Part Eleven
by: Shell Presto
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and
various companies do. However, this story is my own, and I'd like to keep
it that way. Have honour, okay? Enjoy.
Proofreading/editing/beta-reading for this story was done by Dreamsinger.
Thanks DS!
Email me at mangetsu@email.com with any commentary. Even the smallest suggestion is appreciated, and the more critical comments are indispensable. Please drop me a line even to tell me if you are reading this. I always try to write back. It helps. Also, be sure to check out my webpage Inspiration Stemming from Sleep Deprivation for the fanart that goes with this story.
The One Third Human doujinshi is available on my website, Inspiration
Stemming from Sleep Deprivation.
I also now have a 'guest' fanart gallery for 1/3. Check
it out.
One Third Human
Part Eleven
by: Shell Presto
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, various companies do. However, this story is my own, and I'd like to keep it that way. All chacters that I have made up, and the towns they reside in, also belong to me. Have honor, okay? Enjoy.
Email me at mangetsu@email.com with any commentary. Even the smallest
suggestion is appreciated, and the more critical comments are indispensable.
Please drop me a line even to tell me if you are reading this. It helps.
I'll do my best to get back to you. Well, enough of that, on with the story.
The One Third Human doujinshi is available on my website, Inspiration
Stemming From Sleep Deprivation.
A white, blinding light surrounded him. Then all he felt was warmth
as the whiteness gave way to colour. He was standing in the main temple,
surrounded by his friends. They were all staring at him, and they were
all dumbfounded.
Lina was, as usual, the first to speak. "It actually worked!
Zel, you're human!"
Delight washed over Amelia's face, and her wide eyes glistened
like saphirres. "Oh, wow! It's amazing, Mister Zelgadis! You're really
human again." Her voice grew more quiet with every sentence, until it was
almost silent. "You're kind of handsome, actually."
It was a realization and a half when he noticed he had not heard
Amelia's last statement, but had only read her lips. His heightened senses
were indeed gone. Suddenly snapped from his funk, he looked down at his
hands to confirm it himself. Sure enough, pale flesh had replaced blue
stone. He felt warmer, hot actually. There was sweat forming just below
his lower lip, and he fought the urge to lick it off despite wanting desperately
to taste the saline. "I don't believe it..." he mumbled to himself.
"Congratulations, Zel!" Gourry encouraged him with a good slap
on the back.
Zelgadis was forced to take two steps forward to compensate for
the momentum. It felt wonderful, and he grinned.
Then his manners caught up with him, and he coughed into his
hand. "Uhm... I'd like to thank you all. I mean, I wouldn't be human right
now if not for your help."
Lina grinned. "Yeah, well, it's not like we could refuse to help
a friend. It's good to see you actually smile for a change."
He was smiling so hard it hurt; he'd never felt happier.
Still holding a smile, Gourry added, "It is too bad, though."
The perfection shattered, and all the glee drained from Zelgadis'
pale face. "Wh.. What? What's too bad?"
Feeling guilty, Gourry could only shrug as he replied, "I mean,
about how you can't travel with us anymore."
"Wha... What?" a near speechless Zelgadis forced out.
Amelia sorrowfully explained, "It's not to be mean, Mister Zelgadis.
We, and most especially I, would love to have you come with us, but it's
just not practical. We're worried about your safety."
"My safety?" He could barely mimick the phrase.
Lina could not make eye contact. "C'mon, Zel! You know you can't
use magic anymore, and you're not that great with a sword, either. I mean,
a troll could have a field day with you. Let alone someone like Seigramm."
"Or Phibrizzo," Gourry noted.
"Or Darkstar," Amelia warned.
Zelgadis could not say anything. He could not think of a word.
It was like someone had shoved a rusty fan blade into his chest and turned
it on.. but he was too numb to even feel it.
More to ease his own conscience than his friend's, Gourry continued,
"We're not doing it to be mean, Zelgadis. We really like having you around,
but we can't afford to be looking out for you if we get into another big
firefight."
"You know how Lina attracts trouble," Amelia reminded him in
her meekest voice.
With sad eyes, the redhead gave him a final farewell. "We're
really sorry, Zel. And we'll miss you."
The only three friends that Zelgadis had walked toward the temple
door. He watched, stunned, as they walked out the door. Then they moved
down the main hall, and, finally, out of his sight.
It was then that the floodgates opened, and a torrent filled
the emptiness that had possessed him. He finally felt the jagged blade
tearing through his insides. The storm manifested itself in his eyes, and
they burned as hot tears tried to quench them. "WAIT!" he screamed, his
voice cracking from sheer, desperate volume. He started to run as the blade
moved into his throat, tore it apart. "I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN! I WANT
TO BE A CHIMERA!!"
Zelgadis' eyes jarred open as he hit the floor. Blue green slits
darted in every direction to make sure he was still safely in his dorm.
His breathing was ragged. A thin film of sweat covered his forehead, neck,
chest. His throat was sore. And he was crying. But he was stone, and that
allowed his ragged breath to at least level itself out to shallow. He could
not even pick himself up off the floor, he only rolled onto his back. He
could not think.
Lina darted through the door in a panic. He heard the metal knob
crack off the wall. "Zel!" she nearly screamed as her eyes fixated on the
floored chimera. She hurriedly kneeled beside him. " What's wrong!?
He wanted to answer, but he was too occupied with breathing.
He also realized that he had been drooling at some point, although the
knowledge did not affect him as much as it should have. Breathing hurt
too much.
"Zel!?" Lina questioned, more quietly this time, exasperated.
Dumbfounded.
