Overcoming Strength
Asking for Help
Chapter 4
For the next couple of days Zelgadis works through more notes and findings from numerous tests and comes to suspect that Sylphiel might be right. His body is not aging, it's something else. While this thought wriggles itself around in his mind Zelgadis is rudely interrupted, but it is not because of the monster priest who is perched behind him. Duly noting the astral presence of Lina Inverse as she makes her way up to his office, he also see's that she is holding some very powerful magical items. Zelgadis is slightly annoyed when she dumps said artifacts, a mound of junk more like it, on his desk in front of him as she comes into the room.
"Hey, Zel" Lina says happily.
"What was that for," Zelgadis asks angrily motioning to the mess she has brought.
"Didn't you see me coming," Lina asks pointedly. "Anyway, these are some of the items I got from the bandits over the last couple of days."
"I'm surprised that you didn't sell them," Zelgadis muses as he picks up one of the miscellaneous treasures. It has a strong magical aura.
"I was tempted," Lina admits. "But one of the shop owners pointed something out to me that I hadn't noticed before." Grabbing an ornate looking dagger Lina removes the handle and turns the blade over to reveal something to Zelgadis. Gently, Lina holds it up to Zelgadis, but all he can see is the throbbing pulse of the magical energy seething out of it. If there is some other detail on its material surface, Zelgadis will not be able to see it.
"I'm sorry Lina," Zelgadis says, lifting his hands slightly to match the honesty of his words. "But I cannot see."
"Your normal vision is completely gone?" Lina asks in shock. ". . . I'm sorry to hear that."
Zelgadis shrugs, "I'm getting by alright, but is something written on the inside of the daggers hilt?"
"Yes, the first part I can clearly read," Lina musses. "It says 'Lina', but there is a line underneath it written in a language I cannot understand. Of all the people I know, you are certainly someone who can read this."
"Well, I probably could, if I wasn't blind," Zelgadis says with a tight smile. "Do you have any idea what language it is?" Leaning back in his chair, Zelgadis lets his blind eyes look up at Lina. For some reason this slightly bothers the woman, and she looks away and turns her focus back onto the dagger.
"Let's see," Lina begins. "Each item here has my name and something written in it or on it somewhere. From the little I know, I'm guessing that it is the ancient tongue of Ralteague."
Rising from his seat Zelgadis walks over to one of his many book cases and retrieves a dictionary. "Here you go," Zelgadis says. "Courtesy of the Seyruun library, I forgot to return it."
"Are you kidding?" Lina says as Zelgadis tosses the large book her way. Nearly dropping said book, Lina grabs at it and glares towards Zelgadis with distaste. While offering her a soft smile, he goes back to his seat. Looking over the items littered on his desk, Zelgadis notices that the magic they are emitting is familiar.
As he makes his way back to the desk Zelgadis offers a light comment to Lina, "When you are done researching that, maybe you can tell me a little more about that dragon power on your hand."
Lina looks at him in shock, but doesn't say anything, choosing to ignore him for the moment.
Picking up a bracelet, Zelgadis feels a surge of energy from the small item as soon as he touches it. "Can I borrow this Lina?" Zelgadis asks.
Lina takes a seat and starts flipping through the dictionary. "Sure, just bring it back," Lina says with a huff. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."
Again, Zelgadis takes this golden opportunity to rid himself of Xellos momentarily, and the man sets off towards the white magic temple leaving a moping Mazoku at the gate. He's heading to the temple in order to compare the difference between this bracelet and the ring from the other day. As Zelgadis makes his way inside, he is surprised to find Crowling, Sylphiel and Gourry's presence there along with a number of other white mages.
Crowling's astral presence is displaying its usual characteristics with a slight flicker. When he gets closer Zelgadis's concern escalates, something is off. Crowling's astral body is showing more chaotic flames than normal. His astral signature was always unique, but this is not healthy.
It feels foreign.
Zelgadis casually walks into the room and gingerly places the magical bracelet into his pocket. "Good afternoon, what going on?" Zelgadis says out loud.
Immediately, Crowlings astral form fluctuates and Zelgadis tries not to panic at the dangerous signs he is sensing. The young priest appears to be going mad, form twitching like a jitter bug. Sylphiel seems to be in the mist of trying to cast a spell on Crowling, but with Crowling's last sporadic convulsion Gourry takes the initiative and moves in to protect Sylphiel. Grabbing at Sylphiel he forces her to move back a safe distance away from the seemingly deranged sorcerer.
