"You're going to keep bothering me until I tell you, aren't you?" Cool blue eyes did not reflect the annoyance in the airy tenor voice.
"You got it." Fiery red eyes sparkled as he sighed. "C'mon, tell me what happened up there, Zel."
"It's nothing." He attempted to brush off the topic, bus she would not be swayed.
"C'mon, Zel, tell me! I'm your friend, right? Isn't that what friends are for?" She tugged on ihs arm so that he faced her. Thesheer lack of vitality in his eyes rendered her speecless, as did his next words.
"I have neither need nor want for friends, Lina." He responded. "I accompany you merely because power seems drawn to you like a moth to a flame. Should something happen that would place us on opposite sides, I would not hesitate tot kill you."
Lina slapped him. It her her hand more than his face, but it was the motivation that impacted him more than the action.
"Zelgadis Greywers, stop detatching yoursel!" She snapped. "We've been through tough times, faced multiple crisis from the end of the world to where to eat lunch, and saved each other's butts more than a few times. If that doesn't qualify for your friendship criteria, what the hell does?" Her angty ruby gaze did not allow any escape. He offered no reply as he turned his back on her and started walking again.
"Leave me alone." He muttered.
"No! Damnit, you're my friend, and I'm not going to let you walk off all melodramatic and depressed." Her temper was at a boil now. "Why do you always have to be so damn stubborn about thse knids of things? Why won't you let anyone be your friend?"
"You don't understand at all." He shook his head slowly. "What do you think it's like to walk kinto your hometown, only to have the women and children run screaming and the men hunt you down like some kind of wild animal? Do you think that some twisted part of me enjoys knowing that I'm the monster parents tell their children is not under their beds? Unfortunately, Lina, the worst part is that a piece of my sowl will never let go of the dark stain on my heart, and no matter what I do to try and purify it, it will never fade. He spiun around once again, and began to exaunt, but was promptly choked because Lina had a death-grip on his cape.
"Now look here, Mr. I'm-a-Monster, you're talking about being a walking nightmare?" She snorted. "Just who the hell do you think you're talking to, dummy? I'm Lina Inverse, Dra-matta, the natural enemy to all that lives, the flat-chested disaster bringer!" She paused for a moment, scowling. "Remind me to fry the guy who came up with that one."
Somewhere, very far away, a certain purple hared Mazoku sneezed and wondered who was talking about him. But that is a story for another time.
"Furthermore," she continued ranting, "I can't believe that you would be so shallow as to deprive yourself of friends by looks alone. I mean, come on, Zel. Look at the rest of us! We've all got better things to argue about than how we look. Gourry's too much of an idiot to care, and Amelia's hung up on you like L-sama knows what."
"And what about you?"
"Huh? What about me?"
"How do you go about ignoring my freakish appearance?"
"I... I dunno." She shrugged. "I just look for other things, I guess. I mean, really Zelgadis, look at me. Do you honestly think I care what my friends look like, considering how I do? As long as they stay off the topic of my figure, I'm fine."
"No, you're not." His gaze was cool and calculating. "You're extremely sensative about your features. Any little comment will send you through the roof."
"Okay, okay!" She fumed. "I'm shallow, too! But you don't see me keeping people at arm's length because of it! Are you scared to have a friend? Scared to need one?!"
In a flash, he had her arms pinned at her sides and her back against a nearby tree.
"You listen to me, and you listen well." He hissed, his eyes locking hers. "I drove people away to keep myself from hurting them. I am scared to DEATH that my search for a cure would cost the lives of anyone I call friend. There is nothing under the sun that frightens me more than losing anyone else I get close to; I've already had enough of that with Rezo. Stay away from me, Lina Inverse, or you will get hurt. And I don't want your blood on my hands, too." An apologetic expression flashed across his face for a brief moment as he abruptly released her, then disappeared in a blur of ivory.
"Zel." She shook her head and sighed, rubbing her arms from where his grip had left colored marks. "Oh, Zel."
From high above, he watched with great interest. The events that had just transpired produced a myriad of oppir tunities, one of which was absolutely too good to miss.
"So." He chuckled, fingering the jewel that awaited one more soul. "The Chimera seeks a cure." The grin he wore could only be descriped as preditory. It was the same kind of smile that foreshadowed a life shattering event...
IV | Story Index | Fanfiction