Amelia was stunned. She looked around the gardens of the palace and sighed. All her hard work had paid off. At this time tomorrow her Easter celebration would be in full swing. Everyone had helped out, even Zelgadis, and it was going to be the most beautiful Easter celebration to date.
The grounds around the palace were beautiful. They had put up light pink streamers on the balcony railings, and had tied bouquets of red roses to every corner. The fountains had been decorated with balloons, and there were also balloons on some of the bushes and shrubs. All the flowers in the palace garden were in full bloom so it was a brilliant sight; the gardens were totally filled with color. It was gorgeous. Even the banquet tables were decorated for the occasion. The tables had been placed under a magnificent old oak tree that had streamers dangling from the branches. And come tomorrow the tables would be covered with tons of beautiful and delicious gourmet food.
With Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry around you have to have lots of good food! she thought with a smirk. All Amelia's friends had been invited. Of course, Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis had been invited, but so had Ms. Sylphiel, Mrs. Martina and her husband, Ms. Filia, and they had tried to contact Mr. Xellos, but they hadn't been able to find him. It was probably for the better though, Mr. Zelgadis didn't seem to like him much. She had hoped to talk to him about changing his evil ways, even though he was a mazoku, and although changing him would be difficult, it would have to wait for another time.
All the preparations had been made; the only thing remaining was hiding the Easter eggs. Amelia had been very strict about secrecy while hiding the Easter eggs. She didn't want anyone to have a head start over anyone else. She wanted the hunt to be completely fair. She had even been able to persuade Miss Lina, even if it had taken a few hours, not to use magic during the hunt. Once that had been done everything else was easy. Tonight she would venture out and hide all the Easter eggs under the cover of darkness. She hated having to be so sneaky and deceitful, but it was the only way.
I can't wait to see how Zelgadis reacts when he finds out that part of his cure is in one of the Easter eggs! The look on his face will be priceless! She exclaimed silently. A few days ago she had been searching through the library in Seyruun, and had come across a book, which told about the process to create and isolate the elements in a chimera. As Amelia looked through it she came across a process that would isolate the human part in a chimera and turn the chimera human. This would be perfect for Zelgadis, since it only isolates the human part he would be able to keep all the magical abilities he received as a chimera, with the exception that his body might not be able to handle the demon speed as well as it used to.
The spell involved in the process would require a small, magically enhanced prism to split up the chimerical elements and isolate the human portion. Once she had found this, finding the rest had been a piece of cake. Then she thought of something. She had been the one to find Mr. Zelgadis' cure. It had been her who had done the work, who had wasted time that she could have used to fight justice and destroy crime in Seyruun, to help him. He was going to have to work to get his cure. It was only fair, and the more Amelia thought about it, she began to develop several plots in her mind.
She would hide the prism and a note telling where to find the spell in an Easter egg! That would be perfect! This way he would have to find it himself, and she would be happy watching him work for it. She also decided that she would tell him right before the Easter egg hunt about the egg and what he was looking for. It would be great to watch him be competitive over an Easter egg hunt. Miss Lina already thought the eggs where filled with gold coins, so this would make it a little more interesting. She was getting to be really sneaky. Amelia figured she could make up for it by buying Miss Lina and Mr. Zelgadis nice birthday presents.
Later, inside the castle:
Gourry had been watching the battle ensue between Lina and Zel for a few hours now. Or was it minutes? He couldn't quite seem to remember how much time had passed since Amelia had left to hide the...
Well, he couldn't seem to remember what Amelia went to hide. Anyways:
Lina had begun to get the upper hand and was explaining to Zel that one more time in the bunny outfit wasn't going to kill him. Gourry didn't quite understand why she wanted Zel to wear the bunny costume, but he knew it had something to do with all the decorations and stuff that they had been doing this week.
Gourry had been blowing up balloons that would go on bushes near the food tables. Lina had forced him into the job, and he only agreed because she said she would fireball him. If he had his way Gourry would have stayed away from balloons forever.
He let out a shiver and looked onto the fight between Lina and Zel. It seemed to have cooled down and they looked like they were starting to agree.
"What do you mean you'll only wear one if I wear one? Forget that Zel, you are the only one that looks good in a bunny costume and that means you should be the one to wear it. Besides you make such a cute wittle bunnie wunnie!"
