Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Poison ❯ 11 ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: tsutsuji 
On the threshold of the Shrine, Shimer's Curse has a terrible new effect on Xelloss, forcing Zelgadis to make a difficult decision...
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.20.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 468 | Status: Completed
On the threshold of the Shrine, Shimer's Curse has a terrible new effect on Xelloss, forcing Zelgadis to make a difficult decision...
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.20.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 468 | Status: Completed
Title: Poison (chapter 11 of 13 or so)
Author: Tsutsuji
Date written: July-August 2005
Fandom: Slayers
Rating: R for suggestiveness
Pairings: Zelgadis/Xelloss
Type: yaoi/slash, adventure
Warnings: hurt/comfort, angst
Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to these characters and I'm making no profit from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.
Summary: On the threshhold of the Shrine, the Curse of Shimer has a new, terrible effect on Xelloss, forcing Zelgadis to make a difficult choice...
Notes: Thanks for the reviews, sorry for the delay! Now, on with the angst!
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Poison, chapter 11
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Kemara's bushy, golden hair fluttered around her face as she led Zelgadis and Xelloss through the city streets. She had a quick, bouncing step, and she didn't seem quite as dignified as Zelgadis expected an Assistant Shrine Keeper in Training to be. He had the distinct impression that she would be just as talkative and cheerful even without Shimer's Relics.
"Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama had a feeling you'd stay off the High Road!" she said cheerfully. "He set us all to watch at the Gates, and we were all a little concerned when you didn't arrive yesterday. I'm glad you didn't change your mind about coming to the Shrine, Zelgadis-sama!"
She paused and bit her lip as if she was about to add something that she shouldn't say. A second later she was chattering away about the different ways into the city, the traffic on the High Road, and whatever else came to her mind.
Zelgadis was distracted from her chatter by the sights and sounds of the Crystal City, and even more so by the firm warmth of Xelloss' gloved hand in his. After their quiet day on the canal and the sensory overload of the night before it all seemed a little overwhelming. He wasn't surprised by the excited, friendly stares of the crowd that began to appear along their route. However, either they were awed by the presence of an Under Assistant Shrine Keeper in Training, or the people of Crystal City were much more polite than people elsewhere in the Valley. They watched, smiled, and some of them waved, but no one took the liberty of running up to them like long-lost friends. Everyone here wore some of Shimer's jewelry, and most were glowing with health and happiness. Very few looked like they still needed to be cured of anything.
"Zuller-sama made it very clear to the Relic Sellers here in the city that you were not to be bothered by any of their sales pitches," Kemara said with a wave of her hand at the shops lining the streets.
Zelgadis laughed briefly. It was wise of Zuller to keep the Relic Sellers away from him, he thought. He might not have the good manners of the local people if he found any of their baubles dangling in his face.
"Zuller-sama and the Deputy Shrine Keepers are waiting for us at the Hall of the Shrine. They're all very anxious to meet you, of course!" Kemara rambled on. "Unfortunately, Assistant Shrine Keepers Argo and Vargas are away on their duties in other parts of the Valley. They have to inspect the gem shipments and the work being done by the makers of the Relics, all of that business, you know," she said with a wave of her hand. "They get to meet a lot of people that way, but they'll regret that they weren't here to witness your cure!"
"It is a shame that all the Keepers of the Shrine won't be present," Xelloss agreed.
Zelgadis noticed his little smile and decided that, on the contrary, Under Assistant Shrine Keepers Argo and Vargas were very fortunate that they were somewhere else on this particular day.
Among the crowd, Zelgadis noticed a few young men and women wearing the familiar silver robes and beaded collars, and from that as well as from the way Kemara raised her head a little higher when they passed, he assumed they were more Assistant Shrine Keepers in Training. But he did not see anyone carrying a weapon or wearing the grey hooded robes of the Soldiers of Shimer.
"I'm still surprised that the Shrine isn't heavily guarded," he said, gazing around like a curious tourist. "Won't we be seeing any of those Soldiers here at all?"
"No," Kemara answered shortly. "The latest squadron of them left the city yesterday. They don't stick around long after they receive their weapons and their marching orders." She turned her face away quickly. "Thank the gods," she muttered under her breath.
Zelgadis' eyebrows shot upward. He saw the corner of Xelloss' mouth twitch, but since Xelloss didn't say anything, he decided to hide his surprise as well.
The Hall of the Shrine came into view at the far end of a wide boulevard. At the top of a rise, it stood out even among the taller buildings of the city with its multifaceted blue roof shining like a cut gem. The octagonal building was built with its back nudged into the crown of the hill. Windows of stained glass gleamed in the white walls, and crystal towers and spires rose high above it.
With her broad stride, Kemara climbed the wide stone steps to the building quickly. He and Xelloss followed more sedately. When she was several steps ahead, Xelloss leaned toward Zelgadis.
"Did you notice her jewelry, Zel-san?" he asked in a low voice.
Zelgadis looked at him curiously, and then at Kemara as she ushered them through the tall doors into the Hall of the Shrine. It struck him as he passed close by her: there was no aura of magic at all in the Relics she wore.
Once again he hid his curiosity for the moment. At any rate, the room they'd entered demanded their attention. Blue-grey stone walls - a lot like the color of his own skin, he noticed uncomfortably - were reflected in a black, glasslike floor. Stained glass windows flanked the door where they entered, and multi-colored light from those windows fell on rows of narrow silk banners that hung from floor to ceiling. They began to walk along a sort of corridor between these banners toward a silver door studded with gems at the far end of the room.
It took several seconds for Zel's dazzled eyes to see that the design on the banners created a picture. On one side of the aisle, the mosaic showed Shimer in the act of healing a grateful woman. On the other side, Shimer's jewels flashed in a beam of light from the sky as he thrust his spear into the huge, skeletal monster at his feet.
"How inspiring," Zelgadis said with a glance at Xelloss.
"Yes, indeed," Xelloss murmured.
Kemara stopped midway along the aisle and turned to face them. She became very solemn; or at least, she made a heroic effort to be solemn.
"Welcome to the Hall of the Shrine of Shimer!" she said with a sweep of her arms and a bow. "The Shrine Keepers await you within the Great Hall beyond this room. Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama himself will lead you to the Shrine from there."
She turned and gestured at the room around them with a pink blush spreading across her face. "This," she continued, "is the Hall of Disrobing."
They stopped in their tracks. Zelgadis felt his jaw drop
"Oh?" Xelloss sounded far too interested.
Kemara stifled a giggle and grinned like a schoolgirl. "Don't worry! You only have to take off your shirts and your shoes now. They don't make you take off everything anymore, like they used to!"
"What a shame that the old ways have changed!" Xelloss said with a sly smile at Zelgadis.
"No," Zelgadis said firmly. The thought of walking into the Shrine naked, with a naked Xelloss beside him, made him flush with more than embarrassment. "No, change is good."
Kemara giggled again and then gathered her dignity, although she still blushed a bright shade of pink. "You will have to leave your weapon, your staff, and your cloaks and bags here, as well."
Xelloss frowned thoughtfully at his staff. "I must admit, I've grown very attached to this in my travels," he sighed. "I had thought I might bring it to the Shrine as a symbolic offering."
Kemara shook her head. "No emblems or objects of magic, either white, black, or spirit, are permitted into the presence of the power of Shimer," she said, as if she was reading from a book of rules. "Shimer forswore the magic of the gods and the demons, and requires all of his Followers to do the same."
She paused and gave Xelloss a sympathetic smile. "I felt the same way when I had to give up my Shrine Maiden's robes to be initiated here," she said. "But after you've been touched with the power of Shimer, you won't want your staff or any other magic."
Curiosity finally got the better of Zelgadis. "You were a Shrine Maiden?" he asked.
"I was. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a healer. My grandmother was a famous healer in our country, you see. I began my training at the temple in her home town, but when I heard of Shimer's great healing power I knew I had to come here."
"And yet," Zelgadis said, "You don't actually wear the healing Relics yourself?"
She blushed a deeper shade of red and her eyes grew wide. "Oh! These..." she touched her bracelets and necklace nervously. "Oh dear, you can tell, can't you! Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama mentioned that you were a Sorcerer, Zelgadis-sama. I forgot. Please," she continued urgently, "Don't mention this to him!"
"I promise I won't, but I have to wonder why an Assistant Shrine Keeper wears false copies of the Relics?"
"Well, you see... I came here to learn Shimer's healing magic, but then I found out that it isn't really Shimer's power at all that heals most of the people who come to the Valley. The Relics have great healing power of their own, I know, but I was terribly disappointed by the deception. I'm afraid I argued with the Shrine Keepers about it rather loudly."
"They didn't care to be argued with on this matter," Zelgadis guessed.
Kemara nodded. "I suspect that's why I'm still an Under-Assistant in Training after all the time I've been here," she said sheepishly. "I know it's to protect the Shrine, just as they say. But I don't like lying to all those people. That's why I'm so excited you've come here to the Shrine. If people see that you were healed here by the true Power of Shimer, then maybe they'll begin to realize...."
