that you hated the Mazoku as well as the Dragons. Well, that's how you talked about them. Anyway, I thought either you were dead or were forced to become a total Mazoku." said Xellos. "Knowing that you were only half, I tried the summoning on you. Did it work, by the way?"
"Yes... but I closed the portal before it got to me." said Merlina. "Sorry, I didn't know it was a summoning. First time and all that." There was silence.
"So, what are you doing now?" asked Xellos, getting a bit uncomfortable.
"Me?" asked Merlina. She thought a bit. She worked for the Mazoku. She hung out with them. She actually got to torture a few last week since Zelas had told her to. She had known she had been a half Mazoku before. Now... what was she? Was it true that she used to dislike Mazoku? Odds were that she probably had. As she thought more and more, she realized that something was dreadfully wrong. Just the fact that she couldn't remember Xellos, yet he knew so much about her... at least, it seemed that way...
"I have a question for you." she said, ignoring his other question. "You seem to know me a lot. But I don't remember you. How can I trust you?" Her eyes looked at him. He seemed to be genuine... but she had to make sure.
"Well... I take it since you don't recognize me, then you probably don't remember everything that has happened, I take it?" asked Xellos. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll tell you what has happened."
An hour had passed since Xellos had begun his story. She had handled it all as bravely as she could and had strained her brain to remember something of what he was telling her. Oh, she remembered a few snippets here and there, but she didn't remember him. She had known her mother had died, but she didn't know that she had been searching for Merlin to get answers from him. And now.... it seemed as if the past few months had really happened and that her travels were all some dream, but she was getting more and more sure that her memories weren't complete. But she still had to make sure.
"I need proof." she said. Xellos thought for a bit. He understood why she needed the proof. He'd be pretty suspicious of anyone who came to him with information on his past that he didn't remember.
"Let me go get it." he said. He went upstairs to his room and grabbed his bag and took it down. As he sat down, he asked her to write something down. She took his offered quill and wrote a bit on a paper.
"Now?" she asked.
He took out the sheets of notes that Merlina had written. She compared them.
"And if that isn't enough.." said Xellos as he reached within his cloak and drew out his black staff. "Remember this?" He twirled the staff expertly in his fingers as he smiled at her. He was smiling not because he was finally convincing her that he wasn't a fake. He was smiling because of the memories that assaulted his brain. He remembered her smile on her lips and the twinkle of her eyes as they sparred. "You made it for me before you went off to find your father. I managed to follow you but it was sort of my fault you were caught by the first set of Dragons."
"May I?" she asked. He tossed it to her and she easily caught it. She spun it around and closed her eyes trying to remember. And for a brief moment, she did remember something.... about using a vision so that he wouldn't worry... She opened her eyes and looked at the base of the staff. There it was... her own special insignia, her miniature signature... She grasped the staff to her and concentrated on her memories. She tried to remember. And slowly, a small wisp of a memory came to her...
Xellos was surprised when he realized that Merlina was crying.
"Hey, are you OK?" he asked as he walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Instead of answering, she turned to him and cried into him. Xellos stood rock still, unsure of what to do in such a situation. Merlina had never cried like this before him. Heck, she had never cried before him, period!
He hugged her lightly, remembering all the lessons he had taken before on peer helping. He hugged her awkwardly, but he remembered that it didn't matter as long as he was there. Poor Merlina... she had just had her world turned upside down all over again. And once more, it was his fault. The first time was when her mother had died. Come to think of it, he had never figured out why or how? Maybe he should ask his mother if she was willing to tell him. All he remembered when he had walked down that fateful morning was Jera lying on the sofa, all pale and lifeless with her long red hair behind her in a mess. He had left before figuring out what had happened exactly. He had followed her and had caused her many problems, what with training him, helping him find a job, helping him learn how to live in the outside world with no servants. She had done so much for him, and it was because of him that she was caught by dragons. Of course, he helped her escape, and he had tagged along. She had allowed him to, as if humoring him. She probably had. That night before going in the temple, she had single-handedly caused such a huge ruckus in town, setting the whole place on fire. What had he done? Accused her of taking things too lightly. She had gotten mad at him and he had wanted to say sorry for that. He would have, but the next time he had seen her, Merlin had kidnapped her and he was left again. And now, he had finally found her and because of that, she was crying on him and wetting his shirt with her tears.
"I'm sorry..." said Xellos softly. "I should have thought more. I assumed you were unhappy with the Mazoku, Merlina. I assumed that you would probably have hated it without asking you. There I go again. You know, I've been thinking. All those problems of yours... it's all because I'm so clumsy and..."
"Don't say that..." said Merlina softly. She had finally stopped crying and had been listening to him. She got out of his small embrace and handed him his staff. She looked happier now, and she hurriedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. We have to leave, now."
"Huh?" asked Xellos. Merlina had begun putting things away and had run up the stairs. He hurriedly ran after her into her room. She was in there packing her bag. Everything was happening so fast...
"Hurry up, Xellos!" she said. With a start, Xellos realized that Merlina was acting... well... like Merlina! "Well, I have to go. Do you want to join me?" She looked at him with curiosity.
"What's happening?" he asked. And he, as usual, was acting as his normal clueless self. But he didn't mind too much. He'd follow her to the ends of the earth, he realized with a grin.
"We've got to go. Grab your stuff." said Merlina. She finished packing some clothes into her bag and took out her watch. She looked at the time and cursed. "Hurry up!" He did as ordered, grabbing his stuff and putting on his cloak. He put his staff away within the confines of his cloak and ran after her. She was in another room now. It was the same size and it also had a bed. With a start, he realized that this was Jera's room. He watched Merlina grab a few books and scrolls from the bookcase in the room and then grab pads and pads of notes. Those she hurriedly stuffed into her bag. With a start, he realized that she was stuffing into the bag more than should have been allowed...
