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

Chapter Nineteen - Freestate

A Song by Depeche Mode

Lyrics – Centered Italics

Narrative – Black

"Why?" Lina asked, and Zelgadis noticed again how different her eyes looked. The long slits for pupils had surprised him immediately when she woke up and began talking to him. He hadn't noticed on the mountain. "Why do you want me so much? Mazoku aren't supposed to have those feelings! At all!"

I can hear your soul crying
Listen to your spirit sighing
I can feel your desperation
Emotional deprivation

"Perhaps not," Zelgadis said, coming close to her and kneeling on one knee before her. He thought for a moment that he looked like a knight pledging devotion to a Lady. Huh . . . Zelgadis had never been a knight – until he was made a general. "That night we spent together at the inn . . . I kissed you. You weren't able to bear it and you lost consciousness. Do you remember?"

"It's been hurting me since I woke up back at Dynast's castle," Lina said.

"Then you haven't forgotten about me?"

"How could I forget about you?"

Zel expected to feel a flush of pleasure at her admission of her feelings, but instead he didn't feel anything at all. He wished he did, but maybe if he was his old self, he wouldn't have been able to find the voice for the things he was saying. "I thought that the only way for me to approach you was to approach you as a mazoku. I didn't think I had a chance of winning you unless I was your equal. There has to be some way for us to be together, just so long as we both want that, so that we'll both sacrifice for that. Is that what you want?"

She hesitated, and with every moment that passed, Zel's heartbeat began to come faster. He thought this was a good sign. Any show of emotion was better than none – especially now.

"One of the options you suggested as a vehicle for us to be together was for me to become Hellmaster's priestess. I never wanted to serve Dynast, but serving Hellmaster seems like a far worse option. I have to tell you Zel that I will never choose him as my master. I'd sooner choose you. It's too bad you're working for him."

Zelgadis was aware that their conversation was probably being listened to by Hellmaster and Xellos too. The idea hadn't bothered him thus far. He knew he could say whatever he wanted to in order to convince Lina to join them and there would be no consequences, but for her to declare outright that it was impossible for her to join them – that would have repercussions.

In a moment, Hellmaster was in the room, standing over them with his reptile eyes.

Bloody hell, Zelgadis thought. Now nothing could go right. He understood Lina's reluctance to join them and betray her master – he was going to have the same problem right now. Xellos was right; the only characteristic of a fledgling mazoku was their unfailing loyalty to their creator.

"Welcome to the Desert of Destruction, Lina Inverse," Hellmaster was saying. "I couldn't help but overhear that you would rather not be my priestess. It is a rather flattering offer. One would think it would be difficult to turn down. I also noticed that Zelgadis did not mention a key piece of the bargaining. You might find the position more appealing if you knew it."

"I doubt it," Lina said courageously.

"Well, Zelgadis retrieved the Sword of Light as a gift for you if you would be honour us with your service," Hellmaster said, suddenly producing the weapon between his hands.

She hesitated.

Zelgadis wildly hoped that she would take the sword and be done with it. He had believed from the beginning that her greed would work against her at this moment, and he still believed it.

"Actually, I'm not that interested in that relic anymore," she said with a toss of her hair.

Zelgadis stared.

"After all, it's really nothing to my true power now," she went on. "Mazoku are given power to hurt each other, so of what purpose is it to me now? Sure, it will accept dark energy, but would I even be able to control it? That's a lot of power to be wielding around."

"Well, you could ensure that it would never be used against you if it was one of your possessions," Hellmaster said, not at all shaken by her careless attitude.

"I don't really care about preserving myself these days, if you hadn't noticed," she said, crossing her legs as though they were sexy.

"If it was yours you could also ensure that it was never used against Zelgadis," the demon said.

Zel didn't have to look to know that the sword was now alight and was pointed squarely at the back of his neck. If Hellmaster swung, it would surely take his head off, but Zel didn't move. He had never suspected that he meant so little to his master. He hadn't expected to live through this endeavor anyway.

But Lina looked horrified.

Let yourself go
Let yourself go
Let your feelings show

"You'd kill him! How much of your power did you give up to create him? You'd throw him away just like that?" Lina asked.

"You're a mazoku now. You don't have feelings. His death should mean absolutely nothing to you. Or should I threaten your precious master instead? Wouldn't Zelgadis love to know how little you care for him compared to your master? To save your master's life, you'll agree won't you?"

"You'd kill Dynast too in order to get me?"

"Well, he hasn't been of much use lately - more of a liability than an asset. I'm sure you know what I mean. And Zelgadis, well, he knows that he was just a tool to get you. He told you that much, didn't he?"

Zel saw Lina's uncertainty.

