Something More Chapter 8

Author: DQBunny Title: Something More - Of Princesses and Mazoku

Something More

Chapter
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Disclaimer: "Slayers" does not belong to me, but belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

Note: This fic was originally written for the LiveJournal community, "30 romances", a themed community similar to "30 kisses". All 30 parts will be combined to form one complete story that is the prequel to "Law of the Land." This chapter contains theme #35: Forget-me-not ; memory ; photo and theme #34: Pins and Needles ; Headache

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Chapter Eight: "Of Princesses and Mazoku"

Zelgadiss stretched out on one of the beds and stared at the ceiling. He winced when he heard the shouts coming from the room next door and somehow figured that Gourry managed to shove his foot down his throat again. He prayed that the end result wouldn't be the swordsman coming through the wall. That would mean utter chaos, them getting thrown out the inn and probably chased by riotous townspeople to boot.

Such was the price one paid when they chose to travel with Lina Inverse.

The shouts quieted down and he breathed a sigh of relief. It was a strange situation and one that Zelgadiss wasn't quite sure about himself. He had heard about the bounty when he entered Zefielia and, like Lina, had been marveled by the obtuseness of it. Frankly, there was a lot of legitimate reasons that Lina could be wanted - the most glaring being when she destroyed all of the expedition ships to the southern lands with her Dragon Slave.

He sat up and stared at his pack, sitting on the table on the other side of the room. He got up, walked over and reached inside of it, drawing out a pink bracelet with a round jewel attached to it. Amelia's ward bracelet. He toyed with it as he crossed back to his bed and sat down. She'd given it to him after their fight with Darkstar, after he set out once more to find his cure - sort of a reminder for him not to forget her. Since then, she contacted him somewhat regularly with it, but he hadn't done so in return.

A first time for everything... Zelgadiss began to chant the Vision spell.

oOoOo

Amelia wil Tesla Saillune stretched out on the small divan she'd placed on the balcony outside her rooms. It was a pleasant night and she wasn't very sleepy. Coming outside and reading her favorite childhood fairytales usually helped her in getting tired. Filia had taught her the value of a good cup of tea as well, and a warm pot sat nearby on a small table.

She smiled up at the sky and watched the stars twinkle overhead. Then she lowered her gaze and saw Zelgadiss.

She gasped and gave a shriek of surprise, her book sailing over the balcony ledge. She grabbed the ledge and peered over, just in time to see the book smack a guard upside the head below.

"I'm sorry!" she called out, then turned back to the vision, automatically making sure her robe was securely fastened. "Zelgadiss-san! It's good to see you! Is something the matter?"

Zelgadiss chuckled at the disheveled princess. "In a sense. I've been distracted somewhat from my journey, but I do believe it's for an important cause. Tell me something, remember the expedition to the Southern Lands where Lina destroyed all the ships?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes, Daddy had a really hard time talking all the kingdoms out of prosecuting us. He convinced them it was for the sake of justice - that and at the time we didn't realize the golden dragon was in fact Filia-san. We thought we were in real danger."

"Was the kingdom of Zefielia part of the expedition?"

Amelia tapped her finger against her chin. "No, it wasn't. It was kind of odd, but relationships with that kingdom have gone sour somewhat in the past few years. They've closed themselves off from the neighboring countries - us and Elmekia."

"About how many years would you say?"

"Two, maybe three? I noticed that trade from them had sharply declined when we returned from fighting Hellmaster Fibrizo. Shortly thereafter, Daddy sent out an emissary to invite them to join the expedition and they weren't even allowed in the country. However, they weren't being aggressive toward other countries either and Daddy said it was best not to provoke them and start a war." She frowned at him. "What's going on, Zelgadiss-san?"

Zelgadiss relayed the information about the bounty to Amelia and Lina's subsequent theories about what was going on. "Gourry's asked me to stay with them for awhile, but I was planning to do that anyhow."

"If it is yet another piece of Shabranigdu, why are they waking up so fast?"