"How...?" he started. Merlina looked up.
"...can I fit so much into it?" she finished for him with a smile. "That, is a secret!" He had to smile and laugh at that. She looked at him and slowly joined his laugh also. "Yeah.. I'll tell ya later. Meet me downstairs. You're talismans are on the counter. Be sure to get them." He ran down and did as told. She joined him in two minutes, her hair rapidly brushed, and her black cloak flapping all over the place. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the house. She looked at the sky and frowned. It still looked a bit sunny, but the sun was setting and Merlin or Mesphisel would be here soon to take her to Zelas. Well, she wasn't planning on waiting for them.
"Ray wing!" she cried. Xellos cast his own Levitation spell and flew after her.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Far from here!" she said. Then she stopped and looked at him. "By the way, did you have anything to do before we go? I'm sorry. I forgot to ask." Xellos thought a bit and realized that he had forgotten about something.
"Actually, I do." he said. Merlina nodded.
"Go to it. I'll meet you at the school in 10 minutes." she said. He nodded and quickly flew off in the direction of his mother's home. He should at least tell her good bye or something like that.
*****
Merlina was sitting down on one of the swings in the school swing set. The sun was setting... where was Xellos? They'd be here soon and she didn't want them to find her. As she had walked about and grabbed stuff in the house, something had occurred to her. All of a sudden, small memories came leaking back, always slowly but they came. Sometimes she found herself smiling and sometimes, she was shocked. But usually, her memories were pleasant memories, especially of the time she and Xellos had traveled all over the place. How could she have forgotten such times? Someone had tampered with her mind. What for? Well, she'd figure it out. Seeing that no one was around, she dug into her pocket and pulled out the letter that Mrs. Kyuzan had given her. She remembered being shocked on seeing her be the messenger. More memories of her came. All the times she had come to the witches house talking about some private business. It hadn't been that strange to her. Many of the town's prominent ladies who looked down on 'witchcraft' had visited her mother many times. Hypocrites! The whole lot of them! She opened the letter and read it. She had regained her human part. It was like in dealing with the summoning. As a Mazoku, she would have followed the summoning. But, as a human, she had been able to rebel. As a Mazoku, she had obeyed Zelas and let her toy around with her. But now that she had recovered her human part, all her memories, she once more could rebel. And she would. How dare Zelas do this? She scanned the letter, read it carefully and then angrily stuffed it into her pocket. Many of life's horrid truths were detailed in the letter. She'd have to think of something later. Once Xellos and her were out of here. She took out her watch. Xellos was taking too long. Merlin was always on time. She had five minutes to find him. With a determined look on her face, she headed towards his home.
*****
"I'm home." he said as he announced himself into the house. His mother appeared from the study and smiled at him.
"Oh, Xellos! How was your little walk?" she asked. "I hope it was OK. Take of your cloak, supper will be ready soon. Oh, and I can't wait to tell you all the news I have!" She smiled at him and ushered him to the living room.
"Mother, I need to tell you something." he said, but she ignored him.
"Oh, and I had cook make your favorite!" she said with a smile as she clapped for the servants to set the table. "Besides, today I talked with my friend, Mrs. Terrish, and she was absolutely delighted with the idea that you would tutor her daughter."
"Mother... please listen to me!" said Xellos. He stood up. "I'm leaving. Right now. I wanted to say good bye before going this time."
"What?" she asked. "Xellos, you can't leave now!" Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to leave?"
"I have other engagements." said Xellos as he left the room. She ran after him.
"Xellos, as your mother, I demand to know why you are leaving right now!" she said angrily, all traces of her happiness leaving her face.
"Mother, I'm old enough to take care of myself." said Xellos. He went into the kitchen and told the cook that he wouldn't be eating.
"Yes he will!" said his mother. Xellos sighed.
"No, I won't. Go ahead and cook it if you want, but it will be a waste since I'm not planning on eating it. Good bye." He went out of the kitchen and made it to the door.
"Xellos! Come back here right now, young man!" shouted his mother.
"Mother... I'm not. See you around." he said. He opened the door and ran out, bumping into Merlina who was running up the stairs to his house. "Oh, hi Merlina! I was just leaving."
"You!!!" shouted Mrs. Kyuzan as she caught sight of Merlina. "Get out of here!"
"I was just leaving, Mrs. Kyuzan." said Merlina coldly. Xellos followed her.
"Xellos! What are you doing? What is the meaning of this?" asked his mother. Xellos grinned at her in the same way Merlina had grinned at him before.
"That, my dear mother, is a secret." he said. The two casted Raywing and left the house. She slumped against the door and walked in. She opened the liquor cabinet and poured herself a drink. After about 10 minutes, she felt him come in.
"I passed the message," she told to the shadow.
"Good." said a melodious voice. "And how is your son? I heard some people say he was around."
"He left." she said dully. The figure also left, leaving her alone in the room. She sighed, locked the cabinet and went upstairs to rest.
End of Chapter 12
Hi!!!! This is one of my longer chapters, I will admit! Anyway... how are all of you doing? I hope you're all fine! Sorry for the extremely long wait. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I had fun writing it. Anyway... the plot thickens some more. More concerning Merlina's reaction later when she talks to Xellos. Right now, it is only her immediate reactions. Her deeper ones will soon be revealed. (around next chapter...) Xellos also reveals some thoughts. What was in that letter? Sore wa himitsu desu. More concerning that soon. Same thing with the mysterious guy at the end of the chapter.
Anyway, thank you for all your encouragement. Please drop a review for this poor little authoress. Please? It's always so nice and encouraging to see your notes on the story. Thank you so much for reading this!
Take care!
