Type: Anime

Crossover: Slayers/BASTARD!!

Parings: DS/Yoko, Zel/Kal

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Azrial. Inspired by the epic "Aftermath", the arc "Slayers AD", and my own twisted mind.

Warnings: yaoi alert!

Rated: R for language and violence

Don't Worry,

A Message to Arshe!

By Youko Rayah

The little boy ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. He had to get away! Faster, faster can't let them catch me, he thought franticly. A rock caught him in the back and he fell. In moments the other village boys were on him. Blows rained down on him and as he felt darkness rise up to swallow him, he hoped never to awaken.

Kal-So awoke with a start. It was dark and over the pounding of his own heart, he could hear the sounds of the others in the camp sleeping. DS and Yoko snuggled together to his left, Geo snoring beyond them. Goury asleep leaning against a tree by Lina, sword propped against his shoulder. Amelia curled up in her cloak, murmuring about justice, and Zelgodis sitting just outside the dim firelight, keeping watch.

As quietly as possible, Kal-So stood and made his way to the chimera. Judging by the position of the moon, it was almost time for his watch. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep.

"Kal."

"Zelgodis."

The two sat together in silence, just listening to the night. Lina and DS had reasoned that it was possible for Yoko's abductors to still be alive and a threat. So DS, Amelia, Lina, Goury, Zelgodis, and Kal-So decided to take turns keeping watch.

"Zelgodis? May I ask you something?"

"Sure. I might not answer though."

"Fare enough," Kal said nodding. "Do you… did you have problems… in your home… not being human?"

"You mean like with bullies and such?"

"Yes."

"I couldn't use magic. And I was a very sickly child. I never had much strength, and I was always coming down with something or other. I never played outside, or had many friends… and because of my Muzuko blood, I was always treated as a freak…" Zel trailed off.

Kal looked at him for a moment. The pain the chimera felt was hidden to most, but Kal knew all to well the hurt of being an outsider.

"My mother was called the town whore. It was common knowledge that my father wasn't human. I didn't know at first that I could use magic. That power didn't awaken in me for several years, and I was always under attack by the local bullies. The local Priest was my mother's father, and he would always preach how I was a devil and pure evil…" Kal's voice drifted off. "I often wondered why she never took me from that place and started over."

Zel looked at the blond Mage who looked no more than 20. He could feel Kal's pain at the memories, and wished he could do something for the blond. "I know that feeling," Zel mused softly. "The land Holder's son was my age and he always beat on me. No one would stand up for me for fear of being thrown out of their home. My mother disappeared when I was six and my father died shortly after. I lived in an orphanage after that with my twin sister, Azrial."

"What happened to her?"

"She was adopted when we were seven. Last I heard she was attending The Academe of Dance in Woflezen."

"Is she happy?"

"Yes. She's always loved to dance, and she has a beautiful voice. I hope to see her next Winter Solstice."

Kal nodded and the two sat in silence for several minutes before Kal spoke again. "You should probably go get some sleep. If I know Yoko, we'll be heading to Metericana first thing in the morning."

Zel nodded and went to his rest. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered what Kal would look like if he ever truly smiled.

*************

Lina sat up and stretched. Sleeping on the ground, while something she was used to, wasn't comfortable. No matter where you put your bedroll, you always ended up with a rock digging in your back. She looked to her left and saw Kal-So coaxing the fire back to life for breakfast. Lina stood and folded her bedroll up, tucking it away in one of the magic pockets inside of her cloak. When she was finished, Lina noted the amused look on Kal's face.

"What," she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How do you do that? And how much are you carrying in that cloak of yours?"

"Well, it's enchanted with magic pockets. So I can carry as much as I want without it weighing down the cloth. I still feel some of the weight, though. As for how much I'm carrying? Well, a lot of very rare and valuable magical items and then there's the bandit loot I've gathered."

"You steel from bandits?"

"I prefer to call it 'redistributing the wealth that was wrongfully appropriated by the criminal elements'."

"In other words," came a voice from behind them. "She takes the bandit's loot, and uses it in nearby villages to buy huge meals."

"Hi Darsh," Lina said as she looked over her shoulder at the Fire-mage and his fiancée. Yoko and DS came over to them and sat down by the now crackling fire.

"Is there anything to eat?" Yoko asked. "I'm starving!"

"Come on," Lina said. "I'll show you a trick I picked up a few years ago for catching fish."