"Something tells me it's a Mazoku thing - either that or they're all somehow reaching maturity. But, we know that the pieces pass from person to person. It seems that in this case, it's all remained in the royal family. We don't know for sure, but..."

"In the position that the queen of Zefielia's in, she could easily be controlled by Shabranigdu and cause the country to go to war with others. Zelgadiss-san, there's a reason why no assassins or spies ever sent there get out alive. They produce the most ruthless sorcerers and soldiers that were within the Mazoku barrier. Why do you think Lina-san's the way she is?"

"That I think is just Lina being Lina. Someone's prepared a trap for Lina to walk into, and she's prepared to do so just to find out what's going on."

Amelia nodded gravely and started to pace the length of her balcony. After a minute, she whirled around, her gaze meeting Zelgadiss'.

He recognized the look in her eyes. "When will you be here?"

"I'm leaving now. I'm not tired and can travel a good bit of distance before I do. I'll be by myself, I can Raywing a good deal of the distance. Keep me up to date?"

Zelgadiss nodded. "I will. Be careful, Amelia."

She gave him a small smile. "You're the one I should be telling that to, Zelgadiss-san."

He chuckled. "Between the three of us, I think we'll handle things."

The spell dissipated and Amelia ran inside to get dressed and pack a bag. Then she rushed off to inform her father.

On his end, Zelgadiss placed the bracelet back in his pack. He glanced up as he heard more shouts, then banging against the wall. With a sigh, he crossed over to it to get Lina to quiet down.

oOoOo

Lina decided she had remarkable restraint. Her self-control was very admirable, if she did say so herself. After all, it was the only thing keeping her from blasting both Gourry and Zelgadiss into the next town as they discussed battle tactics over breakfast. She fumed. It was her hometown and she'd be damned if they took over this mission.

Furthermore, there was some unsettled business she had with Gourry regarding his proposal the night before. If they were indeed engaged now, and she was 98 percent positive they were, it would be unseemly to constantly kick his butt.

Both of her male companions decided to turn their attention to her. "You're not saying much, Lina," Zelgadiss commented.

"I don't think she got enough sleep. Look at the bags under her eyes," Gourry observed.

"You shouldn't be keeping her up so late, Gourry," Zelgadiss winked at him.

"Hmm?" He tapped his chin. "She does a good job of that on her own."

Lina groaned and tugged at her hair. Forget propriety and being engaged. They were so dead.

"Digger Bolt!"

The citizens of Mylenta paused in their daily activities as two men came hurling out of the inn via the roof.

"This is your fault, Gourry," Zelgadiss muttered right before they crashed into the ground. He considered himself fortunate to land on his back.

Gourry, however, landed on his head. "Ah, but she blamed both of us."

Lina brushed off her hands as she marched outside, glared at both of them and stalked off toward the library, pausing when she heard an infuriatingly familiar voice behind her.

"My, my, Lina-san! It's an unkindly thing indeed to suddenly blast your fiancé out of the room, isn't it?"

She whirled around and noticed a familiar figure perched on the edge of one of the rooftops just a few feet away from her, cup of tea in hand. He gave her a cheerful smile.

Lina growled and her hands clenched into fists. Her morning had just gone from bad to worse. "It figures. I've gotten no sleep, I've got a huge headache and now you're here, Xelloss," she muttered as she massaged her temples. She slanted a look at him with one eye. "Tell me, though...considering that the conversation last night between Gourry and myself was private, how do you know he proposed to me?"

Xelloss considered this for a moment. "Just last night? I was actually taking a wild stab at your relationship status. I actually figured that after our last encounter that the two of you would be married by now."

"My relationship status with Gourry isn't yours or anyone else's business!"

He ignored her. "A child created from you two would be extraordinarily powerful. The Mazoku would be greatly interested in your offspring. We just hope that he or she does not inherit the father's lack of coherent memory. Though, it would take a small army just to feed it..."

Her hands flexed and she started to chant the Ragna Blade spell.

Xelloss cocked an eyebrow. "Lina-san, aren't you going a bit overboard?"

