Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ The Slayers: Reward ❯ Move Out! The Start Of A New Mission. ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Slayers: Reward

Chapter 5: Move Out! The Start Of A New Mission.

By: Lord Archive

The Slayers belong to Hajime Kanazaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX, Software Sculptures Ltd., and many others. I do not own them. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them as quickly as I can since Lina and Gourry are eating away bank account.

This begins a few months after Slayers: Try. There are a few spoilers in this; I won't specifically explain anything, but I will refer to them. If you don't want even vague spoilers, I suggest that you don't read this.

Lime Warning: Nothing detailed, but occasional references to sexual relations and innuendoes occur.

-------------------*

Pain. That was the first thing she felt. She felt like someone just slammed her headfirst into a wall. She could have done without being able to relate this pain with something else.

Amelia opened her eyes and searing lances of the energy called sunlight shot through her eyes and exploded into her skull. That had been a bad idea. Not as bad as the idea to get drunk, but it ranked up there for stupid things to do. She cupped her hands over her head. "Recovery."

Accelerating the healing process was usually a good idea. However, when dealing with a hangover, the morning of pain crashed into minutes of unimaginable agony. She almost wished Xellos was here, he would love to have the free meal.

Amelia stopped before the healing process was finished. She was past the worst of it and didn't want to experience anymore of the self-induced hellfire. She should be able to function now.

The princess started to take in the features of the room. She was sitting against the wall next to the bed. Zelgadis was asleep in the bed and his hand was on her shoulder. She was still in her royal gown and there was ugly stain on it that she had no idea where it came from. The room was otherwise normal for a second rate inn.

Amelia wasn't sure what to make of all of this. She had gotten drunk while explaining everything to Zelgadis. Originally she only wanted the drinks to help deal with what she was talking about, but somehow it had become a plan to seduce Zelgadis, which she wasn't entirely sure had failed. The last thing she remembered was telling him about Lina and Gourry. She didn't remember coming up to his room or going to sleep. The fact she hadn't slept in the bed and that she was still in her dress, suggested they hadn't done anything. However, parts of the dress weren't where they should be, so she wasn't sure that she had worn the dress the entire night. Someone cleaning off what caused the stain or her movements while she slept could account for how her dress had shifted, but she failed to consider that.

Amelia shook her head. Thinking about it would get her no where, and she needed to get ready to face a new day. She carefully removed Zelgadis's hand off her shoulder. Seeing that he had not awakened, she started to take off her clothes. She couldn't use Lina and Gourry's room, and sort of hoped that Zelgadis wouldn't wake up. After she finished undressing, she reached into the dress and pulled out clean underwear and her normal fighting clothes. She always liked to be prepared, especially around Lina. Amelia began to put her clothes on.

What a way to start a day. Amelia had thought that with Lina styled sarcasm. Zelgadis had it as a completely uncharacteristic thought, but not entirely surprising considering he woke up to a half-naked well-endowed princess.

Amelia noticed that Zelgadis was staring at her. She pulled her shirt against her chest. "Ah, good morning."

"Ack!" Zelgadis quickly turned to face away from her. "Morning. Sorry."

Amelia didn't know entirely what to do. This was all new to her. "Um, Mr. Zelgadis?"

"Y-yes?"

"Did you take advantage of me last night?"

Zelgadis fell out of the bed. "Wha... What?! I wouldn't... I'd never... I mean...."

"Nothing happened?"

"Absolutely nothing beyond you passing out and throwing up." Well, she also said that she loved him, but that wasn't something Zelgadis wanted to bring up.

"Oh.... Sorry."

Zelgadis blinked at Amelia's tone. She sounded... disappointed. Did she want him to have taken advantage of her? That couldn't be it. That had better not be it. What was he going to do about this?

"You can get up. I've finished getting dressed."

Zelgadis slowly peeked over the bed and saw Amelia in her normal clothes and sighed with relief and a little disappointment. "I'll meet you for breakfast in a moment."

Amelia nodded and left.

