Tempers Flare! It's All a Matter of Perspective
Now that the foreman was no longer there to stare down Lina's throat every second of the day, she and Gourry had little problem making plans to leave the city. Lina had done more manual labor over those past few weeks than she had ever hoped to do in a lifetime. Which was mostly Xellos's fault, she had to admit. And that "Jadarin" fellow. Yes, it seemed that Mazoku were always out to get her and make her life miserable.
"So, where are we headed now?" asked Gourry, packing up his sword and returning his overalls to the old man he'd borrowed them from. Although he'd wanted to stay and help rebuild more, the overwhelming assistance that Sairaag had gotten had made the city practically spring back to its original state in this short amount of time.
"Dunno," said Lina, "But I'll take on any bandit and find any treasure along the way!"
Sonjia facefaulted in the background. "That's your plan?! I swear, I've never met a more carefree and disorderly person. I'm utterly appalled!" she exclaimed, turning her back on them. But then, under her breath, "But kinda envious at the same time..."
"Why don't you come to Seyruun?" suggested Amelia. "I'm heading back there now, and I'm sure daddy will be happy to see you."
Lina clapped her hands together and drooled. "Ah, a royal feast at Seyruun palace. I could really go for that. Great idea, Amelia! Zel, you coming along, too?"
Zelgadis sighed. "I suppose I could hit the Seyruun library. The white magic capital must have something useful for me."
Sonjia turned her attention back to them upon hearing Zelgadis's statement. "Magic capital? Library? Where is this place?"
"It's where we're headed!" said Amelia, cheerfully. "You can come along if you want!" Lina, Zelgadis, and Sonjia all gave the girl a dirty look.
"If I feel like going to Seyruun, I can get there myself," said Sonjia, turning from them once again. "I don't need to follow you people around."
Lina's eyebrow twitched. "If it means we don't have to put up with that attitude, it's just as well," she muttered.
"Whatever," said Zelgadis, turning down the road out of town. "You all can head out whenever you feel like it, but I'd prefer to make as much distance as possible before sundown."
"Sounds good to me!" chimed in Lina, heading after him. "So, long, Statue Girl! Have a nice life!" she called, giving her hand a half-wave backwards before bounding down the road again.
"Wah, wait up, Lina!" shouted Gourry, trotting after her. He turned around to face Sonjia, still running backwards down the street. "Sorry we can't help you out! Hope you get along okay by yourself! There's lots of nice people in Sairaag!" he called back, then tripped over a rock and fell flat on his back.
Amelia sighed and looked after her departing comrades. "Well, I should be heading off, too. But if you still want to get to Seyruun, the Relief Squad of Justice is still around here! Just ask one of them, and they'll be sure to show you the way once you feel like you want to leave!" she supplied cheerily. "But anyone with a heart full of Justice is sure to find their way to Seyruun!"
"... I'll keep that in mind," replied Sonjia, mouth twitching. "You can go away now."
"Bye-bye, Sonjia-san!" called Amelia as she disappeared down the road, waving.
Sonjia sighed and shook her head. "These people are definitely not the type I'd want to wake up to. I'd be grateful to never see them again."
"And have fun helping rebuild the city!" came Amelia's voice sailing from the horizon.
Sonjia snorted. "Feh. Civil service work? Me? I don't think so. I'm much better than some lousy--"
"Don't feel like working, HUH?" came a booming voice from behind her. "We're gonna have to fix THAT."
Sonjia looked up and saw a man who had to be at least twelve feet tall, who was almost as wide in the shoulders as he was high, with arms as big around as the trees in the ancient forest, fingers as thick as her waist, and whose neck was bulging with veins. And this person wasn't Xellos this time. They had apparently appointed a new foreman now that Xellos's ruse was over. "So, what's it gonna be, little missy?" he thundered. "Work and pain? Or just PAIN?"
"Gik...!" replied Sonjia eloquently, and took that moment to dash out of town.
"To the PAIN!" came the bellow from behind her. "GO for the PAIN!" Thankfully, he wasn't following.