Lina led the way to a near by stream and sat the other redhead down on the bank. "You'll need longer hair to do this, so you might want to let it grow out. You pull a few long strands and twine them together like this." Lina demonstrated this and then picked up a long stick from near by.

"Then you use a simple enchantment to make the line stronger and fasten a twig and hook to it!" Lina quickly did this and showed Yoko how to cast the simple spell.

"You can use a worm as bate, or a bit of twined grass. Both work pretty well."

The two sat together and caught a large amount of fish. Before heading back, Lina instructed the other girl to gather several long and slender sticks. "We'll spick the fish on these sticks and use them to roast the fish on."

When they returned to the campsite, Zel was gone. Kal said he had gone to hunt. Lina nodded and said, "We'll get the fish started and add what ever he finds to it. We'll have enough for everyone."

Less than half an hour later, Zel was back and everyone was eating breakfast. The fish was good, and the rabbits Zel had brought back and roasted were tender and delicious. Soon the food was devoured. Next came deciding where to go.

"Do you four want to see more of this land first or go strait home?" Lina asked.

"We were to be married in a few days," Yoko said. "Would we be able to get back in time?"

"I'm afraid not," Lina said shaking her head. "The trip back to the gate alone will take a week or more, depending on the weather and any unforeseen circumstances. From there you'd have to reach Metericana."

DS nodded. "That alone is another four days travel. Not to mention how nasty the terrain is."

"Could we send a message ahead? To let the others know everything's alright?"

Lina smiled at Yoko. "Sure! Darsh, anyone in particular that I should send it to?"

"Arshe and Gara are holding things down in the castle. I have a lock of Arshe's hair if you need it."

"Thanks! That'll make this much easier!"

Taking the offered lock, Lina prepared to cast a message spell. It would bind an illusion into a light spell, then using a transit spell, send it to the Dark Elf inside of the castle.

First the light spell. Any second rate magic apprentice could cast one. Drawing forth just the barest hint of her power, Lina began to chant.

That cast, Lina gestured to DS. He would create the overall feel of the message, and he would determine what it would say. Yoko, for her part, couldn't take her eyes from the pair. Ruche and Miss Lina work so flawlessly together, she thought. And she's so powerful!

Lina blinked in surprise. The spell he had cast required the recipient of the message to be one that shared a strong bond with the caster. She made a mental note to her self to ask about this later. Lina held the light spell in a careful grip as DS combined the massage spell to it. This part was very tricky. If their magiks clashed, there would be a backlash of power. It wouldn't be enough to harm them, but it would hurt and the plan would fall through.

Kal watched closely. He had never seen a casting like this. The one casting the message spell had to be a different person than the caster of the light spell or the two spells would consume each other. The two spells also had to be carefully meshed or backlash would occur and the spell would collapse. It was fascinating to watch.

Lina breathed a sigh of relief as the two spells merged flawlessly. This wasn't a common casting, and there was a lot that could have gone wrong. But it seamed she and Darsh still had their repor from days of old. They could still cast together.

With a smile, Lina held out a hand for the lock of hair. DS gave it to her and she brought out the bundle Mieka had given her. Quickly she unwrapped it, revealing its contents to be a matched set of jeweled armbands.

She took off her Talismans and her gloves, and slipped on the finely crafted artifacts. Then, holding the lock of hair in her left hand and the spell in her right, she began to chant.

As the others watched, a hole or tare seemed to form around the globe. In moments it was swallowed up. Lina sat back with a sigh. She would never admit it to anyone, but that spell took more power to cast than a Dragon Slave did.

This was due to the fact that travel between worlds, even if it was just a message globe being sent, was all but forbidden by the Lord of Nightmares. She had placed a barrier between the worlds to keep annoying super-villains out two hundred years ago when a large shape-shifting creature had come here spouting some nonsense about "survival of the fittest". He had been promptly dealt with and sent back where he had come from.

But the spell Lina had used, and the armbands she wore, drew power from L-sama, and allowed the caster to circumvent the barrier. The catch was that only one of L-sama's avatars could invoke the power needed. Lina'd had the bands for a hundred years, and never dared to use them. But after using the Giga Slave on Hellmaster, Lina had come to a realization. She was the first of the Avatars that had been foretold with the fall of Lia Magnus 1,000 years ago.

The legend stated that three warriors of different skills would be born to weald Her power. All three would be women, and all three would have an affinity for magic, though to varying degrease and types. And Lina was the first to be born.

As for the other two, Lina didn't know. She supposed she would meet them sooner or later.