Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow Magic - Zelgadis and Lina ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

There were only five more days before they would open the book of Xoanan to the public. Four days . . . three days . . . screw this!

 

Lina had waited long enough. Gourry leaving her for that thirty-six double D had totally muddled her brain. She no longer had the mental stamina to wait for them to release the book to the public. There was nothing for it. She was sort of the impatient type anyway. She'd just have to sneak into the castle and have a look at it right away.

 

Lina let herself out of the front door of the inn. Huff! She really had to snap out of this. There were lots of people in the world to make friends with, so even if one little person (especially one who had bait for brains), had let her down, there were still plenty of wonderful people to meet. For instance, there was Zel - he had never let her down.

 

The first guard was easily bribed by a ruby, the second was distracted by a bonk over the head - so the ruby hadn't worked a second time. Oh well! There were two guards outside the vault where the book was kept. Only two?

 

“Hiya,” Lina said approaching them with a sparkle in her eye.

 

They didn't even see it coming.

 

“FIREBALL!”

 

BOOM!

 

See? That wasn't so hard. The guards took off down the hall, probably to alert the captain or something. She would have to hurry.

 

Unfortunately, she had not blown the doors off the vault with her fireball, but that was all right. The door can't be that heavy! She pushed it. Okay, so it was pretty heavy. She pushed it again and had much better luck. It opened just a crack, but she was slender, so she jammed herself through without much effort.

 

It was a long room with properly stacked chests. Lina had never seen such a well-organized treasure horde in her life. Everything was marked so it was easy to take an inventory of the room. Who liked money this much? The book of Xoanan was at the end of the room in the centre of what looked like a shrine. Nothing to it!

 

Lina had barely got her hand on the book when a voice at the other end of the room halted her.

 

“Lina!” a low voice said sternly.

 

She turned to see Zel enter the vault and shut the door carefully behind him. He gave her a look; the look of a person equally surprised and aggravated.

 

“Hiya Zel.” She waved to him with the hand that was holding the book.

 

“Huff! It had to be you didn't it?” he said almost to himself as he drew his sword. “That sounds like my luck.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“It's too bad I had to run into you like this. I'm sorry Lina, but I've been hired on as a sorcerer by this Kingdom,” Zel said in a low tone.

 

Lina looked down at the book in her hand, a book on the construction of ancient stone golems. She looked up at Zel. His flesh was still the colour of polished jade. She knew him. He thought himself a monster for that flesh. Flesh that separated him from other humans yet protected him from even the sharpest blade. Then it occurred to her; what was she holding in her hand that was almost as valuable as the Claire Bible?

 

“Do you mean to kill me Zel? For this?” she asked holding up the book.

 

“For my cure,” he said soberly.

 

“Ridiculous!” Lina said. “Lets . . .”

 

***

 

“FLARE ARROW!” Zel hollered. That girl was insane!

 

“FREEZE ARROW!” Lina shouted and their respective spells vanished together in an explosion of sparks.

 

“Hurry up and turn the page,” he said, running back towards her.

 

“Your turn,” she said passing the book onto him and drawing her sword.

 

He took the book and answered her steel with his steel. He scanned the pages furiously. “Finished,” he hissed, giving her the book. “I'll kill you,” he yelled at the door. It was ridiculous, but even he had to admit that it was a great idea. The king's guard, which was waiting outside the door, would think that the two of them were engaged in an amazing battle, with all the threatening, spells and swordplay they would doubtless hear transpiring in the vault. Damnably clever! But now they were over three quarters finished reading the book, for Lina was reading every bit as quickly as he did, and he was starting to think that there was nothing included in the book that would lead to his cure. His mouth felt dry. The king had fooled him. He was getting angry. Damn them!

 

“Here,” she said throwing it to him after her turn.

 

He caught it and threw it back to her, “You finish.”

 

She snatched it out of the air. She didn't question him, but slumped on the ground and began reading even faster.

 

“Oh, source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand, FIREBALL!” he cast towards a far corner to the room. The castle would be on fire, but he didn't care. They had lied to him, because they wanted his strength. He would show them his strength.

 

“I'm finished,” Lina proclaimed in a whisper from a safe corner of the room.

 

“There wasn't anything in that book to help me was there?”

 

“Gomen Zel,” she said.

 

“Gomen Lina. Give me that book. I have to go have a conversation with the King and Princess,” he said, feeling particularly sour.

 

“Want me to Dragon Slave them?” Lina said, shaking her fists.

 

“Maybe later,” he said with a smile, taking the book from her. “I'll see you afterwards.”

 

“Yeah, we definitely need to catch up.”

