Strung Part 7

Author: Irk
Title: Strung Part 7

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Strung___
Snared in the Lacings___
Part Seven___

Obedient or not, frightened or not, there was only so long that even Xelloss could patiently sit and wait. He found his eyes wandering to the door over and over again. He found himself angling his body ever-so slightly towards it, just to get a better vantage. As he chastised himself for it, Xelloss paused. Why was he staying here? What was keeping him in? The Brothers had told him that the beads could do him no harm. Didn't he trust his Brothers?
Of course he did.
Xelloss walked to the door, observing the beads wrapped around the handle. He realized that the Brothers were right. He didn't even need to take action himself. The beads projected no malice whatsoever. Whatever had haunted them before was gone now. True, they were still made of his Brothers' blood - a fact which disturbed and sickened Xelloss - but they could not hurt him now.
It was good to know.
Xelloss lingered there, hesitant. Was there any reason to leave this room? He was bored, true, but was that really as important as appearing obedient? Was getting out worth tipping Zelas off that her beads couldn't hurt him?
Wait. What was he so worried about? He was one of the stealithiest creatures of his entire race. He could go and come back in, and Zelas would be none the wiser.
Of course. It was simple. Xelloss wondered why he didn't think of it sooner. He reached for the handle...
...and paused.
No. It couldn't be that simple. Not with Zelas.
Xelloss stepped back, then conjured another quill. He held it by the writing end and reached forward, extending his arm. He just barely...brushed the beads...with the very tip of the feather...
The beads exploded outwards, strands sweeping forward so fast that Xelloss barely had time to blink. Jointed glass fingers clutched the feather, bending and mangling the stalk with a grip strong enough to crush bones. Not only was it wrenched from his grasp, but had Xelloss not ducked away sooner, his own wrist would have been snared by the eager necklace tendrils. As it was, the glass blood droplets brushed his fingertips before their slack ran out.
Panting out of shock and fear, Xelloss leaned over, hands propping him up from his thighs. He could feel lingering traces of nausea from touching the beads even that briefly. As he watched, the glass beads returned to their previous position. Wrapped around the door handle, they seemed harmless now. But the remains of the feather stuck out in between beads, little bits of strangled fluff reminding him of how dangerous the necklace really was.
The priest backed away, all the way to the bed, and then sat. He slumped over, shock lending its weariness to his bones. Why? Why would Zelas leave that there to trap him, instead of a simple ward?
Wards don't punish servants for attempting to disobey. Wards don't teach them lessons. And wards don't trap erstwhile servants and leave them struggling for their mistresses to find.
Xelloss contemplated hanging from the doorknob for hours, his wrist and arm crushed, sick from the touch of astral blood and the fear of being caught.
Better that I checked, that she doesn't know I tried to leave. That she doesn't know that I know the danger, and was smart enough to test...
His eyes flashed, and Xelloss' gaze darted back to the feather. Proof. Evidence of his crime. With a wave of his fingers, he banished it. After all, he was the one who had summoned it in the first place. He could clean up after himself.
After that experience, further exploration seemed like a bad idea. Xelloss was already on a bed. Being lazy had its benefits.
Xelloss wrapped himself up in linens and slept. He could wait for Zelas in the world of dreams. Perhaps from there he would no longer be afraid to wade in the Sea of Chaos once more, and feel the love of his Mother.
* * *
"Girls who do any sort of serious magic have a spell that they get cast on them to stop this sort of thing from happening to me, Zelgadis. For whatever reason, mine...stopped working."
Zelgadis nodded. He had assumed as much. "Was there any warning? Did anything happen at all before you...you started again?"
Lina noted the blush on Zelgadis's cheeks. She almost smiled. "It just quit. There was no way I could have foreseen it. Not a clue."
"It just happened? Just like that?" Zelgadis frowned in consternation. "Lina, there has to be something. A spell doesn't just stop working for no reason."
She cursed Zelgadis mentally for being so logical and so insistent. Why couldn't he just leave it be? "Maybe it was the caster. I'll just have to find that old bat who did mine and have some very strong words with her."
The chimera cocked his head at Lina, brows drawn together in a stubborn expression. "Are you sure-"
Lina saw Zelgadis's face shift to a very alarming blend of confusion and worry. "What? Zelgadis, what is it?" She leaned closer to him, her voice taking on a desparate edge. She was tired of surprises, damnit!
"Your talismans." He reached out and gently lifted one of Lina's wrists. The silver bracelet and the huge ruby set into it were there, sure enough. "Why did you change their positions?"
Lina's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? This is how I always wear them."
