THE
CRYING STONE
CHAPTER 6: HOLLOW SOUL
by Ashe Rhyder
The three travelers quickly discovered that Cerina's magical abilities
were on the fritz again, so Zelgadis provided the artificial lighting that
illuminated the subterrainian corridors. His sharp eyes darted about rapidly
though, as if he were looking for something.
"Hold it." He hissed, freezing in his tracks and motioning for
Xellos to come closer. In one swift movement, he seized the Trickster Priest by
the collar and threw him into the hallway. The Mazoku projectile flew about
three feet, and skidded another five on his face.
"What'd you do that for?" He whimpered as Zelgadis dusted off
his hands.
"Demonstration of how much I trust you." The chimera shrugged.
"You can test for booby traps."
"Oh--" Xellos was thrown against the wall as several shuriken
pinned him by the edges of his clothes. His wide violet eyes were focused on the
dagger he held at bay in his teeth. "--goodie." He spat out the
lancelet, and gave Zel a dirty look as he teleported free of the hold. The
chimera ignored said dirty look.
"I'll check for more traps." He offered cheerfully. For the next
few moments, the only sounds were those of traps springing, being disarmed, and
a Mazoku enjoying the pain they caused.
Xellos' extremely feminine scream caused the to elevate their pace from
slowly flanking to running.
"Zelgadis, Li-Cerina! Look--" The Trickster called out from a
pit below, but too late, "--out." The red head and the chimera landed
on him.
"Xellos?" Cerina asked, crawling off both Shaman and Priest.
"Argh." Zelgadis stood up in the thigh-deep water, glaring
murder at his soggy white clothes.
"A little... help here?" The Mazoku whimpered. Zelgadis looked
to Cerina, whi shrugged.
"Oh, fine." He sighed, lifting Xellos up and hauling him onto
his shoulder. "REI WING!"
Nothing happened.
"Null magic hole," he muttered, calculating the distance to the
top, Xellos and Cerina's weight, and the water's distortion of movement.
"Null magic?" Cerina asked.
"No magic can be used, no matter what kind. Not even Mazoku
magic." He replied coolly, trudging over to her.
"What are... What are you doing?" He gave no answer as he picked
her up, too.
"Jumping." He muttered, crouching down. The water drenched him
upto his chin as his muscles tensed and then exploded in fiery pain from the
over extertion as he leapt. His stone hands found a hold in the floor around the
pit, allowing Cerina and Xellos enough time to crawl off to terra fimra. But the
grip couldn't hold out, and Zel fell back into the dark.
"Zelgadis!?" Cerina screamed as the splash caught her attention.
She peered into the space... and fell hard on her rear as said chimera sprang
out again, landing neatly beside her.
"I didn't expect that to happen," he admitted sheepishly.
"Dummy!" She clocked him. "I was worried about you!"
"Ahem." Xellos cleared his throat, wringing water out of his
cloak. "Can we get a move on?" He gestured to the large, ornate doors
behind them. The wooden surface was inlaid with gold and red and orange
gemstones, designed to mimic the movement pattern of fire; never exactly the
same twice.
Zelgadis nodded, and both he and Xellos stood protectively in front of
Cerina, despite her protests.
"I can take care of myself!" She whined.
"It's only logical for us to go first." Xellos argued.
"My stone skin cannot be pierced by normal weapons, and Xellos can
regenerate from an wound." Zelgadis closed his eyes as his hands rested on
the handles. With raw strength, he threw them aside and stepped into the burial
chamber.
They found the large, spacious room utterly empty of another living thing.
Old, fadded banners with the symbol of a burning sword hung from the ceiling;
the floor wasthick with dust, and cobwebs filled the corners. A freat alter
stood at attention in the center, but the white burial shift had been moved,
tossed aside carelessly like a blanket. Zelgadis walked up to the sheet, holding
it in his hands and growing pale as he found bloodstains.
"Zel?" Xellos hesitated before putting a hand on the Shaman's
shoulder. The blue eyed chimera looked up with tars in his eyes.
"I've lost her twice." He whispered hoarsely, shutting his eyes
against the tears. "I couldn't save her... now I can't find her... can't
even say good bye... why did I even hope? I should have known better! ... should
never have woken up... I... Should've died! Should've died there, with
her!"
"Cerina's soft footsteps drew his darkened gaze. His sorrowful
cerulean eyes held her clearly for a moment before she slapped him.
"Baka!" She yelled at both Xellos and Zelgadis, who were stunned
into silence. "Can't you two see something's up? There's blood, but no
body! Doesn't that strike you as odd? Who's to say Lina's still dead? For all we
know, she could be running around up there casting Fireballs!"
"She's right." The Mazoku shrugged. "Shall we go find
Lina-chan?"
Zelgadis nodded silently, but one look at his gemstone eyes showed that
there was no hope in his heart, and nothing in his soul.
