Hell's Breaking Point

Chapter IX – Complication

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers, nope….

Xellos was assigned a peculiar errand by the Lord Of Nightmare. At first, it was just a simple taunting game but as time goes by, the errand became more extreme until... (Mostly L/G and Z/A) - Takes place after Next and before Try.

Japanese Words:

Oka-sama : Mother aka L.O.N.

Oni-san : Big brother

Yare yare : Oh boy...(something like that)

Mazoku : Evil race/Monster

Juu Ou : Beastmaster

Minna : Everyone

"Finally!" Lina exclaimed in relief as the kingdom of Seyruun crossed her eyes. She had forgotten how long they had walked and flew to reach here as the only thought in her mind right now was finding her blonde companion.

"If Gourry-san had already reach Seyruun, where would he be?" Amelia pondered out loud as she puts a finger on her chin.

Lina's eyes widen as an answered quickly popped into her head. Without even telling the others, she had already fled inside the huge city.

"Ah," Amelia gasped. "The restaurants!" the three of them yelled out simultaneously.

"Come on! We've got a lot of restaurants to search!" the chimera huffed as he grabbed Amelia's hand, "Finding Gourry would be much faster if we split up. So Sylphiel, Could you catch after Lina? Amelia and I will search for him elsewhere,"

The Sairaag shrine maiden didn't have the time to answer back as Zelgadis already took off with a bewildered princess.

"…okay,"

"Zelgadis-san…?"

"I know what you're trying to ask Amelia. All I can say is that I'm not ready to face the soon-going-to-have-the-time-of-the-month sorceress again…" Zelgadis hesitantly answered, not even looking at the running princess beside him. Sylphiel seems to be the only person who can cope with Lina's current attitude…

"Eh? H-how did you?"

"Uhh," A blush crept up his face, "Lets just call it a Gourry-hunch," he hesitantly answered while still running through the streets of Seyruun.

"Look there's our first restaurant. Come on!"

"Lina-san, please slow down!"

The sprinting sorceress turned her head towards the sound of the voice and saw Sylphiel trying desperately to catch up with her from behind. Lina felt guilty for leaving her companions behind but finding Gourry was her top priority at the moment. So, there's only one thing to do…

"Sorry Sylphiel! But I can't waste any more time!" the sorceress yelled at the shrine maiden while making an apologize gesture with her hand, "We'll meet up later!" Seconds later, Lina was out of Sylphiel's sight.

Slowly, Sylphiel pace decreases until she pulls into a stop and was leaning against a wall of one of the stone houses beside the street she and Lina was running along, trying to catch her breath. "…meet up?" she panted as she wiped the sweats on her forehead, "..where..?" she weakly asked to no one in particular. Her eyes searched her surrounding and found something that attracted her attention.

"I wonder if I'll find Gourry-sama in that café..?"

As time past by, Lina had already ransacked almost every restaurant in Seyruun. But by the end of day, Gourry was still no where to be found even though the sorceress had sure that she had checked all the reasonable places that the swordsman would be.

"Argh!" Lina pounded her fist on a table, "Damn that Xellos!" she cursed out loud as she gritted her teeth. The sorceress had been releasing her stress in one of the restaurant she had 'ransacked' earlier for almost an hour now. Releasing her stress; as in destroying furniture and smashing chairs unto the wall. Thank goodness that no spell had been casted…yet.

The owner of the restaurant who was currently hiding behind the counter was both furious and frightened at her at the same time. Furious because not only that she's inflicting heavy damages towards his restaurant but she had also scared away all of his customers. And frightened because he knew the sorceress' identity. Who can forget Lina Inverse, the sorceress who had destroyed a part of Seyruun thanks to her Dragu Slave in the Kanzel and Mazenda incident and because of that he doesn't have the courage to ask her to shove off.

"Was that stuff about Gourry heading here was just a lie!" Another blow was given to the same table, making a small crack on its surface. Lina paced around in a wild manner before launching a kickto an unsuspected chair, breaking it in process.

"Was it?" she screamed in anger, frightening the owner. Feeling a little bit better, Lina dragged a still unharmed chair and placed it under the fan before placing herself on it with her arms folded against her chest. The cool breeze from the fan made her feel somewhat content but even so, her anger was still boiling as she kept her pissed expression.

"…if that's true then I'll bet that stupid Mazoku is enjoying my tantrum!"

"Ahcoo!"

"What's the matter? Is my fur tickling your nostril?" A large wolf asked the man beside her who is currently brushing the wolf's fur with a small brush.

