The
first rays of dawn flitted across the horizon as Zelgadis watched the seagulls
fly freely across the deep blue expanse. He
leaned across the railing of a low tower letting the wind wisp his blue lavender
hair to his face and not caring one bit at the distraction.
His thoughts were filled with his memories of the events that had
happened in the piece of land just beyond the sea.
‘We
got lucky, that’s all.’ Zel
thought back to their escape from Lei Magnus.
Lina had fallen first. It
was a fall that would have killed her, if it were not for the raging sea caught
her in time since she had lost consciousness.
When he and Hallas had jumped down, they saw someone rescued Lina before
she could drown. The boy who
got her looked upon them in caution but then seeing Lina’s weakened condition,
he had decided to bring them back to Guldove…the home of the Ryuzoku.
Their
arrival, in the middle of the night, would have caused a stir among the Ryuzoku
people. The young boy who had
rescued them, Valgaav, explained that the Ryuzoku were vary of strangers,
specially humans and others were prepared to raise arms against them if they had
tried anything brash. Val
said that it would be best to just sneak into the village and not let their
presence felt. He offered his home
since his mother was away and there was no one else there.
Zel
agreed to the Ryuzoku boy but then after this he had no destination in mind.
Once Lina had regained consciousness, he knew that she would leave to
hunt Lei down again. But then
where would he go? One thing
for sure, Zelgadis wasn’t in a hurry to face off with Lei Magnus.
An
involuntary shudder ran through his spine as he remembered the cold blue eyes
that seemed to burn his soul as they looked upon him.
Zelgadis had no doubt that Lei Magnus was indeed powerful.
An indescribable dark aura surrounded Lei, something that made people
back away from him.
Zelgadis had seen more than that.
The moment he looked through Lei’s eyes, he saw a far greater threat
than the power that Lei had.
For
behind those sharp eyes, Lei Magnus had no soul.
People
had often said that eyes were the windows to the soul.
Zelgadis was not a person to believe in such a cliché.
However, after catching a glimpse of Lei Magnus’ eyes he knew that
there was truth to that age-old saying.
Another
thought entered his mind: If Lei
didn’t seem to have any soul it was likely that he doesn’t have anything to
loose. A man who has got nothing
left is the most dangerous enemy that there can be.
And as much as Zelgadis would like to think that he could avoid Lei, he
knew that he couldn’t. He knew
with morbid certainty, that one way or the other Lei would hunt him down.
‘But
for what?’
His meeting with Lei did not shed any clarity to the events that are
happening. All it did was to
give him more questions that he needs to find answers to.
Zelgadis closed his eyes wanting to shut everything out even though he
knew it wasn’t possible. It
was only a few days back since he had lost his way to this world.
At that time the only thing he wanted was to go back home. But now, he wasn’t sure exactly where
‘home’ was anymore. Worse, he
wasn’t sure who he is anymore.
‘What
if what Lei said is true? What
if I’m really dead?’
There
was a resounding crash from below, making Zel snap his eyes open and tense up.
Looking from where he stood, he saw a red hurricane sorceress stomp
angrily towards one of the boats at the dock.
Behind her a timid young boy with longish aqua green hair and shy golden
eyes followed, wincing every now and then at the angry words Lina hurled to the
air.
“Lady,
you shouldn’t be tiring yourself too much.”
The boy started, stumbling at his words, as he tried to keep up with
Lina. “You’re still not yet
well enough.”
“Like
I care!” Lina snorted as she
looked down her bandaged arm. Without
warning she tore of the bandages that were stained with her blood.
“If I don’t leave now I’ll be missing my chance!
And who knows when I can catch up with him again?!”
“Oi!”
Zel called out from his spot after watching the exchange, making Lina
look up. “Is that how you should
act toward someone who saved your life?”
Zel mimicked the words Lina had said when she ‘saved’ his life during
their encounter with Zangulus. “For
your information, Val over there, saved you from drowning.”
