Overcoming Strength

Breaking the Key

Chapter 7

No one takes the news well. Pokota and Amelia promise to make Zelgadis's condition one of their first priorities, but Zelgadis kindly reminds them that their countries need them to take care of the bandit problem first. The two monarchs next remind Zelgadis that they can do both at the same time. It is expected that Crowling will help them when he is up to it.

Lina promises to keep an eye on Zelgadis, while attempting to decipher the notes. Since she doesn't have someone to guide her to the enemy anymore her only choice is to stay and wait until his magic returns. While Lina waits, she figures that she might as well occupy her time by studying the encrypted magical items. Xellos promises to assist Lina in her endeavor. Zelgadis assumes that Lina is not too pleased by Xellos's eager evolvement, because she doesn't respond verbally.

Next Sylphiel verifies if Zelgadis is in any pain, to which he responds in the negative. He is not feeling any of his usual aches and pains. Sylphiel decides to stick with Amelia for the time being, but instructs Zelgadis to let her know immediately if he begins feeling unwell. Zelgadis doesn't like all of this attention, but given his circumstances it cannot be avoided.

The timing of such a problem is suspicious to Zelgadis. It is true that his health has been declining, but given the circumstances this still feels like more than a coincidence.

Zelgadis spends the rest of the day in his office with Lina and Xellos, who are busy trying to make sense of the ancient language of Ralteague. Actually, Lina relies heavily on Zelgadis.

In what seems to be every thirty seconds, Lina is asking Zelgadis about a root word or context of a word, as if he is better than the dictionary sitting right in front of her. It's not like she has to translate the language first into Dil's from Ralteague into the common tongue of the alliance. Of course, what is really disconcerting is when Xellos decides to ask Zelgadis questions every so often about deciphering the language. The monster claims that his ancient Ralteague is a bit rusty and that he hasn't used it in at least two hundred years.

Zelgadis doesn't buy it for a second.

At each meal time, which includes lunch, dinner, and multiple snacks, Lina is sure to bring Zelgadis practically everywhere with her. Except the bathroom, although she insists that he goes whenever she needs to since it would be wasteful of their time to do otherwise. Zelgadis is quick to remind her of the dozen or so snack breaks they have taken throughout the day. She responds with a light flick to his shoulder.

The three make some progress on the magically infused items, but the notes do not reveal anything pertaining to their creator's location. Instead the notes are disturbing riddles. Such riddles assert the audacity of claiming Lina as his own and using her power to rule the world. How this magician plans on accomplishing such an inconceivable notion is a complete mystery to Zelgadis.

Lina only laughs.

When Lina is done for the day she leads Zelgadis to his room and they get to bed.

The next day is similar to the previous in every way. Lina takes far too many snack breaks and Xellos finds it amusing to ask for Zelgadis's help deciphering a language Xellos knows better than Zelgadis. The information they glean is no different from what they figured out yesterday. Lina finds it imperative to point this out to Xellos every chance she gets. I was right you were wrong, ha ha ha. Zelgadis quickly becomes bored with Lina and Xellos's bantering and amuses himself with a little wooden puzzle off his shelf. It's a bit harder to do since he cannot see at all, but he eventual gets the hang of it, recognizing the feel of the familiar pieces. Perhaps he should bring out a potter's wheel to help pass the time.

"Mister Zelgadis we came up with an idea," Amelia says bursting into his office and his mind. The shock causes Zelgadis to experience a miniature heart attack of sorts. The small puzzle escapes his hands and disappears into an endless void. In his mind, Zelgadis offers a fond farewell to the friendly puzzle, resigned to be without it for the remainder of the day.

After Zelgadis recovers from his fright, he becomes aware of a putrid smell tickling his nostrils.

"Is that what I think it is?" Zelgadis asks with strong distaste.

"Yes it is!" Amelia says in her familiar excited tone. "It's Kira's special antidote for unsealing magic!"

An expression of false delight is plastered on Zelgadis's pale face. Taking his hands, Amelia puts a steaming bowl of unsavory broth in front of him. No doubt about it, this is the stuff he tried to use when freeing himself from Ralnker's monsters the first time. It is not an incident he remembers affectionately.

Especially since it didn't work.

"Not a bad idea Amelia," Lina says. Zelgadis feels movement from his left and assumes that the curious red head is standing close by inspecting the questionable liquid. She continues, "But if a monster is not responsible for his problem Zelgadis will have eaten the worst tasting broth in the world for no reason."

