Disclaimer: I still don't own Slayers. Surprised? Well... you shouldn't be. Slayers is still the property of some Japanese guys with more money than me.
Recovering
An answer to a question?
"Hey miss Naga!" Nimph called "The master is waking up now". Naga put down her mug and walked over to the bed. Eruk had been out cold for the most of the day. Slowly he opened his eyes. "Well, about time you got up" Naga sighed "You know, the rent of this room comes out of your share". Eruk closed his eyes and turned away, this was the last thing he needed right now. "Don't you turn away from me!" Naga snarled and yanked him around. "I can't believe the nerve of the guy sometimes" she muttered. "Are you sure it's safe?" Nene whimpered. She and her sister stood up against the faraway wall, trying to get as far away from Eruk as they could. "He's not normal!" Mimi agreed. "What was that?" Nimph flew up to them "The master is perfectly normal!". She folded her arms and gave them an angry look. "Nimph, that's enough" Eruk slowly sat up in the bed "they are right, I'm far from normal" he sighed.
"The... the demon dragon king?" Nene stuttered and hid behind her sister. "Ohohoho!" Naga laughed "Of course, nothing less would do it as sidekick for the great Naga". Nimph ignored them and flew over next to him "are you ok master?" she asked. She didn't try to hide the concern in her voice. "You felt it too Nimph?" he asked. For some reason he felt like there was something missing Like he had forgotten something important
"Well, I'll leave you two to get some rest then" Naga announced "Sidekick, drinks are on you tonight". She left the room with Mimi and Nene in tow.
"You weren't kidding, were you?" Mimi asked for the tenth time that evening. Naga downed another mug of wine "of course not. That guy really is the demon dragon king". Nene shuttered "Sis, I think we should give up on that promise" she suggested "there's no way the two of us can go up against the demon dragon king?". Mimi nodded as a shiver ran down her spine. They were hired to hunt down a man and a woman, not a crazy sorceress and the demon dragon king. "Nene, we're leaving" Mimi announced. Naga shrugged and downed yet another mug of wine as the twins left the room. "What weird girls" Nimph whispered "but I have the feeling that we'll see them again someday".
"I wonder how the master is doing" Nimph thought out loud. She had been sitting on the table the most of the evening, just staring at Naga drinking. From time to time she had flown up to Eruk's room to check on him, but the had been no response from inside. "How can you just sit there drinking miss Naga?" she complained. "Well, sidekicks sidekick" Naga giggled "what better time is there to drink?". Strangely enough it didn't sound like the alcohol had affected her mind that much yet. "I agree" A voice came from behind her "One should really celebrate after such a glorious victory". Naga slowly turned around to face the speaker. "Aren't you the Xellos guy?" Nimph asked suspiciously. "Well... no matter who he is, he sure has good taste" Naga gestured to the empty seat beside her "it's yours, if you buy the next round".
"You!". Xellos turned in the direction of the voice. Eruk was standing in the doorway trying his best to stand up straight despite his physical condition. "Ah, glad to see you again, lord Gaav" Xellos smirked and gave him a light bow. "Name's Eruk" he groaned as he stumbled forward "and you'd better remember it, monster". He pushed his way past the smiling priest and slumped down on the vacant chair. "Master, you really should be resting" Nimph sat down in front of him and gave him a concerned look. "What did you want Xellos?" he asked in a monotone voice "I know you didn't just pop in for a friendly drink and some small talk". His body was aching all over. The physical pain was one thing, but the knowledge that Xellos were having a feast on that pain was almost unbearable.
"Well, actually I just stopped by to make sure that you were behaving yourself, lord Gaav" Xellos gratefully accepted the mug handed to him by a waiter and downed the brew in one go. "OHOHOHO" Naga stood up and started laughing "I don't know who you are, but I respect anyone who can drink like that". Eruk sighed and rolled his eyes "typical Naga logic" he muttered under his breath as she sat back down. "Well enough socializing for now" Xellos laughed "I'm just happy that you are not having any problems with the ladies". Eruk narrowed his eyes "what are you talking about?" he growled. There was something in the priests voice that he didn't like. "Ups, look at the time!" Xellos pulled an hourglass from his cape "I should have been at Filias place 10 minutes ago". Xellos started to walk towards the exit. "Wait just a second" Naga called after him "You still owe me for that drink!" Without turning around, Xellos simply waved "I believe you've already received your payment" he smirked as he vanished just as suddenly as he had appeared.
