Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Birth Rite ❯ Prologue and Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Birth Rite - Prologue and chapter 1 of ??

Author: Tsutsuji

Date written: September-October 2005. Minor edits August 2006.

Fandom: Slayers!

Rating: Y - R - M - for mature teens and older

Pairings: Xelloss/Zelgadis

Type: yaoi/slash, adventure

Warnings: m/m sexual situations, original characters, angst, violence (in later chapters)

Status: in progress.

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to these characters and I'm making no profit from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.

Archive and reposting permission: let me know if you want it.

Spell-checked and self-beta'd. Please inform me of any typos.

 

I want to thank all who have read and reviewed, and especially Kaero Shisho and the members of the Ze_Xel_yaoiml yahoo group for pointing out errors and making suggestions!

 

Feedback: Please! Honest praise and constructive criticism, or just let me know if you even made it all the way through a chapter.

 

Summary: In the sequel to Poison, Zelgadis sets off with Xelloss as his "guardian" on a new quest for ancient magic, and soon discovers something surprising about his own hidden powers. As their journey continues, Zel's quest for the Lost City of Skye uncovers ancient secrets and a plan that could threaten the world - or at least, really mess up his relationship with Xelloss.

 

 

--This story is dedicated to everyone who actually enjoyed Poison. I am so glad I made so many Slayers and Xel/Zel fans happy with that story! I'll try not to let you down with this one.--

 

 

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Birth Rite - Prologue

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Xelloss!

 

I hear her voice and feel her thought touch my spirit, which is a great relief. However, this also means that I still exist, which is even more of a surprise and less of a relief, all things considered.

 

Ah, Xelloss. I felt you respond that time. Much better.

 

Is it? And is that relief I sense in her thought, or something else? I'm not certain. To tell the truth, I'm a little baffled. Apparently, the one who created me has once again bestowed some of her power on me so that I can exist. Not to question Zelas-sama's judgment, of course, but really, this wouldn't have been necessary if I wasn't such a fool.

 

You'll be able to take form again soon. When you can, come to me at once. I'm anxious to hear your report.

 

Oh yes, of course. My report. That will be entertaining. I've been given life again just so that I can explain in detail how great a fool I am, and so that I can face her anger - and far worse than that, her disappointment.

 

How could she still wish me to exist after what I've done?

 

I will certainly do so as soon as I'm able, I reply. I send the thought to her with all the humility and gratitude I can force through my raw spirit. I'm quite sincere, but perhaps it's a little too much to be believable. She pauses, as if to sense me more carefully.

 

Xelloss-san, you haven't wondered about your chimera yet. I thought you would be anxious to know if Zelgadis is safe.

 

I think I manage not to wince.

 

Hmm. Is there any reason I should be so concerned with the well being of a human?

 

I project the utmost disinterest through my thought. After all, this human we're discussing is only another meaningless speck of mortal dust floating through the physical world.

 

Unfortunately but predictably, I don't really convince myself of this. I'm not sure I convince her, either. When her thought reaches me again, it's touched with amusement.

 

I see. Well, the answer to that question will be part of your report, I expect. I'll leave you to gather your strength, and your thoughts.

 

Thank you, I reply with the mental equivalent of a ceremonial bow, as is appropriate for the Priest of the great Mazoku Lord, the Greater Beast: Zelas Metalium.

 

She acknowledges my obeisance and then her thought withdraws, leaving me alone in silence.

 

Gather my thoughts.... Well, really, I'd prefer to let them drift away and dissipate throughout the astral realm. Then again, it might be better to drive myself back into human form as quickly as I can. On the physical plane, I won't be quite as aware of this aching pain in my astral body, in all the ragged edges left where Zelgadis touched me.

 

What did she see in my thoughts just now, I have to wonder? Did she glimpse the desires and memories that I'm trying to bury out of sight of my own mind? I also wonder: if I cast off part of my own spirit, could I send those memories away as well? What kind of creature would I create if I did that? A thing with the spirit of a mazoku and the appearance of a chimera-sorcerer, perhaps. Or maybe it would only look like me, but have the heart and soul of a human.

 

Well, I'm not here to speculate on such monstrous possibilities. Instead of ridding myself of memories and thoughts I should never have had, I must sift through them to make my report. I suppose I should begin with the day I left Seyruun to follow Zelgadis on his new quest for the Lost City of Skye. It certainly seems that my final downfall began on the first night of that journey, some time over a month ago as humans count days. But I was slipping into this insanity even before that happened, long before I left the ruined Valley of Shimeria.

 

I've thought I might blame Shimer for turning me into the blind fool that I've become, as if I was never really cured of the Curse that nearly killed me. Only when I was sure I was dying was I careless enough to admit that I had developed some kind of feelings toward a mortal. However, if I'm honest about it, I have to admit that my real affliction began long ago, on the very first day I crossed paths with a certain stone-skinned chimera.

 

And I really have no choice but to be honest about it to Zelas-sama, do I? I am a mazoku, after all.