Zelgadis blushed ten shades of red and replied with a slight squeak in his voice.
"I-I mean-nt what I said. I will only wear a costume if you wear one. I am not going to be the only one out there making a fool of themselves! You've worn a costume before, why can't you wear one now, in fact why do we have to wear one at all? There is really no point in it!" He began to gain his composure again towards the end of the small speech.
"Zel, it is for the festivities, and you don't want to let Amelia down, now do you?" She said with a wink and an evil gleam in her eye.
"I-I-think that you are only making me wear the costume because you now it slows me down and that will give you an advantage in the hunt! Besides, you never cared so much about Holidays before, why start now?" He made an accusing gesture with his arm at Lina and she looked shocked.
"Zel, that is really mean and totally untrue. I don't see how you can say such a thing about a beautiful and benevolent sorceress like myself!"
"Don't you mean underdeveloped, greedy little witch?"
"You stuck-up, self-absorbed prick! You always go for the sore spots! Always, dammit!"
"Stuck-up? What do you mean by that? I helped out here at no benefit to myself and you call me stuck up. I think you are the one that is stuck-up! All you ever do is brag about how great you are and what you really are is gluttonous, and stuck-up! That's right I said stuck-up!"
"Why you rock-skinned, mazoku loving -- "
"MAZOKU LOVING?!"
" -- Mazoku loving, self-involved, rude, and -- "
"I DO NOT love tha-a-t fruitcake mazoku!"
" -- Anorexic, hard-headed, snot-nosed, rabbit-sucker -- ," as she spoke Lina counted off the insults on her fingers, "sottish, unmuzzled, sour-faced, lily-livered, gnarly -- "
"Oh you are a great one to talk," Zelgadis interjected quickly, "You prating, ill-composed, eye-offending, motley-minded, scantling!" he ended with a satisfied smirk.
"Oooooh! Don't think you got the best of me Zel! FIREBALL!" she yelled as a ball of fire sprung from her fingertips. A crispy looking Zelgadis coughed from his spot on the floor. Lina looked down at him from where she was standing with a grin. All of the sudden her expression changed.
"You know what? I don't think we have a bunny costume at all." Zelgadis crumpled in a heap on the floor. Lina turned to look at Gourry who was watching Zelgadis' still form.
All of the sudden a fast blur of beige ran through the door. Amelia was completely giddy. She had hidden all the Easter eggs in what could be considered record time and now she would have time to sleep before the hunt. The evening had gone perfectly and now it was time to rest. She chose a chair beside Gourry and sat down.
"Was I gone a long while?" she asked.
"No not too long, we just finished discussing what we were going to wea -- "
"OHMIGOD! What happened to Mr. Zelgadis? Is he okay? What did you do to him?" Amelia cut in when she saw Zelgadis' sprawled on the floor.
"Oh, he will be okay, in a while." Lina explained. She gave an annoyed sigh as she watched Amelia tending to Zelgadis' "wounds." In truth the fireball hadn't hurt him that much, it just knocked him off guard and singed him a little. There is only so much damage that you can do to a rock with a fireball. Although, it was funny to watch Zelgadis blush as Amelia fussed over him.
He seems to be enjoying himself. I am sure I can find a way to use this against him later! Lina thought to herself. Zel had always been so sensitive about everything. He always got over sensitive on those things he thought were embarrassing; the bunny costume is just one example of many.
"Well, I think I am going to turn in. Have a good night everyone! You too, Zelga-bun, er, I mean Zelgadis!" She said with a wide grin as she left the room. Zelgadis let out a muffled moan as she exited. It was muffled because Amelia was cleaning his ashy face with a washcloth.
"Amelia, I can clean my own face." He said rather reluctantly.
"Well, alright, but I don't want you to go to bed all dirty. That would be gross. I also can't allow a victim of Miss Lina's wrath to go unaided either. So make sure you get cleaned up and have a good night's rest. You will need all your energy to win the Easter egg hunt tomorrow," she said flashing him a victory sign, "So go to bed now! I don't want to have to tell you again." Zelgadis tried to hide his blush by nodding his head down. He got up and took a few queasy steps, and then more confidently strode out of the room to the hallway. Thinking of something he poked his head back into the doorframe.