"Xelloss, since when have I ever gone overboard?" she cooed at him, gathering the dark power in her hands. "Now, just hold still so I can slice you in two pieces."

"Ah, but you see, I'm not scheduled to die today. If I do that, Zelas-sama would be awfully displeased. So, I'll have to bow out." With a wink, he flashed out of existence.

Lina let out a short shriek of frusturation.

"Oh, by the way, Lina-san?" Xellos' disembodied voice came from behind her shoulder. "You might want to turn around."

"Huh?" She did so and saw caught sight of the group of six trolls that were wandering down the street toward her. She sighed and buried her head in her hands. "This is so not my day."

She faced the assembled group. "Yo ho! Looking for me?" She gave them a wink, blew them a kiss and took off. She raced back to the inn, past a recovered Zelgadiss to Gourry's side. Lina pulled on his arm until he managed to untangle himself and stand.

"I need your sword," she told him. "Draw it!"

"What?" Gourry stared at her blankly, but drew his sword as she asked.

"Just hold it out for me!" Lina cast Recovery into it a few times and watched, fascinated, as the blade grew sharper.

"Okay, now, have fun!" She slapped his back and gestured at the advancing trolls.

"Wa...wait, Lina!" Gourry stammered as Lina took to the air.

"I trust you'll take care of them, Gourry! I gave you the means to do so!"

He nearly shouted back at her, but then whirled around to parry a shot from a troll. He grunted and immediately feinted to his left before getting enough room to whirl around and slash through one with the Blast Sword.

The sword flared with a white light as it passed through the troll's body and cleaved it in two. Gourry backed away, ready to come at it again when it regenerated. But instead of doing so, it simply dissipated. He frowned, then figured it had to do something with the spell that Lina cast on it. Then he pivoted and attacked another troll.

Zelgadiss pulled out his own sword. "Astral Vine," he chanted, boosting the power of his sword as he joined Gourry in the melee.

Lina scanned the town looking for any signs of Mazoku or more trolls. Her eyes narrowed when she saw a hunched figure near the town square, seemingly unaffected by the chaos going on around him.

Bingo, she thought, and sailed down toward it, allowing her levitation spell to dissipate in the process.

"Elmekia Lance!" she yelled, launching the spear of magic toward the figure. She cursed as it immediately winked out of sight, taking cover on the astral plane. She landed on the ground and started searching once more. Her eyes darted around as she saw something flicker in her peripheral vision.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled and she whirled around. "Blam Blazer!"

The spell shot past the figure, and Lina immediately took to the air again. She wished that she had the capacity to cast Chaos Disintegrate, or any number of the spells that Filia could handle being a golden dragon. She landed on the same rooftop that Xelloss had called to her from earlier. Whoever was attacking her was a sneaky bastard, she thought.

"Lina!"

Gourry's shout snapped her back to reality and she whirled around to see the hunched figure - now a cloaked person - aiming at her with a spell prepped. She back up, her foot slipping off the roof.

"Raywing!" she yelled, shooting into the sky.

"Disfang!" The person released his own spell.

Lina swore, dodged and retaliated. "Lighting!"

"Dolph Strash!" The person launched a spear of magic at her.

"Shit!" Lina knew the spell. It called on the power of Deep Sea Dolphin to create a spear-like shockwave that moved at super sonic speed. As soon as the first word of the spell was uttered, she immediately evaded.

But it wasn't enough.

The spear slammed into her shoulder, causing her to lost control of her Raywing spell. She plummeted to the ground, barely hearing both Gourry and Zelgadiss yelling over the rush of wind in her ears. She stuck out her one usable hand, hoping to somehow break her fall.

"Diem Wing!" She yelled, knowing it was already too late.

Instead of crashing into the dirt, she landed in Zelgadiss' arms just as she heard another voice nearby start to chant a spell.

"Demona Crystal!"

Lina struggled to sit up and saw the spell arc through the air and freeze the Mazoku. Then she noticed Gourry on the roof, cleaving through it with the Blast Sword. Sensing that everyone was safe, she allowed herself to pass out.

oOoOo

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