 

 

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Birth Rite, chapter 1

 

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Over two weeks after leaving Seyruun, Zelgadis caught the first scent of the sea. The salty air blowing into his face drew him out of his thoughts for the first time in hours.

 

He and Xelloss had been following a path down from the mountains along the Eyrie River. For days they'd seen nothing but the river gorge and the deep, evergreen forest. While he'd been trudging along lost in his own thoughts, the gorge had opened out into a narrow valley. Their road continued down a gentler slope through this valley, and at the far end of it, sun glinted on water where the Eyrie emptied into a bay between two high, rocky points. It was mid-afternoon of a fine autumn day, and out beyond the bay he could see the ocean gleaming like silver in the sunlight. Nearer at hand, at the end of their road, a misty veil was draped over the edge of the land.

 

For the past two weeks, Xelloss had followed him along a wandering road down from Seyruun Kingdom into the lowlands of the Coastal States. Zelgadis had come to the coast to seek evidence of the Lost City of Skye and its legendary magical knowledge, all of which was said to have sunk beneath the waves thousands of years ago. At least, that was the reason he'd given for coming all this way. Getting away from inquisitive friends back in Seyruun and getting as far away from the Valley of Shimeria as possible where the more practical inspirations for this quest.

 

Now that the coast was finally in sight, he remembered why the stories of the Lost City had intrigued him in the first place. If those old tales were true, the lost magical knowledge would be worth more than everything in the Sorcerers' Guild's vast libraries. However, since leaving Seyruun, he'd been engaged in some private research of his own that had nearly driven Skye from his mind entirely. Now he remembered the hints he'd read and heard of the great magical knowledge that had been lost with Skye. He stared ahead to the harbor town that was nearly hidden within the mist at the near end of the bay. An old, familiar excitement stirred in his heart.

 

"That must be Mystport," Xelloss observed casually as they walked along beside the river. "It appears to live up to its name! We'll be there before nightfall. I've been wondering if there's some particular reason you chose to come to Mystport, of all places. This wasn't the most direct road to the coast from Seyruun, you know, nor the easiest. If we'd gone west from Seyruun City through the kingdom of Ralteague, we would have reached the seaports there a week ago."

 

"Why, have you grown tired of my company already?" Zelgadis said with a sly grin.

 

Xelloss grinned back. "Not in the least! We could spend another month in the wilderness together, as far as I'm concerned!"

 

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do have reasons for coming to Mystport," Zelgadis said. "According to the information I could find in Seyruun's libraries, many of the expeditions that went out to search for the Lost City set sail from here. It is also said that several ancient, well-known families of sorcerers and clerics came from this area as well."

 

"You actually did your homework this time, Zelgadis-san! I'm impressed!" Xelloss said.

 

"I had to keep busy somehow while I was stuck there in Seyruun, wondering what had happened to you after you dragged me out of Shimeria and then disappeared. Trying to verify those old stories you told me helped pass the time."

 

He spoke lightly, but from the glance Xelloss gave him, he must have caught some of the emotion under the words.

 

"How sweet of you to worry about me, Zel-san!" Xelloss said in the same light tone. "While in fact I was having a wonderful time destroying things back in the Valley of Shimeria all the while!"

 

Zelgadis snorted. He knew now what Xelloss had been doing, but at the time he'd been worried that the Mazoku might have suffered fatal harm from the Curse of Shimer. He guessed that Xelloss had spent half of that time healing on the astral plane as well. Aside from that, though, he'd also had time to wonder whether the intimacy that had developed between them in Shimeria was real. He knew by then that his own attraction to Xelloss was undeniable, but he had begun to doubt whether Xelloss' professed desire for him was any more than a convenient deception. He knew better now. This entire journey so far had been proof of that.

 

He wasn't sure how much of all this Xelloss heard in his words.

 

"Obviously, my worries were unnecessary," he said with a wry grin. "But Prince Phil's libraries are almost as extensive as those of the Sorcerers' Guild, you know. And I'm sure you knew I'd be intrigued by those stories you told, enough to follow them up with a little research."

 

"I was only interested in keeping you in one place for a few hours when I told you those stories. Unfortunately, I didn't realize then that there were better ways to distract you and wear you out," Xelloss grinned. "Anyway, I take it that the information in Prince Phil's libraries led you to believe that those old families might have descended from sorcerers who have escaped the destruction of Skye."

 

"It seems possible, and some have claimed that it's true, but others have disputed those claims. The concentration of skilled sorcerers in the area could be the only reason so many expeditions started from here. Then again, it could all be nothing more than coincidence."

 

Xelloss didn't seem surprised by Zelgadis' lack of optimism. "You're not getting your hopes up very high, are you?"

 

"Not this time," Zelgadis answered. He frowned. As intriguing as the stories of Skye could be, there were plenty of reasons to be skeptical. One of them was walking next to him, but he didn't bother to say this. "After all, even if there ever was such a city, there's probably a good reason it no longer exists."

