Chapter 2 – Enter the Chimera Master
The group stood in front of a large imposing gate. They stared up at the large magical lock. Lina shrugged. "Well there's nothing we can do about it. Let's just come back in the morning."
"You think a lock is going to stop me?" A wicked smile was on Zelgadis' face as he began chanting the words of a stone spiker spell.
Lina quickly grabbed him from behind, putting him in a headlock. "Now hold it Zel. If we just go busting in there we're not going to make any friends." She held his arms as much as she could, despite his complaints, and despite the fact that he was ten times stronger than her.
Amelia further blocked his attempts by stepping in front of him. "She's right Mr. Zelgadis, besides, breaking into a hospital just wouldn't be right."
"Well who said I care what's right? I-" His arguments were drowned out by a man's yells.
"MASTER TOCHIRO!" A tall man with a muscular build ran up and began banging on the gate. In his panic he didn't even notice the group standing beside him. "MASTER TOCHIRO PLEASE WAKE UP!"
A sound like a yawn emanated from the lock. "Sheesh you people are noisy tonight. Maybe we need to rethink the spell on that lock. What do you need?"
"It's my daughter. Something's wrong! She woke up complaining of a stomach ache and collapsed in pain! Please you have to help her."
"Mr. Yamato?" There was a small sound of rustling. "Alright. Just wait for a moment." The voice still sounded half asleep and a thud and crash came from the lock a second later. After two minutes of silence a short figure emerged from the house carrying a thick case. The person ran up and waved a hand at the lock.
Lina looked over the small boy. His short black hair was frumpy looking, with an almost purple shine to it. Large round glasses sat crooked on his nose. He was wearing a standard dark blue sorcerer's robe with grey gloves and boots. "Are you this Tochiro-guy's assistant?" She was still hanging onto Zelgadis who was beginning to turn even bluer in the face than was normal for him.
"A-ir…"
"Woops sorry Zel." She said letting go.
The boy looked up at them, clearly barely awake, and muttered something inaudible. He turned toward Yamato, "Where's your daughter?"
"Back at the house."
"Hold it." Zelgadis yelled when the man and boy started to run off. "We need to speak with the sorcerer Tochiro." The kid looked back at Zelgadis and his eyes went wide; he let out a low whistle. He looked about to say something but the man spoke out reminding of his daughter who was at home in pain.
The boy nodded and smiled back at the group. "The spell for the lock is Membuka kuci. Go ahead and wait in the main lobby. Just don't touch anything," and without another word he ran off with the man.
Lina had no trouble letting them all in. The candles were out but a simple light spell fixed that. The large front room was lined with furniture, benches and chairs surrounded tables and one corner of the room had several softer-more-expensive-looking couches. Any wall space that didn't have a bench against it was lined floor to ceiling with books.
Barely ten minutes had passed before Lina got bored of waiting. "I thought the kid said not to touch anything," Goury asked as Lina and Zelgadis started looking through some of the bookcases.
Lina shrugged, "A couple of skilled sorcerers like us? I doubt they'd have any objections to letting us read a little."
Zelgadis was already pulling out his third book, examining each then placing them neatly back on the shelves. "Every one of these books is about chimeras." He pulled another one randomly from the shelf and confirmed his thoughts. "There are books from all over the world here."
"I'm with Mr. Goury on this one, guys. You two really shouldn't be messing with those books."
"Oh lighten up you two."
"You really should listen to your friend you know." The four of them spun around see a woman sitting in the open window. She wore a knee length, plain-looking dress. Any of her body that wasn't hidden by the dress was covered with fur and a long lion's tail flicked at her side. They could see the sharp teeth in her mouth as she hissed at them. "Who are you people and how did you get in?"
"Oh well you see a child out front told us the spell for that big lock on your gate. Said if we waited we could speak to Master Tochiro."
The woman's hackles dropped and she lowered herself down to the floor. "What kind of people come to a magical laboratory after dark? You'll forgive me if I don't trust you."
Zelgadis scoffed and turned his attention back to the shelves. His hood and scarf still hid his face. "And you'll forgive us if we don't really care whether you trust us."
