Slayers: Clouds!

by Incantrix

The novel continues after more than a year! A friend betrays, so what's Lina going to do? The secrets of the Cloudminders revealed... The continuing grand adventure...

7. Chapter 7: No Problem! Blue Skies are Ea...

---o--o--o---


[Zel] {Sits on a stool in the old theatre} You know, this Lina searching stuff is really getting out of hand. I mean, she makes us split up...

[Lina] {offstage} My fault! I did not make everyone split apart! It was some Mazoku fool and his pet!

[Xellos] {pops in, wearing a clown nose} Did someone call for me?

[Zel] {grumbles} No.

[Xellos] Awwwweee, and here I am all dressed in costume…

[Zel] Go away...

[Xellos] Why? Think you're going to find a cure without me?

[Zel] {gulps} I said…get out of here!! NOW!

[Xellos] Fine. I know when I'm not wanted {disappears}

{Poof! Clown nose reappears on Zelgadis' face}

[Zel] Xellos!!


---o--o--o---


Slayers: Clouds!

Chapter 7:
No Problem! Blue Skies are Easy!


---o--o--o---


Zel was hungry, tired, and miserable. Not necessary in that order. They had journeyed for days along the northern ridge of the cliff, hoping for another way to get across the great windy cavern. He had hoped that after two days of constant travel, they would be closer to the other side, so he and Amelia, with Gourry and the stranger Thoth as air passengers, could Raywing across to the Sheik's city.

No such luck.

Instead of the huge chasm coming closer and closer together, the valley widened considerably. Soon, it was too wide to even Raywing across, without the needed stop for a rest. That didn't take into account the high winds that would surely ground any sorcerer from ever escaping. Instead, he had very much hoped for another bridge, a perhaps a tunnel or some other way to get across the channel.

He looked again across the way, and wow, it was quite a ways. Very far. Yes far. Quite unflyable. No way.

"Are we there yet?" It was the little brunette princess, walking along his left side.

"No, not even close." The chimera couldn't even see the other side. "Its too far, can't you see that?"

"But..." She pointed her eyes back to Thoth, who was trailing the rag-tag bunch of misfits. "He told us this was the way. Its not like we're-"

"Lost? Of course we're lost." The chimera's voice was unusually bitter even for his usual self. "I wouldn't expect us to become lost…hmmm?"

Amelia looked around at the little greenery there was. A few nimble scrub bushes lined a couple of rocky points and hills, but they were thorny and dried out at best, defending themselves well with plenty of pricks. There was a total lack leafy greens, Not even a tall palm or fruit tree.

The land was dry, endlessly baked from the years and years of direct sun. The reddish-brown clay soil was incapable of holding any moisture. The path was so parched and flattened, that the lack of food and water at least made for easy walking.

"Hungry..." Gourry was complaining from the back of the line, holding his new pal Thoth by the waist as they dragged onward. The chimera could swear the two of them were enjoying each other's anguishing company, dragging forward through the clay desert.

"Zel! Look!" Amelia had run up ahead, teetering on top of a nearby rock, scouting ahead for clues. She stepped up higher to get a better look, as was soon balancing on top of a very nasty pricker bush, trying to keep stable while standing on the narrow wooden branch. "Over there," she pointed, "I see a tower! It's huge! I think if we...eeeep!"

The dry wood gave way, causing the princess to stumble into the interior of the bush, feet first. "You are an evildoer, a plant from doom! I order you to release me!" A few more seconds of rustling did not signal the liberation of Amelia.

Zel frowned.

"Way to go Amelia!" yelled Thoth, egging her on. "Defeat them all!"

"You have no right to hold me hostage!" The bush shook from Amelia's words, if it had the power to throw out the princess, it would have done so already. "Justice shall always triumph in the end..."

"FIREBALL!"

The dry bush exploded into a giant torch of flames, igniting and extinguishing within seconds. Amelia back flipped out of the bush , gently landing with her feet on another outcropping of rocks.

"Victory!" yelled Amelia, posing up with her signature fingers into the air.

Zel sweatdropped. "I'm sure I can arrange a high-level Mazoku to come and visit instead." And he smirked a bit.

Amelia crunched up, tightening her fists into balls. "You wouldn't dare!"

The chimera's face threatened to blow into a full-blown smile as he turned to group towards where Amelia had pointed.


---o--o--o---


Biru was hungry, tired, and just miserable. In that order. He had journeyed for days; the last twenty-four hours had been most undesirable. He checked his handy inn guide for clues to local places, the book read with such kind reviews of the area -- 'Avoid at all cost, desert is death trap' and 'You'd be crazy to refuse fly-infested food, instead of dying!" The restaurant reviews of his patrons only made him that much sicker.

'Service sucks out here. I will need to recommend to any innkeeper to charge double Lina Inverse Tax is such a nasty environment. No one, and I mean no one could survive in such an environment.'

"Uhh, boss." It was one of Biru's minions, one of the loser ex-guards from Turnip's now defunct casino. "Don't you think we should be looking for some food, or maybe some water?"

Biru's stomach rumbled.

The innkeeper looked back on his ragtag troops. He could swear his group had been much larger, even if he had lost a few of them at the Ancient bridge. A few more to the desert, and a couple more ran for food. His bunch was now down to less than a dozen strong-armed men. But never were there as loyal a group of anti-Lina haters around.

"Fear not, troops. I have faith in the gods that we will find sanctuary by the end of the day, I swear."

"Don't be so sure, my friend." This made Biru turn around all the way, making his gaggle of troops split up and separate.

"Turnip!" Biru's jaw nearly hit the dry sand; he was shocked to see Lina's other nemesis standing right there, in the flesh. Turnip's ex-troops, on the other hand, took even more steps back and circled behind the old innkeeper, scared witless at seeing the ghost.

However, Turnip looked rather normal in all accounts, except for his languishing hair that was matted over his forehead and eyes. He was also clothed in a simple brown robe, of canvas or other harsh fabric. Biru could also see that Turnip was sweating up a storm, even though the desert was dry as a bone, his own body parched for liquid refreshment.

"You are very surprised to see me. I see that." Turnip took a couple of steps forward, staring down at Biru. "I'm here to discuss, of course…Lina Inverse."

Biru took out his chef's knife from his back pocket, the blade a small square ax in his hands. "This blade is enchanted, and therefore I can use it on you if I have to." He rubbed the blade with the edge of his thumb, well satisfied by its sharpness. "It's a cursed object. Took it from an employee of mine that liked to takes the lives of bad inns and restaurant owners, you see. Fed him some poisoned wine before he could lay a finger on my employees. I'm quite sure it would agree with your appetite."

Turnip stared down at the blade, then at Biru. "I congratulate you. You are a lot smarter than I've been led to believe. You're not a foolish mortal, and because you are useful -- I won't kill you and take your troops."

Biru growled.

Turnip turned around to the desert, lifting his hands into the air. Dust circled a bit, then the air became heavy with moisture. As the wind struck the clay sand dunes, it separated the sands as if a valley were opening up right before their eyes/.

Out of the deepest sand emerged giant skulls -- long, slender beaks of four to five feet, they shone in the sunlight. There was not a stitch of meat attached to their bony frames; nevertheless the dragon-like creatures were alive as their eye sockets glowed ruby-red. More sand came up, revealing their sets of matching wings and a lengthy tail.

"You will use these creatures, Biru. These Bone Dragons have been lying here in wait, defeated by their brethren so long ago. They are hungry for revenge, forever angry at the dragons and the associates that killed them, without extinguishing their hungry souls. They have pledged to the Mazoku for a…time. Use them to defeat Lina Inverse and her friends."

A guard behind Biru scowled. "What if I don't want to take your orders, Turnip…or whoever you are now?"

Turnip snickered. "How foolish. Well, I suppose you don't have to listen to me. That's fine. Then, my brother, you all die."

Biru stared down. "Then we have little choice…baka. What are we to do?"

Turnip tilted his head back and let out a sickening laugh. "Whatever I tell you to do…old friend!"


---o--o--o---


The group continued to follow the cliff's edge in Amelia's pointed direction. A few minutes later, they saw a skinny tower, impossibility white against the red clay sand. The flat ground was now perfectly hard and crusted, lacking anything resembling of plant life. It was not even sinking under Zel's steps anymore.

Gourry's eyes were lit up like traffic lights as his sniffed the air with abandon.

"You smell something, Gourry?"

"I sure smell it," said Thoth.

"Yea," answered the swordsmen. "That odor is…tasty. Its got to be…food!"

They approached what one could call a small town, impossibly existing in the middle of nowhere. The white squared tower dwarfed smaller buildings and huts, mostly made from a combination of baked red clay and pricker bushes. A couple of people were scattered around the small dwellings, keeping themselves occupied in their own matters.

