"Still grumbling about your nose?"
"Shut up."
When they had fallen off the cliff, Zelgadiss had grabbed on to her but she hadn't seen how that would help. Even with a body of stone that kind of fall was going to cause some damage if not all out death. The very last minute Ray Wing barely saved them from becoming pancakes. But he didn't keep it up.
As soon as they, or more accurately he touched ground, he was off and running through the woods. It was a good thing he was carrying her since there was no way Lina could have matched his pace. She wasn't too crazy about being carried in his arms though. If anyone she knew saw her like that, she'd never live it down.
So to cover up her embarrassment, she had complained on any and everything she could think of. By sun up, she had exhausted that topic and moved on to swearing in as many different languages as she could. Zelgadiss certainly was getting an earful.
"How much farther are you planning on running?"
"Not...much further."
Zelgadiss stumbled and Lina grabbed him tightly around the neck to keep herself from dropping. He must be tired.
"Well then, put me down before you collapse on me and squish me like a bug."
Without argument, Zelgadiss slowed to a stop and let her down. Without any smart remarks, he walked, okay, limped through the thinning trees to a small clearing around a short waterfall and stream. Alright, now she was getting worried.
Zelgadiss walked next to a large boulder and collapsed to the ground against it. If he had to take another step... He closed his eyes and tried to will away the pain that was raging through him. It was too much to hide right now.
A sharp intake of breath made him open his eyes again. Rezo hadn't already caught up to them has he? But all Zelgadiss saw was Lina gasping and staring at...what? Oh, the blood from the wounds on his legs had seeped through the bandages. Guess he did overdo it a bit last night.
"You...you..." Lina stammered.
"I'm still injured from that attempt on my life," Zel finished coolly, wincing only slightly. No use pretending anymore. "As you can see, I'm in no state to chase after you should you escape."
Spells were another matter but she should already know that. Again he closed his eyes, trying to focus on the meditative practices Rodimus had showed him for dealing with pain. The girl still couldn't kill him so he had no worries about that.
He heard her walk away. Like he expected anything less. Her footsteps stopped? Then they started again but...to him? Was she really going to try to kill him? He thought her smarter than that.
"Are you just going to sit there and wait for Death to come or are you going to tend to those bandages?"
Zelgadiss opened his eyes and blinked. Lina knelt there with a wet piece of cloth in her hands.
"What..."
"Do I have to strip you down myself?" she demanded. He just has to make this harder than it needs to be doesn't he? If he held out any longer, she just might change her mind about helping him.
"You..."
"Are going to help you take care of yourself since you have no idea how to. Unless you want to wait for Rezo."
Zelgadiss still wasn't convinced. What was she up to?
Lina decided to appeal to that overwhelming hate he seemed to have toward the Red Priest. "If you want, you can just sit here and slowly die. Let Rezo do whatever it is he wants and laugh over your cold corpse. Or you can let me help you right now before Rezo or any of his goons decide to show up again."
Great. Now she was using logic against him. And the other problem was that she was completely right as well.
Lina quietly sighed in relief when he finally removed his cape. He took so long to decide she was afraid he was going to pull a macho routine. With her help, Zel managed to shrug off his shirt.
Lina gave a low whistle as she slowly peeled back one of the rough bandages. "You sure you're still alive?"
"Quite," Zel hissed.
"These bandage jobs are terrible," Lina grumbled, pulling out a roll of clean cloth strips and some disinfectant. "Who did this?"
"Me."
"Oh."
That was the end of the conversation for awhile. Zel just stared stonily off, trying to ignore the pain from the exposed wounds and the disinfectant and the girl's proximity. Since his change, he had never let anyone get close to him, much less see as much of his skin as she was.
Lina frowned as she removed each bandage, cleaned the wound, and then re-bandaged it. How did he stand the pain? Luckily, despite the rough first aid he had applied, none of the wounds were infected. Of course, how a normal infection would affect stone skin she had no idea.
"You're pretty well built," she commented absently.
"Wha-What are you talking about?" Zel stammered blushing.
"You're only a chimera externally. I'm not really sure if calling you a chimera is even accurate if based only on the outside. I don't know where the ears came from but the durability of your hair and skin is only, pardon the expression, skin-deep."