"Amelia who else is going to be here tomorrow. Shouldn't they have shown up by now?" He asked kind of in hope that none of the weirdo people would show up.
"I don't know what has kept Sylphiel, but I do know that Miss Filia, Mrs. Martina and her husband will be here in the morning. I don't know if my invitation ever reached Mr. Xellos, so I'm not expecting him." Amelia informed him. She was a little bit ruffled from her bout in the garden so she was ready to turn in.
"Good. That fruitcake mazoku doesn't need any Easter eggs." Zelgadis muttered before he left the room. He shut the door behind quietly.
Amelia really didn't want to get up, but she knew if she didn't she would be sore in the morning. Her body agreed that a bed would be more comfortable so she decided to leave. A noise behind her suddenly made her start. She had forgotten Gourry was still in here. He had been so quiet that she hadn't even known he was there. He had been so quiet and hadn't said anything stupid about the Easter thing. She was very surprised; she had explained it once and Gourry hadn't asked what they were doing since then.
"Amelia, what is all this Easter stuff about anyways? Does it have anything to do with all the stuff we have been putting up?" Well, you can't hope for too much now can you.
"Yes, it does Gourry. Easter is a celebration for some ancient event that our ancestors here in Seyruun believe in. It is a fun tradition, we get lots of food."
"Oh, okay, G'night Amelia." Gourry got up and went towards the door. He opened it and giving Amelia one of his doofy grins left the room.
Now I can get some rest! Tomorrow is going to be the best! With that nice rhyming thought left in her head Amelia decided to sleep so she would be ready for the egg hunt tomorrow.
Easter Morning:
"Come on everyone, just hold still for one second, Miss Lina that means you too!" Amelia shouted to her fiery friend. It took forever to wake them up, but once that was done and breakfast had been eaten everything had fallen into place. Everything seemed to be going well. Amelia prayed that it would stay like this during the Easter egg hunt.
To tell the truth, last night Amelia had been really confident about the whole ordeal being a big success, but now... well, lets just say it might not go exactly as planned. Everyone was getting really anxious to get outside. It was starting to get out of hand. Even though everyone had arrived on schedule, and were all happy to be here, they were getting impatient; but it was tradition and Amelia was adamant. On Easter, no one was allowed to leave the palace until ten o'clock. That was the way it was done by her mother and her sister, and she wouldn't change it. Looking around the grand sunroom she started to feel distressed. The only person not really acting up was Mr. Zelgadis. That was how he always acted though.
The table that the food was on seemed to be cowering in fear because of the two people standing around it trying to stab the delicacies on it with forks. If there were any misses the table was toast. It appeared that Gourry was going to get a mini-sausage that Lina had missed in her haste. Zelgadis was taking score and if he got it he only needed to get a sandwich and three pancake things to catch up to Lina. Too late; Lina had seen what he had been trying and quickly stabbed it with her fork, almost getting Gourry's hand in the process. Gourry gave a cry of dismay and then began shoveling the food on his side of the table in his mouth.
How does Lina do that? She seems to have better reflexes then me! Gourry thought briefly. He had been sitting by the food table for a while now and his mind was starting to wander even with all the food in front of him. He was starting to wonder what Amelia had in store for all of them when they got outside. Impatient was starting to become his middle name.
Finally, the clock struck ten and Amelia allowed everyone to head outdoors. Lina and Gourry raced to the door, but in the process knocked Martina into the doorframe. Shouting a quick excuse me behind them, Lina and Gourry ran towards the banquet tables.
"Miss Lina, don't touch that food yet! It is for lunch," Amelia shouted just before Lina reached the tables, "If you eat it all now there won't be any for lunch!" This seemed to stop Lina from eating the food. Lina frowned and decided to sit in one of the tables that were set up. Gourry looked longingly at the food on the table; he knew he had to wait for lunch though. He followed Lina to a table and sat down. Once everyone was seated Amelia began her lecture on the Easter egg hunt. It consisted of an explanation of what they were going to do, and then how it would be unjust to break any of the rules. It had to be fair. When she was finally done she allowed everyone to stand up and get their baskets. Their baskets were all different, but equally beautiful. Everyone seemed to be calming down now that the hunt was about to begin.
It might go well after all. Amelia thought silently.
