Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Prince Charming ❯ Chapter 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The horse nudged her gently, causing her to jump. She stroked its head absently and wondered where its owner was. Around here somewhere.

 

Naga looked around the grassy field, trying to determine where her prey had gone off to. The mountains loomed ominously in the background and rocky hills surrounded the clearing. She grinned and flashed Flaming a Victory sign.

 

“He's somewhere in those mountains, isn't he?”

 

The horse stared at her with its mild eyes.

 

“OHOHOHOHOHOH.”

 

Rocks crumbled and one of the smaller hills nearby collapsed

 

The tall, very wet woman was undaunted. She'd run into Phil soon, of this she was certain. No one ever escaped Naga The Sorceress! Too long had she been looking for him to just allow him to escape her clutches. Eventually, Naga would find their little merry group.

 

She took off for the general area she expected the prince to be in, occasionally slipping in mud, and laughing her horrible laugh.

 

 

 

 

 

Prince Phil looked out towards the opening of the cave. The stalagmite and stalactite crumbled and fell as one of his broad shoulders whammed into one of the walls. The mayor let out a little moan and covered his head as bats flew overhead. He heard Hallos mumbling something from where he stood, still a few feet ahead of the entrance before suddenly curse as a rock smashed into his skull.

 

Phil sweat dropped and began to make his way to the black dressed sorcerer. He paid special attention to where he was going. Although he wasn't a big fan of snakes and other slivering things; it would be unforgivable if he stepped on them. A Hero of Justice didn't do such things, even accidentally.

 

 

It was just his luck. Right when he'd been about to finally rid himself of that horrible prince. The silence that followed his demise would be golden. But then this sound…a screeching something had come out of no where and dislodged the rocks hanging above. He'd managed to avoid getting smashed by the larger boulders, but a small rock still smashed into his cranium. He was also in a muddy puddle.

 

As Hallos lay there, he wondered if karma was real. Then Phil had lumbered out and the red-haired man knew he had done something horrible in either his past or present life to deserve this.

 

“Mister Hallos!” The big man boomed. The nearly comatose man grimaced and nearly swallowed his tongue as more rocks fell upon him from Phil's yelling. A half-dozen or so small boulders fell onto his chest and stomach.

 

 

The prince shoved them off of the sorcerer and helped him to his feet. Hallos wobbled alarmingly but managed to maintain his dignity somewhat. He brushed dirt from his sleeve and tried to ignore how wet and stained his pants were.

 

 

“Alright?”

 

Hallos nodded weakly, still unable to find his voice.

 

Phil laughed genially and slapped his new `friend' on the back. The force of his blow caused Hallos to go flying onto the side of the mountain.

 

 

I'll get him…More rocks fell on his already badly battered head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naga stopped laughing to regain her breath. It had taken awhile, but she had managed to make her way to the top of a medium sized mountain. Everything was going well. The tall, barely dressed woman had gotten a second wind, her head felt clear (the throbbing headache caused either by the alcohol consumed last night or by the whole situation she was stuck in had left her) and her feet no longer hurt. It had even stopped raining.

 

The clear mountain was wonderful compared to the stench of sap from the pine tree in the forest. Naga inhaled slowly as she in took in her surroundings.

 

 

Tall mountains, squat rocky hills and a great view of the forest below.

 

 

Dreamily, still gazing down below, she readjusted her shoulder guards and remains of her cape. After all, she wanted to look nice when she opened her can of whoop ass upon the prince.

 

 

Why had Phil lied to her? She sat there, not knowing the man she was thinking about wasn't far away. On her face was a sullen pout that would've made Phil blush to the tips of his ears. A light breeze made her torn and ragged cape rise and fall lazily.

 

Sure they had just met, but Phil wore his heart on his sleeve. You could read his face like a book. And she sure hadn't seen any mistrust or suspicion on Phil's mug. Naga gritted her teeth and through a rock towards a strange-shaped mountain. So busy trying to be furious at Phil, she barely registered the cry of pain that arose from the nearby mountains.

 

 

Naga looked up, shocked out of her thoughts. Her eyes narrowed and became slits of clear, light blue that her eldest daughter would inherit. She jumped up and began to cast Ray Wing.

 

 

 

 

 

The Gods were against him, of this he was sure. But they could shove their thumbs up their butts for all the assassin cared. He was tired, needed new clothes and a nice bath. (full of bubbles, of course) This job sucked completely; the pay wasn't even that great and the company was even worse.

 

 

 

 

As Phil had been helping him up again, apologizing like mad for the damage he had inflicted on the bruised and bleeding man, another rock had come completely out of nowhere. It had nearly cracked his head open and caused more brain damage.

 

 

When this is over, I'm going to cut- There, that was that horrible, horrible screeching…Was it a laugh?

 

 

“OHOHOHOHOHOH.” Naga grinned and flashed the two the same Victory sign she had given Phil's horse.

 

“So, there you are prince.” She spat the last word as the larger man, who though shocked/amazed/dazed still winced at her tone. He hadn't wanted to lie to her, and wait…

 

“How did you find out, Miss Naga?” His eyes, wide and guileless, were trained upon the suddenly furious sorceress.

 

“I had to over hear it from some drunks at the bar…Why,” She swallowed the lump that tasted of pennies reflexively. Suddenly, she felt like crying for no real reason.

 

“Why didn't you tell me?” Naga couldn't even muster up the energy to be angry. She looked at Phil nakedly, her resentment and hurt were clear on her pretty face. Behind them, unnoticed, Hallos snickered.

 

“Lover's spout?”

 

 

At the sound of his laughter and question, the two turned around and blushed.

 

“No! We're not…that. We're…,”She paused. What exactly were they?

“Friends? Close Friends?” Phil spoke up helpfully.

