The change was sudden but when it ended they all dropped into Sailunne in different places. Filia found herself landing on her butt in the floor of her shop and a second later Val appeared in her lap, enjoying his little ride.
"What did that Namagomi do now?" Filia grumbled, but the sight of Val staring at her curiously quickly calmed her as she gave the little ancient a hug.
The others fell into the palace library startling Prince Philionel from his reading. They all landed in a pile on the lush carpeting, a tangle of arms and legs.
"Someone's foot is digging in my back and they better move it or I'm gonna start blasting," Lina yelled from the bottom of the pile. The others scrabbled quickly to get disentangled at the sorceress's threat.
"What's going on here?" The crown prince asked.
"Dad!"
"Amelia, how did you get here?"
"I'm not sure. Where's Zelgadis and Filia? The princess asked looking around frantically.
"Filia-chan is back at her shop and I took the liberty of tucking Zelgadis in here at the palace. Is that all right?" The trickster asked innocently.
"You brought us back here?" Lina asked.
"Hmmm Mmmmm," Xellos smiled.
"Why didn't you do that earlier when we were first attacked?" The redhead yelled
"Or better yet take us there to save time?" Gourry added.
"I was away on business when you left," the trickster said. "And the trip gave you all some much needed quality time together."
"Quality time! I'm gonna take some quality time out on your sorry little-"
"Lina, stop it," Gourry said stepping between the sorceress and the mazuko. "We have other things to concern ourselves with."
"Okay let's concern ourselves with something else like where are Bubbles and Daisy?" The sorceress asked.
"I put them back in Briseral," Xellos said, idly twirling his staff.
"The same way you sent Filia back to her shop. Why didn't you just bring everyone back here?"
"I don't watch anymore soap opera drama between dragons," Xellos yawned dramatically, "Doe eyes and awkward silences are only so amusing before they rub against the grain."
"I think I want to check on Zelgadis and see if he's all right," the princess said.
"Oh I tucked him away in your room. I figured it was the best place," the trickster said.
"Amelia go see if Zel's okay and in the meantime," Lina said turning to the mazuko, "You can tell us what you know."
"Or?"
"Or I interrogate you, Inverse style," she smiled devilishly
"But I'm not the only one with explaining to do, am I?" The trickster asked, looking at the swordsman. Lina followed his gaze and had to agree.
Since he woke up Gourry had been acting completely different, predatory even. And though it had helped them during the fight now it gave her an uneasy feeling she hoped an explanation would take away.
"You're right. You're not the only one I want answers from."
Silky sheets and gauzy drapes hanging above greeted Zelgadis. He sat up, looked around, curious as to his whereabouts and remembered the last time he woke up in a similar situation and tensed.
A latch turned and he heard a door open, then saw Amelia enter from a few feet away staring at him with wide sapphire eyes. She walked over to him staring in a dream-like daze and reached out her hand.
"How long have you been awake?" She whispered entranced.
"A few seconds maybe, Amelia, what is it?"
"Then you haven't had the chance to look yet, have you?"
"Look?" He asked then remembered. The falls and his cure. He looked at his hand and frowned.
"It didn't work."
"Yes, it did," she said, grabbing him from the bed and pulled him to her dressing table. "Come see."
She sat him down and he stared at his reflection, equally as wide-eyed as the princess ad been moments before.
He was still blue yes, but smooth. All the stony pebbles on his skin were gone. His hair was soft and stuck out a bit from laying down for so long. He touched his skin and though it was still hard it was also not as rough but subtle and smoother then before. His ears were still pointed and he touched them tentatively still surprised by this expected twist.
"I think you weren't under the falls long enough," Amelia whispered touching his hair.
"What happened? I remember standing under, then feeling a strange sensation and next waking up here."
"Gourry ran into the water when he saw you stumble and pass out. He thought you were in trouble. When he went in you were both thrown from the falls and he was knocked out. We were trying to figure out what happened when we were attacked. Xellos teleported us all back here. Lina's trying to get some answers out of him now."
"Xellos, it figures he would show up. What about Kaifuku?"
"Probably gone already or at least will be by the time we'd manage to get back.," Amelia sighed. "Although I do like the butterfly you woke up to be," she smiled. "Do you?"
He looked at himself again and thought about the question. It wasn't what he expected but it wasn't bad either.
"I'll have to get use to it," he answered. "The question is exactly how much of me has changed?"
Amelia knelt down in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug then suddenly her fingers were on the small of his back and he burst into a fit of laughter.
"You're still ticklish in the same spot. That's something," she laughed.
"Guess it is," he said, catching his breath. She hugged him again and gave him a kiss.
"Let's go see the others. There's still a lot going on that we need to figure out," the princess said.
"How are the others?"
"Good. I think Filia got dropped into her shop and Bubbles and Daisy in Briseral when Xellos teleported us here. No one was hurt but Gourry ..."
"What about him?"
He's ... I don't know a bit off. That's the best way to describe it. You'll see what I mean in a bit. How do you feel?"
