Sorry about the delay in getting this up, but there's so many reviews to reply to, I couldn't finish this in time to post Saturday! (Also, poor little Zel got sick from all the cinnamon buns people sent him.)
Kioku, I've no idea what you're referring to...and you still aren't allowed to kill Adrian. Thanks for the cinnamon buns for the chibis and the dark chocolate for myself. You must have some really big mosquitoes were you are...
Lauren-sama, thanks! I'm sorry your theory seems to be adrift now, it has been quite interesting. (I still refuse to say if it is or isn't accurate in any way.) I tend to leave chapters' ends where they want to lie, things work out best that way.
Phizzy-chan, thanks for the dark chocolate and cinnamon buns. I'm a bit confused on how Amelia might have saved Zel, what with her having been murdered by her husband and all... Ah, well. It'd still be deserving of being called horror if she had turned up to save him.
blue lady, no comment. Read this chapter. Thanks for the dark chocolate and the cinnamon buns.
Amechan, in no particular order: That's alright, I'm used to reading English as rendered by those for whom it's a second language. That is something of a traditional joke. I don't think I want to know what you've been reading lately, then. You're the only person to cheer Adrian on. Really, the description was that good? Enjoy the new chapter, and thanks for the dark chocolate & cinnamon buns.
Winged Dancer, I miss talking to you! I forgive you, though... I'm sorry I was a bit lazy about many of Zel's injuries, but I can't easily go back and add more because I've discovered that my references don't quite agree on the kinds of injuries a beating can produce anyway. Adrian was meant to be despicable, so I'll take that as a complement. The part about Zel being dragged by a horse is a reference to one of the traditional methods of executing traitors. I will try hard to keep posting 'pretty things' if you'll do the same!

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.

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Idylls
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi
11 +===+ Eudaimonia

Hell, Zelgadiss decided, is amazingly boring. It seemed to consist completely of being tucked into a bed and feeling vague. The universe was out of focus, and he couldn't feel his body or smell anything.
The place looked neat, though unused. The sheets were shiny and dark blue, and from the way his body lay on the mattress he suspected that under other circumstances he'd think it a very soft bed. It helped that it seemed that he was going to spend his sentence as a chimera and not a human; he was woefully out of practice at evaluating how any given mattress might react to his human body.
The bedstead was made of some dull, black metal worked in fancy patterns with four posts that normally would support curtains. There was something wrong with the pattern, but he couldn't see it clearly enough to tell. He wasn't sure he wanted to, either.
He had a good enough idea of what Hellmaster Phibrizo's decorative taste was like to know that it would very likely be something he would wish he never had seen clearly should he be so unfortunate enough for the world to come back into focus while he was looking at it.
Unfortunately, the ceiling, quite visible with the curtains gone, was covered with a mural and the walls themselves all had paintings. No matter which direction he looked in, there was always a risk of seeing something he would rather not see should he start seeing the world clearly again.
He closed his eyes, and let himself drift back into the darkness.

Something wet was being touched to his lips. He opened his eyes, and was surprised to see a tall, effeminate-looking mazoku was tending to him. The mazoku smiled, a cheerful smile that was quite definitely honest if the mazoku's pale eyes, so pale that he couldn't tell if they were yellow or green, were any indictation.
Zelgadiss had the disquieting feeling that this mazoku was not at all like any of the mazoku he had ever met before. They were rather infamous for nursing people quite rarely, and never doing so with such pure happiness about the idea of actually helping another being heal.
It was impossible to think that any mazoku might do so for somebody out of complete kindness and without expection of repayment.
The mazoku suddenly giggled, one hand covering his mouth politely in a feminine gesture, pushing his long pale blue hair to the side. "Don't worry, dear. You are good-looking, but I would never cheat on my Ahitsushi-sama! He can be very jealous for a sheep."
Zelgadiss paused as that particular message processed, deciding that while it was nice to know that particular kind of favor wouldn't be asked of him, it did not make him feel any better about the situation.
Zel closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them again the strange mazoku would be gone.

The mazoku was still there when he opened his eyes again. "Good morning, Greywords-san! Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"
Zelgadiss almost groaned, then realized that if he really had been sleeping, then... "I'm alive...?"
"Barely! You really should be more careful where you go. Phibrizo-sama's defenses against trespassers are very strict. I'm not really sure why he left me here to guard the place..." The mazoku smiled cheerfully. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?"
Zelgadiss shook his head, and the mazoku stood up straight. The mazoku was wearing a tight dark blue tunic and leggings under the most decorative and feminine armor Zelgadiss had ever seen. He bowed politely. "I am Phibrizo-sama's general, Jalon. Welcome to Hell."

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Jalon's sheep is named 'male sheep.' Deal. Also, the L in his name is pronounced in the Japanese manner, a sound that's somewhere between the sounds of R and L in English.
I hope some of you already guessed where Zel was before now...

Anyway, dark chocolate & reviews for me and cinnamon buns for the chibis will be welcomed. If you want more of my work right now, try reading Mr Somewhere, which I recently finished.