The group quickened their pace to a run, sensing civilization and the stability that came with it. The bodies that were once there made themselves rather scarce by the time they arrived. A few minutes later, the four of them were banging on the huge tower doors.

"Hello!" screamed Amelia, "We're looking for food! We're starving!"

"Help," said Thoth, "Its an emergency!"

The four of them were dwarfed by the huge double doors. Their knocking did not go unheeded, as they could hear heavy bolts unlatch from the inside. A turn of the knob, and the one of the huge doors creaked open.

"Can I help you, strangers?" A young girl, only a couple of years older than Amelia, poked her head out of the door. Her delicate, tanned features were simple, yet pleasant. Orangish hair flapped around a bit in the wind, the shoulder-length locks that were as curly as possible.

Zel was first, slightly bowing to their host. "Yes! We are in urgent need-"

"FOOD!!" Gourry and Thoth pushed the chimera onto the ground, even before Zelgadis could finish his little presentation.

"Ummm, sorry about that," asked Amelia, sneaking around the hungry boys. "Can I ask where is the closest inn?"

The young girl was taken aback by the strangers, but it didn't deter her. She opened the door wider now, revealing the rest of herself. She was wearing a short light green top that covered half of her stomach and smallish chest, also baring much of her shoulders and neck. Her waist was bare save for a loop of silver and black, which hung a simple cloth bag. She also wore simple beige shorts, her entire wardrobe was all loose-fitting clothes for desert living.

"Well, you see," she replied. "The closest place is two full days east of here. This isn't a village per say. There really isn't any place to eat around here."

"What!!" Amelia could hear Thoth and Gourry faint behind her. Zel panted for water, but was too tired to even make a noise.

"Oh, dear me! You all must be terribly starved!" The orange-hair girl pushed the door open wide. "Come in! I have a little bit of water and food. OK?"


---o--o--o---


"I can't thank you, enough." Amelia chomped into another drumstick of cold chicken after downing her third pitcher of water. "This food is terrific, by the way."

"Yea, good!" said Thoth, shoving a piece of grilled sausage down his mouth so he could barely talk.

The young host sweatdropped. "Umm…there's an entire village here, so please don't eat it all…now…"

Zel groaned. The old man was a regular chip off the Lina block, eating at the same incredible pace as he did in Monte Darlo.

"These are good!" Amelia was stabbing at the center plate of sausages, picking over the last couple of servings. Gourry saw the little brunette's incoming utensil, as he managed to swap the last piece right off her upturned fork.

"Hey! How did you do that!" she shouted.

"Yum...." Gourry chewed away, keeping the princess at bay with one fork in his hand, eating the stolen sausage with a dinner knife via skewer method.

"Wow! You guys were really starved!" said the orange haired girl.

"Actually," interrupted Zel, looking up from his slice of quiche, "they eat like this all the time. The only reason that Gourry is good at eating like that," said the chimera, looking away while talking, "is that he's used to eating with Lina more than any of us."

Gourry was too busy stuffing himself to object to Zel's statement. "Yum…"

Amelia finally finished her eating, leaning back into her chair and rubbing her tummy. "Ahhh, that was so good..." She blinked for a second, the words no longer coming out.

"So…" The chimera was naturally already finished, his knife and fork set neatly crossed over his plate. "Your name, our humble host?"

"Emily." said the orange hair girl, "but everyone here calls me Em. It makes it easier when giving out orders." The little girl stood up and strolled over to her kitchen window.

"Orders?" This got the groups attention.

"Hai, you could say that. I'm the caretaker and leader of this small outpost. I carry on my father's work while continuing the trade routes along the bottomless canyon."

"You mean…this whole place?" said the chimera, circling his hands around the room. "The tower, the village?"

"Well," answered Em, her face slightly puckering, "Its not exactly a village. We live here...because we need to. You know, to get the Sheik's city."

"Ehh?" The group looked up from the kitchen table, dumbfounded.

Em chuckled. "Come on, let's take a look. I've got to get a progress report from my first one, anyway."


---o--o--o---


They raced outside right after the orange haired girl, right behind the white tower. Hidden behind the countless local buildings, was a structure they had never seen before. The group stopped, their minds boggled, their eyes looking into the sky.

"What is it, Zel?" asked Amelia, tugging on his cape, her eyes glassed over.

"I'm not sure..." Zel stared in wonder, the whole group stopping in their tracks.

"Its big," said Gourry.

"That it is. Looks like a giant sausage, and a really tasty one." The chimera snorted a bit at Thoth's comments.

Em laughed. "You guys are so silly. Let me show you..." She lead the travelers down a few more feet to an open ship, of about 300 feet in length or so, stripped of its masts and sails. It was tied down to the ground with a few lines, but other than that, it floated off the ground by a couple of feet. "Basically, it's a boat all right. I bought in the ship from a long ways off. "

Em pointed to the balloon-like casing over the floating craft. "First, we cut off the sailing mastheads, since we won't be needing them. Then I had a giant heated bag of air attached to the top. Its green all right, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Attached by the many lines, securely I might add. We have a simple fire in the stern of the boat with torches to keep the craft up. After that, everything is simply as you see. All so we can fly!"

Zel stared. "Not possible…"

"What is it again?" asked Gourry.

Em sweat dropped. "It's a floating ship! Can't you see that?"

"Not really," exclaimed the swordsman. "I thought Thoth was right, you built a restaurant to sell sausages."

The orange-haired girl screamed. "Enough with the sausage jokes! Didn't you all get enough, after eating me out of house and home?"

"No," responded the whole group.

"GEEEZ!" Em almost fainted.


---o--o--o---


Xellos was positively bored. Never tired, nor hungry. Hanging around temple to the Water Dragon was bad enough, but watching his chimera buddy and friends trounce through the desert was really killing his good time.

Letting his body down on the green balloon was enjoyable, he thought. It was like jumping on something flexible...oh yeah, there was the time he had jumped onto a dragon's tummy, some fella that was sleeping. Oh, the old dragon was rather surprised by the fact that some human was annoying him, but then Xellos equally enjoyed the experience of being identified as a 'certain' Mazoku. The old guy went from friendly to livid. Jumping on the belly and scaring the witless creature out of his mind had been very enjoyable, indeed. Ahhh, this caused all resting dragons to never sleep by themselves again…except for Filia, he bemused…

But this wasn't a dragon's tummy -- this was a balloon and a perfect view, for looking over Zel and company, when he was suddenly disturbed by the company of his own kind.

"Hello, Joe," poked Xellos, not even bothering to turn his head around.

"You should have diverted them, Xellos. You know it was time."

"Nonsense. I do what I please. After all, enticing the poor fools seems like fun."

"No. Zelas thinks you are becoming too involved with them. That she would order you directly to go against the grain. After all, we need Lina and company as well."

"Yes, I should say so. Lina does provide the perfect balance of destruction. With a dropped hint here and there, we can turn her into the Mazoku weapon of our desires."

"All of that is true. That we need her after all is a miracle. She has already taken up this foolish quest because of your meddling."

Xellos coughed. "With Lina getting rid of all those nasty bandit killers, it has provided me with a lot of recent anguish." He stretched his arms out in a tired fashion. "But killing off her friends is not a good idea, since Lina tends to follow up on her revenges."

"You and I know that is small potatoes," said Joe. "Zelas is aware of the issue now, as you are as well."

"Oh? And you were there during the time of the Cloudminders?"

"I was there as well, if you remember. Nevertheless, you are not a part of this scene. Leave at once."

Xellos tapped his staff against Joe's cloaked head. "You have quite a disposition, dear Joe. I would hate for something to happen to you. It would be quite a shame if you ever pledged to someone else."

"I know that a Mazoku cannot turn against one so easily, even if you pledged to Zelas."

"Know your place, baka." The purple priest grinned at Zelas' other minion. "You are weaker than me, friend. I'm sure the digression would be forgiven if something accidentally happened to you. After all, your partner must be thrilled."

Joe's face feature froze under Xellos' gaze. "Yes, you're right about the partner business. Revenge is what Turnip wants, and so is his desires to see Lina Inverse die."

"Ahhh," exclaimed Xellos, "but it wasn't Turnip I was talking about. I'm talking about the one that we need Lina for."

The minor Mazoku stepped back. "Your mind thinks in pure speculation, Xellos. I need report my findings to Zelas, if you can excuse me." And he glowed a ruby-red and disappeared.

"Tattle-tale. Never really could trust him. But then, I don't trust anyone," said Xellos, following his associate into the Astral plane.


---o--o--o---


"So, aren't you guys off somewhere?"

"Well...not really," answered a dumbfounded Gourry. "Except for the-"

Zel elbowed the swordsman in the ribs, "You know…"

"I thought that we had something to do, but..."