Zel gestured at the boy beside her.
As
she saw Zel leaning casually over the tower railing, a momentary look of
surprise washed over Lina’s face, coupled with something like an ounce of
gratitude. The change in her
face was so fast, that after a second, her eyes blazed again with her trademark
arrogance and defiance. Given the
distance between them Zel couldn’t say what went on behind those ruby red
eyes.
“You
still here?” Lina scoffed.
“I thought you would have ran to the hills after all that had
happened.”
“Umm…”
The boy beside Lina, piped up in curiosity.
“What happened?”
“None
of your, business.” Lina snapped,
making Val shut up quickly.
“Seeing
your condition,” Zel nodded to
the bandages she held. “I
didn’t think it was a good idea to leave you out on your own.
I don’t think I’ll ever get any sleep if you died knowing that I
ditched you and didn’t get to help you.
You’d probably haunt me day and night.”
“Damn
right!” Lina gave a muffled
chuckle while trying to keep an angry face.
“But I’d want you to know that I…”
Lina flattered and winced, before straightening up again.
“I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”
She winced again and clutched her arm, which began to bleed.
From
his spot, Zelgadis could see Lina begin to tremble and color began to drain from
her face. ‘What’s
wrong?’ A worried thought entered
his head, as he walked to stairs going down.
“Hey?”
Val tugged on Lina’s tunic. “Are
you alright? You don’t look so good.”
“Of course!” Lina cracked open one eye and tried her best to glare at the
kid. “A little graze like
this…ain’t gonna…knock…me…down…”
She finished before collapsing into an unconscious heap on the wet docks.
“Hey, wake up!” The startled boy knelt beside Lina and shook her
shoulder. But Lina didn’t seem to
hear him, as her body began to shake with invisible spasms of pain.
Upon seeing, Lina collapse, Zel quickened his pace to a sprint. When he got to her, he placed an open palm on her
forehead to try check her temperature. Zel
frowned, upon feeling how hot Lina was. “She’s
burning up. Is there any healer
here or any one who specializes in recovery?”
Zel asked Val.
“There is…” Val bit his lower lip nervously.
“But I’m don’t think…”
“What’s going on here?” An
authoritative voice boomed.
“Chief Saijoro!” Val gasped in surprise and ran to hide behind Zel.
“Who are you?” The aforementioned chief demanded, giving them a disapproving
frown.
“I’m Zelgadis.” Zel picked up Lina from the floor and tried to still her
shaking body by holding her. “She’s
Lina. Sir, we need your help.
This girl here is quite ill.”
“Did you bring them here, Valgaav?”
The tall man with white hair and piercing eyes walked towards them and
put his hand on Lina’s head.
“Y---yes sir.” Val meekly nodded, not moving inch from his position behind
Zel.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?”
Saijoro sighed. “Specially
humans.”
Zelgadis grit his teeth, seeing how cold the elder Ryuzoku was towards
them. However, for his and
Lina’s sake, he kept his mouth shut. Angering
the Ryuzoku was not a good thing since there probably wouldn’t be any help
available for miles and Lina seemed to need immediate attention.
“B-but…”
Saijoro
raised a hand to cut off Val. “Tell
me about it later.” He nodded
towards Zelgadis and began to walk away. “Right
now, we have to take the girl to the clinic before her condition gets any
worse.”
Zel
nodded and hefted Lina up in his arms, following the village chief.
As they entered the more populated areas, Zel noticed how the Ryuzoku
seemed to gawk or growl at them. He
kept his eyes turned at the floor, not looking up to meet the unwelcoming dragon
race. They were not really different from humans.
The biggest difference would be the pointed elf-like ears.
‘It’s the same old thing
everywhere. Everyone is just
hostile towards strangers.’
From
behind him, Val trudged slowly like a man about to be sentenced to death.
Somehow, Zel knew that the little boy would get a scolding for what he
had done and he felt sorry for the person who had saved them.
