The Other Side of the Dark

By: Morri

All copyright laws apply to the owners of Slayers and to me for my plot and original characters.

Prophetic Mishap

* DISCLAIMER* Warning! This is a very dark fanfic. It involves an alternate reality, death, violence, and is very much not the slapstick Slayers we're all used to. While it does retain a certain comic element, the core of the story is nothing if not creepy. It also retains my views on the couple situation, so there. If you don't like that, you don't have to read it. Otherwise, enjoy!

Zelgadis sat in his room and meditated. He didn't like any of this. He was having trouble accepting that these doppelgangers just appeared out of nowhere. Why had they not showed up before now? Zelgadis kept having the feeling that he was missing something. His chimera body or the Demon part anyway, had super-human senses. He wondered if it included the sixth sense.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. "Come in," he called, automatically moving to draw his sword. Amelia opened the door and slipped in.

"Oh, it's you Amelia. What do you need? I something wrong?" he asked. Amelia smiled brightly.

"No, there isn't anything wrong. I just wanted to see you is all. And I wanted to talk to you," she replied, climbing up beside him. Zelgadis had a sudden realization that the Princess had him wrapped around her little finger and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. It was only a matter of time before her hook caught in his lip and she reeled him in. Zelgadis laughed at the visual he got.

"What's so funny, Zel?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, nothing, I just had a funny visual," he replied with a chuckle.

"Oh," Amelia said as she crawled over and sat right across from the chimera. Zelgadis took her hands and looked in her eyes. His expression was completely serious.

"Amelia, look. I know you've had your eyes on me for a long time, and I know it's only a matter of time before you or your father does something about it. So how about I save you both some time and tell you right now that I love you," Zelgadis said. He turned his eyes away and blushed. Amelia squealed with delight and launched herself into Zelgadis' arms. She planted kisses all across his face and then one right on the tip of his nose.

The move had startled Zelgadis and he didn't have time to do anything before Phil came in looking for Amelia. Phil stood wide-eyed at the door with shock. Amelia leapt up on the bed, making it bounce Zelgadis around uncomfortably.

"Daddy! Zel finally said he loved me! He did, he did! Yay!" Amelia shouted.

Phil smiled warmly and came to hug Amelia. "Congratulations, daughter," he said. Then he reached over and patted the confused Zelgadis on the back. "Well, Zel my boy, go put on your best clothes. I can have you two wed within the hour. The temple is still set up from Lina's wedding! Let's hurry now, night is fast approaching!"

Zelgadis sputtered some useless excuses and finally rolled his eyes in defeat. He didn't know how, but somehow it was his fault. Maybe she would calm down once they were married. Maybe she wouldn't be such a Daddy's girl after their first…child…oh no. Zelgadis was afraid of this. His child would have his blood in it, which meant the genetic material of a part demon, part golem, and part human chimera.

"Amelia. What about children," he asked suddenly. Amelia paused halfway to the door and blushed.

"What do you mean?" she asked tentatively.

"I'm a chimera. Wouldn't that mean I give that down to any children I have?" he asked, voice filled with emotion. Amelia rushed back and gave him a fierce hug.

"We can cross that road when we come to it, okay Zel?" she said, for once using a serious tone of voice instead of the tone she used when she was excited. Zelgadis watched her leave and wondered if it he'd made the right decision.

She unconsciously took his hand. He didn't even flinch or pull away. Amelia and Zelgadis kissed and everyone in attendance at the royal event burst into applause. Everyone in the kingdom without exception loved the little princess and they were all happy to see her so happy. She turned to face the congregation. She was beaming as she curtsied to them. Lina couldn't help her own applause. Amelia was so happy it was scary. Zelgadis finally smiled then as he bowed low to the people in attendance. Then they processed down the aisle again and back out of the temple. Lina and Gourry left in a hurry to avoid the crowd.

Once in the hall, Lina and Gourry linked arms and walked down the hall toward the room they would now share. They closed the door and went to sit in two chairs by the window. Lina poured herself some wine from the flask on the windowsill. She handed it to her husband and he did the same.

"Well, who'd have ever believed Zel would admit his feelings for Amelia. And so soon too. He's usually more careful about those things," Gourry mused.

"Maybe he finally realized that no matter what he did or where he went he couldn't escape her and Phil," Lina said by way of reply. Suddenly she laughed. "I just had a funny visual of Amelia holding a fishing rod. Zelgadis was the fish at the other end."

Gourry laughed too and suddenly kissed Lina. "You're really something Lina."

She cocked her head to the side and motioned him to silence. "Shh. Something's wrong," she said. Gourry's hand went to the hilt of his sword. Two forms shimmered into existence in the room. Lina gasped. Before her now stood the other Lina and the other Xellos. Both had evil sneers on their faces. Gourry drew his magical blade and readied himself for an attack.

"Relax Gabriev, we're not here to kill you two," Xellos said soothingly.

"Yes, we came to tell you that we tied. We conceived at the exact same moment, other self. The exact moment. It seems that fate is playing with its food," the doppelganger said. Her face was angry.

"Yes, and apparently that is the fault of old man Teicoh. We're also here to deal with him. I don't care if he is my father. He has screwed things up once to many," Xellos sneered.

The real Lina jumped out of her chair, "Don't you dare touch him you filthy piece of…" she began.

Xellos held up a finger to silence her, "I doubt you could do anything to stop me. Neither or you could probably tell the difference between the other Xellos and me anyway."

