(Feel free to C&C, taunt, or give a simple Thumbs up or down.)
Foreword: Where & When Slayers Forever Fits (or doesn't)
When our group started the creation of <u>Slayers Forever</u>, we chose
to use elements and characters introduced in the H. Kanzaka / R.
Araizumi TV Series "Slayers Try." Since then, however, we have gone on
a most wild and capricious tangent, resulting in a story that greatly
contradicts the series "Try." On the down side, this series is
inaccurate and not completely compatible with the authentic Slayers
series; On the other hand, No Major Spoilers!!!
In the end, I hope you have as much fun reading Slayers Forever as we
did writing it. While it's not 100% accurate, any audience that can
watch blue, rocky bishonens and 16 year old girls able to level
mountains shouldn't have too many problems ignoring facts.
SLAYERS FOREVER
by the crazed individuals of Giga-Works*
*We can take credit for none of the characters or elements presented below.
All
of them are copyright H. Kanzaka / R. Araizumi; except for one! (Can you
guess
where he/she is copyrighted to?)
Episode 1: All For the Want of A Meal
Zelgadis rose from the tough sheets and blinked his eyes repeatedly.
Throwing back the curtains revealed little more than a violet sky and a
still
dark skyline. Good, dawn wouldn't come for at least another hour. He
looked
back onto the bed to find Gourry still loudly snoring on the other side.
How he
could sleep with full armor on was anyone's guess.
After taking a quick bath, Zelgadis washed his face in the basin, rubbing
his face dry with the coarse but unnaturally white inn towel. He peered
into
the mirror and his hand instinctively fell to the shaving razor sitting at
the
edge of the sink. Only when Zel brought the metal blade to his rocky,
chimerical skin did he realize the comedy in his mistake. He had been
transformed for more years than he wanted to remember, but each morning he
still
thought of shaving. He held the razor in his hand and chuckled for a moment
before he slammed it hard against the edge of the porcelain sink. Every
morning.
Zelgadis wiped his hand across the steamed mirror; in it he saw everything
he hated. The rock-strewn, golemous and disfigured features of his face;
they
were nothing, the icing on the cake, the salt in the wound. He loathed his
reflection for one reason.
His eyes. It is a common belief that you can spot a liar by the look in
their eyes. Zelgadis had been telling the truth his entire life, but still,
his eyes never lost the appearance of a fraud.
The reflection shred any remainder of doubt in Zel's mind. He placed his
beige tunic and hood over his head, buckled his belt, and grabbed his pack
on
the way to the door. He could no longer live with the lie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"More music, my queen?"
Lina waved aside the servant as she was far too preoccupied with her bowl
full of pealed grapes, being fed to her by a hunky male specimen in a
loincloth.
"Sure, whatever," she answered through a smile.
Lina surveyed the large courtroom filled with jesters, epic poets, and
servants. The jesters were doing the best to entertain her continuously,
the
poets were furiously trying to write her every word for posterity's sake,
and
the servants had their hands and legs full carrying out her every whim.
Anyone
else in the room was merely bowing.
Despite the whole display, Queen Lina Inverse felt a little empty. She
turned her head to either side, seeing no one but groveling dukes. She was
missing something.
Lina snapped her fingers. "Of Course!" She pressed a button on the side
of the throne. It started to zoom across the throne room, floating to the
large
balcony on the other side. Below the open terrace was thousands of
screaming
followers (and that was just within the castle.) Beyond the walls stretched
loyal admirers, as far as the eye could see, stretching out into the
horizon.
THAT was what Lina was missing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gourry chewed on his cape as he tiptoed down the hallway, peering to
either
side at the neat, intricate woodcarvings along the wall. He sighed, knowing
they would soon be burnt to cinders. He continued along the hallway,
stopping
at the last door. Lina's room. Gourry swallowed hard before he reached for
the
knob. Lina had instructed him countless times before never to wake her up
earlier than noon under threat of DragonSlave (unless it was an emergency.)
This was in fact an emergency, so Gourry expected he'd get off easy with a
Val-Flare.
Gourry opened the door to see Lina, in her cute yellow pajamas, on her lacy
rented sheets... gnawing fiercely upon her feather pillow. Her eyes were
darting rapidly beneath her eyelids, and she lazy talked to servants that
weren't there.
