Lina squinted at the sun. It was well past its zenith. Where is he!? Lina angrily sat down at her table, scowling. First, neesan tells me that she's leaving on some grand adventure WITHOUT me. Then she says that she's sent someone to look after me and want me to wait at Owl Inn.
"Where is he!?" Lina shouted in frustration as she slammed her fits on the table. If he doesn't get here soon, I will not be able to catch up with neesan!
The waitresses within the inn carefully avoided her. Word had already spread around about a pint-sized little redhead that ate more than 100 men combined together. No one wanted to carry her huge orders through the busy lower section of the inn.
The customers within the inn, on the other hand, looked curiously at the spoiled red-haired child pounding the wooden tables.
Lina decided she would only wait a few minutes for this person to come or she's going off on her own. Three minutes later....
"That it!" Lina yelled as she sprang to her feet. "I'm leaving!" Before anyone could blink, she zoomed out of the inn, only to collide head-on - literally - with another person a few feet from the entrance to Owl Inn.
"Aw...." Lina groaned involuntarily as she rubbed her forehead and shut her eyes tightly at the searing pain. As soon as she could think straight again, she took a deep breath and she screamed at top of her lungs, "WHY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE...."
"Hum?" Lina blinked. No, her eyes weren't fooling her. A blond little boy wearing black priest-type clothing was gingerly probing the large lump that rapidly swelled up on his forehead.
A priest? And what kind of priest wears black? They're usually white, unless he's a full priest and is free to chose whatever color.... At that age? Lina stared intensely at the boy. Her curiously overwhelming her anger until a sudden thought struck her. Wait! This boy almost killed me!
"What do you think you were doing!!?" Lina hollered at the boy.
"My, my," The boy muttered softly to himself as he touched the lump on his forehead. "This has never happened before." Wincing, he concluded, "Must be a side affect of the spell. How fascinating."
Lina stared at the boy. Because of their close proximity, she had head every word. "Are you even LISTENING to me?"
"My, my, my, " the strange boy said cheerfully as he got up and dusted his clothes. Without so much as a glance at screeching redhead in front him, he stepped past her and walked toward the inn.
Lina stared in the shock as the boy strolled past her without so much as an apology or indication that he knew he hit a person. I might as well been a tree he ran into.... "Arrg!" Lina screamed. "HOLD IT!"
"Uh?" The boy turned to face Lina and for the first time opened his wide blue eyes.
"What's the matter ... "
Lina was in flames.
"... little girl?" He asked casually.
The flames instantly extinguished. "Little girl?" Lina repeated slowly. She looked again at boy. He looked to be, at most, a year or two older than she is. However with his unnaturally blond hair, wide sky-blue eyes, and pudgy face, he looked more like a baby than a grown boy. And he's calling me a little girl? Lina burst out laughing.
"What ... " The boy sputtered in confusion.
Lina laughed even harder. She pounded her fits on the ground struggling to contain the giggles. "Little... girl... ?" She pointed a forefinger to the boy unable to gasp out anything else in between her laughing.
The boy's shocked face gave way to sulky expression. He scowled. "Just forget it all right?" he asked ungraciously and turned to go.
"Wait." Lina said, stilling chuckling a little. "Wait a minute."
The boy turned toward Lina, he face set in a hard line. "What?"
The expression on the boy's face was so like a big cuddly baby having a bad day that Lina found herself caught in a new fit of laugher. She sank back onto the ground laughing and pounding the dirt street.
On the street and through the windows of their homes, the villagers glanced curiously at the two children playing in front of an inn before returning to their business.
"Children." One elderly lady said in a knowingly voice as she shook her head in amusement. She sat on a stool shelling peas with a younger woman at the open side door of the Owl Inn. "Why I remember when you were five. You wanted me to get you a new dress. I told you, 'Dresses don't grown on trees.' But you didn't believe me and spent a whole week looking for a tree that grew pink dresses with yellow satin ribbons on it. You even managed to get the other village kids to help you too. "
The younger woman bowed her head so her flushing face would hidden in the shadows. "Mom. I'm over twenty now. Do you still have to tell those stories?" She asked through crunched teeth. Unfortunately, her mother continued to chat in detail about other "fond" events of her daughter's life. The younger woman glanced nervously around, hoping no one would hear. With great industry, she concentrated on shelling the peas and hearing nothing other than sound of shelling peas.