"That they're being lied to?"
Kemara bit her lip. Zelgadis touched her bracelet. She turned pink again as she looked down at his stone fingers on her wrist.
"What we're about to do here may accomplish at least part of what you wish," he said softly.
He turned away before he could see her face light up with hope. He remembered the other surprising thing he'd heard her say. "You don't approve of the Soldiers of Shimer either, do you?"
"I am a healer, Zelgadis-sama," she said. This time her voice was firm. She looked like she wouldn't back down even from Zuller on this point. "I know that Shimer himself was a Soldier, but the Soldiers of Shimer exist only to kill, and healers revere all life."
"Even Mazoku?" Xelloss asked. He sounded amused.
"In my grandmother's temple we were taught that the Mother Of Us All gave life to each being from Her wisdom and power, and all beings have a place in this world."
"My, my," Xelloss said more softly. The humor had left his voice. He inclined his head toward her; it looked to Zelgadis like a gesture of respect. "I may have to visit this temple of your grandmother's someday."
A wistful expression crossed Kemara's face, but then she remembered her duties and pulled herself together.
"I'm sorry. I've held you up here longer than I should have. If you'll please remove your cloaks and bags, all that you carry, and leave them here..."
Zelgadis raised his eyebrows, wondering what effect it would have on the Mazoku to leave his belongings behind since they were all a part of him, but aside from the reluctance to part with his staff, Xelloss seemed unconcerned. Kemara led them between hanging banners that rippled when they passed by, to an alcove near the door to the Great Hall. Zelgadis remembered his urge to run Zuller through with his sword and decided it was just as well that he leave it here, but Xelloss hesitated before laying his staff reverently in the deep wooden chest in the alcove. Kemara didn't seem to want to touch either item.
After that, they removed their boots, and Zelgadis drew off his tunic and handed it to her to place in the chest as well. It was difficult to say which of them blushed more fiercely, but Xelloss seemed perfectly at ease standing there in nothing but his trousers. Zelgadis' throat felt dry; he never liked exposing so much of his body to strangers, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. He tried very hard not to think about running his hands over all of Xelloss' bare skin, or how Xelloss looked just as good in the lighted hall as he had felt in the dark. Kemara ducked her head and tried not to stare at either of them.
Zelgadis forced himself to remember what they were here for. They stepped out of the alcove and back into the corridor between the rippling banners, and Kemara led them to the silver doors. With the most genuine smile Zelgadis had seen on anyone since coming to the Valley of Shimeria, she flung upon the doors and stood aside for them to enter.
He paused on the threshold with Xelloss at his shoulder. Ahead, amid dazzling lights and shadows, Zuller stood waiting in his silvery robes. His pale blue eyes gleamed as he smiled to welcome them. Beside him, three Deputy Shrine Keepers beamed at them and bowed. They looked like any ordinary temple priests to Zelgadis, except for the blank glare of their smiles.
Kemara stepped into the room beside them eagerly, but with a benevolent smile, Zuller waved her back. He inclined his head respectfully, thanking her without words for performing her duty, but clearly he expected her to leave now that it was done.
Kemara bit her lip again with the nearest thing to a scowl Zelgadis had seen on a Follower of Shimer. Zelgadis frowned as well. His irritation with Zuller flared, but at a warning glance from Xelloss he held it at bay. It probably wouldn't be wise to challenge Zuller now, before they'd been admitted to the heart of the Shrine.
Kemara took a deep breath and gathered her dignity around her once again. She gave them one more of her brilliant, natural smiles, then turned and left the Hall. The great door closed behind her.
Another corridor of silken hangings opened before them, longer and wider than the last. The banners here were all silver and blue, row after row of them throughout the wide hall, rippling like columns of water. They caught the rainbow light from crystal skylights in the ceiling far above.
Pillars of stone, deep blue flecked with veins of gold, rose at intervals along the corridor between the banners. What Zelgadis could see of the walls beyond the silk banners was the same sparkling blue stone. The floor was polished like glass here as well, but it was an even deeper blue that seemed to have more lights shimmering in its depths. He felt like they were walking on water between silver waterfalls as they started across the floor.
Halfway across this shimmering room, Zuller held out his arms to them.
"Welcome at last, Zelgadis-sama! And Xelloss-sama! I was greatly relieved when Kemara sent word that you had both arrived. We would have been sorry indeed if we failed to serve you here in the Valley of Shimeria!"
"We're sorry to have kept you waiting," Zelgadis said with a smile of his own.
He hooked his arm around Xelloss', and the trickster priest smiled broadly but bowed his head as if he was abashed at this public show of affection. Zelgadis nearly laughed aloud: There was the proof that Xelloss could definitely blush on demand. Faced with the stares of the Keepers, he almost managed to ignore the heat of Xelloss' skin against his.
The Keepers' eyebrows rose all at once, but their smiles only grew broader.
"Ah, I see!" Zuller said. "Then you have come to receive the blessing of Shimer together as a couple, as well?"
"What better place to begin our new lives than here at the blessed Shrine?" Xelloss said happily.
They paused near the far end of the hall where Zuller and the other Keepers stood waiting between the stone pillars.
"Allow me to introduce you to my assistants," Zuller said with a formal bow.
He introduced the tall man to his right as Deputy Shrine Keeper Neldo. A tall man with graying hair and a square jaw, Neldo gave a quick bow when Zuller introduced him. On Zuller's left stood Deputy Shrine Keeper Daria, a middle-aged woman who bowed to them stiffly in spite of her benign smile. The third man was shorter than the rest, with a round face to match his round body. Deputy Shrine Keeper Marcus looked as timid as a mouse and his hands fluttered nervously as he was introduced to them.
After they had all bowed politely to each other several times, Zuller stood back and raised his hands in a gesture of blessing.
"I welcome you, my friends! It is time now to begin your transformation!"
Zuller stepped back toward a set of gilded doors at the far end of the Great Hall. The Deputy Keepers moved to either side, ready to escort them as well. Zelgadis' heart pounded as he tried to imagine what lay beyond those doors. He and Xelloss stepped forward together arm in arm, Xelloss with his head bowed as if he was deep in some spiritual meditation.
They passed slowly between the silken banners and the columns of stone, their movements making the banners rustle softly as if a wind blew through them. Shadows and lights moved among the silk columns, forms emerged from behind them, and suddenly Zelgadis realized they were surrounded by row after row of grinning Soldiers of Shimer.
Before he could take another step a dozen Soldiers were pulling him away from Xelloss. He shouted and scrambled to hold on to Xelloss' arm, but the Soldiers' strength surprised him yet again and he lost his grip. Xelloss let himself be yanked away, but when Zelgadis saw his face, he only looked like a mild-mannered priest who was too startled to resist.
In seconds they stood surrounded on all sides with the heavy hands of at least a dozen Soldiers on each of them, and many swords and spears raised and pointing at them. More of the Soldiers stood waiting throughout the room, with themselves and the Keepers at the center of a wide circle of them. There was a sword at Zel's throat and the point of a spear aimed at his heart, and ten other soldiers held his arms at his sides. Across the aisle between the pillars, they held Xelloss in the same way.
Dread filled Zelgadis' heart. There were too many of them, some still hidden behind the pillars of silk and stone. If he set off a magical attack in close quarters like this, it would be difficult to be sure of getting all of them without destroying himself and possibly Xelloss as well. Although half of their weapons gleamed with the familiar silver blades, the rest seemed to hold various enchantments and he had no way of telling what they could do. He didn't even know what help Xelloss could be in such a fight, and whatever he did here, they would still have to get to the Shrine somehow.
Zuller had stopped and turned to face them within a few feet of the doors, which Zelgadis now realized they might never pass through. He could only hope the Keepers didn't know for certain what Xelloss was yet. The trickster priest stood there in the Soldiers' grip looking completely confused, and whatever worry he showed appeared to be for Zelgadis, not himself. The dozen different blades held on him all gleamed with different enchantments, including a sword with the mercurial sheen of Shimer's Curse - but each of the same kind of weapon was aimed at Zelgadis as well. If the Keepers didn't yet know what they were really dealing with, perhaps they had a chance...
"What is this!" he snarled at the Chief Shrine Keeper, not bothering to hide his anger any longer. "Is this how you greet all travelers who seek healing at your precious Shrine?"
"I must apologize, Zelgadis-sama," Zuller said, shaking his head regretfully but not losing a bit of his smile. "Please be patient with us. You will understand in a moment why we must do this."
He came over to stand in front of Zelgadis, turning his back on Xelloss. Daria and Marcus joined him, studying Zelgadis curiously as if they'd never seen a rock-golem-chimera before--which, in fact, they probably hadn't. The soldier-like Keeper, Neldo, stayed near Xelloss, but they all seemed to be ignoring him for the moment.
