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Detour	By : RoseThorne Category: +S to Z > Slayers Views: 3318 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Detour

by Rose Thorne

Disclaimer: Slayers is owned by a bunch of folks who aren’t me. I’m borrowing them for my perverse pleasure, much as Xellos borrows emotions for his.

Chapter Thirty One

Finding Xellos seated by the bed when she checked in to take over for Gourry was one of the biggest reliefs of Lina’s life. He had been successful, clearly, if he had made it back. Or he had prevailed. Whichever was the case, she was glad to see him.
“Did Zel wake up at all?” Lina kept her voice to a whisper.
It wasn’t the question she needed to ask, but she wasn’t quite sure how to broach that issue—or if Xellos would want to share. Or, an even bigger question given the weird little path they were on: would he feel a duty to share? Lina had thought she was used to being thrown into bizarre situations, but lately it seemed like her definition of weird was going to wind up being way outside the norm.
Eh, she’d never liked ‘normal,’ anyway.
Xellos nodded shortly. “Gourry-san brought him dinner after I arrived.”
His attention seemed to be elsewhere, and Lina frowned, concerned. “Is there danger?”
The Mazoku turned toward her, and she realized he’d likely been watching Zel. She couldn’t decide if that was sweet or creepy. Protective versus obsessively stalkerish? This was Xellos, after all, so maybe it was a little bit from column A, and a lotta bit from column B.
“From what I can tell, the sorcerers are out of lesser Mazoku to send for the moment, and any mercenaries are stymied by the storm.”
He hadn’t said anything about Beastmaster. “And…?”
Xellos waved a hand, and Lina felt a barrier surround them. She tensed, but when he didn’t move she realized he was making their conversation private, shielding them from spying ears. And from Gourry and Zelgadis, who were not included. She wasn’t too keen on keeping things from them, but at the same time Zel had enough to deal with. So long as not knowing didn’t wind up hurting him.
“She believes I am investigating the matter.” He frowned, looking troubled. “I lied to her.”
“Good,” Lina responded absently, her mind turning on how long this might protect Zel.
Xellos stood. “Lina-san, I lied to her.”
She blinked, before realizing what he was actually saying. They had argued on this point before, whether misleading was lying, whether his pretense at being a benign wandering priest had counted as a lie—he had, after all, been a Mazoku priest. He had protested that he never lied, ever, implying that such a thing was not within his nature. But he was specifying; this time he had lied. Actually actively told an untruth.
And he had lied to his former master.
“Oh.” His nature. His changing nature. No wonder he was troubled. Lina wasn’t quite sure what to say to help with that, or if anything could be said, but there was a question that needed answering. “Did she believe you?”
That got a soft laugh in reply. It had a bit of an edge. “Lina-san, she would never suspect I could be capable of lying to her.”
He sounded tired, wistful; she couldn’t imagine how this was impacting him, but he’d been around for millennia, and had served the Greater Beast for his entire existence. This had to be as alien to him as, well, becoming the Vessel and General of the Lord of Nightmares was for her. And he had his own connection to Her to consider as well.
In addition to what he was apparently feeling for Zel.
What a mess.
“I implied the remaining Lords might be behind this,” Xellos explained. “She also wondered about the dragons.”
Lina winced. She didn’t really want Filia and little Val targeted, but at least Filia had broken from the rest of the golden dragons, and so hopefully wouldn’t be on the radar.
“I… did not rule it out, but focused her toward the other Lords. Strife among them will keep Dynast and Dolphin too busy to look into this matter.” Xellos seemed to notice her concern; not surprising, given what he was. “She believes I am her ally, that I will report developments to her. She does not know my true intentions.”
She watched him for a few moments, considering that information, then frowned at him. “Honestly, I don’t think I know your true intentions, Xellos.”
Neither did Zel, and that was maybe more important. Half of this entire debacle, Lina had wondered exactly whose side Xellos was on, even wondering if it might come to destroying him—not that she figured she’d be able to now that L-sama was involved. She was pretty sure they could trust him, so that wasn’t completely up in the air anymore, but she had to know for sure.
Xellos watched her in silence for a moment, and she wondered whether she’d pissed him off. But after a moment, a strange, almost self-depreciating (could Mazoku even do that?) smile curved his lips.
“Yare yare,” he murmured. “I suppose… I did decide them only today.”
That wasn’t exactly reassuring; did that mean he’d still been considering his intentions the other night? Even with planning to mislead his former master?