The man turned to face his mistress, "Mazoku don't sneeze…..Hmm, I wonder…" Xellos cupped his chin with his other hand, "By the way Juu Ou-sama, why do I have to do this?" he asked in a normal tone although his face showed his uneasiness.

Zelas smiled at his question, "I only want you to pamper me," she too turned her head so that she could see his face, "since you've been spending a lot of your time with oka-sama lately," she spoke in a teasing manner.

Hands still brushing Zelas' fur, Xellos spoke, "But it wasn't my fault mistress. You were busy back then and I had too much free time in my hand," he moved away the brush from her fur as he runs his free hand through it, "By the way, you have such soft fur, Juu Ou-sama," he praised.

"Thank you but flattery will get you no where other than the previous topic. So," Zelas spoke back as she stretched her legs, "inform me everything that happened," Before Xellos could opened his mouth, Zelas swatted her furry tail at him, "And don't stop grooming me,"

"H-hait," the mysterious priest yelped before continuing grooming his mistress.

The two of them turned silent for a while as Xellos kept brushing Zelas' fur but soon after he started to speak again, "Um. Zelas-sama?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you turn into your physical form since there is less hair- oof!" he was stop by another swat from Zelas' tail.

Lina Inverse was still in the wrecked restaurant, trying to figure out the truth when someone barged into the room.

"Lina!" Zelgadis ran through the entrance, "Did you find Go- " he abruptly stopped his statement and his movement altogether when he saw the interior of the room, "-urry…." He trailed off as his eyes stare in dumbstruck at the broken pieces of plates and furniture with his mouth agape.

The sorceress never moved from her chair as she glared at the chimera, "What do you think?" she asked sarcastically. Zelgadis didn't respond as he continued to stare by the entrance.

Then Lina heard Amelia's voice, "Sylphiel-san hurry! Zelgadis-san said that a man saw Lina-san went into this restaurant!"

Then there's Sylphiel's voice, "I know and I think Zelgadis-san had already went inside the building!" And a couple of seconds later, the two shrine maiden had rushed into the restaurant and just like the chimera, both of them froze when they saw the inside of the restaurant while wearing the same expression as Zelgadis.

"W-what happened here?" Amelia asked in a stuttered voice. And just like earlier, the sorceress replied, "What do you think?" Arms still crossed against her chest.

"Lina," the furious dra-mata turned to glare at the talking chimera, "I know that you're pissed but- " he stopped for a while as he once again examined the condition of the room, "don't act so recklessly…." he spoke in an unsure tone.

Lina's eyes twitched at his words before turning her head away from him, releasing a frustrating 'hmph'.

Suddenly, the floor near the entrance made a creaking sound, indicating that someone had entered the restaurant. The sorceress made a grumbling noise as she was not in the mood to 'greet' anyone anymore, much less someone other than her companions. So she turned her head back towards the entrance to scare the person off.

"Hei! Would you mind buzz- " Now it was her turn to stop her sentence and it was her turn to wear a dumbstruck expression while her brain tried to distinguish if this moment is real or not.

"Woah! This place looks like a tornado had hit it," the person spoke in awe, ignoring the fact that everyone in the room was currently staring at him (especially Lina). "I always knew that it was easy to find you Lina," he gave them a weak laugh. "But still, you ought to behave yourself…" he continued while eyeing the room with a pale face.

"Gourry-sama!" Sylphiel was the first to greet the blonde swordsman, followed by Amelia and Zelgadis.

Lina was the only one who hasn't move an inch. Her eyes gazed the man in front her intently from top to bottom and finally her brain was able to accept the reality. The sound of a falling chair on the floor caught the others' attention and saw the sorceress standing besideher fallen chair.

"..Gourry..?" Lina took a step forward and another step and soon she was sprinting towards her protector. "Gourry!" she yelled in delight, her anger from before quickly melted only to be replaced by relief and most importantly, happiness.

'…Lina..?'

Gourry's eyes widen at the sudden voice and his shocked was doubled at the sight of the sprinting Lina. Zelgadis and the others who were oblivious by the swordsman's weird behavior wore a smile on their faces, happy to see the sorceress reunited with her protector but the smile slowly vanish when they saw her hand bunching into a fist. Oh man, she's not going to clobber him, is she?

POW!

The others automatically cringed at the sound of Lina's fist connecting to Gourry's body and were expecting Gourry to take the hit without any counterattack what so ever like he used to but they were shocked out of their wits when 'Gourry' suddenly shoved the sorceress away, hard.

