Sylphiel sat dejectedly at the table, picking listlessly at the food in
front of her.
"Sylli-chan, don't let him get to you." Gourry reassured her, patting
her
shoulder, "He just loves shocking people."
"Does he ever lie?" she whispered.
"No…at least, I don't think he does…I mean, I don't remember him ever
lying,
but I don't always remember stuff, so maybe he did lie once or
twice…but I
don't think so… Yeah, I'm pretty sure I remember Lina saying he
doesn't
lie."
"So I am evil then."
Gourry was confused. "Sylli-chan, you're the best, sweetest girl I
know,
how could you be evil?"
Sylphiel sighed. "If he's telling the truth, then I'm half Mazoku…and
even
half a creature of darkness is still evil beyond any human."
Gourry still didn't quite understand, but what he did know was that she
needed comfort and reassurance, and he knew how to fix that. He
reached
over and bundled her into his arms.
"It doesn't make any sense." Sylphiel sobbed, "Father always said Mother
was
sweet and kind and wonderful, how can she have been a Mazoku?"
"Just because she was a Mazoku doesn't mean she can't have been all
those
things you said too." Gourry assured her.
Sylphiel just shook her head. There was no point in trying to explain
it to
him, Gourry, she knew, made his own decisions about how the world
worked,
and selfish though it might be, she didn't want to try to make him
distrust
her…his recently-admitted love for her was far too precious to her.
"You still don't believe me, do you Sylli-chan?" Gourry said, "I guess
I'll
have to prove how I feel about you all over again, won't I?" He
shifted his
hold on her and scooped her up into his arms, then carried her up the
stairs
and into their room.
* * * * * * * * *
The next morning found Lina and Zelgadis speeding along beside the road
after a breakfast of one cup of coffee apiece. Lina was amazed how,
even
after a VERY busy night, she still felt full of energy and ready to run
all
day.
Even so, they kept to a pace only slightly faster than a normal human
running speed. Zel didn't want to tax Lina too much, and after all, it
wasn't as though Gourry and Sylphiel couldn't likely handle Xellos most
of
the time; and Sylphiel might be upset for some totally unrelated
reason…but
then again, probably not.
As before, Lina found running exhilarating, the rush of sounds and
smells
and sights not in the least distracting to her. She could sense Zel's
own
exhileration as she ran beside him, and she grinned over at him.
"I could run beside you forever." she said softly, confident that he
would
hear her.
"I just wish the circumstances were less worrisome. I don't trust
Xellos as
far as an infant cold throw him." Zelgadis muttered.
They skirted a small town a couple of hours later, but just continued
running. Neither one of them was hungry, and Lina now knew towns were
more
trouble than they were worth.
* * * * * * * * *
In the town, in a small but busy taproom, one of the waitresses looked
up
suddenly. "So…that's why I was sent here." She turned to the barkeep,
"I'm
taking my break now, I should be back in a couple of hours at the
most."
The barkeep just nodded…he had already learned that her wrath was not
to be
tempted.
Borrowing a small amount of power, the waitress teleported a little
distance
in front of the person she wished to speak to, then sat down on a
folding
chair which she pulled out of nowhere to wait.
* * * * * * * * *
As she ran, Lina caught a whiff of a familiar scent on the breeze, but
she
couldn't identify it. Soon enough it became apparent though. Up ahead
she
could see a buxom, purple-haired waitress sitting on a folding
deckchair,
and looking for all the world as though she was simply enjoying a break.
Lina stopped dead in her tracks.
"Neechan? Oh Gods…" her hands started to shake, "She's going to be
furious
with me!"
Zel stopped soon after Lina did and hurried back to her. "Lina, what's
wrong?" he asked her, taking her shoulders in his hands.
"Over there…Neechan…" Lina gestured.
Zel was shocked. From what he could sense, Lina wasn't just scared,
she was
flat-out terrified! Of her sister? Well, now was not the time to
reason
why. He slipped his arm around her and gripped her shoulder, giving it
a
bit of a squeeze. "It'll be okay." He reassured her.
"Zel, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but it will most definitely
NOT
be okay." Lina said, shaking her head, "This is my sister we're talking
about…she's…No, if I tell you THAT she'll kill me for SURE!" Lina took
a
deep breath and looked at Zel. "Alright, let's go." she said, trying
not to
look scared.
Zel slid his arm down until he was holding her hand, and Lina gripped
it so
tightly he could hear something crunch.
When they reached her, Luna was leaning casually back in her chair.
"Hello
Lina," she said, "I was wondering if I would run into…" She sat up
straighter in her chair and Lina took a couple of steps backward.
"N…Neechan…I can explain…I…"
"Her present appearance is my fault." Zelgadis interrupted.
"Zel, I told you, it's not your fault." Lina contradicted him just as
Luna
said, "And who are you?"
"Neechan, this is Zelgadis Greywords…Zel, this is my older sister, Luna
Inverse."
"Zelgadis hmm? So Zelgadis, tell me; just how exactly is my sister's
present condition your fault? You don't have some sort of a
transference
curse, do you?"
"No, but let me explain…"
"Zel, how many times do I have to tell you it's not your fault?"
"Lina, how many times do I have to tell you not to interrupt? I'm
talking
to Zelgadis right now, you'll get your chance to explain in a minute,
when
I'm done with him."
"Yes Neechan." Lina said with a bowed head.
Zel was once again shocked at how much power Luna seemed to have over
the
normally carefree woman he loved. He resolved to tread carefully…if
she
could scare LINA, she was most likely a force to be reckoned with.
"So, you were going to explain this condition to me…" Luna prompted
Zelgadis.
"Well, to start off, I wasn't born looking the way I do now. Through
my own
pride and vanity, I accepted an offer which, had I been thinking, I
should
have immediately refused. The words 'You will be completely
transformed'
should have given me a clue, but I was too eager for the promised power
to
really listen to what he was saying." Zel explained, "The result of
that
deal was the body you see now."
"Well and good," Luna said, "But what about Lina? She knows better
than to
make such a foolish bargain." Luna glared at her sister, who cowered
before
her.
"Since Lina has known me, I've been constantly searching for a cure to
my
condition. Almost a week ago, Lina heard of a possible cure for me,
and
went on her own to check it out, since I was away."
"And this is why you say this is your fault?" Luna asked.
"If I hadn't been so obsessed with finding a cure, Lina wouldn't have
gone
to that 'Ura no Shinden' looking for it for me." Zel said.
Luna nodded slightly. "Alright then. Lina," she turned to her imouto,
"Why
exactly, when you heard about this possible cure, did you not simply
wait
until Zelgadis returned and tell him about it? Why did you choose to
go
yourself?"
"Because Zel's tried so many possible cures and been disappointed. I
simply
wanted to spare him yet another false cure."
"That's the whole reason? It's not like you to be so altruistic Lina,
there
must be more to it than that." Luna said incredulously.
Lina nodded reluctantly. "The reason why I went looking for a cure for
Zel
is that I love him very much, and even though I don't think he needs a
cure,
he thinks he does, and that's reason enough for me." she said firmly.
Luna smiled. "Seems like a good reason to me," she agreed, "but you
still
haven't explained exactly how you came to share this curse you were
trying
to remo…wait, you said the name of the temple was Ura no Shinden, the
temple
of reversal, right?"
Lina nodded warily.
"Well that explains everything then." Luna nodded knowingly. She
looked up
at the sky. "Time for me to get back to work." she said as she stood
and
banished the folding chair to whichever pocket dimension she had pulled
it
from originally. "I expect to see you home in a month or two…bring a
few
friends." Luna said as she herself disappeared.
"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.
