More Drabbles

[eastofthemoon]

Here are some more drabbles of the Zelgadis Inverse AU series I'm currently working. One of my future fics should have Lina and Zelgadis traveling together. I'm having way too much fun with this concept.



Title: The Cure To A Cold
Series: Slayers
Characters: Zelgadis, Raulf, and Lina
Rating: G
Summary: Set in the Zelgadis Inverse AU, young Zelgadis has a cold and the cure might kill him.
Note: The credit for Raulf and Lana belong to dqbunny


The attic was much colder than Zelgadis had anticipated. He wrapped a second blanket around himself to make a cocoon around himself. Only his eyes and a pair of hands peeked out from the bundle. He had seated himself next to the trunk that held his mother's old spell books.

Zelgadis would have preferred his own adventure novels in his room to read, but he had had to travel light to make his escape. He sniffled and turned the pages of his books and reached for the handkerchief he had taken with him. Zelgadis found that the blankets did make it difficult to wipe his dripping nose, but it was well worth the tranquility.

"She won't find me in here," he muttered out loud. "I'm safe."

A creak came from the trap door. Zelgadis froze as he heard movement. The footsteps were too heavy to be his enemy's. His blood froze as he realized who it was. He instantly dove forward to hide behind the trunk but became tangled in the blankets. He scrambled to disentangle his legs, but proved to be too late as his father's head appeared through the door.

Raulf's gaze fell and locked onto Zelgadis as the boy desperately wiggled to escape. "There you are," Raulf said as he climbed up. He slouched to protect his head from hitting the roof beams. "What are you doing in here?"

"Reading," Zelgadis replied sourly. "I've been doing it since I was five."

Raulf sighed. "Yes, but your mother gave strict orders that you were to stay in bed as long as you had that cold." He clapped his hands. "Come on, let's get you back into your room."

Zelgadis furiously shook his head. "I'm staying right here."

Raulf raised an eyebrow. Zelgadis was stubborn, but most of the time he did what he was told. "Sorry, kiddo, wish I could, but I'll be the one to get in trouble when Mamma gets home. So, you need to get your butt back into bed."

Zelgadis flung himself forward so he could sit up properly. The blankets still made it hard to move around, but he would prove his point. "I'm staying right here and you can't make me."

As the words left his mouth, Zelgadis knew he was in trouble. His father was laid back and it took a lot to ruffle his feathers, but he had a glare. It wasn't the same glare his mother would give that could freeze water, but it was a fierce glare all the same. Zelgadis theroized he had developed it during his mercenary days because it seemed similar to a swordsman right before going into battle.

Raulf kept his stoic expression and leaned forward. "Son, I'm about to teach you an important lesson here."

Zelgadis sweated, but he wasn't sure if it was due his nerves or fever. "What's that?"

Raulf pounched forward and scooped up Zelgadis, blankets and all. Zelgadis squirmed as he was flung over his father's shoulder. Raulf patted his head. "In battle, size doesn't matter when you're tied up like a fish in a net."

"Dad, put me down!" Zelgadis screamed as Raulf carried him down the ladder, wiggling with every ounce of his being strength.

Raulf sighed, shaking his head. "Zel, what has gotten into you? You're usually a good patient."

Zelgadis freed his arms and tried to push himself off Raulf's shoulder. "Dad, you don't understand. She'll find me!"

Raulf halted in the middle of the hallway and lifted his son off his shoulder so they were eye to eye. "Who will find you?"

"There you are!"

Zelgadis paled at the high cheery voice. "Crud, she's here."

Raulf blinked in confusion as his youngest daughter sharping turned from the kitchen. "Zel, where have you been?! I have a new cure for you." She held out a bowl that was filled to the brim with a slimy green liquid. "You need to taste it now."

Raulf knelt as he kept a firm grip on Zelgadis. "Lina-chan, what is this?"

Lina grinned as she held the bowl above her head. "It's a combination of eggplant, beans, onions and some green stuff I found at the back of the cupboard. I'm sure this will get rid of Big Brother's cold."

"This is why I was hiding Dad, she's been trying to cure me all day!" Zelgadis moaned in pain from the memory of the last cure. "The last thing she made me drink nearly killed me."

Raulf raised an eyebrow at the exaggeration, although he had doubts that the concoction Lina had would make Zelgadis feel any better. Still, it was surprising, Lina wasn't normally this thoughtful when it came to her older brother and sister. He coughed and patted Lina on the head. He didn't want to discourage her, but Zelgadis's health lay on the line.

