Hell's Breaking Point
Chapter XVI – Home Sweet Home
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers.
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
Mazoku : Evil race/Monster
Juu Ou : Beastmaster
'…….' Is for Phibby's thoughts
…… Is for Gourry's thoughts
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"Because victory will always be mine!"
"I wouldn't expect it otherwise,"
Surprised by the sudden reply, Lina quickly turned to find a half grinning chimera not far away from her, who was carrying a handful of fishes in his hands.
"Zel?" Looking at her surrounding, she found herself back at their camping spot. Zel must have carried me back here…Hei, wait a minute! That means..! She thought in alarm as her face started to grow red.
Lina quickly stood up while arguing with herself whether to throttle her companion or thank him for his concern, "Did you carry me here last night?" she said in a murderous tone with accusing eyes. Okay, she was heading towards the throttling idea…
"No, I levitated you back here," he said in his little sarcastic way. Like hell he'll say 'yeah, I saw you sleeping all alone beside the river so I got worry and then I carried you, in my arms, back to our campsite'. Not a freakin' chance…
"Oh, that's good then," she simply replied in a calm manner as she stretched herself.
Zelgadis sighed in relief.
"So, is that breakfast?" Lina suddenly spoke again as she pointed a finger at the fishes in his hands.
Taken by surprised, it took him a couple of seconds for the word 'yeah' to come out from his mouth.
Instantly, the sorceress' face perked up, "Oh, goodie goodie goodie!" she said cheerfully as she ran to their already-died-out campfire. The chimera just watched her curiously. For a while she just stood there, in silence, staring into nothingness, for a long time, when…
"…Zel…" there was a hint of sadness in her voice.
"…I know Lina…" he said in a surprisingly soft tone, probably because he felt sorry for her, "Here, let me…" he walked towards her. Just beside her, he dumped the fishes on the ground, extended his hands and…
"Fireball!"
…voila, one campfire ready!
"I want my powers back!" the sorceress yelled.
"Now, now. Stop acting like a kid and help me prepare our breakfast," Zelgadis said as he handed her some fishes and some long and narrow sticks. Whining a little for her loss of power, Lina obediently followed the chimera's order.
Hmph! I would have bonked him uh no, have, uhh, ah, lifted a giant rock and hit him with it but I'm too hungry to care…
A dozen of fish later…
"That was a very nice breakfast!" Lina exclaimed happily as she patted her quite bulgy stomach.
Zelgadis just smiled at her in respond.
Letting out a big, satisfying sigh, the sorceress quickly got back on her feet, "Well, that was a very relaxing break but we still have miles to go before we reach Zephilia. We better resume our journey," she said while wearing her usual smile.
The chimera looked at her for moment which made her feel very uncomfortable.
"What?"
He gave her a half smile as he stood up, "Nothing. It's just that you're finally back to normal," he replied as he started to put out the fire.
Lina put her hands against her hip, "Well, Lina Inverse would never let anything get her down!" Yup, she was definitely herself again, "Besides,"
The chimera glanced at her. There was a loving smile on her face as her eyes gazed something far away.
"I guess, last night rest was all I need to feel better again,"
"Feeling much better that you'll enlighten me about this so-called sister of yours?"
"…no!"
Even so, the chimera couldn't help but counter her previous smile.
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"Unngh," Naga moaned as her eyes slowly opened. The first thing she saw was the bright sunlight shining through the window.
W-window..? She thought in alarm as she rose from surprisingly, a bed.
"Where am I?" she asked to no one in particular.
"You're in my house,"
A shrieking 'aaaaaah' was emitted from the White Serpent's mouth, as she scrambled to the other side of the bed.
"You don't have to yell, you know…" the person spoke in a low tone.
Naga found herself face to face with a middle aged man who was sitting on a small stool just beside the bed.
"W-who are you? And what am I doing here?" Naga asked, feeling very suspicious.
"Ah, how rude of me. I'm Nicholas and you are?" the man smiled innocently as he extended one hand to her.
Naga peered at the still-very-suspicious looking man in front of her, "…What am I doing here?" she repeated her question again.
"Oh, I found you unconscious on the street. No one would want to treat you so I took the responsible to nurse you back to health," he answered in a calm manner.
Naga cupped her chin, "Hmm, I've noticed that the people here like to keep to themselves…"
Nicholas shook his head, "You have to forgive them. The townspeople here don't fancy strangers. They're a very cautious bunch,"
"And yet you had treated me when that kid…!" Naga stopped herself. That's right! Phibrizzo! "Nicholas-san, how long have I been unconscious?" she asked him immediately in a panic voice. Oh man, if Lina finds out that she had lost Gourry…who knows what she'll do to her…
"Almost a day…It's already morning. Why?"
Morning already? Phibrizzo could be miles away by now! "Did you know where the tall, blonde man and that kid who punched me went?"
"…no. All I saw was the town folks crowding around you," That's didn't help one bit!
Naga quickly scrambled off the bed and started to search for the exit, "Thanks for nursing me! Gotta go!"
Before Nicholas could react, she had already run through the front door.
"…such a weird young lady,"
Naga ran through the town, stopping by any bystanders she found so she could asked them about Gourry's location. But, fortunately, none of them knew.
After a while exhaustion reared its ugly head and Naga didn't have any choice but to catch her breath, "Haaa, what to do now…?" she asked herself between breaths.