He seemed to pick up on her confusion. “It is not within Mazoku nature to wish to protect any but our masters,” he explained, almost in the academic tone of a lecturer. “But we established already that I no longer have one. So what is my nature?”
“Oh, hell.” Lina was really not in the mood for this. “To confuse the hell out of me? Please tell me you don’t expect me to actually answer that. What does that question have to do with your intentions?”
Xellos let out a short laugh. “Everything, Lina-san. My intentions are to protect Zelgadis-san from harm, and help remove the threats against him, which is what begs that question. My nature has apparently become quite foolish.”
“I wouldn’t call it foolish, Xellos.”
As she answered, she realized she might be biased on that. They could use his help—Zel especially. Maybe it was about as foolish as Zel helping someone he barely knew beat a Shard of Shabranigdu, but that was why she’d do the same for him, and maybe to a Mazoku that kind of bond would seem pretty foolish. Of course, that was probably why the Mazoku had lost the War of Monsters’ Fall, not that she was suicidal enough to posit that aloud.
“Nor, apparently, would the Mother of All.” The Mazoku shook his head. “Nearly ceasing to exist in what should have been a futile attempt to heal his soul seems to lack wisdom. And sanity.”
None of them were particularly prone to either, though, Lina figured. With everything they’d gone through over the past several years, this was almost par for the course—only this time they were hitting a hole in one.
“You’re not the only one,” she said finally. “Zel did the same thing. He was researching toward a fools’ errand with the black magic healing stuff. Some misguided attempt to help you, apparently.”
The irony struck her as a bit funny, really. Zel and Xellos making the same mistakes in different ways. But she could tell from the flummoxed look on Xellos’ face that he didn’t see it that way at all.
Before she had a chance to think about that, Zel made a strangled, pained sound from the bed, shifting in his sleep. Xellos was immediately at his side, the bewildered expression replaced by cold rage.
--
At first he thought it was a dream, tendrils of magic raking at him from the Astral plane, trying to burrow into him. He was powerless to stop them, but he tried anyway. Then they were forcibly yanked from him, a strong barrier slammed in place, and Zelgadis jerked into full awareness to see Xellos, eyes open, anger oozing from him, standing next to the bed.
The realization that it wasn’t a dream, that he would have succumbed to the spell if Xellos hadn’t intervened, was enough to freeze Zel where he lay. He was vaguely aware of the scrape of steel nearby.
“Xellos! What are you—?”
But Lina broke off, clearly noticing the magic.
“Unfortunately, I am not able to counter the White magic, Lina-san.”
Zel barely heard him. He could feel the wisps seeking him on the Astral plane, trying to find a weakness in the barrier Xellos had erected. Its goal was to take him over, he knew, a sliver of familiarity connecting in his mind. He fought against panic, struggling with the urge to bolt.
Xellos’ hand on his shoulder startled him, but also steadied him, in part because he could actually feel his touch as though his skin was not made of stone.
“It will not get through the barrier, Zelgadis-san,” he murmured, his voice surprisingly gentle.
So he was safe from it; he worked to quell his emotions, taking a shaky breath. Zel wasn’t even quite sure he was fully awake, though the adrenaline rush was doing a fine job of destroying the remnants of exhaustion. In a moment of tired insanity, he was momentarily distracted trying to remember whether he’d ever had a worse wake-up call. He rather doubted it.
“Don’t bother with your sword, Gourry,” he heard Lina mutter testily.
Zel tried to focus and recognized Gourry had indeed unsheathed his weapon, looking for something to defend against—he had heard him pull it, he realized. As useless as the sword might be in this situation, he appreciated the blond’s readiness.
Lina crossed the room to where the tendrils were still questing, examining the magic with a critical eye. “It’s that hybrid thing again. I’m better with Black magic, you know. Zel’s the one who’s good with Astral.”
He let irritation with that work to overcome the whirling panic he was still fighting. He had told Lina, repeatedly, that she should diversify her magic, especially when he had been training Amelia in shamanic magic. She had the capacity and the intelligence for it.
“Given the purpose of the spell, Lina-san—”
Zel cut Xellos off, not wanting to hear what he already knew, that he could not work against this spell, despite all his training and studies. But he refused to allow this situation to paralyze him. He refused to be helpless.
“Lina, I told you to work on that. Destruction isn’t always the best option.”
“I know, I know!” The sorceress glared at Zelgadis, and it helped steady him further.
He could push away the panic now, burying it under the mantle of teacher. He made himself move, sitting cross-legged on the bed in an almost meditative position; that also helped to calm his nerves, though he could still feel the magic questing for him. He steadied himself, trying to find his center of calm.
