Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda, yadda, Slayers copyright of Kadokawa Shoten and TV
Tokyo, blah, blah, blah, send comments to bkuhn@ucsd.edu yackity smackity... you
get the drift
Special thanks go out to my pre-readers: Davner, Drakstern, Fish, Little
Masa-ouki, Tamysan, NJ Silver, and Will Z.
Lina: It looks like someone's after Zelgadis and Amelia, and they know what
they're doing. A beartrap, laced with both poison AND enchantments has taken
Zelgadis down.
Amelia: Meanwhile, Lina and Tensado head out after this strange knight,
Delvier, but they walk right into a trap, themselves.
Lina: Well how was I supposed to know someone had rigged that forest to turn
into a bonfire? Anyways, after taking Zelgadis to a healer, Xellos manages to
stir up more mischief by telling the lady of the house that he's Amelia's
fiancé!
Amelia: (crying) Why does this stuff have to happen to me?!
Lina: Um... Amelia, it's your turn for the recap.
Amelia: (wiping eyes) Oh yeah, *sniff* Lina and Tensado are forced into a
strange cave, where magic doesn't seem to work. They're confronted by a large,
tattooed man, and Tensado is... he's... (cries again)
Lina: I can't believe the author ended the chapter by killing Tensado! What
kind of ending is that?
Zelgadis: I believe it's called a 'cliffhanger.' This particular author seems
to like them.
Lina: Well I don't like it! I wanna talk to the author! I'll teach him a
thing or two about cliffhangers.
Zelgadis: If you kill the author, you'll never find out what happens.
Lina: Be quiet! Amelia and I are supposed to do the introductions. You're not
even conscious at the moment.
Zelgadis: (sighs) Let's just get on with the fic.
***
Slayers GO!
Chapter 3: Wounds of the Flesh, and Wounds of the Heart
"Mr. Xellos!" Amelia cried out, "Why did you tell her that?" She looked
apprehensively at the kitchen, where Mrs. Tella had gone to get tea.
"It's really for the best," Xellos told the young princess casually, "She seemed
to think it was improper for a woman such as yourself to be," he did a
remarkable impersonation of Mrs. Tella's voice "'Traipsing about with strange
men.'"
"So?" Amelia said, "It's still a lie, and justice doesn't forgive a liar!"
"Shh," Xellos said, holding a finger to his lips, "We may have to stay here a
day or two, while Mr. Zelgadis recovers. And Mrs. Tella will probably take
better care of him if she likes us."
Amelia frowned. "I suppose... but it's still lying. I don't think I can do
it."
"It's remarkably easy," Xellos assured her, "Just think of it like a game.
Surely you played make-believe when you were younger. It's really no different
than that."
Amelia bit her lip as she struggled with the decision.
There was a small poof, and a little angel version of herself appeared on her
shoulder. "You can't lie!" she told her, "You said it yourself, justice doesn't
forgive a liar."
There was another small poof, and another little angel appeared on her other
shoulder. "But it's for the good of everyone!"
"Um..." Amelia said, "Aren't you supposed to be a devil?"
"What?" the second angel said, indignantly, "How dare you? I am your good side,
devoted to making sure you walk the line of truth, justice, and the Seyruun
way!"
Amelia turned back to the first angel. "Don't I have a bad side?"
"Of course not, your heart belongs to justice! No dark thoughts can survive in
your pure soul!" Amelia stared at her for a second. "All right," she admitted,
"You do have a dark side. A tiny, weak thing, really. We overpowered her and
locked her in the basement."
"Don't worry," the second angel added, "We gave her a fair trial."
"We're getting sidetracked," the first angel told the second angel, "The point
is, Amelia's not going to lie, because lying is wrong, no matter what the reason
is."
"What about when her aunt gave her that awful sweater for her birthday?" the
second angel countered, "Are you saying she should have told her how hideous it
really was?"
The first angel frowned. "Well... no, but-"
"And this is for Mr. Zelgadis's sake," the second angel reminded. "Mr.
Zelgadis!" she squealed. For some reason, this gave Amelia the mental image of
Zelgadis in tight pants playing a guitar on a stage in front of thousands of
teenage girls.
"I still don't like it," the first replied.
The second angel looked at the first with sad eyes. "C'mon, pllleeeaaassseee?"
The first angel stamped her foot on Amelia's shoulder in frustration. "All
right, all right. But you owe me, got it?"
The second angel turned back to Amelia. "You hear that? It's your DUTY to go
through with this. Now, make a justice speech."
Amelia blinked. "A justice speech?"
"Yes, a justice speech," the first angel said, "It's been ages since your last
one."
"You know you want to," the second angel added.
"All right!" she said. The two angels disappeared as she raised a fist in the
air. "For the sake of justice, I will hide my identity a pretend to be..." Her
enthusiasm waned at this point. "Your... fiancé."
"That's the spirit," Xellos smiled.
A sudden thought occurred to Amelia, and she frowned again. "What about Mr.
Zelgadis?" she asked, looking at the unconscious chimera.
"Easy enough," Xellos replied, "He's your older brother, here to make sure we
don't do anything... 'improper.'" Xellos winked, causing Amelia to blush. "We
just need to make sure he knows that when he wakes up."
Dr. Tella finished his examination, and returned to the second floor to prepare
something for him. Mrs. Tella was still busy in the kitchen. That left Amelia
alone with Xellos. She kept glancing at him nervously. Even if it was just
pretend, the situation made her nervous.
Think about something else, she told herself. She starting reciting lessons to
distract herself. And Ceiphied came upon the warring people. But where his
brother had descended to the soldiers, promising them gifts to destroy their
enemies, Ceiphied paid the men fighting in the fields no heed. Instead he made
himself known to the people of the lands. He spoke to the farmers, and the
millers, and the smiths, who had been chased away from their tranquil lives.
It was working, she wasn't thinking about Xellos...
And he showed them what plants might reduce a fever, and which might cleanse a
wound.
... or what it would be like to really be engaged to Xellos...
And he spoke to them the mystic words, to draw upon his energy...
... or how he was kind of cute, in a weird way...
... to draw upon his energy to close that which had been rent...
... or how nice he could be when he wasn't being mysterious...
... to close that which had been rent, and purify those made ill, and drive
away...
... or what kind of body he might have beneath those robes...
... and drive away... drive away... purify those made ill, and drive away...
"This isn't working," she sighed. Fortunately, Mrs. Tella returned with tea,
and they made idle chitchat until Dr. Tella had returned, mixing something in a
small bowl.
"This should help fight off that poison," he told the 'happy couple,' as he bent
over Zelgadis, "And wake him up, too." He placed one hand around the chimera's
cheeks, forcing his jaw open, and poured the contents of the bowl into his
mouth.
Zelgadis groaned. He felt like Filia had hit him over the head with her mace...
several times... then hit him with her laser breath for good measure. Needless
to say, it wasn't a good feeling.
He sat up, and immediately regretted it as the entire room seemed to lurch, and
his headache increased sharply. He was in what looked like someone's house. It
was hard to tell, as everything was hazy. Was he dreaming?
"Zel-niichan!" Amelia said, running up to him and throwing her arms around him.
"Niichan?" he said puzzled. Ah, he thought, it was THAT dream, where he and his
traveling companion's were some sort of family. He looked up to see Xellos wave
at him. No, it couldn't be that dream. In that dream Amelia was his niece,
Lina and Gourry's daughter. And Xellos's skull was used to hold bean dip.
"I was so worried that you might not recover," Amelia said quickly, "And then
there'd be no one to keep an eye on my fiancé, Xellos and I."
"Yareyare," Xellos said under his breath, "How obvious can you get?" However
obvious the Mazoku might have thought it was, the Tellas didn't seem to notice.
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow, and Amelia blushed. One of Xellos's games, he
decided. He had gotten Amelia to go along with it, though, which suggested
there might be some purpose behind it. On the other hand, Amelia was rather
naive, and far too trusting of that Mazoku. It wouldn't be difficult for Xellos
to trick her.
In the end, he decided it would be best to play along until he had a chance to
ask some questions. That decided, he put an arm around Amelia.
"It's okay, sis," he said, doing a much better acting job than Amelia had, "I'm
tough, you know that."
"Anna," the doctor said to his wife, "Why don't you go prepare some rooms for
our guests."
"Rooms?" Zelgadis asked.
"Can't let you out like that, son," the doctor said, tapping his leg with his
cane, "You need rest until your body can get rid of that poison."
"Forget that," Zelgadis said, trying to get up. The old man, put a hand against
his chest, and pushed him back down. The old man's strength was impressive. Or
maybe Zelgadis was just weak from the poison.
"You leave now," the doctor told him, "And your sister and her fiancé will be
burying you by sundown."
"What?" Amelia said, startled, "He'll be okay, won't he?" Her eyes were filled
with tears.
