This is the minorly revised version of part 1 -- I've made a few
corrections to the timeline, both the internal and external ones, and
cleaned up a few paragraphs. Elsewise, this is exactly the same as the
original version. (I have clipped the bonus bit, though.)
I don't own Slayers, someone else does. And they'll soon have whatever
cash I have left, so they needn't bother to sue.
Will take any C&C, flames, or even (dare I say it?) praise. I won't
stop writing this without any commentary of any type -- I'm writing this
for myself, really -- but I might stop posting it to the list.
Thanks to my prereaders, all two of you.
Fakes
By Ryo Hoshi
Part 1: Starting Out
Lina peeked into the room. Nobody was in there other then Gourry
and Amelia. They were talking about something...Lina grabbed a tray and
made like a waitress. Might as well find out what they're talking
about.
"Hmmm...you think Lina's like that because she actually believes
that large mammary glands are a good thing?" asked Gourry. There was
something different to his voice. It wasn't an easily describable
something. It could be described, maybe, as intelligence...but in
Gourry's voice? Never, thought Lina.
"Interesting supposition," replied Amelia. There was something
different about her voice, too. Maturity, maybe? Definitely some
intelligence, at least.
"Personally, I think hers are just the right size. Not too small
as to be not there, not big enough to, say, make conversation with men
problematic as their attention's more on her chest." Gourry took a sip
of his cup of herbal tea. Lina sniffed. Strawberry?
"Still, it would help if she stopped wearing those shoulder pads --
they end up looking smaller that way," Amelia said with a grin. She
took a sip from her own glass of tea.
At about this point, they finally noticed Lina, who had just
fainted. Gourry managed to catch her just before she put a nice bump on
her head. "Lina?"
Lina blinked, partially to get her eyes to focus and partially in
shock. Did she really hear those two talking...no, it couldn't be.
They'd never...
"She's awake." Her ears told her it was Amelia's voice. Not the
nice safe voice of 'normal' Amelia, but the unfamiliar other Amelia's
voice.
"Oh, thanks Amelia. Are you okay, Lina?" Gourry was looking at
her. He looked...worried.
"Were you two talking..." Lina blushed, unable to continue.
"So you did hear." Gourry sighed. His eyes darkened, slightly.
"Guess we might as well stop faking it."
"Faking what?" Lina asked.
"Our personalities. We agreed to the act a little before I met up
with you, Lina. Amelia had been visiting the castle I had been working
at, and, well, we eventually started talking about you. Anyway, we
ended deciding to meet up with you, and travel with you for a while, on
something of a bet," Gourry said. There was something of a sigh in it.
"A...bet?" Lina was startled, somewhat.
"Yeah. Gourry bet that you were out going after bandits because
you are insecure, and I bet that you did it for kicks." Amelia was
grinning. Lina considered reaching out and hitting the princess, but
decided against it.
"So far, it looks like I'm right." Gourry smiled. "Not that I
care about the money. There's enough in my family that I don't really
need to get more."
"You think that we should tell Zel?" Amelia wondered.
"Sure." Gourry smiled. It wasn't his normal smile, Lina noticed.
Something in the eyes, perhaps?
Lina decided that she didn't really want to know, smiled vaguely,
and fainted again.
"She's out," commented Amelia.
"And since when was she in?"
"You have a point...so, Gourry, shall we tell her when she wakes up
that you're a cousin of mine?"
"Nah. I'd start with telling her that I'm in love with her and
want to marry her. Besides, we're not really cousins...it's our mothers
who were cousins..."
"I think they were second cousins...but why bother with the
technical terms?"
"Ai, did you *have* to do *that*?" The bandit looked at the
caravan, and the figures sprawled all over it.
Ai smiled. "Yes. That chimera was resistant to my other spells,
and he's a pretty good sorcerer, too. Well, was. Doubt he'll even
remember his name who he wakes up." She giggled at the thought, and
gave the bandit a slap on the back. "Besides, all of the caravan's out,
now! So go gather up those goods!"
"Whatever you say, chief."
Once her men were safely looting the caravan of all its valuables,
she walked to where her erstwhile opponent lay. "So...what shall I do
with you? You're very valuable, you know, Zelgadiss Graywords..."
Gourry and Amelia had managed to rouse Lina again in time for
dinner. (Not that this took much effort; Lina, after missing lunch, was
very hungry and had leaped up at the word dinner.)
