Upon returning to camp Zel was greeted by the disconcerting sight of Amelia cuddling a baby. Where in the world had she gotten it? He had only been gone an hour!
"Where did that baby come from?" he demanded, stalking into view.
Amelia jumped and clutched the baby. "You startled me!"
The baby started to cry in protest at the rough treatment. Amelia cuddled it back into smiles again as if she had been born knowing how to take care of babies.
"Isn't he cute?" She held the baby up proudly.
It had a plump face, almost no hair and only three teeth, currently bared in an idiotic grin. It didn't exactly fit Zel's definition of cute, but it probably wouldn't be wise to say that.
"Where did it come from?" he repeated.
"He."
"What?"
"He's a boy."
"Alright, where did he come from?" Zelgadis repeated again, rapidly losing patience.
"He just arrived a little while ago, didn't you? Yes, you did!" The last was addressed in sugary sweet tones to the baby. "I'm watching him while his mommy and daddy practice."
That didn't clarify the situation much. "Where are his parents?"
"I told you, they're practicing."
"Practicing what?"
"Their festival song."
"A couple with a baby came here to practice a festival song and you volunteered to take care of their baby?" The situation was still nonsensical. "And where are they practicing their...Never mind, I hear them." In this case, inhumanly sensitive hearing was not necessarily an advantage. "They aren't very good, are they?"
"That's why we're going to help them."
"We're going to what?"
"What song are you going to use? Amelia asked, seating herself in the most graceful music appreciation pose she could manage while holding onto Zelgadis' cape. The baby was lying on the ground beside her.
"It's called 'Spring Song.'" Gerald handed her the songbook. "You can look at it if you like. We've got it pretty much memorized."
"I'll just listen for now." Amelia put the songbook down on the grass beside her and folded her hand in her lap.
Zelgadis picked up the book and glanced over the song in mild curiosity. It was a love song, he noted without surprise, trite, cliched and nearly nonsensical. Musically, it was repetitious and unoriginal. He put the book down again, yanked his cloak out of Amelia's grasp and departed the musical scene.
The young musicians watched him go. When they saw that he really was leaving, they shrugged and started singing to their two remaining audience members.
Three verses and two and a half repetitions of the chorus later, Zelgadis came storming back into the clearing.
"Give me your guitar," he demanded in a tone of barely controlled rage. Gerald clutched his guitar protectively. "Now!" Zelgadis snapped. Gerald handed over the guitar.
To everyone's surprise, Zelgadis slung the strap over his own head and started tuning the instrument. When it was tuned to his satisfaction, he added, "And the chorus goes like this." He sang it correctly. "You were an entire semitone flat on the last note." He handed the guitar back, preparatory to stomping off again.
"I didn't know you knew this song," Kate said, blinking in surprise.
"I don't have to know it. It's right there in the songbook."
The other three considered this. "You can read music, Zelgadis-sama?" Amelia asked.
"Can't you?" A dawning sense of apprehension crept over Zelgadis as he stared back at their blank faces. "...any of you?"
An hour later, Zel had somehow become the lead singer. He was sure he had not agreed to this, but somehow consent didn't seem to be necessary when Amelia got excited about an idea. Neither did human decency.
"You'll watch little Harold for us while we go get costumes for you and Amelia, won't you?"
"You want me to babysit?"
"Thanks, you're such a dear! Don't worry. He's asleep so he won't be any trouble."
And they were gone before Zelgadis could protest.
He looked down morosely at the sleeping baby. He would bet significant amounts of money that it wouldn't stay asleep.
Casting another suspicious glance at the ugly little thing, he picked up the guitar they had left him and settled down to wait. His playing lacked the delicacy and skill of the years when he still had feeling in his hands and practiced regularly, but even with stone fingers he was still far better than Gerald.
Zel had never considered himself particularly musical. Music was just something his mother had taught him as a child, like the three R's: reading, writing and 'rithmatic. He had been surprised to discover that not everybody learned it. Of course, most people's childhood lessons didn't seem to include forgotten languages, arcane scripts or trigonometry either. People could be so ignorant.
"We're back!" Kate called out. "Did you miss us?"
Zelgadis sat up, rubbing his eyes. The horrors the baby had subjected him to in the last few hours had completely worn him out. He would never have believed that something so ungainly could crawl so fast. "Huh?" he asked groggily, "Did I...?"
Kate had already scooped up her baby for intense maternal cuddling. "Did you miss us?" she cooed. "I missed you, yes I did! Yes, I did!"
