Chapter 8

"Iacturam facere"

Morning came quickly. It was particularly brutal for one young heroine. A searing pain in her skull greeted her as soon as she opened her tired eyes, exposing them to the attacks of the glaring rays of light. She moved, trying to escape the unpleasant sensation, but immediately felt nauseous and dizzy, so she became motionless again. She just stared dully at the ceiling, but the thirst she felt would not go away, it was too strong, so after a long moment she decided to go to the opposite corner of the room to get some water. And that was no easy task in her current state!

With difficulty she lifted herself from the floor and made her way to the healing liquid, but as she staggered from wall to wall she finally tripped over something and fell to the floor.

"What the...?" she began angrily, trying to identify the strange thing that had now made her so battered.

She turned around and saw an unnaturally large pile of bedding on the floor, as if something was covered in it. She reached out and quickly grabbed the blanket, from underneath which appeared...

"Gourry!" shouted Lina at full volume. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The blond man rubbed his lethargic face with his hand and looked at the girl with a blank stare. He mumbled something unintelligible, then covered himself with the sheets again.

"Wake up when I talk to you, idiot! You think you can take advantage of an innocent girl's weakness?! And this pathetic babbling of yours is all you have to say to me now?! Get up," she shouted, her outburst turning into a nervous squeal with each sentence.

"Lina, I beg you..." the boy murmured at last. "I have a headache, stop..."

"Pff! Now you seem to have a headache, but somehow you had no trouble sneaking into my room in such a despicable way!"

"Lina...?"

"What?!"

"And aren't you the one in my room?"

The redhead looked around the room and realised with horror that this time Gourry was right. Her cheeks lit up with a scarlet blush and she turned her head in indignation, biting her lips, but Gourry just burst out laughing. The girl looked at him and smiled slightly, too - she liked it when he laughed like that, so carefree.

"Big day, huh?" she asked, finally reaching for a pitcher of water.

"Which means?"

"Amelia's recovered, and today we're going to see the whole witch or whoever it was… Well, I can't wait to get my powers back," she finished with a sigh.

"Hey, Lina?"

"What?"

"What do you think is going to happen to Amelia?" he asked, looking at his companion.

"I want her to remember us," she replied quietly. "Perhaps when we return to our world, it will be possible to restore her memories somehow."

"Don't you think that's unfair?"

"What are you talking about?" She looked at him, confused.

"About us coming here as if nothing had ever happened, taking Amelia, running off to our world, and leaving everything here in such a hopeless state…"

"Gourry, I…" she started, but couldn't find the right words to finish. For the second time this morning, he was right. "It's the right thing to do…" she finally finished, but her voice lacked its usual confidence.

Meanwhile, in the next room, Zelgadis was happy. He had none other than Lina and Gourry to thank for this wonderful state of mind - or rather, their little fight he had partly overheard.

"So this is how trying to get me drunk ends..." he muttered to himself, smiling mockingly as he walked out into the corridor.

He made his way into the main hall and sat down on one of the rickety benches to wait for the others. He didn't know exactly who would be accompanying them, but he felt prepared, even without being able to use magic. He had to feel prepared - after all, he wasn't doing this for himself...

Confidently, he lifted his head and looked around. He wondered what was so special about this place that demons couldn't attack it. It certainly didn't look special, but it was probably one of those things he would never know...

Suddenly, the door on the opposite side of the room opened, revealing the petite figure of Amelia. Zelgadis could clearly see that the girl was embarrassed at the sight of him, but she quickly hid it behind a shy smile.

"Alone?" she asked, shyly approaching him.

"As always," he replied somewhat ironically. "How are you feeling today? Ready to go?" he asked casually, though inside he felt his insides shrinking to an impossible size.

"Yes, I feel better," she said, sitting down at the other end of the bench. "But that doesn't mean I'm ready to leave. I don't want to go..." she added after a moment's silence.

"Why?" he thought he already knew the answer.

