The little boy sniffled in the stifling darkness, and rubbed a hand over his nose. Tears leaked from his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his legs and pulled them close to his small body.
"Mom...Dad...help..." he whispered in a heartbreakingly quiet voice. "Why won't you help me?" The question echoed silently in the dark room, only himself barely visible. He had no idea how large or small the room really was, and had no real desire to find out. It was enough that it was pitch black.
He sniffled again and hid his eyes on his knees. Two voices echoed out, barely above a breath, and he reared his head up in amazement. Their tones were cold, calm, and heartless, and reminded him of long-silent ghosts from his past.
Zelgadis...
...Graywords.
"Who's there?! Mom? Dad? Please help me! I don't want to stay here anymore!" he shouted passionately into the sudden silence.
But no more words greeted him, and he lowered his head back to his knees with a sigh.
"Why doesn't anyone help me?" He gulped back a sob and tightened his grip on his legs. Again, no answer came because of his plea. "Isn't anyone there?"
You're so stupid! You can't even use magic!
If you cold use magic, you'd be able to get out of here. Now you have to rely on someone else to save you.
"But...that's no by fault! I could do magic if my parents let me! They think magic is evil!" he cried, and got to his feet, looking around him with wild, hunted eyes. Unfortunately, all he could see was the inky blackness.
You've lied to yourself about that for long enough.
They've never thought magic is evil.
"No! Stop!" he screamed desperately as he covered his ears with his hands. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and collapsed onto the ground again.
You were the only one who wasn't allowed to use magic.
It was forbidden for you to try magic until you were...
"STOP!" He cut off the voice before it could say anything else. "No more...no more..." the boy whimpered, and bit back a sob. "Don't..."
No one loves you.
Your parents hate you, you don't have any friends, and anyone who ever cared for you has abandoned you.
"You're wrong!" he shouted, and shook a fist at everything in general as anger burned suddenly in his heart. "Someone does care for me!"
Who'd care about a heartless bastard like you?
You're weak. No one likes weak people.
"I'll become strong! Then...then people will like me..." he declared heatedly. "I want to be strong...I want to be strong...so I can have friends..."
It won't matter.
You have no friends.
A hazy face with long, fiery hair and red eyes swam in the back of his vision. But he couldn't remember her name... "Yes I do! I have a friend!" The vision was gone as quickly as it had come, and left him blinking in surprise.
There was only one simply question this time from the voices.
Who?
Who?
"..."
Who?
Who?
"..."
You're lying again.
There is no one, is there?
"Yes there is!"
Then who?*
Who's your friend?
"..."
Another voice joined them. Zelgadis... This voice was sweet, concerned, and slightly angry. It called to him as nothing else had.
"Lina.." The boy breathed, eyes wide and glazed over in shock. Memories flooded his skull with the utterance of that simple name. Protecting her...getting protected by her...talking with her...quiet moments alone with her...battling side by side... Somehow, it seemed natural in this dark space that with the return of his memories, his body would age as well to match what he remembered. He became taller, leaner, more muscular, and older.
Zel, wake up! I'll...I'll dragon slave you if you don't wake up soon! the voice called again, this time more worried.
He rounded on the voices, and declared, "Lina's my friend!"
The voices were completely silent for a few seconds, and he could sense them gathering their forces for another attack. Finally, they spoke.
Who else?
Is she the only one?
"I don't need anyone else's friendship!" he screamed, surprised at the honesty of these words. But, it was true nonetheless.
She'll abandon you.
She'll betray you, as your...
Again, he stopped them mid-sentence. "She won't! Lina doesn't betray her friends!"
You can't believe she actually thinks of you as a friend.
No one's ever liked you before. Why would she?
The young man felt his anger return full-force. These voices dared try and make him doubt Lina?! "Lina looks beyond what others do! She...she..."
But the voices had a new, more deadly weapon to use against him.
Don't you remember the rest? You're horrible to look at.
You're an ugly, deformed monster. She can't be your friend.
He glared into the darkness, but uncertainly looked down at his hands. He gasped in shock. He was no longer a human with pale, peach skin, but a chimera with rock-chips dotting his hands and light blue skin. "No..." he gasped. For a few moments, he'd forgotten how he truly looked. "No..."