"Now, now," the doctor said, reassuringly, "He'll be fine, as long as he takes
it easy for the next few days." He turned back to Zelgadis, looking at him with
very stern eyes. "Got that, son?"
"I understand," Zelgadis sighed. He lay back on the table.
"Don't worry, Amelia dear" Xellos said, with his usual smile, "I'm sure your
brother will be good as new in no time at all."
Zelgadis covered his face with his hands. This was hell.
***
Lina stared in disbelief at the area where Tensado had disappeared into the
mist. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't! Tensado couldn't be dead. He
was her oldest friend. They had grown up together. Luna was always busy at the
restaurant, and Tensado only has his mother and she was an assassin as well, and
often too busy. But they always had time for each other. They had helped each
other grow. They had supported each other. They were friends... best friends.
They had finally met again, after six years. And now...
"You'll pay for that you son of a bitch!" Lina yelled, as she charged at
Tensado's killer again. The man continued to laugh, as he sidestepped Lina's
attack, and grabbed her wrist. A sharp twist caused her to scream in pain, as
she heard the bones snap. He threw her away again.
Lina gritted her teeth and tried her best to ignore the pain. Her sword was now
at the large man's feet, so she tried a different attack. She leapt at him,
kicking at his face. She struck him hard across the cheek, but if he felt any
pain, he didn't show it. He picked her up by the leg and slammed her into the
rock wall. She slumped to the ground, where he kicked her away.
"Is that all you've got?" he asked, "I expected more from the great Lina
Inverse."
Lina slowly picked herself up from the floor. Her jaw stung with pain where he
had kicked her. Every inch of her body ached. Each muscle screamed in agony as
she moved. But she wouldn't back down. She was Lina Inverse, and if she was
going to die, she'd die fighting.
"I will kill you," she said softly.
"And how will you do that?" he asked, "Your magic is impressive, but it won't
work here." He gestured to the foggy cavern around them. "This mist blocks out
all magical energy. And without your magic, you're no match for me."
Lina smiled. "Oh yeah?" She pulled her hands in front of her and began to
chant, "Darkness beyond Twilight..." She faltered. She couldn't feel the
energy. Keep going, she told herself. "Crimson beyond the blood that flows..."
There it was! She could feel it! It was faint, but it was there. "Buried in
the stream of time is where your power grows..." She winced as the dark
energies flew through her beaten body. This spell was going to kill her. Even
if she survived casting it, the spell would collapse the entire mountain on her.
At least she'd take this asshole down with her. "I pledge myself to con-" She
was cut off as a large hand closed around her throat.
"Interesting," the giant said as he lifted her off the ground, "Apparently the
power of Shabranigdo can penetrate the mist. That will be useful to know. Now
that I've performed their little 'test,' there's no reason to keep you alive."
Lina gasped as he tightened his grip around her neck. She couldn't breathe.
She tried to fight back, but all of his vulnerable spots were out of range.
Why did I have to be short? Lina lamented. Her vision began to blur as she
suffocated. She could hear the sound of beating wings. Was this the angel of
death coming for her?
She suddenly was dropped as something clashed into the rock wall. Gasping for
breath, she looked up at the wall. What she had thought was the angel of
death's wings, was actually the sound of the giant axe being hurled through the
air. It now lay embedded in the rock wall, blood dripping from the exposed part
of the blade.
Both she and her attacker turned to look at the source. Shadowed by the mist
was a human shape. One arm was still extended from throwing the axe.
"Leave... her... alone..." the figure said. It was Tensado's voice, but the
light, friendly tone he always spoke with was gone, replaced by a cold anger
Lina had never heard from him before.
"How are you still alive, boy?" the giant asked, angrily, although Lina thought
she heard a trace of fear in his voice. She noticed how quickly he moved to
pull his axe from the wall.
"I'm not that easy to kill," the assassin snarled, only this was a REAL snarl,
the sound an angry hound would make. Tensado threw his cloak aside as he
approached them. Lina blinked. Tensado appeared to be growing in size. Had
she taken a blow to the head?
As he stepped out of the mist, Lina looked at her old friend, and gasped in
surprise. His shirt had been torn away, revealing a body covered with thick
gray fur. Long, deadly claws extended from each hand. Her eyes moved upward to
Tensado's face, and she saw those wild eyes of his. But the rest of the face
wasn't Tensado's, it wasn't even human.
The werewolf let out a howl that echoed off the cave walls. A wave of pain
passed over Lina, and she blacked out.
***
"Your brother will be staying in the patient room downstairs," Mrs. Tella told
Amelia and Xellos, as she lead them to a room at the top of the stairs, "You can
stay here. This room used to belong to my granddaughter, Ketra. I'm sure
you'll be comfortable here."
The room had the same old-fashioned cozy feeling that pervaded the rest of the
house. There was a dresser in the corner, with a makeup kit and a music box
resting on it. Several horse figurines were displayed on a shelf next to the
bed. A cross-stitching project lay on the chair. Amelia got the feeling that
Mrs. Tella had kept the room in the exact same state it was in when Ketra had
left it.
"It's great!" the young princess said enthusiastically, "I love it!"
"I'm glad to hear that," Mrs. Tella smiled, "Well, I'd better go prepare lunch.
Don't be too long."
"Um, what about Mist- er... what about Xellos dear?" she asked, "Where will he
be staying?"
"Oh, he can stay here with you, dear," Mrs. Tella said, with a friendly smile.
"That's great!" Xellos said, putting an arm around Amelia's shoulder.
"Wha- Wait!" Amelia protested, flushing, "Isn't that, um, improper?"
Mrs. Tella gave them a knowing look. "I was young once, too, you know. I'd
imagine travelling with your brother that you haven't had a chance to... enjoy
each other's company in a while."
"You really are a gem, Mrs. Tella," Xellos said, cheerfully.
"Of course, dear," she smiled, "Now, I have to go see to lunch."
Amelia tried to find some way around this, but none came to mind, and Mrs. Tella
left. She let out a heavy sigh as she flopped down on the bed. She looked at
Xellos, who smiled.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she accused.
"Of course," he said, waving a finger, "It's a game, you see, and one that I'm
very good at. I find it simply amazing to observe what I can do with something
that never existed."
"I don't get what you mean," Amelia said, folding her arms in front of her and
resting her head on them.
"Let me put it this way," the Mazoku told her, "You're a sorceress, who travels
all over the world to 'fight evil and corruption in the name of justice,' or
something like that, right?" Amelia nodded. "Mrs. Tella would absolutely hate
you. But she's treating you like you were her own child, because we're an
engaged couple, off to be married."
Amelia sat up. "But we're not!" she protested, "It's all a lie!"
"That's the point," Xellos smiled, "There's not a single shred of truth in it.
It's all a product of our minds, but look at how it changed Mrs. Tella."
Amelia lay back down on the bed. She didn't want to look at him.
"You're a horrible person, you know that?" she told him.
"Well, I AM a Mazoku," he reminded the princess.
Amelia frowned. She knew he was a Mazoku. He was evil. It was that simple.
But it wasn't simple, it wasn't simple at all.
"Then why don't you act like it?" she asked, "You smile and act nice, but it's a
lie. You pretend to be a friend, but you don't really care about us at all, do
you?" Xellos didn't respond. "Don't you have any feelings at all?"
"Well, maybe not in quite the same way you do," he admitted, seriously, "A lot
of the feelings you humans go through really don't make sense to us Mazoku."
"Like love," Amelia said, "You don't have anything like that, do you?"
"I don't know. I've never felt love, so I really can't compare it to anything.
I know it does exist, though. Lina and Gourry managed to prove that rather
effectively. I think the closest thing I might have felt to love would be
rivalry."
Amelia blinked. "Rivalry?"
Xellos nodded. "There are similarities between the two. They're both an
obsession. Everything sort of goes away, except for the opinion of one person.
You focus all your energy into proving yourself." There was a moment of
silence, before Xellos added, in a casual voice, "Of course, I could be
completely wrong."
Amelia stared at the ceiling for a while, as she thought about what Xellos had
said. It seemed to make sense, to some extent at least. She thought about the
way Xellos and Filia treated each other. She had always thought they had
feelings for each other that they just didn't want to admit, but Xellos's
description of rivalry seemed to fit it more.
She gave up on those thoughts. Even Gourry was smart enough not to know that
trying to figure out Xellos was a waste of time. She looked at the horses on
the shelf next to her. Each one was different, unique. Some were made out of
stone, some from wood, and others were glass. She found her attention was drawn
to a wooden one in the back. It was a beautifully carved stallion, painted
black with silver reigns and saddle. A beautiful woman in a white cloak rode on
top of it, her long golden hair flowing down her back. It looked almost real.
She was shaken from her thoughts as she heard the door to the room open and
close. Sitting up, she saw Zelgadis enter the room.
"Mr. Zelgadis!" she said, "Are you sure you should be up like this?"