"The hell are you doing?" 'Gourry' yelled loudly as he balled up his fist while his other hand touched the aching spot on his body. Lina took a couple clumsy steps backwards but finally managed to find her balance and just stood there while she stare at him, shock and hurt shone clearly in her eyes.

"…Gourry..?" her voice was weak.

'Lina? It is you!'

Phibrizzo ignored the voice as he was in deep trouble at the moment. All eyes were on him, staring him with confusion and most of all, in shock. It was time for him to make a very wise move.

He lowered his head so that his blonde bangs covered his face while faking an ashamed look, "Lina," his voice was soft, "I'm sorry…" he paused, finding the right words to say, "It's just that…past experience came back to haunt me on my way here.." he slowly stated. The others remain quiet.

'What the! O-oi! I didn't said that?'

Phibrizzo continued to ignore Gourry. He lifted his head, crossing eyes with Lina's while trying hard to fake an intense yet emotional gaze, "I'm sorry,"

He mentally smirks when the confusion that clouded the sorceress' eyes disappeared. Butstill he could feel herhurt and sadness and he chose to ignore it. Phibrizzo mentally sigh as he still has one more problem to deal with. Still keeping his current expression, he spoke, "Sorry, but could I go freshen up in the men's room?" he kept his gaze on her for a couple of seconds before walking towards the toilet when no one answer.

"H-hei! Where am I going? Lina!'

"You okay Lina?" Zelgadis finally asked in concern after Gourry's figure had entered the toilet. Amelia and Sylphiel set their attention to her, waiting for her answer.

"Um," she quietly replied without facing them. Even though she wasn't hurt when Gourry had shoved her but for some reason her body was aching, especially her heart and the pain hadn't lessen although Gourry had explain his weird behavior. Gourry never fought back when she bashed him before, so why did he start now? What was that past experience he was talking about?

Xellos : Sore wa himitsu desu ;)

"Cht, of all the time, he just had to appear now," Phibrizzo muttered angrily to himself as he stare at his reflection on the men's room's mirror. He had made sure to lock the toilet's door so that the Slayers won't be able to spy on him.

'Umm, why am I talking of all the sudden? What's going on?'

Hellmaster let out a frustrated groan. He has no choice but to explain everything, well not everything, to the clueless swordsman if he still wants to be sane.

"Okay, listen up Gourry Gabriev," he spoke quietly still staring at himself on the mirror, "You're no longer in control of your body. Remember Hellmaster Phibrizzo? The adorable little boy who tried to destroy the world with Lina Inverse's Giga Slave? Well, I'm in control of your body now," he explained quickly, not giving any chance for Gourry to interrupt.

'Hellmaster? When did you- how?'

"That doesn't matter right now!" Hellmaster snapped but soon adjusted his volume to minimum again. 'Oh great! I'm absorbing my own negative emotion. This can't be good for my diet…..' "What's important now is that I'm going to let you control your body for a while," he finally concluded. It was the right choice for the moment since he almost blew his cover back then. That punch Lina just gave him was the first time he had actually felt human's physical pain, so he had shoved her off out of surprise and pain. If she, no, if anyone tries that again on him, who knows what he'll do out of defense. 'This is bad! Now my enemies could inflict both physical and astral damage on me!' Hellmaster thought in distress.

'Why? Aren't you going to continue pretending to be me and wait for the right moment to strike? Aren't you afraid that I might tell the others?'

Hellmaster was shaken out of his thought, "You're right," he spoke, impressed by the swordsman's sudden sharpness. "But I'm not worry since you won't tell them," he simply said with an evil grin, confusing Gourry. Then he moved to the back wall, gently tap it with his knuckle before taking a few steps away from it.

A blade suddenly thrust through the wall before slicing it in a round movement (just like Gourry when Lina, Gourry and Amelia tried to break into Eris' place) The circle block slowly fell forward but before it could hit the floor, Hellmaster quickly caught it and gently placed it against the wall.

"Well then oni-san. Meet my new servant," Hellmaster spoke as he watched the figure behind the wall. The boy from before walked through the hole and stood in front of the swordsman. Gourry could only watch through Phibrizzo's eyes. He was surprised when the blade on the boy's hand was lifted and placed against his neck.

"Do you understand? One wrong move from you Gourry Gabriev and the boy dies. Now would you be responsible for this innocent boy's death?" Hellmaster suddenly asked, the evil grin on his face spread wider.

'Keh! That's inhuman! You controlled him like you did me before!'

"Controlling him?" Hellmaster made a mock surprise look, "Am I controlling you boy?" he asked in a normal tone.

