Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Birth Rite ❯ 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Birth Rite, Chapter 13 of (a lot more than I originally intended)

by Tsutsuji

 

Date written: 9/23/06

Rating: M

Warnings: Yaoi, UST, original characters, a little language.

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to the characters of Xelloss and Zelgadis or anything else from Slayers, and I'm making no profit from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.

Spell-checked and self-beta'd. Anyone who reads this is welcome to consider him or herself a beta reader and inform me of any errors (especially since I don't trust Open Office's spell check). Thanks, as always, to those who review and offer suggestions and corrections.

 

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who went back to school this month....

 

Summary: After breaking a couple of Temple rules (who knew?), Zelgadis finally gets his own, real, first-hand view of a Claire Bible Manuscript! A life changing experience! - except maybe not quite in the way he expected.

 

Chapter 13

 

 

Kemara stood just inside the entrance from the main temple grounds, glaring lightning bolts at Xelloss. Her black and gold Priestess robes stood out sharply against the mist. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and Xelloss sensed White Magic pooled around her hands. Myona stood beside her, looking horrified with his mouth hanging open and his eyes as huge as dinner plates.

 

"Sis," he said in a whisper, looking up at her fearfully. Without a glance at him, she started to march across the green. It occurred to Xelloss that the boy was more afraid for him than of him.

 

"M'oh," Zelgadis muttered through chattering teeth. "Rool. Bracken?"

 

"Er, yes, it appears we may have broken a rule - or several," Xelloss agreed nervously.

 

Kemara's High Priestess authority felt like a solid wall sweeping toward him. He only hoped she didn't think he was really trying to kill Zelgadis, although under normal circumstances it would be the most reasonable assumption - he was a Mazoku, after all! It would be difficult to explain that he was actually doing the exact opposite.

 

"Kemara-san," another low voice said in a warning tone.

 

Xelloss whipped his head around, and was even more shocked to discover that there were others besides Kemara and Myona watching them. The fog hadn't lifted but it had retreated, opening up the view from one end of the green to the other. Several people stood huddled by their cottage doors, biting their knuckles and trembling fearfully. He'd never seen most of them, but one of them was Marcus. Hugging himself and shivering in baggy gray pajamas, he looked more like a startled mouse than ever.

 

The one who had spoken Kemara's name, though, was Kervan. The dark haired man had paused on his way across the green toward them, with his hands held out palm down as if he was approaching a mad beast that he hoped to calm. He wore only a black silk robe that appeared to have been rather hastily thrown on, and his thick, dark hair was wildly tousled; he must have leapt right out of bed when he heard the battle on the green. Xelloss looked up at him and smiled his blandest smile, trying to make it clear that he wasn't a mad beast at all.

 

"Sorry to wake you all so early," Xelloss said earnestly. "Aren't we, Zelgadis-san?"

 

Zelgadis nodded; fortunately his nervous system was recovering quickly enough for it to look like a nod of affirmation.

 

"Vera s-s-sorr," he said. He tried to twist his head back in the grass to look up at Kervan.

 

Fortunately, Kervan recognized the grimace Zelgadis made as the reassuring smile it was probably meant to be. He continued forward and reached them at the same time Kemara did.

 

"That looked like a Miasma Shockwave, but if so, it was the weakest one I've ever seen," Kervan said quickly to Kemara. "I don't think it was meant to do any real damage."

 

Kemara appeared to ignore him, instead looking daggers at Xelloss.

 

"Move," she commanded.

 

"But - " Xelloss began.

 

Her power sparked as she raised one hand. Anger radiated off of her, but he suddenly realized that the magic gathered in her hands was a healing spell.

 

"Oh! Of course, Kemara-sama!" he said. He was up and a foot away on the other side of Zelgadis in a flash.

 

Zelgadis blinked in confusion as Kemara dropped to her knees beside his head. Kervan watched Xelloss for a moment with a speculative look, then knelt beside Zelgadis as well.

 

"I think," he said slowly to Kemara, "that they were not really fighting at all. It looked to me like a practice session. Either that, or... "

 

Kemara looked at him sharply.