Zelgadis flopped back onto the ground again in disgust.
"I'm sorry we were gone so long," Amelia's voice approached him. "Kate's spare costume was too small for me so we had to borrow some clothing from her friend. It turned out to be a good thing because her friend's husband lent us his guitar, so now both you and Gerald will be able to play. Um, Zelgadis-sama, are you asleep? Um, I've got your costume here. Would you like to try it on?"
Zelgadis reluctantly sat up again and opened his eyes. The sight that met them almost made them pop out of their sockets. "A-Amelia? What are you...wearing?"
"It's my festival costume. Do you like it?" Amelia held out her arms and spun around so that he could get a better look. He would have been happier without it.
"You're planning to wear that in public?"
"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Uh...no. No. Wear whatever you want."
The clouds of worry broke up, revealing Amelia's sunniest smile. "Here's your costume." She gestured to the clothing folded over her arm. "It's just like Gerald's except darker."
Zelgadis looked around. Kate, who was still lavishing loving attention on baby Harold, was dressed similarly to Amelia, but with her quiet, maternal personality and less dramatic figure, it wasn't as provocative. Gerald, standing beside her, had a guitar hanging from his neck, and under that...Zel blanched.
"But, Amelia, no one wants to see a freak like me half-naked," he protested.
"It's traditional for festival dances," Amelia explained patiently.
"No. I refuse. I want nothing to do with this festival. I quit."
As Zelgadis stood up, he caught sight of Amelia's face. Her chin was set and her eyes held an expression of steel-hard determination.
"Yay, I think we've got it!" Amelia shrieked, bouncing with delight.
"Yes, it sounded just lovely that time," Kate agreed warmly.
"Just in time, too," Gerald said, pointing at the horizon. "The sun is setting."
"You two will stay with us for the night, won't you?" Kate offered. "I just wouldn't feel right not offering you hospitality when you're doing so much for us."
Amelia didn't bother to consult with her partner before answering, "Of course. We'd love to!"
Gerald and Kate's house turned out to be a cottage on the edge of town. It was rather small and plain but even Zelgadis had to admit (now that he was back in his usual clothes and therefore in a slightly better mood) that it looked well cared for. The town itself was medium sized. It looked like the kind of place where teenagers spent most of their time telling each other what they would do when they got to the big city. Tonight, though, the streets were decorated with bright banners in preparation for tomorrow's festival.
"We really are more grateful to you than words can express," Kate said as she ladled stew into everyone's bowl. "I know we aren't very good, but we just have to win the festival, for little Harold's sake.
"Harold's sake?" Zelgadis was surprised into asking.
"Yes, so that he can have what every child should have. The prize for the song and dance competition..."
"That's beautiful!" Amelia's eyes shone with emotion. "Now that I know the nobility of the cause I will put all my heart and soul into this competition! I will not fail you!" She ended her speech with one foot on the seat of her chair, the other on the chair back and her fist thrust heroically at the ceiling. Kate and Gerald applauded. Harold tipped over his bowl.
During the ensuing meal, the baby managed to coat himself, his highchair, and an impressive portion of his surroundings with stew. Zelgadis tried to ignore everything except his own bowl. Once it was empty, he quickly excused himself and sought out the guestroom.
The first thing he noticed upon entering the room was the musty smell. The second thing was that there was only one bed and it was barely big enough for two people. He went back to the kitchen.
"There's only one bed," he accused.
"Well, of course," Kate said. Then her eyes widened in concern. "You two aren't having..." Her voice fell to a hush, "...marital problems?"
"Marital..." Zelgadis spluttered. He followed Kate's gaze to the ring clearly visible on Amelia's hand. He closed his eyes in a wordless, undirected prayer for patience. "Right." He turned on his heel, cheeks burning, and went back to the guestroom.
There he flung open the window and sat down on the floor beneath it, meditatively strumming his guitar. As always, the tension in his body seemed to flow out through his fingers and drip from the strings as music. He let his mind flow away with it.
When he was completely at peace, he let the strings fall silent. He looked up. Amelia was sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at him. "That was beautiful," she said softly.
Zelgadis leaned the guitar against the wall and climbed out the window.
"Where are you going?" Amelia called in alarm.
"The garden. I'd rather sleep outside."
There was a figure hunched up on the ground with its face buried in its knees. All Zelgadis could make out about him (or her?) was that he was crying. Somehow, though, the sight sent dread through his veins. He moved closer and placed a comforting hand on the trembling shoulder. The white-clad stranger looked up at him, tears spilling from her eyes. It was Amelia, but her skin was dark and rock-studded and her soft, dark hair had become brittle wire.
