Heart of Darkness

Chapter 34

“First things first,” Jedah said as he lifted a hand to halt the curious looks from becoming a litany of questions. “There is one not-so-minor fact that all of you should know.” While he had shifted in appearance on the Astral, he had yet to drop the outward façade for all to see.

So he did just that.

It wasn’t a percussive force of power, wasn’t an overly blatant shift in appearance with glitter and show as he had used with Naga. It was a simplistic shift, as if they had blinked and he was just different.

The reactions were varied. Amelia nodded to herself while Naga tilted her head as she looked to her sister. Sylphiel took a step backwards, hand flying to her mouth as Gourry drew his sword and stepped in front of her. Xellos, still aware of the need for propriety, fell to one knee, bowing as he had once for the Lord of Nightmares.

“Get up, Xellos.” Jedah muttered at the purple problem child. Idiot. You’ll have them all figuring it out. Stop acting appropriately for a change! Of all the times to be proper, Xellos… One of these days, Jedah would have to remind Xellos who was who. They’d probably both enjoy it. With a sigh, Jedah looked to Gourry. “I’d appreciate it if you’d put that away, Gourry. I need your brain, not your brawn right now.”

“You’re a Mazoku!” Gourry intelligently replied, and if the situation hadn’t been so overwhelmingly tense, Amelia might have laughed at the blonde swordsman’s mind-numbing ability to state the blatantly obvious as if it were a complete revelation to him.

“Yes, he’s a Mazoku, Gourry. Now put your sword away. We have more important matters to attend to right now,” Amelia said quietly, hoping that there were enough brain cells active for Gourry to think it through. The last thing she needed was to try to dissuade not one but two Mazoku from deciding that they weren’t worth the time or effort and either leaving them to their own devices in this unknown cavern… or flattening them permanently.

Part of that resolved itself almost as soon as it occurred to her, for Xellos lifted his head, eyes snapping open and without word, he faded from view. As far as she could tell, he was gone.

“Only when he answers my question,” Gourry retorted, glancing to the spot Xellos had just vacated, and then at Amelia. When he looked back to Jedah, his brilliant blue eyes were unusually intense, all seriousness in heft of sword and stance. “I want to know what you have done with Lina.”

Jedah groaned inwardly, resisting the urge to smack himself on the forehead. He really should have said something sooner, but he hadn’t had a chance to think things through, what with Amelia forcing his hand. “I haven’t done anything with her or to her, Gourry.” He shook his head slowly, eyes closing for a moment in a wince at the memory. When he spoke again, it was with a quiet voice tinged with sadness. “She got around from behind me in there, and she saw Zelgadis.”

Silence fell as the implications of Lina seeing Zelgadis in Mazoku form settled into everyone in the room. It had been startling enough to everyone else, but to Lina, it must have been truly devastating. She loved him, everyone knew it, and she’d even sworn absolute vengeance on Xellos when she’d thought he’d done something to hurt Zelgadis.

At last, Sylphiel, wide eyed, broke the silence with a quiet question. “He… didn’t hurt her… did he?” She’d given voice to a terrifying thought, and after seeing Zelgadis as she had, she was deathly afraid that he’d done something to Lina.

“No,” Jedah replied as he looked squarely to the Cleric. “Beyond the shock of seeing him like that, she wasn’t hurt. It was quite the opposite for him, though. I think she somehow managed to hurt him. He vanished right after she got past me.” He always preferred to lay it on the line rather than flower it up. He left the secrets and the games up to Xellos. It amused the Trickster Priest to live up to his name.

I’m okay, Jedah. I think… I’d just like to be alone… for a little while.

Her voice had been so quiet; it had reminded him of how she’d sounded when he first retrieved her from the dark room not so long ago. It did things to the heart he often tried to forget he was capable of having. It tugged at strings that bound him together, left him feeling strangely vulnerable for all his power. L-Sama help him, he’d come to care for Lina.

Gourry shifted his weight, eying Jedah with distrust. “How do we believe you? You said you were Zelgadis’ little brother. You’re a Mazoku.” The blonde just wasn’t going to let it go, not until someone had managed to beat it into him.

Jedah offered a wry smirk to the swordsman, allowing the simple blunt truth to stand as its own proof. “So is he, Gourry.” Suddenly, Jedah frowned. Kessary was back. And with Lina on her own… he couldn’t risk it. Without warning, just as Xellos had, Jedah vanished.

He appeared silently in the shadows, presence shielded tightly. He was right, Kessary had found Lina. She’d taunted her. Taunted Lina with becoming a Mazoku so she could be with Zelgadis. As he watched, Lina’s anger filled the talismans and she called the Laguna Blade. It was a simple matter to wrap his power around Kessary, to hold her for the moment that Lina needed.

He left as Lina cast the Light spell, fading before the light could reveal his presence. He knew that he was bound to return to no small amount of chaos with Amelia, but return to that little group he would. Lina was on her way to them, and he’d just have to count on her to keep them all from lynching him.

It felt odd to be depending on Lina.

Maybe after all of this was over, he and Xellos could go off and have a bit of sport. A Mazoku vacation. After all, the mortal kind just hadn’t gone how he’d imagined it.

With a sigh, Jedah willed himself back into the room where he’d left the others.