Xelloss Metallium chuckled to himself as he left the frightened princess to ponder her fate, a delighted smirk on his face. She was terrified, and her fear was delicious. But although he enjoyed making her afraid, he somehow felt bad about what he'd said. It was absurd, him feeling bad about scaring yet another human, but he couldn't help it. Amelia wasn't just "another human." She was a highly interesting and amusing human, one whom he cared quite deeply for. Which was, of course, why he'd kidnapped her. He could never have her heart, so he figured just having her was good enough.
And the expression on her face when he'd told her she was just a toy was priceless! It was almost as if she'd expected something more...but no, she was probably just shocked. Especially when he spoke of disposing of her did her face contort into such pleasing expressions of betrayal and anger. Silly girl, she actually believed he'd do something like that. Why would he toss aside something he'd waited so long to have?
But as long as she believed that, all would go well. The thought of Xelloss's wrath would keep her from directly disobeying him and from trying to escape on her own. That had been Juuou-sama's idea. There was nothing his master liked more than watching a human squirm with fear, and besides, she didn't want Amelia freely roaming around the place. It would be fun to watch her try and skulk about. He smiled. And when her comrades came to rescue her, it would make the fight all that much more entertaining.
Meanwhile, Lina and crew were having their share of problems with the Boatmaster with the wimpy name. Felix spent a fair amount of time dragging a raggedy row boat into the water and now was trying to convince everyone that it was a safe boat.
"I've used it for hundreds of trips," Felix insisted.
"That's why we're having problems with taking a boat ride in it," Filia responded. "What happens if it springs a leak when we're in the middle of the ocean?"
"It's not going to," Felix snapped, starting to get annoyed. "Look, either get in the damn boat or go away, because you're scaring away my customers."
Zelgadis looked around in disbelief. There wasn't another person in sight for miles.
"People actually use you as transportation?" Gourry asked.
"Of course!" Felix replied, practically screaming. "What do you think they use me for, a boat ride?!?"
Lina was starting to get a headache. It seemed the crew was going to have a mutiny before they even set sail. Flying to Wolf Pack Island was starting to seem like a better idea with each passing moment. "Look, Boatmaster-san, just take us to the stupid island. By the time we actually get there, our friend could be in grave danger!"
"And that's a bad thing?" Zelgadis asked, lacking all emotion in his voice.
"Zelgadis-san!" Filia gasped. "How can you even say that?"
"Easily," the chimera replied, shaking his head. "You have no idea."
The dragon maiden felt a little guilty, but she couldn't suppress the jolt of relief that shot through her while witnessing the annoyance Zelgadis held for Amelia. She was secretly glad that he didn't have feelings for her. "Ano, Boatmaster-san, are you sure you can guide us around the island?"
"Of course!" Felix boasted. "I know that island like the back of my hand! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Lina was ready to pummel the irritating man. "Just hurry up and take us there!"
"Then get in the boat!"
Zelgadis sighed. This was going to be a long, long trip...
The Beastmaster swirled her wine around in its glass as she watched the ragtag team of adventurers through a bleak piece of crystal, the brown-haired boatmaster uselessly trying to coax the others into his rickety old boat. She sighed. "That idiot..." Zelas took a sip of her wine and mentally noted to check the vintage on that particular bottle, since it was rather tasty. "Xelloss."
"Hai, Juuou-sama?"
She regarded him carefully. "Normally, I don't interfere with your little games. But this time, I think you may have gone too far. One little girl is no reason to risk the anger of Lina Inverse."
His smile darkened slightly. "Perhaps it is."
Zelas raised an eyebrow at him. "You disagree with me?"
"No, my Lady, I am merely saying that the decision has been made. It is too late to turn back now."
"True." She took another sip of wine. "I hope you have a plan, Xelloss. It will be unfortunate for you if this backfires." There was no mistaking the threatening undertones in her voice. If he played his cards wrong, he would no longer be able to keep a close watch on Lina Inverse. And since Zelas had ordered him to do so, it would be considered a failure.
"Do not worry yourself, my Lady. It is all under control."
