A/N: You know, it occurs to me that I accidentally named two people from opposite sides 'Eris'. Everyone, let's just pretend that the Eris in the beginning was actually Naga, okay? So when I say 'Naga', please keep in mind that I mean Impa.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers or Legend of Zelda, but I own this fanfiction. DO NOT SUE ME!
By the way, I use two Japanese titles in this:
"-dono or -tono is the title that literally means 'Lord' or 'Lady,' and also 'milord' and 'milady'."
"-chan is a similar title to -san or -sama referring to children, women, a close friend, or a lover."
Chapter 09: Rescue! Well, sort of.
"Ah, Eris. I see you have brought our guest."
It's been several days, and the only thing Zelgadis has been doing is sitting around, trying to think past his obvious relation with Rezo. Speaking of whom, he is standing at a window, looking in the direction of Eris and Zelgadis.
"Guest, Lord Rezo?" Eris inquires.
"Of course. After all, we invited him here, didn't we?"
"Invited me?!" Zelgadis growls angrily. "Your little spy hit me over the head and dragged me here!" He glares over at the shadows. "I know you're there, Sheik!"
Sheik doesn't say anything, suddenly finding his feet very interesting.
Rezo looks rather hurt. "Why, Zelgadis. It almost sounds as if you trusted Sheik. I didn't think you would be fooled by someone from a tribe which has betrayed the royal family in the past."
Sheik bites his lip, almost as if he wants to say something, but continues to stare at his feet.
"Zelgadis, is something wrong? You're not usually this temperamental, are you?" Rezo wonders almost innocently.
Zelgadis sighs, closing his eyes and refusing to say anything more. How does Rezo know so much about me? Sheik was only around me for seconds at a time, almost as if he wanted to gather as little information as possible...Unless...Unless he's really trying to help me by gathering information on Rezo!
Rezo clears his throat. "Zelgadis, unless you want your throat slit, I suggest you answer me. Why do you seem so out of character?"
"How would you know what I generally act like? It's not as if you've ever actually spoken to me. The only thing you've ever done is curse me and make my life a living—"
"Now, now, Zelgadis, there's no need to curse..." the Gerudo king begins to say as his grandson rattles off more than just a few words. "Really now, you were never like this when you were young."
Zelgadis keeps from repeating, 'how would you know?' and instead grows silent. Finally he says, "You know, a great-grandfather is supposed to care about his family."
Suddenly Rezo is all anger, but not at Zelgadis. Instead he grows angry at Eris. "I told you never to reveal that information to anyone, especially him!" The king storms towards her and growls quietly. "You've doomed him, Eris, and you've doomed yourself."
Eris looks horrified. She doesn't seem to be able to make words come out of her mouth. Zelgadis watches her try to make up an explanation until he can't stand it. "She didn't tell me anything, Rezo. It was obvious. We look almost exactly alike," he chokes out. As much as it hurts him to say so aloud, Zelgadis doesn't want Eris to die because of something so trivial, no matter how cruel she was to him.
Rezo doesn't seem to look convinced at first. Then he shoots one final, deadly look at his servant before turning to stare at his kin. He studies Zelgadis for a long while, and the room is utterly silent aside from Zelgadis' rapid breathing.
"You're right," he admits. "We do look very similar. So similar, in fact, that I am amazed no one else has already figured it out. You are still going to die, Zelgadis, but not tonight. Tonight you will be a guest. You are free to roam anywhere, including outside. Spells don't work anywhere but my throne room, and there is a large lava basin outside my castle. Feel free to read any book in the library. However, you will not find a cure anywhere in this realm, as I have never found one."
Zelgadis' eyes widen. "You can't possibly mean that you changed my body into...this...without knowing of a cure!"
Rezo closes his eyes in what might even be shame. "I am sorry, Zelgadis. I truly meant it only as a test, but now I realize that if I did such a thing at all, it shouldn't have been you."
"Do you expect me to believe you? You've destroyed Hyrule for your own benefit! What else can you possibly hope for?"
"Sheik, Eris, let me speak to Zelgadis in private."
"Yes, sire."
"Of course, my lord."
The two servants exit the room, and Rezo says, "Zelgadis, seven years ago, when you opened the Sacred Realm and I got in, I was trying to obtain all three pieces of the Triforce. However, there was only one piece remaining: the Triforce of Power. After I got it, I spent many hours here in my study trying to figure out where the other pieces were. When I found the answer, you were already in the Forest Temple, fighting your way through my forces to awaken your Sage. I sent my shadow to destroy you, but he failed to defeat you because of that pesky fairy. You see, I discovered that—"
"Lord Rezo! There are intruders! It's an entire army! They're shooting arrows, and some of them are flying over to attack! They even have dragons! You must flee with him!" Eris cries, her voice strained. "They have infiltrated our forces! Please, flee!"
