Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8 :: Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10

CHAPTER 6
In which an enemy appears...

    Two hours later after the troll horde was gone, Zelgadis mused quietly to Lina, "It's strange that we haven't seen this enemy of ours once yet.  Usually we at least get a hint of who's behind it, and why they're attacking us."

    Lina nodded in agreement.  "You're right.  But what reason could the enemy have for not revealing itself yet?"

    "...That's the question, isn't it...?" he sighed.

    Lina contemplated this for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and smirking.  "There's nothing we can do till our enemy puts in an appearance, so we might as well enjoy the ball till then!"  Turning to look Zelgadis straight into his eyes, she asked, "Want to scandalize everyone and dance?  It's not considered 'proper' to dance more than once or twice with the same partner, you know."  She giggled cutely and winked with an impish gleam in her ruby eyes.

    "...You wouldn't mind me as a partner?" he whispered uncertainly, clearly wavering.

    She stomped her foot slightly and stated, "Of course not!  Besides, I don't want to dance with anyone else here, not after that cowardly display."

    "...Alright..." he agreed at last, and took her head to lead her onto the dance floor.

    A few seconds later, they were again whirling across the ballroom, happy, oblivious smiled crossing their faces.  The rest of the people at the ball tried to get a glimpse of the couple who so completely distained their company.  It intrigued them.  What kind of people didn't care about their noble opinions?

    Despite Zelgadis and Lina's oblivious looks, though, the dancing pair were very well aware of the stares they were garnering.  Lina ignored it, simply enjoying her time dancing in Zelgadis's arms...and blushing secretly as this thought occasionally came back to her.

    "Zel, do you think this would be the perfect time for our mysterious enemy to launch another attack?" she smiled, her eyes sparkling in anticipation.

    "Yes," he smirked.

    On cue, a fine, nearly invisible mist began working it's way through the legs of the people at the ball, traveling upwards till it filled their nostrils.  As soon as it was inhaled, people began to slump with groans and grunts to the floor.  Loud snores filled the room in the music's absence.

    Zelgadis frowned and pulled Lina closer to him.  "Diem Wind!"  A shield of wind formed around their bodies in a protective bubble, blocking out all the mist.

    From out of an archway suffused in cold shadows, came a figure dressed in a blue tunic and black pants, with dark brown wrist-guards, black, leather, knee-high boots, and a swirling, blue cape.  His brown hair fell to the middle of his back in glossy waves, and dark green eyes assessed them coldly.

    "Hello, Zelgadis," the figure said as he came closer.

    "...Uh..." was Zelgadis's witty reply.

    "It's been a long time since we last met," the man smirked.  He stopped just outside of the shield and casually passed his eyes over Zelgadis's form.  "You've changed a lot, I see.  It's no wonder you were able to reach your companion in time for that first attack."

    Lina grimaced and shook her head, muttering under hear breath, "Stage left, enter evil villain with unknown grudge."

    The newly-entered man shifted his attention to Lina.  His eyes ran slowly up and down her body, as if he were memorizing her.  Suddenly, Lina had an almost overwhelming desire to see if her clothes were out of place; his gaze suggested she wore nothing at all, and it annoyed the hell out of her, as well as embarrassing her.

    "Who are you, and what do you want?" Zelgadis asked.  Lina gulped at his utterly cold tone, and had no doubt his face would match his voice if she looked up at him.  

    "You don't remember me?  I'm hurt!" the still-unknown man said dramatically, putting a hand over his heart as if Zelgadis's words hurt him.  The smirk on his lips belied the performance.  "You knew me from...oh, how long has it been?...Ten years?  Yes, ten years."

    Lina grumbled, "That doesn't help!"

    The man chuckled and stroked a hand over the wind shield, looking directly at Lina while he did so.  "You remind me of the girl that came to his rescue.  Same sparkling ruby eyes and flaming-red hair."

    By this time, both Zelgadis and Lina were thoroughly confused.  What the heck was this wacko talking about?

    "Yes, ten years ago.  Come, it's time to jog your memory!"  The man's chuckles turned to loud, hysterical laughter.  "You come too, Girl!" he said to Lina.

    Zelgadis and Lina blinked as a blinding white light shot from his palm and engulfed them both...

CHAPTER 7
In which the past is revealed to Lina & Zelgadis.

    Zelgadis and Lina gasped in shock as the light engulfed their bodies, passing through their protective bubble as if it didn't exist.  Their eyes filled with white light, and they felt their bodies float into the air through no power of their own.  Lina clung to Zelgadis in an attempt to keep something she knew near her, with Zelgadis doing the same to her.