"Don't remind me," Zelgadis grunts. Around him, Zelgadis feels movement and assumes that Amelia is marking the ground with chalk to finish the spell.

"Well what do you have to lose?" Xellos says from somewhere nearby. "Might as well give it a swig."

"Don't forget Mister Zelgadis," Amelia says getting off the floor. "You have to drink the whole thing." The princess's tone makes her sound like an overbearing mother to Zelgadis.

"Guess I don't have any choice," Zelgadis grunts again as he brings the steaming substance towards his mouth. As a small whiff of the broth tickles his nostrils Zelgadis nearly loses his lunch and clutches the bowl instinctively. "I doubt this will accomplish anything."

"Don't be such a baby," Lina is becoming impatient. Grabbing the edge of the bowl and forcing the slime into his mouth, Lina throws back Zelgadis's head causing the junk to slide down his throat.

The blind man's brain flashes white in his mind's eye as the broth descends through him like sludge.

Almost immediately his skin begins to dry out, with a burning sensation quickly following. Zelgadis's ears and eyes begin to sting which is quickly replaced with a sharp knife like pain slicing through them. Reflexively, Zelgadis stumbles from his chair and shoves Lina away from him roughly. Grabbing at his ears and eyes, he attempts to ease his pain, but holding his throbbing body doesn't help any. Unable to scream, Zelgadis collapses to the ground as his magic returns. Zelgadis's astral vision begins to work and in his shock he momentarily opens his eyes. He can just make out the forms of his friends and Xellos, but what is more disconcerting is what he sees standing directly behind Lina.

A chaotic astral form, with spirals of black and gold, intently watches him from where he is writhing in pain. At this point Zelgadis assumes that he is dying and his appointment to meet his maker is upon him. Fighting the urge to pass out Zelgadis stares wide eyed at the gold image he assumes is a figment of his imagination.

In a flash, everything goes black.

The pain vanishes, his skin doesn't burn, his ears and eyes feel numb, but otherwise the unearthly pain is completely gone.

Everything goes still and Zelgadis is seemingly left alone. His momentary astral vision is again out of reach, his magic sealed off once more.

"It didn't work," Zelgadis tries to say, but even he wonders if they can hear him. He can feel the effort it takes for these simple words to make it out of his mouth.

"It didn't work did it?" Amelia asks. Quickly he feels Amelia by his side on her knees. She puts the back of her hand against his face and with her other hand grabs his wrist.

"If it didn't work than why did the broth make his body react that way?" Lina questions. "It doesn't make sense? The broth must have had some effect to cause his body to thrash that way."

"Don't make me drink it again," Zelgadis manages to wheeze out.

"Of course not!" Amelia cries and Zelgadis winces at the loud declaration in his mind.

"I think he should," Lina muses.

"Miss Lina, how can you suggest such a thing?" Amelia quickly turns in the direction Lina is standing. Although he cannot see it, he can feel her movements well.

"Calm down Amelia," Lina says in a tone that suggests she is trying to tame a raging lion. "Obviously not right now, Zelgadis needs rest and some healing after experience something that intense. But I don't think it was completely ineffective."

"I could see only for a moment," Zelgadis affirms quietly.

"I'll talk it over with Pokota," Lina says. "Meanwhile you should grab Sylphiel and make sure Zelgadis get's some rest."

"But what about your research," Xellos reminds Lina, the monster obviously has no concern for Zelgadis at all. Interesting that Xellos bothers to let Zelgadis hear him though.

Lina grunts in exasperation. "You must be joking? There is nothing useful in these notes, so why should I put that before Zelgadis? I want to know why the broth did what it did and I doubt these stupid love letter can help me with that."

"I am not going to make the same mistake twice," Lina declares darkly. "I hate to repeat myself."

With the help of Lina and Amelia, Zelgadis get's to his feet and they make their way to his room. Naturally, Zelgadis is bothered by being practically carried back to his room by the two girls, but he cannot bring himself to complain. He's too worn out, which bothers the two girls beside him. Sylphiel and Crowling are already waiting for them in his room. No sooner is Zelgadis comfortable before a sleep spell is applied and he is lost from anything that transpires around him.

When Zelgadis wakes up, he can feel the warm rays of the familiar morning sun hit his body. But there is an unusual chill in the air.