"I'm fine," he assured her, as he crossed the room. "Dr. Tella said it was fine
for me to move around as long as I don't stress myself," he added, seeing the
skeptical look Amelia was giving him. "Anyways, while we're here, my name is
just 'Zel,' not 'Zelgadis.' Got it?"
"Yeah," Amelia said, "Why?"
"I was born here," he told her. She looked up at him, but he didn't return the
gaze. Instead, he focused his attention at the figurines. "I knew the Tellas,
and I'd prefer it if they didn't realize they knew me." He picked up the wooden
carving Amelia had been looking at and held it up to the light.
Amelia sighed as she saw the sad look on the chimera's face. She thought about
how horrible it would be to be afraid of your own family and friends. Zelgadis
showed real strength in how he was able to continue on like he did. She didn't
think she'd be able to handle it.
She got up off the bed and stood next to Zelgadis. "Are you all right?" she
asked.
"Yeah," he told her, "It's nothing I can't handle."
"Just think, in a few days, you might not have to handle it anymore," she said
hopefully. Zelgadis just nodded. She swallowed nervously. "Um... Mr.
Zelgadis... I just want you to know... Even if this doesn't work out, I'll
always be here for you." She bit her lip.
"Thank you, Amelia," Zelgadis said, looking out the window, "That means a lot to
me. It really does." He turned to face her. "You really are a great woman."
Amelia felt her face heat up at the comment, but it went cold a second later
when she felt Xellos's arm around her shoulder.
"Isn't she?" he said, "I'm just the luckiest man alive to be engaged to her."
Zelgadis glared at him for a moment, before storming off, muttering something
about bean dip.
***
Lina woke up, and immediately regretted it. God, how much did she drink last
night? She rolled over, wincing at the throbbing pain in her head. She wanted
to curl up and die, or, failing that, go to sleep for a month and see if she
felt any better by then.
It was the sharp pain in her right wrist that brought her to reality. She was
lying on the side of a path, just outside the mist-filled cavern. Her entire
body ached, but her wrist was the worst. It was tied to her torso with a strip
of blue cloth, she tentatively tried moving it, and immediately clenched her
teeth in pain.
"You broke your wrist. Don't move it," she heard Tensado's cheerful voice,
tinged with worry, tell her.
"I had the strangest dream," she said, struggling to sit up without jarring her
wrist. "We were attacked by a strange man, and I thought he had killed you, but
then you turned out to be a-" She cut herself off as she finally managed to sit
up. She could see Tensado now. He had his cloak pulled around him, but Lina
could see that he no longer wore a shirt. The way he held his cloak around his
body made Lina suspect his shirt wasn't the only thing he lost in the
transformation.
"It was real, wasn't it?" It wasn't exactly a question. "You really are a
werewolf." He nodded. "When did it happen?"
Tensado let out a heavy sigh as he sat down next to her. "It didn't," he told
her, "I was born this way. My father was a werewolf, and I got it from him."
Lina gritted her teeth. "So you've ALWAYS been a werewolf?" she asked, glaring
at him.
"I think it's why I'm claustrophobic," he said, completely missing the anger in
Lina's voice, "I'm easily twice as big in my werewolf form. I guess the idea
that there wasn't as much space around me as there seemed was unnerving."
"I don't care about that!" she yelled, hitting him over the head with her good
arm, "How come you never mentioned this?! I don't believe you! We were best
friends our entire lives, and I'm just now finding this out about you?! Why the
hell didn't you tell me?!"
Tensado sweatdropped. "Um... Now that you're awake, we should get going. They
might be back for us."
"Don't try to change the subject!" Lina said, hitting him again, "I want to know
why you never told me!"
"All right, all right," he said, "I never told anyone. Only my mother and I
knew. She told me that I couldn't tell anyone, that people would hate or fear
me if they knew."
Lina stared at him for a moment. "You couldn't have believed I would have
cared. I put up with you being an assassin, why should your lycanthropy matter
to me?"
"I knew that," he replied, "But it didn't seem worth telling you. What if I had
misread you? You were my best friend, Lina, my only friend. It was too much to
risk."
There was a long pause. Finally, Tensado stood up. With one hand holding his
cloak tightly shut, he extended the other to help Lina to her feet.
"We should go," he told her, "Once we got out of the mist, I was able to cast
some healing spells, but we should probably get you to a proper healer."
"Wait! What happened to that guy who attacked us?" she asked.
Tensado smiled. "He ran off. I guess he doesn't like picking on someone his
own size."
"Well, what do we have here?" a voice asked. Lina and Tensado both turned to
see a dozen bandits approaching them.
"Looks like we found Jenso's lost prey," a tall bandit cackled, "The boss'll
reward us REAL good for this one."
Lina groaned. She didn't want to deal with this. While she was certain she
could take care of these idiots with little effort, casting any spells at all
wouldn't be good for her wrist. She wasn't sure how good Tensado was with
magic. As an assassin, he probably didn't need that much power most of the
time. Regardless, she doubted they were equipped to handle a werewolf, but Lina
was pretty sure Tensado hadn't recovered from his earlier injuries.
Well, she thought to herself, when all else fails, bluff. If she was lucky, she
might be able to get these fools to run, and save her the hassle of blasting
them. "I'm not sure you realize who you're dealing with," she said, cockily,
"Do you really think you can take on the great-"
"Hold it right there, you !@#$%ing piece of !@#$%!" a woman commanded. The
brigands turned to see who the foul-mouthed newcomer was.
It was a woman, dressed in white armor and cape, mounted on a large black
warhorse. Long, golden hair flowed out the back of her helmet.
"Hey, boys, check her out!" the tall bandit laughed, "Check out all the white.
Late to your wedding, honey?" The bandits burst into laughter. The woman
merely smiled, and lowered the visor on her helmet.
"If you're not going to take me seriously," she said, drawing a sword from a
scabbard on her hip, "This will be over before it !@#$%ing starts." The sword
blade was made of white steel, and seemed to glow faintly in the sunlight. Lina
could see runes carved along the blade, and feel the magical energy in the
sword.
"You gotta be joking!" one of the bandits said, "I'll take care of you, real
quick." He drew his own sword and charged at her. She didn't move as she
watched him approach. Then, at the last second, she brought her sword down to
parry his attack, and kicked him in the face with her armored foot.
"You're going to have to do much better than that, !@#$%head!" she laughed. The
man stumbled back, clutching his bleeding nose. She vaulted from her horse,
jumping clear over the brigands, to land gracefully in front of Lina and
Tensado. "Aw, !@#$%," she muttered when she saw them, "Kids, now I have to
watch my !@#$%ing language."
"We're not gonna let her get away with that, are we?" the injured bandit yelled.
The rest of the gang yelled out, drew their weapons, and charged. The
swordswoman, though, dodged the attacks with relative ease.
A strange song fell over the forest. It sounded like someone was playing bells,
but Lina couldn't find where the music was coming from. Even more unusual, was
its effect. The bandits' attacks became slower and more lethargic. Lina looked
to the side and saw that even Tensado was effected. He was staring, mesmerized
at the battle in front of him.
The swordswoman continued to dance around the bandits. Periodically, she'd lash
out at one of the brigands, bringing him down with a spurt of blood. Gradually,
Lina realized the source of the music; it was the woman's sword! As she dodged
various attacks from the brigands, she rapped the blade of her sword with her
metal gauntlet, producing a surprisingly complex song that seemed to put all the
men around into a daze.
In a relatively short time, the bandits had all fallen, and the song came to an
end. She wiped her sword clean on one of the dead men's tunics and returned it
to its sheath. Stepping carefully over the corpses, she approached Lina. She
lifted up her visor and smiled.
"Don't you know it's dangerous for kids to travel alone like this?" she said
sweetly. One would hardly guess from her tone that she had just killed twelve
men.
"Why does this seem familiar?" Lina muttered. She turned to the swordswoman.
"Look, lady, before you-"
"Oh, you're a sorceress!" the woman interrupted, "I'm sorry, that sling makes it
hard to see your outfit. Hold on a second." She fiddled with the back of her
helmet, then removed it by sliding it forward. The reason for the unusual style
of her helmet became apparent as she brushed back her hair, revealing a pair of
long, pointed ears.
"An elf?" Lina asked in amazement.
"Half-elf, actually," she admitted. She offered her left hand to Lina. "Ketra,
Ketra Tella."
***
"Thank you for helping me out, dear," Mrs. Tella said, as Amelia started cutting
vegetables.
"It's no problem," Amelia smiled, "It's the least I can do." She finished
slicing the carrots and dumped them into the stew pot. "Here you go." It was
then that she noticed the picture on the shelf. What appeared to be a much
younger Dr. and Mrs. Tella were in it, along with two young women, and a young
man with a child in his arms. "Are these your children?"
Mrs. Tella smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Yes, those are my daughters, Fellace
and Temera, my son, Solto, and his daughter, Ketra."