Em coughed, not realizing how difficult it would be to lose her new 'friends.' Maybe being direct was better. "Anyway... I'm sure you guys will be on your way, after all ---- we're taking off in an hour to get to the Sheik's city."

"REALLY??" The whole group watered their eyes at the drop of the Em's last words.

She nearly fainted at their sight. "No! No! No! You're not coming with me! First of all, I don't have enough food. And that's besides the point, there's nothing in the whole world that would make me take you all."

Time stopped.

"Oh, please, please, please!" The entire group swallowed its pride, bowing and begging to the poor orange-haired girl.

"I said NO! Go around the bottomless cavern…it should take you a week or so."

The group groaned in the collective form of disgust as they softened their grip on Em.

A strong gust of wind blew up from over the chasm over the flats plains of the desert. A few lines to the tied up airship snapped immediately, causing the bow to drift up a few feet higher into the turbulent air.

"You get me all distracted and look what happens!" Emily managed to get out of Amelia's begging grasp, with no help from anyone else. "Batten the ship down!" she shouted to her hysterical workers.

"Yes, ma'am!" A few of them grabbed onto the broken anchor line, holding it firm. However, the wind currents lifted them up, throwing them in the air and off of tied lines.

Em turned around to the travelers. "We can't let the ship get away! Help me!" The group nodded and ran to help.

The floating balloon ship broke a couple of more cables, fluttering up higher into the sky. Amelia and Gourry had the front docking ropes in their hands, but the craft was still too light, dragging their bodies into the air.

"Help!" shouted the princess.

"Hey," exclaimed Gourry, without a trace of fright, "we're still going up!"

The back of the floating ship was no less in worse shape. The twisting front had taken on weight, but this only caused the back lines to break under the stress.

"Quickly! We need more help!" shouted Em, already on the deck of the airship. Thoth was in back of her, rolling around like a clumsy fool. "Where are those emergency lines, crew! I need them now!"

Em's crew on the far side the camp were scurrying around like lost mice. They went into the storage cabin, expecting their supplies to be full and intact. They were very surprised to find the shed thread-bare of any lines.

"The supplies have been stolen, Em! There are some extra lines in the lighthouse, but it's going to take time! Hold on!"

The chimera stood there -- rubbing his chin, dumbfounded at the floating airship. "This looks awfully familiar..."

A rope from out of the sky circled around Zel a second later. "Sorry! Its anchor time again! Keep us down!" yelled Amelia.

The chimera didn't hesitate for one second, grapping onto the circular mooring line, with an attempt to throw it off of his head. But there wasn't much of a chance, as the line tightened and tossed Zel like an angry snake into the dusty ground.

"Get this off of me!!"

"Don't you think we're trying to get the whole thing down!" screamed Em. "We're going to up and down a bit! Everyone hold on!"

Zel snarled. He was swinging a few feet off the ground like a trapeze artist. "If you don't get me off this thing, I'm firing a fireball at that green balloon of yours!"

The orange-hair girl leaned over the edge of the railing, her expression bemused. "Its Zel, isn't it?"

"Ummm yes…but then you knew that."

"Let's suppose you do get angry enough, and shoot a fireball up here and destroy the balloon over this ship. That would probably make us fall, right?"

The chimera shrugged his shoulders. "Guess so. I assume that's what would happen." Zel looked down again, he was now a good ten feet off of the ground, getting blown around a bit on the rope like a loose weight. "Can't you see I don't like it down here!"

"Sure! And you would get down. And you're right, this airship would fall. Right on top of you."

Zel gulped, lowering his arms from attack mode. "I guess you're right."

*WACK*

"Hey, watch the roof to the storage shed there!" shouted Em. "I can't have you knocking the new roof down now, can I?"

Zel snarled even louder. "I am not an anchor!"

"Oh, and you're doing a great job at it! Be careful down there, there's only one of you!"

The chimera blushed, not paying attention at all.

"Look out!" shouted Amelia, appearing over the railing next to Em.

*SMACK*

"Got it!" shouted Em, turning around on the deck to bark out orders. "Secure us to the lighthouse via our 'anchor' line. Tie us down, crew."

"Yes, ma'am!"


---o--o--o---


Zel groaned, turning over his painful body. He was spread flat on the deck as he waked from his unconsciousness.

"Nice job, stony..." Em was sitting down next to the fallen hero. "Thoth said that your nickname, I have to say he's rather right."

"I'm glad he's right, if not in the specifies." The chimera rubbed his throbbing head, trying to get his bearings. "By the way, that's the last time I volunteer as a cannonball." Zel tried to get up from the ground but a few of Em's rougher crewmates came and held him fast, removing the last of the anchor line.

"You had better hold it right there until their done. I hate to use you as an anchor again."

Zel blushed as he let Em's crew untangle him from the lines. "That's quite nice of you."

"You did a great job there, Zel. I don't think I could have asked for a better counter weight." Em smiled as she pulled the chimera up to his feet. "Amelia was so right about your special skills. I'll have to thank her later for it."

"Remind me to be there and thank her as well." The chimera was still tapping his head, the sound of bells ringing was still there.

Zel thought they were still on land, but the shifting deck beneath his legs told of a different story. "We're not grounded?" He looked up into the sky and saw a small cloud float by. It was close, very close.

"No, far from it. After our little grounding into the lighthouse, we loaded the rest of the supplies onto the air ship. Since we were too high to set down securely without losing our precious hot air, we relaunched in record time."

"Oh…"

"A day early, but that's ok," said Em. "We should be landing in the fields just south of the Sheik's city, it's only a day away by air journey."

"Really?" Zel walked to the railing, where Gourry and Thoth were staring out. Zel took a peek as well, surprised that the mountain peaks below were so small.

"This is high! I've never spell flown so high in my life!" said Gourry.

The chimera frowned. "Gourry, you've never spellcast in your life. It's Lina making you fly everywhere."

"Oh, I knew that. By the way, where's Amelia?"

Zel pointed to the opposite side of the ship, to Amelia's back. Her butt was pointed up into the air, the rest of her body leaning over the railing. "Remember how much she loved the open seas? Well, you can be airsick as well."

Thoth snapped his fingers. "Wow, I think I'd better cheer her up..." The princess of Saillune was quite green. "Errr, maybe later…"

"That made me positively not hungry," said the chimera.

Em clapped her hands together, all excited. "So, is everyone ready for a tour of the ship? I can't wait to show you the main cabin, the ship systems..."

Amelia wandered wearily back to the group, her face still green. "I think I'm better everyone..."

"The galley?" said Gourry, rubbing his stomach. "I could eat a whole platter of sashimi, or maybe some more sausages!"

"Yea, maybe some roast beef with gravy! And mashed potatoes!" Thoth's eyes lit up like searchlights. "And you're right! Some of those yummy sausages!"

"Excuse me!" The princess of Saloon nearly pushed Em over to get to the railing. "Need to go!"


---o--o--o---


The lower decks of the ship were just as impressive as the large upper decks of the ship. "The front compartments are for storage, then come the staterooms. I know it's a bit tight, but they are very comfortable bunk beds."

"Yea, I saw those," said Gourry, "It reminded me of summer sleep away camp."

"And here is the kitchen, as you can see." pointed Em, to an open door. A couple of Em's men were busy cutting and slicing up some vegetables. "Did you know I had to scrounge around to get extra food for this trip?

"That looks so good," watered Thoth, "So when is dinnertime anyway?"

"Patience, my guests." Em put on a worried grin before turning her head around. "It will be above deck, just after sunset. Zel here has promised to light the way for dinner.

"Ano," asked Thoth. "What's in this room?" He pointed to a door to the rear cabin of the craft. It was inlayed with the faded burned symbol, a lightening bolt on its lower half.

"That is…was…" Em sagged her eyes a bit, looking at the ground. "My father's room. Oh, and DON'T GO IN THERE!"

The old man cowered a bit to Em's raised voice. "Ummm…yea! I'll stay away."

"Good." Em smiled, leading the group on the rest of the tour. "Come everyone, there's more to see."

Zel couldn't stop looking that the door that Thoth had picked out. He ran his fingers over the grain of wood, trying to feel it for something. "Something is here. I can feel it under my skin."

Gourry came over the chimera, "Hey Zel…are you coming with the rest of the tour group?"

Zel waved the swordsman away. "Errr, yea. I'll be right there."

Behind Gourry, a truffle of orange hair came into view. "You know, I say one thing and no one listens to me. No wonder I get stuck being captain of this ship, even if I'm a kawaii girl."

"Em!" The chimera turned around in surprise. "I…was just…"

"No buts, mister. If you don't get your ass away from that door…" A hint of fire burned in Em's eyes, the color matched her hair almost perfectly.

