Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers Pentasama ❯ Chapter 2

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Slayers Pentasama A stab at Slayers fanfic writing by Xelan (xelan@tokyo.com) - email c&c to me. Xelan's Archive: (http://xelan.virtualave.net) - Popup free webpage. (http://www.xelan.cjb.net) - Permanent webpage with Popups. (Certain characters copyright H. Kanzaka / R. Araizumi, as all fans well know. Original characters belong to me. No copyright infringement intended. Remember: suing people is a bad thing.) ^_^ Chapter 2 Bedside Manner ---------- Xelloss sat up. His first thought as his mind roused itself from slumber was that sitting up was a bad, extremely stupid and horrible idea. His back felt like he had gone ten rounds against a mazoku lord and lost. As a matter of fact, he'd done that once and it had never hurt like this, before. Actually, he now began to realize that it wasn't just his back that hurt. His entire being was in agony. A new sensation for him and one that Xel was not quite up to dealing with at the moment. With a slight whimper, he collapsed back down onto the feather bed. "Okay, I am in a great deal of pain, and I can barely move. Where am I and what do I do now?" mused Xelloss through a haze of pain. A snore to his right brought Xelloss out of his introspective moment and a shock of red, poofy hair caused his eyes to open fully in surprise. "Lina..." the injured priest half gasped under his breath. He searched his hazy memory to try and piece together what had happened. He finally remembered. He had been hurt, probably dying, but Lina gave of herself to save him. He knew that he was undeserving of her help, but if his current condition was as serious as he suspected, then he could not afford to be without it for the time being. "Feeling better, Xelloss?" asked the red-haired girl beside him. He hadn't even noticed that she had woken up. "Better than I was, Lina, and thank you. I'm not entirely sure what happened to me, but I do remember that I wasn't in good shape," He winced as his shoulder spasmed briefly, "and I'm still not, but I'm getting there." "That's for sure. You had me worried, Xel. I turned around and I saw you leaning against a wall, blood dripping off of you and your skin was so pale I thought maybe you were some vengeful spirit." Xelloss just turned to face her and adopted his best improvised, quizzical expression. "Oh yeah, you're a Mazoku. You _are_ a vengeful spirit. Oops, sorry about that..." Lina apologized. Xelloss couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that comment. It wasn't often that someone forgot that he was a mazoku, especially someone who already knew. It helped that he was also one of the most powerful beings on the planet, but then again, Lina was no slouch in terms of power, either. Before he could continue on that tangent any further, Lina abruptly interrupted his train of thought. "So, why do you have blood?" asked Lina in a very serious voice. "Mazoku don't have blood like humans or elves or dragons do. I've seen you almost cut in half and then you're fully healed a few minutes later" what gives? Xelloss winced as he readjusted himself so he could sit up without his muscles screaming at him. He had been trying to avoid that particular avenue of questions. Why was he feeling pain? Why hadn't he regenerated immediately? Why had Lina been able to use White Magic on him successfully, and why couldn't he sense the presence of his astral self as he usually could? He had a feeling that any answer he could give to any one of his own mental questions would not be to his liking. "I am not entirely sure as to why, but right now, I don't think _am_ a mazoku. You are entirely correct, I shouldn't have blood and I should have been able to shrug off a physical injury like this with no problem. However, I currently am in a great deal of pain and I can't seem to use any of my mazoku abilities." Despite the eerie calm of Xelloss' voice, Lina had known Xelloss long enough to know that he was actually worried. His tone may have sounded calm, but for Xelloss, this was the same as a normal person panicking. Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but a reasonable comparison. "Oh! That's right, I didn't finish healing all of your injuries before I... um ... _fell_ asleep. We'll just keep that incident our little a secret, shall we? I can finish healing you if that's the case." "Ah, don't worry. It will be our little secret, and you know how well I keep secrets. Now, I hate to rush you, but would you please cast your healing spell before I black out. I've wasted entirely too much time being unconscious." "Right! Hold still, this might sting a little." At that, Lina raised her right hand back and a glowing orb of white energy began to form. The brilliant white light began to shimmer and roll as Lina mentally recited the spell to draw in the necessary power to supercharge Xelloss' natural healing abilities. It was a common spell that relied primarily on boosting the bodies own recuperative abilities. Though there were other more powerful spells that would have done a more thorough job, Recovery was the extent of Lina's white mage training. "RECOVERY!" And having said that, the orb of white power was shoved gracefully into Xelloss' chest. It is useful to note that the feeling of being healed by recovery is not unlike the tingly feeling that occurs when feeling returns to a sleepy foot after it has fallen asleep. Unfortunately for Xelloss, he had never experienced either sensation before today and the body-wide shock flattened him against the bed, even as the last traces of his injuries faded from sight. "I think I preferred being injured..." moaned Xelloss as his eyes continued to spin around the room. "Oh don't be a baby. It was just a little recovery spell. White magic is the safest type of magic on the planet" "Easy for you to say. I never had need of it before, but I will admit, I feel better now that I'm whole again. And, speaking of "holes" my clothes are ruined. Do you know any good tailor shops in the area?" Lina looked at the outwardly, tattered, but now whole priest and was a little surprised that he could go from whining about his injuries to worrying about his appearance. She shrugged. 'Oh well', she though. A guess even a priest worries about his appearance. "We should be able to find something suitable for you, but first I want to know what exactly happened to you. Xelloss tilted his head slightly and his matted and blood encrusted bangs swayed gently as he seemed to take in what Lina had just said. Though his eyes were still closed, Lina thought she could almost hear the gears grinding away in Xelloss' sneaky head. "I am not really sure what exactly happened..." admitted the rather somber priest. "Let me get this straight. The one guy who always seems to know what is going on, who is always keeping secrets, manipulating his friends, and toying with peoples'lives, doesn't know how he became a bloody mess and ended up in the very same inn as me? Am I understanding you right, Xelloss? When Xelloss didn't reply immediately, Lina's posture slumped. She honestly cared for Xelloss as a friend, but it was more than that. He wasn't just any friend. Lina knew she loved Gourry, but there was something about Xel. He was close to her heart, yet distant. A total stranger and yet sometimes, when she was alone and the dark thoughts came, her mind always drifted to thoughts of Xelloss. At times he felt like family and it hurt a lot whenever he wasn't honest with her. "I can't really say, Lina." He was trying to do it again! Xelloss was actually trying to keep from answering her question. Lina felt a slow burn begin. It rose from the depths of her being and attempted to expand throughout her mind. But, no. Lina wouldn't led some damn Mazoku priest manipulate her emotions. No more toying with petty secrets and hiding behind masks and smiles. She had nearly collapsed in horror at seeing him so near death and the jerk had the gall to try his "that is a secret" routine on her? On her - of all people. The one who had SAVED HIS GODDAMN LIFE! In a cold but calm voice Lina said, "Can't or won't Xelloss? Can't or won't..." and with that, Lina slowly slid off of the bed and headed for the door. "Lina, you have to listen..." "NO! Xel, you listen to me! I thought that despite the demon lords, the mayhem, destruction, life or death battles, betrayal and backstabbing, that we were at least good enough friends that you could be honest with _ME_. But I guess I was mistaken. I healed you and I paid for the room in advance, so feel free to stay, but if you don't consider me worthy of knowing what's really going on, then I don't consider it necessary to stay here and be toyed with. Good bye Mister Trickter Priest!" Lina turned and resumed her walk toward the door. The door slammed shut and the sound it made echoed through the room. On the bed, Xelloss allowed himself to fall back against the feather pillow and at that moment the tired, old seems of that pillow saw fit to burst from the many years of abuse. The flurry of feathers blanketed the room and in Xelloss' thoughts, three things stood out quite prominently. One, I'm an idiot; two, I must consider a suitable way of "repaying" the owner of this inn for his "spectacular" accommodations; and three, I still need a new suit. ---------- Tsuzuku (to be continued) *Note: this has not been pre-read yet by anyone other than me, so expect more errors than usual. They shall be rectified as soon as possible.