Darkness hung over the village like a shroud. Ominous looking clouds had obscured the once bright moon. Nary an animal stirred. Not even a cricket. It was as if they knew that it wasn't safe and intentionally avoided the area. Aside from the village, everything was a lifeless blemish upon the face of the world.
Although the creatures of the night refused to raise their voices in song, the woods were not silent. A ghostly voice echoed through the trees, singing a lament for innocence. It was a sad sound, made even more so by the fact that the singer betrayed no emotion in their words. It was as if they couldn't even remember what they'd lost.
The voice drifted through the forest, touching everyone that heard it in different ways.
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In the village, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev slumbered, their bodies pressed close to one another. The voice barely reached them through the open bedroom window, but still managed to elicit a reaction.
Lina had been wearing a satisfied smile as she slept, but when she heard those haunting words, her expression quickly turned to one of sorrow and she began to weep quietly. Tears rolled down her face to dampen the pillow and she whispered, "Xellos… Sis…" remembering those she had left behind in Sairaag.
Gourry's reaction was far different from Lina's. A scowl crossed his face as if he sensed that there was something amiss. His eyes drifted open and he slowly sat up, feeling a strange sense of disquiet. Hearing quiet sobs he glanced down to see the redhead trembling in sorrow. He leaned over to kiss her bare shoulder and stroked her hair reassuringly. It seemed to help a little, but she still looked quite upset. As much as it pained him to admit it, he couldn't protect her from her dreams.
Unless it wasn't her dreams that were the problem, Gourry thought as he glanced out the window, searching for the source of that eerie melody. There was nothing to see save dark trees and ominous clouds in the sky. A sudden breeze blew the curtains about, casting shadows that danced wildly upon the wall in the meager moonlight. The voice seemed to increase in volume with the coming of the breeze and he shuddered involuntarily. It almost sounded as if the singer were approaching, perhaps lurking somewhere just out of the swordsman's sight. Driven by some nameless sense of dread, he leapt out of the bed and darted over to the window. A moment later, he'd slammed the shutters closed, unwilling to condone that terrible sound any longer.
Leaning against the wall, Gourry took a shaky breath and glanced over his shoulder, hoping that the sudden noise hadn't woken Lina. She was a dark silhouette against the light sheets. Had he not known that she was all right, he might have thought her dead as still as she was. It wasn't a comforting thought, but at least he hadn't roused her. He cocked his head, listening for the voice. Thankfully, it had receded to the point that it was barely a whisper in the dark, unnoticed unless one knew it was there. Satisfied that there was no immediate threat to his charge, he climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms about the young Slayer.
Lina squirmed briefly, unused to the sensation of being grabbed in the dark even in such a loving manner. However, her apprehensions were quickly alleviated when her companion whispered quiet reassurances in her ear. Content with the knowledge that she was in no danger, she fell back into a dreamless slumber, trusting her protector to face the terrors of the night alone.
And so he did. For a long time, Gourry lay awake his sharp senses attuned to the slightest disturbance in the dark. His gaze darted about the room, challenging the innumerable pops and creaks in the dark. As the night wore on, he began to remember the cause of each noise and they brought him comfort. He was a boy of twelve again, listening to his house speak to him. Eventually, he allowed the familiar noises of his childhood home to lull him to sleep.
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Zelgadis sat on hands and knees, panting loudly as he struggled to rein in the hunger that he was feeling. For the last week, he'd been slipping away from the others to subsist on animals in the dead of night. Normally, he'd partake of blood, even animal blood, only when he was hurt. Now, he needed it. Every night, he claimed more lives.
Except for tonight. Zelgadis had searched far and wide, seeking a deer, bear, or even something as small as a rabbit; anything to slacken his thirst. Blood consumed his thoughts and whatever was hiding within him was rapidly becoming impatient. He groaned in pain as a series of painful spasms wracked his body and broke out in a cold sweat. He needed it. Didn't this godforsaken forest know that? Where was its bounty of life?
Then the voice came, sounding unpleasantly smooth and sinister. Zelgadis cocked his head, his face pale and gaunt with a sheen of moisture upon it. He listened to its suggestion with a look of growing horror upon his face. "No," he said with a vehement shake of his head. "No, I won't do that." Another spasm hit his stomach and he groaned again. It felt as if his body was eating itself from the inside out. He wouldn't do it though. He'd sworn long ago that he'd never feed upon a human. In a way, it felt as if that final sin would forever separate him from humanity. People didn't feed on their own kind.
It was oversimplifying the problem, he realized. That and it was melodramatic. The world wasn't going to end if he did what he was born to do, would it? If he could bring himself to take one, just one, he'd be all right for a few days at least. Long enough to convince Amelia to leave this damnable village with him. He began to salivate as he glanced in the direction of the hamlet. Anyway, it wasn't like he had to kill them, he thought hopefully. As much restraint as he'd shown over his lifetime, keeping the thirst in check, surely he could control how much he drank from a human, right? Of course he could. He wasn't a mindless animal after all.
Wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth, Zelgadis turned towards the village, all thought of restraint gone with his decision to break his most vital rule. Wicked laughter echoed in his mind as the demon within him reveled in another victory gained in the struggle against its host.