The dishes were piled high, and Lina and Gourry were deciding on
whether or not dessert would be nice, when the messenger came in. The
messenger wore a long black cape, with its hood drawn up to cover his --
or maybe her, it was impossible to tell with that cape -- face. The
messenger walked straight to the counter, and talked a little to the
owner. A few words later, some coins were slid across the counter and
the messenger headed straight to Amelia.
"Amelia wil Tesla Saillune? I come with news for you." The
messenger pulled back the hood, revealing a rather pretty feminine face,
with light gray eyes and shoulder length white hair.
"I am she," replied Amelia. "Your message?"
The messenger visibly paused, in part to getting the proper reply,
and in part to Amelia asking for the massage then. "Are you sure you
want them," the messenger indicated Lina and Gourry, "here?"
"Yes. Your message?"
The messenger sighed, and reached under the cloak. "I represent a
group of merchants whose caravan was attacked. Several of the people
traveling with it are injured or dead, and a few are missing." The
messenger pulled out a bundle. "One of those still missing is a
Zelgadiss Graywords." The messenger put the bundle onto the table,
where the light showed it to be the same color as Zelgadiss's cloak,
with a few stains on it; the stains were the dark red, almost black,
shade of dried blood. "This is all that could be found...there was a
lot of blood in the area...it's not likely that he's still alive."
Amelia had gone pale. "Where?"
The messenger smiled, nervously. "I'm not sure where, exactly. I
do know the road, though, so I could guide you there...don't worry, it
isn't any trouble for me, I have to head that way anyway...you aren't
going to cry, are you? Oh L-sama, I hate it when..."
Amelia looked a lot better, suddenly. Maybe it had something to do
with the look of panic that was showing on the messenger's face towards
the end.
The messenger, seeing the crisis pass, pulled a chair out. The
messenger removed her cloak and draped it over the back of the chair,
and sat down. The messenger wore a loose brown tunic over green
leggings that looked two sizes too big. The messenger's belt was plain,
brown, and didn't have a sword. There were a two white-handled knives
there, however.
"So," Lina said after looking her over, "what's your name?"
"I'm called Mikael," the messenger replied. "And you two are?"
"I'm Lina Inverse, and he," she pointed a chopstick in Gourry's
direction, "is Gourry Gabriev."
"You're *the* Lina Inverse? As in 'that flat-chested, brainless,
breastless sorceress Lina'?"
"Who are you calling flatchested, you [word nobody thought Lina
knew before now]?" Lina settled for an insult, as she wasn't too sure
that it'd be a good time to cause any destruction; Amelia was looking
like she was about to cry again.
"Uhhh...I'm male..." Mikael muttered. "Besides, I think you're
rather smart, personally..." In an even lower tone, he muttered
something about them being traitorous.
"What?" Lina said, having not quite caught what Mikael had said.
Mikael, misreading Lina's expression, took Lina's hand and pressed
it to where, if he was female, there's be breasts. "See? No breasts."
Lina fainted again.
"Does she do that often?" asked Mikael.
"Well, this is the third time today. But normally, she doesn't.
Maybe it's the weather," Gourry replied.
"Come on down. Nobody's likely to see you." Ai was slightly
cranky. She had just had to destroy magically some very nice landscape,
drag a *heavy* chimera through a hidden pass in the mountains, and then
prepare a nice picnic basket that just happened to have the herbs
necessary to treat the chimera's wounds. (Not to mention that the
annoying side effects of the spell she had used earlier were starting to
show up, so she wasn't too sure of the ground anymore. She thanked
L-sama that she had the presence of mind to have done the landscape
destruction before she had to fight Zelgadiss, though casting Astral
Vine so soon afterwards was, in retrospect, a bad idea.) Her mood had
not been improved by the ride back into the valley. Why she had ever
bothered to steal that saddle was a mystery even to herself...
"You'll be happy to know that I've worsened his injuries for you,"
a male voice replied.
"Thank you." Ai smiled in relief. Well, she thought, there's one
less thing to do... "Now, get on your horse. We've got good deeds to
do!"
"And those dragons think we never do anything nice!" He giggled.
Pain, he thought.
Lots of pain.
Light. Bright light. Much to bright.
"Oh!" said a female in surprise. "Look!"
"He's awake..." Male voice, this time. Something about it set off
alarms at the back of his mind, and brought a blurry picture to mind.
"Sad. See what can do for him?"