"Miss Lina?" Amelia called sleepily as she walked in the door.
The sorceress turned to the new visitor. "Amelia..!" was all
she could say.
Then the princess saw the cause of the commotion. "Mister Zelgadis!"
she cried. She, too, dropped to her knees at his side. "What happened!?"
It felt like someone had put a lead weight on his chest. At least,
he would equate it to that if he were human.
"I don't know," Lina replied, almost sheepishly as she bit her
lip. She was too worried. " He... He doesn't look hurt, but..."
He was in shock. And he finally realized what had happened. It
was just a dream. Just a dream.
Lina and Amelia were saying something as his breathing began
to ease.
"...just a dream," he forced out quietly.
"Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia's voice carried a tone of instant relief
as she looked at his eyes. He was now safely, and coherently, looking back
at them.
"Zel," was all the redhead could manage.
"Amelia...?" he mouthed absentmindedly as he unconsciously tensed
his fingers around hers. The last few minutes seemed like a blur. "what..?"
"What happened?" Lina finally asked, with as much curiousity
as concern. "Did you pass out?"
Zelgadis lifted his head to start getting up, but then deployed
the effort, letting his head fall sharply back to the hard wood floor.
He could not compose himself. Still in a haze, he replied, "I... don't
know."
"Are you all right?" Amelia leaned over him, her fingers bunching
his cape up on the floor.
He wanted to say 'I'm fine.' It was, afterall, his natural reaction
to the question. But he could not say it. The words would not form in his
throat. And his throat hurt so much.
After a long silence spent staring at the ceiling, he finally
said, "Could you two leave me alone for a while?"
A worried sorceress accompanied an equally worried princess from
the room. She liked to think she was comforting her.
Zelgadis made no effort to get up, and he decided not to make
any until he could make sense of his dream. There was no comfort in the
painted white ceiling.
Lina reentered late that afternoon. Zelgadis was still lying on
the floor, but this time in a more comfortable position, on his back with
his arms folded behind his head. His legs were crossed as well as he stared
at the ceiling, while his face showed a calm, slightly bored expression.
That is, until he saw her, then he pulled himself up, leaning back with
his weight on his arms. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened as if he
was not sure what to say.
The redhead invited herself in, closing the door before she sat
down on the edge of the bed. He seemed to have a childlike fear to him
as she looked down at him sitting on the floor. Her face reflected his
distress. "Are you all right, Zel?"
The chimera looked at the floor, scratching one of the rocks
below his eye. Lina could hear the faint scraping in the silence. "I'm
fine, I guess."
"You guess?" Lina repeated slowly. She had never heard him set
himself up for another personal question before in her life. At least,
never in reguard to how he was feeling. It made her realize the severity
of the problem, whatever the problem was. "Zel, what happened this morning?
I know you talk in your sleep sometimes, but I've never heard you..."
He cut her off more out of curiousity than anything else, "How
did you know I talk in my sleep?"
"Gourry complained about it when we first started traveling together,"
she told him. "But really, Zel, what happened this morning? You looked
like you had a heart attack."
"I... I really don't know what to tell you. It was only a dream."
Lina gave him a sympathetic glance, tilting her head to the side.
"The Rezo one again?"
He shook his head. "No. A different one. Which is strange in
itself. Whenever I dream, it's always about Rezo. This is the first different
one that I've had since I've become a chimera... at least that I can remember."
"So..." Lina wondered, "What was it about?"
"It was about..." He thought for a moment, tried to put it into
words. No matter how he thought about it, it seemed silly. How could he
make her understand? Finally, he came up with something to relate it with.
"Lina... do you ever wish that you had never learned about the Lord of
Nightmares? That is, did you ever think you'd be better off not knowing
the Giga Slave?"
She was completely unprepared for the question. She looked up
at the ceiling and scratched her head. "Not know the Giga Slave? Well,
yeah. It's a lot of responsibility, and I was really creeped out after
the whole Shabranigdo thing..." Then she grew quiet, and she stared directly
at the stones beneath his eyes. "Actually, I hated myself for knowing it
for a while. When Gourry was captured, and I saw you and Amelia killed,
all I could think was 'Why me?' I thought, if I hadn't know the Giga Slave,
then Phibrizzo wouldn't have had a reason to come after me. The world wouldn't
have been in danger. My friends wouldn't have been in danger."
An almost chilling silence fell over the room, and the darkness
of memory filled both their hearts despite the sun dancing in the sheer
curtains. A moment of silence for the tortured souls who dwelled in Sairaag,
a moment for the once dead and the possessed.
Finally, quietly, Zelgadis asked, "But did you ever want to unlearn
it?"
"Of course not," she affirmed with a touch of her pride. "If
I didn't know it, the world would have been destroyed by Shabranigdo, and
Phibrizzo would still be plotting somewhere. I mean, yeah, life would be
easier, but there's no point in things being easy if you're not alive,
or if the people you care about are all dead."
"I had a dream where I was human, Lina."
She almost smiled. Then the sorceress realized what her friend
was trying to say. "Someone didn't die, did they, Zel?"
He looked at her a little surprised, and wondered why his dream
had not turned out that way. Of course, he was the only one who could have
ended up dead. "No, Lina."
"Then what?"
Zelgadis sighed. "I won't be able to travel with you guys anymore."
"What?" Lina exclaimed in disbelief. "Where'd you ever come up
with an idea like that?"
"I'll be powerless, Lina. I'll be completely useless in a fight."
"Hey," the redhead protested, a slightly nervous smile complementing
confident eyes. "You may not be that strong, but you still know magic."