"Lina honey, you are being very nice trying to help your brother-"

Lina beamed and some of the slimy soup spilled on the floor. "I know, and once this cure works I can sell it and make a lot of money!"

There was the little Lina he raised. I should have known. Raulf thought. "Regardless, you need to leave matters like this to your mother, you wouldn't want to accidently make Zel sicker do you?"

"Why are you talking as if that didn't happen yet!" Zelgadis argued, but was silenced as Raulf gave him a glare.

Lina pouted and stared into the bowl. "But I think this time it would work for sure."

"And do you want to be the one to tell Momma if it doesn't and makes Zel worse?"

Lina paled. Lana could be scary when she was angry. She sighed in defeat. "Okay, Papa."

Raulf smiled and rose to his feet. "Good girl, now go clean the kitchen." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "By the way Lina, where did you get those vegetables?"

Lina tilted her head. "What do you mean where, Papa? I got them from the garden behind our house."

Raulf paused, pursing his lips. "By garden, do you mean the one that Luna's been growing to try to sell at the market?"

Before Lina could open her mouth, a loud, chilling scream rang out. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY GARDEN?!"

"I think that answers your question Dad," Zelgadis replied as he raised his head. The kitchen door flew open and Lina dashed behind Raulf's legs for protection.

Growls filled the air as Luna ran into the hall and her gaze landed on Lina. "Lina! How could you?! Do you know how long it took me to grow those vegetables?!"

"I-it wasn't me!" Lina stammered, trying to dig her head into the back of Raulf's knee.

"Yeah right, your foot prints are everywhere!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Sorry isn't going to bring back-"

"Enough!" Raulf hollered to bring back control. The girls froze as Raulf massaged his forehead. "Alright, I am now taking control." He looked to Lina first. "You and Luna are going to go into the kitchen and clean up the mess I'm sure is there."

"That's not fair," Luna protested.

Raulf reached into his pocket and flicked a silver coin towards Luna who caught it in midair. "After that, take that money to buy new seeds and Lina will help you replant them." He glanced back. "And you will also leave your brother alone while he's still sick, right Lina?"

"Yes, Papa," Lina nodded as she slowly walked to Luna's side.

"Good, we'll talk about this again when you're mother is home, until then, go get that done."

Luna mumbled "All that time wasted" as Lina followed her into the kitchen. Zelgadis peeked over Raulf's shoulder as he was carried back to his room. "Dad, why are women crazy?"

"They're not crazy," Raulf replied kicking the door to Zelgadis's room open. "It's just that women can be strong willed." Raulf plopped Zelgadis on the bed and untangled him from his blanket net.

Zelgadis rotated his newly freed arms. "Well, I'm never getting married and I'm never going to have daughters."

Raulf laughed and ruffled his son's hair. "Truth be told, just about every boy says that at your age, but most change their opinion around 12 or 13."

Zelgadis blinked baffled as Raulf pulled back the blanket. "Why's that dad?"

Raulf chuckled. "Let's just say that's when most boys realize how pretty girls are."

Zelgadis crawled to his pillow and let his father tuck him in. "That makes no sense."

Raulf finished tucking in Zelgadis's blankets and patted his head. "It will, trust me, now get some sleep. I'll be in the kitchen checking that your sisters don't kill each other if you need me."

Zelgadis nodded as Raulf shut the door. He snuggled into the cool side of his pillow and shut his eyes.

"Lina, that is not how you clean the floor!"

"Is too! This rag is soaking everything up."

"What rag-WAIT?! IS THAT MY APRON?!"

Zelgadis moaned and proceeded to bury his head under his pillows, once again trying to understand why girls were insane.






Title: Only Sisters Can Tease
Series: Slayers
Characters: Zelgadis, and Lina
Rating: G
Summary: Set in the Zelgadis Inverse AU. There is a clear rule, siblings tease each other and kill anyone else that tries.
Note: The credit for Raulf and Lana belong to dqbunny


They walked in silence. Lina lagged behind Zelgadis as he refused to look back to her. The dread inside Lina twisted and made her fell like her head was going to explode.

The fact of the matter was, she was in deep trouble and her fate lay in Zelgadis's hands. Lina didn't even bother to go stare into the bakery window as they passed it like they normally did walking home from school. She didn't dare risk it.

