Espera = (Spanish) wait
Oye = (Spanish) hey
Caliente = (Spanish) hot
One-san = (Japanese) big sister
Zelgadis was perfectly content to let Amelia do most of the talking, particularly as it allowed him to listen to what wasn't being said. However, several interviews in Zelgadis began regretting his role, as the holy people were clearly nervous about talking about Entropy Peak, and something about him being involved in the questioning made them even more uncomfortable. Passing the open hall leading to the temple library he noticed a familiar brunette studiously going through a section marked "Defense Against Demons". It didn't make him feel any better to remember that he was 1/3 blue demon. He hurried past before Selena noticed him, for while he wasn't afraid to defend himself, he didn't want to do anything that would further bring himself to the attention of the holy people.
"Zelgadis-san, is something wrong?" Amelia asked. Zelgadis mentally berated himself for letting down his guard even as he forced a smile to his face.
"Nothing, nothing." Is this what I get for wishing that I was partnered with 'Dancer for this particular task? He wondered. Amelia looked away, trying not to be hurt that he wouldn't level with her.
"If you say so... should we interview the librarian next?"
"You do that. I'm going to ask that old guy." Zelgadis indicated an old monk puttering around in the inner court garden.
Entering the library Amelia promptly tripped over a pile of books.
"Ite! Who left these out here?" She wailed.
"Gomen, gomen." Selena popped her head out from the section she was in. "I just needed to -- you're that girl traveling with him." She said in an accusatory tone.
"Shhhh!" The librarian glanced warningly at them.
"I'm not really happy with your travel companion either." Amelia whispered flatly. Selena sniffed, and began collecting her books. Then she paused and looked at Amelia.
"I'd rather 'Dancer had nothing to do with him. Would I be correct if I said you felt the same way?" She asked in an undertone.
"But they're brother and sister." Amelia blinked.
"Doesn't matter. If people only cause each other pain they shouldn't spend time together." Selena stated with simplistic logic.
"I guess you have a point..." Amelia said slowly.
"Then let's do our best to keep them busy and not with each other." Selena picked up the pile of books and wandered over to a table.
"Easier said than done." Amelia muttered to herself, before approaching the librarian.
The sun was a mere hand span above the horizon when 'Dancer heard a knock at the door.
"It's opened." She mumbled thickly through the layers of sleep. The door opened with a squeak as 'Dancer lifted her head clear of the pillow. Zelgadis raised a hand against the light, stepping into the west facing room.
"What happened to you?" He asked, noticing the bruising around her neck. 'Dancer sat up, rubbing her eyes as she pulled her knees under her.
"Xelloss." She grunted, and tried to shake the sleep from her head.
"You know Xelloss-san?" Amelia asked from behind Zelgadis. 'Dancer fell out of bed, wings awry, realizing what she had just said.
"So those really are wings." Amelia stated, following Zelgadis over to the bed.
"What did Xelloss do to you?" Zelgadis asked in a deathly calm voice.
On the floor, in a tangle of blankets and limbs, 'Dancer wondered what to do. Fortunately, she didn't have to decide, as the twins chose that moment to pop in, literally.
"Konbaiwa, 'Dancer-dono!" They chimed, teleporting in the way Xelloss had.
"Eeeyaaaah!" Amelia jumped behind Zelgadis who summoned a ball of energy.
"¡Espera!" 'Dancer popped up, waving her arms and wings, between the two groups. "They're my friends! Don't attack!"
"They're kitsune!" Amelia said. "How can you be friends with kitsune?"
"How rude!" Arcadia exclaimed.
"Yeah, we're not kitsune, we're wolf dæmons!" Avalon said with a hurt look.
"Oye," 'Dancer tossing a flat look over her shoulder at the twins. "You're not helping matters."
"Dæmons!!! That's even worst! 'Dancer-san how could you befriend half-Mazoku?" Amelia asked. 'Dancer face faulted as Zelgadis bonked Amelia.
"Zelgadis-san, what was that for?" The princess asked clutching her head as 'Dancer extricated herself from the blankets.
