"Itteitteitte!" The hot potato went flying into Zelgadis' lap, and he calmly picked it up and handed it back to Lina, who continued tossing it between her hands. "Geeze, how can you handle that thing so easily?" She blew on her hands to cool them. Zel merely smiled quietly.
The group was camped out underneath the bright stars of the night sky, calmly relaxing after a long week's travel. They were within a few day's journey of the sea port on the border of the Demon Sea, their destination. They had heard rumors that there was some sort of reward contest going on for the select few contestants who were willing to go out in exploration of the sea. Naturally, this had sparked Lina's interest.
"So...." Amelia said leaning back and staring up at the stars. "What do you think lies ahead of us in this town we're going to?"
Lina shrugged, leaning back on the damp grass herself. "Who knows. It's bound to be an adventure though."
"Mm..."
Zelgadis had finished his meal, and was stretching out on the grass. He pulled out something from his satchel which caught Lina's attention. "Oi, any luck on that book there?"
He shrugged. "It has fascinating information in it actually."
She half sat up. "What've you found out?"
He looked thoughtful. "Well, apparently the reason the war started was because the other races feared the growing numbers of the Fey. Since they had superior power and abilities, the three races combined forces to wipe them out entirely.... And apparently they were known to be the wily mischievous type, and so they didn't have many friends, but many enemies." He shrugged. "It was a power struggle.... They just ended up on the wrong end I guess."
Lina looked thoughtful. "That's too bad really....." Suddenly she looked up. "Wait, you know I'll bet Xelloss could tell us about it. Wasn't he in that war?"
As if on cue, a dark form appeared out of nowhere. "Someone called?" He said brightly, the everlasting smile still stuck on his face.
Zelgadis rolled his eyes in a stifled groan while Lina looked up at the Priest, not entirely surprised that he'd appeared. He'd been trailing them again for some time now, and she had no idea what was in his mind this time. "Yes.... Actually we were talking about you. You were in the War of the Monsters Fall right?"
The Mazoku sat himself down on the grass, taking a potato on the end of his staff and munching on it idly. "Hai."
"Then maybe you can answer these questions we've had." He peered at her curiously as she reached to snatch the book from Zelgadis. "We found this book in a library a few weeks ago, and we've been having debates and questions ever since."
He peered forward as if to look at the book, and she held it away from him protectively. "What actually happened during the War of the Monsters Fall?" She asked carefully, knowing if she was to ask him about the lost race that she should do so carefully, since the book had noted that each race had disowned the Fey from ever having existed.
He cocked his head. "Well.... It was an epic battle....." He said putting a thoughtful gloved hand to his chin. "Heavy losses on both sides really."
"Who were you actually fighting?" Lina pressed.
Xelloss seemed to hesitate almost, and turned his head back to her. "Why the Monsters of course! Hence the name!"
"Don't play with me Xelloss......" She warned shaking the book at him. "We've learned some very interesting things about that war."
For the first time since they'd met him, Xelloss seemed slightly nervous and fidgety. "Oh? Such as?"
Lina leaned forward peering at him with slitted grinning eyes. "Well, such as the existence of a fourth race."
At that, there was a visible tension on his face, and his eyes slid open slowly, regarding her warily. "Oh?"
By now, she'd figured out that this subject obviously was causing great distress on him, and she wasn't about to loose the fish caught on her hook. "Yeah. So, why don't you tell us the truth, eh?"
Xelloss' gaze slid to the fire, and his deep purple eyes stared blankly into the flames emotionlessly, but very thoughtfully. After a long period of silence, his voice spoke soft and low. "Lina-san.... It's best for you that you never mention the fourth race again."
The tone of his voice hadn't been threatening, but rather deeply warning, as if telling them that it was to their best interest to stay out of it. "What do you mean?"
He closed his eyes..... not the type of closed they were used to, but an actual serious close. "Trust me on this..... any talk or involvement in research of the fourth race will lead you to trouble."
Zelgadis frowned. "What are you hiding this time?" He said in a low voice.
"It's a fair warning." He stated plainly in a flat voice. But then, he turned his face towards Lina with his eyes open and showing their purple depths. What she saw reflected there..... it startled her. Fear was written in his eyes. Genuine heartfelt fear. "Never mention them.....never... they are a dead race."
She held his gaze for a moment before he stood up and vanished suddenly as he'd come..... They all were silent for some time, thinking to themselves about his words.
Zelgadis spoke up first. "Che, I think he enjoys this."
"I don't know....he seemed serious." Amelia mused.
"What do you think Lina?" Gourry asked seeing the strange look on her face.
She glanced up. "He's scared." She stated softly. "I saw it in his eyes. He was terrified....." She closed her eyes in thought while the others exchanged glances. "I think there's more to this than there might first seem......"