Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Knightfall ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: tom the mighty 
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.1K | Visits: 241 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.18.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.1K | Visits: 241 | Status: Work In Progress
Book One: Chapter Eight
My first full night of sleep in the last couple of days was heaven, despite having to use leaves for bedding since much of our gear had been forgotten or abandoned during these recent … events.
It was absolute hell getting up, though.
Every injury I had received in the last 48 hours had decided to wake up alongside my mostly refreshed brain, as if someone had left a wake-up call for all those tender and bruised places. I found myself almost missing the numbing adrenaline that had made me fail to notice the wounds in the first place.
One sprained ankle; three no longer bruised (thanks to Amelia’s healing spells) but still aching ribs; a few dozen bruises here and there; a half dozen cuts and a few million zillion splinters, courtesy of the firefight at the restaurant. I chanted a quick healing spell and that helped ease the pain a little. I’d have to see Amelia later to deal with some of the more serious injuries.
I smelled breakfast and prayed to Ciephied that Zel and Amelia weren’t cooking it. I gingerly turned around and-
"WHA-?!" Suddenly I was nose to nose with a "mysterious" priest, one with whom almost everyone in the cave was distressingly familiar.
"Good morning, Lini-kins!" chirped Xellos, sounding quite satisfied with himself for nearly making me soil my bed.
"G-good morning your own goddamned self!" I huffed. "Is that any way to greet a young woman at the crack of dawn?"
"It’s mid-afternoon," Gourry piped in. I peered over Xellos’ shoulder and found Gourry was cooking what smelled like venison in a skillet over some smoldering coals. Zel, Amelia and Naga were nowhere to be seen.
"Oh." I must’ve been more zonked than I’d thought.
"Mr. Zelgadis and Miss Amelia are outside." Xellos answered my unspoken question.
"As well as that delightful creature …." he pantomimed ignorance.
"Naga," I wearily answered.
"Yes! I have a wonderful feeling that this adventure will only get better and better!" Xellos prophesied. And then he smiled even more creepily than usual, which is saying a lot, darn it!
"Wait a minute?" I shot Xellos a suspicious glance. "Didn’t you say that you hoped never to see us again?"
"Yes," he said, still smiling.
"Well," Gourry began, "Whatever misgivings you have about us, I’m not unhappy you’re here."
"Y-yes, why thank you Mr. Gourry ..." Ha, even now, Xellos still isn’t sure what to make of Gourry at times.
Join the club, buddy. . .
I dragged myself up and went outside the cave to relieve myself and to stretch out the kinks nearly 18 hours of sleep tends to give ya.
"What?" Xellos stopped me halfway out. "No head locks, or half questions-half threats issuing from that tiny little mouth of yours?" He seemed almost disappointed.
"I’ve long since learned that prying anything out of you is like teaching Gourry how to speak a foreign language. Impossible. You’ll only tell us what you think we need to know which somehow keeps us satisfied until the shit hits the fan."
"Hey!" that was Gourry, "I oday owkay notheray angaugelay!"
"Pig-Latin doesn’t count, dear, but nice try."
"Shucks." Gourry dejectedly went back to his cooking.
Xellos shrugged and sat down on a rock, humming a jaunty little tune.
Yes indeed, things are going to get interesting. . .as if having your family murdered isn’t bad enough.
I found a suitably private area about a hundred yards from the cave. I could hear Zel and Amelia chatting about something, but they were far enough away that I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
A few moments and a few ounces later, I turned around to go back, only to find Naga one foot in front of my face.
"WHA-!?" I had a feeling I’d be saying that a lot today. "YOU! Were you watching me pee!?"
"Of course not! Though I suspect someone of lowborn heritage such as yourself would find it likable," Naga replied, a little annoyed.
"OK. . .so why did you sneak up on me like that?"
"I did no such thing! It’s not my fault you hum loud enough to wake the dead when you potty!"
So I hum when I pee! Don’t judge me!
Naga continued, "I only came to get some answers from you." Her eyes glazed over a little. She’s sloshed. Not that I’m surprised or anything.
I waited a moment.
"Yes?" I prompted her.
"Yes! You seem to know her well enough. Who is that girl who claims to be my sister?"
"W-wha!?" Dammit, I said it again! "You mean you really don’t know?"
"As much as it pains me, I must admit that even I do not know everything."
I was then that I noticed something a little off about Naga. No, more like what she was wearing. Naga wears a small skull pendant nestled between her two mammary protuberances -- which suited her emo-goth thing, I guess. Every once in a while when I’d traveled with her I thought I’d seen the skull grin or its eye recesses widen … but I’d always shrugged it off as a trick of the light.