"Need I remind you what I am?" Zelgadis asked coldly.
"But you didn't choose to become -- "
"Get out." Standing in the doorway Selena all but growled them. "Get out of my room right now."
"You heard her! Let's go!" Arcadia seized one of 'Dancer's arms as Avalon grabbed the other. "Ja!" Zelgadis got one good look at the panicked expression on 'Dancer's face before all three of them disappeared with an audible pop.
"Gah!" Selena spun around and dashed downstairs shouting after them.
"You're sister has weird friends..." Amelia said after a moment.
You're telling me? Zelgadis wondered.
'Dancer sat underwater where the twins had dropped her. She supposed she should have thanked the dæmons for taking her directly to the bathhouse -- but as she was still fully dressed she just couldn't bring herself to thank the grinning she-pups.
I wonder if I should just end my misery. She toyed with the idea, then stood with a sigh. Too much left to do. Stepping out of the bath she gave her wings one good shake before folding them cloak-wise. At least she wouldn't freeze on her way back to the inn. Ignoring the stares and exclamations of surprise as she exited the MENS side of the bath house -- Those two are so dead -- she spotted Lina and Gourry exiting a tavern ahead of her.
"Well, that was frustrating." Lina grumbled to Gourry.
"Ano... maybe Amelia is right, Lina. Maybe no one ever does circumcise Entropy Peak." Gourry suggested.
"That's circumambulate, sushi for brains." Lina snapped, then felt something graze the side of her face.
"Get down!" Both Gourry and Lina were tackled from behind.
"Iteeee!" Lina groaned, then looked up. Kneeling between her and Gourry, wings extended and glistening gold in the dying sunlight, was 'Dancer. She swept her wings around them protectively as a number of small white things rained down from the sky. They were crystal shards, Lina realized as they bounced off 'Dancer's the damp wings.
"Lina, are you alright?" Gourry asked from the other side.
"Shh!" 'Dancer commanded, scanning the sky. "I'm trying to hear where they're coming from!" Lina held her breath then heard the shrill whistling sound. 'Dancer grabbed her and Gourry around the waist and sprinted. Where the crystals hit the ground behind them they exploded with enough force to leave large impact craters in the red-brown cobblestone. 'Dancer tried flapping her wings, then muttered a curse. "Still too wet!"
"Oi, 'Dancer, what's going on?!" Lina shouted as 'Dancer sprinted towards the gate. 'Dancer hazarded a glance down at Lina, then skidded to a halt, just short of running into another hail of shards. 'Dancer leapt around a corner, and dropped the two she was carrying.
"Ite-e-e-e!" Lina whined, dropped on her bum.
"Lina, fireball me." 'Dancer ordered, extending her dripping wings.
"Why do you want her to do that?" Gourry asked, drawing his sword.
"Lina!" 'Dancer shouted impatiently.
"It's okay Gourry, I know what she wants." Lina stood.
"Fireball!"
The explosion threw 'Dancer skyward even as it dried out her feathers.
"¡Aya! ¡Caliente!"
"Oops," Lina said, watching a couple singed feathers fall. "Guess I put a little too much into that one..."
Above, 'Dancer spotted the caster. Wings pumping furiously in the thin air she flew closer, shouting a challenge. The caster turned, and 'Dancer wasn't the least bit surprised to see her face sneering down at her.
"Come to play, one-san?"
"If that's the only way to stop you." 'Dancer shot back, reaching out for a foot.
"Not today! Freeze Arrow!"
'Dancer batted the ice lance aside.
"Nanio?!?!?!?!?!" The sorceress shouted.
"You've forgotten, Kopii, your magic doesn't work on me!" 'Dancer grinned nastily, grabbing the clone's ankle. The sorceress blanched, then vanished.
"¡@#$%&*!" 'Dancer hissed, then felt someone embrace her from behind.
"I'll take you to her!" Arcadia's voice breathed into her ear right before they shifted.
On the ground Lina risked a peek out from the awning of the building.
"Where's they go?"