"So where are they now?" Amelia asked.
"Fellace, the younger one, died shortly after that painting was made. She was
never a healthy child, and I suppose it was always just a matter of time. She
had a good heart, though. Once she was gone, Temera and I fought even more than
usual. Not long after that, she ran off with her boyfriend, and I haven't seen
her since." She let out a very heavy sigh.
Amelia bowed her head. "I'm sorry I brought it up," she said in a subdued
voice.
"It's all right, dear," the elderly woman assured her, "You're at a curious age.
What has happened has happened, and no amount of regret is going to change it.
Solto is still here, and that's something I'll never take for granted. Life can
take nasty turns on you, but the important thing is to learn from them."
Amelia nodded. "So where is Solto?"
"He lives on the other side of the village with his wife."
"Why doesn't he live here?" she asked.
"I've asked him to come back a hundred times," Mrs. Tella said, "But his wife
won't leave. Her son from a previous marriage disappeared one day, you see.
She's convinced that he'll come back some day, and she wants to be there when he
comes home."
Amelia's eyes began to water at this news. "That's so sad."
Mrs. Tella shook her head. "Isn't it, though? You'll get to meet him, though.
He and his wife will be joining us for dinner." She looked around at the
kitchen. "Well, everything's about ready for now. Why don't you run along,
I'll call you when it's time for dinner."
Amelia nodded, and, wiping at her eyes, started out of the kitchen. She stopped
when she saw Xellos leaning against the door frame.
"Hello, Amelia dear," he said cheerfully, either unaware of the somber mood that
had settled over the kitchen, or simply uncaring.
"oh... um... hi, Xellos dear," Amelia said, distractedly.
"Oh," Mrs. Tella said suddenly, "I just noticed something!" She gave Xellos an
angry look. "Why doesn't Amelia have a ring?"
If Xellos was caught off guard by this question, he didn't show it. "Well," he
explained, "As a priest, I don't have a lot of money. I'm willing to spend it
all on my princess, of course, but she wouldn't stand for it, would you,
darling?"
Amelia began to sweat. "Well," she said, hitting a sudden burst of inspiration,
"I figured since we're getting married immediately, there's not a lot of point
in an engagement ring, is there? I'd rather we have the money for our first
house."
"Ah," Mrs. Tella smiled, "This is one of those rush-rush weddings, isn't it?"
Amelia nodded. Maybe this wasn't as hard as she thought. "You need to get
hitched before you start to show." Amelia facefaulted.
"My you're a sharp one, Mrs. Tella," Xellos said before Amelia could protest,
"Just don't let her brother know. He hasn't figured it out yet, and I'd like to
be officially related to him before he does."
"He won't hear it from me," Mrs. Tella laughed, "Well, I've got some cooking
left to do. Why don't you two go have some fun."
"Great," Amelia sighed, as they left the room, "Now I'm carrying your child."
She looked up to see Xellos smoking a cigarette.
"Was it good for you?" he asked.
***
Zelgadis lay on the bed in the room they had given him, lost in thought. He had
been hoping to simply pass through this place. It was a small town, normally it
wouldn't be worth a second glance. If it weren't for that damned trap!
Zelgadis swore that if he found whoever had set that trap, he would make him
suffer.
He decided he'd leave first thing the next morning. The longer he stayed, the
more likely someone would realize that this monster was the child who had been
born in this very building.
Being here was sheer agony. He was so close to a cure. He had even dreamt of
stopping here on their way back. A tear rolled down his cheek. His mother was
so close. He hadn't seen her in years, but he couldn't go to her like this.
"Damn you, Rezo," he whispered. It was then that he heard it: a soft, melodious
singing. The voice was beautiful and sweet. It was a voice Zelgadis knew.
Slowly, he got to his feet, and left the room.
The room he had lead right into the house's living room. Amelia was there,
peering out the window curiously. She turned away to look at him as he entered
the room.
"Oh, Zel-niichan," she giggled, before she returned her attention to the
mysterious song. "Do you know who's singing?" she asked, "She sounds close, but
I don't see her."
"She doesn't like the village," Zelgadis told her, "So she'll stay out of sight.
She's probably just inside the woods."
"But who is she?" Amelia asked.
"Frenlea," Zelgadis answered softly.
"And who's that?" the princess pressed.
"She's a wild elf who lives in the forest. She likes to sing for people."
Amelia pressed her nose against the window. "Really? I've never seen a wild
elf before!"
Zelgadis couldn't help but smile. "Would you like to meet her?"
"Yeah!" Amelia nodded.
"Then let's go," he suggested, opening the door. Amelia hopped down from the
window seat and ran up to him. The singing was louder outside, and it continued
to get louder as Zelgadis led her to the forest. Then, quite suddenly, it
stopped.
"Zel-chan!" a voice cried out. Amelia looked up just in time to see the most
beautiful woman she had ever seen descending on Zelgadis. The chimera caught
her and spun her around once before setting her on the ground.
"Hello Frenlea," Zelgadis said. Amelia was surprised to see him actually
smiling. "Frenlea, this is Princess Amelia. Amelia, this is Frenlea."
"Hello, Amelia-chan," Frenlea smiled.
Amelia just stared. She looked like something out of the picture books she
looked at when she was young. Golden hair flowed past long, pointed ears and
down her back, just touching the forest floor. She wore a short, loose-fitting
green dress, the exact same shade of the leaves of the trees.
An poke in the ribs by Zelgadis's elbow, snapped her out of it. "Um... hi,"
Amelia said, blushing slightly, "It's so nice to meet you. I've never met a
wild elf before."
"Well I've never met a princess before," Frenlea told her with a smile, "So
you're not at a disadvantage." Frenlea's smile was warm and friendly, and
Amelia found herself more and more at ease with the elf.
Frenlea turned to Zelgadis. "You haven't been to see me in a while," she
pouted, "You used to come watch me and my daughter dance." Oddly enough,
Zelgadis blushed at this comment.
"You have a daughter?" Amelia asked in amazement. Frenlea looked far too young
to have a daughter. Amelia reminded herself that elves don't age like humans
do.
"Mmm!" Frenlea nodded, "She lived over there." She pointed back at the Tella's
house. "She'd come and dance with me when the moon was whole, or when it was
absent. She hasn't come for a while, though." Again, she pouted.
"How long ago did she stop?" Amelia asked.
The sylph thought for a moment. "A while after Zelgadis stopped coming," she
said simply.
Amelia sweatdropped. "Doesn't she know any length of time other than 'a
while'?" she whispered to Zelgadis.
"Wild elves live a very long time," Zelgadis whispered back, "So they don't pay
much attention to time."
"I've missed you both," Frenlea said, taking hold of Zelgadis's arm, "I'm not
really used to missing things."
"I'm just passing through, Frenlea," he told her, "But if all goes well, I'll
be back soon."
"You should go see your mother," Frenlea suggested, "She misses you more than I
do."
Zelgadis shook his head. "I can't. Not like this. I think I've found a cure.
I'll see her then. How is she?"
The elf's face got somber, a look which Amelia felt didn't truly belong there.
"She's doing all right," she said, softly, "After you left, I used to visit her
with my lover and my daughter. She was very sad, and we wanted to let her know
she wasn't alone. After Ketra left, though, Solto decided to stay there." She
smiled. "I think they're both happy together."
Zelgadis was silent. Amelia could see the pain etched across his stone face.
She reached out and touched his shoulder lightly, but he pulled away.
"We should be heading back," he said, harshly. He turned and started back
towards the house.
"I'm sorry," Frenlea called out, but if Zelgadis heard her, he didn't respond.
Amelia quickly said goodbye to the elf before chasing after Zelgadis.
"Are you all right, Mr. Zelgadis?" she asked as she caught up with him.
"I don't want to talk about it," he said, but Amelia wasn't going to let herself
be deterred that easily. If she was anything, she was persistent.
"You should be thankful for what you do have," she told him.
"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Zelgadis insisted.
"At least you HAVE a mother. Mine died giving birth to me."
"So what do you suggest I do?" he asked, "See her like this? Let her know that
her only son is a monster?"
"At least she'd know you're alive!" Amelia said, "She's your mother. She's not
going to care what you look like."
"How would you know?!" he snapped, "You just said yourself you never HAD a
mother!"
Amelia stopped walking, and stared at her feet. "I was told mothers loved their
children, no matter what."
"Try to hide your naivety, Amelia," Zelgadis said dryly, "Life isn't like your
fairy tale books. You should be old enough to realize that."
A tear fell from Amelia's eye, disappearing on the dirt path. "I was only
trying to help," she whispered to herself.
"Dear Cephied, no," Zelgadis said. She looked up to see that Zelgadis had
stopped walking, and was staring at something down the path. A man was helping
a woman into the Tella's house.
"What is it?" Amelia asked.
Tears rolled down the chimera's face as Zelgadis reached out his hand longingly
towards the woman. "Mother," he whispered.
