Slayers: Final
Chapter Three:
"'Kweh'!? What kind of chicken says 'Kweh'?"
It is our second day here in this new world. Despite the fact that we were tricked into coming here to fight a horde of demons, we are low on food and the fact that we have to cross a desert with no apparent destination, our stay hasn't been too bad. We even got to take out some thirty trolls. Spilling their blood was oddly exhilarating. I have not killed with my sword in a long time. Due to circumstances we do not yet understand, magic does not work here. We do not know if magic simply does not exist here or maybe it is our understanding of magic that is at fault. After all, this world does not have the same demons, spirits or gods of our world, so we cannot draw spells from them . . . unless. Lina . . . Lina may be able to cast at least two spells. She may not want to cast one of them, not that I blame her, not the other she can do relatively safely. I will have to ask her to try once we are not so busy.
We are now hunting and gathering food, as well as searching for a hot spring . . . or at least a stream to bathe in at the behest of Princess Gracia Ul Naga de Seyruun, a.k.a. Naga the White Serpent, Amelia's older sister whom she has not seen in nearly a decade. Can't say that it was a very happy reunion, though? Amelia soon discovered that Naga has degenerated into a crazy drunk. One that refuses to be called her given name and seems to be afraid of the mere sight of blood. She is also very pompous and refers to us, Gourry, and I as Lina's lackeys. I don't care for the description but I bet Lina does. All the more reason to cram some sense into that alcohol soaked brain of hers. Not just for her sake, but . . . for Amelia's as well.
"Come on, Mr. Zelgadis! We found a stream!"
Amelia . . . the previously obnoxious girl who got in the way, now the competent woman who has grown to be a valuable ally. In combat and . . . otherwise . . . I used to be merely amused and sometimes annoyed at her antics. She was always so formal, even when being naive. She still calls everyone mister or misses before their names. She used to be so clumsy also. Always tripping over herself or falling from tree boughs she climbed for the ultimate dramatic effect for her patented 'justice speeches'. She still has her strong sense of justice. I think that is what originally, made her want to help look for a cure for my thrice damned chimeric body. But . . . the way she looks at me, the way she acts around me. I believe she may be something more.
But, how can she even think of loving me? I'm a freak. Though I don't really believe her, she once said that I look cool the way I am now. I dunno about that. When I was fully human, I had been blessed with good looks, runs in the family I suppose. But now, with my aqua colored skin with the consistency of granite and patches of blue marble-like stone surrounding my cheeks, eyes and chin, I am a monster. Even my hair has been affected. Instead of the silky auburn locks I once had, there is now only silver wire. I have to use steel wool to bath for Ciephied's sake. Oh, the indignity.
All because I wanted power. Oh, I got power all right. My grandfather, the 'Great Priest' Rezo, supposedly one of the great wise men of our age gave me this 'power' if I would help him find the Stone of Sages. The Stone of Sages, supposedly a part of the Staff of the Gods', had incredible power. It could amplify your innate magical abilities by many folds. Rezo told me he needed it to cure his blindness. I betrayed him for giving me this body and tried to take the stone for myself. Instead of getting the stone I found Lina and Gourry, we all got caught up in Rezo's true scheme. While he indeed wanted to cure his eyes, he wanted it so badly he decided the only way to be able to see was to use the Stone of Sages to resurrect one of the seven pieces of the Dark Lord, Shabranigdo, the devil of our world. He was expecting the demon would be revived inside the tower where the ceremony took place. He was wrong. The Ruby-Eyed lord was within Rezo's own blood as five thousand years ago, our God, Ciephied, broke Shabranigdo into seven pieces and hid them inside the blood of men in the hope that the Dark Lord's power would be diluted and eventually disappear over the centuries. But he was wrong, the piece overwhelmed us and Lina saved us only by using the forbidden spell, the Giga Slave, the spell which calls upon the Dark Lord above all Dark Lords . . . the Lord of Nightmares. But even then, it wasn't all Lina. Rezo had, apparently, seen the error of his ways while his soul was being devoured by the demon, he interfered with the Dark Lord just long enough for Lina to pull off the spell. But, even through all that, Rezo, obviously, did not regain his sight.
It makes me wonder . . . if I will die in search of a cure that may not even exist, just as Rezo had. I wonder if I am cursed to raid tombs and hunt for relics that may not do a thing for my body. I had once met a monster who had once been human. He was murdering people from nearby villages because they shunned him. "They deny me, so I deny their existence" he said. He told me that in his futile search for a cure the wizard he was interrogating said that no one knew how to separate combined life forms. So the monster and I fought, I killed him. He said that because he faces death, he would be at peace and I would continue to live and despair in my fruitless search for a cure. I had replied, "I will live, but I will not despair."
That was before I began to feel . . . fulfilled by killing. I had always enjoyed battle. Especially against marauding beast-men, monsters, and bandits. The excitement of being on the edge of life and death. The thrill of defeating your opponent through your skill and wits. I didn't have to kill intelligent creatures though, just knock them around enough to show them whose boss. But, I have been showing less and less regard for sentient life as of late. I have killed, humans, beast-men, hell, I have even killed a golden dragon once. At first I passed them off as accidents resulting from the heat of battle. But it happened more and more often, I began to realize that I enjoy it. It makes me sick. But, with Amelia here with me, the violent urges have let down. I still let loose when I fight, as Lina seemed to notice after the battle with the trolls but I don't have the insatiable bloodlust I had while traveling alone. Maybe, maybe Amelia is my cure . . . if not for my body, then my mind. To thank her, I must find a way to make Naga her sister again . . . my humanity depends on it.
"Are you coming or not, Zel!?" Lina yelled at me. She was some distance away, hand in hand with Gourry. Even though, they have yet to admit it, they love each other dearly. I wonder if I will ever be able to tell Amelia that I too, love her. But that will have to wait, indefinently, until I become human again. Oh well, I can dwell on this later. Even though, I don't sweat as other people do, my skin does tend to grow moss. . .the indignity of it all. . .
I headed over to them and we then, with a dominant-minded Naga leading the way, headed off to the stream she had found. It was a small stream, no more than five yards across and only six feet deep at the most, but it looked clean and refreshing.
"Source of all power, crimson heat, gather as light within my hand. . .FIREBALL!" Naga, momentarily forgetting about our current lack of spell casting ability, looked a bit ridiculous with her arms and hands outstretched as if she actually launched the spell. I suppose she was trying to heat up the stream for our bath.
"Regardless, I am still going first!" She still looks like she is going to be sick, despite the facade she is providing for our, or her own, benefit. She shooed us behind a thick wall of foliage so she could bath in private. Amelia, she looks as if she is gathering courage for something.
"Wait up Naga!" she called.
"I prefer to bathe alone, dear sister." Naga's eyes had a look of finality that even Amelia, so worried about her, couldn't disobey."
"Come on, we can go look for some food now. We can find a way to get through to her after we have finished preparing for the evening," I put my arm around her shoulders, though I can't imagine it would be too comfortable with at least twenty-five pounds of granite draped over your back, but she seemed to cheer up a little.
"We? You'll help, Mr. Zelgadis?"
"Of course I will, I mean. . .uh, well, non of us can stand seeing you this way, moping around like this. It is you, usually, who tries to keep us happy. I'm just returning the favor." My, that was clunky.
"Zel's right! We need you as our morale support, not the other way around!" Lina. . .oh, she winked. She must have caught on about my feelings for Amelia. At least she isn't teasing me about it like she used to. Maybe it is because she has finally found love, or at least admitted to herself, in Gourry. But they still haven't admitted it to us yet.
"Yeah, really. With out you, we'd all be as gloomy as Zel here." Gee, thank you Gourry.
"Oh, Mr. Zelgadis isn't gloomy! He is just serious all the time. All though. . .I suppose that isn't much better. . .."
"Whose side our you on, anyways?" Here we go again, I have become their own personal diversion, once again.
"Come on, Zel! It doesn't hurt to smile every once in a while. You face is going to get stuck in that perpetual frown of yours. I don't think that Amelia would want you to wear that good face around your children!"
"WHAT!?" Amelia and I exclaimed. How could she be so forward?! I guess the teasing isn't done just yet. Time for some pay back.
"What about you and Gourry?"
Her face darkened, "What about me and Gourry?"
Amelia decided to join in, "How long have you two been together? Four? Five years now? When are you going to tie the knot? We are starting to worry."
"Wha. . .wha . . .", it's working. Lina is stuttering in red-faced embarrassment and Gourry is standing in a state somewhere between shock and confusion. This is perfect. I can almost see why Xellos loves tormenting us so much. We have to be the most overemotional humanoid schmorgasborg he has ever come across.
"I wonder what YOUR kids will look like? Big, tall and dumb? Or maybe short flat and smart-assed?" She's getting angry now. Good. Gourry is just looking at me as if to say, "What the hell is wrong with you?". Well, hell if I know, but I am enjoying this immensely.
"Mr. Zelgadis, that is enough! We were just teasing each other a little. You don't need to be this viscous!" She is angry at me? I thought she wanted revenge against those two?
"What is wrong, Amelia? I thought . . ."
"I know what's wrong with you Mr. Zelgadis. I have been watching you over these last few weeks together with you." She knows, huh?
"Come on, I want to talk with you alone." She turned to a still sputtering Lina and Gourry. "I am sorry but, would you mind if you leave Mr. Zelgadis and I alone, please?"
"Like hell! I'm gonna crack that stone skin of his and see what's inside!" I guess I hit a nerve, heheh. Gourry, put his hand on Lina's shoulder, she jumped and turned around to tell him off but he gave her this stern but understanding look.
"Come on, Lina. Naga should be about done by now, let's go get a bath, and then we can eat!"
She took a deep breath, well, several actually until she calmed herself down.
"Ok, Gourry. Maybe Amelia can fix whatever is broken inside that spiky head of his."
With that they headed off to the stream, leaving me alone with Amelia and whatever wildlife we haven't scared away yet with our fight.
"Come here, Zelgadis." Amelia, sat down on a fallen log and gestured for me to sit with her. I complied, as I probably will not be able to stand on straight legs if this talk is going to be about what I think it is.
"How are you feeling right now?" How am I feeling? Angry, scared, confused.
"Alright, I guess."