It was cold here, wherever here was, 'Dancer decided, looking around for the sorceress. Arcadia had teleported her to the summit of a mountain, then 'Dancer shooed her off when it became obvious that the dæmon couldn't handle the nearly none existent atmosphere. Actually, 'Dancer wasn't sure how long she could hold out herself, but she wasn't about to let that clone escape. Not now, not so close to your source.
There was movement a little down slope from her and 'Dancer swooped down, catching the sorceress in the midriff. Together they tumbled down the mountainside until 'Dancer didn't feel anything but space beneath her. She snapped her wings open, but it hardly made a difference as they fell.
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" Shouted the clone, grabbing for a dagger at her belt.
"In your dreams." 'Dancer grabbed the sorceress's neck and put her in a head lock. The clone slashed wildly at the arms holding her, then went limp as 'Dancer snapped her neck.
"Que Diosa se apiade de tu alma." 'Dancer whispered, dropping the dead clone. Still falling precariously fast she spread her wings as wide as she could, trying to steer clear of the jagged cliff face. Looking down all she could make out was the white top of clouds. 'Dancer furrowed her brow, clouds this high in the mountains could only mean one thing, and the cloud cover stretched as far as the eye could see. With a mental sigh she steeled herself for the worst as the clouds rushed up to meet her.
"And you just left her?!" Avalon wasn't sure who was angrier, Selena whose aura boiled, or Zelgadis who radiated fury the way ice radiated cold. Arcadia was sprawled out over the bed, a stupid grin on her face. It really wasn't fair, Avalon thought as Selena verbally ripped the dæmon a new one, Arcadia couldn't help the fact that Entropy Peak's inherent energies had affected her the way no amount of alcohol could -– and then to feed her all that negative emotion -- Shaking her head Avalon inadvertently brought herself to the others' attention.
"AND YOU! HOW DARE YOU LE -- "
"Silencio." Selena fell surprisingly quiet at Avalon's command.
"I really need to learn that one." Murmured Lina, earning a bemused glance from Avalon.
"You couldn't afford 'Dancer's price." She said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to her sister. "Rather than yell at her, Selena, how about calming down? You're only making her drunker with your excess emotions." Selena jerked back as if burned. It was plain from her expression that she hadn't thought about that. Avalon sighed mentally. She'd much rather play the fool, but in 'Dancer's absence someone had to keep the peace. She'd half hoped that Zelgadis would fill the spot, but his emotions were so twisted that she didn't have a clue which one to appeal to.
"What makes you say that? I've got a lot more on me than you think." Lina objected, intrigued by the thought of having found a magic that was forbidden to her. Avalon smiled wolfishly.
"Let's just say the price isn't to be paid in coin and leave it with that." For some reason that comment made Zelgadis pale. Ye Dark Lords, what happened between the two of them? Avalon made a mental note to pry the next time she got 'Dancer alone.
"So what do we do now?" Amelia asked, decked out in the white robes of a high priestess. Avalon winced slightly as she gazed at the princess, her aura burning as brightly as the noonday sun. More's the pity, it won't stay so bright the longer she pines for the chimera.
"Perform the ceremony. 'Dancer would want it done regardless of her presence." Avalon said, fiddling with a lock of Arcadia's hair. "You can do it without her you know."
"Of course she can. The question is where." Zelgadis muttered darkly. "Or did you forget the importance of a magic circle?"
Avalon raised an eyebrow at the chimera.
"Didn't she tell you anything? You're standing in the circle. The circle's just dormant." The look of pure skepticism she received from all four magic users caused her ear to twitch in annoyance.
"Look." Avalon snapped her fingers and the whole room lit up with blue fire.
"'Dancer cast this?!" Lina gasped, as the others just gaped. Avalon shook her head.
"No, she just wove it. Arcadia and I provided the raw material for it." She allowed the circle to power down, and found her gaze settling back on Zelgadis, who's emotions were doing things to his aura she hadn't seen before in her three hundred odd years. Hey, Arcadia, wake up and look at this. She mindspeeched to her sister.
Whazzit Ah'm lookin' at? Arcadia wanted to know, cracking an eyelid.
