Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Detour ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Detour

 

by Rose Thorne

 

Disclaimer: Slayers is owned by a bunch of folks who aren't me. I'm borrowing them for my perverse pleasure, much as Xellos borrows emotions for his.

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

Where Zelgadis had fallen asleep cold, he woke up almost too warm, the snow acting as an insulator and keeping his body heat in the small cave he'd dug for himself. He lay there for a few minutes, letting himself rouse slowly, until he realized that even his back was warm. He rolled over to find that Xellos had started a campfire. Several fish skewered on sticks were cooking close to the fire, and also beside the fire was a coffee pot that looked as though it had been stolen from a restaurant. It probably had been, knowing Xellos.

 

Zelgadis scowled. Trust Xellos to fix breakfast in an attempt to make him forget what had happened last night. He was tempted to leave it there and make his own, but he was hungry and that coffee smelled really good.

 

Xellos was, thankfully, nowhere to be seen, and Zelgadis silently ate breakfast and emptied the half-full coffee pot. The Mazoku hadn't shown up by the time Zelgadis was dousing the fire with snow, and the chimera decided to start without him; he could catch up later.

 

But the priest was perched in a tree near the road, waiting. As Zelgadis drew near he tossed something, and the swordsman caught it reflexively. It was an opaque red pendant on a gold chain.

 

Zelgadis tossed it back at the Mazoku as he reached the road. He had no intention of accepting gifts from Xellos. Did the priest actually think he could win him over with jewelry?

 

Xellos jumped down to walk beside him. “Zelgadis-san, it's an amulet to protect you from magic. It will make you less vulnerable.” He held it out again.

 

That caught the chimera's attention, and he stopped and brought his hand up, letting the blood-red orb rest against his palm. “A protective amulet?”

 

The Mazoku nodded and let the chain slip from his gloved hands. “This way you will be shielded when others attack with magic. It won't damage your soul.”

 

Zelgadis frowned, examining the pendant closely. It was powerful; he could tell that without his magic. It wouldn't hold up against a strong Ra Tilt, and definitely not Dragon Slave, but it was quite possibly the strongest protective item he'd ever seen. He glanced at Xellos, only to realize that it was the same color as the orb in Xellos' staff and the fastenings of the priest's mantle.

 

“You made this.” The Mazoku didn't respond, and Zelgadis glared. Xellos' expression didn't reveal anything of his motives. “So, what, I'm supposed to take this and forget you threatened me?”

 

Xellos looked confused, his eyes opening in surprise. “Threatened you?”

 

Zelgadis grabbed the priest's shirt, lifting him above the ground. “Last night, you bastard.”

 

“When?” Xellos frowned. “Honestly, Zelgadis-san. I don't know what you're talking about.”

 

The chimera snarled, and tossed Xellos away from him toward a tree. The Mazoku stopped in mid-air and regarded him, an unfamiliar look of complete confusion on his face. Zelgadis closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.

 

“You pulled at the cloak,” he finally murmured after searching in vain to find words to explain. He found the anger slipping away as he realized how ridiculous that sounded. “Forget it. You couldn't possibly understand.”

 

Xellos' hand closed on his arm, and he pulled away. Looking up, he realized that the Mazoku had understood. “Why would I do something like that?”

 

Zelgadis couldn't look at him. “You're Mazoku. I can't defend myself against you. You could do whatever you want, and I wouldn't be able to stop you.”

 

“I am not that kind of Mazoku.”

 

The chimera finally looked at him, noting the apparent sincerity of Xellos' expression. “I don't know what kind of Mazoku you are, Xellos. I don't know you at all. You play all these games and expect me to trust you, but I don't. I'm just waiting for you to fuck me over or use me in one of your little plots, like the pet that innkeeper thought I was.”

 

Xellos only frowned at him in response, and Zelgadis held out the pendant to him. “I already told you I'm sick of your games. I don't want this.”

 

The Mazoku didn't take it. “With that pendant, you won't have to rely on me,” he said simply. “I'm only trying to help, Zelgadis-san.”

 

Except that it really was still relying on the priest, given that he had made the amulet, and it was possible that it actually drew from his power like the rest of his gear. Zelgadis studied him for a moment, mulling his choices. On the one hand, the pendant was powerful and really would protect him. On the other, Xellos could just be weaving him into another one of his little plots, something that the sorcerer wanted to avoid if at all possible. But either way, he didn't particularly want to be as vulnerable in battle as he had been, and the amulet would be helpful.

 

Finally he slipped the chain over his neck. Xellos only nodded, then closed his eyes and started down the road.

