Amelia: "Amelia here! Last time on Slayers: Duality, we decided that we had to take action to help our dear friend and long-time comrade."
Xellos: "Oh, is that the only way you think of Zelgadis?"
Amelia: "Mr. Xellos, I really don't think we should discuss that right now . . . "
Xellos: "Oh, but what better time could there be? Oh look here everybody!" (Pulls out small pink book) Amelia's diary, let's have a look . . . "
Amelia: "HEY! You promised never to show anyone that!"
Xellos: "No I promised I wouldn't show "Mr. Zelgadis"! Nobody out there is stone-boy. (flips to random page) Doesn't matter which page I read from, they're all about Zelga-"
Amelia: "Mr. Xellos?"
(Pause)
Xellos: "Yes, Amelia?"
Amelia: "I've been practicing the Ra-Tilt, it's much more powerful now. Wanna see?"
Xellos: (Hands Amelia pink book)
Amelia: (Smiling) I knew you'd see reason.
"Alright Zel, you're clear on how this'll work, right?" Lina knelt down and adjusted the chain restraining his bare leg. "I'm not sure how long it'll take, but you should probably be tied down during it." Standing, she dusted her hands and looked down with pride at the collection of chains, bolts and straps that secured the superhumanly strong chimera to the large chair.
"Yeah, I know what will happen, Lina." In a low voice the young man flexed his naked arm, testing the leather bond that held him. "I'm not really looking forward to the pain, though," he gripped through gritted teeth. Growling, he glared up at the smiling redhead. "Lina, are you certain that this is necessary? This is not my idea of fun."
Smiling wickedly, the sorceress poked him in the chest with her finger. "Not really, it's more along the line of payback." With a cackle she jumped back, revealing a timid Amelia. "Come on, Amelia, you need to take your seat of honor."
Whispering fiercely, the tiny shrine maiden objected, yet again to the plan. "Miss Lina, this is really embarrassing!" She gestured at her nearly total lack of clothes. "I know Mr. Xellos said that it would help, but . . . " Nervously she folded her arms over her exposed bra.
A loud crack sounded when Lina slapped her friend's back. "Come on Amelia!" She grinned evilly, "It's for Justice, right?" Continuing over her nervous friend's reply, the young sorceress tried to reassure her, "All you have to do is sit in Zel's lap while Xellos and I get the sealing spell working right."
Gourry walked into the room with an armload of scrolls and small pieces of jewelry. "Here's all the stuff you said we might need Lina, but I'm still not sure what's going on." Setting the items down he stretched and waved to the small princess. "Hi Amelia!" eyes narrowing, he continued in a thoughtful tone, "You know . . . you're a lot bi-"
"Hello everyone!" The demon intoned cheerfully as he teleported into the room. "I decided to do some final research with my mistress before beginning." Smiling at the sight of Amelia hiding behind her friend he continued. "As I thought, no one has ever tried a sealing with these conditions."
Broken from his previous train of thought from the sound of a semi-familiar word, Gourry raised his hand, "Why is this ceiling different than the others?"
I hope we're thinking about the same thing this time . . . Setting down his staff and folding his hands, the demon continued. "Well, Gourry, it's like this. Normally, when you seal a demon that's trying to possess someone, you can seal the demon's essence without any difficulties. However, in this case," he said pointing at the bound and mostly naked chimera, "the demon is a part of Zelgadis' body, physically connected to him, not an invader . . . so this means that the normal way of sealing won't work. Meaning that we need to improvise a slightly different way."
"How's that? How is the ceiling we're going to be making going to be different from others?" Frowning, Gourry worked to make sense of the bizarre situation. Why do we need a ceiling built in the first place . . . hmmmm . . .
This is starting to take a turn for the truly weird . . . Shrugging, Xellos continued his explanation, "Well, since I'm the only demon here, and a high ranking one at that, I have the best chance at ordering the demon around, or intimidating him, whichever seems to work better, so I must cast the spell."
Motioning towards Lina, he continued, "Lina must be my 'focus' for the spell. Normally I could simply cast it on Zelgadis directly, but since I need to take extra care in how I summon the magic, I can't be bothered with actually directing it." Lowering his hand, he raised his legs to sit down in mid-air. "So Lina will be in charge of actually channeling the energy that I summon, directing it so that I can concentrate on gathering a proper mixture of the energy. Are you following me so far Gourry?"
"Hmmmm . . . I think so." Rubbing his mouth, he worked on assimilating the information, Ceilings need "mixtures"? I guess that makes sense . . . I didn't know Lina was a carpenter, though . . .
With no request to repeat his explanation heard, Xellos gestured towards Amelia. "Now, her part in all of this, is to actually guide the energy as it's sent into Zelgadis' body. Because Amelia has a better collection of sealing knowledge than Lina, she has the best chance of knowing which parts of the spell to apply where, and why, also, because magical energy is conducted most easily by the hands and bare skin, she has to maintain a large amount of bodily contact to give us the best possible chance of success."
Nodding slowly, the swordsman finally gave a indication of whether he truly understood what Xellos had been explaining. "So . . . we're going to lock the demon away in the rafters above the ceiling . . . just like my crazy uncle Zeb . . . "
"Gourry, you numbskull!" In a flash the tiny sorceress was upon him. "Do you ever remember anything?!" Grabbing his shirt, she shook him back and forth, "Huh?! Do you? Do you even remember me? Do you?! Say my name!"
