Zelgadis Greywers slammed the door behind him as he entered his room, fuming silently. He paced the room, unable to sit still. How could Lina be so stupid...? So gullible? Didn't she realize she was putting her life in the damn Mazoku's hands?
No. Better to just not think about it. Better to ignore the whole incident. It was Lina's life, after all.
He was in her, a part of his mind whispered. He knew her in the most intimate of ways possible... And she liked it.
No. Impossible.
Lina never does anything she doesn't want to, his mind continued. Zelgadis' breath speeded up a little in his agitation. He sat down on his bed and held his head in his hands, eyes shut tight to block out reality.
Why Xelloss? Why him?
The filthy Mazoku had had his hands all over her, no doubt, corrupting every inch of her flesh. It wasn't supposed to be that way! Lina wasn't supposed to be deflowered by some noxious, cunning bastard who was more than likely just using her for his own sick reasons anyway. Why couldn't she have found someone who actually cared about her?
Why couldn't it have been... me?
Lina was very sore.
She did her best to walk as though nothing was bothering her, and no-one seemed to notice. The only one who even came close to noticing was Gourry, who asked with a sunny grin if she had slept well, since she looked pretty tired.
"Yeah, I had a late night," Lina had replied, glancing at Zelgadis to see if he would say anything. He didn't, just continued walking with his eyes focused straight ahead and his mouth pressed into a thin line. Lina looked down as a wave of shame washed over her. She had discovered one of life's little truths: no matter what passions the night may bring, morning always comes to steal the night away.
Xelloss acted as though nothing had happened, floating along with his ever-present smile plastered across his face.
They walked the entire day, barely stopping to rest, with little conversation. Naga somehow sensed her usual rude comments and obnoxious laugh would be met with hostility and so she wisely kept her mouth shut. At length the sun began to paint the countryside red, as if it had been slashed open with a blade and left to bleed over the world. Naga was preparing her before-dinner drink, and Amelia was getting the fire going. Gourry sat on the ground, humming to himself. Zelgadis elected to stand away from the others, glaring at the sunset.
Lina leaned against a tree and sighed. She knew Zelgadis was pissed at her, but dammit, it was her life! Lina kicked the tree, hard. Then she marched over to where Zel was standing, favoring her now injured foot. He obviously heard her approach, his ears twitched, but he did not turn around. "Zel," Lina started, and he held up his hand.
"I don't want to hear it," he said.
"Well, too bad, 'cause you're gonna." Lina planted her hands on her hips and scowled at her friend. "Look Zel, I know you're uh, uncomfortable, about the.. thing.. that happened last night, but try to understand. It just got out of hand."
"That 'thing'? You mean that 'thing' where you were fucking the Mazoku?" Bitterness like acid.
"'Fucking'...? That's such a strong word... I prefer to call it 'making love'...."
"Mazoku don't love," he pointed out.
"Uh, call it 'body exploration.' Yeah, I was exploring my physical side, that's it."
"More like he was exploring your physical side."
"Dammit Zel! It's MY life! And I can make own choices! And if those choices include screwing Xelloss' brains out, then nobody, even you, has the right to make me feel bad about it!"
Zelgadis was silent for a minute, then he spoke softly; "So you choose to be with him? Is that it?"
Lina sagged a little. "Zel," she said, her voice quiet now as well. "I didn't say that I wanted to be with him..." she trailed off, and he looked at her.
"Then why were you with him... that way?" he asked, barely perceptible hurt in his voice.
Lina sighed again. "It just got out of hand." She shrugged. "I don't love him, Zel."
Zelgadis looked at her, and something in his eyes made Lina's heart ache. "Good," he said. "Because if you did, he could never return it."
She embraced him, nestling her head against his neck. After a second, he wrapped his arms around her. "Because Mazoku can't love," she said, and he nodded. They stood against the bloody glow of sunset, holding each other and not saying anything.
From the depths of crisscrossing shadows provided by a nearby copse of trees, amethyst eyes turned away.
At last, they reached the Mountains of Dakmorgan. The band of travelers stood at the base of the mountains, resting and discussing the best way to proceed from there. The old man Lina had spoken to had said that the lake was NEAR the mountains, but he had not known where they were exactly.
"I wish Miss Shilfiel were with us right now," Amelia commented. "She could probably point us in the right direction."
"The old man said it was to the North, right Lina?" Zelgadis asked, and the sorceress nodded. "Our best chance is to just keep heading that way, then."