"Zuller, what is this about?" Zelgadis snapped, tugging on his captors' grip. "Do you intend to kill me here in the hidden sanctuary of your Shrine so that you can claim I was cured without having to show the proof? Shimer's power is all a lie, just as I thought!"
"Oh, my, no!" Zuller said quickly. The Deputy Keepers shook their heads in dismay and smiled reassuringly. "I realize your skepticism is the product of many disappointments in the past, but once again I assure you that you will soon be restored to your true human form. After that, you will be free to go wherever you wish to go, and to tell everyone or no one of what took place here at the Shrine of Shimer."
Zuller took a step closer and laid his hand on Zel's arm. Zelgadis glared at him but the Chief Shrine Keeper didn't flinch.
"However," Zuller went on calmly, "You must enter the Shrine alone, Zelgadis-san. I'm afraid Xelloss-san cannot go with you. I am truly, truly sorry that this is so."
His condescending smile was unbearable. Zelgadis struggled; he knew he couldn't quite break free of the soldiers holding him, at least not without finding out if their blades could pierce his stone skin, but he managed to shake off Zuller's touch on his arm.
"I beg your pardon, Chief Shrine Keeper-sama," Xelloss said in his mildest voice. "If my presence here is not welcome, you should have said so sooner! I'll leave immediately if that will allow Zel-san to go along and be cured!"
Zuller's eyes flicked toward Xelloss for a second, but he remained facing Zelgadis.
"This creature is not your friend, Zelgadis-san," he said quietly. "Not unless it has been your habit to befriend demons."
Zelgadis' heart sank. He glared at Zuller, but Xelloss made a sound of startled innocence. Zelgadis took his cue from that. Somehow, he thought desperately, they might still be able to bluff their way out of this.
"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed, trying not to reveal his alarm. "The only demon in this room is within me. You said it yourself; that demon inside me is part of the curse I seek to break through the Power of Shimer."
"If this is the case, if your demon part is all that we sense here, there is an easy test to prove it," Zuller said. "Forgive me, Zelgadis...."
Deputy Keeper Marcus stepped up beside Zuller and held up a knife. The blade glittered as if chips of diamond were embedded in its cutting edge. There was more to it than that, though, Zelgadis noticed. A strong spell was laid on it as well.
The soldiers tightened their grip on his arms. He stiffened and struggled instinctively, while Xelloss made a sound of concern from behind Zuller. With an absurdly apologetic look on his face, meek little Marcus slashed the blade across Zel's arm where Zuller's hand had just been.
Zelgadis gasped; there was a stinging pain, and a line of bright red appeared on his arm. Even with Marcus' weak strike the knife had cut into him as if his flesh was merely human. While he stared at the blood oozing onto his stone skin, Zuller nodded thoughtfully. Marcus stepped back quickly, looking distressed but not surprised.
"Yes," Zuller said with a benevolent smile. "We know there is Brow Demon in you, grafted to your soul by evil magic, just as your body was combined with that of a rock golem. This blade is designed to kill the pure rock golems that Mazoku and their misguided human allies sometimes use."
Zuller stepped back and turned to Daria at his side. Smiling sweetly, she held out a knife of similar design, but this one had a dark blade with a bright silver edge.
"This weapon would pierce your demon soul, but that would cause you more pain than I wish to subject you to, Zelgadis-san. But a Brow Demon is not a Mazoku, as I'm sure you know. They are a different kind of magical being entirely. And your core is human. "
Zuller reached out to his side and a Soldier standing nearby handed him a knife with the familiar quicksilver blade. Before Zelgadis could react, Zuller lunged forward and stabbed it against his chest. He hissed in surprise and heard Xelloss' worried cry, but the blade simply bounced off of him without leaving a mark.
"You see," Zuller said, stepping back again. "You are not one of the evil race."
He held the blade up to the light and looked at it carefully, checking to see if Zel's stone skin had even blunted it. Only then did Zelgadis notice the band around his forearm that had been hidden under his sleeve. The plain white band was set with a single stone like clear glass filled with swirling black ink. Xelloss seemed to have noticed it as well; over Zuller's shoulder, Zelgadis saw something flicker across his face. He had a terrible feeling he knew what that inky blackness signified.
Zuller spun around and thrust the tip of the silvery blade at Xelloss' throat.
"This one, however, is nothing but a lie," he said.
Xelloss froze. Zelgadis hardly dared to breathe as Zuller forced Xelloss' head up with the silvery blade under his chin. The Mazoku's eyes were clenched shut and he grimaced fearfully, but still, it seemed to Zelgadis, he only seemed surprised and puzzled that Zuller should threaten him like this. He was not ready to reveal himself to them yet.
"What! You think Xelloss is a demon?" Zelgadis laughed. "He's only a wandering priest who once studied very old, powerful magic. He used to practice dark magic, so maybe that's what you detect, but I assure you, he is no demon! Please, don't hurt him! His skin isn't made of stone..."
"He is not merely a demon," Zuller said happily, smiling in Xelloss' face. "He is a Mazoku! Apparently a powerful one, to wear such a convincing human form. He has deceived you well, but now you shall learn the truth!"
"No!" Zelgadis yelled. He struggled frantically while Zuller drew his hand back. Xelloss' face showed alarm although his eyes remained tightly shut, and he tried to pull away from his captors' grip.
To Zelgadis' dismay and Xelloss' apparent astonishment, the Soldiers lifted him off his feet and yanked him back against the stone pillar behind him. Zuller stepped forward and shoved him back against the stone with one hand on his chest, while the other held the knife ready to strike.
"Zuller!" Zelgadis yelled angrily. "Stop this!"
He struggled to get free, but the Soldiers holding him twisted his arms and yanked downward. Another Soldier grabbed the diamond-bladed knife and thrust it under his chin. It bit his throat but he still tried to pull free of them. "Xelloss!"
Xelloss groaned; his limbs shook as he tried in vain to throw the Soldiers off. He was too weak to do it. He seemed to give up suddenly, all the fight draining from him. Zelgadis watched in horror as Shimer's Curse stole the Mazoku's strength. At the last second, as Zuller's hand fell, Xelloss opened his inhuman eyes and stared malevolently at the Chief Shrine Keeper. But that was all he could do.
Zelgadis froze in shock as Zuller plunged the knife into Xelloss' chest. It slipped into his apparently solid flesh as easily as if he was made of mist, but Xelloss let out a gasping cry and jerked in the Soldiers' grip, and then went limp.
"Xelloss!" Zelgadis screamed.
He almost broke free then, dragging his captors with him as he struggled forward, even though he had no idea what he could do. More soldiers joined the others holding him and more blades appeared all around him. He was about to conjure a spell to blast them all, no longer caring if it brought the crystal ceiling down on all of them. Then Zuller stepped back, leaving the hilt of the knife sticking out of Xelloss' chest.
Zelgadis stopped and stared. He wasn't certain if Xelloss was already dead, or what would happen to his human form if he was. A thin trail of black energy drifted out of the invisible wound to dissipate in the air like smoke. But then Xelloss' fingers twitched, and slowly, he lifted his head and opened his lavender eyes. An evil grin spread across his face as he stared, not at Zuller, but at Zelgadis.
"So, you see how it is at last, Zel-chan," he said in a strange, mild voice that trembled a little. He made the intimate name sound like a cruel joke. "It's been my pleasure to deceive you all this time. But to fool your enemies, you must first be able to fool your friends."
His eyes darted to Zuller briefly but then focused on Zelgadis again with a malicious gleam. A chilling shiver climbed Zel's spine under the glare of those eyes and confusion stopped him from speaking. Why would Xelloss still bother to lie to them like this? Or had he given up completely, so there was no more reason to lie at all?
"You see the monster's true nature at last," Zuller said with satisfaction. He turned and took a silver-tipped spear from a Soldier standing nearby. "These blades blessed with the Power of Shimer only pierce the bodies of Mazoku, whether they appear human or in their true form. Having weakened them, we can destroy them with our purified weapons... slowly or swiftly as we choose."
"No... " Zel struggled again. "This can't be! Damn it, Xelloss!"
"Ah! Ignorant, innocent, foolish chimera," Xelloss broke in, laughing. The mockery in his voice stopped Zel in his place. "You can't even admit the truth when it's right in front of you! I'm afraid Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama is right after all. I was never your friend, Zel-chan. You were my tool, nothing more. Your pitiful self-hatred, even your twisted desire for me, all gave me the strength I needed to withstand these fools and get this far, at least, into their sanctuary." He sighed. "I was so looking forward to the moment when you finally realized it, although I must say, I thought it would be under slightly different circumstances than this. I thought it would be at the moment I destroyed this place and once again deprived you of that normal life you so pitifully desire."
Zelgadis gaped at him, trembling as that malevolent voice continued. It had to be another deception, he thought, but he couldn't see any reason for it. Zuller stood nearby, his smile mixed with a grimace of disgust at Xelloss. The Shrine Keeper raised the cursed spear.
