Chapter Five
In which Zel's past catches up with him, Treasure is found, Xelloss cooks
something from nothing and the world gets a taste of Zel's power.
Zel sighed as he looked over the water. He shouldn't have blown his top at the young girl, he knew that...but....when she had call him Mister Zelgadiss.....That had just set him off. What worried him most was that his threat hadn't been hollow. 'I really would have keelhauled, maimed, and tortured her. It's been so long since anyone set me off that bad....
"Hey...? Zel? You alright" Lina asked, coming up behind the white- haired pirate. "You look....worried. Is everything alright?"
"No, Lina, everything is not alright...I haven't let go like that in....so very long....I....I promised her, Lina....I promised her I would never hurt another Human...."
"But, you didn't, that's what matters....you didn't make good on your threats...."
"No, Lina, that's not it.." Zel turned away from the rail. "Even though I didn't hurt her physically...I still hurt her....I hurt her, Lina, and innocent girl....."
"Hey, Zel, it's alright, a girl like that needs a tongue lashing once in a while – " She was cut off by Zel leaning against her. The red- headed pirate noticed his shoulders shaking... "Hmmm? Zel...You're...crying?"
-----
Zel watched as everyone he knew and cared for fell before him. His Brothers, Sisters, his Best Friends...The all fell to this power he couldn't control. He screamed as he saw the one person he cared for more than anyone fall to the ground, blood pooling underneath the body
"----------!!" He tried to say something, anything, but nothing came. Slowly he sat down and let the tears come. He had killed them. Just when things were coming back together, he killed them. 'Why?' he thought, 'Why does this always happen to me? Did I do something to anger you gods in a past life?' Suddenly a bright light surrounded him............
'Wha--?' A young woman appeared before him, garbed in a green to match the hills of his home. 'Who....is this?'
"Aah, my son...It has been so long since I saw you last..."
"What..? What are you talking about? My parents ....died the last time this happened. Who the Hell are you?"
"I am Eriu. And you, Zelgadiss, are my son."[1]
"No. There's no way. No way in all the hells that I could be...that you...No...No..."
"If you won't believe me....at least...promise me you won't kill? It hurts so when my people are killed....."
"I...I didn't mean......." Zel gasped as he came awake. 'Memories.....always old memories.....It was so long ago....I haven't killed since....' With that thought he broke down into sobs again, thankful that he had decided to sleep on the ship tonight.
Over the next couple of days, the crew noticed Amelia desperately trying to do well so as to get into Zelgadiss' good graces. Needless to say, it didn't work.
"Mister Zel, where do you want this stuff?" The young woman asked the stoic man.
"Uh, that goes over here, Amelia." Gourry said for their Captain, who was busy scoping out the lay of the land from his tree perch. "And we're taking a break now, so put that stuff down and come over here."
As the black haired youth sat down she couldn't help but notice all the worried faces about her. Even the apparently impossible to sadden Mur seemed to be worried. "Why is everybody so down?"
"It's Zel. Usually he'll join us for lunch, at least, or chat with us as we work, while he plots our course around the coast or whatever, but lately he's only been talking to Gourry, here."
"And that's what worries me. When he does talk, it's only to ask about food, or how the crew is holding up, or how the ship is faring, being in 'port' for so long. It's as though he's lost all interest in us as human beings. And himself for that matter." The long haired blond explained.
"Oui, et Aussi, 'e said 'e would not take his lunch today, as 'e was, and I quote, 'Too bust trying to figure out where t'e Hell we are'...AH! Zut alors, je l'ai brulée!"
"But....I thought he just seemed the same as before. What's so different?"
"Amelia, you've only been traveling with us for, ooo, a couple of months, say. Zel didn't open up to any of us until...ooo after, what, Raven, a year, two? So, ya see, you haven't really met the 'real' Zel yet..." Suddenly they were interrupted by Zelgadiss falling out of his tree, supposedly in surprise. Everyone ran over to check on their captain. Mur was the first to arrive on the scene. She called back to the others.
"He seems to be okay, just...ooooo totally surprised...Hey...Zel? Zeeeeeell?" She began to poke him, causing the blue-clad man to sit up, swat away her hand, look over at the rest of his worried crew and.....Grin happily?
"I know where we are!!"
After Zel explained about the Map he had obtained – how, he wouldn't say – and the promise of treasure, everyone was on board L-Sama and ready to sail along the coast until they found the place where treasure supposedly lay.
But before they arrived......
----
"There, men! That's the ship we're after! Hard a' port!! Hard a' port!!" Zel's keen ears picked up the faint sounds of the voices on a near by ship, giving him no false hopes of this being a friendly ship. He looked over at the crew, telling them with his facial expression what he had heard. "Well, Ladies and Gents, looks like it's show time."
With that proclamation, the crew of the L-Sama set to work, preparing for battle. When the other ship drew up to them, showing her to be a British guard, the battle was joined. Pirates and English Guards alike jumped, swung and otherwise transported themselves to the deck of the other ship. For a while it seemed the rag-tag band of pirates had the upper hand through experience alone, but soon the numbers of the Guards began to drag them down. Zel saw, out of the corner of his eye, Lina fall to a rather large man, causing him to lose concentration on his own battle for a moment.
