Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ An Oath to Oblivion ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

An Oath to Oblivion - Chapter Two

 

“They got here quicker than we expected,” Xelloss commented as they ran.

“That means that they were able to find Mariebell,” Lina explained, and cursed her luck for involving her friend. Mariebell wasn't exactly the type to rant, so that probably meant they pressed her for information. Please be safe, Lina prayed.

The footsteps were getting closer. “They're catching up,” Xelloss remarked nonchalantly.

Lina anchored her heel into the ground. “Then let's see how they take this. Fireball!”

The spell shot from her hands and exploded upon impact. Its range of effect managed to include a couple of others as well, but more was not far behind. “Gah I'm sick of this already!” Lina whined, pulling a couple hairs from her head.

“But we've only just begun,” Xelloss happily remarked.

She shot him a glare. “I don't see you helping out here.”

“But…”

“I know, I know. `I can't get involved.'” She sighed. It was useless to expect his help. Then again, he had just done her a big favor--springing her from prison. She was already in his debt; better not add to what she owed him.

She crouched to dodge an oncoming attack then lashed back at the creature with a punch, knocking it out of the way. It landed on its feet and launched another attack at her, which she countered with a Diem Wing. The spell managed to push a couple of her pursuers back, but they were quick to come back with full force.

“Geh. That does it!” Lina said, and stopped to take on the creatures. She chanted a quick spell and let it loose from her hands. “Blast Ash!”

The creatures were caught in the line of fire and disintegrated, reduced to a pile of dust. Lina wiped her brow and placed her hands on her hips, proud of her work. She turned to Xelloss and gave him the thumbs-up. “How do you like that?”

He gave her a cheery look. “Well that's all and good, but…”

He suddenly lunged forward with his staff, barely skimming the side of her face. She looked flabbergasted as he said, “You missed one.”

“Ah--” She swallowed and dropped her head to recollect herself and calm her pacing heart, then met his gaze and said, “Thanks again.”

“Anytime,” he replied, though they both knew there was no meaning behind the word. He was only helping her as long as nothing was particularly preventing him from doing so. Had there been an obstacle, he might have just stood there and let her be caught. It was a good thing there wasn't, he thought, and for once realized that there was something he would have otherwise liked to be disobedient for.

She rotated her wrist, working out the leftover pains from punching her attacker. “Tch. I wish I at least had a clear idea why it is I'm being pursued,” she complained with a foul look.

“They didn't explain it to you?”

“When they apprehended me the first time I was told that I had been involved as an accomplice in some sort of scheme for mass murder,” she explained. “And from the description they gave me, the ringleader of the operation was a heartless swordsman with silver hair who was responsible for the destruction of a number of towns.”

“Zelgadiss-san?” Xelloss asked.

“No way! Someone framed us, and they did a good job of it.”

“I see.” He pondered the thought for a second. “So then they convicted you without a trial and sent you to prison?” Xelloss asked, piecing the information together. “Now I see. No wonder you're so concerned for Zelgadiss-san.”

“Right. That's why I'm trying to find out who it was that leaked this information out in the first place and wring a confession out of them. I'm sick of having high ransoms on my head,” she said, recalling events from years ago with Rezo's follower, Eris. Dodging towns meant she would not get good sleep or food, and a hungry Lina…well, it's best just not to go there.

“I have one question, though. How did they manage to restrain you?” Xelloss asked.

Lina blushed. “Th-that's something you don't need to know.”

He was confused for a second, but quickly figured the answer out on his own. “Oh, it must have been that. That's some really bad timing.”

“Drop the subject, will you!” she fumed.

“Then do you have any leads?”

She sighed. “I wish I could say yes…but no.” She pressed her fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes to think. “My woman's intuition says it's someone with a grudge against me, but then the question is who? It's not like I go around making enemies of people,” she added.

“Maybe not people…” Xelloss commented quietly. The girl had a knack for being the target of vengeance of someone, whether they were human or not. “Perhaps you should start by asking someone who would know about public issues. Amelia-san, maybe?” he suggested.

She moved her fingers from her forehead to her chin, making a thoughtful expression. “Hmm…I guess that's a possibility.” Then she gleefully added, “Well, I haven't seen Amelia in a while anyway. It couldn't hurt to visit.”

 

The trek to Saillune from Zefielia wasn't a particularly long one, but it would probably still be at least a day's worth of travel. Knowing this, Lina decided it would be best to stock up on food supplies before beginning their quest.

She handed Xelloss a small gem. “See what you can get for that, and come back with three or four servings of food.”

From the weight, Xelloss estimated the money was enough to feed only about two average appetites. “What if it comes up short?”

She gave him a threatening look. “It won't, will it?”

He gave her a very disappointed look. “Lina-san…”

“I know,” she said, sighing tiredly. “But there's nothing I can do about it. They took the majority of my possessions when I was imprisoned. This is all I managed to save.”

He hesitated before responding, “Alright. I'll help you just this once.”

She smiled gratefully at him. “Don't worry. I'll repay you for everything later.”