Hotaru
by Hotaru
Disclaimer: Slayers is not mine. But it's such an awesome cartoon I wanted to see what little bit I could contribute to its story line. ^.^
Chapter 12
Xellos walked away from his home, his steps slow and sure. He used his staff, but it was quite obvious to whoever cared to watch that he did not need to use his staff for walking purposes. But no one was there to make that observation, except one.
"Xellos?" asked a voice. Xellos stopped hesitantly. He thought he recognized the voice... He slowly turned around, his purple eyes taking in everything he saw. His gaze came to rest on a petite lady who stood a few meters from him.
"Xellos, is that you?" asked the lady. He looked at her and walked slowly towards her. He took in her black hair, the familiar curve of her face and the unsure purple eyes.
"M..m...mother?" he asked, not quite believing it.
"Oh, Xellos!" she cried and ran to him, giving him a tight hug as tears leaked out from her closed eyes. "I thought I'd never see you..."
"Mom?" he asked as he held her at arms length from him. He had grown taller than her and she looked different. She still had that slight look of nobility that others called pride, but she had changed. She looked more tired than before and sadder.
"Oh, Xellos. I'm so glad you came back!" she said. He hugged her awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Within a minute, she had composed herself. She wiped her tears and stood up straight looking like a noble with a regal look on her face. "Oh, forgive me, Xellos. You must be tired after your trip. Do come into your home." She led him to the house.
Xellos followed her as if in a dream. He hadn't known what to expect when he had come to Zephyria, but he hadn't been expecting this. The house looked just as neat and in order as he remembered it. There were new servants there, although he recognized one or two of them. They certainly remembered him and bowed to him. Xellos bowed back, forgetting that here, he was a rich family's son and was higher and more important than them. But living by yourself for a long time made you realize that everyone was too uniquely different to be judged simply. His mother clapped her hands and ordered for tea to be made. She led him into the living room and had him sit down on one of the very comfortable chairs around there.
"How are you Xellos?" she asked. Xellos looked at her. She was acting more normal now. She had composed herself too, and looked like the perfect hostess.
"I am doing fine, mother." he said as he accepted a teacup from a servant. "And you?"
"Oh, it's been fine here also." she said as she put a lump of sugar in her tea. Xellos declined the sucrose, preferring his to be bitter. "What have you been doing?" she asked.
"Nothing much. Traveling around." he said. "I went to many towns and cities. I'm even in a guild now."
"You work?" she asked, surprise coming over her features.
"Of course." he said. "I had to find a way to make a living. And it has been quite nice. It's an easy job for me and it pays well."
"What do you do?" she asked, curious.
"I'm part of the Guild of Healers." said Xellos.
"Oh, I'm glad!" said the mother. "Not that you have to work, of course. But that you are still practicing your white magic."
"Of course, mother." he said. He watched his mother finish the last of her tea and stand up briskly.
"Well, now that you're back, you won't have to work anymore." she said as she smiled at him. "You don't know how lonely I've been here this past year and a half. If you want, I'll send a letter to the Guild Head closest here to remove you from the list if you don't want to write it yourself. Now that you're here, you can finally relax after all that traveling you've done." she said with a smile. Xellos was shocked. "You know... I was thinking,... even if you do want to work, I'm sure we can find something that won't stress you too much. Perhaps tutoring, or even teach at the school. I'm sure the people would be thrilled to hear about you! And oh, so many things to be done! You know, there is a very sweet girl I know of. She's 15 and I'm sure she'd be absolutely thrilled if you became her tutor. She's from a good family also, you know. I'm sure you two will hit of so well!" She got up and walked about the room, looking excited. Then she glanced at the clock.
"Oh, dearie me!" she said. "I must be going! Take care Xellos. I'll take care of everything. You can relax now!" She hurried out before Xellos could say anything or stop her.
"What was that about?" he asked himself as he stood up. He hadn't understood what she had said. It was something about him quitting the Guild. She had actually spoken as if he were going to stay here to live! She probably had been thinking that. Well, he wasn't sure what he'd do. He'd first see what would turn about with the summoning. He took the teacups and cleaned up the table. A servant boy came and looked surprised on seeing Xellos cleaning up and drying up any spilled drops of tea.
"Sir!" he said as he ran forward. "I'm sorry. Here, let me take it for you."
"No, nonsense." said Xellos. "Here, grab a biscuit. I never liked tea with biscuits anyway." He passed the thin silver plate to him. The boy looked at him and Xellos smiled. "Go ahead. They're good, but I don't like anything with my tea, you know."
"Thank you, sir." said the kid. He took a little piece that had broken off from one of the other biscuits.
"No, take a whole one." said Xellos. He plucked one with a napkin and gave it to the kid. "It may seem a bit dry on the outside, but it has jelly inside. You'll like it. Unless you don't like strawberry jelly." He grinned and took the tray with all the tea things and went to set it in the kitchen. The kid just looked after him with a surprised look on his face. Then he smiled. His new master was a nice person, it seemed. He looked at the biscuit in the napkin. He had even used a napkin so that it was totally clean. He smiled and took it out back to where the servant's quarters were and split it with his mother, who did the gardening at the huge house.
