Slayers: Warped:
Well, I've got tea, sugar, and nothing better to do. Chapter 7 time!
Chapter 7: Ocean Breathing Salty
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Gourry shouted, pulling his sword and knocking Zelgadis back with enough force to topple into Lina and Amelia, pushing them back ten feet on their backs, groaning. His eyes wide, he watched as the trio groaned to catch their breath, the wind knocked out of them from the blow. He panted heavily, sweating nervously, his eyes darted between Kinsei and Lina.
"Gourry, what are you doing?" Lina growled, as she pulled herself to her feet.
"I know... I know..." Gourry mumbled. Kinsei gasped.
"You promised!" She whispered, her voice cracking.
"It's time they knew." The group looked around, to see Xelloss with a sleeping Chocolate tossed over his shoulder. He paced towards Zelgadis evenly, laughing to nobody in particular, "Such a shame! Those caustic thoughts you've had... What a waste of your mind, even when the answers were right in front of you." Suddenly, he stopped, whirling back towards the teenagers. "Look at them, they're just kids. Little kids."
"I resent that. I'm eighteen!" Elijah cut in.
"You might resent it, but you resemble it." Xelloss snickered. He turned back to Lina. "Do you really need to know who they are?"
"I think that'd be best." Lina grumbled, deadpan. Xelloss thought for a moment, tapping his chin in thought.
"Well, it is a surprise... how very little mother is like daughter." He giggled girlishly. "You're not a thing like her."
Lina's eyes went wide. "... Whaaaaaaat!" She gasped, looking back at Xelloss. "What do you MEAN!"
"I mean that you're going to be a mother. To a little girl." Lina instantly looked at Kinsei. "Wrong one." Lina blinked. "You'll name her Rei, because she's a part of your soul. She'll be the youngest of the children, but for this one." He explained, patting Chocolate on the butt. "This is my own daughter. Oh, and Filia; I'd stop making cracks about Mazoku. You're going to marry one."
"WHAT!" Filia shrieked indignantly. Her eyes flew to Kinsei, who laughed nervously and waved. Filia sputtered angrily to herself, as Kinsei shuffled her feet and stared at the ground.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Kinsei mumbled shyly.
"Let's just add in that Martina already knows she's going to have a daughter in a couple years." Xelloss added, gesturing loosely to Elijah.
"How did she take it...?" Elijah asked curiously.
"Surprisingly well. She was eager to meet her 'blessing from Zoelmgustar', or however it's said." Xelloss laughed. "She even believed me when I said you were from the future. Your dad will be much harder to explain to, however."
"Hm..." Elijah snorted nervously.
"Zelgadis, with all that's been said, I don't think I even have to explain Alin off." Xelloss chuckled. "You give your son your pendant as a present... and he eventually gives it to his girlfriend." Not surprisingly, Zelgadis scowled.
"How could I pass my curse on... particularly, to such a weakling...?" Zelgadis growled. Alin scowled, and spoke the first sentient words he'd said in the past eighteen hours. Unfortunately, they were the wrong ones.
"Who are you calling weak? You're the fucknut who goes crazy when his beloved little wifey dies, then goes on a rampage, kidnaps and tortures an innocent girl, and led her to THIS!" The entire group froze in motion. Alin covered his mouth, realizing how wrong what he just said was. Zelgadis began to twitch in anger. He finally turned away from the entire group.
"Xelloss, get them out of here. I don't believe a word you've said." He whispered, his quiet, strained voice hiding an eternity of sheer rage. Filia turned away as well.
"It can't be... It can't be..." She whispered, obviously choking back tears. Amelia sadly shook her head and looked away.
"Mister Zelgadis wouldn't ever do something like that." She murmured, looking at Lina, who'd simply been staring at the ground the entire time pensively. There was a moment of tense silence. Nobody had a word to say, and right before it reached the pinnacle, the boiling point where tensions explode, Xelloss grabbed all three teenagers around the shoulders.
"We'll be going, then." He dragged them away roughly. Alin and Kinsei stared at their father's and mother's, respectively, backs. Tears were forming in Kinsei's eyes, and Alin was shaking like a leaf. Elijah pulled out of Xelloss' grasp, and began to drag Kinsei herself. "There's a safe place near here. We just have to walk on." He mumbled encouragingly, almost speaking to himself rather than them. Gourry suddenly ran after them.
"Take me with you." He begged Xelloss. "I know there must be something I can do."
"There is!" Xelloss grinned at Gourry. He put Chocolate on Gourry's shoulders. Gourry nodded, and carried her. Alin began to walk on his own, as they came over the crest of the hill, onto a long, empty road.
"Mr. Gourry, you really are like your daughter." Alin mumbled, grinning lightly at him.
"Well, I'm not so lucky. My daughter's not here, so I guess that I pretty much live in the future, and she's okay. Do you know her? Is she beautiful?" Gourry asked, grinning eagerly.
"I know her well..." Alin whispered, having no intention of ruining Rei's chances with Gourry's affection by saying her name. "And she is beautiful..."
Zelgadis was quivering in rage, and Filia was shaking in fright. Lina still stared at the ground. Amelia nervously patted Zel on the arm.
"I... Well, judging by Alin, his girlish face and all, I bet your wife was beautiful." Zel looked at her, his eyes going from anger to nervous.
"... How could I do anything like what that Zelgadis has done...?" He whispered, voice shaking.
"I don't... I couldn't... I can't!" Filia cried to herself.
"You do, though." Gourry muttered.
"We all do." Lina sighed, pulling herself to her feet and dusting off her pants.
"What are you going to do, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked her anxiously.
"I'm going to go save my daughter. You all can tag along and help your children do whatever they've come here to do; because if you remember the first day we met them, they all said that their parents were dead, missing, or insane. I don't think they were lying." Lina explained, and began to walk off in the same direction Xelloss had led the children. Filia frowned.
"I have no intention on going missing." Filia sighed, following Lina.
"And I have no intention on going insane." Zelgadis added, following Lina and Filia. Amelia followed suit.
They knew of each other's presence. Gourry, Xelloss, Alin, Kinsei, and Elijah knew that Lina was close behind them, far behind her, Filia, Zelgadis, and Amelia, but none of them wanted to talk to each other. There was complete silence, until finally, Filia dashed up to the group in front. Kinsei looked at her for a moment, before turning away. Filia sighed.
"You've got poor foot speed, and you're getting tired." She transformed into her dragon form, and lifted Kinsei onto her back gently. Kinsei hugged her around the neck, as Filia soared slowly over the group twenty feet off the ground.
"Thanks... mom..." Kinsei whispered.
Zelgadis and Amelia caught up with the group in front as well. Alin took a thermos off his belt, and offered it to Zelgadis. Zelgadis blinked.
"Our group always carries thermoses of our favorite drink, and Elijah filled mine up this morning." He muttered. Zelgadis took a sip.
"... Black coffee." Zel nodded approvingly, and from there, neither said a word. Lina caught up, joining the mass of silence. Still, for a few moments, there was a certain electricity emanating that drew them together, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. To Zelgadis and Filia, it felt right, and Alin and Kinsei, even in the cold silence that day, had never felt warmer.
TO BE CONTINUED...