“Sure,” he said, and waved to her as he turned to leave.

“Hurry,” Lina shouted after him as he vanished. “My stomach can't hold out for much longer!” She then stretched out on the ground to bathe in the sun for a while. Before long, a horrifying thought occurred to her. With a terrified gasp, she shot up and began to break out into cold sweat. “I forgot to tell him not to go near that restaurant…but what are the chances?” She glanced right and left, deliberating whether or not to go after him, finally deciding against it. “Maybe I should start running…”

 

Xelloss had never set foot in Zefielia before. He looked around as he walked, taking note of the lives of its inhabitants and the culture they seemed to exhibit. As the rumors said, the town was filled with heroes and legendary figures of the time, along with aspiring youth. It was interesting to see these people living otherwise normal lives in this kingdom after having retired from their heroic days.

He casually strolled down the street until he reached the market and began to purchase foodstuffs for the journey. He casually slung the large load over his shoulder and started on his way back out of the town when he was suddenly stopped by a burly looking man.

“Hey you. You look like you've got a good pair on you. Want to take on a job?” the man asked.

Xelloss frowned a bit. “I'm sorry. I'm kind of in a hurry…”

The man slapped him on the back, preventing his escape. “It's a simple job, and I'll make it worth your while,” he said. “Ten thousand for just a small delivery.”

Seeing that he couldn't easily escape the man's grasp, Xelloss conceded temporary defeat. “Where do I need to deliver it?” he asked in a dull tone.

“You see, my men took a shipment of items with them just this morning along the south road. I'd like you to catch up to them and bring this with you. If you'd come this way…”

The man ushered Xelloss towards his shop, never once releasing his hold on the poor priest. Xelloss looked less than pleased. Lina-san isn't going to appreciate this, he thought.

 

The man gestured towards a large wooden crate that was stored alone in the back of his shop. “Of course, I'll provide you with a wheelbarrow and horse to pull this,” the man said.

Xelloss proceeded to get the job over with, but he was startled when he heard snarling come from inside the crate. He whirled around to face the man. “What is inside?” he demanded.

“Oh don't worry. It's friendly,” the man responded cheerfully, dodging the question. Xelloss eyed him skeptically as he walked over to help move the crate. “It shouldn't be far down the road. I'll even let you keep the horse. You won't get a better offer,” he said.

Xelloss sighed. “Alright,” he said, and began helping the man load the cargo onto the wheelbarrow to tie to the horse. As they were finishing up the preparations, a voice called out from the front.

“Ruwaf-san! Are you there?”

The man raised his head. “Come on in!” he shouted back.

A young woman with cropped purple hair walked in, dressed in a waitress outfit. She paused when she saw the scene, but then a look of glee took over her face. “You sold it?” she asked excitedly.

Ruwaf nodded. “This young man here is going to take it to my men up ahead so they can transport it to the buyer.”

The woman walked up to Xelloss and took his hand to shake. “Thank you for taking this job. We've had this thing for a while now and it's been a pain to get rid of.”

He looked confused. “How did you get a hold of it in the first place?” he asked.

“It's been causing trouble just outside of town for a while now. Since it was driving the customers away, I went out to contain it,” she explained.

“That easily?” he wondered. He could tell that, whatever the creature was, it didn't have a nice temper. To the mysterious visitor he asked, “May I have your name?”

She innocently tilted her head to the side, unsure why he was asking. “Luna. Yours?”

The name rang a bell, but he wasn't quite sure why. “Xelloss,” he replied.

She smiled. “Nice to meet you. Well if that's all then I have to get back to my job.” She turned and waved as she ran off. “See you later Ruwaf-san, Xelloss-san.”

Xelloss tried to pinpoint exactly where he had heard the name before, but he ended up shrugging the thought off. Thinking about it any longer wasn't going to help him, and he had other matters to deal with. The cargo was apparently not getting any happier.

 

“What took you…wait, what is that?” Lina asked, jumping up to meet Xelloss. He was leading a horse by its reins with a large bag of food slung over its back, which was fine, but then she noticed that the horse was wheeling along cargo behind it, which was not fine.

He averted his gaze. “Well, you see…I got forced into taking a job that would require me--us--to take this cargo up to another group along the road,” he explained, afraid of her retort. “Oh, did you happen to see them?” he asked.

“Yeah. They passed by a while ago, so they shouldn't be too far down the road,” she said, hiding her irritation. She paused before continuing, “You didn't happen to talk to anyone strange there did you…?”

“Hm? No, I just spoke to Ruwaf-san and Luna-san.”

A spine tingling sensation paralyzed Lina at the mention of her sister's name. With tiny sweat beads running down her neck, she asked, “The waitress…?”

“I think so,” Xelloss replied. He noticed the sorceress's strange reaction and reached out to tap her shoulder. “Lina-san?”

Lina screamed out in complete fear as his finger touched her shoulder. She jumped approximately twenty feet into the air then took off running down the road screaming, “No! Please don't hurt me!” A dustbowl was left behind in her wake.

