Zelgadis heard his final heartbeat echo morbidly throughout his withdrawn consciousness.
This is death? He pondered. It's so... anticlimactic...
Runecaster. Wyrd's familiar voice beckoned him. Why are you in the Bardo?
Bardo?
You do not belong here. Gold light caressed him, reawakening his senses.
What is Bardo? He demanded, searching for the source.
It is the In Between, Runecaster. Aureate gauze spun around him. From here, all Runes are born.
Born? He realized, now, how sketchy the information in the Claire Bible was. Are Runes... alive?
Runes are only tools. Wyrd replied. We are but the Guide. Now you must return to our body.
Wait! I have more questions!
Sigel. The Runic Guide summoned an angular 'S'-shaped character, which danced before him, flickering like a giggling child. Restore our Caster to his physical form, and heal his wounds.
But there's still so much I want to know... The Shaman's thought echoed hauntingly throughout the Bardo.
She pulled his body in the direction of the inn, lamenting that his weight was too much for her to carry. Hell, the chimera was too heavy for her to lift. Her magic was exhausted, and she still had two puncture wounds that she didn't have the energy to heal.
"Zelgadis." She tugged on his arm, trying to release him from a snag of a tree root. "Why do you have to be so damn heavy?" She lost her grip on his smooth, cold hand and fell on her rear. She squeaked in shock, then crawled over tom him and laid down beside him, resting her head on his chest.
"I can't take you any further." She whispered. "I'll go get Gourry, he'll help. I'll come back for you. I promise." She opened her ruby red eyes, but was caught in his icy stare. His calm expression had replaced the twisted mask of pain. His sky blue skin had faded to the gray of the rainy day clouds.
"I promise." She sat up, and then gasped.
Glittering aureate ribbons were wrapping themselves around his lean form, encasing it in a cocoon of shining lace. The material covered all of his body except his eyes, but a gold 's'-like symbol glowed behind those glacial depths. Once the ribbons had finished, their color dulled to amber, then auburn.
"What the hell is this?" She beat on it till her hands bled, clawed at it until her fingers were numb and raw. "Wha... Why... Zel... Zelgadis..."
Suddenly, the sign that glimmered in his eyes exploded into brilliance on his chest.
He felt his heart begin to pound again, pumping the blood that burned in his next to frozen veins. His lungs felt like they were on fire from the very pits of Inferno, and his mouth was drier than any desert. He tried to breathe, tried to move, tried to do anything, but found himself completely paralyzed.
I'm going to die, he realized. I don't want to die! I won't die! If I could just move, I'll be okay.... Damn it, why cant I move?!
Just wait a moment, my Caster. Sigel spoke softly. Your body hasn't healed yet.
I need to move... he didn't hear the Rune, panic sinking its poisonous claws deep into his chest.
Another minute my Caster, I beg of you! Zelgadis slowly seemed to clam down.
Move... His whimper was childlike.
My Caster, it is almost finished!
... I'm talking to a Rune... The chimera forced himself to think rationally, even though his first reaction was to lash out. A warm, gentle feeling spread through his chest, soothing his tortured lungs.
Peace, my Caster. The Runes are but your tools.
Tools.
Thank you, my Caster.
For what?
For unleashing us.
Unleashing?
Lina fell back on the ground as the shell around Zelgadis shattered, throwing bits of tattered gold every which way. Several shards landed on her, and she was amazed by the regenerative properties they possessed. From those tiny fragments, her remaining wounds were healed and her energy was rapidly returning. She glanced at her fallen friend, and was shocked to see him sitting up straight with one hand clasped tightly over his heart, breathing heavily. His wide cerulean eyes glittered with the last traces of the Runic magic, still hanging thickly around him like an aureate aura.
"Zel!" she cried, leaping forward to embrace him.
"Lina?" He blinked, and was knocked over by the momentum of her jump. "What are you doing?"
"You were dead, but you're not anymore, right?" She let him up, offering her hand to help him get to his feet.
"I believe that to be the truth." He accepted. "I think the Runes had something to do with it." His expression darkened after he finished brushing the dust off his clothes.
"The Runes?" Lina closed her eyes briefly, going into a more serious state of mind. "What happened?"
"I was sent back... by a Rune called Wyrd." He replied.
"Was that the one that looked like an 's'?" She drew it in the air with her finger, but Zelgadis shook his head.
"No, that was Sigel." He muttered. "I have no idea what Wyrd looks like."