So, um, here's the next chapter… I feel like the normal disclaimer is getting old, but it's what I put on all of my chapters… as usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Also, I really enjoy speculating on the history of the nations in the Slayers world. I always do my research to make sure that I'm not contradicting any established information, but if you see something that sounds contrary to what's stated in the canon, please let me know. I'm human, and I make mistakes a lot.

16- Back to the Books

"Wow! This place is incredible!" Amelia exclaimed in awe. "When you said underground, I was thinking someplace dark and dreary... but this is actually really beautiful! Look at those floor tiles! And those mosaics! Even the ceiling is painted!"

"It's a state-of-the-art facility too." Pestis added. "Magic-operated doors, high-efficiency lighting and ventilation, book directories sorted by title, author, and subject... this place has everything."

"Yeah, well... Taforashia isn't a very big country, but it makes up for it in other ways." Pokota was trying his best to hide his pride, but it was still showing though in a somewhat endearing way. "Follow me- the books you're looking for would be in this section over here."

The group followed after Pokota through several small rooms, the walls all lined with books. Zara was running back and forth with an awestruck expression, as he usually did when surrounded by books. Enrique was doing his best to keep up, but he seemed distracted by all of the colours around him.

"Hey, Amelia- this library is really different from the one we explored a few years back, huh?" Zelgadis asked.

Amelia was going to reply, but Pokota interrupted, jumping into the conversation. "Oh, where was that?"

"It was in Seyruun, just outside of the main city." Zelgadis responded. "We were excavating the remains of an ancient Black Magic library that dated back to before the War of the Monsters' Fall."

"Wow! That's incredible! I doubt that Taforashia has anything that old..."

"Actually, what is now Taforashia wasn't developed until about four-hundred years after the War." Pestis spoke up. "The heavy forests and dense fog kept outsiders from penetrating into the area... though it was home to a nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers who used the thick fog defensively to hide themselves from outsiders. While the rest of the world had long since progressed into the Bronze Age, they stayed secluded in the Stone Age for hundreds of years- that is, until the descendants of Sairaag used their magic to penetrate the fog and settle the area. The tribe was them assimilated into the newly-formed country and many of their traditions were adopted by the new settlers. That's why, despite having all the technology and information that they brought directly from Sairaag, Taforashians have a very distinct root culture."

"Aww, I could've told them that." Pokota whined, perching atop the professor's head.

"I understand that you must have a thorough knowledge of your country's history, prince." Pestis replied. "But I was there."

"There? Like, you were one of the original founders of Taforashia? Quit joking around." Pokota rolled his eyes.

"No, I mean it! Did I tell you my real name before? I'm Professor Alexandre Nisery."

Pokota's jaw dropped. "The Alexandre Nisery? I mean, I figured that you were related to him or something, but-"

"No, no. That's me. I remember the expedition like it was almost yesterday. In fact, considering how long I've lived, 600-years-ago is almost yesterday."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Pokota groaned.

"Nope. He's not... this time, at least." Zelgadis said. "But don't get used to it. You'd do well not to believe a word that he says."

"Hey, now! I don't lie that much!" Pestis defended.

"Um, boys?" Amelia spoke up, trying to grab their attention. "Where did Pokota say the books were again?"

"Oh, uh, back here! Sorry!" Pokota jumped off Pestis' head and landed on top of one of the bookshelves behind them. "This whole room has literature regarding mythology and history. Any information about the gods or the Mazoku can be found in here or in the adjoining room to the right."

"Perfect! Yes! This is exactly what we need!" Pestis exclaimed.

"I'll start with some of the books in here." Zelgadis decided out loud, approaching one of the shelves and pulling out a book.

"Me too!" Amelia chimed. "We'll work together!"

"TEAMWORK!" Zara enthused excitedly. "Enrique, c'mon! Let's look in the other room! There must be hundreds of books we've never even seen before!"

"I'll bet there's some with pictures!" Enrique grabbed Zara's hand and ran with him through the doorway that Pokota had pointed out.

"Wait for me, you two! Don't think you two get all the fun!" Pestis waved frantically and ran after them.

Zelgadis just stared.