 

"Either that, or a lover's quarrel," he finished with a crooked grin.

 

Xelloss twitched uncomfortably at the words, even though Kervan said it as if it was a joke. Judging from the glare she gave him, Kemara didn't think it was funny, but from the way she shook her head at him, she also didn't seem to believe it was true. He was fairly sure Kervan didn't think so, either.

 

Everything had gone quiet on the green. Myona, Marcus, and a couple of other onlookers had crept closer, though still keeping a safe distance, and craned their necks to see what was happening. Xelloss stood perfectly still and waited. Kemara placed one hand on Zel's singed chest and the other over his forehead. Xelloss was impressed to realize that she had the capacity to heal body and spirit at the same time, but he wasn't entirely surprised. She was a High Priestess, after all.

 

In the face of Kemara's authoritative power, Xelloss felt as tongue-tied as if he was the one who'd been hit with the Miasma Blast. He knew the healing spell wasn't really necessary, but he didn't think arguing the point would get him anywhere. That White Magic in her hands could be turned into a different kind of spell quite easily, with potentially uncomfortable results for him.

 

Even before her Recovery spell began to work, however, Zel's eyes focused and he reached up to touch her hand.

 

"Kemara, I'm okay."

 

Blushing from all the attention focused on him, Zelgadis pushed Kemara's hand away and sat up. He casually cast Recovery on one of the scorch marks on his chest, which disappeared in barely a second.

 

"Thank you for healing me, but it's not necessary," he said. "As you can see. I'm fine. Anyway," he continued with a sidelong glance up at Xelloss, "I'm the one who started it."

 

Kemara studied him a moment longer, then nodded. She scowled up at Xelloss, obviously still not pleased. Smiling back at her, he did his best to look innocuous.

 

"You're quite welcome, Zelgadis-sama," she said with a dip of her head. Then she fixed Zel with another piercing glare. "But as guests of the temple, you should also know that lover's quarrels are forbidden here."

 

"Eh?" Xelloss heard himself squeak in surprise. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but Zelgadis froze in place, going even redder in the face than before.

 

Kervan's eyes went wide, then he glanced back up at Marcus who stood behind him, watching them over his shoulder.

 

"They are?" Marcus said fretfully.

 

"We - didn't know that," Kervan added apologetically.

 

"Sis!" Myona gasped.

 

Zelgadis stared up at her from behind the silver sheath of his bangs for a moment, then dropped his head and, to Xelloss' surprise, grinned.

 

"You just made that rule up, High Priestess-sama," he said.

 

She grinned back.

 

"Perhaps," she admitted with the familiar twinkle in her eye. "But it's a good rule, just the same. However, I really do insist that if you intend on any more practice sessions with such high-level attack spells, you should have a healer standing by in case of accidents," she added with a stern glare.

 

Xelloss nodded vigorously. "We certainly shall do that, High Priestess-sama!" he said.

 

"Good," she said flatly.

 

Zelgadis stood up, and Kervan helped Kemara to her feet as well. Still blushing furiously, Zelgadis nodded to her.

 

"It's not necessary, but we will do that from now on," he said.

 

"There's something else you should know," Kemara said. "Complex spells and high-level magic sometimes go awry when cast within the Temple grounds. I should have mentioned it earlier, but I thought you'd realize that for yourselves. This is a place of study and research, but we rarely use high-powered magic here. Some consider that one of the benefits of residing at the Temple."

 

Xelloss saw her glance at Kervan for a second as she said this, but he was busy watching Zel and Xelloss with an odd sort of smile that almost wasn't a smile at all.

 

Zelgadis ducked his head, blushing yet again. "I did notice something like that," he muttered contritely.

 

Xelloss hadn't really thought about it, but now that he did, it made perfect sense that spells would be affected by the magical energy field he sensed. He wondered briefly about the look Kemara had given Kervan. Not many humans knew a Miasma Shockwave when they saw it, and Kervan seemed to have seen more than one and survived. He hadn't noticed any particular magical energy in the man, but now he wondered if Kervan was a sorcerer who had also discovered this the hard way.

