On with CHAPTER 2, of ZELGADIS! And the Search
for the Amulet of Accomodation!
"ZEL! Yahooooo-oooh My God, ZEL!?" came a woman's
voice from a little ways down the road. Alana jerked her head around, blushing
all the way through to her fur. She could feel the heat rising from his blush
even at this distance. She looked over at him… she was slightly surprised he
didn't turn purple when he blushed, instead of the bright red he currently was.
"L-Lina… What are you doing here? And Where's Gourry?" Zelgadis
stammered… Who was this Lina, and who was she to Zelgadis?
"FORGET GOURRY!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?". Her proximity to Zelgadis turned Alana's embarrassment
SWIFTLY into a slight pang of Jealousy.
"Zelgadis… Who is this girl?" she
asked, tugging on his cape a little to get his attention.
"Lina Inverse…
This is Alana Brightstone… we… were close, when we were growing up…"
"Oh,
I can SEE you're close…" Is what Lina was about to say, but She didn't get much
past 'Oh'… Alana's scream cut her off. She dived behind Zelgadis, babbling
incoherently…
"LINA INVERSE?!?!?! THE LINA INVERSE!???! THE DRAGON
SPOOKER, AND ENEMY OF ALL WHO LIVE???! HELP ME, ZELGADIS, PLEASE, DO SOMETHING
DON'T LET HER GET ME, I DON'T WANNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!!!!!!!"
Lina and
Zelgadis were both in the process of sweatdropping at all this. "Umm… Alana…
I'd really advise you
"Not if she doesn't say those things about
me again…" came Lina's voice with the edge that meant that someone was inches
away from a fireball.
He finally managed to get Alana calmed down, and
back to acting like a human. Lina was slowly recovering from her anger as well,
and just shrugged it off with a, "Hey, It's no big deal. People hear a lot of
things… Most of them aren't true anyway."
This earned a questioning
glance from Zelgadis, which was answered with a glare from Lina. How could
Zelgadis know someone… Like Lina Inverse? She was crude, angry, and didn't seem
like Zelgadis' type at all… Alana's train of thought was derailed when Zelgadis
asked her, "Back to my question… Where's Gourry?"
"He had a Family Reunion
back in Testabourne… I decided I'd meet up with him later. I mean, ONE Gourry's
bad enough… but his whole Family?!" Lina shuddered at some thought, and
Zelgadis nodded sagely. Alana didn't know of this Gourry person, but he must be
something to make even Lina Inverse shudder.
"So Zel… THIS is why you kept
wanting to go out on your own, huh? Why didn't you TELL us you had a
Girlfriend?" Lina's grin was predatory, and her face VERY close to Zelgadis'.
It was almost like she was enjoying putting him off balance, and making him
uncomfortable.
{Girlfriend? Me?} thought Alana, as she blushed again.
"I-it's
not like that… not at all… We only just met a few minutes ago…" Why was
Zelgadis so nervous?
"Oh Really… You certainly are a fast mover, then Zel,
huh, huh?" Alana did NOT like the malicious grin on that girl's face… what was
she, Mazouku?
"What business is it of yours? My personal life is my
business," he said, pulling his hood up.
"True enough… SO, Where are you two going? Having a little romantic
rendezvous in Seirune?"
"No… The opposite direction.
"Asulia!?
NO WAY! I'm heading there too! It's time for the Annual Seafood Festival! I
wouldn't miss that for the WORLD!" The girl likes seafood that much?
"I…
I'm going there for the same reason as Zelgadis… I was looking for the cure as
well…"Alana timidly added. She had been like this around people since she had
been a small child… very shy, and withdrawn. But as long as everyone was
stating their business, she figured she should just volunteer the information,
before they pried her for it.
"Let's
go." Zel said curtly, and moved along the path. The girls blinked a minute
between each other, then hurried to catch up. It was amazing how much Zelgadis
had changed… but then again, Alana wasn't the same girl anymore. She remembered
showing a bit of that coldness, herself. It was that moment that Alana promised
herself to never do that again.
Unbeknownst to them all… a small creature
sat, watching the events transpiring with an evil glint in it's eye, and a
magical glint on the gem on its forehead. It waited until even the ever
watchful Chimera was far away and then took off, to follow them.
=====================
Meanwhile,
in Asulia, a man sat in a dark room, watching a crystal ball, and listening to
the conversations of two chimeras, and an infamous Sorceress.
"Lina
inverse… AND Alana… both coming to me… How… Delightful… I wonder when they will
discover her little secret… and The Second Chimera… Rezo's work certainly is
impressive… Together… they would make me invincible…"
An evil chuckle
echoed throughout the chamber.
"Watcher! Keep them in your sights, but
stay out of theirs!" a chirp echoed from the direction of the crystal ball. His
personal spying chimera was just what he needed to keep his little prize in his
sights… oh yes… she would come back to him.
****
Alana and Lina had
fallen behind Zel's relentless pace quite some time ago, and had taken to acquainting
themselves to pass the time… Actually Lina had started this, to bring Alana out
of her shell. Nothing Lina hated more than a quiet Journey, so she began asking
questions of the shy beast-girl.
