Gone in… 13.5 Seconds
Sympathy. I was getting sympathy from a Mazoku. Well…. It wasn't true sympathy, or even close. Mockery, that's what it was.
Same old scene, same old place. I had torn apart half of the town and every single library and ruin-site within a thirty mile radius on an inkling of a hint from Xellos. Xellos. That just proved how desperate I was to be human again. But Amelia had tagged along, as had Lina, who was following her own ends through the libraries I decimated in my search. It went without saying that Gourry had been there as well. He follows Lina everywhere, or almost everywhere.
Weird, isn't it, that if a man follows that sorceress around he's called her companion, but when a certain insanely bustular and scantily clad woman follows that same sorceress around, she's called "goldfish feces".
In any case, after a week and a half of unsurprisingly fruitless searching, I sat at the table in the corner of the inn's eating room, scowling into my mug of steaming sustenance. It had been worked out that tomorrow, we would leave this hidey-hole town and move on. Nothing. Eleven and a half days of searching and nothing. Did I really expect anything? I don't know.
I probably wouldn't be so bitter about it if he'd just shut his fruitcake trap. There he is, trying to 'express emotion'. Sorrow. He can't feel sorrow, he's a damn mazoku! And off he goes, trying to--
And then Amelia sat down.
She'd probably noticed my stature growing increasingly surly with every moment the purple-haired priest sat nonchalantly two chairs away. She always seems to know when her impossible-to-suppress cheer is needed to grace a situation. Like I said, two empty chairs separated me from Xellos, and my attention was drawn to her as the chair closest to the mazoku was drawn out from under the table and she plopped down into it. Xellos opened his mouth to greet the princess, but Amelia was quicker in speaking,
"Ah, Mr. Xellos, aren't life's twists and turns wonderful? Oh sure, we had a small setback with those ruins yesterday, but I'm positive the next ones we come across will have something. However, if we hadn't gone into those ruins, we would've never found all those wonderful artifacts from those old Spring and Flower Festivals. From those wall murals, everyone looked so happy, worshiping the sun and the fresh, wonderful life that comes with spring and growth…"
I couldn't stop myself. I cracked the smallest of grins as Xellos's face gained a definite greenish tinge. If anything besides some of Amelia's well-placed comments or absurd amounts of optimism lifted my spirits slightly, it was definitely watching the priest squirm at the praise of life. It took a moment, but then I realized I could further this small victory. Leaning my elbows on the table, I drawled in a half-interested fashion, "Yeah, those murals were pretty fancy. They had some intricate spells subtly painted into them as well, I was surprised. I appreciate the artistry in such beautifully worked magic."
Nail in the coffin.
"Oh, well, I think I best be going to see if Lina's paid for the rooms yet. No doubt she'll wait until tomorrow morning to pay the food tab…" I said nothing, though Amelia bid a very cheerful farewell. I could've sworn the green tint was beginning to gain some blue.
Thanks to Amelia, a particularly annoying mazoku had made himself gone in no less than 13.5 seconds. In a considerably better mood than some seconds earlier, I leaned forward, grasped the still-steaming kettle from the hotplate at the center of the table. Righting one of the upended mugs next to the hotplate, I poured a second cup and offered it to Amelia, who seemed content to stay where she was sitting. She beamed her thanks and cradled the cup carefully.
And thus, we continued our impromptu discussion on the intricacies of ruins totally useless to my cure. Or maybe… Not quite so useless.
Exhibit B1.) Xellos – gone in 13.5 seconds
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A/N: Bustular is not a word. However, I like it. Because it sounds funny, and fits. Written in a feverish state (104.4F, if you want exacts), so… First time trying to write Xellos. I think I prefer it when I leave him alone… First time writingZelgadis (or anyone, really) in the first person.I think. Moof x.o