No doubt about it now, though: the skull was grinning.
Widely.
"Yes, yes. My breasts are still much larger than yours. Would you stop staring, please?"
"Where’d you get that skull pendant of yours?" I asked, ignoring her jab. I was still studying the skull, daring it to move.
"It was a gift!" She said a little too defensively.
"From who?"
"None of your business,” she huffed, and then trotted away.
"Well that was weird," I murmured before heading back to the cave.
I thought I should tell Amelia about what just happened but I decided against it.
It was probably nothing. Naga always did say and do inexplicable things.
When I got back Gourry handed me a plate of sizzling deer meat, which I immediately gulped down and asked for seconds. Once I was full (four helpings later) I started to think of what to do next. I really didn’t want to ask Zel and Amelia to come with me. They had their own quest to worry about. But they couldn’t go to the Sorcerers Guild for the information in the Bestiary. It was simply too dangerous now.
The happy pair waltzed in just then and we all (sans Naga) sat down for a little powwow.
"I’m sorry we couldn’t get to the Guild, Zel," I said.
"Well, uh, it’s not your fault." Zel still isn’t very used to giving and accepting apologies.
Xellos plopped something down on the ground between our feet. It was a thick book entitled "Zoologica Demonica."
"Xellos, how’d you get that?" I asked, fully knowing the answer would be suitably vague.
"I walked in and grabbed it, silly girl. Of course the place was abandoned, so I couldn’t ask anybody where it was specifically."
"Is this what we need?" Zel asked, just a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Does it have pictures in it?" Gourry asked, excited for all the wrong reasons.
"Why yes!" Xellos said to both questions. He picked up the book and turned to the articles (and pictures much to Gourry’s delight) of the Glaistige, Cu Sith and Nuckelavee.
Wait a minute. . .
"How’d you know which ones we’re after?" I asked the demon, who actually seemed to be enjoying storytime.
"If you want to be rid of unwanted changes to your body, these are the beasts you must seek. Every being on a higher plane knows that!"
"WHAT!?" Zelgadis practically shrieked. He stood up and unsheathed his sword, then pointed it at an unperturbed Xellos’ neck.
"You knew all along how to cure me!?" Zel growled, and Gourry and I took for cover behind some rocks while Amelia tried to calm Zel down.
"I just said that, yes," smiled the creepy priest.
"You. . .bastard!" Zel took a swing at Xellos, but his sword bounced off and nearly took Amelia’s head off in the recoil.
"Eep!" She squeaked, ducking out of the way.
Zel quickly helped her back up and slumped into his seat. I don’t know whether he realized that he wasn’t a match for Xellos or if nearly killing Amelia had taken the fight out of him.
"Why the hell didn’t you tell me?" he asked, quiet with simmering rage.
"Why should I have?" Xellos replied.
"Because Zelgadis needed you to help!" Amelia said. "You could’ve spared him years of grief!"
"Which would have benefitted me, how? You seem to forget that I am a demon. I rather enjoy Mr. Zelgadis’ despair thank you."
"Then why help me now?" Zel asked.
"Because, quite frankly, I need you all together. And if sacrificing Zelgadis’ chimaeric body is a necessary part of holding the group together, then so be it."
"Didn’t know you were such a team player, Xellos," I heckled from the peanut gallery.
"Oh you have no idea!" Xellos chirped.
"I- I think I need to be alone right now," Zel said, and he quickly and quietly left the cave. Amelia started after him but stopped at the cavern entrance.
"I’ve never seen him like that before," she said sadly, watching Zel disappear into a thick copse of trees.
I know demons are needlessly cruel. When you’re fighting them, they are constantly looking for ways to torture you and cause as much pain as possible. But a lot of times you forget that they are responsible for all the dark thoughts that cross your mind. Forget plasma balls and miasmatic blasts; temptation, avarice and greed are a demon’s greatest weapons.
Watching Xellos sit there with that same old slightly
creepy smile plastered on his face gave me the chills, as I came to fully understand what it was to be a demon.
And what it might mean to be the Knight of the Demon Lord of All Demon Lords.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty notes.
Hey ya’ll. Been awhile.
Have you ever been to Biolife? Or any other plasma donation facility? Have you ever had such a bad needle stick that your entire left arm becomes black and blue with hematoma? Have you ever had such arm contract celluoitis and have to take cephalexin which seriously messed up your thinking? Well if so, then I’m sure the 50 bucks a week is worth it then.