"For you it's only been a few days since I disappeared, but for me it's been a whole year. And it is the only year that I can remember. Here are all my memories and the people I love..." And yet something in Amelia's answer hurt Zelgadis, but he decided not to interrupt. "I feel needed here. I don't know if it's because the demons want to catch me and kill me, but my friends protect me. And I don't know if it's just because they need me somehow to win this war, but I am needed..."

"I needed you too..." He didn't mean to say it out loud, but before he knew it, the words were already coming out of his mouth.

"I..." she began, but never finished, as the door slammed open.

"Ah, Zel, are you here already?" Lina rushed into the room, accompanied by Gourry.

"I'm glad to see you too," he replied sarcastically.

"Do you always have to be like this, even first thing in the morning?" she remarked, wringing her hands and shaking her head.

"I try," he replied jokingly, smiling in an attempt to push recent conversation from his mind. He needed to be more careful about what he said.

"Are we alone? Where are the others?" A worried Gourry looked around the room.

"Relax, we're here," a new voice suddenly spoke, and a moment later, five hooded figures emerged from another corridor.

When they removed their hoods, they were none other than Kirei, Maya, the redheaded Tamaki, Daiki, and, to Zelgadis' surprise, the girl he had almost killed the night before.

"Her too?" Amelia asked suspiciously, prompting Zelgadis to ask the same question.

"We couldn't leave the poor girl alone," Maya explained. "If she comes with us, Daiki will have a chance to take care of her, because I don't know if you know..." she turned to Lina, "Daiki is our medic..."

Lina just shrugged her shoulders and muttered something along the lines of, "She might be useful to us," but as for Zelgadis, it was all becoming too suspicious. Why did they want to take this girl with them? Well, that's probably another thing he wouldn't find out, at least for now. Annoyed, he glanced at the black-haired girl again. She looked better than last night, but there was still something strange about her.

"I'm sorry about last night..." she suddenly said in an icy voice. This apology was clearly directed at Amelia and Zelgadis, but she didn't even look at him as she said it. Her black, piercing eyes were fixed solely on Amelia.

"We forgive you..." Zelgadis began quickly, reflexively stepping in front of Amelia to shield her from the hostile figure. "But I do not recommend repeating it." He didn't even try to hide the fact that this was meant as a threat.

"Of course not," the black-haired woman hissed, hiding her face under a deep hood.

"Hey! Lillya, behave yourself!" Tamaki interjected, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "Well, you'll have to forgive her, she's been through a lot!" He laughed nervously.

"So, Lillya, is it? Nice to meet you," Lina replied, but the tone of her voice made it clear whose side she was on. "OK, enough of the drama! Shall we go?"

Without further ado, the group headed for the large exit doors. Most of them were already busy with their conversation, but Zelgadis did not take his eyes off the suspicious stranger. When he saw that she was watching Amelia again, he didn't hesitate to approach his friend, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward him.

"Stay close to me, okay?" he whispered into Amelia's ear, gesturing toward Lillya, who had moved far enough away.

"I'm scared..." Amelia replied quietly, squeezing the boy's hand tighter.

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone touch you..." he promised and returned the squeeze.

(…)

There was an eerie silence all around, only from a distance could you hear the strange chaos and the clang of jangling chains. No one spoke, as if afraid that any sound too loud would bring something sinister. They walked with a steady step, and the shadows that heralded the coming twilight slipped beneath their feet. Finally, Kirei stopped and looked at his companions.

"It's time to stop somewhere for the night," he said matter-of-factly, and it was the first full sentence Zelgadis had heard since they had lost sight of the temple.

"Daiki..." Tamaki began suddenly, turning to his black-haired friend. "Don't you think it's strange? We've been walking all day and haven't met a single Undead yet?" He asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Hmm..." the black-haired man thought for a moment. "If I were you, I'd be happy rather than worried," he replied and turned off the main road. "We shouldn't be out in the open for too long," he explained.

The others followed without a word. Zelgadis looked at Lina and they exchanged a communicative glance. Something was wrong.