At that moment, the sound of singing reached Zelgadis's ears. He snarled and shook his head, trying to block it out. The song persisted and he reluctantly listened. It was a tragic yet hauntingly beautiful melody, telling the story of a hero who gave up everything for the ones he loved. Entranced, he sat down to better enjoy the story, all thought of his thirst driven from his mind for the moment.
Sometime during the part of the story that discussed the hero forever turning from the light to defeat the darkness, Zelgadis's eyes began to fill with tears. By the end of the song, he was weeping openly, his body wracked with harsh sobs. It sounded as if the singer were speaking directly to him.
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Not everything was dark and foreboding in the forest that evening. In fact, had someone been going for an evening stroll, they may have come across a somewhat humorous albeit perplexing sight.
It was a fox, perfectly normal as far as foxes go, aside from a few glaring oddities. An eye patch clung to his head precariously and a tattered cape was hung around his neck. A pair of equally tattered pants tied with a bit of rope hung around the lower half of his body. The most unusual thing was that this fox carried a pistol in his mouth,
Jillas had totally shirked his humanity in favor of speed as he ran through the forest. The smells were getting stronger and the fear that had plagued him all day grew almost to the point that it was maddening. Still, loyalty compelled him to press on. The boss had told him to see to Amelia and that was what he was doing. As long as she stayed in the village, he would guard it against anything that would seek to do her harm.
Coming to a point in the forest that he'd passed several times already, Jillas turned slightly to the right, continuing his circular path around the village. He'd done this more times than he could count over the course of the evening, but continued on despite the protests of his exhausted body. "Got… t'… look afta'… Amelia," he reminded himself.
It was at that moment, that the voice reached his ears, and for the first time in three hours, Jillas stopped running. Panting heavily, he listened, his keen ears detecting that the singer wasn't human, or wasn't anymore in any case. He felt the fur on his back begin to rise as a sudden chill struck him. This voice wasn't a part of whatever was wrong in the forest. Its owner was just as much a stranger as he and the others were.
Curious, Jillas momentarily abandoned his post in favor of trotting off into the woods in the direction of the voice. It was unnatural, but he got the sense that it wasn't necessarily evil. Maybe the singer knew what was happening in this strange place.
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Chalk it up to luck or cruel fate, but somehow Amelia and Marco had made it past Jillas's patrol route without being spotted. If they hadn't, what happened later might have turned out far better than it did.
Marco held onto Amelia's hand as he led her through the dark woods. They knew that they should probably be calling for Sarah, but neither of them could muster the courage to raise their voices higher than a whisper. They both cringed at the noise when they pushed their way through a bush. Marco was a child with all the superstitions that came with that and Amelia was in the unique position of almost being an adult but keeping her childish imagination. All told, neither of them wanted to risk too much noise, lest the imagined creatures of the dark come out to gobble them up.
Amelia winced in discomfort as the prickly leaves scratched her. You'd think there'd be a path to the next village or something. "Marco," she whispered.
"Yeah?" Marco seemed to be quite unaffected by the thorns. He moved through the brush with practiced ease, not getting snagged once.
"This is the way to the next village, right?" Amelia said as she glanced around thoughtfully. No path, no signs, not even a break in the foliage; it looked to her as if this road hadn't been trafficked in years. "Where's the footpath?"
A look of consternation upon his face, Marco muttered, "I… I don't know. Sarah and I come through here every day. So do the rest of the villagers. It doesn't really make sense, does it?"
"Speaking of the villagers, where are they?" Amelia wondered aloud. "If Sarah's missing, don't you think that they'd be out looking for her too?"
"They… They…" Marco muttered, struggling to figure out why they hadn't come looking for Sarah. She had kind parents; her mother baked the best oatmeal cookies and her father was always willing to help them when they wanted to build a tree house or some other adventurous undertaking. They should be out here too. They would be, he was sure of it. So, where were they? "I-I-I don't know," he stammered after a long moment of confusion.
Amelia wasn't even listening to Marco anymore. Her eyes were glinting with desire as she stared at a nearby fruit-bearing bush. Stomach growling loudly, she eagerly tugged on her companion's hand and whispered, "Hey, are these berries edible?"
"What?" Marco muttered, grateful to be distracted from his unpleasant questions. He picked one of the black berries and held it up in the moonlight. Scrutinizing it with the eye of a boy that had tried everything that the forest had to offer at least once, he dubiously shook his head and said, "Um, I don't know, Miss. They look like poisonous berries to me and- What are you doing?!"
A guilty smile on her juice-smeared face, Amelia chuckled and said, "Sorry, I'm just so hungry." As if that were explanation enough for eating poisonous fruit, she resumed her meal, greedily snatching handfuls of berries off the bush and cramming them into her mouth.
A few moments passed, punctuated by the sound of eager munching and a look of horrified fascination upon Marco's face.
"Oh, that's so much better," Amelia sighed after eating her fill. For the first time since she and the others had arrived in the village, she felt full. She'd almost forgotten what a wonderful sensation it could be. That had been so much more filling than the food at the party.