 

"Surely we Mazoku are blamed for destroying Skye," Xelloss said, looking sidelong at him. "Isn't that the most likely explanation?"

 

Zelgadis gave him back his crafty expression. "Do you mean you want to take credit for it? As a matter of fact, speculation is about equal on whether it was the mazoku, the Dragon Lords, or the humans themselves that destroyed Skye."

 

"The gods destroy a city? Who would ever think such a thing?" Xelloss asked sarcastically.

 

"Yes, we know how peaceful the followers of the Gods really are, don't we?" Zelgadis said bitterly. "If the Golden Dragons could wipe out a whole tribe of their own kind to preserve the balance of power, surely they wouldn't think twice about destroying a city of human sorcerers, especially if they thought those sorcerers' power threatened the peace of the world. At any rate, that's one of the theories, even though the Sorcerer's Guild doesn't seem to know about the fate of the Ancient Dragons."

 

"But they actually think the dragon race attacked the City of Skye? I never knew that."

 

"Didn't you?" Zelgadis peered at him suspiciously, but Xelloss shook his head.

 

"Honestly! I've only ever heard that either Mazoku destroyed the city, or some magic the sorcerers discovered got out of hand and they destroyed themselves -- accidentally, or perhaps on purpose."

 

"Well, those are the three theories. All the same theory, in a way. In the City of Skye, so the story goes, the true study of magic began over five thousand years ago. But the power of the sorcerers grew too quickly, until it was beyond their skill to control it or use it wisely. Either the mazoku got nervous about the amount of power the humans had acquired, or the gods got nervous and destroyed the humans before they could become like gods themselves. Or, as you said, the sorcerers developed some magic that went out of control. Since there's no evidence of the city's existence, no one can tell for sure what happened."

 

Zelgadis turned to his trickster companion and asked directly, hoping for the honest answer he knew he wasn't likely to get. "What do you think happened to Skye, Xelloss?"

 

"To tell the truth, I don't think anything of the kind ever happened at all!"

 

Zelgadis scowled at him. That sounded suspiciously like an honest answer.

 

"Do you mean to say you don't think Skye ever existed?"

 

"Exactly! It was long before my time, of course, but from what I've heard, your fabled city is a fairy tale. I'm afraid that Skye is merely the nostalgic dream of a Golden Age of Magic that never was. On the contrary, mazoku remember that time as our own Golden Age, when humans lived in superstitious fear of everything around them. Dragons, gods, monsters, and the forces of nature alike, all terrified the poor, defenseless humans. It may be true that the study of magic began then, but if so, it began with the primitive rituals they invented to try to appease these evil forces - including the dragons! Ah, but it's said they gave us bounteous feasts of pain and terror to feed upon in those days! I wish I'd been there," he added wistfully.

 

He didn't even look aside at Zelgadis as he said this, he only grinned as if lost in happy memories. Zelgadis could guess that what he really enjoyed was the mingled disgust and irritation this story inspired in him.

 

"Of course, you didn't bother to say any of this earlier," he muttered.

 

Xelloss said nothing else, and they walked along in silence for a while. Zelgadis stared ahead, but he hardly noticed the grey buildings of the seaport town that now appeared to huddle under the bank of coastal mist. He was too busy trying to second- and third-guess Mazoku logic.

 

"Of course, if Mazoku did destroy this place because they were nervous about the power humans had developed, they wouldn't brag about it, would they?" Zelgadis mused. "They would say such power never existed at all! In fact, they wouldn't even admit to themselves that they had anything to fear from mere humans, would they?"

 

"Oh dear, Zel-san, do you really think we're so devious that we can even deceive ourselves?"

 

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow at his innocent expression. "That's an interesting question," he said. "Just tell me, if I do find evidence that Skye really existed, are you going to destroy it in front of my eyes?"

 

"You really do hold on to your grudges, don't you?" Xelloss said admiringly. "If you find any evidence or lore from the Lost City, I'll be looking over your shoulder at it with just as much curiosity as you! If it turns out to hold some threat to my kind, well, then, we'll have to talk."

 

Zelgadis shook his head and gave him a dry laugh. "I suppose that's the best that I can hope for!"

 

He turned his attention to the town, wondering how unfriendly it would be to a rock-golem/brow demon chimera. He'd passed through the port town once or twice in the past, long before he'd become interested in the Skye legends. He remembered it as a bustling harbor town at the head of a natural bay, circled by the high, crumbling cliffs that continued far to the north and south. Ships carried goods and passengers up and down the coast through Mystport, an easier journey to the northern and southern lands than the rugged overland roads. But many people came all this way just to admire the view.

 

Even a town that welcomed travelers could be wary of strangers, though. Xelloss watched with a frown as he pulled his hood down over his silver hair and tucked a scarf around the lower half of his face. A cloaked and hooded stranger inspired curiosity and a little fear, but a man with skin of bluish stone and hair like wire made people nervous to the point of hostility.

 

"Do you know, I'm beginning to dislike cities just as much as you do," Xelloss said. "I prefer it out here in the wilderness, where you never feel the need to hide yourself from view. And where you don't try so hard to stifle those lovely sounds you make in the night..."