They quickly made a small camp in the rubble of one of the old buildings, built a feeble fire, and decided to wait until morning. Zelgadis sat down beside Lina and watched the five strangers. The horrible new girl – Lillya - sat away from everyone, with Daiki tending to her wounds.

"The further away from them, the better," Zelgadis thought as he looked at Kirei, who threw his cloak over Amelia's shoulders and sat down next to Maya. But what caught his attention was the blindfold Tamaki was wearing over his right eye.

"What happened to your eye?" he asked without thinking about the politeness of his question. Tamaki looked at him in surprise. But after a moment, he smiled friendly.

"Ah, this?" He pointed at the blindfold, still amused. "I exchanged it," he replied simply.

"You exchanged?" Lina was surprised. "How can you trade for an eye?" she scoffed.

"Well, I think it was the right price for what I wanted, because it couldn't be bought with any goods," he explained calmly.

"So what was so worth it?" the redhead inquired.

"A friend," he replied with a smile, and out of the corner of his eye, Zelgadis noticed the grimace on Kirei's face.

"Tamaki did it for Rei," Amelia suddenly explained.

"I still don't understand," Lina said.

"Six months ago, on one of our missions..." Tamaki started.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Kirei suddenly interrupted.

"Rei, you can talk all you want, but you know very well that Silva, the old woman we're going to see, is a witch! Just because you don't want to admit it doesn't mean it isn't true! Anyway..." continued an undaunted Tamaki. "Six months ago, Rei lost an eye in one of the fights. All in all, it happened because of me, I disobeyed an order... Rei defended me when I was a hair's breadth away from death, but he paid a heavy price, losing his eye. I felt terribly guilty, and the only solution I found was to go to Silva. She said she could restore my friend's eye, but only if I paid the right price myself... Well, she asked for my eye, and I said that was fair and agreed. The next day, Rei woke up with only this scar on his face, and I, well..."

"Tamaki, you..." Kirei started, but the tone of his voice was already soft and his look full of remorse.

"Rei, stop it!" the boy protested. "We already talked about this, and I told you that I want to do it. Anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm telling you this because..." He turned back to Zelgadis and the others, "because you also want to ask Silva for something. You should be aware that nothing is free with her, and there is no telling what kind of payment she will demand from you," he finished.

'That's all they need,' Zelgadis thought. 'Since it is an equal exchange, what could be of equal value as the restoration of their magical powers?'

"It's good that you warned us," Lina said. "And you, what do you think, Gourry?" She turned to where her friend was sitting, but...

"Gourry? Gourry!" She jumped up from her seat in horror, and so did everyone else.

"He couldn't have gone far!" Maya was upset as well.

"Oh, I should have taken better care of him!" Lina cried, and suddenly Zelgadis thought of himself. He had felt the same way when Amelia had disappeared...

But he didn't have time to think about it because Lina was already running toward the exit of the building, so he quickly followed her.

"Wait!" He heard Maya calling somewhere behind him, but he was far enough away.

When he stepped out into the street, he saw Lina frozen in place. Startled, he followed her gaze and saw Gourry slowly approaching a huddled figure.

"Stop!" Zel shouted without thinking. Gourry turned and smiled at him.

"Calm down, she's just a little girl," he said quietly. At the same time, he touched the stranger's shoulder.

Zelgadis heard Lina breathe a sigh of relief. It was just a small, harmless, frightened child. Gourry took her hand and walked slowly toward them. Zelgadis was about to turn back when suddenly...

"It's the Undead!" Maya shouted and ran breathlessly out into the street.

Zelgadis saw everything in slow motion. The grimace on Gourry's face as he let go of the child's hand, the child pulling out the knife, the horror in Lina's eyes, and the girl's face changing from human to more and more animalistic...

Before anyone knew it, Lina was already at Gourry's side, pushing him to the ground and receiving a powerful knife blow herself. And then everything slowed down even more, each moment seeming to drag on forever as Zelgadis watched the blood splatter and the natural glow fade from Lina's eyes as she fell to the ground.

Then, suddenly, things picked up again at a dizzying pace. Without thinking, an enraged Gourry drew his sword and slashed at the girl, grabbing Lina and running toward Zelgadis.

