He screamed as he sat straight up in bed, sweat lightly dotting his brow. His wide, fright filled eyes stared at his hands, terrified that a golden glow would mysteriously manifest there.
"Zel?" A knock on the door did not help his tense mood. "Are you okay? I heard you screaming..."
"I'm fine, Lina." He sighed, and gave himself a mental kick for allowing his weakness to show. "Just bad dreams. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"For you, maybe." She snorted and turned to go, then glanced back and poked her head into his room. "Zel... just don't forget that you're my friend, and if you need me, I'll be there for you."
"Go back to bed, Lina." His voice gave no indication of his emotional status. "There's nothing you can do here." The red-head gazed at him a moment longer, trying to pierce his masquerade. Unable to do so, she finally let her shoulders sag and trudged from the chamber.
"L-sama." She growled, infuriated that he refused to acknowledge their friendship, even though they both knew his loyalty to her ran deeper than to his own blood. "He's got his damned masks wrapped so tightly they could choke him to death."
"I heard that," he called after her. She swore under her breath in response, fuming as she stormed back to her room.
The next morning, Zelgadis was already up and drinking coffee when Lina arrived downstairs. She shot him an irritated glare, which he ignored, then ordered enough food to sate an army for a week.
"So. Where are we headed?" She asked as soon as she was finished eating.
"We?!" The shaman nearly choked on his coffee. "What do you mean, 'we'? I'm going on alone!"
"You expect me to stick with Gourry, bombing bandits and the like, while you go face adventure and treasure alone?!" She scoffed.
"One can only hope..." He sighed.
"Hey!"
"Lina, the Runestones will be bringing me more trouble than we've seen in years." He shook his head wearily. "I refuse to allow you to follow me head first into danger, and besides, it's none of your business."
"The Hell it isn't!" She slammed her fist on the table. "You think I'm going to let you walk around with a power signature that screams 'I dare you to attack me'?!"
"Why not? My face inspires the same idea." He drummed his fingers idly, leaning on his elbow and looking violently bitter. "People see me and break out the pitch forks and torches."
"We've had this argument before, haven't we?" She groaned, and laid her head down as her headache made its re-entrance. "You say you're going, I say I'll come with you, you shoo me away and say it's none of my business, I'll say it is - " The door slammed loudly, allowing Lina to realize the person she had formally been conversing with had left. " - and you walk out anyway. Yup. Guess we've made a nice little rut for ourselves."
With a heavy sigh, she walked after him, leaving poor Gourry to pay the bill.
From the unseen depths of the astral plains, Xellos kept close watch on the spunky red-head and the would-be apathetic chimera. His usual smirk was gone, a curious but frustrated glare in its place.
So Rock head has a set of Runes... he thought. That explained some questions, but raised too many more. How did he get a hold of a full set? Xellos had thought that all the Runestone sets had been accounted for when they were destroyed. One or two stones may have escaped, but surely not a full set!
"I must report this at once!"
Zelgadis had only been traveling for a few hours before he started to feel guilty about walking away from his friend like that. When he realized the remorse was born out of friendship, he steeled his nerves and became more determined than ever not to turn around. If he turned back now, all the hard work he had spent distancing himself would be for nothing. And he flat out refused to let his feelings hurt himself or others.
A low growl-like chuckle drew him from his reverie.
"Well, well, well," the coarse yet familiar voice sneered. "Of all the people to walk into my town, the traitor makes a grand reappearance. But what's this? Where are your two lackeys? Have they deserted you, as you deserted us?"
"didn't anyone ever teach you not to speak ill of the deceased, Dilgear?" Zelgadis drew his sword, barely masking his pain with scorn.
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that they've moved on." The green-furred troll-wolf descended from the trees, first sending a flurry of enchanted daggers to herald him. Several minor cuts were made on the shaman's face, arms and legs. The blue-skinned youth's hand darted out and grabbed the one aimed for his heart, dripping blood as the magiked blade cut into the softer flesh of his palm. Blue eyes froze over as aureate sparks shimmered on their surface. He lifted his sword, which shone faintly with a figure that resembled an angular 'J' with an extra line.
Dilgear charged the wounded chimera anyway, knowing his own sword ad been spelled to cut even Zelgadis' stone skin.
"Prepare to die, traitor!" The troll-wolf howled as contact was made.
The battle was over in that one round. For one horrible moment, which Lina was unfortunate enough to have to witness, both combatants were motionless. The sword fighters had defied time and space with their skill, and their efforts finally came to show.
The left side of Zelgadis' abdomen had been sliced open, deeply. Blood was quickly coming from the nearly fatal wound. Had Dilgear pierced any farther, the Shaman would have been looking for a wheelchair.
Dilgear did not fair nearly as well as the chimera. The wound cauterized as it was made, the half-troll's head fell to the ground disconnected from his body.
Pain caught up with Zelgadis before he could do much more than turn, and he fell to the ground. The immense agony had caused his mind to shut down.
"Zelgadis!" Lina had to scream. "Not again!"