Instert standard disclaimer here. Everyone should know that I don't own these characters. Also chopped the story up into chapters. Sorry if the transitions are rough. If you want to read it without chapters, head over to vejiitasei.com.
Absolution- Part 1, Chapter 2
by the Prime Minister
Lina awoke feeling oddly hollow, but because sleep still fogged her brain she had no idea why. Blinking in the weak light coming through a pair of open glass doors, she slowly began to realize she didn't recognize her surroundings in the least. She was in the biggest bed she had ever seen in her life, luxurious pillows and blankets heaped in soft piles around her. Gauzy curtains hung from the canopy of the bed, partially obscuring the room and its dark, tasteful decorations. The tile of the floor was dark marble, short through with iridescent blue veins and polished to an unbelievable shine. heavy furniture stood around the room, lavishly upholstered with expensive coordinated fabrics. Many strange, arcane objects lined shelves and were neatly arranged on tables, and a large fireplace, devoid of embers at the moment, was set in the wall to the left of the bed. From across the room an ocean wind blew in from the balcony through the glass doors, fluttering the curtains, and Lina knew with absolute certainty that she had never been in the room before.
Did you sleep well? a silky voice asked from the shadows, and suddenly Xellos' features were illuminated as a fire flared to life in the large fireplace.
For some reason seeing him sitting there in the stately chair, pointed chin resting lightly on his steepled fingers, destroyed any hope that she might have had that the situation was only a bad dream. It was as if he, with his neutral expression and closed eyes, was the root and cause of her pain. Where am I? she demanded, pulling the bed covers up over her collarbones.
In my quarters, he replied gently, leaning back in the chair and further into shadow.
She shivered as she looked around, suddenly disturbed by the sinister atmosphere of the room, sharply reminded that Xellos was a Monster and one of the most powerful of his race in addition. No tasteful, luxurious decor could distract her from that hard reality. I'm on Wolfpack Island?
He sighed and spread his hands, his long, gloved fingers suspended in midair. I had nowhere else to take you, he explained softly.
A snarl ripped across her features and she threw back the covers, leaping from the bed. Take me home! she cried, looking around the room frantically. She had to find a way out; this wasn't where she was supposed to be. She wanted to be home with Gourry.
Xellos hung his head, thick hair obscuring his face, and dropped his hands. There is no place for you there anymore, I'm afraid, he murmured.
Shut up! Lina shouted, pacing around the room and desperately trying to find her traveling clothes. This is all your fault!
Miss Lina, he began, rising from the chair.
Stuff it, you filthy Monster! she screamed, her search becoming more frantic with each moment that passed. You probably planned this from the very beginning!
I assure you that's not the case, he said smoothly, taking a step nearer.
Lina abandoned her search, feeling her chest tighten as tears began to burn her eyes. She couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it. Desperate, deep sobs began to wrack her body and she sat down heavily on the edge of the massive bed, tears of anger and loss spilling down her face. It felt as if her heart was shattering into a million pieces and falling all around her. Hollow, agonizing sorrow threatened to rip her in two and she collapsed upon the mattress, gripping wads of silken sheets in her shaking her fists.
The bed shifted as Xellos sat down next to her, his gloved hands resting lightly on her back. Everything will be all right, he murmured.
Her grief immediately turned to rage and she sat up, knocking his hands away and glaring at him through her tears. She missed Gourry intensely; with their separation it felt as if her heart had been torn from her chest and tossed to wild dogs, and the man in front of her was to blame for it. If he hadn't come after her, if he hadn't brought the damn baby into the picture, she and Gourry could have been together forever. A million recollections of Gourry flooded her and overwhelmed her, sending her reeling. It was almost as if she could close her eyes and touch him, but thinking such things made the gap between them almost seem wider.
