Zelgadis was on his guard instantly, hand reaching instinctively for a sword that wasn't there.
"What did you say?!"
The pushy girl's smile was fading fast.
"You were there, Zel. You saw me do it."
'Me'? Not the mercenary?
Zelgadis looked the pushy girl over again. Abrasive as she was, she was quite small and not particularly developed, physically. Not a fighter by any means. Perhaps she meant that she'd personally sent out whatever hired goon had done the job? But that was ridiculous; Rezo could never be killed by a mere thug.
"Zel." The pushy girl's voice came again, more insistently this time.
"No." Zelgadis shook his head. "No; you're lying."
"This isn't funny, Mr. Zelgadis." The crying girl was looking at him again, her gaze an accusation. "We were really worried about you! You should know better than to play jokes like this on your friends!"
Friends?
He looked the three up and down again. The mercenary looked reasonably strong; Zelgadis didn't want to have to fight him if he could avoid it. The crying girl seemed harmless. The way she addressed him worried him, but Zelgadis doubted she'd be capable of much in a fight. The pushy girl though...
Could she be a mage?
That would almost make sense: a jealous black mage looking to assassinate one of the Five Great Sages. But that was impossible too; how could anyone kill Rezo?
"...I don't think he's joking, Amelia."
"Zel..."
She was lying. She had to be lying.
He turned, scanning the area. There were too many people to push past, to tight of a crowd to dart through. And even if he did make a break for it and lose them in the crowd, then what? He'd come here looking for answers, not a fight.
"Zel, listen. Shabranigdu; Giga slave; big boom. Remember?"
It didn't make sense.
Why would she lie about something like this? What possible good could it do her?
The crying girl reached out to grab his hand again, and he jerked back, almost violently.
"Mr. Zelgadis...–"
"Who are you people? What do you want?"
Perhaps he had spoken louder than he had intended to; here and there a head turned, and a few shoppers paused along their way to see what the commotion was.
"Zel, you know who I am, right? I mean, come on, we spar and stuff."
The mercenary gave a strange sort of smile, scratching the back of his head almost playfully. His other hand was planted firmly on the hilt of his sword.
He took a step forwards, and Zelgadis stepped back instinctively.
"Gourry, back off."
"Oh, come on, Lina. He's Zel." Another step. "He couldn't just–
Zelgadis stepped back again, too far this time, and almost crashed into a passerby. A strong hand caught his upper arm as he fell, pulling him back.
"Jeez, Zel. You're crashing into things even more than m–"
"Get off of me!" He twisted out of the mercenary's grip.
"...Zel?"
"How do you know me?" He tried to step back again, but the crowd was growing too thick as more and more people stopped to see what was going on. "Where's Rezo?!"
"Zel, calm down."
"Stop calling me that!"
There was a tap on his shoulder, and he practically whirled around on the shopper behind him.
"...Excuse me, sir?"
There were too many people. The crowd pressed in tighter and tighter, and Zelgadis realized, suddenly, that he was completely defenseless. His sword was gone... It hadn't been around when he'd woken up. No, but he remembered having it. Before he'd gone to sleep? No... He didn't remember going to sleep at all. He was with Rezo and then–
Rezo! What if they'd gotten the jump on us and taken my sword and..! But why the inn? And the girl? And the–?
"Do you think it's like before? You know, when that priest guys was controlling him and stuff?"
"The possession only worked because Rezo turned him into a chimera. The spell should have undone all that."
Damn, damn, damn! None of this makes any sense!
"Mommy, why are people yelling?"
"Must be some of those traveler folks. Always getting into brawls up at the inn."
"Mr. Zelgadis..."
Forget answers. He had to get out of here.
Zelgadis turned to go, but the crowd had gotten too thick to push through. He barreled straight into a young lady, and barely had time to fumble over an apology before crashing headlong into someone else.
"Mister, are you feeling alright?"
"He's white as a sheet..."
"...Well, hang on a second, now–!"
This was bad. This was definitely bad.
Someone grabbed him, and he wrenched his arm free, turning to run.
Damn. Damn, damn, damn..!
Where was his sword?
"Zel!"
He felt himself being repelled by the crowd, pushed back into the center. It was too loud. There were too many people, too many things to keep track of–
The pushy girl's lips were moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. The crying girl recoiled, shook her head... listened more closely.
"...before he completely freaks out."
"I don't... he won't be... the inn..."
Pieces of their conversation drifted past him, but he couldn't put them together. Something about... the girl. Or him. Or..?
The crying girl was nodding now, slowly. The other girl's hands were to her chest... In front of her chest... Palms towards him...
A spell!
He dodged haphazardly, crashing into people and goods. What spell had she fired? He couldn't even tell. If everything would just stop spinning..!
The bodyguard was there, blocking his way, hand on his weapon–
"Hold on just a–!"
Zelgadis lunged forwards in an instant, prying the sword from its sheath. He was there, ready in fighting stance, but the sword was too light... No, there was no sword at all; it was nothing but the hilt!