 

Kervan wasn't really any concern of his, though. He took a good look at Zelgadis, and checked him over on the astral side as well to make sure he was fully recovered. Zel must have sensed his inspection, and turned to him with a grin.

 

"Well, then, we'll have to take this part of our research outside the Temple grounds from now on, I guess," Zelgadis said. "Next time, Mazoku," he muttered under his breath.

 

"You should have defended yourself when I told you to, chimera," Xelloss chided so only Zel's ears could hear him.

 

Seeing that the excitement was over and that the Acting High Priestess had things under control, most of the people from the other cottages went back inside, shaking heads or shrugging shoulders. A couple of them headed out through the gate to begin their day at the Temple, doing a fair job of not staring too obviously as they passed. Xelloss guessed they would all be buzzing with stories of their startling wake up call, and he had a feeling the words "lovers' quarrel" were going to come back to haunt him and Zelgadis later in the day.

 

Putting his customary smile in place, Xelloss turned back to Kemara and the others, "In the meantime, Zel-san, what about your more theoretical magical research? I see that both our guide and our scribe are here!"

 

He smiled at Myona, who shuffled awkwardly beside his sister. Marcus, on the other hand, took a step backwards.

 

"Eh, you don't really need a scribe right away, do you? I thought, that is, you'll have to get to know your way around first and study a bit before you need anything written down, won't you?"

 

"What he means," Kervan said in a dry tone, "is that since he heard he's been replaced as a guide, he was planning to sleep in late this morning."

 

"Kervan!" Marcus whined at him, but he didn't bother to deny it.

 

Kervan turned to him with a raised eyebrow and a quirk of a smile on his lips, which made Marcus stammer into silence - and blush. Watching them, it occurred to Xelloss that sleep might not actually be what Marcus was looking forward to having more of.

 

"Yes, Marcus, you are officially off duty until Zelgadis-san sends for you," Kemara said with an indulgent smile at the two men. She turned to Zelgadis. "My brother has agreed to be your guide, as you requested."

 

Myona looked up at Zelgadis with a shy smile, which Zelgadis returned with an uncertain one of his own.

 

"Thank you for asking me," Myona said in his soft voice.

 

"I hope you don't mind being dragged away from kitchen duty," Zelgadis said. "I thought that if anyone knows his way around this place, it would be you."

 

"I don't mind at all," Myona said. A little spot of color appeared in each pale cheek. "I'll do my best," he added with a little bow. "I'm honored to be of service to you, Zelgadis-sama."

 

"He really is pleased that you asked for his help, even if it did mean being getting up before sunrise," Kemara said teasingly. "I thought you might want to start early, so I didn't want to keep you waiting."

 

Behind her back, Xelloss heard Myona mutter something barely audible even to his ears about the crack of dawn.

 

"Ah, of course, that's why you're here so early," Xelloss said. He was relieved that his and Zel's use of magic wasn't what had drawn her here after all. "I'm sorry you didn't find us more presentable when you arrived!"

 

"As far as that goes," Kemara said. She gave Zelgadis a quick glance up and down - an appreciative glance, Xelloss couldn't help but notice. Her cheeks were pink, but her eyes twinkled. "While the Temple's dress code isn't strict, if you're planning to attend a Recitation or visit Spearos-sama, it might be better to dress a little more formally!"

 

Zelgadis twitched and flushed; he'd forgotten he had next to nothing on, and what he did have on was now full of holes.

 

"Excuse me," he said. "I didn't - I'll just ... "

 

Xelloss barely managed to hold back a giggle as Zelgadis marched back to the cottage at a pace just short of an undignified dash. Someone else giggled, but for once it wasn't him.

 

Kervan and Marcus went back to their cottage, while Kemara and Myona walked across the green with Xelloss. He excused himself at the door and followed Zelgadis inside their own little house, only to find him nearly dressed already, which was fairly impressive considering how far and wide his clothes had been flung the night before. Barefoot and holding one boot in his hand, Zel stood in the middle of the bedroom, looking around in all directions.