They
eventually reached a small hut, where the healer had resided. Saijoro spoke to the healer, a withered old woman, in
hushed clipped tones and occasionally threw a wary glance towards the humans in
the room. The healer nodded
and opened the door the next room. “Please
bring the girl here.” She spoke
quietly and entered the room.
Zel
followed the woman and laid Lina in the empty cot in the room. The healer looked upon Lina with an expressionless face
and nodded at Zel. “Chief Saijoro
requests to speak with you. Please
close the door when you leave and do not come in here unless I tell you to.”
When
he got back to the main room, he could see Val, seated quietly over the corner
with both of his hands on his lap. Saijoro
sat stiffly, waiting for his return. “Take
a seat.” Saijoro, motioned to the
chair before him and Zel wordlessly followed.
“We
would allow the girl to remain here until she recovers.”
Saijoro started without any preamble.
“After that I request you two to leave. Now is not a good time for humans to be here.
This incident would not have happened were if not the young one had
disobeyed our orders.” Saijoro frowned at Val, and the little boy sank
further down from his position. “I
hope we are clear on this matter.”
“Understood.”
Zel nodded. “And thank you
for your help.”
Saijoro
coughed loudly and started to say something in reply, when the healer burst out
from the adjoining door. The
once detached expression on the old woman’s face was replaced by a startled
look of surprise. She quickly went
over to Saijoro and whispered something urgent on his ear.
Upon hearing the old woman’s words, Saijoro’s eyes widened in
disbelief. After that the
healer quickly went back to the other room and closed the door shut.
A
short while had passed before Saijoro spoke.
“Where did you find these people?”
Saijoro directed his question at Val, piercing the young boy with his
hard eyes.
“I…I
was over the cliffs over the general’s manor, when the girl fell down to the
sea.” Val started, not
daring to meet the eyes of his elders. “Seeing
she was about to drown, I pulled her from the waters.
After that I saw two other people fall down from the cliffs.”
Val nodded towards Zel. “They
were supposed to be with the girl.”
“Two?”
“The
other one left quickly upon our return to Guldove, after paying for one of my
boats. He seemed to be very afraid
and in much hurry to leave.”
“Hmm…I
see.” Saijoro leaned back on his
chair. Then he looked towards Val
and gestured towards the door. “Would you leave us right now?
But I still want to speak to you later.”
“Y—yes
sir.” Val gulped nervously before
padding out of the healers hut.
Saijoro
turned towards Zel. “And
you did not stop your companion from abandoning you
“It
was his choice.” Zel shrugged.
‘Though, I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to have left.’
Zel thought but didn’t voice it out loud; he didn’t exactly want to
tell Saijoro why such a wimp like Hallas, had been scared out of his wits.
“Why
did you jump from the cliffs?” Saijoro
continued his questioning. “Was
there any reason for you not to have used the front door?” He said sarcastically.
Zel
gauged if it would be all right to tell this man what had happened in the manor.
The village chief seemed all business yet held his eyes captive like a
watchful hawk. Zel decided to
tell the truth but not divulge any more than necessary, unless he was asked the
question directly. “We were
fleeing from an opponent. However,
we had to retreat for the girl was injured.
All our paths had been blocked and the only way out was by jumping down
the cliffs.”
“And
who were you fighting with?”
“A
man called Lei Magnus.”
Saijoro
leaned back as he digested Zel’s words.
“This certainly is interesting.”
“And
why is that?” Zel said a tad bit
harshly, not liking the old man’s clipped tone.
“It’s
because of your friend’s condition.” Saijoro
crossed his arms stoically. “Your
friend has been poisoned from a wound from a rather sharp object.
Though her wound is pretty deep, our healer has taken care of the
bleeding. However, there is
something that continues to ravage her body that our healer cannot seem to stop.
She has tried a variety of spells those ranging from low to high level
white magic and still the young girl continues to weaken.”
Zel
felt his chest tighten upon hearing the news.
