Chapter 8

In Search Of…

Zelgadis opened his eyes to the Astral Chaos that surrounded Lina’s spirit. None of it made sense. Why was she the one caught up in the Chaos and not him? Turning his attention to the matter at hand, and dismissing his questions for the moment, he closed his eyes and stepped into the Chaos.

He 'landed' on his feet in front of a swirling mass of magic in the hallway. It was obviously designed to keep him out, and he headed into it, pushing his way through. Emotions and images from his youth clutched at him, pulling at his cloak and trying to tug him towards them.

He stood at the edge of the lake in despair. Nothing had worked to the end that he desired... yet. So there he was, all of seventeen years of age, and he was ready to throw himself into the water.

So, why wait? He headed into the water, knowing that he would sink, knowing that he couldn't swim, knowing that he would drown. His magic couldn’t keep the water from doing its damage to his lungs. He knew this, and smiled as he pushed deeper into the water. It was almost to his nose now, and it granted him some strangely serene sensation. He was finally going to be released from this Hell that Rezo had cursed him to.

"Zelgadis. There you are," came Rezo's voice as he was unceremoniously and magically fished out of the water.

Resigned to his fate, Zelgadis looked to Rezo. The serenity hadn't faded, and he allowed the levitation spell to hold his lethargic form. "What?" He asked without emotion or care. After all, he wanted to die, yes? Maybe if he provoked Rezo enough…

"I have something for you to do. The Philosopher's Stone has resurfaced. I want you to find it for me. Xolf, Rodimus, and Dilgear are at your disposal. Do not fail me, Zelgadis," Rezo said, setting the dripping chimera on his feet.

The Philosopher’s Stone. Maybe that would have the power to cure the curse. Bowing to Rezo and murmuring something appropriate to following commands, he considered. He’d look for the stone on his own, under the illusion that he was searching for it for Rezo.

Zelgadis blinked as he forced his way out of the memory, and back into the semi-reality of the Astral Plane. He had to find Lina. The past was the past.

Lina was all too aware that she was spending too long in the Astral Plane. She didn't allow herself to dwell on it, and instead pushed the heavy door open and stalked into the room, allowing her presence to announce her first.

There he was, sitting quietly in a chair by the fire.

Rezo, the Red Priest.

Barely restraining her temper, she levitated over to the Red Priest, landing just in front of him with a scowl. "Rezo."

There was no answer from the priest, and she reached out and touched his shoulder with a finger.

"You..." he whispered.

Lina glared at him, "Yeah, me. I'm here to make you release Zelgadis and myself from this spell.”

“I cannot. I myself am a part of the spell… just as I am a part of Zelgadis,” Rezo replied quietly, seeming to gaze into the fire through his closed eyes.

“What do you mean, you are a part of Zelgadis?” Lina asked with a glare, fully aware that he could see her, no matter what the condition of his eyes.

“The spell is rooted within him, an integral part of his very existence.” Rezo said. “To destroy the spell…”

“Would destroy him…” Lina finished.

He wasn’t getting anywhere in this miasma of thoughts and images from his past. He’d essentially come to a halt, fighting the mental pressure from the spell. Vaguely, he realized that he needed to free himself, needed to fight his way out of the trap that he’d so unguardedly put himself into. But he wasn’t sure how. In desperation, he reached out, calling to anyone that might be listening.

Suddenly there was a blaze of light within his hand, cutting cleanly through the swirling nightmare images.

Golunova.

The Sword of Light was having an effect on the spell. It was clearing away the madness that was on the edge of his mind, illuminating the tunnel and chasing the darkness away like a torch.

For a moment, Zelgadis wondered exactly how much of Golunova’s power was holy. But at the moment, it didn’t matter because it was buying both his sanity and his freedom. He’d ask Gourry about that later.

He brought the sword up, cutting away at the spell, enabling him to move forward, and begin to clear himself a path through the insanity.

Walking forwards resolutely, Zelgadis finally and completely freed himself, and took to a run down the hall that he now recognized as the hall that had led to Rezo’s Chambers once upon a past.

The door burst open and Lina came flying out of Rezo’s room at a dead run, literally running into Zelgadis- whose only option was to either catch her into an embrace, or be knocked down. He opted for the embrace without even thinking about it.

It happened so fast that she didn’t know what had happened, and Lina stiffened suddenly as she realized that someone had caught her into a pair of strong arms. Before she could react, the grip lessened, gentling, and a familiar voice whispered her name.

“Lina…”

Zelgadis was holding her, the blind action shifting into something that Lina registered as an embrace, a… hug. And it didn’t seem like he had any intentions of letting go anytime soon.

“Um… Zel…? What are you doing?” Lina asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.

He released her, only to grab her by the wrist and look at her hard. “It was either that, or be knocked over by you as you went by, We have to leave. Now. If we don’t, you’ll die.”

She felt the magic build up around her, felt the pull of soul to body and found that she didn’t have enough energy to fight him. Instead, she simply allowed herself to fall along the silver thread, the weight of reality bringing her back to form and physical awareness.

She opened her eyes to see the ceiling of her hotel room, and blinked as she turned her head to see Zelgadis sitting in the chair beside her with his head in his hands, as if nursing a massive headache. She continued to look around and saw Gourry turn in the doorway to make eye contact with her and smile.

“Hey, you’re back!” The swordsman said as he moved away from the doorway.

Zelgadis lifted his head and looked over as Gourry headed towards them. With a reluctant and rather dry smile, he handed Golunova back to its rightful owner. “You were right. It helped.”

“Good,” Gourry answered, setting the hilt back at his hip. He looked to Lina, a strange fierceness creeping into his eyes. “Don’t do that again. I thought you knew better than to go Astral for an extended period of time alone.”

Lina stared. What the Hell just happened? Had she woken up within the spell again, because Gourry had not just chastised her for going Astral on her own. He had no clue what Astral Projection was… right? Even so, he was still right. And the only thing she had the strength to do about it right now was mutter bad-temperedly at him. “What do you know about it, Gourry? The last time I tried to explain Astral Projection to you, you fell asleep!”

“That’s because you were oversimplifying it, Lina. It made me sleepy. And all that aside, you really should have told me or Amelia that you were going to do something dangerous,” Gourry explained patiently.

“Gourry, I didn’t know that anything was going to happen. I was halfway hanging on a tree when the spell caught me and tossed me into the Astral Plane,” Lina protested weakly.

“Then you shouldn’t be alone anymore,” Gourry said, in a tone that didn’t leave much room for argument.

Zelgadis shook his head. This was just too much for the over-tired chimera. He’d deal with it tomorrow. Standing, he walked towards the door, mumbling. “You two can argue about this all you want. I’m getting a room, and going to sleep.”

Lina yawned as Zelgadis stepped out of her room, and she looked at Gourry. “I’ll be fine. I’ll figure all this out in the morning. I’m too tired to do anything else right now.”

Gourry nodded, taking the chair and moving it to the door, sitting down and taking up watch. “See you in the morning, then.”

Lina was too tired to protest, and was asleep within a minute.