*****
Merlina walked about the city. She had decided that it would be better if she didn't make her presence too obvious. She would only stay for one day anyway. So she walked in the shadows and put all her skill in sneaking along the streets of what used to be her home. She noticed with some satisfaction that no one really saw her and that many things were still the same. Her home was on the outskirts of town. She remembered it with a slight smile on her face. She came across her house and just stood before it. It was a small, tiny house. They were only two people. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It may be small, but it had the woods as a backyard, and she remembered all the lessons that her mother had given her in sword fighting. She had been the Swordsman of Light even though she had been a girl instead of a guy. She shook her head. Enough about memories. She opened the door and preceded to wait in there for the messenger of whoever it was that was sending a note to Zelas. She wondered who it'd be. Would the messenger be a townsperson? Or a stranger who wouldn't recognize her? Or maybe a lower Mazoku who served as spy for Zelas. She draped her black cloak over a chair. She noticed with satisfaction that the place wasn't too vandalized. People had been probably too scared to enter the witches home. She looked through the cupboards. She found some food, all moldy, rotten and decomposing after so long. She did some clean up, throwing away all the dirty and dead stuff in the house. She summoned a small wind and used it to blow the dust out the window. A small water spell served to wash the simple wooden table and the small pieces of furniture here and there. She thought a bit and then grinned. It would be nice if she had something small to offer to the messenger. It would certainly put them off balance. She went out and chose the newest looking shop and bought some cookies and bread with nuts and a small simple plate to put them on. She also bought some juice and two glasses where she poured the juice into. Merlina stood in the middle of the kitchen and looked.
'There.' she thought to herself. 'It looks decent now. I can entertain some company in here, now.' She took out from her bag a small watch. She had saved some money from her small fights with bandits and robbers and from the allowance her father gave her once she started going to town, and had bought a small pocket watch. It had a simple silver cover and you opened it like a locket. Inside was the face of the watch, all in black with small silver numbers and two small silver hands. She had liked it a lot. The clock's soft ticking accompanied her as she sat down at the table, facing away from the door. It was called setting up an atmosphere. She had put her cloak back on, but left the hood down, letting her now, long red hair tumbling down her back. In two minutes there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." she said, loud enough for the person outside to hear. And the door creaked open slowly. "In the kitchen, please." The footsteps got closer and closer, louder and louder.
"You are the messenger?" asked Merlina. She didn't look at whoever it was who came in. She motioned for the person to have a seat. "Sit down, and have a snack. The bread is fresh."
There was a gasp from behind her. Normally, Merlina would have turned around hurriedly to see what was happening, but months of training to look composed had changed her a bit and all she did was turn slowly to look at the messenger. What she saw, could be said to have shocked her.
Five minutes later, the messenger was sitting across from Merlina looking into Merlina's cold, red eyes.
"So we see each other again." said Merlina. She offered the messenger a glass of juice. "Like I said, help yourself to some bread. Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything like that."
Mrs. Kyuzan's face was set in a resolute mask of uncaring. Only her eyes betrayed her, and they were scared and surprised.
"I take it you have a note for me, Mrs. Kyuzan?" asked Merlina with a cold smile on her face. She took a bite out of a cookie and then took a small sip of juice.
"Yes." said the messenger trying to sound brave. Her purple eyes wavered a bit.
"Oh, don't get it now." said Merlina. "We have some time. Do have a small bite to eat. I'm so dreadfully sorry that I can only offer you some bread, cookies and juice. But you must know that I just came in today." Xellos's mother took a small sip of juice. She cleared her throat and spoke.
"Although this is a most opportune moment to talk, I'm afraid I must get going. I have many duties to oversee." she said. She reached into her pocket and drew out a note.
"Why, thank you." said Merlina. "So nice of you to send the message to my boss." Mrs. Kyuzan left as quickly as she could.
When she had left, Merlina let out a depressed sigh. She walked about the kitchen cleaning up while speaking to herself. "How depressing!" she said. "Life stinks... to think that Mrs. Kyuzan, the town's leading white priestess... sending a note to Zelas Beastmaster... " She sat down on a chair and sighed some more. Sometimes... you wondered about people. People could be just as tricky and as evil as Mazoku. She decided to just rest for a bit. She felt like she had no energy to do anything else. Even finding Xellos took a back burner to the suffocating sense of tiredness and apathy she was feeling. She locked the door of the house and went up to her room. She aired out her bed and rested on it for a bit, letting her tired eyes close.
*****
Xellos had left the house as soon as he finished helping put the tea things away. He had nothing too great against his mother and that is why he had left a note saying that he'd be back later because he had important matters to attend to. He walked to the place where the summoning site was supposed to be. He opened up his senses to see where the actual weakening was. He walked through a few streets he didn't recognize and soon came upon a small house that looked abandoned. He stopped in front. He recognized this house. Merlina used to live here along with her mother. It was probably just another coincidence...
Here, he sat on the small porch of the house and looked about him. It was a nice place, he had to admit. He still remembered how he used to look down on Merlina's place with scorn. It was overrun with plants and trees because it was right at the edge of the forest. Not only that, but the house was small, compared to his home. But after months of traveling and seeing inns in worse shape than this, he began to realize how nice the place was. Due to its growth of plants, it looked like it was in the woods instead of Zephyria. It had a huge backyard that was connected to the woods, providing a nice place to rest, to practice or to just look at. The house was simple and practical and the whole area was extremely picturesque. He closed his eyes and imagined how it must have been when Merlina was here along with her mother. She remembered those few times when Merlina had walked into class looking tired and sporting bruises but her eyes had always been satisfied. He had wondered about it and found out later through one of his constant companions that she had been in a fight. They had, of course, forgotten to mention that she had been training with her mother. He had figured that out by asking one of the servants who knew the Quertwen family.
He abruptly got up and walked to the backyard. That was were the weakening of the fabric of reality was. It sort of made sense to him that one of the weak spots was where Merlina and Jera had lived. They had probably taken good care of it since they usually didn't let others come into their home.