Get away from me! Lina snarled, retreating from his touch as anger and despair battled within her. He leaned toward her again and she sprang from the bed, fleeing until she backed into a table. Xellos stood and took a step forward and she scowled at him, unconsciously reaching up and gripping the ring around her neck for reassurance. The moment she touched it the magic inside the metal flared to life, radiating light from between her fingers. She gasped and looked down, squinting at the light, and then saw Xellos move out of the corner of her eye. A look of terrible intensity passed over his face and he raised a hand, catching the fingertip of his glove between his teeth and savagely tearing it away from his hand. He reached up to his own neck and seized the ring that was the mate to hers, clutching it tightly in his fist.
he gasped, taking a step back as his eyes shot open and his jaw dropped slightly. She thought that she had never seen him so stricken before in all the time she had known him. His body went rigid while his features softened, and suddenly there was an inexplicable pain in his eyes as he reached for her.
Stay away, she warned, scrambling backward but blocked by the table. Fear snuck into her heart and joined the anger and sorrow, making even standing upright a nearly unbearable struggle.
I can feel your pain, he breathed, his slitted gaze unreadable but like nothing she had ever seen before. It's the first time I've been able to feel anything since I was turned back.
Don't come any closer, she hissed, frantic in her need to escape his advance.
I'm so sorry for your torment, he breathed, the light pulsing between the fingers of his closed hand. I never wanted you to be hurt.
This is all your fault! she screamed, suddenly aware of how the ring was beginning to burn her palm. Looking down at the metal in her hand, she realized that despite how she had felt about Gourry she had always kept Xellos' ring. It was one of her most prized possessions. Well, it must have been what allowed him to find her and ruin her life. She should have thrown him away when she had the chance, before he could come in and destroy everything.
Please, Lina, Xellos said, eyes wide open and searching as he moved forward again.
she moaned, everything too much for her bear. Damn the ring, damn him. She couldn't take it anymore. Tightening her grip on the ring and clenching her jaw, she yanked with all her might. The links of the ancient orihalcon chain broke apart, the ruptured metal sliding from around her neck and landing at her feet. With a feral yell of pain she hurled the ring against the wall, the amurium making a clear, ringing sound as it struck the floor. The ring around Xellos' neck went ominously dark and she glared into his face defiantly.
What she saw there deflated her even further. His face seemed to crack and an odd gleam came into his eyes, the previous softness completely banished. He shook his head, his glossy hair hiding his features for a moment, and took a step near her. I would take away your pain, if I could.
You Monsters get power from pain, she hissed, desperate to find a way to stop his advance. Rage burned through her, and she found she wanted nothing more than to rip him to shreds and make him atone for what he had done to her life. The last thing she desired was to feel his touch upon her or hear condolences in his voice.
I gain nothing from your grief, he murmured.
Lina spat, baring her teeth as her hands groped around on the table behind her. You're nothing but lies!
You're the only truth I have ever known, he replied, continuing his slow advance.
Lina's hand closed around something and she roared, flinging it before her. Xellos stiffened and shifted backward, narrowly dodging the object she had thrown. She watched his slitted eyes follow the path of the heavy vase she had thrown, the smoky glass of it shattering as it hit the cold marble. He stepped lightly away from the vase shards and gazed at her again, and suddenly it was as if she lost all reason. Bending quickly, she scooped up the largest glass shard she could find and lunged at him as he moved to take her in her arms.
There was a sickening squelch as she drove the glass shard into his body in the soft triangle between where the arm, shoulder, and collarbone met. Xellos grunted against the impact, his expression going blank as his eyes went wide. Black fluid began to ooze onto her hand and she looked at her fingers in horror, staring at where she had stabbed him. Xellos shut his eyes and slowly reached up a hand, gripping the glass and pulling it out of his shoulder with a rough movement. He bowed his head so that his expression was hidden, blood coursing down the fabric of his shirt as his arm snaked around her and pulled her close. The glass shard fell from his fingers and he clutched her to him, burying his nose in the hair at the crown of her head. She stared blankly ahead of her, anger drained away by the shock of what she had done. Please forgive me, he whispered into her fiery locks.
Something inside her broke as she felt his warm Monster's blood soak her clothing. Suddenly it wasn't within her to hate him, and only anguish washed over her as his strong arms held her close. The slight curve of her ribcage began to quiver as her tears surfaced once again, and there was no more anger, only despair. She had lost her Gourry, her life, and she was barely conscious of who it was that held her as she rested her head against his chest and curled her fists in the fabric of his clothing. she sobbed, and continued to weep until her strength left her and she slept once again.