"You… You're not dead?" Marco whispered in amazement. Looking at one of the berries again, he plucked it from the bush and reluctantly popped it into his mouth. The instant he bit down he regretted his actions and, shooting Amelia an almost comical look of panic, dashed a few feet away to empty the contents of his stomach in relative privacy behind a nearby tree.
"Ooh, I'm sorry!" Amelia stage whispered. Now that she thought about it, she didn't feel so hot herself, but there was no way that she was going to lose her meal. She willed herself to digest, and with many, many misgivings and threats of vengeance, her stomach complied.
It was at that moment that the forest's haunting melody reached them. They both glanced up at the sound of the singing, simultaneously entranced and repulsed by it.
Biting her lip nervously, Amelia reluctantly asked, "Is that Sarah?" Secretly, she really hoped it wasn't.
"No…" Marco said after a moment of thought. "No, it's way too pretty to be Sarah's voice. Sarah sounds like a donkey when she sings." He glanced up at Amelia and grinned. "It's not Sarah, but maybe they've seen her!" He grabbed her hand and began to tug her in the direction that the voice was coming from. "Come on Amelia!"
"Marco, I don't know about this…" Amelia whispered, resisting his insistent tugs on her arm. "We probably shouldn't bother them. They sound kind of busy, don't you think?"
"Don't you want to find Sarah?"
Well, now that she thought about it, Amelia wasn't so sure anymore. If they waited for morning, it'd be brighter and a lot less creepy. She was about to suggest that they go back to town and wait for the dawn, when she happened to glance down at Marco and saw the hopeful expression on his face. She sighed and nodded. "Okay. Let's go." As they pressed on into the darkness, she mentally reprimanded herself. There was a little girl that might need help and here she was thinking only of herself.
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The source of the disquiet that Lina and the others had been feeling was currently situated on a branch high in a pine tree. The mysterious figure in white lay draped across the limb, bearing a frightening resemblance to a great cat searching for prey down below.
The last words of the lament escaped the cloaked figure's lips. Its head was cocked, as if listening to those last haunting echoes in the forest. A moment later, a sigh of disappointment escaped pale lips. Once again, there had been no emotion associated with song. The lament had been learned several years ago and used to be quite beautiful. It had often moved both singer and listeners to tears. But now, now that there was actually reason to lament the loss of the light, there was nothing. No sadness, no pain; cool apathy was all that could be mustered. Even feeling anger at the lack of sadness seemed to be impossible.
"Hello?" a woman's voice called from the base of the tree.
Startled out of its contemplation, the ghostly figure curiously peered over the edge of the limb to the fog coated ground twenty feet below. Could it be? The sight of a raven-haired young lady and a small boy stated that, yes indeed it could be. The fly had wandered right into the center of the spider's web. How convenient. Amelia was as good as dead. The child could run or die with her; it mattered not which.
With inhuman grace, the ghostly figure leapt off the limb, appearing not so much to jump as to pour like liquid silver. Traveling headfirst as it plummeted downwards, it almost lazily dodged the innumerable branches that threatened its descent. Somewhere over the course of the fall, the wind whipped the hood of the cloak back, briefly revealing long dark hair and a hungry smile marked by wicked fangs. Just before impact, it seemed to slow, nonchalantly flipping in midair and soundlessly landing feet first on the ground. As the incandescent cloak came to rest about it, a single word was whispered. "Amelia."
Amelia instinctively leapt back. Whoever it was had appeared as if by magic and apparently knew her name. "Who are you? What do you want?" Her hand strayed to the dagger in her belt and she crouched, trying to decide if she should fight or flee. Marco, she remembered. She had to get Marco out of here. She said, "Marco, you have to-" before turning and seeing that the boy was nowhere to be found. He was quick, it seemed. When she looked back at her foe, she was startled to find that he'd closed the distance between them and their noses were less than an inch from one another.
"Xellos?" Amelia whispered. Lina had told her how Xellos had died, but she'd also said that he was an angel, so that meant that he could come back, right? The figure standing before her wore the mischievous grin of one keeping a secret and its face was framed by long purple hair. She shivered at the coolness the figure seemed to radiate.
"Xellos?" The cloaked figure scowled at the mention of that name and quickly flipped the hood back up to conceal its features before Amelia could really get a good look at its face. Noting that she was trembling, a hungry smile crossed the porcelain mask and it whispered, "You're cold. I'm cold too. Warm me, Amelia."
Something about those last words chilled Amelia more than her foe's coolness ever could. She pulled her dagger free and raised it, meaning to plunge it into his chest. There was no doubt in her mind now that, Xellos or not, this thing meant to do her harm. There was a rustling of cloth and the incandescent cloak blinded her briefly. When she regained her wits, she realized that her hand was numb. Her dagger glinted briefly as it soared through the air before disappearing into the darkness. Even as she realized that she'd somehow been disarmed, he was upon her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. She gasped as she felt a sharp pain in her throat and a moment later, she heard horrible slurping sounds. "Mister Zelgadis," she managed to whisper as the world began to dim.
The sound of thunder split the air, shattering the horrible silence of the night. "Let 'er go, ye bloody leech!"