“Is there a cure?”
“I’m
afraid not.” Saijoro shook his
head in dismay. “The cure can be
found in the blood of the Ancient Dragons.
But I’m afraid that the Ancient Dragons are now an extinct race.”
“But
aren’t you Ryuzoku as well?” Zel
asked in surprise. “Maybe there
is someone here who…”
“Do
not mistake us for those beings!” Saijoro’s
jaw clenched tight and his voice was laced with underlying anger. “We
are the race of the Golden Dragons. And
we are not associated with them!”
“So
you’re telling me that there is nothing that you can do for her?”
Saijoro
looked away from the distressed young man.
“Unless you have the power to go back in time, I’m afraid there is
nothing much that you or we can do. Besides,
it takes a long time to prepare the antidote.
Even if you could find the main ingredient for the antidote you would
still be too late. Our healer had
said that your friend has around two days to live…”
An
uncomfortable silence descended upon the room.
Zel bit his lower lip and tried to calm his erratic breathing.
‘This is just a nightmare…’ He
closed his eyes as he willed his heart to resume a normal pace.
But the news that someone, a person he had just known in a short span of
time, was about to die and that there was absolutely nothing that he could do,
was earth shattering. ‘This
can’t be.’
“Well
then,” Saijoro cleared his throat
and stood up from his seat. “I
would leave you here now. I’m
going to allow your friend to remain here until her illness is over.
Besides, it is not as if the illness is contagious.”
Zel snorted in disgust, but Saijoro let is pass.
With that the village chief let himself out, only stopping by the door to
give Zel some warning. “I
ask you not to spread the news among the Ryuzoku so as not to cause panic among
the people. The Ryuzoku faces a crisis as of the moment; now is not a
good time to cause a stir.”
Once
he heard the front door shut, Zelgadis tried something silly. He closed his eyes and pinched himself hard to see if
everything was just as dream. Upon opening his eyes, he was still in the same
room and still had a deep feeling of apprehension.
‘That’s stupid.’ Zel
mentally berated himself as he leaned his head on the wall and stared at the
ceiling.
“Excuse
me.” Zel looked up at the healer,
with a slightly shaken look on her face. “Your
friend has regained consciousness.” Then the healer promptly left the hut.
“Dammit!!”
Zelgadis would have just stared at the door when he heard a muffled voice
cursing angrily from the other room.
Taking a deep breath, Zelgadis walked to the room where Lina was.
He was surprised to see that the young girl was on her knees looking
under the bed. “Where’d they
put my sword?!” Lina swore
angrily as she tried to pull herself up using the bed as support.
But then her shaky arms gave out and she hit the floor face first,
bruising her nose. “Owww…”
Lina grumbled weakly as she began to rub her sore nose.
“You
shouldn’t be scrambling around like that.”
Zel walked over and easily picked Lina in his arms. This made Lina squeal in surprise as she struggled weakly
against his arms.
“Hey!
Lemme go!” Lina tried to
put as much force in her voice that she could muster.
Then she began to pound his back in annoyance, making Zel drop her
ungracefully into the bed. “You
could have at least let me down easily, you know!
This isn’t exactly a feather bed!”
“Then
you shouldn’t have started to pound on me.”
Zelgadis shot back in a calm tone. “And
you’re not exactly light to begin with.”
Lina
sat straight up in her bed and gave him a look that could have frozen the flames
of hell. “Are you saying that
I’m fat?!”
“I
didn’t say that.”
“Yes,
you did!”
“No,
did not.”
“Did!”
“We’re
not going to start arguing like kids now are we?”
Zelgadis shook his head. Lina
paused and stared at him intently, making him uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Are
you always always like this?!” Lina
said with a frown as pulled the discarded blankets towards her and plopped down
to the pillows. “You always seem
to be so grouchy…” She
complained in frustration.
“Thanks
for the warm compliment.” Zel
said sarcastically, as he sat down on the chair beside her bed.