Check out rock-boy. Have you ever seen anyone's aura ever do that before?
Hai. 'Dansha'sh dosh it every time she looksh him in the eyesh. That was a disturbing piece of information, Avalon decided as Lina and Amelia discussed the best method of getting Kendar into the room.
"We'd best not be here when you start casting." She announced when there was a lapse in the conversation. Gathering up her plastered sister in her arms she prepared to shift out when Selena whacked her over the head with an iron skillet.
"Ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! What you'd do that for? And were didja get the frying pan?" She whimpered, cradling her head. Selena held up the skillet and written on it in chalk was "And what about my voice?" Then she flipped in over where was written the words "From the kitchen, baka."
"Okay, okay, just don't hit me again..." Avalon released the spell then grabbed Arcadia and teleported out before Selena could draw a breath.
"At least she took her lush of a sister with her." Selena fumed.
"Ano, Selena-san, do you know how to summon the circle back?" Amelia asked, seeming unperturbed by the violence. Selena nodded.
"If 'Dancer wove it, it'll be fairly easy to recall. "
"You're going to feel really stupid if you can't." Lina said teasingly.
"Shut up."
It felt as though the very wind blew through her, wings notwithstanding. The feathered limbs ached and 'Dancer knew that she was going to feel all the worst in the morning. Then, because she was lost, she picked up a handful of snow and breathed on it chanting,
"Sister of the north star, brother of the frigid wind, lead me back to the one I seek, Compass Rose!" The snow in her hand melted, then reformed into a bird of ice that lead the way through the blowing snow. Trudging onward through the snow she tried not to think about anything other than placing one foot in front of the other as the snow piled higher. Her world narrowed until all she saw was sharp white snow, an ice blue bird, her feet, wrapped in strips of cloth, and her trailing feathers, almost indiscernible from the snow in failing light. It was in this trance-like state that she came across the fallen traveler. Fighting to stand against the wind gusts, 'Dancer took a moment to roll over the aqua haired girl. The pale figure groaned and 'Dancer shook her head.
"You've got Coyote's own luck." She told the unconscious girl as she picked up the scantily clad teen and resettled her wings around the girl.
Martina woke briefly to strong arms and warmth. Somewhere outside of the soft fabric enfolding her she could hear the wind shriek, and yet here, her resting against her rescuer's chest and listening to his heartbeat she felt perfectly safe.
It was sometime later that 'Dancer entered the inn, and shook the snow from her wings. They ached horribly, but she ignored it as she carried the hypothermic girl up to her room. It was as she opened the door that she noticed the state of disrepair the room was in.
"Diosa. Pemba's gonna kill me."
"Not likely." Selena said yawning as she sat up from where she'd fallen asleep at the table in the room. "She was ecstatic to see Kendar running."
"So it worked? I'm glad." 'Dancer laid the aqua haired girl down on her bed. "Do you feel up to a spell?"
"Sure." Selena joined her at the bedside. "Who'd you bring in from the cold this time?"
'Dancer shrugged.
"No idea. I just found her passed out on the mountain pass."
"No wonder, dressed like that. It's a miracle she didn't freeze before she got out of the foothills." Selena tutted as 'Dancer rummaged through her bag for a change of clothes and her pajamas.
"She should fit these." She laid the pajamas at the foot of the bed.
"And you are going where?" Selena asked with a disapproving look.
"I'm chilled to the bone, Selena. I'm going to soak in the bath." 'Dancer glanced back at the brunette who was kneeling beside the bed. "Take your time with that spell. There's not need to rush it."
"Hai Sensei." Selena made a face at her. "And don't you fall asleep in the tub."
"Yes Mother." 'Dancer mimicked Selena's tone, then winked as she closed the door behind her.
The inn's bathing room was devoid of patrons this late at night and 'Dancer wasted no time in slipping into the stone rimmed pool, extending her wings fully underwater, floating on her back. The warm seeped into the weary muscles and aching sinew, even as her natural buoyancy kept her afloat. 'Dancer's eyes closed as she allowed the warm water to sooth her, pulling out from her all the cares and worries of the days before, and the uncertainties of the long days ahead of her. Slowly the world drifted further until all she was conscious of was the passage of air in her lungs. Somewhere, far off, it seemed, she could hear the steady breathing of another, growing closer-
'Dancer was hauled sputtering out of the water by the dæmons.