The vampire rolled its eyes and reluctantly pulled away from Amelia. With an air of annoyance, it reluctantly turned to look at this new intruder. "Leech?" it repeated to the fox man in an offended tone. Turning back to the prey, it whispered, "I'll see to you in a moment, child," just before lapping a little more blood from the twin puncture wounds in her throat.
Amelia groaned in response, her face as white as a sheet. She blinked drowsily, struggling to focus on her attacker. She found herself quite unable to shake the sense that this was Xellos, come back from the dead to haunt them for some inexplicable reason. Thankfully, she blacked out a moment later.
"I said, get away from 'er!" Jillas snarled, leveling his pistol at the silvery white ghost. "Let 'er go!"
Tapping its alabaster cheek thoughtfully, the figure seemed to ponder Jillas's command. After a moment, it nodded in agreement and released Amelia, who promptly fell to the ground in a heap.
Jillas winced as he watched his foe nonchalantly drop Amelia as if she were so much rubbish. She didn't look good, but still appeared to be breathing. That was a relief. She was a nice master and on top of that, he didn't know how he could face the boss if he let anything happen to her. Nodding, he gestured with his slug thrower, indicating that his foe should move. "Right, then. Ye jus' step away from 'er an' nobody has t' get 'urt."
A playful smile upon his face, the vampire waggled his finger and said, "You wasted it."
"Whacha' mean?" Jillas growled, taking an involuntary step back. Even as he asked, he knew what the thing had been referring to. He'd fired a warning shot with a single shot pistol. There was no way he could reload before the specter was upon him and they both knew it. "Doncha' come nea' me!" he snarled, baring teeth and claws in an attempt to look imposing. "I'll gut ye!"
Ignoring the threat, the cloaked figure quickly strode across the clearing, appearing to float on the mist instead of walk. Its icy features were a mask of boredom as if it weren't about to do combat with a potentially deadly shape shifter.
"No' one more step!" Jillas growled as he aimed his useless slug thrower at the cloaked figure's head. "Ye think I won' shoot ye?" He tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice but was only partially successful. He hoped that someone had heard the shot and was on the way to help, because he doubted that what he was about to do would stop his foe. "I'm warnin' ye!" he said as he reached for something tucked into the back of his belt.
Sensing that something was amiss, Jillas's foe paused, waiting to see what trick the stupid animal would try to pull. It wasn't an impressive one, to say the least. It casually ducked as the fox's pistol went sailing by its head. A smirk upon its face, it watched as the useless weapon was swallowed by the darkness. "Foolish," it chided, turning back to face him. Suddenly, it found the barrel of a second gun leveled at its head. The bored expression replaced by the vilest hatred, it hissed, "You…"
"I did warn ye," Jillas said with a cruel grin. He pulled the trigger and for the second time in two minutes, thunder roared through the forest.
The once white cloak was suddenly stained with a mixture of dark blood and gray matter, as the vampire's skull from the eyebrows up disintegrated. The slug exploded out the back of the hood, ripping it from the vampire's face. Trying to cope with the temporary loss of most of its brain, it staggered back before falling to one knee, possibly the first graceless thing it had ever done. Smoldering hair rained down around it as it glared at Jillas with its one remaining violet eye. "Oh, you bad doggy," it admonished with a horrifying grin on its gore stained face.
To his credit, Jillas didn't bat an eye at this display as he quickly set about reloading his weapon. "No' te' dog," he said with a satisfied smile, 'M a fox! As in, 'Cleva' as a fox!" He poured powder down the barrel and quickly fished around in his belt pouch for a slug. Even as he did so, he realized it was useless. His foe was already back on its feet. "Damn ye," he spat defiantly as it resumed its approach. He couldn't kill it, he thought as he abandoned his efforts and cast the gun aside, but he could make it wish that it were dead. And maybe, just maybe, he could save Amelia. Teeth and claws bared, he took the initiative and pounced.
The mostly brainless vampire barely managed to step back in time to avoid losing its throat to Jillas's fangs. Moving with all the grace of a horribly inebriated elephant, it clumsily swung, the blow sailing harmlessly over his head. He hadn't even needed to duck. Snarling in anger, it swung with its other arm, correcting its aim a bit this time. The blood it had just consumed flowed through its system, rapidly working to minimize and repair the damage that the shot had done. Already, the world was starting to look a little less tipsy as its brain reconstructed itself cell by cell.
Jillas could tell that his foe was already recovering and knew that he had to do something to keep the beast off balance. When it swung, he caught its arm in his talons and took a rather large bite out of it. He grimaced distastefully as he did so. Corrupted flesh and blood were hardly appetizing. He quickly spat the mouthful onto the ground before lunging forward to latch onto its slender throat. That would do some damage, he thought. Cut off the blood flow to the brain and who knew how long it'd take to recover.
"No," the vampire hissed as it felt fox fangs sink into its neck. In the blink of an eye, its hands were latched onto the top and bottom portions of Jillas's snout, just barely preventing him from absconding with most of its neck. They stayed that way for a few moments, as it tried to muster enough strength in its maimed arm to detach his viselike teeth from about its windpipe. With a cruel grin, it yanked and there was a loud snap, immediately followed by a yowl of agony.