"Move!" he shouted angrily and ran past.

Zelgadis immediately snapped out of his strange lethargy and ran after him, but by the time Gourry had run into the building...

"I wouldn't advise it..." he heard a woman's voice behind him and felt a blade at his throat.

"So this was all planned?" he asked in a mocking tone, unable to believe that he had let himself be approached like this.

"Of course," the girl scoffed. "We may not have been able to get the little Pillar Gate's girl, but I can always make do with you," she whispered ominously.

Taking advantage of the Chimera's speed, Zelgadis turned, drew his sword, and slashed at the girl, who unfortunately dodged the blow. Then he saw her...

"You?" he whispered, stunned.

The mysterious girl from his dreams, dressed in a long black cloak with strands of white hair flowing down to her shoulders, was standing right next to him. A hood covered her face.

"Me? Forgive me, my love, but I don't believe we've met before," she sneered.

"Who are you?" he shouted, squeezing the hilt in his hand tighter.

"I don't think I have time to answer that question." The mocking smile remained on her face.

"Why is that?"

"Because you'll already be dead!" she shouted, throwing herself into the attack.

As the steel of the clashing blades collided for the first time, something truly strange happened. The blades of both swords glowed with a blinding light. Zelgadis felt the air around him swirl, and after a moment, the sword in his hand became as light as a feather. He felt that he could wield it with a dizzying speed and precision that had never been available to him before. He looked at it in surprise and saw the same surprise in his opponent's eyes. In her eyes...

Only now did he have the chance to look at them more closely. He had not seen her face in his dreams, but she seemed very familiar to him now. Looking into her blue eyes, he had the irrational impression that he had seen her before. The strangest thing was that the girl looked at him with the same surprise.

Before he had time to do anything, the stranger quickly pulled her sword from his and disappeared into the dark recesses of the area. It was only after a moment that Zelgadis realized the glow had gone and his sword had become heavy again. He stood there for a moment, stunned by the whole situation, before he suddenly remembered something else, something far more important—Lina! He immediately ran toward their hiding place.

He hoped it wasn't too late...

As Zelgadis ran into their hiding place, the first thing he smelled was a sweet odor wafting through the air.

"Blood, " he thought in disgust, cursing his Chimera senses for the thousandth time in his life. He was sure the others couldn't smell it as clearly as he could.

Then he saw Lina lying unconscious on the ground, and Gourry struggling to stop the bleeding from her newly formed wound.

"I beg you, do something!" the blond man cried through tears as soon as he saw him. "She's going to bleed to death!"

But Zelgadis did not move. What could he do? After all, without magic, he was just an ordinary man, incapable of healing such a serious wound. He was painfully aware of his powerlessness... Gourry must have realized this, for he only said "try," and it was those words that echoed through Zelgadis' mind and moved him. He sat down beside his friend and put his hands to the bleeding wound. Only after a moment did he realize that his hand was shaking. He pressed his hands closer to the girl's body and closed his eyes.

"Can you do anything?" He heard Amelia's broken voice behind him.

He couldn't answer, feeling as if his own words were choking him. The more he realized what was happening, the more terrified he became. He didn't know if he could do anything, but he felt he had to try. He took a deep breath and focused all his energy.

His mind flashed back to the days when he, Lina, Amelia, and Gourry had traveled together and everything had seemed so easy. Then everything changed. Blood, pain, tears... First, he lost Amelia. He was lucky to get her back, but if he lost Lina now, he would never be able to get her back. It would be the final end for all of them—the collapse of the bridge to their old lives. He couldn't accept that. It was as if he had lost his home... the family he never had. Not knowing if his words would have any effect, he whispered with determination:

"Iacturam facere..."

This was no mere incantation, these were words that expressed the greatest sacrifice...

He opened his eyes, but... nothing had changed.

