Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Lina in Horrorland ❯ Unsteady ( Chapter 3 )

Title: Lina in Horrorland

Author: Yugure

Rating: R

Beta Read by: Za Metallium

Warnings: I wasn't kidding when I said this story was going to be disturbing. All sorts of horrible stuff is going to happen, and I refuse to be responsible for anyone's mental health other than my own. SCARY! DISTURBING! HORRIFIC! If these words don't set of bells of caution in your head, then go ahead and read. If they do, I suggest you go read a different story. Also, there is more SWEARING. If you are offended by swear words, don't read.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, I just like messing with their minds for my own enjoyment. Chapter title comes from the Hayashibara Megumi song "Unsteady" from Tri-Zenon; also not mine.

Chapter 3: Unsteady

Lina gazed at the heavy oak door as it closed behind her handsome host. The sound of Zelgadis's light treading was swallowed up by the thick wood. In other circumstances, she would have gotten to her feet and investigated the room. However, she would rather eat glass than move more than necessary right now. She let her eyes roam over her surroundings instead.

The bedroom was generic but cozy. The feather down comforter above her was a luxury she didn't often have on her travels. A nightstand sat next to the bed, and a dresser stood against the plain white wall directly to Lina's left. The door loomed tall and ominous just beyond the foot of the bed. A desk occupied the only other wall, and its surface was neat and tidy.

The only window in the room, on the wall to Lina's right, gave the view to a small but beautiful garden. Watery sunlight filtered into the room, and although Lina couldn't see the sky, she had the impression it was mostly cloudy.

"May I come in?"

Lina was momentarily startled by the voice. Must've been in a daze, she thought. She fluffed the blanket around her and wiggled down into the bed, careful to avoid further injuring her battered body.

"Sure. It's your room," she replied. The door swung slowly open and Zelgadis stood in the doorway, a tray laden with food in his arms.

"I thought you might like some soup, so I made chicken broth to go with your sandwich," he said as he crossed the threshold, "and there's a fruit-"

"What happened to your arm?" Lina demanded, staring at the red-spattered bandage wrapped around Zelgadis's arm. She forced herself to sit up, ignoring the pain in her head and side. Zelgadis looked down at his arm and turned a little pale. Damn, I thought it wouldn't bleed through... he cursed silently.

"Uh… I, uh… well, I accidentally dropped the knife I was using, and I tried to catch it before it fell to the ground - reflexes, you know - and it cut my arm," he explained cautiously. He placed the tray on the bedside table. "It's no big deal. Really. It'll heal quickly."

"Zelgadis, it's soaking through more as we speak. It hasn't stopped bleeding, has it?" Lina demanded again. She grabbed Zelgadis's wrist and yanked him closer to her as she examined the bandage.

"Ouch!" Zelgadis yelped. "Dammit, Lina, that hurt. Don't you know better than to grab an injured arm?"

"Shut up. This is serious," she snapped. "When is Sylphiel getting here? She can take care of you first."

"You're the one with a concussion," Zelgadis replied. "I'll be okay without help; you won't be. I'll go re-bandage it now, okay?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

The two people glared at each other. Zelgadis was the first to look away. He mumbled something under his breath and left the room.

"Still the same stubborn jerk as always," Lina muttered. Then again… he insists he's not my Zelgadis… Lina blushed. I mean, the Zelgadis I know. So why are they so much alike? And yet… L-sama, this is so confusing.

Lina waited. Zelgadis did not return. As she finished up the last of her soup, mopping up the dredges with a piece of fluffy bread, Lina felt her gaze shift to the window. Something was happening right outside the window, fluttering and beating against the glass. Lina saw flashes of red and black, and the iridescent shimmer of raven feathers. Carefully, she crawled out of bed. Finding she could stand on her own, Lina shuffled over to the window and peered out. The sight before her caused her eyes to open impossibly wide and her small fists to beat against the glass in vain.

Two large and grotesquely misshapen ravens were in the middle of an internecine fight, beating each other into a bloody paste. Feathers dripping with blood whirled around the dueling pair, caught in the frenzied flurry of wings beating, and smacked against the window, leaving crimson trails snaking across the glass. Claws raked against tender eyes, ripping them open and dragging out the insides. A horrible, keening wail shattered the silence of Lina's room, and it was then she realized how high and loud it must have been to penetrate the nearly soundproof walls.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" Lina wailed, smacking her hands against the glass. The birds continued their fight to the death. Bloody entrails spiraled to the ground, and the dominant raven slammed the defeated bird into the window.

Lina watched in horror as the glass cracked. She recoiled as if bitten, drawing her arms in close to her body. The glass, thankfully, did not shatter, but gory pieces of bird clung to the window. A single, unmolested eye stared back at Lina, accusing her for not intervening.

