Chips and Blocks
By Terra
No. How many times do we use that word in a single day? I used more often than I should have
with Zelgadis.
When my son wrote to me about his wife's and his illness, I rushed over but I came too late.
They were already decaying on their beds and only a little baby was left. The baby was
never mentioned to me in the letters he sent back, so I had no idea what he was called.
"Zelgadis," I said, thinking of my uncle, "That's a good name."
I took my grandson home, much to my own surprise. I don't like kids. I didn't even like
HEALING blind kids. Why I married twice and had two kids is beyond me. But then, I never was
the sole parent in either of those cases. Until then.
My servant, Abby and her daughter, Eris, thought he was "the cutest thing" they had ever
seen.
Zelgadis was rowdy as a toddler, he didn't understand the meaning of "walk". In his mind,
there was "standing still" and "running at full speed." It drove me up the wall. Even though
Shabranigdo caused my infamous insanity, I think that alone would have done that as well.
Zelgadis had a thirst for knowledge. Looking back, I should have been proud and encouraged
little Zelgadis in his pursuits. Unfortunately, I didn't. No was the word of the century.
"No, get out of there."
"No, you can't open that."
"No, I don't need your help."
And so on. I think that is what caused our little problems later on in his development.
When he hit five years old, he did things just to spite me. He pushed his little
body in the arms of disaster, causing many near-fatal injuries. Of course, I'd yell my head
off and shake him. In essence, it was my first time actually raising a child, so I didn't
know better. He would say sorry in the cute way that little boys do and I'd forgive him.
Then he'd run off to find another way he could push the limits of mortality.
But through it all, he wanted to be just like me. At age three, he declared,
"I'm going to be just like you when I grow up, Grandfather!"
I joked, "I don't think you'll ever be as strong as me though, Zelgadis."
If I had known the damage I inflicted on him back when I said those fate-sealing
words, I would have quickly amended myself. I never knew he was going take that joke so
seriously.
When he started his strength building regime, I thought it was a healthy pastime,
someday I would be gone and he would have to defend himself and his family, best start when
you're young. At the time, I thought it was a phase, he was still madly into stories of The
Swordsman of Light and Robin Hood. But as time wore on, he continued, putting more and more
ridiculous demands on himself. What started as a simple thoughtless joke turned into an
all-consuming obsession. He just wanted to be like me, another legend.
But as he reached puberty, I believe he found another reason to be strong. Abby had
just died so, being the nice man I am, took Eris into my home, not knowing she had a huge
crush on me. I think Zelgadis knew before her mother had even died, because he became more
obsessed with being strong. I eventually figured it out and laughed silently at it. It was
just some harmless little girl crush on a legend, nothing to get too excited about. She'd
grow up and grow out of it, like all girls do. If I had known what she did with all my hair
that she took out of my comb, I would've sat her down and explained to her that I didn't
feel that way but I never knew.
But, my poor Zelgadis, he was madly in love with Eris but nothing he did would
please her. She wanted me and couldn't stand him because he wasn't me. He tried to impress
her but his plans fell flat and had the opposite effect. The whole situation was extremely
funny to me, having lived through it and seen a son go through it, but I bet Zelgadis and
Eris didn't find it funny at all.
By the time Zelgadis had reached the infamous peak of puberty (when everything seems
to be going out of control), I was almost completely consumed by Shabranigdo. My mouth would
open and words would tumble out but I wasn't opening my mouth and I wasn't saying those
words. I was trapped in man shaped prison.
My eyes still refused to open and I was becoming more frustrated than ever and
having to deal with Zelgadis' "little" mood swings was not helping. I yelled at Zelgadis
more than was necessary. I really should have given Zelgadis his space. But I was so old and
he was right smack into a changing body that he didn't completely understand yet, it just
caused natural friction. That, and I was completely and utterly insane, that made dealings
hard.
When he was gliding on the tail end of puberty, I did the worst thing I could have
done. Locked in my little prison inside my head, I began to notice something. Zelgadis'
healthy pastime had become an obsession. He didn't care about eating, sleeping, girls (he
had even lost interest in Eris), nothing except getting strong. It had to stop, he was going
to burn out.
I was worrying over this when a dark voice said, "Give him what he wants and teach
him a lesson at the same time."
"How can I? His goals are humanly impossible!"
"The key word is humanly, I notice. But that doesn't matter. There is a way."
"How? And where did you come from?"
"I am part of you and you are part of me. I hope you recall your experiments with chimeras."
"Yes, I wanted to make myself have the sight of the hawk but those failed!"
"No one can make a chimera of one's self! It is very simple to give your grandson the powers
of the golem and the demon."
"But... he will hate me!"
"It will teach him not to aim so high and to be happy with what he has. You could simply
remove it when your eyes are healed, since that lead looks promising."
"The Philosopher's stone lead?"
"Yes."
It made sense at the time to mix the strength of the golem, the speed of the demon
and a dash of my magic in addition to his own to grant my grandson's impossible wish. I wept
for I knew it would hurt him greatly and I might never again regain his trust.
But I unwittingly created in that chimera my saving grace. His anger at my betrayal
led him to Lina Inverse and my freedom from Shabranigdo. In death, I finally saw the world I
had lived to see.
But the freedom is overshadowed with dread, for I watch my grandson run around after
his cure like I had done. I watch him make the same stupid, heartless mistakes that I had
inflicted on loved ones. I know such efforts are pointless because only Rezo-Shabranigdo
could cure his condition.
"I'm going to be just like you when I grow up, Grandfather!"
I just hope that he won't.
The End
Author's Notes: My thoughts on what Rezo went through with Zel. I _do_ believe that Rezo
didn't give Zel that body just to prove how evil he is. Tell me what you thought at
destinyplot@lycos.com!