Sliding over, the priest grabbed Lina by the collar and pulled her off of her valiant protector, "Not now Lina, you can have fun with Gourry later." Setting her down on the middle of a large chalk drawing, he smiled and tapped her nose. "You two are so cute when you flirt. But," he paused, waggling the same finger at her, "we need to get down to business."
Chuckling at her now cherry red face, Xellos stepped over to his own chalk circle. "Amelia, if you would please?" He asked as he floated a small, smooth gray piece of stone over to his hand.
Haltingly, the tiny indigo haired girl staggered over to the bound chimera. In a almost silent voice, she whispered to him. "I know you don't w-want me to touch you but . . . " Pulling her arms even tighter around her, she looked away from his eyes. "But, it's in your own interests . . . and I . . . " Sniffing she forced herself to meet his gaze. "I-I won't read into it."
For several long moments, the blue skinned man stared back at her, expression unmoving. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he uttered a single word. "Fine."
Slowly, the nearly naked princess climbed onto the chair. Sidling up next to him, she suppressed the urge to sigh, I always wanted to be this close to him, but . . . With a quiet whimper the girl wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his bare chest. He- he's so warm . . . Incredibly uncomfortable . . . but warm. Adjusting her legs so that she wouldn't fall, Amelia began to prepare her mind to channel the arcane energy.
A wave of sudden sadness hit Xellos, almost forcing him to break the concentration, for fear of it overwhelming him, distracted as he was by the spell, it took him a few moments to recognize the source. Amelia? Sparing a quick glance in her direction he saw the small princess had squeezed her eyes shut. She's remembering . . . how he left and didn't tell her. Lowering his eyes again, he tried to shut out the memories.
Failing to stop the tears from falling, Amelia settled for hiding her face. I chased him away . . . I annoyed him into leaving . . . I threw away what would've been my only chance to find someone who would've understood me. A slight warmth passed over her as the energy from Miss Lina began to flow into her. He followed through with his promise to come back with me . . . it was me that made him leave . . .
Forcing herself to concentrate on the energy, she picked at the pieces of magic, finding the ones she wanted, making them flow with the others. Gently, she brushed Zelgadis' body with the with woven strands, trying to find the source of his torture. Is this it? Or this? The feelings and sensations she received from his aura were alien, growing more so, the deeper she delved. In her mind's eye, she saw the bright energy that marked the sealing spell, both surrounding and infusing her.
There, that's where the demon is hiding . . . She could feel it. A dark . . . pocket, a wound of filth. This demon is not like Mr. Xellos . . . he feels nothing like him . . . Cautiously, she drew the energy down into the area that was infected by the invader. There, that's what we need in order to draw this . . . thing out of Zelgadis.
Feeling his body shudder uncontrollably, Zelgadis tried to push away the magic that was encircling him. They weren't kidding about the pain. Then, for Zelgadis, everything went black.
"Hello everyone," the odd double voice pronounced loudly, "what a nice little party it looks like we have, we'll have to- YOU!" The voice froze in shock as Zelgadis' gaze fell onto the priest. "Xellos! What in Ruby Eye's name are you doing here?"
"We-ell," the demon priest intoned cheerfully, "I expected a member of the monster race, but I never expected this . . . "
Eyes wide, Lina Inverse swung her head back and forth, "Xellos, you know him?!"
Nodding gravely, the priest spoke in a dark tone, "Yes, I know him very well."
The double voice gave a sharp laugh, "You should . . . everyone in the monster race knows who I am . . . "
Nearly backing out of the chalk circle, Lina spun away from their enemy, "Xellos! Who is he?! A secret Dark Lord? A fragment of Shabranigdo? Who?!"
Eyes opening to thin slits, the priest glanced over at his friend, before settling his gaze on the intruder. "He . . . " the violet haired demon intoned darkly, "is the most aggravating and moronic demon ever to exist, anywhere . . . throughout all time."
"Hey! Moronic?!" The double voice shrieked, "How dare you, peon?! I am the rightful heir to Shabranigdo's throne, I control the fate of the monster race!"
Ignoring the ranting, Xellos continued his explanation for Lina's sake. "Shabranigdo tried to create every monster to fill some sort of position. However, there was one monster who's only purpose seemed to be annoying everyone and everything around him; he seemed to be the grit in the system. When he disappeared about five years ago, there was a week of celebration declared." Smiling brightly, he continued to ignore the parasite that was still babbling at him. "It was, perhaps, the first time demons were able to show unbridled joy with each other."
"So . . . " the tiny redhead began slowly. "No wonder Rezo was able to get so much help from the monster race. Not only did he have The Dark Lord inside him, he got rid of the most annoying monster ever . . . "
"Hey!" The voice squeaked, "You can't just say things like that to me! I'm a fragment of Shabranigdo!"
Still slightly wary, Lina looked over at her friend for reassurance.
"Oh, come now, Lina, if he was a fragment of Shabranigdo, I'd be bowing right now."
"Bow before me, Lesser Demon!" The deafening response shook the walls of the palace room.
"Whatever," the violet haired priest replied, waving his hand in the weaker demon's direction "I can't be bothered to remember your name right now, but you're ordered to shut the hell up and stay sealed in Zelgadis' body." Waving his hand nonchalantly, he turned his back on the possessed chimera.
The tiny sorceress stared at the princess' motionless body. I hope Amelia and Zel are doing alright in the astral link. Eyes narrowing she gritted her teeth, He better not call her any names in there, or I'll sooo kick his ass!