Once again, Zelgadis was on the road, but unlike those other times, he wasn't alone.
He groaned.
It wasn't as if Sercee was an overly exuberant traveling companion, she was actually quite useful. Getting food was easier because of her....it seems that animals of all kinds were attracted to her very presence.
That meant ALL animals.
Yesterday, they had to run for their lives when a herd of cattle suddenly decided they didn't like chimeras.
Zelgadis rubbed his forehead slightly as Sercee skipped ahead of him, with her hands behind her back, her head turning back and forth to see the sights. Nothing but trees, but for some reason, the cheerful elf girl didn't seem to get tired of it, which was pretty ironic since she was the one imprisoned by trees for almost her entire life.
That was another thing.
The young man was always a quiet, brooding figure. To be honest, he found her cheerfulness quite annoying. Nothing seemed to faze her cheerful disposition. No matter how much he pouted, stayed quiet, or gave a sarcastic remark or two, she seemed oblivious to it all and always tried to get him to talk, or at least laugh, which he didn't.
Not to mention the latest bouts of insanity.
Well, not insanity. It was more like extreme paranoia. Since his present companion lived inside a forest her entire life, she was subjected to more things she didn't understand. And the more she didn't understand, or couldn't find in her mother's grimoire, she blew things out of proportion quite literally.
The day before yesterday, she managed to level several hills, two cliffs, and a small forest because a flying squirrel made the mistake of floating past her eyes, its red gaze looking at her cluelessly as she shrieked and her powers started to go berserk.
That was when he figured the High Council of Elves, wherever they are, had the right idea isolating the girl.
A sudden presence interrupted his thoughts, and Zelgadis stopped walking as Sercee continued on. Her long ears drew back, then stopped in her tracks. She made an about face, looking at the chimera curiously as he looked at the tree branches hanging overhead.
"Oh great," the girl thought. "He's probably moping again."
"Zelgadis?" she wondered out loud, approaching her traveling companion. "What's up?" Her gaze followed his up the trees, then back at him, puzzled. "Anything....up there?"
The chimera said nothing and drew his sword. Sercee jumped back, her eyes wide with fear, remembering his past intentions.
The ground rumbled and shook. Zel sighed, then yelped as the tremors knocked him off balance and landed with a thud on the ground.
"YEAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!"
The earth stopped shaking as the sudden yell caught the girl's attention, and her present train of paranoid thought ceased. Both she and Zelgadis looked up to find a dark figure falling from the tree tops, breaking several branches on his way to the ground.
The chimera looked at the elf girl balefully. "No," he told her exasperatedly. "I wasn't going to KILL you." 'Though I'm pretty much tempted to at the moment,' he thought, gritting his teeth.
Sercee's frightened stance relaxed. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I mean, you just suddenly stopped and took out your sword, and you looked mad about something, so I thought..ah heh..."
Zelgadis stood up and dusted off his clothes calmly, then looked towards the bushes where the newcomer landed on. "Well," he spoke up. "At least you got to the person I was going to attack anyway." He eyed the girl warily from the corner of his eye. "I sensed his presence while you were walking ahead of me. Now do me a favor and step at least three feet back. I don't want to die this early."
Sercee blinked, then slowly stepped back as Zelgadis faced the bushes.
"You were discovered, so the least you can do is come out and greet us," the chimera told the trees calmly. "And..of course...tell us why you've been following us."
A slow rustle caught his ears. Zelgadis' eyes narrowed, then jumped out of the way as a fireball crashed into the ground behind him, exploding. Sercee gasped, and the chimera motioned for her to stay put as he picked up his sword and held it defensively in front of him.
"Always the smart one, eh, Zelgadis?"
The smoke cleared, and the chimera found himself face to face with a tall, handsome young man with golden eyes and spiky, red hair. The newcomer was dressed in black...well, everything, and Zelgadis smirked as a look of recognition came to his face.
"Mephisto," he stated flatly. "Good to see you, how's Hell?"
Sercee blinked, then turned her head back and forth at the exchange.
Mephisto snorted, and ran a hand through his red hair, then yelped as one of his spiky strands punctured his finger. He glared at Zelgadis.
"It's been three years, three months, four days, and thirty-four seconds since the last time we saw each other, Zel," Mephisto spat angrily. "And you STILL have the gall to get in my way."
