Hello everyone! Let's see… what can I say about this chapter other than the normal disclaimer? Ah… well, if you haven't read the 'Knight of the Aqualord' series, you might not be familiar with the Temple of the Aqualord or Shizuri, but it shouldn't be too difficult to catch on, I'd think. So! As per usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!
9- Read Between the Lines
"Hmm...? Enrique...? Where'd Azarel go...?"
Zara rubbed his eyes wearily as he stumbled down the small staircase. The children had arrived in Ti Toh the previous day, and had spent the night at a bed-and-breakfast that, in actuality, was a little more bed than it was breakfast. Azarel, of course, knew how to manipulate an astral pocket, and had more supplies on hand than any of the three knew what to do with, so they were not disappointed in that regard.
"Out searching for someone." Enrique replied. "There's someone that Azarel said we had to meet, and so we're supposed to stay here in the meantime. Az left me here to make sure that you were okay."
"How sweet! I really do appreciate all that you two are doing for me!" Zara smiled brightly. "You're so nice, Enrique!"
Enrique turned a shade redder and gripped the chair, shifting his weight back and forth awkwardly onto a leg that was slightly shorter than the other three. "Well gee, it's really nothing, y'know. Er, not nothing nothing, of course, I just mean... it just... it doesn't take much effort to be nice to you, y'know? 'Cause you're so nice to everybody, so nobody should ever want to not be nice to you, right? And, I mean, I especially... er, what I meant to say was... uh... d-do you want some food?"
Zara chuckled. "Food would be lovely; yes."
Enrique reached across the table and grabbed Azarel's bag, beginning to sift through it to see what was inside. Zara leaned over his shoulder and watched in curiosity.
"There's so many different things- is it really okay for us to be taking things from Azarel like this?"
Enrique shrugged. "You heard what Az said to us before. We can always take anything we like out of here. That's what it's for." The boy closed his eyes and imitated his sibling. "That's one of the perks of being on my expedition. What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine."
Zara giggled. "You do a good job of sounding like Azarel."
Enrique laughed in reply. "What? Can you tell I've been practicing? Don't tell Azarel though- I'd get in soooo much trouble!"
"...speaking of which..." Zara questioned, seeming to be treading cautiously. "...why is Azarel always getting mad at you?"
"Huh? Azarel isn't always mad at me."
Zara frowned. "Really? Your name gets spoken a lot in a tone that would make me think someone was mad at me."
"Oh! N-no, no! That's just Azarel's way of getting my attention! Speaking my name like that just reminds me who is the leader of the group."
"Which... would be Azarel, I guess?"
Enrique nodded. "Azarel is the leader, I'm the lackey. That's just how things are... at least, that's what I'm told..."
"...by Azarel?"
"Well, naturally."
Zara seemed a little put off by the whole deal, despite Enrique's best attempts to reassure him. "But you're both intellectuals, right? You both read high-level literature and act on the principles that you have learned from both text and experience... right?"
"Eh, not really." Enrique scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "To be honest, Azarel is a whole lot older than I am... plus there's the fact that I don't really read that much..."
"What? Not that much?" Zara repeated in shock. "How much is 'not that much?"
"Like... not at all."
Enrique slumped his shoulders and moved lower in his seat, as Zara was clearly aghast by his words.
"B-but why not?!"
"I-it's just that... well... y'see..." Enrique wrung his hands nervously. "...nobody ever taught me how."
Zara's face turned pale. "You... never learned to read?"
"I recognise a few characters of the alphabet, but I don't exactly know what to do with them. I don't even have any idea where to start."
"How could you keep this a secret for so long?" Zara demanded. "If Azarel knew, then you could get help, and-"
"Azarel knows."
Zara paused. "...but then... why haven't you..."
"If you have someone else who can read for you, then it's not a necessary skill. You're better off not worrying about it." Enrique spoke in Azarel's voice. "At least... that's what I'm told-"
"No!" The force of Zara's words made Enrique shrink back in shock. "Reading is... the best thing in the world... if you can read, you can learn anything and do anything... I can't understand why a well-read Mazoku like Azarel would deny someone that right!"
Enrique didn't say anything at first. It was the first time that Zara had referred to either of them as a Mazoku, and though they were pretty sure that he knew, it was odd hearing him speak that way. He seemed to hold Mazoku on an equal level with humans; a fairly rare perspective.
"It's not really that big of a deal. I don't really mind much, and-"
"Nonsense! I'll teach you how to read!"
