Slayers! Vol 1 Part 5

"Eh? No, I meant it," Zolf said flatly.

"Hey, hey! Don't ask me to do something like that. Well...if she were a glamorous goblin or a pet.i.te cyclops I would...but why of ALL things would I sleep with a human? In the first place, with HER as a partner what turns hard won't..." I blinked. Hey!

"He has a different sense of beauty," Zelgadis explained. "For Dilgear, humans aren't even objects of l.u.s.t." It's the same thing as why a human male isn't turned on by a female goblin. Well, there may be some men who like that kind of thing... but he makes it sound as if I'm less attractive than a goblin or a cyclops! For a minute I thought of objecting, but I realized if he said 'Well, if you say so!' I would be in trouble, so I stayed quiet.

"Alright, then. Noonsa!" Zolf cried, turning to the fish man...the really grotesque one. "You rape her!"

"Ra...pe?" Noonsa replied slowly.

"Yes!"

"Does that mean...you're telling me...to procreate with her?"

Zolf doesn't sound like he expects a lot from Noonsa. "Well...yes."

But... "Well...alright," the fishman replied.

"Nooo!" This time, I was the one who screamed. I would rather kiss the first random stranger to walk by me than to even shake HANDS with this fishman. To...to...to do it with him? I'd rather die!

"Great, you'll do it! That's the way it ought to be! You're a real man!" Zolf got very excited as Noonsa stepped closer, each footstep the sound of wet cloth sliding across the floor.

"Stop! Don't do it, you idiot! Don't come any closer!"

"You are very fortunate," Noonsa said. "To be human, yet you will have children by me, the most handsome one in my school..."

I panicked. "Who's handsome, huh? Who? Don't come any closer! Waaaaaaaah! I'll cry! Hey!"

"Cry! Scream! Tremble with fear! Know, with your body, the foolishness of going against us!" Zolf was VERY excited, and I was very scared. Noonsa stopped, right in front of me!

"Now..." Noonsa said, slowly. I couldn't even cry out, I was so afraid. "Now...lay eggs." There was a long moment of dead silence. "What's the matter?" Noonsa asked.

"Oi," Dilgear interrupted, from the side. "Noonsa, what's this eggs thing about?" Noonsa looked at Dilgear with a bit of surprise, or what he must have thought was a look of surprise...

"Without eggs, there is no way to procreate," the fishman replied bluntly.

Zelgadis clapped his hands together again. "Ah. They procreate differently."

Zolf looked confused. "Huh? I don't get it." I understood, though...

"Noonsa, when your race has children, how do they do it?" Zelgadis asked calmly.

"The female lays eggs...the male showers those with s.e.m.e.n. Once the eggs are placed somewhere wet, children are born in about 50 days..." he explained slowly. It was just as I thought. Even the way they have children is more like a fish.

Zolf, furious, berated Noonsa. "Why didn't you say that before?!"

"I didn't know that the way we have children is different from your way," he replied simply.

"Hey!"

"Wait a minute, Zolf," Dilgear piped up. "Instead of telling others to do it, why don't you or Rodimus do it? You're all humans."

"Rodimus used to be a knight. He's still obssessed with the code of chivalry and said 'I don't like seeing women and children being mistreated', so he didn't even come here. There's no way he'd do it, even if I begged." Rodimus must be the middle-aged swordsman, I mused. "On the other hand, I'm injured...if I tried it, I'd get hurt."

"Then you should give up," the werewolf said simply.

"No! There's still..." Zolf replied, eyes turning to Zelgadis.

The chimera looked kind of startled. "I don't want to do it! I'm not interested in sleeping with crying women!"

Zolf looked as if he was going to cry. He shouldn't have been such a crybaby! He wasn't a child! The moment I feel safe, I start to get aggressive. I don't have any choice, it's just my nature. "I have no choice," the mummy man said. He produced a piece of cloth the size of a handkerchief.

"Wh...what are you going to do?!" Zolf ignored me and walked behind me. "Say something, you mmph!" I got cut off as the cloth was tied around my mouth!

"Now... you can't talk, can you?" Zolf said, turning around and facing me. What was he planning...? He laughed an ugly laugh, and then said, clearly, "Runt!"

"Nnnn...?!"

"Ugly."

"Mmmph!"

"Brat! Flat chested, tomboyish, arrogant..." Zolf ranted on, and the teasing seemed to continue forever. d.a.m.n, he got on my nerves! If only I could have spoken, I'd have given him a good tongue-las.h.i.+ng: "Your legs are short and bowlegged! You've got an awful personality! Underneath those bandages you're probably hideous!" But instead he was taking it all out on me!

"It seems to be effective," Zelgadis observed, although he sounded annoyed. "But this isn't some fight between kids. Can't you...you know..."