"Man...he's been keeping count," the elf girl thought idly. "What's going on?"
Zelgadis blinked as a sweatdrop made its way down his head. "What are you TALKING about, ROB?" he asked, slowly getting annoyed. "I don't even KNOW you that well."
"SHADDUP!" the redhead yelled, his right eye twitching madly. "I'll never forgive you for what you did three years, three months, four days, and forty seconds ago!"
It was needless to say that Zel looked quite clueless.
The newcomer drew back his hands as a crackling ball of black energy started forming between his fingers. His mouth opened to yell out a potentially destructive spell. "DEMON-- "
Zel sighed and snapped his fingers. The area beneath Meph exploded upwards, sending his vengeful acquaintance flying upwards. Sercee's eyes bulged out, a sweatdrop sliding down her head as the chimera calmly dusted his hands.
"Let's go," the blue sorcerer told her as he quietly walked past her and out the forest they were traveling through. Sercee looked up in the sky, seeing a flaming comet of a person streaking past the clouds, then back at Zel, then started running to catch up to him.
"What the.....who WAS that guy?" Sercee inquired curiously as Zelgadis continued walking. "He looked kinda mad."
"Mephisto," came the quiet reply. "I met him...well, you know how long ago. He used to serve my grandfather, Rezo the Red Priest. I usually call him Rob."
"Rob?"
"Rezo's Official Bootlicker."
"Oh."
Sercee frowned, then spoke up again. "And he's mad at you because of that?" Sercee asked incredulously. "Isn't that a bit.....stupid?"
"Who knows?" Zelgadis said, shrugging. "I never really talked to him that much, too busy looking for the Philosopher's Stone at the time. Meph's a demon, a young one in regards to their standards down there in the Underworld...so it doesn't really take that much to tick him off."
"I see...." the girl murmured. "But aren't you the least bit curious to why he's so mad at you?"
The chimera paused, then shook his head. "No," he said with an air of finality. "Who cares?"
Sercee observed his back for a few minutes as they continued to head for the nearest town to continue their search for the Altar of Genesis. She suddenly felt peculiar, and stopped in her tracks.
Zelgadis sensed her hesitance and turned back to look at her. "Now what?" he wondered out loud. "Please, if you're still worried that Meph's still following us, don't be."
"It's not that," Sercee replied. "It's just that...." She sighed. "I feel funny."
Zelgadis could only raise an eyebrow. "Can you.....elaborate?" he asked slowly. 'If she doesn't know anything about the time of the month, I am LEAVING,' he vowed silently.
"Well, something's telling me that we might find something due east," the elf girl said hesitantly. "I don't know....the spirits seem....restless over there." She closed her eyes. "A place called...." She frowned. "Whale? Gale?"
She tapped the side of her head slightly. "I'm sorry," she told Zelgadis. "The communication's kinda fuzzy. Lots of static."
The chimera frowned. He didn't know what it was, whether it was female intuition or other things. In any case, he figured there wasn't really any harm following the girl's hunch. Besides, she might be right.
He dug out a map from his pack and observed it for a few minutes. "Well....there's a place called Shale City several miles from here," the sorcerer stated. "And it's due east, just like you said." He folded the map again and tucked it in his belongings carefully. "C'mon...it's this way."
Bear in mind that Zelgadis has never set foot in the New World until now, and as he and his companion gaped at the sprawling, bustling, generally overcrowded city in front of them, he might think that Shale City reminded him of Saillune .....only it was more sane here then it was over there.
At least, that's what he thought.
He regarded Sercee quietly as she glanced about with open admiration. Unlike him, seeing a large city like Shale was very new to her, and she was ecstatic that she finally set foot outside the wall of trees which imprisoned her. Of course, that would mean he would have to fill in the paranoid elf-girl as to what she could expect in the city. He didn't really relish the thought of being someone who expected the destruction of half a city in any minute.
"And you'd think she'd be more aware about things after being a bookworm her entire life," the chimera muttered, trudging on the path which lead inside the city walls.
"Eh, did you say something, Zelgadis?"
"I said ‘And be aware of anyone who has any weapon like a knife'," the blue- skinned sorcerer replied out loud, then resumed to mutter under his breath as Sercee made a mental note in her head.
"‘Kay," she stated idly, watching a horse wagon canter along the cobblestoned path, its driver half asleep against the hay it carried.
