"Nothing that grieves us can be called little: By the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size." - Which Was the Dream? Mark Twain
"Zelgadis-san," a voice behind him said. He turned to see Amelia crouching by Gourry, casting a healing spell. A dark purple bruise was rapidly spreading over the man's temple. The way the bone caved in unnaturally twisted Zelgadis' stomach more than the bruising. "I need help," she said. "This has to be healed quickly or he may suffer permanent damage."
Dropping the borrowed sword, Zelgadis knelt by his friend and added his power to Amelia's. It took several minutes of hard work, but they finally got the bleeding stopped, the tissues healed and the bones knitted. The man groaned and opened his eyes. He looked up at them and put a hand to his temple.
"This is getting to be a habit," he said as he tried to sit up. He hissed in pain and slumped back.
Amelia pushed him onto his back. "Lie still," she said as she called on her powers for another healing spell. Gourry shut his eyes and waited for her to finish.
"All done," she said eventually. "You were lucky; Xellos' blow didn't rupture your spleen. Things could have gotten nasty if that had happened."
"Then why don't I feel lucky?" he said miserably. He sat up with Zelgadis' help and leaned forward to bury his hands in his hair. "I should have tried harder," he said quietly. "There should have been something I could do to stop this. I'm her guardian as well as her husband."
Zelgadis squatted down next to the only other man he considered his friend - the only one since Rodimus and Zolf. He put his hand on Gourry's shoulder and sighed. "There's not much we can do against a Mazoku, Gourry. Especially not someone like Xellos. He's too powerful. Heck, even Lina has a hard time against him."
"I don't care what he is, I'm going to get her back!" he said with a viciousness neither of them had heard him use before. He clenched his hands on his knees and grimaced, baring his teeth in a snarl. "No matter what it takes."
"We'll get her back, Gourry-san," Amelia said quietly. Gourry looked into her dark blue eyes, eyes that were worldly and innocent at the same time. "We all want to get her back. And we will. You'll see, Gourry-san." She smiled at him putting all the hope and confidence she could muster into them.
Looking at her, the swordsman regained some of the calm for which he was known. He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder and gripped it warmly. "Thanks, Amelia. I know we will." He struggled to his feet, wincing with pain from the injury to his side.
"Here, let me help you," she said. She slung his arm over her shoulder and led him towards the doors leading the palace. She looked at Zelgadis and jerked her head slightly: Help. Silently, Zelgadis took Gourry's other arm. The blonde man looked from one to the other questioningly, but did not refuse their help. Together, the three of them made their way out of the ballroom and back to the rooms Lina and Gourry shared.
Once there, Zelgadis lowered Gourry onto the sofa. He turned to Amelia who drew him aside and said in a hushed whisper, "I have to go back to the ballroom and check on things there and get a report from Commander Vymes. I'm worried about Gourry-san; perhaps you should stay here with him tonight?"
The Chimera nodded. "I'll do that." He pulled her forward into a quick embrace and kissed the top of her head before he let her go. She squeezed his hand and reluctantly pulled away.
Turning back to Gourry, Zelgadis sat on a nearby chair. The big man had leaned his head back and had his eyes closed as if asleep. Zelgadis sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. How had this happened? he wondered to himself. The evening had been going so well; all right, he'd been uncomfortable and self-conscious during the whole thing, but he much preferred that to having Lina kidnapped by Xellos! How were they going to get her back? They had no idea where to start looking, for L-sama's sake!
"You don't have to stay, you know," a quiet voice said, startling him out of his train of thought. He looked up to see Gourry looking at him.
"What?"
"I said you don't have to stay with me. I'll be all right." Gourry gave him a weak smile.
"I don't mind, Gourry," Zelgadis said. "Really."
"Zel, I'd like to be alone right now." The other man's voice was strained, as if he were keeping it tightly controlled.
Zelgadis couldn't find arguments against that; if Gourry wanted to be alone, he was more than aware that having company of any sort forced upon him would be unwelcome. He rose and turned to go. At the doorway he paused and turned back. "We will find her," he said.
"I know, Zel. I know." Gourry spoke with forced conviction. Sighing, Zel opened the door and left the swordsman alone.
Gourry stared straight ahead as he heard the door shut. He sat that way for some time; how long, he didn't know. Eventually he got up and wandered over to the tall window and looked out. The moon was riding high overhead; a full moon, he noticed. Had it only been a month since Lina had become his wife? It seemed longer, yet he could remember that night like it had happened only yesterday. A month of joy like he'd never known before in his life.
He realized it was still early; it seemed a lot later for some reason. All the excitement, he supposed.
Excitement. His breath caught in his throat. How could he think of it like that after what happened? He put a knee on the window seat, put an arm against the tall window and rested his forehead against it. Reaching up, he worked the pin out of his cravat with nerveless fingers, and let the expensive sapphire fall to the window seat. With those same nerveless fingers, he pulled the cravat from around his neck then worked open the top buttons of his shirt. He felt flushed so he opened the window to let the autumn air in.
As the cool wind washed over him, it brought with it the sounds of the city beyond the palace walls. The wing in which they were staying backed up against those walls; on the other side was a well-to-do residential area. He could hear laughter and music; someone else was having a party tonight it seemed. Unaware of the tragedy that had occurred in the palace, life went on out there. He envied them the ignorance; he desperately wished he could forget it as easily as he could other things.
He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the sounds but couldn't quite manage it. He breathed in the crisp, cool air, hoping it would help ease the headache he was developing. Shifting his arm, he rested his forehead against the cold glass.
