Because there's so many reviews to reply to this time, I've placed the replies at the very end.
Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.
Idylls
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi
7 +===+ Waiting for the Sunrise
Zelgadiss's eyes snapped open. It had felt so real, but it couldn't have been. He was happy, he was human, and he was on his way to Saillune.
The inn's bed felt so comfortable, though, that he almost wanted to spend the rest of his life right there. But he was finally free of his curse, and there was somebody whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and besides that, he could always come back here with her.
He smiled at that thought and pulled himself out of bed. The sooner he left, the sooner he could seriously contemplate bringing her here. After all, he was less than a day away from his goal, now.
That thought buoyed him along as he quickly got back onto the road. Saillune was only a few hours away, and if he hurried, he could be close enough to watch the sun rise over the city.
Zelgadiss couldn't help but mull over his nightmare of the night before. It was different from his nightmare about when Rezo had transformed him, but... The same sense of betrayal was there.
It just wasn't the same kind of betrayal. Rezo had been a very kind 'parent' to him, really, right up until when he became a teenager and started spending so much time outside, practicing with his sword after realizing how weak his own skills at magic were compared to almost all the sorcerers he knew that well and how long it would take him to gain the skills needed to compare well to any of them. He knew that he would never admit it to anybody, but what had hurt the worst was the realization, once he actually got wider experience with sorcery, that even before his transformation he was already far stronger than most sorcerers would have been at the same age as him when he gave up.
Rezo hadn't really understood why he had taken up the sword. A sword was, as a rule, something that was only rarely useful against really dangerous creatures unless it was a magic sword. Not only that, but magical swords that would be anywhere near as useful against such things as mazoku were hard to come by, and the crafting of such blades were more than anything else a specialty.
But, regardless of what happened later, for a long time Rezo was the nicest person he knew. Rezo had rescued him from the woman who had been his parents' landlord, whom he had eventually realized was not as nice as he had thought she was when he had been much more innocent. He was given a good home, with good food and clothes, and a wonderful education.
Perhaps that was what made the nightmare so bad. It had started out as one of the sweeter memories he had of Rezo, which he tried hard not to think too much about. In reality, Rezo had been so very kind and understanding when he'd poured hot chocolate onto his guardian. He had been hugged, and reassured that it was alright and things would be taken care of so he didn't need to worry.
Well, Eris had been very angry with him, but that was Eris. Rezo hadn't attacked him, in any way, for the accident.
No matter how many times he told himself that, though, it still felt so real. If he let himself think too much about it, he almost forgot what had really happened. The false memory became so vivid that he could feel the bruises where Rezo had hit him, the scratches and cuts where he'd been scratched, the soreness caused by...
Zelgadiss shook his head, pushing those thoughts from his mind and watched the colors wash over the walls of Saillune with a smile. His timing was perfect, and it was a beautiful sight. Something stirred in his heart at it, and he felt like he had finally arrived somewhere he could call home. He didn't want to taint this with such confusing and painful thoughts, not when he was finally free to tell her how he felt about her.
There's not much I can say about this one, except Zelgadiss doesn't like being happy. I'm really sorry it took so long to get this out. The next chapter should be out sooner...
Running through the most current set of reviews...
I'm really amazed at how popular young Zel and Ame are, though admittedly they're usually very sweet and quite cute. (Usually.) I'm somewhat tempted to start up a little shrine for them, and if anybody supplies fanart of them or a story about them, I will go ahead and set it up. (Just remember: They're really, really young.)
Winged Dancer & Lauren-sama, in many ways I'm a fan of Rezo. That may be part of why I tend to be kind to him when I write him...and he does seem to like turning up in my writing. Thank you for the support, WD, and the abruptness of Rezo's anger had been intended, Lauren-sama, though it's not exactly Rezo there...
On a similar note, Kioku, I definitely agree with the theory that Zelgadiss had to have been an idealist when he was a child. It's rare for somebody to be bitter about something they never were, since usually when it's simply a case of having been tormented by others' with the particular quality the result is bitterness directed at the others', not the quality itself. I did intend to make people want to protect Zel's younger self, and I'm glad I've been successful.
(By the way, Kioku, that was an amazingly long review. Thanks for all the feedback about the old chapters, so few people do it all at once.)
Amechan, it's very nice to have a new reader. Thank you for the complements. I hope that you didn't find this chapter disappointing.
Thank you for the review, Sis of the Darkness. Ameria, I'm glad you enjoyed the random Monty Python reference, and I like dark chocolate too.
Kioku, Winged Dancer, thanks for the dark chocolate!
Meanwhile, the chibis have been acting like, well, children. Currently, Zel's not allowed cinnamon rolls because he made Ame cry. I'm not sure how he did that, and I don't care. He's not supposed to do whatever it was again. Ame can have cinnamon rolls, though, because she's been a good girl. Just ignore Zel's begging.
Dark chocolate for me and reviews will also be acceptable forms of encouragement.