Tokyo, blah, blah, blah, send comments to bkuhn@ucsd.edu yackity smackity... you
get the drift
Special thanks go out to my pre-readers: Davner, Drakstern, Fish, Little
Masa-ouki, Tamysan, NJ Silver, and Will Z.
Lina: It looks like someone's after Zelgadis and Amelia, and they know what
they're doing. A beartrap, laced with both poison AND enchantments has taken
Zelgadis down.
Amelia: Meanwhile, Lina and Tensado head out after this strange knight,
Delvier, but they walk right into a trap, themselves.
Lina: Well how was I supposed to know someone had rigged that forest to turn
into a bonfire? Anyways, after taking Zelgadis to a healer, Xellos manages to
stir up more mischief by telling the lady of the house that he's Amelia's
fiancé!
Amelia: (crying) Why does this stuff have to happen to me?!
Lina: Um... Amelia, it's your turn for the recap.
Amelia: (wiping eyes) Oh yeah, *sniff* Lina and Tensado are forced into a
strange cave, where magic doesn't seem to work. They're confronted by a large,
tattooed man, and Tensado is... he's... (cries again)
Lina: I can't believe the author ended the chapter by killing Tensado! What
kind of ending is that?
Zelgadis: I believe it's called a 'cliffhanger.' This particular author seems
to like them.
Lina: Well I don't like it! I wanna talk to the author! I'll teach him a
thing or two about cliffhangers.
Zelgadis: If you kill the author, you'll never find out what happens.
Lina: Be quiet! Amelia and I are supposed to do the introductions. You're not
even conscious at the moment.
Zelgadis: (sighs) Let's just get on with the fic.
***
Slayers GO!
Chapter 3: Wounds of the Flesh, and Wounds of the Heart
"Mr. Xellos!" Amelia cried out, "Why did you tell her that?" She looked
apprehensively at the kitchen, where Mrs. Tella had gone to get tea.
"It's really for the best," Xellos told the young princess casually, "She seemed
to think it was improper for a woman such as yourself to be," he did a
remarkable impersonation of Mrs. Tella's voice "'Traipsing about with strange
men.'"
"So?" Amelia said, "It's still a lie, and justice doesn't forgive a liar!"
"Shh," Xellos said, holding a finger to his lips, "We may have to stay here a
day or two, while Mr. Zelgadis recovers. And Mrs. Tella will probably take
better care of him if she likes us."
Amelia frowned. "I suppose... but it's still lying. I don't think I can do
it."
"It's remarkably easy," Xellos assured her, "Just think of it like a game.
Surely you played make-believe when you were younger. It's really no different
than that."
Amelia bit her lip as she struggled with the decision.
There was a small poof, and a little angel version of herself appeared on her
shoulder. "You can't lie!" she told her, "You said it yourself, justice doesn't
forgive a liar."
There was another small poof, and another little angel appeared on her other
shoulder. "But it's for the good of everyone!"
"Um..." Amelia said, "Aren't you supposed to be a devil?"
"What?" the second angel said, indignantly, "How dare you? I am your good side,
devoted to making sure you walk the line of truth, justice, and the Seyruun
way!"
Amelia turned back to the first angel. "Don't I have a bad side?"
"Of course not, your heart belongs to justice! No dark thoughts can survive in
your pure soul!" Amelia stared at her for a second. "All right," she admitted,
"You do have a dark side. A tiny, weak thing, really. We overpowered her and
locked her in the basement."
"Don't worry," the second angel added, "We gave her a fair trial."
"We're getting sidetracked," the first angel told the second angel, "The point
is, Amelia's not going to lie, because lying is wrong, no matter what the reason
is."
"What about when her aunt gave her that awful sweater for her birthday?" the
second angel countered, "Are you saying she should have told her how hideous it
really was?"
The first angel frowned. "Well... no, but-"
"And this is for Mr. Zelgadis's sake," the second angel reminded. "Mr.
Zelgadis!" she squealed. For some reason, this gave Amelia the mental image of
Zelgadis in tight pants playing a guitar on a stage in front of thousands of
teenage girls.
"I still don't like it," the first replied.
The second angel looked at the first with sad eyes. "C'mon, pllleeeaaassseee?"
The first angel stamped her foot on Amelia's shoulder in frustration. "All
right, all right. But you owe me, got it?"
The second angel turned back to Amelia. "You hear that? It's your DUTY to go
through with this. Now, make a justice speech."
Amelia blinked. "A justice speech?"
"Yes, a justice speech," the first angel said, "It's been ages since your last
one."
"You know you want to," the second angel added.
"All right!" she said. The two angels disappeared as she raised a fist in the
air. "For the sake of justice, I will hide my identity a pretend to be..." Her
enthusiasm waned at this point. "Your... fiancé."
"That's the spirit," Xellos smiled.
A sudden thought occurred to Amelia, and she frowned again. "What about Mr.
Zelgadis?" she asked, looking at the unconscious chimera.
"Easy enough," Xellos replied, "He's your older brother, here to make sure we
don't do anything... 'improper.'" Xellos winked, causing Amelia to blush. "We
just need to make sure he knows that when he wakes up."
Dr. Tella finished his examination, and returned to the second floor to prepare
something for him. Mrs. Tella was still busy in the kitchen. That left Amelia
alone with Xellos. She kept glancing at him nervously. Even if it was just
pretend, the situation made her nervous.
Think about something else, she told herself. She starting reciting lessons to
distract herself. And Ceiphied came upon the warring people. But where his
brother had descended to the soldiers, promising them gifts to destroy their
enemies, Ceiphied paid the men fighting in the fields no heed. Instead he made
himself known to the people of the lands. He spoke to the farmers, and the
millers, and the smiths, who had been chased away from their tranquil lives.
It was working, she wasn't thinking about Xellos...
And he showed them what plants might reduce a fever, and which might cleanse a
wound.
... or what it would be like to really be engaged to Xellos...
And he spoke to them the mystic words, to draw upon his energy...
... or how he was kind of cute, in a weird way...
... to draw upon his energy to close that which had been rent...
... or how nice he could be when he wasn't being mysterious...
... to close that which had been rent, and purify those made ill, and drive
away...
... or what kind of body he might have beneath those robes...
... and drive away... drive away... purify those made ill, and drive away...
"This isn't working," she sighed. Fortunately, Mrs. Tella returned with tea,
and they made idle chitchat until Dr. Tella had returned, mixing something in a
small bowl.
"This should help fight off that poison," he told the 'happy couple,' as he bent
over Zelgadis, "And wake him up, too." He placed one hand around the chimera's
cheeks, forcing his jaw open, and poured the contents of the bowl into his
mouth.
Zelgadis groaned. He felt like Filia had hit him over the head with her mace...
several times... then hit him with her laser breath for good measure. Needless
to say, it wasn't a good feeling.
He sat up, and immediately regretted it as the entire room seemed to lurch, and
his headache increased sharply. He was in what looked like someone's house. It
was hard to tell, as everything was hazy. Was he dreaming?
"Zel-niichan!" Amelia said, running up to him and throwing her arms around him.
"Niichan?" he said puzzled. Ah, he thought, it was THAT dream, where he and his
traveling companion's were some sort of family. He looked up to see Xellos wave
at him. No, it couldn't be that dream. In that dream Amelia was his niece,
Lina and Gourry's daughter. And Xellos's skull was used to hold bean dip.
"I was so worried that you might not recover," Amelia said quickly, "And then
there'd be no one to keep an eye on my fiancé, Xellos and I."
"Yareyare," Xellos said under his breath, "How obvious can you get?" However
obvious the Mazoku might have thought it was, the Tellas didn't seem to notice.
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow, and Amelia blushed. One of Xellos's games, he
decided. He had gotten Amelia to go along with it, though, which suggested
there might be some purpose behind it. On the other hand, Amelia was rather
naive, and far too trusting of that Mazoku. It wouldn't be difficult for Xellos
to trick her.
In the end, he decided it would be best to play along until he had a chance to
ask some questions. That decided, he put an arm around Amelia.
"It's okay, sis," he said, doing a much better acting job than Amelia had, "I'm
tough, you know that."
"Anna," the doctor said to his wife, "Why don't you go prepare some rooms for
our guests."
"Rooms?" Zelgadis asked.
"Can't let you out like that, son," the doctor said, tapping his leg with his
cane, "You need rest until your body can get rid of that poison."
"Forget that," Zelgadis said, trying to get up. The old man, put a hand against
his chest, and pushed him back down. The old man's strength was impressive. Or
maybe Zelgadis was just weak from the poison.
"You leave now," the doctor told him, "And your sister and her fiancé will be
burying you by sundown."
"What?" Amelia said, startled, "He'll be okay, won't he?" Her eyes were filled
with tears.