"And then there was the time, you thought chickens would look great in blue. You chased poor Chelte around the yard with a blue paintbrush. Well, in the end, the chicken didn't become blue, but everything else did. Why it took me years to get the paint off the couch! If I didn't use that new cleaning potion the hedgewitch gave me, it would never have .... " The old lady's voice droned on completely obviously to her daughter's discomfort.
Xellos was seething. It wasn't something a mazoku normally would do. But then how many mazokus since our Lord created us has ever been forced to face this kind of indignation? Zero? He glared at the still laughing redhead. However it had the opposite effect he intended. Instead, the redhead roared even louder.
"Are you done yet?" Xellos demanded crossly. "If you're through laughing your head off, I've got to go to Owl Inn and cater to another human."
Surprisingly the girl suddenly stopped. "What!?" She cried and leapt quickly to her feet. "YOU'RE my sitter?" She refused to call him a baby-sitter; it sounded too degrading.
Xellos suddenly had a sinking feeling. "You're not... are you... you can't be... Celina Inverse?" He asked in horror. I've got to be nice to this ... this thing which just made a fool of me?
"Uh..., " The redhead replied. "Celina? Who's that? My name is Lina."
YES! Xellos exalted happily. She isn't the one and that means I can proceed with my plans. She'll be dead before sunrise tomorrow. He thought happily.
"Lina Inverse." The girl clarified.
Xellos face faulted.
"Hey! Hey, boy!" The girl poked at his arm. "Are you all right?"
Wearily, Xellos raised his head. "You wouldn't be the sister of Knight of Cephied, would you?"
The girl gave him a strange look before replying. "Yes."
"I was afraid of that." Xellos buried his face on the ground. Now how can I keep myself from strangling her during this trip? He wondered.
"Are you sure they will be all right, Zelas?" Luna frowned as she glanced out her window toward the direction where Lina left that morning.
"Of course." Zelas stretched out on a comfy couch soaking Zephilia wine faster than a sponge. "And thanks for the wine, Luna-chan!" Zelas said happily as she helped herself to another bottle.
Luna ignored Zelas as she folded some clothes and placed them in a trunk. "I'm not so sure about this anymore." She paused in her packing and stared out of her window again.
"Quit worrying your tail off, Luna-chan. Xellos will behave. Your sister will be fine." Zelas finished the rest of the wine bottle and reached out for another.
"It's not my sister I'm worried about. It's your son."
"Um?" Zelas paused interested.
"I wonder how this job will affect him." Luna mused. "That spell you used is quite powerful. How would being a human child change him?" Luna gave a wry little smile. Especially with Lina to take care of him. She chuckled softly so Zelas wouldn't hear.
"Ah... Luna-chan?"
Luna turned to look at her friend. "Yes, Zelas?"
Zelas smiled cutely, gave Luna-chan her best imitation of a forlorn puppy and held up an empty wine bottle. "Could I have some more wine?"
Luna sweat dropped. How much can she drink?
"Luna-chan!" Zelas whined. "I'm thirsty!" Zelas sniffed heartbrokenly.
Luna signed and left the room to get more Zephilia wine from her cellar for her bottomless mazuko friend.
"So, " Xellos began. He paused to watch in fascination as his new companion devoured plate after plateful of food. It was her thirty-second dish. "You're Luna-sama sister, hum? "
Plates suddenly scattered to the floor, as the redhead with surprising speed jumped across the table to grab the front of his cloak. "How did you find that out!?" Lina demanded as she shook him.
"What are you talking about?"
Lina stared at the innocent-looking boy straight in the eyes. "Don't play innocent with me! No one knows I'm Luna-sama's sister!" She whispered loudly into his ear.
Xellos gazed admiringly into Lina's flaming ruby eyes. I've got to learn how she does this trick. It's quite intimidating. With a little practice, I think I may even manage to scare some humans in my current form with that look.
"Stop looking at me like that and answer my question!" Lina yelled into boy's ear as she shook him again.
"Well, if you really must know."
"I DO!"
"Mother told me."
Lina fell off the table. Picking herself off the floor, she said, "What kind of response is that!?"
"The truth." Xellos said simply.
"Urg. Well, I suppose neesan told your mother about it." Lina shielded her face with her left hand as she picked up her fallen chair with the other. Sitting down, she continued to eat.
Xellos also returned to his seat and watched Lina eat with his eyes closed.
Lina stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth. The frosting made her look like she's foaming at the mouth.
Xellos didn't move a muscle.
