A/N: This is chapter two of Cave of the Ancients. Haha, what I love about this chapter is that I used the words 'slaying' and 'slain' in a paragraph that Zelgadis speaks in. I found it rather funny because he is a 'Slayer'. Well, anyway, please R&R.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers or the Legend of Zelda.

CAVE OF THE ANCIENTS: CHAPTER 2.

Link's pointed ears twitch. A howl pierces the air a split second later—the cry of a Wolfos, no doubt. The young Kokiri girl, Saria, flinches beside him, unused to the sound. Link shoots a glance down at her and says, "It's okay, Saria. It's too far to be dangerous to us."

But even before she says it, fear flashes in his features. Zelgadis was leaving the forest, and he was leaving just a few minutes ago.

"Oh, no! Zelgadis was leaving the forest; what if he's in danger?" Saria cries.

Link's fear reigns in. "No, Saria, he should be fine. His skin is made of stone; that's why he was careful not to harm me while we were fighting. I was more vulnerable to attack than he was, so—what in the—?!"

Something shoots out from the wall behind them. It looks like a hand, but it's moving so fast he can't be sure. It's surely evil; pitch black shadows are filling the air around it like poisoned water vapor.

Before Saria can cry his name, or try to help him, for that matter, the being grabs Link and drags him into the shadows.

Zelgadis has experienced something very similar to this. Some sort of hand appeared in midair through an inter-dimensional portal, swung out at him, and took him through it.

What he doesn't know is that the same thing just happened to Link. Wincing, the Hylian is getting to his feet, searching in his pocket for whatever he used on Amelia.

"Here, let me help," Zelgadis mutters, crouching beside him and casting Recovery. Link's pained features soften, and when he asks how Zelgadis did that, the chimera replies, "It's common where I come from. Spell-casting is a part of our daily lives. I thought you saw that."

"Well, no, not really. I was more looking at the destruction caused by—whoa. Look around."

Zelgadis, with a slight frown, glances vaguely at their surroundings. The walls are a dark, mournful grey, the skies are painted permanently a deep purple, and the floors are covered in withered vines and shrubs. "Where are we?" he breathes in restricted wonder. Surprisingly, a deep, echoing voice replies.

"You are in the lost world."

The two men draw their swords, prepared to back each other in a battle. "Who are you?" Link demands, glancing from one side to the other.

"I? Why, I am nothing but a voice, programmed to answer certain questions and act as your guide."

Link looks about to shout something else to the sky, but Zelgadis holds up a hand, readying his sword. "We don't have time for questions right now. Look." He points down a narrow alley, in which a shriveled corpse is moving towards them. Suddenly it lets out an ear-piercing scream, and Zelgadis cries out, holding his free hand to one of his long, pointed ears.

Link, however, used to the sound, takes one glance at his pained friend and shoots towards the Redead, slicing his sword clean through the monster. It disappears, and the green-clad Hylian hurries back to Zelgadis, who has fallen to his knees.

"Are you okay?!" he exclaims, holding out a hand.

"I...it...said something. To you," he whispers.

The booming voice from earlier begins to laugh. "Being from a different land which has many quiet things, his people are more sensitive to sound, and because he's part demon, his hearing is even more advanced than ours. But I never imagined that he would be able to hear a monster speak."

Link glares up at the sky and puts his hands on Zelgadis' shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asks more calmly, crouched in front of him and peering into his eyes.

Zelgadis glances at him, and his mouth opens and closes before he whispers, "It told you that 'he is coming back.' Who is 'he'?"

Link's eyes narrow dangerously. "Ganondorf," he replies, just as quiet as his companion. "I fought him...well, in technical terms, I fought him yesterday. To me, it was seven years ago. Princess Zelda used the power of the Seven Sages to seal him in the Sacred Realm. But if they say he's coming back..."

Zelgadis shakily rises to his feet, leaning heavily on Link's offered shoulder. "We have to stop this from happening. Whoever it is, I can tell that he's not friendly. Come on; I'm fine, we can keep moving."

"To where?" the Hylian asks.

Zelgadis points to the huge, dark castle that seems to be spreading its shadow over the entire land.

"Nice guess."

He shrugs.

"Princess Zelda! Princess Zelda!" Saria, for once, rushes down the halls of Hyrule Castle. Many guards look after her, but none follow, because they know that Saria is a Sage.

"Yes? What is it?" The elegant princess turns around, her silky dress fluttering in the warm breeze on the balcony. Her long, blonde hair is tied up in a braid over her shoulder.

"It's Link! I think he's been kidnapped!"

Zelda's calm demeanor evaporates quickly. "What?! How can this be? Link is the Hero of Time!"

"I think that's why he was kidnapped," the Kokiri pants. "And when I went to check on the man he battled with earlier today, Zelgadis, where he should have been on the road in Hyrule Field, he wasn't there. I think they're connected somehow!"

The princess sighs, sitting down on a heavily cushioned chair with beautiful embroidery. She invites Saria to sit in the chair opposite, and the winded Kokiri gladly does so.

"Please explain," Zelda says coolly. "From the beginning."

And so Saria begins to tell of Link and Zelgadis' skirmish.

About halfway down the path they started on, Link and Zelgadis run into more Redeads. Prepared this time, Zelgadis casts a wind barrier around himself to quiet the sound and helps Link defeat them.