"Now, now," the doctor said, reassuringly, "He'll be fine, as long as he takes
it easy for the next few days." He turned back to Zelgadis, looking at him with
very stern eyes. "Got that, son?"
"I understand," Zelgadis sighed. He lay back on the table.
"Don't worry, Amelia dear" Xellos said, with his usual smile, "I'm sure your
brother will be good as new in no time at all."
Zelgadis covered his face with his hands. This was hell.
***
Lina stared in disbelief at the area where Tensado had disappeared into the
mist. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't! Tensado couldn't be dead. He
was her oldest friend. They had grown up together. Luna was always busy at the
restaurant, and Tensado only has his mother and she was an assassin as well, and
often too busy. But they always had time for each other. They had helped each
other grow. They had supported each other. They were friends... best friends.
They had finally met again, after six years. And now...
"You'll pay for that you son of a bitch!" Lina yelled, as she charged at
Tensado's killer again. The man continued to laugh, as he sidestepped Lina's
attack, and grabbed her wrist. A sharp twist caused her to scream in pain, as
she heard the bones snap. He threw her away again.
Lina gritted her teeth and tried her best to ignore the pain. Her sword was now
at the large man's feet, so she tried a different attack. She leapt at him,
kicking at his face. She struck him hard across the cheek, but if he felt any
pain, he didn't show it. He picked her up by the leg and slammed her into the
rock wall. She slumped to the ground, where he kicked her away.
"Is that all you've got?" he asked, "I expected more from the great Lina
Inverse."
Lina slowly picked herself up from the floor. Her jaw stung with pain where he
had kicked her. Every inch of her body ached. Each muscle screamed in agony as
she moved. But she wouldn't back down. She was Lina Inverse, and if she was
going to die, she'd die fighting.
"I will kill you," she said softly.
"And how will you do that?" he asked, "Your magic is impressive, but it won't
work here." He gestured to the foggy cavern around them. "This mist blocks out
all magical energy. And without your magic, you're no match for me."
Lina smiled. "Oh yeah?" She pulled her hands in front of her and began to
chant, "Darkness beyond Twilight..." She faltered. She couldn't feel the
energy. Keep going, she told herself. "Crimson beyond the blood that flows..."
There it was! She could feel it! It was faint, but it was there. "Buried in
the stream of time is where your power grows..." She winced as the dark
energies flew through her beaten body. This spell was going to kill her. Even
if she survived casting it, the spell would collapse the entire mountain on her.
At least she'd take this asshole down with her. "I pledge myself to con-" She
was cut off as a large hand closed around her throat.
"Interesting," the giant said as he lifted her off the ground, "Apparently the
power of Shabranigdo can penetrate the mist. That will be useful to know. Now
that I've performed their little 'test,' there's no reason to keep you alive."
Lina gasped as he tightened his grip around her neck. She couldn't breathe.
She tried to fight back, but all of his vulnerable spots were out of range.
Why did I have to be short? Lina lamented. Her vision began to blur as she
suffocated. She could hear the sound of beating wings. Was this the angel of
death coming for her?
She suddenly was dropped as something clashed into the rock wall. Gasping for
breath, she looked up at the wall. What she had thought was the angel of
death's wings, was actually the sound of the giant axe being hurled through the
air. It now lay embedded in the rock wall, blood dripping from the exposed part
of the blade.
Both she and her attacker turned to look at the source. Shadowed by the mist
was a human shape. One arm was still extended from throwing the axe.
"Leave... her... alone..." the figure said. It was Tensado's voice, but the
light, friendly tone he always spoke with was gone, replaced by a cold anger
Lina had never heard from him before.
"How are you still alive, boy?" the giant asked, angrily, although Lina thought
she heard a trace of fear in his voice. She noticed how quickly he moved to
pull his axe from the wall.
"I'm not that easy to kill," the assassin snarled, only this was a REAL snarl,
the sound an angry hound would make. Tensado threw his cloak aside as he
approached them. Lina blinked. Tensado appeared to be growing in size. Had
she taken a blow to the head?
As he stepped out of the mist, Lina looked at her old friend, and gasped in
surprise. His shirt had been torn away, revealing a body covered with thick
gray fur. Long, deadly claws extended from each hand. Her eyes moved upward to
Tensado's face, and she saw those wild eyes of his. But the rest of the face
wasn't Tensado's, it wasn't even human.
The werewolf let out a howl that echoed off the cave walls. A wave of pain
passed over Lina, and she blacked out.
***
"Your brother will be staying in the patient room downstairs," Mrs. Tella told
Amelia and Xellos, as she lead them to a room at the top of the stairs, "You can
stay here. This room used to belong to my granddaughter, Ketra. I'm sure
you'll be comfortable here."
The room had the same old-fashioned cozy feeling that pervaded the rest of the
house. There was a dresser in the corner, with a makeup kit and a music box
resting on it. Several horse figurines were displayed on a shelf next to the
bed. A cross-stitching project lay on the chair. Amelia got the feeling that
Mrs. Tella had kept the room in the exact same state it was in when Ketra had
left it.
"It's great!" the young princess said enthusiastically, "I love it!"
"I'm glad to hear that," Mrs. Tella smiled, "Well, I'd better go prepare lunch.
Don't be too long."
"Um, what about Mist- er... what about Xellos dear?" she asked, "Where will he
be staying?"
"Oh, he can stay here with you, dear," Mrs. Tella said, with a friendly smile.
"That's great!" Xellos said, putting an arm around Amelia's shoulder.
"Wha- Wait!" Amelia protested, flushing, "Isn't that, um, improper?"
Mrs. Tella gave them a knowing look. "I was young once, too, you know. I'd
imagine travelling with your brother that you haven't had a chance to... enjoy
each other's company in a while."
"You really are a gem, Mrs. Tella," Xellos said, cheerfully.
"Of course, dear," she smiled, "Now, I have to go see to lunch."
Amelia tried to find some way around this, but none came to mind, and Mrs. Tella
left. She let out a heavy sigh as she flopped down on the bed. She looked at
Xellos, who smiled.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she accused.
"Of course," he said, waving a finger, "It's a game, you see, and one that I'm
very good at. I find it simply amazing to observe what I can do with something
that never existed."
"I don't get what you mean," Amelia said, folding her arms in front of her and
resting her head on them.
"Let me put it this way," the Mazoku told her, "You're a sorceress, who travels
all over the world to 'fight evil and corruption in the name of justice,' or
something like that, right?" Amelia nodded. "Mrs. Tella would absolutely hate
you. But she's treating you like you were her own child, because we're an
engaged couple, off to be married."
Amelia sat up. "But we're not!" she protested, "It's all a lie!"
"That's the point," Xellos smiled, "There's not a single shred of truth in it.
It's all a product of our minds, but look at how it changed Mrs. Tella."
Amelia lay back down on the bed. She didn't want to look at him.
"You're a horrible person, you know that?" she told him.
"Well, I AM a Mazoku," he reminded the princess.
Amelia frowned. She knew he was a Mazoku. He was evil. It was that simple.
But it wasn't simple, it wasn't simple at all.
"Then why don't you act like it?" she asked, "You smile and act nice, but it's a
lie. You pretend to be a friend, but you don't really care about us at all, do
you?" Xellos didn't respond. "Don't you have any feelings at all?"
"Well, maybe not in quite the same way you do," he admitted, seriously, "A lot
of the feelings you humans go through really don't make sense to us Mazoku."
"Like love," Amelia said, "You don't have anything like that, do you?"
"I don't know. I've never felt love, so I really can't compare it to anything.
I know it does exist, though. Lina and Gourry managed to prove that rather
effectively. I think the closest thing I might have felt to love would be
rivalry."
Amelia blinked. "Rivalry?"
Xellos nodded. "There are similarities between the two. They're both an
obsession. Everything sort of goes away, except for the opinion of one person.
You focus all your energy into proving yourself." There was a moment of
silence, before Xellos added, in a casual voice, "Of course, I could be
completely wrong."
Amelia stared at the ceiling for a while, as she thought about what Xellos had
said. It seemed to make sense, to some extent at least. She thought about the
way Xellos and Filia treated each other. She had always thought they had
feelings for each other that they just didn't want to admit, but Xellos's
description of rivalry seemed to fit it more.
She gave up on those thoughts. Even Gourry was smart enough not to know that
trying to figure out Xellos was a waste of time. She looked at the horses on
the shelf next to her. Each one was different, unique. Some were made out of
stone, some from wood, and others were glass. She found her attention was drawn
to a wooden one in the back. It was a beautifully carved stallion, painted
black with silver reigns and saddle. A beautiful woman in a white cloak rode on
top of it, her long golden hair flowing down her back. It looked almost real.
She was shaken from her thoughts as she heard the door to the room open and
close. Sitting up, she saw Zelgadis enter the room.
"Mr. Zelgadis!" she said, "Are you sure you should be up like this?"