See ya next time!
My first full night of sleep in the last couple of days was heaven, despite having to use leaves for bedding since much of our gear had been forgotten or abandoned during these recent … events.
It was absolute hell getting up, though.
Every injury I had received in the last 48 hours had decided to wake up alongside my mostly refreshed brain, as if someone had left a wake-up call for all those tender and bruised places. I found myself almost missing the numbing adrenaline that had made me fail to notice the wounds in the first place.
One sprained ankle; three no longer bruised (thanks to Amelia’s healing spells) but still aching ribs; a few dozen bruises here and there; a half dozen cuts and a few million zillion splinters, courtesy of the firefight at the restaurant. I chanted a quick healing spell and that helped ease the pain a little. I’d have to see Amelia later to deal with some of the more serious injuries.
I smelled breakfast and prayed to Ciephied that Zel and Amelia weren’t cooking it. I gingerly turned around and-
"WHA-?!" Suddenly I was nose to nose with a "mysterious" priest, one with whom almost everyone in the cave was distressingly familiar.
"Good morning, Lini-kins!" chirped Xellos, sounding quite satisfied with himself for nearly making me soil my bed.
"G-good morning your own goddamned self!" I huffed. "Is that any way to greet a young woman at the crack of dawn?"
"It’s mid-afternoon," Gourry piped in. I peered over Xellos’ shoulder and found Gourry was cooking what smelled like venison in a skillet over some smoldering coals. Zel, Amelia and Naga were nowhere to be seen.
"Oh." I must’ve been more zonked than I’d thought.
"Mr. Zelgadis and Miss Amelia are outside." Xellos answered my unspoken question.
"As well as that delightful creature …." he pantomimed ignorance.
"Naga," I wearily answered.
"Yes! I have a wonderful feeling that this adventure will only get better and better!" Xellos prophesied. And then he smiled even more creepily than usual, which is saying a lot, darn it!
"Wait a minute?" I shot Xellos a suspicious glance. "Didn’t you say that you hoped never to see us again?"
"Yes," he said, still smiling.
"Well," Gourry began, "Whatever misgivings you have about us, I’m not unhappy you’re here."
"Y-yes, why thank you Mr. Gourry ..." Ha, even now, Xellos still isn’t sure what to make of Gourry at times.
Join the club, buddy. . .
I dragged myself up and went outside the cave to relieve myself and to stretch out the kinks nearly 18 hours of sleep tends to give ya.
"What?" Xellos stopped me halfway out. "No head locks, or half questions-half threats issuing from that tiny little mouth of yours?" He seemed almost disappointed.
"I’ve long since learned that prying anything out of you is like teaching Gourry how to speak a foreign language. Impossible. You’ll only tell us what you think we need to know which somehow keeps us satisfied until the shit hits the fan."
"Hey!" that was Gourry, "I oday owkay notheray angaugelay!"
"Pig-Latin doesn’t count, dear, but nice try."
"Shucks." Gourry dejectedly went back to his cooking.
Xellos shrugged and sat down on a rock, humming a jaunty little tune.
Yes indeed, things are going to get interesting. . .as if having your family murdered isn’t bad enough.
I found a suitably private area about a hundred yards from the cave. I could hear Zel and Amelia chatting about something, but they were far enough away that I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
A few moments and a few ounces later, I turned around to go back, only to find Naga one foot in front of my face.
"WHA-!?" I had a feeling I’d be saying that a lot today. "YOU! Were you watching me pee!?"
"Of course not! Though I suspect someone of lowborn heritage such as yourself would find it likable," Naga replied, a little annoyed.
"OK. . .so why did you sneak up on me like that?"
"I did no such thing! It’s not my fault you hum loud enough to wake the dead when you potty!"
So I hum when I pee! Don’t judge me!
Naga continued, "I only came to get some answers from you." Her eyes glazed over a little. She’s sloshed. Not that I’m surprised or anything.
I waited a moment.
"Yes?" I prompted her.
"Yes! You seem to know her well enough. Who is that girl who claims to be my sister?"
"W-wha!?" Dammit, I said it again! "You mean you really don’t know?"
"As much as it pains me, I must admit that even I do not know everything."
I was then that I noticed something a little off about Naga. No, more like what she was wearing. Naga wears a small skull pendant nestled between her two mammary protuberances -- which suited her emo-goth thing, I guess. Every once in a while when I’d traveled with her I thought I’d seen the skull grin or its eye recesses widen … but I’d always shrugged it off as a trick of the light.