    Suddenly, their bodies gained weight again and they felt themselves land on hard ground.  Lina cautiously opened one eye, then the other, as the light faded along with the spots dancing before her eyes from the intensity of the light.  She relaxed her grip slightly, and tapped Zelgadis on the shoulder.  He too cautiously opened one eye and sighed in relief as vision returned.  They let go of each other slowly and looked around.

    They were now standing at the side of a bustling marketplace near the gate of a small city.  The smells of honey-coated bread and pies stuffed with vegetables and meat filled the air, along with the less pleasant odors of horse dung and dirty straw.  On either side were small stalls, and people calling their wares to the people browsing in the street, going from stall to stall.  A few people stood alone, baskets in their hands or a blanket spread out on the dirt road with their wares on top.  Lina drooled at the sight of food, but Zelgadis firmly kept her from going anywhere.

    "Where are we?" Zelgadis asked bluntly as Lina struggled against the grip on her arm.

    The man spread his arms and smiled.  "Welcome to the past!"  He paused for a moment as he thought about what he'd just said, then scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.  "Well...actually, it's more like a memory of the past...so we can't effect anything that happens here...but..."

    Lina sweatdropped and muttered, "You like being dramatic, don't you?"

    He ignored her comment.  "Now, in a few seconds...ah yes, there you are..." the man chuckled, and pointed to a ten year old boy with violet-blue hair and sapphire eyes running down the street at high speed.  They could see he wore plain, cheap clothing hanging off of his body in rags.  Blood ran down one side of his face, and he had cuts and bruises everywhere there was exposed flesh.

    Zelgadis gasped, "That's...that's me!"  His face turned ghostly white, and he glanced nervously at Lina.

    She was too absorbed at looking at Zelgadis's kid form to notice his strange behavior.  "Zel...you were pretty cute!" she giggled.  He blushed beet red.

    Another boy just a few years older came into view.  He had long, wavy brown hair and cold, dark green eyes.  Over his body he wore black, satin pants, ankle-length, dark brown, leather boots, along with a light blue, turtleneck shirt, and a black cape with a navy blue interior.  Finishing off the expensive clothing were a dark brown, leather belt encrusted with gold and jewels, and a heavy-looking, gold and sapphire clasp on his cape.

    The boy snickered and said, "Mono Bolt!"  It hit the running Chibi-Zelgadis straight in the back, who fell onto his knees and hands with a hoarse cry of pain, skinning his palms in the process and shredding his knees even worse.  "You weakling!  Stand back up and fight back, like you were before!  I was having such fun fending off your sorry excuses for attacks!" the boy laughed heartlessly.

    At this, the man who'd kidnapped Zelgadis and Lina spoke up, "And that fine young man is me, Aristos!" he said dramatically as he struck a pose.  

    Zelgadis would have sweatdropped if he wasn't so furious.  Lina's anger level was rising steadily as she saw Chibi-Aristos walk up to the panting Chibi-Zelgadis and kick him in the ribs.  Chibi-Zelgadis's body flew through the air like a rag doll, and landed a few feet away in a pile of trash.  

    Lina growled under her breath, low enough only Zelgadis heard it, "Why the hell are the marketplace people acting as if nothing's happening?!  They should be helping!"

    Aristos sneered, and explained as he gestured to the marketplace.  "They wouldn't help even if I killed him.  My father owns the land of this city, so they don't want to anger their land holder's son for any reason, because they know my father would kick them out if I so much as hinted at displeasure with any of them."

    Chibi-Zelgadis looked desperately from down-turned face to down-turned face in the hopes that he would see someone who was willing to help, but he found no one, not even the guards who were strolling through.

    Chibi-Aristos laughed maniacally, the sound grating on everyone's ears, and stepped up to the huddled form of Chibi-Zelgadis.  Chibi-Zelgadis just looked up at him, waiting silently, calmly, for the pain to come.  He was too weak from the long run and the beating at Chibi-Aristos's hand before that to try and escape him now.  He just prayed that he'd be able to get to a healer's in time after Chibi-Aristos had left.  

    "Nothing to say?  No taunts?  No famous last words?" sneered Chibi-Aristos as he raised his hand and began to form a large ball of fire.  Chibi-Zelgadis's eyes widened a fraction as he realized how much pain that would bring him, and mentally calculated if he could possibly survived.  Probably, but he wouldn't be a pretty sight.

    A surprised, irate cry of alarm from the far end of the marketplace grabbed the two boy's attention, and Chibi-Aristos allowed his spell to dissipate as he looked back.  