"So when do we get to start Amelia? Come on, don't waste time, let's get this show on the road!" Lina shouted from near the starting line.
"Okay everyone line up. When I say go you can start the hunt, okay?" She shouted to the participants.
"That's fine Amelia just get on with it!" Lina shouted.
"Okay, ready, set, GO!" With that everyone ran off, but before Zelgadis had a chance to run, Amelia stopped him.
"Mr. Zelgadis, there is something I have to tell you." Amelia said with a glint in her eye. Zelgadis didn't pick up on it.
"Just get on with it Amelia Lina is going to get all, um, I mean if I don't get to go I don't get to help everyone else find the eggs." He made a quick save.
"Well, all I have to say is that part of your cure is in one of the Easter eggs." Once that statement was said a loud roar of a "WHAT!" was heard for miles. Zelgadis regained composure, and got his normal voice back.
"What do you mean Amelia?"
"I mean exactly what I say. It isn't necessarily a full cure, but it will isolate the human part in you and turn you human, leaving all your mazoku characteristics. You will still have the speed and power. And if you decide you don't want to be human, and you want to stay the way you are, it is reversible. Also, the egg that it is in is very unique. It is a golden egg, the only one out there. You should be able to find it if you look hard."
"Okay that is all good and well, golden egg, easy to remember, but I will be human again right?" he said breathlessly.
"Yes."
"Alright then, I have to go find that Egg!" And with that, Zelgadis ran off with more motivation then anyone else. He had to have that egg!
Meanwhile, Gourry was wandering by the banquet tables to see if he could sneak just a little bit of the food. Unfortunately, Amelia had taken this into account and had stationed several mean-looking cooks around the food. He really was confused about this whole Easter thing. I mean, he found a few eggs on the banquet tables, but the cooks had threatened him with some scary meat tenderizers. He just decided he would stay away from the banquet tables until Amelia said otherwise.
Xellos was nearly in a fit of giggles. This was too good to be true. He was going to have so much fun with his dear chimera friend.
Gourry was so bored. It had only been a few minutes but already he was ready to sleep. Unfortunately it was really bright outside, so taking a nap would be pretty hard. Instead, he just walked around aimlessly. He finally passed an oak tree and reached a closed in area with five beautiful trees in full bloom.
Xellos was having fun. He was going to make it really easy for Gourry. About ten feet in front of him he would have and Easter egg floating in the air. Certainly Gourry would know what to do then. He isn't that stupid.
Gourry looked ahead of him into the clearing near the trees.
"Oh my Gosh, it's a bunny rabbit!" He yelled with delight.
CRASH! A ways behind him there was a loud thump. It seemed that something had fallen out of the tree, but when he looked he didn't see anything.
He is that stupid. Xellos thought with a groan. After watching Gourry pass right in front of the Easter egg and then bend down beneath it to look for a bunny, he had fallen out of the tree. I am going to have a bump in the morning, ugh! He wasn't excited to say the least. He would simply have to help Gourry in a more, well, blunt way. He used his demon speed to grab the egg and place it in Gourry's basket before he noticed.
When his search seemed futile, Gourry gave up. He couldn't find the bunny anywhere. He wandered out of the clearing to search near a bunch of rose bushes.
Maybe the bunny went over there! He thought brightly. Being careful not to scratch himself on the thorns, he picked his way through a wall of rose bushes. When he came to an area beside a fountain he decided to take a rest and watch for the bunny. He sat down beside a fountain and waited. All of the sudden he heard a loud rumbling, and then a yell of triumph.
"I found it! I found it! It's all mine! I am going to win this Easter egg hunt!" Lina leaped from over the fountain with her basket of eggs hanging from her arm. She had a whole bunch of eggs, and they were pretty ones too. Once she landed she looked around and spotting Gourry she stopped.
"Heya Gourry, had much luck with the hunt?" She asked, eyeing her competition intently.
"Sort of Lina, but if you could just explain the whole thing -- "
"Oh not again," she said cutting him short with a blow to the head, "We already went over this once Gourry, you shouldn't be such a jellyfish brain!"
"Fine, you didn't have to hit me so hard. Hey where did you find all those pretty eggs?" He asked peering into her basket.
"Don't touch, and don't you have any idea of what we are out here for? We are out here to find these eggs! That is the whole purpose of this Easter egg hunt." She half yelled into his ear.