There was a long moment in which Enrique was unable to speak. He simply stared at Zara in blank incomprehension. "Wha-"
Don't worry! We can start with something simple! I have some fiction books in my backpack that my girlfriend lent me- she says they're very good, but I haven't read them yet."
"...girlfriend...?"
"I can teach you some of the alphabet first, and then maybe we can tackle the book! It'll be tough going at first, but I'm sure that you can handle it!"
"...but..."
"I can go ahead and get the books, and you can pick one that you like! What do you say?"
"...girlfriend...?" Enrique repeated, and then suddenly seemed to regain consciousness of the conversation. He shook his head and waved his hands wildly. "N-no, no, no! I meant to say, this is a bad idea! I mean, if Azarel finds out about this, we'll probably be in some deep trouble-"
"Screw that!"
Enrique gasped suddenly, staring wide-eyed at his normally soft-spoken friend. Zara blushed and covered his mouth.
"It's just... well, the thought of anyone- much less one of my dear friends- missing out on something like this is just..." Zara shook his head. "I don't even want to think about it. But... if the case is that you really don't want to learn, I mean..."
"No, no! I do want to learn! I can't tell you how much I've wanted to learn!" Enrique exclaimed, almost desperately. "I feel so... so stupid! It's so frustrating, because I want to get smarter, but I can't. I want to... be able to talk in actual coherent sentences and not have to ramble on and on just because I can't actually think of some way to stop talking- see?!" The boy sighed sadly and looked at Zara with a pleading gaze. "...please teach me."
"Of course I'll teach you! I said I wanted to, didn't I?" Zara smiled brightly. He jumped up from the table and ran back over to the staircase. "I'll go get the books!"
"...oh, and, uh, Zara? Sometime, I'd like to... hear about your girlfriend."
Zara stopped and looked over at Enrique. "You may know her, actually. Lorelei- she's a higher-up of Lord Beastmaster's."
"Never heard of her." Enrique shook his head.
"Ah, well..." Zara sighed. "She's been very busy with her duties lately. I still call her my girlfriend, but... the truth is, I haven't seen her for weeks. I sometimes wonder if she's forgotten all about me..."
"What?! Forgotten about you?!" Enrique seemed almost livid. "That's absurd! If I were-" He stopped abruptly and turned his head away. "…uh, er, that is to say, if I were... I mean... uh..." The boy stopped and shook his head. "Listen; if you're half as good a boyfriend as you are a friend, she can't have forgotten about you. I'm sure that she's just as upset by the separation as you are. She'll come back for you soon- you'll see."
His words elicited a smile from Zara, who gave a small nod in return.
"Thank you, Enrique. You're an awfully good friend yourself."
"I don't think you understand, ma'am. The situation is currently dire, and the temple cannot accept any visitors at this time."
"And I think you don't understand, sir. I am Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, princess of the Kingdom of Seyruun, and, on behalf of the Seyruun government, I demand to meet with the High Priest. That is not a request, that is an order."
Amelia held up her royal crest, trying to look as formidable as any small girl possibly could. It was altogether possible that she'd been taking lessons from Lina, but she would never admit to it.
"I-I'm sorry, your highness, but we just can't..." The guard stammered in response. "We were given orders from the High Priest, and-"
"I'm sorry, sir." Lina jumped in beside Amelia. "I am Lina Inverse, inhabitant of the Kingdom of Seyruun, and on behalf of myself, I can Dragon Slave this whole temple into oblivion. That is not a threat, that is a promise. How about you tell that to your high priest?"
The guard stiffened, and turned around quickly.
"I'll, uh, see what I can do!" Motioning to another guard stationed at the other end of the entrance, he began running back toward the temple. "Stay with the princess and her companions while I relay their message!"
Zelgadis smirked amusedly. "It seems like he actually thinks that she's serious."
"Hey! I am serious!" Lina growled, holding up the small red stone that Pestis had given her. "I can and will unleash a Dragon Slave on them at any given minute! Don't underestimate me!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know that. But he doesn't know about the Black Magic vessel." Zelgadis explained. "He can only take your words at face value, and even under all that warm clothing, it's painfully obvious..."
"What?! That I'm a mother and so he has to be doubly afraid of me?"
Gourry put one hand on Lina's shoulder and the other on Zelgadis'. "Come on, you guys- calm down. As long as we get in to speak with someone who can help us find Zara, it doesn't matter, right?"
"And we need information on the Key of the Aqualord." Pestis added. "That's secondary, but still very important."
