Chapter
Two:
There,
But For a Friend, Go I
“Zelgadis! Answer me! Zelgadis!!”
Lina grabbed his face, turning it towards her. Not a single glimmer of
awareness shimmered in those haunted crystal blue eyes. His skin was cold; he’d
been outside for quite some time in the cool night.
“Light of all Lights, grant thy
power to my hand!” A sphere of brilliance burst into Lina’s hand, then spun out
to cascade over Zelgadis.
It was one of the healing spells
that Lina knew, and while wasn’t the strongest, usually handled well whatever
she had managed to do to herself.
Unfortunately, it had very little
effect on Zelgadis.
I
can’t just leave him out in the center of town like this! With a sigh, Lina
stood and reached out to pull him up and carry him.
He was far heavier than she could
have expected. “Ugh!” She staggered a bit, then caught her balance and looked
at him. “I keep forgetting that you’re made of rock… oh well… Levitation!”
She floated him easily alongside
her, re-entering the hotel and ignoring the stare of the desk clerk as she
walked past with Zelgadis hanging in the air beside her. As she walked past
Amelia’s room, she knocked on the door. “Wake up, Amelia. We’ve got trouble.”
She floated Zelgadis into his room
and set him on the bed in time for a sleepy Amelia to wander in rubbing her
eyes.
“Miss Lina, don’t you know that
we’ve only had a few hours of sleep..?” She opened her eyes fully and saw Lina
dismiss the spell around Zelgadis. “Oh no! What happened?!”
Lina shook her head. “I don’t know,
Amelia. I went to talk to him and found him in the center of town like this. I
tried a healing spell… but it didn’t have any effect.”
Amelia padded over, her slippers
flipping against her heels with soft slaps. Peering at him, she considered for
a moment. “I think he’s trapped in thought.”
Lina looked to her. “Trapped? How
can that be?” She looked back to Zelgadis.
Amelia cast something under her
breath, watching his face intently. “He’s definitely still with us… but
something is keeping him from being able to come back to himself. He’s… in the
Astral Plane… and I can’t get to him.”
“Can you send me to him?” Lina
asked, crimson eyes intently fixed on the open and vacant crystalline eyes.
Amelia bit her lip and nodded. “It’s
extremely dangerous… and I don’t know what you’ll find when you cross over. I
don’t really recommend it…”
“We don’t really have a choice,
Amelia. Somebody’s got to help Zelgadis, and we’re the only two who can,” Lina
said.
“I know… Here… sit in that chair and
try not think of anything but helping Mister Zelgadis…” Amelia said, pointing.
Lina dragged the chair over to the
bedside and sat, looking at Zelgadis quietly. “I’m ready, Amelia.”
Amelia sighed and set one hand on Zelgadis’
arm and her other hand on Lina’s arm. “Infinite power, the Light of the Spirit…
I call upon thee in our time of need. Heed my call and open the door to the
Astral Plane!”
There was no visible shift, no
change that a passer-by would register. However, to Amelia’s senses, a great
gate swirled within the ether of the Astral Plane and settled around Lina.
Lina, focused entirely on Zelgadis,
didn’t even notice the shift until she suddenly found herself Somewhere Else.
Lina looked around, trying to orient
herself and discover where she was. She didn’t recognize the town, but then she
hadn’t visited everywhere yet. As she wandered, she saw some shopping stalls
ahead, and approached them. As she did so, a familiar voice touched her ears.
“I wish to place an order with you.
I want the strongest and sharpest dagger that you can get. Money is no concern.
I will give you double your asking price if you have it tomorrow.”
Zelgadis! She ran over, catching him
by the arm and turning him around. “Zelgadis! It’s me. You can come back now.”
He pulled his wrist easily from her
grip. “I do not know who you are, or what you want, but I do know that I have
no business with you.”
Lina stared, then ran after him
again, confused. “But… Zelgadis? Don’t you recognize me? Don’t you know who I
am?”