"Okay, I think I kind of understand. So I am supposed to look for eggs, and then what?"
"You dolt. You just try to get as many as you can. In fact, just sitting here talking with you is wasting my time! I have to get out there and find those eggs!" Flashing him a quick victory sign she started to search the rose garden area for any sign of an egg. Gourry just sat watching her for a minute and then turned to see what was in the fountain.
In an instant Xellos had grabbed all of Lina's eggs out of her basket and had moved them to Gourry's. He then teleported out of harm's way in case Gourry was caught.
Gourry was looking into the fountain for fish, but he saw a movement to his right. He turned in time to see a white bunny run around the fountain and towards an area with funny colored roses and other flowers on the other side of the fountain. Which also meant he would have to either go all the way around a bunch of bushes, or go through them. Deciding on the latter he picked up his basket and ran through a bush that was luckily, not prickly.
When Lina decided that the rose bush area had no eggs, she decided to move on. She reached for her basket and picked it up, but stopped when she found it to be lighter then before. Looking down into it she gasped, and let out an ear-piercing yell.
"GOURRY! Give me back my Easter eggs!"
By the time this yell had been made Gourry was already on another side of the garden. He had been following the bunny for a while, and had seen several Easter eggs. Luckily for him he remembered what Lina had told him and picked them up. He wasn't going to let Lina win without a fight!
"AAAHHH!" came a scream from something he fell on. It had been under a funny looking shrub.
"Amelia, what are you -- "
"Be quiet Mr. Gourry! You will alert him to our presence!"
"What does that mean?"
"Just be quiet and watch then I will explain." She whispered to him as he leaned his head down to where she was on the ground. Amelia pointed towards a clearing past the tall shrubs. He saw something move around quickly from one place to another. It seemed to be searching for something. All of the sudden it stopped and turned to look at a tree to its left. It was Mr. Zelgadis! He seemed to be rushing to find something. All of the sudden as if he had gotten some message from a dark lord, he ran to where he had seen something in a tree. Once he was out of view Amelia sat up and turned to Gourry.
"You have to be more careful Gourry, you almost tripped on me."
"Uh, sure, what were you doing down there anyways Amelia? And why were you watching Zel?" he asked with the most innocent of innocent faces. Amelia stumbled over her words for a second before deciding on something that would satisfy Gourry.
"I was, uh, just watching Mr. Zelgadis to make sure he could find Easter eggs!" She said convincingly. Well, it was kind of the truth. I am making sure he can find Easter eggs. She thought kind of sadly. She hated lying, even just a little bit.
"Oh okay, well, then I had better get going to find some Easter eggs of my own." He gave Amelia a small smile and then headed for some Azaleas that were growing over a gazebo. Amelia let out a sigh of relief as he left.
When Gourry reached the gazebo he decided it was time to take a short rest. He walked up the small steps that led to the inside and took a seat on one of the benches. All of the sudden he heard a small thump and a rolling sound. He looked down on the floor, and saw not one, but three Easter eggs rolling out from underneath the bench. Again, he was lucky enough to remember what Lina had said about Easter eggs, so he picked them up and put them in his basket. He arranged the dyed eggs in his basket so they wouldn't break if he moved it around to much, then sat back to rest a little longer. All of the sudden he heard someone call his name.
"Gourry-dear, Are you taking a rest, I hope you aren't too tired from the whole hunt." Sylphiel walked up the steps into the gazebo and took a seat a modest distance away from Gourry.
"Actually, I have been walking a lot so I thought I would take a break! WOW! Look at your basket, you sure have a lot of Easter eggs in there!" He exclaimed.
"Well, I don't really want them at all, you can have them though!" She said smiling at him nicely.
"Really Sylphiel? That would be so nice. I really wanted to win this hunt and it looks like you have more eggs then Lina did." He said happily.
"Sure, go ahead!" She took her basket and carefully placed all her eggs into his, neatly arranging them so they wouldn't fall out. It was lucky that the baskets were rather large because Gourry was obtaining a lot of Easter eggs. He was so happy that Sylphiel was helping him that he started to talk semi-intelligently to Sylphiel about her day.
Xellos sipped his tea on the roof of the gazebo. He knew he could count on Sylphiel to help Gourry out a little. He didn't even have to persuade her to do it. She really did a good job.