"Shows what you know."
"Hey. Even if I'm not interested in chimera research, I know more than the average mage. Since most of the changes appear only externally, then you must have gained enhanced abilities."
"Do tell, professor."
Lina stuck her tongue out at him. "From what I've seen, you're extremely fast, possible even very strong as well. Most other species with pointed ears have very sensitive hearing. Swordmanship isn't something that can be gained, that's your own hard work. Same with magic spells except that your magical capacity can be enhanced if say you were given certain parts of Ryuzoku or Mazoku."
"So who did this to you? From your attitude, it wasn't something you agreed to knowingly or willingly."
He didn't answer.
"It was Rezo wasn't it?"
Zel snapped his head toward her. "How did you - "
"It's obvious you have a grudge against him. I guess this would explain it. Why did he do it?"
"I guess you should know, seeing as you're in this mess up and over your head. Rezo came to me when he was first beginning this search. I wanted to be stronger, to be better, to have more power than I did then. And he said he could grant me that power if I helped him in his search. I accepted it without a second thought."
Lina listened mutely as she tended the bandages on his arm.
"It was only later when I was...adjusting that I overheard his plan. I guess he didn't think I was awake yet. Soon after, Zolf and Rodimus freed me and since then I've been trying to head Rezo off in his search."
"What exactly does resurrecting Shabrinigdo have to do with anything?"
"At first, I thought he had just gone crazy. But I still wouldn't let him have his way. With a Mazoku in the picture though, it begins to make sense."
"Nice to see that something does. Just what the hell is Rezo after?"
"His sight."
"What?"
"Surely someone as knowledgeable as you knows that Rezo has been blind since birth."
"Stop being snide and get on with it."
"That's all I know. I suppose the Mazoku have some deal with him, his vision for their master."
"That's just great. So he'll get to see the world end with his new-found eyesight," Lina remarked as she finished the last bandage wrapping on his arm. "I've finished up here. You can do the ones on your legs yourself right?"
"Sure, if you're not watching."
Lina raised her hands in surrender. "Hai, hai. I'll just go stretch out on this boulder here. Don't mind me."
She climbed up onto the boulder and found a nice smooth part with some sun. Stretching like a cat, she lay down on it. So, Rezo made a pact with the Mazoku and somehow dragged Zelgadiss into this. No wonder he's bitter. Having your body changed without your knowledge or knowing consent, Lina knew how that felt. She wondered between the two of them, who was worse off.
"Hey."
"What?"
"How do you know Rezo anyway? I mean, out of all of the ambitious, power-hungry people in the world, why did he choose you?"
Zelgadiss paused his binding his leg. "Perhaps because he's known me the longest."
"Eh? How long is that?"
He shrugged. "Since birth I guess."
"Birth?!" Lina sat up and looked down at Zelgadiss, getting a very good look at him wrapping the wounds that were on his legs. But that would mean he would have had to take off... She plopped back down on the boulder and prayed he hadn't noticed her.
"If you have to know, he's either my grandfather or great-grandfather though I'm pretty sure it's the latter. He may not look it but he's been alive for over a hundred years."
Oh yes, Lina was very familiar with people not looking as old as they should. And she guessed he hadn't noticed her accidental peeping.
"So that means..."
"That means his oh so holy blood runs through me." Zelgadiss sounded very disgusted at the thought.
But that made sense, using a blood descendent. For very powerful mages, blood ties could be used to create very powerful bonds between the mage and his relative. And depending on the family, casting spells on blood relatives could be either easier or harder than casting it on a complete stranger.
"Okay, change of topic. Of the two keys, the compass is supposed to lead to the place of Ruby Eye's resurrection. But what about the statue? How does the Orihalcon which seals magic deal with this?"
"It isn't the Orihalcon that's important. It's what is inside of it. The Philosopher's Stone."
"What?!"
Crash.
In her shock, Lina had slipped off of the boulder. She grabbed Zel by the collar.
"You're telling me that the Philosopher's Stone, not the alchemical one but the artifact one rumored to come from the Staff of the World itself, that has changed history the few times it's ever appeared, and was once used by an apprentice mage who then accidentally destroyed a kingdom with it, that Philosopher's Stone is in the statue?!"
