Work Text:
Monotony! Miwan's First Quest!
“Wake up, sleepyheads~! It’s 7:30, and breakfast closes at 9,” sang Xellos, tapping his staff loudly on the ground. The boys grumbled as he opened the windows, letting in all the sunlight and noise from outside.
Zelgadis stretched, squinting from the light. From the corner of his eye, he could see Gourry pulling himself up begrudgingly on the other side of the room. In between them, Miwan was already out of bed, sitting on its edge and rubbing his eyes.
“See, Mr. Miwan knows how to rise and shine! I’ll trust you to make sure your roommates are up on time!”
“Alright,” mumbled Miwan, “I’ll keep an eye on them.”
With that, Xellos left the room. The three could only assume he was off to the girls’ room- and judging by Lina’s shrieks from across the hall that the priest should knock before entering, they were probably right.
Miwan’s former skirt lay on the end of Zelgadis’ bed, and the kid picked it up and investigated it with wonder. Gourry looked over at them curiously.
“Zel, you sewed that? I didn’t know you could sew!”
Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. “I brought it up just last night.”
“I… Think I remember that? I was tiiired…”
“It’s been a couple of years since I’ve actually sewn clothes… Miwan, did they turn out alright?”
“Of course,” answered Miwan, eyes sparkling with glee. “They’re awesome, Mr. Zelgadis!”
Gourry shrugged. “I mean, it’s just a pair of pants…”
“My mother never let me wear pants! She may have tolerated such ‘unladylike apparel’ on the citizens of Femille, but as her heir, she said I had no business wearing such clothing.”
“That’s… Rough, buddy.”
Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "Let's just get ready for breakfast."
As the party ate breakfast, Miwan came to the harrowing realization that he simply had no idea what was going on. He tried to keep up with the discussion at the table, but every time, he was lost within sentences. After letting this go on for a while, he decided he’d rather just take a donut and a stroll. Upon stepping out, he was greeted again by Xellos, who seemed to have the same idea- which was odd, as Miwan could have sworn he had seen the priest inside mere moments before.
“Ah, Mr. Miwan! A pleasure seeing you out here. Getting a bit of fresh air, I see?”
“Mmm-hm.” Miwan took a bite out of his donut. “Everyone else is talking about their travel plans, and I don’t know anything about their journey…”
“Ahaw, you don’t need to know that much! After all, Martina’s been here all along, and she’s just here to pester Lina~!”
“Really? That’s it?”
"She calls herself an antagonist. Lina destroyed her city, and now she ineffectively seeks revenge! That's what she says, anyway. But between you and me, I think she's just after Lina's attention!"
Miwan blinked. Did he hear that right?
"Lina destroyed her city?"
Xellos nodded gleefully. “Oh, yes! The Kingdom of Xoana’s rusty old golem went berserk, so to destroy it, Lina used her Dragon Slave, flattening the city in the process!”
Miwan’s eyes shimmered.
“Lina can flatten a city with a single spell? I want to do that!”
“Now, now,” Xellos patted him on the head, “Lina is an enthusiastic user of dark magic. As a miko, a Dragon Slave may prove to be a bit out of your comfort zone!”
With a huff, Miwan crossed his arms, eliciting a chuckle from the mysterious priest.
“Oh, don’t you worry! Amelia uses mainly White Magic, and she’s a perfectly worthy opponent! Plus, if you can prove your skills, perhaps Mister Zelgadis will teach you his devastating Ra Tilt!”
Miwan remembered the spell. Not only had it utterly destroyed the monster that had attacked him, but it had completely evaporated Femille’s Purification Spring. However, he recalled, everything else had remained curiously untouched.
“But,” Xellos clarified, “despite being roughly equal to the Dragon Slave in terms of power, Ra Tilt attacks on the Astral Plane, resulting in far less property damage!”
“Then what’s the point?!”
While Miwan’s grumpy scowl returned, Xellos grinned with amusement.
“You remind me a lot of Miss Lina! Even she can tell you, though- practical spells are just as important as the ones you may use in a scuffle. You have to start small and work your way up! Even the most legendary sorcerers have to cast a light spell every now and then!”
Miwan nodded, still grumbling. He could see the truth in Xellos’ words, but he sure wasn’t happy about it. His mother had told him that, in order to do interesting things, you had to do boring things first… But he never did interesting things anyway!
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//author's note, copied directly from the google document: "y’know how they recommend skipping to parts you want to write when you’re writing? yeah let’s try that. setting: temple of sand, while trying to translate the claire bible"
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Martina stood and stretched, admiring the icon of Zoamelgustar she had drawn in the sand.
“Ugh! Guys, this is so boring!”
“No kidding,” yawned Miwan. “How long is this going to take?”
Amelia, standing on top of a tablet with binoculars, called down to them.
“Maybe if you found a way to help, you wouldn’t be so bored! That’s what I’ve been doing!”
“Help Lina Inverse? I’d rather die,” Martina huffed. Miwan, meanwhile, looked up at Amelia curiously.
“What are you doing up there, Miss Amelia?”
Amelia looked back down at him, still holding the binoculars to her face.
“Keeping lookout, of course!”
“For what?”
Amelia fell silent for a moment, then shrugged.
“Dunno! Bad guys, I guess!”
After another moment’s silence, Amelia seemed to have a lightbulb moment.
“Hey, Miwan! How about you get up here and keep watch in the other direction? I’ve only got one pair of binoculars, but we can take turns!”
“That sounds like fun,” Miwan grinned. “But, um… Can I have some help getting up there?”
“Oh! Right, sorry!”