Even with the unnatural coolness, Zelgadis still feels refreshed and ready for anything. No hint of yesterday's painful broth experience can be felt on or in his body. Although, the blind man is confused to find that no one is in the room; he would have expected one of them to wake him and ask how he was doing. Do his friends really not care about him?

Stupid question.

No, Zelgadis knows that this cannot be the case. Something else must be wrong. Making his way out of bed Zelgadis manages to dress himself in fresh clothes and locate his walking stick. The room is still distinctly chilly.

Zelgadis silently waits in the center of the room and tries to take note of anything in the air that feels unusual.

With a rough push, Zelgadis is shoved to the ground with great force as something cold flies over him. "Stay down," Xellos says into Zelgadis's mind.

Not daring to question the monster in this surprising situation, Zelgadis stays plastered to his floor.

"Are you alright Zelgadis," Pokota calls as the door opens to Zelgadis's left.

"What's happening," Zelgadis calls, wasting no time with idle conversation.

"Seyruun is under attack by an innumerable amount of ghosts," Pokota says as he inches towards Zelgadis and grabs his hand. "Come on."

"Go with him, I'll be close behind you," Xellos says quickly.

After they swiftly exit the room Pokota continues to explain. "Xellos was fighting a ghost, I'm surprised he offered to help. Amelia, Crowling, and Sylphiel are busy trying to extract the ghosts too. Unfortunately, it's proving difficult to do since they are pretty much on their own. For some reason these ghosts are able to possess the white mages which means it's three against six hundred and eighty-two."

"What do they want?" Zelgadis asks.

"They are demanding that Lina comes with them to their master, Lord Del`join." Pokota quickly answers. "Apparently this lord of theirs didn't appreciate Lina destroying his head ghost Geist and was afraid that Lina would leave Seyruun where he couldn't reach her. He immediately sent this ghost army from his base. It took him two days to set this plan up. Only TWO DAYS!"

"Does Lina have a counter attack in mind," Zelgadis asks.

Pokota doesn't reply immediately as they enter a room. Zelgadis has no idea where they are, but he tries not to let it bother him. He'll just have to trust Pokota and his judgment.

"I . . . don't know," Pokota admits. "I just hope she doesn't do something stupid."

A few minutes pass and Zelgadis finds a chair to sit in. Zelgadis can feel a slight breeze in front of him as Pokota passes close by. Obviously, the prince is becoming anxious so Zelgadis decides to try and ease his mind.

"Did you accomplish any more research yesterday," Zelgadis asks.

"Oh," Pokota abruptly stops, momentarily distracted from his unease. Crowling and Pokota apparently have something in common. "Not really sure. Kira's broth must have had some effect otherwise you wouldn't have reacted in such a way aside from constipation and diarrhea. Something is definitely sealing your magic, we just aren't sure if it's because of a monster or because of your condition. By releasing your magic though your sickness seems to be freed along with it, thus the bucket loads of pain you experienced all at once."

"That means that my condition is definitely connected to a problem in my magic pool and astral composition," Zelgadis affirms.

Zelgadis is interrupted. "Xellos you're back," Pokota says.

"Sorry for the wait," Xellos reports with no remorse. "I was checking on Lina. Amelia and the others are on their way here. I am also happy to report that the ghost raid has ceased for the time being."

"Why? What happened," Pokota asks eagerly.

"That is a secret," Xellos says with a giggle.

Before Pokota can become upset, Zelgadis answers Pokota's question for Xellos. "Lina must have decided to go with the ghosts and comply with their demands. I assume that Gourry went with her."

"You're no fun Zel-Zel," Xellos pouts. "You are right though, Gourry and Lina have turned themselves over to Lord Del`join's demands. My master will not be pleased."

"Oh I feel so bad for you," Zelgadis says tersely.

"It's only a minor setback, I still have my ace in the hole," Xellos says calmly.

"And what might that be," Pokota asks carefully, not really sure if he wants to know.

Immediately, Zelgadis wishes that Pokota didn't ask Xellos. In the monsters current mood, he might actually answer the question. They have reached the pivotal moment of their trials and now that it's here Zelgadis wishes that Xellos would simply say, "That is a secret."

"Lina was correct in assuming that the magical item notes would be useless," Xellos continues. "I was hoping that this new proud sorcerer would be unintelligent like the other vain and overconfident men before him, but my deduction was inaccurate. Even after a thousand years people can surprise you. But I do not wish Lina to face off against this man without me to witness it. Since it would be unwise to face Del'join without all the slayers present I decided to hang back until you are ready. This is where you come in Zelgadis."