Sonjia stood panting behind a tree for a few minutes. That had to be one of the scariest things she'd seen in her life. And you can take her word that she's seen some pretty scary things. "That's just great!" she commented to herself. "Now what am I gonna do?"
After a moment of silence, she took a step down the road in the direction of Seyruun. "I'm not following them," she told herself. Another step. "No, I am NOT following them!" She began slowly walking now. "No! No! No! I'm not! I'm not going to do this! Crap." She gave in and just starting ambling on down the road, hunched over in defeat. "This is total crap," she grumbled to herself. "I'm not supposed to have to rely on people like them." Unfortunately, such was the case. Lina would be thrilled.
Night had fallen. But since Lina's group was currently in a forest, it just bounced off the branches and landed somewhere ahead of them. However, soon after that, they'd walked into it, so it was just the same.
Lina bopped herself on the side of the head for allowing such a screwy metaphor anywhere near her. But, since it was indeed night, it would be best to set up camp. The roads were quite unfavorable in the dark, and all her previous work had worn her out. She was under the impression that the others felt the same. Except maybe Gourry, who seemed to be born to work. She admired his stamina sometimes.
"See ya in the morning, everyone!" announced Lina as she wrapped herself in her cape and was asleep before she even hit the ground. She could be heard snoring a few seconds later.
"Wow," said Gourry, scratching his head. "I guess she really was tired." He looked at Amelia and Zelgadis, who were looking rather droopy-eyed themselves. "Well, I guess I'll take first watch, since I still feel fine." The other two nodded and, after a moment of rearranging their belongings, were soon asleep as well.
Gourry unbuckled his scabbard and sat down on a log, propping his sword in front of them. Helping the city out had been a lot of fun, but he wished that there was more they could have done to help that Sonjia girl. He may not have been astute about too much, but he had noticed that she seemed troubled about something. Probably waking up after a really long time and realizing her whole family was dead was part of it. Yeah, that was really sad.
Rustle. Wow, that was quick. Gourry gripped the hilt of his sword. The others were completely exhausted right now. They didn't need to be bothered tonight.
Rustle. Rustle. Splat. "Owww... Man, why the heck do tree roots have to stick up like that?" Gourry blinked and peered over a bush. There flat on her face on the ground was that Sonjia girl from before.
"Hey, so you decided to come with us after all?" he said in a slight whisper so as not to wake the others.
Sonjia looked up at him, then off to the side. "Not exactly. I still want to get to Seyruun, so just happen to be going the same direction you are. Doesn't mean I'm following you."
"When going to a far-off place, it's always best to travel in large groups," Gourry reminded. "Better to be safe than sorry."
"Gee, thanks, Mr. Cliched Rulebook," said Sonjia getting to her feet and dusting herself off. "But you'd be safer carrying a candle lit upon a bottle of nitro than travelling in a group with me."
Gourry smiled and said, "I dunno what that means, but we've got Lina here, and she's probably about the same thing."
"I feel even safer now," said Sonjia, nodding slowly and backing away.
"That's good!" said Gourry, completely missing the sarcasm and offering his hand. "How 'bout you at least come over and rest for a while? Maybe help stand guard, since you're really strong!"
Sonjia sighed and walked towards him, saying, "Didn't I already tell you that I'm not strong? I'm weak! Wimpy. Wussy. Feeble. A pushover." She hoped at least one of these words clicked.
"You sure don't act like it," said Gourry, sitting back on the log.
"Yeah, and it's a good thing, too, or else everyone would've walked all over me a long time ago," she said, sitting on the opposite end of the log. "When you've got a lot of enemies, even if you're not strong, you've gotta at least pretend that you are."
"Oh, so you did some other stuff before that made other people not like you?" asked Gourry.
Sonjia shook her head. "It's more about what my sister and I didn't do that made others mad at us. I don't really know what happened to my sister while I was sealed up, other than she got herself killed. And probably because of what we didn't do."