“Guess you get to work on it now.” Zel refocused on the stern patience of the role. “Analyze.”
Lina gaped at him in disbelief. “Are you really turning this into some sort of test?”
A sound Zel recognized as stifled amusement drew his attention to Xellos, who wasn’t bothering to hide a smile.
“You always seem to do best with practicals, Lina-san.”
In an academic way, Zelgadis could appreciate the existential humor of the situation, but it still threatened to shatter his calm. A shiver ran through him, and he realized Xellos’ hand was still on his shoulder when the grip—one he could actually feel—tightened slightly. He managed to use the sensation to ground himself.
“Quiet, Xellos.” He focused on Lina. “Analyze it. Find the focus.”
Lina gave him a withering look, but did as he said, turning her attention on the magic. After a few minutes, she frowned. “You. Your skin, specifically, like it’s attuned to your golem aspect. I’m not sure how that’s even possible.”
Zel repressed a shudder. It wasn’t entirely surprising. He knew, thanks to Xellos’ discovery, exactly how that was possible. Just the thought that these sorcerers had parts of his body, were using them like spell components, made him feel ill.
“It is,” he managed, his voice barely a whisper.
That got her attention. “But they’d have to—” Her expression darkened abruptly as she realized the implications, implications Zel was just glad she didn’t say aloud. “Oh, they’re dead.”
Xellos, evidently, realized as well, from the sudden spike of bloodlust Zel felt, along with increased, almost painful, pressure on his shoulder. It was, thankfully, quickly repressed, but he found he wasn’t as bothered by it—he knew it wasn’t directed toward him. The chimera shrugged slightly, and Xellos removed his hand.
Zel forced himself back into the teacher role. “So that would be the Divining aspect of the spell.”
He managed to say that without inflection, though that twisted use of spirit shamanism disgusted him, the way it implied he was an object. He had years of experience with people who considered him a monster, being considered a thing, an object to be experimented upon, was far more degrading and dehumanizing. And now, knowing there was no cure…
He pushed that from his mind, trying to stay on track. “Continue your analysis.”
Lina muttered under her breath, but went back to her studies. She was picking at the spell with her hands, though she certainly couldn’t touch it. The motions were an aid to her concentration as she sifted through the spell. After a few minutes a look of horror spread over her face, and he knew the worst was yet to come. Zelgadis steeled himself.
“Zel…” She bit her lip, clearly not wanting to continue, but he waited patiently. “There’s spirit shamanism mixed with earth shamanism, kind of a hybrid Puppet spell. And I think the white magic is meant to prevent any spells from interrupting that one.”
Xellos’ bloodlust rose again briefly, and Zel tried to let that anger focus his own for a moment, overwhelmed as the despair he’d pushed away rushed back at him with a hurricane of other emotions. The wrath sharpened his focus; it was obvious the hybrid shamanism was meant to control his golem third, meaning it wasn’t what had been used on the Mazoku. That, apparently, was something else. It sounded too much like what Rezzo had used on him. It all came back to Rezzo.
He took a deep breath. “Can you tell where it’s coming from?”
This time it was Xellos who answered. “The direction we’ve been travelling. Near Atlass.” Lina nodded in agreement.
At least they were headed in the right direction, Zel supposed. And he would be going under his own control. Still, he wondered if he was walking right into a trap.
“Can you neutralize it?” he finally asked Lina.
She had gone back to picking through the spell, and hm’d thoughtfully in a way that reminded him slightly of Xellos. Then she smiled, the expression twisted with a sort of evil glee, which didn’t help the resemblance.
“I can do better than that. I’m gonna make it easier to find them.”
She didn’t bother to elucidate, and instead went back to picking at the spell, murmuring under her breath. It took a moment for Zel to realize she was actually adding a spell to the mix, and weaving what was there into a sort of feedback loop so the magic would be trapped in its own path, amplifying and moving back toward the focus. After a moment, the magic faltered briefly, then pulled back on itself like a snapped rubber band, disappearing into the distance.
Zelgadis let out a sigh of relief, sagging slightly, letting go of the semblance of calm he had been clinging to. The danger was over for now, and that was just about all he could handle thinking about.
“Hey, Lina. How are you going to make it easier?” Gourry asked, breaking the silence.
She grinned again, though the expression lacked mirth. “Well, we’ll just have to look for a crater.”
“Are you saying you added Fireball to the spell, Lina-san?” Xellos sounded truly curious.
Her smile turned smug. “It’ll explode when it hits the focus. They won’t be able to use it again.”