 

Naga shot him a glare hotter than a Dragon Slave, her anger remembered. “Partners. Short-lived partners.”

 

 

“Suuure.” Hallos responded, sceptically. “Partners.“ He rolled his eyes.

 

 

Snarling, Naga turned her wrath upon him.

 

“Shut the fu-Wait…Are you the assassin?”

 

The rather short man was taken aback, but decided to just come out about it. He looked at her evenly.

 

“Yes, I am.”

 

 

Blankly, Naga looked at Hallos. “But, you're not a woman…”

 

 

“No, and I'm not sure you are either. “ He answered coldly.

 

 

Now it was the prince's turn to be mad at Hallos. Phil turned to glare at Hallos, who sweat dropped and suddenly realized how very big and tall the black-haired man was…

 

 

Naga grinned. If Phil beat the crap out of this little weasel (although it looked like someone had already beaten them to the job), she'd forgive the whiskered prince. Maybe. She still wanted to crack him one across the skull for neglecting to mention his role with Saillune.

 

 

“Go get 'em Phil!”

 

Both of them looked at her confused.

 

“What?”

 

“I said, go get him Phil. This little bastard was sent to kill you. He's an assassin.”She resisted pulling at her hair in frustration.

 

 

 

Hallos began to laugh.

 

“Oh, that's great. You think, “ He giggled disturbingly “You think your little prince can defeat me?” Hallos grinned disarmingly. “You're very wrong, m'dear.”

 

She gave him a feral smile. It had been too long since she'd beaten some little punk up.

 

 

“Wait, no! This is not the way problems should be solved. We should talk, not-“

 

“Shut up!” The two magic-users yelled at the pacifist-promoting Phil.

 

 

He looked at them with wounded eyes.

 

“Now, now there's no reason to fight.”

 

“Phil,” his `partner' screamed at him. “This man,” She pointed at Hallos. ”It trying to kill you. Don't you get it?”

 

Prince Phil shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, I guess so, but he hasn't done anything. He's a Warrior of Justice like you!” He beamed at her, his grin lighting up his face in a way that made her want to slap him and give him a big hug at the same time.

 

Instead of doing either of those things, she rolled her eyes.

 

 

“Stay out of this, prince. This is between me and the pip squeak (“Hey,” Hallos sputtered, outrage.),over there.”

 

 

“But…”

 

“No buts.” She smiled at him gently before waving him off. “Get out of here. I don't need any royal family pissed at me for messing up one of their princes. Besides, you still owe me.”Naga gave him a little wink.

 

 

Phil, blushing a startling shade of red, managed to walk to the entrance of the cave where a terrified mayor still stood inside. He heard a shrill, girlish shriek from inside the cave. The prince realized where it was coming from and hurried inside to help Claw Swill.

 

 

“So…it's just you and me.”

 

Hallos nodded and began chanting a spell. Naga, already prepared, was a split second quicker than the short man. She tossed a few Flare Arrows his way, hoping to at least catch him off guard. Hallos easily dodged the spell and hurdled a Fireball at the tall woman, hitting her.

 

The Fireball managed to nearly shatter her shoulder guards, but she was relatively unharmed. She ran back towards the mountain, whispering the incantation to a spell under her breathe. Only a few feet behind her, Hallos began to do the same.

 

 

She reached the side of the cave, the entrance was only a foot or so away to the left of her. Naga sincerely hoped that Phil was out of there. Unfortunately, there was no time to check. She finished the last words to her spell just as Hallos finished his. He ran at her, hoping for her to hesitate and give him the last seconds he need to escape after using his spell.

 

The leather-clad woman instead rushed to meet him, both yelling “Gaav Flare!” at the same time.

 

Their spells collided, messing together to create a huge inferno of miasma and flames. Naga rolled to her left, managing to find a little protection within the cave.

 

 

 

The mayor and Phil had already left the cave earlier and were heading down the hill. The prince had protested this vehemently, but the old man had insisted. If something happened, they needed to be safe. Especially Phil. It was times like this when he disliked (hated) being a prince.

 

 

After the fire had died down a reasonable degree, Naga stepped out of her shelter. She thanked all the Gods that the mountain hadn't collapsed on her. She also prayed that Phil was okay. The big guy managed to take care of himself so far, but who knew? Yes, he needs a bodyguard. And I think I know the perfect person..

 

Naga wiped the soot and dirt from her body as best she could. Her cape was nearly gone, her shoulder guards badly cracked from the falling rocks and the fireball. The air smelled of burned flesh and hair and sulphur and Naga was determined not to look at where Hallos had been standing. Still, the sun was shining, birds were chirping and whoop ass could and would be served by her. The world wasn't too bad a place sometimes. Naga smiled and went to look for her prince.

 

 

 

 

 

A/N:

 

Yes, that was the end my wonderful readers (you know who you are).

I'd like to thank every who was willing to read a story centred around Phil and those who reviewed.

I do plan on writing a sequel. I already have the basic idea and some of the dialogue planned out. It's going to be about Naga adjusting to palace life and her new relationship with Phil. More assassins and the person who hired Hallos in the first place will be revealed (it was Flaming Justice!) as well as Phil's family actually being in a fan fiction (a rarity).

 

Beta readers/co-authors would be great. I hope everyone gained a bit more respect for the prince. (I know I did)

 

Here's where I get all mushy on your asses: This story was actually pretty emotional for me at some parts. When writing something from Naga's P.O.V, I would suddenly realize that `Hey, she's going to eventually die. How depressing is that?' The scene in the bar and the very end of the story were pretty sad in retrospect because our tall heroes don't live happily ever after. They're a very different couple than a lot of fictional couples just from that fact alone.

 

And on that note, I leave you all (for now).