That afternoon there was a small deal of confusion in the castle. It seemed that the Princess had for some reason locked her door and now would not open it for anyone, telling all of them to go away as she didn't feel well. They had to finally give in and tell His Majesty Prince Philionel. He made his way at once to his daughter's door and asked for admittance, only to receive the same answer. He had tried to insist, and in a rare move, Amelia had actually gotten upset with him and told him everyone was making it worse by not leaving her alone and would they all please go away and stop being such annoying pains...

Phil was taken aback, but decided to trust her. "Alright, then we will. Please have a good rest and feel better in the morning, dear daughter." he finally said.

"I will... try..." was the somewhat enigmatic reply that muffled its way through the door...

The next morning things were no better and eventually Prince Phil again found himself before her locked door. Again she refused to let anyone come in. Prince Phil decided he had had enough. "Amelia, I don't know what's wrong, but I can hear the stress in your voice. If you need some time to compose yourself I will give you that, but if you don't let me come in by this afternoon, I will get in anyway, even if I have to have the door broken down. I know something is wrong, but I can't help you if I don't know what it is. Now, please let me in."

There was silence. "Amelia?" he eventually said.

"G-give me a bit longer then, please Daddy, I beg you." she quavered.

Phil frowned, more that usual. He nodded. "Alright, Amelia, you have until four o'clock this afternoon, then the door opens, one way or the other." He left, leaving someone at the door in case Amelia should want something.

At three o'clock there was an excited scurrying in the castle. A rider had come from somewhere, and was demanding to see Amelia. He was brought to see Prince Phil. The Prince gave the stranger a once over, he seemed familiar somehow, but, he didn't think he had met the young man before, or had he? He wasn't sure.

"My daughter is indisposed at this time, why do you need to see her so urgently young man?" he asked, using his best princely voice.

The young man stared. "Do you not recognise me, then, Your Majesty? It's me, Zelgadiss Greywords. Somehow, without warning, I became human again, just yesterday, upon awakening from an unexpected nap that I took in the afternoon. Please, let me see Amelia. I'm sure this news will cheer her up if she's feeling badly.

Phil got up and went down to the young man. The closer he got the clearer it became. "By all the holy gods, it is you, Mr. Zelgadiss... and a miracle too!" he said, amazed, and happy. He clapped Zel on the shoulder. "Fantastic news, and good for you, Sir. Come, you are right, Amelia will want to know right away."

He was taken quickly through the palace to the Princess' room. Phil knocked on the door. After a minute Amelia was heard to say "Oh Daddy, please, it isn't four yet..."

"Never mind that, there's someone here to see you, daughter, and I don't think you'll want to keep him outside." He nodded at Zel.

"Amelia?" said Zel. "I've come here with wonderful news! Please, please let me in."

There was a pause. "I know Zel, I know." she said finally.

Zel and Phil looked at each other, totally perplexed.

Amelia spoke again. "Okay, I'll let you come in, Daddy, and Mr. Zelgadiss too. But no one else. And no one is to be by the door to see anything. Then I'll explain everything."

Phil shrugged, then shooed the servants, healers, and guards away. "Okay, Amelia, it's just us." he said.

The bolt drew back, and the door swung open slowly, as if timid. Phil and Zel entered the room and the door closed behind them, and the lock was applied. They turned to find Amelia was standing there, shrouded from head to toe with a blanket.

"Daughter, what...?" Phil began. Amelia pointed with a shrouded hand to her desk. "There, that thing, the monkey's paw. That's how I did it. He warned me it might be evil, but I didn't believe him. Now I know he was right." she said in a strange tone of voice.

"Who? Did what? What evil?" asked Zel in slight alarm.

"The merchant from the outer world that I bought it from yesterday. He said it would grant three wishes but that it could make them turn out evilly. I didn't believe him, and so I was careless. I made a wish that didn't come true instantly, so I thought the thing a fake, and jokingly wished you were cured, and that no evil would come to you as a result. It was after that that my first wish came to me and was evil. I was careless, and now I pay the price." explained Amelia.