"No your not. I want you to be honest with me." Her eyes pierced into mine, judging me, even though I know that is not her intention.
"I. . .I don't know how I feel right now. . ." Which is true, for the most part. I don't know if I feel, glad that she is trying to help me or indignant that she is butting in on my own problems.
"Ok, then tell me how you felt during our little fight just now."
"Well, I. . .this is stupid, what are you, a psychologist, now?"
"Just tell me, please!"
"Fine. I felt like. . .I don't know. . .like I had to make them pay. I didn't want to hurt them at first, but the expressions on their faces just got better and better, I had to push it."
"But they are our friends, we both know that they are touchy about their relationship, you didn't have to-"
"Dammit! I know that, Amelia! I couldn't help it! Just like I couldn't help killing those stupid farm-boys!" Whoops. Here it comes. . ..
"Those. . .farm-boys?" She lowered her head in thought. . .her eyes widened in realization of what I meant.
"No. . .Mr. Zelgadis. . .it. . .it can't be true! You mean that they weren't bandits!?" She looked horrified and concerned at the same time.
"It is, Amelia. I killed them because they hunted me, they insulted me, because I wanted to them to scream! I hate this, Amelia! I hate what I am becoming! I hate Rezo, I hate chimeras, I hate me!"
"It is true then. . .,"she whispered though my demon-enhanced hearing picked it up easily. What is true, then?
"I didn't want to tell you, not then and especially not now, you have enough to worry about with your sister and all."
"Maybe, but I care about you too, as much as I do Gracia. You are losing yourself, Zelgadis. How long has it been like this?"
"Almost a year now. . ." Well, ever since I had gotten this body, but it has been a year since it started getting this bad.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth about the farmers and yourself when it happened?"
"You would have. . .ran away from me. I need you, Amelia! When I am around you, I don't care about my body! Even my deranged bloodlust is sated when you are near. It was a mistake to leave you in Seyruun all that time ago, I see that now. Maybe if you were with me, so many would still be alive." I haven't bared my soul like this to anyone before. . .feels good, in a way. I wonder how Amelia feels about me confessing to murder, though.. . ..
"Oh, Zelgadis. . .I didn't know it was this horrible," Her eyes, now rimmed with moisture, looked upon me with pity I don't deserve. I could have prevented those people's deaths if I were stronger. "We will find a cure for you, Zelgadis. Even if it takes the rest of our lives to find it," The rest of our lives. . .? "But first we have to find you a way to control your violent urges. If my theory is correct, your demon third is taking sway over your human third, right?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"Now, here me out. . .demons use humans as food, right? But not food, as in literally eating us, they feed off of our negative emotions like fear, anger, sadness and such," Everything that is anathema to you, Amelia. "So, I think, that your demon third is trying to feed. That is why you have been doing all of these awful things as of late."
"That makes sense. But how do we plan to fix it? Somehow remove that part of me?"
"I don't know if we can do that. . .I don't think it is even possible. But, I think I know how to keep it under control!" She seems confident, maybe she is really on to something?
"We are going to stuff you silly with food so that all you is satisfied!"
"Gah!" I momentarily picked myself off of the ground, in which I unconsciously tried to plant my face. "Um, how about in reality?"
"Well, we could find you something to do while to keep your mind off things. I know! Do you still have your navigation tools?"
"Yes, I do, actually." One of the things I am actually thankful to Rezo for giving me is to navigate. All I need is a compass and a Sun Position Telescope and a map and I can triangulate where I am to a fairly accurate degree. Pretty useful when traveling the wilds.
"Good! Why don't you chart this new world for us? It'll keep you from getting bored and it will help us from getting too lost, at least in places we have already been to though. . ."
"No, I think you are right, Amelia. Besides, we may have to come back here someday. After all, this is where we got dumped onto this world."
"Thank you, Amelia. . ." Maybe things will be alright, at least, for a little while.
"Come on now, let's go find some food. I still want to try my food theory."
"THAT DAMNED ZELGADIS! How DARE he!" How dare he say that to me in front of Gourry. . .he has an uncanny ability to figure out things. . .despite they way he acts outwardly. I'm not ready yet. . .
"Calm down, Lina. I think Zel may be battling some personal demons. . ."
"Personal demons. . .? You mean like, he did something or had something done to him in the past?"
"Yeah, that and his own personal demon."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Zel is a chimera, right? So that means he has a bunch of other things living in him, right?"
"It would be better to say that they live together as one organism but please continue."
"Well, he has a demon living with him, right?"
"He is a third, brow-demon." Brow-demons are much lower on the demonic hierarchy, but a demon is still a demon, none the less.
"So, I think that the demon is fighting Zel."
"You mean that Zel's human side is being taken over by the demon?"
"Yeah!"
"Gourry, you are amazing!" How does he figure out this stuff? He even figured out that Xellos is a demon before any of us too. Must be animal instinct. "Now we just have to figure out how to help him. . .but we can do that later. We need to get cleaned up and find some food. Besides, I'll bet Amelia is trying her best to help him. We'll just go with whatever she has planned."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, Amelia has had some pretty bizarre schemes in the past. . ."
"But she has grown up since then, Gourry! Come on, she is a Shrine Maiden AND Princess of the White Magic capital of the world, Seyruun! If anyone can figure out a way to help Zel, it would be her. We both know how much time she spent looking for a cure, all that knowledge she gained couldn't all have been for nothing."
Gourry, starting looking around for something. "Hey, we're at the stream, so where'd did that rival of yours go?" He started to wonder around the general area.
"Who knows, probably off to go get drunk again. I don't know what is up with her. If memory serves, she'll pop up in the place we least suspect." I started to undress. "You still here, Gourry?"
"Hey, I'm over on the other side of these rocks, why?" I looked over to the bank of the river. There's a decent sized rock outcropping standing between us, so I think that our modesty is in no danger at the moment. But still, what if he suddenly comes from around the rocks? It's exciting, in a way. . .ACK! No time for thoughts like these! Especially with him literally just around the corner.
"O-oh, n-nothing!" Smooth, Lina Inverse, smooth.
"Ok, well I'm going to take a bath now." This is too much. . .he is getting naked right behind those rocks! I don't think I have the courage I had that one time about a year ago. . .when I was determined I was going to share a room, and possibly a bed, with Gourry, but he wasn't even in his hotel room at the time and I haven't been able to muster enough guts to try it again.
"Same here, uh. . .no peeking!"
"Right, right, I know. I'd probably pay for it in the most painful way imaginable." Maybe not, Gourry. . .but he isn't that way. . .he is too damned chilverous, which, contradictorily, is one of the things I love about him. I remember the time when I was stabbed by Zelgadis, when we were still enemies, Gourry wouldn't let me walk and insisted on carrying me to the closest inn. I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or flattered that he cared enough about me to do that, after all, I did use him as a decoy so I could cast spells at bandits, spells which he got caught in frequently, back then. Or the time when we had to share a room and he refused to sleep on the bed if a girl had to sleep on the floor, we both wound up sleeping on the deck that night, but I was touched yet again by his selflessness. There are so many other instances of his knightly nature. GAH! This water is cold! I really wish I had at least some of my powers right about now. . .
"Waah! AHH! COOOOOOOLD!"
I guess Gourry just found out about the temperature of the stream, too. . .
"Ooohohohohoho!"
"AH! Oh, it's only you, Naga."
"Lina!" Gourry!? He's, he's. . .coming to rescue me from Naga in his birthday suit. . ..Stop staring, Lina!
"I see that you both share some 'little' things in common, Lina-chan.! Ooohohohoho!"
"Hey! The water's cold, that's all. . ." Poor Gourry. . .
"Yeah, not everyone is endowed with gonads the size of watermelons, you know!"
"I'm serious, it's just the water. . ." Gourry, now peeking out behind some half submerged rocks looking more than a little embarrassed. But what about me?! I'm standing stark naked only waist deep in this stream! Whatever, it's not like he hasn't seen me naked before, after all the times he barged in my room or bath with some type of emergency. Besides, I saw his, too. I'll consider that as making us even.
"Never mind that, Gourry. Naga! Where the hell have you been? I was afraid we where going to have to come looking for you."
"Since when do I need your permission to go anywhere, Lina Inverse?"
"Well, I, never, but it would be nice if you'd at least tell us that you are going to be wondering off." Why is she being so difficult?
"Hey. . .Naga? Would you mine turning around for a few minutes? I need to get some clothes on."
"I'm not taking orders from Lina, then I am certainly not taken orders from her concubine!"
"NAGA! What the hell is the matter with you!? You've never acted like this before!"
"Yeah! I'm not a porcupine!" Only you, Gourry. . ..
"I was too soft on you Lina. In the past I let our friendship get in the way of our rivalry. But no more. Now I am completely dedicated to taking the crown of greatest Sorceress in the world from you, by any means necessary." Her eyes said what little her words did not. She is deadly serious about this, I just hope she doesn't do anything to get someone or herself hurt. "But lack of magic at the moment has put that on hold. Let's get some food, Lina-chan."
Huh? What's with the sudden mood swing? One minute she is practically threatening my life, the next she's acting all friendly? What's with her? We have had our share of fights in the past, but usually they were over pretty quick. This is starting to worry me.
"Hey, Lina? You gonna stand naked in a half-frozen stream the rest of the night?" Gourry, is already dressed I see.
"I dunno? You gonna stand there and watch?"
"Right, sorry." He turned away and leaned up against a nearby boulder, facing away from me. He doesn't even seem all that embarrassed. Then again, neither do I. Maybe I don't have to put my feelings for him on hold after all. But, if I do tell him, would it prove to be a too big of a distraction? Or would nothing really change? Ah, forget it! There's food to be eaten. . .if we can find it. . .man, I have no idea what's edible on this world. That's better, my clothes may not be much, but they beat being naked after an ice cold bath.
"Ok, Gourry! Let's go."
"Right!" I guess he put the incident with Naga behind him at the thought of a soon to be had meal. Not that I can blame him. We haven't eaten for at least six hours now. With my lack of nourishment, dropped face first on a whole new universe, Xellos being Xellos, fighting with Naga and Zelgadis of all people, today has been a very exhausting day.
