Disclaimer: Even with my vast collection of Slayers stuff, I still don't own the concept. Just this fic.

A woman of dreams?

Arrival to Seyruun

"… So you see Anna, Mr. Zelgadis is not really a bad guy" Sylphiel finished her tale. "Is it really true?" Anna looked at the chimera as to confirm Sylphiel explanation. The chimera in question had picked out one of his books and was studying it intensely. He didn't care for children, but he didn't want Sylphiel unhappy either. So he had chosen the best escape the small room could offer, just look for possible leads to a cure and shut everything else out.

"Mr. Zelgadis?" Sylphiel carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. Almost instinctively, he tried to get away from the unexpected sensation. "Sorry!" Sylphiel quickly took her hand away, she should have remembered how he hated to be touched. "What is it?" he asked and closed his book. "Well…" she hesitated "I was just wondering what you were doing here?". He sat down on his bed "isn't it pretty obvious?" he asked, while pulling out a pink envelope from his outfit. "You got one of those too?" Sylphiel giggled as she recognized Linas wedding invitation. "Of course I did" a smile crossed his face "I bet Lina would even invite Gaav and Phibrizzo if it meant getting more presents".

Even though Sylphiel giggled at his joke, the mentioning of Gaav made her feel sad inside. "And to top it all of" Zel continued "she wants me to be the best man". He shook his head, it made a chill run down his spine just thinking of all the people who would be staring at him during the ceremony. Sylphiel yawned a bit and rubbed her eyes "I think I'll go to sleep now" she said "If we press on tomorrow, we should reach Seyruun in a day or two".

The next morning, Zelgadis tapped the door to his room for the fourth time. During his travels he had learned better that to just barge inside when there was a woman there. While he would most likely not face the danger of being blown up, he still refused to go inside until Sylphiel had allowed him to. "Are you ready to leave yet?" he asked impatiently. He had been waiting for almost 30 minutes already. "I'm so sorry Mr. Zelgadis!" Sylphiel huffed. She had wanted to take her time in getting ready as she usually did. However, traveling with Zelgadis meant no time for luxuries. The chimera himself rarely spent much time in the same place. Some of the advantages his body offered was that he didn't tire out as easily as a normal human, and he didn't feel the same need to eat or sleep. However, he would never admit that his cursed body actually had some advantages.

"Miss Sylphiel" Anna tucked the shrine maidens cape "why do we have to follow that creepy guy around?". The girl still hadn't gotten used to the moody chimera, and did everything she could to make sure that Sylphiel always were between herself and Zelgadis.

The shrine maiden crouched down next to the girl "He's my friend, Anna" she whispered "He may act and look a little strange, but he's not a bad guy". She lowered her voice even more when commenting the chimeras looks. She didn't want to accidentally hurt his feelings. "I see… but I still think he's a bit creepy" Anna nodded, sounding still a bit uncertain of the chimera.

The day passed slowly without much notice. Sylphiel sighed deeply as the sun slowly vanished behind the horizon. For the last hour she had been carrying Anna piggyback. She had exhausted herself trying to keep up with the two adults. "How long before we can stop for a rest?" Sylphiel asked. She too, was starting to feel very tired. "There should be a town just up ahead" Zelgadis sighed. He hadn't planed on stopping just yet, but he should have expected something like this. Sylphiel wasn't as trail worn as himself, and Anna was just a kid. "You know, I can carry her if you are getting tired" he offered. "No, that's ok. I thinks she's still a bit afraid of you". Sylphiel declined with a smile, hoping that he took no offence.

"There it is" Zel pointed at the lights straight ahead. "Thank heavens" Sylphiel sighed. She felt like she was ready to drop any minute now.

It didn't take long before they found an inn.

What a day Sylphiel thought to herself I never expected to run into Mr Zelgadis like that. She pulled the blanket tighter around her. This wasn't a first class inn in any way. Neither Sylphiel nor Zelgadis had brought much money. They had been able to persuade the innkeeper to let Anna sleep near the fireplace where it was warm. Very unlike the room she had gotten. The icy wind was blowing in through various cracks and holes in the wall. She just hoped that Zelgadis wasn't freezing too much out in the stable. Had she not been so tired, she probably wouldn't have been able to sleep in such a place. At least it's not snowing anymore… she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

"Where am I?" Sylphiel looked around in confusion. She was standing on a seemingly endless field. The air around her was filled with the sound of birds singing. She crouched down and picked a flower. "So beautiful…" she whispered.