"But do you really think that they'll give out information like that to someone who's allied to the Mazoku race?" Amelia asked in concern. "I'd imagine that maybe they wouldn't want someone like Mister Pestis to get his hands on it either."
Pestis paused thoughtfully. "That... hadn't occurred to me. I'm sympathetic to the humans' side, though. Shouldn't that...?"
"How do they know that for sure, though?" Zelgadis pointed out.
"Well, I've got you guys to endorse me, right?" Pestis asked. "Y-you wouldn't deny me that, would you?"
"He's got us there." Amelia shrugged.
"Besides, I'm a Mazoku researcher." the professor continued. "I would know better than anyone else that this item needs to be kept away from members of the Mazoku race."
"Like you, you mean?"
"Zelgadis!"
"Professor Nisery's situation is unique, no question there." Lina spoke. "But it all depends on the knowledge held by the members of the temple and whether or not they are willing to divulge it."
"And then, once we have that information, we'll have to figure out what to do with it." Zelgadis added.
Pestis clapped his hands. "Why, that's simple, of course! We just need to protect it from Azarel!"
"Yeah, and how do we do that?"
There was a pause.
"What do you mean, Lina?"
"Zel has a point." Lina responded. "If we knew the whereabouts of this key, Azarel would become all the more dangerous to us. I'm not sure how you propose to keep the key from falling into Azarel's hands, even if we did know where it is."
"What about destroying it?" Amelia asked.
"NO!" Pestis jumped in abruptly. "That's what Azarel wants! Destroying the Key destroys the barrier!"
Lina cringed. "So the trick is to make sure that the Key doesn't get destroyed, then? That's a pretty tall order. Unless we simply defeated Azarel outright, I don't see any way to make totally sure that the Key is protected."
"Well...uh... we could... I'm sure that there's some way to..." Pestis stammered, but even he saw the futility of his argument. "I suppose you're right..."
"But that doesn't mean that we should give up!" Amelia interrupted. "It's still important that we know where the key is! Even if an eventual fight between the forces of good and evil is unavoidable, we can at least do our part to make sure that we have the upper hand through all of it! It's important that we know the key's whereabouts in order to protect it!"
"And, if Azarel knows that we know where it is, it'll serve another purpose." Lina mused. "We won't have to seek out those kids in order to get Zara back. They'll come to us."
"But I'm still worried about that one named Enrique." Pestis added. "I don't know how dangerous he might be... or whether he's just a victim of Azarel's tricks just like Zara is. I don't know whether to be worried about him or worried for him."
Zelgadis thought it over for a moment and sighed. "Well, considering the way Azarel ordered him around, he's at least under Azarel's full command. Whether or not he is a poor soul to be pitied, he's a threat that we have to consider before making any big battle plans."
"I got that feeling too." Lina agreed. "It seemed like Enrique was eager- almost desperate- to follow Azarel's commands. It makes me wonder if Azarel has something on him..."
"What do you mean?" Amelia questioned.
"Like, blackmail, or perhaps a debt that Enrique needs to repay. Something that would keep him tied to Azarel against his will, y'know?"
"Concerning Mazoku, that's incredibly likely." Pestis replied. "At least as far as rogues are concerned. Rogue Mazoku are dangerous in that they're like mercenaries- they'll fight for anyone who can pay them... or anyone to whom they owe something. Azarel is alone, and the more rogue Mazoku that can be employed for the purpose of finding the Key, the better. That might have been the allure of Zara too- he was an easy target to captivate and control."
"Azarel was a bookworm- or at least gave that impression when we met. But Enrique's manner felt very uneducated." Lina thought out loud. "It wasn't that he was uncivilized, he was just... sort of... rough around the edges."
"Like a diamond in the rough." Pestis commented.
"I wouldn't go that far." Zelgadis responded curtly. "Let's just stay on our toes concerning our enemies and everyone in association with them-"
"Excuse me! Princess!"
The group responded to the sound of the guard's voice as he ran to greet them again.
"The Head Priest's acolyte wishes to meet with you at once! Please follow me inside!" he huffed.
"Acolyte? We want to speak to the head honcho himself!" Lina demanded. "You go tell him that we-"
"Lina, stop." Zelgadis grabbed her shoulder. "We've got our foot in the door. That's a step further than we were just a minute ago. Don't push it, okay?"
"Besides, we know the acolyte, don't we?" Amelia asked.
"What's her name? The girl who makes illusions?" Gourry seemed like he was putting a lot of effort into trying to remember. "...Shizuri! That was it!"