A cough raked Lina’s small frame and Zel remembered guiltily that Lina
was not necessarily well. “You
should get some rest. It’ll make
you feel better.” Zelgadis
choked upon his words; knowing that it was nothing more than a blatant lie.
‘Does she know how grave her
condition is?’ But after seeing
her struggle to be alive and her usual springy self; he felt that she didn’t know her current situation.
Zel wouldn’t be able to tell her the truth; he couldn’t destroy that
image hers.
“What’s
wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Zelgadis reached down and pulled the blankets higher, not meeting
Lina’s questioning look. “Just rest for a while and save your strength.
After that you can do anything you want, ne?”
Zelgadis tried to inject some cheerfulness in his voice but he had a
feeling he failed miserably.
“There’s
something you’re not telling me.” Lina
tried to smother a cough, which made her voice coarse.
“But I’ll find out anyway.” Zel
remained silent, not wanting to tell her what exactly has been bugging him.
There
was a moment of silence, as Zelgadis tried to blank out thinking the Lina had
already fallen asleep. He
was stuck in a whirlwind of emotions, confusion, anger but most specially guilt.
For some strange reason, he felt guilty for what is happening to Lina.
His logical self would probably dismiss everything easily, since he
barely knew Lina. She was just
another stranger, right? He
shouldn’t care less about her. But
somehow, his guilt still managed to seep in.
“So
are you going to tell me?” Zelgadis
looked down, surprise that Lina still was awake, but now both of her eyes were
closed.
“Tell
you what?”
“What’s
bothering you.”
“No.”
“Geeze…”
Lina opened one eye to glare at him.
“Oh yeah…What the heck happened to that wuss?”
“Hallas?”
“Is
there anyone else?” Lina smirked.
Zelgadis narrated how after they had left the manor through Val’s boat. By the time they got to Val’s Village, Hallas wanted to buy Val’s boat at any cost.
Val said that he’d only part with his boat for the price of the gold in
Hallas’ moneybag. Without thinking, Hallas quickly gave Val all of his
money and left as fast as he can.
“Heh…smart kid.”
Lina yawned and turned to her side, wincing a bit at the movement.
“I’m turning in now, okay?”
“You’re
going to be fine.” Zel said
quietly, sitting back on the chair, not wanting to look at the pale girl.
“Of
course.” Lina looked over her
shoulder and tried her best to grin.
“And Zel…”
“I thought you’re going to
sleep?”
“Well I will okay I just remembered
something.” Lina dug around the
pockets of tunic. She pulled her
hand out of the blankets and opened her palm to Zel.
“Here.”
“What’s this?”
Zelgadis picked up a dull red gemstone with solid golden braces from
Lina’s hand.
“Its my favorite amulet.
I’m giving it to you for a while to
keep…its quite bulky to sleep with.
I don’t want to put it anywhere or else it might stolen…”
Upon seeing Zel’s I-can’t-believe-you look, Lina quickly added,
“Hey my sword’s gone you know and that’s not exactly cheap!
You better take good care of that!”
Lina warned.
“All right.”
Zelgadis slipped the red gem into his pocket.
“Now can you rest?”
“Yeah…” Lina blinked tiredly before closing her eyes.
“Hey Zel…”
“Lina…”
Zel sighed a little bit exasperated that she won’t just go to sleep.
“Thanks.”
Lina murmured before she welcomed sleep.
***************************
As
soon as he knew that Lina was really asleep, Zelgadis quietly crept out of the
room. Without having anywhere
else to go he just stayed in the first room of the healers hut, sitting
desolately on of the chairs. He
sat there thinking what he had to do or what he should do.
He didn’t want to be in the same room with the sick girl.
He didn’t want to be remembered that within a few days that girl would
be truly gone.
He
hated his current position. There
was absolutely nothing that he can do to help her.
But he knew that he had to do something, anything, or else he couldn’t
live with himself. But what
can he do?
