Zelgadiss dodged to the side as Xellos attacked, pleased to find that he didn't overshoot and wind up on the other side of the clearing. Bringing his knee up quickly he slammed it into the displaced mazoku's stomach, only to freeze when he felt a brief thrill of pleasure at the pain he'd caused. That vanished when he saw Xellos collapsed from the blow however. "Xellos?" He asked carefully as he knelt beside his fallen lover.
"You still need to work on controlling your strikes Zel-chan." Was the only reply he earned as Xellos sat up, holding his stomach.
"Here, let me." Ignoring the pain it caused him, Zelgadiss cast a healing spell, repairing the damaged he'd accidentally done. "This is nuts, we're going to kill each other if we keep sparing like this."
"You may be right." Xellos answered with a sigh as he flopped back down onto the grass. "But we did make some progress."
"Hmm." Zelgadiss answered noncommittally, lying down beside his lover and resting his head against his stone chest. "It's strange, isn't it?"
"What?"
"In a way, I now have everything I was looking for, and all I want is to change things back."
"I don't understand."
"Well, granted this is a mazoku body and not a human one, but ironically I don't have people thinking that I'm a monster. I'm fairly indestructible and I have all the strength I ever dreamed. I've got everything I wanted and now I don't want any of it anymore, I just want to be back the way I was."
Xellos chuckled. "Ah yes, now I see what you mean."
Before they could say anything else their thoughtful conversation was interrupted as a fierce pain began to shoot through Zelgadiss' body. "What is that?" He gasped, only to look up and discover that Xellos was suffering in the same manner.
"Zellas-sama." He replied. "She's calling me back."
"Does it always hurt this much?"
"No, only when I've been ignor-- oh no! She must have been calling me and I couldn't hear it!"
"How do we stop it?"
"We have to go to Wolf Pack Island."
"Then let's do that!"
"But we -- " Xellos' voice cut off as they suddenly appeared in a dark room. "Can't." He finished lamely.
Zelgadiss stared into the gloom around him but it was impossible to see anything. The scent of cigarette smoke hung in the air and he could hear the light jangle of metal on mental before a strangely horrible/beautiful voice growled,
"Xellos, explain yourself."
"My apologies Zellas-sama." Xellos replied, bowing to the darkness. "I am afraid there have been some, complications."
"Apparently." The Beastmaster replied her voice now sounding slightly amused. "Perhaps your 'companion' should wait somewhere else while we talk?"
"Hai, Zellas-sama."
The priest turned towards Zelgadiss and then he found himself sitting on a firm bed in a room that held little else. In fact, the only other object in the room was Xellos' errant staff. Zelgadiss wondered briefly if they would be able to bring it back with them or not, and then decided it was best not to try and test that just yet.
He sat on the bed, swinging his feet and trying not to be bored, but he failed miserably. Finally, out of sheer desperation for something to do, he lay down on the bed and went to sleep. His dreams were odd, but he couldn't remember anything from them once he finally woke again. He was still alone, and found himself incredibly annoyed with his captivity. He wanted to either be out of that room, or to find a way to get his lover into it so that he wouldn't be bored anymore.
Wouldn't be bored? This shouldn't be a difficult thing for him to handle at all, so what the hell was his problem? After all, he couldn't possibly have been there for that long even though it seemed like an eternity. It was almost like...
He wondered just how much of a person's patience was based on biology. If this kept up he was going to become just as annoying as Xellos very soon for no other reason than to keep himself occupied.
"Miss me Zel-chan?" Xellos asked pleasantly as he appeared in the room and Zelgadiss practically launched himself at his lover. "I'll take that as a yes." The priest said with a laugh once his mouth was free again.
"Did you get in a lot of trouble?"
"No, Zellas-sama was remarkably understanding. In fact, she's even gone so far as to locate Maklar for us."
"She did?"
"Yes."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get this sorted out!"
Xellos smiled at him, though it wasn't as cheerful as Zelgadiss had expected. He didn't have much time to dwell on it however, because they soon found themselves back at the inn. That, of course, proceeded trying to get their friends to leave without breakfast, a task that occupied their entire attention until they were finally successful.
Part 3 | Fanfiction