Zelgadis' Gambit

Chapter: 15

Truth Revealed

Let's get the rest of the slayers group back in the fic.

It had taken a while but finally the group had made their way to the capital of Frey. Amelia smiled as they finally passed through the gates to the city. It was a large city, not as large as Sailoon, but quite impressive considering that the locals did not have the level of magic that the group was used to. The street laid out in an orderly fashion as shops and homes could be seen anywhere you looked. At the end of the city the castle could be seen towering above the buildings in all of its glory. Amelia sighed before thinking, 'Finally here. Now to get our friends back.'

Amelia and her group began to walk forward taking in the townsfolk as they went along. Most of the townsfolk would stop and wave as the strangers passed. The town guard watched the newcomers but did not bother them as they continued on. The group came to a small park to see small children running back and forth while playing their make believe games. Filia smiled as they continued on towards the castle. The city was such a nice place. The people here did not seem to have a problem bothering them at all. As they were about to leave the park area a small child shouted, "Fear me bandits for I am the great mage Grey!"

The group turned at the name to see the children playing what seemed to be a game of Rose and Grey verses bandits. The kids ran around playing while the group looked at each other before Xellos piped up and said, "Well, if Grey is our Zelgadis then he has become more flashy about how he presents himself if that is how the kids see him."

Filia huffed at the mazuko before saying, "Not necessarily. He could still be the same and the story is just getting overblown."

"If it is even them," Gourry piped in with his new sullen demeanor that he had adopted after Lina when missing.

Amelia held Gourry's hand before saying, "The only way we can before sure is to meet with them. And, according to Filia they are the king's advisors. So we have to get an audience with the king."

The group nodded before they looked towards the castle. As Amelia was about to begin walking she felt a tug on her cape. She looked behind her to see a young girl that looked to be no older than seven years. She had red hair, brown eyes, and her skin was freckled. She seemed to be the shy type as she clutched onto a doll in one hand and Amelia's cape with the other. Amelia smiled before saying, "Is there some you need," while kneeling down to the girl.

The girl looked at Amelia for a long minute, "Did...did you say that you knew Grey and Rose?"

Amelia smiled and replying, "We are not sure. Their descriptions sounds a lot like two of our friends that have been missing. We can't be sure until we meet with them."

About this time the rest of the group of kids came over before the boy that had been playing Grey asked, "Hey Melissa, are these people bothering you?"

The small girl looked at the boy she knew Devon and shook her head. She looked back at Amelia, the whole time not letting go of Amelia's cape, before saying, "They...they...they think they might know Rose and Grey."

A gasp arose from the kids before Devon moved closer and asked, "How do you think you know someone?"

"Well, when you only here rumors about the two it is hard to tell if they are who we think they are," Xellos replied as he appeared behind the two.

Melissa, seeming to understand what was next to her, squeaked and moved behind Amelia for protection. Devon turned and looked at the man while saying, "And, who do you think they are then?"

Xellos smirked as he leaned closer to the kid before saying, "Well, our friends but the longer we sit here the longer...," Xellos never got the finish his sentence as he was launched by Filia hitting him with her mace.

"Stop scaring the children you idiot," Filia shouted as she set the mace on her shoulder.

All the children in the group just stood there looking at Filia and the huge mace she carried. Their eyes grew to the size of dinner plates before Amelia called their attention back to her. "I'm sorry for how we might seem. But, we really are trying to figure out if the two you call Rose and Grey are actually our missing friends Lina and Zelgadis."

Amelia pulled two slips of paper out from her cloak and handed them to Melissa and Devon while asking, "Do they look like these two?"

Amelia had produced the pictures, and just the pictures, from the wanted posters that had been made of the two a while back. She watched as the two children looked over the pictures before both of their eyes grew. Melissa looked at Amelia and said, "This is Ms. Rose...her hair is styled differently and her outfit looks odd but this is her."

At that the groups demeanor brightened as they got their conformation that their friends were here. Amelia turned to Devon to see him turn and shout, "Guards!"

Amelia and Filia where shocked at the response of the child as a few guards came over. The guards stopped and asked, "Are you bothering these children?"

Devon reached up and handed the guard the picture. As the guard looked over the picture Devon announced, "They know who Rose and Grey are!"

The guard and the rest of the adults in the area stopped and stared at the newcomers. More guards came over as the group began to get a bit nervous. 'Oh lord...has Miss Lina pissed these people off too,' Amelia could not help but think as the group of guards surrounded them.