Lina sat reluctantly down in her chair and sulked. The doppelganger Lina turned to her monster husband and whispered in his ear. He frowned deeply, which the real Xellos seldom did. He faded out of view, leaving Lina's counterpart standing alone.

She turned to the real Lina, "So what shall we talk about to pass the time until our sons are born?"

She had twins. Two boys. One had black eyes, the other had blue eyes. Gourry held the black-eyed boy and beamed with pride, while Lina, exhausted, cradled the blue-eyed one. Lina smiled as her newborn baby opened his eyes and stared at her. In the corner of Zelgadis' vision, he saw the doppelgangers' baby. The imposter had given birth to a baby girl. The doppelgangers were disappointed, but still happy. Xellos seemed genuinely pleased with the outcome. Even Lina was smiling. The little girl had emerald eyes. Zelgadis looked back at the real Lina and her twins. Teicoh walked into his line of sight, smiling and shook Gourry's hand. He climbed up next to Lina and kissed her forehead. Then he asked her a question. Lina frowned, but nodded. Teicoh held his hand over the blue-eyed boy's forehead and chanted something.

The little boy started crying and Lina's frown deepened. She started to say something, but suddenly, Teicoh stopped chanting and Lina's son stopped crying. Teicoh removed his hand and underneath it was a mark…the mark of the Dragons. Then, Teicoh did the same to the other son, only this time, when he removed his hand the child bore the mark of the Monsters. Zelgadis could very clearly see Gourry's face fall. Lina however was indifferent. She spoke in a whisper, but Zelgadis could very clearly hear her voice as she spoke to Gourry.

"Prophecy can be wrong…"

Amelia stirred next to him, snapping Zelgadis back to reality. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She gave Zel a funny look before finally realizing what had happened. She sat up and stretched. Zelgadis kissed her forehead and crawled out of bed. He could always tell her about the dream later.

He bathed and dressed and went down to breakfast. Amelia and Gourry joined him, but Lina was not present. When asked about Lina's absence, Gourry simply replied, "She's sick," and went on eating. Xellos and Teicoh came in a few minutes after Gourry, talking rapidly and wearing frowns.

"Hello all," Xellos said, suddenly cheerful again.

"What were you two talking about there?" Zelgadis asked suspiciously. Xellos and Teicoh exchanged a look.

"If you must know, we were discussing the Prophecy concerning Lina. We think we have found a major flaw. You see, no one has actually ever found it in writing since her birth, so it may have gotten jumbled somewhere along the line," Xellos explained.

Zelgadis smirked knowingly. "You know, I think I know what got jumbled. I'm fairly sure the prophecy wasn't referring to Lina as much as it was to Lina's twin sons. I had a vision last night. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the doppelgangers aren't from our world at all."

Amelia looked puzzled. "But if that's the case, then why have they gone to all the trouble to thwart us?" she asked.

"Maybe they don't realize where they are. Maybe they're here by mistake," Gourry said thoughtfully. Zelgadis and Amelia stared in surprise. Gourry had just hit the nail on the head. That would explain why they had been so reluctant to kill Zelgadis and Amelia and why no one had ever seen the doppelgangers before now.

"I think," interjected Xellos, "that if my double was anything at all like me, he altered his plan when he found out that he and Lina were on the wrong world."

Zelgadis, Amelia, Gourry, and Xellos agreed on that. Phil entered the room just then and smiled when he saw Amelia and Zelgadis.

"So, how was your first night with Zelgadis, daughter?" he said loudly. Amelia and Zelgadis turned bright crimson. Amelia bolted from the room crying. Zelgadis faltered a moment then raced after her.

Everyone else turned to look at Phil. The large prince had a look of innocence on his face. "What? What did I say?" he asked putting his hands up in a peace making gesture.

Teicoh frowned at him, "Phil, you know, asking how their first night together went is like asking Gourry and Lina how the whole conception process went. And the way you say it has about as much subtlety as a ton of boulders."

Phil shrugged and walked back out of the dining hall. Gourry finished his food and went to check on Lina.

"Lina, what's wrong? Are you sick? Do you need a doctor?" Gourry asked, kneeling beside Lina, even though she was throwing up again. He reached out and pulled her hair back from her face so she wouldn't get it dirty. He rubbed her back even as she threw up, never once thinking about how disgusting it was.

Gourry's wife finally sat up from her basin. "You know Gourry, I'd kiss you if I didn't think it'd make you sick to your stomach," she said with a smile. She wiped the washrag across her face and forehead. Gourry still held her hair back just in case, but Lina assured him it was over.

"Gourry, I'm fine, really. It's just morning sickness. It happens to women when they have babies. Usually it calms down and isn't nearly this bad. I think this is just my body's way of telling me what I already know," Lina said, pulling a brush through her sweat-drenched hair. Gourry relaxed visibly and sighed.

"Well, Lina. You missed quite a bit at breakfast this morning. First Xellos and Teicoh came in claiming that the prophecy was jumbled. Then Zelgadis told us about a vision he'd had. It was of you. You had just given birth to twin boys. Then we figured out that the imposters were from one of the other worlds. From that, we found out that the prophecy really didn't have much to do with you at all, but with your sons! To top all of that off, Phil came in and asked what Amelia and Zel had done last night! Amelia left in tears and Zelgadis ran after her. Man, I wish you could've been there, Lina. You would've laughed so hard," Gourry said rapidly, beginning to ramble.

Lina held up her hand, "Okay Gourry, I'm kind of tired of hearing about breakfast and not getting any. Let's go down and see if I can't drudge up a little something to eat."

TO BE CONTINUED…

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