Zel lowered his head and walked away, dejected and ashamed to himself.

"The things I have to do…" said Emily, sighing while leading the group away. She whispered the rest under her breath. "For some things are best left undiscovered."


---o--o--o---


"Your turn, Gourry," pointed Thoth, to the board game. The two guys were sitting down in their cabin, playing an evening round of board games.

"Ummm, I guess so." The swordsman stared strangely at the board for a second, before lifting one of the pieces, examining it close up. Shrugging slightly, he sat the playing piece down onto the board, in the exact same spot.

"What did you do that for?" exclaimed the old man. "You didn't move your piece anywhere!"

"Who said anything about moving?" said Gourry. "I thought there was a fly on my piece."

Thoth shook his head.

"What are you guys playing?" Amelia snuck up over the pillows from the bunk across, her face was still slightly green and disheveled from travel sickness. "Chess? Go? Something interesting?"

"Checkers," answered Thoth. The old man was staring down his opponent, but Gourry was not even looking up. The blond swordsman was intensely gawking the board for…something. "And to make matters worse, I think he's winning."

"Oh…OK…" The petite princess lost sudden interest and faded back into her curled and queasy-free position into the pillows. "It all sounds…really interesting…uuugh…"

Gourry shook her head. "Is she ok?"

Thoth nodded. "Yea, the dinner for her didn't go down as planned. Poor thing."


---o--o--o---


"Zelgadis?" It was Em, with a cup of steaming tea in her hand. She was walking along the elevated railing along the bow of the ship.

"Hmmm?" The chimera was looking out forward.

"I was a little harsh to you before dinner. I guess because recently life's been rough on all of us…" Em kicked the railing with her knee for a moment, trying to get the chimera's attention. "After all, without your help, we might have floated the 'Springborn' into the ocean."

Zel turned around with a slightly puzzling look on his face. "What did you call…this airship?"

"The 'Springborn,' the name my father gave this airship after he completed the flying systems. It's a shame that he never saw the ship fly, however. I didn't rename the ship for the re-launch…and I don't know why…"

"Oh…" He returned back to his sulking and looking out.

"Something troubling you, Zel?" asked Em, circling around the chimera from behind.

"No, not at all. Did I say there was?" Zel turned away from Em. "Oh, and dinner was very nice, your men did a wonderful job."

The orange-haired girl came up to the right of Zel, leaning onto the nearby railing. "I didn't ask you about dinner, I asked you what was troubling you."

The chimera twisted about. "Please leave me be. I have no wish to be disturbed." Zel was almost leaning next to the bow spike, looking out into the clouds and the more than waxing moon. Its rays, and presence in the air was definitely scaring away stars. But they were rather high, riding more than twice over many of the snow-capped mountain tops.

It made for a stunning sight.

Em kept walking up to the bow of the ship, stopping every few feet along the way. "I know I just had to check the front of the boat, in case we run into any weird objects or such. It can be a real pain in the neck if we ran into something out here, like some bird or lost dragon."

Zel moaned. "You could do this in the morning, couldn't you?"

"Not really, I check then as well. Now move, I've got to check to bow spike." The chimera moaned while Em jumped right on top of the forward boon, balancing carefully as she stepped out a few feet. If she fell, it would be a long way down.

"Be careful. I'd hate to jump down and Raywing after your fallen ass."

Em turned around. "Oh, so you would rescue a damsel in distress? I'm so glad, because I'd hate to have that little girlfriend of yours rescue me."

Zelgadis blushed. "Amelia is NOT my girlfriend. I have no desire to be with her."

She backflipped out a bit farther on the boon, flipping in the air on a perfect half spin, landing safely with both feet. "You say that, but not too convincing for to own eyes. After all, I've seen how she looks at you."

The chimera snorted. "You have no idea of the frustration that I go through with that girl."

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't." Em walked closer on the boon until she stepped down on the ship deck. "After all, I have seen in my lifetime love that I have won, and then, love that I've lost. It happens."

Zel turned his head. "How can say such things so easily? There's just no way..."

"That someone can be in touch with themselves so well? Maybe not. But my father has said, it's not what you look like, nor what's inside of you, but what you do with it." She stepped closer to Zel, her breath hot against his stony chin. "Think about it."

Zel tried to step away and retire to his cabin. But Em wouldn't have any of that as she grabbed his trailing arm by the wrist. "What is there to think about?" said Zel. "There's no way that you, a charming scientist as you call yourself, would ever want to be with me. A creature of heartless stone."

"I see the good in you, Zelgadis. So does Amelia. And that swordsman, I sees the good in him as well. I'm not surprised you don't see it, under the upheaval of stone you have there. Because its there, underneath that hard exterior layer of yours, and I'm not talking about that stone cover you have."

The chimera spun around, abet surprised.

"I see the flesh. I see it moving, breathing. I see you have always had a heart…a living, breathing soul."

Zelgadis turn away from Em, pulling her hands off of his shoulder -- he could not dare to look into her eyes. Truth be told, it was incredible for Zel to tell anyone about his feeling.

But this girl was different. She identified his weaknesses so easily, so squarely. He would usually shout back and ignore the person...but no, that wasn't the case this time.

Em had unlocked something in the back of him mind. Maybe it was the direct confrontation. He looked to walk away, but the only exit was the passageway behind Em to the lower decks. A confrontation was not his style.

"I never wanted this!" He pressed into his skin with his thumb. "This horrible look, where I scare woman and children alike. I never wanted to look like this!"

Em looked down at her feet, her eyes starting to tear. "I don't see that, Zelgadis."

Zel looked into those beautiful eyes of Em. A bit of wind picked up, blowing that orange triangle of curly hair across her face.

It was a view of sadness of someone asking what was wrong. Many of companions have looked at him like that. Zolt, before he had joined up with Lina. Amelia. Sylphiel. They all knew the terrible sadness that Zel carried on his shoulders. So heavy was the sadness, that it threatened to fall on him, to bury him.

Rezo. He could only think of Rezo. The jingle of his staff. How Rezo had asked him if he wished to be stronger. What price had he paid in the long run? What was that price?

"Please, Zel. Try to understand. Maybe I can help you."

"No. This is my journey. I walk alone." And, thought the chimera, not even Lina will not be a part of it.

Em shuffled her body over to avoid the bee-lining chimera from the descending stairs. "You can walk away from it now, Zelgadis. But one day, you'll have to face it, with your friends."

And as Zel descended the stairs, Em shed a tear. "Baka…you should have listened to me…"


---o--o--o---


It was hazy, hot, and humid. Zel didn't like the weather one bit. At least it was nice and lush around, for he seemed to have plenty of water. Yea, a nice amount of water.

Beyond the water was a stone path, circling about. It was very wide and well worn from visitors. Around the paths were patches of grass and trees. In all and all, it looked like a very pleasant place to be.

He moved. No, he TRIED to move his arm down. Something was scratching it at the moment, from behind his ear. He tried to flick his head about. No luck, he was stuck fast in a holding spell.

"Get me out!"

"Really. I always thought that you would make a good one?" Xellos popped in from the Astral plane, leaning back in a very relaxed state. He held partly hidden under his arm a paper bag; his other hand was behind his head, unwinding at the moment.

"Xellos!! Somehow, I should have known!"

"These finger cookies they make here are rather tasty. They have a ban on ice cream this time of year, sometimes even this kingdom goes too far on evil. Queen Amelia is such a baka! After all, ice cream is only evil to your hips." Xellos looked down onto his waist. "But this isn't my body! I really should be having ice cream!"

"Where am I?"

"Oh, here? I guess it's show and tell! Saloon, of course. The royal gardens, to be exact. Queen Amelia's magnificent palace is right behind you, its such a shame that you can't turn around and see it."

The chimera tried to look around with his eyes behind him. But, no palace was in sight. He could not even turn one smidgen. But he could look down, and was surprised to see his legs were no longer misty blue but an ugly brown. He could just catch out of the corner of his eye his right elbow, the very tip of it in sight. He not all that surprised to see it blackish-brown as well.

Xellos was still chewing away on a finger cookie. "I would offer you one, but I don't think you can grab onto it at the moment. I guess I can't let these treats go to waste."

"You're a fool for trapping me here Xellos. When I get my hands on you!"

"It's not when, my chimera friend. Its 'if.' If you didn't notice that Amelia has set up you as one of her statues."

Zelgadis was absolutely livid. "She wouldn't dare!!"

*peck* *peck* *peck*

"Shoo! Shoo!" Zel's calls managed to chase away the annoying pigeon; he could hear the bird flutter away. He looked at his legs and cursed. "Look what that pigeon left on me! Who's going to clean up that mess!"

Xellos moved closer, smiling. "Don't look at me, I'm not your nursemaid." The Mazoku gloated a bit at the chimera. "However, I don't think that we've finished our little lesson, Zel. So how about a little personality adjustment? Sound good?"