"Yes," Zel managed to reply, turning his face away which was amazingly turning red. "Do you mind?"
"Eh?" Lina let go of his shirt but he still wouldn't look at her. So what was it? Then she looked down. "Eep!"
She immediately turned around, her face rivaling Zel's for whose could be redder. At least he was wearing undergarments.
"A-anyway," she stammered. "How exactly does the Philosopher's Stone fit in with resurrecting Ruby Eye? Are you supposed to use its magic amplification power to blow apart whatever seals there are there?"
"I don't know."
Great. Still, at least Zelgadiss was against Rezo. But would he trust her? At the rate things were going, she may not have enough magic back before they have another run-in with Rezo. The only way they could stay ahead of him was one, destroy one of the two keys or two, get to wherever it was Ruby Eye was sealed and somehow make it impossible to release him.
"Either option being impossible without at least having the compass."
Oops. Lina hadn't realized she was thinking out loud.
"We need to find your blond friend before Rezo does," Zel grunted as he stood up.
"Shouldn't you rest a bit longer?"
"Time waits for no man."
"Neither does Death for that matter. So what's the rush?"
"Because someone else already found us."
Lina blinked. Then she felt it, the hostile emotions in the air. With her magic power so low, she could only sense up to ten people individually with such emotions. But since all she could feel was the aura then there were a lot more than ten around them.
"Twenty, maybe up to thirty trolls surrounding us," Zelgadiss noted. "But not Rezo. That isn't much."
"Isn't much he says. These are trolls you're talking about!" And she didn't have enough power to kill even one of them right now. "You can come on out already! We know you're here!"
"Looks like Rezo-sama underestimated you," snarled Dilgear, coming out from the woods. "But you didn't get away totally unscratched."
Lina looked at the blood stains on Zelgadiss's white pants. "We've got to get you another set of clothes. Perhaps next time ivory? White picks up too much dirt."
"I don't think it's my fashion sense that's in question."
"Oh no. The only fashion-impaired person here is Dilgear, the wolfman in leather armor."
Dilgear's troll troops snickered.
"Shut up!" he yelled at his troops and then turned back to Lina and Zel. "At least you remembered my name."
"How could I forget the person who says a goblin has more sex appeal than me, that a cyclops is better than me," she was on a roll. "That my skin is rougher than a rock golem, that I'm even smaller than a pixie, that - "
"No one said any of that," Dilgear growled.
"Anyway, to take care of that grudge, in my place will be Zelgadiss!" Lina gave him a light pat on the back. "So go get them! The world awaits you! Good luck!"
"You should get that personality checked."
"Hey, what are you talking about? It's to demoralize the enemy!"
"The 'enemy' is listening," Dilgear remarked. "Anyway, enough with this small talk. Rezo-sama ordered me to bring back the girl. And to kill anyone in my way."
"You really think an ordinary beastman like yourself can defeat me?" Zelgadiss smirked.
My, he was sounding better already.
"I'll show you want this 'ordinary beastman' can do. Attack!"
At Dilgear's command, the twenty-five trolls attacked. Lina knew because she had counted them. It did not reassure her.
"Stay near me."
Lina blinked but followed Zelgadiss's warning. Was he thinking of taking them all down by sword alone? What was he saying? These words. This is...
"Dug Haut!"
Shaped by his will, cones of earth erupted from the ground spearing many of the trolls with their points.
"Earth below me, submit to my will!"
Ewwww. Lina felt rather sick and was glad her stomach was empty. Even with the troll's regenerative ability, they couldn't heal the wound with the spear of earth still through them. It would be a very slow and painful death. But she really couldn't say anything against Zelgadiss after what she did to those other trolls in the inn.
"You were saying?" Zelgadiss asked archly, looking at the shaken Dilgear.
The wolfman shrugged, as if the magic display hadn't affected him. "Rezo-sama never said you could use Shaman spells."
"Must have slipped his mind."
"Anyway, as long as you use that, I have no chance of winning."
Well that was true. But what was this leading up to?
"So you're saying that you can beat me in a swordfight?" Zelgadiss smirked. "How about we try and see?"