Their course of action now decided, the group headed off again. They clambered over jutting rocks, using the branches of straggling trees that somehow managed to find purchase for their roots in the crumbling soil as handholds. At one point Amelia lost her balance and she cried out as she began to fall, but Gourry shot one hand out with unconscious grace and grabbed her flailing arm, hauling her back to safety. They stopped to find true North again, and then started off. Eventually the ground started to slope downwards, and all were relieved that they would not have to scale the entire mountain.
Lina crawled up on top of a large rock, trying to get a better idea of the surrounding are without having to cast Levitation. "Be careful, Lina," Gourry warned and she grinned.
"Don't worry about me," she replied, and craned out a little further. She thought she saw a sparkle, possibly the reflection of the sun off the water...
Suddenly, there was a feeling like her spine had been turned to ice. She got the impression of some dark aura lashing out at her own... and then she was falling.
Lina fell forward and managed to get her arms up before she hit the ground. Skin was scraped from her forearms, and she grunted as the impact of her fall forced breath from her lungs. She rolled over and over, bumping against rocks and feeling them gash open her flesh. She heard Zelgadis yell her name from the embankment from which she'd fallen, and then a fallen branch parted the skin above her eyes, causing the blood to blind her.
When Lina had toppled from the rock she had been perched on, everyone had stood still at first, unable to comprehend what had happened. Zelgadis had the faint impression that some dark thing had pushed her, but he resigned that fact to the back of his mind as he rushed forward. "Lina!" he called. He ran to the embankment edge and leaped forward, skidding down the hill. He could see Lina rolling ahead of him, heading straight for a group of trees. He realized if he wanted to stop her from hitting them, he would have to catch up to her in a hurry. Against his better judgement, Zelgadis pushed himself forward in little leaps, landing again to skid faster down the hill. Once he nearly lost his balance, but he managed to regain it.
He found himself right behind Lina, the trees coming up fast. Taking a chance, he reached forward and scooped her up. He cradled her to his chest, and started to stand up again, but the extra weight proved too much and he fell. Zelgadis managed to throw himself to the side so he wouldn't land on Lina, and his stone body grated against the ground. His tunic was shredded beneath him, and then he hit the trees with jarring force.
A moment or two passed, and Zel opened his eyes to look at Lina. She was bleeding and blinking back tears, but nothing seemed seriously hurt. "Are you okay?" he asked her, and she nodded, grimacing a little.
"I'll live," she replied. They both sat up, Lina grimacing some more. "Thanks, Zel."
"Hey, no problem." Without even thinking about it, he carefully wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tenderly. Lina was surprised at first, but then she cautiously returned his affection. Nothing seemed broken, at any rate.
Lina suddenly realized that not much remained of Zel's shirt. She could see some of his chest, and for some reason this produced a flush in her cheeks. This realization brought on another: not much remained of her clothes either. She thought of covering herself, but instead just snuggled him closer, knowing Zel couldn't see her body anyway.
Zelgadis looked down at her in his arms, and impulsively leaned down and quickly kissed her lips. They both blinked in surprise. Then, hesitantly, they kissed again. The kiss became more passionate, and they broke it only when they heard someone skidding to a halt not far from them. They both looked and saw Gourry, a look of concern on his handsome face. Naga came sliding down a moment later, followed closely by Amelia, who was trying not to cry.
"Lina?" Gourry called, and she waved. Relief flooded his features, and he trotted over and helped her up. Zelgadis stood as well, self-consciously folding his arms across his chest. Amelia grinned.
"You're both okay!" she cried. She ran over to Lina and instructed her to sit down so she could cast a healing spell. Lina complied, and allowed Amelia to heal her wounds.
"Where's Xelloss?" she asked when Amelia was finished, as the Mazoku priest was the only one not present. Amelia and Gourry looked at each other, then shrugged. They didn't know.
"He disappeared after you fell," Naga spoke up. "You fell off the rock, and he got this weird shocked look on his face, then he just phased out." She gave a small shrug.
Lina nodded thoughtfully and stood. "Well, maybe we should find a place to rest for a while."
Under the twinkle of uncaring stars, Lina stood beside a small stream, her hair flowing out ahead of her. She watched the moon, now waning, and thought about the day's events. She had had the distinct feeling of someone pushing her off the rock, someone with a dark and powerful aura. And then, as she fell, Xelloss took off.
Could he have intentionally knocked her off the embankment?
