Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Shoko Yoshinaka.

Chapter Five - Evening Falls

By Enya

Italics – Lyrics

Black – Any Narrative

When the evening falls and the daylight is fading,
From within me calls - could it be I am sleeping?

"Do you see it Lina?" he said, taking hold of her arm and helping her to the top of the hill. "Isn't it beautiful?"

There was a pink haze hanging over the atmosphere now. The world seemed not in life or in death, for only the depth of light changed position behind the mountains, and she never saw the sun. A few bright stars glowed in the air high above her, but the sky was not dark enough to show everything existing in the heavens. She had never seen a world like this; she had never visited a place like this.

Just as he said, there before her was a castle. A castle with tall spindles for towers so jagged Lina felt as though they could have been part of the mountains surrounding it.

For a moment I stray, then it holds me completely.
Close to home - I cannot say.
Close to home feeling so far away.

Could this really be one of the mansions owned by the Red Priest? Lina wondered as she stumbled after Zelgadis. How many secrets could someone hide in a place like this?

She was tripping on the cloak Zelgadis lent her. She was going to fall, but she would be too cold if she did not wear it.

"Lina," Zel said suddenly turning around.

He was only wearing his usual costume, and Lina noticed suddenly with pity that there was nothing at all over his ears; his hood was not even pulled up. Little crystals of frost clung to his eye lashes outlining his eyes perfectly in pure white. The wind was blowing against his clothing highlighting the rocks that protruded slightly all over his body and highlighting his hair; the way it didn't move. The world around him was shining silver now, and it seemed that he really had come home. Lina had never seen Zelgadis look less human to her as he mouthed her name and turned towards her.

"I know you act like it's not bothering you," he said.

"I act like what's not bothering me?" she asked, stopping to pull her walking stick out from the ice, and hoping wildly that he did not guess her thoughts. That she was thinking that even though he didn't look at all human, he looked unbelievably gorgeous. She had always thought him good-looking regardless of his curse, but this was a new feeling – what was it?

"The cold," he said.

She nodded.

Lina looked into his eyes – his strange alien eyes. There was magic stirring here of a different kind. Was it the world around her or Zelgadis' eyes, that were making her fall . . . fall under a spell? Fall into his arms?

As I walk there before me a shadow
From another world, where no other can follow.
Carry me to my own, to where I can cross over...
Close to home - I cannot say.
Close to home feeling so far away.

The halls inside the castle seemed only black and white. The floor was checked marble with great fireplaces on both sides of the room. Great windows placed high arching elongated shadows, showing very clearly what was black and what was white. There were nameless spirits here, as the hall held the quiet aura of a church – this was a sanctuary.

Zel's hands led her deeper into the room. He seemed to hold onto her only by her fingertips.

"There's no one here," he said, loud enough it seemed to scare the demons away. "FIREBALL!" he called, lighting one of the fireplaces.

Lina crowded to it easily. There was a large fur on the floor before the grate and she laid down on it. "Don't tell anyone you saw me like this, okay Zel?" She pleaded as she ripped her gloves off her hands and warmed them in front of the fire. "I've just never been this cold before. I'm becoming lightheaded. It's like I don't know where I am, or what I'm doing here," she said feeling guilty and embarrassed, but said what was on her mind anyway. It was Zel she was talking to after all. She could trust him with any secret. "I'm very lucky I'm not dead, aren't I?" Her teeth were chattering with her breath.

"FIREBALL!" he cried and lit the second fireplace. "No Lina, I wouldn't have let you die."

"Thank-you Zelgadis," she said, feeling quite relieved that she had a friend like that with her.

"Zelgadis," he said out loud, repeating her, and pulling her hood away from her face. "Lina," he said quietly, "Do you mind if I help you?"

She shook her head.

He pulled her hair out of her coat and spread it out behind her to dry. She watched him pick some rocks out from the fireplace; he put them under the fur she was lying on. When the heat from the rocks finally reached her, she closed her eyes, feeling at last it was safe to sleep.

Forever searching; never right, I am lost
In oceans of night.

Forever
Hoping I can find memories.
Those memories I left behind.

She was casting the dragon slave.

She was wielding a sword.

She was running for her life.

She was hanging from the ceiling.

She was bribing a guard with a ruby.

She was reading a powerful book on magic.

She was traveling with Zelgadis, a powerful warrior and sorcerer.

Who was she?

She had this feeling that she was nobody at all. It simply didn't matter. It was hard to remember . . .

Even though I leave will I go on believing
That this time is real - am I lost in this feeling?
Like a child passing through, never knowing the reason.
I am home - I know the way.
I am home - feeling oh, so far away.

All strength had left her, and she laid there on the floor, not able to get up. She thought she heard voices mumbling softly up by those tall windows. She thought she understood what they were saying, but they couldn't have been saying what she heard.

The words, "The master is home."