Immortal

By: Shunsoku

Rating: T

Pairings: Lina/Zel, possible one-sided Xel/Zel if you want to interpret it that way

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers or any of its characters.

Chapter 1

Death shouldn't have felt like this. It should have been warm and blissfully blank. Instead, Zelgadis felt freezing cold, his eyes saw only white and his thoughts still were forcibly focused on Lina. Her smiling face faded in and out of view, hanging tauntingly just out of reach. His head ached, he realized, and surely there was no pain in death. At least that was what he had learned. So, then, why did his heart ache?

Suddenly, the Lina-vision vanished and Zelgadis found himself surrounded by a cloak of black silk that shone with undertones of gold and violet. It was so smooth and soothing, that for a moment, Zelgadis forgot the pain of losing Lina and of his pounding head ache. Every touch of the liquid silk on his skin awakened new senses and drove him nearly to madness. The longing for this pleasurable touch grew until finally Zelgadis succumbed to his desires. He reached out and had just grasped the edge of the wonderful silk when it disappeared.

His eyes opened, somewhat of their own accord, and he blinked to clear them of the purple haze that the illusive cloak had left behind. Only to find himself staring into a pair of slanted amethyst eyes that bore into his very soul.

Blinking once more to make sure of what he was seeing, Zelgadis became very startled to say the least. "Xellos!" he yelped, struggling to push himself away from the self-proclaimed trickster-priest. His muscles refused to cooperate and he found himself sprawled on his back, feeling the cold marble beneath him. The sensations confused him. If he was dead, which he had previously thought, then why would he have a head ache and why could he feel cold or heat. And most important of all, why the hell was Xellos here of all places?

Xellos himself hovered just above the very shell-shocked Zel with crossed legs. His eyes were again closed and his normal grin was plastered on his pale face. "The one and only!" Xellos crowed flipping over in midair. Zelgadis realized that he was getting dizzy and shook his head to clear the fuzziness.

"Where am I? What...?I thought I was...," Zelgadis mumbled looking around at his unfamiliar surroundings. He was in a dark cavern of sorts and the only lights glowed from flickering torches on the wall. The ceiling was non-existent; in fact, the entire chamber seemed to be a cylindrical shape that just continued up and up into the darkness. Zelgadis found himself woozy at the mere thought.

"Yes, you were dead." Xellos answered Zel's unasked question cheerfully. "Now, you are an apparition. A ghost, if you'd like. Not solid per se, but not entirely shapeless either." Zelgadis blinked.

"You're in my mistress' lair. She appears to have taken a...liking...to you." Zelgadis turned green.

"But not to worry, Zel-kun!" the mazoku declared jovially, "I get to watch over you!"

Zelgadis passed out.

When Zelgadis came to next, Xellos had disappeared. He got to his feet slowly, wary of his earlier dizziness. The torches were more dimmed than they had been earlier, but Zel's mazoku-enhanced eye-sight, one of Rezo's somewhat decent "gifts", served him well.

The cavern was roughly in the shape of a circle with narrow spindly stairs winding up the cavern walls and disappearing into the darkness. As Zelgadis had noted earlier, there was no visible ceiling that he could see and no daylight shone in from above. Of course, this area of the world, wherever he was, may not have sunlight. He shivered at the unexpected chill that ran up his spine.

So Xellos had claimed that he was dead in a sense? Ever the intellectual, Zelgadis decided to test the priest's idea. He walked to the wall of the huge chamber and placed his hand on it, expecting to feel the cool stone beneath his hands. What he didn't expect was for his hand to go straight through the wall, causing him to stumble forward and, as a result, stick his head and shoulders through the wall as well.

He gasped, waving his arms frantically, but he found that he was unable to move. There was no air and all Zelgadis could see was darkness, suffocating him and stealing all the breath from his lungs. As darkness slowly began to cloud his vision, he wondered as to why, when he was supposedly already dead, that he still had to worry about breathing.