"Are you okay?" Arcadia asked anxiously as Avalon wrapped a towel around 'Dancer. 'Dancer coughed for a couple of moments more before she draw a breath to reply.
"I think so, now." She wiped the water from her face and shuddered. "Diosa, that was close. Is this a natural hot spring?" Avalon nodded as 'Dancer regarded the bathtub anew.
"They used Stone Warp to draw it out of the aquifer, but otherwise, yes, this is a natural hot spring." Arcadia described, caressing the polished rock as she coaxed the stone's history from it.
"You should be more careful, 'Dancer-dono, we almost didn't catch it in time." Avalon chided the latina.
"I know. I'm sorry, I let my guard down." 'Dancer pushed her wet hair out of her face and tried not to be frustrated.
"It's not your fault that She's trying to retrieve you." Arcadia said. 'Dancer flashed the russet garbed dæmon a weary smile.
"It may not be my fault, but it remains my problem." She stood, then winched, placing one hand on the scar that nearly bisected her middle.
"Girls, you'd better go. Xelloss is nearby." The was a pop as the twins vanished, and 'Dancer doubled over in pain as he phased into the room.
"For love of the Dark Lords, Xelloss, haven't you any shame?" She snapped at him, her wings settling quickly to protect her modesty. The Trickster Priest raised an eyebrow as her.
"Not the sort you're thinking of, no. Are we finally on first name basis, Wings-chan?" He asked, smiling that maddening smile of his.
"Not really. I'm too tired to think of appropriate insults to call you." 'Dancer shot back. Since she was still alive she figured that he was there to talk. Xelloss' smile widened a smidgen, as he looked around the room, then focused on the bathing pool. Abruptly 'Dancer realized what it was that brought him there.
"Her spell didn't work, Trickster. Sorry for the false alarm." 'Dancer smirked.
"Sarcasm really doesn't become you, Wings-chan." Xelloss dipped the end of his staff into the pool, and the water boiled. "She knows you're here, that should be cause enough for alarm."
"I didn't know you cared."
Xelloss glanced back at her, his purple eyes catching her grey ones.
"I don't." He withdrew his staff from the pool and the water calmed, although now it was lime green in color. "You do know it's my duty to kill you if She does succeed."
"And your pleasure. Don't think I haven't noticed from previous encounters." 'Dancer ran a hand through her hair. "If you're quite done threatening me, I'll take my leave." She collected her bucket from the bench near the pool. Xelloss studied her for a moment, then asked her, with a malicious sneer,
"Tell me something, Wings-chan, do you remember the last time we chatted?"
"Do I remember...? " 'Dancer paused as her lips twisted into a cruel parody of a smile. "How can I forget one bloodstained moment...?" She shook her head and turned away from him.
"Next time you have the desire to kill me, at least have the decency to do it right." She snarled over her shoulder at him.
Back in the room Selena and the unnamed teen were asleep, and 'Dancer closed the door behind her as silently as she could manage. Although both beds were taken, Selena had thoughtfully arranged some blankets and pillows on the floor. 'Dancer gratefully sank into the nest, folding her wings into their natural resting position. She was barely finished getting comfortable when two warm bodies teleported next to her. They made themselves at home, curling up against her.
"Are you angry with us?" Avalon asked softly. 'Dancer didn't answer right away, but flexed her wings to cover the twins as well.
"Not with you personally."
"Do you regret that we healed you that time?" Arcadia queried.
"I... don't think so."
"Then why are you so distant now?" Avalon asked. 'Dancer knew better than to deny. The twins had been able to read her emotions since that shattered night.
"Because I'm soul-weary and only see a long fight ahead of me."
"You're not alone in that fight." Avalon stated, pulling the wing over her like a blanket.
"I know. That's the only thing that makes it bearable."