"What?! How dare you!" The woman bared her claws and leaned back into a fighting pose. Zelgadis flung his cape out of the way and grabbed his sword.
"Oh lay off them Hina." Everyone paused when the young boy's lazy and tired yawn came through the door. He pulled off his cloak and tossed it onto the floor. "And you," he stared straight at Zelgadis, "Put that sword away. I don't want any more patients tonight." Zelgadis huffed and took his hand off the hilt. "Oh and sorcerous, put those books down. You're out of your league."
"What?! Hey now!" Goury grabbed Lina before she could get upset for having her sorcery insulted.
The boy ignored her and walked over to Zelgadis. He began to circle him like a curious puppy. "On second thought, maybe you're not. This is some amazing work here."
"Huh? Work?"
"Yeah, I'll definitely give you some good recommendations for this one."
The circling was irritating but a child talking like a teacher was ridiculous. As the child passed his right hand again, Zegadis reached down and grabbed the back of his fitted white shirt, lifting him into the air. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!"
"Look kid, I don't know who you are but we're here to see the man called Master Tochiro. There's an important matter I must discus with him."
"You Bone-head! I AM Master Tochiro!" The kid kicked around, and swatted at Zelgadis' hands, trying to get loose. There's no way that a child is a skilled chimera sorcerer. He can't be more than 9 years old. "Put me down!" Over by the window the chimera woman Hina burst out laughing. "Shut it Hina! Get him off me!" Zelgadis saw no point in letting the woman intervene and simply released his grip. The boy fell to the floor landing on his bum. "Ow! You jerk!"
Tears filled the little boys eyes. He jumped up and ran to Hina. She just laughed and pet his head almost like a mother would. Seeing that, Zelgadis actually felt bad. He didn't intend to make the kid cry. Even Lina and Amelia were giving him a cold look. "For goodness sake, all I want to do is talk to Tochiro."
Hina smiled and continued patting the boy's head, "Come on hun, the master is needed."
"I don't like him." He buried his face in her shirt.
"Oh but he's so cool looking." She pushed, " come on, what's he made of?"
The little Tochiro made a pouty face but nodded. He went over and pulled on Zelgadis' arm. He still wasn't buying it but Zel gave in and knelt down to the child's eye level. The kid circled him again. He used a magnifying glass to examine Zel's skin, eyes, ears, and hair. The more he looked at, the more interested he became. When he finally stepped back he had a bright smile on his face.
"Golem, Human, Demon. A powerful combination that would have taken a master to combine them so completely. It's a perfect fusion, with complete mixing. Increased strength, physical durability, magical prowess, sight and hearing become more powerful, but touch becomes dulled. Heart rate should also have increased. No change in appetite. Age of creation, I'd say… maybe 10 years ago?" Zelgadis's surprise was his answer, "Age prior to alterations, 17 years."
"No way Zel! You're 27?"
"His growth rate was severely decreased, so he won't appear to get older for a long time. That can happen when a demon is used in the materials." The kid spoke so matter-of-fact, but how could he possibly know all of that just from looking? Zel hadn't even told Lina or his friends about the increased heart rate or how old he was. How could a child know this!?
"That's enough! How can you know all that?" He got to his feet and swung his arms back showing his frustration.
The kid pushed up his glasses, "I told you. I'm Glenar Tochiro. I've created over five thousand chimeras and studied many more." He thought about it for a second, "though… I'll admit I've never seen one quite as perfect as you."
"Umm… Mister Glenar?" Amelia spoke up from the back of the room. Her face showed her worry. "What kinds of Chimeras do you make?"
"Well I've done some animal combinations but lately I've been focusing on the human combinations."
Zelgadis couldn't take it anymore. "In other words you make freaks!"
Hina growled angrily, "Who you calling a freak!?"
"Come on, Zel, calm down a second."
"No Lina." His eyes never left Tochiro. "How many of those people understood what you were turning them into?! Did they know how the combinations would affect them? Did YOU even understand that?! Or were they just your experiments!" People don't just CHOOSE to be turned into a monster! If someone knew what becoming a chimera would do to their mind… NO ONE WOULD CHOOSE THAT! He wanted to punch or break something so badly… but all he could do was clench his fist and hold himself back.