    "Get back here and pay for that damn meat-pie!" a pudgy, red-faced man with meaty fists shouted.  Chibi-Zelgadis followed where the man's eyes were looking, and saw a small girl with flaming red hair dashing nimbly through the streets, easily dodging all the people who tried to get in her way.

    "Nya-nya!  You shouldn't try and cheat little girls, you old coot!" the girl taunted wickedly, holding the precious meat pie safely in her hands.

    Lina gasped, and put a hand to her mouth.  "It's me!"

    Aristos glanced from her to her former self, and nodded.  "What great luck!  This will make my revenge even sweeter."

    Unfortunately, she had to look back to taunt, so she didn't see the boy right in front of her, and toppled into him.  Chibi-Aristos and the girl went sprawling to the ground, though Chibi-Lina managed to land partly on Chibi-Zelgadis.

    Chibi-Zelgadis summoned up a last bit of energy and told her in a hushed whisper, "Close your eyes!"  Automatically, she responded to the command, and as soon as she'd done so, he shouted as loudly as he could, "Lighting!"  Bright light filled the entire marketplace, and Chibi-Aristos, along with everyone else, was occupied for several minutes with the temporary loss of their sight.  

    Chibi-Zelgadis and Chibi-Lina took the opportunity to get up and run away as fast as their legs would carry them.  At the gates, Chibi-Zelgadis stopped, panting, and dropped to one knee.  She frowned and skidded to a halt.

    "What's wrong?" she asked.

    He raised a dirty, blood-smeared eyebrow and gestured weakly to himself.  "What do you think?" he asked dryly.

    "And why didn't you use anything more powerful on him while you had the chance?  You certainly have the capabilities for it; not even I can make a light spell that big yet," Chibi-Lina continued after she'd taken in his appearance and shrugged it off as unimportant.

    Chibi-Zelgadis sighed and shook his head.  "That's the only spell I know."

    A calculating gleam came to her eyes.  "That bully's going to come back, you know."

    "Yeah, I know," Chibi-Zelgadis grimaced, and got back to his feet with a groan.  "And his name's Aristos."

    "I'll take care of Aristos for you...if you can do something for me in return," the girl said, grinning in a cute, evil way.

    The boy shook his head no.  "I don't have any money, in case you didn't notice."

    "That doesn't bother me.  I want you to travel with me back to my house in Zephilia and help me fix up my family's home," she offered, holding out her hand.

    Chibi-Zelgadis bit his lip, and thought intently.  Finally, he smiled slightly and nodded.  "Okay."  He reached out and shook her hand, ignoring the pain it caused him in the process.

    "Good!  My name's Lina," she smiled welcomingly.

    "Zelgadis," he offered, still smiling slightly.

    From behind them came the sound of clapping.  Chibi-Aristos stood there, smirking.  "What a show!  But I fail to see what a little girl can do to me."

    The little girl in question raised her hands and said triumphantly, "This!  Mega Brando!"  The bully was too shocked to do anything but stand there in shock as the ground beneath him suddenly went shooting off into the air, carrying him with it.  A few seconds later, he landed, looking much the worse for wear, with a dazed look to his eye.  Chibi-Lina wasted no time.  "Freeze Arrow!"  A bolt of ice formed in her upraised hands, and she quickly threw it at his feet.  

    The cold caused Chibi-Aristos's eyes to focus again.  "H-hey!  You can't do this to me!  I'll have you kicked out!" he taunted as he shook his fists at them.

    "I don't live here!" Chibi-Lina laughed.

    This caused him to blink for a moment while his brain computed the new data.  "Well...then...um...Someday...I'll find you, Zelgadis, and have my revenge on you!"

    Chibi-Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.  "Revenge on me?  Why not Lina?"

    "Because you're the one who hired her!" he spat.

    "Oh.  Whatever," Chibi-Zelgadis shrugged.

    Lina dusted off her pants and walked away from the city.  "Come on.  We'd better get started if we're to reach my house by tomorrow."  Her new companion nodded, and followed her.

    Chibi-Aristos shouted impotently at them, stupidly not attempting to use any of the spells he knew to break free of the ice.  "Come back here!  Get me out of this!"  Finally, when it appeared they weren't coming back, Chibi-Aristos sniffled and cried out, "I want my mommy!"  Great, huge droplets fell from his eyes.

    Aristos watched his former self and sniffled tearfully.  "It took me weeks to recover from my extensive wounds!"

    Lina commented, "Actually, it should only have taken a few hours to recover."

    "And that's why you want revenge on me?" Zelgadis asked quietly, eyes shadowed.

