I do not own Slayers, even though I wished I did desperately. -goes off to sob- I am sorry for not updating as quickly as I should have. I was determined to finish Olympians At Heart and now have another sports-themed story on the drawing board, as well as a fairytale spoof near completion. There is no end in sight for me.
Shi
It was morning and everyone sans Albert was assembled in the kitchen. Earlier, Gourry had woken up in a state of shock, discovering he was laying in the rubble of a busted-up Zelgadis-shell and still continued to shake and jump when he looked at his chimera friend. Amelia and Zelgadis themselves were both quite sleepy from not being able to rest and Lina was just itching to get some answers out of the three teens that summoned her to this time. She was really perturbed when she had come in, only to find that Albert was not present. She wanted to interrogate him and both the Ganymeade siblings all at the same time. They seemed suspicious to her...
"Where in the hell is she!" Cullen barked as he paced around the room.
"Calm down Brother," Bianca said gently as she took her seat next to Amelia.
"Who are we waiting for anyways?" Lina asked, distrust for Cullen crawling in her voice.
"Remember yesterday, how I said that the eight of us will defeat Koronus?"
"Yeah!" Gourry piped in. "Why do you say that?"
"There is only seven of us here you jellyfish-brain," Lina sighed. "Cullen, can I get a name or something? I mean..."
"Aha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" a loud, screeching voice laughed, cutting off Lina suddenly. Her entire body shivered in fear as the mental image of the voice's owner flashed through her brain.
"N-N-Naga...?" she stuttered as she slowly turned around. Sure enough, in the doorway, stood what appeared to be an exact clone of Naga the Serpent in all of her inflated, egotistical glory. She did not appear a day older than when Lina and Naga split up on their travels.
"Who are you?" Zelgadis asked blandly, clearly unimpressed. The woman flipped back her ebony hair and laughed again.
"I am Eudora the Fire Serpent!" the young woman cackled. "I, accompanied by my trusty canine companion, travel the world, searching for the perfect hot-spring that my mother dedicated her life to finding!" She struck a heroic pose as she basked in the beauty of her own words. Zelgadis, Amelia and Gourry were perplexed at the sight of this person. She wore skimpy clothes, a cape, skull jewelry and one of the most smug expressions on her face ever. The three of them could not help but to wonder... Why?
Lina knew the answer though... this was the spawn of one of the most annoying creatures that she had ever met in the entire world. She had traveled with Naga for a time and was now solidly convinced that Eudora was Naga's daughter. Standing there in shell-shock, Lina became so convinced of Eudora's parentage that she fainted out of pure shock.
"Lina!" Gourry cried out as he rushed over to her side.
"It is alright!" Eudora said haughtily. "My presence does this sort of thing to people. Tragic, isn't it?"
"What's tragic is her vanity," Zelgadis muttered under his breath. Amelia nudged him lightly and mouthed something that looked like 'Be nice'.
"Eudora! Where in the nine hells have you been?" Cullen snapped angrily as she walked in. She dragged a little, white dog behind her on a leash that was so pathetic and sad-looking in appearance, that it seemed to be years past its expiration date. The poor thing plopped down on the floor next to the chair Eudora took away from Bianca as she sat down and put her feet up on the tabletop.
"Not here," Eudora casually sighed.
"Obviously!" Cullen spat.
"Why? Did you want me to be here for the blasts-from-the-pasts's arrival?"
"You have the tendency to be late to everything," Cullen said angrily, folding his arms and turning away from Eudora in an attempt to control his temper. "Why are you never here on time?"
"Why should I be on time when I can be fashionably late?"
"Eudora, there is nothing fashionable about being fashionably late," Bianca added so that her brother did not have to speak again.
"Then why is it called 'fashionably late' then, hmm?"
"Ow... my head..." Lina moaned from down on the floor. She had finally come to after her fainting episode. She looked over at Eudora again and shivered.
"Eudora-chan, could you please help me with something?" Bianca asked from over by the stove.
"I am not cooking!"
"Just start the fire please."
"Fine."
Eudora closed her eyes for a moment, afterwards snapping them open as if in a trance. Her eyes nearly seemed to be made of flames themselves as a miniature inferno erupted underneath Bianca's pot on the stove. After a few seconds, the flames died down until they were at exactly the size Bianca needed to heat up the oatmeal for everyone.
