Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers Labyrinth ❯ Sage Advice ( Chapter 6 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Lsama-no-miko 
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Romance | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.14.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 220 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Romance | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.14.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 220 | Status: Completed
Slayers Labyrinth
A Slayers/Labyrinth Crossover
By Sakura
Chapter Six
Sage Advice
Lina and Zelgadis ran as fast as they could the crazy contraption with the whirring knives and cleavers close behind. Catching sight of a very rusty door on her right, the red haired girl ran up to it and slammed into it, making a loud gonging sound. The chimera caring only for his own hide, not to mention forgetting he was made of stone and thus impervious to metal objects like those, ran past her.
"Zelgadis get your lying snake in the grass butt back here!" yelled the girl as she desperately banged her fists on the door.
"Lina, I can explain," he said joining her by the rusted door.
"Shut up and PUSH!" she ordered, whacking him in the head and once again hurting her hand on his thick skull.
The two pushed and pushed, but the door refused to open. "Did it ever occur to you that it might open from the other side?" asked the chimera, tired of pushing and no results.
"Now he tells me," she muttered. "Ok that's it! I've had enough of this wacked out place!" She began to chant another one of her spells.
"Whatever you're doing, you'd better hurry, the cleaners are closing in!" warned Zelgadis as a very loud whirring sound approached.
"Burst Brando!" Lina screamed and the spell knocked the door off its hinges to clang nosily in protest at being slammed into a wall.
Dashing inside, the two missed being skewered and chopped to itty bitty bits by mere inches as the cleaners as the whirring wall of sharp metal objects passed harmlessly by. Lina immediately plopped on her back and began to wheeze and pant for breath. Zelgadis however wasn't that winded and mentally cursed himself for being so stupid to forget that the cleaners couldn't hurt him. He smiled smugly, as he decided not to tell her that. After all it was the girl's fault the cleaners were summoned in the first place.
"Xellos-sama must really like you. He's pulling out the heavy artillery, the cleaners, the Rabid Fangirls..." his voice trailed off as he winced at the thought of being fed to the pack of hormonal teenage girls.
"Yeah, he's a real barrel of laughs," she said totally annoyed at the mazoku king, but not too loud in case he was listening.
Of course Zelgadis was too busy looking around the room they were in to pay attention to the petite redhead. Spying an awfully long ladder, he went up to it and placed one foot on the first rung then the other, testing it. Seeing that it would support his weight, he said. "This'll do." He looked over to the girl who was still lying on the dust covered floor. "Unless you want to be a permanent resident, you'd better follow me. Come on."
Lina got up and dusted herself off the best she could then glared at the chimera. "No way pal! There's no way I'm gonna listen to a lying jerk like you. Especially since you're taking me back to the beginning."
Her harsh words stung him like a swarm of angry hornets. But he'd be damned if he was going to let her see that. "I only told him that to get him off my back."
"Yeah right, and that's supposed to make me trust you again?" she spat in mistrust.
"Let me put it in a way a kid like you can understand." The girl began to fume. "What choice do you have?"
He was right. Her options were pretty much nil. In fact they were. Zelgadis was the only person in the labyrinth she'd met so far that actually seemed to know his way around AND offered to help. Well she had bribed him to, but at least he hadn't killed her and run off. Yet. Gods she HATED it when someone else was right.
"All right you win, Zel," she said acquiescing. "For now," she added under her breath. "Stupid Stone Boy."
"Now that we got that settled, can we please go now?" he said irritated and anxious to get as far away from Lina as possible. He then began to climb the ladder. The girl looked up and got a short case of vertigo trying to see where it went. Figuring that it would do no good to just stare, she too began to climb.
After what seemed to be a never-ending torment, the two decided to take a short breather. The redhead hung for dear life to the ladder after she took a look back down to gauge how far they've come. Her hands clutched to the sides, as another wave of vertigo hit her.
"The main thing here is not to look down," the chimera said without looking down.
"Don't look down he says," she muttered.
"Nani?"
"Nothing," she said, starting to shake the ladder.
"I told you not to look down," he said in a tone that screamed 'I told you so'.
"Oops, sorry about that!" she called up, rubbing the back of her head.
"Whatever, let's get going," was the reply. Zelgadis sighed and continued to climb. 'Why me, L-sama?' he said to himself.
