Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Crazy for this Girl ❯ Encore ( Epilogue )

Title: Crazy for this Girl - Encore!

Author: Yugure

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers. Wish I did.

Notes: I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I was very happy to finally finish Crazy for this Girl, but after the reviews and emails I realized a sequel was sorely needed. Indeed, there were quite a few things I left hanging and Kurayami was completely absent from that last act as one reader pointed out. :) Hopefully this epilogue will answer the remaining questions. However, since I liked the cliffhanger at the end, and I put it there for a reason, there won't be an actual continuation from where I left off. Enjoy. Please review; I write sequels like this when you do! Italics mean thought. The last section is the only piece that happens AFTER the ending of the last chapter (but not immediately).

Crazy for this Girl - Encore!

At the time of separation, Gourry knew exactly where he had to go and what he had to do. However, five minutes later he had no clue what he was supposed to do. Finding himself alone and very hungry, Gourry wandered off in the vague direction of Sairaag.

For a brainless but very talented swordsman, he survived fairly well. He was almost never cheated out of a deal, after having spent so many years watching Lina haggle with merchants. Gourry wandered from inn to inn, eating and sleeping and doing whatever it is swordsmen do when they have time to themselves. His only real goal was to find Sylphiel in Sairaag; one, because he had the vague feeling that he was supposed to ask her something important and two, because she was a great cook.

Xelloss, growing bored with wrecking havoc in Lina and Zelgadis's lives, decided he would be of better use tagging along with Gourry. Gourry was glad to have the traveling companion, although most of the time he forgot who it was he was traveling with.

"Say, Gourry, what is it you were going to do in Sairaag?" Xelloss asked one evening as he watched Gourry wolf down a large plate of roast beef.

"Um…" Pausing for just a moment, Gourry scratched his chin and retreated into deep thought. Several seconds passed by. The expression on his face never changed. Xelloss's eyebrows rose quizzically. Just when the trickster priest was about to poke the blonde swordsman, Gourry snapped out of it.

"Sorry, got lost in thought," he apologized sheepishly.

"Unfamiliar territory?" Xelloss replied cheekily.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"Um… I was supposed to get Sylphiel's help with something. Lina wanted me to. Do you remember what for, Xelloss?"

"I haven't the faintest, Gourry," Xelloss lied. He smiled brightly as Gourry shrugged and went back to eating.

******

Eventually Gourry made it to Sairaag. He found Sylphiel at home, baking a large batch of cinnamon sugar cookies.

"Hi Sylphiel!" Gourry called out from the open doorway. Sylphiel nearly dropped the tray of cookies as she stood up abruptly and whirled around.

"Gourry-sama?!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know!"

"Well… where is Miss Lina and the others?"
"Um… I don't know!"

"…" Sylphiel put down the cookies and wiped her hands on her apron. "Did Miss Lina ditch you again?"

"No… I don't think so. I was supposed to ask you something. Maybe Xelloss remembers now?" Gourry turned around to address his traveling companion, who was there just a second ago, but Xelloss was gone.

"Mr. Xelloss was with you?" Sylphiel's eyes widened. "How very strange!"

"Is it?" Gourry asked, looking confused.

"Never mind. Come in, sit down! Would you like some cookies and milk?"

"Yes, I would! Thanks, Sylphiel!"

Sylphiel busied herself in the kitchen with loading a large platter with cookies and a few glasses of milk. Gourry made himself comfortable on the couch in the sitting room. The gentle shrine maiden returned, lowering herself to perch lightly beside the swordsman.

"I hope there's enough. I wasn't expecting any visitors, especially not any that eat like you do. I can always make more, though," Sylphiel said. She smiled as Gourry happily munched away on the cookies, clearly enjoying the small feast. Suddenly the timer on the oven went off. Sylphiel excused herself to take out the next batch. In her absence, Xelloss returned.

"Hmm…" Xelloss picked up a cup of milk, examined it, and dropped in a few drops of liquid from a small vial.

"What's that?" Gourry asked.

"Just a little something I picked up at the pharmacy," Xelloss handed the glass back to the swordsman and grinned. "Try it. It's an experiment in progress, but so far the results have been spectacular. It tastes good as well, I should think."

