The next day, the group headed out of the sleepy city, instead venturing on country roads. The softly sloping hillsides covered with heather and other wildflowers kindly greeted the Slayers as they passed. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis, and even Xelloss all trotted along. Or in Xel's case, floated along. The group was on its way to visit Filia at her new home/pottery shop.
"Oi, Xelloss," Gourry eloquently shouted from the front of the group.
"Hai, Gourry-kun?"
"You and Filia don't get along, ne?"
Twitch. "...Hai."
"So how come you're coming with us?" He leaned down and whispers in Lina's ear, "That is where we're going, right?"
BONK
"Of course that's where we're going, tuna-fish for brains!!!" she shouted.
"Lina-san, that's not very nice. After all, Gourry-san was asking a legitimate question," Ame rebuked.
"For once," Zelgadis muttered. "Why are you coming with us, Xelloss?"
This remark earned the chimera a floating mazoku priest glomped to his neck. "Sore wa himitsu desu, Zel-chan!"
Zel blushed and tried to pry Xelloss from his person. "Get off of me, fruitcake!"
Clinging even tighter, now pressing himself up against the shaman's back, he whispered into Zel's pointed ear, "Yare, yare, that's not what you said when we were like this last night."
BLUUUUSH
"Hentai!" he hissed. "I wasn't even thinking like that!"
Finally relenting, the mazoku floated off and sat cross-legged in the air. He took a deep breath and looked around them with closed eyes. "Ahh, what pretty scenery! Just makes you want to lie down and enjoy a nap in the grass, ne?"
"Couldn't agree with ya more, Xelloss," Lina chirped. She too looked around and spotted a large willow tree about a hundred feet up the road. "It's too hot right now to travel, let's just take a break for a couple of hours."
"But Lina-san, we have to keep to our schedule!" the justice paladin pulled out a piece of paper. "Filia-san is expecting us in two days, and we're no where near her village yet!"
The waved her hand at the princess, dismissing the argument. Actually, that hand had a fireball in it, which when moved was flung at Amelia, ending the argument due to crispification.
"Hey Lina, there was a lake we passed not too far back, right?"
"Yeah, Gourry. Your point being...?"
"I'm hot. I'm going swimming," the swordsman stated as he started to walk off. "Whoever wants to can join me!"
"Yosh! Matte yo, Gourry! C'mon Amelia, what are you waiting for?"
"Uh...I don't know...we shouldn't waste so much time - "
BOOM
When the princess shook off the soot and ashes, she was clad in a small, very revealing pink bikini. "Iku yo! Time waits for no one!" Soon all that remained of the two sorceresses and the swordsman were three dust trails heading towards the lake.
"Sucks to be stone at times like these, ne?"
"Shut up, Xelloss. I'm not in the mood for your taunting right now," Zel grumbled, closing the distance between himself and the willow tree, slumping into a sitting position against its trunk.
Xelloss put on his mock pouty face. "I wasn't taunting, Zel-chan! I was merely asking a question." The priest came up and sat next to him, setting his staff across his folded legs.
"Xel?"
"Hmm?"
"You never told me what that pendant was. Care to share now?"
"This?" he asked, pulling out the necklace from inside his collar.
Zel sighed. "Yes."
^_^ "This is a very old pendant!" he exclaimed, standing up and making lots of little poses worthy of Amelia's usage.
"Do you not want me to do that thing I did last night ever again?"
A twitch, followed by puppy dog eyes and a quivering lower lip. "Hidoi na, Zel-chan!"
"Then be honest and tell me something straight out for once."
Xelloss sighed and flopped back down on the ground, unfastening the chain's clasp as he did so. "The Mazoku are a race built on competition. Each Demon Lord and every single one of their minions are locked in a constant struggle for power, every day of their lives. It's the way it's always been, and always shall be. However, at one point in the history of our people, a coalition formed.
"Over one thousand years ago during the Kouma Sensou, times proved difficult. The Ryuuzoku started to turn the tide and beat back our forces. As a group, we never really have worked together well. In fact, the Mazoku weren't very organised at all in the war. That is, until the coalition.