"What a rude man!" Naga complained "don't he know that I'm the great Naga?". Eruk silently headed for the exit. Listening to the ramblings of the great white serpent was not how he had intended to spend the evening. To top it all of, Xellos had never approached him as directly as he had done tonight. "What? Are you leaving as well?" Naga complained. "Sorry miss Naga" Eruk gave her his most sincere smile "I feel like collapsing any minute, and I would prefer I was in my room, and not some restaurant, should that happen". With a sigh, Naga took another deep sip of her wine "men" she mumbled.
"Oh boy" Nimph cheered "It's bed time! The dreamtime!". She was giggling loudly as she jumped up and down in the bed. Eruk sat down by the table and tried his best to ignore her cherry voice. "Why did Xellos show up here?" He mumbled to himself "And what was he talking about? I just don't understand!". Nimph stopped jumping around and looked at him curiously. "Aren't you going to sleep master?" she asked after a little while. "No" he shook his head "I need to figure out what he was talking about before I can get any rest". Nimph sighed and slumped down on the pillow "Too bad" she giggled and hugged the pillow tightly "I guess I'll just see you tomorrow then". She cuddled together on the pillow and wrapped her wings tightly around her body. "Uh-huh" He agreed as he lit and candle and stared into the flame "see you tomorrow".
As the sun rose on the horizon, it cast it's bright light on the sleeping fairy. She opened her eyes slowly and yawned loudly. "Master?" She looked below her in confusion "where did he go?" she wondered. She unwrapped her wings "He's not in here either? She wondered "but he always sleeps right below me!". A weak grunt made her look over to the table. "There you are!" she exclaimed happily and flew over to Eruk sleeping form. "Stayed up all night, did you?" she giggled "I was worried about you".
"Good morning master!" She gently poked his nose "rise and shine!". Eruk mumbled something and slowly opened his eyes. "Good morning master!" the fairy greeted him warmly. "Why am I here?" he looked around, slightly confused. "I fell asleep didn't I?" It was not a question, but more of a statement as he remember last night. "So did you find out anything?" Nimph plopped down in front of him. He shook his head "No, I guess I kept going in circles all night". He admitted.
"Looks like miss Naga hasn't arrived here yet" Eruk scouted the restaurant. It was still pretty early in the morning, but a few people had found their way here to eat breakfast. He found a table and sat down. It still bothered him that he had been unable to figure out why Xellos had shown up. "Didn't anything ring a bell master?" Nimph asked. She was too busy pouring sugar into a cup of tea to notice how his expression changed. "That's it!" he shouted and jumped up from his seat "Nimph, you are a genius!" he shouted as he ran from the room. "Huh?" Nimph looked up from her cup of sugar "Me, a genius?"
"Miss Naga?!" Eruk pushed to door to the sorceress room open. "G'away" Naga mumbled and turned over in her bed, obviously she was more than a little drunk. Eruk shrugged and ran over to the chair where she had dumped her clothes. He held up her cape and started searching through the various pockets. "how much stuff does she keep in this thing?" he groaned and tossed some half full bottles aside. "There it is" he whispered triumphantly as his hand closed around a small round object. "Hold it right there" a hand grabbed hold of his shoulders and spun him around. He swallowed hard as he found himself staring at Naga. "Sidekick..." she grumbled and cracked her knuckles. He took a step back. Naga could almost be just a dangerous as Lina if she set her mind to it.
Naga followed him slowly, determined to hear an explanation. Eruk opened his mouth and tried to speak, but no sound left his lips. "Is there anything wrong sidekick?" Naga's attitude shifted from anger to concern. Her faithful sidekick had been acting rather strangely lately, and that usually meant that something was up. Eruk took one step forward and fell into her arms. He was out cold.
"This place again?" Eruk stood up. The familiar field of flowers stretched as far as he could see, but something seemed wrong. He bend down and picked up a flower. "It's dead..." he mumbled. The withered flower lost a few petals as he let it fall to the ground. "Yes, it's petty sad" Eruk turned around and stood face to face with Millenia. "My paradise is dying" she whispered. Eruk watched in silence as she picked up the flower he had just dropped. Her blue dress flowed gently in the wind as she faced him. "Please help me" she whispered and took his hand "please save my precious flowers".