He stood in the middle of the yard and traced his circles and stars. He then proceeded to place amplifying talismans around the yard. He hadn't seen any dragons around Zephyria who would stop him, but he had to be sure. When they were set, he threw his strongest barrier spell through one of the talismans. It immediately activated, rising a foot above ground. It gave off a shard of light. As if in reply, the other talismans also rose from the ground. The shard of light jumped from talisman to talisman, looking as if it were running and jumping from one to the other. He smiled as he saw the spell work. Before leaving on his trip to Zephyria, he had done even more research. Mostly from Merlina's notes. He had read through all of them and had been surprised to see at all the notes she had. They were written in two hands, some written by Jera and others by Merlina. It was surprising to see all the knowledge that Merlina had in sheets of paper. Jera had written many spells and notes on various things that had been passed from her family of white mages and had given to Merlina. Which was where he had found this barrier spell. He stepped in, sprinkled the ingredients about and performed the summoning.
*****
Merlina was having a dreamless sleep. Her consciousness was relaxing slightly, and all around her mind there was an all encompassing blackness that sucked out the light out of anything. She was in that darkness, resting against nothing as she drifted in her sleep. Suddenly, there was a hole forming to one side of her where the darkness began to lighten up. It formed a tunnel that began to reach for her. As soon as it touched her foot, Merlina jumped awake in her consciousness and looked wildly about her.
"What the.." she started. She jumped back, getting out of the way of the tunnel that seemed to be reaching for her. "What is this!?" She got out of the way and frowned. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. Hurriedly, she summoned her power to her and used it to manipulate her consciousness. The tunnel got smaller and smaller but still tried to reach her. "Stay away!" she shouted at it as she once more manipulated her astral surroundings. With a final twist of her wrist, the tunnel was smashed and it faded. She rolled her eyes and fixed her hair. "Stupid thing. This is the last time I'm sleeping on the Astral Plane ever again!" She closed her eyes to concentrate and then woke herself up.
*****
Xellos sank down into the ground, fatigue sweeping over him. It hadn't worked. For a moment, the spell had been pulling on something but it was only momentary and then the spell had been sent back to him with nothing. He sighed. It was supposed to find Merlina... and this seemed to show that Merlina wasn't a Mazoku. Which left the possibility that she was gone or that she was locked up somewhere that not even a summoning spell would be able to pull them from. He rested on his knees, trying to concentrate on something other than the deep sense of desperation that was beginning to wash over him. He trembled and clutched the grass wildly in his hands as he tightened his eyes. He had been staking all his hopes on being able to find Merlina even though he had told himself that it might not work. He sighed as he let a few tears drop down onto the ground, quickly absorbed by the dry land.
Why had he been trying to find her in the first place? It's not as if they were mega awesome, wonderful, totally bonded friends... But lately, he had come to realize that there was a hollow ache somewhere in him that was driving him to finding her. He had hoped that on finding her, he'd figure out what was happening, but he hadn't found her yet. And with that last thought, he began to weep.
*****
Merlina woke up slightly grouchy. She had been enjoying her rest when that silly tunnel came for her. She sighed and stretched her muscles. She had been only sleeping for about half an hour, she found out as she looked at her watch. She got up from her bed and went over to her desk and took out her brush to fix her hair. She absentmindedly looked out of the window to see the scenery. Her room faced the backyard and always offered her a serene and picturesque view of the woods. Today, there was a shining, mother of pearl colored shield in her yard. There was a shadow of something in the middle that she couldn't quite make out. She frowned slightly and went out to see what was the matter. As she got closer to the shield, her steps slowed down. She got close to the barrier and studied it carefully, it's magic reminding her slightly of something. She reached out to touch it and was surprised when it made way for her to enter the shield. She shook her head. What use was a shield that let someone come in with out a fight? She looked toward the center of the dome formed by the magic and was surprised at what she saw.
"...Xellos?..." she asked hesitantly. She remembered the purplish colored hair of the boy she had talked to before. On hearing her voice, his whole body tensed and he slowly got up from his kneeled position to look at who had come into the shield. He wiped tears from his eyes with his sleeve. On seeing her, his eyes widened with surprise and then with joy.
"Merlina!" he shouted. He sprinted toward her and caught her in a huge bear hug. Merlina stood shocked, not knowing what to do. She recognized the patterns on the floor. They were the patterns used to cast a summoning of a Mazoku. She was slightly shorter than Xellos and he had crushed her to him, his eyes letting tears flow again.
"Xellos?" she asked again. He held her at arms length and smiled.
"See, Merlina? I can cast a summoning also!" he said as he took in her surprised expression. Then he fainted with exertion into her arms. She sighed. Poor guy. He had made the same mistake again, and this time, he had been so tired and exhausted and emotionally spent that he had just fainted. She sighed and took him inside the house and set him on her bed. Her home didn't have guest rooms since hardly anyone came and it would have been a waste of money. As soon as he was sleeping soundly, she went out to clean up the yard. When she had put Xellos's things away, she had only to deal with the barrier. She closed her eyes and concentrated on it, trying to see how it would fall apart. Suddenly, she remembered how she was supposed to get it to go away. She went inside and drew a small insignia on the earth and used a small fireball to cause it to break apart. With a satisfied smile she picked everything up, not caring to know how she had suddenly known how it had worked.
*****
An hour later, Xellos woke up. He looked around him and noticed the strange bed and room. It was big and it had a desk and a small closet. There were hooks on the wall to hang up clothes and as Xellos inspected them a bit more, weapons. He walked around and stretched his muscles, trying to remember how he got here. He walked about the room, stroking his chin as his calm purple eyes stared at nothing in particular. He remembered he was in Zephyria and had gone to Merlina's home to cast the summoning and it hadn't worked, but then he still saw Merlina...
"That's it!" he told himself just as the smell of cooking meat assaulted his nose. He was in Merlina's room. He went to the window and saw that it was the yard, although his barrier wasn't there. Not that it posed much of a problem for him. Merlina was here! She had probably deactivated it. She'd be the only one to know how to other than him and any other people Jera's family had told. He noted the position of the sun, noting that is was probably 2 or 3 in the afternoon. With an excited look on his eyes, he ran down the stairs into the kitchen.