‘There’s
nothing I can do…’ The
thought ran through his head with bleak finality, believing and not believing at
the same time. Things like this
were not supposed to happen in his life.
His life was spent in dull ordinary events that rarely marked a point of
remembrance. Nothing was
supposed to happen in his life. He
was just meant to live out the rest of his days in the peaceful serenity of his
village. Perhaps even take on
ordinary jobs like becoming a fishermen , a farmer or take up some trade in
craftsmanship.
He
had never dreamed that an ominous villain would hunt him down. He never thought that he would meet people who had so
much passion; who had set their minds upon conquering the inevitable.
But in the past few days, he had done so many things that he thought he
wouldn’t do or could never be done.
In a short span of time, he had lived a life that he only read through
the classics in his grandfather’s collection.
In
his world, everything would be normal…
In
his world, there would be no antagonist asking for his life…
In
his world, there would be no strange people popping up every now and then…
In
his world, there would be no unanswerable questions…
‘In
my world, I can find that cure…’
Zelgadis
blinked.
“My,
my…Lina-chan is down for the count.”
Zelgadis
looked up to see the trickster priest sitting across him. “What are you doing here?”
Zel stood up, poised for a
fight.
“Ne,
is that a way to greet a person? Zel-chan?”
Xellos shook a finger at him.
“Why
you?!” Zel grit his teeth and
took a deep breath, mentally berating himself for getting angry so quickly.
It would not be a good idea if he caused trouble in this place;
especially now that Lina really needs help.
“Why
don’t you just let her be, Zel-chan?” Xellos
tapped his staff on Zelgadis’ head.
“After all there’s nothing you can do.”
“Hey
Zelgadis san…” The front door
opened and a Val casually stepped inside. He
paused in mid stride when he saw Xellos and his golden eyes widened in fear.
Xellos
stood up and strode over the petrified young boy and leaned forward to look at
him face to face. “Now look
what we have here.” Xellos
drawled with a bright smile on his face.
“Eep…”
Val stiffened.
“Now…what
a discovery you are.” Xellos
leaned back and tapped a finger on his chin.
“I didn’t think you’re kind still existed.
And staying with the enemies nonetheless.” He opened one purple eye and winked contemptuously.
“Wha---what
are you talking about?” Val
stammered, dropping his gaze towards the floor.
“Oh
nothing…” Xellos turned and
walked towards the door going to Lina’s room.
Zelgadis stepped on his path and glared at the priest.
“And
where do you think you’re going?” Zel
demanded through gritted teeth.
Xellos
cocked his head towards the side and painted an innocent smile upon his face.
“To see Lina-chan, of course.”
“And
you think I’ll let you do that?” Zel
took a step forward, threatening Xellos to advance further. “Not after what you have done to her.”
“Oh
that?” Xellos shook his head.
“That was Lei-sama’s work not mine.
But don’t say I didn’t warn not to mess with Lei-sama or else.”
Xellos took a step forward, challenging Zelgadis to act.
“You
think I’d believe you knowing that you’re under Lei?”
Zel didn’t blink, neither did he back down, even if he was feeling
chilled to the bone by just looking at the dark purple eyes of the trickster
priest.
“Poor
Lina-chan…with all these fools to help you…”
Xellos sighed before his image blurred and faded completely.
Zelgadis
blinked in confusion as Xellos disappeared.
He looked at the closed door and then creased his forehead.
“Dammit!” He swore as he
realized what Xellos had done. Quickly, he dashed to Lina’s room, only to see Xellos
leaning down a feverish Lina to brush a stray hair off her pale face.
“Leave
her alone!” Zelgadis stomped over
the bed and grabbed Xellos by the collar of his robe.
Xellos
didn’t even flinch. “Eh
Lina-chan? Did Zelgadis wake
you?”
“What?”
Zelgadis looked down to see a still sleeping Lina.
He shifted his gaze back to Xellos and growled, releasing his hold on him
with a push.