"Eudora-chan!" Bianca yelled. "That scared me!"
"Sorry kid," Eudora answered.
"How can you do that?" Gourry asked in awe. Lina and Amelia simply looked at Eudora wide-eyed and slightly unnerved while Zelgadis chose to just look with suspicion.
"Genetics are a wonderful thing," Eudora chuckled.
"Wow. I never knew that you even had an idea to what the word 'genetics' meant," Cullen said sardonically as he helped his sister get some bowls and spoons for the oatmeal.
"You're just jealous because my father had the power of the phoenix," Eudora laughed. Lina would have said something very mean at that moment, somewhere along the lines of: "Your mother should have never been allowed to procreate" or "What power of the friggin' phoenix? You mean she was able to get that steady of a boyfriend?" but a loud crashing noise from outside the door stopped her.
"I have bad news everyone!" Albert said, bursting into the kitchen. He was out of breath and looked as if he had just rammed his forehead into the stone wall of the hallway due to the nasty-looking cut on his hairline that sent blood streaming down his face.
"What is it Albert-kun?" Bianca asked sweetly as she went over to him with a rag to mop up the blood on his face. Her demeanor gave the impression that Albert appearing with bloody cuts on himself was a fairly average event to deal with.
"Koronus is not going to come to Seiryuun in order to travel back in time," Albert panted as he took the rag from Bianca and tended to his cut. "I guess he discovered that we were waiting for him, or something like that, and is now headed for Zefielia."
"Zefielia?" Lina asked, worry ringing in her voice.
"Yeah. We have to get there in six days, otherwise everything will be ruined!" Albert added.
"How do you know this?" Zelgadis asked.
"Albert is quite capable of discovering ways to infiltrate mazoku communications due to some elven blood in deep within his family," Cullen said. "The strain is thin from the human blood, but I think that communications infiltration might be the only thing he can do properly."
"I can do other stuff!" Albert said, his breathing nearly back to normal. "I will beat you in a sword fight any day!" Cullen's reaction to this threat was just an amused scoffing laugh.
"What source did you get this from?" Eudora said in a sing-song voice from her chair.
"Does it really matter?" Albert nastily snapped. "It will take us six days to arrive at Zefielia to begin with. We have to hurry!" He sat down in a chair next to Eudora and took a deep breath.
"Finally! A justice quest!" Amelia burst out, striking a pose of triumph. The bleak future had kindled her passion for justice tenfold and she was quite eager to join in. "When do we leave?"
"Right after breakfast!" Lina announced, noticing that the oatmeal was finished heating up. Mainly, she did not want to go home to where she grew up. There was no telling what could be there, or not there. It was a very good thing that the oatmeal was there to keep Lina's mind away from what could be waiting for them in Zefielia, for otherwise, she might not have made it through breakfast.
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It was noon and the Slayers gang was on the road with Albert, Bianca and Cullen, as well as Eudora. They just finished up their picnic lunch and had started down the road to Zefielia once again.
"I am amazed at how the forests stayed intact," Gourry marveled out loud as the eight walked down the path.
"Most of them died," Cullen replied. "The forests adjacent to Seiryuun and over by the coastal cities are the only ones that survived Koronus's rage."
"That is sad," Amelia said softly. "The forests were always so beautiful around this time of year."
"Well, well, isn't this a surprise," a familiar voice said from nowhere.
"Who's there?" Albert yelled out, drawing his sword. "Reveal yourself!"
"I cannot do that," the voice mocked.
"What purpose could you possibly have with the lot of us?" Lina spat.
"Now that, is a secret!"
"Show your face Xellos! We know you are there!" Lina yelled into the air. Sure enough, the mazoku general appeared out of nowhere, sitting on a high tree branch just a few meters down the road..
"Now what do we have here?" Xellos laughed. "Lina Inverse is alive and kicking. How many years has it been? Twenty? Yes, I believe it was twenty years since I last saw you. Since I saw you alive anyways..."
"Shut your mouth!" Gourry yelled angrily. Xellos laughed again.
"Come on now Gourry. You can't let me relish in the fact that I am having a visit with a nice, flat-chested reminder of the past?"
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..." Lina began to chant.
"Eeeik! Lina-san!" Amelia panicked. "You'll blow us all to bits!"
"He called me flat-chested!" Lina snapped. Then, a thought randomly clicked in her brain. "What do you mean you last saw me alive twenty years ago?"
