Disclaimer: still not mine

The temple of the blind

More secrets revealed

Around noon they could finally see the monastery, it was nothing like Eruk had expected. It was noting more than a doorway into a cliff. Zelgadis walked up to the heavy door, and started knocking. "I don't think that will work Mr. Zelgadis" Sylphiel said "remember what miss Amelia told us? She said it was most likely that this compound was deserted". Eruk came up behind them "if that's the case, why don't we just go inside and see if we can find that sacred herb". Zelgadis first tried to open the door by using his physically strength, but failed. The door was more sturdy than it looked.

He stepped back, and motioned to Eruk and Sylphiel to move as well. "If normal means won't open it, then let's try something else", he chanted a spell. Energy gathered in his right hand "Damu Brass!!". The force of the spell made a huge dent in the door, but it was still standing. "Wow, that's some door" Eruk said to no one in particular. "No door's going to make me look like an idiot" Zelgadis spat. This time he concentrated on gathering even more power "DAMU BR…." He was cut of by the sound of the door slowly opening. An old man was coming out "Who are you that trespass at our monastery?" he asked them.

Zelgadis pulled up his mask and hood, and bowed to the old monk "We come here in hope of retrieving an herb that can cure even the most severe poison". The monk stared straight into Zelgadis's eyes "your words ring true, but you are too sinful to enter this sacred place. You have caused harm to many people". Zelgadis stepped back "how did you know?" The monk smiled "being blind lets you see more than you think". That was a surprise for Zelgadis, he had been around blind people before, but all of them had their eyes closed, unlike this monk. His dead eyes were wide open.

He turned his back on Zelgadis. Eruk stepped up to support Zelgadis "He may have done some sinful things, but does that mean he can't save another persons life?" The monk nodded "we can't just hand our most priced possession over to anyone who might desire it, no matter the reasons". Eruk was almost about to give up "how about me?" he tried as a last ditch effort. The monk shook his head "you too, are way to sinful to enter this holy place alone". Sylphiel, who had been staying in the background, came up to the others "is there nothing we can do? miss Lina is dying. We need to get her a cure fast" she asked, her voice full of concern. The blind monk turned his head in her direction "young lady, I didn't sense anything from you. I never would have thought anyone would come here with a heart free of sin". She lived up "do you mean I can get the healing herb then?" she asked hopefully.

The monk nodded "We will even use it to prepare an antidote for you, but the process will take a day". Zelgadis was displeased "we can't afford to lose an entire day waiting". The monk turned back to him "We could just give you the herb and let you make the antidote yourself, but it would be a deadly poison if it was made improperly". Zelgadis sighed "I guess we have no choice then…". The monk motioned to the door "You can stay inside while you wait, but you two…" he turned to Eruk and Zelgadis "are not allowed to go any further inside than the guestrooms".

They followed him inside. The place was nothing more than cavern, slightly adopted to living space. They were shown into a poorly lighted area, that obviously weren't used much. "you can stay here, we'll begin working on the antidote right away. I'll let you know when we are done" with those words the monk left. Zelgadis went into the nearest room and slammed the door after him, obviously irritated about loosing another day. Eruk and Sylphiel looked at each other "I guess this leaves us with the last two rooms" Eruk thought out loud. He turned to the nearest door "I'll take this room and you the last one?" he asked. She nodded and left for the room next to his. He opened the door. Wow, this is some room. I think I liked the prison in Seyruun better, he thought. The room, or rather the cave, was dusty and filled with cobweb. He went over and tested the bed, it wasn't too comfortable, but it would have to do. He sat down and relaxed. He didn't sit down for more than a few seconds, before he heard a loud crash from Sylphiels room. He jumped up and ran out of the door.

Not wanting to waste any time he kicked the door to Sylphiels room open, prepared for anything. He quickly scanned the room, and found that he wasn't prepared for everything after all. Sylphiel was sitting on the floor, in the middle of something that looked like it once had been a bed. He just couldn't help himself, he burst into laughter. "That isn't very funny" she said with a tone of mock hurt. He tried to control himself enough to speak "I'm sorry Sylphiel, You just look hilarious sitting like that". She stood up, rubbing her behind, "now what am I supposed to do?". From the way her clothing looked, Eruk figured that the floor was too wet to sleep on "I guess you take my bed then" he suggested. "But you need a bed too" she tried to argue, but he cut her off "I'll sleep on the floor, but…" he kicked a small pool of water " I think I would like to do so in the other room, if that's ok with you". She nodded "It wouldn't be different than camping out, or sleeping in that shed in old Sairaag".

They gathered her belongings and moved them into the other room. Eruk started working on an improvised curtain. He used her tent to divide the room in two parts. After being done with that, he started looking for a spot for his own bedroll. He started to relax, just laying down looking up into the ceiling. He started to drift of to sleep.

