Hello! As per usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!
37- A Not-So-Great Escape
When Soi Ren Hayze came to once again, she found herself in a small, unfamiliar room. She was on the floor, but was surrounded by blankets and pillows. Several voices off to the side caught her attention, but her mind was too muddled to make out exactly what they were saying.
"-but I don't understand it at all-"
"-of course, that's considering all that's happened-"
"-but we only needed to get permission-"
"-plans change and we have to be flexible-"
"-but how could you-"
"Hey, guys? I think she's waking up."
A young boy's voice drew Ren's attention, and she looked up to see him staring down at her in concern. Three others rushed over to her side- an adult, another child, and the one she recognized as her kidnapper.
"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" the blond boy, the one who'd spoken up first, began pestering her with questions.
"I'm… fine." she murmured, though she knew she wasn't. It was hard to tell how much time had passed since she'd been taken from her home, but clearly it had been long enough that the effects of the healer's medicines had worn off.
"Zara, Enrique, take care of her. Make sure she doesn't die." Azarel waved at the two children. "Xellos and I have plans to make."
"…Zara…" Ren murmured, recognizing the name. "…are you Lina's boy?"
It was the other child that spoke up this time in response. "Yeah!"
"He was." Azarel corrected, already halfway through the door. Zara visibly stiffened and turned around to inquire as to the meaning of the comment.
"What?"
"I just meant that you used to be her comrade." Azarel explained. "But I wouldn't worry too much about her. After all she's been through, she's used to betrayal. Letting go of you probably wasn't too difficult, if that makes you feel any better."
"Azarel." Xellos spoke in an almost accusing tone, and Azarel put a hand up as if to say 'give me just a moment.'
"She's my mother." Zara protested. "She knows I wouldn't betray her."
"Ah-ah-ah." Azarel wagged a scolding finger and gave a smile as the door closed in between them. "You already have."
Ren watched the scene in shock, wanting to get up and offer the little boy comfort. She wanted to tell him how much his mother missed him, how worried she was about him, how dearly she would pay just to have him home safely-
It was no use. She couldn't even stay conscious long enough to speak.
"Azarel, wait!" Zara burst out into the hallway before Enrique could stop him. "You never answered my question!"
"What question?"
"The question I just spent ten minutes arguing with you about! Why would we need to take a hostage in the first place? That's something a villain would do!"
Azarel waved one hand. "Quit imagining that you're some goody-two-shoes just because you think you're the hero. Don't you know that every villain is a hero in his own mind?"
Zara drew back from the force of the comment. "X-Xellos? Say something! Why won't you talk to me?"
"I'm really not supposed to get involved. I'm just a mercenary." Xellos shrugged.
"Just like you." Azarel added.
Zara crossed his arms. His nostrils flared in disgust. "I'm no mercenary."
Azarel responded with a sigh and a shake of the head. "That's the trouble with you humans- you never want to get your hands dirty. Think about it: our race has been trying to set the Great Sage- the Demon King- free for years. We're just providing a necessary service to the Mazoku community."
"Necessary? This? That's a load of-!" Zara cut himself off before he could finish, remembering the scolding he'd gotten the last time he said something like around Lina. "You said we were in this together, but this whole time, everyone's been lying to me!"
"Welcome to the club!" Azarel yelled abruptly, throwing even Xellos off-guard. "You made the choice out of your own free will to join us! You left behind everything a mutt like you could ever have in the first place and started over! There's nowhere for you to go back to- this is it. You're either with us, or you're nothing at all."
"Azarel, I can't live like this!"
"Then leave."
The silence that followed was harsh, and no one wanted to break it.
"…but you have nowhere to go." Azarel finally spoke, turning around back around and continuing down the hallway with one hand pulling Xellos' cloak.
"X-Xellos! Say something! You know Lina and Gourry wouldn't…" Zara demanded weakly.
"I'm not authorized to give a response on this subject." the Mazoku gave a quick wave of his hand. "We have other work to do."
"Take care of the hostage." Azarel ordered. "And I don't want to hear any of this nonsense out of you again."
The door slammed closed, and Enrique jumped in response. "…Zara? Are you okay?"
The boy didn't answer right away. He took a deep breath and turned back around to his friend. "Do you think what Azarel said was really true?"
"Uh…" Enrique stared and shifted his weight back and forth. "…well… I can't really say."
"So it might be true after all? Do you think they really have forgotten about me? Like… like I'm nothing but a traitor?"
"I-I'm sure that's not-"
"I can't stay here! Not when we're holding innocent people hostage! Look at that lady- she didn't do anything wrong!"
"We don't know tha-"
"I don't know where to go. I don't have anywhere to go."
"You don't have to leave-"
"Yes, I do!" Zara shot back, cutting Enrique off before he could say more. The boy flinched and took a step back. Zara sighed and continued, sitting down next to where Miss Hayze was still unconscious. "…but first… I'm going to help her escape."
"I must be frank in telling you that I don't approve of you treatment of Zara. Much of that dialogue was uncalled for." Xellos and Azarel had settled down in another room, and Xellos finally was able to voice his opinions.