Zelgadis jerked awake, panting. He was curled up beside a flowerbed surrounded by the pitch-blackness of midnight. It had only been a dream.
He tried to go back to sleep but that last, terrible image would not leave his mind. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Amelia huddled crying in the middle of a vast, barren expanse or looking up at him with a chimera's face.
"She's fine. It was just a nightmare." He told his irrational fears impatiently. But in the darkness of midnight, on the edge of sleep, horrible impossibilities were not quite as unbelievable as they should have been.
Absolutely disgusted with himself, Zelgadis stood up and felt his way to the window. Leaning into the room, he cast just enough of a light spell so that he could see her face clearly. It was as human as always. He sighed in relief and then shook his head in disgust. What a stupid thing to do. Well, maybe he would be able to sleep now.
He was just about to leave as silently as he came when a voice behind him shouted, "Halt! Who goes there?"
Zelgadis turned back towards the bed. Amelia was sitting bolt upright and, he noticed with a sinking heart, her eyes were opening.
"It's just me," he hissed. "Go back to sleep."
"Zelgadis-san?" Amelia held up a light spell in one hand while she sleepily rubbed her eyes with the other. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I was...just checking to make sure you're alright."
"Of course I am. Do you always come check on me in the middle of the night?"
"No, I just..." Of all the excuses Zelgadis could think of, the truth was the least dangerous. "I just had a bad dream. I didn't mean to disturb you. I'm sorry. It was a stupid thing to do. I'll go now." He backed away from the window.
Amelia disentangled herself from the bed sheets and came to the window. "A bad dream? Then you were right to come to me. As your guardian against bad dreams, I will help you fight off any nightmare, no matter how horrific! Shall I come sleep in the garden with you for the rest of the night?"
"No! I'm fine now. Please don't worry about it."
"At least tell me what your dream was. I need to be prepared to fight it if it ever returns!"
Zelgadis saw that she wouldn't let either of them rest until he told her, so he described the dream in a few terse sentences.
Amelia didn't respond immediately. She rested her elbows on the window ledge in thoughtful silence. "If Diol had turned me into a chimera, I probably would have cried," she said at last, "but only for a little while. Then I would have stopped crying and started fighting for justice again. It doesn't matter what I look like as long as I stay true to my goals."
"Right, I forgot that you think chimeras are 'cool looking'," Zelgadis answered dryly.
"I don't want to be a chimera. But if I did become one, it wouldn't change anything truly important. As long as I have my friends and family and a worthy cause to fight for, I know that I can find happiness!"
"Are you saying that I'm wasting my time searching for my cure? That I should just accept that I'm a freak and be happy about it? I can't do that. As long as there is a possibility that my cure exists, I can't rest until I find it."
"I thought we were talking about me."
Zelgadis rolled his eyes.
"Zelgadis-sama, I do want you to find your cure. That's why I'm here. What your grandfather did to you was truly unjust and I will do anything in my power to right that injustice. But if we don't find your cure, never forget that you have friends who like you just the way you are."
"Does that mean that you wouldn't like me if I was human?"
"Of course not! Whether you are a chimera for the rest of your life or whether you become human tomorrow, I'll like you just the same. And it's not nice to twist people's words."
"Can I go now?"
"Um, okay. Good night."
In the darkness after Zelgadis left, Amelia sighed unhappily. She had poured her heart out and he had ignored her, again. Why did she have to love someone so insensitive? Still, he had nightmares about her. That showed that he cared at least a little bit, right?
When he finally managed to fall asleep again, Zelgadis found himself back in the same barren wasteland as before but this time he was completely alone. He walked on and on, sand crunching under his feet.
A baby's wail woke him. For a moment he tried to recall his dream. It had been something frustrating and repetitious. Flipping the pages of an illegible book? Walking across a featureless landscape? He couldn't remember, and it wasn't important.
He dragged himself to his feet, groaning at the thought of the day ahead of him.
Zelgadis peered around the edge of the back curtain. The man on stage was doing disturbing things with vegetables. The audience members were laughing so hard that they were in danger of falling out of their seats.
Gerald looked over Zel's shoulder. "Ain't Bertie funny? The only thing I regret about singing in the contest is that I have to miss his performance. It's always the highlight of the festival." He misinterpreted Zel's horrified expression. "Don't worry; we're not up against him. We're in a different category."
