Disclaimer: Even with all the time I have been working on this, I still don't own slayers.

Beware

The sorceress has awoken

The sun was slowly rising over the small harbor town. It was still an early summer morning, the only sound to be heard was the early birds singing. Eruk had just woken up. He was laying on his back, enjoying the morning sun through his window. Even though he didn't feel tired, the sound of the birds was slowly sending him into sleep again. Suddenly the morning peace was broken "GOURRY!!! YOU PERVERT!!!". Eruk almost fell out of his bed from the shock. It didn't take him long to figure out that Lina was feeling better. His first thought was to just leave them alone, but when he started hearing some questionable noises, he decided that somebody had to check on them.

He got up and went over to Linas room. Before entering, he peeked inside. Gourry was laying on his stomach in the bed, while Lina sat on top of him, trying to strangle him, and yelling curses at him at the same time. "Hack… Lina, what did I do?" Gourry managed to say with the few breaths of air Lina allowed him. The fact that he wasn't aware of his own errors, only made her even more furious. "What did you do? I'll tell you! I know you sneaked into my room, just to take advantage of me while I was sleeping", she furthermore made her point clear by slapping him with every word. Being slapped by Lina is normally a bad thing, but in this particular case, it had some positive effect. In order to slap him, she had to remove her hands from his neck, and thus allowing him to breathe.

Eruk's plan had been to see what they were doing, and to prevent any permanent damage on Gourry, but he felt this was just a little out of his league. He tried to close the door, and slip away very silently. Unfortunately Lina must have heard him, because he only had time to turn around to leave, before someone dragged him into the room. "And what do you think you were doing?" Lina asked, a fireball forming between her hands. "I… I uhh?" Eruk was unable to think of a suitable answer. "Time's up" Lina shouted and prepared to let him fry. Come on, come on, come on think of something, anything that will calm her down he mentally begged his brain. "WAIT miss Lina" he shouted, while waving his arms in front of him, "I heard that you were awake, and was wondering if I could bring you some breakfast?" his heartbeat slowed down from warpspeed to normal fast pace, when she let the fireball dissolve. "What's the catch?" she eyed him suspiciously. What's the catch? Why ask that all of a sudden? Couldn't she just accept my offer and let me escape? Gotta think of an answer, fast!. "Because you beat me in a duel, and therefore I owe you a favor? " he tried. Lina's grim expression faded "well ok! Just bring me everything they got. I fell like a haven't eaten for days". Eruk bowed to her, just like any normal waiter would do "I'll be right back" he said and backed out of the door.

Once in the relative safety the closed door provided, he leaned against a wall, and breathed heavily, that was way too close! I really ought to think things through when dealing with that girl. After he felt his heart slow down to it's normal speed, he made a mental note of joining Sylphiel during her prayers, seeing as there had to be some kind of higher force protecting him from Linas wrath. Just as he was ready to leave for the restaurant, Gourry was thrown out of the door, head first. Eruk stopped to help him stand up. But to his surprise Gourry just acted like nothing had happened. "Are you hurt?" he asked the blonde swordsman. "Nah I'm fine. I guess she's still weak from the poison, and the fact that I really didn't do anything that bad, made her go easy on me. Gourry was scratching the back of his head grinning sheepishly "I must have fallen asleep, and somehow gotten hold of her hand, while I was sleeping". Gourry waved goodbye, and left a dumbfounded Eruk standing in the deserted hallway.

He didn't stand looking for Gourry for too long, he had more pressing matters to attend to. He headed down to the kitchen. He started to get scared as he came closer, and still couldn't smell any food. His fears started to turn into a regular panic, as he discovered that nobody was working in the kitchen that morning. He ran to the innkeepers living area. After beating on the door, a sleepy looking innkeeper opened the door "What do you want?" he asked. Eruk quickly explained that he was in dire need of breakfast, and plenty of it, in a hurry. "I'm sorry son, but the kitchen wont open until the afternoon. Most of my employees are going to prepare for the next few days festival". Eruk started to turn pale, he never thought his life would depend on something like breakfast. "Could I use the kitchen? I promise, I'll pay for it" he asked, using his last option. The innkeeper looked thoughtful, but agreed. Eruk thanked him and ran into the kitchen.