Hunting for food is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Momentarily forgetting that we are on an alien world, Amelia and I have been searching for things that don't even exist here. Sure things LOOK similar, but there are subtle differences such as too many points on an what used to be an edible plant's leaf. To top things off, scared the animals away when I had my outburst. I suppose we could take a chance and eat some of the local flora, but, what if we eat something poisonous? Without our magic, we can't cast a detoxify spell if one of us were to ingest something toxic.
Rustle
"Amelia, over here!"
"What is it, Mr. Zelgadis?"
"I heard some movement about five hundred yards away from us."
"Is it Lina and the others?"
"No, it come from the opposite direction of the stream. It may be monsters. . .or it may be food."
"Food! What are we waiting for!?"
"Ms. Lina! Mr. Gourry, Gracia! Mr. Zelgadis believes there may be some food up ahead!"
"That's Naga, little sister."
"Right. . ."
Lina wasn't about to let a little sibling quarrel to get in the way of a meal. "Anyways. . .lead the way Zel, I'm still a little stiff from that cryogenic chamber I called a bath."
"Cryo-what?"
"A little something I read about when I was studying at the sorcerers guild, a chamber that freezes you after you die so when the people of the future cure death, you won't be a skeleton. The most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my opinion. About as quack as immortality research."
". . ." The feeling was mutual all around. What the hell is wrong with career magic users?
"Anyways. . .let's go hunting. But be especially on your guard, it may be a monster, or worse." I sure hope it is food, if Lina doesn't eat on a regular basis, she gets. . .violent.
Creeping through the woods, ever mindful of where we are stepping in this semi-dry forest, we set off for our prey. Movement. A flash of yellow through a briar patch on top of a small ridge. Slowly, now. . .the others? Good, they took my slowing as their que and halted, waiting for me, the one with the most sensitive sense, to do the stalking. Let's see what is over this ridge.
A bird. A big bird. A really big bird! It has to be at least six feet tall and two hundred-fifty pounds of muscle. More than enough for all of us, for at least a few days, maybe more if we can convince Lina to ration.
Damn, the bird knows something is amiss. . .got to keep low while until it stops scanning the area with its darting gaze. The bloodlust is welling within me. Maybe. . .maybe hunting can be a way to sate it. Instead of lashing out against my friends I can let loose the demon while simply hunting for food. . .
Time to kill. I motioned the others to surround the hill the bird is currently foraging on. Hopefully they'll be quite enough. I know, Gourry and Amelia can as Gourry is a former mercenary and I have personally trained Amelia. Lina is the wild card though. Although she CAN be stealthy if she wishes, the mere thought of food only yards away from her must be almost too much for her to bear.
But, it seems that my fears are unfounded. Everyone found a position encircling the giant avian without so much a sound. Lina must've realized that if she acted all gung-ho like usual she would've lost her only real chance at food for an indeterminatable time. All right, I think everyone knows that the plan is to rush the bird, contracting our human noose until one of us can make a grab at the beast. Not the most efficient way to hunt, but, with Amelia out of arrows, our lack of magic I don't see any other way to do this. My demon speed is useful against human opponents, but, against an animal with senses beyond that of an ordinary person, I doubt I could get the jump on the bird for a very long time. And. . .I don't want to use IT as it can only be used a few times. . . Well, here we go.
"NOW!"
"KWEH!?" Now that's an odd noise for a bird to make. Even a freakishly large one like this.
We quickly scrambled toward the startled bird. And the bird's mind, I would venture to guess, is scrambling to find a way out of this predicament. It side hopped to its left, then right, looking for an opening. First it tried the most diminutive member of our group, Lina. It rushed toward her, possibly hoping to barrel over her with its considerable size. If Lina realized this as well, she showed no sign. In fact, she looked downright happy that she might be the one who gets first dibs on supper, she even has her daggers out, holding them as she would a fork and table knife. I still don't know if she is a genius or a complete idiot half the time I am around her. . .Oh well, maybe she'll slow it down a little. . .
"K-kweh!" It looks like Gourry also saw that Lina was in trouble whether she did or not. Damn, he really tackled that thing. Oh. Doesn't he look a bit ridiculous being dragged around by that thing.
"HELP!"
"Let, go of it Mr. Gourry!"
"If I DO THAT, I'LL GET TRAMPLED! WHOA!"
"GOURRY! You'll pay for stealing my food later!"
"WHATEVER LINA! JUST HELP ME!"
The bird, now heading for Amelia as she seemed the next least likely threat to it, rushed to her in a mad panic, the weight of Gourry does not seem to have an affect on its speed. Amelia dropping down to a defensive stance. Defensive? What is she planning? Great . . .she got ran over. . .
"Kweeeh!" No, she leaned as far back as she could at the last possible moment and kicked the birds gut as with as much force as she could at that position. The jolt actually managed to free Gourry now trying to free himself from a rotted stump landed face first into. But the kick, as strong as it was, wasn't enough to incapacitate the bird. It is now headed toward Naga, who, as usual, looks needlessly confident. She doesn't even have her sword out, what does she hope to accomplish? It's almost to her, she hasn't even moved yet. . .what is she thinking?
"Chicken." The bird stopped. It looked impossibly angry. Maybe this creature is somewhat intelligent? No matter though, it will still be our dinner. But the person who said "chicken", Naga? Is she actually being useful?
"Finish it Naga!"
"I do not take orders from stone men."
"Just do it Gracia! It could be for our very survival!"
"Amelia, I. . ." She's hesitating like she did with the trolls! Gah! The bird is starting to make a break for it! I can't get to it in time! No other options left. . ..
BANG!!
Smoke obscuring my vision. I can't tell if. . .good, the bird is down. I didn't want to use my flint lock pistol. I have only a few shots left and I do not know if this world has gun powder.
"Zel! Where did you get that!?" Lina asked, now sprinting to the felled animal with a still dazed Gourry in tow.
"Well, Lina, I have been traveling in the outer continents for some time now."
"High Level magic isn't common place there. . ." Amelia seems to be catching on.
"So I needed a way to take out targets at a distance incase the situation aroused and I needed to be inconspicuous." That, and I enjoyed using Gravos's and Jillias's mens' pistols against them all those years ago. . ..
"Huh, pretty handy, I guess. But still no match against magic." How does Lina hold a conversation while competing with Gourry for food?
"Yeah, but this is the most powerful weapon we have at the moment, though I hope we don't have to rely on it. We should try to make some new arrows for Amelia's bow or rig up a sling to throw stones or something. You wanna stop eating and listen to me!? This is for our lives here!"
"Shut up and eat, Zel! We can do all that later!" Whatever. . .
"It's okay, Mr. Zelgadis. Besides we should eat too, we can worry about all that after dinner."
"I know, but it's just that we have a long journey ahead of us, through a desert, and I just want to make sure we have enough rations for the trip." Looking over at those two humanoid garbage disposals, I wonder if that may prove to be impossible.
"Dammit, Gourry! That was my chicken wing!"
"You were eating that. . .thing, how was I supposed to know it was yours!?"
"Because I. . ." I stopped listening, there food fights always ended up the same, anyways, with either Lina or Gourry to a lesser extent, getting most of the food. Naga screwed up again. I see her now looking away from the bloody mess Gourry, Lina and the bird have become, a slight shudder coursing up her spine. What did she see that would make her cringe even at the sight of ANIMAL blood? You would think that our survival would be a good enough reason to get over your fear of blood, but that obviously wasn't the case with her. Looking at her like this makes me feel guilty that Amelia has decided to help me as well as her sister. Which is yet another reason I have to help Naga. The other reason being is that she is becoming a liability. She has yet to help us in battle and was hardly any help at all in bagging this bird. I'll change that this very night..
"Wait a minute, you two! Do you plan on cooking it, or just eating it as is?" Let's see how Naga does in field dressing. If anything it'll help her become less squeamish.
"What's wrong with eating it sashimi?" Lina, looking more than a little ravenous, makes me think this may not be such a good idea, but it is still worth trying.
"This is a new world, with new diseases, who knows what this thing might be infested with? It would be better to cook it first. Since she has done practically nothing to help us these last few hours, I nominate Naga to help me field dress and cook this bird."
"Huh? Me?" Naga's looking even more pale, now. Good.
"Yeah. . .she should do something! It wouldn't be fair for us to do everything!" Lina said with a mischievous look in her eyes. Good, she caught on. "Come on, Gourry, let's go scrounge up something to go with the giant chicken. What kind of chicken says 'kweh' anyway?"
"Huh?" Gourry is still face deep in avian flesh, not surprisingly missed the entire, if short, conversation. Lina, looked briefly annoyed, forcefully grabbed a now protesting Gourry's arm and dragged him off into the forest. They should probably go take another bath or clean their clothes after that food frenzy. They never cease to amaze me with their lack of etiquette.
"I'll go get some firewood, Mr. Zelgadis." The look she gave me was one of worry and hope. She must have caught on too. No one is going to be able to help Naga now. Speaking of the plasma fearing princess.
"Come on, get over here." She's still dawdling with that ill expression on her face.
"But, surely you would be better at this than I would. After all! Why should I, Naga the White Serpent, have to dirty herself inside of some beast?" If only your confidence were more than a facade.
"Because, if you want to prove yourself more useful than a paper-machette umbrella, you will do EXACTLY what I say! Now get the fuck over here!" Pulling out some of my cooking tools, I searched for the scraping tool I use to skin game and my serrated and razor sharp gutting knife. Lina and Gourry already did a good job at tearing up the birds skin that I think that Naga's job will be to bleed and gut it tonight. I tied ropes around the birds ankles and threw the remaining length over a branch about fifteen feet over our heads. I pulled the rope until it was a foot off the ground and tied off the rope to a small tree. Naga watched it all with an expression of horrified anticipation on her face. I beckoned her to come over by my and the soon to be unrecognizable bird. I ordered her to start stripping the avian of its feathers, which she did with a numb detachment. She cringed, though, whenever she pulled feathers out from previously gnawed, loose skin and blood would seep out. But my cold glare and even colder words kept her to task. With that done, I handed her the gutting knife. I could have cut of the head myself with my bastard sword in one swipe, but I want her to do this in the messiest way possible.