"Okay!" Having no real reason to deny the gift, Gourry took a large swallow of his beverage. "Wow… it does taste good …" Of course, it didn't taste anything different than it normally would, but Gourry didn't know that.

"Who are you talking to?" Sylphiel asked as she entered the room once again.

"Xelloss," Gourry replied, but frowned in bewilderment as the Mazoku was, once again, no longer there.

"He was here?"

"Um… I thought so…" Gourry scratched his chin, got lost in thought, found his way out with breadcrumbs, and finally shrugged his shoulders. He looked at Sylphiel, then at the cookies on the plate in front of him, then back to Sylphiel. "Um… Sylphiel?"

"Yes, Gourry-sama?"

"Wanna get married?"

*****

Xelloss chuckled to himself as he strolled away from the shrine maiden's home, only wincing once at the shriek of pure elation that nearly shook the foundations of the surrounding buildings.

"What else could I possibly do on a day such as this?" the Mazoku wondered out loud. Suddenly struck with an idea, he phased out and reappeared in Zephilia. "He's around here somewhere, I know he is…"

He happened to be a little neglected ball of fluff. After Lina and Zel had gone to M'kael for help, Kurayami made the mistake of escaping the inn in search of rodents to terrorize and bugs to eat. He ended up being locked out, and in the flurry of activities that was Lina's pre-wedding plans, was completely forgotten.

Xelloss phased in behind the inn where he knew Lina and Zel had stayed the night before. The back alley was the perfect place for a lost kitten to hide and stay out of the way of strange passers-by.

"Here, kitty kitty kitty…" Xelloss called out, flipping over cardboard boxes and bags of garbage. Kurayami crawled out from behind a trashcan and stared up at the Mazoku.

"Mew?"

"How would you like to live in a palace, little one?" Xelloss said, scooping up the kitten into his arms. "I know a princess who will just love you!"

"Mew?"

"Yeah… something like that."

Together they phased out.

******

Xelloss was not a fool. He knew that Kurayami was a jinxed cat and had been since birth. There was no way of removing that kind of curse. There was, of course, an awful lot of mischief that could be made after releasing the kitten in the Saillune palace. And so, having decided how to spend his afternoon, Xelloss set out to Saillune.

His arrival wasn't what you would call welcome. It took Amelia nearly an hour to calm down the guards and mages who were in an uproar that a Mazoku, especially one so powerful as Xelloss, was in the royal palace.

"Mr. Xelloss, please don't hold it against them. They're only doing their job," Amelia said gently as she led a sore and beaten Xelloss to the sitting room. Xelloss just smiled.

"I agree, Princess. I couldn't forgive them if they let anything happen to you," he lied, being the bastard he was well known as. Amelia flushed happily and smiled in return. After the two chatted for a while about nothing in particular, Xelloss pulled a sleeping Kurayami from his cloak.

"Oh! What an adorable kitty! What was he doing in your cloak, Mr. Xelloss?" Amelia exclaimed, taking the small bundle of black fur into her arms. Kurayami blinked sleepily.

"I found him wandering the streets outside. I thought maybe you might want to take care of him. After all, it would be unjust to let him die when he could be helped," Xelloss fibbed.

"Awww! Of course I'll take care of him! Justice shall always prevail! Isn't that right, Mr. Fuzzy?" Amelia held Kurayami up to look him in his face. The black cat, if he had them, would have raised his eyebrows. Instead, he just meowed. Amelia squealed and snuggled the kitten to her chest. "Mr. Xelloss, would you like some tea? I can have the servants bring in a cup…"

"Oh, let me. I insist," Xelloss said, getting to his feet. "I know where the kitchen is. I'll be back soon."

"You don't have to go! I can just send a maid-"

"No, Princess, I don't mind." Xelloss faded out with one last wave of his hand and a smile.

*******

Nobody paid Xelloss much attention in the kitchen except a few of the very young hired help. Xelloss located an especially timid, geeky boy and approached him.

"Princess Amelia wishes to be served tea in the sitting room," Xelloss informed him. "I suspect you should hurry up."