Zelgadis prepared for the day. He was going to meet Lord Resdis and discuss some of the particulars of the mansion he had been hired to clear out any magic or ghosts. Particularly where to find the mansion. He had best be ready for anything.

Zelgadis picked up his canteen and gazed at the bracelet attached to it. The promise connected to the bracelet had been broken, but neither of them had any control over it. There was nothing they could do, but try to force the intent of the promise. That he would find his cure and that they attempt a relationship. However, the original promise also included that Amelia would wait for him, and that was not possible anymore.

Zelgadis clutched the bracelet in his hand. With the promise gone, Amelia wasn't going to wait for him to be ready. She was forcing him to decide to be with her or to push her away. There was no middle road. He exited his room and muttered, "How am I suppose to deal with someone who wants me to take advantage of her?"

"Unless she's butt ugly, you take advantage of her."

Zelgadis glared at the guy who said that. "I didn't ask for any opinions."

The man had black hair down to his shoulders and wearing chain mail shirt over a green padding. An evil looking sword hung on the left side of his black pants. "Then don't ask rhetorical questions aloud."

Zelgadis growled. "Don't give any suggestions unless you've got all the facts."

"What's there to know? She wants you, so you go and do her. What is the problem with that?"

Zelgadis stomped off. "Because it would force me to marry her."

"Then run for the hills and don't look back."

-------------------*

Now that breakfast was over, all they had to do was wait for Zelgadis's employer to give them the information. But there was one thing Lina wanted to make clear first. "Now, Gourry, just so you understand, when I'm doing things related to my job...."

Gourry interrupted, "What job is that?"

"Attacking bandits, dealing with mazoku, treasure hunting, almost everything else we've been doing for the past few years!"

"Oh."

"Anyway, when I'm doing stuff like that, I'm going to use the name that everyone recognizes me as, Lina Inverse."

"I thought it was Bandit Killer and Dragon Spooker. And what's wrong with using my name?"

Lina's eye twitched. At least Gourry didn't reference the other prevalent title, 'the enemy of all who live.' "I've spent four years building a reputation as Lina Inverse. If I start going around as Lina Gabriev, I'd practically have to start over. Besides, when we retire from the adventuring business, I'd rather not have people know that Lina Gabriev was the Bandit Killer. Someone might try to get revenge on me by attacking our family."

"You don't have to worry about the Gabriev family, we're capable of defending ourselves."

Lina shook her head. "That's not what I mean. We'll eventually have kids, and someone might try to hurt me by hurting them."

"Oh. But Lina... it means a lot to me that you're my wife. I want you to use my name."

"Even when I'm blowing up cities?"

"Well, yes... I guess."

Lina sighed. "Please, Gourry. The name Lina Inverse carries a lot of clout. It is feared and respected everywhere. If I use your name, someone might be stupid enough to challenge me. I'll use your name when I'm not working, but when I'm going after bandits-- I don't want them to think they have a chance of fighting me. Do you understand?"

"No."

"Gourry...."

Gourry sagged. "But if it's what you want...."

Lina smiled appreciatively. "Thanks. But just remember that I'm happy that my children will be Gabrievs." Well not entirely happy, but livable. And preferably she would just have one child when she was in her mid-twenties.

Gourry smiled at that.

-------------------*

Zelgadis wondered if he should return the bracelet. When she had given him it, he had promised to give it back when he was ready to attempt a relationship. Did he want to work on his relationship with her? Not yet, was his thought-- but it also came with Amelia's statement that she didn't have a choice. If they were to try and make this work, he would probably end up married to her and potentially Prince of Sailoon. If he rejected her, he would lose the only girl who had ever cared for him and she would end up in a loveless marriage. Neither were entirely good options. He wasn't ready for the first, and hated the second one.

Zelgadis handed Amelia the bracelet she had given him.

Amelia's lip quivered. "Mr. Zelgadis...." He couldn't be giving it back to dump her. Had she been too forceful last night?

"Just thought I'd return it seeing as how the promise doesn't work anymore."

"But... does this mean that...?"