Can she still like you when you look like this?
She'll run when she sees you.
He fell to his knees, sweating and panting, and stared blindly at the ground below him. "No..." he whispered again. "No, not this..."
No one could ever like you when you're a monster.
Everyone abandoned you.
But the voice broke through, and he heart the strained fear in the words. Zel, please wake up! What'll I do if you don't wake up?! I'll be...alone...
"Alone.." he repeated dully. "Alone..." He raised his head, and his body stopped trembling as his eyes focused again. "I can't leave her alone..."
Zel, wake up! I don't want to go to Yume if you're not there with me!
"Lina..." he sighed, and gave a slight smile. The voices were silent, brooding, as he closed his eyes...
...and woke up with a start, snug in his bedroll, with Lina kneeling next to him. He blinked and looked up at her face with surprisingly lucid eyes.
She gave a loud sigh of relief and rocked back on her heels, placing a hand on her heart. "Thank L-sama! For a moment there, I thought you were..."
"...dead?" he smirked. "No such luck."
"Idiot!" she snorted. "Why would I want you dead? I was worried!"
He lowered his eyes slightly, and looked guiltily at his blanket. "Sorry."
Lina shrugged. "It's okay." She paused before asking hesitantly, "Was it a nightmare?"
Nodding, he explained, "Two voices were trying to make me lose hope." He shook his head. "I haven't had that nightmare since..." He grimaced, and quickly shut his mouth. "Never mind."
Lina frowned and crossed his arms. "Zelgadis, talk before I have to hit you. This obviously has something to do with Yume, and I'd like to know what it is before we arrive."
Zelgadis winced and averted his face. "I'd rather not talk about it."
Exasperatedly, she demanded, "Tell me SOMETHING at least!"
"...Do you remember what I told you about myself at the ball?" he said at last.
"I remember." In the back of her mind, she recalled his words. *"I was considered a weak child as I grew up, and my parents believed magic was a tool of evil, so they never allowed me to use it. As a result, I was picked on by children all the time. I even have scars from their bullying. They called me a freak of nature who couldn't use any magic, for they all could. Then Rezo came, promising me the power I'd never had, and I took it. When he changed me, though, I didn't dare go back to my home, because I was afraid of their reactions to me, and what my family would think."*
He sighed. "That wasn't the whole truth. My parents DO think magic can be a tool of evil, but they approve of magic on the whole. It's just that...they never allowed ME to use magic. Everyone else could become as powerful as they wanted, but I wasn't allowed to use any sort of magic. All I ever learned was a light spell."
Lina blinked. "Why did your parents do that?"
"In my family, if the eldest son learns magic before...before a certain time...they have a tendency to become very, very powerful and also very, very evil. To prevent that, there's been a tradition handed down from generation to generation. The eldest son cannot learn magic until he's...an adult..." He squirmed slightly under her gaze.
She scratched her head thoughtfully. "You're the eldest son, then. Okay, I admit I'd become a little worried about my children if the eldest sons have tendencies to become evil, but it's still a stupid rule. The rest of my children have the same blood, and could just as easily become evil too. Besides, the eldest would be MORE likely to become evil if his magic was denied. He could become a pawn of someone truly evil a lot easier without that knowledge."
Zelgadis nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Rezo did just that to me. He promised me the power I craved in return for service."
Lina's expression became thoughtful as she considered his words. "Basically, you weren't allowed to learn magic because of a stupid tradition in your family."
"Uh-huh."
Finally, Lina grinned. "That's a start, at least. Now I know something about what we'll face. Tell me the rest later, okay?"
Zelgadis snapped his head up and stared at her in surprise. How had she known there was more?
His shock must have shown, for she clucked her tongue and touched the tip of his nose with a finger. "There has to be more than what you're telling me. If it was only that, your conscious wouldn't be producing such an awful nightmare you needed help being pulled from it." Zelgadis was about to respond when she yawned and crawled back over to her bedroll. "Now that the crisis is over, I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning."
Lina laid down, and flipped over so she was facing away from him. A tentative voice came from Zelgadis, as if afraid she'd reject what he was about to say. "Thank you."
She smiled secretly into the shadows and whispered back, "You're welcome."