"I see that you have come", she spun around as she heard a voice coming from behind her. "How do you like my place?" A beautiful woman with long green hair was standing a little distance away. "So how do you like my little place?" the woman repeated as she spread her arms wide open. "It's so beautiful here" Sylphiel whispered in awe "but where are we?".

She had never felt at ease like this before. "You don't have to trouble yourself over that" the woman laughed "This is my little paradise. Here is everything anyone could desire". Sylphiel continued to look around taking in both the views and the smells "everything?" she asked carefully. "Everything" the woman nodded in response.

She turned her head slightly to the left. Sylphiel followed her gaze. In the distance someone was walking towards them. She narrowed her eyes. There was something familiar about the person.

"No, it simply can't be" she whispered as she recognized the person. "Hello Sylphiel, it's been a while" he greeted her as he brushed a strand of silvery hair away from his face.

"Eruk dear!" She threw himself towards the man. Suddenly her vision became blurry. "Not so fast my dear" she heard the woman's voice in distance "there will be plenty of time for that in the future".

"Eruk dear!" Sylphiel sat up in bed with a shock. Her room was silent. Even the wind had subsided.

"A dream" she whispered "only a dream". A tear formed in her eye. "It was all so real" she raised her hand to dry her eyes. "What's that?" she whispered to herself as she felt something in her hand. She almost choked as she opened it. In the pale moonlight she recognized it as a flower. The flower she had picked in her dream. "What's going on here?" she asked herself as she slipped back down under her blanket.

"Sylphiel are you up yet?" Zelgadis knocked on the door "we should get going as soon as possible". Sylphiel suppressed a yawn. Actually she had been unable to sleep after that dream. "I'll be ready in a minute" she called back.

Zelgadis nodded and headed down to the restaurant. He preferred to travel alone any day, but Sylphiel wasn't the worst companion he could wish for. There was no way that she could be as much trouble as Lina was.

"'morning Mr. Zelgadis" Anna greeted him. "Well, that was certainly unexpected" he muttered under his breath as he sat down by the table. "I thought you were afraid of me, girl?" he took a sip of his tea. Anna shrugged "well, you are not really a bad guy after all, just a bit scary looking".

"Good morning you two" Sylphiel greeted both of them as she entered the room. "'morning Sylphiel" Anna called back and stuffed another piece of toast into her mouth. She sat down at the table next to Zelgadis. "So, how long before we get to Seyruun?" she asked. Zelgadis put his cup down "If we don't waste any unnecessary time, we should be able to get there before noon". Sylphiel nodded "that's good, I don't like the cold weather much".

Suddenly Zelgadis tensed. "Sylphiel?" he moved closer to the shrinemaiden. "W…what is it?" She suppressed a blush. She felt a little stupid, but she just wasn't used to being so close to another person. "That flower you have there?" he asked. She relaxed as she picked the flower out of her hair "You mean this one? Isn't it pretty?". Zelgadis held out his hand "let me see that" he demanded. Without a word, she handed it over.

"Where did you get it?" he asked bluntly. "I… I don't know" Sylphiel was starting to get a little nervous about the whole ordeal. It was only a flower anyway. "I was holding it when I woke up" she continued "I know it's pretty unusual, but it's still not worth getting so worked up over is it?".

Zelgadis held the flower between two fingers "Not worth getting so worked up over? I've never even seen that kind of flower before. But I'm pretty sure that they don't grow around here, much less during winter". Sylphiel nodded slowly as she started to remember her dream. Now that she thought about it, none of the flowers had seemed familiar to her.

"What are you two talking about?" Anna inquired "shouldn't we get going or something?". Zelgadis handed the flower back and stood up "yes, we should". Sylphiel gently padded the girl on the head "what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" she giggled "why so impatient?". Anna almost jumped up and down in her seat "He said that we could reach Seyruun today. I can't wait to see the royal city!".

"Are we there yet?" Anna was starting to get impatient. "Just a little longer" Sylphiel promised. Even though the weather had been fine for a few days now, there was still plenty of snow on the ground and it made travel a bit more difficult than usual. "In a couple of hours we should be able to see it" Even though Sylphiel was starting to doubt that they ever reached Seyruun with their current speed. "You shouldn't lie to her Sylphiel" Zelgadis told her off "If we don't do something about it, I don't think there's any chance we'll reach Seyruun today". Sylphiel carefully brushed some snow away from a fallen tree "I guess you are right" she sighed. "I had hoped that we wouldn't have to sleep at an inn again tonight" she added in a tired voice.