"What?!" Rezo sputters. "How can that be?" He looks towards Zelgadis and growls. "That's it. You will die, Hero of Time, and you will die now." Rezo draws a sword from inside his robes and murmurs an incantation.
Zelgadis takes this chance to start picking the lock chaining his hands together. Come on, come on...
Rezo's sword glows a sickly purple, and the Gerudo lunges at his grandson. Zelgadis leaps to the side, landing heavily on his sword arm, and curses. He gets up, slips his hands under and in front of him, and takes a hair from his head, picking the lock with it. He rolls away as another strike cuts a jagged line into the stone floor. A glint catches his eye, and he spots his equipment stashed not-so-cleverly behind a curtain.
Please let this work...Ray Wing! A channel of air flows through the room, carrying Zelgadis' items wherever he goes.
"Impossible," Rezo breathes. "How did you do that?"
Zelgadis grits his teeth, ignoring the pain from his broken arm, and casts the spell on himself, flying out a large glass window without a scratch. A split second later comes Rezo's blade, cutting almost two inches into his back, and Zelgadis cries out, beginning to fall. A second of pain passes by so slowly it feels like hours. Zelgadis murmurs, "Dragons...Epona..." He pulls out his Ocarina and plays three soft notes, then repeats them. Please, Epona, Sylphiel. Please come through for me...
A roar echoes through the air, and Zelgadis lands roughly on something golden, something slick.
Master Zelgadis, you're bleeding.
"I know...Epona..."
Shall I take you to Sylphiel?
No reply comes, as everything has faded into a sea of shadow.
Epona does not feel worried, but she knows that if she doesn't hurry, something bad will happen. She pushes herself onward, no matter how tired she may be from the battle already.
Master Zelgadis? she says as loud as she dares. She understands that humans and other beings need sleep to recover from injuries, but the amount of blood spilling down her scales and into the lava below is beginning to give her emotions that dragons cannot feel.
Fear, desperation, worry. These are just some examples. Epona does not know the name of any of them, but she knows she must act upon them. She lets out a roar, calling for Filia. Filia should be able to understand her. Filia will help.
Sure enough, voices begin to call out. Among them is Sylphiel's. The fairy. Epona must hurry to Sylphiel, who should be able to heal. Everyone heard the Ocarina when it played. Everyone knows that something bad happened.
Heal is not a word that dragons use. No one has ever stood up to a dragon, and no one has ever dared to harm it, so dragons have never needed to heal. Healing is something other beings do after they are harmed. Healing is something that dragons have never known. They know destruction, death, other things, but never healing. In the dragon world, you either live or die. You do not heal or recover. Dragons do not get sick. They do not fight often, and even if they do, nothing has been able to pierce their thick scales, never mind their skin.
Epona lands on the ground away from Rezo's castle, where the army has gathered to wait. She is well aware of the crimson blood forever staining her scales, and she is also aware of her rider's ragged breathing.
Master Zelgadis, we will help you.
Sylphiel's eyes widen when she sees Epona's beautiful golden scales stained red from what must be blood. The dragon lands softly on the ground beside her, using her enormous wings to gently slide her cargo to the ground. Epona lets out a soft growl. Filia translates, "'His breathing is slow, and he has lost much blood. He is dying.'"
The large dragon dips her head to nuzzle her master.
Filia blinks back tears and speaks in a broken voice. "This is a symbol of mourning. Epona...Epona doesn't think Zelgadis will make it."
Epona purrs softly.
"She is speaking to him, trying to get him to wake up," Filia explains. "Sylphiel, you need to try to heal him."
Everyone is watching, as if expecting him to wake up any second. In the front of the line, a few sorceresses' lips are moving silently, in prayer.
Suddenly Filia curses, "By Din! Do something, Sylphiel, or this battlefield will be his tomb!"
The fairy blinks back tears. "I can't heal him, Filia."
"By the goddesses, Sylphiel, why not?!" Filia yells.
"See that long cut in his back?" When the farm girl nods hesitantly, wincing, Sylphiel shakes her head. "It's really deep, and might have even punctured one of his lungs. Other than that, the sword used to do so has phantom's blood on it. Phantom's blood is so deadly that it kills in seconds. The only reason he isn't dead is because he's a chimera."