 

Zelgadis' face flushed with deep warmth. "You're not exactly the silent type yourself, you know," he muttered in a feeble attempt at retaliation.

 

"With good reason, given your quickly developing talents! Which reminds me: do you plan to set aside your own magical research while you look for the Lost City?" Xelloss asked.

 

Zelgadis' gaze went unfocused for a moment, until he forced himself to remember again why they were here at the coast. The fabled magical lore of Skye was a worthwhile quest for a number of reasons. Even so....

 

He glanced aside at Xelloss, knowing the mazoku could sense the smile on his veiled face.

 

"No," he said decisively. "I do not."

 

Xelloss smiled back broadly. "I'm very glad to hear it," he said.

 

 

---

 

Mystport was indeed living up to its name, Zelgadis observed an hour later as they walked down its narrow, cobblestone streets between weathered buildings. Within its ring of rocky cliffs, the bay was filling with fog like a bowl of thin, grey soup. Under the clanging of buoy bells and the creak of ships' rigging near the docks, he could hear a muffled roar from the waves crashing against the cliffs that circled the bay. The damp air was sharp with the tang of saltwater, fish, and old, wet wood.

 

Even so, the whole scene looked like a picture on a travel brochure. Colorful fishing boats rested at anchor as if they were posing for the artists who had planted themselves and their easels along the wooden quay. A few late-season tourists strolled along as well, peering over the artists' shoulders at the view. Out on the open ocean, the sun touched the waves with silver light, and even the shrouds of harbor mist seemed to be artfully arranged.

 

Zelgadis wasn't much interested in the artistic composition of the scene. In his grey hooded cloak and scarf he blended in well with the landscape, but he still drew enough curious glances to feel uncomfortable as they climbed through the side streets above the harbor. Xelloss followed at his side, gazing around curiously with his usual disarming smile. He seemed content to follow Zelgadis around for the moment. Zelgadis grinned to himself. As his self-appointed guardian, Xelloss supposedly didn't have much choice, but his patience wasn't likely to last forever.

 

"Are you just planning to soak up the scenery like a tourist until something catches your eye?" Xelloss asked pleasantly, "Or do you have a plan for the afternoon?"

 

Zelgadis grinned. "I do have a plan, as a matter of fact. This main street that winds up from the harbor is Merchant's Row, as you may have noticed. I'm looking for a particular shop and particular couple of people to interview. After I find them, I plan to find a meal, a bath, and then, a very private room."

 

Xelloss sighed and pouted. "Well, if you insist on putting the shopping expedition first, at least tell me what you're looking for."

 

Zelgadis stopped in the middle of the cobbled street. Xelloss' gaze followed his to the sign over the door of a narrow shop a little further along the way. Above an antique globe of the world, the lettering on the sign read: "Angus Osprey, Cartographer."

 

"Good," Zelgadis said, nodding. "He's still in business."

 

"I take it Mr. Osprey has maps leading to the Lost City?" Xelloss inquired as they started across the street.

 

"If he did, it wouldn't be a lost city anymore, would it?" Zelgadis muttered, rolling his eyes while Xelloss played dumb. "Osprey is mentioned in The Compleat History of the Skye Expeditions and several other books on Skye. He claimed to have access to secret maps and sea charts that no one else has ever seen."

 

"Ahh," Xelloss said, nodding. He sounded like he was genuinely interested, which Zelgadis doubted was true, but he followed along with a smile, anyway.

 

They found the way to Osprey's shop blocked by a crowd of people gathered in front of the shop next door. "Emily Gosling, Books and Bindings," read the sign over the door. Zelgadis looked at the crowd in wonder. There were some fifty people, more than half of them younger than Lina, all standing more or less in a line that snaked back and forth across the narrow street.

 

"I didn't even know this many people could read," Xelloss murmured. Zelgadis shot him a look, but then he had to wonder as well.

 

"Are they really all here to buy books?" he asked of no one in particular.

 

They pushed their way into the crowd. It parted reluctantly for them, but the people weren't stubborn or surly, they were just too distracted to bother with two strangers who weren't interested in the same thing they were. Most of them didn't even look up when he and Xelloss bumped into them, and the few who did looked more startled than annoyed.

 

Zelgadis stopped short, blocked by an unyielding group of schoolgirls huddled together. From the babble of their voices, one girl's rose above the others.

 

"I heard that what the evil sorcerer does at the end is..."

 

"Hush!! Stop!"

 

A boy standing nearby had turned suddenly and screeched at the girls, startling them into silence.

 

"Don't say it!" he pleaded. "You'll ruin the ending!"

 

The one who had been speaking loudest clapped her hands over her mouth and cringed.

 

"Sorry!" she said through her fingers.

 

Zelgadis edged around them, followed by Xelloss. He nearly tripped over another young boy who was less than half his height. The boy didn't notice; he stared ahead distractedly and twisted the end of his mother's shawl between his hands.