Some time later he woke up to a strange sensation, it felt like surrounded by a strange calming force. He opened his eyes, Sylphiel was sitting next to him surrounded by a white light. "Don't worry, it wont hurt". He could hear her voice in his mind. He relaxed. Some time later he felt the real world once again. He sat up "what did you do to me?" he asked. She didn't look at him "I just scanned your body for anything unnatural". He looked at her in wonder "scanned my body? What do you mean?". She stood up and took a step away from him "It's just a simple practice in exorcisms, I should be able to detect anything non-human about you". He closed his eyes, sighing "so you tried to find out if I'm a mazuko or not? Well, what am I?". she hesitated a bit "well… you're definitely human, but…" Eruk had just started to relax, when he got a strong feeling that there was something she hadn't told him.

He grabbed hold of her, and stared directly into her eyes "but what, Sylphiel?" he asked dryly, even more so than he had intended. "But…" she had started stuttering "but you have an unnatural large astrobody, much larger than anything I have ever felt with a human". He let go of her "that means I'm a mazuko, right?". She shook her head "I.. I don't know, but normally I guess it would… but it isn't a completely evil energy as with a mazuko". Eruk turned his attention back to her "you're not making much sense now" he said. A single tear rolled down her cheek "I wish I could tell you more, but I don't know what it means". He put his arm around her "you don't have to be so upset about it" he tried to calm her down "you have at least told me that I'm more human than anything else, that matters a lot to me".

They just sat there for a while. Eruk noticed Sylphiel had gone limp, he tried to move, but she followed his movements. She had fallen asleep. He carefully got on his feet, and carried her over to her bed. "pleasant dreams" he whispered. He closed the improvised curtain behind him as he left her side of the room. With noting better to do he decided to get some sleep as well, figuring they were going to travel at double speed as soon as the antidote was ready.

He was woken up some time later by someone knocking on the door. "go ahead, it's not locked" he mumbled. He was more asleep, than awake. He jumped up when he realized that someone was standing next to him. "Zelgadis" he gasped "don't scare me like that".

"I'm looking for Sylphiel, do you know where she is?" he asked. He blinked a few times to get the sleep out of his eyes, "sure I do" he said, and gestured to the curtain "she's right here". Acting almost like on cue, Sylphiel pulled the curtain aside "what's going on?" she asked sleepily. Zelgadis looked at both of them "you are sleeping together?" he asked. Eruk was the first to notice the slight blush that formed on both Zelgadis and Sylphiel. He decided to sort this out fast "yeah, I assume that you have seen the condition of the other room". Zelgadis made a quick nod, and Eruk continued "I couldn't just leave her there, so I let her sleep in here" he gestured to the curtain, then eyed Zelgadis "From that look on your face, I know what you were thinking, but I assure you sleep is the operative term here". Zelgadis shook his head "damn kids" he muttered, and turned to Sylphiel "let's just drop that subject. I just want to know if your powers have returned yet". She blushed even more "yes, they have, but why?".

Zelgadis started explaining how they had to hurry back, and how he was planing on using ray wing to get back as fast as possible. They both listened to his plan. "It sound like a good plan Mr. Zelgadis" Eruk started "but I'm not a sorcerer, I can only levitate a very short amount, and not enough to use it to travel". Zelgadis muttered something under his breath "then Sylphiel and I will have to carry you. We can't afford to loose any more time". Having said what he came to say, he left the room. "Oh, and you might want to get some sleep tonight, we have a long way to travel tomorrow", he said just before he closed the door behind him. Sylphiel was blushing ferociously, while Eruk was shaking his head "That guy really have a lousy sense of humor". He laid back on his bedroll "I guess we'd better do as he suggested, and get some sleep".

He stretched a bit and yawned, before he wrapped his cape around him and closed his eyes "G'night Sylphiel". Sylphiel found herself unable to sleep. Why did that little joke Zelgadis made, affect her so? Of course she had gotten close to Eruk, it was only natural after being with him that long. There was nothing more to it. Everyone knew that she was in love with Gourry, well everybody except Gourry, and maybe Eruk. But if she indeed did love Gourry, why had she then stopped calling him Gourry-dear, like she used to? And when she did, it felt more like a habit than anything else. She blushed a bit when she thought back to that night after their stay in old Sairaag, that night she called him Eruk-dear by accident. It had never been her intention to call him that, but somehow it didn't feel wrong.