Gracelessly crashing to the forest floor, Jillas thrashed about in agony, yelping ceaselessly as his broken jaw hung horribly askew. For some inexplicable reason, he'd found that his desire to fight had suddenly deserted him. All he could do was glare defiantly as his foe leaned down to pick him up by the front of his cloak.
"Clever like a fox?" came the mocking whisper. It grabbed Jillas's jaw and shook it playfully, laughing cruelly as his howls of pain increased in volume. "You're brainless prattle annoys me, animal." Saying that, it took his tongue between two fingers and prepared to pull it free of his head. A sudden sting in its shoulder interrupted it and it looked down to see fingers buried up to the second knuckle in its flesh. "Who?" Glancing up, it found itself nose to nose with a furious Zelgadis. "You," it whispered with a knowing grin. Not really having much alternative, it casually released its hold on Jillas and awaited the inevitable.
As soon as Jillas was safely out of its grasp, Zelgadis turned and violently dashed the vampire against a nearby tree. His efforts were rewarded by the immensely satisfying sounds of popping and snapping. Grinning evilly, he pulled his foe back and smashed it face first into the tree again. Its face obliterated, and its body little more than a rag doll, he casually tossed it aside in favor of searching the ground for something he could use as a stake. "I'm not the professional that Lina is," he said thoughtfully as he leaned down to pick something from the forest floor, "but I don't think I'll miss your heart with this." He turned back to his fallen foe clutching a limb that was almost as wide as its narrow chest. "Better to be sure," he said with a cruel laugh.
"How very pragmatic," the fallen vampire managed to hiss through a mouthful of broken teeth. It tried to drag its broken body away from Zelgadis, not out of fear, but a desire to gain a few more moments to look him over. Wings, a sadistic streak, and an almost bestial look; it was obvious what was happening here. "Demon," it spat.
"What?!" Zelgadis hesitated for a moment and eyed the broken creature curiously. Who was this? Regrettably, its face had been ruined and the rest of its body was shrouded in the loose fitting cloak making it quite impossible to determine the vampire's sex, much less its identity. "State your name."
At that moment, Amelia called out for Zelgadis as she drifted back to the land of the living.
Zelgadis turned at the sound of the acrobat's voice, his wings drooping as if he felt guilty about something. She needed help. Help that he couldn't give her. He was only good at taking lives, not saving them. When he glanced back down at his fallen foe, it was already gone. He fancied that he caught a glimpse of a ghostly cloak disappearing into the fog, but it could have been his imagination. He scanned the clearing briefly, searching for any more threats before tossing his weapon aside and turning to see to Amelia.
Kneeling beside Amelia, Zelgadis glanced at Jillas and asked, "You okay?" The fox looked more than a little roughed up.
Jillas tried to grin and nodded enthusiastically, quite unable to talk at the moment. He winced in pain, wishing that he'd gone with a simple thumb's up. Cuts, stabs, and the like inflicted with anything but silver tended to close in moments. Something like the wound that he had suffered might take hours to right itself.
Unable to hide a grin of amusement at his servant's enthusiasm, Zelgadis nodded in thanks and quietly said, "Good job, Jillas." The adoring way Jillas looked at him after receiving such high praise made him incredibly glad that the fox couldn't speak. He'd probably be out here for hours trying to get him to shut up. He frowned as he turned his attention to Amelia. She was so pale and she seemed quite unable to focus on anything. "Amelia!" he growled, loudly snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Amelia, can you hear me?"
Amelia tried to smile, but only managed a sick looking grimace. She clumsily reached out, trying to grab Zel's fingers as he continued to snap them a mere inch from her nose. It was impressive how much noise one could generate with such a simple action. Why was it called snapping anyway? After all, the fingers didn't break, did they? She looked at Zelgadis as if he were keeping a secret from her and muttered in a slurred manner, "Very clever, Mister Zelgadis." Finger snapping would definitely bear much consideration. Utterly exhausted, she allowed her head to fall back into the crook of his arm. Maybe she'd sleep for a while now that Mister Zelgadis was here. It was safe with him around.
Zelgadis's entire body tensed up when Amelia leaned back and he almost dropped her. She'd inadvertently exposed the puncture wounds in her throat to him and he was captivated. They were small marks; her assailant had been quite dainty, almost polite in its feeding. Many vampires would have just torn out her throat in their raw desire for blood. As he watched, a small runnel of the crimson fluid trickled down her neck to stain the collar of her shirt. It was naught but a few drops, but more than enough to whet his appetite. He could smell the purity in her blood and he needed it.
Taking a shaky breath, Zelgadis leaned forward, his fangs extending in anticipation of feeding. Deep within himself, he could hear a voice goading him on. It was a musical sound, the sound of chimes in the wind; so beautiful and intoxicating. "So beautiful," he whispered as his lips brushed against Amelia's throat. He hovered there, lost in a place between hunger and compassion as her blood stained his lips. Finally, he shook his head and drew back, refusing to take her life, despite the urges of the demon within. He drew the back of his hand across his mouth, wiping it clean. He would not allow himself the slightest taste of her blood. There was no way that he would betray one who trusted him so implicitly.
