Title: Ancient Grudges Unravelled
Author: Shaded Mazoku.
Email: herukatto@hotmail.com.
Part: 5/?
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine at all. They belong to… …Someone else. I’m merely borrowing them for my own amusement.
Warnings: Violence, torture, sex, violent sex, bloodplay, yaoi.
Rating: PG-13 for this chapter, NC-17 for the entire fic.
Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might be harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seems to have an agenda of his own in the town.
Pairing(s): Xelloss x Zelgadis.
*
Chapter 1*
Chapter 2*
Chapter 3*
Chapter 4*
In the end, Zelgadis ended up buying Xelloss' damn candles. If nothing else, he told himself, he could chuck them at the mazoku's head. It wouldn't hurt him any, sure, but it'd make Zelgadis feel better. Right now, he'd settle for that small piece of smugness, pointless as it was. The fact of the matter was that without use of Astral Wine, the candles would probably do as much damage as his sword could, and they were a lot easier to throw.
He let himself into the house they used for shelter just in time for dinner, apparently, and as such, he was able to get himself a cup of steaming coffee before the other three even noticed his presence. It'd amuse him if it wasn't so stupid.
“If I was an enemy, the lot of you'd been dead ten minutes ago, you know.” He eyed them all over the rim of his cup, as usually highly unimpressed by his companions' manners.
Lina shoved the last of her food in her mouth and said something illegible. Zelgadis sighed and sipped his coffee, waiting for her to swallow so she'd make sense. While routine might be comforting, the routines he was used to was just ridiculous.
“Well, you're not an enemy, are you?” Lina pointed out once she'd finished chewing. “So it's hardly a point.”
Zelgadis sighed again. Some days, he wondered which was worse; his crazy and ridiculous friends or the crazy and somewhat malicious mazoku. At least he could throw things at Xelloss when he felt the urge to do so. Not that he wouldn't chose his friends over Xelloss any day, but they were both crazy.
He finished off his coffee and went to get himself another cup. “I ran into Xelloss again,” he said, refilling the cup. “He claims to be trying to do the same as we're trying to do.” Undermine the priests and end their reign. Just a shame they all knew that Xelloss' agenda was never what it seemed to be.
Scowling, Lina shoved away her plate. “Well, if Xelloss says white, we all know he means black. Tell me what happened.” She turned her eyes on Zelgadis, watching him intently.
Zelgadis related the events of the day, though he left out some minor details, like Xelloss' new-found habit of being in his personal space. He really didn't think that was any of Lina's business, and anyway, he didn't want to dwell upon it.
As he finished, Lina nodded, taking in the story. “So Xelloss is after something here, too, huh?” She frowned. Though she was more flippant about Xelloss' part of their group dynamic than Zelgadis, she knew all too well that he wasn't particularly benevolent. “Did he say anything at all that could mean he'll be getting in our way more than usually?”
“Not really, no. He said he had a task here, but apparently he doesn't think we're in his way.” At least the mazoku hadn't seemed to have any problems with them doing their thing. Chances were that Xelloss knew exactly what they were up to in town. He was a hard man to keep secrets from.
Lina sighed. “We all know that if Xelloss says white, the answer's probably black.” One of many reasons why Xelloss was a pain to deal with. “He did get you access to the temple, though, so I suppose we should give him the benefit of doubt at the moment.” Not that they could really do much other than that; without magic, they had no way of harming Xelloss even if he did decide to turn on them.
Zelgadis nodded. He supposed that if the worst came to pass, they'd somehow make it out alive anyway. It seemed to be what they did. “I'm going to go back to the temple and get some exploring done. I want to make a map of the inside, too.”
“Be careful!” Lina called as he left.
When Zelgadis arrived back at the temple, he was let in, though some of the guards grumbled somewhat. He ignored them pointedly, instead wandering off into the abandoned hallway that led to Xelloss' room. As soon as he was out of sight of the guards, he pulled out a new piece of parchment and a piece of charcoal, setting to work on a map of the somewhat labyrinthine temple.