Lina processed to the soup. She inhaled it; the soup disappeared under 5 seconds.
Xellos continued to watch with his eyes closed.
"Um," one of Lina's eyebrows started to twitch. "Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"Stop staring at me while I'm eating. " Lina complained.
"I just wanted to see."
"See?" Lina promoted.
"If all that food will actually make you grow taller."
"Hey!" Lina cried out in embarrassment. "It's not my fault I'm shorter than most girls my age. "
Xellos smiled indulgently.
"Hum." Thrusting the drum stick in her hand at the boy like a sword, Lina said, "You're not exactly very big either, Tiny."
"Tiny?" Xellos repeated. He fought down his urge to beat her up right then and there. His hands clenched tightly onto the wooden arms of his chair. Why can't I seem to control my temper? Xellos thought with a little alarm as the rushing tide of hatred almost engulfed him.
"Yes, Tiny." Lina smiled. She has the advantage now. "In fact, you're shorter than me which would make you the smallest kid here." Lina smiled brightly.
Xellos's smile fortunately was stitched onto his face.
Lina laughed and ate the rest of her afternoon snack with more gusto.
"Anyway, " Xellos said finally after Lina finally finished eating. "Why don't you want people to know your Luna-sama's sister?" Opening his eyes, he added, "Or are you trying to keep people from knowing that Luna-sama is the Knight of Cephied?"
"No, no." Lina idly waved off Xellos's words. "Most people don't even know there is a Knight of Cephied much less that neesan is that Knight. And the few that do know are the dragons. The high-ranked ones anyway." She explained.
"So why all the secrecy?" Xellos asked curiously. "I've heard of the Knight for a long time but I was really shocked to know the Knight had a sister."
"While it was all neesan's idea. She said she wanted to annoy an irritating friend of hers."
"Did she say who this friend is?" Xellos asked his eyes suddenly very intent.
"Neesan just said her friend needs a lesson in not keeping all the secrets to herself."
Xellos stared Lina and suddenly collapsed laughing.
"What! What? What?" Lina asked confused.
Xellos looked up at Lina. "If it's one thing that'll annoy mother, it's keeping a secret from her. And a secret of Luna-sama would be a prize to know...." Xellos laughed so hard tears welled up in his eyes.
"Your mother sounds very strange. " Lina noted.
"Senile." Xellos agreed.
"Just wait one second, Zelas. I need my books." Grabbing an old trunk, Luna raywinged the wooden thing so that all of its contents would be dumped out. A huge glittering waterfall poured onto the floor. It was amazing that the small trunk could store so much; it must have a spell on it to contain everything.
"Luna-chan," Zelas growled with exasperation. She already has a hangover from all the drinking, (Chibi-Zelas folds her arms and scowles. "But Luna-chan refuses to give me any more wine to help my hangover!") and now this! "Do you HAVE to have all of these things for this trip?" Zelas pointed a pile of stuff that almost touched the ceiling of the room. Most of stuff was paper and different colored pens. Luna said she wanted to record everything they found. She's even more evil than I am. Zelas thought admiringly. The clerk whose going to sort through that pile of "reports" is going to die of heart attack when he sees them.
"Of course," Luna replied as she searched through a pile of ....
Zelas eye's almost popped out as she focused on the glittering mountain of gold and precious gems. "Where did you get all that stuff?"
"It's my hoard. It contains all the stuff I've collected during my travels." Luna replied with a brief shrug. "Now where is it? I'm quite sure I put it in here." Luna muttered as she dug into her hoard.
Zelas forced herself to look elsewhere. But her eyes immediately fixated on the hoard when Luna-chan negligently rolled a huge diamond the size of a melon away. Staring at all the wealth before her, it suddenly occurred Zelas to ask, "How will you carry all of that stuff?"
"Oh, I'm not carrying it. You are."
"WHAT!?" Zelas screamed. "When did I volunteer?"
"I've forgotten about this," Luna muttered to herself as peered at a large ruby in the shape of a firebird. "When you destroyed my room." Luna replied calmly to Zelas.
"Hey! You cast those spells, not me!"
"But you were the one who the spells were intended for." She idly tossed several identical emeralds out of the way.
"And that makes me responsible for the damages how!!?"
"Everything." Luna said absently. "Now quit whining. I have to find that book."
"..." Luna-chan, you must be getting senile in your old age. That made absolutely no sense.
"Excuse me."
"Hum?" Lina and Xellos turned to looked at inn owner.