Lina wondered if Zel had sniffed the disinfectant or something. Maybe he was light-headed from blood loss. He certainly wasn't acting very normal.
"You're just putting me on."
"No, I swear on my word I won't use any magic," Zelgadiss grinned ferally pulling out his sword.
"And you won't go into a berserker rage?"
Ara, there's that berserker thing again.
"Afraid you can't beat me even then? Don't worry. This is a test of skill."
Enough with the macho routine already.
"Fine then," Dilgear growled pulling out one big scimitar. "With this great powerful magical blade given to me by Rezo-sama, I'll leave you like a bunch of pebbles on the ground."
"A magical sword? Do you have anything to use against that?"
"Just get out of way," Zelgadiss glared at Lina, not answering her question. Like he needed her to remind again about needing a defense against magical weapons. Of course, this may not be able to harm him but if it was made by Rezo then it just may.
"Fine. Only trying to be helpful," Lina rolled her eyes, backing away from the fight. Well, it wasn't as if she could do anything anyway besides watch. A shadow fell over her. Lina looked up. "Oh hell."
The remaining trolls who weren't shish-kabobs because of Zel's Dug Haut were looming over her.
"So this was his plan, distract Zel and then have his other trolls grab me," she shrugged. And rolled forward as two trolls on either side of her dove in to catch her. They promptly hit their hard skulls together and were out for the count.
"Nice to know trolls are as dumb as ever," she muttered, scampering away with the rest lumbering after her.
Dilgear and Zel paused in their duel to watch.
"This couldn't be going better than if I had planned it."
Zelgadiss and Lina sweatdropped.
"Guess I gave wolfman too much credit," Lina grumbled, dodging from one of the trolls that tried to turn her into a spot in the ground. "Did anyone explain to them that I'm supposed to be taken alive?"
She whipped out her short sword, slashing through troll's head. Even with their regenerative abilities, it would take them awhile to recover from that type of injury. Unfortunately, there were still five more after her.
"Damn it! If only I had my magic!"
"Sounds like your girlfriend is in trouble," sneered Dilgear after he and Zel jumped back from a clash of blades.
"You should be more concerned about yourself." Zelgadiss launched into a swift flashing sequence of thrusts and slashes. "What's wrong? I thought you said you could beat me with sword alone."
Dilgear only grunted as he parried the blows.
"Excuse me, coming through!" Lina ran by the two again, this time with only two trolls after her.
"Can't even take care of a few trolls?"
Ooooooh. That Zelgadiss can be soooo smug! Well, she'll show him. Just need the right place, right place, there! Lina hopped onto a stone and then leaped up to grab the tree branch overhead. It was just high that the trolls could pass under it. She swung up and over the branch and onto the backs of the many times proven stupid trolls.
"Sleep!"
The trolls slumped to the ground, tucked into whatever dreams trolls dreamed.
"So what do you have to say to that?" Lina challenged, looking back at the fight.
"Child's play."
"Well I don't see you all done with your little let's-see-who-has-the-bigger-ego fight yet!"
"Just wait, girlie," Dilgear grinned, leaping up onto one of the stalagmites Zelgadiss raised. "It'll be over real soon."
Quickly, he cut through several of them, causing them to crumble into a cloud of dirt and dust. That cheater was trying to blind Zelgadiss! Both Lina and Zel coughed as the dirt got into their mouths.
"Gotcha!" Dilgear said gleefully, suddenly appearing before the chimera with his blade raised. Zelgadiss swung his own sword upwards to block the coming blow. His blade was sliced through by Dilgear's suddenly crackling sword. The wolfman tried to catch Zel in a knee to the gut but the nimble young man flipped over the attempt and landed a safe distance away.
"What are you doing to do with a broken sword!" sneered Dilgear as he rushed in for the kill.
"Zelgadiss!" If Dilgear cut into one of Zel's wounds...
A scream of pain and anger tore through the air. Dilgear staggered backwards, his swordarm still gripping his sword but also the bleeding stump of his left arm.
"That's what I can do," Zelgadiss smirked, brandishing the jagged edge of his broken sword.
Dilgear's snarled as he slammed his sword into the ground and picked up his dismembered arm. "Think you're so smart don't you?"