"...it's always got to be over-the-top with you guys, doesn't it?"

"We're just trying to make it an adventure!" Amelia replied. "Don't you think everything is better when you keep an optimistic attitude?"

"Yeah; 'cause this research trip is one big party." Zelgadis forced a laugh. "I'm having lots of fun."

"Oh, come on! Lighten up! We're in this beautiful building, surrounded by all the books we can read-" Amelia had opened up the one she was holding and glanced at the text. "...I, uh, don't know what language this is written in..."

"Here. Let me see." Zelgadis grabbed the book and turned it over a few times, flipping over some pages. "It seems to be an annotated translation of an ancient text- no wonder you couldn't read the original. This... actually looks interesting... but it's far too old to be what we're looking for..."

Amelia watched him flip through the book for a few minutes, pausing to pay particular attention to some of the illustrations and diagrams.

"So?"

Zelgadis paused and closed the book halfway. "So, what?"

"Are you having fun yet?"

The chimera sighed and closed the book. "This is research."

"But research is your favourite." Amelia grinned. "Admit it- you're just as excited as the rest of us."

"I am not. There's work to be done- I can't go running around like a little boy."

"Zara-chan and Enrique-chan don't seem to mind it."

"They are little boys."

"Oh?" Amelia raised her eyebrows. "What happened to 'he's a Mazoku; don't trust him?"

"Huh? He's, uh... I didn't say that!"

"You said something to that effect."

"I didn't."

"You know you did."

"I, uh-"

"Zelgadis, Zelgadis! Hey! Prince Stuffed-Animal told me that was a book you'd like- one about chimeras and stuff. You should read it, he said!"

"I have a name, you know!"

Zelgadis chuckled at the sound of Pokota's voice from the other room. Enrique had his blue mittens clutched around a large, dark book, which he was holding out eagerly. Zelgadis took the book and tousled the boy' hair affectionately.

"Thanks, kid. Just... try calling him 'Pokota' next time, though. He'd probably appreciate it more."

"Okay, then! I will!" Enrique chirped obediently, and ran back to the other room, chattering to Pokota and Zara something about the painting on the ceiling.

"Well...?"

Zelgadis blinked and pulled his gaze away from the book to stare at Amelia. "Well what?"

"What happened last night? You seem so different..."

"Oh, I, uh..." Zelgadis moved back over to the bookcase, pulling another three from the shelf before returning to the table with them. "We just talked- Enrique and I did, I mean. He may be a little misguided, but he's not that bad of a kid. Azarel is taking as much advantage of him as she is of Zara, so there's no reason why we shouldn't help him as well. I didn't think that making friends with some kid would change my attitude that much-"

"Friends! Oh, you did make friends with him!" Amelia smiled brightly, tossing her arms around Zelgadis' neck. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Amelia, I can't get any work done with you clinging to my neck-" He cut off suddenly, turning his head to the side. "...what's that noise...?"

Amelia immediately dropped her grip on Zelgadis and sunk to the floor, looking around to find the source of the noise.

It was an odd rattling noise- rattling of the shelves, of the books, and of the very foundation of the building itself. The noise made Amelia aware of the ground shaking beneath her, and she opened her mouth to yell, but wasn't fast enough before Zelgadis grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Get down!" he yelled across to the other room as he huddled with Amelia under the table. There wasn't need for the warning- Pestis clearly knew what to do, ducking under the other table with his arms around two confused little boys. Pokota was perched on the professor's head, listening intently.
The tremors grew steadily more violent, and books began to fall off shelves, hitting the tables and the floors with loud clatters. A giant encyclopaedia crashed down, louder than all the others, eliciting a frightened squeal from one of the two boys- it wasn't clear which one.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the earthquake was over. An eerie quiet swept over the room as the group began to peek out from under the tables.

"Was that... what I think it was?" Amelia asked.

"That was an earthquake, alright." Pestis nodded, helping Zara and Enrique to their feet. "But I don't understand where it came from. Taforashia isn't geologically active. I think there might be a small fault line running through the mountains, but..."

