Ch. 2: In Which Zelgadiss goes looking for a cure. And finds it.

through the darkness i would walk in the streets

confessions never seemed to provide me with a release

held me down and tried to cure me tried to give me a reason

but nothing would separate this burdened mind from me

~*~

The cave that held the was dark, foreboding almost. Zelgadiss snorted. Why were most shrines in strange creepy areas? He pondered. Was it an unspoken rule that they had to be in the most obscure areas and decorated with dark and depressing themes?

"Lighting." The spell flickered in his hand and he walked forward. He wasn't afraid of the dark, nor of anything that the darkness might hide, but it have him a nice distracting train of thought so that he didn't have to think of the possible motivations behind Prince Phil's request. Now that he had time to think on it, it seemed a little strange.

And he was used to dark, creepy looking places anyway. After all, he was dark and creepy looking as well.

Thus emboldened, he walked forward.

The tunnel was long and twisting. Out of the corner of his eye, the walls seemed to shift occasionally although he couldn't hear anything moving. The only sounds he could hear were his own footsteps and the occasional gust of wind travelling along with him.

A small corner of his brain noted that the wind sounded like a wolf's howl. He ignored it in favour of focusing on his quest.

The Pool of Truth was supposed to be a magical pool, revealing the true form of whoever looked into it. From what he had read, it also had a reputation of curing various aliments and curses, depending on what the person was on the inside, or their true form.

The fact that he had to travel halfway around the world to discover this was an irony not lost on him.

By and by, he reached a carved entrance. On one side was what appeared to be a winged feline. The other side was a winged canine. Their wings overlapped at the top of the entrance to form the arch. The winged animals sat on pedestals, which were also carved. At first glance, it looked like a serpent and a crouched human.

He looked again. The entire entrance had changed. Now it was a set of smooth tall pillars with a coiled dragon at the top.

Raising an eyebrow, Zelgadiss walked thru the doorway, determinedly NOT looking at the entrance again. He didn't need to know that he was going out of his mind in addition to being cursed.

Past the entrance, it was brighter and he dismissed the Lighting spell. The walls here were smooth here and appeared to glow faintly with their own light.

Sensing his goal was near, he sped up. The tunnel curved up slightly , and opened into a large chamber. Zelgadiss paused, looking around. The walls were smooth here too, also glowing with their own white light. In the back of the room, there was a small raised area.

That had to be it. He walked over to it eagerly. The rise he had seen was the lip of the Pool. Smooth, clear water filled it, as crystal as glass. Yes, this had to be it.

He bent down at the lip to look in. If what he had read was correct, he should see his true self. He would be human again.

Zelgadiss looked in, and saw...

Himself.

Not as a human, but as a chimera. Wiry hair, blue skin with stones embedded in it, silted cat eyes and all.

"Dammit!" Disappointment and bitterness rose like bile in his throat, hazing his vision. Angry, he swatted at the water, shattering it's calm surface. He turned to storm out. He should just Mega Brando the whole place and move on.

As he began to gather the spell like he had done so many times before, he discovered that he suddenly couldn't move. His hands were stuck before him and his legs wouldn't work.

"You would defile my place?" A voice echoed from the surrounding walls.

Kuso. This one actually had a guardian.

As he watched, frozen, the walls changed. They were still smooth and luminescent, but now they were covered with vines, roots and leaves. And from them, a figure appeared.

It was female, of that he could tell. Past that bit of information was a mystery. She appeared to be attached to the plants by her hair and the ends of her robes, both of which were moulted green and brown of various shades.

A nature spirit, or a Kami. And she didn't look happy.

He glared at it, seething. Why shouldn't he blow the place up? He thought bitterly. The 'Pool of Truth' had lied! This wasn't his true form!

She glared back, fires in her eyes as she appeared to read his mind, measuring him against some unknown scale. "The pool did not lie. By it's nature, it can not."

It did lie! He silently raged back. He was human! Not some beast freak of nature!

"You may have been human, once." She corrected, gliding closer without ever touching the floor, the vines supporting her weight. "But now you're not even worthy of being called a beast. Animals do not destroy things around them for spites sake. I should toss you in the pool right now, and see what new form you take on. With your anger, I'm sure it would be quite monstrous."

He forced himself to calm down, if only by a fraction, to try and think. There had to be a way out of this. Without angering the Kami further. He was at her mercy for the moment and he wasn't sure what she would do.

"What's this?" The Kami snarled, turning it's attention away from Zelgadiss to look at one of the walls. Zelgadiss followed her gaze and froze.

Like looking thru a mirror, he could see a small travelling party ride on horseback thru the forest. He didn't know the 2 on the sides, but the one in the middle nearly made his raging blood turn cold.

Amelia.

What was she doing passing thru here? He thought furiously, suddenly very, very calm in his panic. She had to have had the worst timing... If the Kami was furious at his intrusion, there was the chance that she might take it out on Amelia as well. He began to furiously fight against what ever it was holding him still. There was no need to get her involved in this too.

"You know her?" The Kami asked, suddenly a bit too interested in the dark haired girl. "She's got an interesting aura to her. Good deal of spirit too."

Crap! Crap! Crap! His mind ran around in helpless little circles. He couldn't tell her that he did know Amelia! And if Amelia did find out he was here, the last thing needed right now was a Justice speech! Dammit, he couldn't protect her if the Kami decided to get revenge thru her!

"Hmmmm..." The sound was stretched out a bit too much for the chimera's comfort. She looked down at him, what was either a mischievous or malicious spark in her eyes. "That's just perfect."

What?! Perfect? How?!

The Kami bent down to look him in the eye. "I think I'll grant your wish after all, Zelgadiss Greywords." She said, a mocking tone causing the hairs on the back of his neck to rise. "You obviously hate that form your in right now and the memories it brings, so I'll remove it from you for most of the day. Not all, that would let you off too easily." She wiggled a finger mockingly at him, then patted him on the head.

"A beast you are, lest a beast you become."

"What?"

He had just enough time for the words to fall out of his mouth before he was blown out of the cave.

Way out.

Over the treetops, over a stream, over the road, over the horsemen on the road and right into a tree.

And then down the tree he went. Hitting nearly every single branch on the way down it seemed. Then he hit the ground.

After the shock wore off, he attempted to move, using ever single curse word he could think of in his head. Curse that Kami! What had she done to him? He felt as weak as, well... as a newborn kitten.

There was a crash of footsteps nearby, and the sound of voices. He looked around to find the source and found his vision blocked by large green things.

It would help if he could sit up, he finally decided. So he did.

And immediately wished he hadn't. There was something wrong with his right arm, it hurt and wouldn't respond like it should. He attempted to glare at it, willing the sparkly black dots that moving the arm brought around to go away.

"I found it!" A cheerful voice called as the foot steps stopped by him. The voice was familiar to him...

Zelgadiss looked up into a pair of warm blue eyes, the colour of the sky at twilight. It was Amelia.

He opened his voice to warn her and promptly-

Mewed.

~*~

'I beast I am, lest a beast I become' is on a Vampire: The Masquerade poster above my bed. Always thought it sounded cool, and it just seemed to fit.