“Ah…you
are such a simpleton. It’s
so much fun to play jokes on you.” Xellos
smiled, much to Zelgadis’ annoyance. “But
I’m only here to see how Lina-chan is doing.
Heh…but I had fun while I was at it.”
He winked before disappearing once more.
Zelgadis
took a deep breath to calm himself , before looking down at Lina’s sleeping
form. The young girl seemed
to be in deep sleep, oblivious to the world around her.
The only sign that there was something wrong with her was her extremely
pale face contrasted against vivid flame red hair.
“Is
she alright?” Val stood beside
Zel.
Zel
nodded. “I don’t think he did
anything to her” He gestured at
the door. “Let’s leave now
before she might wake up.” Val
nodded and followed Zel outside of the room.
“Hey
mister, what are you going to do now?” Val
asked as he seated himself on a chair.
“I
don’t know.” Zel muttered with
downcast eyes. “The healer said
that there’s nothing we can do. She’s
going to die...”
“How
could that have happened? She
didn’t seem like she was dying.” Val
gasped and gave him a wide-eyed stare. “And
you’re just going to let her die?!”
“There’s
nothing I can do…” Zel looked
up with a glint of determination in his eyes.
“But that doesn’t mean that I can’t try to save her.”
“Do
you have any clue as to where you can start looking for her cure?”
“No,
but I have an idea…” Zel
admitted morosely. Even if his idea
was literally out of this world, it was still worth a shot.
“I’m planning on looking for someone who can actually help.”
“I
hear a legendary priest lives near Termina.
He used to be a member of the Devas of the Fire Dragon. He might be able to help.
They say that he has great knowledge in white magic.”
“What’s
his name?”
“Uh…I
think he was called the ‘Red Priest’.”
Val put a hand over his head with a sheepish look on his face. “But I don’t remember his real name.”
“Red Priest?”
Zel turned to the boy in surprise. “You
don’t mean Rezo?!”
“I think that’s his name.”
Val agreed. “I hear he is
a great scholarly man who has devoted most of his life in the study of magical
arts. He also is one of the
great devas despite being blind.”
‘That’s Rezo alright.’
Zel thought the situation was ironic.
A few days ago, he wanted to find Rezo to be able to straighten things
out and go back living his normal life. Now,
he wanted his grandfather to help save a girl he barely knew.
“Do you know where can I find him?”
“Since he retired from the Holy
Dragon knights, I don’t know where he is now.
I think we can find people in Termina who might know where he is.
If you want I can take you there.”
Val offered.
“Won’t you get into more trouble
than you already are?” Zel knew
that Val was chewed out for what he had done.
Though he felt that there was more to the story on why Val was over the
cliffs on the manor at that time of night rather than just a mere coincidence.
“Maybe I can just borrow your boat…”
“I’m
already in trouble I don’t think I can back down on this.” Val cut him off, looking a little bit embarrassed.
“And I don’t want your friend to die.”
Zel
regarded the young boy for a moment, trying to see if he was sincere in his
offer. Val seemed like a nice
and honest kid. Although,
Zelgadis wasn’t planning on getting more people involved on his current
situation, he knew it would probably be useless to try to convince Val
otherwise. “Then we ought to leave right away.” Zel nodded and gestured towards the door.
“ We don’t have much
time.”
***************************
A
little girl walked alone in the darkened streets.
There was a cool breeze in the air, heralding the coming of a storm.
But the girl was dressed in thin dirt stained clothes.
Her face and red hair was darkened with soot and dust, her feet bare and
muddy from walking. It was
late and it was not a good time for any girl to walk alone at this time of the
night. Some strangers stared
at her with disbelief, some sniggered and threw rude comments, while others
looked upon her with pity.
But
no one came to her.
Having
no destination in mind, it felt like she had been walking forever.
She could feel her muscles begin to lax and she knew she had to stop and
call it a night. Her sharp eyes scanned the area for a place that she could
stay. Upon seeing a darkened
alleyway, she quickly scrambled towards that direction to hide upon a dry dark
corner.