"Go fly a kite…"

"First..." answered Xellos, reappearing above the chimera's head, "some syrup, to sweeten that temper of yours." The mixture oozed over Zel's head, he could feel the mixture run down his rocky neck and back. "Oh, all out of cookies! But I have a paper bag of cookie crumbs! How wonderful! Might as well pour these on!" The mysterious priest, to his own chagrin, showered the sticky statue with the dry mix. "That's better!"

The chimera could hear the fluttering of a couple of pigeons behind his back. The statements that the evil one had made finally connected into a picture. He remembered the statues in Atlas city, after years of pigeon abuse. And it could only make his eyes grow weary.

"Ta-Ta, my friend!" He finished off his little speech with a little curtsy before disappearing. "Remember, I wasn't the one who refused the 'no feeding the pigeons sign."

"Xellos!" The chimera heard the hungry flock gathering larger behind him, passing news of the impeding feast. He could also swear the pigeons were calling for his head. "Oh…my…"


---o--o--o---


Zelgadis woke up in a sudden sweat, pulling his sheet covers off it his body. He could hear the soft snoring from Gourry in the bed above his. Thoth was comfortably in the bunk bed right across from the chimera, with one of Em's men in the opposite top bunk.

Oh well, thought Zel, maybe its time to take a look.

He left his sword on the wall, dragging the weapon around would only be a hazard to dropping and/or nicking something, waking the whole place up. Quietly, he tiptoed past the other bunkrooms to the stern of the floating ship.

He was at the door when he lit a light spell in the palm of his hand. Zel began to feel to remove the door's wood, looking for the indentation that had been smoothed over possibly by time. Using his hand, he traced the hidden inlayed pattern smoothed over by time -- in the shape of a cloud.

"I was right," he muttered, "An artifact from the Cloudminders."

And he knocked down the door.

He saw the chaos box first, glowing and shining brightly on a platform. This box was much smaller than Turnip's model, for it was barely a couple of inches tall and not even an inch wide. Yet it was as bright and as colorful as the other box, with swirls of chaos circling above it.

"She knew…and that's how the air ship floats," he surmised.

The platform that the chaos box was on whirled with its own energy. Zel could see the movement of gears and such from the back of the platform, it was attached to larger gears and then huge rotating windmills. The entire rear wall was open like a balcony to the sky, as he could see where the airship had taken them on their journey.

His neck tingled with suspense as he walked ever so closer to the chaos box. The box called for him, to reveal his burden of stone, and trade its offerings of magic for flesh. The call to the human. It was here -- waiting, always wanting, awaiting its task.

Zel slid his left arm closer, as he could feel the chaos sliding off of his body, peeling away like fine layers of rice paper. He looked at his skin, as it simmered and crawled, slowly dissolving the blue-tinge away.

Then it stopped. His arm was flesh and blood, undoubtedly human. His elbow and up was still chimera. So was his other arm. And the rest of his body.

"Make me flesh!" he cried. "Take it away!" He broke down onto the ground, pounding the floor with his other chimera-laced fist. "Take all of it, you bastard!"

The chaos continued to peel off of his body. Now that his arm was flesh, the smaller box was pulling his chimera state from his upper arm and shoulder. It sucked his energy away, feeding on it like a ravishing wolf. But he could see his blue body fighting back, trying to suck at the human part as if it were infected with human.

A grin of horror grew on his face, for he was not to be of human, this time…

"Zel!" Emily stood at the open door, a torch in her hand. "I knew that trusting you was a mistake! You're after the power of the chaos box, aren't you?"

The chimera turned around his body, holding his fleshed arm out from the rest of his chimera body. He tried to hide the truth from Em, but the differences shone out like a sore thumb. In shock, she almost dropped her torch onto the wooden floor.

"You knew!" she said, "I had my suspicions that you knew about chaos energy, but no idea what your true goals were..."

Zelgadis stared blankly at his host. "No, I couldn't tell you in case…you refused."

Em pointed at the line of her sight. "Your arm! Its been affected by the pull of chaos!" She ran right up the chimera, kneeling onto the ground while holding his limb gently. "But you shouldn't be here! You can't be here! You don't know the terrible properties of the chaos stone!"

"Why!" He pointed to the ebbing chaos box in distaste, trying to reach for its prized properties. "It's supposed to affect my entire body! To make me human!"

The chaos box glowed a dark red of magic. The excess chaos was starting to seep out of the sides, as if overflowing like a small milk can. It wanted more and more energy…but with more magic from Zelgadis, it grew more and more unstable.

Em pushed Zelgadis' arm away. "You can't touch it! Your body is laced with such strong magic!"

"So…that's what I want! I want the chaos stone to take my curse away!"

"That box doesn't just take local chaos and channel it away. It feeds the air ship to move in the air. At the same time, it's in a box of my design. It takes minute traces of excess magic away, that's why it can't take your curse away!"

The chaos box whirled with energy…it was not to be denied…

"It made me human before!" stampeded Zel, "Why can't it do that again! Why!"

"The box, it's too small for your body! It's not made to absorb this much energy even if it will!"

The chaos box shook with light, swirling currents of wind and magic moved around it like a miniature maelstrom. It hungered for energy, for life, to feed its chaos addiction. It didn't know that too much fulfillment of its hunger would be its ultimate demise.

He got back up from his knees and reached up out for the box, when a shooting pain raced into his fleshed-out arm. "AARRRGGGHHH!!" Bringing his arm over for support, Zel gripped down on his left arm, trying to brace himself from sudden stabbing pains.

"Zelgadis!" Emily tugged at the chimera's body, pulling him away from the chaos box. "We have got to move you away!"

"No…" Zel tried to resist moving away from the chaos, but his struggles helped Em win the battle. "I won't lose again!"

"You must! Or you may die!"

The chimera was now half-conscience of the dragging away, reaching carefully toward the chaos light. "Must…not…leave it…" Nevertheless, Emily, with Zel in tow, was able to maneuver out of the room.

The angry box was very upset with its loss of magic. It blinked angrily at its loss, nevertheless it was powerless to pursue its pray.

"I will…not be denied! No…"


---o--o--o---


"You're safe now…" said Em, supporting the weary chimera. She looked down at her patient as they were huddled outside in the hallway. "You've been exposed to a chaos box before, haven't you?"

Zel pushed himself against the wall into a sitting position. "You could say that..."

The chimera's voice trailed off as he felt his arm feel heavy, as if tied down with a leaded weight. He looked down at his left arm, expecting to see either flesh or chimera skin. Peeling away his cloak, he saw his skin dullness was grayer than his usual bluish tinge. He felt it -- and it was as cold as possible to the touch.

"No...this isn't happening..." The chimera could only nod his head downward. "No..."

Em held his hands together, wordless as tears fell from her eyes. "You baka…"

Alarms rang from the spotters above deck. It was a loud, nasty ring that would raise everyone from their sleep.

"A sighting? In the sky?" said Em.

"…Leave me, here…" The chimera was still staring down at his arm, even if his eyes were closed. "I'm of no help to you in this condition."

"But…" answered the captain.

"I said GO!!" He turned his head away. "…I will be there…in a minute."

"Hai." Em didn't take another second, bolting up the stairway to the open deck.


---o--o--o---


It was an almost clear morning. The sky was tinting from orange to red at the upcoming sunrise. A few wispy clouds were around. One even was being split by the airship's balloon.

Besides her crew, Amelia was already up in the crow's nest, looking out into the sky. Her short hair was whipping over her face in such fierce winds. Also on deck was Gourry, already looking intently at the approaching enemies.

"They're coming from the far southwest." The officer came over to Em as she walked onto the deck. "Almost exactly where we're going. Contact in about 10 minutes."

"Good," said Em. "Batten all the outside windows below deck. Arm the fire crossbows and have them ready to fire. This vessel was built to take water attacks, I'm sure it can defend against air attacks as well."

"Hai." The subordinate nodded and dismissed himself to below deck.

Emily sighed. "I need this like a hole in the head…stupid, stupid, me!"

"Where's Zel?" asked the swordsman, interrupting the scientist.

"Er…he's taking care of something below desks, he should be up here in a minute or so." Em motioned up her hands at the crow's nest. "By the way, what's her problem?"

"Oh, her…" said Gourry, "she likes high places."

"Uh-huh." Em displayed a rather half-hearted frown. "And Thoth?"

"Well…errrr….something about morning sickness."

The scientist's face deepened into a full-blown worry. "Well, whatever help you can offer would be most appreciated. Are you guys combat veterans? I never did ask any of you about that…" Em paced in front of Gourry. "I never figured that a couple of pirates would rent a few dragons and attack us up here. They must have heard of us from the Sheik's city. I'm such a baka for being up here with defenses to protect my passengers and staff."

