navy = flashback
He hated approaching the larger cities, but he was low on supplies, and there weren't any smaller towns around. Perhaps it will be easier to conceal himself in New York, there are so many people around, nobody should pay any attention to him. Resolute in his plans, the man pulled his hood and mask tighter over his face and entered the city. It was late at night and his dark-blue garments helped to conceal him all-the-more.
"I hate working the night shift. Everybody else is down at Pizza Hut having fun, while I'm stuck here alone." Just then a cloaked man walks into the store. Kelly puts on her working smile and greets the customer. When he does nothing to reply, she does her best not to walk over and punt him out of her store. She watches the man as he searches around. Just this last guy, then I can lock up and go home. He sure is acting suspicious; however there is something familiar about him. The man finally walks up to the counter with a backpack and some camping supplies. Kelly starts to make conversation as she rings up his order; she's got to do something to handle her boredem. "Going camping, huh? Not many places to camp around here."
The man calmly waits for her to ring up his purchase, without saying a word in return. He looks up at the young woman at the counter and almost let his hood fall off when he saw her. Could it really be her, after all these years? He decides to risk it. "Kalis?"
The girl looks up in shock at someone knowing her real name. "Just who are you anyway?"
"It's me, Zelgadis." He pulls back his hood and mask, confident now that she really is Kalis.
"Zelgadis? L-sama, it is you!" Kelly leaps over the counter to give her old friend a big hug. Zelgadis had forgotten how strong she was. When he started turning bluer than normal, Kelly released him. "I can't believe you're still alive. You haven't changed a bit."
"Well, I've found out another side effect to my curse. Immortality." There conversation was interupted by the chimes on the door. Xander comes into the shop. He loses his smile when he sees the person that Kelly is talking to. Xander just stands where he is and glares at the customer.
"Kalis has the right to do what she wants. Just because she loves you,
that doesn't mean you can treat her the way you do." Xellos stared in shock at what Zelgadis
had told him.
Maybe I have been hurting her. Or maybe, Zelgadis has been messing with her mind.
Things were fine until he butted in. "You need to mind your own business and stay away
from Kali-chan." Xellos walks out of the tavern, believing he was in the right.
"Well Zelgadis, it looks like you're still alive. Come to ruin mine and Kali-chan's relationship again?" Xander was now standing in between Kelly and Zelgadis with his back to Kelly.
"Excuse me love, but who ruined our relationship? It seems as though you are trying to do it again." Kelly turns Xander around to face her. "Xellos, the past few months have been great. Don't mess it up now." She then grabs both of the guys arms and starts heading out the door, dragging them behind her. "Now we are all going to Pizza Hut to meet up with everybody else." The two men let themselves be dragged along, both knew better than to make her angry.
On the way to Pizza Hut, Kelly filled Zelgadis in on everything that has been going on. She told him about their friends and how they look exactly like their old traveling companions; she also told him to quit complaining about how he looked and to leave the hood off. Xander sulked behind the two while they talked. As the three approached Pizza Hut they saw the gang through the window.
Elizabeth: Bears an almost exact resemblance to Lina Inverse. She also has the attitude to go with it.
Garry: The tall blue-eyed blond. Not too bright; he took one too many tackles to the head when he played football.
Ami: The spunky brunette. She lives in the same building as Xander, and she is always trying to keep him on track.
Fiona: She runs the shop that Liz, Xander, and Kelly work at. Even though she tries to keep a calm and proper exterior, Xander always manages to bring out her more violent side.
When Kelly and Xander walked into Pizza Hut; Liz was the first to spot them. After Liz waved them over to the table, Kelly turned around and started to drag another person in with her. Liz could tell that he was very reluctant to enter, and she was wondering who he was. The man was dressed funny in dark blue clothes with a matching cloak draped around his shoulders. He had his hood pulled up and there was a piece of matching cloth across the bottom of his face. If it weren't for the fact that Kelly was dragging him towards the table, she would have mistaken him for someone trying to rob the place.