He stared at his blood-stained hands for a long moment, until suddenly he felt a strange tingling in his fingers, followed immediately by a piercing sensation, like the breaking of bones. He screamed, his pupils dilating in pain. He could feel all his life energy draining out of him, and he wasn't quite sure if he was going to survive this. He tried to move, but it was impossible. Then he realized that he could no longer retreat, consciousness was leaving him in a strange attempt to escape the suffering he was experiencing...

"Do something!" cried a terrified Amelia, running toward Zelgadis. She tried to pull him away from Lina, but he did not even flinch. He was strangely attached to her. "Zel! Zel! Wake up! Please!"

"Wait!" Kirei pulled Amelia's shoulder back. "Look at her wound!"

Amelia turned away, rubbing her eyes, her gaze landing on Lina. After a moment, her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that there was only a small trace of a wound where there should have been a bleeding gash.

"How is it possible that he managed to do something like that?" Tamaki choked out in disbelief.

"Probably some other kind of magic..." Gourry began, but before he could finish, Zelgadis' hands were free, and the mage himself collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Zel!" Amelia jumped to her feet, but Kirei quickly stopped her.

"Wait! We don't know what happened! Daiki, watch her," he ordered swiftly.

Daiki approached cautiously, leaning over Lina. At a glance, he noticed that her breathing had become much calmer and more regular. Slowly, he placed his fingers around her neck, checking her pulse.

"I don't understand any of this..." he began quietly. "She should be dead by now, yet she looks perfectly healthy."

"What about Zelgadis?" Amelia remembered, still being held tightly by Kirei.

Daiki shook off his surprise and turned to Zelgadis. He didn't look well. The black-haired man quickly examined him and shook his head in disapproval.

"There are no major external injuries, but all the symptoms indicate that he is seriously wounded. Irregular pulse, palpitations, shallow breathing, it looks like..." He stopped. "It looks like he's dying..." he finished hesitantly and looked at Rei.

"His aura is very weak..." Maya added quietly. "It looked like he transferred all his energy into Lina."

"No!" Amelia screamed. "You can't let him die!" Still held tightly, she collapsed to the floor and burst into tears.

"Shh..." Gourry sat down next to the girl and patted her head. "Zelgadis is strong, he'll be fine," he repeated, trying to calm not only Amelia but himself.

"His aura is fading, Rei, if we are going to do something, we have to do it now," Maya said firmly.

"What do you mean 'do something'?" Gourry asked. "Does that mean you can help him?" he added hopefully.

Rei bit his lip nervously. He wanted to say something, but when he saw the tearful Amelia, he fell silent again.

"Man, what are you waiting for? We have to help him!" Tamaki suddenly interjected.

"Alright," Rei finally replied. "Daiki, do what you can."

Daiki pulled a piece of white chalk from his pocket and quickly began to draw unfamiliar symbols on the ground. He placed Zelgadis' limp body in the centre of the circle and raised his hands above it. In the silence that followed, he began to murmur the words of his secret incantation, and after a moment, all the symbols he had drawn began to glow with a greenish light.

"Is he a mage?" Gourry suddenly felt completely confused.

"Not exactly..." Rei muttered in reply.

"His aura is returning," Maya observed, a gentle smile appearing on her face as Daiki finished his ritual.

"Does that mean he'll make it?" Gourry asked uncertainly.

"Everything should be fine," Daiki replied, standing up and putting the chalk back into his cloak pocket.

"Zel!" Amelia finally broke free of Rei's grip and rushed over to the still unconscious boy. She placed her hand gently on his temple and began to caress his face.

She wasn't quite sure why she was doing it, but she felt it was the right thing to do. Meanwhile, Gourry sat down next to Lina, lifted her into his lap and hugged her tightly. Kirei looked at them and suddenly felt a strange pang of jealousy in his chest...

"Take it easy, Rei," Maya put her hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing."

"Now they'll have to know our secret," he said bitterly.

"It's okay," the girl replied. "They would have found out anyway."

"Maya..." he began quietly, "I'm so afraid I won't be able to be with her," he finished, looking sadly at Amelia.

"You're doing the right thing," she repeated comfortingly, tightening her grip on his shoulder.