In her entire life, she had never seen a place like the city in front of her. She looked at everything she passed with unwavering interest, occasionally stopping a time or two to peer at something she never saw before, much to Zelgadis' chagrin. She had never seen a store before, let alone a marketplace which seemed to take up most of Shale, and her companion had to drag her away from several merchants when she tried to ask more questions about their wares. Sercee didn't really mind, but she was curious as to why Zelgadis seemed to be in a hurry all the time.
"Zelgadis?" she wondered out loud. "What's that?" Her companion lifted the edge of his cowl a bit to look at the direction of her pointed finger. He shrugged, taking in the wood-and-metal sign hanging above the small building's doorway and the deadly, shiny objects displayed beyond the well-kept windows.
"It's a weapon store, no doubt," Zelgadis said in reply as both stopped in front of the doorway, watching the sign sway gently above their heads for lack of anything better to do.
Sercee frowned. "Isn't it a bit dangerous to just sell those things in public?" she wondered out loud. "Those things can kill somebody."
"Unfortunately, Sercee, that's the point," Zelgadis explained loftily as Sercee's ears drooped sadly. "But it's more dangerous walking around without one."
"Why so?" the girl murmured. "I don't understand. Mom always told me killing something is always wrong."
The chimera sighed and looked at his young companion sadly, taking the drooping ears on note. He really didn't mean shattering the girl's world view like he just did, but he figured the more she knew about Reality as he lived it, the more wary she would be. And if she doesn't get caught off guard as often as she did at present, it would be safer to let her travel with him and everyone else. Still, he felt bad, and because of that, he resolved to put what he learned about the world as delicately as he could.
"Because," he began. "The world is a dark and lonely place."
Zelgadis turned his gaze to the blue, cloudless sky as he continued. "You may not know it, but in all my life, I've known nothing but sorrow....."
Something brushed against her leg, and Sercee looked down to see a small, golden-furred puppy yipping at her and wagging its tail. Delighted, she crouched on her knees and petted it as Zelgadis rambled on unconsciously, focusing on nothing but his angst.
".....turned to stone, subjected to miscellaneous jeers and taunts. And all would have been avoided if it weren't for HIM...."
The small animal started to roll around in front of the elf girl, its dark, cocoa eyes oozing with cuteness. Sercee started to giggle and clap slightly.
"...and by the GODS! Don't even get me started on how much TROUBLE I got because of HER! It was SUFFOCATING! What about falling in love with someone who turned out to be a MAN?! My first love! A CROSSDRESSER!"
Sercee continued to smile as the puppy lifted its paw for a shake.
".....the world is cruel! It's a big, giant, blue-green globe of SUFFERING!" Zel's angst-ridden, explanatory speech suddenly morphed into one giant rant about the unfairness of life. "Do you have ANY idea how absurdly rotten it is to live my life?! DO YOU?!!!!"
He blinked, then looked around. The chimera spotted Sercee giggling inanely as she patted the head of a small, furry puppy which came out of nowhere. In the elf-girl's eyes, all was bright and cheerful in the world again, leaving him to rant and rave senselessly, PUBLICLY, like someone who recently escaped a self-help facility.
She looked up at her companion as the puppy trotted away. "I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely. "I didn't hear you. Could you repeat what you just said, please?"
Zelgadis' eyebrow started to twitch.
Life was very cruel, indeed.
With a slight snort, he looked back at the store again. "C'mon," he muttered, stepping inside the doorway. "Since we're here, we might as well get you a weapon."
Sinclair's Weapons looked like any other arms shop located within the boundaries of Shale. The building was mostly stone and wood, with wooden stands all over the place displaying all sorts of weapons: bows, arrows, swords, spears, daggers, and more unusual pieces. As Sercee peered closely at several rows of pointed swords, Zelgadis warily pinched her sleeve and dragged her over the counter which stood at the far left corner of the store.
A slender, black-haired woman stood behind the counter, carefully writing a string of numbers down a piece of paper while her other hand hovered over a mahogany abacus. When Zelgadis' shadow fell over her pad, she looked up, a bored expression in her violet eyes.
"Welcome to Sinclair's Weapons," she stated flatly, then yawned. "Can I help you?"
Before the chimera could open his mouth to speak, the door to the shop burst open, and a frantic, young man with long, blond hair thundered inside, carrying a large bouquet of multi-colored flowers.
