Still a Monster
Chapter 11
Klide see's Zelgadis and Xellos coming before they enter the thick of battle in the sorcerers' evil lair, but he cannot stop the flying cone of black energy that casts him aside like an insignificant pebble.
"Lina, Gourry, Amelia can you hear me!" Zelgadis calls out. Nothing comes out of his own throat, but Chezem's mouth says Zelgadis's words instead. Apparently, Zelgadis and Filia's makeshift shield that was protecting him from the sorcerers curse has shattered. Zelgadis grunts as his astral vision begins to compete with what Klide is seeing and his ears begin hearing the gasps of agony from his companions.
"Stop this!" Zelgadis says again through Chezem. Klide and Chezem smirk at Zelgadis, but he doesn't really see their smirks. Instead of relying on Klides eyes, Zelgadis takes his chances with using his astral vision only.
The three monsters do not look anything like their human counterparts, but they appear as the monsters they truly are. Ignoring the monstrous entities, Zelgadis stubbornly takes a stand. "They don't have anything to do with this." He points to his friends and is shocked to find that he cannot see them with his astral vision. Zelgadis can only see Lina and the others if he uses Klides eyes.
Fearing the worse Zelgadis grips his hands at his side.
Zelgadis chokes out his anger through Chezem, as he desperately searches the room for his friend's astral presents. "If they are dead . . . you will . . ." Zelgadis, and Chezem, are cut off.
"Why if it isn't Mister Zel-Zel," a familiar male voice says. "It is good to see you again and just in time too." The man with blue hair and flowing sorcerer's robes swiftly moves out of the shadows with a dance like sway to his walk. Zelgadis eyes the man with ever growing annoyance and anger, but Zelgadis doesn't take notice of the man's appearance. The sorcerers gold eyes are shining madly in Zelgadis's astral vision.
Zelgadis grabs for his sword, but is sorely disappointed to find nothing there at his waist. Letting out a mute grunt of aggravation Zelgadis bitterly wonders why he never thought to ask for a sword.
"Hello, great villain," Xellos says from behind Zelgadis. "It's great to finally meet you, but I really should get going."
Zelgadis stares at Xellos dumbfounded. "You can't just leave Lina!" Zelgadis says as he motions towards Lina's still form.
Xellos curiously eyes the spot that Zelgadis is pointing out, but other than that he does not react. "I'm sorry Zelgadis, but Lina and the other's are not here."
Zelgadis looks at the spot Lina is suppose to be. Once again he doesn't see her with his astral vision, but he can see her as clear as day with Klides eyes.
"I left Lina in Seyruun," Xellos explains cheerfully. "You see this has all been a part of Lina's plan to find the evil sorcerer. He has been causing a lot of trouble searching for you these past five days, so Lina thought that the best way to find him and stop him was to use you as bait." Xellos purposely seems to use small words to explain himself much to Zelgadis's annoyance. "Of course, I'm sure you can see that they are not really here. Your madman sorcerer is using a Shamanist Illusion spell on his monsters to try and fool you." Xellos giggles slightly as the thought entertains him. "Isn't that something? Using a powerful shaman spell on his own minions just to fool you, I'm impressed!"
Crossing him arms, Zelgadis glares up at the black twirling cone, as the evil sorcerer disbands the illusion spell.
The sorcerer begins to clap with glee for Xellos in congratulation. "Why yes, but now that I have been found out I can now fight back. As you probably know. . ." the man's playfulness quickly turns into a serious guise of arrogance as the man continues to explain. "An illusion spell takes a lot of concentration so I cannot attempt any magic while performing the fantasy." The man and his monsters strike imposing battle poses around Xellos, as Zelgadis takes a step back. "Now I will not need to hold back."
"Actually I really need to get going, have fun Zelgadis," Xellos says, while spiraling away at a breakneck speed through the astral plane.
"Don't die, Okay?" Xellos says into Zelgadis mind right as the three monsters and madman turn to face Zelgadis. Spreading his arms in preparation for a fight, Zelgadis quickly considers a number of spells he might be able to use in order to protect himself.
"Oh don't worry Zelgadis, no need for that, now we can have a serious discussion. So . . ." the man relaxes his stance. "How have you been fairing these last three weeks, have you learned your lesson from this trial."
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, Zelgadis tries his best to hold back his ever growing distaste and hate for the man in front of him.
"Well, what have you learned?" the man says again, crossing his arms and beginning to smile for no apparent reason.
"What I learned . . ." Zelgadis says, but his lips move silently, while Chezem's voice caries his own thoughts. Bristling his spine, Zelgadis tries to remain in control of himself as he hears the words from Ditles perspective as Chezem speaks for him. "What I learned . . . is that I have been blind, mute and deaf far longer than these past three weeks."
The man nods his approval.