Which meant, Zel realized, that the stone they were using would be incinerated; Lina had likely added it to the mix with that intention. Regardless, he couldn’t bring himself to feel relieved, since he doubted they’d only taken two, especially if they’d harvested him for spell components. He wouldn’t be able to tell, since his golem body simply repaired the damage.
Regardless, he wasn’t safe. The sorcerers weren’t likely to stop at one try, regardless of the damage. Xellos had destroyed an entire laboratory, after all, and it hadn’t stopped them. But perhaps any trap planned for him in Atlass was likely to be destroyed by Lina’s spell.
He was so lost in thought, his mind racing, he didn’t realize Lina was calling his name until she poked him in the forehead with one gloved finger.
“Oi, earth to Zel. You okay?”
Zelgadis blinked at her for a moment, blankly realizing she actually wanted an answer to that question, and probably one that was an affirmative answer, which he really couldn’t give right now.
“I need a cup of coffee,” he said instead. Although the caffeine normally helped him wake up, he knew it would also calm his nerves—which desperately needed the help at this point.
Lina’s frown deepened. “Yeah, and won’t that make it harder for you to rest?”
Zel fixed her with a withering stare. “No more than what just happened.”
She winced. “Right. We were about to go get some food, so we can send some up for you. I’m going to talk to Amelia, let her know what we’re up against. She’s gonna hate that she slept through this.”
He knew it was necessary, but Zelgadis didn’t relish the thought of Amelia’s reaction. She’d already been treating him like he was fragile, and he hated that circumstances had made him so vulnerable. On the other hand, he wouldn’t have to tell her himself or be present for the conversation, which was definitely a plus. It was better to have two people who knew how to counter the spell.
“Just get me coffee before you eat.”
“And food,” Lina repeated. “You need to keep taking care of yourself.”
Zel nodded, though he wasn’t sure he could keep anything down at the moment. He was certain he needed to eat, but his entire body was too tense, his stomach a roiling knot of anxiety, for him to even think about food.
“You’re staying up here with him, Xellos?”
Gourry’s question made him abruptly aware of the Mazoku’s presence again, and the Astral barrier he was still keeping up so casually.
“Of course, Gourry-san.”
Zel hated that he felt thankful for that, but he didn’t have access to the kind of power Xellos had wielded to put up Astral shields so strong in the blink of an eye. While he might be safe if he created a barrier circle of sorts, his abilities in White magic weren’t as strong as his shamanism, and he also doubted the inn would appreciate a permanent pentagram on the floor of one of their rooms.
Xellos’ Astral barrier certainly wasn’t shamanic in nature, but Zel didn’t really want to think about where the power came from. He was probably better off that way. He could sense a sort of miasma around it, and he knew well enough how Mazoku gleaned their power.
He didn’t realize he’d zoned out again, lost in thought, until Gourry pressed a cup of coffee in his hand, and the aroma cleared his head a bit. Through the smell of coffee, he could also smell meat and potatoes, and thought maybe he could eat after all.
--
The rage still coursed through Xellos, sharpening his focus with murderous intent, even after the magic snapped back to its origin. He was torn between the desire to stay and protect Zelgadis, and the need to follow the spell, to hunt down and exterminate the sorcerers at the other end if they survived Lina’s Fireball. But he did not know how long it would take, and the chimera would be vulnerable to their attacks in his absence.
If only he could have the others keep Zelgadis somewhere safe, out of reach, while he worked. But it seemed nowhere was out of reach, not with the power this group of sorcerers seemed to wield. This incident had proved as much.
The nervous, chaotic energy of the shaman’s emotions faded slowly, the coffee and food giving a bit of energy which allowed him calm his mind.
No, Xellos realized; it wasn’t calm. It was detachment. The emotions still swirled chaotically, but a numbness had settled over Zelgadis, allowing him a façade of calm. But he could still feel the despair within the maelstrom, despair that had seemed to slice through Zelgadis like a blade when Lina had uncovered the spells.
A blade was an apt metaphor for the complexity of it, dense and sharp as though the despair had been folded over and hammered with other emotions to create a beautiful and terrible instrument of pain, some of the richest he had ever felt from a mortal.
And yet, Xellos hadn’t been comfortable absorbing the energy from it. Instead he had funneled the miasma into the Astral barrier around Zelgadis, enough that it would stay up for quite some time without needing to be maintained by his energy. The chimera’s protection being powered by the emotions forced upon him by those who wished to harm him seemed to be a perfect dichotomy.
