Chapter 17
I am yanked out of sleep by a furious Lina who is bellowing something acuusatory while thrashing my limp body around on the ground.
"Wha- What's goin' on?" I mumble, trying to get my speaking application work for me. I've been sleeping and dreaming some crazy stuff which is now rapidly escaping my memory as I am being pulled into reality so roughly.
"Xellos, this isn't true!" Lina continues, shooing the birds off the nearest tree. "It wasn't meant for you to hear, you blasted old fool!"
"All right, all right!" I try to crawl away, but she catches me by the clasp on the cloack and shakes me so violently, my head threatens to fall off. It's been a while since I last saw Lina so mad. "O-o-i, Lina, calm do-o-own!"
She pushes me away with such force that I make a somersault on the grass and land with legs leaning vertically on the bark of a tree. Lina's shadow covers me; I lift my clouded gaze up to see her breathing fire. I can swear I see steam coming out of her ears.
"HOW DARE YOU EAVESDROP ON MY PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS!"
"You didn't have a problem with it before," I manage feebly, at the same time trying to get my still sleepy body to move out of harm's way. I never make it in time.
"Right, but since then we got to trust each other! Does THAT make no difference to you!" she bellows, and I feel being kicked up into the air. "You bloody scumbag, you overhear what you're not supposed to, and then sulk for DAYS thinking HELL knows what about me!"
"I didn't think anything!" I squeak, making my best effort to sneak off to Astral.
"FIREBALL!"
So much for my efforts...
"You didn't even try to find out if that was true or not!" she continues while I'm collecting my burnt faqulties together. "Now, you've decided to sulk, and what if you had decided to kill me instead, huh? Without checking? HUH? FIREBALL!"
"Lina, but I didn't DO anyth- OUCH!"
That was a Digger Volt, I think. I have to get out of here and quick. Unfortunately even when I manage to break out to the Astral Plane, I'm still electrified, and the local magnetic field pushes me back out, just a few feet away from where I was before. And Lina is way too close.
"Has it even brushed your pathetic useless mind," she switched from bellowing to growling, that's actually even worse, "that I might have made it up? Because I had to tell them something that wouldn't make them think I'm nuts?"
"I kinda thought you don't lie to your friends!" I blurt out, dodging a swish of Balus Rod. It must be that I'm not yet fully recovered after the unfortunate talk with Milgasia, because my feet refuse to support me properly, and I end up stumbling over a root.
"I kinda thought my friends don't kick me out of city because members of my family are threatening the state security! And if you heard the conversation, you should have heard that too!"
"I have!" I put in. "But how the hell am I supposed to know how friendship works!"
The phrase was too long — I realise that as I hear the last bit of incantation she is murmuring, "...may deep darkness be vanquished..."
Oh no. Oh no-no-no-
"BRAM BLAZER!"
This time I succeed at changing Planes. Finally, I can take a deep breath. After a minute or so I feel fully awake and rested enough to continue what Lina started, only on my terms. Let's see... Here she is, looking for me with a spell at her fingertips. All right, here comes a bucket...
Lina screams murder as cold water pours onto her out of thin air. Of course, it doesn't take her too long to figure out who is to blame.
"XELLOS!" she roars blasting Dislashes to all directions. I dart to Val's side, but Milgasia has put up a shield already. Good, at least I don't have to worry about them as long as Lina doesn't start on a Dragon Slave. Unfortunately, I get distracted and an aptly thrown Elmekia Lance fries the edge of my cloack. Fine, just you wait...
Lina with a smug expression is leaning on a thick oak, waiting for me to appear or strike back. It takes her almost a minute to notice that the oak is no longer an oak, but a giant slug. It works very well indeed. She doesn't even scream, she seems completely dumbfounded. The slug isn't particularly interested in her, so the scene lasts for some time until I get bored. If you can't attack a peaceful slug, darling, I'll make him bloodthirsty. As the monster extends its tentacles towards Lina, she shows the full extent of her success in magic over the years I haven't met her. She sends three spells simultaneously, two of Black magic and one of Shamanistic, that much I can tell, but I can't even dream of naming them. The slug is reduced to fine mist and then evaporates.
"You bastard," she spits glaring at me.
This time I am on guard, and when the next spell flies my way, I'm already in a completely different place, summoning some banana skins into Lina's way. Now it's her turn to make somersaults. Unfortunately she can do magic in an upside-down position too. She goes at me with Goz Vu Rou, and it's so powerful that I get hit twice before I banish the shadow. I send a binding spell Lina's way, but it crashes into one of her extended Fireballs and causes a great explosion. Too bad we are too close to the river bank. As the ground gets hit by the exploson, it crumbles into the water, and we both fall down. I dart to Astral only to realise that Lina has put a leash onto my foot, and so I have no choice but to go down with her.
As I surface in the turbid water, the dust settles down. Lina's head comes up in front of me and starts spitting and sputtering. Her wet hair is a mess, and her face is all crimpled with disdain. Then I notice some other people around — those kids who were bathing with Val earlier. Looks like they witnessed the whole thing from the water.
"Cool fireworks," says one.
I chortle, cackle and can't help bursting into mad laughter; so does Lina and in a minute I have to support her before she drowns from laughing underwater.
Laughing and clinging to each other, we come out of the water using what is now a sloping bank. The Dragons are waiting for us right where we have left them. Milgasia is bedsheet-pale, Val also looks anxious.
"Are you okay?" he asks us both.