When they are all finished, Zelgadis removes the barrier and says, "They all said the same thing. 'He is coming back.' I don't think this is giving us any more information than we already have."

"Well, at least the Stalfos helped out a little," Link mutters. "They told me I would die because Ganon still hates me for sealing him away."

Zelgadis smirks, slaying a Redead before it can open its mouth and continuing down the road with his companion. "Whatever the case," he says, "Ganondorf has been slain before, correct? That must mean that you can do it again, and besides, this time you have another swordsman at your side."

"I don't know..." Link murmurs. "I just have a feeling..."

"Well, I guess that feeling will have to wait. It looks like we've actually got something major," Zelgadis comments, placing a hand on his hip, sword held casually at his side, almost as though it's a decoration instead of a weapon. Link almost laughs when he thinks, Oh, yes, that pose suits you very well.

He looks forward and his face grows serious. In front of them stands what looks to be a ghost of a woman.

"The incarnation of the hero who killed me and his little friend, eh?" she asks roughly. Her short hair seriously compliments her features, although the bangs seem like a definite ripoff of Zelgadis'.

"What do you mean?" Zelgadis demands. "Who are you?"

"I am Veran, Sorceress of Shadows. And by that, I mean I will kill Link by using you." The ghost flies straight into Zelgadis, whose eyes widen for a split second.

He whispers something, and for a moment the air fills with a brilliant flash of light, which quickly dims.

Veran is thrown out violently, and she hisses, "Who are you?!"

Lifting his sword, although wincing slightly, he replies, "I don't believe you have the authority to ask my name when you just tried to possess me. Are you ready, Link?"

The almost-blonde smirks, and he, too, raises his sword. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Veran's ghost form never stood a chance. Before she can attempt to possess Link, the two charge at her, and together they slice straight through her flickering form, and she yelps before evaporating into nothing but a small speck, which Link blows away.

"So," he begins to ask, sitting down to rest his back against a withered tree. "How did you know she'd try something like that?"

Zelgadis puts away his sword and leans against the tree, crossing his arms. He closes his eyes and replies, "I kinda figured that, being a ghost, she would have the power to possess someone. I never thought she would try to possess me, though, so for a moment there she caught me by surprise. A moment later and she would have gotten me. Luckily, however, I knew what she was, and was able to cast an exorcism spell on myself." He lets out a breath. "It hurt—a lot, might I add—but it was better than letting her possess me, wasn't it?"

Link is still curious. "Why would an exorcism spell hurt you?"

"I'm part demon, you see. I'm a chimera. It enhances my vision and hearing, as well as my speed and magic proficiency, but on the downside, it also means that whenever I get hit with a spell even as simple as Purification, or when I cast something like that, it injures me internally," Zelgadis explains. "I never really show it around my friends, but...well, that's what happens. Since we usually fight powerful Mazoku, or monsters, the Ra-Tilt is my go-to spell. But I can feel the pain it should inflict, and so it surprises me when it doesn't work."

"Why don't you use different magic?"

Zelgadis chuckles. "White magic is stuff like healing, and curing, and exorcisms. Shamanism includes the Ra-Tilt, but I also use other offensive spells. And I can't cast black magic."

Now Link is seriously interested. "Why's that?"

"Like I said, I'm part demon." Zelgadis launches into another explanation with an amused smirk on his face. "If a monster or demon uses a black magic spell which isn't their own, without being powerful enough, they would die. See, each and every Mazoku believes they are strong. If they didn't think they were strong, they would cease to exist. Likewise, if they called on another Mazoku's power to cast a spell, that would force them to believe they weren't strong enough to do it themselves. Therefore, they would die. A demon is very similar to such, although I don't think I would die if I tried something like that. I would probably just be mortally wounded." He opens an eye to glance over at Link. "Is that all?"

The Hylian laughs. "Yes, Zelgadis-sensei."

"Then we should get moving. The sooner we get over to that castle, the sooner we can get back to where we belong. I'm sure everyone you know is panicking by now, since you're such an important figure."

"Nah, I bet Zelda's keeping them calm. She's just as important as I am, if not more. Not only is she the princess, she's also one of the Seven Sages. And other than that, I've been gone for extended periods of time before. Just...never grabbed by some creepy hand." Link's face flushes, and Zelgadis chuckles. "Yeah you're probably right. I bet they're going mad."

That night, Zelgadis places up barriers and offers to keep watch, just in case. Link gladly lets him (after all, Link is a well-known sleep-lover) and settles down on the bare ground, falling asleep immediately.

Zelgadis stares at him for a while. Link is a good man, he decides. He seems to only care about other people, never himself. In other words, he and Zelgadis are exactly the same and yet polar opposites. Where Link cares about everyone but himself, Zelgadis mainly just cares about himself. Where Zelgadis is confident, Link is unsure of himself, and vice versa. It's almost like they were meant to meet, like all their problems would be solved once they spent enough time with each other.

Well, all but one problem, Zelgadis thinks grimly. After searching the world over, he hasn't found a cure for his chimeric condition, and has finally stopped searching for it. His friends met him with sympathy, but he knows that they were relieved he wasn't obsessed with it anymore, and that he would be free more often.

Done with his recollections for the day, Zelgadis leans back against the tree just as Link did earlier that day and resumes his watch.