    Aristos waved a hand and snapped his fingers.  The illusion fell apart, twinkling around them as it faded, and they found themselves back in the ballroom.  "Yes!" he snapped.  

    Zelgadis's fist shook slightly at his side, as if trying to mask his emotions, and his shoulders twitched periodically.  "That...is...the...stupidest...reason...I've...ever...heard...of...for...revenge..." he bit out, voice deadly.  Lina backed away from him slowly, allowing him room to fume.

    Aristos didn't notice the emotions radiating from Zelgadis and pulled his eyelid down while he stuck out his tongue.  "It's a great reason for revenge!"

    "You...are...dead."  Zelgadis brought his hands together in front of him, face still in the shadows, and chanted, "Dynast Breath!"  Icy tendrils shot from his hands and snaked their way to the surprised Aristos, who desperately tried to twist out of the tendril's way as they wrapped cold fingers on his clothes.  

    "Get them off!" Aristos shrieked as the fingers spread over his body, wrapping everything in ice and solidifying.  It moved upwards, and encased his whole body in ice.  Then it expanded, so he was encased in a large chunk of thick ice.

    Lina breathed a sigh of relief.  "That guy was getting annoying!" she scoffed.  "Did you kill him?"

    "...No...Although he'll wish he was dead when Amelia is able to question him," Zelgadis stated grimly.

    She whistled and shook her head.  "I almost feel sorry for him."  Zelgadis's head shot up to look at her, eyes shocked and a little hurt.  Lina winked.  "I said I almost feel sorry for him."

    "Ah..." Zelgadis said wisely.

    Lina looked at the room, filled with sleeping nobles, and groaned.  "Do we have to wake them all up?"

    "No.  Just Amelia.  Then she can wake up people who she knows can help, and they'll get everyone woken up," Zelgadis reasoned.

    She brightened substantially.  "Much better!  C'mon, Zel!  No time to waste!"

    Zelgadis hid a smile as he trailed after the sorceress, not once looking back at the man encased in ice.

CHAPTER 8
In which a new quest begins...

    Zelgadis shook his head as he looked at the nobles around him.  They were crowded into small groups, whispering worriedly to each other, and although a few people danced, he noticed everyone did it while looking over their shoulder for hidden monsters.  If they'd had their choice, they would have gone home by now and huddled in their beds.

    But the party had gone on, for two very simple reasons: Phil and Amelia.  The nobles all knew that if they tried to escape before the party was over, they'd get a long, long lecture later on from both Phil and Amelia, and that was worse than everything that had happened put together.  So, they stayed and pretended they were having a good time.

    Lina and him had stayed quietly in the shadows after rousing Amelia, trying not to catch anyone's attention.  They simply wanted to get to the end of the ball in one piece.

    "It's strange but...I don't remember that memory with Aristos.  It isn't even like my memory was jogged; I don't remember any of what happened back then; not meeting you for the first time, nor the time afterwards where you should have been helping to fix up my house, and I still don't remember it.  You'd think seeing a past memory reenacted would cause something to come back, but...there's nothing," Lina frowned, biting her lip in thought.

    Zelgadis sighed, and ran a hand agitatedly through his hair.  "Neither do I.  Hell, I can't remember why Aristos and I were fighting in the first place.  The memory...it's...simply not there."

    "We both have pretty good memories, and what we both saw should have jogged something out of one of us," Lina mused.

    "What does it mean, though?" Zelgadis asked.

    "I wish I knew," Lina sighed, and crossed her arms, eyes troubled.

    Lina gave a huge yawn and stretched.  It was an hour after dawn, and she was extremely tired.  Zelgadis even seemed to be a little tired, though he was holding up a lot better than her.  

    Amelia bounced over to them soon after the last guest had finally left, and Lina noted that although she was still extremely perky, some of her usual bounciness was more subdued.  I guess even Amelia gets tired after one of these things, Lina thought.  

    "Mr. Zelgadis, Miss Lina!" Amelia called cheerfully.

    "Hi, Amelia," Lina greeted tiredly, yawning again behind her hand.

    "You promised you'd show me a possible cure," Zelgadis reminded her coldly, "if I remain here till the end of the ball."

    Lina muttered sarcastically, "You sure know how to be tactful, Zel."

   Amelia brushed off his cold tone and motioned for them to follow her.  She lead them through the hallways of the palace till they came to the library.  Lina and Zelgadis settled onto chairs around a plain, wooden table, and watched Amelia questioningly.