"Sure, though we're not likely to be able to do much, given that we
can't do much in the way of white magic."
"His arm look broken. Not sure where. Chimera-san, tell when
hurt." A pair of hand started to firmly press his left wrist. A hand's
width above. A hand's width above that...blinding pain. A voice
screamed. He wondered if it was his.
"It broke," said the female voice. "Help set?"
"Sure."
"Get splint, bandage." His arm got pulled gently, and the bone
slipped back into place. With a lot of pain.
Zelgadiss returned to unconsciousness.
"Oh dear. Looks like he found that too painful," Ai's companion
said, with a giggle.
"Xelloss, just give me those splints..." Ai replied. "And if you
find his pain so enjoyable, you can set his leg. Hm. Toss me a few of
those bandages, we don't want him to bleed to death."
"Why did you stab him, then?"
"Xelloss-sensei..." Ai said, exasperation in her voice.
"Oh, I already had guessed. I just enjoy it when you say that..."
Xelloss giggled, mainly because it annoyed Ai.
Ai sighed. "So, want some wine? It's a very good year...and it'll
be a while before he wakes up again..."
Amelia finished her meal quickly and quietly went upstairs. She
was happy that Mikael, Lina, and Gourry were still eating and talking.
She didn't want to be bothered...but just in case, she locked her door.
She carefully sat down on her bed and placed the bundle reverently
down beside her.
Carefully, she undid the knotted string that held it together and
unwrapped the cloak, revealing a sealed box. She carefully folded the
cape up and set it to the side, and then broke the seal of the box and
opened it. Inside lay Zel's sword in its scabbard and two small leather
bags, identical in size and color.
She carefully set the sword on top of the folded cape. She didn't
need to draw it to be certain it was his, and she wanted to know what
were in the pouches.
Inside one was a collection of coins, probably his pay. She
carefully counted it and then put it aside. If she found him alive, she
would return it to him; if she found him dead... She shook her head.
Better to not even consider the possibility.
The other bag held an assortment of objects. She set them
carefully out, examining each one in turn. There was a small writing
kit, that she remembered giving him on his last birthday with
instructions that he was to write her sometimes. He did, but never
often enough...
There was a small locket, wrapped in white silk, with a portrait of
a woman she didn't recognize holding small and very happy baby. The
child's face wasn't very clear, but from the hair she guessed that it
was Zel as a baby with his mother. In the other side was a lock of
hair, the same pale purple of the hair of the woman in the picture. She
wrapped the locket back up before putting it down.
The next object was a small box, holding a necklace and a pair of
earrings, gold with blue topaz teardrops. She recognized them from the
picture in the locket. His mother's, and very valuable to him.
The last object was a letter. Written on it was her name. She
carefully opened it up, barely catching the ring that had been folded
into it, and started reading it.
As she read, her eyes blurred with tears unshed, and she ended up
having to put the letter down halfway through.
She leaned back and cried.
The ring dropped from her hand and onto the floor, the candlelight
glinting off of the diamond and two blue topazes that were set in it.
The next morning, Mikael woke up, checked his pocket mirror to see
if he was finally developing facial hair, and got dressed. He felt that
he had gotten up at a rather sane hour, but when he got down there were
Amelia, Gourry, and Lina, well into breakfast. The waitress, a tall
brunette, was running back and forth between their table and the
kitchen. Luckily for her, the inn was mostly empty that morning, as
most of the people who were staying in the inn that night had opted to
buy one of the inn's locally famous bentos instead of eating there.
Lina and Gourry were dressed the same as they were the night
before, but Amelia had changed her outfit. Instead of her usual cape,
she now wore Zelgadiss's bloodstained one, and at her side hung his
sword. One look at her face made him decide that it would be unwise to
say the least to say anything about it.
Mikael wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to offer the princess
of Saillune his services. So far, they had run into one megalomaniac
(but, happily, weak) sorcerer, several groups of rather lost bandits,
and a confused (and, when he saw Lina, scared) mazoku.
All things considered, it was quite possibly the most exciting day
of Mikael's life so far. (He wasn't sure if the chess tournament he saw
back when he was ten quite counted, even though he had found it
extremely exciting.)
"I honestly didn't know that my hand had ended up there," Gourry
was telling Lina. "It isn't my fault that you landed on me when you
lost control of that spell..."
Mikael scanned the surroundings for cover. He was understandably
not very eager to be hit by another one of Lina's fireballs...