"No I don't," he disagreed, but then thought to correct himself.
"I'm part brow demon. When I was human, I memorized every spell imaginable,
but I could really only cast three. I was horrible with magic."
"Which three?" she asked, but then cringed because it was off
subject, and probably insulting.
He humored her. "Lighting, Shadow Snap, and an impressive looking
Flare Arrow that could probably only challenge Sylphiel's."
It only made Lina cringe more. Those were three very unimpressive
spells. She tried to shrug it off. "So you're a swordsman."
"But I'm not," he corrected again. "I'm about average with a
sword at best. I really wouldn't stand up to anyone good without my speed
and stone skin."
She smiled in defeat, and breathed a slight laugh. "Did you ever
consider becoming a thief?"
He returned a sardonic smile. "Yeah, but then I've got too much
pride to be a petty thief, and the bigger the job, the more of a chance
I'll be killed for a stupid reason."
Lina stood up. "But really, Zel," she assured him, her smile
turning genuine. "Before you're an ally, you're our friend. You're always
welcome to come along with us, no matter what. You just have to realize
that if we do run into trouble that's more than you can handle, you'll
have to think about yourself first." He just sort of stared at her, barely
taking in the words. He was not expecting them. "You're going to have to
accept that you're not a chimera anymore, and that you may have to run
away."
Zelgadis did not like that sound of that, yet he realized he
could not object. He just sat quietly.
Lina kneeled down in front of him. "Even if you don't have the
potential to use magic, there are lots of spells and charms to amplify
magic capacity. There are also lots of magic weapons and armor out there
to make you stronger, but this is the only chance for a cure that we've
come upon so far. I kinda figured you never actually thought about what
you'd do if you got your cure, but I think you should put that on hold
until you actually are human. This may be you're only chance, Zel, and
you shouldn't hold yourself back on our account."
She wanted to let everything settle in, so she stood up and walked
to the door. Before she stepped out, the sorceress passed a final look
over the perplexed chimera. "Don't worry about it, Zel," she reaffirmed.
"We'll stand behind you one hundred percent, and even if you decide you
don't want to fight anymore... well, that just means we'll be able to crash
at your house for free."
Zelgadis found comfort in Lina's grin as she walked out of his
room. Somehow she always managed to put things in perspective for him.
Magic items, maybe lessons from Gourry... a house. I've never even considered
that one.
When Amelia walked into his room late the next day, she was surprised
to find Zelgadis sitting on the floor amidst a veritable sea of old parchments.
He was reading over a particularly worn one with an almost regretful look
in his eyes.
"May I come in?" she requested meekly.
He looked up at her with a faint mumble of surprise. The chimera
just stared at her a moment, suddenly taken with her appearance. Maybe
it was because he was on the floor that his eyes followed an imaginary
path up the curves of her body. Curves was the key word here; Amelia had
gotten older, taller, more filled out. She was trying to grown her hair
out straight, he figured, and she was probably frustrated because it would
always fan out near the bottom. Her outfit looked slightly more like that
of a traditional priestess' robes, and she was wearing heels. Finally,
he caught her eyes, and was amazed to see that they had not changed at
all over the two years. But then again, he thought, looking at his hands,
neither have I.
Wondering about the look he had given her, and his lack of a
reply, she tried for his attention once again. "I'm not interrupting, am
I?"
"No," he responded quietly.
She flashed him a knowing smile. "Can I come in?"
He was just quiet for a moment, wanting to know what he should
say or what she wanted.
Amelia just shut the door and waltzed into his room, unceremoniously
dropping to the floor beside him. "And, as usual, he doesn't know how to
respond."
True to form, he did not know what to say after that comment,
either. He just watched her lean against the bed while locking her hands
in front of her knees. Yet she did not call him on it. It took him a while
to think of a reply. "That's very convicting of you." It would have been
a quip if his concentration had be up to par.
Her smile faded into concern. "You really are out of it," she
deduced.
"Yeah."
"Mister Zelgadis..." She reached out to take his hand, and he
pulled it away. Instead, she brought her hand up to the side of her face,
leaning into it as she averted her attention to the bed itself. "Miss Lina
told me you were feeling a bit self-conscious. That is, more than usual."
"Not really... I just... I really don't know what I'm going to
do. Once I'm human," he admitted.
Nervously, she asked, "Well, what were you planning to do? I
mean, you wanted to become human for a reason, right?"
He exhaled while his lips curved into a weak smirk. "I just don't
want to be a freak anymore. And I want to be myself again."
"But what do you want to do?" She emphasized the question by
sitting up straight.
The chimera merely glanced at the paper in his hand. "Become
human."
Amelia sighed. "You have to want to do something... What are
you reading?"
Not taking his eyes off the document, he spoke softly, "I've
spent all of my adult life looking for a cure."
"Mmm... Zelgadis?" Their eyes met again, and the blue green slits
seemed human somehow, almost wide, and painfully sad. "i don't understand,"
the young woman whispered.
He tried hard to smile, but he only looked awkward. His eyes,
however, gained a look of appreciation. "Everything I've done was to find
my cure. I really have no purpose without it. I have no family, no home.
There's really nothing for me to turn to."
"You have us," Amelia suggested.
Zelgadis just looked sad, though grateful. "But that's not permanent."
Suddenly he felt a familiar charge in the air, that of an upcoming justice
speech. Quickly, he added, "Really, Amelia. Even if I decide to just keep
traveling, you spend most of your time at the castle, and Lina and Gourry...
they're a... I'm sure they prefer to travel alone from time to time. And,
even if they didn't, they're both going to settle down someday. Where would
that leave me?"