 

"Do you think the sorcerer really killed the dragon? What if it comes back to life?" the boy asked his mother anxiously.

"I don't know dear, we'll have to wait and see," she said. If she was trying to reassure him, it wasn't a very convincing effort, as she was too busy straining to look over the heads of the crowd toward the door of the shop.

 

Zelgadis shook his head in wonder and pushed on through between them. Xelloss tucked his way through the crowd with his head down, hiding all but his smile under his dark hair.

 

"Are you enjoying this?" Zelgadis said aside to him. "They don't look all that unhappy."

 

"They're all tense and anxious, though," Xelloss said cheerfully. "Can't you tell? I believe they're all waiting for the latest chapter in a serialized story, and apparently the previous installment left them with a terrible cliffhanger! Some of them are quite worried about what's going to happen next, and others are as excited as if they were about to go into battle for their lives! It's quite amusing."

 

"It's a story!" Zelgadis exclaimed softly. "The way they're talking, you'd think it was their real lives!"

 

"Well, now, remember Zelgadis-san, most people don't have such interesting lives as you and I do! They have to take their excitement where they can find it. And they'd much rather find it in books and stories, of course. Most of them have never seen a real dragon or a monster - as far as they know! - and never hope to. To these people, your whole life would be a marvelous tale which they would hardly believe if they heard it."

 

"Maybe I should write my memoirs," Zelgadis muttered over his shoulder.

 

They were nearly through the crowd. Standing at the far edge a little apart from the anxious children, teenagers, and parents, Zelgadis passed two middle-aged men and a woman who were dressed in the robes of guild scholars.

 

"Well, it's obviously culled from a number of other sources, of course," the eldest man said, nodding sagely. "There are elements borrowed from literary source, from old myths and tales to the latest ballads. She's done some solid research, I'll admit, but the magic in this story could never happen in the real world!"

 

"Of course not!" the woman agreed. "It's completely over-the-top, but she's woven it into a inspiring tale, a true modern legend."

 

The other man chuckled, stroking his grey-streaked beard. "Well, of course it's over the top! An evil, dead sorcerer comes back to life, and only one reluctant hero can save the world from catastrophe! Ridiculously simplistic and utterly predictable! Still, for a children's story, it has some very deep themes..."

 

They all nodded wisely and fell into an even more serious discussion of these deeper themes. Zelgadis noticed, though, that they all kept their eyes on the door to the bookshop the entire time.

 

When he and Xelloss finally made it through to the other side of the crowd, they found a clerk at the cartographer's shop standing in his own doorway, watching the scene with a great deal of interest.

 

"Hello," Zelgadis began, "Is Mr. Angus Osprey available? I'd like to..."

"What? Mr. Osprey?" the clerk said absently. "Oh, yes, of course. No, he's away at the moment on holiday..." He tried to peer between their shoulders at the crowd in front of the bookstore, blinking past them through large, thick glasses.

 

Zelgadis turned to look back at the crowd. "What is so fascinating about a story book?" he muttered, apparently to himself because the clerk wasn't paying him the slightest attention.

 

Zelgadis felt ruffled. He was used to being either stared at or pointedly ignored, but never simply.... ignored. He stepped in front of the boy again and tried to catch his eye. "I'm sorry to trouble you," he said without bothering to sound sorry, "but I'd like to ask Mr. Osprey..."

 

Suddenly the clerk drew back and blinked like a demented owl. "A story book? You mean, you don't know? You haven't read it? Hello? What pocket universe have you been stuck in?"

 

The clerk gave him a quick, disdainful look up and down with his glass-blurred eyes. Zelgadis had finally gotten the boy's attention, it seemed. Xelloss chuckled.

 

"You haven't been reading The Princess of Fate? I've read the whole series seven times already!" He gestured impatiently, looking past Zelgadis again toward the bookshop crowd as if beseeching them for help. "Can you believe anybody hasn't read The Princess of Fate?" he cried in their general direction.

 

Zelgadis' mouth fell open but nothing came out.

"What a charming title!" Xelloss chimed in helpfully.

 

"I'm not interested in reading fairy tales," Zelgadis growled at last. "Especially since I apparently live in one," he added with an extra glare at Xelloss. "I wanted to speak with Mr. Osprey. Can you at least tell me where I can find him?"

 

The clerk was too busy shaking his head in disbelief to hear the question. "You have no idea! It's not just a fairy tale! And whatever those stuffy old critics say, it's not a children's story, either! It's just the most amazing thing anyone has ever written! People are learning to read just so they can read this book! And the last book of the series is finally coming out this week!" His voice rose to a frantic squeak on the last two words. "The Princess of Fate and the Sorcerer's Secret! I can't wait!" He shivered in an ecstasy of anticipation, then drew himself together and nodded smugly toward the crowd. "I already reserved my copy. I'm camping out here at the shop so I'll be first in line when it comes in!"