"I hope so, Xelloss. For your sake." She dismissed him with a wave of the hand and turned her attention back to the glass of wine.
The Trickster floated down the corridor, ignoring Zelas's other servants. He smirked briefly, wondering what his little Amelia was up to, and decided to pop in on her. Perhaps she was already planning an escape. What fun, he thought gleefully as he teleported to the place he'd left her.
A spoon. And a floor made out of dirt. This is what the a princess had to deal with while trying to escape. The fools had given her utensils to eat with so she had eagerly snatched up the spoon, hoping she could dig her way out of the room she was using as a bedroom. But as time elapsed, Amelia was starting to think she was the fool for even trying.
"Oh what's the use?!" Amelia cried, throwing the spoon across the room. She sat down on her bed, an ugly frown on her face.
"Ne ne, Princess, why the long face?"
Amelia jumped up. "Xelloss, is that you?! Show your face so I can - "
Xelloss appeared behind Amelia and hugged her tightly. "So you can what, my dear Ame-chan?"
"So I can, so I can...." All thoughts fled from her brain as Amelia stood with Xelloss extremely too close to her. She knew she had to do something before everything went too far but her body wasn't cooperating.
"How are you doing, cooped up in the castle?" Xelloss asked, whispering in Amelia's ear. "I would take you on a tour of Wolf Pack Island, but I'm afraid my favorite little Princess would try and flee."
"Why - ," she sputtered, unable to say anything more.
"Why what, my dear?" Xelloss replied. "Why did I choose you to be my pet? Because I want us to be together, Ame-chan, away from those other pests."
Lina! The name raced quickly through Amelia's head and somehow, it gave her courage and strength. She broke away from Xelloss' embrace and turned around to face him, the anger apparent by her body language.
"Why are you doing this, Xelloss? I thought we could trust you! But you've kidnapped me and taken me away from my friends. I don't want to be your pet! I have my rights too, you know! You should have asked me first! Do you think this kind of stuff turns me on, you, you, namagomi hentai!!!!"
Xelloss opened his eyes and looked at Amelia closely. "My my, are we developing a backbone all of a sudden? You know it's not good to answer me back, my dear Ame-chan."
As he took a step towards Amelia, she gulped, afraid of the look in his eyes. "S-stay away from me, Xelloss..." she feebly tried to threaten him. "Or else."
That sent the Trickster Priest into a fit of laughter. "Or else what, Ame-chan? What can you possibly do to me?"
"I...uh...I'll smash you with the Hammer of Justice!" she shouted, punching her fist into the air. The Mazoku simply chuckled at her words. Amelia decided to step up her justice act. "And in the name of good, I shall triumph over your evil nature!!" she declared and started to leap up onto the table. But she never made it. Instead, she leapt past the table and slammed into the wall.
Xelloss rolled on the floor, his sides aching from his laughter. She was so adorable! He struggled to regain his composure, but remembered the look on her face when she slid from the wall to the floor and started laughing again.
Amelia sat up and rubbed the sore spot that now existed on her head. "Itai..." The princess looked over at the Trickster, eyes narrowing when she saw him laughing at her misfortune. "Xelloss no baka!!"
He giggled and planted himself on the floor next to her. "Baka? Who's the one that missed the table, Ame-chan?" he teased.
She glared at him. "Go away."
He seemed to consider that for a second, then turned a smiling face to her. "No."
Blink. "Eh?"
The Mazoku lifted a gloved hand and patted her cheek fondly. "I'm not going to leave you alone this time, Ame-chan."
As Amelia opened her mouth to scream, Xelloss planted a kiss on her lips. At first, her whole body froze up, but then Amelia was able to muster up enough strength to push Xelloss away.
"Stop it!" She cried, desperately wiping her mouth, trying to get rid of the feel of his lips on hers. "I can't do this..I can't do this with you!"
Xelloss opened one eye and looked at Amelia. "And why not?"
"Because," Amelia said loudly. "Because.........I.....love......Zelgadis-san!!!"