No doubt about it now, though: the skull was grinning.
Widely.
"Yes, yes. My breasts are still much larger than yours. Would you stop staring, please?"
"Where’d you get that skull pendant of yours?" I asked, ignoring her jab. I was still studying the skull, daring it to move.
"It was a gift!" She said a little too defensively.
"From who?"
"None of your business,” she huffed, and then trotted away.
"Well that was weird," I murmured before heading back to the cave.
I thought I should tell Amelia about what just happened but I decided against it.
It was probably nothing. Naga always did say and do inexplicable things.
When I got back Gourry handed me a plate of sizzling deer meat, which I immediately gulped down and asked for seconds. Once I was full (four helpings later) I started to think of what to do next. I really didn’t want to ask Zel and Amelia to come with me. They had their own quest to worry about. But they couldn’t go to the Sorcerers Guild for the information in the Bestiary. It was simply too dangerous now.
The happy pair waltzed in just then and we all (sans Naga) sat down for a little powwow.
"I’m sorry we couldn’t get to the Guild, Zel," I said.
"Well, uh, it’s not your fault." Zel still isn’t very used to giving and accepting apologies.
Xellos plopped something down on the ground between our feet. It was a thick book entitled "Zoologica Demonica."
"Xellos, how’d you get that?" I asked, fully knowing the answer would be suitably vague.
"I walked in and grabbed it, silly girl. Of course the place was abandoned, so I couldn’t ask anybody where it was specifically."
"Is this what we need?" Zel asked, just a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Does it have pictures in it?" Gourry asked, excited for all the wrong reasons.
"Why yes!" Xellos said to both questions. He picked up the book and turned to the articles (and pictures much to Gourry’s delight) of the Glaistige, Cu Sith and Nuckelavee.
Wait a minute. . .
"How’d you know which ones we’re after?" I asked the demon, who actually seemed to be enjoying storytime.
"If you want to be rid of unwanted changes to your body, these are the beasts you must seek. Every being on a higher plane knows that!"
"WHAT!?" Zelgadis practically shrieked. He stood up and unsheathed his sword, then pointed it at an unperturbed Xellos’ neck.
"You knew all along how to cure me!?" Zel growled, and Gourry and I took for cover behind some rocks while Amelia tried to calm Zel down.
"I just said that, yes," smiled the creepy priest.
"You. . .bastard!" Zel took a swing at Xellos, but his sword bounced off and nearly took Amelia’s head off in the recoil.
"Eep!" She squeaked, ducking out of the way.
Zel quickly helped her back up and slumped into his seat. I don’t know whether he realized that he wasn’t a match for Xellos or if nearly killing Amelia had taken the fight out of him.
"Why the hell didn’t you tell me?" he asked, quiet with simmering rage.
"Why should I have?" Xellos replied.
"Because Zelgadis needed you to help!" Amelia said. "You could’ve spared him years of grief!"
"Which would have benefitted me, how? You seem to forget that I am a demon. I rather enjoy Mr. Zelgadis’ despair thank you."
"Then why help me now?" Zel asked.
"Because, quite frankly, I need you all together. And if sacrificing Zelgadis’ chimaeric body is a necessary part of holding the group together, then so be it."
"Didn’t know you were such a team player, Xellos," I heckled from the peanut gallery.
"Oh you have no idea!" Xellos chirped.
"I- I think I need to be alone right now," Zel said, and he quickly and quietly left the cave. Amelia started after him but stopped at the cavern entrance.
"I’ve never seen him like that before," she said sadly, watching Zel disappear into a thick copse of trees.
I know demons are needlessly cruel. When you’re fighting them, they are constantly looking for ways to torture you and cause as much pain as possible. But a lot of times you forget that they are responsible for all the dark thoughts that cross your mind. Forget plasma balls and miasmatic blasts; temptation, avarice and greed are a demon’s greatest weapons.
Watching Xellos sit there with that same old slightly
creepy smile plastered on his face gave me the chills, as I came to fully understand what it was to be a demon.
And what it might mean to be the Knight of the Demon Lord of All Demon Lords.
Tom the Mighty’s Mighty notes.
Hey ya’ll. Been awhile.
Have you ever been to Biolife? Or any other plasma donation facility? Have you ever had such a bad needle stick that your entire left arm becomes black and blue with hematoma? Have you ever had such arm contract celluoitis and have to take cephalexin which seriously messed up your thinking? Well if so, then I’m sure the 50 bucks a week is worth it then.
See ya next time!