"It hardly ever seems to move." Pokota replied. "We had a big earthquake when I was five years old, but that's the only time I can remember it until... well, this is the second big one in the past three weeks, plus we've had some small aftershocks. Everyone has assumed that they're just part of the strange weather phenomena. I'm sorry for not warning you earlier."

"Are we safe down here? I mean, if there's aftershocks-" Amelia began, but Pokota cut her off.

"Don't worry. We're perfectly safe- this is actually one of the safest places I know of to be during an earthquake." the prince assured her. "It's very well supported, and built to stand up to anything."

"But why would the earthquakes be linked to the snowstorm?" Zara asked, gathering books off the floor and flipping back to the identification numbers in order to re-shelve them correctly. "It can't be because of the Great Sage... maybe he'd accidentally create a wintry storm, but never something so destructive-"

"Great Sage? What are you talking about?" Zelgadis interrupted.

"It's what Azarel says." Enrique explained, also gathering books, but simply stacking them on the table as he was unable to make sense of the complicated codes used to signify a place on the shelf. "The reason that all this strange weather is happening is due to the Great Sage, Lei Magnus. He lives in the North, trapped in the ice, and is trying to get out. We're after the Key of the Aqualord to release him, and-"

"What?!" More than one person responded at the same time.

"Does Azarel really think that she can feed you that crap right up to the end?" Zelgadis demanded.

"F-feed us what...?" Enrique shrunk back. "Y-you don't mean that Azarel is lying... do you...?"

"I know that what Azarel says is true!" Zara protested. "I've read all about it! The Great Sage was sealed in ice during the War of the Monsters' Fall-"

"Why?" Zelgadis interrupted. "Tell me why he was sealed away."

"Uh... well... it was because he was possessed... by, uh... oh..."

"Azarel doesn't really want to revive the Great Sage. It's the Demon King that Azarel is really after." Pestis spoke firmly.

"B-but... that's impossible..." Zara kept shaking his head. "Azarel wouldn't lie like that... and certainly wouldn't want to revive such a dangerous Mazoku... I even asked about the Demon King! Azarel said not to worry about it! We're friends, and friends don't lie to each other!"

"Azarel is not your friend." Zelgadis stared down at the boy with an unwavering glare. "The sooner you figure that out, the better."

"No, no, no!" Zara continued to shake his head over and over. "Please, you can't say that! Azarel and I are friends! I know we are!"

Pestis sighed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Zara, as much as I wish that Azarel really wanted to be your friend, I'm afraid-"

"No, no!" Zara shook off the professor's hand. "I'm going to read books somewhere all by myself! If I can't have friends, I'm better off alone!"

"Zara-chan, don't! You'll get lost in this huge building!" Amelia called, running after him. Pokota joined her, clinging to her shoulder.

"There's probably going to be aftershocks! It's too dangerous to go off by yourself!"

"Stop it, you two." Zelgadis grabbed Amelia's wrist, and she and Pokota turned back around to him. "As much as I hate to admit it, he won't listen to us. We don't get to see it much, but he can be as stubborn as Lina when he wants to, and to him we're just grown-ups who don't understand anything."

"But we can't just leave him like that! Someone needs to say something to him!"

Zelgadis thought it over for a moment. "I suppose… but he needs someone who can really talk to him. Someone who won't scare him away... someone who can speak his language..."

"For the good of the mission, I will go!" Pestis saluted.

"Enrique, thanks for volunteering." Zelgadis interrupted, giving Pestis a sound thwack on the forehead.

"Ow! I was joking!"

"Me?" Enrique questioned, pointing to himself.

"Well, clearly. You and he are close, aren't you? You said yourself- you know that Azarel is trouble. You, of all people, should be able to convince Zara of that."

"Wait, wait." Pestis waved his hands. "Do we really want to convince Zara of it right now?"

"What do you mean?" Pokota asked. "You want to let the poor kid just go on believing in a fake friendship with some evil creature that's plotting the demise of the world?"

"If it's in his best interest, sure." Pestis shrugged.

"But..." Amelia looked back and forth confusedly.

