Lina walked behind Zelgadis to whom Amelia was clinging. Amelia was
trying to convince Zel to marry her and to admit how much he loved her.
Gods! I want to blow her up!! Why can't she let him alone?
Lina turned her gaze towards Gourry who was talking to Sylpheel as
Xellos caught her attention. The Mazoku had been awful quiet today, besides
he was walking instead of floating. He hadn't even tried to tease anyone,
he was acting so unlike him,
...strange..
The trickster priest seemed to be lost in thoughts.
What is going on in your sick Mazoku mind, Xellos? Lina wondered
as she watched him walk gaze fixed on the ground. Xellos sighted... -BUFF-
...before he walked into a tree.
Xellos had been somewhere else with her thought so that she didn't notice
the tree in her way and had just walked into it.
She found herself lying on the ground and saw Sylpheel’s face. The
priestess asked if she was all right. Xellos nodded and smiled her usual
smile at them as she picked her staff up.
Well, he's definitely not paying any attention to where he is going...
thought Lina.
Gourry helped Xellos up and said something about paying more attention
so he wouldn't crash into something again. The trickster nodded.
Look who's talking. Mr. Jellyfish-brain...
"If he's all right we should keep going on." said Zelgadis who had managed
to get away from Amelia and was now standing next to the red-haired sorceress.
Xellos felt a strange feeling as she saw the two of them standing so close
to each other.
Is this what humans call jealousy? She wondered as she forced
her smile to stay on her face.
"Zel is right. I'm hungry and I want to reach the next inn before nightfall."
said Lina as she started to follow Zelgadis down the road.
Amelia saw Xellos open his amethyst eyes and watch Zel and Lina walk
side by side talking. She saw his eyes filled with something she had never
thought she would see in a Mazoku's eyes. Pain.
Pain? Can it really be pain? Is Xellos-san jealous of Zelgadis-san
because he's spending so much time with Miss Lina lately? Is he in love
with Miss Lina? How can that be? He is a Mazoku....
Xellos noticed the princess looking at her, she closed her eyes and started to float after the others.
They had reached the inn about two hours ago. They had eaten and then
everybody had left to their respective rooms to rest.
It's now or never... thought Xellos as she took a deep breath
and teleported herself into Zelgadis' room.
She was standing in the shadows of the closet as Zel walked out of
the bathroom his shirt over his shoulder. Xellos pressed herself against
the wall as she stared open eyed at the chimera. She was about to melt.
Oh L-sama why hadn't I thought about spying earlier? Xellos
wondered as she walked toward Zel.
Zelgadis heard someone behind him and swirled around sword in his hand.
Xellos stood a few inches from the sword.
"It's only me Zel-kun." said the trickster smiling.
"What do you want fruitcake?" he asked suspicious not lowering his
sword from where it was, not far from Xellos troath.
The priest pushed the sword to the side with his finger.
"I have to tell you something." he told Zelgadis.
The trickster's smile had disappeared and had been replaced by a serious
look.
Xellos had it all planed out, she would tell him how it had all been
a mistake, how she was a woman and finally she would explain her feelings
to him.
Wait! That won't work. Zelgadis is a very suspicious person, he
will not believe I'm a woman in the first place, he will think it's all
a trick.
Xellos damned herself for being a trickster, if she wasn't this would
be a lot easier.
"Well it's easier if I just show you..." she said at last.
She shed her cape and put it on the chair, Zelgadis backed a step.
"What are you doing Xellos?" Zel demanded, but she didn't answer.
Xellos continued and took her gloves of. Zelgadis took another step
back.
"Hentai! Bastard! Gay Mazoku!! Fruitcake!! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!" Zelgadis
was pressed against the far wall of the room, as far away from Xellos as
possible.
Xellos sighted, "It's not what it looks like" yet "I'm not gay."
"Oh? You're not gay?! A man comes into my room in the middle of the
night and starts taking of his clothes and HE IS NOT GAY??!"