"You're always welcome in Saillune," she offered, with much less
enthusiasm than she had expected. He did not seem to be in the mood to
give any response that she would want to hear.
As if on her mental cue, he said, "That isn't right, either."
They were in their own little sound proof bubble again.
Amelia picked up one of the papers on the floor; it was scrawled
on in runes, and the handwriting was nearly illegible. Quietly, as if she
had not meant to ask it aloud, she murmured, " Who wrote this?"
Her answer came quickly from an empty voice. "Rezo."
Slowly, she turned to look at him. Both of their expressions
were blank. "I thought you hated him. Why would you keep this?"
Zelgadis gazed over the collection of papers. "Their his notes
on magic, particularly on chimeras, golems, mind control spells, anything
like that." He picked up another particularly thick stack of papers. "These
are from an abandoned lab in the Outter World. I don't know who wrote them.
And this..." The chimera displayed what appeared to be the latter half
of a book. "I ripped this off of a library in Xoana."
The princess took the books from his hands and paged through
it. The pages crumbled as she touched them, showing their age as their
smell, a dusty, warm aroma, overpowered her. She coughed on the dust. "Old
book section," she concluded.
He smiled. "Ancient, actually."
The chimera was looking away from her, but Amelia noted the warmth
in his expression. He seemed to like talking about himself when they were
on more neutral subjects. However, she was hoping she could draw him out
into murkier waters. "You said you'd come back to Saillune..."
"I will," he assured her, and, as he spoke, he looked straight
forward. With resolve, he ammended, "For a while. Until I get things straightened
out."
Amelia could only stare at him for a moment. He looked so picturesque,
so confident. Unconsciously, her lower lip tightened as she pouted; all
she felt was confused.
"What's wrong?"
"Why couldn't you stay?"
The words were like bullets, massacreing his confidence. "I..."
"We could give you a job," she interjected, her voice gaining
unnatural volume as she leaned towards him on her arms. "It's not like
you'd be freeloading. And you'd be free to leave when you want, I mean,
it would be just like renting a normal room. And you wouldn't have to worry
about meals or anything."
"But I don't belong there," he reasoned. "There's no way I'd
be staying there if not for you."
The princess' heart sunk into her stomach and just sat there
like a lead weight. "I don't get you, Mister Zelgadis," she began quietly,
with an almost spiteful undertone. "You complain you have no family, but
we're always here for you. You never let us help. You know you're always
welcome in Saillune, you always were. The reason you don't have family
is because you don't want it."
"But you're not my family," the chimera pointed out. "And nothing
can change that."
"Why not?" Amelia snapped indignantly.
Zelgadis ran a hand through silver wire. "Because, you won't
ever feel like family. I mean, that would be incest or something."
It was an answer she had not expected. As blunt as it was, it
brought a faint warmth with it, like he was admitting his feelings in an
indirect, roundabout way. "But, wait, Zelgadis," she added with a faint
frown. "Family doesn't just mean brothers and sisters, you know?"
He huffed out a sharp breath. "And if nothing happens, or if
we do... if we broke up, then I'd have to pick up and leave all over again."
Amelia got quiet again. I hadn't thought of that. Indeed, it
was a terribly depressing thought. She bit her thumbnail as she mumbled,
"You can't be optimistic, can you?"
"It would be dumb not to bring up the possibility just to spare
your feelings. If you never thought about the downside, you'd be crushed
if it ever happened."
"Of course, we'd have to be in a relationship for that to ever
happen," she highlighted.
The chimera shook his head, then stood up. "I just can't see
it working, Amelia. You're a princess. Sure, you could help me out a lot,
but I'd feel like I'm taking advantage. Unless you're looking to guilt
trip me into a relationship, I..."
Amelia bolted up and locked her arms around him, burying her
face in his cloak. "Why can't you ever realize that there's a lot that
can be done for free," she sobbed frantically into the stone wall that
was his chest.
"I know, Amelia," assured her in a hushed tone before placing
a hand on the back of her neck. His other hand wrapped around her waist
as he leaned his cheek against the top of her head. The extra stones on
his face got in the way, and he was careful not to lean too hard into her.
She was crying hard, though, and he wanted to be reassuring. "I just don't
know how we're going to get an oppurtunity to explore that."
And he was worried about that, about living in Saillune versus
travelling with Lina and Gourry. There were lots of thoughts running through
his head about his future, all were jumbled and troubling, yet they all
brought a newfound excitement with him. He found that enjoyed worrying
about them.
Xelloss was starving for his own excitement as he mentally crossed off the days.
And the day finally came.
His friends found him the next morning standing outside the temple
and staring up at the clear blue sky, looking every bit as sleep deprived
as he was. Although he heard them walk out into the open air behind him,
he was too tired to turn around. Lina nudged him with her elbow. "Today's
the big day!"
His weary smile was the most genuine she had ever seen. "Yeah,"
was all he could think to say.
"You didn't sleep at all, did you, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia chirped,
ever the early bird.
He breathed a short laugh through his nose. Perhaps it was the
lack of sleep pulling at his brain, but the world seemed surrealistically
perfect at the moment. The air refreshed his lungs with every breath, the
morning dew giving it a cool bite every time he inhaled. The world had
painted itself in soft pastels, the dusty gold of the bricks, the soft
green of the trees, even the pink in Amelia's outfit seemed more subdued.
Then again, maybe his vision had simply started to blur. Either way, the
air was charged, and, for once, he felt relaxed.
"Hey," Gourry warned, placing a hand on the his friend's shoulder.