 

"Do you to have any idea where my other boot is, by any chance?" he asked, as if Xelloss might have deliberately hid it on him. He might have, but he hadn't in this case.

 

"Try under the chair in the other room. I think I heard it land there, and I distinctly remember you hopping on one foot when we came through the bedroom door last night," Xelloss answered. "You were trying to get the other one off in something of a hurry, if you remember."

 

"Oh. Right," Zelgadis answered, blushing right on cue. He turned to go back to the other room, then paused in mid-step. His lips curled up in disgust when he spotted Martina's book lying where Xelloss had left it on the windowsill.

 

"Oh, yes," Xelloss said cheerfully, picking it up. "I read it while you were sleeping. It's quite entertaining! I'm sure Lina-san will want to give Martina her opinion about it in person when she finds out about it. I really must read the rest of them now!"

 

Zelgadis shook his head and turned away.

 

"I think Kervan has the others; maybe he'll let you borrow them. In fact, you should probably give that one to him, since it was his copy of a Princess book that I sliced up yesterday," he muttered as he left the room.

 

"Actually, I think I have an even better idea," Xelloss said as he followed Zelgadis back outside.

 

Kemara was saying something quietly to her brother, who nodded and murmured absently, seeming more interested in the runes around the cottage door. They both looked up when Xelloss and Zelgadis came outside.

 

Xelloss stepped up to Kemara and held out Martina's book. When she saw what it was, her eyes went nearly as round and wide as her brother's could become.

 

"Xelloss-sama! That's The Sorcerer's Secret! The last book! You have it?" she gasped. "Myona, look! Oh, my, Kervan-san will be - and so will - !"

 

"So will a lot of people," Myona finished for her, coming over to take a look at it. He didn't seem nearly as excited about it as she was.

 

"No doubt they will," Xelloss said, "but I thought it would be best if you are the first to read it, High Priestess-sama. Consider it a contribution in kind to the Temple, if you wish!"

 

She took it from him as if she couldn't believe he'd simply hand such a precious treasure over so easily. Myona stood next to her, craning his neck to see the cover. Something about it made him frown.

 

"Don't judge it by its cover until you've read it," Xelloss said. "I think perhaps you'll understand what's being pictured there rather better than the artist who rendered the scene did."

 

They both looked at him quizzically. Zelgadis snorted derisively, then caught himself and turned serious.

 

"Yes, actually, Kemara-sama," he said, surprising Xelloss with the respectful title. "Xelloss is probably right in this case. Now that I think about it, it makes more sense for you to read that book than it did for Martina to write the thing."

 

Intrigued, Kemara studied the book more closely, drawing her finger down the edge of the cover. For a moment Xelloss thought she was going to open it and begin reading on the spot. Instead, she grasped it firmly in both hands as if to control the temptation, and tucked it out of sight within her robe. Myona looked mildly amused.

 

"I'm pleased to accept your gift on behalf of the Temple, Xelloss-sama," she said with a formal nod. "Now, I have duties to attend to, and so, little brother, do you!"

 

She bowed once more to them. With Myona out of sight behind her, she barely whispered "thank you!" to Zelgadis. Then, with a distinctively sisterly "do your best" look at Myona, she turned and left through the gate in the hedge.

 

"That should be interesting," Zelgadis murmured after watching her leave.

 

Myona stared after her a moment as well, then turned to them. He was perfectly well dressed and groomed this morning, and looked quite the proper guide, but Xelloss could sense him chafing in his polished boots and his silver-trimmed tunic.

 

"Where would you like me to take you first, Zelgadis-sama?" he asked politely.

 

"Yes, Zel-san," Xelloss said. "Where to begin? Should we visit Spearos-sama, the Head Archivist, first, or try for a bit of the Claire Bible?"

 

Zelgadis smirked. "You have to ask? My day started with getting my ass kicked and my brain scrambled in front of a bunch of strangers. I'm not really in the mood to be polite and formal with a skeptical Head Archivist."

 

Myona looked relieved to hear that he wouldn't have face Spearos first thing in the morning. Zelgadis gave Xelloss a grin that was almost threatening, and Xelloss knew exactly what was coming next.