"Oh yeah, I remember now. Shizuri was the little lap dog of the Head Priest." Lina nodded. "I hope she knows a thing or two about this Key of the Aqualord..."
Pestis nodded. "For our sake, I hope so too."
"Princess Amelia! It is you!"
"Miss Shizuri! It's so good to see you again!"
The two women embraced and Shizuri tousled Amelia's hair affectionately. "How are you? It's been so long since we've seen you! How are things in Seyruun?"
"Oh, I'm fine." Amelia smiled. "It has been a long time, hasn't it? I suppose things could be better in Seyruun... as you can see." She motioned out the window.
"This is taking place all the way in Seyruun?"
"It's all over the world!"
Shizuri stopped and gasped. "All over the...? Oh! Where are my manners? Won't you come sit down?" She motioned to a set of chairs situated around a table at the centre of the small room in which they were meeting. "Who are these fine young men that you've brought with you? I don't think we've met."
"You haven't met, have you?" Amelia grabbed onto Zelgadis' arm. "This is my husband, Zelgadis Greywords. He's part of Seyruun's royal court, working as our chief historian and researcher for the country's official archives." She spoke very matter-of-factly, but there was an unmistakable air of affection and pride in her voice. "And the man with the glasses is Professor Alexandre Nisery- he's the world's leading expert on Mazoku and Black Magic."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Shizuri!" Pestis held out a hand to shake, and the woman accepted it with a sceptical stare.
"What an... odd combination. I'm meeting the prince of a White Magic kingdom and a leader of the Black Magic community..."
Zelgadis and Pestis both tried to deny it at the same time.
"Th-that's really just ceremonial... I don't have any real power in Seyruun; I just do research for the archives, and-" "Honestly, I'm not all that active in the Black Magic community... I spend a lot of time among Mazoku doing research, so-"
"Hey, you two! Don't worry so much!" Amelia clapped her hands. "The point is that we have experts in all kind of magic here to help us! And... if we can ever find Miss Lina..."
"Lina's here with you, right? That's what I heard." Shizuri spoke. "Where did she go?"
"Uh..." Amelia glanced around. "...I think she ran off to find the bathrooms... and Mister Gourry didn't want her running around the temple by herself..."
"He's so kind, worrying about her like that." Pestis commented.
"He's not worried about Lina's safety, he's worried about the temple's safety." Zelgadis added. "If Lina blows this place up, we'll be hard-pressed to find that key you're looking for and get Zara back."
Shizuri blinked confusedly. "...key? What key? And who is Zara?"
"We'll explain everything; don't worry." Amelia assured her. The princess motioned to the chairs. "We were all going to sit down, right?"
"Y-yes, of course." Shizuri snapped back to attention and sat down in one of the chairs herself. "So, uh... Lina and Gourry... I haven't seen them for years either. Tell me, are they already married with ten kids or what?"
Zelgadis laughed. "You really do know Lina and Gourry, don't you? They've got the marriage part down, but they're still working on the ten kids. The count now is two."
"Hah! I knew it!" Shizuri clapped her hands. "They wouldn't admit that they were an item, but they weren't fooling anybody! Two kids, huh?"
"Well, one, for the moment at least." Amelia replied.
"Another on the way." Pestis added.
"R-really?" Shizuri gasped. "Then what are they doing here? Don't they live in Seyruun?!"
"Yes, but..." Amelia wrung her hands. "...their son... was kidnapped... and we believe that he's been brought here to Ti Toh. That's why..."
"Kidnapped? Their son?!" Shizuri gripped the arms of her chair. "By who?"
"That would be my area of expertise." Pestis raised his hand. "You see, the culprit is an extremely dangerous Mazoku with whom I am... well acquainted, for lack of a better term. While Zara- the little boy in question- is likely not in any physical danger, he is possibly being psychologically attacked by this Mazoku, and the more we pursue his captors, the more likely it is that his life will be put in danger along with his sanity."
Shizuri frowned, thinking it over. "A Mazoku... hmm... That's tough, then. But why would a Mazoku go after a little human boy? Is it because of Zara's parents, or...?"
"Azarel never usually does things for just one reason- that Mazoku has a penchant for complicated plans that involve intricacies that are difficult for others to discern." Pestis replied. "Whatever Azarel needs Zara for, it may be because of Lina and Gourry, and it may not be. Or maybe both."
"Aaah, that makes my head hurt." Shizuri complained. "Who is this Azarel anyway?"
