Slayers Labyrinth

AN: So it's been a little while since I updated, I know. But I have the next chapter of this actually written. Well, to tell the truth, I had both these chapters written in one of my journals and that journal got lost and forgotten amongst other journals and then I went to the UK for a few months and left those journals here and only brought a few journals. Mmyep.

"Any Happy Little Thought…"

After Lina had recovered, they continued on through the Labyrinth, the shirt girl now looking extremely put out.

"I'm really sorry about that." She mumbled, her voice sounding miserable. In an instant her brow was set in determination and she beat her fists together.

"I just can't believe he caught me off guard like that! One second I was doing fine and the next, he'd changed the Labyrinth and caught me with a spell." She shook her head, irritated, "I wanted to Dragonslave him, but I couldn't. I didn't know where you guys were, so I couldn't risk it."

Zel had listened in understanding, but his eyes widened suddenly at her words.

"Wait, Dragonslave actually exists? You can cast it?" He asked, astonished. He'd only read about the immensely difficult spell in an old book he'd acquired from an antiques store. As a believer in magic, even he'd disregarded it as fantasy. Lina cast him a sideways glance.

"Of course it is, and of course I can!" She managed to brag without sounding like the aqua-haired princess from before, making Zel suppress a smirk. For a minute he'd been worried about her, showing concern for him and Gourry when her own hide had been at stake.

"Where'd fuzzball go?" Lina asked, pulling Zel from his thoughts and forcing him into the moment. He looked around, suddenly noticing that their large, hairy companion had disappeared.

"Gourry?" He called, then shrugged half-heartedly. "Oh well, big deal. Like he did much anyway. Let's keep going." He moved onwards, hearing Lina's steps fall into time with his own. Her eyes followed him and she smirked.

"Why not look for him?" She asked. Zel gave her a shocked look, gesturing to himself.

"In case you haven't noticed, an all powerful priest has stolen my humanity, and I only have six hours to get it back." He muttered, taking longer, faster strides. He made sure to sound as gruff and irritated as possible, ignoring the fact that Lina was struggling to keep up with his longer legs.

"You say that," she huffed, "but look how much you're enjoying yourself." Zel scoffed.

"What makes you think I'm enjoying myself?" He demanded, not bothering to slow his pace at all. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to hear what Lina was implying. If he was enjoying himself, then he was bound to slow down, bound to get distracted and make time-costing mistakes. If he was enjoying himself, he could risk losing his humanity forever, and he'd only have himself to blame.

"Because," Lina almost laughed, "of the grin on your face."

"I'm not grinning."

"You are, too."

And he was. A hand shot up to his mouth when he realized she was right and he quickly brought it down again, his smile gone and replaced with one of the very convincing frowns he'd worked on for most of his life.

"Face it, Zel." Her voice was cheerful, "you're having fun. And I happen to like the way you look, plus you must pack a nasty punch with a stone fist. Who cares if we're late?"

He didn't have to pretend to be upset. He maintained his speed and shot her a glare over his shoulder.

"Why?"

She blinked, "Why what?"

"Why do you say that?" He snapped at her, now truly angry. There was a silence as Lina opened to mouth to reply, but he swiftly cut her off.

"We're behind schedule, aren't we?" He groaned, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. Lina narrowly avoided tripping on a rock and grabbed on to Zel's arm for support, sending them both toppling over. When they landed, Lina's legs were arched over Zel's stomach and they both sat, rubbing various acquired bruises.

"Zel, listen, I told you it was impossible right from the star. Rezo's labyrinth is just too tough to tackle in that amount of time." She explained, cradling her head in her hands. Zel rubbed at his hip irritably.

"Then make it possible! I'm enough of an outcast back home as it is, somehow I doubt the pebbled skin condition will help my love life." He grumbled. He'd meant for it to be a joke and Lina picked up on it, clumsily crawling over him to get to her feet.

"It certainly helped with that Martinagirl back there." She provided. He allowed himself a small smirk at the thought, then brushed it aside. He felt the bubbles of real problems boiling inside of him, threatening to burst on the surface.

"Lina, please. I'm honestly grateful that you want to be my friend no matter what I look like, but I simply can't go home like this. I really do want to make friends, you know. I do want to have a future. I do want to get a girlfriend and just… just be normal." He gave her a paled look, suddenly feeling extremely stupid and embarrassed. "I have no idea why I just told you that." He said, his voice returning to its regular gruff and cold inflection. They shared a silence for a moment, and Zel sighed, shaking his head.