"Exactly that," Xellos said casually. "The last time I saw you and actually made verbal and eye contact was twenty years ago. After that, I watched you die."
Amelia and Bianca gasped at the same time. Lina was disgusted with Xellos had such pleasure in his voice. His attitude seemed very disturbing, even for the eccentric mazoku.
"I watched both you and the little princess die," Xellos continued with delight. "You both emitted delicious negativity up until your dying breaths. Never had I ever tasted such fury. It was a treat for the ages."
"So, do you have any other sort of business with us other than to upset?" Zelgadis asked spitefully, stepping in front of Amelia protectively.
"Like I said before, all I wanted was to visit some ghosts," Xellos chuckled. He scanned the party, soaking up their negative energies with glee. When his eyes came to discover Eudora and her little white dog however, her nearly fell out of the tree in shock. "You!"
"Yes?" Eudora replied innocently. The rest of the party was startled at Xellos's outcry, even Albert, Bianca and Cullen.
"I killed you!"
"Killed me...?"
"That's what I said!"
"I am alive though," Eudora protested.
"Then it must have been someone who looks an awful lot like you," Xellos pondered. "Is your name Naga?"
"I am Eudora, daughter of Naga."
"Ah, that explains it," Xellos said, coming to a conclusion. "Both of your parents were a pain to kill, let me tell you. After I finished off your mother, some guy who I had assumed to be her lover would not leave me alone until I killed him too..."
"Could he do this?" Eudora asked with a grin. She held out her right hand, palm out towards the mazoku, with her eyes closed tight. With the sudden snapping open of her eyes, a tornado of fire erupted from around Eudora's arm and surged towards Xellos. After the flames died down, the party could see that Xellos had just barely escaped a nasty scorching with a very strong magical barrier.
"Yes," he replied wearily. "I am afraid though, that you are much stronger than either of your parents. Eudora gave a screeching laugh as a proud reply.
"Why don't you just go away Xellos," Lina scoffed, having gathered herself. She continued to walk down the path as she had been before Xellos had appeared.
"Beware Lina Inverse," Xellos warned as Lina became aligned with the tree he was perched in. "There are many trials along this journey that could kill you. Is it worth it?"
"Of course it is worth it!" Amelia cried out, jumping up onto a nearby stump and pointing her finger at Xellos. "If traveling on this journey brings justice to the souls of the fallen men of Seiryuun, I do not care how perilous this journey is to become!"
"Amelia, please," Zelgadis moaned as Gourry pulled Amelia down from her speech-stump.
"As long as you all know the consequences I guess," Xellos sighed. "Arrivederci!" With that, he disappeared into thin air with a laugh.
"Idiot trickster priest," Lina muttered. She continued to walk down the forest path with her eyes lowered.
"Lina, are you sure about this?" Gourry asked. Lina looked back to see the swordsman with a worried expression on his face. Albert seemed to be worried as well.
"He could be lying to us," Albert said. "I have run into him before. His brain waves are particularly difficult to decipher."
"I did not even know that Xellos had a brain!" Lina laughed. She turned back around and continued walking, hoping that everyone else would follow.
So he reads brain waves to figure out the mazoku plans, Lina thought to herself. I know it sounds crazy, but those four trouble me. They seem... oh I don't know. I simply feel as if I know them from somewhere else. Well, Eudora is an exact duplicate of her mother with fire powers, but Albert and those Ganymeade siblings, they are the ones I have to watch out for. They are the ones who appear to be hiding something from me and I plan to find out what it is!
Review Reply
Gerao-A: Yes, Cullen is a jerk and Eudora's dad is who AirJay thinks it is.
Galera: Update? Done.
Ashia C: Thanks for the compliment.
cyberimp6: Thank you for the input. I did have the whole danger thing on my mind. Plot advancement is for people who know where they are going with their stories. -winks- Still, the whole thing was more background than anything else.
Catgirl the Crazy: See? I updated.
Things To Know
Eudora: That is just such a weird name. I found it in one of my textbooks.
Elf Blood: No, not elf blood like Legolas. I wish elf blood like Legolas. I love Legolas. -rambles LOTR rubbish-
Zefielia: I think that is how Lina's homeland is spelled. If anyone has any objections, please give them. They would be wanted. I am incredibly left in the dark for a Slayers otaku. Just look at my spelling of Seiryuun.