The guard with the picture looked at them before saying, "Someone go retrieve that guy that when flying."

As a few guards went to retrieve their target Amelia stood and asked, "What is going on? We haven't done anything wrong."

The guard kept the picture and said, "We are taking you to see the king. You know something about his advisors and he will want to know."

After about thirty minutes the group found themselves in the throne room in front of the king. The head guard had presented him with the picture of Zelgadis and the kings eyes had gotten large at the idea of someone having a picture of his advisor. The king looked at Amelia, who had taken the lead in this situation, and asked, "Who are you my dear?"

Amelia walked forward before drawing a breath and announcing, "I am Amelia Wil Telsa Sailoon, crowned princess of Sailoon and we have traveled here in search of two of our friends that have gone missing."

The king nodded while replying, "Well, it is an honor to have one of the Sailoon family in my court. As for your friends if I am to believe my eyes then Grey might fit the bill as your friend."

"Why is he going by the name Grey," Amelia began to address the thing that had confused the group, "He's name is Zelgadis Greywords, and yet he goes by an alias."

The king shrugged before looking at his personal guard and saying, "Send for the prince. He will be able to tell the story better than I."

The king continued as he looked back at Amelia and replied, "I'm not sure my dear. When we found them they were lost and could not remember who they were."

The groups eyes grew wide at this revelation behind the reason that their friend had not tried to get back to them. If the two had amnesia then that would explain everything. "But, how did they forget who they are," came Gourry's question.

The king was about to continue before another voice took over and said, "That is unknown," the prince continued as he walked towards the group, "When I found them they had no idea who they were much less where."

The group turned to the prince as he continued, "We contracted them to us and the only thing that asked in return was for us to help them find out who they were. Looks like our part of the bargain just walked in the door."

Amelia sighed before saying, "If it is not too much to ask we would like to see them."

The king shook his head and replied, "Regrettably, you are a week late. The two have gone off to the border as diplomats for the kingdom."

Most of the slayers group shuddered or sweat dropped at the idea. Zelgadis as a diplomat they could see but Lina was just not the type to negotiate for what she wanted or the type to keep quite and let Zelgadis handle the issue. Amelia cleared her throat and asked, "If it is not to bold of us we would request a place to stay until they return."

Both the king and prince smiled before the king chuckled and said, "Of course. You are our guest...we would be crazy to let you walk off now. So enjoy your time here and we will...," the king was cut short as a ball of white light floated into the room.

All watched as the ball floated down to the floor and formed into projections of Rose and Grey kneeling before the king, "My lord we have news to report," came Grey's voice as the projections looked up, "The talks are going well and we foresee them concluding within the week."

The king smiled brightly, "Excellent. This is a great day. First, we find people who believe they know your identities and the skirmish will soon come to an end."

Amelia and the group watched the projections and could not help but notice the change in their friends. The most glaring was that Zelgadis did not cover his face at all. In fact, the long time chimera seemed to be comfortable in his skin for the first time. The next fact was that Lina had done away with her outlandish clothes for something more ladylike. As well the usually load mouthed and impatient sorceress was very calm and quite. She seemed at home with letting Zelgadis take the lead which was a reverse of how the relationship usually went. As the news came through the projections stood quickly and, Rose as she called herself asked excitedly, "Someone might know who we are. We have so many questions."

The king nodded, "Yes, I will keep them here as my guest until your return. This is such a great day that I believe a ball is in order once you two are back home."

Grey, as the chimera was known, nodded, "Yes, indeed that will be prefect and will be a prefect backdrop for an announcement we would like to make."

Most eyes grew at that statement. Even the guards, supposed to stay stoic in their watch, could not help but look at each other in wonder. The projections began to fade as Grey said, "We will be home soon."

The king let out a large laugh before saying, "This is a time for celebration. All of you choose the prefect time to come to Freysa. Now, my son will show you to your rooms and I hope you enjoy your time with us."

The group nodded as they followed the prince's lead. In the back of the group Xellos smirked while thinking, 'Well, now I know what happened. I just have to find the how. According to Amelia Lina was after that Black Wolf follow when she disappeared. And, yet we find her with Zelgadis. I'm willing to bet the chimera is more involved than they think. This could be interesting.'

Dun, Dun, Dun...Things are getting interesting...and what could that announcement be about?

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to