"Mr. Zelgadis..!"
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW!"
The words echoed over the cobblestone in a sudden wake of silence. A pause...
The pushy girl gave a self-satisfied smile.
"That's better! Now give that thing back to Gourry, Zel, before you hurt someone."
And everything breathed again.
He heard the clatter of the empty hilt hitting the pavement before he even felt it drop. He tried to ask who, what, why, but somehow, the words had just left him.
"I... Are you..? That..."
"Come on guys. Let's get back to the inn," said the pushy girl, sighing. "Sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."
"Here," the pushy girl said, gruffly slamming a mug of cheap ale down on the table in front of him.
"...I don't drink."
She snorted. "Trust me, Zel, coffee isn't gonna cut it for this one."
"I'm underaged..." he tried again, weakly, but was cut off as she yelled something at the innkeeper about 'food' and 'lots' and 'now'.
The bodyguard gave him a sympathetic grin. "Just go with it."
Zelgadis sighed. "I don't even like alcohol."
The bodyguard laughed. "Yeah, I know. But still, enjoy it while you can; Lina never buys drinks for people."
Lina... The red-head, I'd assume? Zelgadis thought to himself. Surprisingly cute name for someone so abrasive.
Maybe he'd meant the crying girl instead.
But no, she doesn't seem like much of a 'Lina' either. Too... reserved. More of a 'Margaret', I'd guess. Or maybe a 'Rachel'.
He glanced briefly in her direction, and was greeted with the awkward realization that she had been staring at him. Their eyes met, and the girl turned away quickly, fixing her eyes firmly on her lap. Zelgadis wasn't quite sure which he found more unsettling: the odd glances she kept stealing his way, or the strangely guilty look she gave when she was caught.
"Alright!" announced the pushy girl, settling heavily in the chair across from him. "Tell me everything you forgot."
"I... Excuse me..?"
"Miss Lina, when you say it like that it's really confusing..." said the crying girl. "Don't you think we should, you know, explain things to him?"
"He's not any dumber, Amelia. This isn't Gourry we're taking about,–"
"Hey!" interjected the bodyguard.
"–so there's really not much we can explain that he doesn't already know."
"I guess you're right..." said the crying girl. She glanced at him again, and then looked back at her lap.
The red-head sighed. "But... then again, I guess it wouldn't hurt. As best as we can make out, Zel, you have amnesia. We're not sure how or why, so right now, the best thing you can do is give us some idea of how much you actually remember."
Zelgadis took a moment to take this in; it made sense, in a weird, surreal sort of way, but that didn't make the words any less unsettling.
"Well..." The three suddenly were all looking at him, listening with rapt attention. Zelgadis faltered. "I... What do you mean by... That is to say–"
The pushy girl sighed, and rubbed her temples. "Look Zel, I know this is probably kind of hard to take in–"
"It's not that," he said quickly. "No; actually, amnesia would explain a lot. Well, not really, not by itself, but it would help? Explaining things, I mean; not having it. And I suppose I'd sort of figured the same type of thing, at least when I was thinking clearly, or at least I'm sure I would have, and... I'm rambling, aren't I."
"Just a little," said the pushy girl.
Zelgadis took a breath to compose himself, and, when that proved not to be quite enough, glanced down at his mug.
No... I'm still just a little on edge from the fight earlier; my nerves will be fine in a bit. And drinking's stupid regardless. Especially so if suspicious people like them handed you the drink.
It wasn't as though he actually thought they'd try to poison him, but still. Something about people who claimed to have killed a Great Sage just didn't sit well with him.
"Anyways," he continued, after a slight pause, "I'm just... not really sure what to tell you. I mean, if I do have amnesia, then... well, how am I suppose to know what I've forgotten? Short of just telling you everything I do remember so you can look for the missing bits, of course."
The bodyguard scratched his head. "Well, okay. Why don't you just do that then?"
"Idiot," said the pushy girl, bopping him on the head. "What do you want him to do, give us a play by play of his whole life story? We'd be here all week!"
"I guess if you put it like that..."
"Hmm. Zel, are there any obviously missing sections you can think of?"
"What do you mean by obvious?"
"Any gaps. You know, lost time you can't remember. Memories that just don't fit. That sort of thing."
Zelgadis took a moment to think. As far as he could tell, all of his memories were completely normal. Sure, there were things in his childhood that were fuzzy or just plain gone, and he'd blacked out more than once, but that sort of thing was normal, wasn't it?
No... Even so, there's still one very obvious thing.
"I remember walking with Rezo, fully concious," he said, finally. "And then, right after that, I remember waking up in this inn, wearing different clothes, with a girl I didn't know by my bed."
The pushy girl nodded once, sharply. "Well, there we go. You've lost at least three years worth of memories; probably more."
Something about hearing it said straight out like that was unsettling. No, unsettling wasn't the right word at all. Painful? Well, a little, he supposed, but not really. It probably would be when it had time to sink in, but right now... more than anything, he just felt numb. Like someone had just punched him hard in the chest and he was winded and knew it should hurt, but couldn't actually feel anything at all...
