Rated: G
Author's notes: Slayers is not mine. But this story is mine, so kindly do not rip it off. Reviews are fully accepted, but flames will be laughed at.
"I want to be stronger! I want to be stronger!" a young Zelgadis yelled out as he practiced sword fighting skills.
His grandfather, Rezo, just happened to hear him and offered Zelgadis the chance to be stronger. Zelgadis accepted, not knowing what was to come. Instead of the muscles that Zelgadis wanted, his body was cursed. To add insult to injury, Rezo laughed the whole time he was cursing Zelgadis.
"I'll never forgive you, Grandfather! Never!" Zelgadis shouted, fighting back tears. Rezo just laughed harder.
Zelgadis awoke with a start. He hated when he had that dream. He hated remembering the injustice that Rezo had done to him about fifteen years ago. No matter that his stone body had come in use a couple times, once to save Amelia. Amelia, who though he was cool the way he was. He liked Amelia, as she was the most caring of all his traveling companions.
Every time that Zelgadis had that dream, it seemed to mock him more and more. There had to be a cure out there. There just had to be. Of course, it was possible that the cure died with Rezo. But Zelgadis couldn't think that way. He didn't know what he would do if he stopped the search for his cure. The search had basically consumed the last couple years. In fact, of all of his companions, Amelia was the only one he had seen. He pretended that he didn't care, but deep down he did.
Zelgadis stared at a map of the area he was in. There wasn't much in the way of towns. He sat down under a tree and thought for a few minutes. He could head back to Seyruun. Although she didn't have much free time because of royal duties, Amelia had promised to look through some of the white magic books and see if she could find a cure. If he went to Seyruun, he didn't have to worry much about food and lodging, as Prince Phil would make sure he had everything that he needed. It was an idea. But he didn't want to impose on Amelia, either.
Zelgadis decided to walk to the next little town, search the libraries there, then head back to Seyruun. If he was lucky, he would find something. Then he could surprise Amelia. Then he could propose to Amelia and not worry about what their kids would like, if he was even capable giving her children. He wouldn't have to worry about what the people of Seyruun would think of their queen being married to a freak. He wouldn't have to be embarrassed at royal gatherings. If he were to find his cure, his life would be great.
The next town had a very small library and none of the books were very useful. It didn't surprise Zelgadis that much. Small towns rarely had good libraries. Zelgadis sighed, but he figured that maybe Amelia had found a lead. But he knew he couldn't count on that. Amelia was almost always busy, and the older she got, the more responsibilities she had. At least Amelia had a responsible nature, unlike Lina or Gourry. Well, Gourry was usually fairly responsible, just so long as he remember everything that he was supposed to.
Zelgadis began the journey back to Seyruun. He didn't hurry, even though he wanted to see Amelia. She didn't think that he should search so hard for a cure. After all, a stone body sometimes came in handy. Besides, she always said, he was perfectly human beneath the stone skin. And that, she added, was all that mattered.
Maybe being human underneath was all that mattered, but Zelgadis still wanted to rid himself of stone skin. He hated having to use wire cutters to cut his hair. He hated bathing with a brillo pad as a wash cloth. But most of all, he hated to stares and whispers some strangers gave him. He knew Lina would fireball any rude people, but Zelgadis never could bring himself to do that, unless someone was being especially rude. But usually he just ignored those comments because he discovered that sometimes his retaliations brought him more stares, something that he did not want.
After several days of traveling, Zelgadis reached Seyruun. He was graciously greeted at the gate. As a friend of the princess, he was always welcomed in Seyruun. Zelgadis went straight to the castle. It was approaching dinner time, so an extra place was set out for him. He was led to his usual room where he set down his small amount of luggage and cleaned up before dinner. After dinner, he could talk with Amelia and see if she had found any knew leads.
After dinner, Amelia and Zelgadis talked in one of the sitting rooms. Amelia hadn't found much. She wasn't overly optimistic that she would find much because as far as she could tell, Rezo had created the curse and therefore he would have been the one with the cure. He might have made a cureless curse. Zelgadis hoped not, but with Rezo, anything was possible.
"Why don't you just forgive Rezo for what he did? Yes, it was horrible, but your body as been useful a couple of times. Besides, if I can forgive relatives for plotting my father's death, certainly you can forgive a curse," Amelia said to Zelgadis.
"Because... I don't know. Forgiveness isn't the easiest thing for me to do," Zelgadis replied.
Zelgadis felt embarrassed and excused himself to bed. Before going to bed, he thought about what Amelia had told him. He guessed that deep down, he forgave Rezo for the curse. He still didn't like his body, though.
The next morning, Zelgadis noticed that some of the rocks had fallen out of his body. The only time that had happened before was because he had been injured. But Zelgadis hadn't been injured. Was it possible that the curse was reversing itself? Was time the cure? Or was the cure in something else? He went down to the dining room. Amelia noticed the difference immediately. She was surprised.
Zelgadis decided he would take the day off. He had tea and toast for breakfast, even though he didn't really need breakfast. He ate to be polite. While Amelia worked, Zelgadis wandered the streets of Seyruun. Seyruun was one of the nicest cities that Zelgadis had ever seen. No one gave him a strange look that day. Zelgadis realized that when he accepted his body, most people didn't take much notice to it. Or if they did, they kept it to themselves.
The next morning, the rest of the rocks had fallen out of Zelgadis body. His skin was still stone, but it seemed a little softer to Zelgadis. Zelgadis thought that this was very strange. Amelia thought it was strange, too. She had never heard of a curse that faded with time and certainly not one that had stayed for so long. She wondered if Zelgadis had somehow found his cure without realizing it.
Even though most of Zelgadis was very happy that he was apparently being cured, part of him was a little sad. After all, he was used to his old body. Admittedly, a small part of him liked being different. (Though he hated the stares and rude comments.) He hadn't really realized that until he got to Seyruun. He knew that when he got his skin back, he would have to be careful, or he would get cut. He also knew he would have to eat and drink like a normal human being. He probably wouldn't be as strong. Suddenly, Zelgadis didn't want to be cured. But as he realized that he didn't want to be cured, he was fully cured. He realized that he was cured when his skin was peachy and he felt his now soft hair.
Zelgadis was glum the rest of the day. Amelia asked him why he was so glum. After all, he had gotten what he had wanted for so long. Zelgadis explained that he was fully cured when he fully accepted his cursed body. The smaller steps to the cure began as he was beginning to accept his body. Amelia shook her head. Zelgadis realized then that that was just the type of cure Rezo would have.
After a couple of days, Zelgadis got used to his new body. He decided to propose to Amelia. She accepted, and they got married the next year. By that time, Zelgadis was basically used to his fully human body.