The boy set his golden eyes on Phibrizzo's and Gourry mentally winced when he saw the boy's scarred left eye, "No," he quietly replied with an unreadable expression. The blade still rest beside the boy's neck.

Hellmaster made a pleasing sound, "Do you understand now?"

"………"

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!"

Lina and the others turned towards the men's room and saw Gourry walking up to them with one hand rubbing sheepishly at the back of his head. At first no one dared to say anything to the swordsman but Lina decided to say something, anything to her protector.

"How are you feeling Gourry?" she hesitantly asked him with an unsure expression. But a smile quickly made its way to her lips when she saw him gave her his usual smile, the smile that she had always adore as he gaze her with his now clear blue eyes.

"…hungry," he replied back, letting out a small laugh.

Lina couldn't help but to return his laughter, "Well then! Lets find someplace to eat!" she cheerfully spoke and in reflex, the others started to analyze the wrecked room again.

Ignoring them, Lina quickly grabbed Gourry's hand and walked together out of the restaurant. Just outside, the sorceress peeked inside and muttered a quiet apology to the owner before disappearing off with her protector. Sylphiel just smiled while Zelgadis just shook his head at her antics although he too felt much happier and relief that Lina wasback to normalagain. Amelia was standing beside the owner, having a conversation with himthat hassomething to do with 'daddy paying for the damages' or something similar to it...

"So," Lina secretly eyed the man walking beside her, selecting the best words to ask him, "What happened to you on your way here?" Lina asked as the two of them continue walking along the street, hoping to find a nice restaurant to dig in.

"Eh?" Gourry looked at her cluelessly but for some reason Lina just couldn't get angry at him like she used to since she found that she was actually glad to see him act like that again. Well, maybe until tomorrow….But for now, she just wants to be with her clueless and laidback protector.

"Oh. Well," Gourry stopped himself as he cupped his chin.

"Well?" Lina asked again, still smiling at him.

Gourry lifted his head and saw a figure looking at him with golden eyes on the rooftop, holding a sword in his hand. The swordsman then slowly turned back to look at Lina.

"Nope. Nothing important for you to worry about," he finally replied with a smile.

'Good boy,'

To Be Continue…

Ranting :

Shaman Priest : Hehe, I always like dark fics! But if gets too much I could always tone them down!

Gerao-A : Ehehe, the truth is my OC is based on Seta Soujiro since I adore him but I'm making my version of Soujiro more ruthless. So, you watch Samurai X too, eh? Cool!

Slayers No Miko : ….ummmm, I'm back?

BlueJellyFish : I apologize that the last chapter was Lina-and-the-gang-free. It was a last minute thing before I go so that is why it was short and kinda rush…So here's the newest chapter to atone for my sin ;)

Ethereal-tenshi : Haiya, budak ni! Woi, kalau ko tengah baca ni, aku nak tanya kalau ko free Chinese New Year ni tak? Aku ngan Emi nak plan utk ke KLCC. Kalau free jom lah! Balaslah dgn mengreview chapter ni! Hihihi!

Lina: I don't understand what you just wrote….

Good for you then!

Kaeru Soyokaze : All I can say is thanks for your patient!

Author's Note :

What's up, peeps! I'm back for my Chinese New Year holiday. Since I have only five days to spend at home before going back to 'that' place, the least I could do is update one chapter, ne?

Lina: Welcome back and then bon voyage again, ne?

Amelia: So how's the Natio-

Shhhhhhhh! Never, never, never, never, never speak of that dreaded name! For it will kill us all!

Zel: Okay….What were you smoking there?

Haha…very funny… Ugh, my muscles are aching all over. Where's Gourry? Gourry!

Gourry: Yeeeees?

Could you be a sweet little kurage and massage my back, Gourreeeeeen?

Lina: twitches eyes ………

What's with that look Lina? You got him all for yourself for one month now it's my turn to be pampered by my Goureen.

Lina: face turning red I was not pampered by Gourry!

Xellos: That's right! Every night she and Gourry-san kept wresting violently in their bed while making this strange noises. I'm surprised that the bed hasn't collapsed yet! nods head

Lina: blushing furiously XELLOS! The hell are you talking about!

Xellos: smiles About your wet fantasies! deliberately runs away while Lina tries to strangle him

Amelia: blushing Why do we keep straying to 'that' topic….?

Zel: Sigh...I don't know. Why don't you ask the author of this story?

…..I don't hear anything….I don't know anything….Ah, that's nice Gourry. Lower please….ahh…

Minna: ………..sigh..