Suddenly he went cold. His eyes snapped open and his head jerked back. The sounds of the party on the other side of the wall crystallized in the night. The music that had been playing changed and he recognized it: Moondance. "Oh gods no..." he whispered as his chest constricted. The overwhelming emotion that he'd been holding at bay forced its way upward in the form of choking sobs. With a roar of rage, he slammed shut the window and pushed away from the window seat. He stumbled and came up heavily against the casement. Leaning against it, he let his head fall back as his grief overtook him. His fists clenched at his sides and his face twisted as the tears poured down his face. He slid down the wall and sat with his knees drawn up and wept.
When he could weep no more, he just sat there, staring into the darkness. He'd failed and Lina was gone. Over and over in his mind, he kept repeating the scene, analyzing it and wondering what had gone wrong. What could he have done differently to prevent Xellos from taking Lina?
Xellos...The name filled him with rage as overwhelming as the grief that had recently gripped him. Pushing himself away from the wall, he jumped to his feet. Ripping off his waistcoat, he caught up his sword and hurried out of the apartment.
He nearly ran through the hallways towards the practice yards. He startled a maid, but paid her no mind; there was only one thing on his mind right now. He had to do something to alleviate this rage.
The practice yards were deserted, just as the hallways of the palace had been. That was fine; he didn't want an audience anyway. Pulling his sword from its scabbard, he tossed the scabbard aside and marched into the yards where the practice mannequins were set up. He gripped his sword tightly in both hands; too tightly, part of his mind told him. His form was all off; this was not the way someone of his skill faced an enemy.
Ignoring that voice, he raised his sword over his head and with a mighty yell, he brought it down on the mannequin, slicing it lengthwise. Before it had a chance to fall, he slashed again, and again, cutting each of the two long pieces into three. The sacking, straw and leather fell at his feet.
It wasn't enough. He moved to the next mannequin, and slashed again, again and again. Soon that mannequin lay in ruins at his feet as well. And again he moved on down the row of mannequins, imagining each one to be the purple-haired General Priest of Beast Master. Imagining this is what he could have - should have - done to him when he'd first appeared at the party.
Soon, at the very end of the line when the last mannequin had been reduced to an unrecognizable pile of debris, he let his sword fall to rest point downward on the ground. He panted and his hair fell over his eyes. Ashamed of his outburst, he let his hands fall open and his sword fell into the dust at his feet. Turning, he walked away from the destruction he'd wrought, leaving his sword behind - an unspeakable sin for a swordsman.
Back in the apartment, Gourry walked to the door to the bedroom and stopped with his hand on the knob. He couldn't go in there now. Instead, he turned and wandered over to the sofa in front of the fireplace. He found his frock coat; Zel or Amelia must have picked it up when they brought him back after everything had happened. Pulling it around his shoulders, he collapsed on the sofa and closed his eyes. Tears leaked out from underneath his thick lashes as he whispered, "Lina."
The room in which Xellos phased back into reality was dark. With a wave of his hand, the lights came up to reveal a sumptuously, if a bit gloomily, decorated room. The color scheme was black and red with a few touches of gold.
He looked at the black bubble that had appeared with him and smiled. She would fit in nicely here, he thought. If he could keep her from destroying the place, that is. Ah, well, that didn't matter; he could always recreate it in an instant if she did.
Wincing, he turned to mending his wounded shoulder. Damn that Gabriev, he thought. He never thought a mortal could have touched him. Indeed, no mortal should have been able to touch him. He was going to have to investigate this further, he thought, after he had dealt with Lina, however. He didn't want the swordsman showing up and ruining all the delicate work he was going to have to do to her.
The wound was no more than a physical one, and therefore easy for him to heal. Once that was done, he turned to the woman encased in glass. He passed his hand over the surface of the bubble, disabling certain keywords of the spell he'd used. It fell in pieces around her feet and dissolved into a black mist.
"Xellos!" she shouted as she was released from the spell. She gathered her power around her as she faced him. "Where am I?" she demanded. "Never mind! Take me back!"
"Now, now, Lina-san," he purred. Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his. "You only just got here. Why don't you stay a while; you may find you like it."
She jerked her hand out of his grasp. "Never!" she snapped. "I want to go back!"
Xellos' easy smile turned into one of annoyance. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen," he said softly.
"And why's that?" she asked, her own annoyance showing through.
"Because I want you, that's why," he said. He moved forward, caught her in his arms and kissed her.
Startled, she didn't have any time to react before he sent his consciousness into hers, seeking out all her memories of her guardian-turned-husband. A Word of Power would rip those memories from her consciousness.
She screamed and jerked away from him, resisting the power. He grimaced; he knew she was strong, but hadn't expected this to happen, hadn't expected her to cling as tightly as she did to the memory of the blonde idiot.
He tried again, harder this time. She fought him with her own power, pushing him back. He felt his grip on her slipping and desperately reached out for a tighter grip when she turned the attack on him.
Flinging up a barrier to protect himself, he slipped in his control and his power flooded through her. She stiffened then went limp in his arms. He lowered her to the floor and quickly checked her over; for a moment he was afraid he'd killed her. But she was still breathing and her heart was beating.
"Lina-san," he called softly, patting her face. "Wake up."
To his great relief, Lina opened her ruby eyes and blinked. She looked up at him with a questioning look.
"Are you okay, Lina-san?" he asked.
Her eyes were puzzled. "I don't know." She sat up and looked around, then at him. "Who are you?"
Startled, Xellos sat back on his heels. "You mean you don't know?" Had he gotten the wrong memories?
She shook her head. "No." She looked down at her hands and touched her face. "For that matter, who am I?"