"Price?" asked Zel, softly.

Amelia sighed. "Please don't be alarmed, since I asked no evil to come to you, it came to me instead." she explained.

She dropped the blanket.

Underneath was the same old Amelia, dressed in her usual white pants and top.

Same that is, if you discounted the hair now made of wire, and the blue skin with stones embedded in it...

For a minute there was dead silence, then there was a loud thump.

Zel seemed to have fainted...

A few minutes later he came around to find himself lying on Amelia's bed, and Prince Phil and his now chimeric daughter sitting by the bed, looking at him...

"Uh, sorry..." he said. "I..."

Amelia smiled. "It's okay, I did that too the first time I looked in the mirror after it happened. I have often wondered how you felt about being like this, now I know. And now I know why all my assurances that you weren't ugly fell on deaf ears. But how wonderful to see you as a man, Mr. Zelgadiss. YOu are even more handsome. I really mean it. I am glad I could heal you, no matter what the price to myself." A happy tear trickled out from her eye, followed by several more, and soon she was weeping, and smiling, and feeling joyful all at once. Zel was healed...

Zel was up in a flash and caught her into a big hug. "Now it's my turn to have my words fall on deaf ears, but it's true, Amelia, you are as beautiful as ever. Yes, You've changed a bit, but you are still beautiful to me."

He then got on his knees before her and said "I have promised myself that this is the first thing I would do when I got healed." he said, taking her hands in his. He looked up at her and into her Cerulean eyes. At least those hadn't changed. "Amelia, you have always believed in me, and seen the real me, not the outer shell. I have been very reserved about expressing my feelings, I hope you can understand why now, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have any." He gulped. "I love you Amelia, and, if you'll have me, I want to marry you, chimera or not..."

Phil cocked an eye and waited to see Amelia's response.

Amelia took it all in, and realized there was only one way to answer this. No speeches, no dramatic poses, just a heartfelt hug, and one word.

"Yes."

After a pause she added "I, uh, want to see about a cure first..."

Zel nodded and smiled at her. "I understand, believe me I do."

There was a pause, then a tentative first kiss...

"Are you sure?" Phil asked softly.

"Yes Daddy, no doubt about it, he's the one." she replied.

Her father nodded. "I wondered how long you two were going to take..." he said.

"What???" said the two of them together.

"You think you kept this a big secret?" he smiled. "Heck, everyone knows, daughter, and you two seem to be the only two that don't realize that. Well, well, but how long will you wait for this cure? Will you be like Zel, and wait forever?"

"I-I don't know, daddy, I'll wait for now." she replied.

I guess the question is where to start looking?" Phil went on. "Should we get the white healers in?"

"That bunch of gossips? NO, please no Daddy. At least, not today, I'm not ready to have the world know, not yet." said Amelia.

Zel looked thoughtful. "We might ask Sylphiel if she's about. She's not given to spreading tales, as far as I know." he said.

"Maybe..." said Amelia, looking doubtful.

There was silence for a bit as they all thought about it. Zel stood up, and paced around the room. As he did so his eyes fell on the monkey's paw. He picked it up and studied it for a long time.

"No, Amelia, you are right. White magic can't help, or the healers could have healed me by now." He held up the paw. "This was caused, I suspect, by black magic. At least that's what I think the faint aura around this thing is made of. In that case, we need an expert in black magic to help us."

There was a bit of silence then Amelia sighed. "I, don't know, I wondered about that aura too. It makes sense, but who should we get? Who can we trust?"

"Trust? No one, not completely." he answered.

"Miss Lina?" ventured Phil.

Amelia gulped. "I have reservations, but perhaps."

Zel was silent for a space. "I think there is someone else who might be of more help, but I don't trust him at all, and I'm not sure he'd help. At least not without charging a hell of a price. Still, I suppose we could ask, if we had to. I know he couldn't, or wouldn't help me, but I don't think Rezo used black magic on me, this might be different."

"Who is it?" asked Amelia.

Zel turned to her, raised his finger, and replied "That's a secret..."