Eruk look down on her sobbing at his feet. "I'm no gardener" He mumbled "what am I supposed to about it?". He looked around "I'm not even sure where this is anyway..." he added. "Millenia stood up and brushed some dirt of her knees "It's true that, this place is well hidden, and that you may not know a lot about flowers", she took his hand "but you have an item in your possession that would ensure the safety of my little garden". Suddenly he got a strange feeling that the two of them were not alone. "NO!" Millenia cried out, and ran behind him as a dark shadow rose from the ground "He has found me!". Eruk reached out for his sword as he faced the towering giant in front of him. "My weapon?" he asked in confusion as his hand found nothing but air where the sword should have been. "I didn't think you would need it" Millenia whimpered. "Well, what am I supposed to do then?" Eruk growled. "When you wake up, head west" she whispered "and bring the object you find in your hand when you wake up". She stood up and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. Again the world started spinning as he found himself leaving the dream world.
"I think it's about time you tell me what's going on here" Naga frowned. Eruk ignored her and looked around. The bed he was lying in was definitely not his own. He shook his head a few times to clear his thoughts. Waking up from one of those strange dreams always left him a little weak and disoriented. His nose picked up a strange scent. "Perfume?" he wondered "Of course. This is miss Naga's bed".
"Hey, sidekick!" Naga shook him forcefully. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" the sorceress frowned. "Sorry miss Naga" he mumbled as he shifted to a sitting position "you were saying?", Naga took a deep breath "I asked you what's going on?" she said "it's not normal to pass out like that". Eruk turned his head away from her and look out of the window "I really wish I knew, miss Naga" he admitted with a heavy sigh "But I know that I have to travel west in order to find out".
"That's it!" Naga stroke a pose "west it is!". Eruk turned his gaze back to his employer "You are going with me?" he asked. "Of course!" Naga nodded "We have to get to the bottom of this. I can't have a sidekick that passes out all the time, now can I?". He suppressed a chuckle "No, I guess you can't" he agreed. "Now that we have decided on our next destination" Naga rose from the chair she had been sitting on "I don't suppose you could tell me just why you came sneaking in here like that?". Eruk slowly opened his hand to reveal the small gold ring "I think that this is connected in some ways, but I'm not entirely sure..."
"Now" he rose from the bed "Id better go and prepare for the journey "..He gave Naga a sly look as he headed for the door "I would imagine that you need to get changed as well" he remarked. She looked down at the tiny scrap of clothing that made up her nightgown. "What's wrong with my outfit?" she asked in wonder. Eruk merely shrugged and left the room.
"Oh master, there you are!" Nimph greeted him warmly as he turned a corner. "Why did you run of all of a sudden?" she asked. "I was worried about you" she added with a whisper. "Huh, did you say anything?" even though his hearing was well above that of an average human, he still hadn't heard the last part of what she was saying. "Ummm, I said I can't believe the nerve of that guy..." She quickly corrected herself. "What guy?" Eruk looked around. The hallway was completely abandoned. "That guy!" The fairy pointed at a suit of armor. "I've been talking to him for more than 10 minutes now, but he haven't said a word!" she complained loudly. "It's just an armor Nimph" he chuckled "It can't answer you, even if it wanted to". Nimph's eyes darted back and forth between himself and the armor "It could have told me that in the first place..." she pouted.
"Does that mean we are getting ready to leave this place?" Nimph asked excitedly as he tightened the straps of leather that held his borrowed sword in it's place on his back. "I thought you liked hanging around here?" he asked while he gathered some more of his belongings. "I do" the fairy replied and plopped down on his head "but if master and miss Naga are going somewhere, this place wouldn't even be half as fun. Besides I like seeing new places!". He nodded "So do I Nimph, so do I". Even though he agreed with her, he couldn't remove all traces of sadness from his voice. "What's wrong, master?" Nimph flew down in front of his face "why so sad all of a sudden?". He shook his head and gave her a forced smiled "Sometimes I just long for a place where I can belong" he admitted.
"Now, that's way to depressing sidekick" Eruk spun around, startled by Naga's voice. The tall sorceress was leaning casually on the doorframe "A home?" she asked "Who needs a home when there's plenty of treasures to find out in the world?". Nimph's face brightened "she's right master!" she exclaimed "It's all good when we are all together having fun, right?". He found that he couldn't deny it completely that he enjoyed traveling all over the world looking for treasures, no matter how much he wanted to. "I guess you two are right" he admitted and picked up his backpack "Let's head out then!"
Authors notes:
Ok, here you are. Two brand new chapters of the light and darkness saga. Again I must apologize for the long wait, I never would have thought it would be that long before I got around to update this. I'll try to improve till the next one. I promise... I hope.