"I'm fine," he assured her, as he crossed the room. "Dr. Tella said it was fine
for me to move around as long as I don't stress myself," he added, seeing the
skeptical look Amelia was giving him. "Anyways, while we're here, my name is
just 'Zel,' not 'Zelgadis.' Got it?"
"Yeah," Amelia said, "Why?"
"I was born here," he told her. She looked up at him, but he didn't return the
gaze. Instead, he focused his attention at the figurines. "I knew the Tellas,
and I'd prefer it if they didn't realize they knew me." He picked up the wooden
carving Amelia had been looking at and held it up to the light.
Amelia sighed as she saw the sad look on the chimera's face. She thought about
how horrible it would be to be afraid of your own family and friends. Zelgadis
showed real strength in how he was able to continue on like he did. She didn't
think she'd be able to handle it.
She got up off the bed and stood next to Zelgadis. "Are you all right?" she
asked.
"Yeah," he told her, "It's nothing I can't handle."
"Just think, in a few days, you might not have to handle it anymore," she said
hopefully. Zelgadis just nodded. She swallowed nervously. "Um... Mr.
Zelgadis... I just want you to know... Even if this doesn't work out, I'll
always be here for you." She bit her lip.
"Thank you, Amelia," Zelgadis said, looking out the window, "That means a lot to
me. It really does." He turned to face her. "You really are a great woman."
Amelia felt her face heat up at the comment, but it went cold a second later
when she felt Xellos's arm around her shoulder.
"Isn't she?" he said, "I'm just the luckiest man alive to be engaged to her."
Zelgadis glared at him for a moment, before storming off, muttering something
about bean dip.
***
Lina woke up, and immediately regretted it. God, how much did she drink last
night? She rolled over, wincing at the throbbing pain in her head. She wanted
to curl up and die, or, failing that, go to sleep for a month and see if she
felt any better by then.
It was the sharp pain in her right wrist that brought her to reality. She was
lying on the side of a path, just outside the mist-filled cavern. Her entire
body ached, but her wrist was the worst. It was tied to her torso with a strip
of blue cloth, she tentatively tried moving it, and immediately clenched her
teeth in pain.
"You broke your wrist. Don't move it," she heard Tensado's cheerful voice,
tinged with worry, tell her.
"I had the strangest dream," she said, struggling to sit up without jarring her
wrist. "We were attacked by a strange man, and I thought he had killed you, but
then you turned out to be a-" She cut herself off as she finally managed to sit
up. She could see Tensado now. He had his cloak pulled around him, but Lina
could see that he no longer wore a shirt. The way he held his cloak around his
body made Lina suspect his shirt wasn't the only thing he lost in the
transformation.
"It was real, wasn't it?" It wasn't exactly a question. "You really are a
werewolf." He nodded. "When did it happen?"
Tensado let out a heavy sigh as he sat down next to her. "It didn't," he told
her, "I was born this way. My father was a werewolf, and I got it from him."
Lina gritted her teeth. "So you've ALWAYS been a werewolf?" she asked, glaring
at him.
"I think it's why I'm claustrophobic," he said, completely missing the anger in
Lina's voice, "I'm easily twice as big in my werewolf form. I guess the idea
that there wasn't as much space around me as there seemed was unnerving."
"I don't care about that!" she yelled, hitting him over the head with her good
arm, "How come you never mentioned this?! I don't believe you! We were best
friends our entire lives, and I'm just now finding this out about you?! Why the
hell didn't you tell me?!"
Tensado sweatdropped. "Um... Now that you're awake, we should get going. They
might be back for us."
"Don't try to change the subject!" Lina said, hitting him again, "I want to know
why you never told me!"
"All right, all right," he said, "I never told anyone. Only my mother and I
knew. She told me that I couldn't tell anyone, that people would hate or fear
me if they knew."
Lina stared at him for a moment. "You couldn't have believed I would have
cared. I put up with you being an assassin, why should your lycanthropy matter
to me?"
"I knew that," he replied, "But it didn't seem worth telling you. What if I had
misread you? You were my best friend, Lina, my only friend. It was too much to
risk."
There was a long pause. Finally, Tensado stood up. With one hand holding his
cloak tightly shut, he extended the other to help Lina to her feet.
"We should go," he told her, "Once we got out of the mist, I was able to cast
some healing spells, but we should probably get you to a proper healer."
"Wait! What happened to that guy who attacked us?" she asked.
Tensado smiled. "He ran off. I guess he doesn't like picking on someone his
own size."
"Well, what do we have here?" a voice asked. Lina and Tensado both turned to
see a dozen bandits approaching them.
"Looks like we found Jenso's lost prey," a tall bandit cackled, "The boss'll
reward us REAL good for this one."
Lina groaned. She didn't want to deal with this. While she was certain she
could take care of these idiots with little effort, casting any spells at all
wouldn't be good for her wrist. She wasn't sure how good Tensado was with
magic. As an assassin, he probably didn't need that much power most of the
time. Regardless, she doubted they were equipped to handle a werewolf, but Lina
was pretty sure Tensado hadn't recovered from his earlier injuries.
Well, she thought to herself, when all else fails, bluff. If she was lucky, she
might be able to get these fools to run, and save her the hassle of blasting
them. "I'm not sure you realize who you're dealing with," she said, cockily,
"Do you really think you can take on the great-"
"Hold it right there, you !@#$%ing piece of !@#$%!" a woman commanded. The
brigands turned to see who the foul-mouthed newcomer was.
It was a woman, dressed in white armor and cape, mounted on a large black
warhorse. Long, golden hair flowed out the back of her helmet.
"Hey, boys, check her out!" the tall bandit laughed, "Check out all the white.
Late to your wedding, honey?" The bandits burst into laughter. The woman
merely smiled, and lowered the visor on her helmet.
"If you're not going to take me seriously," she said, drawing a sword from a
scabbard on her hip, "This will be over before it !@#$%ing starts." The sword
blade was made of white steel, and seemed to glow faintly in the sunlight. Lina
could see runes carved along the blade, and feel the magical energy in the
sword.
"You gotta be joking!" one of the bandits said, "I'll take care of you, real
quick." He drew his own sword and charged at her. She didn't move as she
watched him approach. Then, at the last second, she brought her sword down to
parry his attack, and kicked him in the face with her armored foot.
"You're going to have to do much better than that, !@#$%head!" she laughed. The
man stumbled back, clutching his bleeding nose. She vaulted from her horse,
jumping clear over the brigands, to land gracefully in front of Lina and
Tensado. "Aw, !@#$%," she muttered when she saw them, "Kids, now I have to
watch my !@#$%ing language."
"We're not gonna let her get away with that, are we?" the injured bandit yelled.
The rest of the gang yelled out, drew their weapons, and charged. The
swordswoman, though, dodged the attacks with relative ease.
A strange song fell over the forest. It sounded like someone was playing bells,
but Lina couldn't find where the music was coming from. Even more unusual, was
its effect. The bandits' attacks became slower and more lethargic. Lina looked
to the side and saw that even Tensado was effected. He was staring, mesmerized
at the battle in front of him.
The swordswoman continued to dance around the bandits. Periodically, she'd lash
out at one of the brigands, bringing him down with a spurt of blood. Gradually,
Lina realized the source of the music; it was the woman's sword! As she dodged
various attacks from the brigands, she rapped the blade of her sword with her
metal gauntlet, producing a surprisingly complex song that seemed to put all the
men around into a daze.
In a relatively short time, the bandits had all fallen, and the song came to an
end. She wiped her sword clean on one of the dead men's tunics and returned it
to its sheath. Stepping carefully over the corpses, she approached Lina. She
lifted up her visor and smiled.
"Don't you know it's dangerous for kids to travel alone like this?" she said
sweetly. One would hardly guess from her tone that she had just killed twelve
men.
"Why does this seem familiar?" Lina muttered. She turned to the swordswoman.
"Look, lady, before you-"
"Oh, you're a sorceress!" the woman interrupted, "I'm sorry, that sling makes it
hard to see your outfit. Hold on a second." She fiddled with the back of her
helmet, then removed it by sliding it forward. The reason for the unusual style
of her helmet became apparent as she brushed back her hair, revealing a pair of
long, pointed ears.
"An elf?" Lina asked in amazement.
"Half-elf, actually," she admitted. She offered her left hand to Lina. "Ketra,
Ketra Tella."
***
"Thank you for helping me out, dear," Mrs. Tella said, as Amelia started cutting
vegetables.
"It's no problem," Amelia smiled, "It's the least I can do." She finished
slicing the carrots and dumped them into the stew pot. "Here you go." It was
then that she noticed the picture on the shelf. What appeared to be a much
younger Dr. and Mrs. Tella were in it, along with two young women, and a young
man with a child in his arms. "Are these your children?"
Mrs. Tella smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Yes, those are my daughters, Fellace
and Temera, my son, Solto, and his daughter, Ketra."
"So where are they now?" Amelia asked.