A bush rustled and she turned to see Zel emerging from the shrubbery. He had mended what he could of his tunic, so consequently his cape was missing some fabric. Lina's clothes had been destroyed, but luckily Amelia had some spare clothes with her that fit. Lina was now dressed in a dark green tunic and tan tights, with her usual boots which had been the only things that had not been ruined in the fall aside from her shoulder-pads.
"Hey," Zel greeted. "Thought I'd come check on you."
"I thought playing bodyguard was Gourry's job," she teased.
Zel smiled the tiniest bit and shrugged. "Umm, about what happened earlier..."
Lina silenced him by giving him a hug. "Sometimes you think too much, Zel," she told him.
"You're one to talk. You looked like you were thinking pretty hard a few minutes ago."
Lina sighed. "Yeah. I was wondering if maybe Xelloss threw me off the embankment."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know." They remained quiet for a minute, then Lina said, "Maybe he saw you and I together the other night and got jealous?"
Zel shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would he? It's not like he cares about you."
"Because Mazoku can't love," Lina whispered against Zel's chest.
"Right." He put his arms around her, relishing her warmth. If only his body wasn't made of stone, perhaps he might be able to be with her...
Lina laughed a little and pushed him away, kissing the tip of his nose before she did so. "Time for bed," she told him. He smiled. He'd always found Lina rather cute, and the more he'd gotten to like her the more attractive she had seemed to him. He'd never really acknowledged his feelings, convinced he could never win the affections of a woman as a chimera. But Lina had always seemed to accept him. Still, if he did decide to make any sort of romantic advances, he would prefer to do so as a human, not a stone-skinned freak.
Maybe if the they could find the lake they were searching for, maybe then...
He was used to shadows. Although he did love to walk about in bright, warm sunshine, he was essentially a creature of darkness. So shadows were second nature to him, and he felt quite at home hiding in them, observing the touching scene before him.
How nauseatingly sweet.
He looked away as Lina and Zelgadis walked back to camp, feeling anger rise like bile in his throat. There was another emotion, one he was not accustomed to: a dull pain that seemed to cloud all of his thoughts. His throat felt constricted, his chest tight.
He hurt. That was what it was. A pain, but one not physical. When he first saw Lina and Zelgadis holding each other against the sunset, he'd felt the unmistakable pang of jealousy. That hadn't been so bad; it was the words she had spoken that had sent daggers into his heart.
Mazoku can't love.
She had spoken these words before, and had just said them again now. Can't, not 'won't', implying not that he did not choose to love, but rather that it was beyond his capabilities.
So? It was true, wasn't it?
No. He had once thought it to be so, but after the first time, hundreds of years ago, he had known that in his case at least it was a lie. Other Mazoku did not seem to have this problem of love, so he wondered if perhaps he was unique. It didn't really matter. What did matter was that he could love, and consequently could be hurt.
Love always led to hurt. And unfortunately for those who had hurt him emotionally, Xelloss did not deal well with pain. He was a bit of a glutton for punishment, and every single one of those he had dared to love in the past were now long dead.
"Lina," he barely whispered, closing his eyes to let welcome darkness wash over him.
When he'd seen her standing on the rock, leaning out over the embankment's edge, he hadn't been able to stop himself. Against his own will his aura had lashed out at the one who had caused him pain, sending her over the edge in an attempt to do to her physically what she had done to him emotionally. His rational mind hadn't wanted to do it, but that darker half of him had desired it, oh yes.
You're Mazoku, through and through, he thought to himself. Suddenly he felt weary, and he leaned his head back, resting it against the ancient bark of the huge tree whose branches he was hiding in. Ancient? The tree was probably half his age. So what did that make him? He'd seen the rise and fall of countless empires and watched mortals live their brief lives and then die with amusement. Sometimes he felt as old and as alone as the stars that watched the world with cold indifference.
Such grim thoughts. His Mistress' voice seemed to mock him from inside his own mind. Where is your smile now, little Xelloss?
"Shut up, shut up, shut up," he hissed. When had he allowed this to become so serious? Why couldn't it have remained a simple game? And couldn't Lina see that the chimera only cared about finding a cure?
He covets power and wisdom and is relentless in its pursuit.
But unfortunately, with no sure cure in sight, the chimera was allowing himself to be distracted from his quest. He would most likely give it up completely when he discovered Lina didn't care about his appearance. If that happened, there was no chance Xelloss could get close to the girl.
A grin slowly spread across Xelloss' face, one of pure malicious glee. The Crone's Looking Glass. They were close to it now, he knew, and perhaps it was time to stop letting the humans search blindly for it and lead them to its waters.
Secret plans....