He started to look around, so much food, and still he had no clue on what he should be making. The first thing that came to mind was frying some eggs and bacon, along with making some toast. He knew it wasn't enough, but in the very least it could occupy Lina for a few minutes. He hurried to get the food to her room. "Is that it?" Lina asked, looking everything but pleased, by the amount of food he had brought her. "Oh don't worry miss Lina, this is just the beginning. I'll bring you some more as soon as it is done". She accepted his explanation, an went on to wolfing down the food. He quietly left the room in order to get her more food. I'll be spending the rest of my life doing all her cooking, if I don't think of something.

"Eruk?" his thoughts were interrupted by a soft feminine voice. "Sylphiel!" he couldn't believe his own luck. He fell to his knees in front of her, begging "please save me". She was stunned by his actions. Normally he was extremely calm and clearheaded about most things, but this was just so unlike him. "What do you mean" she managed to ask. He quickly told her how he had made a deal with Lina, and about his bad luck with the closed restaurant. While he was talking he gently pushed her towards the kitchen. She giggled a bit when he told her about the confusion he was still experiencing from cooking.

She quickly scanned the room, to see what she needed in order to make a breakfast, that would satisfy even Linas appetite. "You know, you didn't have to beg like that, I'm happy to help" she said, still giggling. He blushed a bit "yeah I know. I guess I just panicked". She placed some of the food on a tray "you'd better give this to miss Lina before she comes down looking for you". He picked up the tray, and hurried up the stairs to Linas room. "Now that's breakfast!" Lina exclaimed and once again started wolfing down food. Eruk turned around and started to leave. Just before he reached the door, she called him back "Just bring me one more serving like this one, and I think it'll be enough". He smiled, he never even imagined that he could get away with a small amount of food like that. Of course, the term "small amounts of food", was open for discussion. She had already eaten for 2 or 3 persons, and was ordering food enough for 2 people to finish of the meal.

He went back to Sylphiel. "You only have to finish what you are making now" he told her "I think she's still suffering from side effects to the poison". She nodded. He ran up with the last of the food, and hurried back to help Sylphiel clean up the kitchen. He was surprised to find out that she hadn't stopped cooking. "Uh Sylphiel? I told you Lina didn't want any more food, didn't I?" He asked. She was smiling " why yes, you did. I just thought I would make something for the two of us while I was at it". The sat down by a small table. "It's been a while since we were alone like this" Eruk thought out loud, " I must admit that I have missed it". She blushed a bit "what do you mean?" she asked. "What I mean is that we don't have to fight, just to get a little bit to eat" he started of "and I just like our quiet time together". His words about liking their time together didn't make her blush fade away, far from it. She quickly tried to change the subject "Anyway, I have heard something of a summer festival being held here, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could stay here to enjoy it?" He nodded, "yeah it would. After everything we have been through, it would be nice to just relax and have fun. But I don't think we can convince the others to delay the journey, especially after what has happened during the last few days".

Eruk suddenly remembered the questions he didn't get a time to ask her last night "Say Sylphiel? That Xellos guy that shoved up yesterday is he…?" She sipped her tea "I think so, but I'm not sure. Trying to scare people, and manipulate them through their fears, isn't something I have ever heard of him doing. He IS a monster though, so I guess he is capable of more than I know of". Eruk opened his mouth to say something, but he never got the chance, as Amelia burst into the door "So there you are, we have been looking for you two. We are getting ready to find a ship to the outer world" she stopped talking for a moment and looked at them "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" she asked. Eruk quickly stood up "no, not at all. Were just having some breakfast. Why don't you guys head for the harbor, we'll clean up back here, and catch up with you later". Amelia nodded and ran out of the door. "We'd better get to work", he said, and started cleaning.