Gourry scratched his head. "Ummm…actually…when I've been with Lina, we've always been the target of bandits. I guess you could call it our fault."

She quickly turned her head to the blond swordsman. "You mean…Lina Inverse?! Here I am…la-de-la-do-da…and I bring of few of her buddies along and it's open season on Em and her company. Couldn't you have told me this earlier?"

"But…you didn't ask," answered Gourry.

Em facefaulted. "You have GOT to be kidding!"

The deck shook as a shot of energy lashed against the side of the airship. Em made a grab for the broken masthead, holding on for dear life while the deck shook. The princess of Saloon 'eeeep'ed' as she fell down from her high post.

"…ow…" Amelia managed to land no worse for wear on top of Gourry. But the swordsman was lights out.

Em looked up, a bit battered and bruised from the ride. "What in Cepheid was that!"

"That was the attack of the bone dragons," said mad Thoth, in between bites of a turkey leg. The old man had come up on deck, thoroughly enjoying his morning 'snack.' "Legends say they were unhappy dragon souls, killed by someone's meteor spell. They never forgave their own kind for not rescuing them, and have since turned to the Mazoku in order to live."

"Mazoku dragons!" shouted Amelia, "not again!"

"Not again! How did you know that!" exclaimed Em, pushing her way forward. "Actually, I don't want to know that. Thoth, you could have waited a bit longer before eating our lunch."

Thoth took another bite from a second turkey leg. A small stack of plated food was cradled in his other arm. "Gomen, I was just hungry." He held out one of the many pieces of meat from his plate of food. "Turkey leg?"

"No…NO, thank you," eyed the scientist. "Those blasted idiots are probably looking for a way to get below deck, I'm sure about it now. If we stay here like a sitting duck…" She looked up at the balloon above her ship. "They'll shoot us down and pick up the leftover pieces of our broken bones."

"Yup…even I'm sure about that," answered Thoth.

She ran the very stern of the ship, an elevated platform with the controls for the stip. It was dominated by the large turning wheel, next to it were a set of control levers. "Prepare for emergency full speed, everyone!" she shouted, barking the order to her workers.

Her staff got the message, quickening their pace of work to more than double their original speed.
"Amelia!" shouted the captain.

"Yea…I'm here!"

"You're not going to be able to fly for a few minutes. In fact, none of you are going to able to perform spell magic…"

"Whaa?? Are you kidding?" The brunette princess was down to the deck a few seconds afterwards. "Why not?"

Em reached out next to her ship's wheel to a series of levers. She tugged a few of them forward, unleashing the sucking sound of energy from below her feet. "Hold on, everyone!"

"Uugh!" Amelia jumped right on top of Gourry, more in fright than anything as the airship accelerated to more than twice its leisurely speed. The airship's deck sway, which had been a small nuisance before, was now a full-tilt joy ride as crew and passengers alike.

"Help me!" Thoth quickly came around and glomped Amelia by her front. The brunette girl rolled her eyes from being hugged in such an un-princess like manner.

"Eeeep! Get off of me!" She pushed off the old man, rolling him across the deck like a forgotten shoe.

Em was barking orders left and right. "Prepare for hand-to-hand combat!" She turned aside, her voice determined and excited at the same time. "Oh, is this is going to be fun!"


---o--o--o---


Biru looked out from his seat on his bone dragon. Flying to the right and left were members of his gang, each paired with a similar beast of burden. He licked his lips as the flying target approached him, they were heading towards each other from the opposite ends of the sky.

Then, the airship got a *whole* lot bigger as it suddenly accelerated towards them. "Get ready troops! Here she comes and it's going to be quick!"

The airship was pushing ahead in the sky like a shooting star. The balloon that had once supplied it its lift was now being dragged by the ship like a leaden anchor. He scratched his head in amazement, for Biru wondered how the ship stayed afloat, for it moved almost as swiftly as his own winged dragon beasts.

The airship took a sudden lurch to the north, in a suicide dive that made Biru's stomach lurch. "Ho! After them! The tax dogs are running away!"

"They are, master, to the north!"

"I say dive! Dive! Follow those scoundrels to the ends of the world!" Biru's troops heard his words and emotions, and leaped with their master through another cloudbank. "Get them! Get them now!"


---o--o--o---


Em gripped the steering wheel in fright, as the manned dragon creatures continued to approach. "We're not going to get away, I'm afraid. A few are going to hit us…"

*Whoosh!*

A few of the bone dragons were trying to land unsuccessfully onto the airship. They neatly clipped the side railings with their bodies, but held on with their claws. But as they almost settled onto the deck, their attachment to the airship gave way, as if tossed aside by the hand of the gods. It was as if the ship was repelling the bone dragons.

Then, the deck shook. Of course, if you were there, the deck shaking would have been an understatement. It caused most of the crew to topple over from their running positions. Amelia and Em each hung onto a side of the wooden steering wheel, as it spun out of control.

Amelia looked down the length of the ship. "What the hell is that!" It was one of the larger bone dragons, with its head peering over the railing of the deck. Most of the bone dragon's body was firmly attached to the underside of the deck, its bone breastplate pushed into the side of the deck, causing the deck plating to cave inward. Its angry mouth snarled upon landing, nevertheless it was surprised that it had survived its contact with the airship. It turned its angry beady blood-red eyes at Em's crewmates, threatening to destroy anyone on sight.

"Hello, scoundrels!" Biru jumbled from his perched position on top of the bone dragon's head. "You cannot avoid the long arm of the tax man!"

"Oh brother." Amelia sweat dropped, motioning to Thoth. "He did all this to track us down?"

"Ummm, guess so," answered the old man. "Biru's is a rather thoughtless old bird, you know…after all, he once gave me an offer I couldn't refuse." Amelia glared at Thoth as soon as he shut his mouth. "Uhhh, maybe I'll end it right there."

"Good idea."

Em was still at the steering wheel. "You mean these guys are after you…for taxes??" She was dumbfounded as the other shoe dropped in her mind. "Somehow, I should have known."

"HEY! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" The loony taxman was screaming at the top of his lungs, pointing to the group. The bone dragon has finally managed to pull his body onto the airship's deck, leaving a swath of considerable damage. "Don't you think I'd track you down, Lina Inverse!"

"Ummm, she's not with us," said Gourry, "You missed her at that bridge that kind of…fell apart!"

"Fine!" Biru pulled out his meat cleaver from behind is back. "I will take the lot of you, then! Prepare to be captured!"

"I'm afraid," interrupted Em, looking up from her controls. "That you're leaving and we're not." She looked down at the bone dragon's feet, as they had started to unravel into chaos energy and disappear.

"What are you talking about? That is such nonsense!" But the bone dragon was already squirming, the rest of his body arched forward into the deck from the lack of front legs. Biru's facial expression flashed from one of confidence to shock, as his beast of riding tilted over into a mass of disintegrating bones. The bone dragon screamed at losing his feet, his legs, and finally his life -- until there was nothing left but Biru standing on deck.

The mad tax man looked around for support where there was none. "Ummm, guys? Anyone else here?" From each side, a few of Em's larger sized crewman had bats and assorted blunt instruments in their hands, patiently palm tapping them for the upcoming beating.

"Now…guys…I'm sure I can let off…your friends. You know, maybe in some kind of program? Have any of you heard of tax amnesty? Sure, you'll…have to pay it…or perhaps I can forget about this year's taxes…" And then, he gulped.

"Now, Biru, we can't let you off that easily," sneered Thoth. The old man had a twinkle in his eye, as he stepped closer to the bald one.

"Oh! I just remembered about this cooking contest in Atlas City. If I leave now, I may be able to make it…just barely!" Biru's back was already on the other railing, as Em's crew surrounded the old man and his butcher knife.

'We'll see you later, Biru," waved Amelia. "Have a nice trip!"

Biru sweat dropped, swinging his legs overboard. "Curse you all, Lina Inverse! Curse you all…aiiiieeeee!"

Em nodded her head, sighing. "Well, at least that's over." She turned to her first in command. "How's my baby?"

"She's in fair shape, even with the damage sustained. We'll be at the Sheik's city within the morning after we get back on course."

"Anoo! I almost forgot!" said Em. "With all that speed and wild swooping we used, we're well off course!"

"That's fine." The chimera was behind Em and Amelia on the upper deck. "We'll make it to the Sheik's city in time." His cloak seemed to be an extra long version even his face was covered.

"Zel!" Amelia turned her head in surprise at the. "Where were you!"

"Oh Zel?" said Em, "Did you get that work done for me below deck so the ship was ok?" And she nodded her head at the chimera for good measure.

The chimera swallowed. "Uhh, yes! I did. And the ship…is fine! Safe!"