"You don't have to approve of anything I do. I own you." Azarel shot back, with very little patience contained in the words.
Xellos gave a melodramatic gasp. "You do not own me. I am on loan."
One glare from Azarel shut him up, however. It wasn't that he was afraid, but the situation was so sensitive, trying to stay in Azarel's good graces was like defusing a bomb. Xellos knew that he had to step lightly. It was imperative to his mission, and if he messed things up, Lord Beastmaster would not be happy with him.
"Let me offer a new question. Do you know how you plan to get your hands on the Key when the Knight of the Aqualord comes to save that hostage?"
"I was just going to brief you on our battle strategy and your role if you would be patient." Azarel huffed.
"My role? But I'm not a part of this." Xellos put his hands up innocently. "Don't plan on having me around tomorrow."
It took Azarel a moment to respond, and then it was just a spluttering mess of a response. "Wh-b-y-wh-wha?"
"I'm not fighting in this battle. It's part of the terms I presented in the beginning when we made our agreement. Remember?"
"You never told me about that!" Azarel bristled.
"I told you that my terms were to remain a secret. You agreed, and therefore you must abide by those guidelines. I will not be participating in any battles against Miss Lina or any of her comrades."
Azarel stood for a long moment, mouth agape. It was as though all the plans that had been made were suddenly falling apart.
"Well," Xellos stood up and gave a quick wave. "it looks like you have some tough thinking to do. I'll leave you by yourself to sort that out."
"Xellos, wait! You're not leaving for good, are you?" Azarel suddenly looked panicked.
"No. Not for good. I'm still working for you so long as you don't break any more of my terms. You're teetering on the brink of one, but, well, I'll let you sort that out."
Xellos disappeared and Azarel was left staring, dumbfounded.
After all of the worry that had gone into the trip from the Lin estate back to Pestis' house, the trip itself was relatively uneventful. No troublesome weather, no unexpected issues, nothing. To be honest, it was a little boring. But no one was unhappy with boredom at that point.
"Why couldn't Azarel have asked you to meet at sunrise rather than sunset?" Lina paced back and forth over the floor. It was only mid-afternoon, but she was already restless. She hadn't been able to sit still for even a minute since that morning, complaining of annoying aches in her head, her feet, and everywhere in between. "Sunset means that we have to wait around all day feeling antsy about the whole deal, and I don't like it."
"Lina, could you please stop pacing around the room? I'm uncomfortable just watching you." Zelgadis reached out and tugged gently on her scarf. He sounded genuinely concerned, but Lina wasn't buying it.
"I'm uncomfortable sitting still! I feel like I have all this pent-up energy and nothing to do with it. Everything hurts, and I can't seem to walk it off. You guys get to run off and beat up some Mazoku, but what do I get? To sit around here and wish I could do something other than sitting around here wishing I could do something?"
"Try walking in circles around the house. Passing through the kitchen over and over gives good vibes." Pestis suggested. The way the kitchen and two adjacent rooms were set up, a person could walk in circles between them however long they wished.
"Thanks. Maybe that'll help." Lina was sceptical, but wouldn't admit it. At least it gave her somewhere to walk rather than pacing back and forth over the same carpet over and over.
"Now, I know that everyone is eager to punish Azarel for all the trouble that we've been caused," Pestis began, and Zelgadis flinched knowing what was coming next and what the others' reactions would likely be. "but our first duty is to diplomacy."
"Screw your damn diplomacy! I'm rescuing Milady and beatin' the shit outta that Mazoku!"
Yeah, that was pretty much what Zelgadis had expected.
"Lyos, be reasonable." Shizuri scolded.
"What? You're gonna ask me to calm down after all that's happened?"
"He's right, you know. That's a tall order." Lina passed back through the room, not even stopping as she spoke.
"But so what? Are we just going to throw our lives away?" Gourry asked. "Even I know that's a dumb idea. We're going to fight Azarel, that much is clear, but we can't just run into battle screaming and hope for the best."
"Thank you, Gourry." Zelgadis sighed. "We need a decent strategy, pulled together from all of our experience fighting Azarel thus far. A few days ago we were going over some of her weaknesses- let's review those."
"She has very little self-control when it comes to provocation." Gourry offered. "If you tease her and call her names, you can get her to do just about anything to prove you wrong."
"She's susceptible to illusions." Shizuri added. "Especially if they're what she wants to see."
"She has self-esteem issues. She'll do anything to one-up her competition without thinking it through." Lina offered, passing through the room again.
"She's very insecure. If you counter her unfounded beliefs with logic, she wavers." Zelgadis joined in.
Amelia raised her hand. "She's too confident in her plans. If something goes wrong, she usually fails to see it until it's too late. There's a lot we could do with that."
"She also doesn't think out-of-the-box." Lyos finally spoke up. "If you come up with an unconventional way of fighting, it'll catch her off-guard."
"So what have we got now?" Gourry asked. "We have to use the craziest strategy we can come up with?"
"It seems that the most effective ways we've found of getting to her is in attacking the false sense of confidence that she's built up around herself." Zelgadis mused. "That's an interesting place to start."