Picking up the conversation
Deep in your imagination
Tune into the lonely voices
Talking of their only choices

"So you used Zel and me as bargaining tools for each other? Use me to get him and use him to get me? I don't like the way you work at all. But you're dead wrong about Dynast. Go ahead – kill him. I don't really care, but I warn you. If you touch Zel – I'll kill you," she said violently.

Hellmaster smirked. "Very well. You'll join me then?"

"Are you going to kill Dynast?" she asked.

Zel thought this was a very strange question, but he had been surprised that she threatened to murder Phibrizzo for his sake. As she spoke it seemed like something clicked inside him – maybe a mazoku could feel something . . . he was certainly feeling something now.

Let yourself go
Let yourself go
Let your spirit grow

"I don't think that's really necessary if you agree to serve me," Hellmaster said calmly.

"I do think it's necessary. It's the only way for me to ensure that I won't run back to him. It's a sick thing to admit, but I really want . . ." she paused here for emphasis, "to protect Zelgadis and I can't guarantee that I won't run back to him without my consent unless you kill him. As a matter of fact, I'm making that one of my conditions. I won't join you unless you kill him."

"I'm impressed," Phibrizzo said.

Zelgadis would have given anything to see the look on his master's face as he said that, but he couldn't turn his head. The Sword of Light was still pointed at him. He dared not move.

"It seems we've come to an accord. I'll leave you two alone – to be together the way you've always dreamed." Oddly enough his words were not condemning. With that said, he disengaged the sword so the light no longer shone and moved to leave.

"Wait," Lina said, rising. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"The Sword of Light; wasn't that part of our bargain?" she asked hotly.

"So it was," and he tossed her the hilt.

"Also, I have to know one more thing."

"What?" Hellmaster asked, seeming to get a little irritated with her now. Hopefully, he wouldn't regret sacrificing so much to have her.

"You have to tell me when you go to do it – I'll need to know when I can relax."

"Very well," he said. "I was planning to go this very minute. Zelgadis," he paused, and then turned his attention to Zel, "please keep her in check until I get back. It wouldn't be good for her to go berserk and join the battle. I wouldn't be able to be responsible for what might happen." With that, the mazoku lord teleported out of the room.

Zelgadis finally felt secure enough to stand and look Lina in the face. He hadn't thought that Lina would give in. He was very surprised – and for himself. It was incredible.

"Are you armed?" Lina asked Zel as soon as Hellmaster was gone.

"Of course," Zel said.

"We have to go," she said quickly. "Right now is the perfect time to give him the slip."

"Wait," Zel said, grabbing hold of her upper arm. "Where are we going to go? You don't think he'll be able to find us?"

"There's only one thing to do," she said. "You told me that the only way for us to be together was for us to each be equally committed. I have just sacrificed my master; you'll have to do the same thing. But first you and I must go take care of the remaining mazoku lords. No one will ever leave us alone until we are the most powerful. I'm sure together we can take Deep Sea Dolphin, Beastmaster, and Gaav. Hopefully, Dynast will work Hellmaster down so by the time we return he should be in a weaker state than the one we just witnessed. Are you with me or no?"

"What about Beast Master? Her priest is powerful," Zel said, thinking of Xellos.

"You'll have to break free from that way of thinking Zel. One of the main sources of power for mazoku is knowing that you are undefeatable. Are you with me?"

"Of course."

Step out of your cage
And onto the stage
It's time to start
Playing your part
Freedom awaits
Open the gates
Open your mind
Freedom's a state

Zelgadis could not believe that this was Lina's idea to bring the two of them together and it excited him more than anything that had happened since his transformation. Her imagination was incredible. It was like that time they had met in the vault in the Kingdom of Xoanan, and pretended to fight to keep the guards from coming in. But still, he didn't like the idea of betraying his master, but Lina had been strong enough to arrange for her master's death, so he could be strong enough to do likewise.

They started with Deep Sea Dolphin. Zel knew that Hellmaster wasn't angered with her at that very moment, so they had no hope of him choosing to kill her on his own like they did with Gaav. Finding her fortress proved more difficult than Zel had imagined. It lay deep under fathoms of heavy black water. At first they tried to teleport, but found it impossible. In the end, Lina ignited the Sword of Light and plunged headfirst into the water with Zel right behind her.

When they finally entered Deep Sea's fortress, it didn't take long to find her. Zel was infinitely disappointed by what they did find. The mazoku was insane – a hunched over little creature with her aquamarine tresses flowing around her. It was obvious that Deep Sea was weakened – so weakened that she probably wouldn't fight back if attacked. Her mind seemed completely gone. She was very beautiful, but seemed insignificant when Lina stood beside her. He didn't really want to kill what looked like a little girl, but the heartless swordsman in him awakened, and he did it without Lina's help. Whatever part of him that had remained human through his mazoku transformation shouted out in anguish as he brought the killing stroke home. He felt like a murderer.

