A/N: My, my, my, I'm getting inconsistent. Ah well, here's the next chapter.
Maurice A. Nigma- Hah, thanks for reading- you should be able to guess by the end of this chapter, or before then. I looked up the story you mentioned and well, sorry I would, but… I don't really know that series (Sonic I mean) too well, if at all. I did read Luna's Enjoyment: Lina's Torture though. Twas amusing, I must say. Well, happy reading!
Winged Knight- Steroids? Mmm…maybe… --wink-- And thank ye for reading, and paying attention enough to go through the guessing and assuming part. I'd hate to agree that doing so would mean you have no life- because then I'd have to admit that I don't either. :P Ah well, we're alive, aren't we? Well, this chapter will either confirm or dissipitate a good many of your assumptions, so I hope you enjoy! (Granted, if you find out how the whole story works out before I allow a character to explain it- all the power to ye)
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, now and forever, til death do I part.
Ch. 8- Pause for Reflection
"Let's stop here for today. We're within a morning's flight to Lina's place."
Sylphiel turned to regard Zelgadis. "Are you sure? The sun has barely begun to descend."
He nodded back. "There should be a lake nearby; we can catch our dinner and scrub off before we meet Lina there. You never know- after the snails are cleared up, she might turn on us and tell us off for tracking dirt into the place."
Sylphiel laughed. "Yes, she might just do that. Lina-san is still horribly afraid of her sister, isn't she?"
Zelgadis allowed a smile to pass. "The only reason why we're going."
A strange look overcame Sylphiel's expression then. Her companion asked what was wrong.
Smiling softly, she murmured that it was nothing. "How are we going to fish and bathe at the same time?"
"I'll set the net trap once we reach the lake. Then I'll set up camp nearby, but far enough so that you can swim or whatever in privacy. Return to camp when you're done, and I'll take my turn and bring the catch back with me. How's that?"
Sylphiel raised an eyebrow. "You seem to have thought it through a lot."
He shrugged in reply. "After all the years of traveling I've had, it comes second nature to me."
Accepting this, she verified, "To the lake then?"
With another nod between them, they set off.
The net was lowered without any problems, but as soon as Zelgadis had left the vicinity, Sylphiel heard it. The same voice, the same voices giggling with each other.
"I don't know why I was ever worried; ooh you're such a darling!"
"And you would be the most vile temptress in all the seven deserts of despair."
She giggled again. "That always sends shivers down my spine. I love it. How long do you think we'll be able to keep this up though, with things as they are?"
"She will tell us when it is time. We should enjoy it in the meantime however."
At that point, Sylphiel recognized the sounds that told her just how private an affair, no pun intended, this was. Blushing furiously, she moved to the other side of the lake until she could no longer hear them. Under the cover of tall boulders, she undressed and slipped into a small pool, not unlike the one Lina had fireballed eons ago. She cast a self-cleansing spell on herself as she submerged in the water.
As the magic began its work, Sylphiel mulled over the lovers' words, no doubt in her mind that it had been Eldwin and Eldora. She wondered who the person they referred to was, who apparently controlled the fate of their relationship. She had a feeling it was someone strong, to control and/or teach the pair magic that no one else possessed. For Eldwin, the ability to freeze her where she sat, and for Eldora, the ability to summon nature's help with her distressed voice. Sylphiel could sense that both were powerful in their own right, but how powerful was yet to be known.
Power. That had been another thing that was bothering her; the power of her spells had grown substantially ever since they began this escapade. She had slid under the Queen to break her fall, when she had been some thirty feet away. Her shamanistic fire spells would have been shown worthy even in the eyes of the flame expert Lina Inverse. Her strength of mind had also increased, to be able to discover how to escape a permanent lunch date with a couple of ash dragons. Somehow, she felt that if she chose to wield her sword again, she would be an expert at that as well.
Something had changed since the last time she used magic, before they left Seyruun. That had been... when she was checking to see if the pills Liona-san had given her had been trustworthy... Sylphiel stopped her thoughts, chilled to the bone. Of course! That was it!
Hurriedly, Sylphiel checked to see that the cleansing spell was done- which it had been for some time- and got up to dry herself and put her clothes back on. As soon as she had, she circled back and paused where she had heard the pair. Nothing came to her ears. With a soft sigh she rushed back to Zelgadis.