"Luela, my love!!!!" the newcomer cried, rushing towards the counter as Zelgadis and Sercee looked on, surprised. "MARRY ME!"
Luela, the woman behind the counter, suddenly brightened at the sight of the particular fellow. She stood up from her chair in a flash.
"Wellsley!" she cried joyously. "I'm SO glad to see you!!!!"
Zelgadis pulled Sercee aside, who gaped in confusion. "I believe we came at a bad time," he muttered and his companion nodded.
"You are?!" Wellsley inquired, his eyes turning teary. "Oh Luela! FINALLY! You decided to receive my affec---"
Luela whipped out a bow and arrow and aimed it at the charging, lovesick youth. "I've been positively DYING to try out this new spell I learned!" she cried gleefully. "It's SO kind of you to volunteer being my target!"
"Anything, my love!" Wellsley cried, either too lovesick to know what he was actually permitting her to do or too stupid to realize what she meant.
"This should be good," Zelgadis muttered quietly as Sercee's green eyes blinked rapidly with confusion.
"Here goes!" Luela cackled, stretching the bowstring taut as she drew back her arm. Light crackled around the arrow's shaft and blade as Wellsley kept charging, yelling something about Destiny and soul mates.
"BRAM GUSH!!!!"
The arrow zipped from the bow as Luela let go of the string with a twang. White- blue energy streaked through the air towards the oblivious Wellsley. In a blink of an eye, a bright flash of light and smoke exploded in front of Luela and her would-be customers, with her hapless lover spiraling out of the store through a hole in the roof as all three people looked up.
"As you wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssshhhh...." floated faintly in their ears, watching the human projectile sail through the blue, cloudless sky.
Zelgadis sweatdropped, eyeing his companion from the corner of his eye. Sercee's eyes morphed into huge saucers, too stunned or shocked to go ballistic at the suddenness of the explosion. The chimeran sorcerer sighed with relief, all to glad that a panic attack hasn't set in his present companion.
Luela Sinclair merely nodded to herself in satisfaction, then sighed with relief.
"Thank the gods!" she said exasperatedly as she put away her bow. "I thought NO ONE would come through my door again professing their love for me! It's been three days since the last one!" She pouted and crossed her arms. "What am I supposed to use for target practice?"
Zelgadis just looked at her coolly as a horrified expression set on Sercee's face. You...you blow your lovers off the roof for target practice?!" the elf-girl sputtered, astounded.
Luela looked at her as if she said something unexpected as she continued tallying up her numbers. "Of course," the black-haired woman said loftily. "Besides, they're not my lovers. Just people who WANT to be my lovers. There's a difference."
She eyed the slender elf with interest, but with a bored expression on her face. "You're not from around here, are you?" she assessed. "People around here have gotten used to seeing people fly off my roof occasionally."
"Umm..." The younger girl reddened in embarrassment, shrinking back from Luela's looming face. "I guess you can say that..."
"If both of you are done talking," Zelgadis began, fully aware that they were wasting time in his standards. "I would like to make a purchase."
Luela waved her hand up and down, a bored expression on her face. "Yeah, yeah," she said offhandedly. "What do you want, mister?"
The cloaked-and-hooded young man peered at the glass cabinet he was leaning on, then tapped the glass with a stony finger. "I would like to purchase that dagger in the corner," he replied.
Luela unlocked the cabinet and took out a simple, silver dagger, small enough to fit inside a medium-sized boot. She drew the blade from the scabbard for Zel's inspection, then unrolled a piece of red, velvet cloth on the glass counter and laid the weapon on it.
"Pure silver," the storekeeper stated as Sercee peered curiously at it. " Sturdy, but not so hard that you can't carve magical runes on its blade." Luela trained her purple eyes on Zelgadis. "But of course, sir, if you don't mind me saying so, you'll need a bigger, stronger blade. It doesn't take an eye like mine to know from your physique that you're quite the seasoned fighter." She finished her sentence with a wink for emphasis.
Zelgadis, to his disdain, found himself blushing, then cleared his throat. "It's for my companion," he stated, gesturing to the elf girl beside him, not quite changing his monotonous tone of voice. "How much?"
Luela smirked. "Fifty gold pieces."
Sercee blinked as Zelgadis nearly fell over in shock. He regained his balance, then looked at the woman balefully out of the folds of his cowl.