"You know, Zel, that was a good idea tricking Xellos like that," Lina began thinking that conversation would make the rest of the climb go faster.
"Listen, you really have to understand my position here. I may look it, but I'm not as powerful as Xellos. That's why I do as he says."
"In other words, you're scared of him," she said reading between the lines.
"Thank you so very much for making it obvious," came the sarcastic reply.
"You're welcome. Why don't you just find some way to beat him?"
"Why do you think I'm doing working for him? Anyway you'd never know what it's like to be fed rear first to a pack of Rabid Fangirls. I've seen the strongest bishounen come out with their minds turned completely to mush."
"It's THAT bad?" she asked.
"That's only if you're lucky enough to escape. There are still other bishounen who've never been seen again. I'm telling you the Fangirls are a fate worse than death." Lina couldn't help swallowing hard at what she was hearing. But she was also glad since it seemed that Fangirls only attacked bishounen. Or did they? She had learned the hard way that nothing was what it seemed in the twisted world she'd been thrown into.
"I can see light," came Zelgadis' voice as he stopped a few feet above her. He appeared to be feeling the ceiling above him and she heard a faint click. Suddenly a shaft of light burst through an opening, blinding her. When she recovered, she let out an whoop of joy when she looked up and saw the blue sky.
After climbing out of an ornate stone urn and out of the cold, damp, stinky tunnels, Lina took huge gulps of fresh air. "Yahoo!! No more tunnels!" she yelled at the tope of her lungs. They were standing in a garden of some sort. Actually it was the kind rich folks have out back at their country mansions. You know, the kind where there are neat little paths and carefully manicured flower beds and perfectly trimmed hedges.
"You're on your own, now kid," Zelgadis said turning to leave.
"Nani?"
"You heard me. This is as far as I go. There's no way I'm sticking around when you're a trouble magnet."
"Hey!" she sputtered.
"I told you I wouldn't promise anything," he said coolly.
"But..." She could feel tears threaten to fall from her eyes.
"Crying's not going to work on me. See you around. Maybe," he said waving over his shoulder.
Lina instead of crying, got angry and fireballed the retreating chimera. However, this time he was wearing a flame retardant shirt and hood. (;_;) "You... usotsuki! (liar!) You said you'd help! Hey I'm talking to you! Stupid Stone Boy!"
The last caused him to stop in his tracks, turn around and yell back, "Don't call me that! Anyway I DID help so don't call me a liar!"
"You know Zel, you're the biggest coward I've ever seen."
Doing his best to remain calm, the chimera counted to ten before coming up to her and say, "Insulting me like that won't work either. I already know I'm a coward, so sue me."
Lina then decided to resort to the lowest blow she could think of. "Stone Boy!" she said, sticking out her tongue while pulling down the skin below her eye.
"I said not to call me that!"
"Stupid, stupid, stupid Stone Boy! You stupid, lying, chicken of a Stone Boy!" she retorted, beginning to feel better now that she was releasing some of the stress.
Zelgadis growled and threw up his arms in frustration. "That's it! I am so out of here! I only came here because you had to insist on going ahead! I tried to warn you, but NO! You think you're so smart, solve this damn labyrinth on your own! Goodbye!"
Lina just stood gaping at the fuming chimera. Never in all her life had she seen anyone so upset, not even Amelia got THAT upset. Zelgadis walked off a few feet in a huff before calming down and leant against a hedge. She was starting to feel sorry. She had after all used the one insult that had really hurt him to the core. Feeling like a complete fool, Lina hung her head, not wanting to make contact with the chimera's piercing eyes.
"Don't think I'm going to come save you next time," he said as calmly as if he'd been commenting on the weather.
"You so sure about that?" she asked. Zelgadis snorted as he looked away and thus missed the sneaky look on the girl's face as she crept up to him and snatched his money pouch from his belt.
"Oi!" he yelled in protest. Lina laughed triumphantly as she levitated herself and dangled the pouch just outside the chimera's reach.
"Give that back!" he demanded.
"Nuh-uh, you get it back AFTER I get to the castle. Now show me the way!"
"You heard Him. The castle is the LAST place I'd rather be!" he protested. "I don't believe this. REAR FIRST at the Fangirls..." he mumbled closing his eyes and shaking his head.