"After a horrible defeat in the Kataart Mountains, Shabranigdo-sama called all five generals of the Demon Lords for a meeting with him. He ordered us all to combine our powers and attack as one force against the Ryuuzoku. It took a while to co-ordinate our troops and get everyone under one game plan, but eventually it worked. I was thankful for the change, actually. It gave me more time to do assignments of the sort I enjoy more. After all, I am Juuou-sama's priest before her general in most cases. Strategy is good and fine and all that, but I like actually doing things with my own two hands much better," he grinned, his smile taking on a bit of a leer.
"Stop getting off-track."
"Hai, hai. Anyway, it meant that I didn't have to be in charge of the troops all the time. The first time I was, however, was a glorious day the Mazoku shall never forget, and the Ryuuzoku wish they could. I took the entire Mazoku Army out to face the dragons, almost a whole clan's worth of Ryuuzoku up against us. There were fewer of us than them at that point, since we had done so poorly in the beginning of the war. However, I soon changed that.
"The two forces met in the air, high above the battlefield where Ceipheed and Shabranigdo fought in their last battle. An ironic scene. I ordered my troops to fall back, some thousand yards away as I stood in the air, awaiting the Ryuu launch. The dragons saw my motion and laughed, foolish things. They immediately launched at me once my troops were far enough away, their golden spears all pointed at their target, ready to thrash me as soon as they were in reach. I simply smiled at them and raised my hand," the priest visualised, bringing up one arm, a single index finger extended. "I swept the finger out to my right, like so, then made an invisible line slash through them all as I swung my arm back across their flying forms. As the movement trailed along, behind my hand and in the Ryuuzoku lines, their massive bodies exploded in splashes of gold and red. With such a simple move, I killed almost an entire clan. Their hides shown as they fell from the sky. It was beautiful," he whispered, awed as he remembered the sight.
Zelgadis, on the other hand, was quite disgusted. "You would think so. Just get to the part about the necklace already."
"Well, that event pretty much ended the war. Soon after, the Ryuuzoku made one last attempt to damage us, doing so by trapping Shabranigdo-sama in the North. The fighting ceased at the loss of him and Maryuuou Gaav, and the two races parted. The God-sealing Barrier was established, and that was that. But one good idea came from the Kouma Sensou. Partnership between the Mazoku. Our very race could have faced annihilation had we not joined forces. So, I, along with the generals of the Haou, the Kaiou, and Maryuuou, all met and discussed the matter. We sealed a pact together, promising to join forces again in the event of another Ma-Ryuu conflict. These pendants were created as a symbol of that promise. Each of us has one," Xelloss laid down in the grass on his stomach, beginning to point out different areas on the pendant. "The four rubies represent each of us, our names written in the Mazoku's native tongue by our stone. This one is mine," he proudly crowed, pointing to the ruby on the top right-hand side. "I suppose you can guess the symbolism of the Ryuu, the sword, and the circle from the story, ne?"
"Hai. Can I see it?"
"Why not," Xel replied, handing the necklace to the chimera for inspection.
"If I were you, I'd keep this out of Lina's sight."
Xelloss chuckled. "Oh, most definitely! It'd fetch quite a price, plus the fact that it's a magical item to boot."
"Magical?"
"Mm-hmm!" he snuggled up besides Zelgadis. "But don't go off thinking it could help you, my little chimera. It serves as a beacon, not as an amplifier or anything." The priest sighed. "Such a nice day. Let's enjoy it, ne?" He rest his head on the other man's shoulder, then tilted it up and began to kiss his jaw line.
"'Enjoy'? I'm not so sure about that. I mean, we don't know when the other's will come back, after all." The shaman squirmed under his lover's attentions.
"Oh come on, Zel-chan! You still haven't had me yet! You promised. It's sooo pretty here. It'd be the perfect spot."
"The perfect spot to get caught."
Xel pouted. "Don't be so negative."
He finally gave in to Xelloss's gentle kisses and wrapped an arm around the mazoku's waist, laying his head on the tree trunk. Xelloss did the same to Zel's waist and curled up in the shaman's lap, resting against his stone chest. "I won't here, but we can tonight, okay?"
"Okay."