"I get it, I suppose." Zelgadis offered. "The safest place for Zara right now is with Azarel- as long as she can control him, she isn't going to hurt him. But Zara is too strong-willed to allow himself to be manipulated for safety's sake. He would be anxious to escape, no matter what. If he still thinks that Azarel is his friend, then we can keep him safe until we're able to rescue him by fighting Azarel."

"But Zelgadis!" Amelia gasped. "Wouldn't Zara-chan still be in danger?"

"That's why Enrique has to stay by his side and make sure that Azarel isn't able to brainwash Zara any more than she has already."

"I-I don't know if I could do that..." Enrique stammered. "I mean, Az still doesn't seem to realize that I'm not a perfectly brainwashed minion either... plus I'm not very smart. I don't know lies from truth. Do you really think that you can trust me with Zara's safety?"

"Of course we can trust you. What are you so afraid of?"

Enrique shrunk back a little. "I… I don't know. I don't want to be the one to fail in the end. If I fail at protecting Zara, then… I could never…"

"Then you won't fail." Amelia declared. "It's as simple as that."

"Huh?" Enrique blinked. "Really?"

"Yes!" The princess took hold of the boy's hands. "Just believe that you can, and you're already halfway there! We believe in you- isn't that enough?"

"You guys… really believe in me?"

"What's wrong? Should we have any reason not to?" Zelgadis asked with exaggerated suspicion.

"N-no! No! You can trust me! I won't let you down, I promise!"

"Well, in that case, let's quit talking and try to clean up this place." Pokota interrupted, jumping up and returning to the table where the books were being piled. "There's no telling if there'll be aftershocks, so, Enrique, you might want to run off and find your boyfriend before he gets hurt."

The boy's face flashed red. "N-no! That's not… I mean… he isn't… it's just that… we're just… I-I'll go find him!"

"Hey, kid- I was just joking around! I didn't mean to-" Pokota tried to get Enrique's attention, but the child was already running off in the direction that Zara had run in a few minutes before.

"That was highly unnecessary." Zelgadis quipped.

"I'm sorry; can't he take a joke? They're just little kids, after all." Pokota shrugged. "We were all dumb kids with silly little crushes at one time. So what?"

"We can say that now." Amelia corrected. "But when we were kids, we were completely serious about it. Those 'silly little crushes' meant the world to us- we didn't know any better."

"And the identity of the person you liked was the biggest secret of all." Zelgadis added. "If anyone else found out… it was a worse fate than death."

"No wonder he got so upset." Amelia sighed. "Pokota, you really need to watch what you say!"

"I'm sorry…" The little animal groaned and leaned back against a pile of books. "It's been a long time since I was a kid."

"But not as long as it's been since I was a kid!" Pestis chimed.

Zelgadis groaned. "Shut up, Pestis. You're still a kid."

"I am not! Not, not, not, not-"

"I said shut up!"

"You can't make me~! Not, not, not, not, not…"

Amelia giggled as she watched their exchange. "While it's true that kids do some stupid things, adults do pretty stupid things too."

"Yeah; like what?" Zelgadis asked, trying to shove the clingy professor away from him.

"Well… I guess… like yesterday." Amelia murmured. "I think you were right to get mad at me. It was kind of a dumb thing to do, jumping into the water like that. I guess I didn't quite think it though well enough. I've been meaning to apologize to you for that… and I haven't gotten around to it…"

"What?" Zelgadis gasped.

Pestis and Pokota inched away from the two, though watching with rapt attention as though it were something they'd been waiting to see for a while now. Amelia didn't seem to notice and Zelgadis didn't seem to care.

"What are you apologizing for? Maybe that was stupid, but at least you were being brave. Who knows what could have happened to those boys if you hadn't gone in after them? Sure, they might be fine, but they might not. I was the one who overreacted by getting mad at you. You deserve the apology, not me."

"H-huh?" Amelia blinked. "But… you were so angry…"

"I wasn't angry, I was terrified. One minute, Zara was waving to us from across the river, the next minute he was gone. He could have drowned, or hit his head on a rock, or caught hypothermia and frozen to death…" Zelgadis sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "And then suddenly I not only had to worry about him, but about you too. That's why I got mad. I was also mad at myself- mad for not being able to do anything."