Lina glanced at the town's clock tower. It was late afternoon, so their parents would not be home for another two hours. There was still a tiny chance of convincing Zel to not inform them of what happened at school. Papa would be forgiving, but Mama... She shivered. No, Mama was certain to punish Lina by having her work cleaning the store's shop again like last time.

Her skin still crawled from the last encounter of finding the spiders and slugs while cleaning. Remembering the loud screams and nightmares she had from last time, Lina cleared her throat.

"Zel, you still mad?"

Zelgadis halted in mid step. He slowly turned carrying the same scowl they had left the school with. "What do you think?"

Lina sighed. "Come on, bro! It's not that big of a deal."

Zelgadis twitched. "You call setting Chris's hair on fire not a big deal?"

Lina shrugged her shoulders. "He has the longest hair in class, it will grow back." She rested her hands behind her back and kicked a stone in the street. "Besides, I thought you found him annoying."

Zelgadis grip tightened on his bag of spell books. "He's annoying because he's a spoiled big mouth. You're lucky that he and his dumb friends didn't see you!" He threw his hands up in the air. "You're my sister, if he knew it was you he would be demanding I make up for it by doing his homework or something." His eyes narrowed. "Or worse his parents might force mom and dad to compensate."

Lina's stomach lurched. Crud, that thought hadn't even occurred to her.

Zelgadis rubbed his eyes. "You've barely been at the sorcery academy for a month and you've already risked getting expelled."

Lina rolled her eyes. "You're exaggerating, that wouldn't have happened."

Zelgadis buried his face into his hands, letting his bag drag in the dirt. "Just tell me what on earth made you do that?"

Lina opened and closed her mouth. No, she couldn't tell him, even though it was basically Zelgadis's fault. If he wasn't her brother she wouldn't have been duty bound to do what she did.

The memory was still crystal clear. She was walking down the hall, heading toward the entryway to meet Zelgadis when she heard obnoxious Chris talking to his cronies.

They were sitting around in one of the classrooms and any other day Lina would have barely bat an eyelash, but she caught the end of his last sentence.

"I mean, it makes so much sense, right?" Chris was saying, while swinging his legs over the desk he was sitting at. "Zelgadis is a bastard child who even his birth mother didn't want. How could he be getting better grades than me."

Lina paused in mid step. Lately, she'd been trying to think of the consequences before she acted. Her mother had engrained that into her head before she started school and she'd been doing well. However, there were three things that would set Lina's mental rage meter off.

One, a person kicking a helpless animal. Two, a rude comment about Lina's appearance. Three, anyone that dared insult her family, especially her brother and sister. Only she was allowed to have that privilege.

Before Lina realized it, she had finished the spell and tossed a flare arrow. The worst part was she wasn't even allowed to enjoy watching Chris and his friends scream like maniacs.

There was a sharp yank on her arm and looked to Zelgadis. "Run," was all he said before he forced Lina to run out of the school at top speed. Zelgadis didn't dare stop until they were halfway home and didn't even look at her until now.

Lina chewed her bottom lip. It was clear Zelgadis hadn't heard what Chris had said and she didn't want to watch his face while he heard those words repeated.

Zelgadis tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, are you going to tell me?"

Lina scratched her cheek. "Um, he was just saying how small I was for my age."

Zelgadis rolled his hand. "And?"

Lina shrugged. "There's no and, that was it."

Zelgadis gaped and slouched forward in defeat. "Good grief, and I thought you were actually starting to be mature."

Lina sweated as she folded her hands together. "You're not really going to tell Mom and Dad are you?"

Zelgadis sighed, folding his arms. "Well-"

"Please don't!" Lina begged, as she hugged him around his waist. "Please, please please! I'll do anything you want, just please don't tell them! I don't want to face those slugs again!"

Lina stared up with the biggest puppy dog eyes she could make knowing they were her brother's weakness. Zelgadis stiffened at her expression, closed his eyes and patted her head in defeat. "Clean my room for a week, and I'll call it even."

"Yay!" Lina cheered, hugging Zelgadis even tighter. "You're the best big brother ever!"

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled as he freed himself from Lina's hold and tossed his bag over his shoulder. "Let's just get home before Luna starts wondering why we're late. You know she wouldn't be as forgiving"

Lina nodded and quickly picked up her pace. She didn't are what anyone thought, Zelgadis was her brother and no one was allowed to pick on him besides her and Luna.