"Are you saying I should pay fifty gold pieces for a mere, small dagger?!" the young man yelped.
"Hey, buddy," Luela snapped. "You're potentially cute and all, but I'm not lenient about my prices just because a man can pull the mysteriously handsome look as well as you." She raised her chin and smiled. "I'm a career woman. In this store, everything is business."
"Astounding," Sercee murmured in amazement. "She can flirt, deal, and stomp over a man's pride all at the same time!"
"EXCUSE ME?!" Zelgadis growled lowly. Sercee waved her hands, babbling something about going through the merchandise all in good time.
He turned towards the purple-eyed businesswoman. "I will give you twenty gold pieces for it," he stated firmly.
Luela shook her head. "Forty," she bartered.
"Twenty-five."
"Thirty five," Luela replied, holding up three fingers.
"Twenty five and nothing more," the sorcerer said with an air of finality. "Unless you want us to walk away without doing any business with you."
Luela was annoyed. Nobody ever challenged her prices like this stranger did. However, as peeved as she was, she couldn't help but feel some grudging respect and admiration for the man...as well as some level of curiosity. He was dressed fully from head to toe, and she couldn't see his face well. She would never admit it, but mysterious men fascinated her, be it business or pleasure.
The woman sheathed the dagger, then left it on the center of the counter. "Very well, then," she said. "Twenty-five it is. But only because you're as curious as they come, mister." She winked, then started ringing up his purchase.
Zelgadis handed the shopkeeper a bag of gold, then handed the dagger to Sercee, who held it with both hands gingerly. "Keep it in your boot," he instructed. "That's where it's supposed to go."
"But..." Sercee replied, her green eyes pooling with worry. "But I might hurt someone with it."
Zelgadis started to open his mouth to explain when he sensed something coming towards the front door of the establishment. In a blink of an eye, he grabbed Sercee, who yelped in surprise and jumped behind the counter with Luela, landing on top of her as all three crashed on the floor.
The door exploded, the blast drowning out Luela's angry curses. Heavy, thick boots clomped on the store's wooden floor. Despite better judgment, all three from behind the counter lifted their head slowly and peered from the edge of the counter.
They cried out in unison as they ducked a fireball which whizzed past their heads, exploding on the wall behind the counter, leaving a small hole on the wooden finish.
"ZELGADIS!" a loud, male voice roared inside the store. "I know you're in here! Come out and face me, coward!"
"He sounds quite mad," Sercee stated lowly.
"Not as much as I am!" Luela cried angrily. "How dare he wreck my store!" She stood up quickly as she slung her bow and arrow in front of her. "BRAM GUSH!"
For the first time that day, she came face to face with a real opponent. She smirked at the red-haired, black-clothed young man as a shaft of blue-white light streaked in the air towards him.
The stranger raised an eyebrow, and her Bram-powered arrow was suddenly engulfed by wisps of dark energy, and vanished completely in midair.
"HAH!" the redhead bellowed. "Puny mortal! Do you really think your arrow can..."
He was cut off when he was suddenly engulfed in a fireball which zipped towards him while he was gloating. When the smoke cleared, he found himself charred and singed in places.
Zelgadis sighed, the glow of his blue palms fading. He blew the smoke from his fingers. "What're you doing here, Rob?" he asked tiredly. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Luela gaped at him. "You...you KNOW this jackass?!" she yelped.
"DAMN YOU, ZELGADIS!" Mephisto yelled, his fists clenching. "You cheating bastard! I wasn't ready!"
Sercee peered from the counter. "Zelgadis?" she inquired. "I thought he was gone?"
Zelgadis jumped in front of the counter and leaned on it, his arms crossed over his chest in quiet scrutiny. Finally, he said, "You look like hell, Meph."
"Quit the hell jokes, Zel!" Meph cried, stepping forward. "I came to finish what YOU started!"
The chimera rolled his eyes. Since he was there with the devil salivating like a rabid dog, he might as well ask. "Very well, Rob," he stated calmly. "What did I do to you?"
"What do you MEAN what did you do?!" Meph cried, his eyebrow twitching. "You made my life a living HELL, that's what!"
"You LIVE in Hell, anyway," Zelgadis pointed out. "What're you blaming me for?"
Meph flared, his red hair suddenly standing up in anger, his golden eyes glowing. "You took Rezo away from me, you bastard!" he yelled.