"I'm so sorry to bother you children but ...."
"I'M NOT A CHILD!" Lina and Xellos yelled simultaneous.
The stunned inn owner smiled weakly. What a bunch of brats. "I'm so sorry. My apologies. But I wanted to know who will be paying for the food and the damaged plates?"
"Oh, I'll ... " Lina felt her pockets. Empty. I forgot I spent the last of my money over lunch. "...er, he'll pay for them." Lina pointed at Tiny.
"What!?" Xellos shouted. "You ate. YOU pay."
"But you had that cup of juice." Lina countered.
"So? YOU probably ate enough to feed a large army for a year!" Xellos resorted. He was NOT going to be suckered into something he didn't want - or ask for - a second time. Besides it's not like I get paid actual coins for killing and causing general havoc. Interesting idea though. Xellos thought. I wonder how much I would have made?
"That's mean!" Lina yelled. I need to pay certain bandits a quick visit soon. VERY soon.
"So is making other people pay for YOUR bills."
Lina and Xellos glared at one another across the battlefield of broken dishes.
"So you two can't pay hum?"
The tension between two dissipated and they turned to face the inn owner a little guiltily.
"Well, you two will just have to wash the dishes until the bill has been paid then!" The inn owner replied sternly.
"Uhh.."
Xellos thought about teleporting out of the inn but rejected the idea almost immediately. A normal human don't just teleport out of dangers. They run but that human is blocking my way. Xellos frowned a little. I will NOT wash dishes though. I'll be laughed out of the Island if mother finds out. And she always does. Xellos thought sourly. But I can't cause a scene. If only Zelas-sama isn't a few minutes away from this village in Zephilia....
"GET TO IT!!!"
"YES SIR!" The two bolted for the kitchen door where they found mountains upon mountains of dirty dishes. Lina and Xellos sweat dropped.
"There's so many...." Lina's voice trailed off in growing horror.
"Most of them are probably from your orders. "Xellos suggested as an idea started to form in his head.
Lina's right eyebrow started to twitch in irritation. "Arrg..." She pouched Tiny in the face. "Keep your unwanted comments to yourself."
"What's keeping you two? GET TO WORK!" The inn owner bellowed from the kitchen door.
"YES SIR!" Lina scrambled to do the dishes alone since Tiny was still on the floor unconscious. If only this village isn't few minutes away from Zephilia.... Lina thought. Neesan probably hasn't left home yet. If she finds out I caused more trouble.... Lina shuddered at the consequences as she started to work.
"Ah, Luna-chan, " Zelas asked a little timidly. "Shouldn't we be leaving now?"
The golden aura surrounding Luna flared brighter. Lightening crackled in the background. Luna suddenly turned on Zelas. "YOU!"
Zelas jumped.
"You wouldn't happen to known anything about this," Luna leaned forward so that her face was inches from Zelas's, "would you?". Her eyes were on fire while her expression promised a fate worse than death should anyone or anything cross her now.
Zelas gulped nervously. What got her so mad? She was fine a second ago. "About what, Luna-chan?" Zelas slowly backed away from the golden torch that contained her best friend.
Suddenly, the glow went out. "No you wouldn't know about it." Luna said slowly to herself as the anger drained out of her. "But where is it?"
Zelas stopped pretending and looked curiously at Luna-chan. "Where's what?" She promoted. Her eyes were eager with anticipation. I can smell a secret a mile a away, she thought as she waited.
"My book." Luna said a little troubled. She looked around her room searching for the book she thought she had. "The Clair Bible that's been passed down my family for generations."
"A what!?" Zelas screamed.
"Tiny! GET UP!" Lina tried unsuccessfully to up the slumbering boy. She was quite sure that he was pretending to be unconscious so he wouldn't have to wash the dishes. Lina scowled. Walking a few feet away so Tiny wouldn't hear, she began to chant softly. Opening her eyes, she cried out, "DIGGER VO - "
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING PLAYING AROUND!" The inn owner roared from the entrance of the kitchen door.
"Ahhhhhh!" Lina screamed at her unexpected visitor. Her spell never got a chance to perform.
"DO I HAVE TO CALL YOUR PARENTS!?"
"No, no," Lina replied nervously. "I'm going now!" She rushed to the sink and scrubbed the plates furiously.
Laying on the ground, Xellos cracked open one blue eyes slightly. Smiling to himself, he schooled his face into a mask again.