 

"All those people are lined up just to reserve a book about make-believe magic? I can't believe it." Zelgadis looked back at the crowd. Some of them were now leaving the shop with slips of paper clutched in their hands, looking even more excited than they had been before. Still more were arriving to block the street.

 

"They're still taking orders," the clerk offered helpfully. "Gosling's might even have copies of the first five books. Trust me, you have to read this book!"

 

Zelgadis stared at him a moment longer, but the boy seemed to have lost whatever wits he might once have possessed before The Princess of Fate took over his mind. He had hardly looked at them at all except for that one, quick glance. Zel sighed and pressed his hand to his forehead.

 

"Is Mr. Osprey expected back any time soon?" he tried, hopelessly.

 

"Oh, Mr. Osprey? He should be back in a day or so," the boy shrugged. He was chewing the side of his thumb, still watching the crowd, but it seemed that his mind was starting to wander even further from the cartographer's shop.

 

"I wonder if the dragon is really dead..." he muttered. "I bet it's going to come back...."

 

Zelgadis turned and walked away up the street, away from the boy and the book-crazy crowd. He felt his teeth grinding and shook his head. He'd barely arrived in town and he was already fuming with frustration. He should have expected it.

 

Of course, Xelloss took the opposite view. He chuckled and hummed to himself until they were several blocks away. Zelgadis finally turned and glared at him, and Xelloss managed to stifle his laughter behind his hand.

 

"Well, Zel-san, at least the people here aren't hostile," he said, "but still, your search hasn't started very well, has it?"

 

"No," Zelgadis said shortly. He knew just how much Xelloss was enjoying his frustration. To counteract that, he took a deep breath and reminded himself of the other local people he was hoping to question.

 

He glanced back; the street had climbed high enough so they could look out over the dockside roofs to the open ocean beyond the bay. The sun was low over the sea, giving the mist a golden glow. There was still time in the day to make another start, provided the whole town hadn't gone mad for a fairy tale.

 

He was about to turn back to tell Xelloss where he was going next when he heard a sound that froze him to the spot. A chill shot through his veins, as if they were suddenly filled with water from an icy underground spring.

 

Beyond the clatter of footsteps on the cobbled streets and the murmuring voices of people walking by, Zelgadis' sharp ears caught the jingling music of glass beads rattling together. It was the very same sound once said to strike fear into the hearts of even the most powerful Mazoku, the sound made by the enchanted jewelry worn by Followers of Shimer.

 

They were hundreds of miles away from the Valley of Shimeria. He knew it was the nature of the fanatical Followers to carry Shimer's Relics far and wide, but he'd hoped they had not yet spread so far south and west, all the way to the Coastal States.

 

"Damn," Zelgadis hissed. "I never wanted to hear that sound again."

 

He knew Xelloss heard it too, from the way his eyes went wide and then quickly narrowed to slits.

 

"Well, well," Xelloss said softly. "It seems I'm finally going to get to fulfill my duty as your guardian, Zelgadis-san."

 

Zelgadis grew even more alarmed. He hadn't been sure that Xelloss was serious about protecting him from the fanatics who wanted to kill them both for destroying the Shrine of Shimer. Xelloss turned to seek the source of the sound among the people on the street. Zelgadis sensed a shift in the aura of power hidden within the mazoku's human form. He realized that Xelloss was very serious indeed.

 

The jingling sound was coming nearer. Xelloss started toward it and Zelgadis followed, filled with mingled dread and old rage. He watched for the familiar mindless smile among the faces of travelers and merchants in the street, while his magical senses listened for the seductive spell the Relics used to lure more followers to Shimer's cause.

 

Xelloss stopped suddenly. Zelgadis stepped up beside him but Xelloss flung out his arm to hold him back.

 

"I don't need your protection," he growled, gripping his sword hilt.

 

"I should hope not," Xelloss said in an odd voice. "Certainly not from them!"

 

"What?"

 

Zelgadis followed Xelloss' gaze to the wearers of the Relics that had come into view. Expecting to see grey-robed Shrine Keepers dripping with beaded jewelry, he had to blink to be sure of what he was looking at: a pair of teenaged schoolgirls wearing every kind of ring, bracelet and bauble imaginable over scandalously skimpy tops, short skirts, and high-heeled boots. They hardly looked old enough to be out on their own, to say nothing of trying to attract the attention of teenaged boys as they obviously were. They were talking together a mile a minute, oblivious to everything else around them, and giggling at every other word.

 

He let out the breath he'd been holding and drooped with relief. His head nearly fell against Xelloss' arm, which he realized was shaking with suppressed laughter.

 

"You're right, Xelloss," he said, catching the mazoku's eye. "You have much more to fear from them than I do! They might well giggle you to death!"

 

"Oh, that's nothing more than an irritating itch to me now," Xelloss said with a grin. "Give them a couple of years, though, and they might actually be dangerous!"

 

The girls were walking straight toward them with their heads together and their hands clasped. They took no notice of anything around them, distracted by their own schoolgirl gossip. Zelgadis didn't need to be a mazoku to sense their high spirits.