Hours later, having spent most his time playing hide and seek with the guards and priests most the afternoon, Zelgadis returned to Xelloss' room, dropping down in a chair that creaked ominously in protest. He didn't even have the energy to throw the basket of candles at Xelloss, who didn't even look up at Zelgadis' return. Instead, he dropped it to the floor and forgot all about it.
Leaning over the nearby table, he rolled out the map and started adding the guard positions to it, writing down any known times he had for change of guards. Even after having spent hours working on the map, it was nowhere near complete. It was almost depressing.
The soft touch of fingers on his shoulder made Zelgadis jump. He hadn't heard Xelloss move, but the priest was currently leaning over his shoulder, leaning his weight on Zelgadis' shoulder. His blindfold was still in place, but it wasn't as though he needed his eyes to see.
“Not bad for a day's work,” Xelloss said, running the index finger of his free hand along one of the lines on the map, carefully avoiding any smudging. He'd taken off his gloves, Zelgadis noticed, revealing surprisingly well manicured hands.
Zelgadis sighed. “It could have been better.” If it hadn't been for the guards. Or his going to inform Lina. Or even buying Xelloss' candles. There was a lot of “what if”s, but Zelgadis knew better than to dwell on them. Any dwelling on what might have been would just lead to lot of agonizing to no avail. Out of the corner of his eye, Zelgadis could barely make out a smile on Xelloss' lips. The mazoku was probably having a three course meal on Zelgadis' expense already. No need to get moody and give Xelloss more to feed off.
Xelloss made a soft sound of agreement, leaning down further. As he did, his hair slipped across the tip of Zelgadis' ear, surprisingly noticeable even through his stone skin. Annoyed, Zelgadis reached up and brushed it off. “Could you please watch that hair?”
“Sorry!” Xelloss practically chirped, not sounding the least bit apologetic. He did pull his hair over to the other side, though, before putting his hand back onto Zelgadis' shoulder. It was still oddly warm. “You're missing some guard posts up here,” he said, putting his finger down near the edges of what was drawn on the map. “And some over here.” His finger moved to another edge of the map.
Zelgadis noted down the guard posts Xelloss indicated, though he took note of which ones it was. He knew better than to entirely trust Xelloss with anything, and definitely not with something this important. On the other hand, Xelloss did have far better access to everything going on in the temple. Though he didn't really want to talk to him, it was better to put up with having to do so than to stumble around blindly.
Zelgadis sighed softly and bit his lip lightly. It didn't really have any effect. “You wouldn't happen to know anything about that fabled 'miracle' stone of theirs, would you?” He asked, not wanting to look at Xelloss. He had his reasons for wanting to know, and he didn't really feel like telling.
Xelloss, of course, picked up on them anyway. “Oh, dear. Don't tell me you're still looking for a cure?”
He actually managed to sound surprised, and Zelgadis had a sudden urge to punch him hard. He settled for snarling at him, instead. “Not that it's any of your business, but no!” It was only a white lie. He was mainly interested in the stone because if it existed, it would likely be the root of whatever detected magic, and if it was destroyed, they'd be free to use their powers again. At the moment, that was actually more important than actually finding a cure. A cure would do him no good if he died before he could enjoy it.
Behind him, Xelloss chuckled, but it wasn't really his usual playful chuckle. There was an edge of something almost sinister to it. “I'm glad to hear that, Zelgadis-san,” he practically purred. “After all, you'd be much more vulnerable as a human, and I do prefer my guards without holes in them.” He smiled rather viciously as he said this.
As he spoke, he moved his hand from Zelgadis' shoulder to the chair he was on, deftly turning it around so that he was almost in Zelgadis' lap. “I,” he said, his voice dropping to a half-whispered drawl, “Have a little proposition for you.” Another slow, vicious smile. “One that might benefit us both. Greatly.”