The numbness started to fade as the exhaustion came back to Zelgadis, bringing the tumult of emotions back to the surface. Xellos realized with a frown the youth was actually afraid to sleep; despite the barrier, he felt vulnerable. It was not entirely rational, but he had found human emotions, particularly fear, often weren’t.
Zelgadis had barely moved from where he had slumped in a sitting position on the bed after the danger had passed. He seemed frozen by his emotions, in a way. Every so often, barely perceptible tremors ran through his body, the fear manifesting physically in a way the shaman couldn’t quite suppress.
From what he had gleaned from the conversation, as bizarre as he found the way humans used magic, the spell had been meant to copy Rezzo’s control on the golem aspect. Zelgadis could potentially shield himself from that spell, using the magic he drew from his demon aspect—assuming, of course, he knew how to create that strong of an Astral barrier. And assuming the next spell would not target Zelgadis’ demon aspect; that would not be easily countered, even by Xellos.
But, perhaps…
As strange as it would be for him to do so, Xellos could teach him how to draw on power directly. No one would expect that Zelgadis would have that ability, or for Xellos to teach him to use it, which could become a very strategic advantage. And the Mazoku could repay him for the surprising fact that he had looked for ways to save him—not that he could have. Only the Intervention of the Golden Lord had saved either of them, but the intention was what counted. Lina’s sense of irony regarding the situation was oddly fitting.
From a Mazoku standpoint, this was unthinkable, unwise. Traitorous, to an extent. But perhaps Lina’s viewpoint was one to embrace; from a non-Mazoku standpoint, his actions were not foolish. From a human standpoint, really, which was part of why it irked him; but, then, humans were also Creations of the Mother of All.
Xellos made a decision, reaching forward to flick the pointed tip of one of Zelgadis’ ears. At the very least, introducing the idea would help distract the chimera from his despair, or perhaps alleviate it entirely.
Zelgadis flinched at the sudden contact, then glared at him, a wave of irritation washing away the rest of his negativity. That was a start. “What do you want, Xellos?”
“I wondered about your Astral shielding abilities, Zelgadis-san.”
“What, like Vas Gluudo or Guumueon?” The shaman frowned, and the irritation faded a bit, his mind puzzling over the matter. “Neither of those would hold up to a spell like that. Vas Gluudo is too small, and Guumueon… I don’t think I could sustain that for long enough.”
Xellos didn’t bother to repress amusement. “Oh, human spells. Those are so very limiting.” That earned a sour look. “You do realize, with your complex nature, you need not be limited?”
It took a moment for Zelgadis to realize what he was saying, and then his reaction was an intriguing mix of disgust and curiosity.
Revulsion won out, and his features twisted in distaste. “Wonderful. I can use magic like a demon.”
“I’m not sure why that matters, Zelgadis-san,” Xellos answered mildly. It seemed foolish to deny his abilities, especially now, but it wasn’t entirely surprising the youth would focus on this as inhuman. “If you can use it to defend yourself, why would it?”
Zelgadis didn’t answer for quite some time, his emotions focused on the question, and on his distaste for the chimera he was—and, Xellos saw no point in reminding him, would always be. Regardless of knowing there was no cure, he still hated what Rezzo had made him. Though that was unlikely to change—as much as Xellos felt he should embrace his identity—it would do little good for him to ignore a benefit, especially in a situation like this, with him targeted because of his non-human aspects. That, at least, he seemed to recognize.
“Would it really matter?” the shaman finally asked. “They tried to use golem manipulation this time, but they obviously have other spells targeting Mazoku.”
“Protection against this spell is a start, at least.” Xellos shrugged, conceding the point. “It might not help if they target your demon aspect, but your abilities, should you acknowledge and develop them, would likely be useful in the future. You have far more potential than you seem to realize.”
That seemed to push the scale toward curiosity. And, regardless, Zelgadis was distracted from his vulnerability, the despair gone—or at least hidden in the recesses of his being for the moment. Xellos preferred to keep it that way.

Thank you to Tsu and Chrissy for proofreading and offering encouragement.
I played a lot with the idea of how magic works in the Slayers!verse. A lot of the spells were based on inverse.org, though I obviously took some liberties with them. One of the things I figure about magic is that the Chaos words and spell components are something humans rely on to help gain access to and control the magic, and since people like Naga have actually created new spells (Vu Raywa), likely some sorcerers have unique spells which are not widely known. And we know Lina created Ragna Blade.
Xellos, being an Astral being, wouldn’t really need Chaos words or components, I figure—though we know he sometimes does use Chaos words for certain attacks.
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