Luela and Sercee were silent, looking at the devil, then at the chimera in curiosity. Zelgadis raised his eyebrows. Now things looked a little more interesting.
"Sorry, Rob," the chimera said. "I didn't know you two were lovers."
Mephisto facefaulted. Luela's jaw dropped open. Sercee's eyes widened. Naturally, the two girls started to converse in hushed tones as Meph stayed hands-and- knees on the floor, twitching as he heard every word, with Zelgadis looking on calmly.
"I didn't know Rezo the Wise was...er...THAT way," Luela whispered as Sercee nodded.
"I didn't know either," the elf-girl said. "The history books never said anything about that..."
"You suppose Zelgadis...?"
"Could be a love triangle..."
"No wonder the redhead looks pissed..."
"EXCUSE ME!" Zelgadis and Mephisto yelled in unison at the two girls. "I AM NOT _THAT_ WAY!!!"
"Sorry," the girls squeaked in unison.
Mephisto pointed a finger at Zelgadis. "Damn you, Zelgadis!" he cried. "I was going to be Rezo's right-hand man! With all the suck-up lines I was giving him, he was BOUND to make his second-in-command! I would've put off going back to HELL if it wasn't for you!"
Meph started pacing around the room, wallowing in his woes. "But NO!" he continued. "You just had to show up with your cool-suave-tortured-and-mysterious routine! All the things you did for Rezo shadowed mine, and you HATED him. You didn't deserve his respect, you know! When he died, the Prince of Darkness wanted me back and I was reduced from causing chaos to sweeping the ashes and bones off his dining room floor!" He glared at Zelgadis. "I've been through HELL because of you!"
The chimera blinked. "That's IT?!" he cried, exasperated. "You're mad at me because I beat you out for some sort of PROMOTION?" He sighed. "And I thought it was going to be more interesting and tragic, like accidentally killing off your illegitimate child or something. But since it isn't..." He shrugged. "There's no point in me listening to you, then."
Mephisto clenched his fists, the bones of his fingers emitting a slightly popping sound. "You die now, Zelgadis," he spat. "I might not be Rezo's right hand, but I'm back on the physical plane now...with a new job to do...and I'm going to take this advantage to get my revenge!"
Zelgadis was annoyed. "Very well," he replied. "Let's get this over with."
As soon as he said that, he jumped out of the way as a crackling, black bolt of energy slammed into the ground where he stood. Luela cried, horrified at the sight of her wooden floor getting chipped away and the smoke rapidly filling the building.
"You MORONS!" she yelled. "Not in my store!"
Mephisto didn't hear her as he zapped one dark bolt of magic after another at the jumping and twisting Zelgadis, who was trying to get an opportunity to lash back with his own magic attack.
The demon smirked. He already decided that he wouldn't give his nemesis any opportunity to attack. Lifting his palms, he yelled a destructive spell at the air.
"DEMON GALE!"
Negative energy swirled around Zelgadis from all around his position, twirling around before streaming forward to catch its prey. Zelgadis ducked and rolled on the floor, but only to find himself caught in a whirlwind of dark energy. In his mind's eye, he found the sprites of darkness gnawing at his mind as he slowly felt himself going insane.
"What...what the hell..." the chimera grunted, clutching his head as the sprites encircled his consciousness, feeding off his confusion and sanity. He felt himself starting to break out in cold sweat. His mind was too confused to think of a defensive spell to counterattack his foe. He never came across this sort of magic before.
Mephisto smirked as he stood over his opponent, who sank on his hands and knees. "Can't think, can you?" he chuckled, gloating inwardly. "Of course, how can you grasp the complexities of Demon Magic? It's been gone so long from this world no one knows about it anymore. How can you break a spell you don't know how to cast, Zel? You're a smart boy, I'm sure you can figure it out."
Zelgadis could no longer hold back the screams. He cried out as he writhed in torment on the ground, darkness slowly eating his consciousness. He clawed at the store's wooden floor, gasping in pain.
Mephisto caught a movement at the corner of his eye, then caught another glowing arrow in between his fingers. He eyed Luela dangerously. "I believe this is yours."
Luela's eyes widened, then screamed as she tore out of the store, her arrow chasing her across the street until it exploded in a nearby fruit stand.
The demon eyed Sercee, who paled in fear. "Would you like to try your luck?" he asked, his manner changing from loud and ridiculous to impeccable evil.