 

--

 

By mid-day the temperature was dropping and the wind picking up as another storm blew into the area.

 

“Looks like it's going to hit in a few hours,” Zelgadis commented, eying the clouds. “And we have no shelter.”

 

“It could be worse.” And probably would be, when the pursuers he'd sensed caught up. Xellos had checked to find a mob of townsmen and bandits on horseback. Several were actually carrying pitchforks. There even looked to be a few magic users among them, but at least Zelgadis would be shielded from the spells. He doubted they would be much trouble, but wondered if he should warn the chimera anyway.

 

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. “You like tempting fate, don't you?” The priest only grinned in reply. “We should probably look for a cave or something to wait out the storm. There's not much around here.”

 

“Perhaps.” Xellos decided it was best if the swordsman wasn't surprised; after all, he'd probably glean plenty of emotion from Zelgadis when he saw the pitchforks and made the obvious connection. “However, I believe the incident at the inn may have upset the townspeople. They're a few miles back, and catching up.”

 

The chimera cursed under his breath. “Great. Just what I need.” He rubbed at his forehead as though warding off a headache. “They usually let me leave since then I'm someone else's problem, but I guess someone's exploding-bottle trick scared them.”

 

Xellos shrugged, ignoring the accusation. “They don't seem like much of a problem. A few magic users, but you shouldn't be impacted by that anymore. They're easily gotten rid of.”

 

Zelgadis glared. “They're not all bandits, Xellos. Most of them are just scared villagers trying to protect their families. They don't deserve to die for that.”

 

The Mazoku didn't answer. Zelgadis' brand of morality didn't suit him. After all, if a mob was trying to kill you, it was generally more prudent to destroy the threat, not quibble over whether they deserved it. Of course, he had never particularly felt that anything deserved to live, so maybe it was a human thing. But, then, he'd apparently felt that Zelgadis deserved to live, or he would have destroyed him in the laboratory.

 

The chimera sighed. “Do you think there's any chance they'll call it off on account of the weather?”

 

Xellos smiled as Zelgadis' wave of frustration cut off the troubling route his thoughts were taking. “I doubt it. They're still catching up.”

 

“Dammit.” He pulled off his pack and tossed it behind a snow-covered bush. “At least try not to kill them. It'd be better to subdue them or scare them off.” Xellos only grinned wider, and the swordsman's frustration grew. “Do I have to give a reason, or will you just do it?”

 

“I find it amusing that you care so much for the lives of those trying to take yours.”

 

Zelgadis glared. “You're like Amelia, always seeing everything as black and white, no gray. You just prefer black where she likes white.”

 

That was true enough most of the time, though the comparison to Amelia was a little irritating. The exception was something he'd rather not think about and hoped that the chimera didn't pick up on. “Yare, yare. I suppose I could subdue them. It would probably be easier than scaring them off.” The storm would probably kill them, anyway. Either way, it was effective.

 

“Good. The village wouldn't survive if a real monster attacked and all their fighters were dead.”

 

Xellos hadn't thought of that. No wonder Zelgadis was so insistent. If he had felt guilt over killing a few bandits, he would certainly feel worse if his actions destroyed an entire village. The Mazoku was horrified to find that he didn't want to provoke those emotions even by killing their attackers indirectly. He felt more comfortable with the prospect of scaring them off, when he should have been pleased to destroy them and glean Zelgadis' guilt and self-loathing.

 

“Perhaps if we left the road we could avoid them,” Xellos finally said. “They might not be willing to pursue us in the wilderness.”

 

Zelgadis grinned, and his relief was refreshing. “That's where we're going to have to look for shelter anyway.” The chimera immediately headed off the road, picking up the pack as he went, and Xellos followed.

 

The trees thinned as they reached a ridge bordering a steep hill. Below looked like a snow-covered plain, but was actually a lake, complete with an island in the center.

 

“We chose a good direction. In this terrain, there are probably some decent caves,” Zelgadis commented, scanning the area with his sharp eyes. “They'll work for waiting out the storm.”

 

Xellos frowned. Actually, this was more of a dead end, and the villagers apparently knew that. He was about to warn Zelgadis when an arrow hit the ground inches from the chimera. The swordsman jumped back, skirting the edge of the ridge.

 

Zelgadis cursed. “Looks like we'll have to fight them first.”

 

A spell shot out from the trees, missing both of them, and the chimera pulled out his sword. Xellos pointed his staff at a row of trees and shot a dark blast of energy. The trees fell, revealing their attackers. He had refrained from killing them, though it would have been simpler. Unfortunately, the removal of their cover didn't frighten them off as he had hoped it would. Instead, several of the magic users threw spells in their direction.

