Chapter Six

To Find A Friend

Midnight came and went in the small town, the trio having had settled into their rooms and turned in for the night. Gourry had fallen asleep immediately, and Amelia had tossed for a few minutes before she too fell asleep. In the end, only Lina lay awake in her bed, staring out past the ceiling and into her mind’s eye.

She had to go find him. What was she doing lying here in the bed when she’d hurt her friend and she needed to go find him and set things right? She needed to tell him. Tell him all of it and maybe he’d understand. She certainly understood now.

She rose from the bed and dressed quickly, fragments of his past still stirring within her mind. Some of them were frighteningly dark, and she wondered at how he’d managed to stay on the lighter side of Shamanism. Maybe she could ask him…

The door to the inn closed quietly behind her and she stepped out into the cool night air. It was a crisp and clear night, and she drew her cloak a little tighter around herself. They were a good deal farther north than they usually liked to travel, but the promise of magic that hung in the air was worth the inconvenient chill.

She cast about for a moment, but she knew that he was adept at hiding when he did not wish to be found. So, taking a small medallion from her pocket, she cupped it in her hands and chanted. “You who sail the seas of the Astral Plane. Reveal these shadows to me.”

Nothing happened. Damn! He’s blocking me from revealing him on the Astral Plane! With a sigh and a shrug, she pocketed the medallion and headed out towards the trees where she had sensed him hours before. He’s underestimated me again. I intend to find him and that’s that. He’s my friend. He’s… She wouldn’t allow herself to think that right now. She had to find him and apologize first.

She approached the cove of trees, memory after memory washing over her.

He’d had no family, almost all of them were gone before he was born – his father not yet dead two days by the plague, his mother dead from the childbirth of her son. It was clear by his reluctance to be born that he was a child who did not wish to involve himself with the plague which held the city in its grip.

But he’d been born healthy, the only such child for months. They had soon found that the child’s own magic had rebelled against illness, and after the first critical week of life, they decided that he would live and would therefore need a name. But what to name the infant?

“His name is Zelgadis,” a voice had interrupted.

The midwife and doctor turned to see Rezo the Red Priest standing in the doorway. Word of the plague had brought the Priest, but he had been too late to save his family. Only the infant was left now. The loss was tragic and devastating.

With no further words, Rezo had cleansed the town, buried his family, and had taken the infant away with him, leaving a broken town to heal its wounds and restore its heritage alone.

Lina staggered, leaning against a tree. The memories were becoming stronger, threatening her very perception of the world around her versus the world within her mind. She took another step, gripping the tree for a physical link to the world of reality and stumbled.

He’d tried to poison himself once. He’d gone and purchased a poison that only the highest of assassins used on targets that were contracted to die immediately and with very little awareness of what had happened. It was extremely expensive, easily three times the standard street price, and yet he had bought all that the little man would admit to owning. He had taken it all; ten full doses designed for a man twice his size. He’d fallen down into the dullness of the mind, thinking that at last he would be free.

When he awoke in his room, Rezo’s men were laughing that he’d finally gotten drunk. It was insulting. Once again, his magic had refused to grant him release. There was a reason that he was to live.

Lina faltered, her focus on the physical world starting to fade into the memory world in her mind. No! She needed to find Zelgadis! Needed to explain, to apologize…

Her lips moved, her voice faint as the bark on the tree crumbled and she fell to the forest floor.

“Zelgadis…”

She stepped into a darkened room, eyes adjusting to the small candle-lit entryway. There was a raised stone platform along the far wall, very much like a ceremonial funeral ledge. Who had died?

Candles lit the narrow path to the ledge and she walked reverently, as she knew she ought. As she approached the ledge, she saw who was on it and immediately lost coherent thought.

“No. Oh no. No! You’re… no. You can’t be dead! You can’t be! You were just with us this morning! You touched my arm! This isn’t right! I have to apologize…” She closed her eyes to fight back the tears.

“Will you please be quiet?”

His voice snapped her into sudden and shocked silence.

“You aren’t dead?” She asked dumbly, her eyes opening to look to his closed ones.

“No. And it’s very hard to meditate with you babbling there.” He still hadn’t opened his eyes. “So please be polite enough to go away and leave me alone.”

“I… I came to apologize, Zel… we… we need to talk.” Lina pressed.

One sapphire eye opened and looked at her. “Do we? Do I know you?”

Oh no… I’ve fallen into the spell again! What do I do? I’ve gotta buy myself time to break it again! Think fast… “No… but I’ve been on the same search you have, and I’m afraid that I may have gotten in your way.”

The other eye opened now, the chimera who was and was not her Zelgadis was lifting his head. “What do you mean, search?”

“For a… cure.” Lina lied. She had no idea if that’s what he had been doing, but it was worth a shot.

He sat now, looking at her. “A cure.” Something passed across his eyes and he looked harder at her. “You’re that girl! That girl from before! You— I didn’t kill you? In the cave?”

Lina blinked, startled. So… there’s a link to all of this. He remembers me from when Amelia cast the Astral Transference spell. “Um… no. I can heal, you see… and you don’t have to apologize…”

“I wasn’t going to apologize. You shouldn’t have bothered me.”

Lina flushed a deep red, fighting her temper. Man, he needs to work on his social skills!! But then… I don’t think he had many until we met… “You’re right. And I probably shouldn’t be bothering you now. Maybe I should just go on and…” She turned away, heading for the door.

“Wait. Why are you looking for a cure for my… condition?” It sounded like it was breaking his teeth to refer to it as such.

“I have a friend who got turned into a chimera. He doesn’t particularly care for it… so he’s looking for a cure. We haven’t found any yet, and it’s been a couple of years now… but it doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop trying.” She replied. She wasn’t lying now. There was too much emotion in her voice, and she knew it.

“I see. You care for your friend, then? This… chimera?” His voice was neutral.

She looked away. Man! Am I that see-through? Or is he just more observant that I gave him credit for? Is Zelgadis like that outside of the spell, or is the spell weaving him differently? “I…” She sighed. “Probably more so than I ought to. There’s another girl in our group who really liked him, and I thought they’d be better suited, but she’s a princess and a lot younger than he is… and she told me that she couldn’t be what he needed, that royal life is far from private. So she wasn’t going to try to be anything more than his friend. And there’s been a lot happening lately, and… why am I telling you this? You probably don’t want to know all the sordid details. Sorry about that…” She glanced at him, surprised to see his wistful expression. “Did I… say something wrong?” Great, Lina. All you can do is upset him!

The emotionless mask slid over his face again, and he lay back down on the ledge. “Your friend is a very lucky person. Go back to him. This is no place for you to be. Perhaps our paths will cross again and I will get to meet him.”

Lina blushed, turning to the door and biting her lip. “See you around, then…” That person is you, Zel. And if I manage to break this spell… maybe I’ll tell you. Maybe.

She exited the room and looked around. There had to be a reason for the spell. But what was it, and how could she fix it? What lay at the heart of the spell, the key to the undoing and release of her friend’s memories? She wasn’t even certain that he remembered these things that she saw, interacted with, and sometimes even managed to take control of. Some of it might seem like a dream or a nightmare… but how much of it was really true?

Wandering out, she started looking around to figure out where she was. It looked familiar… like she’d been there before… She stepped out of the hallway, and with a jolt, she realized where she was. I’m in Rezo’s Tower! Was that… Zelgadis’ room? And where’s Rezo? I’ll bet he can answer why I’m here. That’s it, Rezo. I’m getting to the bottom of this spell if it kills me.

She lifted off the ground and headed up towards Rezo’s hall.