"You better wake up. You look like you're gonna pass out."
"I just might," the chimera agreed, wiping one leaden eyelid
with his thumb. Stone grated on stone, and he eagerly awaited the eclipse
so he would never know the deadened sensation again.
Lina grinned. "So you've been up how many hours?"
"Probably forty or so, but I can't fall asleep. I'm just that
excited," he confessed.
"You should be, Zel," Gourry encouraged him while steadying the
chimera. "But... you are going to be okay if I let you go, right?"
Zelgadis could only nod.
"I would hope you can stand on your own, Zelgadis. At least long
enough for me to cast the spell."
Zelgadis turned to see the priest in an elaborate golden robe
with black and turquoise trim, apparently for the ceremony. "Believe me,
I'll manage," he assured him.
Daubrik's expression softened into one of empathy as he tensed
his fingers around his Holy Book. It was finally time for him to return
the favor that his elders had done for him. "Well then, we had best get
prepared. The eclipse will begin in a few minutes."
Before Zelgadis could take so much as two steps, he felt a tug
on his cape. Amelia stood blushing, her eyes averted, though her peripheral
vision was locked onto his weary expression.
He sighed, and rolled his eyes before giving her a quick hug.
She pulled him close and rested her chin on his shoulder as his cold wire
hair pressed against her face. She closed her eyes in case of scratches,
and whispered, "I can't wait to see you again."
The chimera thought the whole display a bit cheesy as he released
her, but he was thankful nonetheless. He only followed Daubrik into the
main hall. Once again the stained glass maiden looked down upon them from
the front of the hall, the stained glass sun behind her telling a tale
of banished darkness. Above them, the great transparent window let the
white sunlight beam down on them as the other facets bombarded the room
in a smorgasboard of colours.
"All you have to do is stand in the center of this circle," the
priest instructed as he pointed out the huge magic circle carved in the
stone floor. "I'll begin chanting from the alter as soon as the eclipse
begins. The eclipse will last about fifteen minutes, and, although the
spell takes about half that time to cast, it's best that you remain in
the circle until the eclipse ends."
Reality snapped Zelgadis' mind back into place, and he agreed
grimly. Best to take all of this seriously now, he told himself. I don't
want anything to go wrong. Besides, after this, I won't have to hold back
anymore. Though I wonder what I'll do...? He mentally slapped himself for
letting his mind wander again, but in the back of his mind, he fancied
that he'd yell his triumph loud enough for the entire world to hear.
Soon enough, the edge of the circle began to grow dark as shadow
crept over the stone floor. Daubrik began to chant in a low drone of a
voice, offering ancient words to his golden deity. The floor let off a
dim glow beneath Zelgadis' feet, and the symbols on the floor illuminated
themselves in a pale, shimmering light. The chanting became a low buzz
as Zelgadis' senses reeled. A column of light shot up from the floor, enveloping
him as a the light burned his skin like a thousand needles digging into
the memory of once soft flesh. He shut his eyes as the onslaught continued,
the light from below blazing while the sun above had only started its transformation.
The eternity of pain was merely seconds, he realized, as the burning faded
to a soothing warmth that washed over his stone skin.
So he opened his eyes. The room had vanished in a pool of white,
and all he could see was himself and the runes in various shades of non-colour.
Disconcerted, he scratched his head, and met with no resistance. His eyes
widened as his pupils retreated into their coloured shells from the brightness
of it all. The wirey resistance of metal was gone, and, although he could
not feel the softness of it, he knew his stone hand had just run through
smooth hair. Zelgadis was in shock as he tried to get a good look at the
lockes that fell over his eyes. In the end, he only gave himself a headache.
He smiled, and wanted to cry. "It's actually working," he whispered to
himself in disbelief. He covered his face with his hands and inhaled a
sharp breath while, for the first time in years, actually touching his
forehead. His skin was still stone, but the extra rocks were no longer
embedded in his skin. He held his breath in eager anticipation.
The response was a scream. A shrill, loud, scream. From outside
the temple. From Amelia.
Zelgadis turned to the sound, trying to see through the walls
of white that surrounded him. The only colour to be found was a sudden,
faint burst of red, unmistakably one of Lina's spells. Then the chanting
stopped, and the light of the circle began to dim to a faint, transparent
column of white. Blue flashed in pillar outside as Amelia set off a Rah
Tilt, and the familiar din of battle replaced the silence of the priest.
The young man turned to Daubrik, who clenched his open book with
troubled hands. Neither knew what was going on.
Zelgadis looked down at the shadow that crept over the floor.
It was barely a fourth of the way across the circle. He bit his thumbnail,
only to find that it actually broke off between his teeth. It was clear,
showing the blue stone beneath it. Gourry's shrill cry of pain interrupted
his awe. Never taking his attention from his fingernails, Zelgadis asked
in a quiet, somber voice, " It'll reset if I step out of this circle, won't
it?" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Daubrik nodding in agreement.
Lina belted out another spell, and the ground reverberated beneath
them as Zelgadis ran towards his friends. It was like being underwater,
and everything moved in slow motion as he left the pool of white. When
he hit air, he felt the pricks as his hair turned sharp again, and the
searing burn of rocks reforming on his face. He clenched his teeth as his
eyes narrowed, trying to push the urgency down as it speeded up his throat.
He choked it down like the venom it was while he raced out the door.
"Hurry back!" Daubrik called after him. "There's still time!"
What Zelgadis saw when he reached the climax of the steps was
the finale of a battle, and his friends were losing. Gourry lay sprawled
and bloody on the steps with Amelia's hands hovering over him in a halo
of white radiance. Lina stood before a giant fiend the colour of midnight.