Okay, so here are the choices she made up. One, keep looking and hope that there's a 1 percent chance that she might bumped into Phibrizzo. Two, turn back, pretend that nothing happened and continue on with her traveling.
"No way! My pride is at stake here! And not only will I lose my chance to swipe that Hikari No Ken but if somehow, someway, Lina manage to destroy Phibrizzo, she'll never stop blabbering about my failure!"
…okay then.
"But there is choice number three…" Her lips curved into a nervous grin.
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"Well, here we are. Zefielia,"
"Umm, Lina? Why are you hiding behind that tree?"
"N-no reason. Hehehe. Why don't you go first Zel?"
"I would if I knew the location of your house…"
"Just go straight and then turn left at the-,"
"Lina!"
"Can't you do this by yourself? I mean there's no need for two people to do this…"
The both of them went on like that for a while until the chimera's patience finally snapped. With one swift move, Zelgadis grabbed one of Lina's arms, pulled her away form the tree and dragged her into town, ignoring her cries and pleads.
As his ears blocked out Lina's whining, Zelgadis took the moment to observe Lina's hometown. It wasn't anything like Seyruun. It was like in a countryside with lush grape vines filling the place. The buildings there were simple and small, the trees and plants were lush and green, the fields were vast as the eyes could reach, the air was fresh and clean…
…and the people…
…oi, the people…
"Get back here you wretched brats!" a bulky lady screamed as she chased two boys and a girl with a long broom in her hands.
One boy looked behind as he wiggled his tongue at the lady, "Hahaha! Come and catch us if you can, you old fart!" The other two kids laughed on queue as they ran in unbelievable speed while evading everything that the lady threw at them.
Oh, but there's more…
"Eeeeek!" a girl suddenly screamed before hundreds of fascinating words were spewed from her mouth.
"Oh, don't be mad just because I took a peek beneath your skirt!" a teen male spoke in an arrogant manner before he fled as the girl started to chase after him, destroying everything in her path…
"Wow," that was all the chimera could say, "I see where you get your warped personality, Lina,"
"What's that suppose to mean?" the sorceress snapped, finally coming back to her senses.
"Lina?" Someone spoke.
"Hei, it's Inverse!" And another.
"Hei, Lina!" And another!
"And I see you're quite popular in your hometown," Zelgadis added.
The sorceress let out a nervous chuckle, "Hehe, you could say that," Well after those nude projections of her sister's stunt, who can blame her…Well, anyway…
Hearing the familiar voices of her old friends and neighbors were actually quite nice.
"Wow, I gotta tell Luna-san!" Another one spoke.
Okay, that wasn't nice…
"NOOO!" Lina screamed as panic started to build up.
"Oh, don't bother yourself since I'm already here," Said a very familiar voice.
Lina literally froze as her panic doubled.
Because she didn't dare to face her fear, her fear had no choice but to move in front of her, so that she could see her, see her grinning at her, which always is a bad sign for Lina…
…and Lina went unconscious…
"Ummm," Zelgadis really didn't expect this…
Luna Inverse walked in front of him, "Grab Lina and follow me,"
And follow her he did.
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"Boy?" Hellmaster spoke as he and the boy walked along another long road path.
"Yes, my lord?"
Only five days left…Still, I'm tired of waiting for Lina Inverse…
Phibrizzo studied the boy in front of him. Although he had known him for a short time, the boy had proven himself to be a great swordsman and a great magic user.
…unless…
"What is the most powerful magic you can cast?"
The boy stared at his back with emotionless eyes, "I dunno sir. I've never experimented with higher-class level of spells…"
Hellmaster turned silent for a while, pondering, "How about the Dragu Slave?"
(The Dragu Slave?)
"I have heard of that spell but I never tried to cast it before,"
Hellmaster abruptly stopped walking, "Then try it now. Show me the extent of your power," he turned to look at the boy with an evil stare.
(What are you planning Phibrizzo?)
The boy simply nodded his head and proceeded to walk towards a large empty field. Satisfied with his distance, the boy stopped and brought out his hands upwards.
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson blood that flows... buried in the flow of time... in thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!" he slowly spoke as his eyes drifted shut.
Hellmaster grinned at the boy's action, He knows the chaos words for the spell…
The boy's body shook for a second while the light between his hands flickered as he tried to channel his magic powers properly and then his eyes flew open.
"Dragu Slave!"
A blinding red light zoomed from the boy's hands towards the field and seconds later the field was completely destroyed leaving clouds of dust and a huge crater instead. The boy fell to his knees as he tried to regain his strength. Apparently, he had used too much power to control the spell. But that didn't matter to the Hellmaster.
(He managed to cast it?)
Hmm, he managed to complete the spell in one try. Although it's not as powerful as Lina Inverse's but the boy proved to have great talents…"Good work but now the real test begin," Hellmaster grinned even wider.
The boy turned to look at him, still in ragged breath; his eyes for once were flickered in confusion.
"I'm going to teach you to control the chaos spell, the Ragna Blade"
To Be Continue…
Ranting :
Lina : He's going to teach that brat the Ragna Blade! Is he insane?
No, he's just a misunderstood Mazoku…
Xellos : No, he's not. He's just lonely…
Well whatever. Now, the big questions are; what is Hellmaster planning? What's Naga's plan? And when will Lina confronts her fear?
Lina : Umm, something stupid, something even more stupid and NEVER!
Xellos : Umm, Yumekage-san? When is my next appearance?
Soon, Xellos...Soon...
Xellos : YES!
Lina : NO!
R&R please! XDXD