 

"Besides, if it's possible to hear a Claire Bible manuscript recitation, I'd definitely rather do that first. After all the times I've come so close to it and missed out, I'm not passing up a chance to hear some of it - especially with you standing right there watching me!"

 

"Zel-san, that was always business, not anything personal at all!" Xelloss protested automatically. "It couldn't be helped!"

 

"Even so, you enjoyed watching me tear my hair out every time another manuscript copy slipped from my grasp, didn't you?"

 

"Well, I do try to mix pleasure with business whenever possible!" Xelloss admitted.

 

Zelgadis scowled, but he was too excited about his search to be as irritated at the memory as usual. Xelloss was anxious about it as well, in a less comfortable way.

 

"Really, I'm just as curious as you are in this case," Xelloss insisted, which was certainly true. "Myona-chan, can you bring us to a place where we might arrange to hear a recital of a Claire Bible passage this morning?"

 

"I can take you to the Dawn Pavilion; that's where they have the Claire Bible recitations. If you're really sure that's what you want to do...?" he said hesitantly.

 

"Why on earth wouldn't I?" Zelgadis said, eyes glittering with excitement. His sense of anticipation was so sharp it almost made Xelloss wince.

 

"I don't know, but..." Myona said. His eyebrows curled up like question marks on his puzzled face. "Why do you want to hear about the Claire Bible or the Beast Tribes, Zelgadis-sama? If you're looking for attack spells to help Xelloss-dono get rid of the Soldiers of Shimer, wouldn't it be better to look through the spell lore books in the libraries?"

 

Xelloss nearly fell over in surprise. Zelgadis stared at Myona like a gape-mouthed stone statue.

 

"How did you figure out that's what I'm looking for?" Zelgadis finally said. "Where you standing there watching us long enough to hear me say so earlier?"

 

Myona blinked once, then shook his head. "No, but I - that is, I thought that's why you were practicing magic attacks together. And you were going to kill Marcus-san until my sister stopped you, so I thought... " He cocked his head and turned to Xelloss. "That's what your mission is now, isn't it, Xelloss-dono? To hunt for the rest of the Shrinekeepers? And Zelgadis-sama is going to help you, like - that is - like he did at the Shrine of Shimer. Isn't that right?"

 

He looked at each of them anxiously, as if he was terribly worried that he might be wrong after all.

 

"Well, since you've guessed already, I suppose I can say that it is my mission, or at least part of it," Xelloss said. "Although, now that I think about it, I'm not sure Kemara-sama should know that."

 

Myona nodded and smiled a little smile, obviously relieved. "Even if she does, she probably won't help you, but she won't stop you either, I don't think."

 

"Wait," Zelgadis said, shaking his head as if to clear it. "Did you just say something about spell books? Here?"

 

Myona nodded. "There's an old library here that's full of spell-lore; a bunch of old books and tablets and stuff. Some of it's written in that weird writing like the kind that's on your cottage. Hardly anyone here can read most of it; the Loremasters here don't care much about stuff that's written down. Some of the books are supposed to come from the time of Lei Magnus, thousands of years ago, but I don't know if that's true or not. And I've heard that there's more spell books in the Mikoto family's library, too. I just thought that, maybe, you... "

 

Myona trailed off, quickly backing away from Zelgadis. The chimera's glowing eyes were about to pop out of his head, and he looked ready to lunge at their startled guide. Xelloss would have been amused if he hadn't been nearly as surprised by what Myona was saying.

 

"Now, now, Zel-san," he said, patting Zel's arm, "you're going to give Myona-chan nightmares again!"

 

"Damn!" Zelgadis muttered after he'd managed to pull his tongue back into his mouth and pull himself together again. "Why didn't someone mention this earlier?"

 

"Probably because you didn't ask," Xelloss answered helpfully. "It seems you're faced with an embarrassment of riches, Zelgadis-san! Which will it be: Claire Bible or Lei Magnus?"

 

He would have been delighted if Zelgadis had taken Myona's hint and gone for the spell books, but he probably shouldn't have said anything in that case. Reminding Zel of his presence only seemed to clarify things for his single-minded chimera. After another smirk in his direction, Zelgadis stared out through the gate at the Temple grounds with the familiar gleam in his eyes.

