Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Roses ❯ Magic ( Chapter 10 )

Magic

"It's an unravel spell," Xellos said.

"I thought that's what he said!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Mind being a bit more helpful than telling us something GOURRY knows?" Lina asked, impatiently.

"Well, it's supposed to revert a normal Chimera to whatever it was made of."

"Huh?" Amelia asked.

"If it's a fish and lizard chimera, the spell turns it into a fish and a chimera. It's usually used for starting over when you make a chimera you decide you don't like."

"So why isn't Zel turning into a human, golem, and demon?" Lina asked.

"Because his mind is entirely human, its not made of golem and demon parts. He's going through a lot of mental pain and injuries because the spell was meant to split him into different pieces."

"How do we stop it and how long do we have?" Lina asked.

"Usually they take no longer than two hours to work."

"TWO HOURS?" Lina yelled.

"The spell was meant for efficiency, not torture," Xellos said plainly. "I might be able to help, but I'll need Sylphiel in order to manage it."

"ME? But I-- I'm a shrine maiden!" she said, backing away from Xellos and walking into Gourry, for the first time it was accidental.

"And a very good one at that. And that's why I need you," Xellos said, spilling the contents of his bag on the floor. Five handkerchiefs, three of them pink, two spoons, a tennis ball, pieces of candy, and numerous scrolls wadded up, rolled up, and semi-flat crashed to the floor. Xellos went through the scrolls until he found the one he wanted, then handed it to Sylphiel. "Study this. It's a holy spell to heal Mazoku. I can't explain it now, we're running out of time."

"I-I'll help too," Amelia mumbled, and left with Sylphiel, who half dragged Gourry with her.

There was complete silence in the room. Xellos stood still, staring at Zelgadis, who was bleeding on the bed. A hair-thin cut crept it's way across the chimera's face, bright red blood spilling from it. The cuts, signs of the magic working. The bandages did nothing but keep the bed clean.

"Xellos…" Lina said, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"Damnit!" Xellos yelled, kicking his bag, sending it flying into the wall, spilling more junk. "We have an hour and a half left. Thank you for bringing him here so quickly. Give me fifteen minutes. I need to tell my master, then I'm going into his mind."

"I know what you're doing."

"Then you know why healing spells won't work."

"And why you need Sylphiel's help. And that you don't plan on surviving."

"Then you know to pay for a funeral ahead of time."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Xellos? Where are you? I need to talk to you…" Lina mumbled, wandering around the hotel. "You have to bring him back or I'll kill you, no, wait, I'll… I'll do something. "

"Lina-san!" Amelia yelled, running up to her. A flat affect had replaced the princess's cheeriness. "Sylphiel says she'll be ready soon, and I can help her, but we want to know what it is we're doing. Okay, GOURRY wants to know what's going on and we never really thought about it."

Lina had to think about it for a minute. Should she say what Xellos intended to do? Should she tell her why?

"You understand why the healing won't work right?"

"Um, no."

She should have expected that. "You can't heal someone who doesn't want to be healed."

"But-oh, I've never healed anyone who didn't want to be. Never thought of that," Amelia answered, her voice still flat and monotone. "Why doesn't-"

"I don't know. I can't really ask him. Xellos can talk to him, sort of, mind-talk or something."

"So?"

"So he's going to be torn apart just like Zel when they link. That's why he needs the spell. That and he's not powerful enough to link unscathed."

"So this will help Zelgadis-san?"

Lina shook her head.

"But-"

"The spell is too strong. You'll just be delaying things. And I have a feeling that Xellos might give up too."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Lina lied.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Xellos, I need to talk to you before you do this," Lina started.

"It can wait."

"No it can't, I know what you're going to do."

"Then you know I'm not going to be persuaded otherwise."

Lina had nothing to say, if there weren't one tiny chance that he'd save Zelgadis, she wold have gone with her urge to beat him up.

"I'll go get the others."

"I won't wait," he said, placing a hand on the chimera's bloody forehead and closed his eyes, casting the spell.

He didn't know that such a spell would hurt so much. It was, as he said, designed for efficiency, not torture, but it hurt. He could feel every cut Zel had received. He felt every burning pain Zel was feeling. His right arm felt fuzzy.

Concentrate…concentrate!

His vision was fuzzy. He had waited too long. He didn't know what the spell would have done only half way through its course.

He stumbled forward, reaching out with his good hand.

He touched something as he felt something wash over him. Healing. It didn't necessarily feel good, but it hurt a lot less than the painful cuts. Sylphiel must have shown up in the room.

He knew what he touched, he didn't need his clearing eyesight to help him pull Zelgadis into his arms.

"Xellos? Why are you here?"

"I just came to get an answer or two. Why don't you want to be healed?"

"I do. I just don't want to go back," Zel sobbed. Understandable. A Mazoku knows almost all forms of pan in his life, why was he so upset that one of his friends was mortal, just as they were born to be? "I won't be happy if I go back."

"That's selfish."

"No it's not!"

"It is. I never said that was bad. I'm staying here for the same reason. Mazoku are meant to be selfish. I'm going to stay right here. You're going to stay right here."

Zelgadis didn't quite understand. He didn't care. He WANTED to stay here. Right here, in Xellos's arms.

"Xellos…?"

"You still hate me, do you?"

"No, I don't, but I didn't think…"

"It doesn't really matter does it? It's all going to fade away anyway. You don't have to come back. That's not why I'm here anyway. I don't care if you go back, I wouldn't be able to help you if you did."

"What if I wanted you to come back?"

"Then I would."

"Why?"

"That's a secret. But you should be able to figure it out by now."

"Then I want you to come back. And I want to go back."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Xellos wobbled and slumped over, falling limp on top of Zelgadis.

"I didn't do something wrong-" Sylphiel started.

The spell broke. Lina had said that Xellos might refuse the healing spell. No, that wasn't it. No more cuts appeared on either of them, Amelia tried a healing spell, it worked.

No one said anything. Sylphiel shifted Xellos off the chimera and straightened him out, just to have him curl up messily.

"Mazoku aren't that bad," Lina said, placing a white flower on the bed between the two. "When they're asleep." She was glad she wasn't placing in on cold, disturbed dirt.