There was no doubt in her mind that Zelgadis had heard her coming, louding snapping dead twigs, rustling past the low foliage. She didn't care; she had to tell him.
As she broke into the clearing, her body came to an abrupt stop, held spellbound by the sight before her. Swords clashed, one with fury, one with cool annoyance. Capes fluttered similarly to the movements of their bearers. The fire licked its maw impatiently, sending fumes into the air as if to get a better vantage point. Sylphiel found herself determined to make them stop, to force Zelgadis out of his wrath, to make sure Eldwin stayed put. She knew just the spell, and she knew she could pull it off, when she couldn't have not a fortnight ago.
"Dragon Fang." Both fighters stopped, frozen in place, stunned at what had just occured. They simultaneously looked at Sylphiel, hair still dripping wet, a cool breeze blowing it off her shoulders. There was an unearthly look in her eyes, and it chilled Zelgadis. Eldwin however, did not seem the least bit surprised; in fact, he actually looked a touch appeased.
"Sylphiel-san! What a surprise! And here I thought this oaf-" He paused to jerk his head in Zelgadis' direction "had left you somewhere and then gone off on his own."
Sylphiel blinked, and she was aware of herself again. A smile crept into her expression, however, as she said, "Well, technically speaking, that's what he did do, but we were planning to meet back at camp- here- after I took my bath."
A forlorn, wistful gaze emitted from Eldwin's eyes. "A bath? You don't say? Why, I truly believe it was a waste of effort- nothing could tarnish your beauty after all."
Despite herself, Sylphiel blushed and looked down. Zelgadis muttered, "Uh, Sylphiel? Mind letting me go now?"
She started at that, and looked up again. A new blush covered the old, and she asked timidly, "Do you promise not to fight? Both of you?"
Zelgadis growled low in his throat, but nodded. Eldwin smiled and also nodded. She waved her hand, dispelling the enchantment. Looking around, she found that space had been cleared around the fire. Slowly, she sat down, legs tucked under her, and gestured for them to do the same. Zelgadis seated himself crossed legged between Eldwin and Sylphiel. Eldwin sat across the fire from Sylphiel, knees drawn up with the soles of his feet aligned and touching each other.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Sylphiel opened her eyes and set them steadily on Eldwin. She as good as might have forgotten Zelgadis was there, but she knew he had to hear this as well.
"Eldwin, would you be so kind as to confirm a few... suspicions of mine?"
He smiled cheekily. "Anything for you, dear Sylphiel."
"First, Eldora is a dragon, isn't she? A philos magnus brand, a tribe concentrated to a single peak in the Kataart mountains."
His grin widened. "A brilliant deduction. How did you come about that?"
She ignored the question and continued the inquiry. "Second, you are a demon. At least, a soul of one, a parasite in the eyes of some people. For the greater part of your life, whatever can be considered life, you served as a spy in the Kataart Mountains for the Greater Beast Zelas, correct?"
Eldwin's smile faltered as he nodded. Sylphiel continued, as Zelgadis was staring at her in shock.
"Third, for some time now, you have been under the lax service of Liona... -san. She made a pact with the both of you, saying that though circumstances usually say it's impossible for you to be together, she would make it possible, as long as you completed a task for her. Have I been wrong yet?"
His eye began twitching ever so slightly, but he managed to shake his head.
"Fourth, that task was to confront us once she had allowed us to take the medicine she presented to me. To make us realize how important, no, how powerful we are, with or without the circumstances that held us. For me, the power I had held back in fear of hurting another, and for Zelgadis-san, the power he had as a chimera. Still correct?"
Eldwin let out a shuddering sigh, closing his eyes, and nodded again.
"Finally, Liona-san was the one who had planted the slugs and snails within Lina-san's home, to lure us into the open. She told you that if the plan succeeded, you would be free of the obligations of your people, and truly be allowed to be together forever. As it is now, from dawn to dusk, Eldora roams free. From dusk to dawn, you, Eldwin lurk as you will. In the exchanges around the point of sunrise and sunset, you become two entities and meet, before the tired one disappears into the revived one. That's it, isn't it?"
Eyes still closed, Eldwin nodded. Then he murmured, "I must admit, the rate of your deductions is a bit frightening, and from me, that's saying something. So now I must ask, how did you learn all that?"
