Gourry leaned against the kitchen wall, munching on a piece of greenish-purple fruit. He couldn't quite identify it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to; but it tasted okay, which was all that really mattered.
The past few weeks were little more than a bad memory; Gourry was doing his best to forget them, and for the most part was succeeding. He was feeling much happier, now that almost a week had passed since their battle against that huge, nameless monster. Given a few more days, he'd cheerfully forget that, too.
Right now, he was content to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of Therilon's castle. It no longer felt as though someone was in his head yelling at him constantly; even better, he didn't feel like he was going to be sick every three steps. And Lina wasn't on edge anymore, wasn't unnaturally jumpy... wasn't... scared.
Though it seemed to Gourry that she still wasn't happy here. The slightly tense way she walked; the way she'd snap just a little more harshly than he was used to at the least provocation; the way she avoided Zel.
Suddenly, the kitchen was filled with the sound of people talking. That girl, whatever her name was, had just arrived; from the look of things, she was leading around a couple of guys. They seemed familiar; Gourry vaguely remembered them from the last village they'd come across. The two of them were staring at everything, as if they'd never been inside a castle before. "And you helped kill the evil monster?" asked the dark-haired one; the red-head was too busy goggling at the ceiling's stonework to say much of anything.
The girl replied proudly, "I hit it with a rock!" This earned her a bemused stare.
They were joined a moment later when Amelia arrived. "Hi, Melody!" she said, and, noticing the two young men, added, "Hi! Oh, you're Jay and Rohandon, right?"
"She's taking us on a tour of the castle!" replied the red-headed one, sounding as if he couldn't believe what he was saying, and looking just as stunned.
The girl - Melody, was it? - was taking her role as guide seriously. "And this is the kitchen! Watch out for that vortex behind those shelves over there, who knows where it'll take you."
Noticing Gourry, Amelia walked over to him and grabbed a piece of fruit herself from the bowl on the counter next to him. "I wonder how Daddy's doing, back in Saillune," she announced loudly, before almost taking a bite. Then she took a closer look at its glistening, bumpy skin and put it back into the bowl.
"So why don't you go back 'n visit?" suggested Melody offhand.
"What a GREAT idea!" said Amelia overdramatically, whapping a fist into her open palm. "Why DON'T we? I know, I'll suggest it to Lina right away! For the twentieth time!"
"You do that," Melody replied with a smile, then turned her attention rapidly back to her two charges. "Next, I'll take you guys to see the library!" she announced. "If I can find it." She led the slightly bewildered pair back out to the halls.
Amelia sighed. "Mister Gourry, I just want to go home... why won't Miss Lina listen to reason?"
Gourry thought for a few seconds, or tried to, then simply shrugged. Lina's ways were as mysterious to him as they'd ever been. "Why don't you go?" he finally asked.
"Travelling through Therilon? Alone?" she shrieked, nearly hyperventilating. When she'd calmed down enough to be able to speak again, she said, "You know, I think I'll just spend some time out on the battlements, remembering all the happy times I've spent safe and sound at home...." With that, she jumped out a nearby window and found herself a perch on top of one of the turrets. Faint strains of the Saillese national anthem soon began to float down from where she was sitting. Gourry, long used to her foibles, simply finished off his own fruit, then grabbed another.
Not long after, Lina herself arrived. That was the thing about hanging around the kitchen, Gourry had discovered. Sooner or later, everyone showed up there. Plus, there was always something to eat.
The redheaded sorceress was glowering at the floor as she walked. Hoping that the notion of food would relieve her tension, he burst out with, "Hey, Lina, try one of these fruits! They're actually edible!" Looking up skeptically, she took one, seemingly more out of reflex than hunger. "Say, Lina, are we going to be leaving soon?"
"No."
"But Amelia keeps saying...."
"Zel doesn't want to leave. So we should stick around a little longer, just to keep an eye on her."
Gourry took another bite, chewed meditatively for a while, swallowed, and asked, "Why?"
"Uh... you know. Because she's acting a bit... funny."
It seemed perfectly obvious to him. "She's a princess now. They always act funny. Just look at Amelia."
Lina almost looked as though she were about to snap at him, but instead she took a bite of fruit. She frowned, but kept chewing. Still, after she'd swallowed the bite, she set the fruit down and asked, "Is there any cheese left?"
"Try that cupboard," said Gourry, pointing towards the one he meant. Lina started rooting around in it, finally emerging with a sizeable orange wedge stuffed in her mouth. "And that girl... Melly, or whatever her name was... she's always going to be around, right? So why not let her keep an eye on Zel, instead?" Lina nearly choked on her cheese.
After she recovered, Lina stared at Gourry for a few seconds before quietly asking, "Gourry? You really want to leave?"
He promptly nodded. Once we all leave Therilon, Lina won't be all tense anymore, and everything'll go back to normal. Oh, and Amelia'll stop whining.