Great, Gourry thought, she's already moved on to the "Royal Banquet". He was
as
good as toasted. Sighing with increasing weight, he walked towards the bed.
With the very tip of his boot, Gourry tapped Lina on her shoulder. Nothing.
Again, he prodded her, trying to keep the majority of himself at of arm's
length. On the third poke, Lina started to respond, murmuring under her
breath
and (by reflex) trying to bite Gourry's foot.
Gourry sighed a third time, this time his shoulders coming down to his
knees.
He creeped one step closer to the bed, shook the teen violently, and made a
mad
dash for the door.
I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it, I'm going to-
"Fireball!"
Gourry was about to wonder how he was going to "fireball", but this train
of thought became interrupted by a magical explosion of flame that sent him
airborne down the hallway.
Lina sat up in bed, one hand scratching her head while the other held in a
yawn. She stuck out her tongue, and for reasons unknown to her, pulled a
feather out of her mouth.
"Good morning to you, too," Gourry said sarcastically as a he crawled
through
what was once a doorway. He coughed a tiny cloud of smoke.
Lina snorted and looked at the charred Gourry as she clasped on her
shoulder-
pads and cape.
"Serves you right, waking me up like that for no reason. Now let's go, I'm
hungry!"
She grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him down the hall
stairs to the main area. Throwing herself into a chair at an empty table,
she
waved over a waitress. Breakfast awaited.
"But I do have a reason," Gourry exclaimed to Lina as she busily tied her
napkin
around neck. "We have an Emergency! We're out of money!"
The inn waitress came over to the table with the young red-head girl and
the tall blond. "Good morning," she said with a chipper, genki-like smile.
"What
would you-"
She opened her eyes to find the table empty. She shook her head in
confusion. "I could have sworn..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you mean we're out of money?"
While wincing at the earth-shaking volume of Lina's inquest, Gourry looked
around to make sure they weren't causing a scene. He turned his head in
Lina's
direction, but he could not for the life of him make eye contact.
"I mean Zelgadis was the only one who had money, and he wasn't in our room.
He's upped and left!"
Lina folded her arms across her chest. Zelgadis's departure couldn't be
avoided, and he'd have several hours gain on them in who-knows-what
direction.
Amelia could have picked up the bill, but she would be have been half-way
back
to Saillune by now.
"All right," Lina declared, "we need money. So, we can do one of two
things:
Take up small jobs or run across a small posse of bandits." She led him
down
the street, her eyes darting from side to side, looking for temporary
employment
(and for any random ruffians.)
"Either way, we need cash." She glanced back at Gourry. "Are you sure you
don't
have any money? I'm so hungry..."
"Well..." he replied while shielding his face, "I-I spent the last of it on
this."
He pulled from his pocket a wooden toy duck. It bobbed about in his
hand innocently. "Isn't he cute?" he asked, holding it out with one arm for
Lina to see (whilst with the other arm protected himself from almost certain
doom.)
Lina stared at the wooden duck for a second, collecting her thoughts.
Glancing back at Gourry, the collection blew apart.
"You mean to tell me that you spent the last of our money on a TOY!!!" She
face-palmed, her head shaking from side to side. Well, she thought, might as
well let him keep that thing for awhile. But next time, I'm carrying the
money.
"It's very... cute, Gourry. Now come on, we need fast cash."
No sooner had Gourry ran As they started walking down the dusty road, a
figure in beige sheik-wear darted past them, cutting them off at a street
corner. The figure turned around to look behind him, allowing Lina and
Gourry
to catch a glimpse of his rocky face. Following the chimera was an
overweight
bearded man who was shouting and cursing. The majority of his profanity was
directed towards his quarry, but every now and then he damned the red and
black
robes he wore (over which he was consistently tripping.) He too turned the
corner in front of Lina and Gourry, again cutting them off.
"What could that be about?" Gourry asked, quite puzzled.
Zelgadis, Lina thought.
She turned her eyes to Gourry and shrugged at his comment. "Don't know, but
I
say we should follow him. And who knows, maybe he's found some treasure and
is
trying to keep it to himself!"