"LINA!"
THWAK The flat of his enemy's blade hit him hard in the back. He turned and glared at the man, drawing himself up and setting himself back into a fighting stance, Astral Vine at the ready in front of him. A cry of the other side drew his attention from his fight once more, to see Mur being ganged up upon by the young men. A shout drew his eyes to Gourry, fighting a losing battle against another two guards, Raven, falling to his knees before his opponent, Kiyone flying into the railing, and only just barely managing to stay aboard, Xelloss, using a set of his best kitchen knives to stave off a group of men...slowly all his crew falling around him.....His eyes blazed as cold and uncaring as the sea, a storm visible in them. A faint aura began to manifest itself around him lending him strength he never knew he possessed. Yet still as five men ganged up on him he began to falter, drawing on his last reserves of strength and.......
Zel blearily opened his eyes to see blurry shapes floating above him. "Who, what?" he tried to say, but his body seemed to not be responding to his commands. A voice above him spoke.
"Zel? Hey, guys, I think he's waking up....." That voice, he knew that voice, what was the name.....? Ah, yes: Lina.
"I've got some soup ready for 'eem." That one....Xelloss.....
"I do hope Mister Zelgadi- erm...Zel is okay.....".....That one... less familiar.....annoying, very...Amelia
"OhHOHOHO- rrk! You didn't have to choke me, Lina!" Nag-something about a snake....
"Is he alright?" Ah...Good old Gourry, always asking the most fundamentally simple yet important questions.... Speaking of which....that was a good question. 'Am I alright?' As a test, Zelgadiss started to try to sit up.
"Ack! Zel, don't try to sit up yet! You've been out of it for...what was it...? Three days?" a plethora of affirming sounds. "You're still weak."
"heh....didn't...know you...cared, lina.....heheheh..."
"There that just shows it. You're to weak to even speak properly. Here, eat some of this soup Xelloss made, and then get some rest."
"okay, okay, no need...to mother me." Zel ate the soup offered, though someone else – Amelia, he presumed – was spoon feeding it to him, as Lina seemed adamant that he not try to move yet. Just he was about to drift to sleep something occurred to him. "where...the hell'd'we get.........stuff ta make soooooooooo.......zzzzz"
[1] Alright, I'm sure you all remember When Zel tells them the he promised his mother and then paused and added 'land' afterwards? Now, where does Zel come from in this fic? Ireland. And who, in Celtic mythology lent her name to Ireland? The goddess Eriu. For the sake of this fic she was in love with the god of the sea, Manannan Mac Lir. Keep that in mind.
something from nothing and the world gets a taste of Zel's power.
Zel sighed as he looked over the water. He shouldn't have blown his top at the young girl, he knew that...but....when she had call him Mister Zelgadiss.....That had just set him off. What worried him most was that his threat hadn't been hollow. 'I really would have keelhauled, maimed, and tortured her. It's been so long since anyone set me off that bad....
"Hey...? Zel? You alright" Lina asked, coming up behind the white- haired pirate. "You look....worried. Is everything alright?"
"No, Lina, everything is not alright...I haven't let go like that in....so very long....I....I promised her, Lina....I promised her I would never hurt another Human...."
"But, you didn't, that's what matters....you didn't make good on your threats...."
"No, Lina, that's not it.." Zel turned away from the rail. "Even though I didn't hurt her physically...I still hurt her....I hurt her, Lina, and innocent girl....."
"Hey, Zel, it's alright, a girl like that needs a tongue lashing once in a while – " She was cut off by Zel leaning against her. The red- headed pirate noticed his shoulders shaking... "Hmmm? Zel...You're...crying?"
-----
Zel watched as everyone he knew and cared for fell before him. His Brothers, Sisters, his Best Friends...The all fell to this power he couldn't control. He screamed as he saw the one person he cared for more than anyone fall to the ground, blood pooling underneath the body
"----------!!" He tried to say something, anything, but nothing came. Slowly he sat down and let the tears come. He had killed them. Just when things were coming back together, he killed them. 'Why?' he thought, 'Why does this always happen to me? Did I do something to anger you gods in a past life?' Suddenly a bright light surrounded him............
'Wha--?' A young woman appeared before him, garbed in a green to match the hills of his home. 'Who....is this?'
"Aah, my son...It has been so long since I saw you last..."
"What..? What are you talking about? My parents ....died the last time this happened. Who the Hell are you?"
"I am Eriu. And you, Zelgadiss, are my son."[1]
"No. There's no way. No way in all the hells that I could be...that you...No...No..."
"If you won't believe me....at least...promise me you won't kill? It hurts so when my people are killed....."
"I...I didn't mean......." Zel gasped as he came awake. 'Memories.....always old memories.....It was so long ago....I haven't killed since....' With that thought he broke down into sobs again, thankful that he had decided to sleep on the ship tonight.
Over the next couple of days, the crew noticed Amelia desperately trying to do well so as to get into Zelgadiss' good graces. Needless to say, it didn't work.
"Mister Zel, where do you want this stuff?" The young woman asked the stoic man.
