A/N: Okay I know what you're thinking. "Didn't she already post this chapter?" The answer is yes, but I recently recovered a USB drive that had the original written version of this chapter. I like the middle chunk of the previously lost version, as apposed to what I posted here. Nothing too major changes between the versions, but it'd be worth a reread if you're up to it. If you scroll down to where Zelgadis just woke up, the changed portion is just past there.

Thanks all for following this story! Till next time~!


Chapter 6 – Is it worth it?

Noon had come and gone, by nearly two hours, before Glen finally stuffed his pencil behind his ear and announced they would break for lunch. Which he only did because Hina had found them halfway up the mountain and reminded Glen to "give the poor guy a break." When Glen turned around with a look of "oops I forgot," Zelgadis barely heard the apology through his labored breathing and ringing ears. He allowed himself to collapse on the ground the first moment he got.

Five-hundred hindu squats, thirty stone spiker spells, followed by holding levitation and wind barriers for ten minutes each. Was the kid doing this with the research in mind or just to torment him?

"I'm having trouble gauging your magic levels in a good quantitative to qualitative ratio." Glen said scratching his head with the hand that wasn't holding his sandwich. "I think we'll try throwing a few basic spells at a protective barrier. Should be able to get it from 10 to 20 of those. I'm thinking fireball would work but maybe a dimilar wind would be better since your shamanism is stronger."

"Now look…" Zelgadis groaned. "You do realize, that any normal human would have keeled over by this point, don't you?" He forced himself to a sitting position to take the sandwich offered to him by Hina.

Glen didn't even look up from his notebook. "Isn't the whole point of this that you are not a normal human?" True as it may have been, Zelgadis didn't appreciate it being pointed out so blatantly and his eyes narrowed on the young sorcerer. As if he could feel the glare on his back, Glen turned around with a sigh. "If I don't measure your magic abilities accurately I won't be able to balance the spells alteration magic with the natural defensive barrier that all mages output. It will be even trickier seeing as a demon was put into your design, and I don't need any errors caused by a lack of data that I could have obtained earlier."

Having no further argument to make, Zelgadis scoffed and looked away. Beside him, Hina stared at Glen looking stunned. When Glen finally noticed her expression he groaned, "What is it, Hina?"

Hina shook her head, "Ah… no, it's just you always said it's easier to make adjustments on the fly than to bother trying to account for everything."

Glen turned back to his notes. "Well that certainly is the case with your average person or animal which doesn't have magic. But in this case I think it would be a mistake to go into an experiment without optimal preparation." It was a notion that Zelgadis whole heartedly agreed with, seeing as it was his life on the line. That didn't make him any less exhausted though.

Having only barely touched his sandwich, Glen stood back up. "The sooner we finish these measurements the sooner I can get down to some real testing and research."

Zelgadis barely held back a groan, instead settling for quickly stuffing the rest of the sandwich, and a second one into his mouth. Though he was exhausted already, this was just one step on the way to getting his body returned to normal.

XXX

By the time they had satisfied Glen's analytical overview, muscle pain and a general exhaustion made the walk back to the mansion the most difficult part of the day. Hina had stayed with them for the remainder of the afternoon in order to, as Zelgadis saw it, make sure they were at the mansion before dark. Glen probably would have stayed up there into the night, but as the afternoon dragged on, Zelgaids had seen more glimpses of that child-like side of the "great sorcerer."

"I'm tired…" Glen groaned as they neared the last leg of their hike. The mansion was already in sight. "We can see the mansion from here. Why don't we take a break?" Hina's differing attitude towards the Master was once again apparent with how she handled the complaints.

"Now really, Master, you shouldn't complain. After all, don't you think Zelgadis is more tired than you after the workout you put him through today?" Glen ducked his head before glancing curiously at Zelgadis trudging along beside him.

"I'm alright," Zelgaids said to her, "but the sooner we get back the better." Purposely ignoring the boy's curious gaze, he forced himself to walk just a little taller, if only to keep up the charade that Hina was after. His body complained at even the small amount of extra effort. After a moment of staring, Glen puffed out his chest, and the boy caught his second wind.

"I'm not tired either," he announced. His little legs moved faster to catch up with Hina ahead of them; a big smile on his face. For a moment the haughty tone returned to his voice. "And when we get back I can finally start setting up the experiments." The tone was there, but the excited smile still seemed to be the childish side of him. Maybe that's just who he was; a child prodigy that just sometimes didn't act as smart as he actually was.

Zelgadis pondered the thought for only a second before his ears began to ring again. It was a side effect of using so much magic at once. He would be all too happy to pass out in a bed, and when they reached the mansion he did just that, turning down Hina's offer of a hot meal.