"Sylphiel?" Eruk's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. "Y…yes?" She had thought he was sleeping. "I hope I didn't wake you up" he whispered "but I need to ask you a favor". Her mind was racing "what kind of favor?". He sighed "please don't tell anyone about our recent conversations. I don't want anyone to think I'm anything else than human, at least until we find out the truth about me". She was surprised about his request, it wasn't like her to keep secrets. "I'm not sure, wouldn't it be better to tell miss Lina everything? she usually knows what to do". His voice became more pleading "please Sylphiel. I don't need anyone to distance themselves from me, because of what I might be". She realized his need for secrecy, "I promise I won't tell anyone unless I have to" she promised. Time passed, but she found herself unable to relax. From behind the curtain she could hear him tossing and turning. She made a quick decision, and cast a small sleeping spell on him. At least she could offer him a night of sleep.

The next morning they were woken by Zelgadis. "Time to move" he shouted from outside the door. When Eruk finally got up from his bedroll, Sylphiel was already busy packing their stuff. She turned her head in his direction "and you say I like to sleep?" He decided to ignore the little insult, at least until he could get back at her. He touched his forehead "man, I feel like I have been hit by a ton of bricks". Sylphiel silently cursed herself, she should have remembered that sleep spells sometimes had that effect. She decided to keep her mouth shut about the spell, and instead help him recover from his "hangover".

She started packing his gear as well "you shouldn't worry about it, I'm sure you'll feel better when you get up from that cold floor. He stood up, still feeling a bit wobbly, but determined to get back with the antidote today. They met up with Zelgadis outside of the room. He was holding a small vial with a green liquid inside "… and you're sure this works?" he asked the blind monk one last time. The monk looked displeased, apparently it wasn't the first time Zelgadis had asked him that question. Zelgadis turned around when a door opened behind him "so, are you ready?" he asked. Sylphiel and Eruk both nodded. Once outside of the monastery they heard the sound of the massive door close behind them.

The trio began preparing their journey. Sylphiel used her magic to create a wind barrier large enough to carry all of them, and Zelgadis manipulated the wind to make them fly even faster. Eruk's job was to keep an eye out for any landmarks on the ground. They were flying fast, after only a few hours he spotted the lake they had camped by earlier. The strain was already beginning to show on both Sylphiel and Zelgadis. Eruk only hoped that they would be able to hold out until they reached their destination. Time passed slowly, but finally Eruk saw a small blue line in the horizon, they were approaching the ocean. Now it wasn't long before they reached their destination. Eruk was the first to spot the small town, he quickly guided the two others in the right direction. Finally they landed in front of the inn. Both Zelgadis and Sylphiel looked exhausted, none of them had ever levitated that long before. They took a few seconds to catch their breath, then went into the inn.

Taki was sitting by a table eating an early dinner. She almost knocked over the table when se saw them "Oh you're back! Did you get an antidote?" she shouted. Zelgadis smiled at the young waitress and held up the small vial. She was shining even brighter that the sun "oh great, then let's hurry and give it to miss Lina". She hurried up the stairs, leading them to the room they had borrowed. Amelia was sitting next to Lina's bed, cooling her forehead with a wet piece of cloth. Gourry was sitting on the other side of the bed. He almost looked worse of than Lina did. His eyes were red from lack of sleep and his hair was a big mess, he was just sitting there holding her hand. Amelia was the only one to react when they came into the room. "Mister Zelgadis! You're back!" a sparkle of hope could be seen on her face "did you get the antidote?". Taki ran to her side "yes they did miss Amelia! Miss Lina is going to be ok now!"

Zelgadis went over to Lina's limp form. Her skin was pale and she was barely breathing. He lifted up her head, and poured the green liquid into her mouth. Even in her near unconscious state she grimaced, obviously the antidote was pretty strong. Gourry looked at the girl in front of him "come on Lina, you can make it" he whispered. "Oh you needn't worry about that" they were all surprised by an familiar voice from a dark corner of the room. "Xellos!" all of them shouted, well, all of them who knew who he was anyway. He walked over to the surprised group of people by the bed. He leaned in to examine her features "she looks better already" he concluded.

Zelgadis pushed him away "what are you doing here anyway?" he asked, clearly annoyed. The trickster priest made one of his innocent faces "What?" he asked sweetly "can't I see my dear old friends once in a while?". Zelgadis grabbed the priest and lifted him above the ground "We have absolutely no reason to trust anything you say" he said through cleansed teeth. Xellos just kept on smiling, knowing quite well that he had nothing to fear from the angry chimera. Amelia tucked on Zelgadis' sleeve "come on now Mr. Zelgadis, you don't have to treat Mr. Xellos like that, maybe he has ended his evil ways?" she stared at him starry-eyed. Zelgadis didn't even bother to answer. Gourry rose too his feet "can't you guys take it somewhere else? Lina need some rest". They all stared at the swordsman, he was the tallest among them, and really made an impressive figure. Zelgadis even put Xellos back on the ground. They all quietly started to leave the room.