 

"Take us to the Dawn Pavilion, please, Myona," he said.

 

Myona's thin shoulders drooped. Disappointed but resigned, he turned to lead them through the gate in the hedge.

 

A boardwalk began a few steps beyond the gate and climbed across the side of a hill, lined by wild rose bush hedges that were heavy with rose hips and a few faded flowers. They walked along this for a minute or two with their boots clumping on the wooden boards and Zelgadis' excitement buzzing steadily louder against Xelloss' senses. At the top of a rise, Myona paused. Beyond this point the Temple gardens dipped like a shallow bowl set on its side, and the boardwalk became a bridge across the upper edge of the bowl. They could look out from here to the West across the bay, where a bank of colorless clouds blended into the gray sea, and a fitful glint of sunlight touched the waves here and there.

 

The tall evergreen trees hid the village below, but Xelloss' eyes were drawn to the dark stone shapes on the hooked cliff to the south. He couldn't really sense the place from here through the haze of the Temple's aura, but even in the shaft of sunlight that slanted down from the mountains behind the bay, it had a black look to his eyes. He wanted to ask their guide about it, but Myona lifted his arm and pointed to a round, golden-roofed gazebo on the opposite side of the gardens.

 

"That's the Dawn Pavilion. We can stop by the kitchen for breakfast on the way; they won't start the recitation until the sun hits the roof of it."

 

The sun had already risen far enough over the mountain behind the village to send thin beams of light through the clouds onto the lower part of the Temple grounds, but the pavilion was far up on the hillside; it would be one of the last places to come out of the mountain's shadow. Zelgadis seemed to be measuring the distance from it to the dining hall below, trying to guess how long this would take. Xelloss wouldn't have been entirely surprised if he chose to skip breakfast entirely for the occasion, but it appeared they had time for a cup of coffee, at least.

 

"And if they happen to be reciting a part of the Claire Bible, do you have any idea what part of this vast record we'll actually get to hear, Myona-chan?" Xelloss asked.

 

"I don't know what part they'll be doing this morning. I haven't attended a recitation for months, so I don't know where they are in the cycle. If we're lucky, though, maybe it will be one of the good parts!"

 

"This morning?" Xelloss said, surprised. "Do you mean to say they do this every morning?"

 

"And are you saying you've heard parts of it already?" Zelgadis asked even more wonderingly, as Myona began to lead them along the walkway on a criss-crossing, wandering path toward the dining hall.

 

"A few. Well, a lot, I guess," Myona admitted. "Sort of," he mumbled.

"You guess?" Zelgadis said, his voice rising to a squeak of surprise.

 

"Sort of?" Xelloss echoed.

 

Myona nodded; his cheeks were pink. "I'm suppose to be studying as a cleric, so I used to go to all the recitations. But I'm not allowed to go to them anymore, or at least I haven't been until now. The Loremasters didn't like it when I kept falling asleep." He flashed a sheepish grin at them.

 

Xelloss stared at him; Zelgadis was doing the same, open-mouthed. Xelloss wasn't sure which was more astonishing, the fact that these sections of the rare and secret Claire Bible were apparently available to anyone at the Temple on a daily basis, or the fact that anyone could find the manuscript so uninteresting that it put him to sleep. They exchanged a glance before Zelgadis caught his breath enough to speak.

 

"You slept through the Claire Bible? Are you certain this is the genuine Claire Bible manuscripts we're talking about?" he asked faintly.

 

Myona nodded. "They've all been verified. Sometimes I wonder if the fakes are more interesting."

 

Zelgadis blinked at him, amazed beyond words. Xelloss felt Zel's surprise mingle with his own. Then again, he thought, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. After all, the Claire Bible was the entire collected thoughts of a dead god - and presumably that meant every single thought, no matter how trivial. In its original form, specific parts of the information it contained could be accessed directly by magical means, but the only two ways he knew of to get to it that way had been destroyed by Gaav. Taken down in manuscript form, the bulk of it was hardly likely to all be fascinating reading material. On the other hand, the parts that would be most interesting to humans were likely to be downright dangerous as well.