Lina had had enough.

"ZELGADIS!"

"What, what?!" The door of the room burst open and Zelgadis rushed in, his face pale and troubled. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I… I… the…" Lina stammered. She stumbled backwards; Zelgadis caught her. Lina stabbed her finger at the dead bird. "It… the other bird killed it! Zel, it was awful! There was so much blood, but they're just birds, right? Tell me they're just birds, Zel, tell me!"

"They're just birds, Lina" Zelgadis replied quietly. He remained immobile as the young woman beside him clutched at his arms.

"But they're so big! I've never seen ravens that big before! L-sama, Zel, the blood!!" Lina shrieked.

"You should still be in bed. You could have a relapse, if you're not resting like you should be," Zelgadis replied. He directed the panicked girl back to the bed and helped her lie back down. "Don't worry about the birds. It happens all the time." Oops, Zelgadis thought as he watched Lina's eyes narrow and focus on him. Probably shouldn't have mentioned that…

"What do you mean, 'happens all the time'? No way!" Lina yelled. "That was disgusting! What was wrong with those birds? You're telling me they tear each other apart all the time?!"

"Remember, this isn't your world. Things are different here. You're going to have to adjust, or you won't survive. I've never known ravens to do anything except fight to the death like that. The dead bird was a trespasser in Odin's territory, so he took care of it." Zelgadis paused, then added, "Odin's my pet raven, if you were curious."

"You keep one of those things for a pet?! That's insane!"

You're telling me, Zelgadis thought with a snort. Out loud, he said, "Lina, please, calm down. Sylphiel should be here soon."

"That was disgusting," Lina muttered as she pulled the blankets up to her chin. From under the covers she watched as Zelgadis pulled curtains over the offending window. Lina could faintly hear someone or something else outside the door. "Um… Zel…"

"Gomen nasai, Zelgadis-san, your door was unlocked so I let myself in," a sweet, feminine voice intoned as the bedroom door opened to reveal a slender figure clad in white robes. "I presumed you wouldn't mind, seeing this is an emergency- Oh! You must be Lina!"

Lina stared at the face underneath delicate folds of white cloth. She would swear on her yet unoccupied grave that the person was Sylphiel, but something was very, very wrong. Lifeless black eyes twitched nervously, set in a face so sickly gray-white that veins could be seen running beneath the flesh. Sylphiel's lips were nearly black, and they twitched often. Lina dropped her gaze to stare at the hands nervously fluttering around a basket. Long, white fingers clasped and unclasped the handle; nails bitten to the quick pressed against fleshy palms.

That… is not… Sylphiel… Lina thought, forcing herself to believe it. But it was. Black-violet hair stood in stark contrast to the white robes, and the voice was the same.

"Lina, this is Sylphiel, the local white healer," Zelgadis needlessly said.

"I… Sylphiel… what happened to you?" Lina blurted. She just had to ask. The girl in question blinked furiously and turned to look at Zelgadis.

"I… I don't understand," Sylphiel stammered. Lina sat up. Sylphiel turned back to the girl in bed, and behind her back Zelgadis shook his head, indicating for Lina to stop before she'd say something she'd regret. Alas, Lina ignored her handsome host.

"You're deathly white. You look like a corpse! And your eyes are all freaky, and you've got a nervous twitch. Truth be told, you look like hell," Lina said, quite frankly. Sylphiel's eyes brimmed with tears and her lower lip trembled. Zelgadis sighed in exasperation and rubbed his temples.

"I don't know what you mean, I always look like this, it's… there's nothing wrong with how I look," Sylphiel replied. Her voice took on a hard edge, and the eyes suddenly didn't look so lifeless. Her lips twitched. "You jealous, bitch? Is that it? You wanna look like me, look like the kind of women Zelgadis-sama expects in his bed?"

Lina stared at Sylphiel in absolute shock. Dumbfounded, she opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and opened it again. No sound came out. She closed her mouth. What the hell?! The Sylphiel I know would NEVER say that! L-sama, what is going on?!

"Sylvie, you're going to upset her," Zelgadis said slowly, calmly. His hands were resting on "Sylvie's" shoulders. "And you know as well as I do, I don't sleep around."

"Then what the hell is a bitch doing in your bed? Answer me that, Zelgadis-sama!" the petulant voice replied. Lina finally found her own voice.

"Quit calling me a bitch, Sylphiel! What has gotten into you?!" she demanded. "Sylphiel" glared at her.

"I'm not Sylphiel, bitch," "Sylvie" stressed. "My name is Sylvie. Not that you'd care or anything."

"Sylvie, would you please excuse us for a moment? Could you go down to the kitchen and get the rest of your supplies?" Zelgadis interjected. "Sylvie" rounded on him and pushed her index finger into his chest.