Ignoring the chimera's pleas, Lina looked around the garden hoping to catch some sign of her goal. "Now where the heck's the stupid castle?" Looking over the hedges, she could just make out the spires of Xellos' home glinting in the distance, still a long way off. "Great just what we need another damned maze. Hmm, now which would be the quickest way?"
"Beats me," said a VERY grumpy chimera.
"Urusai! (Shut up!) I'm trying to think here!" complained Lina.
"Give back my money!" he whined, still trying to reach the pouch the girl had forgotten that was dangling from her hand. "Give it back you, brat!"
Landing and ignoring the fuming chimera, she closed her eyes and extended a finger, pointing at the various exits as she chanted, "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo."
"Oh that's really clever," muttered the chimera.
Once she had finished choosing an exit using the 'scientific method' she strode up to the nearest one and said, "All right, let's try this one." With that she strode through the narrow path between the hedges. Zelgadis reluctantly followed her only because he wanted to get his money back.
The path ended in another clearing just like the one she had just left. "What the?" she said confused. Daring to peek into the urn there, she saw a ladder sticking out of a black hole in the bottom. They were right where they started from! Swearing, she then grabbed Zelgadis and ran through the next nearest exit.
After trying all the exits, Lina yelled and stomped her foot on the stone path. "This is nuts! How the hell am I supposed to get outta here?!"
"You're the smart one," the chimera said looking rather pleased with himself for some reason. "I'm sure you can figure it out."
"Don't be so damn smug! You could be some help here you know," she spat back.
"Why should I?" he asked refusing to move from where he was.
"Because," she said staring at him after coming extremely close, "if you don't, you won't get this back." She patted the pouch, which was now attached to her belt and it made a pleasant jingling sound as the coins inside bounced around.
"But... I honestly don't know which way to go. I haven't been given the duty to do care for this part of the labyrinth," he said regretting ever meeting the girl. "Look, that's MY money! Give it back! I did my part of the bargain! It's not fair!"
"No, it isn't," she said agreeing. "But that's the way life is, ne?"
Finally looking around, they noticed a small figure sat in the middle of the clearing on a raised dais of some sort. Upon closer inspection they came to realize they were facing a very short old woman with silvery aqua hair. On her head was a straw hat, which had some sort of bird that was more lizard than bird. It appeared that she was deep in thought since she hadn't moved since the two had begun to stare at her.
"Um, excuse me," Lina said coming up to the old woman. "Can you help me?"
The old woman still hadn't moved or acknowledge her presence. She just sat there, ignoring the two people before her. She did raise her head though, but it was obvious she was looking at something only she could see and chose not to be bothered with anything else. "Please!" the red haired girl begged. "Obaa-san!"
The bird on her hat jumped up and down and glared at her, "Get lost! Can't you see she's thinking?!"
The old woman held up a finger and said, "Sh!"
"We're sorry," Lina said then sat down on the dais steps and waited for her to finish her thinking.
"And stop staring! She HATES that!" ordered the bird lizard.
"Sorry," Lina said quickly looking away.
The old woman opened her mouth and said, "Quiet."
"Geez I was just trying to be helpful," it said put off.
"Where was I?" asked the old woman, putting her finger against her chin.
"How should I know?" the bird lizard replied, "I'm not the one thinking here."
It was then that she finally noticed she wasn't along and smiled at the young person sitting on the steps. "Oh, konnichi wa little boy," she said pleasantly.
Lina sputtered, but kept her temper. Her mother and stepmother both told her constantly to be nice to those much older than her. "I'm actually a girl, obaa-san," she said with her best polite smile she could muster.
"Oh, sou desu ne? (Is that so?) And who is this?" she asked looking at Zelgadis who looked none too happy to be the center of attention. "Your oniisan perhaps?"
"Um, no." Lina said slightly embarrassed to have the chimera mistaken for her brother. "He's um... my friend."
He was about to explain to the old woman, though not so politely, that he and the ill tempered girl were in no way whatsoever related, but stopped himself when he heard Lina's answer. Looking at her he began to blush. She was the first and only person in this sorry excuse for a kingdom to actually call him 'friend.' Did she really mean it?