"Merlina!?" he asked as he entered the kitchen. There she was, her vibrant red hair pulled back as she cooked some food. She looked back and smiled at him.
"Good afternoon, Xellos." she said. Her face changed for a bit. "Before you get your hopes too high, I must tell you that I am the girl you ran across long ago in that harbor city at the southern end of the continent." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Xellos."
"You're... not..." He slunk into a chair.
"No, I'm not." she said. She flipped some meet from the pan and then put a plate of food before him. "Here, have some. You need to get your strength back.
"Thank you." he said as he stared at the plate before him. So, it hadn't been his Merlina that he had seen... it was the other one. Wait... what was she doing here? He asked her.
"Me?" asked Merlina. "Why, I'm here in Zephyria on some business and decided to come home to rest so that I don't have to go to an inn."
"Home?" he asked. "But... this is Merlina's home." She looked at him quizzically.
"No,... this is my home." she said. She looked at him. He looked tired, but not delirious. There was a reason for him to claim that this was some other girl's home. "Look, Xellos. It' s obvious that there is something strange going on. Now, I'm curious as to all of this and if you would be so kind as to tell me about your friend Merlina, maybe I can figure something out." Xellos stalled a bit. He didn't know how much he should tell her. But then again, she looked trustworthy. She also seemed worried also. Seeing his hesitation, Merlina spoke up.
"Here, I'll tell you what I know about you and your friend. Some is guesswork, I must admit, but I've been thinking about this for some time now. After that, if you think I'm being honest, you fill in for me the rest of the details, OK?" That sounded OK to Xellos and he nodded. "Here's what I know. You're looking for a girl who vanished about half a year ago. Her name is Merlina and she looks pretty much like me. You are here in Zephyria to cast a summoning spell, and looking at your materials, I'm guessing you're trying to summon a Mazoku. You were last caught in Senarry or something like that, and you were also trying to summon a Mazoku there. If I guess correctly you were also in Trystamine, right?" He nodded. "Now, you wonder how I know? I have a list saying where all the summoning places are where the fabric of reality is weak on certain days." There was some silence. "That's what I guessed. Now, I'm asking you for your story. I only have two questions for you, OK?" He nodded again. It seemed amazing to him that someone else seemed to know so much of what he had been doing.
"Here goes... question #1. You said that this was your Merlina's home..." she started.
"Not my Merlina." interrupted Xellos. "We were friends. We're not together or anything like that." She nodded with a smile.
"OK... if this is Merlina's home... she was a Zephyrian. What was her mother's name?" she asked.
"Her mother?" asked Xellos, not expecting that question. "Let's see... her name was Jera Quertwen." Merlina paled and sat on a chair to avoid falling over.
"OK... #2 Why was Merlina summoning Mazoku?" she asked, her eyes piercing his.
"How did you..." he started.
"I just knew. I put a few clues together. You and her visited cities where Mazoku can be summoned. This place also. And you were trying to summon one just now. Why?" she asked. Her fingers were gripping the wood of the table. Xellos took a deep breath.
"Merlina was not just summoning any Mazoku. She was looking for one in particular, called Merlin. What's wrong?" The last part was said with a touch of concern as Merlina gasped and started breathing quickly. She waved him away.
"I'll be OK." she said. She took a deep breath to calm herself. After a bit, she began to speak. "OK, you've been honest with me. I'll be honest with you." And with that, she told him what she suspected.
"My name is Merlina Quertwen." she began. Xellos looked at her with surprise. "I think... I am the Merlina you're looking for. But I'm sorry, I don't recognize you."
"What?" he asked. "But you can't be!"
"Says the one who has mistaken me twice for the other Merlina." said Merlina wryly.
"But... Merlina... you can't be. She was different!" he said, not knowing how to tell the girl before him.
"As in she was half mazoku and half human?" asked Merlina wryly.
"How did you know?" he asked, surprised.
"Because I happen to be half mazoku and half human." she said. "It's too coincidental. There's no other way it works out."
"But... but..." started Xellos as he looked at her.
"I too was looking for Merlin. I too was summoning Mazoku." she said. "I vanished from the human world when I found him and stayed with my father, Merlin." said Merlina.
"You... Then you are... Merlina?" asked Xellos.
"Yes." she said as she nodded her head.
"But... you don't remember me?" he asked. He felt empty. It was a victory. He had found her... but she didn't remember him...
"No, I'm sorry." she said as she looked at him, straight in the eyes. They were sad and pained.
"Well, that's OK." said Xellos trying to sound cheerful. "I'm glad you're all OK, Merlina!" Merlina felt even more rotten than she had before. She looked out the window, away from his gaze.
"So... well, I'm here. What did you want to tell me?" she finally asked.
"Huh?" asked Xellos.
"Well, I'm guessing that since you spent so long looking for me that there must have been a reason." said Merlina. "Something like... I don't know... I owe you money?"
"Well, not that." said Xellos. "I wanted to see how you were doing. You vanished when Merlin kidnapped you..."
"Wait... hang on a sec..." said Merlina. "He... kidnapped me?"
"Yeah." said Xellos. "We were in the temple building and you had just summoned him. He found out who you were, cast a sleep spell on you and took you away. That's why I spent so long searching. I feared he had done something to you."
Merlina fell silent as she thought through what he had told her.
"Are you sure?" she asked him. Xellos cocked his head at that weird question.