    "I'll be just a moment," she said apologetically, and disappeared into one of the massive bookcases.  Lina waited impatiently, drumming her fingertips on the table and shifting in her seat every few seconds.  Most of this was simply to keep herself from falling asleep in her seat.  Zelgadis, though, sat quietly at the table.  The only sign of his impatience was the tenseness of his muscles.

    After about five minutes, Amelia returned.  Lina was closing her eyes more often, and sleep stole into her as she sat there.  A few seconds later she'd angrily wake herself back up, but it was happening more and more frequently.

    "I got it!" Amelia shouted joyously, waking Lina up, who jumped out of her chair in surprise.  Zelgadis sat up straighter and eyed the large, leather-bound volume in Amelia's has with a predator's eyes.  She set it down heavily on the table, and opened it up to a random page.  "Now...let's see...what page was it?" Amelia mumbled to herself.  Then her eyes lit up and she flipped the pages forward.  "Here it is!"

    Lina stared at the chapter's subheading.  "Yume Kingdom..." she read out loud.  Then she shoved Amelia out of the way and demanded, "Where was this?!  I thought all information about Yume had disappeared!  I've been searching for information about Yume for years!" 

    Zelgadis went white as a sheet, and his eyes bulged.  "No..." he whispered.

    Amelia smiled triumphantly, totally missing his horrified reaction, and made a v for victory with her hands.  "I came across it awhile ago, and thought Mr. Zelgadis would find the information useful.  It has a map of how to get there."

    Meanwhile, Lina began to read out loud for Zelgadis's benefit.  "Yume Kingdom, a strange place where people are born with incredibly strong magical powers.  But, it's also nearly impossible to find it, unless you know where it is.  I, by a great stroke of luck, managed to find my way there, and recorded how I did so in these pages.  I found out some very interesting facts about the place, most of which are unknown to the rest of the world."

    Lina's eyes sparkled at the mention of secrets, and almost drooled onto the page.  She turned to Zelgadis.  "Zelgadis, can you believe it?!  I thought everything on Yume was gone!"

    He shook his head numbly.  "No, I can't believe it."  With a turn of his head, he looked straight at Amelia, and asked, "What does Yume have to do with a cure for me?"

    Amelia answered confidently, "Yume is a kingdom of all kinds of magic, and it's a rare person there who doesn't have some kind of magical talent.  It's the most likely place you'll find a cure, and this book provides a map to it."

    "No.  I'm not going to Yume," Zelgadis stated in a final tone.  Lina's and Amelia's mouths opened in shock, and they stared hard at him in disbelief.  He'd done just about anything to get a hint of a cure, and now he was turning this down?!

    "What?!  Why?" Lina frowned.

    "..." was his only answer.  He crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and scowled deeply at the room in general.

    "Zel..." Lina growled walking up behind him, fists ready.

    "..." 

    "Zel..."  Her tone promised death if he didn't answer soon.

    "..."

    "That's it..." she grumbled angrily, and tried to punch him in the head...

    ...only to have her fist caught in Zelgadis's hand, who didn't even open his eyes to catch it.  She tried her other fist, and found it caught too.  He turned in his chair and looked her in the eye.  She swallowed nervously.

    "No," he stated again, his whole being behind the simple word.

    "Why?" she demanded again.

    "...Lina," he murmured, and let some of the emotions he was feelings etch across his face.  Pain, anger, hurt...

    Amelia quietly excused herself, feeling tired and out of place.  It had been a long night, she reasoned, and he had the information.  So, she sneaked off while they're staring each other down, trying to make the other one back down.  Besides, she wasn't sure she could deal with this, and going on an adventure was out of the question; she had a kingdom to help run now.

    Lina and Zelgadis barely noticed her retreat.  They simply stared at each other.  Finally, Lina felt a headache developing, and broke eye contact with an annoyed curse.

    "This is ridiculous!" she argued.  "How can I understand what's going on in that brain of yours if you won't tell me why you don't want to go to Yume?!  The most logical choice would be to go there!"

    Zelgadis laughed bitterly, "Yes, it is.  It's also the last place in the world I ever want to go."

    "Give me a reason why you don't want to go there, Zel!" she challenged.

    Zelgadis studied her for a few seconds before nodding, and taking her hand.  "Fine.  I'll tell you.  But not here, where there could be other people."  He dragged her out the door, and back to her bedroom.  She was surprised he knew the way back, but didn't say anything.  

    Lina sat down on the bed, and crossed her legs.  "So, spill it," she ordered gently.

    "This...is hard..." he sighed, and sat down next to her on the bed.

    "Come on, Zel!  I'm your friend!  You can trust me," she prodded.