I can taste the tears falling
The bitterness inside you calling
Yearning for a liberation
Emotional emancipation

Gaav was a different story. He was part human, like them, except the other way around. He was created as a mazoku lord and was later implanted with a human identity, which was much different than what happened to Zelgadis and Lina. Gaav was going to be much more difficult to beat than Deep Sea, which was to be expected, but even he wouldn't be as difficult as Beastmaster. Beastmaster was a full blown mazoku and she had her wits about her, or at least they thought she did.

Gaav managed to cut a very deep wound into Zelgadis' shoulder. When he was cut, it wasn't like anything he had ever experienced before. It wasn't as painful as when Phibrizzo drove the Sword of Light into him. It was like cracking a bottle – a giant bottle, filled to the brim with blood.

Their fight was long and hard, and carried on for hours. Gaav nearly got the better of them repeatedly, when the strangest thing happened.

Someone joined their fight – Xellos.

"Why Zelgadis, it looks like you know how to have a good time after all and you always act like such a stiff," Xellos said with a carefree smile.

"Shove it," Zelgadis said, moving to help Lina with her next attack.

"You might be interested in what I have to say," Xellos said, teleporting beside Zelgadis.

"Than drop the attitude and speak plainly," Zel shouted, dodging an attack and hating Xellos for distracting him so.

Xellos proposed an alliance between Beastmaster and Zelgadis and Lina. Apparently, she had no interest in interfering with the two of them, and in fact, had been plotting the demise of Hellmaster for some time. She would allow Xellos to fight with them to destroy the Demon Dragon King and then join them herself to fight Hellmaster – supposing he lived through his fight with Dynast. Zelgadis hadn't even suspected that Dynast would be strong enough to beat Phibrizzo. Indeed, he wasn't.

Zelgadis didn't want to agree to his proposal. No one ever knew when a mazoku might stab you in the back. It was part of what made mazoku politics so bloody – they were all so trigger happy that they couldn't keep their hands off their weapons (whether psychological or physical) for five minutes straight.

But what did he really have to lose? If anything, the human world would be a much better place with fewer dark lords. At least that way innocent people wouldn't get caught in the cross fire. But did he really care if they did? He and Lina hadn't even checked to make sure they wouldn't involve the local citizens before they began fighting Gaav. Zel didn't even care.

Zel got Lina's attention and relayed the plan to her. She agreed and immediately proposed a style of attack, with her coming at Gaav from the front and Zelgadis and Xellos attacking from the sides. She said it was the only thing that made sense, considering their numbers.

Let yourself go
Let yourself go
Let your senses overflow

They got into position, and Lina cast a spell on the sword. It wasn't a spell that Zel had ever heard before, but it was strong and powerful. It was probably something Dynast had taught her. Oddly enough, Gaav noticed Xellos and Zelgadis rushing him and moved to block both their attacks, but forgot entirely about Lina. Her stroke went home and the dark lord roared in pain. Then Zelgadis and Xellos finished him off.

Lina looked proud of herself as she span back on her heels. "Excellent!" she said. "Not much more to do now. When is your master coming to join us?" she asked Xellos.

"She's already here," he said bowing, and moving out of the way for a long lithe woman of light hair and animal eyes to step forward.

"I'm impressed you made it this far. It must have something to do with the kind of humans you were," she said in a rasping voice, almost like she smoked too much.

Zel looked across at Lina. The wind was ruffling her hair, and her white dress was torn in several different places, showing her thighs and part of her left shoulder blade. That was where he had cut her. As he examined her, he couldn't even feel the pain in his own shoulder. The pain seemed – well, worth it – for her.

"We haven't got much time," she said suddenly, breaking his reverie.

Step out of your cage
And onto the stage
It's time to start
Playing your part
Freedom awaits
Open the gates

Beastmaster said that they had best wait for Hellmaster at his tower in the Desert of Destruction. He would come back there when his battle with Dynast was over.

Zelgadis moved away and stood by the open window, waiting for the return of his master. Slaying Phibrizzo was going to be very difficult for him. He remembered Xellos' words again; they seemed to ring in his head. "There is no creature on this earth more loyal than a fledgling mazoku – that is their only characteristic." Zelgadis felt the hot wind on his face. He felt the air with real flesh instead of his stone skin, and remembered the great gift his master had given him. But they had succeeded thus far. He only needed to understand that it was possible.

Open your mind
Freedom's a state

Author's Notes: I know this novella has been a little Depeche Mode happy, but what can I say? Depeche Mode just provides a great background to mazoku dealings. Anyway, this has been loads of fun. I think there will only be one more chapter after this one. Please review!

P.S. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Angie. She's always anon. so I can't write her back and tell her how much I appreciate her continued support for this fic. Thanks my girl! You make my day!