"Hmmm...." The redhead seemed to be lost in thought. "I guess... we could leave if we wanted to. Maybe. I mean, as long as Zel's got Melody around. And then there's Rezo...."
Gourry frowned. That name seemed awfully familiar. "Rezo.... Isn't he a bad guy?" That provoked a resounding thwack from Lina. As she stomped off, he sighed and rubbed his smarting head. Guess not. I'll figure it out, one of these days....
Lina stormed away from the kitchen. Just when I was almost convinced he had half a brain in that skull of his....
She made her way through the castle halls, now somewhat familiar since she'd spent the past few days exploring them. It's all so... so... frustrating! she thought, kicking the occasional small wight out of her way. She ended up in a secluded little shadowy nook and sat down in a huff. It was easier to handle everything before we knew for sure that Zel was the princess. Back then, it was like she got a raw deal from that wish she made. But now... she's got this amazing, amazing power. Plus a whole kingdom. Why couldn't some of her luck have rubbed off on me? Or at least some treasure! The castle, while rife with magic, didn't have much by the way of material goods, she'd found out to her great chagrin. At least, not easily portable material goods. And smuggling a five-ton sculpture under her cape was a little bit beyond even her abilities.
Gourry's talk of leaving, as well as Amelia's incessant whining, weighed on her mind. The idea of just setting off became more and more attractive by the second. There was nothing for her here; the food tasted weird, no one had any treasure worth speaking of (she was still sulking about not being allowed to pry a handful or two of jewels off those Great Hall doors), and there weren't even any bandits around to vent her frustrations on.
A voice wafted by from a nearby corridor. "And then I threw a rock at it!" A brief scuffle, then three sets of footsteps moved on again. And even if something is wrong, Zel does have all those other people around, she reminded herself, thinking, among other things, of her brief chat with Rezo's ghost. It had been very creepy, meeting a guy who she had killed twice. But he seemed nice enough despite being dead, and not particularly likely to try to plunge the world into chaos again. It's not like we'd be completely abandoning her or anything....
The idea continued to gain momentum. Zel's a grown woman; she can handle things around here, she reminded herself. She's certainly powerful enough to take care of anything that might come up. Why would she need me around? Her mind finally made up, Lina sprang to her feet and sought out Therilon's princess.
Now that she was beginning to understand the castle's layout, it only took her about half an hour to reach the tower room that Zelgadis had claimed. The violet-haired princess was there, seated on a bench, with some ancient tome lying open beside her. "Hey, Zel?" The young woman in question looked up inquiringly. "We're leaving," Lina said bluntly, not seeing any point in drawing out the conversation. Suddenly hesitant, she watched Zelgadis closely to see what her reaction would be.
Zelgadis was quiet for a second, then said, "You know I'm going to stay."
Lina nodded gravely. One of the few times she'd been able to bring herself to speak with Zelgadis, the former chimaera had told her of the faint memories that were starting to bubble up from her subconscious. She'd spoken of the splendour that Therilon had once possessed; had spoken of wanting to bring that splendour back to life....
With an odd half-smile, Zelgadis said, "Well, that's it, then.... Be sure to come back and visit when the Hall's been rebuilt."
"You're okay with this?" asked Lina cautiously.
Still smiling enigmatically, the violet-haired girl said, "There's something about this land... it's not for everyone. But it's where I belong." She began staring out of the tower's lone window, seemingly lost in thought.
For a moment, Lina almost reconsidered. It was strange seeing Zelgadis like this, so pensive and dreamy, so accepting of her fate. Something is wrong, she suddenly knew. Something's... different.
And then, it struck her. The former chimaera looked... happy. Well, almost happy. But she seemed to be a heck of a lot closer to happiness than Lina could ever remember seeing her. Not just for the past few weeks, but for ever since they'd met....
"Hey, Zel?" she said brightly. "Good luck with your kingdom!" And with that, Lina set off, light-hearted, to tell Gourry and Amelia the good news.
And so our intrepid voyagers, their number diminished by one, strode forth bravely from Therilon's castle gates. This latest adventure had had its moments, but they were truly glad to be done with it. Just as they left, however, the way before them was unexpectedly barred.
A creature both vile and familiar was approaching the castle. As it neared them, the huge serpentlike creature hissed, "Must... kill... Amethyst...." It seemed not to notice the many terrible wounds rending its hide, nor its profound exhaustion. As the travellers watched, it inched its way steadily forward, coming closer and closer to its goal.
Then, just as it reached the drawbridge, it collapsed with a solid thud, killed no doubt by the combined effects of its wounds and its lack of rest. Lina walked up to its corpse and cautiously prodded it with one foot, just to make sure of its demise. Taking note of the odd cow hoofmarks printed here and there on its scaly hide, the red-headed sorceress then said knowingly, "You know you've been in Therilon far too long when stuff like this doesn't bother you anymore." The others nodded their ardent agreement. Pausing just to wave at a violet-haired figure leaning out of a high tower window, the three proceeded to leave Therilon's castle far, far behind.