"Really? Well, now what can I do for you young lady?" said the old woman.
"I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me how to get to the castle from here. Every path I take just leads back to here and I'm really have to get there," the redhead explained then added the universal magic word, "please, obaa-san."
"Oh just call me Auntie Aqua, dear," said the old woman smiling. "So you want to get to the castle, ne?"
"How's THAT for smarts?" the bird lizard piped up, obviously unimpressed with 'Auntie Aqua'.
"Will you be quiet!" demanded Auntie.
"Oops did I say that out loud?" said the bird, sheepishly. Lina quickly covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.
"Well, dearie, sometimes the best way forward is to go back," she said pursing her lips. "And often the way back is to -"
"go forward," the bird lizard answered for her. "That's some advice, huh?"
"I thought I told you to shut up!" Auntie said getting annoyed. "You see, young lady when it looks like we're not getting anywhere, most of the time we are."
"Well WE definitely aren't," Zelgadis said not believing he was listening to this nonsense.
"Maybe so, young sir," said the old woman, "but maybe not. Not everything is all it..." Auntie Aqua began to feel another profound thought invade her mind and quickly finished the sentence before going completely catatonic as before. "appears to be."
"Well, that's it all folks!" said the bird lizard in a very bad imitation of Porky Pig. "Just leave a contribution in the box."
Looking down, Lina saw a tiny box in the old woman's hand and it rattled expectantly. Her hand went unconsciously to the pouch at her hip. "Don't even think it!" the chimera warned. "That's mine, remember?"
She sheepishly took away her hand and said, "Well I might as well use the only thing I've got left." The girl took off one of her gloves and removed her mother's ring. "I really wish I didn't have to do this, but kaasan always said that you should try to give to those who need stuff." With that she dropped the ring into the box and it make a tinkling sound as it landed in the empty box.
"What a nice, kid," the bird lizard said after Lina and Zelgadis left the dais to examine the exits.
"You didn't have to give her that," the chimera complained. He had hoped she'd give it to him instead. It did look rather expensive. "She didn't tell us anything worth while.
"I don't know, Zel. I mean maybe she was right," said the girl pondering what Auntie Aqua had told her. "Look, we certainly got no where going forward, right?" He nodded, not knowing where this was leading. "Soooo maybe we were supposed to go backwards."
"Come again?" he asked, confused.
"You know, walk through the exits backwards. It's a long shot, but it's better than standing here."
The chimera had to agree with her on that. ANYTHING was better than doing nothing. Sighing, he followed the redhead through an exit only this time walking backwards, feeling completely stupid.
"Would you look at that?!" exclaimed the bird lizard after the two left. "They actually listened to ya, 'Auntie'." Below, the old woman softly snored away. "It's soo enlightening to stay with you." Another snore was the reply. Sighing, the bird lizard decided to join its companion in a nap and curled up on her hat.
Sakura: Well, not exactly what I thought I was going to do, but then again it's been a while since I actually WATCHED the movie or picked up my book again.
Xel: Lazy as ever, ne Sakura-chan? Still this is a long one.
Sakura: Only because I combined two chapters. Chapter 6 in the book was way short. Anyway I got to play with Zel again! *_*
Xel: But I didn't. ;_;
Zel: Thank L-sama.
Sakura: I wouldn't thank my boss, just yet, darling. You've got quite a while before the end.
Zel: Excuse me, I've gotta go! (runs like a bat outta hell)
Xel: Zel-chan!!!!! Come back!
Sakura: Xel-chan, koi...
Xel: Hai, miko-sama?
Sakura: Why don't you try to dig up some Tokyo Babylon CD's for me.
Xel: Sure thing. Back on your Seishirou kick?
Sakura: Nah. Just felt like listening to some decent music for a change.
Xel: Oh. Well I'll do the best I can. (pops out)
Sakura: Where was I? Oh yeah, the next chapter. This time a major cast member finally makes his appearance. I was thinking of the wrong chapter this time. Anyhoo, you'll have to wait till next month to find out who 'cause... (goes into Xel mode) Sore wa himitsu desu! ^_^ Stay tuned. 'Til then kiddies, same bat time, same bat channel.