"Yeah. Anyway, some time ago, I finally completed a summon... the one you read in the newspaper. Merlin came and freed me but he didn't tell me anything about you and I feared the worst. I knew that you hated the Mazoku as well as the Dragons. Well, that's how you talked about them. Anyway, I thought either you were dead or were forced to become a total Mazoku." said Xellos. "Knowing that you were only half, I tried the summoning on you. Did it work, by the way?"
"Yes... but I closed the portal before it got to me." said Merlina. "Sorry, I didn't know it was a summoning. First time and all that." There was silence.
"So, what are you doing now?" asked Xellos, getting a bit uncomfortable.
"Me?" asked Merlina. She thought a bit. She worked for the Mazoku. She hung out with them. She actually got to torture a few last week since Zelas had told her to. She had known she had been a half Mazoku before. Now... what was she? Was it true that she used to dislike Mazoku? Odds were that she probably had. As she thought more and more, she realized that something was dreadfully wrong. Just the fact that she couldn't remember Xellos, yet he knew so much about her... at least, it seemed that way...
"I have a question for you." she said, ignoring his other question. "You seem to know me a lot. But I don't remember you. How can I trust you?" Her eyes looked at him. He seemed to be genuine... but she had to make sure.
"Well... I take it since you don't recognize me, then you probably don't remember everything that has happened, I take it?" asked Xellos. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll tell you what has happened."
An hour had passed since Xellos had begun his story. She had handled it all as bravely as she could and had strained her brain to remember something of what he was telling her. Oh, she remembered a few snippets here and there, but she didn't remember him. She had known her mother had died, but she didn't know that she had been searching for Merlin to get answers from him. And now.... it seemed as if the past few months had really happened and that her travels were all some dream, but she was getting more and more sure that her memories weren't complete. But she still had to make sure.
"I need proof." she said. Xellos thought for a bit. He understood why she needed the proof. He'd be pretty suspicious of anyone who came to him with information on his past that he didn't remember.
"Let me go get it." he said. He went upstairs to his room and grabbed his bag and took it down. As he sat down, he asked her to write something down. She took his offered quill and wrote a bit on a paper.
"Now?" she asked.
He took out the sheets of notes that Merlina had written. She compared them.
"And if that isn't enough.." said Xellos as he reached within his cloak and drew out his black staff. "Remember this?" He twirled the staff expertly in his fingers as he smiled at her. He was smiling not because he was finally convincing her that he wasn't a fake. He was smiling because of the memories that assaulted his brain. He remembered her smile on her lips and the twinkle of her eyes as they sparred. "You made it for me before you went off to find your father. I managed to follow you but it was sort of my fault you were caught by the first set of Dragons."
"May I?" she asked. He tossed it to her and she easily caught it. She spun it around and closed her eyes trying to remember. And for a brief moment, she did remember something.... about using a vision so that he wouldn't worry... She opened her eyes and looked at the base of the staff. There it was... her own special insignia, her miniature signature... She grasped the staff to her and concentrated on her memories. She tried to remember. And slowly, a small wisp of a memory came to her...
Xellos was surprised when he realized that Merlina was crying.
"Hey, are you OK?" he asked as he walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Instead of answering, she turned to him and cried into him. Xellos stood rock still, unsure of what to do in such a situation. Merlina had never cried like this before him. Heck, she had never cried before him, period!
He hugged her lightly, remembering all the lessons he had taken before on peer helping. He hugged her awkwardly, but he remembered that it didn't matter as long as he was there. Poor Merlina... she had just had her world turned upside down all over again. And once more, it was his fault. The first time was when her mother had died. Come to think of it, he had never figured out why or how? Maybe he should ask his mother if she was willing to tell him. All he remembered when he had walked down that fateful morning was Jera lying on the sofa, all pale and lifeless with her long red hair behind her in a mess. He had left before figuring out what had happened exactly. He had followed her and had caused her many problems, what with training him, helping him find a job, helping him learn how to live in the outside world with no servants. She had done so much for him, and it was because of him that she was caught by dragons. Of course, he helped her escape, and he had tagged along. She had allowed him to, as if humoring him. She probably had. That night before going in the temple, she had single-handedly caused such a huge ruckus in town, setting the whole place on fire. What had he done? Accused her of taking things too lightly. She had gotten mad at him and he had wanted to say sorry for that. He would have, but the next time he had seen her, Merlin had kidnapped her and he was left again. And now, he had finally found her and because of that, she was crying on him and wetting his shirt with her tears.
"I'm sorry..." said Xellos softly. "I should have thought more. I assumed you were unhappy with the Mazoku, Merlina. I assumed that you would probably have hated it without asking you. There I go again. You know, I've been thinking. All those problems of yours... it's all because I'm so clumsy and..."
"Don't say that..." said Merlina softly. She had finally stopped crying and had been listening to him. She got out of his small embrace and handed him his staff. She looked happier now, and she hurriedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. We have to leave, now."
"Huh?" asked Xellos. Merlina had begun putting things away and had run up the stairs. He hurriedly ran after her into her room. She was in there packing her bag. Everything was happening so fast...
"Hurry up, Xellos!" she said. With a start, Xellos realized that Merlina was acting... well... like Merlina! "Well, I have to go. Do you want to join me?" She looked at him with curiosity.
"What's happening?" he asked. And he, as usual, was acting as his normal clueless self. But he didn't mind too much. He'd follow her to the ends of the earth, he realized with a grin.
"We've got to go. Grab your stuff." said Merlina. She finished packing some clothes into her bag and took out her watch. She looked at the time and cursed. "Hurry up!" He did as ordered, grabbing his stuff and putting on his cloak. He put his staff away within the confines of his cloak and ran after her. She was in another room now. It was the same size and it also had a bed. With a start, he realized that this was Jera's room. He watched Merlina grab a few books and scrolls from the bookcase in the room and then grab pads and pads of notes. Those she hurriedly stuffed into her bag. With a start, he realized that she was stuffing into the bag more than should have been allowed...