Its streamlined humanoid form showed a slight shade of insect, bulbous
red eyes craving the victim reflected within them. The master sorceress
only wielded a short sword against it.
After intaking the situation, Zelgadis hurried down the steps
to assist the underdogs.
"Mister Zelgadis!?," the priestess gawked at the sight of the
chimera rushing towards them. "Why are you down here?! You should be--"
"What's going on?" he huffed, stopping in the middle of the scene,
and, apparently, distracting the monster. It paused to look at him, and
Lina took the chance to lunge at it. The creature was more than content
to whack the redhead with one of its claws. It grinned maliciously as she
flew towards the steps.
Its lips curved ever further when she did not get up.
"LINA!" Zelgadis yelled in distress as he utilized his unnatural
reflexes, catching her with arms no softer than the stone she would have
landed on otherwise. Gourry echoed the chimera's cry, trying to force himself
up despite Amelia's arms pushing him down. Lina merely grunted a word of
thanks while her shoulders reminded her of her unsoft landing.
"I'm alright, Gourry," she called to her protector.
Zelgadis, baffled by how a monster could stand against the combined
sword and sorcery of his friends, began to ask, "Why haven't you already..."
"Magic doesn't hurt this guy," Lina bitterly informed him.
"And a Ragna Blade?" Zel mumbled, not moving his mouth while
he eyed the creature.
"He doesn't teleport, but he's too fast," Lina replied. "I can't
keep up with him."
Zelgadis placed Lina on her feet. Instantly she balanced herself,
favouring her right leg, while her comrade drew his sword.
"Astral Vine hurts it!" Gourry frantically advised as the chimera
rushed the monster.
It did not even take a second for Zelgadis to process his friend's
advice. Instantly his eyes locked on to a gash on the fiend's abdomen,
curteousy one Gourry Gabriev.
"ASTRAL VINE!" he summoned the astral energy to his sword, and
the firey blade cut into the monster like an axe through a sheet of paper.
It happened in a blur of inhuman speed, and the monster was sliced in half
even as it tried to get away. The slain creature vanished into a whirlpool
of black. Zelgadis allowed himself one calming breath before heading back
towards the temple.
And just as he turned a blur of yellow passed the bottom corner
of his right eye. An arm hooked around his throat, strangling him with
a savage strength. He could not see it, but he knew it was an arm as he
placed his hands on either side of the elbow and tried to wrench it off
as it dragged him off his feet. Zelgadis felt it tighten around his throat
with a childlike ease as he tried to adjust, contract, conscrict, anything
to get air. His stone fingers clawed at cloth and flesh and more stone
alike, to tear the arm apart or get underneath it to pull it off. His vision
blurred, and the blue sky started to melt into an all encompassing black.
Suddenly, the pressure released. His eyes rolled forward again as air rushed
to his lungs. A fist rushed with it, directly into Zelgadis' face. Shards
of rock flew as the blood that had been waiting in his throat gushed into
the free air. Something hard contacted his stomach in a mess of burgundy,
and he felt his skin crunch into his ribs as they snapped. More blood escaped
his mouth as the phantom arm gave the back of his neck a sharp elbow, ramming
Zelgadis face first into the ground. Then the wisp of an onslaught vanished
without a trace, and the three worried onlookers scrambled to the side
of the fallen.
"MISTER ZELGADIS!" Amelia creeched as she watched his blood
run down the cracks between the irregular bricks.
The dazed chimera gritted his teeth, trying to push himself up
with his arms while the air he breathed turned to nails inside his chest.
The stabbing pain made him want to collapse in on himself as the world
around him turned dark.
Zelgadis was not unconscious, but the shadow of a completely
covered sun fell over them. As his shadow disappated into all the others,
he screamed while trying to struggle to his knees.
"Don't move, Zel!" Lina freaked. The weight of the darkness fell
hard onto her shoulders.
Amelia fell to her knees, placing her arms over the chimera as
she chanted in a possessed, almost disbodied manner, "Resurrection."
"We don't have time for that!" Lina frantically cried as she
wapped Amelia on the shoulder. "Gourry! Get him up those steps!" she barked
while her throat tensed.
It was a struggle in and of itself for the already wounded swordsman
to heft the chimera up onto his shoulder. Zelgadis could not repress himself
from screaming bloody murder as the blonde's shoulder rythmically dug into
his ribs with each step they climbed. The going was slow enough that he
eventually managed to clamp his teeth together, hissing stifled screams
and sharp breaths through them as his blood poured out to leave a trail
behind in the darkness for the girls to follow. It was probably for the
best, it kept the teeth on the side of his mouth from falling out.
When they arrived in the temple, and almost hysteric Daubrik
fumbled to assist Gourry in getting the chimera off his shoulder. "We have
to get him into the circle!" Daubrik and Gourry both looped one of Zelgadis'
arms around their necks, the weight of which forced the priest to his knees.
Although conscious of his weight, Zelgadis failed to hold his concentration
through the pain any more than to try to move his legs in the direction
he was being pulled. They managed to drag the chimera to the center of
the partially lit circle. The shadows had already initiated their recession.
Daubrik took his place at the altar, spewing words as fast as his tongue
would form them. His eyes could not hold pace with his mouth, and in his
frantic attempt to help the chimera, his mind relayed the words from memory,
from the fateful day that he had been healed.
His friends watched helpless at the edge of the brilliant stage,
able to do nothing but hold their breath. And pray.
Gourry merely stood witness with wide blue eyes, hoping that
his friend could be happy.