Xellos took of her shirt, she was wearing nothing underneath. Zelgadis
eyes bugged out. The reaction was expected, Xellos knew she had a nice
body and didn't really mind showing it form time to time.
"You're... you... those?..."Zelgadis fainted.
Xellos smiled satisfied with herself. At least she has the worst part
behind her, or so she thought at the moment. She walked over to Zelgadis
and sat down next to him.
"Zel-kun wake up." she said caressing his cheek.
"Zel it's me." she ran her hand trough his hair and stopped suddenly.
If Zel-kun wakes up and finds me half-naked caressing his hair, it
will not improve matters.
She stood up and put her shirt and gloves back on, then she levitated
Zelgadis to his bed and sat next to him.
"See you tomorrow Zel-kun." she said softly as she leaned forward and
kissed his forehead before disappearing.
Some hours later Zelgadis woke up. His first impression was that it
had all been a nightmare, but then he didn't remember going to sleep. He
sat up in his bed and looked around. No it hadn't been a dream, Xellos
had forgotten her cape on the chair. Zelgadis laid back on his bed. What
was he going to do now about the trickster? How was he going to tell the
others that Xellos was actually a woman? He sighted. This whole thing had
to be some bad joke. It couldn't be true... But then again he had seen
her. Zelgadis blushed at the memory.
Luckily it didn't occur to Zel what reason Xellos had for telling this
to him instead of Lina or Amelia, or he would have gotten a heart-attack.
The trickster was back in her room. This hadn't turned out that bad
afterall. Sure she hadn't told Zelgadis about her feeling towards him,
but when he got used to the idea of her being a woman she would tell him.
Xellos reached up to her neck to take off her cape when she noticed
that it wasn't there. She remembered having laid it down on a chair in
Zel's room.
Oh well... I can ask for it tomorrow.
The next morning Zelgadis collected all his courage and went to Xellos'
room carrying her cape. He knocked and waited. After a few seconds Xellos
opened the door.
"Here." said Zelgadis extending his hand and giving Xellos his cape,"
You forgot this in my room last night."
"Aw! Thank you so much Zel-kun." she smiled and took the offered garment.
Zelgadis turned red, Xellos was definitely taking this the wrong way.
"Morning Zel! Morning Xellos!!" said Gourry as he passed the two of
them and went downstairs for breakfast. Zelgadis was glad it hadn't been
Lina, Amelia or Sylpheel who had seen them, they would have gotten it all
wrong.
"Well,... I think I'll go now." Zel said blushing. This whole thing
with Xellos was making him uncomfortable and nervous around the priest.
Priestess...he reminded himself.
Lina had noticed the tense air around Zelgadis during breakfast and
even right now while they were traveling. It also didn't escape her that
Xellos seemed to have returned to his normal behavior. Maybe a little more
annoying around Zel now than before...
The trickster was floating next to Zelgadis and babbling non-stop and
Zelgadis blushed from time to time.
He's looks so cute when he blushes...
Zelgadis was acting strange with the Mazoku, he hadn't even insulted
Xellos. She didn't know what was going on, first Xellos and now Zelgadis...
Easiest way to find out was to ask one of them and since Xellos was surely
going to answer "Sore wa himistu des", it only left Zelgadis.
The sorceress wasn't the only one who noticed the chimera's strange
behavior towards the Mazoku.
"Gourry-sama?" she asked.
"Yes?" answered Gourry.
"Do you know what is wrong with Zelgadis-san?" Sylpheel asked concerned.
"I don't know. When I saw them this morning Zelgadis was giving Xellos
his cape and said something about Xellos having forgotten it in Zel's room
last night" the swordsman told her.
Sylpheel stopped walking, with wide eyes and open mouth she stared
after Xellos and Zelgadis.
Could it be possible? The two of them are...she didn't even
want to think about it.
"Sylpheel? Sylpheel are you okay?" Gourry was waving a hand in front
of her face to get her attention.
She nodded slowly, „Y...yes" and started to walk after the others still
starring at the floating Mazoku and the chimera to whom Amelia was clinging
again.