(…)

The gentle touch on his face and the warmth of someone's embrace were the first things Zelgadis noticed as he slowly regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, wanting to check the source of the warmth.

"Amelia?" he stammered in surprise.

"You're here..." she said in relief, smiling brightly as a voice suddenly came from another direction.

"Gourry, give me some more food," the redhead whined. "You owe me! I'm starving here!"

"But Lina, I can't give you any more. If you eat it all now, it won't last for the rest of the journey," the blond man explained calmly.

"How can you? You're so heartless! I just almost died, and it's your fault, and you deny me a tiny piece of bread..." She didn't finish because Zelgadis burst out laughing.

"I don't believe it!" he chuckled amusedly. "Not even a near-death experience can make you lose your appetite!" he joked, feeling an immense sense of joy deep inside that she was all right.

"Zel!" she replied happily, and after a moment he saw her freckled face above him. He tried to get up from Amelia's lap, but gave up at the first sting of pain.

"Don't get up," Amelia ordered, pressing her hand to his chest. "You're still very weak. You need to get your strength back." Zelgadis looked up into her beautiful blue eyes and blushed slightly. She still didn't look great - too thin, her face marked by exhaustion and large dark circles under her eyes - but still, he had to admit... she was beautiful.

"Um..." Lina cleared her throat loudly and the embarrassed boy lowered his eyes. "Zel, maybe now you can explain to me what the hell you did? How did you manage to use a spell?"

"I'm not quite sure," he answered ponderously. "Lina, how many kinds of healing spells do you know?"

"There are only two, Recovery and Resurrection," she said confused.

"Not really, there's a third healing spell. I came across it in an old book once, when I was looking for a cure for being a Chimera. Each of these three spells is different from the others. Recovery speeds up the healing process, but it drains energy from the injured person's body. You were too badly injured and too weak for me to use this spell on you. As you know, it could have killed you, using the last of your energy to heal the wound instead of keeping you alive. Resurrection, on the other hand, draws energy from the environment, but I don't think there are enough living creatures around for it to work. And the third, Iacturam facere... It works similarly to Recovery, with one small difference: it draws energy from the body of the person casting the spell, in this case me... Also, it can't be interrupted. Once cast, it will continue to drain my life force until your wound is healed.

"Are you saying that if you were too weak and didn't have enough energy to heal me, you wouldn't have survived?" Lina asked stunned.

"Probably."

"Zel, you idiot, why did you do that? We could've both died..." Lina began, but her voice didn't sound as reproachful as she intended.

"I don't know..." he interrupted her. "I just couldn't stand by and watch you die," he explained, trying to act as if what he was doing was perfectly normal.

For a moment they were both silent. Deep down, they understood each other perfectly. Just as Lina was willing to sacrifice herself for Gourry, Zelgadis had done the same for her. It was their own language of friendship and devotion. An understanding that went beyond words.

"Thank you..." It was the simplest, yet most fitting of all words Lina could use. She smiled faintly and added, "Also, I think I now understand the principle behind the use of magic in this world. This strange block concerns spells that draw their energy source from something external, while spells like Lighting or the one you used today draw their energy directly from the mage."

"Hmm..." Zelgadis thought for a moment. "Yes, that makes sense," he concluded after a while. "But it's not very useful, since the list of such spells is practically non-existent."

"In my opinion, it's very useful," Amelia interjected. "After all, Lina is still alive thanks to this spell. But now I think it's time for someone else to explain..." She began ominously, glancing at her group of friends.

Rei, Maya and Tamaki were whispering among themselves, while Daiki was tending to Lillya, who was still keeping her distance from the others, even during the dramatic situation that had just happened.

"Explanations?" Zelgadis asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Amelia and Gourry explained in detail what had happened while Zelgadis and Lina were unconscious.

"I knew something was wrong," Lina summarised. "So what, are you all some kind of wizards or what?" she scoffed, directing the question at the group on the other side of the room.

"And why the hell couldn't you just tell us?" Zelgadis snapped.

"We're not mages..." Maya muttered. "We're priests."