"Hey guys, this is my old friend ... uhm.. Zel; Zel Grey. Zel, this is Liz, Garry, Ami, and Fi." Everybody said hi, and with the introductions in place, the interrogation could begin.
"Uhm, Mr. Grey, why are you wearing those strange clothes?" Ami had to come out with probably the most difficult and yet obvious question right off the bat. Kelly decided to handle that answer for him.
"Well, Zel here, is just so gorgeous that he doesn't like people seeing him. He thinks that if he covers himself up, he won't get hounded by all the girls anymore." Liz, Ami, and Fi all got stary looks in there eyes; Xander however didn't seem to care for her answer. Seeing the girls reaction, Kelly realized that there was a slight fault in her explanation. Now they aren't going to leave him alone until he shows them. Oops. Sure enough, Fiona was the first to speak up.
"Just a little peek, please. Are you a model? I insist that you come to my party tomorrow." Zel was definitely not comfortable with where this conversation was going. Before he could excuse himself, Kelly had come up with another plan to help her friend escape.
"Oh yeah, Zel's a model. Ya know, it's getting late and Zel needs his beauty sleep. I'll just walk him home. See ya tomorrow everyone." With that Kelly lead Zel out the door. Xander sat back in his corner of the table fuming over what Kelly had just said. He was pretty sure that when she said home, she meant her home. His old jealousy rising again, Xander excused himself to go home before blowing something up.
Kelly took Zel to her apartment building, but instead of going to her rooms, she lead him up to the roof. The entire way back Zel had been trying to get her to tell him what she was up to, however all she would tell him was that infuriating phrase that she had picked up from her boyfriend. He was hoping that now they were at her apparent destination, she would tell him what she was going to do. "Well, Zelgadis, it's been a long time since we last seen eachother. Even though I haven't done much lately, I have learned a lot of new magic over the years. I remember coming across something particularly interesting soon after we last parted ways." After saying that she seemed as though she wasn't going to continue on her own.
"Is there a point to all of this. If not I'd like to get out of the city before the sun comes up."
"Aww, I'm not going to let you leave so soon. We haven't seen eachother in centuries. There's so much to catch up on. You will definitely not be leaving tonight."
"You know that I'm not comfortable around a lot of people. After that little game of yours earlier tonight, there's no way those people will leave alone until they see me. I have to leave, the last thing I need are people trying to hunt me down to disect me."
"I say that you show them your face. Then they won't bother you about it anymore."
"Are you nuts?!" He pauses and sees Kelly's smug expression. He then remembers back to something she said a few minutes earlier. "Does this have something to do with that interesting thing you found a long time ago?"
Kelly's smug expression turns into a huge grin. "Uh-huh. What would you say if I told you that I found a cure for you?" Zel's face goes into hopeful skeptic mode. "Before you get your hopes up, it's only a partial cure." Then his face becomes just skeptical. "I think it's actually better this way. With this particular spell, you can change back and forth between human and chimera. That way, you don't lose all your gifts so suddenly. You gotta admit, this so called 'curse' of yours has come in handy once in a while, hasn't it."
"What do I have to do?"
"I take it that you wish to continue? Okay, you wait up here while I go down to my apartment to get a few things. Be back in a sec." Kelly jumpes off the side of the roof and lands on the balcony below. She opens the glass doors and walks inside the apartment. Zel is left standing on the roof waiting patiently -- okay not so patiently. He wasn't really standing either, more like pacing back and forth waiting for what seemed like an eternity.
Back in Kelly's apartment, she was frantically searching for the required ingredients for her spell. She had gathered them together a long time ago when she had first found the spell, never knowing when she would see her friend again. Even after their long time apart, she always kept everything together just in case. Now if only she could remember where she put them! Finally locating the small satchel in the back of her closet, she checked to make sure everything was in there. She gathers everything back together in the bag and walks out to the balcony. Using levitation Kelly softly lands on the roof right behind her nervously waiting friend.
