It was getting dark and he had decided to sleep beside the road and had found cover behind a big tree, so that he was practically invisible. Not that he would have had any trouble with bandits, he could deal with them easily, he just wasn't in the mood to fool around with them just now. He had left the kingdom of Almania two days ago after he had found out that the magical water of the fountain of Namis, which was said to cure every curse, had turned out to be only a turist-atraction.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, not that he slept a lot, but today had been a very long day, he heard voices.
"Great. This is just like her, to give us an almost impossible assignment and not to tell us exactly how we are supposed to accomplish it !!!" Said the first voice. Zelgadis could not tell if the speaker was male or female.
"Look at it from the good side, it's been some time since we went on the road..." Said a clear female voice.
Zelgadis began to get annoyed, they had stopped before the tree he was sleeping on and didn't seem to have any intentions of going away. The perfect ending for the perfect day... Zelgadis thought.
"That's no the point, why do we always get the most difficult assignments? Sometimes I think she secretly hates me!" Said the first voice.
At that point Zel got up from behind the tree and walked towards the two figures. The first voice belonged to a young man, about 18 years old. He was about Zel's height and wore black pants and shirt and a blue jacket over it. He had dark blue eyes and short dark blue hair. Zel noticed the young man carried a sword with a blue safire on the hilt. And a red amulet around his neck. Altough Zelgadis didn't pay much attention to others' apearences, he had to admit, this young man was the kind that Martina would instantly fall in love with...well she falls in love with every man she sees...
The second voice belonged to a woman about the same age, with long light blue hair, and ice blue eyes. She wore black pants and a dark purple shirt with a black cape that moved with the wind. She also wore an amulet around her neck, it was a strange blue-purple color, that seemed to change if you looked at it long enough.
She looks nice but she isn't exactly my type...what ever that is... Zelgadis thought. He didn't have much experience with women, they usually ran away in fear once they saw him. The last woman who had said she loved him was that weird little princess of Sailoon, Amelia. And that had been a year ago. He turned his attention back to the couple, who hadn't noticed his presence. And were still arguing.
" - ve any idea how to accomplish this?!?" said the young man.
"No but - "
"Scuse me..."Zelgadis started to say. But they continued blabbing as if he wasn't even there.
" - we always find a way." Continued the girl.
"Scuse me..." Tried Zelgadis again.
"Yea but it still isn't fair, we're not slaves, you know?" Answered the young man.
"SCUSE ME!!!" Zel finally snapped.
"Yes?" They both said in unison turning towards him.
Zelgadis was counting on them being scared of him and to turn away and run for their lives. Being a chimera had it's practical uses...But instead they just watched him, no fear in their eyes, no puzzlement, not even wonder. They looked at him the way strangers used to look at him, in the time before he had been turned into a monster.
"What is it?" The girl asked.
"Could you stop arguing?" Zelgadis said, initial puzzlement about the lack of reaction momentarily overcome.
"Say what would you do if you had to find Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme, and had no idea where to start?" The young man asked.
Lina Inverse....Sorceress Supreme? In one sentence? And not said by Lina herself? Zelgadis wondered. She's usually called 'the enemy of all who live', 'the one not even a Mazoku would mess with'....
"You said, 'Lina Inverse' and 'Sorceress Supreme' in one sentence..??" Managed Zelgadis after almost choking.
"Yes, do you know her?" Asked the girl.
"I ...Ah...we've crossed paths." He answered.
"Do you know where she is now? It's very important." Asked the young man hopefully.
"Well with my luck, I'm bound to run into her sooner than later, so you might as well come with me..." He couldn't believe he had just said that, how had he gotten himself into this mess? He decided it must be a side effect of spending to much time with Amelia and her rightfulness. But the truth was it had been a long time since anyone had looked at him with something that wasn't fear in their eyes.
"I told you we'd find a way!" Said the girl, smiling proudly.
"Fine, where are you headed?" Asked the young man.
"To Ryona, following this road about two days, I don't know when we'll find Lina, it might take a while, days, weeks, even months...But that trouble maker just keeps crossing my path." Answered the chimera.
"That's no problem, so far you're the best clue we have! By the way, I'm Kara and this is my friend Shayla." Said the blue-haired man.
"I'm Zelgadis."
"Pleased to meet you!" Said Shayla.
"Now could we get some sleep?" Asked Zel and noticed it had gotten really dark while they were talking.