"Fellace, the younger one, died shortly after that painting was made. She was
never a healthy child, and I suppose it was always just a matter of time. She
had a good heart, though. Once she was gone, Temera and I fought even more than
usual. Not long after that, she ran off with her boyfriend, and I haven't seen
her since." She let out a very heavy sigh.
Amelia bowed her head. "I'm sorry I brought it up," she said in a subdued
voice.
"It's all right, dear," the elderly woman assured her, "You're at a curious age.
What has happened has happened, and no amount of regret is going to change it.
Solto is still here, and that's something I'll never take for granted. Life can
take nasty turns on you, but the important thing is to learn from them."
Amelia nodded. "So where is Solto?"
"He lives on the other side of the village with his wife."
"Why doesn't he live here?" she asked.
"I've asked him to come back a hundred times," Mrs. Tella said, "But his wife
won't leave. Her son from a previous marriage disappeared one day, you see.
She's convinced that he'll come back some day, and she wants to be there when he
comes home."
Amelia's eyes began to water at this news. "That's so sad."
Mrs. Tella shook her head. "Isn't it, though? You'll get to meet him, though.
He and his wife will be joining us for dinner." She looked around at the
kitchen. "Well, everything's about ready for now. Why don't you run along,
I'll call you when it's time for dinner."
Amelia nodded, and, wiping at her eyes, started out of the kitchen. She stopped
when she saw Xellos leaning against the door frame.
"Hello, Amelia dear," he said cheerfully, either unaware of the somber mood that
had settled over the kitchen, or simply uncaring.
"oh... um... hi, Xellos dear," Amelia said, distractedly.
"Oh," Mrs. Tella said suddenly, "I just noticed something!" She gave Xellos an
angry look. "Why doesn't Amelia have a ring?"
If Xellos was caught off guard by this question, he didn't show it. "Well," he
explained, "As a priest, I don't have a lot of money. I'm willing to spend it
all on my princess, of course, but she wouldn't stand for it, would you,
darling?"
Amelia began to sweat. "Well," she said, hitting a sudden burst of inspiration,
"I figured since we're getting married immediately, there's not a lot of point
in an engagement ring, is there? I'd rather we have the money for our first
house."
"Ah," Mrs. Tella smiled, "This is one of those rush-rush weddings, isn't it?"
Amelia nodded. Maybe this wasn't as hard as she thought. "You need to get
hitched before you start to show." Amelia facefaulted.
"My you're a sharp one, Mrs. Tella," Xellos said before Amelia could protest,
"Just don't let her brother know. He hasn't figured it out yet, and I'd like to
be officially related to him before he does."
"He won't hear it from me," Mrs. Tella laughed, "Well, I've got some cooking
left to do. Why don't you two go have some fun."
"Great," Amelia sighed, as they left the room, "Now I'm carrying your child."
She looked up to see Xellos smoking a cigarette.
"Was it good for you?" he asked.
***
Zelgadis lay on the bed in the room they had given him, lost in thought. He had
been hoping to simply pass through this place. It was a small town, normally it
wouldn't be worth a second glance. If it weren't for that damned trap!
Zelgadis swore that if he found whoever had set that trap, he would make him
suffer.
He decided he'd leave first thing the next morning. The longer he stayed, the
more likely someone would realize that this monster was the child who had been
born in this very building.
Being here was sheer agony. He was so close to a cure. He had even dreamt of
stopping here on their way back. A tear rolled down his cheek. His mother was
so close. He hadn't seen her in years, but he couldn't go to her like this.
"Damn you, Rezo," he whispered. It was then that he heard it: a soft, melodious
singing. The voice was beautiful and sweet. It was a voice Zelgadis knew.
Slowly, he got to his feet, and left the room.
The room he had lead right into the house's living room. Amelia was there,
peering out the window curiously. She turned away to look at him as he entered
the room.
"Oh, Zel-niichan," she giggled, before she returned her attention to the
mysterious song. "Do you know who's singing?" she asked, "She sounds close, but
I don't see her."
"She doesn't like the village," Zelgadis told her, "So she'll stay out of sight.
She's probably just inside the woods."
"But who is she?" Amelia asked.
"Frenlea," Zelgadis answered softly.
"And who's that?" the princess pressed.
"She's a wild elf who lives in the forest. She likes to sing for people."
Amelia pressed her nose against the window. "Really? I've never seen a wild
elf before!"
Zelgadis couldn't help but smile. "Would you like to meet her?"
"Yeah!" Amelia nodded.
"Then let's go," he suggested, opening the door. Amelia hopped down from the
window seat and ran up to him. The singing was louder outside, and it continued
to get louder as Zelgadis led her to the forest. Then, quite suddenly, it
stopped.
"Zel-chan!" a voice cried out. Amelia looked up just in time to see the most
beautiful woman she had ever seen descending on Zelgadis. The chimera caught
her and spun her around once before setting her on the ground.
"Hello Frenlea," Zelgadis said. Amelia was surprised to see him actually
smiling. "Frenlea, this is Princess Amelia. Amelia, this is Frenlea."
"Hello, Amelia-chan," Frenlea smiled.
Amelia just stared. She looked like something out of the picture books she
looked at when she was young. Golden hair flowed past long, pointed ears and
down her back, just touching the forest floor. She wore a short, loose-fitting
green dress, the exact same shade of the leaves of the trees.
An poke in the ribs by Zelgadis's elbow, snapped her out of it. "Um... hi,"
Amelia said, blushing slightly, "It's so nice to meet you. I've never met a
wild elf before."
"Well I've never met a princess before," Frenlea told her with a smile, "So
you're not at a disadvantage." Frenlea's smile was warm and friendly, and
Amelia found herself more and more at ease with the elf.
Frenlea turned to Zelgadis. "You haven't been to see me in a while," she
pouted, "You used to come watch me and my daughter dance." Oddly enough,
Zelgadis blushed at this comment.
"You have a daughter?" Amelia asked in amazement. Frenlea looked far too young
to have a daughter. Amelia reminded herself that elves don't age like humans
do.
"Mmm!" Frenlea nodded, "She lived over there." She pointed back at the Tella's
house. "She'd come and dance with me when the moon was whole, or when it was
absent. She hasn't come for a while, though." Again, she pouted.
"How long ago did she stop?" Amelia asked.
The sylph thought for a moment. "A while after Zelgadis stopped coming," she
said simply.
Amelia sweatdropped. "Doesn't she know any length of time other than 'a
while'?" she whispered to Zelgadis.
"Wild elves live a very long time," Zelgadis whispered back, "So they don't pay
much attention to time."
"I've missed you both," Frenlea said, taking hold of Zelgadis's arm, "I'm not
really used to missing things."
"I'm just passing through, Frenlea," he told her, "But if all goes well, I'll
be back soon."
"You should go see your mother," Frenlea suggested, "She misses you more than I
do."
Zelgadis shook his head. "I can't. Not like this. I think I've found a cure.
I'll see her then. How is she?"
The elf's face got somber, a look which Amelia felt didn't truly belong there.
"She's doing all right," she said, softly, "After you left, I used to visit her
with my lover and my daughter. She was very sad, and we wanted to let her know
she wasn't alone. After Ketra left, though, Solto decided to stay there." She
smiled. "I think they're both happy together."
Zelgadis was silent. Amelia could see the pain etched across his stone face.
She reached out and touched his shoulder lightly, but he pulled away.
"We should be heading back," he said, harshly. He turned and started back
towards the house.
"I'm sorry," Frenlea called out, but if Zelgadis heard her, he didn't respond.
Amelia quickly said goodbye to the elf before chasing after Zelgadis.
"Are you all right, Mr. Zelgadis?" she asked as she caught up with him.
"I don't want to talk about it," he said, but Amelia wasn't going to let herself
be deterred that easily. If she was anything, she was persistent.
"You should be thankful for what you do have," she told him.
"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Zelgadis insisted.
"At least you HAVE a mother. Mine died giving birth to me."
"So what do you suggest I do?" he asked, "See her like this? Let her know that
her only son is a monster?"
"At least she'd know you're alive!" Amelia said, "She's your mother. She's not
going to care what you look like."
"How would you know?!" he snapped, "You just said yourself you never HAD a
mother!"
Amelia stopped walking, and stared at her feet. "I was told mothers loved their
children, no matter what."
"Try to hide your naivety, Amelia," Zelgadis said dryly, "Life isn't like your
fairy tale books. You should be old enough to realize that."
A tear fell from Amelia's eye, disappearing on the dirt path. "I was only
trying to help," she whispered to herself.
"Dear Cephied, no," Zelgadis said. She looked up to see that Zelgadis had
stopped walking, and was staring at something down the path. A man was helping
a woman into the Tella's house.
"What is it?" Amelia asked.
Tears rolled down the chimera's face as Zelgadis reached out his hand longingly
towards the woman. "Mother," he whispered.