"Well, it was sort of my fault too." Amelia responded. "I shouldn't have been so rash with my reaction. There were plenty of other ways I could have helped them… I guess… maybe… we're both a little guilty."

"Well, the fact is that everything has worked out in the end." Pestis finally sighed, putting his arms around the two. "You both apologized, and now everyone is happy. Isn't that great?"

"It would be better if you let go of us and were actually helpful for once."

The professor shot back with a gasp. "Zelgadis! I am helpful! I'm always helpful!"

Amelia laughed. "I think maybe we all just need to calm down. There's no reason to get so upset over little things. We have work to do- the world may depend on it!"

Zelgadis grinned. "Well, it would be nice if maybe we could save the world this time. Lina gets the spotlight far too often- this time it's our turn."

"Okay, then! What has everyone found? Anything interesting?"

Pestis' smile was a little irritating- the group had gone on for a couple of days with minimal sleep, and all the reading had made their eyes hurt. And… for what little they'd found, it was more than disappointing.

"Better yet, why don't you tell us what you've found?" Zelgadis quipped.

Pestis grinned brightly and replied with exuberant joy.

"Absolutely nothing!"

Everyone groaned.

"We didn't find anything either." Zara sighed sadly. "Enrique and I went through a whole shelf of books page by page, and nothing said anything about the Key of the Aqualord."

"Same here." Pokota sighed. "I'm starting to wonder whether this thing really exists."

"Amelia and I found a few bits of information here and there." Zelgadis said. "But, unfortunately, it wasn't really anything that we didn't know. Just the same things Pestis had already told us… nothing on what the vessel looks like or where it might be found."

"Well, it did say one thing about the appearance of the vessel." Amelia interrupted. "It said that, despite its name, the Key actually doesn't take the appearance of a key. It's more like… a vessel or a weapon of some kind."

"Hmm; so we're not looking for a literal key… that's something good to note!" Pestis nodded. "Funny me; I always did imagine it like one of those giant keys that you sometimes see in theatrical productions… maybe I'm just being silly."

"Yes, I highly doubt it would look like that." Zelgadis gave a sigh. "But that still isn't very specific, and doesn't leave us with much to work with."

"Unfortunately, these are all the books we have." Pokota slumped over onto the table miserably. "There's nothing more that we can do here."

"But we did accomplish a lot of research." Amelia spoke up. "We figured out just how obscure this object really is. Plus, just imagine what we might have missed had we not searched. It was a good thing that we came here!"

"Amelia's right!" Zara stood up. "At least we can say we tried! That counts for something, right?"

Zelgadis gave a nod, but then continued with "The problem is, it doesn't get us any closer to actually finding the thing."

"It does, in a way." Amelia disagreed. "Maybe we haven't found what we're looking for, but that doesn't mean that we haven't found anything of value. All of this information confirming what we already know… it means that we had it right the first time and don't have to backtrack. We can build on the foundation that we already have thanks to the knowledge that it's factual. We have you to thank for that, Pokota!"

"M-me?" Pokota stammered. "R-really, it was nothing! Don't worry about it! You're welcome to use the library here in Taforashia anytime!"

"Yay! I'm gonna come back all the time!" Zara cheered.

"Don't fall in the river again, though." Pokota warned.

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to! Why are you so upset about it?! Leave me alone-"

"Hey, hey! Easy, kid! I was just joking! Can't either of you boys take a joke?" Pokota interrupted with a sigh. "Just a few days ago, Enrique got so upset when I called-"

Pestis grabbed Pokota, shoving one hand over the animal's mouth. "Wow! Would you look at the time? It must be dinnertime already- we should start heading back to the cabin now! Anybody up for s'mores around a campfire! I know that I sure am!"

Zelgadis gave an amused sigh.

"You guys are such kids…"

(A/N: I, um… I was so out-of-it when I wrote this chapter; I don't even remember half of it. I was on an airplane, and… yeah, don't remember. I watched Atlantis: The Lost Empire right before writing part of this, so, for those who caught the obvious reference… shoot, I'm tired. Just ignore me. Thank you so much for reading- for putting up with all of my shenanigans thus far! I can't fully express how much it means to me! You guys are the best!)