A hand grasped his shoulder, effectively stopping his train of thought. That same hand pulled him quickly from the wall and back into the chamber he had been in earlier. As he turned, still blinking in the sudden infusion of light, he saw Xellos floating beside him, the priest's hand still on Zel's shoulder. The smile on the trickster's face was the same as Zel had always seen when he was around his companions, but there was something slightly different about it. But before he could figure it out, the mazoku spoke.

"Now that really wasn't that bright, was it Zel-kun?"

"Don't call me that," Zelgadis mumbled instinctively.

"Well, then, what would you like me to call you?"

Zelgadis didn't have an answer for that, and Xellos grinned at him.

"Anyway," he drawled, "Zellas-sama wishes to discuss some matters with you." Zelgadis' eyes widened.

"What?" he questioned confused. He was rather growing to hate that feeling, Zel thought ruefully.

Xellos pretended as though he hadn't heard the chimera's question and grabbed Zel's almost transparent bicep with his gloved hand and began to slowly levitate upwards. And I couldn't do this myself? Zel wondered.

He glanced upwards and noticed the mazoku's glistening purple eyes which were, for once, wide open. Zelgadis was a little disturbed by the fact that while Xellos was still smiling his irritating grin, his eyes were cold and calculating. Very few times in the past had the priest been serious and those had been desperate times for him and the others.

The others. All of a sudden, Zel's eyes widened and he searched his memories frantically. Where were they? What had happened? He had woken up here, and Xellos had said he was almost dead, so did that mean that they had followed him? Did he want to see them again?

Some part of him wondered what their reactions would have been had they found him. Amelia, he was certain, would not have understood his reasons for giving up. She thought he was her brave knight in off-white robes, come to carry her away to her fantasy world of peace, love, and justice. He had questioned himself countless times on his feelings for her, and had come to a conclusion which would undoubtedly break her heart: he didn't, and couldn't, ever love her the way she wanted him to. She was a princess and he hated people. Marrying her would ensure him a life in the spotlight, something which he knew he would despise.

Gourry, for all his apparent dimness, would have understood, even if he didn't agree with Zel's decision. Gourry was a rock, not literally like Zelgadis, but one of the most emotionally stable people Zel had ever met. Underneath his vapid exterior, he had a huge heart and provided a wonderful shoulder to cry on. Not that Zel would know that personally, of course.

Then, there was Lina. Gods he had loved her. Did he still? It was difficult to think about it, with his mind as hazy as it was. He had given up his life, hastening through what surely would have been unavoidable, so as not to hurt her. Now that he was dead, she seemed so far away. In fact, he was having issues even recalling what she had looked like.

"Zel-kun? All you alright?" questioned Xellos' velvety voice.

"I'm fine," Zel mumbled, then asked hesitantly, " Xellos, where are the others? Do they…?" How high up did this cavern go anyway?

"They know you're dead of course," Xellos said in his usual tone, turning his face away from the surrounding darkness to face the chimera. "After all, Lina-san was the one to find you."

Zel would have screamed, had the mazoku not chosen that moment to announce, "We're here, Zel-kun!"

They had finally arrived at what appeared to be the top of the narrow staircases and stood facing one of the most imposing doors he had ever seen. Taller than anything Zelgadis could imagine, with huge black wood panels and carved onyx door handles, the door chilled his very bones.

Xellos grinned over at him, his eyes now closed, "Don't worry, Zel-kun. You're with me, remember?"

"How could I forget?" came Zel's instinctive answer, but he found himself inexplicably reassured by the comment. He instead studied the door with apprehension. There was fantastic power radiating from whatever it was that dwelled beyond the door. Now that he was dead, his senses seemed so much more attuned to the power levels of things around him, he noticed, startled. He noticed Xellos' pulsing purple-black aura out of the corner of his eye and compared it with the power level from the door. No, not even Xellos had this thing's power. With a grinding, the door began to open.

There were only a few things that could really shake Zel from his calm state. Lina's Dragu Slave was one, Amelia's justice speeches for another, a mention of the Clair Bible or his cure, and now, this gigantic door opening.