Crowling's body stops moving as Sylphiel's spell takes hold. What looks to be a white sparkling flame escapes from his friend's body; flying out of the room like a comet.
Miraculously, Crowling begins coming out of his stupor and looks around in bewilderment. His eyes fall on Zelgadis first and the assistant immediately casts the spell to communicate with him. "How did I get here?" Crowling says to Zelgadis from the astral plane.
Like a gust of wind, Crowlings astral form wafts around before eventually falling back into a calmer form, very different from what it normally looks like actually. Gourry let's go of Sylphiel after he is sure the danger has past. Gourry says something to Sylphiel, but of course Zelgadis cannot hear him.
Crowling gasps, and although Zelgadis cannot hear it, he assumes his assistant is gasping because of the gasp like pose he is making right now. "Zelgadis I think I was just possessed!" Crowling nearly shrieks into Zelgadis's mind.
Before Zelgadis can question this, Crowling begins to pace back and forth talking to himself. Zelgadis can catch some of these thoughts and realizes that Crowling is retracing his steps, trying to recall what he was doing last before blacking out. He asks some questions to the other priests and mages who are still in the room, before turning back to Zelgadis. "Is the thing that possessed me still here?"
"No it's gone now," Zelgadis confirms as he searches the immediate area. The only form he see's in the distance is Xellos, who is still waiting where he left him.
Gourry moves towards Sylphiel and hugs her, stopping her from firing off any more spells at a monster that is no longer there.
"I can't believe that thing got away with that," Crowling says angrily, hugging himself while he continues to pace. In Zelgadis's mind, the normally composed man seems to be screaming. Someone's astral voice is different from their physical voice in some cases. But to the other people in the room Crowling's voice probably sounds like it normally does. The fretful man continues. "But-I was powerless to do anything," Crowling is furious rather than fearful.
"How could a white magic expert such as yourself ever possibly become possessed?" Zelgadis reasons. "Isn't that impossible?"
"No it isn't impossible," Crowling says calming down a little. "It is highly unlikely though."
"What was the last thing you remember?" Zelgadis asks as he comes up beside him. Sylphiel and Gourry walk forward to join them as the other mages quickly make their way out of the room. Now that the excitement is over they have mind enough to report this event to the head mage. Zelgadis hopes that this will not affect Crowling's prestige among the priests.
"I don't know," Crowling finally says.
Sylphiel casts the Tansaku Spell so she can communicate with Zelgadis as well.
"What happened?" Zelgadis's asks Sylphiel calmly.
"I was having a nice visit with Gourry Dear when I was summoned here," Sylphiel recounts. "I was told that one of the mages had been possessed and that none of their flow break spells were working. Since I'm an expert with these kinds of things they asked for my assistance. I came here as fast as I could and found Crowling demanding information from the other mages and threatening them. That's when you came into the room. I was able to cast the spell necessary to free him and you saw the rest."
Crowling nods as he listens. The frightened man is calming down and after hearing a clear account of what happened is falling into his habitual thinking routine. Zelgadis turns to Crowling.
"You should have Sylphiel check you out and keep you under surveillance," Zelgadis says factually. "We don't want this to happen again." Next he turns to Sylphiel. "Maybe you should tell Amelia about what has happened here, I know she is busy, but I would hate to think what version of the story the other mages might reiterate to her." Zelgadis does not want to lose his most valuable assistant due to old men's fear. "She also knows everything that goes on in the palace, maybe she has heard something about people acting uncharacteristically."
Now that Crowling has a slight plan, he gains a bit more confidence. "Alright, sir," Crowling says with a nod. "And I'm sorry about this."
"A minor setback," Zelgadis assures him. "Right now I want you to take care of yourself. You need to do that before you can help me." Zelgadis says this with a smile, it is not meant to discourage Crowling in any way and his assistant understands this. Gourry and Sylphiel then depart from the room with Crowling, leaving Zelgadis with disturbing thoughts and a tight mystery left to be unraveled.
The last thing he needs is his prized assistant off the case. He cannot possibly do all of this by himself. Making his way to the magical ring on its pedestal, Zelgadis proceeds to pull out the bracelet hidden in his pocket. Since he is here, and all of the other mages have left the room, he might as well accomplish his original goal for coming in the first place. As Zelgadis is expecting, the magical signature from the two items match perfectly. Whoever made this bracelet with Lina's name on it, is the same person who created the ring. Unlike the incomplete ring, the bracelet is a successful amplifier and draws its magical power from elemental magic. And more precisely, from astral magic.