 

"What would you consider to be the good parts? I assume there are some sections that didn't put you to sleep quite so quickly?" he asked Myona.

 

Myona turned and grinned crookedly at him. "There's a lot of boring stuff about the Dragon Lords and the hierarchy of the Dragon Elder Tribes - that all goes on forever - and a lot of other stuff that doesn't even make sense. But there're some great sections that tell about the War of the Dark Lord's Resurrection, and about the God-sealing Barrier and the Five Mazoku Sub-lords; those are a lot more interesting. It even mentions you, Xelloss-dono! Not by name, of course, unfortunately, but it talks about how the Five Lords created their priests and generals to help in the war."

 

"Really?" Zelgadis said, quirking an eyebrow at Xelloss.

 

Xelloss didn't answer. He supposed it made sense that those parts of the Water Dragon Lord's memories had survived into manuscript form, but he'd never realized the information in the Claire Bible got quite so personal.

 

"I can't resist this," Zelgadis said. "If you're sure they're going to be doing a recitation from the Claire Bible, and not something else?"

 

"That's the only thing they recite at the Dawn Pavilion," Myona said. "Every day... all day long..."

 

The dread in his voice was entirely lost on Zelgadis.

 

At the nearly empty dining hall, Xelloss watched uncomfortably as Zelgadis chomped down a quick breakfast with as much grace as Lina after a starvation march, while Myona nibbled on a roll and took a few sips of tea. By the time they stood at the door of the Pavilion a few minutes later, it was the only Temple building that wasn't dappled by the sunlight poking through breaks in the clouds above. A few other students, young humans and beast folk, had gathered around the door as well, looking just as unenthusiastic as Myona was. Unsurprisingly, Zelgadis made no effort to stifle his gleeful anticipation for Xelloss' benefit when a blue-robed Loremaster appeared and swept through them to enter the pavilion.

 

Zelgadis was the first to enter after him, while Myona was the last, murmuring a whispered plea for one of the good parts as he followed Xelloss inside. Between Myona's dread and Zelgadis' joy, Xelloss didn't know whether to hope for a good part or not.

 

---

 

Many years ago, Xelloss remembered, he had been assigned to infiltrate the Sorcerers' Guild's finest Academy of Magic. He'd spent the longest six months of his life attending classes, lectures, and practical study sessions at this illustrious place of human learning. At first it had been entertaining to watch inept young sorcerers accidentally blow each other up and to listen to absurdly incorrect theories of magic, but the novelty of all that had worn off in the first couple of weeks. Before much more time had passed, he was certain that if he was mortal, he would have died of boredom. When he finally left to make his report, it was with a huge sense of relief and a new respect for the depths of human ignorance. He was amazed that they managed to practice magic at all.

 

After that, he didn't think that anything on Earth could possibly be more boring. In the Dawn Pavilion of the Temple of the Golden Lord that day, he found out he was wrong.

 

They emerged from the Pavilion just in time to see the last beams of a golden sunset breaking through the clouds of the next approaching storm. The sky was deep blue overhead; an unexpectedly fine day had come and gone by while they sat unmoving in the pavilion.

 

The other students yawned and stretched and seem to come back to life as they headed off for dinner, already talking of other things - except for one pale boy who was actually trying to discuss the finer points of the Recitation with another student, who winced and tried to duck out of range as quickly as possible. The Loremaster swept out in a flurry of blue just as he'd come in, pausing only to give a black look to Myona. Their guide had fallen deeply and obviously asleep halfway through the recitation, with Zelgadis' rocky shoulder as a pillow.

 

Zelgadis simply looked dazed. He had stubbornly remained attentive to every word, even though Xelloss guessed that his mind was nearly as bruised from lack of thought now as it had been after he'd grazed it with his Miasma Shockwave that morning.

 

"I take it that was not one of the good parts?" Xelloss said lightly while Myona rubbed his eyes.