"Fine, don't worry," I say, grinning.
"Just right," says Lina, casting a drying spell on herself.
"Can you dry me too?" I ask, taking off the cloack.
"You haven't deserved it," she huffs and then giggles.
"Fine," I grunt and proceed undressing and hanging my clothes on the nearest tree to dry.
"Man, I missed it," says Lina loudly, flopping down on the ground.
"Yeah, me too," I snort. "Good old days, ne?"
Milgasia seems to have developed a habit of staring at me in bewilderment.
"Listen, Xellos," he says anxiously and quietly. "I really don't think it is a good idea for the child to witness so much violence. Perhaps it would be better to rearrange things somehow if you and Miss Lina hate each other so much..."
The rest of his speech drowns in our guffawing — oh L-sama, he is such an outsider to our little gang! Even Val cackles.
"Oh honestly, Milgasia," I manage after some time. "You haven't seen us some five or six years ago, when Lina would try to strangle me, like, every five minutes."
"Still, this time there was some very serious magic employed," Milgasia shakes his head.
"Serious?" Lina snorts. "Pshaw! I haven't even gone with Ra Tilt, not to mention that Xellos only sent one spell directly at me, and that failed miserably. C'mon, we were just having fun! Although," she darts a nasty look at me, "the slug thing was low."
"Well, you know, you almost hit Val with your Dislashes," I argue.
"You fool, I knew Milgasia-san's beeb shielding since the moment it started, I wouldn't have endangered Val, I'm no longer fifteen!"
"Okay, whatever," I sprawl on the grass, hoping that the sun will dry my pants.
"Why did that explosion happen?" asks Val carefully.
"Because two spells collided," I answer. "By the way, did you see anything you'd like to learn? I mean, some of them can be quite useful for real life, not just for fooling around."
"I think I'll start with shields..."
This gets both Lina and me into another fit of laughter.
"Back to business, though," says Lina when she can finally speak again. "Why did you feel compelled to eavesdrop on me?"
"Honestly, Lina, like I need a reason! Eavesdropping is what I do. I see someone I know talking to someone else, I eavesdrop. I don't spare any thought to it."
"Well, you better do from no on, because you really scared me. If you believe all the lies that I'm telling people about you, one day you'll really scrag my neck. Imagine I overheard some stuff you told your Mistress and acted on it, huh?"
"Well, I don't lie to my Mistress or to any other person who is of any importance to me."
"You know, I'm not that good at dancing around the truth. I have to lie sometimes."
"Oh yes, you are that good, you're just lazy," I chuckle. "Besides, if you were planning to tell fairy-tales about me to the royal couple, why didn't you warn me beforehand?"
"I wasn't planning anything, I made it up on the spot!"
"Then why not tell me later?"
"When you appeared in the room? Or when we were sitting in that cafe with Milgasia-san? And later I forgot all about it!"
Well, that's Lina to you. How could I even doubt her straightforwardness? She might be a good actress, but not in intimate matters. All this fuss with pictures — she wouldn't have cried about it if she were just using me. I am so relieved to know everything is fine, I am myself, and she loves me — I actually forget when I start believing her again.
Lina, oblivious to my changing worldview, continues her rant. I sit up and pull her into a hug and kiss her on the temple. She quickly relaxes and leans into me.
"And here I was wondering what's happened to your affection lately," she grumbles lightly. "How could you even think I could be such a bitch?"
"Sorry," I kiss her again. "I'm rather disoriented lately.
"Ahem," Milgasia coughs. "Miss Lina, I would really ask you not to use so many obscenities in front of the child. I do not expect any kind of high language from you, but I am sure even in your family there was some idea that certain words are not to be taught to children!"
Lina huffs, and I'm immediately indignant. I haven't forgotten how she complained about the Dragon's manners after the ball.
"You know, Milgasia," I say sternly, "this is really a bad time for you to instruct Lina on manners. Right now lexicon is not the primary issue on the agenda of Val's upbringing. Besides, he is a smart kid and knows what not to pick up. So why don't you leave Lina alone with her word use and dancing skill, ne?"
"Really, Xellos, but it makes me sick to hear this!" he argues.
"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow. "By the way, Lina, how did you know that I eavesdropped on your conversation with the royal couple?"
"Milgasia-san said you told him what I told them, so naturally..."
"Exactly," I sneer. "Milgasia, do you care to explain why you saw it fit to let on to Lina something that I explicitly told you should be kept from her?"
"Well, I thought," he gulps, "I thought there was some misunderstanding..."
"Oh yaaa? So you think you are in a position to judge whether to keep my secrets or to disclose them?"
"But... Lina-san," he appeals to her rather desperately, "I've done the right thing, haven't I? I mean, who knows what would've happened if Xellos went on thinking..."
Lina raises an eyebrow copying me.
"If Xellos told you to stay silent, you really had no right to speak. We will forgive you," she sends a stern look at me, "this once, but you better don't make the same mistake another time."
"I won't!" he says all too quickly, slightly sweating.
"Good," we say in unison.
"Ne, Val," I say to the kid who is long lost in our adult matters, "since I'm already wet, why don't we go bathe some more?"
He jumps up immediately.
"Okay, let's!"
And off we go.
A/N: I'm sorry this is short, I hope to write more over the next few days. I also had to rewrite it several times, somehow it doesn't sit well with me. If you have recently spotted any good new L/X fanfics, please notify, I need a booster 8)