C&C always welcome at Firia@linainverse.net. Come on minna! You guys haven't been writing much. So pleeeeeeaaaaaaase tell me what you think! I'd looooooove to hear from you. ^_^
A Slayers/Labyrinth Crossover
By Sakura
Chapter Six
Sage Advice
Lina and Zelgadis ran as fast as they could the crazy contraption with the whirring knives and cleavers close behind. Catching sight of a very rusty door on her right, the red haired girl ran up to it and slammed into it, making a loud gonging sound. The chimera caring only for his own hide, not to mention forgetting he was made of stone and thus impervious to metal objects like those, ran past her.
"Zelgadis get your lying snake in the grass butt back here!" yelled the girl as she desperately banged her fists on the door.
"Lina, I can explain," he said joining her by the rusted door.
"Shut up and PUSH!" she ordered, whacking him in the head and once again hurting her hand on his thick skull.
The two pushed and pushed, but the door refused to open. "Did it ever occur to you that it might open from the other side?" asked the chimera, tired of pushing and no results.
"Now he tells me," she muttered. "Ok that's it! I've had enough of this wacked out place!" She began to chant another one of her spells.
"Whatever you're doing, you'd better hurry, the cleaners are closing in!" warned Zelgadis as a very loud whirring sound approached.
"Burst Brando!" Lina screamed and the spell knocked the door off its hinges to clang nosily in protest at being slammed into a wall.
Dashing inside, the two missed being skewered and chopped to itty bitty bits by mere inches as the cleaners as the whirring wall of sharp metal objects passed harmlessly by. Lina immediately plopped on her back and began to wheeze and pant for breath. Zelgadis however wasn't that winded and mentally cursed himself for being so stupid to forget that the cleaners couldn't hurt him. He smiled smugly, as he decided not to tell her that. After all it was the girl's fault the cleaners were summoned in the first place.
"Xellos-sama must really like you. He's pulling out the heavy artillery, the cleaners, the Rabid Fangirls..." his voice trailed off as he winced at the thought of being fed to the pack of hormonal teenage girls.
"Yeah, he's a real barrel of laughs," she said totally annoyed at the mazoku king, but not too loud in case he was listening.
Of course Zelgadis was too busy looking around the room they were in to pay attention to the petite redhead. Spying an awfully long ladder, he went up to it and placed one foot on the first rung then the other, testing it. Seeing that it would support his weight, he said. "This'll do." He looked over to the girl who was still lying on the dust covered floor. "Unless you want to be a permanent resident, you'd better follow me. Come on."
Lina got up and dusted herself off the best she could then glared at the chimera. "No way pal! There's no way I'm gonna listen to a lying jerk like you. Especially since you're taking me back to the beginning."
Her harsh words stung him like a swarm of angry hornets. But he'd be damned if he was going to let her see that. "I only told him that to get him off my back."
"Yeah right, and that's supposed to make me trust you again?" she spat in mistrust.
"Let me put it in a way a kid like you can understand." The girl began to fume. "What choice do you have?"
He was right. Her options were pretty much nil. In fact they were. Zelgadis was the only person in the labyrinth she'd met so far that actually seemed to know his way around AND offered to help. Well she had bribed him to, but at least he hadn't killed her and run off. Yet. Gods she HATED it when someone else was right.
"All right you win, Zel," she said acquiescing. "For now," she added under her breath. "Stupid Stone Boy."
"Now that we got that settled, can we please go now?" he said irritated and anxious to get as far away from Lina as possible. He then began to climb the ladder. The girl looked up and got a short case of vertigo trying to see where it went. Figuring that it would do no good to just stare, she too began to climb.
After what seemed to be a never-ending torment, the two decided to take a short breather. The redhead hung for dear life to the ladder after she took a look back down to gauge how far they've come. Her hands clutched to the sides, as another wave of vertigo hit her.
"The main thing here is not to look down," the chimera said without looking down.
"Don't look down he says," she muttered.
"Nani?"
"Nothing," she said, starting to shake the ladder.
"I told you not to look down," he said in a tone that screamed 'I told you so'.
"Oops, sorry about that!" she called up, rubbing the back of her head.
"Whatever, let's get going," was the reply. Zelgadis sighed and continued to climb. 'Why me, L-sama?' he said to himself.