 

The amulet worked as he had intended, shielding Zelgadis from the magic, but the spell acted as a pool cue, knocking against the shield as though it were a cue ball and sending the chimera flying. Xellos found this rather amusing, until Zelgadis hit the lake, broke through the ice, and disappeared beneath the surface. He didn't expect the pain and terror he felt from the swordsman, but when he didn't resurface the Mazoku remembered belatedly that Zelgadis couldn't possibly be buoyant with his composition; without magic, he was sure to drown.

 

Xellos levitated, forming a bubble around himself as he flew down and entered the water. Under the ice the water was dark, but he could sense and see Zelgadis as he hit the bottom. The chimera was flailing, but his movements were weakening. Shortly before Xellos reached him, Zelgadis stopped struggling altogether.

 

For a few seconds after Xellos pulled him into the bubble, Zelgadis didn't breathe. Then he was choking, coughing up frigid water as he gasped for air, sagging against the Mazoku. The young man was shivering lightly.

 

As they rose to the surface, Zelgadis managed to speak between gasps, his voice hoarse and low. “That's another… running gag I'm… getting sick of…”

 

Xellos brought them to shore, noting with some relief that the townspeople had left. He could sense them heading back on the road. They thought that they had killed Zelgadis, and, admittedly, they very nearly had.

 

He wasn't out of danger yet, either, the Mazoku realized as the wind picked up and the chimera began to shiver harder. Normally, the sorcerer could simply dry himself with a spell, but in his condition even Xellos couldn't use magic on him.

 

Zelgadis wrapped his arms around his chest, his body shaking violently and his breath coming in small gasps again. “Have to find shelter,” he managed, before stumbling forward. Xellos knew he wouldn't make it far, even if his inhuman composition was helping him a little. He was tempted to levitate both of them and use a variant of Ray Wing to speed the search, but that would expose Zelgadis to the chill wind completely and make the situation worse.

 

Luck seemed to be shining on them, for once, and they spotted caves within a few minutes. By the time they reached them, Zelgadis had stopped shivering, and Xellos took that as a good sign. He started a fire and turned toward the chimera, who was sitting heavily against the wall of the cave and staring at the ground blankly.

 

“Zelgadis-san, the pack?”

 

The chimera blinked at him, his eyes unfocused. “Pack?”

 

Xellos frowned, reaching forward and tugging it from Zelgadis' shoulders with some difficulty as it was frozen to his clothing. The youth's fingers were a darker blue than usual. The Mazoku stared at him for a moment, not sure what was wrong. He reached into the pack only to find that everything was soaked. When he looked up, the chimera's eyes were closed, and his face was disturbingly pale.

 

“Zelgadis-san?” There was no response, and Xellos touched his neck, feeling for his heartbeat. It was fast, and Zelgadis' skin was cold. Little icicles hung from his wire hair. He shook the chimera gently. “Zelgadis-san?” Dull blue eyes opened slightly to regard him, focusing very slowly. “What's wrong?”

 

Zelgadis looked confused for a moment, then his brow furrowed. “Cold. Can't move.” He blinked, and Xellos felt a very small, sluggish bit of fear from him. “Hypothermia…?” His eyes lost focus and closed again, and his body went slack.

 

Xellos had very little experience keeping mortals alive, and most of it was recent. He knew what hypothermia was, having learned long ago that it was a boring way to kill something, but only had a vague idea about treatment. The first step was getting Zelgadis out of his frozen clothing, which proved to be difficult given that it had frozen to his stone skin in places. It became easier when Xellos moved him closer to the fire and the ice began to melt.

 

Xellos wrapped Zelgadis in his cloak and, since it was an extension of his body on this plane, made it warmer than human skin. He could feel, through the faux garment, how frigid Zelgadis' body was, and knew that more had to be done or his companion would die. None of Zelgadis' clothing was dry, and while drying it was easy he didn't think simply dressing the chimera would help much. What he needed was blankets and warmth, neither of which were here. The Mazoku was loathe to leave even to get necessary supplies, but there was no choice.

 

He phased out to the Astral Plane.

 

 

It's been getting harder and harder to write lately, but I am trying. However, Monday I start teacher training and then the week after school starts, so I have no idea when I'll be able to dedicate more time to this fic. I love writing it, so I do know that more will be out when I can manage.

 

Thanks to Chrissy and Chrislea for beta reading for me!