"Well Sylphiel I guess we had better go find some more eggs. We have been sitting here being lazy long enough." He turned and stood to help her up.
"Thank you, and you are right, we have been lazy long enough. But I did promise Mrs. Martina that I would help her look for her earring that she lost earlier. I need to go do that. I would stay with you, but I promised." She said it as if she detested earrings, and Mrs. Martina.
"That is fine don't worry about it. I will see you later, Sylphiel." He gave her a bright smile, which almost made her melt, and was on his way. He decided to head towards a wooded area that looked like it would have lots of eggs in it. As he was about to walk into the wooded labyrinth he saw a little girl sitting by one of the trees. He walked towards her and got her attention by calling to her.
"Little girl, are you from around here." He asked nicely. He spoke like a big brother talking to their younger sibling.
"Nope, I was just told to give you these." She held out five Easter eggs, one of which was a shiny gold one.
"Well, thank you very much," he turned and put the eggs in his basket, "Why are you here?" His question was wasted because the little girl wasn't there anymore. He stood puzzled for a second and then shrugged. He turned and began his trek through the labyrinth.
Zelgadis watched the exchange and was not amused. Gourry has my cure. God save me! I have got to get it back! He almost had the mindset of Amelia when she was in one of her justice moods. He was determined to get that egg back. He decided it would be best not to alert Gourry of his presence. He was going to use stealth to get that egg back. Gourry wouldn't know the difference anyways.
Gourry was getting bored. This wooded area was starting to annoy him. Everywhere you turned was a dead end. He figured it was some kind of maze. Even though it annoyed him he continued trudging along.
THUNK! THUNK! Two things of a heavy weight fell on Gourry's head.
"OW, that really hurt. Who threw that at me!" He looked around but saw no one and then he looked at what had fallen on him. It was two Easter eggs! Well, being the sensible person that he is, he didn't question where they came from. He just knew that he had just gotten two more Easter eggs. As he bent down to pick them up, he felt a slight breeze pass by him and then just a second later a loud thud to his left. He turned his head but he didn't see a thing.
"Whatever."
Zelgadis was so angry. He had a clear shot and he missed. Gourry was just standing there so he ran to grab the egg, but just as he got there Gourry bent over and moved the basket out of his reach. Then, because he had been paying attention to Gourry he had run into a tree and fallen onto a sharp rock. It wasn't fair. He ripped his tunic on the side and he had acquired a big bruise on his shoulder. That didn't stop him at all though. He knew he had to get that egg from Gourry!
In the wooded labyrinth, Gourry was humming a little tune while he wandered along. He was getting kind of tired of being in there. After a while of pointless twists and turns he finally came to the end of the labyrinth. As he walked out, he stopped to take a look around him. He stared at the bushes, and to his surprise he saw the white rabbit again. The rabbit was startled by his presence for a moment and then ran off underneath a group of prickly bushes. Gourry, not realizing that these were prickly bushes ran at them, but manage to stop just in time. He set his basket down and carefully looked under the bushes for any sign of a white rabbit. When he didn't find any he reached for his basket, and stood up to walk away. As he did there was a slight swooshing sound and then a noise like someone had jumped into the bushes. He turned to look but all he saw was the prickly bush.
Zelgadis hadn't been as lucky as Gourry in avoiding the spiky bushes. He had run using his demon speed at the basket, but Gourry grabbed it and stepped out of the way very quickly; and because Zel had been paying attention to Gourry he didn't get enough time to stop, and went head first into the bushes. Now his clothes were torn all over the place and he had scratches all over himself. He might have even sprained his wrist when he landed behind the thorny bushes.
Gourry trudged on unaware that something was trying to capture one of his eggs. His usual intelligence about alerting him to dangers seemed to think that Zelgadis wasn't a threat; even though Zel had tried many times to get it from Gourry. Apparently Gourry was having a very lucky day.