"You know, Zel, that was a good idea tricking Xellos like that," Lina began thinking that conversation would make the rest of the climb go faster.
"Listen, you really have to understand my position here. I may look it, but I'm not as powerful as Xellos. That's why I do as he says."
"In other words, you're scared of him," she said reading between the lines.
"Thank you so very much for making it obvious," came the sarcastic reply.
"You're welcome. Why don't you just find some way to beat him?"
"Why do you think I'm doing working for him? Anyway you'd never know what it's like to be fed rear first to a pack of Rabid Fangirls. I've seen the strongest bishounen come out with their minds turned completely to mush."
"It's THAT bad?" she asked.
"That's only if you're lucky enough to escape. There are still other bishounen who've never been seen again. I'm telling you the Fangirls are a fate worse than death." Lina couldn't help swallowing hard at what she was hearing. But she was also glad since it seemed that Fangirls only attacked bishounen. Or did they? She had learned the hard way that nothing was what it seemed in the twisted world she'd been thrown into.
"I can see light," came Zelgadis' voice as he stopped a few feet above her. He appeared to be feeling the ceiling above him and she heard a faint click. Suddenly a shaft of light burst through an opening, blinding her. When she recovered, she let out an whoop of joy when she looked up and saw the blue sky.
After climbing out of an ornate stone urn and out of the cold, damp, stinky tunnels, Lina took huge gulps of fresh air. "Yahoo!! No more tunnels!" she yelled at the tope of her lungs. They were standing in a garden of some sort. Actually it was the kind rich folks have out back at their country mansions. You know, the kind where there are neat little paths and carefully manicured flower beds and perfectly trimmed hedges.
"You're on your own, now kid," Zelgadis said turning to leave.
"Nani?"
"You heard me. This is as far as I go. There's no way I'm sticking around when you're a trouble magnet."
"Hey!" she sputtered.
"I told you I wouldn't promise anything," he said coolly.
"But..." She could feel tears threaten to fall from her eyes.
"Crying's not going to work on me. See you around. Maybe," he said waving over his shoulder.
Lina instead of crying, got angry and fireballed the retreating chimera. However, this time he was wearing a flame retardant shirt and hood. (;_;) "You... usotsuki! (liar!) You said you'd help! Hey I'm talking to you! Stupid Stone Boy!"
The last caused him to stop in his tracks, turn around and yell back, "Don't call me that! Anyway I DID help so don't call me a liar!"
"You know Zel, you're the biggest coward I've ever seen."
Doing his best to remain calm, the chimera counted to ten before coming up to her and say, "Insulting me like that won't work either. I already know I'm a coward, so sue me."
Lina then decided to resort to the lowest blow she could think of. "Stone Boy!" she said, sticking out her tongue while pulling down the skin below her eye.
"I said not to call me that!"
"Stupid, stupid, stupid Stone Boy! You stupid, lying, chicken of a Stone Boy!" she retorted, beginning to feel better now that she was releasing some of the stress.
Zelgadis growled and threw up his arms in frustration. "That's it! I am so out of here! I only came here because you had to insist on going ahead! I tried to warn you, but NO! You think you're so smart, solve this damn labyrinth on your own! Goodbye!"
Lina just stood gaping at the fuming chimera. Never in all her life had she seen anyone so upset, not even Amelia got THAT upset. Zelgadis walked off a few feet in a huff before calming down and leant against a hedge. She was starting to feel sorry. She had after all used the one insult that had really hurt him to the core. Feeling like a complete fool, Lina hung her head, not wanting to make contact with the chimera's piercing eyes.
"Don't think I'm going to come save you next time," he said as calmly as if he'd been commenting on the weather.
"You so sure about that?" she asked. Zelgadis snorted as he looked away and thus missed the sneaky look on the girl's face as she crept up to him and snatched his money pouch from his belt.
"Oi!" he yelled in protest. Lina laughed triumphantly as she levitated herself and dangled the pouch just outside the chimera's reach.
"Give that back!" he demanded.
"Nuh-uh, you get it back AFTER I get to the castle. Now show me the way!"
"You heard Him. The castle is the LAST place I'd rather be!" he protested. "I don't believe this. REAR FIRST at the Fangirls..." he mumbled closing his eyes and shaking his head.