Hearts throbbed in her eyes at the thought of gold, jewels, money, and all
sorts of goodies. Shaking her head out of it, she jumped up, landing atop a
nearby rooftop. About to run, she remembered that Gourry wouldn't know
better
to follow. So, she yelled down to him.
"C'mon Gourry, lets go! We have to catch up with Zelgadis!" She put a
fisted
right hand up level to her nose, and rested the other hand on the small
muscle
of her upper arm. "Annd, I want to see if he's got anything interesting!"
Turning away again, she ran from rooftop to rooftop, chasing Zelgadis (or
at least dust he was leaving behind.) From below, Gourry's voice stopped
her.
"Which Zel do you want me to follow?"
"What kind of stupid question is that-"
Lina Inverse looked up to see Xellos sitting on a chimney directly in
front of her. With the same genki look on his face as he always had, he
pointed
to something directly behind Lina. Turning, she saw, of all people,
Zelgadis.
Gourry, of course, had no idea how Lina could be up there with Zelgadis at
the
same that he was chasing Zelgadis, but he shrugged and figured Lina had that
Zel
covered. Meanwhile, the Zeldadis that he was supposed to catch was gaining
a
good lead on him."Hey Zelgadis! Wait up!"
A face-fault later, the befuddled Lina Inverse approached her comrade on the
rooftop, making sure to keep her distance (something was up.) Zelgadis was
standing straight, but his muscles were tense, almost hair-trigger. The
only
motion Lina saw was the slow fluttering of his off-white cape.
"You spooked me, Zel. I guess this saves me the trouble of-"
Before she could finish the sentence, Zelgadis bounded off of the roof and
disappeared into the darkness of the alley below. Lina rushed to the edge,
but
sighed at little she found. Having little luck with the facts at hand, Lina
swiveled in Xellos's direction.
"Just what are you doing here?" she probed. "Are you behind that extra
Zelgadis?"
Xellos stared smugly at Lina and fingered the reddish orb on his staff.
"What am I doing here?" he replied with a smile, "Lina, you ought to know
better
than to ask THAT. And if I was to pretend to be Zelgadis, I would certainly
have
done a better job. No, the extra Zelgadis wasn't me, but please try figure
out
the rest on your own... Its sooo boring if I give it all away."
Xellos vaporized with a "shah" and reappeared outside of Lina's view. On a
chimney pot, he waited for the remainder of the plot to unfold from his
"box-
seat".
Gourry, meanwhile, had been managing to close the gap between his chimerical
friend and himself. He had almost passed the clergyman on Zelgadis's tail
when
a large rumbling interrupted him. Gourry curled into a ball on the ground,
clutching his stomach."food....
gotta have food."
Gourry crawled melodramatically back to where he'd seen Lina and the other
Zelgadis. Maybe she had luck than him.
Lina scratched her head in confusion. So, Xellos wasn't behind the Zelgadis
in
front of her. But, he was surely up to something. That trickster was
always up
to something. She looked over the building's edge to see Gourry crawling
like
a dying raccoon... meaning the other Zelgadis had badgered off as well. She
prepped her hands in a fireball position, but her anger faded with a sigh.
It
wasn't his fault (neither of them were at 100%.) And, if her woman's
intuition
was correct, something fishy was up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zelgadis bent over at his waist, relieved to have finally shaken off the fat
clergyman. It had been more than worth his effort. From beneath his cloak
he
withdrew an intricately carved glass bottle filled with a burgundy liquid.
Uncorking and raising the bottle to his lips, he swilled two thirds of its
content before his wrist lowered. He stood posed and brimming with pride,
but a
bit of his mirth faded with each second that ticked away. He threw the
bottle
to the ground but it refused to break, instead landing with a loud thump.
Awkward as the beaker was, Zelgadis tried to keep focus on returning to back
to
normal. That stuff he stole should have worked! Feeling like a patsy,
Zelgadis
dashed down streets, his hands clenched with rancorous determination.
Moments later, Zelgadis turned a corner, trying hard not to look behind him.
Over his shoulder he could spy the distant forms of Lina and Gourry; an
anticipated but unwelcome ache filled him as he fled from their location.