Before their astonished faces, Dilgear held the two bleeding stumps together. The flesh rippled and stretched as it sought to rejoin the two pieces. Within minutes the cut was gone, only a pale scar visible amidst the disturbed fur.
"Did I forget to tell you? I'm not just a wolfman but a troll-wolf half." He snickered at their shocked faces. "So now what do you say?"
"That is disgusting!" Lina's outburst broke the tension. "You're saying that you're naturally half troll?! Which means one of your parents was...and the other was...and they did...I did not need to know that!"
"Heh, that's why I didn't blink an eye last night when you were trying to insult me. Actually, I saw it as a compliment."
Lina's eyebrow twitched. Talk about warped.
"It doesn't matter if you're half troll or full troll. There's always a way to kill you."
"You think so," Dilgear beckoned Zelgadiss to bring it on. "Then take your best shot."
"Fine." Zelgadiss ran toward the wolf-troll mix.
Just what the hell was he doing?! The first time was a lucky shot but this time Dilgear knew that Zel would use the broken blade. He couldn't be trying to run it through the wolfman's head was he? And besides the additional point that Dilgear did have the advantages of range and a magical weapon to boot.
Lina was about to warn Zelgadiss but then remembered the last time he did this. Was this recklessness a product of sheer battle frenzy or some supreme confidence in the invulnerability of his skin?
As predicted, Dilgear fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
"Hah. See who's laughing now," Dilgear turned with a superior grin. After all, he could defeat this upstart with the blade Rezo-sama had gifted him.
Zelgadiss faced the clueless wolf-troll, arms to his sides as he shrugged. "Apparently, you don't remember what I am. Or did Rezo neglect to tell you that as well."
From one shoulder across his torso to his belt, was a long slash through Zelgadiss's white tunic that revealed the blue stone skin underneath. Lina figured it would have been more impressive if some of the bandages weren't also showing but she guessed Dilgear didn't notice them.
"You can't cut me even with that magical sword. Try again when you get the Sword of Light."
Dilgear snarled, slamming his scimitar back in its sheath. "I'll remember this. You haven't seen the last of me!"
"We could only hope," Lina muttered.
Dilgear ran into the forest.
"What a fool," Zelgadiss muttered, putting away his own sword.
"The only fool I see is standing in front of me," Lina snorted, walking up to him. "What's the big idea telling him what can actually hurt you?"
"It isn't like he could get his hands on it."
"Good thing or your guts would be all over the floor right now." Lina crossed her arms and looked up at him.
"What?" Zelgadiss finally asked after some discomforting silence.
She broke out into a wide grin and slapped him heartily on the back. "Wow, Master Zelgadiss, that was awesome! Well done! Amazing!"
He grabbed his shoulder in pain and glared at her. "What. Are. You. Doing."
"Complimenting you of course," she winked.
"You hit me there on purpose."
"You also ruined those bandages I did. Keep it up and you really will become a walking corpse. I mean look at you. You can barely stand right now!"
Zelgadiss ignored and began to walk, not giving her the satisfaction of being right.
"Men! Between you and the beastmen, I don't know - "
She paused as she remembered something and a mischievous smile spread across her lips. Zelgadiss began to edge away.
"Remember what I said last night? That I'd rather kiss the first person I meet after being stuck with them than shake hands with Noonsa. And guess who that is."
That blush spread across his face again.
"You know, I'd really expect you to blush purple and not pink."
His mouth opened and closed several times before his voice started to work again. "...what..."
Lina's devilish grin grew wider. "I think I already said what I'm going to do," she murmured, barely suppressing her laughter at the flustered, panicked look on his face as she reached up to pull him down.
"Ohlookatthetime," Zel rambled as he quickly turned away. "WeshouldreallygetgoingbecauseRezowillbeafterusand - "
SMACK!
She winced sympathetically. Running face first into the trunk of a tree was a pain she was familiar with. Of course, that experience was due to Zelgadiss's gracious courtesy. Hmph, taste of his own medicine.
He backed shakily away from the tree, holding a hand to his head. From the stab from the Sword of Light to the injuries from the Blast Bomb to running into that tree, Zelgadiss was feeling very, very, very much in pain and agony. Lina ducked under his arm and wrapped one arm around his waist.