She took the blade with fumbling hands, like someone word if the knife were made of molten rock. The look on her face told me that she was not looking forward to this at all. Her eyes darting wildly as if she were looking for a way to escape this predicament. Her breaths were coming labored and shallow. Sweat soon sheened her entire body.
I, not so gently, grabbed her knife hand and placed it next to the bird's exposed neck, the knife's serrated edge just knicking the skin to the left of its trachea.
"Cut." She looked at me plaintively, her pupils dilating and her breathing becoming more forced. "If you want to have some semblance of respect in our happy little party you will cut the damn things head off." Her eyes hardened, her teeth set, she looked at the beast with a determination I have only seen when Gourry chased downed the Lord of Nightmares to get Lina back when she took her. Her hand slowly began a sawing motion, the knife penetrated the first few layers of skin. She then hit a vein or an artery, blood drizzled out, not gushing like it would if the bird were still alive. She tensed at the sight of the crimson fluid, but, amazingly, she continued, all the while making an increasingly higher pitched groan. Her knife then caught on the bird's windpipe. She struggled with it, jostling the knife every which way, but, unfortunately for her, it would not become unstuck.
"Pull it hard." I told her, knowing what will happen when she does. She complied and, as I expected, the knife came loose, along with most of the windpipe and whatever tissues where still attached. The force of her pull dropped her on her rump and the reflexive jerk of the knife flung various bird parts all over her face. The look on her face is exquisite, the sheer horror she is feeling bringing strength and fulfillment to my body. I watch as her now with idle pleasure as her convulsing body hit the ground. She started to retch face first into the dirt and heaved up whatever food she had in her stomach, making her face resemble some macabre makeup model from hell. Her heaving and convulsing stopped. Her breathing soon fell into a stead rhythm, she must have passed out.
Looking at the mess, she had created, I realize that I may have gone a little too far, though it was highly enjoyable. . .my gods. . .how long have I been thinking like this? Naga. . .Gracia. . .oh man. I started out thinking to cure her of her blood phobia, but ended up torturing her for my sick little pleasure instead. . .. What would Amelia think of this?
I pulled Naga into a somewhat comfortable position against a tree and cleaned her up as best I could. I suppose I had better finish cooking the bird though. . .bad enough I am going to have an irrate Naga on my hands without a impatient and hungry Lina to worry about too.
Gourry and I came back a couple of hours after we left Zel and Naga, with mushrooms, roots and tubers we found (who cares if they are edible or not? They WILL be if I have anything to say about it!) Amelia immediately followed with a large bundle of sticks (for arrows I assume) and logs for the fire. The first thing I noticed was an underdressed, over-endowed princess with smeared blood and dirt caking her body. Then I saw a figity Zel setting the giant chicken on a spit, though he seemed to have some difficulty as he was shaking almost uncontrollably. Luckily for him, Gourry took over and Zel then slumped over against another tree, one facing away from Naga. Interesting. . .
Amelia, then noticed Naga, she dropped her bundle of wood and run over to her calling her name. I guess I would do the same thing if it were Luna, my older sister, but I would also be on my guard, as it could be a devious trap to cull out any weakness. But, Naga isn't one to cull out anything, sure she may tease you about some things, but she doesn't actively search for something to exploit. . .I guess Amelia is lucky in THAT respect. I'm not sure about any of Naga's other 'qualities' though. Amelia unsuccessfully roused Naga and stormed off to Zel. I'd really hate to be him right about now. . .
"Mr. Zelgadis! What happened to my sister?"
"Well. . .uh. . .Amelia, I. . Lina, Gourry? Can I trust you guys to cook this thing without it being half eaten by the time Amelia and I get back?" He seems disturbed, edgy, well, more so than usual.
"Yeah, sure." Zel and Amelia wondered off into the woods. Gourry and I prepared a baste, or at least something similar, that we made up of various things we find when we are on the road.
"Hey, Lina? Should we just leave Naga like this?" He momentarily stopped basting the chicken and cast a concerned glance at a still sleeping Naga.
"Oh, she'll be fine, I think. She probably just fainted at the first sign of chicken blood."
"I dunno, she looks kinda pale to me." Gourry, you don't need to be so concerned about someone who called you my "concubine".
"I said she'll be FINE! Let's just concentrate on cooking this bird, okay?"
"What's the matter, Lina?"
"Nothing."
"Come on, how long have we been together? I know something is eating at you. And I know that I'll probably catch the brunt of your frustrations if I don't do something about it."
"Hey now! You keep talking like this you'll catch a little more than just the brunt!" GAH! Don't give me that look! "Okay, fine! You wanna know what my problem is? Let's see, where to begin. . .oh! I know! Let's start off with the fact that we are on a different planet, we're struggling to find food that we don't even know is edible, Zelgadis is going crazy, Naga is here and she is already crazy, we have to fight a horde of Demon Lords, Xellos is being Xellos, everyone thinks that I should hurry up and admit that I love you. . .whoops."
"Lina?"
"Well. . .I, uh. . .," I love you but I don't want anything to change. . .I love you but isn't openly showing it a weakness? I love you but I won't know how to act if I say it. . . ". . .Gourry, I. . ." Ahhh. . .nuts. On top of this, I dropped our baste.
"I know how you feel." Huh? "You're probably wondering I saying that will change anything. I wondered about that too for the longest time." He had a wistful gaze with a touch of sadness to his voice. " I thought that if I made any attempt at affection beyond the normal 'big brother' role you seem to have regulated me too, you would have either push me even farther away emotionally or leave on the side of a road with a lump or two on my head." I should be angry, shocked, embarrassed, but. . .I am oddly curious. Gourry who swore to protect me for the rest of my life, could he have actually done this out of love? If he did. . . "Lina, I don't want our way of life to change, I don't want to settle down yet, I want to keep on traveling with you. You have a knack for trouble which keeps life interesting, I love the way you explain things to me even if I don't understand half of it and the half I do understand I usually forget. So, I thought I'd swear to protect you forever, because I want to be with you, because I was curious about how you would react, which surprised me by the way and gave me some hope, when you didn't try to push me away. And also because I knew you where struggling with your own emotions. . .I didn't want to push you into it, but. . ."
"But what?"
"Don't you think that five years is long enough?"
"Ha. . .hahahahaha! Gourry, you jellyfish!"
"Lina?"
"Oh, no! I'm not mad at you! Quite the opposite ya big goof! It's just that I have been fearing and hoping desperately for those words for years now."
"Fearing? What's there to be afraid of? It's not like I bite or anything."
"It's just that. . .ARGH! This is SO hard! It's like trying to cast a dragon slave during that time of the month!"
"It's okay, just take your time. . .it's not like you haven't already. . ."
"You want smacked?" I said half seriously. Sheesh. I know he likes teasing me and all, but this is really hard for me. . .
"No, ma'am!" He said as he mock saluted. The tension melted away as he continual goofed around. So that's his game. . .thank you Gourry.
"I am afraid of showing everyone that I love you."
"Why?"
"My sister."
"Luna? Is she really that bad?"
"I don' like talking about it."
"But, you'll feel better if you do, right?"
"I don't know."
"Then why don't you try talking about it with me? She isn't here right now, it's only you and me." Maybe he is right. He always had a knack for matters of the heart. Luna isn't here. She can't hurt me.
"I don't know why, but she always made it her business to make my life a living hell. She. ..she," Oh man. . .don't you cry, Lina Inverse, don't you dare. . . "She beat me like a dog whenever I failed to live up to her too high expectations. . .I . . .I, she," And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where I broke down completely. "She said that I couldn't love!" I found myself sobbing in Gourry's arms. "She said it is a weakness that the world can't afford for me to have."
"What do you think that means?"
"I had no idea for the longest time. But. . .I think I figured it out when you where captured by the Hellmaster."
"Who?"
"Hellmaster Phibrizo! One of the five Demon Lords under Shabranigdo? He captured you and forced you to fight us!"
"Oh, yeah! He was that kid who tried to pick pocket you right?"
"Good enough. Anyways, when you where inside of his crystal, Hellmaster killed everyone else and sealed their bodies inside of crystal. He was about to shatter your crystal along with you inside. That is when I chose you, Gourry. I chose you over the entire world and cast the Giga Slave to save you. Phibrizo killed me in the midst of my casting and the spell went out of control. I don't remember anything else, and considering what everyone told me, we are lucky to be even existing. But I think I know what Luna meant about me falling in love."
"How could she have know though?"
"She is a Knight of Ciephied, she is prone to premonitions and what not. I suppose she knew I would be able to cast such a powerful spell and she proactively tried to prevent me from making any foolish descisions."
"And, was it foolish in your eyes?"
"No, I'd do it again if I could."
"No you won't."
"What?"
"I don't want you to do something like that again! I almost lost you to that payoff-"
"Chaos"
"I remember chasing you down into the void trying to get you back, I don't know if you heard me, but I said that I need you."
"Gourry. . ."
"Then, all of the sudden, we are floating in mid air and you say something about me taking your virginity and knock me into a lake."
"Gourry, you're rambling."
"The point is, I don't want to lose you! What if you did cast the Giggle Slave again and you lose control of it again? What if I'm not able to save you? I don't know what I'd do if you. . .went away."
I wrapped my arms around him, I don't want this moment to end. The first time we bared our souls to each other and it wasn't even that bad! Sure I cried, but no one but Gourry, the only man allowed to see my cry in my book, is here. We finally admitted that we love each other. . .I'm still not quite sure how I'm supposed to act now but with Gourry here, I think I'll be fine.
"Lina?"
"Yes, Gourry?" I eased myself into his arms, and I felt a rush when he eased accepted me like I had always belonged there. What else have I been missing?
"The chicken is on fire."
"WHAT!"
Author's Notes
Good God! That was long! I had a lot more planned for this chapter but the length was getting to be a little ridiculous. As you could no doubt tell, I suck at romance. So I tried to get a lot of it out of the way in this chapter so I can focus more on the plot later on. Also I did a lot of setting up character development wise. There are quite a few plot devices that are going to really on the characters emotions and mind set. So, for the next chapter, prepare to learn why it isn't a good idea to eat "giant chickens", a trek through the desert chased by anthropomorphic cacti and Xellos all in the next chapter entitled "I'm tired, hot, and a cactus bit my butt."
BTW a cookie to those who spotted the Final Fantasy references.