"What's a chimera?" Filia asks.
The fairy chokes out, "We don't have time to explain, but he must be made of something really strong, because otherwise he would be dead, chimera or no. Maybe we can thank Rezo for giving us time to work with, even if he was the one to do this."
"Something really strong..." Filia murmurs. "Of course! Sylphiel, he's made of stone, and he's blue. What do you think that comes from?"
"We don't have time for guessing games, Filia, we need to go."
"No, I'm serious! Zelgadis must be part rock golem and some type of demon. Demons are the only things that can resist phantom's blood, remember?"
One of the sorcerers exclaims, "D-demon? You mean the Hero of Time is a demon?"
Sylphiel shakes her head. "No, he's the kindest man you could ask for. Rezo did this to him, otherwise he wouldn't have a temper at all and he wouldn't be our Hero of Time. But that doesn't matter. Epona, could you please take us to Death Mountain as fast as you can?"
Epona dips her head to Sylphiel.
"She has agreed, Sylphiel. She is inviting you to get on."
She wipes away her tears and gingerly picks Zelgadis up, carrying him over to the dragon with a bit of difficulty. Sylphiel winces when she sits down on Epona's blood-stained hide.
Death Mountain, correct?
Sylphiel jumps, but replies, "Um, yes."
With a flash of gold and a deafening roar, Epona, Sylphiel, and Zelgadis shoot off.
Elsewhere, Rezo is cursing, cursing, and cursing some more. "He got lucky. He got so, so lucky. I can't believe I forgot that demons are resistant to phantom's blood. On the bright side, he's dead enough to stay unconscious while that foolish fairy rushes him off to wherever she's...Oh, (insert curse here)! She's heading off to Death Mountain to seek the Great Fairy's aid! I practically told him where the Triforce pieces are..."
"Lord Rezo?"
Sheik knocks softly on the door.
"What is it, Sheik?" Rezo growls, still frustrated.
"It's...Lady Eris. One of the archers—"
Rezo whispers, "No...Eris..."
Sheik enters the room, carting Eris over to his master. Laying the woman down, he says, "She didn't make it."
Rezo curses once more, this time with tears in his eyes. "I swear by the goddesses, I will kill that fairy and the rest of her pathetic army with my bare hands!" His deep brown eyes soften. "Eris...why was it you?" Sheik leaves the room as Rezo begins to cry for only the second time in his life.
The castle is cold that night, even colder than usual. Maybe it was Eris' love and dedication that seemed to keep it warm every night.
Not able to stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks, Rezo reflects on the last time he actually cried. That night was colder than this one, and in midwinter. It was that one night that changed his life forever.
Two children were born. Two children that had—no, have—amazing power and even more amazing fates. Two children that were destined to become great things, great people.
Two children that are destined to destroy Rezo and protect Hyrule from harm.
Rezo didn't know why he was to do this. He thought that it would only cause conflict later on. He knew that it would be a terrible night.
Nevertheless, driven by some unknown force, he entered the castle as an honored guest. The queen was having her child.
When Rezo arrived in the queen's bedroom, she welcomed him somewhat wearily but still enthusiastically.
"Welcome, Rezo-dono," she greeted him. "I don't think you've met Lina-chan quite yet."
"No, I don't believe I have," Rezo replied. Something was irritating him. He blinked a few times and put a hand to his head.
"Are you alright, Rezo-dono?" the queen asked. "Should I call for my maid? Do you have a headache?"
Rezo forces a laugh. "N-no, not at all. It's just a slight ache from earlier. I should be fine."
The queen, ever so cheerful, doesn't seem to know how to frown. She simply smiles and says, "Very well. Do you want to hold Lina-chan?"
"...if you insist," Rezo murmurs hesitantly. The queen begins to pass Lina over to him, but the girl wails so loudly that Rezo flinches. "It appears she doesn't like me," he laughs. Suddenly his hand jerked. A spell was cast. And the queen's warm, crimson eyes grew lifeless. Lina's heartbeat grew weak, but still beat.
Rezo disappeared, and came to his granddaughter's house in order to hide. Little did he know that his granddaughter also had a baby that night.
And little did he know that he would destroy that child's life, and destroy the lives of his family, cursing his own granddaughter and her husband to live as animated corpses. And Zelgadis became a chimera of golem and demon, living as though he was a monster.
Rezo cried silently, hiding Zelgadis in the Lost Woods for a young Kokiri girl named Amelia to find.
And now he believes that it was the worst mistake of his life.
