It was a peaceful day in the Slayers Universe which, unto itself is very unusual. The group had assembled quiet unexpectedly in one location. SO! Permit me to make introductions and excuses for why every one was here.
Let's start with -
Lina and Gourry. Two travaling companions that have been off wandering for close to four years now. These two had come to the cliffs searching for a nearby town to get some grub for their travel empty stomachs that made scary noises that would even scare a mazoku. It did just that too. Xelloss wouldn't go near Lina and Gourry with their sunken I'm-going-to-eat-whatever-gets-close-to-me look.
Amelia ended up at the cliffs when she decided that the meeting her father was attending in the town was too boring even for her. She had sought out the highest place in town and thus, the cliffs she be at. It also helped that -
Zelgadiss had arrived at the cliffs after receiving a tip-off that there might be some magical item that could be a clue to a cure for his chimera-ness. Of course.
Martina and Zangulus was there because of the towns known reputation to be the best place to spend ones second honey moon. Not going to go further. Don't wanna.
Filia was there because that morning, she had decided to take a needed break from work. She left her pottery shop in the able hands of Jirasu, Garobus and little Val. How she ended up at the cliffs was because -
Xelloss had decided to have some fun and annoy the ex-priestess into going into a blind rage and chasing him through foliage, whacking anything and everything that go in her way. Which is to say, she managed to hit a lot of animated and un-animated stuff.
It was one big, happy reunion.
Lina, and Gourry were happy to see Zel.
Zel was happy to see them.
Amelia was overly happy to see Zel.
Zel was less than joyful but was still glad to see Amelia.
Lina was happy to see Filia -
But she was less than happy to see Martina and Xelloss.
Gourry was happy to see Zangulus.
And Zangulus -
"Fight me, Gourry!"
Sweatdrops all around.
And this is where our story begins. No, wait. Our story doesn't begin just right there. It needs a little push first. The story shall begin when a local wildlife creature will stumble along in all it's cuteness towards the group.
Imaging if you will - this particular creature has something in it's mouth. An accorn. It hops up in all it's cute-and-cuddlyness and begins to dig at the ground a few feet away. The gang is too busy right now talking/fighting/placing-curses-in-the-great-name-of-Zoamalgustar to notice this animal that was indigenous to these parts.
The animal finished hiding the accorn and gives the small mound of dirt a few taps and hops away. It should not be long before wackiness ensues.
A few minutes later, the ground splits where the accorn had been buried and the Slayers gang all fell off the cliff.
Wackiness had ensued.
The ground gave way underneath everyone's feet. Gravity took began to take effect and the plumetted towards the ground. Take in mind that all this happened very fast and that no one, not even Xelloss had time to react. There was a lot of screaming. A lot of arms pin-wheeling in the air to no avail. Of course, Zelgadiss, would of cast a RayeWing or Levitation if a certain overly-kawaii princess hadn't been clingling to the chimera in a death hug.
A bright blueish-white light filled everyone's vision only to disappear a few seconds later. They found themselves in a sort of suspended wieghtlessness with no sign of the cliffs they had just been standing on present.
A few minutes later, reality shifted and they found themselves handging in mid-air and falling very rapidly. Again.
All that could be heard for a while was the sound of splashing.
The local guide and care taker of this strange place called Jusenkyo looked up startled from his Japanese handbook that he was most determine to read. In these recent months, he had found that many Japanese people seemed drawn to this place and it's water. On average, only one chinese person out of five japanese people have fallen in. Of course, the guide being originally chinese might of been one reason.
Of course, in the winter, the springs were heated to make sure no one froze to death and was conveniently mistaken for hot springs. The japanese leasons helped a lot.
The guide shook his head, completely sure that he would of seen people around before they managed to fall in the Springs. He wondered why those "keep out" signs didn't do a dang thing. This being the anime universe and all, practicality is a lost art.
To his right, someone popped up from the water. He jumped back before he could get splashed, cursing that stupid, perverted, little man for stealing the map to the springs. He had no idea what kinda water it could be.
A young man, almost three heads taller than the guide. Very handsome. Longish purple hair that hung down as water dripped off the ends. Not a very happy look to him either.
This person looked around dazed for a moment and shook his head. The guide immediately jumped to the conclusion of what Spring this unfortunate had fallen into.
"This is very bad. Very bad indead."
"What is it?" the guy asked worriedly.
"You fall in Spring-of-Drowned-Man," the guide replied. Then, an afterthought. "Err... where you always a man?"
Zel stared in confusion at the guy, wondering if he ment his chimera-ness. He brushed his hands through his hair. That's when he felt it. The soft, thick, clumps of wet hair. Not metal. Regular hair. Like what he had in the old days. Before -
Zel fell to his knees as he peered into the water in the pool, hope soaring through him. He touched his face in shock. He felt the soft, squishiness of skin. Cured. He was human again. He jumped back to his feet and started hopping around in joy.
The guide, in the meantime, began to edge away from the crazy man who seemed really happy after falling into a cursed spring. He shook his head sadly and began to make a mental note that the water might of gone stale and could cause insanity. He would forget about it in a minute or so.
The guide turned his attention to the sound of more displacment of water. Very hard to miss when many of them had begun screaming.
He hurried over to a pretty little girl that looked like a ten or twelve year old. The poor little thing bobbed in the water, trying to stay afloat amidst cloths that didn't fit anymore and heavy looking armour. Long blond hair trail after her as she managed to climb out of the pool, clutching a sword almost her hight to her chest like she would a teddy bear.
Making sure that this person was okay for the moment, he moved on to the other victims.
A small black piglet crawled out of the water, looking very put out. A black hair band and a pair of earings were all that was on the pig. Red, angry eyes looked around and the guide hurried away from it as soon as he fished out the garments in the water.
In two other pools, a man and a women glared at each other in utter hatred. Both wore Priest robes. The woman had dark colours and the man had white and gold. They also radiated the aura of blue and black.
The guide made a sign against evil at the women. He had always hated that particular pool. It was so creepy seeing a person turn out like that.
"Most unfortunated," said the guide quickly. "You two fall in Spring-of-Drowned-Ryuzoku and Spring-of-Drowned-Mazoku." He hurried away, leaving the two shocked and disgusted... and screaming.
He located the next two easily. A giant panda carrying a pink cat was hard to miss. The panda seemed to be extreamly pissed and kept holding up signs that impended the wrath of Zoamelgustar. Moving on.
A masculine scream permiated the air. The guide rushed over to see what kinda pool this last person had fallen in. He and the others came upon a human Zelgadiss trying to comfort a hysterical young boy. For a moment, the pig, the little girl, and the Ryuzoku immediately though of Alfred. He was Amelia's cousin or uncle and had died after a pair of Mazoku double crossed him.
Come to think of it... where was Amelia?
"I'm a boy!" the boy wailed, clutching Zelgadiss' already wet shirt and sobbing into it. Zel awkwardly patted him on the sholder.
The Mazoku raised her eyebrow in concern.
"Amelia?"
Chapter 2 | Fanfiction