XXX

It was noon before Zelgadis awoke. Very un-like him, and no one had come to wake him. His first reaction was to reach for his sword. He'd only been there a few days but he'd already figured out that the hallways were rarely quiet. Same went for the outer courtyard. It was an eerie stillness that hung over the mansion.

Preparing himself for an attack, Zelgadis moved to the window to look outside. It surprised him to see the courtyard filled as usual with people. Laughing and talking, but he couldn't hear them until he opened the window. A vein pulsed in his forehead as he realized what had happened, and he stormed downstairs in search of the "great sorcerer."

"Where is he?" Zelgadis demanded when he found Hina assisting a nurse on the first floor.

Hina called another nurse over, and excused herself from whatever preparations they had been doing. "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?! That brat magicked my room and my stuff without my permission."

He was obviously upset. Not so much about the invasion of his personal space, but more about that he hadn't noticed the magic being done, but Hina only shrugged, "the Master wanted you to get a good night's rest. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal," he said, adding emphasis to the words to throw them back in her face, "is that if I can't hear what's going on around me I would be caught unaware if anything happened."

"And what do you suppose is going to happen here?"

Fists and teeth clenched, Zelgadis stood in angry silence. He wanted to tell her exactly what would happen. That people attack him just because of how he looks. Self-righteous self-proclaimed "heroes" believing him to be a monster. How could he blame them when he certainly looked the part?

"No one is going to attack you here," she said as if she'd read his thoughts.

"Tch…" Zelgadis stormed out before Hina could say anything else. She sighed as the midday sun reflected off his scales. She lost sight of him when the door to the clinic closed behind him.

They say rumors spread fast in a small town. The port wasn't exactly small, but the gossip about a blue-skinned full-body chimera had spread through most of the people in the mere days since Zelgadis' arrival at the clinic, and the stares were worse than ever. Everyone, even the people who were chimeras themselves, all wanted a look at the Master's new project.

Zelgadis stomped about in the back corner of the garden. It was the only space outside his room that didn't seem to have people in it, and despite his desire to remain angry, the scent of the roses was slowly depleting his list of frustrations. He probably enchanted those to, he thought irritably.

Very un-like his usual hot-headedness, Zelgadis allowed the flowers scents to calm him to a simmering annoyance before he set off once again to look for Glen.

"The Master? Oh yes, I believe he said he was headed to the docks today."

"Yeah he was just here. He talked to that old captain o'er there, checked on my sore claw, been hurtin' me bad, it has."

"Aye, I spoke to 'em. Gave me a list of items 'e needed fer 'is research. Say, be ye that fellow 'e was talkin' about? The patron fer 'is research?"

In the end, Zelgadis ended up walking around for several hours before he finally saw Glen arguing with a traveling merchant along the outskirts of the town. "Don't give me that. I'm your best customer. Who else do you suppose would buy twenty live scorpions from you?"

The unfortunate merchant looked to be genuinely feeling bad with every refusal he was forced to give. "And if it were any other species I'd give it to you just for all the support you've given me over the years, but these are Gold Crown Scorpions. Any bandit crew would gladly buy these for their potency alone."

"But you'd still be holding on to a dangerous creature that you'd have to care for to avoid it dying, probably for weeks. And we both know these scorpions aren't valuable if they're not alive." Glen pushed his glasses up and gave the man a devilish smirk.

"But you're only offering half my asking price!" the man pleaded.

"That is all I can afford now, but you know I'm good for full price on your next visit. Maybe," Glen hinted, "there might even be something extra. You did hear that I've got a big job now, I'm sure."

"Of course I heard, but-"

"Then it's settled." Glen clapped his hands together, ignoring any further arguments. Zelgadis watched as the merchant cried and dragged his cart away. "You're as brutal as Lina," he informed the young sorcerer whom was smiling at his box of scorpions. Glen smiled up at him.

"Well I don't want to bleed your princess dry, now do I?" He carried the scorpions to a cart, and placed them beside a jar where an octopus floated. Old and worn wood axels creaked behind the creature which was clearly one of Glen's creations. Zelgadis forced himself to look past the unnatural combination of bird and cat. "So this is for the research then?" he asked.

Glen nodded. "Of course this is just the first phase to find out if dividing things is possible. I've got a couple of ingredients that I've found are easy to work with in a variety of ways so I'm going to test some things out first."

They walked alongside the cart. Glen explained the process he'd go through just to figure out if what Zelgadis wanted was possible or not. From the sounds of it, this would be the easiest but most critical part of the research. If Glen couldn't succeed with something easy and expendable, there was no way he would attempt Zelgadis' division.