Zelgadis stood and stretched.
"Fine, just stiff. How long was I out for?"
"A few hours. We couldn't tell if you'd been hurt. You were covered in a foggy-like cocoon after you and Gourry were thrown."
"Cocoon? So that's what you meant by butterfly?"
"Filia and I figured it was part of the change that might not have been mentioned in the book."
"We'd better go to the library before Lina kills Xellos. He never gives straight answers to questions and she's bound to get worked up."
"I want answers, no secrets, no riddles and no finger wagging. Got it?"
The trickster nodded as best he could through the sorceress's choke hold on his neck.
"You knew something was coming that's why you were at Kaifuku, right?" Lina asked releasing him.
"I was made aware of something interesting in the area, yes," he said rubbing his neck.
"How long have you been aware of this something interesting?"
"Not long. It falls in and out on occasion. This was the first time it's been around long enough to get a decent look at," Xellos said.
"You keep calling them It. Don't you know what it is?"
"No."
"Why are you being so forth coming with answers?" Gourry asked suddenly.
"It suits my purposes," the mazuko shrugged.
"No, you mean it suits Beastmasters purposes. She doesn't know what It is and sent you to find out. You figure talking to Lina will help you do that," the swordsman said.
Lina looked at Gourry, his eyes focused as he assessed the trickster's motives.
"Speaking f purposes," Xellos said taking a seat. "What is yours?"
"What do you mean?"
"My motives for my everything are hardly a secret to Lina-chan. Our agendas parallel now. But your's," he laughed, "I think your secrets are far more interesting then mine at the moment. And Kaifuku has revealed them if I'm not mistaken."
The meaning was clear to Lina. Kaifuku had taken away some kind of enchantment on Gourry.
"Was that possible?" she thought.
She was familiar with spells and magical energy, wouldn't she have noticed a spell on her best friend? As she pondered the question Amelia returned to the library with someone a little ways behind. The person came into view and it was Zelgadis, not human but certainly changed.
"Hey Zel, looking good. How do you feel?" Lina asked.
"Good. I still need to get use to the new me, but good," he said.
"I told him about what happened at Kaifuku," the princess started.
Zelgadis looked over at Gourry and saw what Amelia meant about the swordsman earlier. His manner was different, in fact everything seemed slightly skewed but he couldn't put is finger on anything specific that justified it.
"It's good to see you up and about," Gourry said, taking Zel's hand.
"Thanks," he nodded. "So has Xellos told us anything important yet?"
"Actually we were waiting for Gourry to tell us some interesting things," Xellos countered.
"If Gourry was under some spell either me, Zel or Amelia would have seen it so I don't-"
"-Unless it was designed so you wouldn't see it."
Lina looked at Gourry along with the others in surprise. Xellos regarded them all with a curious smirk.
"What?" The redheaded asked
"I said unless ..."
"I know what you said. What did you mean?"
"I've been under a lose of intention spell," the swordsman said. "It was supposed to disperse when the purpose or intention became known."
"That kind of spell is very strong and intense," Amelia said.
"And tricky, especially with the side effects," Zelgadis added.
"Okay somebody explain this spell and quick," Lina said.
"It's like a spell that covers up memories but it goes a little deeper. It covers up specific thoughts of anything connected to the intention," Amelia explained.
"It's a deeply embedded spell so it can't be detected by other magic users especially to those the intent may involve,"Zelgadis finished.
"And those side effects?"
"Oh it's only little things like parts of a person's personality being altered," Xellos laughed.
"Anything that could betray the intention. The spell is a deep and thorough one" Zelgadis said, glaring at the trickster. "Even if the aspects of that person's personality are reacquired after the spell is in place they won't trigger the intention."
"Who would but you under that kind of spell?" Lina asked.
"My grandfather. You may remember him, Raudy Gabriev."
"Raudy! That little twirp is your grandfather!"
"Lina you know him?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah, I helped him a few years ago on Mipross deal with a mazuko."
"Joyrock I believe," Xellos added
"Which involved a little trip through time," Gourry added.
Lina's mind began to turn and so did her suspicions and she hoped what she was thinking wasn't. She slowly took a seat and crossed her legs.
"I'm going t ask you one more question," she started slowly," Then I want you t tell me everything, from the beginning."
"All right."
"How long have you been under this spell?"
"Since the day we first met."
"But that's been years," Amelia said in disbelief.
"I think we should let him talk," the Crown prince said, having remained silent during the course of things.
"When you went through time to fight Joyrock my grandfather saw something ahead in the future, something dark and very threatening with you involved."
"So he sent you to protect Lina?" Zelgadis asked.
"Ultimately yes," Gourry nodded.
"He knew I was going to be on the road that day so you didn't happen to be coming along like I thought," the redhead said.
"No," he said.
The others asked him a question or two more and he answered readily all the while his eyes darted to Lina, who sat stoically in her chair, deep in thought.
