AN: Sorry about how short the last chapter was. I couldn't think of a good
way to add more yet keep it at a similar length to the others. I'm making
up for it here, where much will be revealed. Or not. On with Chapter 6.
Chapter Six In which Zel finds out where they are, a few confusing events take place, Lina teaches Amelia how to climb the lay-ties and Zelgadiss tries to figure
out what happened after that battle.
A cry of the other side drew his attention from his fight once more, to see Mur being ganged up upon by the young men. A shout drew his eyes to Gourry, fighting a losing battle against another two guards, Raven, falling to his knees before his opponent, Kiyone flying into the railing, and only just barely managing to stay aboard, Xelloss, using a set of his best kitchen knives to stave off a group of men...slowly all his crew falling around him.....His eyes blazed as cold and uncaring as the sea, a storm visible in them. A faint aura began to manifest itself around him lending him strength he never knew he possessed. Yet still as five men ganged up on him he began to falter, drawing on his last reserves of strength and.......
Zel sat in his prison (AN: How Zel is currently referring to his bed.), thinking over what he could remember of that fight. He had seen his friends' fall, seen them being forced down under the numbers of the guards, he remembered feeling that cold rage build up in him, lending him strength. When he had almost fallen and was on his last stretch, he had called upon some unknown power and...what? 'What happened after that? Obviously we got away, and obviously none of us were killed but....what? Exactly what happened that let us get away? Could it be that I used that same power.....but...no, it wasn't this was different...and ever time I've used that, I've remembered what's happened afterwards....' He sighed and fell back into the pillows of the bed his crew had stuck him in.
-------
Lina, Xelloss, Raven and Gourry stood on the deck of Lord of Nightmare looking out over the sea. They still weren't sure what Zel had done but.....
"How are we gonna figure out what he did, you guys? I mean, it's not likely that Zel's gonna tell us, and I don't think those guards know either. What do you think Xelloss? You were nearest him during that battle." Lina said, leaning against the rail and looking at the stars.
"Trut' to tell Lina, I didn't see much, as my dos was turned to 'im. All I know is t'at 'e saved us. I couldn't see what 'e did any more den Gourry could see Angleterre. 'Tis verra strange, you know?" The Quebecois replied, also starring at the stars, though he was sitting with his back to the railing. "What about you, Raven?"
"Same here. All I really know is that it got real cold just before what-ever-happened happened. It seems t'me that per'aps some of what Zel's keeping from us is important to that, y'know? Something in his past." The young Australian was staring at the calm waters surrounding them.
"Y'know, I just remembered something Zel once said to me, about three years after we met in Germany. Back then, our only goal was to see the world, and have fun doing it. He looked pretty much the same when I met him as he does now, even though that was fourteen years ago, y'know? It's weird....Anyways, we were talking about what we would do once we had seen all there was to see on this earth. It was about then that he told me were he was from, but he did it in the weirdest of ways......"
Gourry and Zelgadiss were sitting on the deck, waiting for a breeze to blow them somewhere, talking. It was almost sunset and the sky was painted in amazing shades of red and purple.
"So Zel, what're you going to do once you've seen the world?"
"Probably go back to Eriu..."
"Who's that? One of your friends, back home?"
"No...more of she is home....."
"Girlfriend?"
The young captain smiled. "Actually, Eiru is, according to Celtic beliefs, the Goddess who gave Ireland its name. Some of us call the motherland that to honor to old beliefs, from before Catholism and Christianity took over...."
"So, you're from Ireland? I was wondering why we didn't ever go there! It must be old hat to you, huh?"
"I suppose....."
"What'samatter, Zel? You look....sad."
"Oh, it's nothing Gourry, I just miss her....miss my home, sometimes, you know. Even though home really isn't anywhere right now."
"Why's that?"
"All my family and friends – save for you – are dead twice over."
"How can you die twice?"
"You wouldn't understand....."
".....And that's all he would really say on the matter. It seemed odd to me that he called his mother land 'Her' at first, but I guess it's just part of the Celtic whatchamacallit stuff, huh?" The Blonde man looked at his friends. "He seemed really sad when he was talking about his friends and family. I wonder why he would say that he had no home though....."
"To some people, home is where-ever your friends and family is. I guess Zel is one of those people..." Raven said.
"Funny, he didn't strike me as the type..." Lina sighed.
"'E din't strike any of us as t'e type for anyt'ing." Xelloss said, closing his eyes. "I don't suppose 'e knows what 'appened any more t'en we do?"
"Not likely." Mur said, coming up to the group. "I just took him his dinner, and he didn't even notice me come in. He looked like he was thinking pretty hard."
"Hmmm......"
-------------
Elsewhere on the ship Amelia and Nahga were talking to Kiyone. The three women were camped out on the poop deck.
"So how long have you been on this ship, Kiyone?" Nahga asked.