    Zelgadis squeezed his eyes shut, and shook his head.  "It's not that simple.  I..." he said nervously.  He took a deep breath and began again...

CHAPTER 9
In which Lina convinces Zelgadis to go, and they leave Seyruun.

    "Come on, Zel!  I'm your friend!  You can trust me," she prodded.

    Zelgadis squeezed his eyes shut, and shook his head.  "It's not that simple.  I..." he said nervously.  He took a deep breath and began again...  "Yume is a wonderful place, and I know that.  I also know that if anywhere has a cure, Yume would have it.  That occurred to me soon after I was transformed into a chimera, so I traveled to Yume in search of the cure they probably have."  He shut his mouth and curled his hands into tight fists as the memories flooded back.

    "But...?" Lina prompted.

    Zelgadis glanced at her, then at the his feet on the floor.  Choosing his words carefully, he said, "I went straight to the castle where the royal family resided, hoping to get into the library."  He ground out between clenched teeth, eyes burning, "But...the guards took one look at me, and declared me a monster who was trying to kill the royal family.  I was forced to fight them.  The royal family came out when they heard the commotion we were making, and joined in the hunt, for that was what it had become.  I'd only been a chimera for a short while, and hadn't learned any spells yet.  Plus, I didn't know what many of the special properties of my body could do.  It didn't help that the royalty were masters at sorcery.  They had me beaten and broken, lying up against a wall waiting for death, much too soon."  Here his lips turned up in a cynical, half-disbelieving smile, and he stated, "The only reason I'm not dead today is because Rezo suddenly appeared and saved me."  He shook his head.  "After that, I agreed to work for him."

    Lina sighed and rubbed the back of her head.  "That's a pretty awful experience..." she said lamely, not sure what to say after that revealing speech.  

    He nodded, and said grimly, "I never want to go back to Yume."  At this, Lina frowned and hit him on the back of the head with a convenient book.  He grimaced and glared at her.  "What was that for?!" he demanded.

    "For being an idiot!" she snorted.  

    Blinking at this unexpected pronouncement, Zelgadis asked, "What are you talking about?"

    "You're much more powerful than you were before, and now you know how to use your body!  Plus, if we went to Yume, you'd have me on your side!  If they tried that again, I'd Dragon Slave them!" she declared heatedly.  "There's no reason to avoid Yume!"

    "..." Zelgadis said wittily.

    Then she pointed at him and said, "Even if you stay here, I'm going!  I refuse to stay in this dull palace any longer than I have to, and Yume will be a good diversion!"

    He winced noticeably at her pronouncement.  "Damn," he muttered.

    "So, are you going?"

    He nodded.  "Yeah."  Inwardly, he thought, I can't let her enter Yume on her own...

    She smiled and winked.  "Don't worry, Zel.  I'll be on your side, remember?"

    Finally, he gave a tentative smile.  "I know."

    Lina yawned and stretched her arms above her head.  She didn't notice how it pushed her breasts up, or Zelgadis's blush and hastily averted eyes.  "Let's get some sleep!  I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

    "Okay," he agreed, eyes still averted, the blush slowly dying down.

    "Good!  Now get out of here!" Lina ordered him with a wave of her hand toward the door.

    Zelgadis got up, and headed over to the door, where he paused, and looked back at her.  "Lina...you do look pretty in that dress, you know..."

    To his amusement, she blushed slightly as he quietly walked out and closed the door behind him.  Lina stared after him long after he was in his own bedroom, thinking about her blush and his confession.

    Boom.

    Lina woke up with a small start, and glared at her surroundings with sleepy, confused eyes.  What had just woken her up?

    Boom.  Crack.

    She grimaced, and hid her head underneath her pillows.  No!  She'd only been asleep for two hours!  It wasn't time to get up and deal with something going boom.  She refused to deal with it till the morning!

    Boom.  Rattle.  Shake.

    "Grr...shut up!" she growled irritably in the general vicinity of the noise.  It didn't stop.

    Knock, knock.

    Lina transferred her glare to her bedroom door.  Who had the audacity to knock right now?

    Knock, knock.

    "Alright, I'm coming!" she called to the door, hoping the person behind it heard her.  She pushed off her covers and swung her feet onto the floor.

    Knock, knock.

    "I said I'm coming!" she shouted angrily, and hurried to the door.  It swung open to reveal a fully dressed Zelgadis, looking worriedly at her.

    Boom.  Shake.  Crack.