"What didn't you do?" asked Gourry.
"It's not important anymore, okay?" she shot at him. "Hopefully after a few thousand years, everyone's forgotten about it." She sighed, resting her head on her knees. "I just wish I knew what's been going on all this time. Things have probably changed so much, I don't even know who my enemies and allies are anymore. I'd probably share a lot more about what happened if I knew who I could trust." She furrowed her brows in thought. "And that 'Jadarin' guy worries me. Your Mazoku friend mentioned that he was looking for something in the city."
Sonjia looked back over at Gourry, but realized that he'd fallen asleep, as he'd actually been a lot more worn out than he was letting on. "Hmph. Sorry for boring you," she muttered. She quickly put two and two together and realized that that meant she was the only one left awake. An interesting development.
Sonjia stood up and looked at the ribbon still tied to her wrist, which glinted silver in the moonlight filtering through the trees. "Lemmie guess. I'm the guard now, huh?" she said to herself. "And what exactly could I do if a monster came tearing through here? Real smart." She took a deep breath. "Still..."
Lina was sprawled out on the ground, snoring like an idiot. Sonjia glanced at her as she walked past. Pathetic. She found Lina's supplies and began rummaging around. After a few minutes, she came across what she was looking for.
"Aha!" she whispered triumphantly, so as not to disturb anyone. It was a small dagger from Lina's swordbelt. Sonjia unsheathed it and looked it over, nodding. "This should do nicely," she commented to herself.
She sheathed the dagger and was about to get up, but felt something sharp and cold pressing against her back.
"I thought you'd try something," said Zelgadis. "I didn't think you'd stoop as low as killing us in our sleep to complete your mission of eliminating trespassers."
Sonjia, at swordpoint, raised her hands and dropped the dagger. "You just don't trust anyone, do you? Sorry if you misinterpreted this..."
Zelgadis pressed the sword harder against her back. "What is there to misinterpret? You're stealing one of Lina's weapons."
"I'm not stealing it! Just borrowing it," Sonjia explained. "Look, I decided that I'd make a pretty lousy guard if I was unarmed. And since I don't have any weapons of my own, I thought I should borrow one just for tonight."
"Uh huh," said Zel, not believing a word of it. "Is that the best excuse you can think up?"
"It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" Sonjia growled. "Jeez, isn't there anything I can say that would make you believe me?"
"Nothing comes to mind," Zelgadis replied flatly. "Lina won't mind if I kill you, though. You being near her supplies with the dagger out is proof enough that you were up to something."
Sonjia's shoulders shook with anger. There was just no way of talking reason to this guy! And if she hit him before to get away, she could do it again....
She swung her arm around for a punch to his stomach. She hit him dead on, but this time, it felt like she'd just punched a wall. As she recoiled, Zelgadis brought his sword down, giving her a rather nasty cut on her arm.
"Owwww... Gods, do you keep rocks in your shirt or something?" she said, shaking her injured hand.
"In a manner of speaking," said Zelgadis, putting his sword away. "Haven't you noticed that I look quite a bit different from everyone else?"
"Everyone looks a little different from each other," said Sonjia, rubbing her hand. "What makes you so special?"
Zelgadis fell over. "If you're trying to get on my good side by claiming you don't notice it, don't try. It doesn't help to claim not to see something that's obviously there."
"And what would that be?" she asked, looking for something to be used as a bandage. She looked back up to see Zel slowly pounding his head against a nearby tree.
"Are you really that much of an idiot?" he grumbled. "Can't you see that I have blue skin, rocks all over my face, and wire hair?"
"No," said Sonjia flatly.
Zelgadis growled and drew his sword again, pointing it at her. "And you say we mock you! You're revolting!"
"Sorry you feel that way," said Sonjia indifferently, wrapping a bandage around her bleeding arm. "I don't know what you see, but I'm just saying what I see."
He sheathed his sword and crossed his arms. "So, what do you see?"
