Zelgadis opened his eyes. He was alone, and his heart was beating.
she did it.
By the nine hells, she pulled it off!! And I told her - He blushed and winced slightly. Oh, what a stupid line! Why did I say that?
Well, you thought you were going to die, Zel. So what happens now?
He sighed. I wonder if she'll try to let me down easy, or what.... I really ought to tell her -
He tried to sit up, and fell back gasping through clenched teeth. They'd only healed him enough to save his life; he wouldn't die of the injury, but it might make him wish.... As it was, he'd lost too much blood, a lot of his vital essence had been used in the healing, and the rest of him was still in shock from .. Xellos.... It was all he could do to lie in bed and breathe. Someone had slipped him into a new shirt, and left the front of it open for access to his dressings.
Well ... it could have been worse And just when he was ready to drowse off,
Xellos materialized on top of him, dug his elbow into the entry wound and bore down, crushing the wind out of him in a breathless cry of pain.
"Hello, Zelgadis! Did you miss me?" he asked brightly, leaning hard on his elbow. Pain washed back at him sweetly. He kissed Zelgadis once more, and was highly gratified with a wave of sheer mindless terror - but still - Xellos slipped his free hand down Zelgadis' pants and helped himself to an ample handful of ... personal effects. Instead of the crushing squeeze he expected, Zelgadis was treated to a massage so suggestive his stomach turned and nearly cramped. He tried to push Xellos off, to squirm away, but he couldn't breathe....
As intoxicating as he found the blend of terror/pain/revulsion, Xellos would get no satisfaction (or very little) from a broken mind, and anyway his toy was delicate at the moment, so he broke off the kiss.
"Get off!" Zelgadis gasped. "Let go of me!"
"I can't play with you tonight," Xellos pouted. "You're too weak for games just now, so I came to tell you something interesting. The talisman Lina put on your heart will only keep me from possessing your body from the inside." And he caressed Zelgadis in such a way as to make his jaw clench and his eyes water - he tried to turn his face away, to push Xellos off - The mazoku shifted his weight and his grip very slightly, and his victim shuddered with fresh pain.
"I'm not done yet! I have to go see Lina next - you see, I promised to pay her back," he explained, fondling Zelgadis casually (the chimera writhed, close to tears). "She tossed me out like a lesser demon, and I must keep my promise, now!" Xellos released his victim's ... special equipment .. and gave him a peck on the forehead.
"You be a good boy, and I'll see you when you're better." And he vanished.
Zelgadis took a deep fresh breath, and felt himself coiling into a tiny ball of shame and anguish.
Last time he tried to rape Lina. What he does to her now ... will be worse than what he does to me - And this was the worst of all truths.
How can I stop him??
Lina was almost too tired to stand, but she insisted on putting herself to bed, rather than being tucked in by the maids.
he's going to live, he's going to live, he's going to live She finished buttoning her pajamas. no thanks to me Her hands went automatically to the back of her head - and paused.
Oh - where's my headband?
Zel has it. It's still tied around his arm.
What will he make of that? She smiled faintly to herself, turned down the sheets and slipped into bed.
ohh nummy soft wonderful bed ..... zwhuh? She felt someone take a seat on the edge of the bed.
Lina cast lighting.
It was Xellos.
"Hello, Lina! I believe I made you a promise," he said.
"Elmekia Lance!" she shouted, springing out of bed. She would never know whether he teleported then or just dodged very quickly - when he hit her she struck the wall with enough force to crack the plaster. Then suddenly he was right in her face.
"I promised you - misery," he reminded, and took her by the collar.
"Rrr - Digger Bolt!" She screamed when he effortlessly reflected the spell back on her.
When she came around a few moments later she was facedown on the bed, and Xellos was tying her wrists with her torn-off pajama sleeve. When he turned her over, she kicked him off and made a break for the door. This time he bloodied his knuckles on her face and knocked her down.
"One of us isn't sufficiently intimidated," he frowned.
"He'll soon learn the error of his ways," Lina grinned, but her expression changed when he picked her up by the throat.
"There are so many things I didn't do to Zelgadis," Xellos continued as he sat on the bed again. "You will experience all of them...." He gathered Lina into his lap, with a firm grip on her windpipe, and nimbly unbuttoned her pajamas. "But first - to finish what I started earlier.. .." He nuzzled her collarbone, folded her shirt back and grasped one breast firmly, stroking it upwards.