Lina looked at him while the others tried to get details about this bizarre turn. She watched their mouths move and bodies gesture in conversation but couldn't hear a word. All sound seemed to stop with the swordsman's answer to her last question.
She thought it was strange, sitting in the palace library watching him. It was like watching a stranger. To anyone else he looked the same as always maybe just a little odd, but still the same. But Lina could see how different everything was now.
His eyes and manner seemed slowed and calculating with hidden secrets, instead of the warm, smiling openness she'd always found in his gaze. His body was coiled, tense ready for anything. The Gourry she knew always appeared relaxed, laid back and could spring into action in an instant. The man that stood a few away from her was anything but. Even his voice had an edge, a coolness with more hidden underneath it all. There seemed to be no end to what was hidden in him now.
Watching this stranger interact with her friends turned the numb shock she'd felt into something else altogether. The air seemed to thin and she found that breathing was difficult. Her eyes stung and she knew it was from watching this ...thing in front of her. And he was a thing; strange, alien yet wore the face of someone who was her friend, wh she trusted and maybe ... just maybe the inklings of something a little more.
A part of her whispered that it wasn't possible, that person, that Gourry never existed and the man in front of her was the real Gourry Gabriev not the honest, caring, open person she'd known. This thought made it harder for her to breath and she became filled with a disgust she never dreamed possible.
She didn't feel it when she stood or heard the others as they called her name when she left. Her steps were steady and certain and sound soon returned to her. The crisp clicking of her boots on the hard floor was an eerie background music to all that spun in her head. And the clicking grew louder as her feet walked faster and faster. But she never ran. Running just seemed all wrong like everything else that had happened. She left the palace and kept walking, the clicking of her boots changed rhythm as she maneuvered through the crowded streets until she found herself in a alley and she stopped with a final click echoing in the darkness.
That's when it started. One fell then another from her eyes, glistening like diamonds as they splashed onto the street; her hands clinched at her sides. She didn't sob, didn't sniffle just watched as her tears fell for what she had lost, for what she had never truly had in the first place.
Filia had taken her unexpected shop landing as an opportunity to clean up, before heading to the palace. Val watched her from his nest of her pillow as she darted about quickly. She had washed, dressed and now searched around her room almost frantic.
"Where is it?" The Gold sighed. "It's just what I need to bash that stupid smirk off that Namagomi's face when I see him."
At the mention of Xellos Val immediately became excited and Filia fixed her glare on the little ancient.
"Now don't you get started," she said, "I get to pound his face in and then you can play with his mangled remains. As soon as I can find my mace," she ended absently.
She stood by the window and looked about the tangled mess she'd made her room in confusion when she heard something outside. She trained her ears and it was footsteps that suddenly stopped. She looked out the window and saw a faint shadow on the far wall and recognized it's shape.
She grabbed Val and hurried down the stairs to the door that led into the alley. She stepped out into the night and saw a shock of red hair , head bent down; fists clenched at her sides.
"Lina?" she whispered approaching the sorceress. Val watched Lina, his little eyes growing large with concern.
It was when the Gold stepped closer that she saw a tiny droplet fall from Lina's face and hit the street. Filia put her hand on the sorceress's shoulder and gently led her inside and upstairs, not sure what else to do. She hadn't seen Lina like this before and had the feeling trying to talk wasn't a good idea.
She sat the redhead down in her living room on the sofa and Val next to her. The redhead's cheeks were tear stained and a blend of sadness and anger clouded her face.
"Lina? What's happened?" Filia whispered.
"It's gone,"Lina whispered staring at her, "Or wasn't there at all. And it all seems so hollow."
"Details aren't a good idea at the moment," Filia thought, watching the sorceress slowly become animated taking in her surroundings. Val reached out his little arms and hugged the redhead. His wings softly fluttering on her back in a comforting way.
Lina smiled faintly and placed an arm around the little ancient.
"Thanks little guy," she murmured.
"Are you a little better now?" Filia asked. The redhead nodded.
"I guess I was in shock or something. I must look like an idiot," she laughed
"No you don't but what happened?"
"It's Gourry or who we thought Gourry is, isn't. In fact was never there at all."
"I'm going to go find her," Amelia said.
"I'll help," Gourry added.
"I think you've helped enough," the princess said and left.
"Amelia!" The Crown Prince called.
"The last person she'll want to see right now is Gourry. He'll just do more harm then good," the princess said and left.
Zelgadis followed her until they were in the hallway.
"You're upset?" He asked.
"Aren't you?" she countered, "And worried for Lina?"
"Yes I am, but we don't know everything yet especially what threat Gourry's grandfather could have seen to make him take measures like these."
"Fine, I'll find Lina and you get details from Gourry and try not to blast the smile off Xellos's face."
"She could be anywhere, Amelia."
"I know, that's why I'm going to get Filia, Xellos said he dropped her back at her shop so I'm going there first," the princess said.
"And I'll deal with things here. Good luck," he whispered and gave her a hug.
He watched as the princess sprinted down the hallway; then took a deep breath and prepared himself for the mess that awaited him in the library.