This information is slightly disturbing to Zelgadis considering his own problems. Are the two issues somehow related? He does not want to become entangled in another Lina problem if he can help it. With a slump in his step, Zelgadis makes his way out of the shrine towards his ever present companion.
"That was some light show," Xellos says in his normal fashion.
"Yes, wasn't it," Zelgadis says, but refrains from saying any more.
Before doing anything else, Zelgadis checks on Crowling. Relief washes over him as Sylphiel confirms to him that his companion is perfectly fine and should be back to work in no time. After wishing them all a good evening, Zelgadis makes his way back towards his office.
As he walks there, he eyes Lina from afar noting her mood. She does not appear happy. The girl is pacing the room pulling at her hair. When pacing isn't enough she starts to throw some of her junk at the wall, then she slams the book down on the desk. The book doesn't stay closed long before she waddles back over to it and restarts her search. Watching this short episode from Lina is quite entertaining to Zelgadis and he cannot help but laugh to himself. After what has just happened to Crowling and his ever growing troubles, Zelgadis needs a good laugh.
"What's so funny?" Xellos asks.
Xellos has just ruined the moment.
"Any luck?" Zelgadis asks aloud as he slips into the room.
Lina starts to holler and rave at Zelgadis, pointing at the book and items in a haphazard manner. Obviously she has forgotten to recast the Tansaku Spell because Zelgadis cannot hear a word Lina is saying. When Lina appears to be done Zelgadis merely raises an eyebrows and points to his ears. Zelgadis offers her a sweet innocent smile. In frustration she screams before casting the correct spell.
"I hate you," Lina says.
"Thank you for not screaming when I could hear you," Zelgadis says.
Taking the hint Lina proceeds to scream as loudly as she can, lucky for Zelgadis, he can control the volume (so to speak) on what he hears through the astral plane so her loud tone doesn't bother him.
"Feel better," Zelgadis asks with a tease.
"Of course not," Lina says with a twitching eye brow. "I can't make head or tails of any of this guys secret love notes."
"I was able to find something out for you," Zelgadis says at length. "I'm not sure if it will help you any but. . ."
"Just tell me what you found out, I'll be satisfied with most anything at this point," Lina is in a sour mood.
"Amelia brought back one of the trinkets from a bandit attack over a week ago for the white mages to study," Zelgadis says patiently. "They were hoping to find some clues regarding the recent rise in bandit activity and their heavy use of magical items. Not much has been accomplished, but I did notice something odd about it and decided to compare your items here to the item Amelia brought back. . ." Zelgadis cuts himself off allowing Lina time to think about it. Unfortunately, Zelgadis only succeeds in making Lina crabbier.
"You're lucky I don't hit blind and deaf people," Lina says.
"Funny," Zelgadis recounts. "You didn't have a problem hitting me the last time I was deaf, blind, and mute."
If Zelgadis could see her eyes he would see her glaring at him intensely.
Clearing his throat Zelgadis continues. "The same person made both items. They're astral identification matches perfectly even though the ring from Amelia was incomplete. But I can still tell."
"Wow," Lina says trying to sound sarcastic. Her tone does not betray any sense of awe, but Zelgadis can read from her form that she is actually somewhat impressed. "You've gotten pretty good at this Astral Vision stuff haven't you?"
"You have no idea," Xellos says on the astral plane. Lina still doesn't know that he is there. Zelgadis briefly entertains the thought of telling Lina about his Xellos troubles. Should he tell her?
"I have another tidbit of information that might interest you," Zelgadis says as he picks up the dictionary Lina has thrown on the ground. While he puts the book away, Zelgadis spots Amelia heading towards his building. Taking note of her relaxed stride Zelgadis is assured that she isn't going to bring him any bad news. Zelgadis continues to talk to Lina, "The ever mysterious Xellos has been following me closely these past few weeks.
"You mean ever since you noticed a decline in your ability to see and hear?" Lina asks.
"Yes," Zelgadis says
"Oh, Zelgadis you aren't playing fair," Xellos whines. Zelgadis notes that Xellos's astral form fluctuates and assumes that he is now visible to Lina in his human form. The annoying monster next decides to talk to Lina using his physical voice so Zelgadis cannot hear him. A little payback perhaps?