The darkened alleyway was a sanctuary
for the homeless girl. She hoped there wouldn’t be anybody around to disturb
her but she wasn’t the one to go without making sure. Cautiously she felt her way through the ground, until she was
able to grasp a piece of wood. She
held on to this tightly, her spirits lifting a little, at the meager protection
she could use against the strangers who might hurt her.
The girl narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the darkened alley carefully.
After
making sure that she would be safe, she let herself down on the cold ground
preparing to rest her weary body and escape the confines of the reality that she
was in. She looked up
to see the stars, hoping to see a sign that would lead her out of her misery but
there were none tonight and no signs ever came.
All she could see were mists of reddish clouds, preparing to unleash the
rain trapped within.
She
would wake up and shivering in the morning.
But there was nowhere else to go and no one to take her in.
The only thing left for now is sleep; where she can ignore the cold and
her pangs of hunger. For a short time she can let go of her worries and
lower her guard. Upon releasing a
sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to lull herself to sleep.
“Hey!
Hey wake up!!!”
She
felt an impatient tug upon her shoulder. Groaning
she opened her eyes and was momentarily blinded by a harsh white light.
Upon refocusing her vision, the dark alleyway, the empty sky, the dirty
ground was all gone.
‘A
dream…?’
“Take
this!”
Lina
groaned as her senses began to report their findings that told her that she was
sick and that she felt horrible. “Lemme
alone…” She mumbled as she
tried to slip back to unconsciousness.
“You’ll
feel better if you take this.” The
voice answered as if it read her thoughts.
Lina
opened her eyes and tried to focus on the bleary figure before her.
Slowly the image turned sharper and she saw a sweet looking young boy,
with straight shoulder length jet-black hair and dancing green eyes.
He had his hand outstretched towards her and a small vial, filled with
dark liquid, nestled in his palm.
“Who
are you?” Lina mumbled, pushing
herself to an upright position with her bruised elbows.
The young boy gave her a smile that said he wouldn’t hurt a fly but
still she felt a little bit wary .
“Lady
you better take this or else you’ll feel real bad.”
The boy shook his head with a small smile on his face.
“This would help you get better.”
Her
head was killing her and the image before her began to shift again.
Lina shrugged and drank the liquid, grimacing at its bitter taste.
“What the hell is this?” Lina
coughed and frowned at the boy. “This
taste horrible!”
“But
it’ll make you better.” The boy
smiled widely. “You ought to take
a nap now.” He reached out tapped
her forehead.
“Wha---!”
Lina exclaimed startled, when she was the boy cast a sleep spell but it
was too late for her to do anything.
Her eyes closed due to the spell and the added fatigue and she drifted to
a dark sleep.
Upon
seeing Lina collapse back to her bed, the boy’s sweet smile changed into a
sinister sneer. His innocent eyes
turned slitted and harsh; the Mazoku’s trademark.
“Nitey-nite,
Lina Inverse.”
*****************************
Tsuzuku
Notes: Okay
this took a long time to write…well because of two things really.
First I was so torn in wanting to play Final Fantasy 9 and I ended up
doing so. Most of my free time got
devoted to finishing the game. Second, I was afraid that the characters will be terribly
OOC. This part was meant to
be sweet (though I doubt if I succeeded in that) but I didn’t want to rush
Lina and Zel’s relationship. I
wanted their relationship to progress gradually.
Val here is another problem. Val
is around 11 years old in this fic and I wanted him to be a nice kid.
But projected him with a Shinji Ikari character…which some would
probably think as a wimp. Well…he was also influenced by an FF9 character
called, Vivi. ^_^ Hehehe…but
I’ll be adding more to Val as this story progresses.
Another problem is Saijoro --- I haven’t seen the guy so I wouldn’t
know how to describe him. Gah…more revisions?
Chapter 4