"Tell me, why do YOU have to come along!" Zelgadis was definitely not pleased by Xellos's tagging along. Xellos just kept up with his usually happy face "I'll just come along, because I feel like it. It's been far too long since I saw you, my dear friends". The others just shrugged and walked on, knowing quite well that they couldn't get rid of Xellos, even if they wanted to. "Calm down Zel" Lina ordered "It's not like his going to just go away. And in any case, isn't it better to know where he is, instead of having him stalking us?". Zelgadis didn't answer, but grumbled something that was to low to hear. Taki was the only on who didn't mind Xellos, and she just couldn't understand why everyone seemed to be so annoyed with him. In her mind, he was quite charming. "Miss Amelia?" she asked "why is it that nobody likes Mr. Xellos?". Amelia immediately struck a posse, pointing at Xellos "Mr. Xellos is an evil monster, bent on destroying the world!". Xellos merely rubbed the back of his head "come on Amelia, I'm not really all that bad, am I?". The discussion between Amelia and Xellos went on, while Taki tried to figure out who was right.

"There! That should do it" Eruk proudly announced, looking at the kitchen. It was in just like they had never been there, except from the money they had left on the table. Sylphiel had left a few minutes ago to gather their stuff. "Are you ready to go?" she asked as she met him inside the restaurant.

They walked towards the harbor, looking at all the townspeople preparing for the festival. They were looking at the booths, that had been placed all over the market square. "Oh I sure wish we could stay for a few days longer" Sylphiel sighed "It's been so long since I have been to a festival". Eruk agreed, he too could use the distraction from the things that troubled him.

They only had to be around the harbor area, in order to hear Lina shouting. "What do you mean you can't take us to the outer world?" Lina was shaking a guy dressed like a merchant captain. "I didn't say that miss, but I have promised my crew that they can stay here during the summer festival. I'll be happy to take you along after the festival" the captain tried to reason with the angry redhead. Lina let go of him "You don't expect me to pay full price then" the asked in the sugary voice. For those who knew her that voice that normally meant "obey me, or I'll blow you up".

The captain sweat dropped "I couldn't dream of charging you full price for that poor service, both you and your friends will get a 90% discount". That's a smart man, Eruk thought "Oh does that mean we can actually stay here during the festival" Sylphiel was overjoyed. "Yeah, well I guess so" Lina started, then lit up "oh what the hell, let's just have some fun while we can". Gourry and Taki were happy with the decision, but it seemed to bother Zelgadis.

They started to head back to the inn. "Mr. Zelgadis? Is there something wrong?" Amelia tried to start a conversation with the moody chimera. "I don't like festivals" he merely said "I'm leaving town for a few days, the blind monks told me of an ancient spring, that supposedly have some sort of power over rocks. Perhaps I could figure out some something on my cure if I found it". Amelia looked a bit disappointed, then stuck a posse "I'll accompany you, as a true friend, and ally of justice!". Zelgadis muttered something, but decided to let her have her way.

"All right!!!! Festival time!!!!!!" Taki ran cheering through the hallway. Damn teenager Eruk thought to himself. It wasn't even light outside, and he seriously doubted that anyone else was up yet. He turned around to go back to sleep. "So are you awake?" He jumped several feet. Xellos was standing next to his bed "Xellos? What are you doing here?" he growled. Xellos started waving a finger in front of him "now that…" Eruk cut him off "if you say it's a secret, I'm gonna hurt you", his voice was calm, but his glare showed that he was getting mad. The trickster priest's features was a mask of surprise for a few seconds, then he recovered "so you knew about that?" he smiled sheepishly. "Listen" Eruk sighed "either tell my why you are here, or GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" Xellos floated up, so that he now was hovering out of Eruk's reach "no need for hostility, I only wanted to ask you a simple question…" Xellos phased out of sight for a few seconds, then reappeared, wearing a very revealing red Chinese dress. He spun around to show of his new clothes "does this dress make me look fat?" he finally asked . Eruk groaned and threw a pillow at Xellos, without any luck. . Xellos laughed as he teleported away.

Eruk fell back into his bed, trying to relax. Just a few seconds later, Lina and Gourry flew through the door. "What happened here?" Lina shouted, while she prepared a fireball. Eruk slapped his forehead "I give up" he groaned. He stood up and pushed both of them back out of the door. "So nothing's wrong?" Gourry asked just before the door slammed shut. He crawled back into bed, hoping that he could get a few more hours of sleep. Once again the peace was disturbed, as a fireball exploded. It didn't make it better that he heard Lina screaming " What do you mean, by saying his temper is as bad as mine? I do NOT have a temper". He hid his face in the pillow. It was going to be one of those days, he just knew it. He started laughing, it was a muffled laugh, as his face was still hidden in the pillow, it was just so damn ironic. He had only been awake for a few minutes, but things already started out wrong.