"How...?" he started. Merlina looked up.
"...can I fit so much into it?" she finished for him with a smile. "That, is a secret!" He had to smile and laugh at that. She looked at him and slowly joined his laugh also. "Yeah.. I'll tell ya later. Meet me downstairs. You're talismans are on the counter. Be sure to get them." He ran down and did as told. She joined him in two minutes, her hair rapidly brushed, and her black cloak flapping all over the place. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the house. She looked at the sky and frowned. It still looked a bit sunny, but the sun was setting and Merlin or Mesphisel would be here soon to take her to Zelas. Well, she wasn't planning on waiting for them.
"Ray wing!" she cried. Xellos cast his own Levitation spell and flew after her.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Far from here!" she said. Then she stopped and looked at him. "By the way, did you have anything to do before we go? I'm sorry. I forgot to ask." Xellos thought a bit and realized that he had forgotten about something.
"Actually, I do." he said. Merlina nodded.
"Go to it. I'll meet you at the school in 10 minutes." she said. He nodded and quickly flew off in the direction of his mother's home. He should at least tell her good bye or something like that.
*****
Merlina was sitting down on one of the swings in the school swing set. The sun was setting... where was Xellos? They'd be here soon and she didn't want them to find her. As she had walked about and grabbed stuff in the house, something had occurred to her. All of a sudden, small memories came leaking back, always slowly but they came. Sometimes she found herself smiling and sometimes, she was shocked. But usually, her memories were pleasant memories, especially of the time she and Xellos had traveled all over the place. How could she have forgotten such times? Someone had tampered with her mind. What for? Well, she'd figure it out. Seeing that no one was around, she dug into her pocket and pulled out the letter that Mrs. Kyuzan had given her. She remembered being shocked on seeing her be the messenger. More memories of her came. All the times she had come to the witches house talking about some private business. It hadn't been that strange to her. Many of the town's prominent ladies who looked down on 'witchcraft' had visited her mother many times. Hypocrites! The whole lot of them! She opened the letter and read it. She had regained her human part. It was like in dealing with the summoning. As a Mazoku, she would have followed the summoning. But, as a human, she had been able to rebel. As a Mazoku, she had obeyed Zelas and let her toy around with her. But now that she had recovered her human part, all her memories, she once more could rebel. And she would. How dare Zelas do this? She scanned the letter, read it carefully and then angrily stuffed it into her pocket. Many of life's horrid truths were detailed in the letter. She'd have to think of something later. Once Xellos and her were out of here. She took out her watch. Xellos was taking too long. Merlin was always on time. She had five minutes to find him. With a determined look on her face, she headed towards his home.
*****
"I'm home." he said as he announced himself into the house. His mother appeared from the study and smiled at him.
"Oh, Xellos! How was your little walk?" she asked. "I hope it was OK. Take of your cloak, supper will be ready soon. Oh, and I can't wait to tell you all the news I have!" She smiled at him and ushered him to the living room.
"Mother, I need to tell you something." he said, but she ignored him.
"Oh, and I had cook make your favorite!" she said with a smile as she clapped for the servants to set the table. "Besides, today I talked with my friend, Mrs. Terrish, and she was absolutely delighted with the idea that you would tutor her daughter."
"Mother... please listen to me!" said Xellos. He stood up. "I'm leaving. Right now. I wanted to say good bye before going this time."
"What?" she asked. "Xellos, you can't leave now!" Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to leave?"
"I have other engagements." said Xellos as he left the room. She ran after him.
"Xellos, as your mother, I demand to know why you are leaving right now!" she said angrily, all traces of her happiness leaving her face.
"Mother, I'm old enough to take care of myself." said Xellos. He went into the kitchen and told the cook that he wouldn't be eating.
"Yes he will!" said his mother. Xellos sighed.
"No, I won't. Go ahead and cook it if you want, but it will be a waste since I'm not planning on eating it. Good bye." He went out of the kitchen and made it to the door.
"Xellos! Come back here right now, young man!" shouted his mother.
"Mother... I'm not. See you around." he said. He opened the door and ran out, bumping into Merlina who was running up the stairs to his house. "Oh, hi Merlina! I was just leaving."
"You!!!" shouted Mrs. Kyuzan as she caught sight of Merlina. "Get out of here!"
"I was just leaving, Mrs. Kyuzan." said Merlina coldly. Xellos followed her.
"Xellos! What are you doing? What is the meaning of this?" asked his mother. Xellos grinned at her in the same way Merlina had grinned at him before.
"That, my dear mother, is a secret." he said. The two casted Raywing and left the house. She slumped against the door and walked in. She opened the liquor cabinet and poured herself a drink. After about 10 minutes, she felt him come in.
"I passed the message," she told to the shadow.
"Good." said a melodious voice. "And how is your son? I heard some people say he was around."
"He left." she said dully. The figure also left, leaving her alone in the room. She sighed, locked the cabinet and went upstairs to rest.
End of Chapter 12
Hi!!!! This is one of my longer chapters, I will admit! Anyway... how are all of you doing? I hope you're all fine! Sorry for the extremely long wait. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I had fun writing it. Anyway... the plot thickens some more. More concerning Merlina's reaction later when she talks to Xellos. Right now, it is only her immediate reactions. Her deeper ones will soon be revealed. (around next chapter...) Xellos also reveals some thoughts. What was in that letter? Sore wa himitsu desu. More concerning that soon. Same thing with the mysterious guy at the end of the chapter.
Anyway, thank you for all your encouragement. Please drop a review for this poor little authoress. Please? It's always so nice and encouraging to see your notes on the story. Thank you so much for reading this!
Take care!
Hotaru