 

"The Making of the Worlds," Myona said around a poorly stifled yawn. "It's the third longest entire segment, and that part's near the beginning of it. It'll go on like that for weeks."

 

"The Making of the Worlds?" Zelgadis burst out. "Is that what it was about? It sounded more like some drunken poet's nightmare!"

 

"My my, Zel-san, what a thing to say about the Claire Bible!" Xelloss chided, grinning.

 

"Did it make sense to you?" Zelgadis snapped.

 

"In a sense - a human sense, that is. Remember, these are the thoughts of the Water Dragon Lord, whose perception of things is not easily translatable into human language. You know how that is, Zelgadis-san! Think of the astral magic you've learned that can't be explained in human terms. Considering that, it could have been a fairly accurate description of how the Four Worlds were made!"

 

Zelgadis glared at him skeptically.

 

"Could have been?"

 

"Or," Xelloss shrugged happily, "it might equally have been a lot of nonsense! Who am I to say, being only a humble priest of a Mazoku Lord? We don't discuss Creation very much back home, you know!"

 

"Who indeed," Zelgadis muttered. "Whatever it was, the conversation Myona must have been having with Dream Master was probably more enlightening."

 

"Huh? Dream Master?" Myona said. He shook his tousled head in confusion. "No, not here..."

 

Zelgadis hung his head with a tired groan. Xelloss placed his fingers against his lips as if in thought, hiding his smile. Zelgadis was even grumpier than he'd been when he first woke up this morning, which was hardly how he'd expected the day to turn out.

 

The last rays of sunlight were swallowed up by the storm clouds. Zelgadis stretched, making joints and stone skin creak. Myona's stomach growled.

 

"Let's go to dinner, if it's not too late already," Zelgadis grumbled. "Myona-chan, if I ask the Loremasters, is there any chance of getting to hear some other Manuscript segments sooner than sitting through all of this?"

 

"Maybe," Myona said with a little shrug. "If that's really what you want..."

 

Zelgadis laughed briefly and humorlessly. "But you think it's all as worthless as that, if I'm looking for attack and defense spells, don't you?"

 

Myona shrugged with one of his crooked little smiles. "That's for you to say, Zelgadis-sama."

 

"Fine," Zelgadis said with a resigned puff of a sigh. He glared once more at Xelloss as if he'd planned it this way. "I'm not giving up on the Claire Bible yet, but...."

 

"But?" Xelloss asked mildly.

 

"Myona, how soon can I get my hands on the contents of this library no one bothers to read?"

 

"Oh! That," Myona said, perking up a little more. "It's protected by a warding spell, but you just need a password from Sis or Spearos-sama to get inside."

 

"Fine, then," Zel said again. "Let's go to dinner. You can sit with us, can't you?"

 

Myona's eyes got big; he finally seemed to be fully awake again. "Can I?"

 

Grinning, Zelgadis met Xelloss' glance over the boy's head. "Why not? Then you can tell us one of your stories, too. It's bound to be more interesting than The Making of the Worlds!"

 

Myona's sudden flood of mingled emotions took Xelloss by surprise. Among his excitement and a twinge of pride (and a pang of plain human hunger), Xelloss sensed not one but several delectable strands of fear. How much was from Zel's invitation to sit with them among all the high-ranking Loremasters of the temple and how much came from the stories Myona knew, Xelloss couldn't tell, but he was certain that the emotions were being revealed for his benefit. As Myona led the way back to the dining hall, he glanced back at Xelloss shyly for a second with his large eyes gleaming.

 

"Myona-chan, you certainly are just as excellent at serving dinner as you are at being a guide," Xelloss said appreciatively.

 

Stomping along beside him, Zelgadis "hmphd" under his breath. Xelloss grinned all the way to the dining hall.

 

to be continued...

 

(Gah. Constructive criticism on this chapter (and on all my work, but especially this story) is much welcome, because I keep having a feeling it sucks, but I can't tell anymore. Maybe it's just because I'm so anxious to get to The Good Parts, and all this other stuff seems to be in the way... but necessary. I guess. Thanks for reading! To those of you in school: enjoy your classes, I hope they're all The Good Parts!)