"Don't give up so easily" Zelgadis sat down next to her "I said unless we do something about it, didn't I?". A smile grew on her face as she caught on to his meaning. "you are talking about…?" she asked, just to make sure that she had understood his meaning. "What? What?" Anna was beginning to feel left out of the conversation. "Oh nothing Anna" Sylphiel giggled "but I hope you aren't afraid of heights".

"This is so awesome!" Anna shouted in delight as the three of them flew towards the white capital. Inside the wind barrier Zelgadis had created, they were sheltered to the cold winds outside. Sylphiel did her best to stabilize the small sphere. One person could easily use the ray wing spell to fly around, but traveling in bigger groups actually took a lot of work on the casters side. Having two or more people working together was really a good idea.

"Hey, I see the city now!" Anna pointed out towards the horizon. Little by little, the many houses and towers of the great white capital became visible to the three travelers. "Finally" Sylphiel whispered. She hadn't done any magic for quite awhile and this was really starting to tire her out.

"Sylphiel, hang on tight" Zelgadis ordered "We're landing here". The small sphere descended down into the nearby woods and landed softly in the snow.

"Why didn't we fly all the way there?" Anna asked. She secretly had hoped that they would be landing in the middle of the town. "We are landing here because this is actually hard on both of us" Zelgadis growled "and I don't want to cause a commotion by landing in the middle of the city".

"I… I'm sorry" Anna stuttered.

Zelgadis sighed and started walking. He hadn't intended to sound so gruff, but he wasn't used to be around children like that. "Come on Anna, he didn't mean it like that" Sylphiel tried her best to comfort the child. "I'm sure you make him just as nervous as he makes you" she added with a warm smile. Unnoticed by both of the girls, Zelgadis slowly shook his head in amazement.

When he first met Sylphiel several years back, he had considered her a love-sick airhead. "Things sure have changed" he whispered to himself. The shrinemaiden had actually proven to be valuable alley in combat and a true friend on more than one occasion.

It was late afternoon when the three entered the town. Even though the sun had set some time ago, the town of Seyruun was still bustling with activity. Philionel had been smart enough to put streetlights on every street corner and in important places. Not only did they provide light for the citizens, they also helped reduce what little crime there was.

"I don't think I've even seen a town like that" Anna said in awe. "Sairaag used to be the same way" Sylphiel whispered.

The trio continued through the town. "Well, looks like we are here" Zelgadis announced as they approached the palace. "What a huge house!" Anna shouted in awe.

"Who goes there?!" a loud voice demanded. Sylphiel turned around and saw one of the palace guards approach. "Good evening sir", she greeted the young man politely. "Good evening to you too, miss" the guard stopped walking "do you have any business here?". Sylphiel nodded slowly "we are here for the wedding, of course" she explained.

"In that case" the guard lowered his weapon "can I see your invitations?". Sylphiel started searching through her pockets "that's funny" she wondered "I was sure that I had the letter right here". No matter where she looked however, the invitation was no where to be found. "I'm sorry miss, but if you don't have an invitation I can't let you in" the guard said.

"Mr. Zelgadis?" Sylphiel asked "didn't you have an invitation as well?". The chimera shook his head "I must have lost it somewhere along the road today" he muttered. It wasn't like him to lose any of his possessions, but the fact of the matter was that it was nowhere to be found.

"Are we being sent away?" Anna asked. "No, not really" the guard scratched his head "but I have orders not to let anyone in after sunset. Why don't you come back tomorrow and we'll clear things up then?".

With a sigh Sylphiel turned around "I guess we'll do that then". She started walking away. She was actually a bit disappointed that they weren't allowed inside, she really had looked forward to seeing her friends again, but rules were rules.

"I guess we should find an inn" Zelgadis suggested. He was smiling to himself. The truth was, that he was actually a bit nervous about seeing Amelia again. Sure, he could have gotten inside the palace quite easily. He still had Amelia's bracelet in his possession, that would be all the proof of their identity they would need. He let his hand slip into the pocket where he kept it safe. He needed some more time to think.

Authors notes:

So, Zelgadis and Sylphiel has finally arrived in Seyruun. I guess that means that they'll soon meet up with everyone's favorite sorceress and swordsman. But before that happens, they'll have a little run in with and old friend. I believe that you wanted to know what had happened to her, didn't you Airi-Chan?

But if you can't guess who I'm talking about, I guess that there is nothing else to do than just keep reading