"Even though I have been avoiding my friends for years, they still helped me. Even the great, gorgeous and powerful sorcerer genius helped me because of your insanity. Even Amelia who I have probably hurt the most stood by me. Even after attacking Gourry, he still understood. I've put them all in harm's way even after I've been avoiding them in order to keep myself safe," Zelgadis continues as he stares at the ground.
"Yes, yes, go on," the sorcerer says eagerly, slightly leaning forward with the gold light dancing in his eyes like a turbulent flame.
And you know what . . ." Zelgadis says with a grin forming across his mouth which is mirrored by the monster. "No matter how weak I may be, I'll be damned if I can't shut you up for good!"
As soon as Zelgadis's exclamation leaves Chezem's mouth, the young mage sends a powerful Elmekia Lance spell flying straight at the monsters and sorcerer. Each foe dodges the attack, but Zelgadis pummels into the fleeing sorcerer with a bubble like shield around him.
The three monsters attempt to recover their master, but Zelgadis sends an Astral Dislash spell at them, which is far more potent to their astral forms than an Elmekia Lance spell. Quickly, Zelgadis forces the bubble to encase the sorcerer as well, beginning to sock, punch and kick at the man in fury.
As each monster collides with the bubble they are sent flying as a sizzle of astral energy shoots through them.
"(cough) Why protect your friends?" the man sputters happily as Zelgadis takes a break between his punches.
"Because, I've done nothing but hurt them," Zelgadis says through the muffled voice of Chezem, who is unsuccessfully trying to get through the astral shield.
"Didn't they just use you to find me," the man says calmly, giggling slightly. "You'll protect the same people who just sold you out."
"Shut up, moron!" Zelgadis screams, but he can barely hear himself for some reason.
"You really are heartless aren't you," the man says, but again Zelgadis can only hear it as if it is a whisper. Blindly Zelgadis continues to attack the man and sends a Dagger Bolt spell into the man's shoulder.
In response the man begins to laugh in maniacal glee, but Zelgadis only has the pleasure of watching the man's astral form sputter and spark since Zelgadis can no longer hear him.
Suddenly, Zelgadis's senses come rushing back to him and in his shock Zelgadis lowers the astral shield from around him. Thinking that it might be a trick Zelgadis closes his eyes and uses his astral vision to look behind him.
Shimmering in all their glory, the astral forms of Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and a human Pokota stand carefully watching him. In his haste, Zelgadis never noticed that the Pokota from earlier was his stuffed animal form, not the human form he helped recreate over six weeks prior.
"So are you almost done here Zel?" Lina asks while her Ragna Blade spell dissipates from her hands. Gourry gives Zelgadis a delighted wave as Amelia runs to his side. Apparently, Lina has just used her second most powerful spell to slay Chezem, Klide, and Ditle from behind.
Good riddance.
"You are about to receive the ultimate justice you fiend!" Amelia says as she points at the beaten, battered and laughing man Zelgadis has been playing with. "No one has the right to take away an innocent persons right to happiness and their ability to live a virtuous life. For that crime you will now feel the righteous wrath of Mister Zelgadis."
Zelgadis stares at them in wonder, his anger slowly dropping away from his mind and body. In his agony and frustration Zelgadis didn't even notice that his friends had been fighting the three monsters, even though he has the ability to see in all directions.
"Guess you didn't really need us," Pokota says with a smirk, successfully breaking Zelgadis out of his trance.
"Any last words," Zelgadis asks the mad man, as Gourry lowers his sword under the chuckling mans chin.
"My name is Ralnker the Gold and did it ever cross your mind Zelgadis to wonder where you got all this magic power from," the man says.
Widening his eyes Zelgadis's mind stammers as this new thought wriggles its way into him. Filia had mentioned the same thing, but hearing it from the sorcerer is far more disconcerting. Roughly, Zelgadis grabs Gourry's sword and closes the gap between the sharp steels blade and Ralnker's thin pale skin.
"Think about it?" Ralnker continues undeterred. "You were never this strong before as a human and we both know that your copy body is as ordinary as you once were. Unless you were born with the magic capacity, no clone or copy can duplicated a person's magical potential, so how were you able to see? How were you able to use spells without saying a word? How could you possibly dare to hope and fight against three monsters all by yourself," the man says with a cough and a giggle.
As these disturbing thoughts soak through him, Zelgadis notices something troubling about the man sagging against the wall. Now that Zelgadis's natural eyes and astral vision correspond correctly he can easily see the unnatural gold haze now oozing out of Ralnker's body, like old gunk from a leaky pipe.
"For the record, I'm the one who got rid of those stupid monsters," Lina corrects him, while scratching the back of her head. "Zelgadis was just busy punching you. I wasn't about to stop him."