"I'm sorry, Amelia," Zelgadis whispered, leaning forward to kiss her cool forehead. He quickly climbed to his feet, gently cradling her in his arms. He'd take her to Lina. She'd know how to heal Amelia. This was her forte after all. Turning to Jillas, he realized that he was on the verge of tears. He quickly composed himself and growled, "Ready to go?"
Jillas nodded slowly and watched as Zelgadis turned towards the village with his precious cargo. As soon as the boss had disappeared into the woods, he sighed in relief and drew out the pistol he'd hidden behind his back. He hadn't wanted to, but he would have shot his master without hesitation had Zelgadis done Amelia harm. Eyeing his pistol distastefully, he tucked it into his belt and darted off into the darkness in the direction the boss had gone.
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Lina slumbered, dreaming pleasant dreams of Gourry and mentally replaying the night's events over and over. So, it was quite understandable that she was just a little peeved when she felt a hand on her arm, trying to shake her awake. "Stop it, Gourry," she groaned, throwing an elbow back into his ribs. "Lemmie sleep." When the hand shook her again, more insistently this time, she cursed under her breath and yelled, "Cut it out!" She lashed out with her heel, connecting squarely with Gourry's shin.
The totally innocent Gourry yelled in surprise and pain and rolled off the bed. As if his luck couldn't get any worse, he banged his head against the nightstand on the way down. "Ow! What'd I do, Lina?!" He sat up, trying to divide his time between rubbing the growing knot on his skull and the bruise that he was probably going to have on his shin. "Hey, Zel," he said with a sheepish grin when he noticed that they weren't alone in the room.
"Zel?" Lina repeated. Her eyes flew open and she found a winged monstrosity looming over her. Without thinking, her foot lashed out again, this time connecting with the side of Zelgadis's head. This had the effect of sending him to the floor with a painful sounding crash. Not ten seconds after being rudely awoken, she'd managed to make everyone in the room regret it. She was so good. Pulling the sheet around herself for a modicum of decency, she leaned over the side of the bed and grinned smugly. "Hi, Zel. Do you know how to knock?" Her medallion, the only part of her wardrobe she hadn't shirked during the evening's activities, hung over the side of the mattress, somehow glinting despite the lack of light.
Zelgadis involuntarily hissed at that sight and growled, "Put that away, would you?" Once Lina had done as he asked, he massaged his jaw and muttered, "If you knew who it was, why'd you kick me?"
"You barge into an innocent maiden's bedchamber entertaining who knows what dark and twisted thoughts, stand there drooling over me for what might have been an hour or more, and now you have the nerve to ask me why I kicked you? You pervert!" Lina stuck her tongue out at Zelgadis and rolled away from the edge of the bed. A moment later, she rolled back over and stared at him, her eyes as big as saucers. "Not that I mean to pry or anything, but where'd you get the wings?"
"Yeah," Gourry chimed in as his head appeared over the side of the bed as well. "They're really cool, Zel." Receiving a dirty look from Lina, he shrugged defensively and said, "Well, they are!"
"Well, I don't like them," Zelgadis grumbled. But, that wasn't really true, was it? He was growing quite fond of them, now that he thought about it. However, the way the others were staring at him, he really didn't appreciate that at all. He felt like a circus freak on display for the witless masses.
Reading Zelgadis's thoughts in his expression, Lina blinked guiltily and turned to slap Gourry in the back of the head. "Jellyfish! Don't stare at him!"
"But, you were," Gourry protested.
"There's a big difference," Lina explained. "I was examining them out of professional curiosity. You were gawking at them because they're big, freakish, and they make him stand out like an elephant at a formal dance."
Gourry looked apologetic as he muttered, "I didn't say all that, now. I just thought they were cool."
Zelgadis gawked at Lina, trying to decide whether to be furious at her thoughtless comments or figure out the bizarre analogy she'd made. "Elephant at a formal dance?" he muttered under his breath. Bewilderment had won over fury it seemed. "Lina, what the hell are you talking about?!" Suddenly remembering why he'd come, he shook his head irritably and growled, "Never mind that. Amelia needs your help." He picked himself up off the floor and quickly dusted his clothes off.
"What's wrong with Amelia?" Lina demanded, her spat with Gourry immediately forgotten.
"Well," Zelgadis muttered guiltily. "She was bitten, Lina. She's hurt and I don't know what to do to help her." Noting the accusing way the redhead was looking at him, he stammered, "I-I didn't do it! I swear!"
Lina scrutinized Zelgadis for a moment longer, noting the dark stains on his shirt. He'd gotten blood on himself somehow. If it wasn't Amelia's blood, then he had some explaining to do. She reluctantly nodded and said, "I believe you." She quickly glanced around the room looking for her clothes, before grimacing and muttering, "Oh yeah…"
"A little haste would be appreciated here, Lina," Zelgadis hissed through clenched teeth. "Where are your clothes?" Looking about the room, he noticed a marked lack of garments for both the redhead and the swordsman. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, he hesitantly asked, "What happened?" not really sure that he wanted to hear the answer.