He was to wrapped up in his own thought to notice anything. He reacted on instinct as he felt a small gush of wind on his arm. He spun around, punching out with his right hand. He heard a soft scream, and caught a glimpse of purple. Not good he thought, and tried to stop his punch, but failed. He felt his fist connect with warm skin. Oh great, he looked over the side of the bed, only to confirm what he had feared. Congratulations, you have just won another great victory. Idiot. He looked down at Sylphiels limp form, a small stream of blood was running down her nose.

He lifted her up in the bed and started chanting a healing spell. Fortunately he had gotten better, the blood stopped flowing. He sighed, and took a piece of cloth from his backpack. Carefully he purred a little water over it, and started cleaning her face for any traces of blood. She was not unconscious, but definitely not awake either. He replaced the cloth with a clean one. He frowned a bit, the water in his canteen was a bit hot, he needed something he could use to cool down the swelling. He got an idea, placing the canteen on the table, he started chanting the incantation for the freeze arrow. He made a few errors, but he could definitely feel a power building up inside him. He pointed to the table here goes nothing "Freeze arrow!"

The power left his hands, and took form of an arrow. He watched for a spilt second, as the arrow continued growing on it's own. What? That's not how it's supposed work! He threw himself at the floor, as the berserk arrow flew all over the room, leaving a trail of ice behind it. Mental note: never try to use an unknown spell on a bad day, he cursed himself. He tried to stand up, but found that he was pinned to the floor by ice. Gazing over at the bed, he noticed that Sylphiel had woken up. She sat up, rubbing her face. He tried to turn around to face her, it was kind of difficult with only 30 cm between the floor, and the temporary shield of ice, his freeze arrow had created.

"Umm a little help here?" he asked. She turned away from him. Even though she turned her back to him, it was easy to see that she was crying. "Sylphiel, please. I'm sorry." he felt miserable. She jumped down from the bed a ran out of the room. He tried to maneuver after her, but it was impossible because of the ice. Damn, DAMN, DAMN!!!!!! He slammed his hands into the floor. An unknown feeling of rage and despair started to build up inside him. All of his negative feelings started to cloud his mind, and he blacked out.

"Eruk? Eruk wake up, please" He slowly opened his eyes. Taki was sitting next to him. "So you're awake now? I was getting worried". He tried to stand up, but had to give it up. "I feel terrible" he complained. Taki stood up and helped him up "but you seemed to have enough energy to trash you room" she looked around "what a mess". He looked around, his room was clearly a mess. Most of the furniture was destroyed. There were still a little ice left a few places. He tried to remember what had happened, but at the moment he had no idea.

Not wanting to get deeper into the subject, he tried to distract her. "Why are you here, I thought you were going out to enjoy the festival?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject into something he was a bit more comfortable with. Her face brightened "Oh yeah. The festival! I almost forgot about it!" She pushed him towards the door "I was hoping you would be my date, so come on". He let himself go with her, forgetting what she said about him being her date. He needed to sell some stuff to pay for the damage to his room anyway. If only he knew what really happened. They left the inn together, not noticing the trickster priest watching them from the other side of the restaurant. He was smiling, he would need to watch Eruk carefully to complete his mission.

Authors Notes:

Even though I didn't have as much time as I thought, I still managed the promised update.

Poor Gourry. I don't include him much in this story, and when I do it's only to get beat up by Lina… oh well such is life. Well, that last part was pretty intense. Eruk hits Sylphiel and she runs away. To top it all off, something happens while he has a blackout. What could it all mean?

Looks like I got at least one loyal fan. Slayers Otaku-girl, your reviews are greatly appreciated. Everybody else out there, review so that I know you exists. Oh…. I almost forgot, happy thanksgiving to all of you too, even though I don't quite understand what it's all about. We don't have that tradition here in Europe. But as they say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do…"