He needn't have bothered. Lina only hit Gourry. Oh, yes, and the
rather stupid sorcerer who was hiding in the bushes behind Gourry.
"Well, at least we know where that flare arrow came from..."
One pain-filled (for the chimera) ride later, they were in a city.
"Welcome, Chimera-san, to Olnwal!" said Ai, sounding more innocent then
was likely. "Chimera-san? Oh, he's out. Well, Xelloss, welcome to
Olnwal, the city of thieves."
"Are you sure you don't want to run a resort for mazoku? I mean,
given that you're all thieves...and your lovely prison..."
"Xelloss-sensei, you know what would happen the second a dark lord
turned up. It's risky enough letting you in." Ai sighed; it would be
nice to be able to switch to mazoku prison guards. They'd work there
longer. "So you'll be staying in the palace. Yes, I know it doesn't
like mazoku, but if you stay near me it isn't going to kill you."
"Even at night?" Xelloss giggled. It was fun, sometimes, teasing
Ai.
"Since you are a guest, you get my bed. I'll be perfectly happy
sleeping on the floor." Ai sighed, and mentally repeated her mantra of
'I am not annoyed by this hentai mazoku fruitcake.' It wasn't working
that well.
Olnwal was, from a military perspective, perfect. It had been
built in the hidden valley at the top of the legendary bandit trail.
The passes into the valley, carved out over the centuries by water,
human hands, and the occasional cranky magic user, were easily defended;
a handful could easily hold off an entire army for weeks, if necessary.
The city itself was large, and for some strange reason, mostly
white. It had the expected military barracks, the ornate palace, and
large squares. Surprisingly, it also had a large temple to Ceifeid (it
was right next to the prison; there weren't many people who bothered
going there, as the bloodcurdling screams from next door completely
ruined the mood), and a spacious library (connected to the palace via an
underground passageway).
Of course, Olnwal being the city of thieves, they didn't like
people who were in the city stealing. After all, it's one thing to
steal from rich merchants, and another to steal from other thieves.
Also, it should be noted that these people prided themselves on being
*thieves* -- not murders, not rapists, not sadistic monsters whose
'accomplishments' are called sick even by mazoku. They were quite
enlightened when it came to punishment, however, so they didn't execute
those undesirables. They tortured them instead. (Or, rather, let them
torture each other, the guards' job simply being to keep them in and
toss food in. Sometimes they forgot the food part, but they were pretty
good at keeping the prisoners in.)
Chimera-san woke up later, in the palace, just in time for his
bandages to get changed. He rather promptly returned to La-la Land.
"Hn. He's healing fast. Should be on his feet again by the end of
the week," Ai muttered. She straightened up and, speaking up, "Xelloss,
can you toss me the clean bandages? Might as well get him bandaged up
again..." She caught the bandages just before they hit her head.
"Thank you, Xelloss." She leaned back in her chair and took up paper
and pencil after checking the bandages to bake sure they would stay in
place. Four days, so far, she wrote. Most of it he's spent asleep,
and, from what he's said when he's been conversational, he thinks of
himself as 'Chimera-san'. So far, so good. May L-sama be so kind to
let my luck last.
Lina poked the fire with a stick. "So, who are you, really?" she
asked Gourry.
"The guy who owned the legendary Sword of Light for some eight
years and has been following you around for...three years, now, I
think."
"I don't think that's what Lina meant, Gourry."
"Yes, Amelia, but that's all that's really relevant right now."
"Wouldn't you say that she deserves to know more, though?"
"I think that what I do and do not tell her about myself is up to
me."
"Given that you have been following her around for so long, and you
have yet to show any sign that you are going to quit doing so anytime
soon, you don't have that much choice."
Lina put some more wood on the fire, feeling that the pair were
likely to spend a good part of the night arguing.
Mikael, on the other hand, looked like he was watching a game of
ping pong.
Chimera-san floated in and out of dreams. Sometimes he dreamed of
a tall man in red robes, who he knew he didn't like for some reason.
Other times he dreamed of a woman, with soft lavender hair and blue
eyes. She wore an off-white dress, and he felt sorrowful, for some
reason, that he couldn't remember who she was. Occasionally, he dreamed
of a short boy with long red hair, accompanied by a tall young man with
blond hair. Sometimes, a short girl would be with them, with black hair
and indigo eyes... Mixed feelings were associated with them.