Xelloss looked after her in confusion. “Was it something I said?” he wondered, trying to think of the few things that could incite such a reaction out of Lina. “Slugs, her sister…” He paused. “What was her sister's name? …Oh! That makes sense. So that was her sister,” he said, making the motion of dropping his fist into the palm of his other hand, connecting the ideas. An image of the waitress he saw popped into his head. “They look nothing alike.”

He tied the reins of the horse to a nearby tree. “I'll be right back,” he told it and vanished.

 

Lina was sitting down next to the road when Xelloss found her. Her head was buried in her arms, which were folded atop her knees, and her shoulders were shaking. He approached her slowly and crouched down before her before softly calling her name: “Lina-san?”

She twitched slightly at the sound of his voice but did not raise her head. He waited a while for a response, but when she refused to budge he reached out to gently pat her head. At his touch, she raised her head just enough to reveal her teary eyes. They seemed to say the words: I hate you.

He really started to feel a bit guilty for causing her so much torment, despite how much he was enjoying her flood of negative emotions. “I'm sorry. I never mentioned your name to her so you'll be fine,” he said.

“If you had, I wouldn't be alive right now to hate you for it,” Lina griped. She sniffed and wiped her tears from her eyes, then stood up. A deep breath helped to calm her down. Then she looked at him and added, “If onee-chan knew about me being here after what's happened, do you have any idea what she'd do to me?”

Xelloss stood up as well. “What?”

“She would beat me to a pulp with a bamboo stick--that's what she would do,” Lina answered, shuddering at the thought. “You have no idea what she's capable of.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the oncoming traffic from down the road. It was the group of merchants that Ruwaf had dispatched earlier that day. That reminded Xelloss of the cargo that he had left behind, and he stepped forward to ask the caravan to wait for him to bring it to them. Before he could do so, though, he noticed something peculiar further down the road coming in their direction.

He shielded his eyes from the sun with a hand to get a clearer view. “That looks like the horse, and it looks rather panicked,” he said.

“Why? What did you do to it?” Lina asked, glancing at him inquisitively.

“I left it tied to a tree.”

“Then what could have spooked it?”

Xelloss didn't need to answer the question. A small green dragon came swooping down from the sky at the horse and caravan. The horse managed to dodge the path of attack by changing its direction, but the caravan was not so lucky. Lina watched the scene with her jaw hung open in disbelief.

Lina turned to Xelloss and pointed adamantly at the creature in the sky. “You were transporting a dragon!?”

He rubbed the back of his head with a hand. “Well, I didn't quite know there was a dragon inside of there,” he replied, embarrassed. “When I tried to ask, the owner dodged the question.”

“You moron!” Lina shouted. She yelped as the dragon took aim at both of them, flying past at an incredibly high speed. Xelloss stood effortlessly as the gust blew by, but Lina stumbled forward and latched onto his waist for support. “Do something about it!” she demanded, grabbing the collar of his shirt and threatening him with a pair of fangs.

“Well even if you tell me to, I'm not exactly able to do anything to it that wouldn't kill it outright,” he said, paying no mind to her sudden ferocity. “That would be something up your field of expertise.”

“Stop joking around! I'm not responsible for this!”

“But if you don't do anything about it, those people are going to suffer the consequences,” he said, pointing at the group of merchants that was scrambling around for shelter. Their merchandise was practically torn apart, and they seemed ready to abandon it in exchange for their lives.

She groaned. “But what could I do? Dragon skin is incredibly tough, so attacking it with anything but a Dragon Slave probably wouldn't do anything to it.”

Xelloss took another look at the dragon. “It still looks like a young dragon. Perhaps an amplified Digger Bolt might be enough to knock it out?”

“Well…maybe,” Lina said, pondering the idea. “I guess it's worth a shot.”

As the dragon came back around for another wave, Lina began to cast the spell between her hands. When it came to a fairly close distance, Lina released the magic directly at its line of fire. “Digger Bolt!”

The lightning shot forward from the palm of her hand and shocked the dragon. It cried out in response and fell to the ground, but its momentum sent it skidding forward towards Lina and Xelloss. Xelloss quickly lifted Lina, who had no time to respond to the motion, off her feet and took to the sky to avoid the path of the beast. Hand pressed to the heart that nearly leapt out of her chest, she exhaled a breath and said, “That was close.”

They returned to the ground next to the medium-sized beast and examined it for signs of consciousness. Thankfully the spell seemed to successfully knock it out. “Well done, Lina-san,” Xelloss commented, turning to his companion. “Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go retrieve the horse,” he said, and disappeared to find it.

Lina didn't think much of his actions at first, but then realized what his true intentions were. She then turned to the sky and shook her fist at where she envisioned him to be. “You snake! You're leaving me behind with the responsibilities again!” she shouted after him. Sure enough, she could hear the people in charge of the caravan coming back, and though she still wanted the reward for doing the job, she figured they would be less than willing to pay the sum now.

So she started running down the road, not wanting to stick around to see what their reactions to the catastrophe would be.