Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Kenkanoshiri ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Kenkanoshiri

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers or any of the Slayers characters. They are owned by those who own them. I do, however, own the original characters (if any), and the fic all of this is in. That is all.

Chapter Five

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Gourry whispered into Lina's ear as he and Lina followed Chika and Kiyoshi down yet another corridor that lead them to who knows where. Zelgadis walked a few paces behind them, his arms crossed over his chest, and his head turned to the right. He hadn't said a word since they had left the room where the statue of Seiko was, neither Lina nor Gourry had said something about it. They both knew that Zel had his ways, and this was probably one of them.

"I don't know. Weird things have been happening in the last week so everything I've known stopped a few days ago," Lina whispered back, her eyes moving over to him. Gourry gave her a look as he pointed to himself.

"I don't even know why I am here. You heard them both. I'm not a part of this."

"You are now whether you like it or not," Lina said, patting his arm gently, giving him a small smile before turning her head over her shoulder to look at Zelgadis. "Hey, Zel. You alright?"

"Sure. It's just that I don't like this," The Chimaera muttered, quickly looking around as he quickened his pace to catch up with his two companions. He then lowered his voice enough so that Chika and Kiyoshi wouldn't be able to hear, but the other's would be. "I don't buy that whole story they just told us. If something happened after Shabranigdo, wouldn't there be stories steaming from it? Or at least nothing short of a legend. I mean, at least the Dark Lord's was one that we all heard, and was real."

"I don't get it. They brought us here to tell us our answers, and we get a story-telling instead," Lina stole a glance up at Chika and Kiyoshi to make sure that the words between the three would remain with just them, but neither stranger seemed to be interested in what the other's were mumbling about. Or at least appeared to be. "I don't understand all of it, but from what I do, it seems like they would have said something a little bit earlier then now. I have never heard of this legend, and I don't even know if it is real."

"What if it isn't? Then what? Why did they bring us here?" The Swordsman asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. Whatever it is, it's not for what they want us to believe." Lina shook her head on this. "If they want us to believe something entirely different, then they should say something."

"Then we are going to have to figure it out for ourselves, but not right now. I think we should wait until they take us to where we are going, then figure out what to do from there."

"Where exactly are we going anyways?" Gourry wondered, a little bit too loudly for Lina and Zelgadis, who winced as Kiyoshi turned his head over his shoulder.

"We are taking you three to your rooms. We don't want you to be tired for what lies ahead," He replied, a soft smile on his lips as he turned his head back forwards. "You need all of your energy indeed so you need to go to sleep right away."

"And we'll be watching you," Chika said, her voice dripping with a coldness that made chills go down Lina's spine. Kiyoshi just laughed at his apprentice's comment.

"Now, now Chika. We don't want to be spying on anyone, do we? You remember what happened last time you did that, don't you?" He said, trying to sound taunting, but the way he said it didn't sound like he was trying to do so. The sorceress watched Chika's back go ridged, her shoulders tensing up when her master asked her those questions.

"I remember," She muttered, then grumbling something under her breath. They are trying to hide something, but what is it? Lina wondered to herself as her eyes went from Kiyoshi then to Chika. Things seemed strange, indeed, but perhaps they would get stranger as the journey they might be on would continue.

She was going to figure out what was going on even if it took her the rest of her stay.

****

The creature had entered Atlas City by the cover of night, slipping in before anyone noticed that it had entered as the night kept it in darkness. But even with the veil of night, it still had to be care just in case one would sense it's presence within a City's walls. That was the least of this thing's worries, and the last thing that was on it's mind. It had more important things to do, and finding the one's that it had lost was the most important thing at the moment.

It slithered through the streets and back alleys of the City, keeping itself in the shadows of the buildings and different objects. These shadows offered more protection then the newly born night could, adding to it's defense rather then taking it away. And it rather be more hidden then have a better attack position for those times that it had to be around Humans and other creatures.

The lizard-like creature peeked out from behind a discarded crate that had been left by some stupid Human, lashing out it's tongue at those that passed it by. This thing had chosen to get a little bit closer to the square, where most of the City folk were gathering, as it might get a glance of the one's that it was looking for. The creature cringed at the looks on the people's faces as each was lit up by torches and other light-giving objects, a sour expression coming onto it's face. It once knew what those emotions had felt like a long time ago, the knowledge of those things had long since faded away when the darkness had settled into it's heart. It's soul. It's being. The thing knew what it was like to be Human; to be free of the cursed body it now was in.

