The healer came at last, and was able to restore them sufficiently. Lina suddenly recalled her stomach, which had been temporarily put on hold so she could deal with her injuries. They headed down to the kitchen and got served a "small" meal by the staff. Those same staff almost wept when they saw how empty the pantry was after Lina and Zelgadis left to go searching for the necessary items for Zelgadis's cure...
Lina stared down at the list of ingredients, and frowned. "We've gotten the peeled grapes, rose petals, dove's feather, dragon's scale, and fresh milk." Under her breath, she muttered, "It's a good thing you knew of another garden - the one you'd been attacked in was nothing but ashes and dust." Louder, she continued, "Now we need a gold bowl, a pure diamond, silver wire, unicorn water, and hematite." Lina tapped her toes on the floor of the hallway and drummed her fingers on her arm. "I don't suppose your parents would be willing to help us out and provide some - if not all - of this?"
He smirked humorlessly. "They'll do almost anything to get me out of their hair." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. In her mind, he said sadly, Kind of ironic, isn't it? I'm the one they've been searching for, yet they're trying to get rid of me.
"Zel..." she whispered. Abruptly, she shook her head and declared, "Come on! We've got to get those ingredients!" She turned and impulsively grabbed his hand, ready to physically drag him in the right direction. "Let's visit the king and queen. Where would they be about this time of night?"
He didn't bother trying to tug his hand out of her grasp, and shrugged. "They're probably sending servants to find us. All we have to do is wander around."
Lina thought about this, and grinned unexpectedly. "You think they want to ask us about the damage to the garden and the hallway, don't you?" she wondered, looking at him slyly out of the corner of her eyes.
"It would have taken the news of our attacks a little while to get to them, because it's not an emergency. I expect they would have just received it," he replied calmly.
"Clever, very clever," Lina laughed.
Two guards conveniently rounded the corner. Lina laughed louder, and clapped her hands. The two guards came to a halt, confused, and looked at each other nervously. One pushed the other forward a pace or two, and motioned for him to speak. Haltingly, the guard who'd been pushed forward did so. "Er...Lady Lina...the um... King and Queen...have requested your presence..."
Lina nodded, her laughter dying down to quiet chuckles, and responded, "Lead the way!" in an amused voice. Zelgadis shook his head, hiding a grin of his own.
"Erm...yes..." the guard stuttered, clearly not expecting her to acquiesce so easily.
Fifteen minutes later, Lina and Zelgadis were standing in the throne room, now devoid of everyone but a few servants and the King and Queen.
The King was frowning at them as they approached. "Lina Inverse, you and your...companion...managed to make a section of the hallways unusable, and our main garden is now devoid of all plant life. Can you explain your behavior to us?"
Lina curtsied while Zelgadis bowed. As she looked up, she said with a slight smirk, "We were attacked. Did you expect us to simply lie down and take it?"
Zelgadis's dry voice entered her head, Never mind I wasn't able to shoot off one counterattack, and your spells were equally ineffective.
Don't remind me, Lina shot back just as dryly, resisting the urge to turn around and glare at him.
The King frowned heavier, and tapped his fingers restlessly on his armrest. "I hadn't heard that. What happened?"
Zelgadis barely kept himself from groaning. Lina had a habit of giving long, long explanations...and his parents were going to get a taste of it if he didn't step in...
Lina's eyes sparkled as she began, "Well, you see..."
Hastily, Zelgadis interrupted her by stepping forward. "...an invisible enemy pinned Lina to the wall and stole her half of the list of ingredients needed for my cure. She tried to stop the enemy from moving by casting Demona Crystal, but it didn't work. Later, the enemy cast a Burst Flare at me, burning up my half of the list."
Lina glared at him for stealing her glory, and bopped him lightly on the back of his head. "I was just about to say that!" she protested.
He ignored her for the moment, and concentrated on his parents, who hadn't said anything yet. Finally, the Queen spoke sympathetically, "Do you still have the original list?"