Chapter Three:
"'Kweh'!? What kind of chicken says 'Kweh'?"
It is our second day here in this new world. Despite the fact that we were tricked into coming here to fight a horde of demons, we are low on food and the fact that we have to cross a desert with no apparent destination, our stay hasn't been too bad. We even got to take out some thirty trolls. Spilling their blood was oddly exhilarating. I have not killed with my sword in a long time. Due to circumstances we do not yet understand, magic does not work here. We do not know if magic simply does not exist here or maybe it is our understanding of magic that is at fault. After all, this world does not have the same demons, spirits or gods of our world, so we cannot draw spells from them . . . unless. Lina . . . Lina may be able to cast at least two spells. She may not want to cast one of them, not that I blame her, not the other she can do relatively safely. I will have to ask her to try once we are not so busy.
We are now hunting and gathering food, as well as searching for a hot spring . . . or at least a stream to bathe in at the behest of Princess Gracia Ul Naga de Seyruun, a.k.a. Naga the White Serpent, Amelia's older sister whom she has not seen in nearly a decade. Can't say that it was a very happy reunion, though? Amelia soon discovered that Naga has degenerated into a crazy drunk. One that refuses to be called her given name and seems to be afraid of the mere sight of blood. She is also very pompous and refers to us, Gourry, and I as Lina's lackeys. I don't care for the description but I bet Lina does. All the more reason to cram some sense into that alcohol soaked brain of hers. Not just for her sake, but . . . for Amelia's as well.
"Come on, Mr. Zelgadis! We found a stream!"
Amelia . . . the previously obnoxious girl who got in the way, now the competent woman who has grown to be a valuable ally. In combat and . . . otherwise . . . I used to be merely amused and sometimes annoyed at her antics. She was always so formal, even when being naive. She still calls everyone mister or misses before their names. She used to be so clumsy also. Always tripping over herself or falling from tree boughs she climbed for the ultimate dramatic effect for her patented 'justice speeches'. She still has her strong sense of justice. I think that is what originally, made her want to help look for a cure for my thrice damned chimeric body. But . . . the way she looks at me, the way she acts around me. I believe she may be something more.
But, how can she even think of loving me? I'm a freak. Though I don't really believe her, she once said that I look cool the way I am now. I dunno about that. When I was fully human, I had been blessed with good looks, runs in the family I suppose. But now, with my aqua colored skin with the consistency of granite and patches of blue marble-like stone surrounding my cheeks, eyes and chin, I am a monster. Even my hair has been affected. Instead of the silky auburn locks I once had, there is now only silver wire. I have to use steel wool to bath for Ciephied's sake. Oh, the indignity.
All because I wanted power. Oh, I got power all right. My grandfather, the 'Great Priest' Rezo, supposedly one of the great wise men of our age gave me this 'power' if I would help him find the Stone of Sages. The Stone of Sages, supposedly a part of the Staff of the Gods', had incredible power. It could amplify your innate magical abilities by many folds. Rezo told me he needed it to cure his blindness. I betrayed him for giving me this body and tried to take the stone for myself. Instead of getting the stone I found Lina and Gourry, we all got caught up in Rezo's true scheme. While he indeed wanted to cure his eyes, he wanted it so badly he decided the only way to be able to see was to use the Stone of Sages to resurrect one of the seven pieces of the Dark Lord, Shabranigdo, the devil of our world. He was expecting the demon would be revived inside the tower where the ceremony took place. He was wrong. The Ruby-Eyed lord was within Rezo's own blood as five thousand years ago, our God, Ciephied, broke Shabranigdo into seven pieces and hid them inside the blood of men in the hope that the Dark Lord's power would be diluted and eventually disappear over the centuries. But he was wrong, the piece overwhelmed us and Lina saved us only by using the forbidden spell, the Giga Slave, the spell which calls upon the Dark Lord above all Dark Lords . . . the Lord of Nightmares. But even then, it wasn't all Lina. Rezo had, apparently, seen the error of his ways while his soul was being devoured by the demon, he interfered with the Dark Lord just long enough for Lina to pull off the spell. But, even through all that, Rezo, obviously, did not regain his sight.
It makes me wonder . . . if I will die in search of a cure that may not even exist, just as Rezo had. I wonder if I am cursed to raid tombs and hunt for relics that may not do a thing for my body. I had once met a monster who had once been human. He was murdering people from nearby villages because they shunned him. "They deny me, so I deny their existence" he said. He told me that in his futile search for a cure the wizard he was interrogating said that no one knew how to separate combined life forms. So the monster and I fought, I killed him. He said that because he faces death, he would be at peace and I would continue to live and despair in my fruitless search for a cure. I had replied, "I will live, but I will not despair."
That was before I began to feel . . . fulfilled by killing. I had always enjoyed battle. Especially against marauding beast-men, monsters, and bandits. The excitement of being on the edge of life and death. The thrill of defeating your opponent through your skill and wits. I didn't have to kill intelligent creatures though, just knock them around enough to show them whose boss. But, I have been showing less and less regard for sentient life as of late. I have killed, humans, beast-men, hell, I have even killed a golden dragon once. At first I passed them off as accidents resulting from the heat of battle. But it happened more and more often, I began to realize that I enjoy it. It makes me sick. But, with Amelia here with me, the violent urges have let down. I still let loose when I fight, as Lina seemed to notice after the battle with the trolls but I don't have the insatiable bloodlust I had while traveling alone. Maybe, maybe Amelia is my cure . . . if not for my body, then my mind. To thank her, I must find a way to make Naga her sister again . . . my humanity depends on it.
"Are you coming or not, Zel!?" Lina yelled at me. She was some distance away, hand in hand with Gourry. Even though, they have yet to admit it, they love each other dearly. I wonder if I will ever be able to tell Amelia that I too, love her. But that will have to wait, indefinently, until I become human again. Oh well, I can dwell on this later. Even though, I don't sweat as other people do, my skin does tend to grow moss. . .the indignity of it all. . .
I headed over to them and we then, with a dominant-minded Naga leading the way, headed off to the stream she had found. It was a small stream, no more than five yards across and only six feet deep at the most, but it looked clean and refreshing.
"Source of all power, crimson heat, gather as light within my hand. . .FIREBALL!" Naga, momentarily forgetting about our current lack of spell casting ability, looked a bit ridiculous with her arms and hands outstretched as if she actually launched the spell. I suppose she was trying to heat up the stream for our bath.
"Regardless, I am still going first!" She still looks like she is going to be sick, despite the facade she is providing for our, or her own, benefit. She shooed us behind a thick wall of foliage so she could bath in private. Amelia, she looks as if she is gathering courage for something.
"Wait up Naga!" she called.
"I prefer to bathe alone, dear sister." Naga's eyes had a look of finality that even Amelia, so worried about her, couldn't disobey."
"Come on, we can go look for some food now. We can find a way to get through to her after we have finished preparing for the evening," I put my arm around her shoulders, though I can't imagine it would be too comfortable with at least twenty-five pounds of granite draped over your back, but she seemed to cheer up a little.
"We? You'll help, Mr. Zelgadis?"
"Of course I will, I mean. . .uh, well, non of us can stand seeing you this way, moping around like this. It is you, usually, who tries to keep us happy. I'm just returning the favor." My, that was clunky.
"Zel's right! We need you as our morale support, not the other way around!" Lina. . .oh, she winked. She must have caught on about my feelings for Amelia. At least she isn't teasing me about it like she used to. Maybe it is because she has finally found love, or at least admitted to herself, in Gourry. But they still haven't admitted it to us yet.
"Yeah, really. With out you, we'd all be as gloomy as Zel here." Gee, thank you Gourry.
"Oh, Mr. Zelgadis isn't gloomy! He is just serious all the time. All though. . .I suppose that isn't much better. . .."
"Whose side our you on, anyways?" Here we go again, I have become their own personal diversion, once again.
"Come on, Zel! It doesn't hurt to smile every once in a while. You face is going to get stuck in that perpetual frown of yours. I don't think that Amelia would want you to wear that good face around your children!"
"WHAT!?" Amelia and I exclaimed. How could she be so forward?! I guess the teasing isn't done just yet. Time for some pay back.
"What about you and Gourry?"
Her face darkened, "What about me and Gourry?"
Amelia decided to join in, "How long have you two been together? Four? Five years now? When are you going to tie the knot? We are starting to worry."
"Wha. . .wha . . .", it's working. Lina is stuttering in red-faced embarrassment and Gourry is standing in a state somewhere between shock and confusion. This is perfect. I can almost see why Xellos loves tormenting us so much. We have to be the most overemotional humanoid schmorgasborg he has ever come across.
"I wonder what YOUR kids will look like? Big, tall and dumb? Or maybe short flat and smart-assed?" She's getting angry now. Good. Gourry is just looking at me as if to say, "What the hell is wrong with you?". Well, hell if I know, but I am enjoying this immensely.
"Mr. Zelgadis, that is enough! We were just teasing each other a little. You don't need to be this viscous!" She is angry at me? I thought she wanted revenge against those two?
"What is wrong, Amelia? I thought . . ."
"I know what's wrong with you Mr. Zelgadis. I have been watching you over these last few weeks together with you." She knows, huh?
"Come on, I want to talk with you alone." She turned to a still sputtering Lina and Gourry. "I am sorry but, would you mind if you leave Mr. Zelgadis and I alone, please?"
"Like hell! I'm gonna crack that stone skin of his and see what's inside!" I guess I hit a nerve, heheh. Gourry, put his hand on Lina's shoulder, she jumped and turned around to tell him off but he gave her this stern but understanding look.
"Come on, Lina. Naga should be about done by now, let's go get a bath, and then we can eat!"
She took a deep breath, well, several actually until she calmed herself down.
"Ok, Gourry. Maybe Amelia can fix whatever is broken inside that spiky head of his."
With that they headed off to the stream, leaving me alone with Amelia and whatever wildlife we haven't scared away yet with our fight.
"Come here, Zelgadis." Amelia, sat down on a fallen log and gestured for me to sit with her. I complied, as I probably will not be able to stand on straight legs if this talk is going to be about what I think it is.
"How are you feeling right now?" How am I feeling? Angry, scared, confused.
"Alright, I guess."