Helpless anger swept over Zelgadis. He remembered the moment in Midtown when he'd felt he could gladly kill both of them. Zuller had soothed his anger then, but Xelloss....
He let his rage flare in his heart, fury both at the Shrine Keeper's smug smile and at Xelloss for all his manipulation. It had to be what Xelloss wanted. The amethyst eyes glittered brightly, enough to make Zuller pause before striking.
"Ah, Zel-chan!" Xelloss' voice still taunted, even though it grew weaker by the second and he winced as if in pain. "Your emotions still taste sweet, as useless as they are to me now. All of that pain and longing you hide.... It was always so easy to irritate you and feed on your anger, and then I found it was even easier to lure you with this body and feed on your desire. You were even better in bed than I expected! I must admit, you've been a rich feast for me, both your body and your soul."
Leering, he raked his gleaming eyes up and down Zel's body. Zelgadis felt limp with horror. Xelloss grew visibly weaker with every word; the Mazoku couldn't be gaining anything from his emotions now but sadistic pleasure.
All of Zelgadis' doubts returned in a flash that nearly blinded him. He finally remembered that Xelloss was a Mazoku, first and always, just as he always said. He had no human feelings like desire; he only fed off of them. He'd simply found one more perfect way to manipulate his human companion, using Zelgadis' desire and sympathy as well as his anger. Zelgadis had known this at the start, but he'd allowed himself to believe otherwise. He'd been deceived as much by his own foolish longings as he had by the Trickster Priest himself.
Zuller laughed. His eyes were alight with hate and triumph as he aimed the spear at Xelloss. "You have fed far too much on this young man's pain," he said with a grim smile. "It will do you no good here anyway, Mazoku!"
Xelloss' eyes flashed briefly before Zuller drove the spear into him, into his chest where a heart would have been if he were human. The Mazoku gave a strangled, gurgling cry and his face contorted with pain, even though, once again, the spear seemed to simply disappear within him. Zuller pushed hard, and Xelloss gasped again as Zuller twisted the blade deep inside him. More wisps of darkness bled from the wound, barely visible in the bright light of the Hall. Somehow, both of the weapons had pinned Xelloss to the stone. The Soldiers hardly needed to keep their grip on him now.
Even then, after a moment, Xelloss raised his head a little. He fixed Zuller with one opened eye and a twisted grin.
"It's true," he rasped. "The chimera's pain no longer does me any good, but I still enjoy it anyway."
Zelgadis' clenched his fists and cried out. His horror flared into rage, fueled by a pain he could hardly admit to feeling, as if a spear was twisted into his own heart. Even while part of his mind searched for some reason, some cue that he was missing, his heart told him it was pointless. He had been a fool, just as Xelloss had so often told him he was.
Zuller left the shaft of the spear in the hands of Deputy Keeper Neldo, who had been standing near Xelloss. He turned back to face Zelgadis.
"You have seen the truth with your own eyes, now, Zelgadis-san," he said gently with another of his sympathetic smiles. "I'm sorry we had to let this monster continue to deceive you for so long, but it was necessary to lure him here where he would be at his weakest so that we could be sure of killing him."
Still held in place by dozens of Soldiers' hands, Zelgadis glared at him, but now he was only angry at Zuller for showing him something he didn't want to see. He shook his head and laughed bitterly.
"So, you used me as well," he said.
Zuller hung his head. The other Keepers looked pained.
"Yes, Zelgadis-san, I'm afraid we did," Zuller admitted. "I'm truly sorry."
Zelgadis snorted in disgust. He'd thought once that he preferred the Mazoku's obvious manipulation to the Shrine Keeper's insidious spells, but he hadn't realized then how far Xelloss would go to get what he wanted from him, or how gullible he could be. He winced with shame. At least, he thought, Zuller hadn't seduced him.
It hardly mattered now, Zelgadis thought bitterly. Xelloss was dying. He could see with his own eyes how quickly the Mazoku's strength was slipping away. Xelloss still watched him with malicious delight, but he sagged in his captors' grip. His confidence was gone; he'd failed in his mission. Pity mingled with rage in Zelgadis' heart. He tried to be glad of Xelloss' failure, but he couldn't quite do it even now. All he felt was grief.
Xelloss winced. A grimace of pain appeared on his face and quickly disappeared. He dropped his head, hiding his eyes under the curtain of his dark hair, but not before Zelgadis recognized the hunger and longing in those eyes as Zel's twisted emotions hit him. Pinned by the blades, he could draw no strength from them at all, and he couldn't even escape to his natural form. He couldn't even die until Zuller decided to let him.
Suddenly Zelgadis knew what the Mazoku was doing. He couldn't use Zel's emotions anymore; he wasn't even trying to invoke them. He'd given up at last, but he'd made sure Zuller and the others thought he'd deceived Zelgadis completely. All he'd said had disguised the fact that Zelgadis had been helping him willingly all along. Zel's heart twisted within him as he realized Xelloss was trying to set him free.
He stared hard at Xelloss for a few more seconds to convince himself it was true, but the Mazoku didn't move. Zuller took another spear and prodded Xelloss' head up with the tip under his chin. The slitted eyes were cold and dim; they stared through Zuller at nothing.
Zelgadis dropped his head into his hands and groaned. It had to be true. He decided to believe what his heart wanted to believe, even knowing what twisted deception Xelloss was capable of. Zuller and the others had mistaken the real reason for his anguish so far. He had to let them think that they were right.
"You used me, demon," he said. His voice broke with pain. Hiding his face, he let his anguish reveal itself in his words. "From the very start you were only using me. You brought me here and tempted me with the promise of a cure for my condition, just so you could get into the Shrine and destroy this monument to the enemy of your race, didn't you?"
"My purpose is my secret," Xelloss answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It doesn't matter now what you meant to do here, Mazoku," Zuller said to Xelloss.
Zelgadis looked up between his fingers. Zuller now held the spear against Xelloss' abdomen, but this time he drove it in slowly. Zelgadis watched with horrified fascination as the blade disappeared inch by inch. Xelloss tried to withstand this in silence but moaned sharply when Zuller finally thrust the spear through him into the pillar.
"You may once have been powerful, Mazoku," Zuller said, "but in the midst of our shrine you are weak, and we can deal with you easily."
Watching Xelloss' face, Zuller took hold of the knife handle that still protruded from his chest and slowly pulled it out, twisting the blade. Xelloss grimaced horribly and twitched, choking on a scream. There was no mark on him where the blade had been.
Zelgadis looked away, clenching his eyes shut. He hoped they thought his horror only came from seeing this evidence of Xelloss' inhuman form.
"You were powerful once, indeed," Zuller said softly. He seemed surprised that Xelloss had lasted this long and could still lift his head at all. "But you will die soon, even so."
The murmur ran through the room and echoed off the blue stone walls. "Die, Mazoku."
Nodding approvingly, Zuller turned away from Xelloss to gesture to his two Deputy Shrine Keepers. Zelgadis hadn't even noticed he'd been released by the Soldiers holding him until Marcus took his arm.
"Zelgadis-san," he said in a gentle voice. His soft, kindly face peered up into Zel's. "There is no need for you to remain here now that the Mazoku has been subdued. If you wish, I will accompany you to the Shrine now, where you can be cured of this curse and freed of this demon's hold on your soul."
Xelloss opened his pale lavender eyes and looked over Zuller's shoulder to focus on Zelgadis. He laughed softly.
"Oh, yes," he said with a soft, bitter voice. "Go, Zel-chan, and seek your foolish cure. But if I had my way, you would remain a chimera forever."
Zuller's smile never shifted. Without even looking he spun around and plunged the knife into Xelloss again. This time the Mazoku couldn't hold back his scream.
Zelgadis turned his face away and covered it with his hand again, shuddering. Marco watched him sympathetically, misunderstanding the reason for his distress.
"Horrible things, aren't they?" he said, shaking his head with a grimace. "You'd almost think it actually felt real pain."
Zelgadis clenched his eyes shut, trying to still his rage. Once again he considered attacking them with a spell. It would have to be all or nothing. Once he revealed himself as Xelloss' ally, he wouldn't get a second chance against their golem-killing weapons. Even if his attack worked, it might not do Xelloss any good. There was only one way he could think of to save Xelloss, if it wasn't too late already.
The Deputy Keeper tugged on his arm gently. "Zelgadis-san?"
He turned and gave Xelloss one last, hard look, even though he could hardly bear to see him like this. He didn't know if Xelloss could even feel his desperate anger, but if he could, he hoped the Mazoku knew it was all for the fanatical Followers of Shimer.
"I won't fail, monster," he said flatly.
There was no way to tell if Xelloss had even heard the words. His eyes were fading, all the light and color leaving them. Zelgadis turned away again and looked past the Soldiers and the fluttering banners to the carved, gilt doors.