Sylphiel took in a deep breath, ready to spill free again. Zelgadis could only watch in stunned silence. "The first thing I realized that my power upgrade and Zelgadis-san's significant downgrade occured in that same moment, when we took the pills Liona-san provided. Then I remembered that the Dragon Fang, what I used just now, and what Eldwin used on me the first night we met him, could only be used by a dragon or on a dragon. After that, I realized you two made sure you had excuses not to be seen at the same time, but twice now I've heard you, as the sun set, meeting in a lake. That's what makes Eldora disappear- the water. I know that because the first time, only moments had passed between when I had seen a small bit of her back, and when you emerged alone.
"From that, I concluded her nature, as, combined with her power over, well, nature, led to all the significant characteristics of philos magnus, a tribe that broke off from the Ancients a long, long time ago, and developed a keen sense of hate for the demons that shared their mountain. A hate, that is so powerful, it becomes a tragic love if dwelled upon. No wars erupt between the two clans, because these demons are very similar in emotion; their feelings of raw lust, if nurtured, becomes a phenomenal love. These are the only demons that will unconditionally love only a philos magnus. The majority never learns of this ability, but those that do, and are discovered, are both killed quickly, like a diseased rodent ready to poison a family.
"Eldwin and Eldora managed to realize their love, and before they could be executed, they chose exile, running away from their home. But before they had gone far, a scout spotted them for what they were, and managed to shoot down Eldwin. Eldora screamed her fury, and nature's wrath was upon the killer in an instant. Then, as Eldwin faded away, Liona-san came to them, and promised Eldora that Eldwin could live again, if but she was willing to give up her nights for him, always, and together fulfill a task for her. She agreed immediately, worried that if she hesitated, he would be gone from her grasp. Up until meeting with Liona-san, the history is uncommon, but written down as the fate of one out of every hundred pairs. As for Liona-san, I sense that she is the type of person who will come when you're at your worst, and then recruit you as help, whether you realize it or not, and in turn significantly improve your outlook, at least, at first.
"I figured out the dawn and dusk part simply because that was the point in which one appeared and the other reappeared. We only see Eldwin at night, and we've only seen Eldora when it was still light. Technically, she did grant you the ability to be together, but it is a bit like being doubly cursed. First, to know you are sharing a body, and yet not being able to truly feel each other for the greater part of the day and night. Second, the only time you may see eye to eye is for a few short moments when the sun rises and sets."
Sylphiel let out the small puff of air she had left, and nearly hyperventilated in her attempt to gain back the air she had lost. Once she had sufficiently recovered, she murmured, "What did I forget? I know I left out something..."
Zelgadis gulped and managed to answer, hardly above a whisper, "How about how you knew Liona planted the slugs and snails; why Liona gave us those pills; and how you know Eldwin once served Xellos' mistress. That is, if the rest is true."
Sylphiel smiled wanly, licked her lips, and began to explain again. "For the slugs and snails, after I realized how much Liona-san seemed to be a part of all this, it felt obvious. Liona... I'm not sure you can say she still is, but she used to be Gourry and Lina-san's daughter, right? I believe she lived in Zephilia with Luna-san and them for the first fifteen, no, last thirteen years of her life, before she allegedly drowned. Well, in any case, she would have remembered what combination could distress her mother the most, now wouldn't she? With her new powers, or perhaps they can be considered old now, she could have easily placed one snail and one slug in there, and allowed them to multiply endlessly, and then cast a containment spell around the property to keep them in. As for how I know Eldwin once served Greater Beast Zelas... what better way to lure in the friends of her mother, than use the minion of her aunt's best friend?"
Letting out another long sigh, Sylphiel ended, "I think Liona-san deserves to answer that last question." Louder, she called, "Liona-san, I know you're listening to us, or rather, me. Won't you please come and explain the last bit of your plan?"
All was quiet, until a strong breeze whipped the flame higher as another force suddenly squashed it back down. There, floating above the licking flames, adorned in a fair pleasant gown of white silk, was the magically renouned Liona Inverse, the wandering healer, descendant of evil, good, and neutrality. She gave Sylphiel a light bow, and turned a cold smirk to the now human chimera, and the demon that had failed to cover up his tracks well enough.
A/N: Ahem, yes, you can tell I'm trying to end it rather quickly, no? Well, I figured, since it's so easy to figure out (well, maybe not extremely easy, but easy enough), I'll just let Sylphiel spill the beans. Ah, but what will Liona say? Ah, the fun that it could be... Review if you will- Please and thank you!