"No your not. I want you to be honest with me." Her eyes pierced into mine, judging me, even though I know that is not her intention.
"I. . .I don't know how I feel right now. . ." Which is true, for the most part. I don't know if I feel, glad that she is trying to help me or indignant that she is butting in on my own problems.
"Ok, then tell me how you felt during our little fight just now."
"Well, I. . .this is stupid, what are you, a psychologist, now?"
"Just tell me, please!"
"Fine. I felt like. . .I don't know. . .like I had to make them pay. I didn't want to hurt them at first, but the expressions on their faces just got better and better, I had to push it."
"But they are our friends, we both know that they are touchy about their relationship, you didn't have to-"
"Dammit! I know that, Amelia! I couldn't help it! Just like I couldn't help killing those stupid farm-boys!" Whoops. Here it comes. . ..
"Those. . .farm-boys?" She lowered her head in thought. . .her eyes widened in realization of what I meant.
"No. . .Mr. Zelgadis. . .it. . .it can't be true! You mean that they weren't bandits!?" She looked horrified and concerned at the same time.
"It is, Amelia. I killed them because they hunted me, they insulted me, because I wanted to them to scream! I hate this, Amelia! I hate what I am becoming! I hate Rezo, I hate chimeras, I hate me!"
"It is true then. . .,"she whispered though my demon-enhanced hearing picked it up easily. What is true, then?
"I didn't want to tell you, not then and especially not now, you have enough to worry about with your sister and all."
"Maybe, but I care about you too, as much as I do Gracia. You are losing yourself, Zelgadis. How long has it been like this?"
"Almost a year now. . ." Well, ever since I had gotten this body, but it has been a year since it started getting this bad.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth about the farmers and yourself when it happened?"
"You would have. . .ran away from me. I need you, Amelia! When I am around you, I don't care about my body! Even my deranged bloodlust is sated when you are near. It was a mistake to leave you in Seyruun all that time ago, I see that now. Maybe if you were with me, so many would still be alive." I haven't bared my soul like this to anyone before. . .feels good, in a way. I wonder how Amelia feels about me confessing to murder, though.. . ..
"Oh, Zelgadis. . .I didn't know it was this horrible," Her eyes, now rimmed with moisture, looked upon me with pity I don't deserve. I could have prevented those people's deaths if I were stronger. "We will find a cure for you, Zelgadis. Even if it takes the rest of our lives to find it," The rest of our lives. . .? "But first we have to find you a way to control your violent urges. If my theory is correct, your demon third is taking sway over your human third, right?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"Now, here me out. . .demons use humans as food, right? But not food, as in literally eating us, they feed off of our negative emotions like fear, anger, sadness and such," Everything that is anathema to you, Amelia. "So, I think, that your demon third is trying to feed. That is why you have been doing all of these awful things as of late."
"That makes sense. But how do we plan to fix it? Somehow remove that part of me?"
"I don't know if we can do that. . .I don't think it is even possible. But, I think I know how to keep it under control!" She seems confident, maybe she is really on to something?
"We are going to stuff you silly with food so that all you is satisfied!"
"Gah!" I momentarily picked myself off of the ground, in which I unconsciously tried to plant my face. "Um, how about in reality?"
"Well, we could find you something to do while to keep your mind off things. I know! Do you still have your navigation tools?"
"Yes, I do, actually." One of the things I am actually thankful to Rezo for giving me is to navigate. All I need is a compass and a Sun Position Telescope and a map and I can triangulate where I am to a fairly accurate degree. Pretty useful when traveling the wilds.
"Good! Why don't you chart this new world for us? It'll keep you from getting bored and it will help us from getting too lost, at least in places we have already been to though. . ."
"No, I think you are right, Amelia. Besides, we may have to come back here someday. After all, this is where we got dumped onto this world."
"Thank you, Amelia. . ." Maybe things will be alright, at least, for a little while.
"Come on now, let's go find some food. I still want to try my food theory."
"THAT DAMNED ZELGADIS! How DARE he!" How dare he say that to me in front of Gourry. . .he has an uncanny ability to figure out things. . .despite they way he acts outwardly. I'm not ready yet. . .
"Calm down, Lina. I think Zel may be battling some personal demons. . ."
"Personal demons. . .? You mean like, he did something or had something done to him in the past?"
"Yeah, that and his own personal demon."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Zel is a chimera, right? So that means he has a bunch of other things living in him, right?"
"It would be better to say that they live together as one organism but please continue."
"Well, he has a demon living with him, right?"
"He is a third, brow-demon." Brow-demons are much lower on the demonic hierarchy, but a demon is still a demon, none the less.
"So, I think that the demon is fighting Zel."
"You mean that Zel's human side is being taken over by the demon?"
"Yeah!"
"Gourry, you are amazing!" How does he figure out this stuff? He even figured out that Xellos is a demon before any of us too. Must be animal instinct. "Now we just have to figure out how to help him. . .but we can do that later. We need to get cleaned up and find some food. Besides, I'll bet Amelia is trying her best to help him. We'll just go with whatever she has planned."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, Amelia has had some pretty bizarre schemes in the past. . ."
"But she has grown up since then, Gourry! Come on, she is a Shrine Maiden AND Princess of the White Magic capital of the world, Seyruun! If anyone can figure out a way to help Zel, it would be her. We both know how much time she spent looking for a cure, all that knowledge she gained couldn't all have been for nothing."
Gourry, starting looking around for something. "Hey, we're at the stream, so where'd did that rival of yours go?" He started to wonder around the general area.
"Who knows, probably off to go get drunk again. I don't know what is up with her. If memory serves, she'll pop up in the place we least suspect." I started to undress. "You still here, Gourry?"
"Hey, I'm over on the other side of these rocks, why?" I looked over to the bank of the river. There's a decent sized rock outcropping standing between us, so I think that our modesty is in no danger at the moment. But still, what if he suddenly comes from around the rocks? It's exciting, in a way. . .ACK! No time for thoughts like these! Especially with him literally just around the corner.
"O-oh, n-nothing!" Smooth, Lina Inverse, smooth.
"Ok, well I'm going to take a bath now." This is too much. . .he is getting naked right behind those rocks! I don't think I have the courage I had that one time about a year ago. . .when I was determined I was going to share a room, and possibly a bed, with Gourry, but he wasn't even in his hotel room at the time and I haven't been able to muster enough guts to try it again.
"Same here, uh. . .no peeking!"
"Right, right, I know. I'd probably pay for it in the most painful way imaginable." Maybe not, Gourry. . .but he isn't that way. . .he is too damned chilverous, which, contradictorily, is one of the things I love about him. I remember the time when I was stabbed by Zelgadis, when we were still enemies, Gourry wouldn't let me walk and insisted on carrying me to the closest inn. I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or flattered that he cared enough about me to do that, after all, I did use him as a decoy so I could cast spells at bandits, spells which he got caught in frequently, back then. Or the time when we had to share a room and he refused to sleep on the bed if a girl had to sleep on the floor, we both wound up sleeping on the deck that night, but I was touched yet again by his selflessness. There are so many other instances of his knightly nature. GAH! This water is cold! I really wish I had at least some of my powers right about now. . .
"Waah! AHH! COOOOOOOLD!"
I guess Gourry just found out about the temperature of the stream, too. . .
"Ooohohohohoho!"
"AH! Oh, it's only you, Naga."
"Lina!" Gourry!? He's, he's. . .coming to rescue me from Naga in his birthday suit. . ..Stop staring, Lina!
"I see that you both share some 'little' things in common, Lina-chan.! Ooohohohoho!"
"Hey! The water's cold, that's all. . ." Poor Gourry. . .
"Yeah, not everyone is endowed with gonads the size of watermelons, you know!"
"I'm serious, it's just the water. . ." Gourry, now peeking out behind some half submerged rocks looking more than a little embarrassed. But what about me?! I'm standing stark naked only waist deep in this stream! Whatever, it's not like he hasn't seen me naked before, after all the times he barged in my room or bath with some type of emergency. Besides, I saw his, too. I'll consider that as making us even.
"Never mind that, Gourry. Naga! Where the hell have you been? I was afraid we where going to have to come looking for you."
"Since when do I need your permission to go anywhere, Lina Inverse?"
"Well, I, never, but it would be nice if you'd at least tell us that you are going to be wondering off." Why is she being so difficult?
"Hey. . .Naga? Would you mine turning around for a few minutes? I need to get some clothes on."
"I'm not taking orders from Lina, then I am certainly not taken orders from her concubine!"
"NAGA! What the hell is the matter with you!? You've never acted like this before!"
"Yeah! I'm not a porcupine!" Only you, Gourry. . ..
"I was too soft on you Lina. In the past I let our friendship get in the way of our rivalry. But no more. Now I am completely dedicated to taking the crown of greatest Sorceress in the world from you, by any means necessary." Her eyes said what little her words did not. She is deadly serious about this, I just hope she doesn't do anything to get someone or herself hurt. "But lack of magic at the moment has put that on hold. Let's get some food, Lina-chan."
Huh? What's with the sudden mood swing? One minute she is practically threatening my life, the next she's acting all friendly? What's with her? We have had our share of fights in the past, but usually they were over pretty quick. This is starting to worry me.
"Hey, Lina? You gonna stand naked in a half-frozen stream the rest of the night?" Gourry, is already dressed I see.
"I dunno? You gonna stand there and watch?"
"Right, sorry." He turned away and leaned up against a nearby boulder, facing away from me. He doesn't even seem all that embarrassed. Then again, neither do I. Maybe I don't have to put my feelings for him on hold after all. But, if I do tell him, would it prove to be a too big of a distraction? Or would nothing really change? Ah, forget it! There's food to be eaten. . .if we can find it. . .man, I have no idea what's edible on this world. That's better, my clothes may not be much, but they beat being naked after an ice cold bath.
"Ok, Gourry! Let's go."
"Right!" I guess he put the incident with Naga behind him at the thought of a soon to be had meal. Not that I can blame him. We haven't eaten for at least six hours now. With my lack of nourishment, dropped face first on a whole new universe, Xellos being Xellos, fighting with Naga and Zelgadis of all people, today has been a very exhausting day.