    Lina gave a gasp of surprise as the floor under her feet trembled, and fell forwards slightly, right into Zelgadis's arms.  She winced and pushed herself out of his arms as soon as the shaking stopped.  "What's going on?!" Lina demanded as she gestured to the world in general.  "I want to get back to sleep!"

    Zelgadis stalked into her room before she got a good look at his beat-red face, and opened her closet.  "We're leaving."

    "Wh-what?!" she stammered, mystified.

    "Aristos escaped from his cell and is trying to find us.  He's blowing up parts of the palace till he manages to kill us or he finds us," Zelgadis explained grimly as he tossed her clothes at her.  He stopped and braced himself, and Lina did the same.

    Boom.  Scream.

    "And how do you know this?" Lina asked.  "Turn around."

    Zelgadis hastily complied as she reached for the ends of her shirt.  "I saw him running around."

    Lina paused for a second.  "Why are you leaving, then?  We can beat him easily enough."

    "He called in another weapon..."

    "Which is?"

    Boom.  Rattle.

    They'd gotten used to the occasional shakes, and easily continued their conversation.  "His pet slug," Zelgadis sighed, shaking his head.  "The little sucker is almost two stories tall, and incredibly strong."

    "...A...slug..."

    "Uh-huh.  I tried to fry him, but he's got a powerful shield around him protecting him from such attacks," Zelgadis grimaced.

    "...A...slug..."

    Zelgadis said crossly, "You already noted that.  I was hoping we could get out of the city before Aristos notices us.  Amelia and her father have a better chance of dealing with the slug than us, because it looks like only physical attacks will work on it, and they're good at using physical force."

    "...A...slug..." was all she said in response.

    "Lina?" he asked worriedly.  "Lina, are you feeling fine?"

    "...A...slug..."

    Boom.  Shake.  Scream.

    This time he heard the fear in her voice.  Why was she afraid of a slug?  She should have been laughing her head off in disbelief, if anything.  "Lina?"  Cautiously, he turned around.

    She was still only half dressed.  All she had on was her usual tunic and her panties.  Normally, he would have blushed twenty shades of red, but the fear in her voice banished the red demon from his cheeks for the moment.  Lina was standing stock still, her knees trembling in terror, her ruby red eyes wide, and her mouth slack.

    "...A...slug..." she repeated for the fifth time.

    With a heavy curse directed at Aristos for picking such a pet, Zelgadis grabbed Lina's arm and shook her.  "Lina, snap out of it!  I told you; we're not going to fight it!  We're leaving it for Amelia and Phil!"

    To his surprise, she didn't fireball him for getting so close; instead, she grabbed hold of his waist and buried her head in his shirt, whimpering.  "Noslugpleasedon'tletthesluggettomeIhateslugsIhateslugs..."  She took a breath, and continued. "Ihateslugswhere'ssomesaltpleasedon'tleavemeZel..."

    He couldn't catch anything in that except a few words.  "I hate slugs" and "Don't leave me Zel" were about all he understood, but it was enough.  He hugged her awkwardly and patted her on the head.  "We're partners, remember?" he chided softly, raising her chin to meet his warm, comforting sapphire gaze.  "I'll protect you."

    Lina stared up at him wonderingly, and finally nodded.  Her panic ebbed all at once as she realized that, even if they did have to deal with the slug, he wouldn't abandon her.  Zelgadis extracted himself from her embrace as he felt the belated blush creep upon his cheeks at last, and turned away again as it hit him he had been hugging Lina Inverse, who was wearing nothing but her shirt and panties.  "You'd better get dressed," he muttered gruffly.  A second later he heard the unmistakable sound of clothes rustling.

    It didn't take long for her to get dressed and pack her things.  Soon, all her important things were being carried inside her cloak, and they were escaping out of the palace as more booms rocked Seyruun palace...

CHAPTER 10
In which they travel...

    Lina panted and fell to her knees on the side of the dirt road.  Her breathing was uneven, ragged, and obviously strained, with her chest heaving and her eyes tightly shut.  Zelgadis, on the other hand, merely stood above her, not panting in the slightest, and acting as if they hadn't just run out of the city without a single break at her top speed.  

    She raised her head slightly and glared at him.  "The least you could do is pretend to be winded from that run.  I may walk everywhere, and be in great shape, but even that stretches my abilities.  Running at my top speed for so long takes a lot out of me."

    He shrugged.  "You were the one who wanted to get away from the slug."

    Lina winced at the dreaded word, and shook her head.  "I didn't want to take the chance of the slug finding us."

    Zelgadis didn't even suggest the possibility of using flying spells like Ray Wing and Levitation.  He knew from experience that such modes of transportation drew attention, which was the last thing Lina wanted.  He shrugged.  "So don't complain."