Sonjia glared up at him. "I see a stubborn boy living in his own little reality, completely absorbed in himself, without giving the slightest attention to those surrounding him. He takes his own interpretations as the gospel truth, and won't listen to the reason of others. And before you ask, his skin is the same color as mine, and his hair, although it looks like he got electrocuted, does not appear to be made of wire."
Zel's expression didn't change. "Are you looking at me, or a mirror?"
Sonjia shrugged. "Hey, I'm not absorbed in myself. I just can't help it if I'm superior to you. Plus, I distinctly called you a 'stubborn boy'. I do not happen to be considered a 'boy', unless that's been changed over the centuries as well. Nope, I'm a girl. Woman. Female. The fairer sex. And infinitely better than you," she concluded.
Zelgadis didn't know what to think about that. Well, actually, his mind was screaming at him, "Must... resist... urge... to kill," to which he was equally feverently retorting, "Why the hell should I?!" No, must regain composure. Lashing out in a fit of rage was unbefitting of him. Even if this girl wasn't some sort of threat, the world had been infinitely better off without her presence. And she had the nerve to so arrogantly pretend he was just a normal human being. Well, there was an easy way to prove her wrong.
Zelgadis rolled up his right sleeve and extended his forearm. "Now what do you see?" he queried.
"Your arm," Sonjia replied flatly. "Are there any other mind-boggling questions you'd like me to answer?"
Zelgadis sighed and rolled his sleeve back down. "No, you've just proven yourself to be an ass. And hardly as 'superior' as you think you are."
"How the hell does that prove anything?" Sonjia demanded. She looked at her own arm and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I get it. Yeah, that's real proof there, supposedly-stone boy," she said sarcastically. "You think just cuz you gave me a similar cut on my arm as the scar you've got on yours, that automatically makes me equal or inferior to you. Jeez, you people are even more hopeless than I thought."
Zelgadis rather carefully hid his surprise. He'd gotten a scar on that arm when he was young and training with a sword for the first time. However, Rezo's spell had completely erased all trace of it, although he still felt it ache at times. This either meant that this girl was some sort of mind-reader, or truly couldn't see him as a chimera. But what other than her arrogance could blind her so? Well, and old acquaintance of his, Martina, had created curses based on pure obsession alone, so stranger things had happened. So, he inquired again as to what exactly this girl could sense.
"So, to you, I'm just a normal person. I guess that means that if you punch anyone, you'll break your hand."
Sonjia looked at her hand and spread it, hearing the joints crack. She winced. "Hey, it didn't hurt when I hit you before. I don't know why it did this time. Unless your stomach's different from your face."
"Stone skin all around," he sighed. "No soft spots, no spots particularly harder than others. I don't particularly feel like standing here all night explaining my physiological characteristics to you, so would you mind dropping this conversation?" So, he was stone to her after all. He thought as much.
She got up and glared at him straight in the face. And then she brought her good hand up and flicked his nose. Withdrawing her hand triumphantly, she exclaimed, "Ha! That didn't hurt! I knew I wasn't going crazy!"
"I beg to differ," said Zelgadis, holding his nose. "I thought you were crazy from the moment I saw you. You're nothing but a lunatic who was probably sealed away so she wouldn't wreak havoc on the world."
"Ah ah ah," she said, waving a finger in his face. "That's just your opinion of me. And, since I pride myself in being superior to you, I won't argue your opinion, although I don't respect it at all. But just because you think it's true doesn't make it true." She brought her arm down, but realized it was still bleeding. "Drat. I need another bandage."
Zelgadis growled at her apparent "holier than thou" attitude and pulled the ribbon off her wrist. "Why don't you just use this thing? Or are you too attached to it to get it soiled?"
"Hey hey," she warned, grabbing the end of it quickly. "Don't ever take this from me, got it?"
"What's so special about it?" Zel asked. "You've had it off for a while before, and it hasn't killed you, so it can't be that important."
"It won't kill me," said Sonjia, trying to yank it out of his hand, "But it could kill you."