But that was a long time ago, and the creature shook it's head to try to get everything about the past out of it's mind. It couldn't think about what once was, but only focus on the task at hand. And finding those that it had lost was more important then anything that it had known.

****

"This is your room," Kiyoshi said as he opened a single doorway, pushing the door open as the small group stood in the now opened doorway. It had taken them several moments for them to find their way to the right corridor, and a few more moments for Chika to pick out the right room for Lina. The sorceress didn't know why the stranger was so picky about where she was going to sleep, but she guessed it was something that both were hiding.

"Nice," Lina muttered, stepping into the room. The walls, as well as the ceiling, was painted a light blue while the carpet beneath her feet was black. There was a single oil painting on the wall that faced the doorway, a long oak dresser sitting beneath it. In the middle of the room, a white canopy bed sat, red satin sheets garnishing the mattress with a single pillow laying at the top of the twin-sized bed. Lina knelt down on the floor to graze her hand over the carpet. "I may sleep on the floor. The carpet looks softer then the bed does."

"Whatever you choose to do is up to you," Chika said plainly as the girl stood up, turning around just as Kiyoshi took a key out of the keyhole of the same door that the rest of the group was standing in.

"This key will lock and unlock your door from either side," He said, offering the brass key to her. Lina stood there for a moment before reaching out and taking the key. The wizard smiled as he reached into a hidden pocket of his cloak, and produced another key out of it. This key looked similar to the one that he had given Lina, but there were different markings on it then the other one. "I'll show your friends to their room which is right across from you. Chika and I have our own rooms at either end of the corridor, so if you need us, just come to the last door on either side."

"We need to talk to Lina, so we can show ourselves to our own room," Zelgadis informed the stranger, holding out a stony hand in order to get the key from him. Kiyoshi just stared at the Chimaera's hand with a raised eyebrow.

"I insist that I show you to your room. We've had problems with prior guests and keys, so it would be wise to show you where your room is before I hand this over."

"And I say that I need to talk to her."

"It doesn't matter. Whatever you need to talk to your friend about, it can wait until morning or until your journey starts."

"We need to talk to her. Alone. And now."

"You....."

"Look, Kiyoshi. I don't think we need to argue over something as small as a key. Does it lead to anywhere else in this place?" Lina intervened, cutting off the wizard's words as she tried to smile the best way she could without anyone getting any more pissed off then they were now without much success. He smile quickly vanished when she received a glare from Kiyoshi.

"No, it doesn't. Only to their room, but I still do not trust anyone with any key, even if it's a simple room key," He snapped at her. "Like I said before, we've had trouble with prior guests, and...."

"We'll wait until morning to talk to Lina," Zelgadis interrupted, withdrawing his hand, and placing his arm at his side.

"Huh?" Lina and Gourry both gasped at the same time, their eyes falling onto their friend. They both had wide eyes at this point, somewhat surprised that he would say something like this. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. Everything will be okay," He said, nodding to Kiyoshi then gave Lina a strange look before he walked out of the room. The stranger stared after the Chimaera, his eyes fixed on him before his own surprised wore off, and he handed the key to Chika.

"Make sure that they get into their room okay," The wizard said dully as his apprentice nodded, and beckoned Gourry to follow her. It took a moment, and a push from Lina, for him to go after her, his surprise not fading from his face. Lina looked after them, her eyes glazing over as she placed both of her hands onto the key, and looked like she had entered a daydream like state. She didn't even notice that, after several moments, Kiyoshi was still in the room or that he had closed the door half-way. It was only when the sound of the closing door echo throughout the room did the glazed look leave her face as she shook her head to get herself out of the daydream.

"What's going on?" She demanded coolly, her eyes narrowing. "Don't you have to worry about your precious key?"

"Chika can worry about it. As long as she knows that they key definitely is in their hands, I'll be okay."

"This really isn't about the damn key's, is it? There's more to this, and to you then what you and Chika are telling us."

"What if we are?" Kiyoshi said, his face hardening. "You don't need to know anymore then what we are telling you three. It's none of your concern."