Blindly, Zelgadis glares forward. Zelgadis may not even be looking at Xellos, but his feelings are clear enough.

"I am going to unseal your magic so you can locate Miss Lina and Lord Del`join so I won't have too, just like Lina wanted you to do initially," Xellos says, explaining his idea simply and in such a way that annoys both men immensely. "I also need your precious Soul Cradle jar to make sure Lina survives this encounter. You can stay if you want I suppose, the choice is yours. Unless you want Lina to fight against a man who was able to possess the entire white magic staff with his power."

"Wait, a minute, back up!" Pokota says. "Are you saying that you are the one who sealed Zelgadis's magic?"

"Yes, I am."

"What . . . why?" Pokota asks. The confusion and injustice Pokota feels cannot be missed by Zelgadis's intuition. And it is a feeling that Zelgadis nearly mirrors perfectly at the moment. He knew that the timing of his sudden lose in magic was not coincidental.

"It's no secret now," Xellos says as if it is oblivious. "I didn't want Lina to leave Seyruun until I had enough time to decipherer Lord Del`join notes. The easiest way to do this was to make Zelgadis incapable of using his astral vision to locate him. He was the hinge to Lina's plan and easy to break. As a bonus, everyone assumed that Zelgadis's inability to use magic was due to his unfortunate condition, making it less obvious."

Unable to contain his anger and frustration any longer Zelgadis clenches his teeth. "You damn monster, if you hadn't done that Lina wouldn't be in the position she's in! You even admitted yourself that those magic notes had nothing valuable on them except for confirming this man's wishes to conquer the world."

"You make me sound like a failure putting it that way," Xellos says with false hurt. "Actually the notes were useful, I now know Del'join's plan more or less and have an idea of how to impede his attempts to harm Miss Lina . . . using you of course."

"How could you let it get this far though!" Pokota screams.

"Nothing's final. This can all be fixed easily enough with the soul's cradle as I mentioned before," Xellos reminds them.

When Xellos admits this, Zelgadis curses under his breath. The fact that the monster has everything this well thought out is infuriating.

"Fine then," Zelgadis says after taking a deep breath to help clear his anger and unease. "What are you waiting for, unseal my magic."

"And herein lies your dilemma," Xellos says. "You should be grateful that I'm going to even take the time to warn you."

"About what?" Pokota asks.

"Well as you know, Zelgadis's condition is tied to his magic pool and cursed astral form. Over the past three days this curse has been building up, as soon as I release your magic all of that backup is going to burst into you and cause a significant amount of pain. Rezo's, or should I say dear old Ruby Eye's, transformation on your body can never be completely removed because it is a part of your astral form. When I release the seal your curse will reestablish itself in your new body. The only out you have, if you wish to remain human, is by sealing off your magic forever."

"Wait, hold on," Pokota interrupts. "Are you saying that Zelgadis's astral form is still cursed and it is going to transform his body because it's still there?"

"Basically, yes," Xellos says. "Just as a magical item influences the outward appearance of its vessel the same is true for Zelgadis's body."

"But I thought Rezo only transformed Zelgadis's body," Pokota says.

"He did both," Xellos says. "It isn't too difficult to understand when one considers what blow demons and rock golems are composed of. Both are nearly completely astral and magically composed forms. While a blow demon does have a physical presence, it is only because of their immense astral power. This not only affects a physical form but must be connected to a magical force; otherwise it would merely disappear and die. Same is true with rock golems, it's not as if Rezo simply put rock into Zelgadis's skin, he purposefully used a rock golem, not only to have control over Zelgadis's actions but to keep the rock form alive and intact."

A long pause follows.

"Did I go too fast," Xellos asks.

"So, no matter how many times I create a human body, Shabranigdo's curse will eventually transform my body back into a monster," Zelgadis says with no emotion.

"Oh good you do understand and, yes, you are exactly correct. On the bright side, the portion of Rezo's spell that was attached only to your body is completely gone. Who knows what you'll look like after this transformation, it might not be all that bad since your body is still very much human, even if it is a copy."

"This isn't fair," Pokota says.

Zelgadis continues off of Pokota's honest thought."So I have the choice to either remain human with no magic or to find Lina and help you using the soul's cradle while turning into who knows what."