"What?" Zelgadis looked at her frightened face. He sighed realizing she was taking this the wrong way. "Amelia, I promised to return that when I was ready attempt to have a normal relationship. Okay, so I'm not entirely ready and we can't have a normal relationship, but I'm willing to make an attempt to have one. But, let's not rush things too much. We still have a few months."

Amelia's smile lit up the room. "I... Yes, Mr. Zelgadis." She took off the bracelet on her right wrist and moved it to her left, and then put on the one Zelgadis gave her.

"Why were you wearing your left bracelet on your right arm?"

"Well...." Amelia adjusted the right bracelet. "I kept seeing the missing bracelet and kind of felt lonely since it reminded me that you weren't with me. So, I wore the left one on my right wrist, knowing that you had the right bracelet made me fell like you were always with me."

"Um, okay...."

-------------------*

Lina hated waiting for someone who decided to be 'fashionably late,' especially from a minor lord of a backwater village. If she waited any longer for him, he might just end up being 'late' period.

The plump noble in gaudy robes waddled over to Zelgadis an hour after he was supposed to arrive at the inn. "Greetings, Zelgadis. If you would come with me, I will explain the job."

"Greetings, Lord Resdis. My friends want in on it as well."

The nobleman crossed his arms. "I only hired you. I will not pay any more to have that mansion cleared."

"You don't have to. The money we agreed upon will be given to her." Zelgadis pointed at Lina. "The only thing that we ask is that we are to be allowed to search through any books on magic we can find there and keep any that relate in any way to chimera."

Lina scowled. She wanted to renegotiate the contract, they would've gotten more from the noble that way. Unfortunately, Zelgadis was the only one who knew him and he didn't want to draw this out longer than it had to be.

Lord Resdis "Well, I've been told that my great-great-grandfather did do some work on merging things, so there might be something there." He shrugged. He wasn't a sorcerer and wouldn't know what to do with any of those books besides sell them. All he wanted was the house. "I guess that would be acceptable."

Zelgadis smiled. Now he wouldn't have to steal them.

Lord Resdis sat at the table. "I'll start explaining everything after Ravven gets here."

"I'm already here. And if that's the girl who's going after you, marriage wouldn't be bad after all." Ravven sat down next to Gourry and smirked at Amelia.

Amelia blushed under the man's gaze.

Zelgadis scowled. "I wish you'd keep your opinions to yourself."

"You know him?" Lina asked.

"Not at all." Ravven smiled at the red-head. "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves if we're all going to take this job. I'll go first. My name is Ravven Del Woods."

Amelia nodded. "The mercenary sorcerer-swordsman from White Woods? I've heard about some of the freelance work you did for Sailoon."

Ravven smiled. "My reputation precedes me. I'm honored that you know me."

"Zelgadis Graywords."

"Amelia."

"Lina Inverse."

Gourry sagged. "Gourry Gabriev."

"Lina Inverse? I'm truly impressed to be in your company." Ravven bowed slightly to her.

Lord Resdis looked at them skeptically, particularly Lina. He then shrugged. He didn't care if she was the Bandit Killer or if she was lying. He just wanted her and her friends to do the job. He placed a map on the table. "Almost two hundred years ago, my great-great-grandfather built a mansion here." He pointed at the red 'X' on the map. "He spent over a hundred years there before disappearing. I don't know much of what's in there since the last person who lived there was my great-grandfather. What I do know is that the place is filled with magical traps and a possibly a few ghosts."

Lina leaned toward the noble. "So, you just want us to go in there and do some magical house-cleaning so you can move into your ancestral home?"

Lord Resdis nodded. "I'd like this done by the end of this week."

"Should be a piece of cake."

"What was your great-great-grandfather's name?" Zelgadis asked.

Lord Resdis blinked. "Um, well... I think it's Tezo. No... Frezo? Mezo? Hmm... It's something like that." He got up from the table. "When you finish the job, come to my house and I shall pay you what I agreed upon. Remember, I want the place cleared out before the week is over. Goodbye."

Zelgadis had looked at the man in a similar fashion he would look at Gourry when he had said something extremely stupid. How could the man not know the name of the original owner of his ancestral home? Zelgadis couldn't suppress the smile that was forming. The information was more proof that the house was Rezo's.