 

The glint of color drew his eye to the multiple strands of beads on their arms. Some of his amusement vanished. Even amid all the other jewelry they wore, he recognized the craftsmanship of Shimeria. As they came closer he sensed the magical aura from the beads.

 

"Those really are the Relics," he said softly. He felt as if some snakelike creature was crawling along his skin. "It must be the Keepers' spell. They still retain some of Shimer's power."

 

Xelloss shrugged. "Hardly enough to do any harm - or any good, should I say? Do you think these two would be any less joyful without them?"

 

"No," Zelgadis said, seeing the twinkle of shared secrets in the girls' eyes. The aura from the beads was faint, he realized, like an old Light spell losing its power. He relaxed again. "I don't think those bracelets have any affect on them at all. It's just another fashion statement as far as they're concerned."

 

"Yes, and I must say, they actually make it work, too!" Xelloss said admiringly.

 

"Are you joking? If they were five or six years older, maybe..." Zelgadis said. But he could see Xelloss' point. The gaudy stuff looked far better on them than it would have on Shimer.

 

The girls must have sensed that they were being watched. Both pairs of twinkling eyes suddenly looked up and turned straight towards him, and their laughter stopped at once. They kept on walking, but they stared right back at Xelloss and him with wide eyes as they passed by, still clutching each other's hands.

 

Zelgadis felt like a deer caught in a Light spell, unable to do anything except blush with embarrassment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xelloss attempt a disarming smile, but it came out weak and crooked.

 

The second they were past, the girls gasped and fell into squeals of laughter again. They hurried away quickly, hugging each other in their excitement. Each of them tossed a blushing glance back over her shoulder before they turned a corner and disappeared.

 

Zelgadis let out a sigh of relief and exasperation. His chin dropped to his chest.

 

"How embarrassing! They thought we were looking at them!"

 

"Oh, and weren't you?" Xelloss asked slyly.

 

"Of course not!" Zelgadis snapped, even though his face felt hot enough to melt into lava. "I was only interested in their bracelets!"

 

"I'm glad to hear it, Zel-san, I should hate to think you're looking at other people already! Well, I suppose I can believe you - although I'm not sure I like the way they were looking at you, now that I think about it. Perhaps I should have blasted them, after all..." He frowned at the corner where they'd disappeared.

 

"Xelloss!" He wasn't sure if Xelloss was teasing him or if he was actually psycho enough to mean it. Or both.

 

"Well, it's too late now!" Xelloss sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to wait for another opportunity to be your protector." He looked like someone had stolen a treat that he'd been looking forward to.

 

Zelgadis gritted his teeth at the idea that he needed protecting. Only the fact that they were standing in the middle of a busy street kept him from hitting Xelloss with... something. He hadn't been this annoyed with the annoying trickster priest for days.

 

It occurred to him finally that this was the point, of course. Xelloss was already standing very close to him, and leaning closer. It was familiar enough by now.

 

"A whole town full of people to draw miasma from, and you've still got to pick on me," he muttered.

 

Xelloss darted back as if the words had given him a shock. He frowned. "But Zel-san, it's so much easier to pick on someone you know than on strangers! Besides, I was beginning to think the honeymoon was over. You've hardly noticed me at all since this morning!"

 

"Hardly noticed you?" Zelgadis echoed. He supposed it was true, he had been distracted away from Xelloss for the first time in days when Mystport came into view. It might have been a relief to think of other things for a while, but now that Xelloss had his full attention again, he didn't know how he could have been so distracted by anything else.

 

Even the weight of the stares they were starting to get from people passing by was hardly noticeable now, but when the sea breeze lifted Xelloss' cloak so that it brushed against his leg it made a shiver run up his spine. It wasn't only Xelloss' physical presence that caught his attention so strongly, though. Dark energy had been stirred within the mazoku by the threat of the Followers. He was acutely aware of the power hidden behind the priests' robes and bland smile. A moment ago Xelloss had been ready to unleash that deadly power, and now Zelgadis could feel it waiting there, casually held in check. It was amazing that Xelloss had held back, he realized. It was even more amazing that he controlled such power so easily. Another shiver seemed to run through his spirit at the thought of it.

 

"So," Xelloss said in a casual voice that was a sharp contrast to the energy Zelgadis sensed, "Who else are we going to visit today?"

 

Zelgadis couldn't seem to remember who else he'd planned to visit, or why. Watching Xelloss' lips move had driven all other thoughts from his mind. All he could remember of his earlier plans was his other reason for choosing to come to Mystport. He decided that the search for Skye could wait another day.

 

"There's been a change of plan," he said. "I'm skipping ahead to the part about a private room, and then...." He looked up and caught Xelloss' amethyst gaze. "And then, I think, it's time for some real magic. The kind of magic the 'Princess of Fate' never dreamed of."

 

Xelloss' lips curved up into a familiar, seductive smile.

 

"I like your new plan, Zelgadis-san," he said.