Bertie did a particularly suggestive move with a squash and Gerald burst into guffaws. Zelgadis quickly retreated. He carefully placed himself between Amelia and any possible view of the stage. She might be offended or, worse, she might laugh.
"Do you see my baby?" Kate asked anxiously. They had left Harold with friends in the audience.
"Yup. He's right there." Gerald pointed. Kate sighed with relief.
Finally the vegetable act ended after four curtain calls and innumerable catcalls.
Zelgadis yanked on his borrowed costume again. Most of his rocky chest was completely exposed. This was already one of the most humiliating experiences of his life and they weren't even on stage yet.
He tried to go on anyway. "Does everybody remember their parts?" he asked one last time.
There was a round of nods.
"Let's go!" Amelia shouted.
The quartet stumbled onto the stage, clutching their instruments and grinning like maniacs (in three cases). As they caught sight of the large, still-snickering crowd, they all halted self-consciously. Amelia unconsciously wrapped her arms around her bare midriff. Kate yanked on her tiny skirt in an unnecessary attempt to straighten it. Gerald ran a hand through his hair. Zelgadis just stood petrified.
Gerald walked up to the front of the stage. "Hi, y'all. I'm Gerald. This is my lovely wife Kate and these are Amelia and Zelgadis from out of town. We're going to sing 'Spring Song' for you." He walked over to his back-up singer position.
Amelia swallowed hard. She had never sung in public before. She called to mind the words of advice her father had given her before her first big speech. "Even though you're scared, do it anyway...for Justice."
She could do this. Yes, she was scared, but for the sake of little Harold and all the expectant people in the audience she would sing her best!
Amelia stood up very straight, filled with the nobility of her cause, and marched up to the front of the stage. After a few steps, she noticed that Zelgadis wasn't following her so she grabbed his arm and dragged him with her.
She looked around. Everyone was in place. The crowd was watching them curiously. It was time. She nodded meaningfully at Zelgadis, who finally reanimated enough to nod stiffly back. He silently fingered a few chords for courage and then called out, "1...2...3...4..."
Two guitars simultaneously launched into the opening notes of the song. Amelia closed her eyes and let the music wash over her, waiting for her cue.
Soon...almost...now!
"A small flower blooming alone," Amelia and Zelgadis sang together.
"Alone, alone," Gerald and Kate echoed.
Kate and Amelia moved their arms through the ritual gestures they had practiced earlier.
"Like moonlight on snow (sno-o-ow)
You are in the garden of my heart. (aaa-ah)"
Zelgadis grimaced and launched into his solo verse while staring lovingly at Amelia's ear.
"You're the sap in my veins (ve-eins)
The sun in my sky (high in the sky)
I would wither if you were gone (aaa-ah)"
Amelia's pure, sweet voice soared solo through the next verse. "Cherry blossoms falling (falling, falling)
Warm April showers (April showers)
Drench me in your budding love (aaa-ah)"
Now for the chorus. Zelgadis and Amelia stared deeply into each other's eyebrows, not quite able to look each other in the eye. Both of them were bright pink with embarrassment.
"Icicle teardrops," Zelgadis crooned
"Icicle teardrops," Amelia echoed.
"Icicle teardrops," the other two repeated yet again.
"Your sunshine smile," Zelgadis sang on falling notes.
"Your sunshine smile," Amelia sang on rising notes.
"Sunshine smile," the backup filled in the middle.
All of them combined for "Spring thaw in the winter of my heart."
Now they just had to repeat it over and over again ad nauseam.
"You're the sap in my veins," Zelgadis and Amelia sang in harmony, "the sun in my sky. I would wither if you were gone."
They went through the chorus again.
Gerald and Zelgadis sang the next verse in unison with the girls providing backup.
"Cherry blossoms falling
Warm April showers,
Drench me in you budding love."
The chorus yet again, with variations, and a fourth time just for good measure.
"A small flower blooming alo-" Amelia held the last note while Zelgadis sang, "Icicle teardrops."
"-ne, like moonlight on sno-"
"Your sunshine smile."
Together in harmony at the end, "You are / Spring thaw in the garden/winter of my heart. In the..." Zel "winter," Amelia "garden," both "of my heart."
They finished softly. Zel placed a hand over the strings to still them. They stared at each other with an expression that could have passed for true love if you were sitting more than twenty feet away and were slightly nearsighted.