"Well," Lina said her face flushed bright red in embarrassment, "mine kinda got burnt up in a little incident earlier tonight." Wincing at Zelgadis's incredulous stare, she pointed at Gourry accusingly and said, "It's not my fault. After Jellyfish got done laying on the cat, the kitchen caught fire!"
"I'm not going to ask," Zelgadis muttered to himself. He massaged his temples in a vain attempt to dispel a multitude of depraved images involving Lina, Gourry, and a cat. That would explain why the kitchen was half burnt, he thought. "What about you?" he demanded of Gourry a moment later, "What happened to yours?"
Gourry and Lina exchanged sheepish grins before the swordsman cleared his throat and embarrassedly muttered, "I… I threw them out the window."
"Yeah," Lina chimed in, nodding in agreement. "Um, you see, we kind of enjoyed ourselves so much last night that we were both of the opinion that he'd probably never need them again." Her face redder than her hair by this point, she almost inaudibly muttered, "In hindsight, I guess it wasn't a very good idea, huh?"
Zelgadis just stared at the two of them for a moment, before sighing as a little part of his soul died. "You know what? I don't want to hear it anymore." He quickly yanked his shirt over his head and with much effort and tearing somehow managed to get it over the wings as well. A moment later, he tossed the tattered thing in Lina's face and growled, "Put that on and get out here! Honestly, I don't know how the two of you manage to feed yourselves, much less survive everything you've been through!"
Lina quickly did as instructed, grimacing at the odor. It reeked of gore. Now at least partially dressed, she looked at Gourry knowingly. Zelgadis's comment on feeding herself had made her remember something important. "You hungry?" she asked after a moment of contemplation.
"Starving," Gourry replied with a nod.
"Yeah, me too." A sudden fit of vile profanity from Zelgadis finally got Lina moving. "All right! Sheesh! You're head's going to pop if you don't calm down, Zel."
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Lina quickly laid out her tools on the nightstand in the guest bedroom where they'd moved Amelia. She took in the acrobat's pallor with a nervous frown. She was incredibly pale. Almost as pale as Zelgadis, she noted, which supported his claim that he hadn't fed upon her. He would have had a more rosy color had he done so. On the other hand, as his leathery wings so eloquently demonstrated, he was anything but a run of the mill vampire, so who knew if the normal rules applied?
Zelgadis stared right back at Lina and growled, "What are you looking at?"
"Aw, it's nothing Zel!" Lina said with a totally unconvincing laugh. Clearing her throat, she quickly turned her attention back to Amelia. Now came the delicate matter of rousing the younger girl. It'd take all of the Slayer's considerable skill to draw her out of her delirium. Taking a deep breath, she bellowed, "Wake up, Amelia!" roughly shaking the girl by the shoulders as she did so. "Come on, wake up! I had to get up to come see you, so the least you can do is return the favor!"
His mouth agape, Zelgadis began to question the logic in asking Lina for help. After all, he could have done that, he thought as he watched the redhead slap Amelia, first forehand and then backhand.
Amelia reluctantly returned to consciousness. It was hard not to with Lina yelling in her ear like she was. "I'm awake," she whispered tiredly. Getting a good look at her surroundings, she wondered if she actually was. Standing beside her, dressed in Zelgadis's shirt was Lina. That was surreal enough. But Zelgadis was what really made her question her perceptions. He stood in the corner of the room, bare-chested, his ivory flesh almost glowing in the light of a nearby lantern. Someone had drawn the shades to block out the dawn's light. He appeared so similar to how Xellos had looked that she momentarily cringed in fear. Ever the perceptive one, he saw the way she looked at him and tried to make himself disappear into the corner. Oh, and he had wings, she realized. How odd. "I like them," she mumbled wearily, gesturing to the bat like extremities. She managed a tired smile and added, "Very cool and imposing."
This had the desired effect and Zelgadis quietly chuckled, not so much out humor as relief. He nodded to Amelia thankfully, immensely grateful that she'd taken to them so well. On the other hand, she was half asleep, so who knew how she'd react when she really came around? He shook his head irritably. He was just being pessimistic again. She was quite coherent and hadn't screamed at the sight of him. It was nice.
"Zel told me what happened," Lina said, an uncharacteristically concerned look upon her face. She dabbed at the wounds on Amelia's neck with a damp cloth causing the younger girl to wince. "Sorry," she said with a shrug. "You're really lucky, you know. Vampires rarely leave victims alive. You should be dead right now." She grinned and said, "Jeez, now I'm starting to sound like Zel," turning to give Amelia's savior a playful wink. As usual, he wasn't amused. Turning back to the acrobat, she bit her lip thoughtfully before saying, "You'll feel better in a few days, I think. And you won't wander off into the woods by yourself anymore, right?"
Amelia shook her head drunkenly. "I didn't go by myself. A boy. There was a little boy with me. He's the reason I went. We were looking for Sarah."