He took a swig of the vile brownish liquid in his mug, and immediately regretted it.
"Easy there, Zel," said the bodyguard, slapping him on the back as he went into a decidedly unpleasant coughing fit.
He felt the questions bubbling up again, all of them conflicting and half-formed and incoherent. But his throat was burning to much to ask, thankfully, and the pushy girl looked like she had already moved past the subject.
"So the way I see it, this could have been caused by two things. The first would be the spell we attempted yesterday, which would make complete sense. And that'd also make it really hard to fix this, so let's hope that it was caused by the second: namely, a mage broke into the inn sometime last night and erased Zel's memories."
"But... Miss Lina, why would someone do that?" asked the crying girl.
"My guess?" The pushy girl shrugged. "Probably someone is doing something vaguely evil, and they want us busy and distracted while they do it. Memory-altering spells aren't very draining, and they don't need to be maintained the way barriers do."
The bodyguard nodded. "So... What do we do?"
"We find the person who did it, and force them to reverse the spell," said the pushy girl. "Simple as that. And, as luck would have it, we've already got a lead. Zel, you said there was a girl in your room when you woke up?"
Zelgadis nodded.
"Do you remember what she looked like?"
He nodded again. "Yes, but..."
"Great. Did she have any distinctive runes or letters on her clothes? Was she carrying anything that looked like a charm or talisman?"
"Well... she had some bracelets that I guess could have been enchanted. She's right here, though, so I'm probably not the best person to ask."
Zelgadis gestured towards the crying girl, and was rather startled when he heard a loud and resounding THUD from the pushy girl's side of the table.
"Miss Lina! Are you okay?"
The pushy girl banged her head on the table a couple more times for good measure, and then abruptly sat up.
"Okay, so I take it back; we don't have a lead after all. Gods, I should have seen that one coming."
The bodyguard cocked his head slightly. "But what about the girl who snuck into Zel's room?"
"There was no girl, you idiot. He woke up and saw Amelia."
"But... he said he didn't know her."
"Yes, because his memory was erased!" she yelled, bringing a fist down on the top of the bodyguard's head.
"Oh..."
The pushy girl sighed. "Alright, so Plan B. If we're lucky, we'll find some leads on who did this given a little time and digging. If we're really lucky, the spell might even be temporary, and we won't need to. And if we're not, the best place we can go to to get this fixed is Saillune, which we'd probably head to next anyways. So I say, we stay here, finish checking out the cave, and then head back to Saillune with the loot and see if we can fix Zel then. Sound good?"
"But Miss Lina!" the crying girl said. "We can't just do nothing!"
"We're not going to do nothing. We're just not going to obsess over it right now."
"But that's just the same thing! What if Zel gets even worse? He could forget his own name, or how to eat, or–"
"That's not how memory spells work, Amelia."
"Well, we should at least search for the people responcible!"
"Like I just said, right now we have no leads." One of the pushy girl's eyebrows was twitching rather impressively.
"Then we should just head back to Saillune right away! Honestly, Miss Lina, don't you even care about Mr. Zelgadis? You probably just want to explore the cave more so you can sell all the stuff when we get back–"
"Amelia!"
The crying girl abruptly stopped.
"I don't understand what's going on here any more than you do. It could be a mage. It could be a demon. It could be the spell we attempted, it could be the friggin' phase of the moon for all we know. So stop going into Justice Mode for three seconds and think about it. We can't just go blindly rushing around after people we don't know exist, we can't leave before we make sure that the cave had nothing to do with what happened, and we're not going back to Saillune until we're either out of options here, or sure that it'll help. Got it?"
"...Yes, Miss Lina." The crying girl seemed to almost visible shrink under the other girl's gaze.
The pushy girl sighed. "Tell you what. We stay here a week. If we don't find anything in that time, I promise we'll head straight back to Saillune. Sound good?"
The crying girl nodded. "Okay... Got it."
"Good." The pushy girl paused, and turned towards Zelgadis. "Zel, I think today's probably been exciting enough for you. Why don't you stay here in the inn for now. We'll go out and see what we can find around town lead-wise, you stay back and see if you can remember anything."
Zelgadis was almost ready to agree, but stopped himself short before he could open his mouth.
"...I don't trust you."
"Yeah," she said. "I know. So stay here and we'll talk more tonight."
At some level, Zelgadis knew that that was a completely terrible sell. There were so many reasons for him to distrust them, so many reason's he'd be at their mercy if he stayed. Honestly, did she think he was that naive? You don't go claiming to have murdered someone's mentor and only living relative and then expect them to stick around with you and do nothing. It was stupid, and she was obnoxious, and the crying girl was still sort of weirding him out, and there was absolutely no way they could expect him to just go along with all of it–
And as he walked down the hall back to his room in the inn, he wondered what on earth had gotten into him.