He turned to face Xellos, awaiting a joke, an order, reassurance, or anything of the sort, but the mazoku just smiled eerily at him.

"Shall we go then, Zelgadis-san?" The formality made Zel start and Xellos used this opening to once again take hold of Zel's arm and lead him into a dimly-lit corridor. A flickering light emanated from what looked like a doorway at the end of the tunnel. A thick, brownish liquid that was splattered on the walls was definitely not paint. And a gust of bitterly cold wind whooshed down the hall, causing Zel to shudder.

"So, Xellos…," Zel began, hoping to dispel the anxiety he was feeling with some conversation. The fact that the end of the tunnel still seemed too far away did nothing to help. The priest looked back at him, eyes still closed and cocked his head in a questioning fashion.

Zel blurted out quickly, "What's your master like?"

An all-too-familiar grin came to the mazoku's face and one gloved finger waggled in Zel's face. "Ah, that, my dear Zel-kun, is a secret I am afraid."

Zel glared, but turned his attention back to the flickering light near the end and noticed it was hurtling towards them faster than their walking speed should allow. He tried to send Xellos a horror-stricken look, but the light was upon them and Zel was forced to shield his eyes with his slightly transparent arm. He didn't accomplish much by doing so.

The brilliant light faded, and Zel hesitantly lowered his arm to survey the room in which he now stood. The room was huge, almost as big as the cavern down below, but this room actually had a ceiling and was decorated in a curious combination of purple, red, and black. A fireplace crackled at one end of the room and, Zelgadis started at this, a large wolf was curled up before it.

As the chimera studied the large animal, its eyes opened and it growled at him, fur bristling. Someone began to laugh, a light melodious sound which filled the entire room.

Xellos bowed deeply and Zelgadis wondered blankly if he should do the same. He was about to, when another chirp of laughter alerted him to the dark part of the room he had previously ignored.

A large four-poster canopy bed stood in the dark shadowed corner. Red silk sheets covered the huge bed and sprawled in the very center was a woman so unique that she had to be the one who Xellos called Zellas-sama. The one everyone knew as Beastmaster. Her hair was a glistening gold that twisted and curled about her tanned face, arms, and back. Her eyes were completely black, flecked with little bits of red and seemed alight with amusement.

She slid off of the bed and Zelgadis realized she was barely wearing anything at all. Besides her hair, which reached down to her waist, she wore a white robe which barely reached mid-thigh and only covered a small part of her ample bosom and numerous bracelets that adorned her arms. Zelgadis blushed a furious red as she stalked gracefully towards him.

Xellos was still bent over, his eyes open and aimed downward respectfully and Zel again was tempted to join him, even if only to stop blushing.

She laughed again and Zel turned a horrible fuchsia shade as she stopped a scant foot away from him. She was slightly taller than he was, about the same height as Xellos.

"Silly chimera," she giggled, though she didn't sound anything like the little girls Zel had run across before. There was something inherently seductive about this woman and her sultry voice only added to that. She turned away from him before turning to face Xellos.

"You may rise, Xellos, my faithful," she intoned. As he lifted his eyes to meet hers, she continued, "I am pleased to see you again. our last meeting was, I fear, cut short." The two shared a wicked grin.

"I quite agree, Zellas-sama," Xellos smiled, looking evil. "I assume that you have noticed that I bring the chimera you requested with me?"

"Oh, but of course! How could I miss such a fine specimen? I really should commend Shabranigdu-sama on an excellent work of art."

Zel bristled.

"So, am I then to assume that you wish me to carry it out?" Xellos questioned, casting a look at Zel who now looked thoroughly confused.

"Oh, yes! Now that I have seen him, I know that I simply must," she replied, her eyes casually examining Zel.

"And I will be the one to train him, I assume?"

"There is no one else better suited to the task."

Zelgadis couldn't take it any more. Ignoring their pleased grins as he did so, he blurted out, "What exactly is this 'it'?"

"Why making you into a mazoku of course, Zel-kun."

I only recently rethought this story and decided that it was slightly unfinished, so I will be attempting to finish it. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.