After a bit of struggle, Amelia hoisted Miwan up with surprising strength- nothing that would shock people who knew her well, but certainly coming as a surprise to Miwan. Once he was settled in atop the stone tablet, she passed him the binoculars. Peering in, Miwan saw more or less what he expected- a great expanse of sand and stones, as far as the eye could see. The only thing of interest was the tablet the rest of the party was investigating, which… Still wasn’t all that interesting.
“Riveting, isn’t it?”
“I could do this all day,” Miwan joked back.
“What about me?! What am I supposed to do,” Martina called from below, “if you two are hogging the binoculars?!”
“I thought you’d rather die than help Miss Lina?”
Crossing her arms and grumbling, Martina was tragically unable to form any retort, and sat in the sand indignantly. Giggling, Amelia turned back to Miwan.
“So… Miwan?”
“Yeah?”
“You and Zel went out shopping together the other night, right? How was that?”
Miwan beamed, seemingly still excited by the very memory.
“It was awesome! I’ve never had so much fun in my life! I could never really click with anyone in Femille. I was considered kind of a weird kid, and anyone who didn’t mind that was usually weird about being around royalty. But Mister Zelgadis, I can just… Talk to him! When I was talking to him in Femille, it was… Really the most understood I’ve ever felt. Not many people at home took the time to just talk to me, you know?”
Amelia nodded, a smile illuminating her face.
“He’s very nice, isn’t he? You’re lucky to have befriended him. He’s not usually the type to hit it off with strangers, you know.”
“Huh? I never would have guessed!”
“I know, right? He’s so sweet when he’s interacting with you! I dunno what it is about you, Miwan, but he seems awfully fond of you.”
Miwan thought for a moment, then nodded.
“When we were in Femille, he said… He wanted to help me. He said he knew how I felt, being controlled by my mother.”
“That’s what I thought. Zelgadis… Well, he had some family issues of his own. But, hey, you wanna know how that got dealt with?”
“Hm?”
“Zelgadis’s grandfather turned out to be a vessel for a Dark Lord my friends had to kill!” Amelia clapped for emphasis, grinning with pride on her traveling companions’ behalf. “I wasn’t there, but I heard it was awesome! Although… I mean, it’s not like I’d cheer for the death of family members if they didn’t summon Dark Lords,” she added sheepishly, cracking Miwan up to the point of almost toppling off the stone tablet.
“That’s awesome,” he giggled, struggling to speak through his laughter. “I wish I were as cool as your friends! Mr. Xellos told me Lina knew a spell that could destroy cities! Is that true, Miss Amelia?”
“Yeah, the Dragon Slave! I tried to convince her to teach me it once, and she wouldn’t have it one bit, heh! It’s not too big of a loss, since I’m so good with my fists, but-”
Suddenly, Amelia went silent.
“Hey, you’re starving the eavesdropper down here,” Martina yelled from below, but Amelia shushed her.
“Miss Amelia? Is something the matter?”
“Can you pass me the binoculars, Miwan? I think I see something out there.”
Getting bored of the lack of conversation, Lina cleared her throat.
“Hey, Zel?”
“Hm?”
Zelgadis’s ear twitched attentively, his face still focusing attentively on the giant tablets of knowledge.
“Seeing as he’s not around… Why’d you bring that pipsqueak Miwan along? Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous for a kid like that to be following us?”
Zelgadis shook his head. “He didn’t want to be left alone in town.”
Resting against the stone tablet, Gourry spoke up.
“Why couldn’t we have gotten Martina to keep an eye on him?”
“You really think we could have gotten Martina to stay away from us? All she knows how to do is antagonize Lina and swoon over Xellos, and she can’t do either of those things if she’s in town and we’re out here.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Lina butted in. “I mean… Why did you take him from Femille in the first place? You’re usually the most goal-oriented of us, always the one complaining when something gets us off track… So why would you, of all people, be the one who makes everything harder by picking up some kid?”
Zelgadis finally drew his attention towards Lina, tilting his head curiously.
“Why wouldn’t I? I’m not heartless. He didn’t want to be there. He was unhappy. The Queen raised him to be a shrine maiden and the future queen, despite his wishes, and then had the nerve to call him an embarrassment to our face when he tried to do something about it. I know you’re not the type to do things out of the goodness of your heart, Lina, but I would expect even you to understand.”
“Amelia suggested it was because you had grandpa issues,” Gourry added, ignoring Lina’s indignant simmering, and even spurring a chuckle from Zelgadis.
“I guess that’s part of it,” he answered, with a playful shrug. “Amelia does know me well, doesn’t she?”
Suddenly, a familiar voice pierced through the ocean of sand.
“GUUUUYYYYYYYS! MISS LINA, SIR GOURRY, MISTER ZELGADIS!”
“Speak of the devil, and she shall arrive,” Lina sighed. Amelia was running towards the group at full speed, Martina and Miwan struggling to keep pace behind her.
“Amelia? Hey!”
Zelgadis approached her, narrowly preventing Amelia from tripping and faceplanting into the sand… And realizing a bit too late that falling in the soft temple sand might be a bit more comfortable than being caught by somebody whose whole body could be measured on the Mohs Scale.
“Oof! Oww…”
“Sorry, sorry!”
He raised his arms in submission and stepped back, bowing apologetically.
“It’s okay, Zel, don’t worry about it,” Amelia chuckled, wincing only slightly from the less-than-ideal landing.
“Don’t get distracted, guys,” Lina urged them. “Amelia, what’s up, what’s the matter?”
“Right, right! Miwan and I were keeping watch, and I swear I saw something moving around out there!”
“I helped, too, y’know,” Martina rattled, having successfully faceplanted into the sand, out of breath. She was sharply ignored.
“Something? That doesn’t help us! What kind of something?”
“Well, I’m not really sure,” Amelia admitted. “But, um… It kind of looked like a little old lady?”