Lina absently thought about the mission while playing footsie. Nothing major to do with this one. A couple Flow Breaks should clear the house nicely. An easy job, a chance to cure Zelgadis, and a couple hundred gold for her trouble. Seemed a bit TOO good, but it was certainly worth a shot. Her thoughts derailed as she realized the boots she was feeling with her feet were not Gourry's. "Why you?! Flare Arrow!"

Ravven was blasted across the room. "Ow... Why did you do that?"

Lina growled. "Come on, we've got to prepare for the mansion. We start tomorrow morning."

Gourry followed her. "Lina, why did you blast him?"

"Forget about it."

Zelgadis turned to his new, and burnt-crispy, teammate. "What did you do?"

"I was just playing footsie with her. If she wanted to stop, she should have just said something."

Amelia blinked. "You're lucky she only cast Flare Arrow at you. She has killed people for less."

"Touchy girl." Ravven shrugged. "Oh, well. We leave at the crack of dawn?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "Probably two hours after that. It'll take Lina and Gourry that long to eat breakfast."

Amelia got up from the table and looked at Zelgadis. "I guess, I'd better see about getting another room." Seeing him nod, she started to go over to the innkeeper.

Ravven stopped her and pointed at the 'no vacancy' sign. "Don't bother. The town is having a festival next week and guests are already starting to arrive for it."

"Oh, right. Next week is the Hunter's Festival." That wasn't good. She had been invited to attend by a dozen rather minor nobles, some of whom might still attend it. They had better finish this job before next week, since she did not want to deal with them. But the upcoming festival caused her another problem. She looked at Zelgadis. "I guess we'll have to share the room."

Zelgadis sighed. "I guess. But no drinking and don't try anything."

Amelia hung her head. "I won't."

-------------------*

Lina wanted to leave Ravven behind. There was no point for him to be part of the group. And his flirting was getting on her nerves. At least they should be at the mansion soon and can get this job done quickly and leave him behind.

"Um, Mrs. Lina?"

Lina turned to Amelia. "Yes?"

"I was thinking about what to do if this doesn't work, and Zelgadis doesn't get cured." Amelia smiled brightly.

"Good, we'll probably need something to fall back on. So, what's is your idea?"

Amelia walked a little ahead of Lina. "I feel we should visit your sister next. As the Ceiphied Knight, she might be able to help him. Besides, I'm sure she would be happy to meet her new brother-in-law. Isn't that a great idea?" The princess turned around, and Lina had vanished. "Mrs. Lina?"

The shaking tree over Amelia called out, "Absolutely NOT! There is NO way I'm going to see my sister if I can avoid it!"

"But, Mrs. Lina...."

Lina hopped out of the tree. "Listen, I know my sister, and while she has a LOT of power, she doesn't have what Zelgadis needs. If she did, I would've told him where to find her a long time ago. So, there is no reason to go there."

"If you say so, but I still think...."

"I am not going to see her. That's final!"

Amelia sagged. What problem did Lina have with her sister? Why would the mere mention of the Ceiphied Knight scare her, when the knight is suppose to be the highest champion of Ceiphied, the god of life?

Lina decided to change the topic. "Any luck?"

"Huh?" Amelia looked at Lina bewildered. "Luck?"

"Yes, with Zelgadis. Did you two do anything?"

Amelia shook her head. "We talked a bit last night, that's all."

"Better luck next time."

The girls turned and looked at Ravven.

Lina scowled. "Keep your nose out of our business."

"Sorry." Ravven raised his hands in mock defense. He wondered what their previous conversation was about to have caused Lina to act so strangely. He could try to find out what it was later, since that could wait. "I just wanted to ask a question."

"What is it?"

Ravven smiled at Lina. "Do you know how Gaav died?"

Lina shook her head. Was he honestly going to try to use that 'I killed a shard of Shabranigdo, Fibrizo, and/or Gaav' line on her? She knew the true answer though. "Fibrizo killed him because he wouldn't follow the mazoku party-line."