Hunting for food is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Momentarily forgetting that we are on an alien world, Amelia and I have been searching for things that don't even exist here. Sure things LOOK similar, but there are subtle differences such as too many points on an what used to be an edible plant's leaf. To top things off, scared the animals away when I had my outburst. I suppose we could take a chance and eat some of the local flora, but, what if we eat something poisonous? Without our magic, we can't cast a detoxify spell if one of us were to ingest something toxic.
Rustle
"Amelia, over here!"
"What is it, Mr. Zelgadis?"
"I heard some movement about five hundred yards away from us."
"Is it Lina and the others?"
"No, it come from the opposite direction of the stream. It may be monsters. . .or it may be food."
"Food! What are we waiting for!?"
"Ms. Lina! Mr. Gourry, Gracia! Mr. Zelgadis believes there may be some food up ahead!"
"That's Naga, little sister."
"Right. . ."
Lina wasn't about to let a little sibling quarrel to get in the way of a meal. "Anyways. . .lead the way Zel, I'm still a little stiff from that cryogenic chamber I called a bath."
"Cryo-what?"
"A little something I read about when I was studying at the sorcerers guild, a chamber that freezes you after you die so when the people of the future cure death, you won't be a skeleton. The most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my opinion. About as quack as immortality research."
". . ." The feeling was mutual all around. What the hell is wrong with career magic users?
"Anyways. . .let's go hunting. But be especially on your guard, it may be a monster, or worse." I sure hope it is food, if Lina doesn't eat on a regular basis, she gets. . .violent.
Creeping through the woods, ever mindful of where we are stepping in this semi-dry forest, we set off for our prey. Movement. A flash of yellow through a briar patch on top of a small ridge. Slowly, now. . .the others? Good, they took my slowing as their que and halted, waiting for me, the one with the most sensitive sense, to do the stalking. Let's see what is over this ridge.
A bird. A big bird. A really big bird! It has to be at least six feet tall and two hundred-fifty pounds of muscle. More than enough for all of us, for at least a few days, maybe more if we can convince Lina to ration.
Damn, the bird knows something is amiss. . .got to keep low while until it stops scanning the area with its darting gaze. The bloodlust is welling within me. Maybe. . .maybe hunting can be a way to sate it. Instead of lashing out against my friends I can let loose the demon while simply hunting for food. . .
Time to kill. I motioned the others to surround the hill the bird is currently foraging on. Hopefully they'll be quite enough. I know, Gourry and Amelia can as Gourry is a former mercenary and I have personally trained Amelia. Lina is the wild card though. Although she CAN be stealthy if she wishes, the mere thought of food only yards away from her must be almost too much for her to bear.
But, it seems that my fears are unfounded. Everyone found a position encircling the giant avian without so much a sound. Lina must've realized that if she acted all gung-ho like usual she would've lost her only real chance at food for an indeterminatable time. All right, I think everyone knows that the plan is to rush the bird, contracting our human noose until one of us can make a grab at the beast. Not the most efficient way to hunt, but, with Amelia out of arrows, our lack of magic I don't see any other way to do this. My demon speed is useful against human opponents, but, against an animal with senses beyond that of an ordinary person, I doubt I could get the jump on the bird for a very long time. And. . .I don't want to use IT as it can only be used a few times. . . Well, here we go.
"NOW!"
"KWEH!?" Now that's an odd noise for a bird to make. Even a freakishly large one like this.
We quickly scrambled toward the startled bird. And the bird's mind, I would venture to guess, is scrambling to find a way out of this predicament. It side hopped to its left, then right, looking for an opening. First it tried the most diminutive member of our group, Lina. It rushed toward her, possibly hoping to barrel over her with its considerable size. If Lina realized this as well, she showed no sign. In fact, she looked downright happy that she might be the one who gets first dibs on supper, she even has her daggers out, holding them as she would a fork and table knife. I still don't know if she is a genius or a complete idiot half the time I am around her. . .Oh well, maybe she'll slow it down a little. . .
"K-kweh!" It looks like Gourry also saw that Lina was in trouble whether she did or not. Damn, he really tackled that thing. Oh. Doesn't he look a bit ridiculous being dragged around by that thing.
"HELP!"
"Let, go of it Mr. Gourry!"
"If I DO THAT, I'LL GET TRAMPLED! WHOA!"
"GOURRY! You'll pay for stealing my food later!"
"WHATEVER LINA! JUST HELP ME!"
The bird, now heading for Amelia as she seemed the next least likely threat to it, rushed to her in a mad panic, the weight of Gourry does not seem to have an affect on its speed. Amelia dropping down to a defensive stance. Defensive? What is she planning? Great . . .she got ran over. . .
"Kweeeh!" No, she leaned as far back as she could at the last possible moment and kicked the birds gut as with as much force as she could at that position. The jolt actually managed to free Gourry now trying to free himself from a rotted stump landed face first into. But the kick, as strong as it was, wasn't enough to incapacitate the bird. It is now headed toward Naga, who, as usual, looks needlessly confident. She doesn't even have her sword out, what does she hope to accomplish? It's almost to her, she hasn't even moved yet. . .what is she thinking?
"Chicken." The bird stopped. It looked impossibly angry. Maybe this creature is somewhat intelligent? No matter though, it will still be our dinner. But the person who said "chicken", Naga? Is she actually being useful?
"Finish it Naga!"
"I do not take orders from stone men."
"Just do it Gracia! It could be for our very survival!"
"Amelia, I. . ." She's hesitating like she did with the trolls! Gah! The bird is starting to make a break for it! I can't get to it in time! No other options left. . ..
BANG!!
Smoke obscuring my vision. I can't tell if. . .good, the bird is down. I didn't want to use my flint lock pistol. I have only a few shots left and I do not know if this world has gun powder.
"Zel! Where did you get that!?" Lina asked, now sprinting to the felled animal with a still dazed Gourry in tow.
"Well, Lina, I have been traveling in the outer continents for some time now."
"High Level magic isn't common place there. . ." Amelia seems to be catching on.
"So I needed a way to take out targets at a distance incase the situation aroused and I needed to be inconspicuous." That, and I enjoyed using Gravos's and Jillias's mens' pistols against them all those years ago. . ..
"Huh, pretty handy, I guess. But still no match against magic." How does Lina hold a conversation while competing with Gourry for food?
"Yeah, but this is the most powerful weapon we have at the moment, though I hope we don't have to rely on it. We should try to make some new arrows for Amelia's bow or rig up a sling to throw stones or something. You wanna stop eating and listen to me!? This is for our lives here!"
"Shut up and eat, Zel! We can do all that later!" Whatever. . .
"It's okay, Mr. Zelgadis. Besides we should eat too, we can worry about all that after dinner."
"I know, but it's just that we have a long journey ahead of us, through a desert, and I just want to make sure we have enough rations for the trip." Looking over at those two humanoid garbage disposals, I wonder if that may prove to be impossible.
"Dammit, Gourry! That was my chicken wing!"
"You were eating that. . .thing, how was I supposed to know it was yours!?"
"Because I. . ." I stopped listening, there food fights always ended up the same, anyways, with either Lina or Gourry to a lesser extent, getting most of the food. Naga screwed up again. I see her now looking away from the bloody mess Gourry, Lina and the bird have become, a slight shudder coursing up her spine. What did she see that would make her cringe even at the sight of ANIMAL blood? You would think that our survival would be a good enough reason to get over your fear of blood, but that obviously wasn't the case with her. Looking at her like this makes me feel guilty that Amelia has decided to help me as well as her sister. Which is yet another reason I have to help Naga. The other reason being is that she is becoming a liability. She has yet to help us in battle and was hardly any help at all in bagging this bird. I'll change that this very night..
"Wait a minute, you two! Do you plan on cooking it, or just eating it as is?" Let's see how Naga does in field dressing. If anything it'll help her become less squeamish.
"What's wrong with eating it sashimi?" Lina, looking more than a little ravenous, makes me think this may not be such a good idea, but it is still worth trying.
"This is a new world, with new diseases, who knows what this thing might be infested with? It would be better to cook it first. Since she has done practically nothing to help us these last few hours, I nominate Naga to help me field dress and cook this bird."
"Huh? Me?" Naga's looking even more pale, now. Good.
"Yeah. . .she should do something! It wouldn't be fair for us to do everything!" Lina said with a mischievous look in her eyes. Good, she caught on. "Come on, Gourry, let's go scrounge up something to go with the giant chicken. What kind of chicken says 'kweh' anyway?"
"Huh?" Gourry is still face deep in avian flesh, not surprisingly missed the entire, if short, conversation. Lina, looked briefly annoyed, forcefully grabbed a now protesting Gourry's arm and dragged him off into the forest. They should probably go take another bath or clean their clothes after that food frenzy. They never cease to amaze me with their lack of etiquette.
"I'll go get some firewood, Mr. Zelgadis." The look she gave me was one of worry and hope. She must have caught on too. No one is going to be able to help Naga now. Speaking of the plasma fearing princess.
"Come on, get over here." She's still dawdling with that ill expression on her face.
"But, surely you would be better at this than I would. After all! Why should I, Naga the White Serpent, have to dirty herself inside of some beast?" If only your confidence were more than a facade.
"Because, if you want to prove yourself more useful than a paper-machette umbrella, you will do EXACTLY what I say! Now get the fuck over here!" Pulling out some of my cooking tools, I searched for the scraping tool I use to skin game and my serrated and razor sharp gutting knife. Lina and Gourry already did a good job at tearing up the birds skin that I think that Naga's job will be to bleed and gut it tonight. I tied ropes around the birds ankles and threw the remaining length over a branch about fifteen feet over our heads. I pulled the rope until it was a foot off the ground and tied off the rope to a small tree. Naga watched it all with an expression of horrified anticipation on her face. I beckoned her to come over by my and the soon to be unrecognizable bird. I ordered her to start stripping the avian of its feathers, which she did with a numb detachment. She cringed, though, whenever she pulled feathers out from previously gnawed, loose skin and blood would seep out. But my cold glare and even colder words kept her to task. With that done, I handed her the gutting knife. I could have cut of the head myself with my bastard sword in one swipe, but I want her to do this in the messiest way possible.