"Screw you. I ain't helping that bitch," she growled.

"Please. I'm asking you nicely." When "Sylvie" didn't appear to be leaving, Zelgadis added, "Don't make me bring up Gourry."

The silence was awful. Lina had the burning desire to ask what happened to Gourry, but she chose to wait until "Sylviel" was out of the room. The white healer, eyes suddenly brimming with tears, stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What the hell was that all about?" Lina demanded.

"Sylphiel has a multiple personality disorder. When she first came in, she was Sylphiel. When you upset her, her mind made the shift to Sylvie, whom you just had the displeasure of meeting. You need to be able to distinguish between her personalities, because in each state, she doesn't believe her other personalities exist. Understand?" Zelgadis explained. He sat down at the foot of the bed.

"Sort of. So when she's Sylvie, she truly believes she's only Sylvie. So no matter who she thinks she is, she doesn't know she has a multiple personality disorder?"

"Basically, yes. She also believes, at one time or another, that she is Phil or Frida, neither of whom you want to meet. Trust me on this."

"Okay… but why does she look like… well, like death?"

"Sylvie is bulimic, Frida is anorexic, and Sylphiel has heliophobia." At Lina's blank look, Zelgadis explained, "She's afraid of the sun. She stays inside as often as possible."

"And Gourry?" Lina's inquiry was met with a blank stare. Zelgadis stood up, opened the door, and ushered Sylphiel in, who had stood meekly outside in the hallway. Just like that, Zelgadis had ended the discussion.

"Sylphiel, I think Lina is suffering from a concussion, among other things. See what you can do, I'll be back in an hour," Zelgadis said. He left immediately, closing the door firmly behind him. Lina didn't even have a chance to ask him where he was going.

L-sama… I'm all alone with this girl…What do I do?! Lina thought.

"Uh… Lina-san, please lie down. I need to take a look at your head and hip, so just relax and let me work," Sylphiel said. She pulled a chair up next to the bed, set her basket down beside her and began working.

***

An hour later, Lina was deep in a healing sleep. Sylphiel had done her job well, and she excused herself from the bedroom. Out in the kitchen, she found Zelgadis leaning against the countertop, a large butcher knife in his hand. His eyes were staring intently at the blade. Briefly his eyes flickered to Sylphiel as she cleared her throat, but they refocused on the blade once more.

"You'll never escape it, Zelgadis-san. The need, the desire… Don't fight it," Sylphiel said quietly. "I know you hate what you are. I know you hate what we all are. But we can't change, Zelgadis-san."

"That's not true," Zelgadis growled.

"It is," Sylphiel insisted. "Lina needs to know the truth. She'll feel betrayed if you keep it a secret and she finds out later."

"NO! She doesn't have to know, ever! I'm getting her out of here as soon as possible. She doesn't belong here. We both know that. Sylphiel," Zelgadis held out his bandaged arm, knife clenched tightly in his opposite hand, "Could you please heal this before you go?"

"Because it'll leave a scar if you wait too long, you mean? Because you want to hide what you are from Lina?" Sylphiel shook her head but gently took the offered arm, unwrapped the bandage, and cast a small healing spell. "You've been lucky so far, Zel. Only one scar in a lifetime of slashes. That was before you found out that healing within a day leaves nothing behind, right?"

Zelgadis chose to remain silent.

"Goodbye, Zelgadis-san. If you need me, just call," Sylphiel said, and left. Zelgadis shoved the butcher knife back into the drawer it came from.

Why do I care? I don't even know this girl, this Lina. I just found her in the Dark Forest, nearly dead. She means nothing to me… doesn't she? Zelgadis padded quietly down the hall, ruminating on everything his mind wandered to. But I feel so compelled to help her. To care for her. To hide what I am from her. Would she care? Would she be repulsed by the fact that I enjoy seeing my own blood well up beneath a sharp blade? Surely she would be. But why do I care? Zelgadis opened the bedroom door and leaned against the doorframe. He watched as the blankets rose and fell with Lina's even breathing. His heart skipped a beat and fluttered around in his chest. Why do I feel this way every time I look at her? She's a stranger, dammit!

"Zel…" Lina murmured in her sleep. "Don't leave me… I'm sorry…"

But I'll be damned if I let anything happen to her.

***

Author Notes: Ain't I evil? XD Poor Sylphiel! I mean, would any of you really expect to hear Sylphiel swear? Or say "Screw you" to Zelgadis?? Nyehehehe… I like shocking people; 'tis fun. ^____^ Anyway, hope none of ya were too offended by this chapter. It seems like every chapter is worse than the last. Can't wait for the finale, no da. ^___^