"Bring me to the Shrine of Shimer," he said. "Let me be purified."
***
to be continued.
Next: Zelgadis finally arrives at the Shrine, and the fate of Xelloss is decided!
Author: Tsutsuji
Date written: July-August 2005
Fandom: Slayers
Rating: R for suggestiveness
Pairings: Zelgadis/Xelloss
Type: yaoi/slash, adventure
Warnings: hurt/comfort, angst
Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to these characters and I'm making no profit from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.
Summary: On the threshhold of the Shrine, the Curse of Shimer has a new, terrible effect on Xelloss, forcing Zelgadis to make a difficult choice...
Notes: Thanks for the reviews, sorry for the delay! Now, on with the angst!
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Poison, chapter 11
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Kemara's bushy, golden hair fluttered around her face as she led Zelgadis and Xelloss through the city streets. She had a quick, bouncing step, and she didn't seem quite as dignified as Zelgadis expected an Assistant Shrine Keeper in Training to be. He had the distinct impression that she would be just as talkative and cheerful even without Shimer's Relics.
"Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama had a feeling you'd stay off the High Road!" she said cheerfully. "He set us all to watch at the Gates, and we were all a little concerned when you didn't arrive yesterday. I'm glad you didn't change your mind about coming to the Shrine, Zelgadis-sama!"
She paused and bit her lip as if she was about to add something that she shouldn't say. A second later she was chattering away about the different ways into the city, the traffic on the High Road, and whatever else came to her mind.
Zelgadis was distracted from her chatter by the sights and sounds of the Crystal City, and even more so by the firm warmth of Xelloss' gloved hand in his. After their quiet day on the canal and the sensory overload of the night before it all seemed a little overwhelming. He wasn't surprised by the excited, friendly stares of the crowd that began to appear along their route. However, either they were awed by the presence of an Under Assistant Shrine Keeper in Training, or the people of Crystal City were much more polite than people elsewhere in the Valley. They watched, smiled, and some of them waved, but no one took the liberty of running up to them like long-lost friends. Everyone here wore some of Shimer's jewelry, and most were glowing with health and happiness. Very few looked like they still needed to be cured of anything.
"Zuller-sama made it very clear to the Relic Sellers here in the city that you were not to be bothered by any of their sales pitches," Kemara said with a wave of her hand at the shops lining the streets.
Zelgadis laughed briefly. It was wise of Zuller to keep the Relic Sellers away from him, he thought. He might not have the good manners of the local people if he found any of their baubles dangling in his face.
"Zuller-sama and the Deputy Shrine Keepers are waiting for us at the Hall of the Shrine. They're all very anxious to meet you, of course!" Kemara rambled on. "Unfortunately, Assistant Shrine Keepers Argo and Vargas are away on their duties in other parts of the Valley. They have to inspect the gem shipments and the work being done by the makers of the Relics, all of that business, you know," she said with a wave of her hand. "They get to meet a lot of people that way, but they'll regret that they weren't here to witness your cure!"
"It is a shame that all the Keepers of the Shrine won't be present," Xelloss agreed.
Zelgadis noticed his little smile and decided that, on the contrary, Under Assistant Shrine Keepers Argo and Vargas were very fortunate that they were somewhere else on this particular day.
Among the crowd, Zelgadis noticed a few young men and women wearing the familiar silver robes and beaded collars, and from that as well as from the way Kemara raised her head a little higher when they passed, he assumed they were more Assistant Shrine Keepers in Training. But he did not see anyone carrying a weapon or wearing the grey hooded robes of the Soldiers of Shimer.
"I'm still surprised that the Shrine isn't heavily guarded," he said, gazing around like a curious tourist. "Won't we be seeing any of those Soldiers here at all?"
"No," Kemara answered shortly. "The latest squadron of them left the city yesterday. They don't stick around long after they receive their weapons and their marching orders." She turned her face away quickly. "Thank the gods," she muttered under her breath.
Zelgadis' eyebrows shot upward. He saw the corner of Xelloss' mouth twitch, but since Xelloss didn't say anything, he decided to hide his surprise as well.
The Hall of the Shrine came into view at the far end of a wide boulevard. At the top of a rise, it stood out even among the taller buildings of the city with its multifaceted blue roof shining like a cut gem. The octagonal building was built with its back nudged into the crown of the hill. Windows of stained glass gleamed in the white walls, and crystal towers and spires rose high above it.
With her broad stride, Kemara climbed the wide stone steps to the building quickly. He and Xelloss followed more sedately. When she was several steps ahead, Xelloss leaned toward Zelgadis.
"Did you notice her jewelry, Zel-san?" he asked in a low voice.
Zelgadis looked at him curiously, and then at Kemara as she ushered them through the tall doors into the Hall of the Shrine. It struck him as he passed close by her: there was no aura of magic at all in the Relics she wore.
Once again he hid his curiosity for the moment. At any rate, the room they'd entered demanded their attention. Blue-grey stone walls - a lot like the color of his own skin, he noticed uncomfortably - were reflected in a black, glasslike floor. Stained glass windows flanked the door where they entered, and multi-colored light from those windows fell on rows of narrow silk banners that hung from floor to ceiling. They began to walk along a sort of corridor between these banners toward a silver door studded with gems at the far end of the room.
It took several seconds for Zel's dazzled eyes to see that the design on the banners created a picture. On one side of the aisle, the mosaic showed Shimer in the act of healing a grateful woman. On the other side, Shimer's jewels flashed in a beam of light from the sky as he thrust his spear into the huge, skeletal monster at his feet.
"How inspiring," Zelgadis said with a glance at Xelloss.
"Yes, indeed," Xelloss murmured.
Kemara stopped midway along the aisle and turned to face them. She became very solemn; or at least, she made a heroic effort to be solemn.
"Welcome to the Hall of the Shrine of Shimer!" she said with a sweep of her arms and a bow. "The Shrine Keepers await you within the Great Hall beyond this room. Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama himself will lead you to the Shrine from there."
She turned and gestured at the room around them with a pink blush spreading across her face. "This," she continued, "is the Hall of Disrobing."
They stopped in their tracks. Zelgadis felt his jaw drop
"Oh?" Xelloss sounded far too interested.
Kemara stifled a giggle and grinned like a schoolgirl. "Don't worry! You only have to take off your shirts and your shoes now. They don't make you take off everything anymore, like they used to!"
"What a shame that the old ways have changed!" Xelloss said with a sly smile at Zelgadis.
"No," Zelgadis said firmly. The thought of walking into the Shrine naked, with a naked Xelloss beside him, made him flush with more than embarrassment. "No, change is good."
Kemara giggled again and then gathered her dignity, although she still blushed a bright shade of pink. "You will have to leave your weapon, your staff, and your cloaks and bags here, as well."
Xelloss frowned thoughtfully at his staff. "I must admit, I've grown very attached to this in my travels," he sighed. "I had thought I might bring it to the Shrine as a symbolic offering."
Kemara shook her head. "No emblems or objects of magic, either white, black, or spirit, are permitted into the presence of the power of Shimer," she said, as if she was reading from a book of rules. "Shimer forswore the magic of the gods and the demons, and requires all of his Followers to do the same."
She paused and gave Xelloss a sympathetic smile. "I felt the same way when I had to give up my Shrine Maiden's robes to be initiated here," she said. "But after you've been touched with the power of Shimer, you won't want your staff or any other magic."
Curiosity finally got the better of Zelgadis. "You were a Shrine Maiden?" he asked.
"I was. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a healer. My grandmother was a famous healer in our country, you see. I began my training at the temple in her home town, but when I heard of Shimer's great healing power I knew I had to come here."
"And yet," Zelgadis said, "You don't actually wear the healing Relics yourself?"
She blushed a deeper shade of red and her eyes grew wide. "Oh! These..." she touched her bracelets and necklace nervously. "Oh dear, you can tell, can't you! Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama mentioned that you were a Sorcerer, Zelgadis-sama. I forgot. Please," she continued urgently, "Don't mention this to him!"
"I promise I won't, but I have to wonder why an Assistant Shrine Keeper wears false copies of the Relics?"
"Well, you see... I came here to learn Shimer's healing magic, but then I found out that it isn't really Shimer's power at all that heals most of the people who come to the Valley. The Relics have great healing power of their own, I know, but I was terribly disappointed by the deception. I'm afraid I argued with the Shrine Keepers about it rather loudly."
"They didn't care to be argued with on this matter," Zelgadis guessed.
Kemara nodded. "I suspect that's why I'm still an Under-Assistant in Training after all the time I've been here," she said sheepishly. "I know it's to protect the Shrine, just as they say. But I don't like lying to all those people. That's why I'm so excited you've come here to the Shrine. If people see that you were healed here by the true Power of Shimer, then maybe they'll begin to realize...."
"That they're being lied to?"