Lina nodded in agreement, as if everything Amelia was saying made perfect sense. "We'll talk about it a little later, okay? You need to rest." She pulled the blanket up around the acrobat's shoulders, tucking her friend in just as her sister had done for her when she'd been a child. As she did so, she shot Zelgadis a questioning look that he responded to with a small shake of his head. There had been no child that he'd seen. How odd. "Anyway, don't wander off anymore, okay? And since I don't really trust you not to…" Grimacing as if it hurt her to do so, she removed her medallion and after a moment of hesitation, draped it around Amelia's neck arranging it so that the silver dragon was plainly visible atop the blanket. "This will protect you when you get into trouble again."
"Do you think it'll come back?" Amelia whispered nervously.
Biting her lip thoughtfully, Lina stole a quick look at Zelgadis and said, "Who knows? But, it'll protect you from any dark creature that means to do you harm." She and Zelgadis glared at one another for a moment before the redhead forced a laugh and turned back to Amelia. She reached down to lovingly touch the silver medallion and almost regretfully muttered, "My sister gave this too me when I was a little girl. It's all I have left of her."
Amelia gasped in surprise. Lina had never really spoken of her older sister, but from what she'd been able to glean, she was very important to her. "I can't take this, Miss Lina," she whispered with a shake of her head. She reached up to lift the chain from around her neck.
Lina gave Amelia a pained grin and shook her head. "Keep it. Sis would have wanted it to go to someone that really needed it." Feigning an arrogant demeanor, she said, "Besides, who said I was giving it to you, anyway? I'm just letting you borrow it. I expect it back when you're done with it."
"Miss Lina," Amelia whispered as she stared down at the medallion in disbelief. She'd always thought that the redhead had considered her a nuisance, but now… She leaned forward and hugged Lina as hard as she could. "Thank you. I promise that I'll take good care of it."
Mindful of Amelia's injured state, Lina carefully returned her embrace and whispered, "I know you will." After a moment, she pulled away from the acrobat and, unable to hide a smile, whispered, "You need to rest now. You've had a rough night. Try to sleep. I'll stay with you until morning."
Nodding sleepily, Amelia lay back in the bed and allowed herself to drift back to sleep. As she did so, the emblem of the Flare Dragon appeared to glimmer in the dim lamplight, seemingly in challenge to anything that would do its new owner harm.
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Next Chapter: Life moves on at a snail's pace in Gourry's home village, almost as if the events of the outside world were inconsequential. However, things are rarely as simple as they seem. Hidden within the day to day routine of the villagers is a dark secret that could cost Gourry and his friends far more than just their lives…
Notes: A bit of action and gore for all you lovers of violence. And a bit of a warning that the next few chapters are going to be pretty dry as far as action and bloodletting go. Hopefully, the mystery will be good enough to keep you interested. I think it's pretty interesting, if that matters…
I'm a bit disappointed. I wanted to write out some words to the vampire's song, but nothing I did seemed good enough, so I'll leave it to your imaginations, dear readers. Any suggestions would be welcome though and I might put something in the rewrite.
Also, I've got a bit of an announcement. I'm toying with the idea of temporarily moving the updates to a biweekly schedule. Not permanently, mind you (at least, I hope not), but just long enough to get things under control. I've got a slew of projects that I'm working on, I've been bedridden for a week with an obnoxious illness that I can't seem to shake, and that little thing called 'life' has been begging for my attention as well. Hopefully, I'll get back on track sooner rather than later and with the extra week between chapters, I'll be able to make them even better. So, don't panic if you don't see an update next week, okay?
Reviewer Response:
Oh wow! So many reviews!
Otaku girl, you made first review! *offers heart shaped cookie as a reward* I promise that I didn't look at your stuff and I won't until you tell me it's okay to do so. I would love to read it though.
Not that I condone that sort of thing, Raven, but if you're going to paint the poor guy blue, remember that skin has to breathe. I'd recommend a light coat of spray paint, applied in smooth even strokes to achieve the desired level of blueness.
Sami, I think I addressed everything that you asked in my e-mail, so I'll just say thank you again for the kind words.
Well, a happy (if a bit late) Valentine's Day to you too, Miss Gabriev! Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Ah ha! I caught another one! Thank you very much for your kind words, Ichiban Victory! Hmm, no nightmares, eh? I have to up the disturbing quotient, it seems…
Masaki, nice to hear from you again! The story has sort of moved away from Sylphiel recently, but I expect that she might return near the end. Oh wow, I am about to get 200 reviews! How exciting! Thank you for the congratulations.
Ooh, Dragonet, I'm sorry to say that there's going to be a lot more questions than answers for the next few chapters, but stick with me and I promise they'll all be answered by the story's end.
Hello, Stara! I know a chapter has to have been pretty good when you take the time to review. Thank you very much! You know, I always thought Gourry was in his twenties too, but if his own grandmother says he's seventeen, he must be seventeen, right? How odd… No cats were harmed in the writing of this chapter. Annoyed maybe, but unharmed.
And finally I come to Pogo. As I explained, the little "inconsistency" that you found was very intentional. Kudos to you for seeing it though. And thank you so much for all your dedicated betaing. The story wouldn't be half as good as it is without you. *returns cherries*
Until next time, beloved readers!