He had been this way before, and it was no more fun now as it had been then. His head hurt, his body ached, and he was thirsty.
"He's awake, though I doubt he wants to open his eyes."
Who was that? Some male stranger, someone unknown ... sounded a lot like Zelgadis.
"OH HO HO HO HO HO!! The Great Nahga will heal his ailments!"
Ouch ... He had not know a laugh could hurt.
"Hooters, I don't doubt your skill at white magic, but if you laugh again, I am going to hurt you."
"My name is Nahga!"
"Whatever. Please, just heal him."
A smooth hand upon his forehead. Strange, he had never known that white magic could feel ... so pleasant. The pains in head and body faded, and were soon gone. He was still thirsty, though. The hand was removed, and Xeros opened his eyes.
"How are you feeling, Xeros?" The unknown male. Xeros looked towards him before answering. Strange, he looked surprisingly like Zelgadis would if human ... except with yellow eyes. "Better than I was ... Still not used to this. Who are you?"
"I'm Muroc, Zel's other older brother. Your aishiru is in the nursery with her foster son."
"Firia is not my aishiru... . not by choice."
"It's not something that can be chosen."
"Then let me put it another way. She may be my aishiru, but I am not hers."
"That's odd ... a one-sided bond. That could be why you're blacking out. But I have no idea why the bond happened in the first place."
It hadn't worked
completely
the
dragon
was not
affected
the bond had
saved his
life
but
this
inequal
one might kill
the
demon
....
....
but if he
interfered
with
his daughter's
realm
she could
banish
him
.....
....
this
would take
some
thought
Dinner, despite the warm greeting Zel had recieved from his family earlier, was a quiet one. Even Lina, who normally wolfed down her food, ate neatly. Gourry, as clueless as he was, ate like nothing was wrong, and to him, nothing was.
Zel's family had been completely introduced, starting with his mother, Lady Leynula. With some arguing, the line had been sorted out as to who had been born when. The oldest, Titavi and Elkin, had been born to Leynula by her first husband, an Ancient Dragon of the Lanserric family line, a Tekute Lanserric. Tekute had been quite old at the time, and had died when the twins were five years old. Leynula's second husband, Zel's father, had been recently widowed with an infant son, Muroc, when Leynula had married him. The marriage had been one of convenience, but had worked well, lasting until his death when Zel turned seven. The shock of the death had brought on Usagi's premature birth.
Three years later, Leynula had wed Kurvon, a dark elf with amnesia who had been found on the inner edge of the null zone five years earlier. Their two children, Teirys and Logan, were respectively six and two years of age. And now Leynula was pregnant with her and Kurvon's third child.
Lina looked around the table. Xeros was at one end to the right of Kurvon, with Firia on the opposite end of the table. Lina herself was sitting next to Zel, who was sitting across from Firia. Next to Firia was Val's high chair, and next to Val was Elkin. Little Teirys was sitting between Elkin and Logan. Between Lina and Xeros were Amelia, Titavi, Nahga, and Gourry. And around them, in the dining hall, all the students cheefully ate their evening meal.