The deck lurched again, this time even harder as the airship destabilized. The ship tipped forward as its bow angled instantly toward to the ground. Its diving caused Em's crewmates to scatter frantically, trying to return order to the airship.

'What's going on?" shouted Amelia, almost falling forward if it wasn't for Gourry's grasp of her cape.

"I don't know who it is…but something big is on the bow on this ship…and I don't see it!"

"Then," answered Zel, "It must be below the decking."

Realization horrified Em and the rest of the company. Another shudder as the bow deck plates blew up, unfolding like a blooming flower. A few of Em's crew were thrown off the airship by the blast, along with debris and crates of supplies.

Emerging from the center of the explosion was a very angry and large bone dragon, almost double the size of any other bone dragon. Its anger made Biru's pet look like it a cheap prop, its growling was easily loud enough to drown out any noise on the ship.

"Oh my…" said Gourry. "That's a big one."

"Don't you think I know that!" Poor Em was hysterical as her airship was falling apart before her eyes. The crew had managed to balance the ship out, but all bets were off as soon as the creature popped his head out from below deck.

On top of the bone dragon's head was a short little man, with a single tuft of curly red hear. The cloaked man was jumping up and down like a maniac, screaming and swearing commands at his beast of burden.

"What do you want!" shouted Zel, as he looked up into ruby-red glowing of the bone dragon's eyes. "We took care of your smaller friend already, don't think that we can do the same thing to you as well!"

"Up here, baka!" The little man looked down at Zel and company, smiling from ear-to-ear. "You should know that the Mazoku race has a vendetta against Lina Inverse and her comrades!"

"We got the invitation sometime a few days ago." Zel pulled his sword out and aimed it up into the air.

"Heh, you are foolish creatures! For eliminating my brother's blood, Curly -- I, Larry, say that you all shall die…"

"Oh, we will se about that" said Em, adjusting the level controls in front of her of her until all the levers were pulled forward. It had an immediately effect, as the bone dragon squealed in pain, its lower body starting to disappear under the power of the chaos box. "Try that on, Mazoku."

Larry smiled as the bone dragon suffered under his feet. His eyes lit a ruby red as it reflected a halo around his sockets. The bone dragon which was starting to weaken snapped to attention as its body regained its visible form. "I've been warned about the your chaos box, my dear lady Em. But I am a powerful opponent, for you and your friends shall not defeat me so easily!"

The bone dragon fired out of its mouth a ball of darkened energy. Em and the rest of the group dived for cover, just managing to evade the monster's shot as it took out the steering wheel and control box.

"Cut that out!" screamed Em. "You're taking out the ship!"

"I want to take out not just your ship, but your lives as well! Don't think you can do anything about it! You fools!" The bone dragon shot another ball, this time missing the deck as it sailed off the airship and exploded from behind.

"What power!!" said Zel, deflecting the exploding blast wave with his sword.

"And what do we do now!" said Amelia, taking steps backwards.

"Actually," said Em, gathering by the rest of the group. "I've got an idea, but I'll need all your help."

"We're here, " answered Zel, as the rest of the group gathered.

"OK, who here doesn't use any magic at all," said Em. "No spells, no potions, no magical parts whatsoever, I'm going to need some help."

Everyone's eyes looked at Gourry, for the swordsman looked like he was surrendering. "I guess that's me. Gomen."

"No, that's good," commented Em, as she took Gourry via the wrist and dragged him away from the crowd. Quickly, Em popped open a hidden floor chute, revealing a rope ladder to below deck. "Get down there! I'll be behind you."

"Hai," said Gourry, disappearing from sight.

"What do we do?" asked Amelia, as the group evading other shot of energy form the bone dragon. It scattered the group as everyone dived for cover to avoid the falling timber.

"I dunno. Just keep him busy, but I swear we'll be right back with help." Em gave Zel a little wink and disappeared down the rabbit hole after the swordsman.

"Umm, ok!" said Amelia. "Come back soon!"

But the bone dragon wasn't playing the game correctly. Without missing a beat, the mammoth beast had regained is composure, charging toward Amelia at a frightening pace.

The princess stood there, like a deer in headlights. "No place to go…can't use a spell…no where to fly, because I may fly off the ship…"

A push in her back by the chimera, as Zel came charging in. It was in no way a polite push, but a movement forward at an opposite angle of the bone dragon and its rider. Amelia let of a little yelp, as she spun off and hit the side railing, falling into unconsciousness.

"You can thank me later…" said Zel.

The chimera was getting a closer look at the bone dragon's face, standing where the princess had once stood. Wow, thought Zel, those molars are sharp. Even if the bone dragon didn't have skin and flesh of a normal dragon, it still had the sharpest of teeth -- able to tear into its adversary's flesh and bone, making a quick meal of its opponent.

And out of pure instinct, Zelgadis held out his left arm as barrier, the shield that is was. The bone dragon looked down at the puny chimera, reached with his neck and promptly took a bite out of his pray.


---o--o--o---


Gourry and Em fell from a hidden trapdoor directly into the space with the chaos box. The room was no longer sparse, but filled with hanging magical stones. For twenty or so feet around the box, on strings, were the traditional magical amulets of power -- precisely like the protection stones Gourry had seen Lina produce at one time or another.

The chaos box was at the center of it all, enjoying its continuing feeding of energy, even though not as bright and as powerful as when it absorbed a part of Zelgadis' body, it still was enough to light a majority of the room.

"Now, don't touch anything -- OK?"

The swordsman gulped. "I'll be careful."

The magical stones spun slowly on their thin lines of thread as they leaked their precious chaos energy to the box. Over time, the box would eventually drain the amulets of all their energy, forcing Em to go out and buy expensive new ones. She only used the application of all the magical amulets in emergencies to escape, for now was one of those times…

"Hey, those things look familiar," pointed Gourry, looking at an extremely large stone with a pentagram on it. "I bet Lina would want one of these…"

"I'm sure she would, but I'm not giving these things out as candy canes," said Em, smiling.

"Oh…"

They took little time getting to the middle of the room where the chaos box is. "Now, Gourry -- you know these things are really dangerous. Right?"

"Yea, I remember Lina messing with one a week or so ago…" The swordsman shook a bit, remembering how he was almost blown off of Turnip's power. "I don't think I want to remember anything else right now."

"Hai…but we need to overload the balance of this box. Hopefully, we can take that bone dragon with it as the same time." Em was carefully tugging at the top square of the box, until it opened.

Gourry scratch his head. "But…"

"See that corner table over there?" Em pointed to the other side of the room. "Turn it over and bring what's inside over to me."

"Ummm, ok."

Em looked down into the chaos box, its interior glowing brightly out of the open top, illuminating the ceiling. Inside, she could see the chaos stone, glowing ever so bright like a flame inside a lighthouse. It slowly spun in the air, occasionally shooting bolts of lightening within the structure of the box.

She reached in, carefully, looking downward. As if alive, the box objected to Emily's invasion, shooting harmless lightening out of the top, and generally blinking its light an angrily unsteady beat.

"Almost there…got it!"

As Em pulled the chaos stone out of the box, the artificial luminance of the stone and the chaos container extinguished. She brought the stone up to her eyes to show Gourry -- for the swordsman could see clearly through the quartz-like crystal into Em's eyes.

"Wow, it's a portable nightlight!"

Em frowned, motioning to the swordsman to bring over the other object. "Quickly! We haven't much time! Hurry!"


---o--o--o---


The bone dragon snarled at his pray at the end of his mouth lifting his head into the sky. He happily chewed away Zel's arm, toying with the new morsel in his mouth. While almost up to his shoulder, the bone dragon noticed something was up. As he looked down at his helpless pray, he couldn't help seeing that the chimera was smiling quite casually.

"What's going on?" asked Larry, sneering from about the bone dragon's mouth. "What are you so pleased about, baka, and where's that fear from you…"

Still with most the arm in his mouth, Zel drew his sword and struck a blow on the forehead of the dragon, causing the poor beast to yelp in anger and pain, reluctantly letting the chimera go. Zel landed down on deck on his own two feet, visibly uninjured save for his shredded cloak.

"There's no fear if nothing is wrong…" said the chimera.

Larry didn't understand, but the bone dragon sure did. As the beast opened his mouth, out poured its broken teeth, all over the airship's deck. He whimpered in shame, taking a several steps back while flashing an unhappy toothless view for all to see.

Zel let out a bit of a grin as he ripped the rest of the heavy cloak from his body. The entire left arm and shoulder of his body was encased in a thicker grayish stone, the curse had also plastered over the left temple of his chest.

"You stupid dragon! No wonder you're dead!" Larry smacked the dragon in the side of the head with an extra shot of Mazoku magic, causing the beast the shudder in pain. "Now stomp that creature, otherwise I turn you into bone dragon soup!"