"Let - me - go!!" she choked, suffocated more by rage than by Xellos.
He smiled - her rage was her best feature - and cut off her air completely, bending her backwards over his knee. As her lungs worked in desperation, he caught the other breast in his mouth.
And he tasted her fear....
Zelgadis staggered into the wall again, accidentally scraping the wallpaper of the nearly featureless hallway in the palace dorms. He was lost. And where the hell were the guards?
And how can I stop Xellos if I can barely stand? - ah, Lina, this is all my fault - where are you....
As if in reply, he detected a muffled scream. Down the corridor, around the corner - his heart quickened, but he had to struggle along the wall, almost hand over hand. Already he was panting from the effort. He gritted his teeth ah, Lina i'm so sorry and pulled himself to the corner.
Gods, which door? where are you?
After her writhing slackened, but before she could lose consciousness entirely, Xellos let go of Lina's throat and dropped her on the bed.
"H-help," she gasped faintly. Casually, he removed his cloak and gloves, and backhanded her sharply when she sat up. Still, she would not submit, and took a deeper breath.
"SOMEBODY...." she cried, and Xellos leaned back on his elbow to untie the drawstring at her waist.
"Shh; no one's coming," he chuckled quietly. "They're all at the other end of the palace, concerned with a most unusual fire - " She twisted sharply and tried to kick him in the head, but he caught her knee, forced her thighs apart and knelt between them.
"HE-ELP - " she yelled at full volume, and now he punched her just below the wishbone, knocking out her newfound breath and causing her diaphragm to seize up.
"Save your breath," he advised. "This could take hours...." Intent on sliding her pants off without getting kicked, he did not see the door swing inward.
"Xellos .. stop...." a cracked, hoarse voice pleaded quietly. It was Zelgadis, holding himself up by the doorframe. He didn't look well.
"Zelgadis!" the mazoku grinned. "Have you come to watch?" He flashed a pink hand's-breadth of Lina's buttock. "You're certainly in no condition to participate...."
"Let her go," the chimera begged.
Xellos pulled the speechless girl up into his lap like a child. The agony she radiated on seeing Zelgadis was phenomenal, and her eyes were riveted on him.
"I can't do that," he answered, cradling her. "I have a promise to keep - but you can have her back when I'm done, in a few days...."
A bright tear streaked down Lina's face like a shooting star.
She knows I can't fight him Zelgadis let go of the doorpost and used the last of his strength to stand on his own, but he let his head fall ... he couldn't bear to see....
"Xellos," he nearly whispered "t-take me instead."
There was a gleam in the priest's eye.
"Well, this is most appealing," he purred.
"Don't!" Lina urged, more tears coming fast now. "No, don't!"
Xellos grinned, and dumped her on the bed as he approached his favorite source. The dread and fear in the room - from only two people! - was so strong, a human empath would have staggered out with a migraine and a nosebleed. His promise was fulfilled; Lina knew misery - no one was listening to her desperate protests.
Zelgadis' strength ran out and he fell to his knees. Xellos picked him up by the hair, stood him up. The pain - and he was so afraid, so afraid -
"Yes, that's much better," Xellos murmured, taking the trembling chimera in his arms. "You're totally open to me now, aren't you? You're not holding anything back...." He pushed aside the wiry forelock to see both tear-filled blue eyes.
"Nothing," Zelgadis choked - so afraid, so afraid - He gritted his teeth and leaned into the embrace when Xellos held him closer, almost tenderly.
"You'll let me taste all of it, won't you?"
Somehow, Zelgadis crept his arms around the mazoku's back, pressed him tighter. He closed his eyes and tears spilled down....
"Everything," he sobbed.
Xellos stiffened when he felt the sleeve dagger pierce his back. He opened his mouth, but Zelgadis spoke first.
"Ra Tilt."
He'd intended to focus the spell through the dagger, but the greater part of it blasted directly from his heart and through Xellos' body. Xellos screamed; Zelgadis held him tightly until he teleported away, and then he fell to the floor, quite unconscious.
"Zel," Lina whimpered, scrambling off the bed. She knelt beside him and pressed her ear to his back - his lungs still worked. After freeing her arms with the sleeve dagger and - accommodating modesty - she carefully turned him on his back. "Zel, I'm so sorry - I'm so sorry - "