Then, without warning, Amelia cast a Burst Rondo into the air high above the audience. As the pseudo-fireworks went off overhead, the crowd burst into enthusiastic cheers.
Amelia, Gerald and Kate waved back, glowing with pride. Zelgadis began muttering under his breath things which it would be better not to repeat in print. "Cold-hearted sorcerer/swordsman" and "heartless demon" were some of the milder phrases.
As soon as he judged the cheering had gone on long enough, Zelgadis stalked off backstage. The other three followed him reluctantly, still waving.
Backstage, an adrenaline-drunk Amelia danced around Zelgadis. "They liked us! They really liked us! We were great! I think singing is almost as noble a profession as acting! Zelgadis-san, I had no idea you were such a good performer! Let's do it again someday!"
"No." Zelgadis put the finality of a hundred sarcophagus lids slamming shut into that one brief syllable.
Two enthusiastic fangirls managed to corner Zelgadis after the show. "That is the coolest costume ever!" one of them squealed.
The other nodded enthusiastically. "How did you get your skin that gorgeous shade of blue? Is it paint?" She reached out to test her hypothesis with her fingertips. Zelgadis backed away straight into a wall.
"And where did you find the rocks for around your eyes? I've never seen any quite like them before." The first girl reached out too. Zelgadis cringed.
"Zelgadis-sama, there you are!" Amelia shouted. She ran to him and grabbed his arm, unintentionally flashing her ring at the fangirls. "Come on, they're about to announce the winners!"
"Hey, you have a beautiful voice, Zelgadis-sama!" one of the fangirls called to her departing idol.
"And a beautiful body," her friend giggled.
"That's for sure," the first one agreed. "What a pity he's taken."
"Yeah," the second one sighed.
Zelgadis blushed and wished for less keen hearing.
As they approached, the announcer was saying, "In the comedy category, the winner is...What a surprise! ...Bertie, for the eighth year in a row. The prize is a new shirt since we noticed that your old one is getting worn out."
Bertie walked up to the platform, grinning and waving his most amusingly shaped gourd. Zelgadis shut his eyes. Could the man be any more vulgar?
"In the play category, the winner is...the DragonSlave Players with 'The Adventures of Volun the Mighty.'" A dozen or so slightly singed people exuding a faint odor of dynamite pushed their way up to the announcer's platform and received their prize.
"In the song and dance category..." (Amelia elbowed Zelgadis excitedly.) "...the winners are...Gerald and Kate with 'Spring Song.'"
Amelia shrieked and danced with joy. "We won! Zelgadis-sama, we won!" She threw her arms around the nonplussed chimera. Even Zelgadis had to smile faintly in pride.
Gerald and Kate walked up to the announcer. The young wife held her son tightly in her arms.
"...and your prize is..." the announcer announced, "...this oversized teddy bear made by the talented seamstress Eliza Stoat!" A middle-aged woman on the platform waved to the crowd before handing Kate the teddy bear.
"Look at that, Harold! You finally have a teddy bear like all the other children," Kate cooed.
Zelgadis' jaw dropped. "We went through all that...for a teddy bear?"
"It was still a selfless act worthy of true allies of Justice!" Amelia said, but her voice lacked sincerity and her eyebrows were twitching with annoyance. Then her annoyance dissolved like mist in the face of her sunny personality. "And it was fun!"
Zelgadis shook his head in disgust.
Author's Note: It wouldn't be Slayers without at least one silly episode completely unrelated to the main plot, right?
This chapter obviously owes a lot to the festival-songs episode of Slayers NEXT. If I hadn't seen that episode, I would never have guessed that festival music in the Slayers world sounds like really trite and syrupy j-pop and requires wearing embarrassingly skimpy outfits. It also owes a lot to the episode of Slayers TRY where Zelgadis finds an old guitar and spends the rest of the episode playing it beautifully for no apparent reason.
Yes, I wrote Spring Song myself (with some help from my sisters). I have absolutely no talent for poetry or song lyrics, but fortunately this didn't require any. For an even more authentic bad j-pop feel, I recommend putting random words in all caps (ex. A small flower blooming ALONE/ Moonlight on snow/ YOU ARE in the garden of my heart), but my alpha-critics told me that was just stupid.
When I describe Amelia and Zel's voices in this chapter, I use a kind of average of the subbed and dubbed versions of "A Young Girl's Prayer." Zel has a beautiful singing voice in both versions so he is the best singer in this chapter. Amelia has a lovely singing voice in Japanese but in English...not so lovely. Therefore, I imagine her voice as good but untrained.