"Oh." Ravven shook his head sadly and then shrugged. "He always had to do what he wanted."

"Huh?" Amelia questioned.

Lina blinked as he started to move to the back of the group. His response was nothing like she expected. "You knew Gaav?"

"In passing."

-------------------*

The exterior of the mansion was rather unimpressive. The house was two-stories tall and maybe fifty meters wide. Lina doubted there would be more than twenty rooms, not counting closets. The strange part about the mansion was that it didn't look very old. Maybe ten or twenty years, definitely not the two hundred years it was reported to be.

"Let's get this over with." Lina went to the front doors and pushed them opened. The main room appeared to be oppressively black. Light from the outside seemed to refuse to enter. Once the entire group was inside the mansion, the doors slammed shut. Light then ignited, bringing an unearthly glow to the enormous room they were in. The room looked to be three-stories tall, twenty meters wide and thirty meters long with two elegantly crafted mirrored staircases.

Ravven pulled out his sword. "I guess it's too late to have a bad feeling about this place."

Lina looked around the room. She was not pleased with this at all. "You can always go out the doors."

"What doors?"

Lina turned and looked at Ravven. Behind him where there should be double doors was a solid wall.

So much for her nice and simple job.

*-------------------*

A flash of darkness washed over a seat at a small inn. Xellos was now sitting there and waved cheerfully at the waitress.

"What do you want?" the purple haired waitress sneered.

"Some mint tea would be nice."

The waitress muttered under her breath as she turned away and a moment later the tea suddenly appeared on the table.

Xellos smiled and picked up the tea. "Now, I suppose you are wondering what this is all about." He took a long sip. "Who am I talking to? Why you, the reader. I haven't had an obvious part in this so I thought I'd corrupt Archive's author notes and let you in on a few secrets."

Xellos took another sip. "Why would I tell you any secrets? Simple, its much more fun watching others bumble around when they don't know what's going on. Since I can't feed off of you and you can't interfere in what's going on, I might as well help you understand what's going on that way you can better enjoy their folly."

The waitress tapped her foot. "Are you going to order any food?"

"I think I'll have one of your Personal Special Surprise."

"Whatever."

A covered plate appeared on the table. Xellos gleefully lifted off the lid. "Yum. Live slugs in gravy. I still wonder why Lina hates these. Oh well." He popped one into his mouth.

"Now where to begin? Perhaps you want to know about the mansion that I helped Resdis find. Well, that's a secret. Can't let you know everything yet." Xellos chuckled. "How about the high priest of hypocrisy, Towermere? Now he's someone I can explain. Why would this servant of Ceiphied, defender of life, teach a young chaste shrine maiden about birds, bees, and abortion? Well, its because he's a bit biased. He holds the view that most, if not all, nobles will experiment sexually at some point with a servant or peasant. It is not entirely unfounded as history is filled with incidents of that occurring, most notably in recent history was Prince Phil being with a peasant girl turned adventurer. Phil, of course, did the honorable thing and married her when she became pregnant, however she had not been approved by the noble council so Crown Prince Phil would not become king. That dubious honor would be passed on to someone else, barring that they succeed going through all of Sailoon's requirements. There's a lot of bureaucratic red tape involved that would take too long to explain in full."

"Oh, you want to know about Towermere's new resistance to magic. It is the 'mazoku' amulet he wears that protects him. While it's not a big secret, you'll just have to wait for Lina to find out about it before you get any specifics on it. What? Did you honestly expect me to give any secrets about the true plot of this? You didn't?" Xellos shrugged. "I guess you know me too well."

Xellos finished off the slugs. "If my waitress's lovely scowl means anything, I've overstayed my welcome."

"You wore it out over a thousand years ago."

"Right. See you around, Luna-dear." A few coins clattered onto the table.

"Send Sis and her husband my regards."

"Certainly." Xellos vanished in a puff of blackness.

Luna growled looking at the coins. "No tip and he didn't even leave in the thank you message to Archive's pre-readers." She then shrugged. "What else should I expect from a monster?"