"Oh yes," said Zel sarcastically. "I'm dying. The very touch of this little ribbon is killing me. It's burning my hand, and I'm wasting away to nothingness. Oh, what a cruel fate it is to be defeated by a little piece of fabric."
Sonjia finally pried the ribbon out of his hand and tied it around the injury on her arm, having some difficulty, considering her right hand was badly bruised. "It's not like that," she explained. "The ribbon itself won't kill you. Just someone who knows how to use it will."
"Oh, so the ribbon is a weapon, then?" Zelgadis reasoned.
Sonjia let out a huff. "No, it's not a weapon! It's.... Urrrgh!" she yelled, frustrated out of her mind. "Just.... Go away!" she said, turning her back on him.
"I still need to kill you for stealing Lina's weapons," he stated.
Sonjia yawned and lay on the ground. "Do it in the morning. You're awake now, so you've in essence relieved me of the guard duty that your blonde friend so graciously appointed me. Good night, and have fun."
Zelgadis fumed. He thought about just drawing his sword and impaling her right there, but he decided he was above killing someone in their sleep. Unlike her, he mused.
Everyone awoke early the next morning, fully rested. The first thing on Lina's mind was breakfast, so she ordered everyone to gather up all the supplies as quickly as possible so they could get a move on. It took her a moment to realize that Sonjia was even there, but she was too hungry to really question her presence. Amelia, on the other hand, was glad that she had decided to join up with them, and bounded over to Sonjia to babble on about what a wonderful decision she'd made and that this was a truly just journey, yadda yadda.
She noticed the bandage on Sonjia's arm and asked, "Hey, when did that happen?"
Sonjia nervously turned away, hoping that Zelgadis hadn't told them his version of the story yet. "Um, I just tripped when walking through the forest last night. That's all." She wasn't completely lying.
Amelia examined the cut. "That's okay. I specialize in white magic, so this shouldn't be a problem to fix up."
"Oh, you don't need to bother yourself with me. I'm fine!" Sonjia tried in vain to pull her arm away.
"Don't worry, this wont hurt," said Amelia, charging up a healing spell. She held a glowing white light over Sonjia's arm.... and nothing happened. "Hm, that's odd," said Amelia, holding her hand closer. "The wound should be closing up." She touched her hand to the cut, and the healing spell evaporated completely. Amelia blinked. "I've never seen that happen before."
Sonjia pulled her arm away. "I guess my arm just doesn't feel like getting healed today."
"Hell-ooo!" Lina interrupted. "Would you two quit standing around? I'm hungry! And if we don't get to a restaurant fast, I'll eat you!"
Realizing she probably wasn't kidding, Sonjia and Amelia jogged up to join the rest of the group in their quest for food.
The map had indicated a town on the other side of the forest. It would take about two hours to get there, and everyone hoped that Lina didn't resort to cannibalism along the way. Thankfully, due to Lina's hunger-induced speed, they made it through the forest in an hour. Just as the map had said, a small town lay just down the hill.
"Food!" Lina exclaimed, taking off at lightning speed. Gourry was hot in pursuit, trying to get to town before Lina did to get first dibs on the menu.
"Are those two always like this around food?" Sonjia asked Amelia.
"Yup!" said Amelia cheerily. "You get used to it after a while."
"I haven't" said Zelgadis, slowly making his way down the hill, pulling his hood and mask over his face. "I don't understand why I even bother hanging around with those two."
Amelia shrugged. "Well, while Lina-san and Gourry-san are eating, we can ask the townspeople about any unjust deeds that have been going on around here, and help purge the area of injustice!"
"That's..... nice...." said Sonjia slowly. What a strange girl. But at least she was a little less judgmental than Lina or Zelgadis. "By the way," she said, whispering to Amelia, "Why does Zelgadis wear that hood and mask?"
"Oh, he's really self-conscious about his looks," said Amelia. "He's worried about people looking at him funny when he goes into town."
But Zelgadis didn't have to worry about any strange looks, because everyone in town was dead.