Kemara bit her lip. Zelgadis touched her bracelet. She turned pink again as she looked down at his stone fingers on her wrist.
"What we're about to do here may accomplish at least part of what you wish," he said softly.
He turned away before he could see her face light up with hope. He remembered the other surprising thing he'd heard her say. "You don't approve of the Soldiers of Shimer either, do you?"
"I am a healer, Zelgadis-sama," she said. This time her voice was firm. She looked like she wouldn't back down even from Zuller on this point. "I know that Shimer himself was a Soldier, but the Soldiers of Shimer exist only to kill, and healers revere all life."
"Even Mazoku?" Xelloss asked. He sounded amused.
"In my grandmother's temple we were taught that the Mother Of Us All gave life to each being from Her wisdom and power, and all beings have a place in this world."
"My, my," Xelloss said more softly. The humor had left his voice. He inclined his head toward her; it looked to Zelgadis like a gesture of respect. "I may have to visit this temple of your grandmother's someday."
A wistful expression crossed Kemara's face, but then she remembered her duties and pulled herself together.
"I'm sorry. I've held you up here longer than I should have. If you'll please remove your cloaks and bags, all that you carry, and leave them here..."
Zelgadis raised his eyebrows, wondering what effect it would have on the Mazoku to leave his belongings behind since they were all a part of him, but aside from the reluctance to part with his staff, Xelloss seemed unconcerned. Kemara led them between hanging banners that rippled when they passed by, to an alcove near the door to the Great Hall. Zelgadis remembered his urge to run Zuller through with his sword and decided it was just as well that he leave it here, but Xelloss hesitated before laying his staff reverently in the deep wooden chest in the alcove. Kemara didn't seem to want to touch either item.
After that, they removed their boots, and Zelgadis drew off his tunic and handed it to her to place in the chest as well. It was difficult to say which of them blushed more fiercely, but Xelloss seemed perfectly at ease standing there in nothing but his trousers. Zelgadis' throat felt dry; he never liked exposing so much of his body to strangers, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. He tried very hard not to think about running his hands over all of Xelloss' bare skin, or how Xelloss looked just as good in the lighted hall as he had felt in the dark. Kemara ducked her head and tried not to stare at either of them.
Zelgadis forced himself to remember what they were here for. They stepped out of the alcove and back into the corridor between the rippling banners, and Kemara led them to the silver doors. With the most genuine smile Zelgadis had seen on anyone since coming to the Valley of Shimeria, she flung upon the doors and stood aside for them to enter.
He paused on the threshold with Xelloss at his shoulder. Ahead, amid dazzling lights and shadows, Zuller stood waiting in his silvery robes. His pale blue eyes gleamed as he smiled to welcome them. Beside him, three Deputy Shrine Keepers beamed at them and bowed. They looked like any ordinary temple priests to Zelgadis, except for the blank glare of their smiles.
Kemara stepped into the room beside them eagerly, but with a benevolent smile, Zuller waved her back. He inclined his head respectfully, thanking her without words for performing her duty, but clearly he expected her to leave now that it was done.
Kemara bit her lip again with the nearest thing to a scowl Zelgadis had seen on a Follower of Shimer. Zelgadis frowned as well. His irritation with Zuller flared, but at a warning glance from Xelloss he held it at bay. It probably wouldn't be wise to challenge Zuller now, before they'd been admitted to the heart of the Shrine.
Kemara took a deep breath and gathered her dignity around her once again. She gave them one more of her brilliant, natural smiles, then turned and left the Hall. The great door closed behind her.
Another corridor of silken hangings opened before them, longer and wider than the last. The banners here were all silver and blue, row after row of them throughout the wide hall, rippling like columns of water. They caught the rainbow light from crystal skylights in the ceiling far above.
Pillars of stone, deep blue flecked with veins of gold, rose at intervals along the corridor between the banners. What Zelgadis could see of the walls beyond the silk banners was the same sparkling blue stone. The floor was polished like glass here as well, but it was an even deeper blue that seemed to have more lights shimmering in its depths. He felt like they were walking on water between silver waterfalls as they started across the floor.
Halfway across this shimmering room, Zuller held out his arms to them.
"Welcome at last, Zelgadis-sama! And Xelloss-sama! I was greatly relieved when Kemara sent word that you had both arrived. We would have been sorry indeed if we failed to serve you here in the Valley of Shimeria!"
"We're sorry to have kept you waiting," Zelgadis said with a smile of his own.
He hooked his arm around Xelloss', and the trickster priest smiled broadly but bowed his head as if he was abashed at this public show of affection. Zelgadis nearly laughed aloud: There was the proof that Xelloss could definitely blush on demand. Faced with the stares of the Keepers, he almost managed to ignore the heat of Xelloss' skin against his.
The Keepers' eyebrows rose all at once, but their smiles only grew broader.
"Ah, I see!" Zuller said. "Then you have come to receive the blessing of Shimer together as a couple, as well?"
"What better place to begin our new lives than here at the blessed Shrine?" Xelloss said happily.
They paused near the far end of the hall where Zuller and the other Keepers stood waiting between the stone pillars.
"Allow me to introduce you to my assistants," Zuller said with a formal bow.
He introduced the tall man to his right as Deputy Shrine Keeper Neldo. A tall man with graying hair and a square jaw, Neldo gave a quick bow when Zuller introduced him. On Zuller's left stood Deputy Shrine Keeper Daria, a middle-aged woman who bowed to them stiffly in spite of her benign smile. The third man was shorter than the rest, with a round face to match his round body. Deputy Shrine Keeper Marcus looked as timid as a mouse and his hands fluttered nervously as he was introduced to them.
After they had all bowed politely to each other several times, Zuller stood back and raised his hands in a gesture of blessing.
"I welcome you, my friends! It is time now to begin your transformation!"
Zuller stepped back toward a set of gilded doors at the far end of the Great Hall. The Deputy Keepers moved to either side, ready to escort them as well. Zelgadis' heart pounded as he tried to imagine what lay beyond those doors. He and Xelloss stepped forward together arm in arm, Xelloss with his head bowed as if he was deep in some spiritual meditation.
They passed slowly between the silken banners and the columns of stone, their movements making the banners rustle softly as if a wind blew through them. Shadows and lights moved among the silk columns, forms emerged from behind them, and suddenly Zelgadis realized they were surrounded by row after row of grinning Soldiers of Shimer.
Before he could take another step a dozen Soldiers were pulling him away from Xelloss. He shouted and scrambled to hold on to Xelloss' arm, but the Soldiers' strength surprised him yet again and he lost his grip. Xelloss let himself be yanked away, but when Zelgadis saw his face, he only looked like a mild-mannered priest who was too startled to resist.
In seconds they stood surrounded on all sides with the heavy hands of at least a dozen Soldiers on each of them, and many swords and spears raised and pointing at them. More of the Soldiers stood waiting throughout the room, with themselves and the Keepers at the center of a wide circle of them. There was a sword at Zel's throat and the point of a spear aimed at his heart, and ten other soldiers held his arms at his sides. Across the aisle between the pillars, they held Xelloss in the same way.
Dread filled Zelgadis' heart. There were too many of them, some still hidden behind the pillars of silk and stone. If he set off a magical attack in close quarters like this, it would be difficult to be sure of getting all of them without destroying himself and possibly Xelloss as well. Although half of their weapons gleamed with the familiar silver blades, the rest seemed to hold various enchantments and he had no way of telling what they could do. He didn't even know what help Xelloss could be in such a fight, and whatever he did here, they would still have to get to the Shrine somehow.
Zuller had stopped and turned to face them within a few feet of the doors, which Zelgadis now realized they might never pass through. He could only hope the Keepers didn't know for certain what Xelloss was yet. The trickster priest stood there in the Soldiers' grip looking completely confused, and whatever worry he showed appeared to be for Zelgadis, not himself. The dozen different blades held on him all gleamed with different enchantments, including a sword with the mercurial sheen of Shimer's Curse - but each of the same kind of weapon was aimed at Zelgadis as well. If the Keepers didn't yet know what they were really dealing with, perhaps they had a chance...
"What is this!" he snarled at the Chief Shrine Keeper, not bothering to hide his anger any longer. "Is this how you greet all travelers who seek healing at your precious Shrine?"
"I must apologize, Zelgadis-sama," Zuller said, shaking his head regretfully but not losing a bit of his smile. "Please be patient with us. You will understand in a moment why we must do this."
He came over to stand in front of Zelgadis, turning his back on Xelloss. Daria and Marcus joined him, studying Zelgadis curiously as if they'd never seen a rock-golem-chimera before--which, in fact, they probably hadn't. The soldier-like Keeper, Neldo, stayed near Xelloss, but they all seemed to be ignoring him for the moment.
"Zuller, what is this about?" Zelgadis snapped, tugging on his captors' grip. "Do you intend to kill me here in the hidden sanctuary of your Shrine so that you can claim I was cured without having to show the proof? Shimer's power is all a lie, just as I thought!"