"I thought I'd start off with a random 'winging-it' attempt and see what happens. You're welcome to watch if you… er… on second thought. Maybe that's not such a good idea."

"How come?" Up until now, Zelgadis had never had any interest in watching a chimera's creation. He'd done plenty of research on the spells and formulas that went into the process, but not only had he never attempted it, he'd never even looked for a way to see the spells in action. However, maybe now that he was so close to his goal…

"Well… have you ever seen a Chimera being made?" Zelgadis shook his head. "Didn't think so. Most of the human chimera's I've made have refused to ever see another be made. I can't confirm if non-human chimeras share this, but the human ones seem to instinctually look away even if they're close to the process. I … I've seen it once or twice. Mostly with the families injured in a fire or accident. I tend to the parents first, and even if they're holding their child's hand, they look away when the spell begins to take effect." Glen hesitated. He bit his lip. How much could he say? "Well you can come if you want but I can't spell your room every night, so keep the nightmares to a minimum."

A vein pulsed on Zelgadis' forehead. "I do not have nightmares… And don't spell my room without my permission! What if something had happened to the town or the mansion and I hadn't been able to hear it?" Hands clenched into fists. He wasn't as mad as before, but that didn't stop him from repeating the speech he'd given to the roses.

It was impossible to gage the sorcerer's reaction. Glen's eyes were hidden behind the sun's glare. He said nothing, and instead let Zelgadis continue his rant. "Want me to explain?" Glen asked when the complaints had finally been exhausted. Zelgadis flicked out his hand as the 'go ahead' but figured the reason didn't really matter.

Glen pushed his glasses up on his nose, "You were talking in your sleep last night. One of the nurses informed me of what she heard. I made the assumption that you wouldn't want to give away anything vital like that again so I spelled your room so nothing could be heard through the walls."

What? What had he said? He had many secrets in his life that he even kept from those he called friends. He held the panic down and asked. Glen glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "With her permission I used a memory spell on her, but I now know that the sorcerer who made you was Rezo the Red Priest."

A regretful smile tugged at the chimera's mouth. "Well, that's not so bad. I figured that would come out eventually."

"You're not mad?"

"Mad about what? I should have spelled my room myself if I was worried about saying something about that. You're right, I do have nightmares about my transformation. Not every night but on occasion. It happens more when I'm exhausted, so I should have expected it."

Glen shook his head. "That's not what I meant…" Another head shake, "Never mind. I'm not worried about who made you this way. I'll still do the research you commissioned me to do." His eyes were once again hidden behind the large spectacles. Then, as if to break the tension, he smiled with that goofy child-like grin. "And that's why I have these babies," he said patting the cart beside him. "I can't wait to try this out when we get back!"

Never had there been a sorcerer so excited to try out a spell. Glens eyes lit up. The enthusiasm was contagious, as the two of them returned to the mansion, talking and discussing the experiment all the way.

XXX

"What benefit could such a barbaric misguided form of that already perverse magic possibly have within our holy city!"

"It is unacceptable! If the people were to know that the royal family was funding such a thing..."

Amelia groaned with her face hidden in her arms, the royal council of Seyruun had never been so angry with her, and by extension her father, than they were now. Sure she'd managed to convince him about it being a possible alternate to healing magic but the council was another matter. I promised Mister Zelgadis... I can't let him down. But what could she say? Chimera experiments were banned in Seyruun to begin with, but adding that it's human chimeras? What chance of convincing anyone did she really have?

Perhaps it would be best to talk to Mister Glen and have him explain his work to the council. She sighed and turned, with her head still resting on the table, to her father, whom had been quietly listening through most of the discussion. "Um, Daddy? Can we take a short break? I'd like to get in contact with Mister Zelgadis and Master Tochiro, they can probably explain this stuff better than I can."

Prince Phillianel closed his eyes and nodded, "Very well." He stood and the council grew silent, "My friends, I know there are concerns and we will address them all in time, however for now we will take a recess while my daughter gets in contact with the chimera mage in charge of this experiment." His voice was firm and commanding but also gentle, they argued but in the end they still trusted him. "Until that happens," he said, "I want you all to keep in mind that this is not only a chance for a new form of healing magic, but also a chance to repay one of the mages who fought to protect the world against numerous threats, and has saved both myself and my daughter countless times. The white magic of this city cannot heal him, in that we are powerless. Do we not owe it to him and others like him to at least take a chance at finding new ways to help them?"

Many heads lowered and eyes averted in the silence as Prince Phill's words sunk in. "All I ask is that you all take this into consideration, and we will reconvene tomorrow." Amelia was the first one out the door.