The elf swallowed as she stepped back. "I...I..uhh...don't...hurt him?" she pleaded weakly.
Mephisto smirked. He raised his palm above his head as clouds of dark energy swirled around it. "WRONG ANSWER, SISTER!"
His loud, shrill gloat caused Sercee to scream with fear as he sent the energy build-up at her. She covered her head with her arms, squeezing her eyes shut.
All of a sudden, the ground shook as greenish-white energy quickly swirled around the petite girl, causing the dark wave approaching her to bend and twist at its wake, then breaking apart into magical fragments. At the demon's wide eyes, the swirling green light broke apart, then spread itself in a devastating shock wave, streaking directly toward him.
"GAH!" he yelped, then turned to run only to find himself getting carried by the wave towards the back wall of Luela's store, smashing the entire rear of the building into pieces as he was launched into the air and into other small taverns and stores.
The smoke inside Sinclair's Weapons cleared. When Zelgadis opened his eyes, he figured saying that the place was a wreck would be an understatement.
He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head. His eyeballs throbbed from the back of his skull. He could barely remember anything, except excruciating pain and the suddenness of its disappearance.
Speaking of disappearances, where was Mephisto?
Zelgadis stood up carefully and found Sercee, her hands covering her face, on her knees on the floor rocking back and forth. When he touched her shoulder, she yelped and an invisible force slammed an uppercut on his jaw.
He groaned and rubbed his jaw. Sercee's eyes grew huge.
"I'm sorry!" she cried. "Oh gods, I'm sorry!" She got up quickly and helped Zelgadis sit up. "Are you okay? You scared me..."
"Sercee," the chimera said quietly, with nervous inquiry. "What did you do to the store?"
For the first time, the elf girl looked around the store since the attack...or what was left of it.
It was suffice to say that Sinclair's Weapons was reduced to two walls and a roof, with a gaping hole where the back wall used to stand as a back door.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Sercee cried. "I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it! I..."
"You?" a calm, yet dangerous tone said from behind. Sercee swallowed and turned her face slowly to look over her shoulder.
Luela stood on top of the remnants of her front door, her eyelid twitching as she looked around her establishment calmly, a shudder or two traveling down her slender frame. She was leaning on her tall, sturdy bow, her face and clothes charred in several places.
"Did you say...YOU..didn't mean it?" the woman stated again, her entire face suddenly twitching.
Zelgadis slapped his forehead and sighed.
"Umm..." Sercee began nervously, twiddling her fingers together, her long ears drooped. "Sorry?"
The chimera cringed.
Outside Sinclair's Weapons, or what was left of it, peddlers and other store owners looked up from selling their wares to hear crashing, screaming, "I'm going to KILL YOU!!!" and other threats coming from the ruined establishment.
A bartender across the street shook his head, then walked back in his humble, yet well-kept tavern. He walked behind the bar and started wiping several glasses clean.
He noticed a person huddled over the counter, a brown cowl covering his head and long sleeves on the table. Since the face couldn't be seen, the bartender concluded that the person was a traveling monk. He approached the man easily.
"Excuse me, sir," he asked and the cowl looked up. "Can I get you anything?"
"Water," the monk stated quietly. "Just a glass of water, please."
The bartender shrugged, then proceeded to pour a glass of water for the customer and slid it towards him. He sighed as he heard several explosions ringing from across his tavern. "I knew that girl would get herself into trouble," he muttered. "Experimenting with magic, spurning her lovers...."
The cowl bobbed his head in agreement, though in reality, he couldn't care less. The bartender sighed, then went about doing his work.
"So what brings you here in Shale, sir?" he asked cordially as the monk bent his hooded head to take a sip of water. "Business?"
The monk set down his glass. "I guess you can say that," he said quietly.
"You planning to exorcize demons or something?" the bartender joked, sliding a glass of wine towards a plump, middle-aged man at the other end of the counter.
The monk lifted his head, one of his eyes glinting with the warm, yellow-orange lights of the tavern.
"Something like that," he said quietly, lifting the glass to his lips.
The bartender laughed heartily, then went towards the other customers in the bar to engage them in small talk. After finishing his water, the monk set down his glass with a quiet clack on the wooden counter, muttering in a quiet voice.
"Let's just say I'm supposed to send something back to where it belongs..."
Episode 3 | Fanfiction