 

 

 

---

 

An hour later, Zelgadis had managed to relieve some of his earlier frustration through the rare pleasure of surprising Xelloss. He'd quickly led the way up a winding lane directly to an old, rambling Inn that perched on the cliffs to the north of the harbor. Below them, they could see lights in the streets of Mystport filtered through the mist, while a golden sunset spread across the sky over the sea.

 

The young woman behind the desk had looked up in surprise when they came in, as if a pair of travelers wanting rooms was the last thing anyone would expect or want at an inn. But a second later her face lit up; she quickly thrust the book she'd been reading under the desk and greeted them pleasantly enough. She barely even glanced at the scarf and hood muffling Zel's face.

 

"We'd like the cottage at the far end, near the baths, if it's available," Zelgadis said. "We'll be staying for a week, at least."

 

She nodded quickly and handed him the key, and named the price for a week's stay. "Including the discount for members of the Sorcerer's Guild, that is," she added.

 

Xelloss raised his eyebrows as Zel paid her the discounted price.

 

"I didn't know you were actually a member of the Guild," Xelloss murmured as they left the office.

 

Zel avoided his gaze and didn't reply.

 

He watched the smile spread slowly across Xelloss' face as he led the way to the cottage. It was screened from the Inn and the onshore wind by a row of stunted evergreen bushes, and had its own spectacular view of the harbor and the rocky coast. The sound of the waves pounding below was nearly a steady roar, carried up to them on a fresh sea wind that blew all other sounds away over the rocky dunes behind the inn.

 

"I take it you've been here before," Xelloss said appreciatively as he surveyed the cozy, private cottage.

"It was a chance thing; on that occasion, I would have preferred a simpler place closer to the docks, but the rooms in town were full. But now you know the other reason I chose to come to Mystport," Zelgadis answered.

 

"I should learn to trust your choices," Xelloss said.

 

Zelgadis chuckled. "Yes, perhaps you should." He cocked his head at Xelloss curiously. "I thought you'd enjoy being back in a town among people just as much as I dislike it," he said. "Seriously, don't you get tired of a steady diet of my bad moods?"

 

"Not in the least! Although, now that you mention it, I suppose I should sample the local fare while I'm here at the coast. You did mention seafood when you said we were coming here."

 

Zelgadis laughed. "You're not talking about ordering a plate of shellfish, are you? You'd prefer a sailors' brawl down by the docks, I suppose."

 

"Exactly! You know my tastes so well, Zelgadis-san!"

 

"Fine," Zelgadis grumbled. "Now that you've got my attention again, you want to go back to town and hang around with the locals!"

 

"It was your idea," Xelloss said reasonably. "What about that plate of shellfish you mentioned?"

 

Now that he thought about it, he had been looking forward to some fresh seafood. Besides its scenery, Mystport was famous for its clams and Eyrie River oysters.

 

"I can see your mouth is watering," Xelloss said. "Your original plan did include supper, if I remember correctly."

 

"Well, yes, but," Zelgadis began. The desire for Xelloss that had been fired up back in town was now being edged aside by a more mundane form of hunger. He remembered something else as well. "And a bath," he added with a sigh.

 

He realized he was rubbing a knot that had formed in the back of his neck just in the last two hours. He had no desire to go back to town, but the bath sounded irresistible.

 

"I could order supper brought in while you go back to town and indulge your own peculiar appetite, I suppose," he said doubtfully.

 

Xelloss watched him patiently, waiting for him to decide. Too patiently, in fact.

 

"Are you putting me off for some reason?" he asked suspiciously. "I thought you wanted my full attention!"

 

"Of course I do," Xelloss said with one of his disarming smiles. "Which is exactly why I don't want your stomach growling and distracting you while we're in the middle of our 'magic lesson'! Besides, even I know the added benefit of delaying gratification for a little while."

 

Xelloss stepped closer and raised his hand to push Zel's hood back and draw the scarf from his face. "Now that I know where we're spending the night, I promise I won't stay long in town. Perhaps I'll join you in that bath when I return, and then you can continue with your magical research..."

 

He let his finger brush across Zel's lip before he stepped back again. Zel started to reach for him, but he took another quick step away, grinning widely.

 

"Enjoy your oysters!" he said, and disappeared.

 

Zelgadis dropped his hand to his side. His stomach growled.

 

"Damn, teasing mazoku," he sighed.

 

He pulled his scarf back over his face and started out to order his dinner from the inn's kitchen, but underneath the scarf he had to smile. He was getting far too used to being manipulated by Xelloss, he supposed. But he had no doubt that the best part of his day was still to come.

 

---

 

to be continued

 

Next: Zelgadis reflects on the discovery that began his magical "research" project with Xelloss back at the start of their journey.

 

(Afternote: Any resemblance to any actual fans or teenage girls is coincidental, except for the clerk - he's based on a fanboy I work with.

 

I'd also like to acknowledge J.K. Rowling, whose combination of humor, drama, vivid descriptions, and emotional insight has become a major influence on my own writing. She and her fans rock. And it's not just a children's book... d'uh.)