"Mister Zelgadis…"
Tochiro said nothing. He just looked at Zelgadis. What was that expression? Regret? No… Something else. "What kind of child makes chimeras?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
"WHY YOU-"
"But I will say this. Whatever it is you want, if it deals with your body, I'm the only one that has a chance of helping you. No one knows as much as me." Tochiro sighed and pushed up his glasses again. "You can either explain it calmly or you can leave."
This kid! Why is he so cocky! A child Can't understand! Zelgadis punched his fist into the wall. His cape swooshed behind him and he stormed out the door.
"Mister Zelgadis!"
"Amelia, Leave him alone for now. I have a few questions for you, Master Tochiro."
Tochiro walked over to one of the couches and gestured for the others to do the same. "First I want to know his story. Then I'll answer whatever questions you may have." He said when the others sat down.
"Well to start, I'm Lina, that's Goury, and Amelia. The guy who stormed out is Zelgadis. He's why we're here." She said as if that wasn't already obvious. "Zel's had it rough." Lina wondered how much she should tell. There's no way the Zegadis would just walk away from an expert like this. But he'd have to cool his head and swallow his pride before he came back. "His body was altered against his will by a powerful sorcerer, and ever since he broke free from that guy he's been trying to get his body returned to the way it was."
"Uh hey Lina, I'm confused."
Of course Goury was confused… when was he ever not? Lina felt like bopping him on the head but instead she leaned in close. "What is it now?" she whispered.
"I was just wondering who'd do something like that to Zelgadis."
She grabbed his hear pulling him in close. Maybe if she spoke right into his ear, even if she was being really quiet so Tochiro wouldn't hear, maybe then he'd actually remember. "Oh you idiot! We fought Rezo back when we first met! Then fought Copy Rezo only a year later! How on earth do you forget all of that?"
"Ow okay, I'm sorry!" Goury rubbed his ear once Lina released him. "Well how come you don't tell this kid who did it?"
"She's worried that I'll be too afraid to work with him if I knew the name of his creator." He'd hit the nail on the head. "Must be someone pretty powerful." Lina stuck her tongue out trying to look cute. Tochiro shrugged, "Whatever. It doesn't really matter who made him. Continue?"
"Oh uhh… Right, well he was trying to find manuscripts of the Clare Bible, but didn't have much luck with those. So I guess he's been getting frustrated lately." I'm still not sure if he's forgiven me for having the actual clare bible in hand and not asking about it… Better not mention that.
"I can see why. Splitting a chimera is nearly impossible."
That caught Amelia's attention, "So does that mean it can be done?"
"Well…" Tochiro paused thinking about it seriously, "I've heard of partial fusions being split apart, with a low success rate. But for your friend…" He shook his head slowly, "I've never heard of a perfect mixing being taken apart. Then again I've also never heard of a perfect human mixing. I honestly don't think it's been done before." They all sat in silence while Tochiro was thinking. "I can't say it's impossible because I've personally never tried. I've never had anyone or thing have an adverse reaction to the fusions so never needed to. I'll have to do some research before I can tell you if it's possible or not."
Lina smiled. "That's as good an answer as we can hope for." She stood and pushed her hair back over her shoulders. "Come on guys. Let's go find Zel and give him the news."
"Didn't you have questions for me?"
"I did but you basically answered all of them just now. I'll get Zelgadis to come and talk to you himself, so you two can figure out the details." It was hard to imagine a child being an expert on such a controversial branch of magic, but heck, who was she to judge. "Don't worry Glen! We'll have him here sometime tomorrow."
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this next chapter took so long. I had trouble deciding on Tochiro's personality. I've also got a lot of comics, other fanfics, homework, and more that require my attention so updates might be slow. But don't worry! Once I've decided to work on a story, and have a majoritive-ly full plot line planed out, I don't quit on the fic. It will get finished eventually!
Till then, comments and opinions of the chapter would be wonderful! If I'm OOC on anybody please let me know!