"So, you knew Zel when you were kids,
right?"
"Yes." Shy blush, obvious from her voice, since she had mimicked
Zel by pulling up her hood.
"I take it you two were pretty close, Right..
.So what was he like as a kid? Was he always this cold?"
"Oh no… when we
were studying under Lord Rezo, he was a very determined boy, but he was also
very outgoing, and happy…
"That
popular, huh?" Lina asked, still getting over the mental image of a gregarious,
dancing Zel.
"That handsome… All the girls within walking distance were in
love with him… They couldn't wait for the next festival, to have an excuse to
keep him that close." Again, that giggle. Lina was starting to think this girl
might be even more smitten with Zel than Amelia…
"Sounds like you were one
of 'em, right?" Lina nudged Alana lightly on the arm.
"Of course… We were…
best friends. I was trying to convince him to join the priesthood, so we'd have
more time together… especially… alone… together…" this time, instead of a
giggle, she gained a certain dreamy tone to her voice, as if this was a fantasy
she had had for quite some time.
"So what happened?"
"I was turned
into this… Rezo chanted some kind of strange summoning spell, and then… Well,
look at me… I guess this is what happens when you summon a creature to a spot
where another being is standing… I saw my fur, my spots… I… couldn't face
Zelgadis like this… I didn't want to see the disgust on his face when he saw
the creature I'd become… so… I ran away…" The girl's voice was quiet now… and
there were tears in her eyes, "Oh, Ciephied, it's all my fault… If only I'd
shown Zelgadis what I'd become… he wouldn't have… wouldn't have… let Rezo do
that to him!"
"What?!" Lina jumped at that…She needed to know more about
this.
"Rezo told Zelgadis that a mozouku had taken me… That's why he
wanted to be stronger… to… save me…"
Wow… Lina had never known Zelgadis
had such a romantic side… he'd wanted all that power… to find Alana. "He never
told me that…"
"Zel never was the type to tell others about his feelings,
or his reasons for doing things, either. He would usually smile, and just play
it off, and deal with it himself. At the festivals he could forget about Rezo's
harsh criticisms, and his failures in magic… he could be normal, like everyone
else, for a change."
"Now, he just plays it off, telling us it's none of
our business.
"I figured… That's why he's so
far ahead of us. That's another thing that's still the same… Zelgadis was
Always determined to reach his goals quickly, no matter how much he had to
sacrifice to do so."
"Yeah, that's pretty much the same now." Lina
commented, putting her hands behind her head, and stretching.
At that moment
Lina glanced forward towards Zel… Make that, where Zel had been. Lina blinked,
and looked around frantically, "Hey! Where's Zel!?" Alana snapped out of her
daydreams about the past and
"I don't know… he was there a second ago…"
"Ahem."
Came a familiar voice from behind them. Despite it's familiarity, it made both
girls yelp and scream. They spun around and almost screamed again when they saw
what Zelgadis(who was the one behind them) was holding.
It was a hideous
bat-like creature, with a large crystal gem embedded in its forehead. It had
one of Zelgadis' knives embedded in its chest, near its neck. The thing was
obviously dead now…
"Just so you know, ladies… We were being followed.
Any idea why? I detected a spell in the gem. Probably a puppet type spell, so
the user could use it to spy on us. Any ideas who it is this time?"
===========================
The
man in Asulia cursed at the glowing crystal ball in front of him. "How!? HOW!?
HOOOOW!?!!? How did he know it was there! Rezo's notes said NOTHING about his
hearing being that good! I will have them… Yes… I will have them all…"
A
door opened behind him, "You sent for me, Lord Jarod?"
"I have a request
for you, my dear friend… On the road here is a man and two women. " calling up
one of the last images that the watcher had showed him.
"H-He's the bastard that turned on Lord Rezo!
And that's the little witch that helped him! Lina Inverse!"
"Ah… I see…
Then you wouldn't mind if I asked you to go and… retrieve them for me… But one
thing… I want them Alive…"
"Yes, Lord Jarod… I will do my best."
The
door shut, as the servant ran out to do his new master's bidding. Jarod grinned
in his darkened room, and gestured to the crystal… it turned a little, and
showed a view from another watcher chimera. "Watcher! Follow him. Make sure he
does not disobey!"
A shriek of acknowledgement, and Jarod settled himself
down to look through the eyes of his faithful puppet.
===========================
"This
Time? You mean things like this happen often?" Alana looked back and forth
between Zel and Lina as they covered the thing in dirt, to keep some passersby
from seeing it and panicking.
"Not really. But it wouldn't
be the first time one of us had been followed. Not by something like this… but
still…"
Alana was shivering… the thought that creatures like this were
treated as commonplace to Zel and Lina scared her. But she was even more
unnerved by her memories. This thing seemed terribly familiar.
Well,
there you go. Alana, and Jarod…. What's the connection? And who was that other
person? We'll just have to find out now, won't we? Stay tuned… Next chapter
should be out… As soon as Inspiration lets me write! I only have twenty things
going on at once… .o
