Lina let out a long sigh, then sank to the ground and curled up in a sitting position., her arms around her legs and her head resting on her knees and started to shake. "Oh Gods...I couldn't have taken much more of that!" she said as Zel kneeled down and gathered her into his arms, rocking her slightly back and forth.
She'd been fairly bubbling with suppressed terror, and now that it was only him with her, she felt secure in letting it all out.
"Oh Zel, what am I going t do...she wants me to come home...and I just know it's so she can punish me; I just know it!"
"Well, you know I'll be right there with you, and your sister doesn't scare me." Zel said reassuringly.
"But Zel, she's dangerous!" ina said wide-eyed.
"Well, even if she is dangerous, I don't care, I'll still go...and I'm sure Amelia and Gourry and Sylphiel will say the same."
Lina took a deep breath. "Well, I've got a month or two to live, at least, I'm sure I'll think of some way to placate her by then." Lina said encouragingly.
In her throne room on Wolfpack Island, Zelas' head snapped up as she felt a distinctive and familiar presence enter her realm.
"Alright Luna, what do you want to talk to me about?" she asked as she part-time waitress and Knight of Cepheid appeared before her.
"Oh, I think you know." Luna said scathingly, "A little place called Ura no Shinden and my sister? Ring any bells?"
"I never intended to turn her into a chimera, that was as much of a surprise to me as to you...I only wanted to set her back a bit...give myself some breathing room..."
Luna laughed. "Things certainly didn't turn out the way you expected them to, did they? Love always screws up your plans, doesn't it, Zelas." she said, a little bitterly.
The JuuOu growled, and Luna laughed a little more, then got a cold glare on her face. "Oh, and Zelas...I'll be keeping a closer eye on you from now on, and if I find you're mistreating my son, this time I'm taking him back for good, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." With that, she turned on her heel and left.
After talking to Gracia for a little while in private, Amelia told Xellos they were ready to head back to where the others were.
Xell grinned and took each of their hands. "Hold on tight." He told them as he teleported with them to the inn where Sylphiel and Gourry were. When they got there, Xellos squeezed Amelia's hand tightly for a second before letting it go, but to his surprise, she kept tight hold of his hand.
"Let them see, I don't care!" she whispered vehemently in answer to his confused look.
He let a little happy smile play over his features and closed his larger hand back over her small delicate fingers gently.
There was a fire blazing in the hearth in the common room, even though it was only early afternoon, and Gourry was sitting in front of it, leaning back in a chair with his legs stretched out in front of him. As soon as he realized Xellos was there, he turned around and stood up menacingly.
"I don't understand what's going on, but you've made Sylphiel really upset, and I want you to go explain yourself to her now." Gourry demanded
Xellos nodded. It was true, he had left Xala's daughter far too much time to ruminate on the possible consequences of her birth and heritage.
He climbed the stairs and knocked on the door to the room she was in. when he didn't get any response, he simply teleported through the door. Sylphiel was asleep on the bed, and Xellos just stared at her for a minute. She really did look remarkably like her mother, the same way her mother had looked like him...strange how little they all resembled his own mother Zelas...but oh well, that wasn't the issue here. The issue here was explaining Sylphiel's heritage to her.
Softly he shook her to wake her up.
When she saw him there she turned away and pulled the blanket up over her head. "Just go away Xellos." She said, the threatening tears evident in her voice, "Are you happy? You've ruined my life, now go away."
Xellos didn't leave though, instead he sat down in a chair by the dresser and stretched his feet out. "Shall I tell you a story?" he asked Sylphiel didn't say anything, so he continued.