"You can lean on me for support."
The thought of him needing to use her as support was utterly ridiculous. Plus with his already exhausted state, the masks briefly slipped. A chortle escaped him. Lina raised an eyebrow.
"Ye gods, he can laugh."
Zelgadiss immediately dropped the mask into place again and glared at her. She just smiled back. Breaking his mask could become a very enjoyable hobby.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Could we discuss this while walking? Just in case Dilgear or Rezo show up again. Where to next?" Zelgadiss went over the options in his mind. What he really wanted was rest. What he really needed to do was find that swordsman wielding the Sword of Light to get the two keys.
"We need to find your friend with the Sword of Light. Apparently, Rezo thinks you have the keys so we're his focus for now. But Rezo won't let something like the Sword of Light out of his grasp when it's the perfect thing to use against me."
"Ehhhh, find Gourry?" Why didn't he just ask her to find a needle in a haystack? Oh alright, maybe finding Gourry wasn't that hard. "We could try heading toward Atlas City."
Zel started. "Atlas? Why Atlas City?"
"Start walking," Lina ordered. After they settled into a steady pace, she continued. "I was on my way to Atlas City before this whole thing started. Gourry knows that. There's a chance that he might make his way there."
"A chance?"
"He's got it stuck in his head that my family is in Atlas. Being the responsible bodyguard that he is, and assuming he remembers, he'll head that way."
"And assuming he doesn't somehow lose the two keys or hand them over to Rezo."
Lina laughed nervously. "Oh don't worry about that." Even Gourry couldn't hand over what he didn't have after all. "But it's a good idea to go in that direction in either case. I know someone that can take care of those wounds for you."
Zelgadiss studied the girl from the corner of his eye. What was she up to?
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because you can't walk two steps without keeling over."
"Not just that. Why are you helping me?"
Lina cocked her head and looked at him. "Why not?"
"Don't give me that 'goodness out of your heart' nonsense. What's in it for you?"
She shrugged. "The way I see it, you're the only thing that's keeping me out of Rezo's hands right now. I've only begun to get a little bit of my magic back. It'll be at least a day before I can manage a Recovery but that won't fix you up. So for all intents and purposes, I need a bodyguard and you're elected."
"Can't I decline the position?"
"Hey, you keep me out of Rezo's hands and you get to beat up his minions. I'd think you're getting the better half of the deal here."
"Listening to you swear and complain comes in where?"
"I've got to do something."
"How about keeping quiet?"
"How about you getting a sense of humor?"
"Had it. Killed it."
"Was that a joke?"
As the two travelers, forced together by greed on one side and hatred on the other, slowly made their way through the forest and away from prying eyes, several sets of eyes paid close attention to them.
"Are you sure they have it?"
"My information is correct! You dare to doubt it?"
"No, no of course not," hastily replied the first speaker who will be dubbed W.
"It just seems so unlikely that one of these two have it," said P, trying to mollify their leader Y.
"They have it. Don't be fooled by their appearances. You saw how they took at that beastman and his troll troops."
"The male commands magic and a very good swordarm," noted P. "The girl seems to be quite innovative though her magic is barely even parlor tricks."
"I have it on good authority that her magic could outstrip the male's at full power. Therefore we must recover it now!"
W chewed on a handkerchief. "Magic? How are we supposed to deal with magic? They never said anything about this when I - "
Y backhanded W into a tree. "Stop your sniveling! You disgrace us!"
"U? U is back?"
"No!" Y screamed, grabbing W and shaking him. "I said you you not U!"
"Ummm, sir," P broke politely into the one-sided conversation. "U has given the signal that the trap has been set."
"Good." Y dropped W. "Then come! We will confront them and retrieve it!"
"Are you always this gloomy?"
"Can't. You. Shut. Up."
"Oooh, looks like someone is upset."
"I finally understand it."
"Oh? What?"
"Why you travel with the blond swordsman, what did you say his name was? Gourry?"
"And your astounding conclusion as to why I travel with that jellyfish-for-brains?" This ought to be good when the real reason was Lina wasn't able to shake Gourry off.
"He's the only person who could listen to your mindless drivel and not go insane. Plus he's sturdy enough to survive even traveling in your company."