Xelloss opened his other eye and stroked his chin. "Really? I always thought it was a silly crush, but love? Hmm, this makes everything much more interesting." He got up and grabbed his staff.
"Wait! What do you mean by that?" Amelia cried, the worry apparent in her eyes.
"Right now, your friends are coming to rescue you. Zelgadis is with them. To make you mine, to make you have complete feelings for me, I must destroy the man you love. Then you can love me!" Xelloss declared gleefully.
"You're crazy!" Amelia yelled. "Don't touch Zelgadis-san!"
"Too late," Xelloss said as he disappeared.
"Shimatta!" Amelia screamed, slamming her fist into the wall.
Meanwhile, Lina and crew had finally gotten onto the boat and were making their way to Wolf Pack Island. The journey had started out fairly normal, but then a very dense fog started to roll in.
"You know how to navigate this boat in a fog, right Boatmaster-san?" Lina asked Felix, glaring at him.
"Well, kinda," Felix said, taking in the surprised looks on everyone's faces. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, it's rather simple! I just have to watch out for the big rocks! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Zelgadis grabbed Felix by the collar and was about to read him the riot act when soft laughter was heard.
"Is that?" Filia asked.
"Xelloss," Lina said quietly, standing up in the boat.
"My dear Zelgadis, I can always count on you to make me laugh."
Zelgadis dropped Felix back down and stood up as well. "Why don't you show yourself, you coward?!"
The Trickster's laugh could be heard once again. "Coward? My, my, what did I do to deserve that title?"
The chimera snarled. "You know very well what you did, bastard. Now show yourself!"
"As you wish, Zelgadis."
Zel found himself face-to-face with the Mazoku, a little too close for comfort in that cramped boat. "Kisama..." he snarled and grabbed Xelloss by the neck. "What have you done to Amelia?!"
Xelloss gave him an innocent look. "Amelia? Why would I do her any harm?"
Lina stood behind Zelgadis, arms folded menacingly across her chest. "Don't give us any of that crap, Xelloss. Just tell us where Amelia is and I won't hurt you too much."
"Oh, she's safe, don't worry about that," he cheerfully told them.
"Let me rephrase that. What have you done with her, Xelloss? If you've harmed her in any way, I won't hesitate in killing you." The look in Lina's eyes was intense.
"I haven't harmed her at all." The Mazoku's face darkened slightly, his grin widening. "In fact, she didn't do anything she didn't want to."
The hidden innuendo in that sentence was very clear to Zelgadis. His reaction was immediate and violent. He clenched his fist tightly and struck the Trickster in the jaw, pleased with the loud cracking noise it made. "If you even touched her, I'll..."
"You'll what?" Xelloss asked, amused. The punch hadn't hurt him in the least. "You'll kill me? Forgive me, my dear Zelgadis, but I don't think you are that strong."
Filia bowed her head to hide her tears at the chimera's concern for Amelia. So he does love her...why else would he be so protective? She had been a fool to think she could ever have him. Her tears dripped down onto the boat's floor, splashing with each drop.
Felix had begun to sweatdrop as soon as the Trickster Priest had appeared. Xelloss hadn't noticed him yet. Then again, he was a little preoccupied... Felix looked around for a place to hide, but being that they were in the middle of the ocean, his choices were limited.
"What are you doing?" Gourry asked, poking Felix and causing the Boatmaster to nearly jump out of his skin.
"SHH!" Felix yelped, hiding behind Gourry as best as he could.
It was Xelloss' turn to sweatdrop as he tried to look behind Gourry. "Ne, what are you hiding back there, Lina-san?"
"I'm not hiding anything!" Lina practically screamed. "Will you please pay attention to our damn questions?!?!?! We want to know where you took Amelia!"
"And I told you before," Xelloss' said patiently with that same smile on his face. "I don't know where Amelia is!"
"You're lying!" Zelgadis screamed, grabbing his sword and thrusting it in Xelloss' face.
Lina held up her hands. "Whoa, Zel, hang on for a sec. What Xel said is true, you can't kill him."
"Well I can sure as hell try," Zelgadis said through gritted teeth.