"Thanks for not freaking out when you saw me." He offered. Lina shrugged.

"Why would I? The only downside I can see is that you're now too heavy for me to carry, otherwise I could just fly us over the Labyrinth and we could be there in no time." She picked a leaf from her red strands, sighing in exasperation. Zel's ears prickled and he stopped, unable to be surprised after she'd confessed to knowing Dragonslave.

"What, err… what flying spell do you use?" He asked, trying to keep his voice casual. He knew it was stupid, but …

"Oh, just Raywing. Nothing fancy." She answered with a wave of her hand. "But I could pull off something fancy if I wanted to." She assured him hastily. Zel nodded, barely listening.

"I know Raywing." He said softly. And it was true. It was a spell he was familiar with, if only in theory. He'd never imagined that he'd actually get to use it – that it would actually work if he tried. Lina cocked a brow, sizing him up.

"And hre I thought your only talent would be throwing yourself at Rezo when the time came." Lina said, ignoring Zel's feverish gestures towards the sword at his side. "Well, that's great! Let's get going." She clapped her hands together and instantly her feet rose off the ground, rising to Zel's eye-level. He stared in awe for a moment before hastily collecting himself.

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" She asked, slightly exasperated, but she fell silent when she saw him standing stiffly, saying nothing, his eyes clasped firmly shut. He was taking deep breaths, obviously deep in concentration. Lina folded her arms across her chest and tapped one foot against empty air.

"What the heck are you doing?" She asked, most politely. Zel's eyes shot open.

"Trying to fly!" He snapped. So far his attempts didn't appear to be working, and here he'd gone and gotten his hopes up. How stupid could he have been? Knowing the way a spell worked was nothing like actually tyring to cast it. Besides, with his body, he could hardly even be light enough to lift off the ground.

"I thought you just said you knew how!" Lina cried. Irritated, she grabbed his hand and pulled, straining. Zel cried out in alarm as he felt his feet slowly lift off the ground, his eyes widening as he watched Lina's face cringe from the effort.

"Lina, wait-!" He tried to stop her but she continued to rise up, soon meeting the tree tops, Zel's feet dangling twenty feet off the ground. He felt the tingling sensation growing in the soles of his feet, his stomach bubbling in protest.

"Stop! Lina, you can't carry me the whole way!" He said. He heard her grunt and he held his breath, preparing for their inevitable plummit to their broken legs.

"Who said anything about carrying?" Lina gasped between gritted teeth. Zel looked up at her, fear spreading across his face as revelation struck him.

"Lina, I cant-!"

And then she let go. Zel's body fell through the path they'd made in the branches, the ground rushing up to meet him. A cry escaped from his lips and he raised his arms to shield his face, bracing himself for impact.

It never came. After a moment, Zel tentatively opened an eye, peeking out through the crack between his arms. He was lying horizontally two feet above the ground, a rock jutting up inches from his face. He felt his heart stop and he slowly rolled over, staring up at Lina's form.

"Lina …" He began, icily. The girl laughed in reply.

"Jeopardy, Zel. You can do anything if you think you're going to die." She laughed again and Zel slowly rose to her level, straightening himself and glaring at her.

"You didn't know I'd do that!" He snapped, angrily. Lina shook her head.

"Of course I did, now get over it, let's go."

Usually Zel had a very placid disposition. He wasn't a very warm or caring person, but he didn't easily lose his temper, either. However, the shock of the event and the abuse of the trust he'd placed in his guidehad completely crossed the line. Lina seemed to sense what was coming and her smile disappeared.

"I could've died!" His temper had been set loose and he'd make sure Lina knew it. In response, her face grew serious and she returned Zel's cold gaze.

"You're getting distracted. Let's go."

"Distracted? I trusted you!" His voice was bitter and her eyebrows rose in interest.

"Oh, really? Then you think I'd have known that you'd be all right. You're unhurt, aren't you?" She asked, suddenly feeling exhausted. This wasn't a fight she wanted to be having. She acknowledged that she'd given him a fright and that he had a right to be angry, but she had really done it for his own good.

"Please get over it already. You're flying and now Rezo's castle is just a hop, skip, and a jump away." Her frigid expression melted and she smiled reassuringly at him. "Okay?"

Zel sighed, knowing she was right. He was flying, after all, and he wouldn't have been able to do it without her. He refused to apologize, however, and opted instead to give her the silent treatment. Outside he was his typically impenetrable self, but inside, he was ecstatic that he could fly.

He'd never let Lina know that, though.