Lina cursed herself for not trying to figure out the time reversal
spell that Rezo so easily had used. It had been such a fascination before...
but then again, she would not be able to use it on the sun for crying out
loud. That would just be playing god. Her thoughts turned to the Lord of
Nightmares as she tried to focus on the form of her friend laying in that
blaze of white.
Amelia prayed. She prayed to her mother and her sister, to her
ancestors, to Zoalmagustar and the Lord of Nightmares. I just want him
to be human. Please.
Feeling half dead in the warm glow, the chimera did not attempt
to move. I just want to be human, his mind echoed the request, though he
did not know who it was for. The thought crossed his mind that he did not
know what his mother looked like, but, as the warmth grew and he felt his
wounds knit themselves back together, he thought the feeling must have
been the same as when she held him. His mind balanced on the verge of a
dark abyss until he took in a long, deep breath. So deep that his back
cracked a bit, in a relaxing sort of way. In a way that had long been impossible
due to his golem construction. That was when he realized that he was drooling
on the floor; his saliva crept under his cheek, which was pressed against
the floor. Lying on the floor had, in fact, become very uncomfortable.
It was very, very hard, and he felt its hardness. Finally, it dawned on
the young man that he felt the texture and coolness of the stone floor.
His vision cleared itself as he sat up in the sea of light, disoriented
by the sensation of weight and his skin shifting to mold to his clothing,
the floor, his surroundings. He watched the light overpower the darkness
as the last remnant of shadow gave way to the sunlight on the floor. Shortly
thereafter, the supernatural coccoon of light around Zelgadis faded.
Yet Daubrik still stood at the alter, chanting the spell, never
stopping. And when Zelgadis looked into his eyes, he saw nothing but distress.
No relief. No happiness. No hope.
Zelgadis brushed the tawny hair out of his eye. Then he held
it in place, amazed at the softness of it. He had never really noticed
it before. He wanted to cry. It barely took more than a minute for Daubrik
to finish the rest of the spell.
"Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia cried, yet nearly laughed. It was all
she could do to stand still. She was in utter disbelief. The creamy tan
outfit was now filled by a pale, very young looking man with ochre hair.
He looks my age, she noted gleefully. His chiseled features were smoothed
now. And his eyes... His brilliant blue eyes, eyes with only a hint of
green at their edge, eyes that were wide enough to even have a distinct
edge... His eyes looked like they wanted to cry, because he understood.
Daubrik faltered at even clearing his throat, but the site of
fate's victim trapped in her web strengthed his voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't
have enough time to finish the spell."
Zelgadis could only stare at his hands, at the pale fingers that
emerged from tan gloves. Only now did he realize how thick his outfit was,
and how rough the material was to the touch. Any rougher and it might have
been itchy. His palms were sweating; it was an amazing sensation.
Lina clenched her teeth, afraid to open her mouth. She wanted
to ask why Zel was still human if the spell was not completed. The bruises
from the sudden attack had started to throb, and her head was still spinning,
but she could never fight the urge to be the leader. It made her feel powerful
to be in charge, even though her chest ached with helplessness as she watched
her distraught friend on the floor. No questions seemed appropriate, especially
when she felt the hand of a princess quiver when it grasped her arm.
Even though the redhead turned to look at her, Amelia could not
pry her eyes off of Zelgadis. All Amelia wanted to do was cry. It was all
she could think to do, besides holding the man she loved, but the thought
of accidently shattering the magical field around him kept her at bay.
Yet crying was inappropriate. Zelgadis was in a thousand times more pain
than she was; the least she could do was let him cry first.
The tall swordsman placed an arm on the young girl's shoulder,
supporting her because he could not support the friend that needed it.
Questions, alarmingly coherent questions, swirled in brain. And, for once,
they were ones that needed to be answered. He felt unconfortable not knowing
what was happening, yet the situation seemed to dire to ask. Everyone else
has to know what's going on, he reasoned based on the feeling in the air,
a cold feeling that made him want to hold something. His free hand found
Lina's, and her tiny hand squeezed his in response to their mutual fear.
He could not get over how good the cool air felt on his skin.
Inside the temple was dark and almost lifeless besides the bright window
he sat beneath. His senses screamed that they did not want to give the
feeling up. Years of emotional control and rationalization beat their cries
down with a cold stone fist. "How long will this last?" he murmured for
all to hear, thanks to the echoes of the inner sanctum.
"I don't know," Daubrik replied honestly, regretfully. "This
has never happened before. It could be when you leave the circle, it could
be in another minute." He wanted to say 'it may just stay like this,' but
that seemed cruel. Better he be surprised about a good turn of events than
broken at their demise. "I'd probably say no longer than a day, just because
most of our spells are based on the position of the sun."
Zelgadis buried his face in his hands, pressed his palms against
wet eyes as his face and chest became unbearably hot. He knew his face
would be red, that his eyes would water and his heavy breathing would show.
Being human meant that his friends would clearly see his vulnerability,
and he imagined how good it would feel if they could comfort him. He felt
his own face and hair and the roughness of his gloves as they sopped up
the moisture that threatened to pour from his eyes. Every sensation was
heaven and torture ensnared in a sick tango. The only way he managed to
stand was by reassuring himself that it was a joke, and that they would
all go away soon enough. Avoiding eye contact with everyone, he walked
to the edge of the circle, stopping with it an arm's length away. With
trembling, unsteady fingers he reached for the barrier wall, hesitating
at where he felt the field's energy concentrate into an almost tangible
form. "How long until the next eclipse," he choked, wanting to sound hopeful,
wishing he felt that way.