Shizuri stood up and leaned on the windowsill with a sigh. "We can't overlook her talents either. While it's good to know what it is that we can do to get an advantage, we can't allow ourselves to fall into her traps."
"She's great at pretending." Amelia stared up at the ceiling. "She can disguise herself and twist the truth to something we don't want to hear. It's hard to tell when she's lying."
"She also has hostages. Don't forget." Lina added.
"Lina's right. As long as Azarel has Zara, Enrique, and Miss Lin under her control, she has a definite advantage." Zelgadis sighed. "That's going to be out biggest obstacle."
"But what if it's not? What is she has some sort of trick up her sleeve?" Lyos began.
"She has Mister Xellos under her control too." Amelia began. "Do you think he would be a threat as well?"
"Hey, hey! Xellos said he was on our side!" Pestis whined. "My good buddy Xellos would never fight his own allies!"
"Pestis!" Zelgadis hissed. "Were you not there for that conversation? He spent several minutes explaining to us why he's not on our side! It's possible he'll elect not to fight alongside Azarel, considering that he's trying to remain a neutral party. However, he's a wild card that could be a big problem for us, and we have to keep that in mind."
"So what are his weaknesses?" Shizuri asked. "In case we have to fight him too, I mean."
"Does Xellos have any weaknesses?" Gourry looked up at the ceiling. "I mean, really, we've never been able to beat him before."
"Sure we have." Amelia offered. "Remember? We just have to think positive! All of our positive emotions put together will be enough!"
"There's an issue with that, though." Zelgadis closed his eyes and sighed.
"There's an issue with everything." Lina complained.
"We need to fight Azarel by attacking her self-esteem and confidence, right? Singing ridiculous songs about love and justice is not going to improve our standing in her eyes."
"She's a Mazoku, though- isn't she?" Amelia questioned. "Wouldn't positive emotions hurt her too?"
Amelia had a very good point. Zelgadis leaned back in his chair with a huff. "I mean, I guess, but…"
"You just don't want to have to sing."
"Th-that's not true! Hey!"
Gourry sighed, watching the two argue back and forth. "All this talk of fighting with confidence and good feelings and all… it doesn't sound like we're planning to engage in any actual combat. Isn't that a little reckless?"
"Well, to be honest, everyone knows that you, Zel, and Lyos are pretty good at swinging your swords around. So what's the issue with not talking about combat? It doesn't mean you aren't getting the chance to fight." Lina stopped pacing for a few moments in order to stand next to him and place a hand on his shoulder.
"Maybe…" Gourry murmured. "…or maybe we shouldn't be thinking so hard about this."
That caught the rest of the room's attention. "What do you mean?" Shizuri asked.
"I mean, I don't recall ever having a pre-final battle conference like this before. We've always just figured out everything as we went along. And, well, we've always been fine before."
There was a long moment of silence and everyone sort of threw eye contact around the room. Now it was Gourry who had made a valid point, but no one really wanted to admit it.
"They're just feeling insecure because they won't have me to rely on." Lina announced proudly, and the group wasn't sure whether she was being serious or just trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, I can't exactly lead my comrades into battle when I'm ready to pop like this."
Gourry shuddered. "Don't say that. I don't like that phrase."
"To be fair, Gourry does have a point." Zelgadis shrugged. "While preparation is important, it's possible to be overprepared. This whole scheduling-the-final-battle three days in advance is throwing everyone off."
"So what?" Lyos asked. "Toss this whole conversation out the window in favour of slashing forward recklessly?"
"Everything in moderation, Lyos." Pestis chided. "A moderate amount of conflict and a moderate amount of diplomacy can make for a-"
There wasn't time for him to finish his sentence or for anyone to argue with the subject of diplomacy. Instead, a harsh rap on the front door caught everyone's attention. The room suddenly fell quiet.
"…was that someone knocking on the door?" Lina, who was the only one currently standing, inched toward the front door curiously. Gourry grabbed her wrist to prevent her from going any further.
"Lina, wait! What if it's Azarel?"
"Gourry, that's silly."
"She's right. Azarel would come to the back door." Pestis spoke up.
"But, then-"
The knocking continued, this time more urgently. Gourry stood up, pushing Lina out of the way, approaching the door with the hilt of his sword clutched firmly in one hand. He gently unlatched the deadbolt and pulled the door open slowly.
"…oh… Mister Gabriev, isn't it…?"
He had to drop the sword in order to catch the woman who nearly toppled over into his arms. "M-Miss Lin?" Gourry stammered.
"Wha-?"
"You?"
"Milady!"
Within a split second, the group swarmed around her, Lyos at the front. Gourry closed the door to keep the cold air out, allowing Lyos to take over in supporting the woman. She seemed half-conscious, but somehow she'd made it to the house, even through thick snow.
"She's freezing! Someone get a blanket!" Lyos ordered, and Shizuri followed.
"I'll make some hot tea!" Amelia added, moving toward the kitchen.
"Let me help!" Lina volunteered, running after her.
"B-b-bu- I don't understand." Pestis stammered. "Azarel kidnapped you!"
"Please, sit down." Zelgadis helped to lead her into the other room and into the chair he'd previously occupied. "We need to know what happened. Tell us everything."