The reluctant beast obeyed, scurrying down the length of the ship. Zel could tell that this time, the dragon was charging to squash the stony chimera, to flatten his enemy's body with immense weight.

The chimera turned around and ran to the stern of the airship. He was quickly running out of real estate, the very end of the ship was less than thirty feet away. As he tried to plan what to do next, he spotted help almost immediately.

"Duck!" yelled Em, with Gourry on her side. In the swordsman's hands was an angry, glowing chaos box, a bit larger than the first box Zel had spotted below decks. This sucker was shaking around, like some fierce wild animal was trapped within its cosmic walls. Even the box itself was looking a bit shabby -- already cracks of energy were escaping along its edges, the slightest of fumbling accidents would set it off.

"…oh mother of nightmares!" said Zelgadis, diving for his life. "Not again!"

"What do I do this thing?" asked Gourry, clearly unable to comprehend the live grenade in his hand.

"THROW IT AT HIM!"

Gourry took a couple of steps back and unwound a high arcing throw of the chaos box. His hurl was right on target, to land on top of Larry and his bone dragon.

The angry box was rather upset at being jostled and thrown around like a cheap package -- nevertheless, it didn't have a choice. To the untrained eye, the box looked like a lame fireball that an amateur had practiced and shot off, the wounded duck would have little effect on its intended target.

Larry saw the fireball almost immediately, letting his eyes glow fiercely as an energy shield went up. But the chaos box came down aplomb, snapping though the Mazoku's shields like a soap bubble. Out of pure instinct, something told Larry in his mind to get himself to escape has he made his bone dragon take a step back.

But a rush of arrogance swept into his head, with no Lina Inverse around, there was no way her friends could even scratch him. He focused his ruby-red eyes on the wounded object, trying again to gain focus on it -- finally, identifying the deadly chaos box for what it really was.

"Oh…crap…"

The chaos box hit the deck hard directly under the feet of the bone dragon, exploding the world into silent white. Larry cursed as being fooled so easily, but did not have time to ponder the situation. Even taking a step back or two had no bearing on his existence, precisely because he no longer existed -- wiped away by the power of the chaos box.

The deck of the airship exploded into a haze of pure white. Energy exploded outward in a fiery ring, hazed over because the gust of energy was so strong.

"Not again!" Amelia shouted at the top of her lungs as she tumbled over the deck of the ship into the sky.

"Amelia!" howled the chimera, reaching out into the white while bracing his body against the back railing of the ship. He was an impossible distance to even reach her, it wouldn't even be fair to see her die this way…

"Zel!"

"Noooo!"

The chimera could only watch as Amelia was swept into the haze. In that mere moment, he was still unable to use his spells as she vanished from his sight.

It took many seconds for the explosion of white to clear. The once mighty airship was in ruins, the wooden base of the ship's bow was mostly gone, sections of the middle and stern of the airship had cracked and collapsed from the sonic blow. The levitation balloon was in tatters; major sectional cells had popped from the shower of debris. A few small fires were scattered around mostly due to the heat, still smoldered on wooden deck. The ship was far from salvageable.

"Amelia!" shouted Zel, "Em!"

"Thoth!" Gourry was to Zelgadis' right, pulling a heavy beam aside while looking for survivors. The swordsman muttered at not finding anyone alive under the broken wood timbers.

"Is anyone else alive?" asked Gourry, looking out on the debris-laden deck.

"*cough* Yea!… *cough*… I'm here!" A small hand pushed out from under a pile of loose rubble that Gourry attacked with earnest. He moved a couple of more panes of wood to uncover Em, her body bent over in a crouched position.

"Hey there…" asked Gourry, scooping her out of the rubble like a lost puppy. "Are you OK?"

The orange-haired girl coughed a couple of times more, then got a chance to look around. "Wow, we barely made it through in one piece. This ship sure is a strong girl, I just hope…OUCH!!"

Gourry sweatdropped. "Something…wrong?"

"Errr…I think knee is all twisted up. My legs are killing me." Em turned her head around. "Hey? Where's all my crew? And where's Amelia, we're going to need that shine maiden's help. Even I'm dying here!"

But Em immediately spotted Zel in the corner of her eye, bent over on the shattered deck, forcing himself to hold back the emotions. "Oh…no…"

Zel looked down at his uncovered chest -- he had just noticed the very rough patch of stone that was eating at his body, firmly covering over his left temple from his arm. He could feel the veins of stone, reaching like spider threads down to his stomach and far into his upper chest, as it reached up the nape of his neck.

He shuddered. He knew, in the back of his mind, his own timeline of mortality had just been accelerated. By how much, he couldn't fathom. All he knew is that, at this moment, his own life no longer mattered.

"AGGGGHHH!"

He clenched his left fist and pounded it through the decking. He was surprised that his rock-laden hand had little trouble cracking through the decking, throwing splinters of wood into the air. "I didn't have a chance to save her!" he shouted. "There was no time at all!"

Gourry was still cradling Em in his arms as the two of them looked at the chimera and his broken heart. They blinked, neither could say much at the moment.

"…No time for what?" was the response from behind.

Zel looked up into the sky -- one could swear that he had shed a tear, but one could never be so sure. He swallowed his emotion, trying to bury it back down into the pit of his stomach. But it wouldn't stay down, as the sentiment was very visible on the chimera's face.

"…Amelia…" he spoke, under his breath.

"There is always time for Justice!" Up into the air, on a higher beam, was Amelia Will Tesla of Saillune, her cape billowing in the wind. "I, the savior for the righteous, shall not be defeated by the forces of evil so easily!"

"How did you get back here!" shouted Em. "There's no way anyone could with spells because the chaos box was active!"

"Easy! As soon as the box had been destroyed and I fell a *long* ways, I was able to Raywing on my way down! Aren't I a smart one!" she smiled. "OK! I'm coming down!"

"No!" bellowed Em, watching Amelia swoop down hard. "Don't land there! You'll cause the entire ship-"

And the princess touched down onto the deck with both feet, going right into it like a two-ton weight through paper.

"Eeeeep!" shouted Amelia, disappearing into a hole she made with her teeth.

The airship responded with pains of anguish. They started where Amelia's hole was, as cracks ripped and split wide open from bow to stern. It was as if the ship was slowly shaking apart, hoping that the leftover green balloon would float all the way up to the sea of chaos.

"Where are we?" asked Zel, looking right through the ship and realizing there wasn't much hull left anymore. What he did see was plenty of blue. "Oh…nuts!"

The airship was dying so fast, that it disintegrated like when the sea attacks a sandcastle. "We must have overshot the Sheik's city by a day or so," said Em, still in Gourry's arms. "We're definitely off course a by day or so…"

Zel frowned. "So much for catching up to Lina."

A mountainous atoll popped up from far below of the airship. "I think we can make it…" Em gulped at recognizing the sighting, for she knew where her location was. "But we can't go there! Not at all!"

"We have no choice!" shouted Zel. "It's the only way we're going to survive, otherwise we're toast."

Amelia had flown back around from underside the ship, this time not even landing on the deck, but preferring to 'float' along. "Come on, Em! Your ride is here!" as she scooped the girl out of Gourry's arms.

"Hey! Wait of minute!" said Em. "I thought Zelgadis was taking me…Hey! I'm scared of heights!"

The chimera and Gourry winked at each other, and then chuckled. "Time to go, Gourry…"

"Hai…" answered the swordsman, "but how I am going to get down?"

"Just be quiet on the way down," ordered Zel as they jumped off the rear of the airship.


---o--o--o---


It was a perfect tropical beach. Tiny waves pounded against a shore with sand as fine as silk. The sun was just setting, draping the sky with brushstrokes of red and orange. A medley of tropical flowers and jungle plants lined the shore where the surf had a made a beach. It was a picture of paradise.

In the distance, the wooden hull of the airship had crashed earlier into rocks by the edge of the sea. The airship's hull was nothing but splintered wood, capped over by tattered pieces of the balloon. The ship was still burning; its smoking ruins were quickly being snuffed out by the incoming tide.

Four figures bathed themselves in the evening sunset, looking out into the sea. Gourry and Zelgadis were up on the shore, looking down at the two ladies of the group, ankle deep in the surf.

"For my crew, my shipmates, my friends…" said Em, throwing an island flower into the sea. "I shall always remember you guys."

"For Thoth," followed Amelia, throwing a second flower into the water. "May Cepheid find you peace and he watches over you."

The night was peaceful again.


---o--o--o---


Yea, I'm chugging along on this fict, although I think we passed the halfway point sometime in this chapter... And thank you to Hunter of the Sith, a pre-reader for all of my later chapters.

- Incantrix
incantrix@dreamclouds.com


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