Zelgadis nodded, the relief he felt obvious. "Yes. We've managed to collect about half of the necessary ingredients since the attacks."
The King's face betrayed nothing at his speech, and Lina stepped forward hurriedly to take over negotiations again. "We were wondering if you could help us find the last ingredients."
The King was silent for a few seconds, still tapping his fingers against the arm rest, scowling at nothing in particular. "What kind of ingredients?"
"A gold bowl, a pure diamond, silver wire, unicorn water, and hematite," Lina recited from memory, ticking off each item on her fingers.
The King closed his eyes for a moment, and finally nodded, eyes still shut. "Fine. We'll get the ingredients for you."
Lina jumped into the air and clapped. "All right!"
Zelgadis bowed very deeply on the floor, head tilted towards the ground, which hid his expression from everyone. "Thank you," he said, his voice think with emotion. "Thank you."
The Queen smiled and shook her head. "We're happy to help."
The King wasted no more time, and got up. "Come. We'll go to the royal treasury and find a gold bowl for you."
Several hours later, Zelgadis looked down at the ingredients in Lina's bedroom. They'd retrieved the perishable items - the peeled grapes and fresh milk - from the kitchen, and now looked at the complete set of ingredients, which they'd placed on the small, dainty table.
Lina cleared her throat noisily to recall both her and Zelgadis's attention back to the matter at hand. She walked over to the book and flipped to the appropriate page. "Okay...it's time to begin..."
Zelgadis nodded tightly at her as he joined her at her side, his hands trembling slightly in anticipation. They'd agreed earlier that Lina should prepare the concoction, because she'd be the calmer and steadier of the two, and therefore less likely to mess up. The instructions specifically said it didn't matter who mixed the ingredients; they just had to make certain the person who wanted to gain the ability to change back to a human (specifically, Zelgadis) was the one who chanted the spell during the preparing. Basically, this meant Lina could prepare the ingredients, but Zelgadis had to chant the necessary spell.
Lina solemnly placed the golden bowl in the middle of the table. Next, she picked up the vial containing the unicorn water and poured a cup's worth of it into the bowl. She placed a teaspoon of the fresh milk in the bowl immediately after, which mixed slowly and steadily with the unicorn's water.
Zelgadis raised his hands, eyes closed, and said the opening words in a shaking, nervous voice. "By mother's milk and the purest of water, I call upon thee to turn back the caller. All that is, now become. All that was, now return."
She listened till the end of the spell. Once he was done, she continued. She mashed the peeled grapes into a gooey paste in her palm, and let them drop into the bowl with a loud "splash!" Lina grabbed a handful of rose petals and dropped them over the bowl, letting them settle and float on top of the water...then watched as they sank to the bottom...
He turned his palms face-down and crossed his arms straight out in front of him, his voice a little steadier than before. "By the softness of a rose's petals and the yielding of the grape's nectar, I demand thee to turn back the outer layer. What was, live again. What is, beneath again."
She scooped the last five ingredients - not counting the dove's feather, which she was to use later - into her hand, and slowly lowered them, one by one, into the bowl... When all were at the bottom of the opaque concoction, it began to bubble, as if heated over an invisible fire.
Zelgadis gulped and squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he recited the last words with gusto, excitement in each letter. "From these I draw, to these I add. What comes now will forever be removed, what leaves now will forever be there. Transformation!"
As soon as he uttered the last words, the concoction bubbled and burbled, and let forth a great smoky blast. Lina coughed for a second before she was able to control herself. When she was able to see, she took up the dove's feather and dipped it into the liquid. She swirled it around, and realized all the ingredients inside had dissolved, even the diamond...
She took out the dripping feather, and touched the liquid on the tip to Zelgadis's forehead, running it down the bridge of his nose. She lifted it off and dipped it again, and stroked both of his hands. The feather was placed at the rim of the bowl.
Instantly, the room filled with bright light. It was too much for either Lina or Zelgadis, who quickly closed their eyes in protest, and in that instant, Zelgadis's skin tingled lightly, on each and every part...