"I'm paying her back for calling me third-rate!" Zolf shrieked, and apparently all the blood was rus.h.i.+ng to his head. I was only getting angrier.

I shouted out a long list of swear words that would likely have gotten me killed, but because of the cloth it only comes out as "Ffmmmffffmm!"

"How do you feel? Why don't you try to say something back?!" he continued to taunt. I seethed in anger.

"Nnn...uuu..nnn...mmn!" I wasn't ever gonna forgive him! I swore someday I'd get back at him...

Darkness fell. There was some light s.h.i.+ning on the statue of the saint, coming in from a small window high up. Time pa.s.sed. Soon after, even the little light was gone also, and darkness ruled the room I was in. Once Zolf was finished, without doing anything they each returned to their rooms. I was alone, with no lamp, the only light coming from the stars. My wrists hurt, and I couldn't sleep while I was just hanging there. However, the day had been long so I kept nodding off slightly. I don't remember how much time went by like that. Eventually, the door opened soundlessly and I instantly snapped awake. Somebody stepped into the room.

"Be quiet," the figured whispered....Zelgadis. But why should I have been quiet? He appeared to be holding something, though I couldn't tell what it was in the dark. A blade flashed.

I landed on the floor with a m.u.f.fled cry of surprise.

"Here's your sword and cloak."

"...Eh?" Once I had removed the cloth around my mouth, I took the items. They were really mine. "Why?" I asked.

"There's no time to explain. Do you want to escape or not?" was the curt reply. When he put it that way, there was really only one answer, and I nodded. "Follow me." I walked quietly after Zelgadis. I knew it must be a trap, but any trap is better than hanging from a ceiling...I think. Soon we moved outside, and the moonlight shone on a dark forest and an old church. A single path lead into the forest. "Go," Zelgadis said.

I hesitate. The deal was too good. "But..."

"The situation has changed," he said irritably. "I don't care what your problem is, just go!"

"Alright." If it's a trap, then it's a trap. I ran along the path heading for the forest...but then my legs gave out on me part of the way. There was a crimson-shaded darkness in front of the entrance to the forest, and I heard Zelgadis click his tongue from behind me. The man who called himself Rezo the Red Priest stood before us.

"What is this about, Zelgadis? Are you letting that woman go?" Rezo said languidly. "You have never been truly open with me, but this is outright betrayal."

"Shut up!" Zelgadis cried, with a bit of desperation in his voice...he's obviously afraid. "I'm sick of working for you!"

"Ohhhh? I see..." Rezo said quietly. His expression hadn't changed a bit from the time we met, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. "You'd disregard the debt you owe me for giving you your 'strength', and would stand against me, your creator? Is that what you are saying?"

"What do you mean by debt?! I did say I wanted strength...but I never asked you to make me into a chimera!"

"... That was the quickest way to your 'strength'. But no matter. Neither nor reason nor the result is important. This is the result, and it must end now..." the Red Priest replied.

"d.a.m.n...!" Zelgadis muttered, before rus.h.i.+ng to my side and grabbing me from behind.

"Wh...wha?!" I sputtered, as Zelgadis inched forward.

Rezo laughed, somewhat nasally. "Are you going to use her as a s.h.i.+eld? How foolish. Do you think that's going to stay my hand?"

"I don't think that at all!" Zelgadis shouted, desperate...probably to control the fear he was feeling. I wished he wouldn't yell so close to my ear... "There's no way to escape using her as a s.h.i.+eld. That is, if I used her as a s.h.i.+eld, escape would be impossible," Zelgadis said calmly, and as he did I felt myself being lifted into the air! Hey! It couldn't be...

"Aaaaaaaaah!" I knew it. I was flying...Zelgadis had THROWN me at Rezo! That surprised even the Red Priest, who moved out of the way in a hurry. However, there was a tree right in front of me! I swung my arms wildly, screaming. I thought I managed to right myself but was apparently mistaken, and with a loud THWAP I slammed into the tree, reflexively wrapping my arms and legs around it. It hurt a lot. "Koala." I made a stupid joke to take mind off the pain.

"This isn't the time to be saying stupid jokes!" Zelgadis snapped. Without hestiating, he grabbed me, having run straight by Rezo right after throwing me. As he grabbed me, he hurled a Fireball in order to deter pursuit.

"Don't do such crazy things!" I shouted!

"I'll listen to your complaints later!" He tossed a few more Fireb.a.l.l.s, still holding me in his arm, and ran into the darkness.

"I think we've lost him." Zelgadis finally took a break near dawn by a small river that ran through the forest. There is a pond away from the road and a waterfall nearby as well, so there wasn't much worry about being heard. Boy, did he have endurance...he'd been running all night, carrying me. During that time I'd been rubbing the tip of my nose and my wrists.

"...My nose hurts," I complained.

"What's wrong?" Zelgadis asked nonchalantly.