Ignoring the chimera's pleas, Lina looked around the garden hoping to catch some sign of her goal. "Now where the heck's the stupid castle?" Looking over the hedges, she could just make out the spires of Xellos' home glinting in the distance, still a long way off. "Great just what we need another damned maze. Hmm, now which would be the quickest way?"
"Beats me," said a VERY grumpy chimera.
"Urusai! (Shut up!) I'm trying to think here!" complained Lina.
"Give back my money!" he whined, still trying to reach the pouch the girl had forgotten that was dangling from her hand. "Give it back you, brat!"
Landing and ignoring the fuming chimera, she closed her eyes and extended a finger, pointing at the various exits as she chanted, "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo."
"Oh that's really clever," muttered the chimera.
Once she had finished choosing an exit using the 'scientific method' she strode up to the nearest one and said, "All right, let's try this one." With that she strode through the narrow path between the hedges. Zelgadis reluctantly followed her only because he wanted to get his money back.
The path ended in another clearing just like the one she had just left. "What the?" she said confused. Daring to peek into the urn there, she saw a ladder sticking out of a black hole in the bottom. They were right where they started from! Swearing, she then grabbed Zelgadis and ran through the next nearest exit.
After trying all the exits, Lina yelled and stomped her foot on the stone path. "This is nuts! How the hell am I supposed to get outta here?!"
"You're the smart one," the chimera said looking rather pleased with himself for some reason. "I'm sure you can figure it out."
"Don't be so damn smug! You could be some help here you know," she spat back.
"Why should I?" he asked refusing to move from where he was.
"Because," she said staring at him after coming extremely close, "if you don't, you won't get this back." She patted the pouch, which was now attached to her belt and it made a pleasant jingling sound as the coins inside bounced around.
"But... I honestly don't know which way to go. I haven't been given the duty to do care for this part of the labyrinth," he said regretting ever meeting the girl. "Look, that's MY money! Give it back! I did my part of the bargain! It's not fair!"
"No, it isn't," she said agreeing. "But that's the way life is, ne?"
Finally looking around, they noticed a small figure sat in the middle of the clearing on a raised dais of some sort. Upon closer inspection they came to realize they were facing a very short old woman with silvery aqua hair. On her head was a straw hat, which had some sort of bird that was more lizard than bird. It appeared that she was deep in thought since she hadn't moved since the two had begun to stare at her.
"Um, excuse me," Lina said coming up to the old woman. "Can you help me?"
The old woman still hadn't moved or acknowledge her presence. She just sat there, ignoring the two people before her. She did raise her head though, but it was obvious she was looking at something only she could see and chose not to be bothered with anything else. "Please!" the red haired girl begged. "Obaa-san!"
The bird on her hat jumped up and down and glared at her, "Get lost! Can't you see she's thinking?!"
The old woman held up a finger and said, "Sh!"
"We're sorry," Lina said then sat down on the dais steps and waited for her to finish her thinking.
"And stop staring! She HATES that!" ordered the bird lizard.
"Sorry," Lina said quickly looking away.
The old woman opened her mouth and said, "Quiet."
"Geez I was just trying to be helpful," it said put off.
"Where was I?" asked the old woman, putting her finger against her chin.
"How should I know?" the bird lizard replied, "I'm not the one thinking here."
It was then that she finally noticed she wasn't along and smiled at the young person sitting on the steps. "Oh, konnichi wa little boy," she said pleasantly.
Lina sputtered, but kept her temper. Her mother and stepmother both told her constantly to be nice to those much older than her. "I'm actually a girl, obaa-san," she said with her best polite smile she could muster.
"Oh, sou desu ne? (Is that so?) And who is this?" she asked looking at Zelgadis who looked none too happy to be the center of attention. "Your oniisan perhaps?"
"Um, no." Lina said slightly embarrassed to have the chimera mistaken for her brother. "He's um... my friend."
He was about to explain to the old woman, though not so politely, that he and the ill tempered girl were in no way whatsoever related, but stopped himself when he heard Lina's answer. Looking at her he began to blush. She was the first and only person in this sorry excuse for a kingdom to actually call him 'friend.' Did she really mean it?
"Really? Well, now what can I do for you young lady?" said the old woman.