Lina's temper meter shot up and through the top. "And just what the hell are you getting at?!"
"Halt and hand it over to us!"
"I'm just saying that not only do you talk too much, you're also callous to those around you."
"I said Halt and deliver!"
"And I suppose you're the model of consideration."
"Umm, sir? Didn't you say 'hand it over' and not 'deliver'?"
"Compared to you, I'd be the paragon of excellence."
"Would you two both shut up!!"
Lina and Zel paused in their argument to look at the three people blocking their way through the forest. The first man puffed his chest proudly as the other two stood behind him and to his left and right respectively. One was standing there placidly while the other was sniffling, a large red bump on his head.
"More of Rezo's lackeys," Lina sighed. "Right. Go get them, Zel."
"I don't take orders from you."
"Oh. So you're just going to stand there and let them take me?"
"I didn't say that."
"Hand over the item!" Y demanded, becoming impatient and angry at the two people's nonchalant attitudes.
Lina raised an eyebrow. Item? Only one item? Zelgadiss also caught the use of the singular.
"Exactly who are you working for?" he asked coolly.
"That is of no concern of yours," hissed Y. "Give me the item or we will kill you where you stand."
Lina shook her head at the cliche phrases. "Maybe if you told us why?"
"Tell you what? I've already demanded for the item four times!"
The man standing placidly coughed into his hand. "Sir. I believe they were referring to the reason you want the item and not to you sir."
"Oh."
"He wants the Knife of Fury!" W blurted out.
"W!" Y turned on his follower in burning anger. "You weren't supposed to tell them anything without my explicit approval!! You are an idiot, W!"
"Double U? What? Is one of me not good enough for you?"
From behind the three men, another man poked his head up from the ground. Or more accurately, from the hole in the ground he was hiding in and that was hidden by a dirt-covered shield with air holes.
"U? And what did you think you're doing! You're not supposed to reveal yourself until my word! And what are you doing there? You're supposed to be behind them to launch a surprise back assault!"
"And exactly who were the people that stopped them before they could cross me? You know, I can't move these holes!"
"Of course we know you know it but what about us?"
"No! I was saying 'you know' as a phrase and not some reference to myself in the third person!"
"What are you after?!" Lina yelled.
"U? U isn't after anything. He is my subordinate! I am the one who is after it!" Y puffed his chest proudly again.
"And you're after something called the Knife of Fury," Zel remarked flatly. "Why do you say we have it?"
"Of course you have it! The sacred Knife of Fury fell into the red-haired demoness's grasping claws when she defeated the third brother of the Dragon Fang Bandit Brothers."
"Red...haired...demoness...?" Lina growled, fingers twitching.
"Uhhh, sir?" W whined. "Is it normal for mages to have burning auras around them?"
Zelgadiss did remember that the girl was also offering a knife for sale when he had come to bargain for the statue.
"And this Knife of Fury is so important to you because...?"
"That is not important," Y snapped. "Hand it over."
Zelgadiss looked down at the girl with fire in her eyes. "I believe she might have it. Perhaps if you demoralized her enough, she might hand it over."
"Demora-what?"
"Insult her."
Y and his men looked at each other and shrugged.
"Not too hard. After all, she is pretty small."
"I wouldn't use the word pretty. More like plain as wood."
"Speaking of wood, she reminds me of a broomstick my mother used to use."
"Are you even sure it's a girl?"
"If you say things like that..." Lina landed a right flying roundhouse kick and knocked the leader off of his feet. "I might get angry."
W chewed on a handkerchief with tears flowing in rivers down his face. "But you already are angry."
"You think you can get away with calling a girl all of that?!"
Zelgadiss found a nice shaded place and sat down.
"Comparing me to a piece of wood!"
He noted that though they tried to fight back, the men were pretty pathetic in their offensive attempts.
"And to think that you wondered if I was a guy?!"
"Nobody actually said that," W whined as Lina's foot drove his face into the ground.
"Who's next?" she growled but the four were all sprawled on the ground in various states of consciousness. "What a bunch of wimps."
"They weren't trained for a face-to-face confrontation."
Lina glared at Zelgadiss resting against a tree. "Some 'bodyguard' you are."