Outside the room they meet the innkeeper. "So, you're all back again?" he asked "did you find what you were looking for?". They all nodded in unison. "We could need some rooms to relax in" Zelgadis started "it was a rough trip back". The innkeeper was happy to give them lodging for the night. Eruk figured that he must have felt guilty about the poisoned food.

All of them were shown to their rooms. Eruk was laying on his bed thinking, like he usually did when he didn't feel like sleeping. That guy, Xellos, he had just appeared from nowhere. Could he be the one that had spoken to him a couple of times before? It was almost like he could feel the evil energy Xellos generated, it was disgusting and appealing to him at the same time. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. Images of Xellos kept entering his mind, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget the things the voice had said to him. Eruk was tossing and turning, unable to rest. After a few sleepless hours he sat up. This can't go on. I need answers, or a sleep spell. He stood up and put some clothes on. Perhaps Sylphiel could give him some answers. He wasn't all that thrilled about waking her up in the middle of the night, but he felt like he had too.

He left his own room and headed for the room Sylphiel used. Before he got there, he was interrupted by a voice behind him "Hi there Eruk! What's the matter? Can't sleep?". He spun around to face the one that had spoken to him. "Oh hi Taki. Yeah, I just can't fall asleep so I thought some fresh air would be nice" he tried not to sound annoyed by the fact that she interrupted his own plans. "Can I go with you?" she asked happily. He started walking for the door and motioned for her to follow. Outside the inn there was a small garden. Eruk sat down by a table, that was being used as a part of the restaurant, "hey waitress, bring me the menu" he ordered. Taki, who somehow had gotten hold of a menu, came up to him and gently slapped it into his face "I'm off duty". She sat down on the other side of the table. Eruk was quietly muttering something about this place having a really lousy service. She was about to slap him again, but he blocked "you're off duty, I know." he laughed.

None of then said anything for awhile. "Eruk?" Taki was the first to break the silence. He stopped gazing at the stars "Hmm?". She looked a bit uneasy "do you think miss Lina is going to be alright?", her voice was full of concern. "I don't know" he answered truthfully "but we have done all that we can. The rest is up to miss Lina herself". Taki nodded "then I'm sure she'll be just fine". They fell back into silence. "You are pretty taken with her, aren't you?" Eruk asked after awhile. She hesitated "Well… I admire her for being so strong, I just wish I could be like that." Eruk didn't say anything, but waited for her to go on. Taki tried to avoid his gaze "she once saved my life" she finally confessed. She had his full attention now. "you never mentioned that before" he pointed out, "but go on". She nodded "it happened 4 years ago, the town I lived in was attacked by a bunch of trolls. Miss Lina saved me from some of them". Eruk was thrilled by her story "why haven't you told anyone about this before?" he asked curiously. "I wasn't sure if the one who saved me really was miss Lina. I have heard some awful rumors about her later on. But after spending time with her, I'm pretty sure now. I don't think she remembers though" Taki admitted.

Eruk was shaking his head, laughing, "it would seem that everyone have crossed paths with each other before. I just wonder where I fit in". Taki covered her mouth "I wasn't going to make you think about that again, I'm sorry". He merely smiled "Don't worry about it. I'm Eruk now, if I don't find out anything about my past, then I'll have to live without it". He felt it wasn't necessary for her to know the entire truth just yet. The truth was, that he was now even more concerned than ever about his past. She yawned "I think I'll head back to my room now, I'm getting tired". She left the garden. Once inside the inn, she heard someone running behind him. She nervously looked over her shoulder, then relaxed. The person she had heard was only Eruk trying to keep up with her. "Missed me already?" she asked. He rolled his eyes "let's just say I'm going to escort you to your room". She slowed down her pace "you don't have to do that, you know". He shrugged "my room is that way too, so I'm going the same way in any case". She pouted "and here I thought I was special", but she walked with him after all.

Eruk said goodnight to Taki, and went into his room. He was feeling tired, his talk with Taki had taken his mind of his own troubles. It didn't take more than a few minutes before he fell asleep.

Authors notes:

I promised an update in the weekend, and here it is. Actually I got some extra time on my hands, so maybe I'll have another update ready before this week is over.

So, Lina was cured and Xellos appeared in person. What a chapter!! To tell the truth, I'm not so fond of this chapter myself, but the story is already written, and it is necessary for the rest of the story to make sense. So here it is. Finally Taki's story has been revealed. That's one part I really like about this chapter. She is the waitress that was attacked by trolls when Shabranigdo

was reborn. I bet you never saw that one coming. Things will start happening in the next chapters, and more will be revealed about Eruk. Hope you are looking forward too it.