"... Hey..." I sat down, and the cold stone felt good. It would have been nice to be able to lie down and get some rest. I hadn't slept the night before and it was starting to catch up. Being slightly smaller than most people, I'm confident in my speed. On the other hand, I don't have as much endurance as a normal fighter.

"I think sleep would be a good idea. Even I'm tired." Zelgadis said, as if speaking to himself. I cheered inside. "Don't think of running away while I'm asleep," he warned.

"I wouldn't think of such a thing. I'm tired myself, and only a little of my magic power has come back."

"Ho..." He sounded impressed. "But that means a little bit has come back..."

"At any rate, I won't run. But before you sleep, wouldn't it be proper for you to explain yourself?"

Zelgadis smiled wryly. "That's true. You're already invovled, so I suppose you have a right to know. I'll explain...where should I start?"

"For starters, tell me about that man back there. He calls himself Rezo the Red Priest, but..."

"Heh. So he's already contacted you?"

I nodded. "What is he?"

Zelgadis shrugged. "He is who he claims to be...he's the real Rezo the Red Priest. People treat him like a saint, but that's not what he's really like. I've heard he wasn't always this way, but I doubt it..."

I blinked. "What do you mean, 'this way'? What's he been doing behind the scenes?"

"You don't know? He's looking for the 'item."

"Then he's the one trying to resurrect Shabranigdu, and not you?" I was surprised to see that Zelgadis looked as confused as I was sure I did.

"Shabranigdu? What are you talking about? What he was making us look for was the famous 'Philosopher's Stone.'"

I made a small choking noise, struck speechless. "Then...then..."

"Yes. The Philosopher's Stone is inside the statue."

The Philosopher's Stone...there was probably no magic-user who hasn't heard of it. Some say it's an artifact from an ancient civilization; others say it's part of the staff that supports the world. The one thing that is certain is that it is an artifact that increses magical power, and a seriously powerful artifact at that. The Philospher's Stone has only appeared a few times in history. That means it's very rare, but each time it has appeared, history has been altered. Really, an apprentice sorcerer once used the stone to destroy an entire kingdom. Even though it was near-legendary, I knew it existed...I knew, but I never thought I'd get to see it...

I was awestruck. "Bu...but what does he plan to do with it once he gets it...?" If Rezo was as strong as the rumors said, then he had a considerable degree of power. Why would he want the stone on top of that? "Don't tell me he's going to try and conquer the world..."

Zelgadis shook his head. "He said, 'All I want to do is see the world'."

I raised an eyebrow. "See...the world?" That didn't make sense.

"Yes," Zelgadis replied, explaining. "As the rumors say, Rezo was born blind. He started learning White Magic so he could learn to cure his blindness. He mastered White Magic and wandered the land, healing people. He was using them as experiments to cure his own condition, however. Even though he could cure the blindness of others, he could not open his own eyes. He thought something must be missing. He started practicing Shamanism and Black Magic. By combining them with White Magic he tried to create a lot of high level spells. He showed extreme talent and skill with the magic, but he still couldn't cure his own blindness. So now he's after..."

"...the Philospher's Stone," I finished for him, and Zelgadis nodded. "But then, why do you want to prevent him from getting it? Even if he regains his sight, it's not as if he'll be causing trouble."

"That's true. But I'm not out to stop him; I'm out to kill him. And if I want to do that, I'll need the Philosopher's Stone. As it is now, I'm not powerful enough to beat him." Judging from the expression on his face, he wasn't kidding.

"Is he...is Rezo really that powerful?" Zelgadis nodded. If even someone as strong as Zelgadis was saying he couldn't defeat Rezo, it must mean Rezo really was extremely powerful. "You said you want to defeat him...is it because of what he did to your body?"

"Yeah. One day he said to me, 'If you help look for the Philosopher's Stone, then I shall grant you strength.' I nodded and agreed, not knowing what it would mean..." His voice was filled with hatred.

"When did you first meet him?" I had asked the question in an effort to change the mood, and in response Zelgadis wore a slightly mocking smile, and answered after a short pause.

"...From the day I was born. He's supposed to be either my grandfather or great-grandfather. I don't know him well, and don't want to, either."

"Eh?!" I was shocked.

"Contrary to appearances, he's been alive for around a hundred years. Anyway, it just means that the cursed blood of that false altruist, Rezo, runs in my veins."

I scratched the tip of my nose with my finger, sighing. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine, it doesn't matter..." Zelgadis replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Anyway, now I understand the basics," I said, forcing a brighter tone into my voice. "So now I'll sleep a little." I lay down on my side. Aaaaah, it felt good. "Why don't you rest a little? You're tired too, right?"

"Yeah, but if we're attacked while we're both asleep, that'll be it. I'll take first watch...after a while, I'll wake you up, and you can take over."