Zelgadiss shrugged. "I can see what a tragic state of affairs you're in."
"Just get to the point."
"They are probably assassins."
Lina blinked and mentally reviewed the brief 'battle'. Their attacks were clumsy since they were always trying to strike her from behind or in a vital position when they thought she wouldn't notice. The problem was that she always did notice and they had no defense against her.
She picked up the whiner by his collar and shook him back to the land of the living. "What is this Knife of Fury you're talking about?"
"I,I,I don't know. I only know Y wants it."
"You'll have to do better than that."
"I really don't know," cried W, even more tears flowing. Lina dropped him in disgust.
"This Knife of Fury thing..." Zel pondered. "Is it that knife you were selling for that outrageous price?"
"Yes."
"What's so special about?"
Lina weighed her options and decided that it couldn't hurt to tell him. "Besides being enchanted to be sharper, it has a minor curse to make whomever wields it berserk."
She noticed Zel flinch slightly at that description but continued.
"I suppose you could give it some silly name like Knife of Fury or whatnot. But that doesn't explain why these assassins want it."
Lina poked around for the leader and after finding him, slapped him awake.
"Hey! I want some answers!" she demanded.
Y just glared.
"Tough guy huh? Let's see how tough you are after this!" Lina kicked him hard where it hurt. Y wheezed in a very high-pitched gasp. Zelgadiss made a mental note to stay out of her kicking range when she was angry.
"So, are you going to tell me why you want that knife or do I have to beat it out of you?"
Y glared balefully at her though the effect was lost with the pain swimming in his eyes as he huddled over himself in agonizing pain.
"To outseat Zoom," he muttered so softly Lina couldn't hear. But Zel could.
"Zoom? The Master Assassin?" Zel asked sharply.
"Don't tell me you were planning on using the berserking knife to get others to kill your targets so you can rack up your kill list much more quickly than Zoom," Lina said flatly.
"Looks like you two didn't get very far," snickered a familiar, and thoroughly annoying, voice.
"Just about the last person I ever wanted to see again," Lina groaned as Dilgear appeared from the woods with a pack of goblins behind him.
"Reinforcements again?" Zel snorted. "If trolls can't do anything against me, what makes you think goblins can?"
"They may be smaller but there are more of them," Dilgear sneered as more goblins popped their ugly faces out of the woodwork. "Now I'll take the girl."
"You cannot take her! She is carrying what rightfully belongs to me and is therefore ours!" Y retorted, undergoing a miraculous recovery with his three followers.
"Who the blazes are you?" Dilgear sniffed.
"We will not allow you to take the item away!"
"Item? So you're after Rezo-sama's items. Well I'm here to make sure you don't!"
"You think just because you have goblins behind you that you can win?"
"I know that if a little girl could beat you up than you're no trouble at all."
"Really. Let's just show you what we can do then!"
"Come on then."
"Ummm, sir?" W whispered, pulling on Y's sleeve.
"What is it, W?"
"And why do you need two of me?"
"Not you, U. I was talking to W!"
"Sir...they're gone."
"Whose gone?"
"The man and the girl with the item."
"WHAT?!?" Dilgear and Y exclaimed, quickly looking at the last known locations of Lina and Zelgadiss. All that were left were their respective empty outlines.
"This is all your fault!" roared the wolf-troll.
"You know what this means," Y said gravely. The other three nodded. As one, they ripped off their outer shirts to reveal sticks of explosives strapped to each of their chests. "We are dishonored in letting our prey escape. We must purge the dishonor!"
"Oh no, RETREAT!!" Dilgear screamed, tearing into the woods.
BOOM!!
Lina looked up at the sound of the explosion and the disturbed birds flying into the sky.
"What was that?"
"Another delay in Dilgear chasing us," Zelgadiss answered matter-of-factly. "With his regenerative ability, it won't take long for him to recover but he'll have to at least wait for reinforcements."
"Which way now?"
"Keep going southwest. There's a small pass into a slow valley that runs parallel to the main travel road to Atlas but is separated by some low mountains. They probably won't be expecting us to go through there."
Lina readjusted her hold on Zelgadiss as they walked slowly toward Atlas City.