"Uh, that goes over here, Amelia." Gourry said for their Captain, who was busy scoping out the lay of the land from his tree perch. "And we're taking a break now, so put that stuff down and come over here."
As the black haired youth sat down she couldn't help but notice all the worried faces about her. Even the apparently impossible to sadden Mur seemed to be worried. "Why is everybody so down?"
"It's Zel. Usually he'll join us for lunch, at least, or chat with us as we work, while he plots our course around the coast or whatever, but lately he's only been talking to Gourry, here."
"And that's what worries me. When he does talk, it's only to ask about food, or how the crew is holding up, or how the ship is faring, being in 'port' for so long. It's as though he's lost all interest in us as human beings. And himself for that matter." The long haired blond explained.
"Oui, et Aussi, 'e said 'e would not take his lunch today, as 'e was, and I quote, 'Too bust trying to figure out where t'e Hell we are'...AH! Zut alors, je l'ai brulée!"
"But....I thought he just seemed the same as before. What's so different?"
"Amelia, you've only been traveling with us for, ooo, a couple of months, say. Zel didn't open up to any of us until...ooo after, what, Raven, a year, two? So, ya see, you haven't really met the 'real' Zel yet..." Suddenly they were interrupted by Zelgadiss falling out of his tree, supposedly in surprise. Everyone ran over to check on their captain. Mur was the first to arrive on the scene. She called back to the others.
"He seems to be okay, just...ooooo totally surprised...Hey...Zel? Zeeeeeell?" She began to poke him, causing the blue-clad man to sit up, swat away her hand, look over at the rest of his worried crew and.....Grin happily?
"I know where we are!!"
After Zel explained about the Map he had obtained – how, he wouldn't say – and the promise of treasure, everyone was on board L-Sama and ready to sail along the coast until they found the place where treasure supposedly lay.
But before they arrived......
----
"There, men! That's the ship we're after! Hard a' port!! Hard a' port!!" Zel's keen ears picked up the faint sounds of the voices on a near by ship, giving him no false hopes of this being a friendly ship. He looked over at the crew, telling them with his facial expression what he had heard. "Well, Ladies and Gents, looks like it's show time."
With that proclamation, the crew of the L-Sama set to work, preparing for battle. When the other ship drew up to them, showing her to be a British guard, the battle was joined. Pirates and English Guards alike jumped, swung and otherwise transported themselves to the deck of the other ship. For a while it seemed the rag-tag band of pirates had the upper hand through experience alone, but soon the numbers of the Guards began to drag them down. Zel saw, out of the corner of his eye, Lina fall to a rather large man, causing him to lose concentration on his own battle for a moment.
"LINA!"
THWAK The flat of his enemy's blade hit him hard in the back. He turned and glared at the man, drawing himself up and setting himself back into a fighting stance, Astral Vine at the ready in front of him. A cry of the other side drew his attention from his fight once more, to see Mur being ganged up upon by the young men. A shout drew his eyes to Gourry, fighting a losing battle against another two guards, Raven, falling to his knees before his opponent, Kiyone flying into the railing, and only just barely managing to stay aboard, Xelloss, using a set of his best kitchen knives to stave off a group of men...slowly all his crew falling around him.....His eyes blazed as cold and uncaring as the sea, a storm visible in them. A faint aura began to manifest itself around him lending him strength he never knew he possessed. Yet still as five men ganged up on him he began to falter, drawing on his last reserves of strength and.......
Zel blearily opened his eyes to see blurry shapes floating above him. "Who, what?" he tried to say, but his body seemed to not be responding to his commands. A voice above him spoke.
"Zel? Hey, guys, I think he's waking up....." That voice, he knew that voice, what was the name.....? Ah, yes: Lina.
"I've got some soup ready for 'eem." That one....Xelloss.....
"I do hope Mister Zelgadi- erm...Zel is okay.....".....That one... less familiar.....annoying, very...Amelia
"OhHOHOHO- rrk! You didn't have to choke me, Lina!" Nag-something about a snake....
"Is he alright?" Ah...Good old Gourry, always asking the most fundamentally simple yet important questions.... Speaking of which....that was a good question. 'Am I alright?' As a test, Zelgadiss started to try to sit up.
"Ack! Zel, don't try to sit up yet! You've been out of it for...what was it...? Three days?" a plethora of affirming sounds. "You're still weak."
"heh....didn't...know you...cared, lina.....heheheh..."
"There that just shows it. You're to weak to even speak properly. Here, eat some of this soup Xelloss made, and then get some rest."
"okay, okay, no need...to mother me." Zel ate the soup offered, though someone else – Amelia, he presumed – was spoon feeding it to him, as Lina seemed adamant that he not try to move yet. Just he was about to drift to sleep something occurred to him. "where...the hell'd'we get.........stuff ta make soooooooooo.......zzzzz"
[1] Alright, I'm sure you all remember When Zel tells them the he promised his mother and then paused and added 'land' afterwards? Now, where does Zel come from in this fic? Ireland. And who, in Celtic mythology lent her name to Ireland? The goddess Eriu. For the sake of this fic she was in love with the god of the sea, Manannan Mac Lir. Keep that in mind.