After Gourry had obtained a few more Easter eggs-only what he picked up himself though, He had gotten a few more then he though-he decided it was time to see if the hunt was over. When he got back to the banquet tables, no one was there. He had his chance to get some food! He ran as fast as he could to the tables and looked around. He was going to have and attack of conscience. Well, it wasn't a big one so he decided to at least look for Easter eggs on the banquet table. While he was doing that he could sneak a little bit of food. Going up and down the three rows looking for eggs proved fruitful. He found seven total and was very proud of being intelligent enough to look there. Once he was done scouring, he decided to go look around a bit more. No one was here so there was no point in waiting for them. While he walked he hummed the same little tune as earlier.
I wonder where I picked that up from? He was surprised that he knew any songs.
Xellos was surprised too. The tune was very familiar to him, and he wondered how Gourry had picked it up.
Even Zelgadis was surprised. Gourry never remembered anything, and now he remembered a song? That was very strange, but it wasn't going to help Gourry any. Zelgadis still had a mission.
After wandering around a little bit Gourry was ready to stop. This egg hunt thing was getting old. He had found a few more eggs, but each time he put his basket down and picked it up again he heard weird noises. It was becoming eerie. He had found plenty of new eggs though, but now it was time to stop.
Zelgadis was horrified. He didn't understand. Every time he tried to grab the egg Gourry somehow managed to sidestep or dodge him, and then Zelgadis ended up in a bush or on a rock, or falling off a hill. It wasn't worth it if he did know. He already sprained his ankle and wrist, and had received numerous scratches and bruises all over his body. He would just have to make Gourry give him the egg. Right now he would go find some clothes that aren't ripped.
Skipping and whistling while he walked made the voyage back to the banquet tables less boring. On the way he had seen the white rabbit again, but when he followed it all he found was Easter eggs. When he couldn't find it at all he left it be and just skipped on. From a distance he could hear voices coming from that area, and when he was close enough to see he could make out a few bodies. He arrived just as Zangulus, Martina, and Sylphiel arrived. Apparently they hadn't had any luck and had only found three Easter eggs put together. Lina had already been there and it took a little while to keep her from killing Gourry. Lucky for Gourry that Amelia wanted Lina to prove Gourry took the eggs. Lina couldn't so she sat and sulked for a while. In the end she had only found two. Filia hadn't participated in the Easter egg hunt so she didn't have any eggs. It looked like Gourry had won!
He was so excited, but wait, where is Zelgadis? Gourry looked around and couldn't see him, so he did the next most sensible thing.
"Has anyone seen Zelgadis?" He asked most intelligently.
"Well, I saw him about a while back, but I lost -- I mean didn't see him anymore after that." Amelia told him.
"I haven't seen him at all the entire hunt." Lina said. Nods and murmurs of agreement were heard. No one except Amelia and Gourry had seen him. Just then, Gourry noticed someone walking back from the house. It was Zelgadis. He seemed to be walking using a crutch and had a cast on his arm.
I wonder what happened to him. Gourry thought as Zelgadis walked up. Zelgadis looked really strange, he had a mean look in his eye and he was walking towards Gourry. Gourry noticed that Zelgadis hadn't found any eggs. He didn't even have a basket.
Something must have happened to him and he lost his basket. That is sad, maybe there is a way that I can make him feel better. He put on one of his biggest smiles as Zelgadis approached. He knew just how to make him feel better.
"Zel," he said as Zelgadis stopped in front of him, "I want to give you some of my Easter eggs, it looks like you have been thr -- "
"Gourry you better give me that -- wait did you say I could have some of your eggs?" Zelgadis said trying to shove away the feeling that this conversation sounded really weird.
"Yup, anyones you want. Take your pick!" He held up his basket for Zelgadis to look in it.
CRASH! Zelgadis fell off his crutch.
"Hey! What's wrong with Zel? Did he have a heart attack or something?" Came a cry from the other side of the tables.
Xellos had participated in one of the best Easter's of the millennium. He wanted to do it again next year. Being careful not to laugh too hard, he decided to join his dear friends at the tables, he was starting to get kind of hungry.
Well, I had bundles of fun writing this story. I am a little bit self-conscious of it because I never posted my fics before. I hope you all enjoyed it. I know I liked it. It did end kind of abruptly, but that was how it was supposed to end. Well, be sure to check out the special feature thingy. Those are my maps that I drew of the Easter egg hunt. They are very funny. The story doesn't always follow those maps. I revised it as I wrote. I just hope you can understand them. That would be good. My favorite part is the character guide. Well, I hope you enjoyed.