"Well, I joined about two years ago. I was the last one to join. Gourry-kun's been here the longest, but apart from that that's really all I could tell you. Mur-chan or Lina-chan'd be the ones you'd want to talk to about that sort of thing, but they wouldn't tell just anybody, and to tell you the truth I don't think anybody feels particularly inclined to tell you two anything. It –is– your fault that those Britons found us, and it's your fault Zel-kun blew up and it's your fault we weren't making much headway towards those islands..... Zel-kun was worried about you. He's not used to passengers who can't swim and so didn't want to do much...and he's likely to make good on his threat to leave you two in a port that doesn't hold strong with England."
"I meant to ask about that. He said 'Britannia' when he said that. I get that It means England, but where did it come from?" Amelia asked the young Japanese woman.
"You would have to ask Zel-kun."
A few days later, Lina let Zel come out of the bed in the captain's quarters (rarely used, since Zel slept in the crew's quarters) for a breath of fresh air. As soon as the latter came out onto the deck, he scrabbled up into Zel's Nest before anyone could stop him.
"ZE-ELL!!! Get down here!!! You're not fully healed yet!!"
"Close enough, Lina! You guys can't force me back into that prison cell disguised as a room! Never! I'm staying up here until you have to cut me down!!" Zel yelled down at Lina, clutching the mast as though his very life depended on it. As the crew watched this, they broke down into laughter at the silly scene this presented.
"M'sieur Zel! Would you like me to bring you your meals up t'ere too?" Xelloss asked, laughing.
"Yes, actually, Xelloss, I would! That way this flat-chested little girl won't be able to mother me back into bed!"
"FLAT-CHESTED??? I'll show you flat-chested, you bastard!"
"Ah-ah-AH, Miz Lina! He is sick, you know!" Xelloss smiled and grabbed her arms.
"Lemme GO! Bastards!!!"
"Gourry, a little 'elp?"
"Sure Xelloss!" The blond German grabbed Lina's arms while Xelloss and Mur got some rope and tied her to the main mast.
"There! Hey, Zel! It's safe to come down now!" Mur called up to their white-haired captain.
"No freaking WAY!! You guys would do the same thing to me!! Like I said! I'm staying up here!"
The cast and crew of Slayers blinks as Jai walks onto Lord of Nightmares with a mega phone and yells: "CUT!!! All right people! This scene's a wrap! You have the rest of the day off! See ya tomorrow!" Jai:--Turns to the audience—Sorry about the Zel-centric-ness of this piece. It was originally going to be just a pirate story but the plot got eaten by my muse Jow who then gave me this idea. Besides, Zel is fun to angst-i-fy. Any Questions? Zel: Why the hell am – I – The captain? Why couldn't it have been Lina? Jai: Would you really have wanted it to be? Think about it, man..... Zel: ((o) --Sweatdrop-- Okay.....
Chapter Six In which Zel finds out where they are, a few confusing events take place, Lina teaches Amelia how to climb the lay-ties and Zelgadiss tries to figure
out what happened after that battle.
A cry of the other side drew his attention from his fight once more, to see Mur being ganged up upon by the young men. A shout drew his eyes to Gourry, fighting a losing battle against another two guards, Raven, falling to his knees before his opponent, Kiyone flying into the railing, and only just barely managing to stay aboard, Xelloss, using a set of his best kitchen knives to stave off a group of men...slowly all his crew falling around him.....His eyes blazed as cold and uncaring as the sea, a storm visible in them. A faint aura began to manifest itself around him lending him strength he never knew he possessed. Yet still as five men ganged up on him he began to falter, drawing on his last reserves of strength and.......
Zel sat in his prison (AN: How Zel is currently referring to his bed.), thinking over what he could remember of that fight. He had seen his friends' fall, seen them being forced down under the numbers of the guards, he remembered feeling that cold rage build up in him, lending him strength. When he had almost fallen and was on his last stretch, he had called upon some unknown power and...what? 'What happened after that? Obviously we got away, and obviously none of us were killed but....what? Exactly what happened that let us get away? Could it be that I used that same power.....but...no, it wasn't this was different...and ever time I've used that, I've remembered what's happened afterwards....' He sighed and fell back into the pillows of the bed his crew had stuck him in.
-------
Lina, Xelloss, Raven and Gourry stood on the deck of Lord of Nightmare looking out over the sea. They still weren't sure what Zel had done but.....
"How are we gonna figure out what he did, you guys? I mean, it's not likely that Zel's gonna tell us, and I don't think those guards know either. What do you think Xelloss? You were nearest him during that battle." Lina said, leaning against the rail and looking at the stars.
"Trut' to tell Lina, I didn't see much, as my dos was turned to 'im. All I know is t'at 'e saved us. I couldn't see what 'e did any more den Gourry could see Angleterre. 'Tis verra strange, you know?" The Quebecois replied, also starring at the stars, though he was sitting with his back to the railing. "What about you, Raven?"
"Same here. All I really know is that it got real cold just before what-ever-happened happened. It seems t'me that per'aps some of what Zel's keeping from us is important to that, y'know? Something in his past." The young Australian was staring at the calm waters surrounding them.