"He could have done it himself," Ralnker says confidently. "And the reason is simple. Just like Shabranigdo is grafted into a humans soul, so was Zelgadis's magical ability when Rezo transformed him into a chimera!" Ralnker smiles proudly at his revelation. "Rezo created a perfectly complete chimera, grafting the blow demon and rock golem into your very soul. These things were not attached simply to your body, but to your very spirit!"
A hint of a smile creases across his face as he watches Zelgadis's reaction. "Out of curiosity, did you ever look at yourself with those cursed eyes of yours?"
Without a second thought Zelgadis drops Gourry's sword and looks down at himself, raising his hands and arms in front of his face. He is now forced to see what he has never had the chance to see until now.
His skin is glowing blue with strange cracks like rock riding up and down the creases in his skin. As Zelgadis scans the rest of his body he finds the black lines belonging to a blow demon cutting through him in jagged lines that belong to a rock golem.
"Shabranigdo knew what he was doing when he made you," the evil man laughs.
Unaware of what Zelgadis is experiencing, after all Zelgadis looks completely human in their eyes, the Slayers eye the delinquent sorcerer with mixed expressions, mostly confusion, with a few scatters faces of horror. On cue, the group turns to look at Lina for an explanation.
"Is it true that Shabranigdo is grafted to a person's soul," Amelia asks quietly.
"Well, yeah," Lina says calmly. She sighs in exasperation, before continuing. "Look, Rezo is a perfect example of this. Originally I thought that Shabranigdo was sealed in Rezo's eyes, but after fighting Luke and defeating Rezo's Jar we learned that Shabranigdo is attached to a person's soul. So . . . what he's saying does make sense. It only seems natural that the same rules would apply to making a chimera, especially when one considers that Rezo was able to create a chimera using the power of Shabranigdo himself. That is what made Rezo so powerful. It's likely that it is Shapranigdo is the one who cursed Zelgadis not Rezo, since the Red Priest actually cared about his great-grandson."
Zelgadis feels sick; apparently he never found his cure.
He is still a monster.
Before Zelgadis has a chance to wander down a dark road and forget everything he has learned about himself over the past three weeks, Lina speak up again.
"But there is one problem with all this," Lina says. "Why are you going out of your way to torture Zelgadis? I mean he's not nearly as powerful as me, Lina Inverse."
"I needed him to succeed where his great-grandfather failed," Ralnker says.
"So you've said," Zelgadis mutters, snapping momentarily away from his dark thoughts. But he cannot stop looking at his hands.
"Zelgadis will destroy the world!" Ralnker concludes in wild ecstasy.
"Uh, riiigght, look buddy, Zel isn't strong enough to destroy the world," Lina says losing her patience. "Although his abilities using shamanism and casting astral spells is quite impressive, he cannot cast a dragon slave."
"But he's the one who destroyed his great-grandfather out of revenge! He's the one who can summon the mother of all things!" Ralnker says as gold light stabs in his eyes.
Zelgadis backs away, picking up the sword and handing it back to Gourry, while Lina plants herself firmly in front of Ralnker. Zelgadis is through with the idiot.
"Look I don't know what tabloids you've been reading, but I am the one who defeated Rezo! I'm the one who has defeated Shabranigdo three times. I'm the one who fought against monsters and defeated Lord Phibrizzo," Lina begins to shout at the man as she goes down the list of her vast achievements of destruction.
"You're the one who did all that . . . but that means," Ralnker's eyes widen as realization dawns on his demented mind. His once smiling face is replaced with a vacant empty hole.
"I don't really know what's going on," Gourry says in his common tone of confusion. "But this does mean that this crazy guy was after the wrong person this whole time right?"
"Basically, yeah, pretty much," Lina says grudgingly.
Pokota laughs at the man, "You really are a fool."
"I've been going through hell, because you got me confused with someone else . . ." Zelgadis says as a gloomy cloud rests over his head once more.
Amelia comes to Zelgadis's rescue. "Mister Zelgadis, we defeated the monsters, nothing can hurt you now, and everything is going to be alright."
"Amelia's right Zel," Lina says confidently, with Gourry and Pokota nodding in agreement. "There's no going back now, but at least we found this fanatic before he could cause any really damage."
"Real damage?" Zelgadis questions with his ever bubbling aggression beginning to pop again. "Lina, this is your entire fault! If you weren't who you are I wouldn't have had to put up with this idiot."
"Hey, watch it Zel," Lina says. "If I wasn't the powerful and beautiful sorcerer I am you wouldn't be alive."
"I will not fail!" Ralnker screams into the dark room. Instantly the blue haired sorcerer's wounds heal and he stands with a gold light radiating from him in a light of chaotic flame. "I will see this thing through."
A surge of astral magic blasts the slayers across the room as Ralnker's madness goes out of control.
Authors Note: So yeah, this whole time Zelgadis has been going through turmoil for no reason. Great isn't it? Now there is only one chapter to go, I'm sad to see it end. Good thing there's a sequel, I'm practically done with.
I really want this story to end.