"No." Zelgadis shook his head, then pulled the covers down along her leg until her foot was visible. They had dressed her in a pair of Amelia's pajamas, which were short on her. Short enough that Lina could easily see the silver glinting from her ankle. Around it was another talisman, just like the one on her wrist. She shifted and saw that the other two were on her other wrist and ankle.
"I didn't do that. I never recalled moving them. I don't understand. Why did you leave them on?"
"We couldn't take them off." Zelgadis's eyes pinned hers. "I just thought there was a catch I couldn't find, or maybe they were magically locked. I thought maybe you knew the secret. So I left them on."
Lina was silent for a minute. "I didn't move them."
Zelgadis nodded, slowly. His expression was thoughtful. "I see. Would you like me to remove them?"
"What?"
Very gingerly, Zelgadis wrapped his fingers around Lina's ankle. "I'm a locksmith, Lina. Well, actually I just pick locks. I can take these off for you."
Lina slid her foot out of the chimera's grasp. She pressed her own fingers to the bands of silver around her wrist. "I can take them off."
Zelgadis watched her fingers search for the catch. His vision was quicker than her touch was. He knew before she did. "It's not going to open, Lina."
"There's a catch. I know there is. I had a little trouble working it when I first got them."
Zelgadis shook his head silently.
Lina's fingers searched and scrabbled with a more frantic energy. "I know it's there! I've felt it before, damnit!" As Zelgadis's hand closed over hers, Lina looked up.
"You're not going to find a catch, Lina. That's solid silver. I can see no seam. And my eyes are much keener than a human's."
Lina let her fingers go slack. "But..."
"Something made your enchantment break. Something made your talismans change. Lina, what happened before we found you?"
I can't tell him about the voice. I can't tell him about the premonitions. I don't want to talk to another living soul about any of that. "I...I don't know, Zelgadis. I really don't know." At least I was honest with him, in a way.
The chimera sighed, burying his face in his palm, stone fingers scrunching wire hair. "This means trouble. I can feel it. I can practically smell it." He sat up, straightening his shoulders. "It's late, Lina. You need rest. I need rest. We should tackle this problem with clear heads."
Lina nodded, more than willing to put off thinking about all of this until later. "Can you really sleep after this?"
Zelgadis shrugged. "I know spells. It won't be the first time I've had to use them to get a real night's rest. Why, do you need one too?"
A sardonic grin tugged at Lina's cheek. "You have an amazing knack for getting right to the heart of the matter, Zelgadis." She pulled the covers back up, easing her body into the mattress. Relaxing it was harder than she had expected. "Sure, knock yourself out."
Zelgadis snorted. "You first."
It took him a long time to leave her and go back to Amelia, who had already found sleep without the aid of magic. He was a little afraid that when he came back, Lina wouldn't be there for him to find. The worst part of this fear - the part he forced himself not to think about - was that if she vanished, it might not be because she had run away.
* * *
Xelloss took a deep bow, his poise and posture perfect. Obedience was etched into every line in his body. His smile was pleasant but not overly confident: it was simply there to please whoever looked upon him. His gaze was alert, but he made no eye contact with any of the room's inhabitants. That might be taken as rude of him.
Lina simply stared. It was definitely Xelloss. There was no arguing that. But the cleverness, the sarcasm, the very joking nature that defined him was simply not there. Instead of his rudeness, there was only etiquette.
...Veil? Is this...
Yes, Lina. This is the day of Xelloss' creation.
I was actually going to ask you if this was Xelloss.
Why?
Because he doesn't act like Xelloss at all.
True.
Lina sighed. Judging by the tone of her voice, Veil wasn't going to give her any hints. She would simply have to watch and see what happened.
A curtain of red seemed to glide past out of the corner of her eye. Lina turned and realized that Zelas had walked past her. The mazoku was more closely inspecting Xelloss.
She stood back a bit at first to get a good long look at him - smooth skin, almost delicate features, slightly small build. Something pretty to look at and easy to keep under her. A smile pricked at the corners of her mouth as she walked behind him. A pause, then a few more steps, and she had walked a complete circle around him, examining every angle. Then she leaned forward, gazing into his eyes for awhile, scrutinizing his face, his hair...so many beautiful shades of purple, all packaged together. She slid her hand around to the small of his back, nudging him just a bit closer.
Dynast cleared his throat. Lina could practically hear his anger.
Smiling, Zelas backed away just a step, her fingers drifting away from Xelloss' back but stopping at his arm. They rested in the crook of his elbow.
"He's a fabulous specimen, dear Fibrizo. Wherever did you find the corpse?" She smiled sweetly at Xelloss' maker. Dynast supressed a growl.