The four travelers grew quiet and attentive to the point where
the leaves could be heard rustling on the trees outside. Amelia hiccuped
a tiny sob in her throat that wanted to be freed.
He hated to disappoint them all. "The next total eclipse... will
not occur for another forty years."
"No!" Amelia cried aloud, tears gushing from her her burning
eyes.
Her reaction was right in tune with the young man who cursed
a bitter 'no' beneath his breath. The word triggered the tears, allowing
them to softly run down his face and neck, where they soaked into his collar.
Lina and Gourry tightened the grips they had on each other's
hand. Neither held back much, and the discomfort, the anger and sorrow
expressed in force, was more comforting than it could ever hurt.
Zelgadis turned his head to look at Amelia. Their eyes met, soft
navy and soft teal. She was surprised to see that he was not holding back,
and the tears ran down his face while hers trickled in sync with his. He
was smiling. It was a weak smile, sad, but gentle. It made her feel warm
inside, close to him. Zelgadis only felt hot, a combination of comforting
warmth and burning horror. Still, when she sniffled, and dried her eyes,
then smiled back, it was okay.
So he touched the barrier. A wave of energy crackled and shockwaved
through the room. Then there was no barrier, only five people, five humans,
standing in a temple. Amelia ran to Zelgadis, wrapping her arms around
his waist as she nearly slammed into him. Inadvertently, she knocked him
backwards, but she managed to hold him up as he took a step back to regain
his balance. Her grip was that strong, and he returned it, burying his
face in her thick, smooth hair while pulling her as close to him as possible.
It felt good to not have to hold back. He felt the tug of the material
at the back of his neck when she pulled his cloak forward to dry her tears,
and he felt bad about soaking her hair with his own. He wanted to cheer
her up. No matter how bad he felt, it hurt a little more when she was sad.
He relaxed his desperate hold on her to step back, wiping warm, wet tears
off her hot cheeks with his thumb. His fingertips were burning with sensation
when he laid his hand over the side of her face, lightly tracing her jawbone,
his index finger resting below the back of her ear. Amelia pulled his hand
away, only to return it after removing his glove. Then she pulled his other
off, and removed her own. The pieces of cloth fell around their feet as
Amelia held his hand to her face. It was amazing how warm his hands were
when they were so clammy, so heartfelt and nervous.
He pulled his cape around her, lowering his head so her hair
brushed against his cheek. Then he pressed his lips against the side of
her neck, right below her jaw, and their embrace became tight again. He
realized how protective he felt towards her, and how good her touch felt.
It made him realize he was human. So he held her. And they cried. And he
waited with closed eyes. He waited so long his legs grew tired, and then
they sat on the floor together. The soft lavender smell of her reminded
him of being a chimera, of relying on anything but touch to be with her.
In his mind he wondered when he would change back. He remembered
the burning pain that accompanied his first transformation into a chimera,
and Zelgadis certainly did not want Amelia around then. Heaven forbid he
had his arms around her at the time. I'd probably crush her. As
he thought this and held her soft, warm body against his, a flood of weariness
began to drown him. He felt weightless, like his legs couldn't touch the
floor, and he fell forward onto Amelia.
"Mister Zelgadis!" she gasped as all of Zelgadis' (now thankfully
human) weight shifted onto her. She tightened her grip around his chest
as Gourry stepped forward to lay Zelgadis onto the ground.
"Huh?" Zelgadis mumbled groggily as Amelia laid his head in her
lap.
"Are you alright?" She asked, her heart began to skip beats.
He smiled, too exhausted to worry anymore. "Mm hm," he assured
her. "I'm just so tired." As he adjusted his hear, it felt strange to have
his hair brushing up against the material of her pants. Any little motion
was like a thousand tiny sensations. That, too, was relaxing. As his vision
blurred, he saw that the others had left, and the pull at the back of his
brain told him it was time for Amelia to leave, too. But she was so warm.
He crawled up into a sitting position. She had to hold him there, his arms
began shaking so badly.
"What is it?"
"i… i'm going to change back into a chimera…" He put his hand
on her arm, in part to feel her, in part to try to hold himself up.
She couldn't hold back a soft smile. He was so much lighter,
so vulnerable without the stone exterior. "I know."
"i c..could hurt you. i don't want to do that." Amelia let go
of his shoulders, and the young man fell into her arms. He locked his grip
around his waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
"It'll be okay."
"No," he breathed the word into her hair. "i really… want you
to go." He was losing conciousness.
She ran her fingers through his long hair, which was not standing
up quite as much as it used to. "But you might not be human very long.
Can't we just hold each other like this for a while?"
Every motion of her hand, every time her shoulders moved with
her breathing, it was another reason to give in. He could not resist. "promise
me… promise me you… won't stay if i start to change back."
With no intention of listening to him, Amelia whispered, "I promise."
She felt happy holding him so intimately for the first time. There was
no way she would interrupt the feeling.
He was beyond caring as he buried his face in the nape of her
neck, pressing his lips against her tan skin. He was not sure if it was
because he was tired, but for the first time he felt the security of that
strange concept that had for so long eluded him. Amelia feels like home.
To be continued....
Word to all: The dream sequence in the very beginning is based on a
very similar dream sequence from Slayers N-EX volume 3 (the official CD).
Of course, the cd takes the situation to more outrageous heights in the
traditional Slayers style, but I can't take credit for the idea.
As a matter of fact, I probably lifted three or four lines verbatim, except
I had to translate them to English in my head. (If I get enough emails,
I might just post a translation of the scene from the cd.) ^_^