"Oh, my, no!" Zuller said quickly. The Deputy Keepers shook their heads in dismay and smiled reassuringly. "I realize your skepticism is the product of many disappointments in the past, but once again I assure you that you will soon be restored to your true human form. After that, you will be free to go wherever you wish to go, and to tell everyone or no one of what took place here at the Shrine of Shimer."
Zuller took a step closer and laid his hand on Zel's arm. Zelgadis glared at him but the Chief Shrine Keeper didn't flinch.
"However," Zuller went on calmly, "You must enter the Shrine alone, Zelgadis-san. I'm afraid Xelloss-san cannot go with you. I am truly, truly sorry that this is so."
His condescending smile was unbearable. Zelgadis struggled; he knew he couldn't quite break free of the soldiers holding him, at least not without finding out if their blades could pierce his stone skin, but he managed to shake off Zuller's touch on his arm.
"I beg your pardon, Chief Shrine Keeper-sama," Xelloss said in his mildest voice. "If my presence here is not welcome, you should have said so sooner! I'll leave immediately if that will allow Zel-san to go along and be cured!"
Zuller's eyes flicked toward Xelloss for a second, but he remained facing Zelgadis.
"This creature is not your friend, Zelgadis-san," he said quietly. "Not unless it has been your habit to befriend demons."
Zelgadis' heart sank. He glared at Zuller, but Xelloss made a sound of startled innocence. Zelgadis took his cue from that. Somehow, he thought desperately, they might still be able to bluff their way out of this.
"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed, trying not to reveal his alarm. "The only demon in this room is within me. You said it yourself; that demon inside me is part of the curse I seek to break through the Power of Shimer."
"If this is the case, if your demon part is all that we sense here, there is an easy test to prove it," Zuller said. "Forgive me, Zelgadis...."
Deputy Keeper Marcus stepped up beside Zuller and held up a knife. The blade glittered as if chips of diamond were embedded in its cutting edge. There was more to it than that, though, Zelgadis noticed. A strong spell was laid on it as well.
The soldiers tightened their grip on his arms. He stiffened and struggled instinctively, while Xelloss made a sound of concern from behind Zuller. With an absurdly apologetic look on his face, meek little Marcus slashed the blade across Zel's arm where Zuller's hand had just been.
Zelgadis gasped; there was a stinging pain, and a line of bright red appeared on his arm. Even with Marcus' weak strike the knife had cut into him as if his flesh was merely human. While he stared at the blood oozing onto his stone skin, Zuller nodded thoughtfully. Marcus stepped back quickly, looking distressed but not surprised.
"Yes," Zuller said with a benevolent smile. "We know there is Brow Demon in you, grafted to your soul by evil magic, just as your body was combined with that of a rock golem. This blade is designed to kill the pure rock golems that Mazoku and their misguided human allies sometimes use."
Zuller stepped back and turned to Daria at his side. Smiling sweetly, she held out a knife of similar design, but this one had a dark blade with a bright silver edge.
"This weapon would pierce your demon soul, but that would cause you more pain than I wish to subject you to, Zelgadis-san. But a Brow Demon is not a Mazoku, as I'm sure you know. They are a different kind of magical being entirely. And your core is human. "
Zuller reached out to his side and a Soldier standing nearby handed him a knife with the familiar quicksilver blade. Before Zelgadis could react, Zuller lunged forward and stabbed it against his chest. He hissed in surprise and heard Xelloss' worried cry, but the blade simply bounced off of him without leaving a mark.
"You see," Zuller said, stepping back again. "You are not one of the evil race."
He held the blade up to the light and looked at it carefully, checking to see if Zel's stone skin had even blunted it. Only then did Zelgadis notice the band around his forearm that had been hidden under his sleeve. The plain white band was set with a single stone like clear glass filled with swirling black ink. Xelloss seemed to have noticed it as well; over Zuller's shoulder, Zelgadis saw something flicker across his face. He had a terrible feeling he knew what that inky blackness signified.
Zuller spun around and thrust the tip of the silvery blade at Xelloss' throat.
"This one, however, is nothing but a lie," he said.
Xelloss froze. Zelgadis hardly dared to breathe as Zuller forced Xelloss' head up with the silvery blade under his chin. The Mazoku's eyes were clenched shut and he grimaced fearfully, but still, it seemed to Zelgadis, he only seemed surprised and puzzled that Zuller should threaten him like this. He was not ready to reveal himself to them yet.
"What! You think Xelloss is a demon?" Zelgadis laughed. "He's only a wandering priest who once studied very old, powerful magic. He used to practice dark magic, so maybe that's what you detect, but I assure you, he is no demon! Please, don't hurt him! His skin isn't made of stone..."
"He is not merely a demon," Zuller said happily, smiling in Xelloss' face. "He is a Mazoku! Apparently a powerful one, to wear such a convincing human form. He has deceived you well, but now you shall learn the truth!"
"No!" Zelgadis yelled. He struggled frantically while Zuller drew his hand back. Xelloss' face showed alarm although his eyes remained tightly shut, and he tried to pull away from his captors' grip.
To Zelgadis' dismay and Xelloss' apparent astonishment, the Soldiers lifted him off his feet and yanked him back against the stone pillar behind him. Zuller stepped forward and shoved him back against the stone with one hand on his chest, while the other held the knife ready to strike.
"Zuller!" Zelgadis yelled angrily. "Stop this!"
He struggled to get free, but the Soldiers holding him twisted his arms and yanked downward. Another Soldier grabbed the diamond-bladed knife and thrust it under his chin. It bit his throat but he still tried to pull free of them. "Xelloss!"
Xelloss groaned; his limbs shook as he tried in vain to throw the Soldiers off. He was too weak to do it. He seemed to give up suddenly, all the fight draining from him. Zelgadis watched in horror as Shimer's Curse stole the Mazoku's strength. At the last second, as Zuller's hand fell, Xelloss opened his inhuman eyes and stared malevolently at the Chief Shrine Keeper. But that was all he could do.
Zelgadis froze in shock as Zuller plunged the knife into Xelloss' chest. It slipped into his apparently solid flesh as easily as if he was made of mist, but Xelloss let out a gasping cry and jerked in the Soldiers' grip, and then went limp.
"Xelloss!" Zelgadis screamed.
He almost broke free then, dragging his captors with him as he struggled forward, even though he had no idea what he could do. More soldiers joined the others holding him and more blades appeared all around him. He was about to conjure a spell to blast them all, no longer caring if it brought the crystal ceiling down on all of them. Then Zuller stepped back, leaving the hilt of the knife sticking out of Xelloss' chest.
Zelgadis stopped and stared. He wasn't certain if Xelloss was already dead, or what would happen to his human form if he was. A thin trail of black energy drifted out of the invisible wound to dissipate in the air like smoke. But then Xelloss' fingers twitched, and slowly, he lifted his head and opened his lavender eyes. An evil grin spread across his face as he stared, not at Zuller, but at Zelgadis.
"So, you see how it is at last, Zel-chan," he said in a strange, mild voice that trembled a little. He made the intimate name sound like a cruel joke. "It's been my pleasure to deceive you all this time. But to fool your enemies, you must first be able to fool your friends."
His eyes darted to Zuller briefly but then focused on Zelgadis again with a malicious gleam. A chilling shiver climbed Zel's spine under the glare of those eyes and confusion stopped him from speaking. Why would Xelloss still bother to lie to them like this? Or had he given up completely, so there was no more reason to lie at all?
"You see the monster's true nature at last," Zuller said with satisfaction. He turned and took a silver-tipped spear from a Soldier standing nearby. "These blades blessed with the Power of Shimer only pierce the bodies of Mazoku, whether they appear human or in their true form. Having weakened them, we can destroy them with our purified weapons... slowly or swiftly as we choose."
"No... " Zel struggled again. "This can't be! Damn it, Xelloss!"
"Ah! Ignorant, innocent, foolish chimera," Xelloss broke in, laughing. The mockery in his voice stopped Zel in his place. "You can't even admit the truth when it's right in front of you! I'm afraid Chief Shrine Keeper Zuller-sama is right after all. I was never your friend, Zel-chan. You were my tool, nothing more. Your pitiful self-hatred, even your twisted desire for me, all gave me the strength I needed to withstand these fools and get this far, at least, into their sanctuary." He sighed. "I was so looking forward to the moment when you finally realized it, although I must say, I thought it would be under slightly different circumstances than this. I thought it would be at the moment I destroyed this place and once again deprived you of that normal life you so pitifully desire."
Zelgadis gaped at him, trembling as that malevolent voice continued. It had to be another deception, he thought, but he couldn't see any reason for it. Zuller stood nearby, his smile mixed with a grimace of disgust at Xelloss. The Shrine Keeper raised the cursed spear.
Helpless anger swept over Zelgadis. He remembered the moment in Midtown when he'd felt he could gladly kill both of them. Zuller had soothed his anger then, but Xelloss....