Whilst staring at his shoes, Zel's eyes met with a finely made glass bottle.
It
was mostly empty, but it still caught his attention. Weighing it in his
hands,
he began to wonder if-
Zelgadis's train-of-thought was interrupted by the staggered accusations of
an
overweight priest barreling in his direction. The chimera fastened the
container to his belt, for he knew there was a proper time and place for
pondering... and a time and place for fast escapes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lina and Gourry walked up and down marketplace, their eyes scanning
vigilantly. Or more specifically, Lina scanned vigilantly while Gourry's
stared
vapidly into space.
"What are we doing again?" he asked for the seventeenth time within that
quarter-hour.
"We are LOOKING for a job to get some MONEY so we can EAT. UNDERSTAND?!?"
Silence answered her question.
Lina sighed and continued to look around the storefronts. They had been
looking for a job since noon, but they had failed to see a single "Waitress
Needed" or "Help Wanted" sign (not that Lina was enthusiastic about serving
tables, but it was for the sake of food.)
"Oooh, Lina, I found one!"
Lina nearly did a double-take. Had Gourry finally come through for her?
Could
he possibly have done something right? After failing to get a glimpse over
the
shoulder of the seven-foot swordsman, Lina scrambled under his arm to leer
at
what Gourry had seen.
"That's an advertisement, you dope!" Lina asserted audibly as well as with
her
fist.
Still, Lina stared curiously at the flier. It was the wording that
grabbed her attention:
DO YOU NEED A CHANGE? Come to the Temple of Alchemy, 301 'Temple Row', South
Side of Armadillous
"I wonder if Zelgadis saw the flyer..." Lina pondered aloud.
"And look at this flyer!" Gourry motioned to an adjacent ad, this one
rendering
unmistakably the monk they had seen chasing Zelgadis (beard and all.)
"The most respected Priest in town, Friar Koo Kollin," Lina read to Gourry.
"Visit him at the Temple of Restoration, 303 'Temple Row'."
"Do you think it's worth checking out?" the blond cited.
"Since they're right next to each other, I bet it is." Lina rubbed her
chin.
'Temple Row' contained where Zel had likely been and where he was likely to
show
up.
"Then we'd better get moving, both temples are on the other side of town."
Lina
turned around to be face to face with Xellos. His eyes were closed and he
wore
his usual puckish grin. For once, it was Gourry who tried to place the
trickster's motives.
"Are you actually going to help us out for once, or are you going to desert
us
at the most inconvenient moment like you always do?"
"Probably," Xellos answered manner-of-fact-ly. He normally didn't like to
reveal information, but fact was fact.
"All right," Lina pronounced with a sigh, "Let's get this show on the road."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A short time later, Gourry and Lina could be seen heading south,
bickering over
something inconsequential. Following the ragtag duo on foot was Xellos.
Whatever his opinion was of the topic in question, he kept it to himself.
In the middle of giving Lina a piece of his mind (relatively speaking),
Gourry stumbled around the corner to find the city's "Temple Row". The
street
(on both sides) was filled with dozens of temples, each sign flashier than
the
last. Though in the Slayers Universe they had yet to develop neon lights,
magic
had more than leveled the playing field, making Temple Row impossible to
miss.
At the end of the block sat a tremendously dark and ominous building. A
black
ziggurat, the tip seemed to suck in the light emitted from neighboring
temples.
From the top of the pyramidal colossus shone a red beacon, one that revolved
around menacingly.
Gourry's focus then turned to the temple sitting just right of the black
Construct, the one decorated with orange and maroon flags. Stripes and
checker
patterns encircled the outer walls. On the face of the tacky temple,
circling a
stone dragon, priests had carved four symbols; the elements wind, water,
fire,
and earth. Of course, the symbols could be interpreted as stink, pear,
feather,
and corn meal, but odds were the latter combination was not accurate.
Either
way, there was unmistakably a dragon in the middle.
Gourry's focus flickered back and forth from the tower of terror to the
temple of tack. "What do you think?" he asked, turning to Lina. Lina was
not
quick to respond.
Muttering angrily to herself, Filia stalked out of the gaudy-looking temple.
Not
noticing where she was going, she accidentally bumped into Lina.
"Oh, I'm very sorry."