By Terra
No. How many times do we use that word in a single day? I used more often than I should have
with Zelgadis.
When my son wrote to me about his wife's and his illness, I rushed over but I came too late.
They were already decaying on their beds and only a little baby was left. The baby was
never mentioned to me in the letters he sent back, so I had no idea what he was called.
"Zelgadis," I said, thinking of my uncle, "That's a good name."
I took my grandson home, much to my own surprise. I don't like kids. I didn't even like
HEALING blind kids. Why I married twice and had two kids is beyond me. But then, I never was
the sole parent in either of those cases. Until then.
My servant, Abby and her daughter, Eris, thought he was "the cutest thing" they had ever
seen.
Zelgadis was rowdy as a toddler, he didn't understand the meaning of "walk". In his mind,
there was "standing still" and "running at full speed." It drove me up the wall. Even though
Shabranigdo caused my infamous insanity, I think that alone would have done that as well.
Zelgadis had a thirst for knowledge. Looking back, I should have been proud and encouraged
little Zelgadis in his pursuits. Unfortunately, I didn't. No was the word of the century.
"No, get out of there."
"No, you can't open that."
"No, I don't need your help."
And so on. I think that is what caused our little problems later on in his development.
When he hit five years old, he did things just to spite me. He pushed his little
body in the arms of disaster, causing many near-fatal injuries. Of course, I'd yell my head
off and shake him. In essence, it was my first time actually raising a child, so I didn't
know better. He would say sorry in the cute way that little boys do and I'd forgive him.
Then he'd run off to find another way he could push the limits of mortality.
But through it all, he wanted to be just like me. At age three, he declared,
"I'm going to be just like you when I grow up, Grandfather!"
I joked, "I don't think you'll ever be as strong as me though, Zelgadis."
If I had known the damage I inflicted on him back when I said those fate-sealing
words, I would have quickly amended myself. I never knew he was going take that joke so
seriously.
When he started his strength building regime, I thought it was a healthy pastime,
someday I would be gone and he would have to defend himself and his family, best start when
you're young. At the time, I thought it was a phase, he was still madly into stories of The
Swordsman of Light and Robin Hood. But as time wore on, he continued, putting more and more
ridiculous demands on himself. What started as a simple thoughtless joke turned into an
all-consuming obsession. He just wanted to be like me, another legend.
But as he reached puberty, I believe he found another reason to be strong. Abby had
just died so, being the nice man I am, took Eris into my home, not knowing she had a huge
crush on me. I think Zelgadis knew before her mother had even died, because he became more
obsessed with being strong. I eventually figured it out and laughed silently at it. It was
just some harmless little girl crush on a legend, nothing to get too excited about. She'd
grow up and grow out of it, like all girls do. If I had known what she did with all my hair
that she took out of my comb, I would've sat her down and explained to her that I didn't
feel that way but I never knew.
But, my poor Zelgadis, he was madly in love with Eris but nothing he did would
please her. She wanted me and couldn't stand him because he wasn't me. He tried to impress
her but his plans fell flat and had the opposite effect. The whole situation was extremely
funny to me, having lived through it and seen a son go through it, but I bet Zelgadis and
Eris didn't find it funny at all.
By the time Zelgadis had reached the infamous peak of puberty (when everything seems
to be going out of control), I was almost completely consumed by Shabranigdo. My mouth would
open and words would tumble out but I wasn't opening my mouth and I wasn't saying those
words. I was trapped in man shaped prison.
My eyes still refused to open and I was becoming more frustrated than ever and
having to deal with Zelgadis' "little" mood swings was not helping. I yelled at Zelgadis
more than was necessary. I really should have given Zelgadis his space. But I was so old and
he was right smack into a changing body that he didn't completely understand yet, it just
caused natural friction. That, and I was completely and utterly insane, that made dealings
hard.
When he was gliding on the tail end of puberty, I did the worst thing I could have
done. Locked in my little prison inside my head, I began to notice something. Zelgadis'
healthy pastime had become an obsession. He didn't care about eating, sleeping, girls (he
had even lost interest in Eris), nothing except getting strong. It had to stop, he was going
to burn out.
I was worrying over this when a dark voice said, "Give him what he wants and teach
him a lesson at the same time."
"How can I? His goals are humanly impossible!"
"The key word is humanly, I notice. But that doesn't matter. There is a way."
"How? And where did you come from?"
"I am part of you and you are part of me. I hope you recall your experiments with chimeras."
"Yes, I wanted to make myself have the sight of the hawk but those failed!"
"No one can make a chimera of one's self! It is very simple to give your grandson the powers
of the golem and the demon."
"But... he will hate me!"
"It will teach him not to aim so high and to be happy with what he has. You could simply
remove it when your eyes are healed, since that lead looks promising."
"The Philosopher's stone lead?"
"Yes."
It made sense at the time to mix the strength of the golem, the speed of the demon
and a dash of my magic in addition to his own to grant my grandson's impossible wish. I wept
for I knew it would hurt him greatly and I might never again regain his trust.
But I unwittingly created in that chimera my saving grace. His anger at my betrayal
led him to Lina Inverse and my freedom from Shabranigdo. In death, I finally saw the world I
had lived to see.
But the freedom is overshadowed with dread, for I watch my grandson run around after
his cure like I had done. I watch him make the same stupid, heartless mistakes that I had
inflicted on loved ones. I know such efforts are pointless because only Rezo-Shabranigdo
could cure his condition.
"I'm going to be just like you when I grow up, Grandfather!"
I just hope that he won't.
The End
Author's Notes: My thoughts on what Rezo went through with Zel. I _do_ believe that Rezo
didn't give Zel that body just to prove how evil he is. Tell me what you thought at
destinyplot@lycos.com!