“No. I do not know. I am not
interested, either. It would be better for you if you turned and walked away.”
He replied, continuing to walk away.
“Zel… it’s Lina. Don’t you
remember?” She laid her hand on his arm, using his inertia and her weight to
pull him around so that he had to face her, or fall.
Something echoed in his eyes, a pain
far deeper than she had ever seen within his eyes before. He frowned, then
grabbed her hand, recognition over-writing the pain that she saw there.
“Lina…I…”
He was shifting, turning intangible
under her grasp. She could feel a spell working to take him away again.
“Zelgadis!” She gasped, trying to keep her hold on him. If she let go, she
might not find him again.
He faded from her sight and touch,
leaving her alone in a sudden gray nothingness. “Damnit!” She cursed in
frustration, looking around. Okay… now
what? But I could have sworn his lips said, “Help me” as he vanished.
Back in the hotel room, Amelia
frowned, waiting. She wasn’t privy to what was happening, but Lina’s frustrated
expression was a clear indicator that something wasn’t right. Fretting, she did
the only thing she truly could do: waited.
Lina sighed, looking out over the
rocky terrain that had suddenly sprung up around her. What was going on here?
“Hello…?” She walked uncertainly towards the nearby cave, calling out as she
did so.
“What do you want?” Came an answer
from the cave. He didn’t sound pleased that she was there, but oh well. Lina
wasn’t about to back off. Zelgadis was her friend, and it was all too apparent
that he was in trouble. And Trouble was one of Lina’s middle names.
“Zelgadis? Is that you?” She called,
running towards the cave. It was dark when she stuck her head in, and she could
barely make out the outline of his figure in the center of the rock room.
“Who are you? Why are you bothering
me?” He answered, his voice devoid of emotion. It reminded Lina of the first
time she had heard his voice in the hotel when she had the orihalcon statue
with the Philosopher’s Stone in it.
“It’s me, Zelgadis. It’s Lina,” she
said, stepping closer to the center of the room. She still couldn’t see
anything inside, but she could hear where he was.
“I don’t know anyone by that name.
Now go away. I’m busy,” he replied curtly.
Lina wasn’t about to give up that
easily. No way. “Zel… what’s wrong? What are you…” Her eyes finally adjusted,
and she saw him sitting there in the center of the room, broken bits of metal
scattered about him like the remnants of some small explosion. A dagger was in
his hand, and the point of the blade was resting against his chest. Oh no… what have I walked into? He’s trying
to kill himself, but doesn’t he remember that a normal blade won’t work?
Lina thought. Holding her voice steady and trying to hide the anxiety that she
felt, she asked: “What are you doing, Zelgadis?”
“Did Rezo send you? You can tell him
what I am doing, if you want. Now go away.” He turned his attention back to the
blade and began to cast a fireball spell.
Lina rushed towards him, uncaring
for the moment about anything other than saving his life, an irrational fear
striking that the spell he was casting on the dagger would somehow pierce his
stone skin. “Zel… you can’t! Please, come back!” She grabbed his hand, yanking
the dagger free and breaking the spell he was casting. The dagger skittered
away on the floor.
With his free hand, he caught her
easily and with almost a careless effort, pushed her back and away, cursing as
he lunged after the dagger. He wasn’t aware of the strength he used, but heard
the bones break, and turned to see dispassionately the blood forced from her
mouth as she hit the far wall with a gasp.
The chair pushed backwards, Lina
coughing involuntarily, blood landing in her lap. Amelia screamed and Gourry was
instantly in the door with his sword drawn.
“Amelia! What’s going on in here?”
Amelia looked to Gourry, then back to Lina. It was clear that something had happened so strongly that it had crossed the boundary of the Astral and entered the Physical. But what…? She couldn’t cast healing on Lina – if she did, the Astral Transference spell would be broken. But if she didn’t do something…