She silently leans in towards Zel's ear and whispers, "Boo." He jumpes up ten feet into the air. Twisting around as he lands, he is now facing Kelly. Seeing the building rage in his eyes, she quickly holds up her bag to show him. "Found it, you wouldn't want to kill me just before I was about to give you your cure. Would you?" That did the trick, Zel visibly calms down. He still however is very impatient. Could you blame him? The poor guy has been stuck looking like that for centuries.
Seeing that Zel is still anxious to get on with it, Kelly starts setting everything up for the spell. First she digs the chalk out of her satchel and draws some magic circles on the ground. Putting everything in it's place, including Zel, she slowly starts the chant for the spell.
A few blocks away Xander is walking home, alone. He is still seething over the knowledge of Kelly taking Zel to her home. He is trying his best to keep his jealousy under control. Still, he remembers what happened the last time he burst out at her ...
They had fought before, but this time she seemed extra angry with him.
Xellos knew that Kalis was very stubborn, especially when she thought she was right. He was
stubborn too, but he always had to eventually give in or they would stay mad forever. Besides,
Kalis usually was right anyway; there was no way Xellos would admit to that, though.
Xellos picks up the blue, long-stem rose and box of chocolate-covered strawberries. He
had learned a long time ago the best way to make up with her. Shower her with gifts. He phases
in directly outside Kalis' room at the inn. After knocking on the door, he hears no answer; he
tries again and still no answer. He slowly turns the door knob and enters into the room and he
sees ... nothing. The furniture is still there of course, but all of Kalis' things are gone.
Xellos starts looking around the room trying to find anything to show that she was still
around. The only thing he finds is a note folded in half on the desk. The only thing written
on the outside was 'Xellos'. He picks up the paper and opens it slowly; both anxious and
afraid to see what was written on the inside.
Dear Xellos,
I can't handle this anymore. I'm tired of fighting and you apologizing without meaning
it. I bet that's how you found this note. You were going to apologize to me; I also bet that
you don't mean it at all. I can see you standing there with a rose and some candy. You always
knew the right things to say to make me melt into your arms. That's why I'm writing this
letter instead of doing this in person. I don't trust myself to say these things when you are
there. Actually, I'm having trouble writing this too. I keep imagining what you look like
while reading these words.
At first your possessiveness over me seemed kind of sweet, but now it's just too much.
Things aren't working out right now between the two of us. Please, don't come looking for me.
Maybe someday we'll get back together, but for now, I need to be alone. Just remember that I
will always love you. Goodbye.
You will stay in my heart forever,
Kalis
He won't let that happen again. This time he was going to do things right. Without any flowers or candy, Xander walks in the other direction back to Kelly's apartment. This time he really will believe the words he says to her; he won't just say them because he knows what she wants to hear. Looking up towards her apartment balcony, he sees a sudden bright flash of light just above it.
Zel looks down at his hands. Instead of seeing the blue stone that he had become accustomed to, he sees soft, cream-colored flesh. He started flexing his fingers, relishing in the way they felt. "Remember Zel, if you take that topaz off, then you will change back." He nods, not really hearing what she said, but still spellbound with his hands. Kelly knows how to get his attention, he needs to remember, it's very important. She walks up to Zel and pulls the topaz pendent right off his neck. Zel didn't even notice her presence until he saw his hands change back to stone.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Showing you what happens when you take off your pendent. This way when you need that extra speed, or strength, or night vision, or .."
"I get it already. Trust me though, I doubt I'll be doing that anytime soon. I'm just going to start my new life as a regular human."
"Zelgadis, you are far from being 'regular.' You have centuries of knowledge; you can do real magic, not that illusion crap; and without this pendent, you revert back to your chimera form. At least now you can look like a 'regular human,' just like me." Zel realized that she was telling the truth. Not to mention the fact that he has no idea how to fit in in society. Now he had no more reasons to run away, and he can settle down and make some friends. Seemingly reading his mind, "Why don't you stick around here for now? Mi casa es tu casa. I'll get you acclimated to New York life in no time."