"According to Xellos you haven't made much progress on your recent lose of hearing and sight," Lina says mildly.
"That isn't entirely true," Zelgadis says as he takes note of Amelia's location in the building. The last thing he wants is for Xellos and Lina to be talking about this particular subject in front of her. "Crowling came upon a theory while investigating these items. My partially cursed astral form is affecting my body and . . . like some of these failed magical amplifiers, my body is slowly dying."
"Are you serious?" Lina says. Her hands are clenched and her agitation with Zelgadis is obvious. On another point, Zelgadis is finding it easier and easier to read people's emotions. "Why did you ever bother even creating a new body for yourself if it was just going to kill you?" Lina reasons.
"It's just a theory," Zelgadis says remaining calm."Sylphiel is convinced that if I was truly dying she would be able to do something about it."
"Well, that's nice of her to say, but it's not like she has any experience with chimera's," Lina says honestly.
"That's my opinion as well," Zelgadis says.
There is a momentary pause where no one seems to be saying anything.
"Xellos says you aren't dying," Lina says without any emotion, just a statement of fact.
"I do not care for that monster's opinion," Zelgadis says just as calmly. "He has done nothing beneficial and is a constant thorn in my side. I am tiring of his verbal abuse."
"Xellos doesn't lie, and if you were going to die, I doubt he would be sticking to you like glue, which he has apparently been doing," Lina says with a small smile.
Zelgadis is caught off guard. For some reason this simple fact never crossed his mind. He has been so angry at the monster and obsessed with his research that the thought never occurred to him. Leave it to Lina to turn a complicated issue into something so straightforward.
When Amelia opens the door to the room Zelgadis nearly forgets to greet her.
"Hello Mister Zelgadis," Amelia says pleasantly. The princess turns to greet Lina and is a little more than shocked to see Xellos in the room.
"You didn't tell Amelia about Xellos did you?" Lina asks.
"No I didn't," Zelgadis admits sheepishly, but then he turns to Amelia. "Is there anything wrong?"
"No, nothing is wrong," Amelia says at length while she eyes Xellos suspiciously. Zelgadis notes that Lina says something to Amelia which sparks the inevitable question. "Why didn't you tell me that Mister Xellos has been with you all this time Mister Zelgadis?"
Trying not to hold his breath in minor irritation for this needless conversation, Zelgadis politely answers Amelia. "I didn't think it mattered, especially since you can't see him unless he chooses to be seen. I didn't want you to think I was crazy or . . ." At this point Zelgadis stops. He can tell Amelia his reasons all night long, but his excuses all sound idiotic at this point.
Why did he have to tell Lina about Xellos in the first place? Oh, it's because he is sick and tired of the fruitcake.
"I'm sorry," Zelgadis finally says, again he says it out of obligation rather than really meaning it.
Amelia and Lina can tell.
Lina says something out loud that Zelgadis cannot hear, but Zelgadis can tell from her astral form that it isn't something nice. Amelia in turn seems to reprimand Lina, but Zelgadis can tell that she is still sad. And slightly disappointed.
"I wanted to tell you Mister Zelgadis that I was going to send a letter to Pokota and ask him for his assistance," Amelia says. "At this rate the magical item and bandit rise is going to affect the whole alliance and I also thought that he might be able to help you since Crowling is having . . . difficulties. It's not just him being possessed; I think he's dealing with some stress."
Zelgadis nods. "He needs a nice long break," Zelgadis says. "He deserves it, but it will be difficult to replace him. I need him," and he deeply means every word.
"Well we should all get some rest," Amelia says at length. "Goodnight Mister Zelgadis."She turns and wishes everyone present, including Xellos, a good evening and leaves the room. Lina eyes her junk littered throughout Zelgadis's office.
"Is it alright if I keep this stuff here for now?" Lina says.
"It's alright," Zelgadis says and the two leave the room with Xellos following in tow.
When they near their assigned rooms for the evening Lina turns to Zelgadis. "I might have a little teeny favor to ask you tomorrow, sleep well," Lina says and with that leaves Zelgadis standing in the hall with a dumb expression on his face.
Zelgadis momentarily wonders if he will have a choice in this favor of hers.
Probably not.
Author's Note: Now you really know why Crowling is in this story, because I couldn't let a ghost possess any of the cannon characters. It just cannot be done. That and . . . most Slayer OC's that I create I end up killing in my stories. No OC is safe.