"I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me how to get to the castle from here. Every path I take just leads back to here and I'm really have to get there," the redhead explained then added the universal magic word, "please, obaa-san."
"Oh just call me Auntie Aqua, dear," said the old woman smiling. "So you want to get to the castle, ne?"
"How's THAT for smarts?" the bird lizard piped up, obviously unimpressed with 'Auntie Aqua'.
"Will you be quiet!" demanded Auntie.
"Oops did I say that out loud?" said the bird, sheepishly. Lina quickly covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.
"Well, dearie, sometimes the best way forward is to go back," she said pursing her lips. "And often the way back is to -"
"go forward," the bird lizard answered for her. "That's some advice, huh?"
"I thought I told you to shut up!" Auntie said getting annoyed. "You see, young lady when it looks like we're not getting anywhere, most of the time we are."
"Well WE definitely aren't," Zelgadis said not believing he was listening to this nonsense.
"Maybe so, young sir," said the old woman, "but maybe not. Not everything is all it..." Auntie Aqua began to feel another profound thought invade her mind and quickly finished the sentence before going completely catatonic as before. "appears to be."
"Well, that's it all folks!" said the bird lizard in a very bad imitation of Porky Pig. "Just leave a contribution in the box."
Looking down, Lina saw a tiny box in the old woman's hand and it rattled expectantly. Her hand went unconsciously to the pouch at her hip. "Don't even think it!" the chimera warned. "That's mine, remember?"
She sheepishly took away her hand and said, "Well I might as well use the only thing I've got left." The girl took off one of her gloves and removed her mother's ring. "I really wish I didn't have to do this, but kaasan always said that you should try to give to those who need stuff." With that she dropped the ring into the box and it make a tinkling sound as it landed in the empty box.
"What a nice, kid," the bird lizard said after Lina and Zelgadis left the dais to examine the exits.
"You didn't have to give her that," the chimera complained. He had hoped she'd give it to him instead. It did look rather expensive. "She didn't tell us anything worth while.
"I don't know, Zel. I mean maybe she was right," said the girl pondering what Auntie Aqua had told her. "Look, we certainly got no where going forward, right?" He nodded, not knowing where this was leading. "Soooo maybe we were supposed to go backwards."
"Come again?" he asked, confused.
"You know, walk through the exits backwards. It's a long shot, but it's better than standing here."
The chimera had to agree with her on that. ANYTHING was better than doing nothing. Sighing, he followed the redhead through an exit only this time walking backwards, feeling completely stupid.
"Would you look at that?!" exclaimed the bird lizard after the two left. "They actually listened to ya, 'Auntie'." Below, the old woman softly snored away. "It's soo enlightening to stay with you." Another snore was the reply. Sighing, the bird lizard decided to join its companion in a nap and curled up on her hat.
Sakura: Well, not exactly what I thought I was going to do, but then again it's been a while since I actually WATCHED the movie or picked up my book again.
Xel: Lazy as ever, ne Sakura-chan? Still this is a long one.
Sakura: Only because I combined two chapters. Chapter 6 in the book was way short. Anyway I got to play with Zel again! *_*
Xel: But I didn't. ;_;
Zel: Thank L-sama.
Sakura: I wouldn't thank my boss, just yet, darling. You've got quite a while before the end.
Zel: Excuse me, I've gotta go! (runs like a bat outta hell)
Xel: Zel-chan!!!!! Come back!
Sakura: Xel-chan, koi...
Xel: Hai, miko-sama?
Sakura: Why don't you try to dig up some Tokyo Babylon CD's for me.
Xel: Sure thing. Back on your Seishirou kick?
Sakura: Nah. Just felt like listening to some decent music for a change.
Xel: Oh. Well I'll do the best I can. (pops out)
Sakura: Where was I? Oh yeah, the next chapter. This time a major cast member finally makes his appearance. I was thinking of the wrong chapter this time. Anyhoo, you'll have to wait till next month to find out who 'cause... (goes into Xel mode) Sore wa himitsu desu! ^_^ Stay tuned. 'Til then kiddies, same bat time, same bat channel.
C&C always welcome at Firia@linainverse.net. Come on minna! You guys haven't been writing much. So pleeeeeeaaaaaaase tell me what you think! I'd looooooove to hear from you. ^_^