The boy, absolutely terrified of the strange man and the idea of actually approaching the princess, froze in his tracks. He didn't move until Xelloss opened his eyes to slits. After that, the boy was a blur. When no one was watching, Xelloss slipped a few drops from the vial into the glass.

Xelloss followed the boy to the sitting room and stopped him outside the door.

"You are to stay in there until after she begins drinking. Do not come out until she has spoken to you. Understand?" Xelloss said. The boy nodded quickly. He was too scared to disobey the stranger.

Xelloss chuckled to himself as the boy entered the room. Neither one of them noticed the door slightly ajar. Xelloss leaned against the wall, biding his time until the two emerged; hopefully, one of them would be a love-struck princess…

"No, Mr. Fuzzy! Oh, Mervin, would you please go after the cat? I don't want him lost!" Amelia's voice suddenly carried loud and clear. Xelloss stood up straighter and glanced at the door. The door opened even more and Kurayami bolted. Like a rat on steroids, the kitten zoomed down the hall. Mervin, the hired help, followed soon after, running at full tilt on gangly legs. Xelloss frowned. He turned back to the room as Amelia stepped out, teacup in hand.

"Mr. Xelloss, Mr. Fuzzy just started acting funny! When Mervin came in the room, he got all hunched up and started hissing! Then he jumped down to the floor and took off! Do you know why he would do that?" Amelia rambled. She tugged on Xelloss's arm and looked up at him with watery eyes. "You didn't do anything to him before you got here, did you?"

Xelloss didn't say anything. He simply watched in horror as the teacup lifted and Amelia took a long sip. She licked her lips and glanced down at the contents.

"Mmm… chamomile, my favorite!" Amelia took a large swallow and looked back at Xelloss. She smiled around the cup.

"No… don't drink that, Amelia!" Xelloss finally said, his voice sounding weird even to him. He reached out and tried to grab the teacup away, hoping it wasn't too late. Amelia, perplexed, backed up a step and Xelloss's hand met empty air.

"Why not?" Amelia asked, raising her eyebrows. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes… no… just… don't look at me!" Xelloss backed away from the princess and looked around for something to hide behind.

"Why are you acting so funny? There's nothing wrong with how you look; why can't I look at you?" Amelia stepped forward. They continued their little dance, Xelloss edging away and Amelia progressing forward.

"How do you feel, Amelia?" Xelloss asked, afraid of the answer. Amelia shrugged her shoulders.

"I feel okay, I guess. Why?" Amelia thought for a moment, then smiled widely. "I would feel better if you were closer to me."

******

The inhuman shriek could be heard throughout the entire city of Saillune. Sheep in their pastures, on the very outskirts, raised their fluffy heads. However, since it did not concern them, they quickly went back to consuming grass.

******

Kurayami curled up into a ball, nestling himself on the very top of the largest wardrobe he could find. His tail flicked lazily over his face and soon he was sleeping. He did not let the squeaky, plaintive calls of Mervin, nor the crying of Xelloss, nor the exclamations of love from Amelia, disturb his rest.

*****

Elsewhere…

"Lina?"

"Yeah, Zel?"

"Why is your family so psychotic?"

"…"

"I mean, no offense, but they were trying to marry us? Why on earth would you go along with something like that? I thought you knew I was under a spell."

"…"

"Lina?"

"…"

"What's wrong? Isn't that how it went? You told me that I was under a spell, and we went to Zephilia to get help, and your parents tried to marry us. Did you leave something out?"

"No, that's about it." Please don't ask anymore!

"Are you lying to me?" She's lying to me!

"No, of course not! Why would I do that?" Yes I'm lying, dammit! I'm not going to tell you that you were head over heels in love with me! And that I AGREED to go through with the wedding! And that I was falling for you…DAMMIT! I can't even tell myself that!!!

"Lina, please. We've known each other for a long time now. I can handle anything you have to tell me." You better tell me or this is going to get ugly very quickly!

"Don't you trust me?" Of course he doesn't.

"Well… yes…" Absolutely not!

"So leave it at that."

"Lina…"

"What?"

"I'm madly in love with you. Will you marry me?"

"WHAT?! HOW THE HELL…?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE CURED!!!"

"So that's what happened! You lying little witch!"

"…." Busted…

THE END! FIN! OWARI!