"Y'know, I just remembered something Zel once said to me, about three years after we met in Germany. Back then, our only goal was to see the world, and have fun doing it. He looked pretty much the same when I met him as he does now, even though that was fourteen years ago, y'know? It's weird....Anyways, we were talking about what we would do once we had seen all there was to see on this earth. It was about then that he told me were he was from, but he did it in the weirdest of ways......"
Gourry and Zelgadiss were sitting on the deck, waiting for a breeze to blow them somewhere, talking. It was almost sunset and the sky was painted in amazing shades of red and purple.
"So Zel, what're you going to do once you've seen the world?"
"Probably go back to Eriu..."
"Who's that? One of your friends, back home?"
"No...more of she is home....."
"Girlfriend?"
The young captain smiled. "Actually, Eiru is, according to Celtic beliefs, the Goddess who gave Ireland its name. Some of us call the motherland that to honor to old beliefs, from before Catholism and Christianity took over...."
"So, you're from Ireland? I was wondering why we didn't ever go there! It must be old hat to you, huh?"
"I suppose....."
"What'samatter, Zel? You look....sad."
"Oh, it's nothing Gourry, I just miss her....miss my home, sometimes, you know. Even though home really isn't anywhere right now."
"Why's that?"
"All my family and friends – save for you – are dead twice over."
"How can you die twice?"
"You wouldn't understand....."
".....And that's all he would really say on the matter. It seemed odd to me that he called his mother land 'Her' at first, but I guess it's just part of the Celtic whatchamacallit stuff, huh?" The Blonde man looked at his friends. "He seemed really sad when he was talking about his friends and family. I wonder why he would say that he had no home though....."
"To some people, home is where-ever your friends and family is. I guess Zel is one of those people..." Raven said.
"Funny, he didn't strike me as the type..." Lina sighed.
"'E din't strike any of us as t'e type for anyt'ing." Xelloss said, closing his eyes. "I don't suppose 'e knows what 'appened any more t'en we do?"
"Not likely." Mur said, coming up to the group. "I just took him his dinner, and he didn't even notice me come in. He looked like he was thinking pretty hard."
"Hmmm......"
-------------
Elsewhere on the ship Amelia and Nahga were talking to Kiyone. The three women were camped out on the poop deck.
"So how long have you been on this ship, Kiyone?" Nahga asked.
"Well, I joined about two years ago. I was the last one to join. Gourry-kun's been here the longest, but apart from that that's really all I could tell you. Mur-chan or Lina-chan'd be the ones you'd want to talk to about that sort of thing, but they wouldn't tell just anybody, and to tell you the truth I don't think anybody feels particularly inclined to tell you two anything. It –is– your fault that those Britons found us, and it's your fault Zel-kun blew up and it's your fault we weren't making much headway towards those islands..... Zel-kun was worried about you. He's not used to passengers who can't swim and so didn't want to do much...and he's likely to make good on his threat to leave you two in a port that doesn't hold strong with England."
"I meant to ask about that. He said 'Britannia' when he said that. I get that It means England, but where did it come from?" Amelia asked the young Japanese woman.
"You would have to ask Zel-kun."
A few days later, Lina let Zel come out of the bed in the captain's quarters (rarely used, since Zel slept in the crew's quarters) for a breath of fresh air. As soon as the latter came out onto the deck, he scrabbled up into Zel's Nest before anyone could stop him.
"ZE-ELL!!! Get down here!!! You're not fully healed yet!!"
"Close enough, Lina! You guys can't force me back into that prison cell disguised as a room! Never! I'm staying up here until you have to cut me down!!" Zel yelled down at Lina, clutching the mast as though his very life depended on it. As the crew watched this, they broke down into laughter at the silly scene this presented.
"M'sieur Zel! Would you like me to bring you your meals up t'ere too?" Xelloss asked, laughing.
"Yes, actually, Xelloss, I would! That way this flat-chested little girl won't be able to mother me back into bed!"
"FLAT-CHESTED??? I'll show you flat-chested, you bastard!"
"Ah-ah-AH, Miz Lina! He is sick, you know!" Xelloss smiled and grabbed her arms.
"Lemme GO! Bastards!!!"
"Gourry, a little 'elp?"
"Sure Xelloss!" The blond German grabbed Lina's arms while Xelloss and Mur got some rope and tied her to the main mast.
"There! Hey, Zel! It's safe to come down now!" Mur called up to their white-haired captain.
"No freaking WAY!! You guys would do the same thing to me!! Like I said! I'm staying up here!"
The cast and crew of Slayers blinks as Jai walks onto Lord of Nightmares with a mega phone and yells: "CUT!!! All right people! This scene's a wrap! You have the rest of the day off! See ya tomorrow!" Jai:--Turns to the audience—Sorry about the Zel-centric-ness of this piece. It was originally going to be just a pirate story but the plot got eaten by my muse Jow who then gave me this idea. Besides, Zel is fun to angst-i-fy. Any Questions? Zel: Why the hell am – I – The captain? Why couldn't it have been Lina? Jai: Would you really have wanted it to be? Think about it, man..... Zel: ((o) --Sweatdrop-- Okay.....