Little Monster part 2 "They are Dead"

" 'With a fist raised in defiance the honest prince declared his righteous anger at the evil sorcerer.'" Amelia says as she herself raises a fist. The young five year old boy looks, more or less, interested. It's not that the story is bad necessarily, but the princess has already read stories like this every day to him. He is beginning to strongly dislike these unrealistic stories of noble heroes and justice.

Unaware of her audiences' loss of interest, Amelia continues with just as much enthusiasm as every day previous. "The prince said, 'You will feel my fist of justice as I break you from your malevolent ways.' With a cry of agony the sorcerer was vanquished and the prince saved the kingdom and everyone knew of righteous justice that day.' YEAH! That was amazing, I love this story. Wasn't that a great story Mister Zelgadis!"

The little boy doesn't respond immediately, "Yeah, it was nice." The boy says politely with a hint of sarcasm. Now that he isn't running in fear his lisp has disappeared. He speaks every word carefully and clearly.

Due to an experiment spell gone wrong a week ago, Zelgadis has become a five year old. Over said week, Lina and the rest have discovered that the little Zelgadis has no memory of his older self and has no idea who they are. The first couple of days were really tough, the boy kept searching for Rezo, Rodimus, Zolf, and even called out for Eris once or twice, but as everyone knows, these people are long dead. Amelia has taken it upon herself to care for Zelgadis most of the time, as Lina tries to undo the spell Zelgadis cast on himself since it doesn't appear to be wearing off.

In all honesty, little Zel doesn't care much for Amelia's constant attention and he's about had enough. The only bright side is that Amelia isn't as scary as Lina, Zelgadis is convinced that the red head is a monster.

"Miss Amelia," Zelgadis says quietly. The five year old is very shy and he is also incredibly stubborn. "Can I see Zolf now . . ."

A sad expression cannot be kept from showing on Amelia's face. "I'm sorry Mister Zelgadis, but you can't see Mister Zolf. You see he's very very far away."

"You aren't telling me something," Zelgadis bluntly states, glaring slightly at Amelia.

Nervously Amelia sets the book down and tries to think of something to tell the boy. While it is true that Zelgadis is a close friend of hers and that she would never normally dream of deceiving him, this Zelgadis is not the same person. That Zelgadis is gone and what is left is a five year old boy who is stuck in a place he has never seen in a body he does not recognize. The princess knows that she must tread carefully, but she cannot stand to lie to him any longer, even though Lina insisted he shouldn't know.

Amelia tries to smile at the frowning child, "I will tell you the truth but only if you promise me one thing."

"You don't want me to tell Lina do you?" Zelgadis asks quietly.

"Um, no that's not what I was going to say," Amelia says in surprise, apparently Zelgadis has been aware of more than they realized, but she continues her thought. "I need you to be honest with me. Do you know what honest means?"

Zelgadis answers quickly, "no lying."

"That's right," Amelia nods. "I need you to tell me the last thing you remember."

Whenever Amelia or Lina have asked Zelgadis this question previous, he has been tight lipped. The boy doesn't trust them and so has told them very little about what he was doing or where he might have been. He simply demands that they return him to Lord Rezo, an impossible task.

"I was with Zolf and Rodimus, my teachers. We were in a small town with Master Rezo," Zelgadis finally says. "He's my great-grandfather and he is taking care of me."

Instantly Amelia's face brightens, "Thank you for telling me." Without much warning, Amelia shifts Zelgadis on her lap and hugs him tight. "I'm sorry Mister Zelgadis but Mister Zolf, Mister Rodimus, Miss Eris, and even Master Rezo are all dead."

Immediately, Zelgadis tries to push away from Amelia, but her arms hold fast as he screams at her. The boy calls her a liar and a string of other rude and extremely disrespectful things in an attempt escape her grasp and hurt her, but with tears in her eyes she does not let go of him.

Amelia cannot help but remember the day she accepted the truth of her own mother's death, even though it happened right in front of her. She was so young, she didn't want to believe it, but her father had held her close and didn't let go.

A soft sniff that does not belong to Zelgadis or Amelia can just be heard, causing both crying souls to turn towards the noise. At the door stands Lina and Gourry, the red head quickly wipes a tear from her face.

"Is it true'ss monster!" Zelgadis demands from the red head woman.

"Yes," Lina says.

Gourry slowly walks towards Zelgadis and rubs his back as the boy tries to wipe away the flowing tears.

"It's my faultss again isn'tss it," Zelgadis whimpers.

The two woman look at Zelgadis in surprise, but Gourry seems to know what to say. "No Zel, it was big peoples fault."

Briefly Lina wonders if Gourry remembers the simple fact that they actually helped kill some of these people, but she bites her tongue. As always in moments like this she doesn't know what to say. She has never lost a member of her family or a person she cares about.

"Butsss it iss my faultss," Zelgadis insists. His balled hands that were once wiping tears away become fists clenched in anger, "Just likess Mom and Dad!"

"Zelgadis look at me!" Gourry says sternly only raising his voice slightly. "You are not in trouble and we will never let anything hurt you, I promise." The swordsman leaves no room for debate and Zelgadis stares at him in surprise.

"I promise," Amelia agrees with a soft smile.

Zelgadis looks at Lina expectantly.

"I promise," Lina echoes.

Now, whether it is because these three companions' feelings are truly honest or because a piece of Zelgadis awakens and remembers, the little boy believes them. But as is his nature the little boy stubbornly doesn't say anything but remains stiff and unreadable.

"Let's try to eat something," Amelia says lifting Zelgadis from her lap. While Zelgadis is quite heavy, Amelia is very strong and she can handle lifting the small rock child.

But her left leg is a little sore from where he has been sitting the last hour.

Author's Note:

It's a short scene, but so sweet I had to share it with everyone.