Fibrizo came to Xelloss' side, glowing with pride in her creation. "I had to look for years to find a body that was suitable for me to work on. The problem with the Brothers was that they did not die naturally. They were killed."
Zelas shrugged. In an instant, Lina felt her mind fill the space behind the mazoku's eyes, felt the thoughts resting there. Zelas didn't see what the problem was with the Brothers. She had graciously provided the materials, and when Fibrizo had asked for corpses, well. She found five attractive specimens and killed them herself. The very picture of efficiency. After all, what was the point in being able to choose the body of your servant if you couldn't pick the best ones just because they were still living? They'd squirmed rather attractively. She had enjoyed that part the most.
Lina's mind withdrew from the mazoku then, and she was glad for it. The Queen's thoughts made her sick.
"The problem with a body that doesn't die naturally is that its spirit is distressed. My process involves transforming the spirit, and I must use the spirit that lived in the body. The residual stress of the spirit disrupts the transformatory magic. This means I can't enchant it fully. Things are left undone. I can't make a perfect servant if the soul is tainted. The only way to avoid this is to find a soul whose body died a peaceful death. But it has to be a young soul, or it will be brittle. And it's very hard to find a human that died peacefully at such a young age."
Dynast frowned. "That's a bit of a puzzle, then. How did he die, Fibrizo?"
"An illness. A very rare, wasting illness, but gentle. He simply slept into passing."
"Ah. Very intriguing," Zelas feigned interest. "A stroke of luck that such an illness fell upon a human this attractive." She stroked a finger through his hair. Soft as silk.
Lina gaped. How could they discuss his death so plainly, right in front of him? Xelloss didn't react at all. He hadn't moved since Zelas nudged him. His face was still pleasant and polite. Did he care? Fibrizo said she had molded him - did he even remember his life before? After all, Xelloss wasn't a human, he was a mazoku...wasn't he?
"Yes, yes, he's very pretty." Gaav waved his hand as if to discard their entire conversation. "But what good is he? I can imagine better servants than the Five, but one servant better than all Five put together is a little too much for me to swallow."
Fibrizo's shoulders sunk a little. Gaav gave no sign that he cared, until he noticed Dynast's fists. They were balled up and shaking, just a little. He was angry.
"Not that the Five have ever done me wrong, Fibrizo." Gaav backtracked smoothly, not showing an inch of his nervousness. "It's just that while I think your skills have certainly improved in the last ten years, and you are the only artist I would ever expect to be able to top your work at all...well, five times as good as one of the Five is unbelievable, for me. But hey." He put his hands up. "I've been surprised before. I'm sure it will happen a few more times before the world ends."
Fibrizo smiled. [Gaav relaxed.] "I see." Lina saw a twinkle in the corner of Fibrizo's eye. It hinted just barely at mischief. The artist tugged at her creation, pulling him away from Zelas's grasp. She whispered something into his ear. To whatever she said, Xelloss gave the slightest of nods. He then walked a few strides away from the Lords, turned to Gaav, and gave a very deep bow.
Gaav raised an eyebrow and nodded at the servant, not knowing what else to do. He certainly wasn't going to bow back, he knew that. The boy was a servant, after all. "Fibrizo?"
The Hellmaster smiled, and this smile didn't leave out a bit of her mischief. With a chill, Lina was reminded of the boy who had lured her into casting the Giga Slave. "Attack him."
Gaav's eyebrows went up. "The hell you say?" Dynast snickered at the unintended pun, though Gaav's confusion was probably the real reason.
"Attack him. Go ahead. You have my word that I won't hold any casualties against you." Fibrizo's expression was a perfect deadpan. She was the master of it, after all.
The Chaos Dragon shrugged. Whatever. Fibrizo was always a little weird. His gaze snapped to Xelloss and he straightened up. Sighting the distance, he casually [at least, he made it look casual, that was the trick] tossed a bolt of dark energy at the former human. It was a pity, really. The boy was attractive, and Gaav wouldn't mind enjoying that at all. What a waste.
Xelloss stared at his death calmly as it surged towards him. He lifted his arm, turning his palm outwards just as it hit him.
Gaav stared, open-mouthed and dumbfounded. Zelas and Dynast mimicked him.
Xelloss lowered his arm to rest at his side again, a touch of grace to the motion but no flourish. He didn't have a mark on him. His hair wasn't even ruffled.
"In certain areas, I think you'll find him a bit more useful than the Five." Fibrizo's voice was warm with smugness.
You can find more of Irk's works at http://www.mazoku.com/~snapple/ficarc/

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