He let his rage flare in his heart, fury both at the Shrine Keeper's smug smile and at Xelloss for all his manipulation. It had to be what Xelloss wanted. The amethyst eyes glittered brightly, enough to make Zuller pause before striking.
"Ah, Zel-chan!" Xelloss' voice still taunted, even though it grew weaker by the second and he winced as if in pain. "Your emotions still taste sweet, as useless as they are to me now. All of that pain and longing you hide.... It was always so easy to irritate you and feed on your anger, and then I found it was even easier to lure you with this body and feed on your desire. You were even better in bed than I expected! I must admit, you've been a rich feast for me, both your body and your soul."
Leering, he raked his gleaming eyes up and down Zel's body. Zelgadis felt limp with horror. Xelloss grew visibly weaker with every word; the Mazoku couldn't be gaining anything from his emotions now but sadistic pleasure.
All of Zelgadis' doubts returned in a flash that nearly blinded him. He finally remembered that Xelloss was a Mazoku, first and always, just as he always said. He had no human feelings like desire; he only fed off of them. He'd simply found one more perfect way to manipulate his human companion, using Zelgadis' desire and sympathy as well as his anger. Zelgadis had known this at the start, but he'd allowed himself to believe otherwise. He'd been deceived as much by his own foolish longings as he had by the Trickster Priest himself.
Zuller laughed. His eyes were alight with hate and triumph as he aimed the spear at Xelloss. "You have fed far too much on this young man's pain," he said with a grim smile. "It will do you no good here anyway, Mazoku!"
Xelloss' eyes flashed briefly before Zuller drove the spear into him, into his chest where a heart would have been if he were human. The Mazoku gave a strangled, gurgling cry and his face contorted with pain, even though, once again, the spear seemed to simply disappear within him. Zuller pushed hard, and Xelloss gasped again as Zuller twisted the blade deep inside him. More wisps of darkness bled from the wound, barely visible in the bright light of the Hall. Somehow, both of the weapons had pinned Xelloss to the stone. The Soldiers hardly needed to keep their grip on him now.
Even then, after a moment, Xelloss raised his head a little. He fixed Zuller with one opened eye and a twisted grin.
"It's true," he rasped. "The chimera's pain no longer does me any good, but I still enjoy it anyway."
Zelgadis' clenched his fists and cried out. His horror flared into rage, fueled by a pain he could hardly admit to feeling, as if a spear was twisted into his own heart. Even while part of his mind searched for some reason, some cue that he was missing, his heart told him it was pointless. He had been a fool, just as Xelloss had so often told him he was.
Zuller left the shaft of the spear in the hands of Deputy Keeper Neldo, who had been standing near Xelloss. He turned back to face Zelgadis.
"You have seen the truth with your own eyes, now, Zelgadis-san," he said gently with another of his sympathetic smiles. "I'm sorry we had to let this monster continue to deceive you for so long, but it was necessary to lure him here where he would be at his weakest so that we could be sure of killing him."
Still held in place by dozens of Soldiers' hands, Zelgadis glared at him, but now he was only angry at Zuller for showing him something he didn't want to see. He shook his head and laughed bitterly.
"So, you used me as well," he said.
Zuller hung his head. The other Keepers looked pained.
"Yes, Zelgadis-san, I'm afraid we did," Zuller admitted. "I'm truly sorry."
Zelgadis snorted in disgust. He'd thought once that he preferred the Mazoku's obvious manipulation to the Shrine Keeper's insidious spells, but he hadn't realized then how far Xelloss would go to get what he wanted from him, or how gullible he could be. He winced with shame. At least, he thought, Zuller hadn't seduced him.
It hardly mattered now, Zelgadis thought bitterly. Xelloss was dying. He could see with his own eyes how quickly the Mazoku's strength was slipping away. Xelloss still watched him with malicious delight, but he sagged in his captors' grip. His confidence was gone; he'd failed in his mission. Pity mingled with rage in Zelgadis' heart. He tried to be glad of Xelloss' failure, but he couldn't quite do it even now. All he felt was grief.
Xelloss winced. A grimace of pain appeared on his face and quickly disappeared. He dropped his head, hiding his eyes under the curtain of his dark hair, but not before Zelgadis recognized the hunger and longing in those eyes as Zel's twisted emotions hit him. Pinned by the blades, he could draw no strength from them at all, and he couldn't even escape to his natural form. He couldn't even die until Zuller decided to let him.
Suddenly Zelgadis knew what the Mazoku was doing. He couldn't use Zel's emotions anymore; he wasn't even trying to invoke them. He'd given up at last, but he'd made sure Zuller and the others thought he'd deceived Zelgadis completely. All he'd said had disguised the fact that Zelgadis had been helping him willingly all along. Zel's heart twisted within him as he realized Xelloss was trying to set him free.
He stared hard at Xelloss for a few more seconds to convince himself it was true, but the Mazoku didn't move. Zuller took another spear and prodded Xelloss' head up with the tip under his chin. The slitted eyes were cold and dim; they stared through Zuller at nothing.
Zelgadis dropped his head into his hands and groaned. It had to be true. He decided to believe what his heart wanted to believe, even knowing what twisted deception Xelloss was capable of. Zuller and the others had mistaken the real reason for his anguish so far. He had to let them think that they were right.
"You used me, demon," he said. His voice broke with pain. Hiding his face, he let his anguish reveal itself in his words. "From the very start you were only using me. You brought me here and tempted me with the promise of a cure for my condition, just so you could get into the Shrine and destroy this monument to the enemy of your race, didn't you?"
"My purpose is my secret," Xelloss answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It doesn't matter now what you meant to do here, Mazoku," Zuller said to Xelloss.
Zelgadis looked up between his fingers. Zuller now held the spear against Xelloss' abdomen, but this time he drove it in slowly. Zelgadis watched with horrified fascination as the blade disappeared inch by inch. Xelloss tried to withstand this in silence but moaned sharply when Zuller finally thrust the spear through him into the pillar.
"You may once have been powerful, Mazoku," Zuller said, "but in the midst of our shrine you are weak, and we can deal with you easily."
Watching Xelloss' face, Zuller took hold of the knife handle that still protruded from his chest and slowly pulled it out, twisting the blade. Xelloss grimaced horribly and twitched, choking on a scream. There was no mark on him where the blade had been.
Zelgadis looked away, clenching his eyes shut. He hoped they thought his horror only came from seeing this evidence of Xelloss' inhuman form.
"You were powerful once, indeed," Zuller said softly. He seemed surprised that Xelloss had lasted this long and could still lift his head at all. "But you will die soon, even so."
The murmur ran through the room and echoed off the blue stone walls. "Die, Mazoku."
Nodding approvingly, Zuller turned away from Xelloss to gesture to his two Deputy Shrine Keepers. Zelgadis hadn't even noticed he'd been released by the Soldiers holding him until Marcus took his arm.
"Zelgadis-san," he said in a gentle voice. His soft, kindly face peered up into Zel's. "There is no need for you to remain here now that the Mazoku has been subdued. If you wish, I will accompany you to the Shrine now, where you can be cured of this curse and freed of this demon's hold on your soul."
Xelloss opened his pale lavender eyes and looked over Zuller's shoulder to focus on Zelgadis. He laughed softly.
"Oh, yes," he said with a soft, bitter voice. "Go, Zel-chan, and seek your foolish cure. But if I had my way, you would remain a chimera forever."
Zuller's smile never shifted. Without even looking he spun around and plunged the knife into Xelloss again. This time the Mazoku couldn't hold back his scream.
Zelgadis turned his face away and covered it with his hand again, shuddering. Marco watched him sympathetically, misunderstanding the reason for his distress.
"Horrible things, aren't they?" he said, shaking his head with a grimace. "You'd almost think it actually felt real pain."
Zelgadis clenched his eyes shut, trying to still his rage. Once again he considered attacking them with a spell. It would have to be all or nothing. Once he revealed himself as Xelloss' ally, he wouldn't get a second chance against their golem-killing weapons. Even if his attack worked, it might not do Xelloss any good. There was only one way he could think of to save Xelloss, if it wasn't too late already.
The Deputy Keeper tugged on his arm gently. "Zelgadis-san?"
He turned and gave Xelloss one last, hard look, even though he could hardly bear to see him like this. He didn't know if Xelloss could even feel his desperate anger, but if he could, he hoped the Mazoku knew it was all for the fanatical Followers of Shimer.
"I won't fail, monster," he said flatly.
There was no way to tell if Xelloss had even heard the words. His eyes were fading, all the light and color leaving them. Zelgadis turned away again and looked past the Soldiers and the fluttering banners to the carved, gilt doors.
"Bring me to the Shrine of Shimer," he said. "Let me be purified."
***
to be continued.
Next: Zelgadis finally arrives at the Shrine, and the fate of Xelloss is decided!