Filia reflexively apologized without recognizing Lina and Gourry, then
walked
away, still muttering to herself. Lina, who had been inquisitively gazing
at
the tacky lights (before she was rudely interrupted), heard the stranger's
muttering and immediately got mad. How dare someone run into the Great
Sorcery
Genius Lina Inverse and not beg for mercy!
"Look where you're-" She paused and noticed a very familiar mop of blonde
hair
and priestess attire. Who was that?
Filia's melodic voice had caught the ears of Xellos and had broken his
concentration. For a moment his stomach lurched, but he regained his
composure
almost instantaneously. He glanced about, hoping no one caught his
momentary
display of emotion, (even if that emotion was frustration and disgust.)
Xellos
struck a cocky pose and laughed boisterously. He called out to the
departing
priestess, his desire to torment overriding his usually clear thinking.
Lina, meanwhile, putting two and two together, placed her hand in her palm.
She
pulled a 180� and called after the young dragon. "Filia! Hey, Filia!"
Filia had heard someone calling her name. That whiny voice sounds really
familiar, she thought. Could it be... nah, I don't think so. She heard
another
voice calling her, a female voice this time. Turning around, she beheld for
the
first time Lina and Gourry... and Xellos.
"Lina-san, Gourry-san!"
Gourry smiled at Filia, thoroughly surprised. While glad to see Filia, he
didn't expect her to be in the maroon and orange striped temple. Why would
she
be in there? he contemplated, his facial expressions displaying the same
question.
"What are you doing here?" Filia asked vivaciously.
"Hello there, Filia," Xellos interjected, trying to keep a straight face.
"How
is everything in lizard country?"
Glancing at Xellos, she noticed that he had that infuriating smile on his
face
again. Control yourself, Filia, she tells herself as she took a calming
breath.
This is a public place. People will stare at your tail if you get too upset.
She faced Lina and Gourry, trying not to even look at the treacherous
priest.
"And why is that Mazoku* with you?" she inquired, the tension in her voice
quite
obvious.
"Sore wa Himitsu!"** Xellos answered predictably. "Wouldn't you like to
know,
Miss Nosey. I'm merely following orders, as usual... and I'm almost curious
as
to why the dragon priestess would be here."
Xellos was gleefully watching the veins protrude in Filia's forehead.
Lina glanced from the Mazoku to the Ryuzoku*** and sighed heavily. Not
again... every time.... Then it hit her: she hadn't known that Xellos was
even
with her. She opened her mouth to ask him, but already she knew what she'd
be
told. Shrugging, she gave a half-hearted smile to Filia. "Funny meeting you
here," she said to the maiden shrine. "And Xellos? Well, we don't pay him
any
mind unless he's useful to us. So what are you doing in this part of
town?"
Glaring angrily at Xellos, Filia suddenly turned her back and ignored him
completely... well, almost. She smiled at Lina and Gourry.
"Well, I heard about this place and its famous temples, so I decided to take
a
look. However, there doesn't seem to be anything of much interest here."
She jabbed a finger towards the tacky-looking temple, clenching her fist and
shaking in fury. "And that is one of the worse I've seen. Such gaudy
colors!
And when I made a humble suggestion to the head priest, he actually asked me
to
get out! Can you believe such rudeness?! And he dares to call himself a
priest?!"
Lina glanced at the oh-so-tacky shrine and chuckled. Filia did have a point,
wanting to change the appearance.
"Yeah, I guess. But then again, if people coming and telling you how to
change
your temple, you would be angry too." She thumbed the building.
Xellos grinned again and called out "Speaking of tacky, is that renovated
wing
to the Dragon temple still there?" He didn't even try to contain his
laughter
when he thought how Lina's gaudy architecture had been haphazardly tacked
onto
the wing of Dragon temple (which he was partly responsible for ruining.)
Lina was getting a little peeved, but she remembered the task at hand.
"Say Filia, when you stepped in there today, did you see anything about
changing
a person or their appearance?"
Filia looked confused at Lina's question.
"Changing a person's appearance? Hmm... I'm not sure. I wasn't in there for
a
very long time."