"Azarel was the top subordinate under the Mazoku Lord Hellmaster Phibrizzo." Pestis explained. "One of the deadliest Mazoku to ever exist; a master of disguise and deceit; at times a harmless little girl, and at others a kindly old man... It's impossible to tell, and that's the dangerous part- Azarel loves playing with victims before killing them."
"Wait, wait- go back. Are we talking about a boy or a girl here?" Shizuri asked confusedly.
"That's right; we never really did figure it out, did we?" Amelia added.
"I hate to disappoint you," Pestis scratched his head sheepishly. "but even after thousands of years of knowing Azarel… I don't even know."
"You don't know?" Amelia gasped.
"It makes sense, considering all of Azarel's disguises." Zelgadis shrugged. "You'd never be able to tell someone's real gender if that person could appear to be a girl one minute and a boy the next."
"Exactly." Pestis nodded. "In addition, the pure astral forms of Mazoku, which are found on the astral plane, do not have differentiations that could be equated to gender in mortal beings such as humans. Despite being truly asexual beings, they usually have choose one gender or the other when manifesting on the physical plane, since that's sort of required, y'know?"
"Wait! Does that mean that you could be a girl if you wanted to, Mister Pestis?" Amelia asked suddenly.
Pestis blinked. "Well... I'd never thought about it that way before... but yes, I suppose I could." He moved his chair closer to Zelgadis' and leaned his head on the chimera's shoulder. "What do you think, Zelgadis? Would I look better as a girl?"
Zelgadis didn't flinch. "You'd be just as annoying either way."
"So, you're a Mazoku?" Shizuri didn't seem quite afraid; more curious than anything else.
"Well, sort of yes and sort of no." Pestis shrugged. "I'm supposed to be a Mazoku, but I flunked out of Mazoku school, so..."
"There's a Mazoku school?"
"..."
"It's a joke, Amelia. It means that I fail at being a Mazoku, remember?"
"R-right." Amelia blushed.
"So, I understand that Lina and Gourry's son has been brought here to Ti Toh by the Mazoku, but what does that have to do with us here at the Temple?" Shizuri picked the conversation back up again. "I know that we're friends, but even so, we're still trying to make sense of the strange weather patterns..."
"That's the thing- Azarel is the cause of these strange weather patterns." Pestis interjected.
"Or, at least, it's her involvement with the Demon King of the North that is causing them." Zelgadis added.
"Her?"
"Well, when we first met, Azarel was using a very feminine human form." Zelgadis defended. "So, if no one else is going to make any assumptions for convenience's sake, I'm going to do it."
"I'll buy that." Amelia nodded. "We have a 50/50 chance, right?"
"I'm not going to be so hasty." Pestis grabbed the seat of his chair and shifted awkwardly. "Azarel is too... too... er..."
"Too what?"
"It's just... that Azarel..."
"Excuse me- I wasn't informed that we had visitors with such important information. Did you know, Shizuri?"
The whole room jumped. Shizuri turned around quickly with a respectful bow.
"H-high priest!"
The tall man moved gracefully into the room, followed by two much less graceful figures.
"Lina! Gourry!"
"Hey guys!" Lina waved. "I got the Head Priest's attention- I don't need to blow this place up anymore!" She laughed loudly.
"Lina!" Zelgadis growled, jumping to his feet. "You ran off and got the Head Priest?! I thought you were going to the bathroom!"
"I did. Then I decided that, as long as I was wandering through the temple, I might as well figure out where the person we wanted to talk to was and ask him for his help. I did pretty well, didn't I?"
"Why you-!"
"Don't look at me!" Gourry responded. "I just got dragged into this!"
"High Priest, I'm so sorry about them!" Shizuri jumped up and ran over, bowing profusely. "You guys should've come to me first! This is not the kind of matter to bother the high priest with-"
"Shizuri, please." The high priest interrupted. "If what these two say is true, then they can help us to return the weather patterns back to normal. Is that right?"
"Yes! We're telling the truth!" Lina nodded.
"It's the Key." Pestis added. "We can use the Key to re-seal the Demon King... that is, if we can find it."
"What key? What do you mean?" Shizuri questioned.
"That's the reason we came to you." Pestis replied. He walked up to the high priest and fell to his knees in a respectful bow. "Please, sir... we seek information about the Key of the Aqualord."
(A/N: Well… this is the part where I take a step back and admit to the fact that I've been trying to mess with your heads since chapter 3. And it's worked. Somewhat. Just… oh! Thank you all so much for reading! I really do appreciate it!)
