The tunnel was filled with the screams of the guardian beast. It shook its shadowed head violently to remove the cinders that clung to its slimy skin. Xellos' attack had angered more than injured it, and it was beginning to retaliate. From its gaping jaw, it sent a stream of flame similar to the one Xellos had cast. But the monster simply removed himself from our plane in place of dodging. To Lina's and the others' surprise, he came back to send another spell the guardian's way. They watched for a moment as the two battled, Xellos slipping in and out of reality when attacked, but doing equally as little damage to the beast.

Lina was startled by a hand on her arm.

"Come on," Zelgadis tugged her toward the tunnel. Gourry and Amelia were already further ahead.

"We can't leave him with that thing!" Lina argued.

"Yes, we can," Zel said.

Lina glared.

"He'll be fine," Zel told her over the roaring of the guardian, "He told us to go."

Lina took one quick look back in the direction of the fight, then followed her friends down the murky tunnel.

The tunnel was dark, and quiet, and the further they followed it, the smaller it got until Zelgadis feared it would close off altogether. What would they do if faced with a dead end?

The close quarters forced them to walk ever closer. Behind him, Zel could feel Gourry's breathe on his neck; he wondered if Amelia could feel his just a few inches in front of him.

The silence in the tunnel enticed Zel's thoughts to wander. First to Xellos. He must not have been lying completely – they were in the cavern. But what was at the end of this tunnel? And why had the monster given up his chance at the Wish Grantor to fight some guardian beast that was obviously no match for him? Or maybe it was. But still, he'd let them go on ahead. That wasn't like him.

Then his mind strayed to Amelia, invisible in the darkness in front of him. He remembered the night before, the ball, the all-knowing fishbowl. Amelia more than anyone was always willing to go out of the way to give him the benefit of the doubt. But what about Lina and Gourry? It seemed like everyone was making concessions for him alone on this trip. For some reason, that didn't seem right.

"Hey! Look!" Lina called from the front.

There was the light at the end of the tunnel. By the time they'd stepped into it, Zel had already made up his mind.

The chamber before them was not what you'd expect from the hands of the gods. Maybe the celestial architects had taken a day off. The room was round and the walls were rough. The dim light seemed to come from a large stone set in the ceiling. The stone itself was a deep blue color that shimmered as if water were reflected in it. Directly below the enormous sapphire, was a stone altar; three steps to a flat platform of the same rock as the chamber.

Instantly upon entering, the four were greeted by a booming voice. "Who disturbs my slumber?" it demanded. Then, more softly, "Man, I've always wanted to say that."

They slowly picked themselves off the floor, and Zel asked the bodiless voice, "Are you the Wish Grantor?"

"I am," the voice replied, "I am able to grant the greatest wish of any being. Whose desire am I to fulfill?"

"That'd be this one," Lina grinned and pointed to Zelgadis.

"Very well," the Wish Grantor said, "Join me upon the altar."

Lina nudged him forward. "Go on," she said, "This is what you wanted."

Zel looked between her and the platform. "Yeah," he said slowly, "I guess…"

So he left them behind to go stand at the altar. With a glance back at the group over his shoulder he said in a low voice to the Wish Grantor, "Listen, um…this is going to be kind of a long wish…"

"What's he doing?" Gourry asked. Zel had done nothing but converse with the Wish Grantor so far, and they were growing impatient.

"Maybe he's negotiating a few upgrades, you know?" Lina grinned deviously.

"What?" Gourry and Amelia looked blank.

"Never mind…" Lina sighed.

"If that is what you wish…" the Wish Grantor said softly.

"It is." Zel nodded.

And the platform was flooded with a pure white light from the stone above. When it dissipated, the other three stepped forward. Zel didn't look at them immediately, so anxious Lina called his name.

He didn't answer.

"Zel?" Lina stepped up behind him.

Zel shook himself, almost as if coming out of a trance, and then turned to look at her. "What?"

They gaped.

He looked exactly the same. The wiry hair and rocky, blue skin.

Lina lost it.

"Hey! Wish Grantor!" she yelled, "What gives?!"

"I'm sorry?" the Wish Grantor's voice echoed, confused.

"I thought you said you could grant any wish!" Lina demanded.

"I can."

"Then why didn't you change Zel back?!"

"Lina." Zel's voice snapped her out of her rage. He was looking at her very seriously, and said, "That's not what I wished for."

Lina stared at him, dumbfounded. "It's not?"

"I wished for Phil to be OK." Zel explained, and Amelia's face lit up. "That his wound would heal and he'd recover. And I wished for Xellos to survive his battle, cuz, let's face it, things wouldn't be as much fun without him following us everywhere."
Lina felt a smile spreading across her face. Gourry was already grinning.

"And I wished for Filia, and Pokota, and all our other friends to come out of the fight alright." Zel concluded, "Basically, that the war for this place would just…end."

"He wished for the safety and wellbeing of every person he cared for," the Wish Grantor explained, "A selfless and noble act…"

"Isn't that kind of like five wishes?" Lina asked skeptically.

"Never underestimate the power of the word 'and'." Zel told her.

"So just by making it all one, big, run-on sentence, it counts as a single wish?"

"Yes, I'll have to talk to my creators about that," the Wish Grantor said, "After all, I can't have every person who comes in here using it against me. But for Zelgadis I will make an exception."

"Thank you," Zel smiled.

"But Zel," Lina said, "I thought you wanted to be human more than anything…"

Zel shrugged. "I'll always be human. I just won't look it," he said, "Besides, I figured, what does it matter how I look if no one who cares about me is around to see it?"

"Oh, Zel…" Lina smiled.

"Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia threw her arms around his neck, her way of thanking him.

"Uh, Amelia – …" Zel tried to speak but lost the words somewhere. Lina snickered when his cheeks flushed red.

An explosion from down the tunnel shook the chamber. The four exchanged a look.

Xellos.

"Thanks again, Wish Grantor," Lina called as they left, "but we gotta run! See ya around!"

"I wish," the voice said softly when the room was empty.