"Well at least you won't die," Xellos reminds them. "Crowling was so close in his explanation, he only had a few details incorrect. But he was certainly on the right track . . . And what makes you think that you have a choice?"

Pokota and Zelgadis feel a twinge of fear.

"I must follow Lord Beastmaster's orders and locate Lina as quickly as possible; I've wasted enough time explaining this to you out of the goodness of my heart. Since you are the only one who can use the soul's cradle I can't very well use someone else."

"Why can't you find her yourself," Pokota says.

"It's not like my race comes with a built in people detector," Xellos says coolly. "I could find her, but even if I did I would be unable to save Lina if my suspicions are correct. And if I have Zelgadis track her for me I won't have to do it while transporting you all there. So . . . what do you say Zelgadis. You do want to find and save her right?"

"At least answer me this," Zelgadis says at length. "Why is this man so dangerous?"

Xellos doesn't immediately answer. "He has the ability to possess Lina and use her power to conquer the world that's why the soul's cradle is quite necessary. . ."

The last part is for Zelgadis's mind alone, ". . . and with her this man will have the power to possibly control the monster race with the power of nightmares."

"What did he say Zelgadis," Pokota asks.

For a brief moment Zelgadis wonders why Lina has to put him through this. Granted, this time around Lina isn't to blame necessarily for his blind eyes and deaf ears, but he still has to go looking for trouble because of her.

But she trusts him, just as he trusts her.

At the slight chance that Lina and Gourry can't stop Lord Del'join on their own, it will be us to the rest of them to save their friends. This time it will be his turn to reach out a hand to her.

"Pokota can you please get some items for me from my office," Zelgadis says instead. If Xellos didn't want Pokota to hear what he said, there is a reason. And if Zelgadis tells Pokota, he runs the risk of angering the monster race. Something he is not willing to push right now. "I need you to grab two Soul's Cradles, a handful of Lord Del`join magical items to track him with, and get the other's ready for a battle."

Zelgadis can hear Pokota's thoughts about to question him again, but something cold brushes past him and Zelgadis has a feeling that Xellos is giving the other man a reason to leave. As the door opens and closes Zelgadis asks Xellos a simple question.

"Where are Amelia and the others?"

"Looking for us," Xellos replies. "I didn't want to be interrupted."

Apparently Xellos has a lot on his plate, the monster even found a way to trap Zelgadis and Pokota without them ever realizing it. Before Zelgadis can mentally prepare himself for what is about to happen Xellos unseals Zelgadis's magic.

Like hot wires rubbing up and down his skin, the marks of a blow demon become visible on Zelgadis's body. Gasping for air, Zelgadis hugs himself tight as his blind eyes fly open in pain and confusion. Zelgadis is only partially aware of being carefully lowered to the ground as he begins to shake uncontrollably.

Zelgadis's sight quickly returns, and he longs once again to be surrounded by his familiar dark nothingness. It's too bright and there is too much to see. Unlike before, Zelgadis's astral vision is activated without the use of a spell. It is now a part of his body not just his astral form.

Not only is everything agonizingly bright, but everything in the world is unbearably loud as well. Zelgadis's own gasping breath is enough to make his ears burn and sweat.

The cursed man writhes in pain and agony, but finds no relief. Zelgadis's lost senses continue to flood through his form and grow in strength and power. With dry hands Zelgadis claws at the ground and becomes angry when someone touches him. Briefly, Zelgadis becomes aware of someone pinning him down, trying to keep him from hurting himself further.

He feels trapped.

Zelgadis feels like he's being kept caged inside himself. He wants to be let out. He feels trapped. All this time his other self has been desperately trying to get out and now it's almost there.

In a last effort to escape, Zelgadis screams, calling out someone's name. But he doesn't know whose name he calls.

And then the pain stops.

Author's Note: Well, I finally answer the questions I left hanging in 'Becoming Stronger.' Xellos answers it all since Filia isn't around. I don't think I missed anything, except one thing Filia pointed out concerning his large magic pool. Obviously, he still had a large magic pool because of the blow demon portion still attached to his soul. Also, I got to torture Zelgadis quite a bit in this chapter. Just when he thought he'd found a cure, this happens.

None of this is canon of course, but because it isn't explained in full the topic surrounding chimerism is fun to exploit.

If it doesn't make sense think of Rezo's effect on Pokota's body. What was attached to the red priest's soul (along with his magic) affected Pokota's body, just as in this case with Zelgadis. Only one chapter to go, then this story will finally be over.