Zelgadis' face held a horrified expression. How can she be dying?!
"You're kidding," he said. "You must be. Sylphiel said that you were sick, not dying."
"Sylphiel doesn't know," said Lina. "I used a masking spell."
"A masking spell? Lina..." Zelgadis choked out sadly.
"I don't know how much time I have left and I also don't know if there's a cure for me," she said.
"What are you dying of?" he asked, shakily.
"There's a disease spreading throughout my whole body. I don't know what it is or where it came from, but I do know that I was cursed and that I'm dying," she said.
"How can you be so sure that you're dying if you don't know what the disease is?" he asked.
Lina looked at her covers and said, "Xellos told me."
"What?" Zelgadis whispered. "But you told me that no one knew!"
"He's the only one, but the thing is that I didn't tell him about my illness. He told me about it," she said.
"You didn't know that you were sick until Xellos told you?" he asked, incredulously.
Lina nodded. "Hai. I didn't know before then because I didn't feel any different. After he told me, though, some the symptoms of my illness began to show."
"Are you sure that there's no cure?" he asked, desperately.
"I said that I didn't know if there was one. The only person whom could tell you if there was one, is Xellos," she said.
"I promise I'll get you cured, koi. I don't think I could live my life without you," he whispered.
Lina blushed and then hugged him tightly. "Even if I do go, Zel, I want you to know that I'll always love you even after I'm gone."
Zelgadis began to weep silently as he held onto her. Lina stroked his back gently and soothingly, while he wept.
Suddenly, a certain mazoku named Xellos appeared in the room.
"Konnichi wa, Zelgadis-san!" Xellos greeted cheerfully.
"Xellos," he hissed as he pulled away from Lina's embrace.
"Zel?" Lina questioned with worry.
"Lina-san, do you mind if I pull your lover away for just a few moments?" Xellos asked sweetly.
Lina blushed bright red at the term lover and mumbled something along the lines of, "Ano..."
"Really?! Arigato!" said Xellos as he grabbed Zelgadis' arm and vanished, leaving a dumbfounded Lina sitting on her bed with wide eyes.
Xellos had teleported Zelgadis and himself in front of the inn.
"What do you want from me, Xellos?" Zelgadis asked angrily as he backed away from him.
Xellos moved towards him and wagged a finger in front of his face. "Temper, temper, Zelgadis-san! All I did was bring you out here to tell you of a possible cure for Lina-san."
"There's a cure?!" Zelgadis asked, almost hysterically.
"Hai. There is one is the ruins located in the western regions of Atlas City," said Xellos.
"Atlas City?! Do you have any idea how long it will take to get there?!" Zelgadis asked in anger.
Xellos shrugged. "Do you want this cure for her or not? I also heard that there's a chimera cure around that area as well."
"Nani?" Zelgadis whispered. "Are you sure?"
"From what I've heard, yes," said Xellos.
"I need to ask you a few questions, since you know so much about Lina's condition," said Zelgadis.
"Ask away," said Xellos.
"First off, how did Lina get this disease? According to her, it came rather suddenly," said Zelgadis.
"She was cursed, pure and simple," said Xellos.
"Yes, but...who cursed her?" he asked.
"I cannot tell you, for I don't know," said Xellos.
"How long does she have?" he asked.
Xellos put a finger to his chin and struck a thoughtful pose. He then said, "About a week."
Zelgadis sucked his breath in and asked, "Only a week?"
Xellos nodded and Zelgadis grimaced.
"There is a catch to all of this, though," said Xellos.
"I should have known," muttered Zelgadis. "Well, what is it?"
"That won't be revealed until we reach your two objectives," said Xellos. "Are you still willing to go along with this, even though it may cost you your life?"
Zelgadis closed his eyes and whispered, "I'll do it."
Xellos smiled at him. "I knew you'd see it my way."
Xellos then teleported the two of them back to Lina's room.
As soon as they were back, Zelgadis rushed over to Lina to relay the information to her.
"Zel...what's going on?" she asked, hoarsely.
"Xellos told me that there might be a cure for you," said Zelgadis.
Lina's eyes widened. "Really?! Where?!"
"In the ruins located in the western regions of Atlas City," said Zelgadis.
Lina's face brightened considerably. "That's great! Now, all we have to do is get our stuff together and go!"
"Lina, I don't think that you should come with us," said Zelgadis.
Lina looked confused. "Why not?"
"Because there's a possibility that I may not come out of there alive," he said.
Lina narrowed her eyes and said, "In that case, I don't want you to go."
"Lina, I don't want you to die. I'd rather be the one to go than you," he said, shaking.
"Zel, you don't have to sacrifice yourself for my sake. Maybe the disease will go away by itself," said Lina, trying to keep him from going.
"Lina, you only have a week left to live," Zelgadis said mournfully.
Lina's face paled. "Nani? Iie, I didn't think that it would be so soon!"
Lina began to cry as she hung onto Zelgadis.
"It'll be alright, Lina. I'll make sure of that," Zelgadis whispered into her hair.
"Zel, I'm scared. Scared for you and myself. I don't want you to go and I don't want to die," said Lina, sobbing all the while.
Zelgadis pulled away from Lina and helped her lie back down on her bed. "I promise to try and stay alive for you, Lina."
Lina smiled weakly at him and said, "Arigato."
Zelgadis smiled back and then haled, "Sleeping."
As soon as Lina was knocked out by Zelgadis' Sleeping spell, Zelgadis turned to Xellos and said, "Let's go."
Xellos nodded as he teleported Zelgadis and himself out of the inn and to a city nearby their goal in Atlas City.
"We're in a very close proximity of Atlas City," said Xellos. "It should take us no more than a few days to get there."
Zelgadis nodded and then asked, "Why don't we just fly?"
"We could do that, if you want to get lost," Xellos said grimly.
Zelgadis sighed and said, "It looks like we'll have no choice but to walk."
Xellos nodded and said, "Looks that way."
"Just out of curiosity...why are you helping Lina and myself?" Zelgadis asked.
"Sore wa himitsu desu," Xellos answered jovially.
Zelgadis sighed once more, this time out of frustration and said, "I really shouldn't bother asking you anything about your motives."
Xellos almost smirked at him and as he and Zelgadis made their way to Atlas City.
Chapter 3 | Fanfiction