    She glared up at him from her vantage point.

    He held out a hand to help her up, and said, "Come on.  We were going to Yume, right?"

    She sighed, and let him help her up.  "Right."  With a flourish, she produced the map, which she'd ripped out of the book earlier despite Amelia's protests, and studied it for a few minutes before pointing down a lonely looking road leading off down a great distance.  "I think we go that way..."

    Zelgadis shook his head minutely.  This was going to be a long trip...

    Aristos glared at the palace in general.  Zelgadis and Lina weren't there.  When he'd found both their rooms, they'd been empty of belongings.  It was obvious they'd cleared out awhile ago, and had no intention of coming back.  He frowned and looked toward the outside of the city.  Smirking, he wondered if they'd left because of his little pet.

    He looked back up at the large slug by his side, and grinned, eyes blazing.  "Looks like were going to have to go after them, eh Schnookums?"  The slug winced mentally at the name, and burbled in response.  "I have to get my revenge, after all."

    He returned his gaze to the road just beyond the city when Prince Phil and Princess Amelia came around the corner, shouting for him to stop.  He gulped and leaped into the saddle on his slug's back.  "Time to go!" he announced grandly, pointing towards the gates of the city.  "Onward, towards a great life of revenge, disaster, and pointless mayhem!"  Aristos laughed maniacally.

    If slugs could sweatdrop, it would have.  It settled for a burbling sigh instead.

    Aristos dug his heels into the slug's goey softness and pointed down a narrow street near them, which the slug couldn't possibly go down without knocking over all the buildings on the side.  "Come on!  It's the fastest way out of the city!"

    Actually, the fastest way out of the city was through a nearby, wider street which would easily fit the slug's bulk, as Schnookums knew all too well, and so did Aristos, for that matter.  His master simply wanted to create a little more mayhem before he left the city.  But, who was he to refuse?  

    Schnookums slid forward at a surprisingly fast pace.  He could, when pressed, go twice as fast as the average horse, and his normal walking pace was a horse's gallop.  So soon enough, they had cleared through the buildings and were outside of what used to be the city gates.  People, who'd hastily gotten out of their path, stared wide-eyed at the destruction they'd left in their wake as Phil, Amelia, and an army chased after the retreating figures of Aristos and Schnookums.

    Lina yawned tiredly, and stretched her hands above her head.  She turned slightly to her left and looked over at Zelgadis.  The man seemed determined to walk all night, and she had no intention of doing that, no matter how much she wanted to get to Yume.  "Zel, let's stop for the night," she requested, mentally ready to dig in her heels if he resisted.

    To her surprise, he nodded readily enough and pointed toward a nearby forest.  "I was just about to suggest it.  There's a clearing in those trees that should serve as a good camp for the night."

    She yawned again and nodded, relieved he hadn't resisted the idea of sleeping.  "Good!" she sighed.

    They walked into the dense foliage, and were quickly surrounded on all sides by dense, stifling leaves.  She sputtered as she tried to work her way through.  Zelgadis grabbed her hand and lead her forward.  "This way," he said softly.

    For once, she was quite willing to let him lead.  Lina was too tired to argue, and it seemed rather pointless at the moment.  He knew where he was going, so therefore, he should find the way to the campsite.

    They stumbled forward about a hundred feet, when suddenly Lina broke through the leaves into a lovely clearing.  Moonlight bathed the thick, plush moss and short, carpeting grass with an eerie, silvery glow, and the surrounding trees and leaves winked whitely at her, as if they were apologizing for a practical joke.  The clearing itself was big enough that it could easily fit both Zelgadis and Lina were they lying down toe to toe.  It was almost perfectly round, and for some reason, the leaves didn't push past a certain point.  In fact, she would swear they were doing all they could avoid to going past that certain point.  She shook her head to clear it of the strange thought, and gazed upwards.  She gasped.  The trees seemed incredibly huge, yet there was an almost perfect circle just above her where the trees hadn't encroached any further.  In the sky, stars twinkled brightly at her.

    "What...is this place?" she asked with wonder.

    Zelgadis shrugged.  "I found it on one of my travels."

    "How?"

    "...I just did..." he answered uneasily.  

    "Yeah right," she snorted in disbelief.  "But I'll ask later.  Right now, I want to get to sleep."  With that, she sat on the ground, pulled out a thin blanket, and snuggled onto the clearing's natural carpet.  "Goodnight."

    He sighed, and resisted the urge to smile in relief.  "Goodnight, Lina."