"And for your information, Xellos," Filia snapped with a sneer, "the
renovated
wing is gone now. We replaced it with something much nicer." Her eyes
sparkled
with stars and she clasped her hands dreamily.
"Not that your renovations weren't nice, Lina-san," she added hastily. "It
just... didn't fit in with the image of the temple itself."
Lina raised her hand as if to hit Filia, but it stayed, her wrist moving in
a
shooing manner.
"Doesn't matter, really. My heart wasn't into it very much, so its okay..."
"But why would you want to change someone's appearance?" Filia said with a
puzzled expression on her face.
Lina rubbed her chin as she rocked back on her heels. Questions of where
Zel had gone were rushing through her head. Besides, she was getting
hungrier
by the minute. THAT'S IT!
"Say Filia." Lina gained a ravenous look in her eyes. "How about we go and
talk
about this over some nice warm food, huh?"
Filia sweat-dropped at Lina's request, remembering Lina and Gourry's
combined
appetites.
"Er... sure, but I hope that both you and Gourry have enough money to pay
for
your own meals. And I'm certainly not going to pay for Xellos's meal!"
Lina fell face first into the ground at Filia's words. Groaning from her
spot on
the ground, she grumbled and whimpered.
"But, Filia, we don't HAVE any money. Gourry spent it all on some stupid
wooden
duck..."
Wide fiery eyes stared up at Filia pathetically, begging for food since her
mouth didn't dare beg for anything. Besides, she almost got anything she
wanted
by her gorgeous looks. Meanwhile, having allowed his thoughts to wonder,
Gourry's train of thought had inevitably drifted to that of cakes and beef
brisket. His knees started to go weak and his stomach rumbled like a
portable
earthquake.
The dragonette's eyes softened at the sight of Lina and Gourry at her feet,
beads of saliva threatening to flood the earth below.
"Oh, all right," she admitted in defeat, "I'll treat you guys for once...
until
you get money, ok?"
Lina jumped to her feet, hearts in her eyes.
"Oh thankyouthankthankyou!!"
Oh dear... this is going to be hard on my pocket, thought Filia. And I
wanted to
buy more nice vases too! Sigh.
Scooping up both Gourry and Filia (being hungry sure makes the laws of
physics
useless), she ran back to the tavern that she'd started the day at (the food
there had smelt especially good.) "C'mon, c'mon! Let's go!"
Xellos stood alone in the gaudy temple archway. Damn, he thought with
remorse;
he hadn't had the chance to deliver a really crushing remark to Filia. Oh
well.
Taunting Filia was fun and all, but he had his orders... and now he had to
attend to some business. His usually cheerful face sobered for a minute as
he
drifted towards the head priests office. Lina Inverse's problems could
wait.
As she was dragged along by the fiery strawberry-blonde, Filia noticed that
Xellos was not following them. Hmm... he's probably up to no good, she
thought.
I should find out what he intends to do and stop him before he does it...
but
Lina won't let me go without paying for their meal. Sigh, I hope Lina takes
pity on my emptying purse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Floating to the back door, Xellos read the name carved in the poorly
transmuted
gold plate (it looked an awful lot like shiny yellow lead.) "Hon. Br.
Rimmour."
Xellos jumped through the solid barrier and into a dimly lit office. The
inside
of the Temple was very much like the outside; the chartreuse green stripes
over
a floral magenta wallpaper made even the powerful Xellos wince, his eyes
rearing
in agony. In the corner, behind a bright orange desk, sat a surprisingly
young
scarecrow of a man in a vivid purple robe and a tall red hat; Xellos
presumed
him to be the Honorable Brother Rimmour. The man was stiffly hunched over a
mound of paperwork which he was scrawling over frantically, obviously too
busy
to notice the Mazoku. He looked as if he'd never seen the light of day, his
youthful face pasty and pale (& his dull brown hair looking like burnt
Astroturf.) He was obviously perturbed or panicked about something, for he
took
quick breaths, swatted profusely and the nostrils in his long portentous
nose
flared and contracted violently. Upon observing the evidence, Xellos came
to
the conclusion that Rimmour was a smeg.
Xellos pretended to clear his voice rather loudly. Brother Rimmour gave a
terrified yelp and his papers fell off the desk. Reaching out hysterically
to
grab them, the Honorable Brother Rimmour slid out of his chair with a very
painful "thump".
