Chapter 16

Morning dawned cheerfully into Amelia’s face through the slatted blinds of the hotel room. With a yawn, the girl opened her eyes and bounced out of bed. She was the morning person of the group, almost always greeting the day (and everyone else) with a bright smile and endless chatter. Today was going to be no different, as far as she knew. True, she had a few concerns over the situation that Miss Lina and Mister Zelgadis seemed to have been caught up into, but that was part of her life now. After all, Mister Zelgadis and Miss Lina were working on a cure for him… and well, Amelia had finally accepted that while she was Mister Zelgadis’ friend… she’d never be more than that. So, there is no use dwelling on unhappiness, she thought as she dressed.

Right? Right!

She clasped her short cloak at her throat with her amulet, and peered in the mirror. Perfect. The bright and shining little Warrior of Justice was wide-awake and ready to spread cheer through the morning, even if it did annoy Miss Lina. And it was okay, really, because Miss Lina had told her just last night that everything annoyed her… so it wouldn’t be anything different.

She opened the door to her room and headed down to get some food before Miss Lina and Mister Gourry got up. It was the only way to assure herself of breakfast.

Amelia was about halfway through her muffin and tea when Gourry came in, looking moderately confused. “Gosh, Amelia… I was expecting Lina to beat me to breakfast. This is twice now that she’s slept in. Do you think that there’s something wrong with her?”

Amelia swallowed before she spoke. “I’m not sure, Mister Gourry. Would you like me to go check?” She picked up her tea, because she knew that he’d say yes, and she wanted another mouthful of tea before she went upstairs.

“Yeah, if you would… I’d hate to think that Lina’s sick or something,” Gourry said, sitting down to look at the menu as the princess stood and set her teacup down.

Amelia walked down the hall and up to the closed door which Lina had vanished behind last night, and stopped to knock smartly above the doorknob.

“Miss Lina?”

Silence answered, so Amelia knocked again, this time a little louder, and called out just a little clearer. “Miss Lina, it’s breakfast…”

Still no answer.

Amelia frowned slightly, and mumbled “Pardon me, Miss Lina,” as she opened the door and stepped into the room.

Lina’s room was empty, the bed rumpled slightly, but obviously not slept in. The comforter hadn’t even been turned down. It looked like Lina had sat on the edge of the bed, and then simply stood up and walked away.

Amelia headed out of the room quickly, arriving at the table where Gourry was eating an enormous stack of what looked like pancakes. “Mister Gourry! She’s not in there, and I don’t think she was here all night!”

Gourry paused in mid-swallow to look at her. Finishing his mouthful, he looked at her. “Gosh, I wonder where she could be?”

The door to the hotel opened, and a young woman looked in, focusing on Amelia. “You! Can you cast healing spells?”

Amelia blinked, nodding. “I can, but my friends are missing… I have to…” A thought occurred. “Why?”

The young woman turned to holler to someone outside. “In here! There’s a healer in here!”

Amelia and Gourry watched as the woman held the door open and three townspeople carried Lina and Zelgadis in the door. Understandably, both of the men carrying Zelgadis were red in the face, while the younger man carrying Lina was completely at ease carrying the slender redhead.

“Oh no! What happened? Where did you find them?” Amelia cried, rushing to them.

Gourry stood, walking over to frown at the two who were being placed gently on the floor of the hotel. “It must be that spell, Amelia. They’re both Astral.”

Amelia still wasn’t used to Gourry having a clue, and she shook her head to clear the cobwebs of confusion caused by Gourry’s statement. “Miss Lina said that she and Mister Zelgadis were caught up in some sort of spell that Rezo the Red Priest had cast… and there’s nothing that we can do.”

Gourry frowned. “Well, we can’t just leave them there on the floor…”

Amelia nodded. “This is true… Levitation!” Her spell wound around both Lina and Zelgadis, and she started lifting them both… only to discover that she still didn’t have the fine control that Miss Lina did. “Mister… Gourry…” She didn’t want to drop either of them, but she was going to if he didn’t help.

Gourry stepped forward and caught Lina, allowing Amelia to focus her magic on ‘carrying’ Zelgadis. It wasn’t too hard, once she put her hand under the unconscious chimera’s back.

They carried the pair into Amelia’s room, laying them both on the bed. Amelia knew that would raise a few questions when they came back… but they’d face that when it happened.

“So what now, Amelia?” Gourry asked as he watched the petite princess release the spell and allow Zelgadis to drift into the mattress.

Amelia sighed as the last of the levitation spell faded. “Now we can only wait. We don’t know how long they’ve been Astral… I can only hope that it hasn’t been too long…”

Gourry nodded slowly. That could be dangerous.

Lina walked back down the corridor and into the room where she had left the meditating chimera. It wasn’t her Zelgadis there, and she wasn’t sure if he had been caught up in the spell as well, or if she was on her own for this one. “Hey, look. I know I’m interrupting you again, but could you just talk with me for a few minutes? There’s some stuff that I’m trying to figure out, and maybe you can help.”

One eye opened, and looked at her dispassionately. “What?” The question was flat, a clear indication that he’d rather meditate.

Lina sighed and sat on the floor. “When you were cursed… what do you remember? I mean, other than the pain and the horror?”

There was a silence, and Lina feared that she had pushed him too far with that one question and he’d clam up like he used to. Then, “Why?”

Lina looked up, seeing only his shoulder. “Because it might have a clue of how to undo the curse. Rezo said that there’s a counter-spell within you… but I’m not having much luck finding it.”

She was suddenly standing in the cave, the broken daggers on the floor. Looking over, she saw herself crumpled against the wall, fading out like a distant memory. He’d been standing over her, and now he turned to see her standing there, uninjured.

“Do you never die?” He growled.

She shrugged, folding her arms and looking at him. “Probably, but not right now. What do you remember about the curse that Rezo placed on you?”

“What does it matter to you?” he countered, walking closer to her.

At least there’s one constant here… Lina thought. “Because I’m trying to help find a cure, Zelgadis…”

“A cure,” He echoed hollowly. “The only cure is death.”

“That’s not true!” Lina said, stepping backwards involuntarily when he came closer, the slight edge of madness evident in his eyes. How did he ever survive…? How did he ever not become…

She stood in a burning town, confusion filling her. Where was she? She hadn’t been here before…? Moving through the street, she saw a familiar figure ahead. Without understanding how, she knew that it was her Zelgadis, that he had indeed been taken into the spell. Walking up behind him, she rested a hand on his arm. “What happened here?”

His voice was empty when he replied. “I did.”

Shocked, she turned him to look at his face. Bitterness, shame, anger, they all rippled through eyes that would not meet hers. “You…? Under Shabranigdo’s control?”

“I couldn’t stop it… the Mazoku was too powerful… all these innocent people…” he whispered, unable to take his eyes away from the figure atop a nearby building.

Lina looked up, seeing the demonic chimera and frowned. There was a reason for this… something that had to be done… But what? Does he have to forgive himself? Do we have to defeat the demon again? Maybe both…?

She stepped forwards, moving away from Zelgadis and towards the demon. Casting levitation silently, she brought her arms up across her stomach, lining up the dragonblood talismans. They activated without a second thought. Slowly, she placed her hands lowly before her, crossing her wrists and clasping her hands together as she lifted into the air. A moment passed as she hoped that her Zelgadis would clue in, and she began to cast silently in her mind. You who cross between sky and earth, gently flowing water, gather in my hand and give me power…She opened her eyes to glare at the demonic chimera who she was now in front of. As she unclasped her hands and flung wide her arms, the final phrase rang through her mind. DEMONA CRYSTAL!