Heart of Darkness

Chapter 11

Lina scowled as she listened to Jedah read the history of the people. Why was it that everywhere she went, the history of the world seemed to be inscribed on the walls? Couldn't they give her something useful for a change? Instead of the same old diatribe about a battle between the Light and Dark, she wanted spells, knowledge... the reason that Zelgadis was whisked away in the dark of the night. She paced, only half listening to what he was saying until something he read yanked her out of her mental ramblings. "What? Read that part again, Jedah. The part about Grau."

"'The Demon God Grau ruled from the land, but she who lived in the water yearned for land and fought him viciously, stealing the lives of those who dared to traverse upon her realm.'" Jedah read, waving the torch across the words. There really couldn't be any doubt who the 'she who lived in the water' could be, but just for the sake of the blonde swordsman (not that it would actually stay in the yogurt that vaguely passed for a brain,) he named her. "That can only be Deep Sea Dolphin, Lina."

Lina nodded, frowning. "But no-one's seen or heard from her in... well, in ages." Her crimson eyes settled on Xellos, who was looking suspiciously innocent, and everyone knew that the more innocent that particular Mazoku attempted to look, the less innocent and more guilty he was. "What, Xellos? You know something, so cough it up."

"I know a lot of things, Lina," Xellos replied, and then actually moved across the room before Lina could make a grab at him. Violet eyes opened, and he hovered in mid-air, regarding the scarlet-eyed sorceress. "At this time, the knowledge is not for you. I will, however, warn you this: you are playing with forces that are bigger than you can possibly imagine." And when he vanished, Lina shrieked in utter and absolute fury.

Jedah's eyes narrowed slightly as the Mazoku disappeared. Leave it to Xellos to play his own game and drop clues, even while under irrefutable orders to behave himself. He'd have to redirect Lina yet again and hope that the damage wasn't too much that he couldn't gloss it over. "We don't need him, Lina. I can read the history and we'll work it out without him. He's a fickle Mazoku with nothing better to do than pull your rope and listen to you scream."

Naga was looking at him. She was becoming more and more suspicious, and little by little, the elder Princess of Saillune was working towards the truth. Jedah could sense it. And he wasn't ready to tip that hand yet. It was bad enough that Xellos had dealt the cards. "Naga, can you do me a favor? It shouldn't be too hard for you, with your magic." Jedah asked, allowing that devastatingly handsome smile to play along his lips.

Amelia fell for it first, and for a moment, Jedah was afraid that Naga wasn't going to. She did, however, smiling back and tossing her hair. "Of course, I can, Jedah. I'm Naga, the White Serpent." Naga said imperiously, and set her hands on her hips. "I can take on any task, big or small!"

"Any task?" Jedah asked, his eyebrows rising, a hint of doubt tinging his voice. "This is a big one, quite possibly one of the most important ones of the day." It made it sound all-fired up important, and considering, it might well be. When he could tell that Naga was fairly bursting to be told, he followed up with: "Can you go arrange for lunch? It's incredibly hard to think on an empty stomach."

Food was third in Lina's heart, right behind Zelgadis and the nearest treasure, and it struck just the right chord, distracting her from her ire with Xellos. "Oh, Naga, there's a wonderful little shop in town that has the best sandwiches. Zelgadis..." her voice faltered, her face falling as she turned back to stare hard at the inscriptions on the wall. "Just... go there for food, please."

Amelia looked at Lina, blue eyes filled with sympathy. Poor Miss Lina... A thought occurred to her, and she looked to Naga. "Come on, Gracia. Let's go see about some food. Mister Gourry, Miss Sylphiel, could you two help us? With all of the food we'll need, the more hands the better."

Gourry nodded amiably, but then Gourry was rarely ever against food. Sylphiel must have caught the thought that Amelia had, for she turned to Gourry brightly. "Let's go with them. It'll take a while for them to get all of that food ready, and maybe we can find a shop for supplies."

The group, not getting any objections from Lina or Jedah, turned and left the two to work on the runes. There was a little bit of squabble over where to eat… whether it ought to be in the caves, or out on the beach, but finally the voices faded away, leaving a quiet peace in the cavern with the runes on the walls.

It didn’t last, however. Not five minutes after Jedah had set the task for Naga, Lina dropped all pretense of calm and spun on Jedah, her crimson eyes flashing a dangerous mix of anger and expectation. “All right, start talking.”

The picture of innocence turned, looking at Lina with wide and beguiling blue eyes. “I’m reading these as fast as I can, Lina… it’s a very old, not to mention dead, language.” Jedah had more than a sneaking suspicion that wasn’t what she had meant, but if he could just put her off a little longer…

“That’s not what I mean, Jedah,” Lina snapped, anger sparking in her words. “Enough games. I want to know who you are. Your name may be Jedah, but I don’t believe that you are Zelgadis’ little brother. And what’s more, Xellos is afraid of you. And I want to know why.”