Meanwhile, on a nearby building, Xander was watching the entire conversation. She was going to let Zelgadis live with her?! He wanted to go straight to her and ask what the hell she thought she was doing. Then Xander realized that if he did that, he could be pushing her away again. He needed to learn to be civil towards Zel and show Kelly that he is no longer overly possessive of her. Formulating a new plan, he phazes back to his apartment to get some sleep.
The next day everybody took the day off to go to Fiona's party. It was a fairly small party, just a few close friends. Fiona was already at Sophia's house helping her get everything set up. Sophia lived just outside of the city and had a fairly large house, she was only more than happy to hold Fiona's birthday party there. "Thanks a lot Soph for letting me have my party here. My apartment isn't nearly big enough to throw a party in."
"Oh, it's no bother at all. I just hope that Garry makes it here okay. It has been such a long time since I have last seen him."
"You saw him last week. Don't worry though, Liz is picking him up on her way. They will all be here just fine. I'm still hoping that Zel Grey will come. I really want to see what he looks like under that hood and mask." Sophia starts giggling, still thinking of her dear Garry. A few moments later the doorbell rings and Fiona jumps up to let in her first guest. "Hi everybody, I'm glad you all could make it." Ami, Elizabeth and Garry come in through the door.
"Garry! You made it. I haven't seen you in so long. How come you never come over anymore?" Sophia takes hold of her Garry and pulls him off to the side so they could talk alone. Her and Fiona are good friends and all, but Garry is the reason she agreed to host the party.
While Liz and Garry started to wolf down Sophia's food, in the city, Kelly was having a hard time getting Zel to go to the party.
"I don't even know any of them."
"Yes you do, you met them last night."
"I don't know if I can do this." Then he mutters almost silently, "she looks so much like Lina."
"What did you just say?"
"I mean, they all look so much like our friends."
"And they act almost exactly like them too. Now you know that you will get along with them. All you have to do is remember that they aren't really them. Just remember that and you won't have any problems. Besides, after I gave you that cure, the least you could do is go to this party for me."
Finally giving in to her, Zel agreed to go to the party. The two gathered their things and presents together (Kelly slipped out in the morning and bought a couple of gifts. It is a birthday party after all.) and went down the elevator to meet up with Xander who was going to pick them up. When they got downstairs, Xander was waiting on the sidewalk with a single long-stem rose.
"This is for you Kali-chan."
"Back to your old ways again, huh, Xellos." She takes the rose with a smile. "Are you apologizing for something."
"Actually, yes. I let my jealousy get out of hand last night. However, this apology is different from the ones in the past."
"Oh, how so?"
"This time I mean it. I'm not going to just say things that I know you want to hear. I've really thought about this and .. you were right."
"Funny, that was exactly what I wanted to hear." The three walked down the street to where Xander's car was parked. Zel was stuck following the overly-affectionate lovebirds, but he didn't mind their behavior. Finally, he's treating her right.
After arriving at Sophia's house, the party was underway. Zel was a big hit with the girls and even though he was still a little shy, he also enjoyed their flatteries. Maybe I should become a model. He chuckles at his thoughts and the girls just tease him all the more. Nervously running his hand through his soft, light-violet hair, he turns away his blushing face. Liz had just made a comment on how great his laugh sounded. After she noticed his blushing, she was tempted to make him do that a lot.
Fiona opened all her gifts and she liked every one of them .. until she got to Xander's. She opened the box to find that he had gotten her a dragon shaped incense burner. She loved it. He really surprised her, and Kelly. After thanking everyone for their gifts and Sophia for lending out her house, Fiona and everyone else left to go home. It was late and they were all tired.
After dropping Fiona off at her home, Xander drove over to Kelly's apartment building. Kelly handed Zel the keys and told him to go ahead and let himself in. Staying down by the street with Xander, the couple started to chat.
"So, are you sure that you're okay with me letting Zel stay in my apartment?"
"Not really, but I'm trying. I trust you and I don't want to lose you again." After a short kiss, Kelly starts up to her apartment. "I love you Kali-chan."
Replying over her shoulder, "I love you too Xellos-sama." He finally figured it out. Having a contented smile on her face, she enters into the building.