Xellos just stood there... with a sweat-bead on his forehead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plopping both Filia and Gourry down at a round table in the inn, Lina hailed
down a waiter. With only a brief glance at the menu, she ordered over half
of
the entrees (which is far too little from her usual order {she was probably
going to order seconds later.}) Rubbing her gloved hands together, she
awaited
the victuals.
"Ahh, food! I've been dying all day for it!"
She paused for a second, looking to Filia. "So, Filia, have you seen Zel? We
were looking for him when we ran into 2 Zel's, but we lost both." She
glared at
Gourry since it was HIM who was supposed to have captured at least one. "But
we
were guessing he was in one of those temples. Gourry found a paper that
said it
could help people changes themselves. Ever heard of anything like it?"
Multiple crashes were heard outside just before Zelgadis came sailing
through
the tavern wall. He landed atop the table nearest of Lina, Gourry, and
Filia.
Zelgadis was looking worse for wear while his companions looked
significantly
alarmed.
The crew viewed a second Zelgadis emerging from the clouds of dust, this Zel
walking angrily towards former. He reached towards Zel1 and lifted him up,
Zel1's body hanging limp in his arms. The conquering Zelgadis walked away
with
Zel1 hanging over his shoulder, never taking notice to the group sitting
just
feet away.
Jaws hung abound throughout the room.
"Uh, Lina," said Gourry, the first to break the silence. "Do we know two
Zelgadis's?"
Filia looked to either side, completely stunned. She just sat at the table,
not
even drinking her tea.
"Tell me, Lina-san, was that Zelgadis or not? And why are there two of
them?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the office of the Honorable Brother Rimmour, Xellos had made his
presence apparent and the young priest had grown severely frightened.
"Who the hell are you?" he stammered crossly. "How did you get in here??
I'll
have you know, Laddy, I hold audiences by appointment only!! That's IT!
You've
made The List!"
Brother Rimmour withdrew a pocket-sized booklet from his robes and a small
pencil from under his hat and scribbled fanatically, muttering;
"Purple-haired Freak, disturbing inventory accounting of new shipment of
Dragon
rectums...and being sneaky. Name..." He looked up, his nostrils flaring.
"Name and occupation, my good fruitcake?"
Xellos gave him half a smile. Just wait, he thought.
"Xellos... Mazoku Priest/General."
"Ah...very good. Xellos... Is that with a 'Z'?....Mazo-......." There was
an
awkward pause.
......
......
......
Br. Rimmour closed the book, his pale face having turned green and his eyes
unusually large.
"Ah......well, my 4:00 canceled, so I suppose I can spare my time."
Xellos grinned with malicious delight at his associate's fear. "How
fortunate.
I'm surprised to see you here; I was under the impression that this temple
was
run by Brother Kitshen."
It was Brother Rimmour's turn to smile... a rather twisted one that actually
made Xellos jump a little.
"We're under new management," said the priest.
The Honorable Brother Rimmour offered a seat, but Xellos politely refused,
explaining that he "looked more imposing in the half light if he was
standing
rather than sitting." Once again the Mazoku's playful continence went deadly
serious.
"I need to ask you about the Cockatrice Blood..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF EPISODE 1
Join us next time for
BLUE-GOO-KACHOO
or
WHEN WILE-ISH EYES ARE SMILING!!!
*GLOSSARY*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Mazoku- The destructive race linked to Ruby Eye Shabrinigdo. In most
English
translations, they have been called the "Monster" race.
**"Sore wa Himitsu"- In English, "That is a secret"; Xellos's famous phrase.
***Ryuzoku- The Dragon race, in every way the opposite of the Mazoku race.
********************************************************************************************
GIGA-WORKS is
ReganVSage: "Voice" of Lina Inverse, Moderator
Paper Tiger: "Voice" of Gourry Gabriev, Editor
Mo-chan: "Voice" of Xellos and Rimmour, Illustrator (and all-around
Smart-ass)
Jason-san: "Voice" of Zelgadis 1&2, Slacker
Moonhawk: "Voice" of Filia, (And Voice of Reason)
_________________________________________________________________
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