"I knew it!" Lina cried out, nearly dropping the key she was holding in her hands. "You're hiding something about this whole matter!"

"It's not about this matter. It does not concern you or your friends."

"Then what is it? Both you and Chika seem like you are hiding something."

"We are?" Kiyoshi tried to seem like he was surprised at the sorceress's words, but it didn't work. When he noticed the look Lina gave him, he laughed nervously. "You are one persistent woman, aren't you?"

"I can be when I want to." Her face then darkened. "I want to know exactly is going on, and why you need us here."

"What Chika and I said earlier still stands. You two hold the key to saving the Earth again, and you're the only ones that can do it."

"Then why didn't Jin and Hikosu destroy that thing before?" Lina inquired, taking a step forwards.

"I told you, I don't know. We don't know anything that happened afterwards." Kiyoshi turned his head away from the girl long enough to think about what he was going to say before he turned his gaze back over to her. "We can only tell you what we know. Is that enough for you?"

"No, it isn't. You are hiding something from us, and damnit, I want to know what that is."

"If I am, prove it," He challenged, grasping his staff tightly with his hand. Lina narrowed her eyes even more at this challenge.

"Why are you so uptight about giving Zelgadis the key if you know that it only unlocks the room in which he and Gourry are sharing?" She waved a hand before the other could speak. "And don't give me the deal with the prior guests. I want to know why you had trouble with them."

"If you want to know why, I'll tell you. After losing Jin and Hikosu in the smoke, Chika and I thought that both would return one day so we let a small portal be open near where the battle had taken place. At that time, we didn't know that others would stumble upon it, and enter our realm."

"Before you go any further, how did you create this realm? Are we on a different Astral Plane or what?"

"You could say that Chika and I created our own Astral Plane, but that's a different story altogether," Kiyoshi answered with a half smile before returning to his original statement. "When those travelers entered our realm, at first we thought that it was actually Hikosu and Jin, returning to us after so long. We welcomed them back into the living, and served them as heroes. It was only after a few days did we realize that they were not who we expected them to be.

"Before we could find out who or what these people where, they made off with several of the ancient scrolls that contained languages of dead tribes, countless other scrolls with spells that no one has ever heard before, and a single artifact that we wished we had destroyed before. They also destroyed most of the palace that we live in right now so both of us had to work hard to get it back to it's original form. We then closed the portal to the outside world, and made sure that we only let the ones that knew were worthy in."

"What kind of artifact was this?" The sorceress inquired even deeper, tilting her head ever so slightly. She didn't see Kiyoshi's eyes begin to fill with pain nor did she notice a single crystal tear rolling down his cheek.

"I can't tell you as I have told you enough already."

"Please tell me," Lina said, making a innocent expression that would melt anyone's heart. It was only when Kiyoshi pressed his lips firmly together, and shook his head did the girl growl something under her breath, and stomp over to him. Grabbing the stranger by his cloak, she pulled him closer to her. "TELL ME DAMNIT OR I'LL DRAGON SLAVE THIS PLACE INTO NOTHINGNESS!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"You want to try me?" Lina bullied, a wicked smile coming upon her lips. He turned his head away, a pained expression coming upon his face.

"I wish I could tell you, but it....it's....not right," He whispered, biting his lower lip so that he could not cry out. It was then did she see the pain on his face, and let the part of the cloak in which she held in her hands go. Taking a step back, she looked away, trying her best not to look at him. Damn. Maybe it's someone that was close to him that gave him whatever he lost, She thought to herself, half regretting what she said a few moments before. She was about to mumble something to him, but Kiyoshi spoke first. "If you must know, it was a jade pendent on a rare gold chain that they took. It meant everything to me, and I have been looking for it ever since."

"Yea, well....." Lina trailed off nervously, rubbing one of her arms as she turned her head back towards the stranger. When she did, the door was already opened, and he was on his way out.

"If you need me, I'll be down the corridor," Kiyoshi said, his voice barely above a whisper before he closed the door behind him. The sorceress sighed, plopping down upon the ground and sighing. Everything was jumbling in her mind, swirling around so much that it was giving her a headache. She shook her head to try to get everything to stop moving in a whirl wind, but that made it a little bit worse. Maybe sleep would help after all.

To Be Continued....