 

“By the way, I wanted to ask you. Where's Gourry?”

 

Lina dropped her head and put a hand up to scratch the back of her head. “I don't really know. He met someone and . . . anyway, it's just me on my own now.”

 

“We should meet up somewhere,” Zel said suddenly. “I don't expect you to come with me to tell off the King, but we should meet somewhere. What inn are you staying at? I'll come see you after I finish here.” He didn't know what made him say that. Gourry had left. It was too strange. He had never seen Lina at a loss for words in that way. She was always the strongest, the greediest, and the one to push everyone forward even when things were not to her advantage. Seeing her this way did not seem right.

 

“I'm at the Peacock Feather,” she said.

 

***

 

That didn't go well, Zelgadis thought as he stepped out of the King's throne room. He hadn't liked the job in the first place, but when he came to view the book and was accidentally caught entering the vault by the Princess of Xoanan herself, and offered the job and the possibility of earning the book legitimately, he was interested. He hadn't thought they were so wicked as to lie to him and use him. Just now though, he hadn't laid a finger on the King's daughter Martina, but gave the king himself a black eye, a fractured rib, and a cut across his right cheek exactly two millimeters deep. He couldn't bring himself to be crueler since he had only been employed by them for two weeks.

 

He was crossing through the ballroom now, a shortcut from the throne room to a back door that he could easily access and then make his way through the town to where Lina was staying. It was useless to rely on others, but at the same time, not acknowledging Lina's ability was more than foolish. And now she was without Gourry. It was odd - he felt odd.

 

Suddenly he heard the ring of steel echoing across the hall. A sword was being drawn by someone who wanted him to hear it. It couldn't be the captain of the guard, or any of the other soldiers in the castle. It was a warrior - someone good.

 

Zel drew his own sword, not allowing it to drag across the metal in his scabbard.

 

“Come out!” he called into the dark room.

 

At the far end he saw a faint glimmer of silver hair, almost violet, and the sweep of a tan-coloured cape. The man was standing with his back to Zelgadis. He was carrying a sword; a long sword almost taller than the man. What the . . .

 

“Who are you?” he said with less assurance in his voice.

 

The character turned his head around very deliberately, allowing Zel to get a good look at his face in the dim light.

 

Zel's breath came in fast. It was not possible.

 

“I'm Zelgadis Greywers,” the man said. “Don't you know me?” He brought his sword up to combat stance.

 

***

 

Knock! Knock!

 

That has to be Zel, Lina thought, getting up from her bed. She opened the door, and there he was standing on the other side, his hood and mask drawn around his face.

 

“Hi,” he said shyly.

 

“Come on in Zel,” she said grabbing his hand and dragging him into the room. “It's not like we're strangers or like you've never been in my bedroom before. That was how we met wasn't it? You came to bargain with me for the Philosopher's stone - so this is no big deal. I guess you're not working for this Kingdom anymore. What are you going to do now?”

 

“I'm not sure,” he said sitting down on her bed, avoiding the two chairs and the bench in front of the dressing table. “I was thinking that since the book of Xoanan was of no use to me that perhaps I ought to go for something larger.”

 

“Like what?” she asked leaning against the wall.

 

“Like a copy of the Claire Bible manuscript.”

 

“Hum, the Claire Bible.”

 

“There is a possibility that there may be something like that in one of Rezo's old mansions. There was one far to the north that I don't think even Eris knew about. I thought perhaps I would start there since his laboratory in Sairagg was destroyed. I really thought the book of Xoanan would prove to be more valuable,” he said reflectively. “It turned out to be very disappointing.”

 

“Well, then I'm coming with you,” she proclaimed cheerfully.

 

“Huh? That's odd Lina.”

 

“There's nothing strange about it. I like learning new magical theory. You know that about me. I'm interested in the contents of the Claire Bible and really anything Rezo had. It won't be so weird Zel. We've traveled alone together before.”

 

He nodded. “Very well then Lina. I'll see you in the morning,” he said getting up to go.

 

“Zel,” she said quietly halting him. “You asked me before what happened to Gourry - why I wasn't with him.”

 

“It's okay Lina, you don't have to tell me what happened. Knowing Gourry, I can pretty much guess how he would behave. Just don't stop fighting, and everything will work out well for you. You'll see.”

 

“Thanks Zel,” she said letting him out of the room.

 

It's okay, she thought going over to the bed. She noticed the wrinkles on the spread from where he had been sitting. She couldn't stay in a slump forever. It was really time to move on. Since when had she really needed anyone by her side? Zel was right. The first bandit gang she ran into after they left Xoanan was really gonna get it, and she was going to sleep well.