She took the blade with fumbling hands, like someone word if the knife were made of molten rock. The look on her face told me that she was not looking forward to this at all. Her eyes darting wildly as if she were looking for a way to escape this predicament. Her breaths were coming labored and shallow. Sweat soon sheened her entire body.
I, not so gently, grabbed her knife hand and placed it next to the bird's exposed neck, the knife's serrated edge just knicking the skin to the left of its trachea.
"Cut." She looked at me plaintively, her pupils dilating and her breathing becoming more forced. "If you want to have some semblance of respect in our happy little party you will cut the damn things head off." Her eyes hardened, her teeth set, she looked at the beast with a determination I have only seen when Gourry chased downed the Lord of Nightmares to get Lina back when she took her. Her hand slowly began a sawing motion, the knife penetrated the first few layers of skin. She then hit a vein or an artery, blood drizzled out, not gushing like it would if the bird were still alive. She tensed at the sight of the crimson fluid, but, amazingly, she continued, all the while making an increasingly higher pitched groan. Her knife then caught on the bird's windpipe. She struggled with it, jostling the knife every which way, but, unfortunately for her, it would not become unstuck.
"Pull it hard." I told her, knowing what will happen when she does. She complied and, as I expected, the knife came loose, along with most of the windpipe and whatever tissues where still attached. The force of her pull dropped her on her rump and the reflexive jerk of the knife flung various bird parts all over her face. The look on her face is exquisite, the sheer horror she is feeling bringing strength and fulfillment to my body. I watch as her now with idle pleasure as her convulsing body hit the ground. She started to retch face first into the dirt and heaved up whatever food she had in her stomach, making her face resemble some macabre makeup model from hell. Her heaving and convulsing stopped. Her breathing soon fell into a stead rhythm, she must have passed out.
Looking at the mess, she had created, I realize that I may have gone a little too far, though it was highly enjoyable. . .my gods. . .how long have I been thinking like this? Naga. . .Gracia. . .oh man. I started out thinking to cure her of her blood phobia, but ended up torturing her for my sick little pleasure instead. . .. What would Amelia think of this?
I pulled Naga into a somewhat comfortable position against a tree and cleaned her up as best I could. I suppose I had better finish cooking the bird though. . .bad enough I am going to have an irrate Naga on my hands without a impatient and hungry Lina to worry about too.
Gourry and I came back a couple of hours after we left Zel and Naga, with mushrooms, roots and tubers we found (who cares if they are edible or not? They WILL be if I have anything to say about it!) Amelia immediately followed with a large bundle of sticks (for arrows I assume) and logs for the fire. The first thing I noticed was an underdressed, over-endowed princess with smeared blood and dirt caking her body. Then I saw a figity Zel setting the giant chicken on a spit, though he seemed to have some difficulty as he was shaking almost uncontrollably. Luckily for him, Gourry took over and Zel then slumped over against another tree, one facing away from Naga. Interesting. . .
Amelia, then noticed Naga, she dropped her bundle of wood and run over to her calling her name. I guess I would do the same thing if it were Luna, my older sister, but I would also be on my guard, as it could be a devious trap to cull out any weakness. But, Naga isn't one to cull out anything, sure she may tease you about some things, but she doesn't actively search for something to exploit. . .I guess Amelia is lucky in THAT respect. I'm not sure about any of Naga's other 'qualities' though. Amelia unsuccessfully roused Naga and stormed off to Zel. I'd really hate to be him right about now. . .
"Mr. Zelgadis! What happened to my sister?"
"Well. . .uh. . .Amelia, I. . Lina, Gourry? Can I trust you guys to cook this thing without it being half eaten by the time Amelia and I get back?" He seems disturbed, edgy, well, more so than usual.
"Yeah, sure." Zel and Amelia wondered off into the woods. Gourry and I prepared a baste, or at least something similar, that we made up of various things we find when we are on the road.
"Hey, Lina? Should we just leave Naga like this?" He momentarily stopped basting the chicken and cast a concerned glance at a still sleeping Naga.
"Oh, she'll be fine, I think. She probably just fainted at the first sign of chicken blood."
"I dunno, she looks kinda pale to me." Gourry, you don't need to be so concerned about someone who called you my "concubine".
"I said she'll be FINE! Let's just concentrate on cooking this bird, okay?"
"What's the matter, Lina?"
"Nothing."
"Come on, how long have we been together? I know something is eating at you. And I know that I'll probably catch the brunt of your frustrations if I don't do something about it."
"Hey now! You keep talking like this you'll catch a little more than just the brunt!" GAH! Don't give me that look! "Okay, fine! You wanna know what my problem is? Let's see, where to begin. . .oh! I know! Let's start off with the fact that we are on a different planet, we're struggling to find food that we don't even know is edible, Zelgadis is going crazy, Naga is here and she is already crazy, we have to fight a horde of Demon Lords, Xellos is being Xellos, everyone thinks that I should hurry up and admit that I love you. . .whoops."
"Lina?"
"Well. . .I, uh. . .," I love you but I don't want anything to change. . .I love you but isn't openly showing it a weakness? I love you but I won't know how to act if I say it. . . ". . .Gourry, I. . ." Ahhh. . .nuts. On top of this, I dropped our baste.
"I know how you feel." Huh? "You're probably wondering I saying that will change anything. I wondered about that too for the longest time." He had a wistful gaze with a touch of sadness to his voice. " I thought that if I made any attempt at affection beyond the normal 'big brother' role you seem to have regulated me too, you would have either push me even farther away emotionally or leave on the side of a road with a lump or two on my head." I should be angry, shocked, embarrassed, but. . .I am oddly curious. Gourry who swore to protect me for the rest of my life, could he have actually done this out of love? If he did. . . "Lina, I don't want our way of life to change, I don't want to settle down yet, I want to keep on traveling with you. You have a knack for trouble which keeps life interesting, I love the way you explain things to me even if I don't understand half of it and the half I do understand I usually forget. So, I thought I'd swear to protect you forever, because I want to be with you, because I was curious about how you would react, which surprised me by the way and gave me some hope, when you didn't try to push me away. And also because I knew you where struggling with your own emotions. . .I didn't want to push you into it, but. . ."
"But what?"
"Don't you think that five years is long enough?"
"Ha. . .hahahahaha! Gourry, you jellyfish!"
"Lina?"
"Oh, no! I'm not mad at you! Quite the opposite ya big goof! It's just that I have been fearing and hoping desperately for those words for years now."
"Fearing? What's there to be afraid of? It's not like I bite or anything."
"It's just that. . .ARGH! This is SO hard! It's like trying to cast a dragon slave during that time of the month!"
"It's okay, just take your time. . .it's not like you haven't already. . ."
"You want smacked?" I said half seriously. Sheesh. I know he likes teasing me and all, but this is really hard for me. . .
"No, ma'am!" He said as he mock saluted. The tension melted away as he continual goofed around. So that's his game. . .thank you Gourry.
"I am afraid of showing everyone that I love you."
"Why?"
"My sister."
"Luna? Is she really that bad?"
"I don' like talking about it."
"But, you'll feel better if you do, right?"
"I don't know."
"Then why don't you try talking about it with me? She isn't here right now, it's only you and me." Maybe he is right. He always had a knack for matters of the heart. Luna isn't here. She can't hurt me.
"I don't know why, but she always made it her business to make my life a living hell. She. ..she," Oh man. . .don't you cry, Lina Inverse, don't you dare. . . "She beat me like a dog whenever I failed to live up to her too high expectations. . .I . . .I, she," And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where I broke down completely. "She said that I couldn't love!" I found myself sobbing in Gourry's arms. "She said it is a weakness that the world can't afford for me to have."
"What do you think that means?"
"I had no idea for the longest time. But. . .I think I figured it out when you where captured by the Hellmaster."
"Who?"
"Hellmaster Phibrizo! One of the five Demon Lords under Shabranigdo? He captured you and forced you to fight us!"
"Oh, yeah! He was that kid who tried to pick pocket you right?"
"Good enough. Anyways, when you where inside of his crystal, Hellmaster killed everyone else and sealed their bodies inside of crystal. He was about to shatter your crystal along with you inside. That is when I chose you, Gourry. I chose you over the entire world and cast the Giga Slave to save you. Phibrizo killed me in the midst of my casting and the spell went out of control. I don't remember anything else, and considering what everyone told me, we are lucky to be even existing. But I think I know what Luna meant about me falling in love."
"How could she have know though?"
"She is a Knight of Ciephied, she is prone to premonitions and what not. I suppose she knew I would be able to cast such a powerful spell and she proactively tried to prevent me from making any foolish descisions."
"And, was it foolish in your eyes?"
"No, I'd do it again if I could."
"No you won't."
"What?"
"I don't want you to do something like that again! I almost lost you to that payoff-"
"Chaos"
"I remember chasing you down into the void trying to get you back, I don't know if you heard me, but I said that I need you."
"Gourry. . ."
"Then, all of the sudden, we are floating in mid air and you say something about me taking your virginity and knock me into a lake."
"Gourry, you're rambling."
"The point is, I don't want to lose you! What if you did cast the Giggle Slave again and you lose control of it again? What if I'm not able to save you? I don't know what I'd do if you. . .went away."
I wrapped my arms around him, I don't want this moment to end. The first time we bared our souls to each other and it wasn't even that bad! Sure I cried, but no one but Gourry, the only man allowed to see my cry in my book, is here. We finally admitted that we love each other. . .I'm still not quite sure how I'm supposed to act now but with Gourry here, I think I'll be fine.
"Lina?"
"Yes, Gourry?" I eased myself into his arms, and I felt a rush when he eased accepted me like I had always belonged there. What else have I been missing?
"The chicken is on fire."
"WHAT!"
Author's Notes
Good God! That was long! I had a lot more planned for this chapter but the length was getting to be a little ridiculous. As you could no doubt tell, I suck at romance. So I tried to get a lot of it out of the way in this chapter so I can focus more on the plot later on. Also I did a lot of setting up character development wise. There are quite a few plot devices that are going to really on the characters emotions and mind set. So, for the next chapter, prepare to learn why it isn't a good idea to eat "giant chickens", a trek through the desert chased by anthropomorphic cacti and Xellos all in the next chapter entitled "I'm tired, hot, and a cactus bit my butt."
BTW a cookie to those who spotted the Final Fantasy references.