Chapter 21
Lina opened her eyes, finding herself once again on Amelia's bed. This time, she checked for Zelgadis... and sure enough, he was beside her. He wasn't 'back' yet, so she simply sat up and looked over to Amelia. "Hey, Amelia…"
Amelia looked up, and her eyes widened. "Miss Lina! What's happening?"
Lina sighed. "I wish I knew, Amelia. It's all entirely in Zelgadis' hands now. He has to unravel the last part of the spell on his own. I can't help him anymore."
"Poor Mister Zelgadis..." Amelia whispered, looking to the chimera, who to unknowing eyes, would think that he was simply sleeping.
A glow formed lightly around him, a glow that one didn't even need mage-sight to see. Amelia gasped, pointing to him, and Lina held her breath, watching. Either Zelgadis had unraveled the spell... or she was watching what happens when a magic-user extends themselves into the Astral and never returns. One or the other… what happens next? Lina thought worriedly.
The glow began to shimmer around him, a sensation of magic beyond Lina's understanding filling the room. Amelia gasped, recognizing the source of the power, and she looked at Lina in startlement. "This... this is the working of Cepheid's power! This is the white magic that has been sealed! But how....?"
The shimmer
became brilliant, filling the room with a purifying light, hurting Lina's eyes,
and she was forced to close them, lest she be harmed. The air took on a
sharpness, as if she were standing somewhere very cold, feeling the
crystal-cold air burn her lungs. Cepheid's
power... if this is what my sister holds within her grasp... I have even more
reason to fear her!
When the light faded, Lina opened her eyes as soon as she could, and looked to Zelgadis, to make certain that he was still there.
He was, still
encased by that shimmering glow. With a sigh, Lina shook her head. If even Cepheid's magic wasn't strong
enough...
As she watched, the glow began to fade, dissipating into nothingness, and leaving Zelgadis there, unchanged.
Lina put her head down, lifting a hand to her eyes. It didn't work... all that, and he's still... unchanged.
There was a quiet sound of a chair against the floor, and Lina looked up to see Amelia standing with tears in her eyes. "I'm... sorry, Miss Lina... I need to... I'll go get Mister Gourry…" The girl turned and ran out of the room.
Lina sighed. Poor kid. She was hoping for this just as hard as I was, I guess. A shifting on the bed caused her to look down at Zelgadis. He was moving, coming to. Time to face up...
He opened his eyes slowly, taking a few deep breaths. She reached out and put her hand on his chest. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Zel..." An unfamiliar pain tore through her, and she looked down, away from him.
He lifted a hand, resting it on hers. She lifted her eyes to see that he was looking at her calmly, and somehow she couldn't look directly at him. She knew that he'd see it in her eyes, and she couldn't stand seeing the pain in his.
He reached up with his other hand, touching her cheek and lifting her head some to look at her. "You're crying."
Was she? She lifted her free hand, touching her cheeks and finding her fingers wet. He was right. She was crying. "I... I'm sorry. I can't help it... you wanted your cure so badly..."
He sat up underneath her hand, pulling her suddenly towards him in a fierce embrace. It was so sudden and unexpected that it broke her reserve, and she started to sob. "It's not fair! You worked so hard for it...."
He gentled some, lifting a hand to caress her hair. "Lina... it didn't fail. The spell worked."
She sat up, looking at him through tear-filled eyes. "But..." Suddenly, she could see little differences in him. The angular lines were softer, the little rocks along his face not as sharply defined. Her eyes widened, and he smiled self-consciously. She reached up, touching his hair and finding that it wasn't sharp anymore. It wasn't as soft as her hair... but it wasn't wire anymore. "What... happened, Zel?"
"Rezo's spell wasn't a cure in the way we understood it to be. What it was more was a cure for my anger and ignorance of the situation. If I had been human, I'd be a priest, and nothing more. Without the fragment of Mazoku... I would have no powers beyond those meager white spells that a human could use. I'd be more powerless than Filia was. Without the golem... I could never survive some of our adventures, never be able to support a sword." Zelgadis said quietly.
"I... I see. But what now, Zel?" Lina asked, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Now, I adjust, accept myself for who I am, and move on with my life. I've wasted too long in the past, fighting what I am. It's time that I...grew up."
She sat back, looking at him. "You have changed. Just a bit... not enough to really notice... but still..."
He gave her his little half smile, then leaned in to kiss her on the lips.
It wouldn't have been so bad, Lina reflected later, if Gourry hadn't chosen that exact moment to walk into the room and grin. "Way to go, Zel!"
The two jumped apart, as if caught doing something extremely untoward, and Lina felt a furious blush hit her cheeks. "Gourry Gabriev! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
"But the door was wide open..."
"That's no excuse!!"
Zelgadis watched as Lina threw her slipper at the blonde, and idly wondered if there was a slipper-summoning spell that Lina used for just such a purpose. He'd have to ask her later, when there wasn't such a commotion. The whole situation struck him as entirely amusing, and he chuckled softly.
Lina turned, surprised, looking to Zelgadis. "Zel…? What's so funny?"
Amelia appeared in the doorway, eyes wide. "Is Mister Zelgadis… okay…?" After all, everyone knew that Zelgadis didn't laugh. His sense of humor was dryer than the vast expanse of desert, wasn't it?
Zelgadis stood, shaking his head as he collected himself. "I'm fine, Amelia. If you don't mind, I'm going to get something to eat."
Lina paused. Zelgadis, going to get food? Without being badgered into it? There must have been more changes than she had first thought. "This I've gotta see, guys. And now that you mention it, Zel… food sounds pretty good. What time is it, anyway?"
"Mid-afternoon, Miss Lina…" Amelia said, moving so that Zelgadis could leave the room… and watching him as he walked down the hall. "Wow… the changes are so… subtle…"
"Aren't they?" Lina said, giving Amelia a slight bump as she passed. "I don't honestly know what I expected… but he made his choice."
"Choice?" Gourry asked as he came out of the room, still rubbing his head from where Lina had smacked him with her slipper.
"Yeah," Lina replied as she started to walk down the hall. "Come on, I'll explain it over lunch… if you promise not to think too hard, Gourry."
Amelia and Gourry looked at each other, and then followed Lina out into the dining area. To their surprise, Zelgadis was sitting at a table, a plate of food in front of him. The three sat down, and waiters started bringing out trays of food.
"I ordered ahead… I hope you don't mind, Lina," Zelgadis said after he set down his cup.
Amazed, Lina eyed her still-chimeric companion and shook her head. "Oh, that's fine, Zelgadis. But we want to know what happened." She took up a fork and speared a vegetable that she couldn't readily identify and took a bite.
He nodded and began to explain what Rezo had said to him in-between bites. Eventually, everyone was eating and asking questions, learning for themselves precisely what the spell had been… and what Zelgadis' new changes ultimately meant.
Leaning back and listening, Lina decided that it wasn't at all bad that he'd made the choice he had. The minor changes would make it easier to interact… and on the whole, he seemed a lot more at ease with himself.
By the time all the questions were asked, and everyone had a full idea of the past week's events, it was close to midnight and Amelia was ineffectually hiding her exhaustion. She'd been awake the entire time that Lina and Zelgadis were caught in the spell. Amelia rose to her feet and looked at everyone. "Let's all call it a night. It's been a very long day and I'm tired."
Nodding, the others stood as well, and various goodnights were passed between them as they all headed to their rooms.