"No Zelgadis-san!" Filia suddenly cried, throwing her arms around Zelgadis, sobbing her heart out. "You can't die, you can't!"
"Filia..." Zelgadis looked down at the blond haired girl. "Filia, what are you doing?"
"Well, isn't it obvious, Zel-chan?" Xelloss asked sweetly. He took a step closer to the chimera. "Unless your brain is made out of stone as well, you would see that it's apparent that Filia loves you very dearly."
Zelgadis looked back and forth between the Mazoku and the dragon maiden, not knowing whether to respond to the insult or the suggestion. The insult would be easier to react to, but the suggestion posed a far more pressing question. "Filia...what?"
She stopped crying and pulled back from him, twiddling her fingers in an embarrassed manner. "Well...I...I...um, you see...I...I..."
Xelloss grinned. My, my...isn't this an interesting little turn of events. "It seems our little dragon is a bit tongue-tied at the moment. What's wrong, Filia-chan? Come on, speak up!"
A deep blush was quickly spreading over her cheeks. "I...I..."
Zelgadis was also blushing. It wasn't every day a beautiful woman showed her love for him. Except for Amelia, he thought to himself. But she's just a kid with a silly crush. "Ano...Filia..." He couldn't think of anything to say.
Lina had a funny look on her face. There was too much mushy stuff going on that day. Something Lina was definitely not used to. And of course, it was all Xelloss's fault. As usual. This is weird. I never thought Filia had a thing for Zel. I wonder if he likes her, too? A quick look at the chimera's embarrassed expression answered her question. But this situation is getting way too uncomfortable. "Back to the original discussion, Xelloss. Where is Amelia?"
"I told you, she's safe. You shouldn't worry about it." He gave her a toothy grin. "Especially now that I don't have to kill any of you."
"What?!!" the sorceress exclaimed, preparing to whack him with the nearest pointed object. Too late, the Mazoku had already disappeared. "That jerk!!"
Filia had her back turned to the others, her face flaming. Oh, L-sama...I can't believe this is happening...this can't be happening... He knows. They all know. He...I...oh, L-sama!
She felt a hand on her shoulder, that incredible voice speaking words to her. "Ne, Filia..."
Before Zelgadis could say anything else, Felix pushed his way around Gourry. "Phew, I thought he would never leave!"
Anger flashed through Zelgadis' eyes as Felix's comments ruined the mood. "Can you shut up for one minute?!?!?!?"
His outburst startled the boatmaster so much that Felix nearly fell out of the boat. When Felix regained his composure, it was his turn to scream. "What the hell is wrong with you?!?! I just made a comment!"
For a second, everyone sat in stunned silence at the sound of Felix raising his voice. Filia was the first to recover.
"Please, Mr. Boatmaster, we're having a lot of problems. Please understand that we're under a lot of pressure right now..." Boy, was that an understatement, Filia thought, mentally kicking herself for how stupid her comment sounded.
Zelgadis whirled around to face Filia. "Is that what this is?" Zelgadis asked her. "Everything Xelloss said? It's just from...from, pressure?!??!"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Filia said, tears rushing to her eyes. "I just was explaining that - "
"Forget it," Zelgadis cut in coldly. "I don't want to hear it. Felix, just take us to the damn island already." And with that, Zelgadis stomped over to the front of the boat and sat down, his back to the others.
Lina angrily sat down as well, angry at Xelloss for harming Amelia, angry at Amelia for being dumb enough to get captured by the priest, and angry at Zelgadis for being so harsh to Filia. How did he expect them to rescue Amelia if none of them were talking to one another? And that Felix character.... Was it just her, or did it seem like Felix was very relieved to see Xelloss go? Are those two somehow connected in all of this?
Feeling her eyes on him, Felix glanced up. "BWAHAHAHAHAHA, are you getting sea-sick, Lina Inverse?"
"No, of course not, don't be stupid," Lina replied, shifting her gaze to the other side of the boat. Up ahead, the silhouette of an island could be made out. "We're almost there," she murmured softly. And then what? What would the group do once they had finally arrived on Wolf Pack Island?