Both Zelgadis and Zel crashed to the floor. The fountain that supposedly had a cure to both the chimera's curses, was all dried up.
"NOOOOO!!!!! WHY?!?!?" Zel whined in a very annoying voice. He dropped his dead in disappointment. Zelgadis was just silent and chose not to speak.
Rena stepped up the fountain in the center of the temple. She frowned. So the fountain dried up? It was fine the last time I was here, but then again that was a long time and the temple followers hadn't mysteriously disappeared at that time. With no person to tend to the fountain I guess it isn't surprising that the water's gone. But I would have at least thought that there should have been at least a little bit left.
"My how interesting... so it dried it huh?" Xellos grinned peering at the fountain.
"Why did the fountain dry up?"
"There hasn't been anyone to tend to this place so it dried up as a result. Well in any case there's no sense sticking around here, how about we go and leave now?" Rena suggested just the ground rumbled below them making noises. A dark black liquid spurted out of the fountain.
"What the...?"
Everyone blinked in surprise at the fountain.
"So the fountain didn't dry up?" Zelgadis went to approach the fountain but Rena stopped him.
"All of you stay away from the water!" Rena yelled getting everyone to back up.
"Miss Rena what's wrong?"
"That's not the curing water of this temple! The water is supposed to be clear." Rena glared at the black water. It seemed to shine like black gold. Damnit I know I was told about something like this before! But what was it?
"Then what's that stuff?"
"I'm not sure..."
From just outside one of the other passages that led to the center of the temple the same person that had been following the group since they entered the temple stood silently and unnoticed watching them.
So they managed to get to my lovely fountain of death. The person looked over to his minions and without speaking told them what he wanted them to do. I have to make sure that those brats don't mess around with my dark spring. I wouldn't my power supply to suddenly disappear on me. Though I bet some of those brats would make perfect additions to my little dead army.
Rena frowned looking back at the water. She had never seen something like it before and she didn't like the evil energy that the dark liquid seemed to radiate.
"Well I would say 'let's try investigating it' but something tells me that might not be a good idea." Lina half-heartedly joked. "I know let's shove Xellos or Zeros in the water! Because at least if it does something to humans it won't affect either of them because they are both monsters."
Xellos and Zeros both sweatdropped.
"Miss Lina you can't be serious! And what if it does something bad to Mister Xellos or Mister Zeros?"
"So what if something bad happens? It's not like I'd care anyway." Lina smugly smiled at the said monsters.
Both Zel and Zelgadis laughed at that with evil grins.
Rena just shook her head. She was going to comment on what Lina said only she sensed that something was coming at her from behind on her right side. Rena dodged just to be missed by a hair by a large black blade that had been thrown at her.
Everyone got into battle ready stances, but their adversaries were nowhere to be seen. The all looked around cautiously without making a sound.
Rena narrowed her eyes at her surroundings. Normally if there was a living creature near her then she'd sense its presence. What's going on here? What are we being attacked by? Rena looked up and saw a figure hanging from the ceiling. "Everyone up above!"
Everyone jumped out of the way the figure came swooping down. When it landed more figures surrounded it that seem to appear out of nowhere. Upon a closer look Lina and the others could see that the things attacking them were people.
"Why are you attacking us?!" Lina demanded at the people but they didn't seem to hear her and they continued to attack.
Amelia got herself ready to cast a fireball only when she casted it nothing happened. She tried a few different spells but only to the same effect. None of her magic was working.
"Hey?! What's going on?! Why doesn't me magic work!?" Amelia cried out.
"Since this room was sacred to the people of the temple there's a barrier that prevents people from casting offensive magic."
"Great now she tells us." Lina muttered under her breath. Lina went to draw her sword just to remember that she didn't have it anymore. Oh isn't this nice. Oh well guess I'll have to do this the hard way. And Lina punched one of the guys who was attacking her only to find that he was unaffected by her punch. What the hell?! Don't they feel pain?!
Rena dodged another attack and was about to fight back when she recognized the person she was about to hit. All Rena could do was stare in shock and because she let her guard down she got hit from behind and was smashed forward into a wall. Rena got to her feet and turned around to see all the people that her group was fighting with. Each one of those mindless people fighting Lina and the others were the former followers of the temple.
What's going on here?!??! "Lina! These people, they are the temple followers!" Rena yelled out to everyone.
"What?!"
Lina and the others jumped back and looked over to Rena.
"What do you mean these guys are the temple followers?! Didn't those guys mysteriously disappeared a while back?" Lina asked while parrying attacks.
"I know they did, but I recognize them. These are the people who used to run the temple."
"Then what the hell is wrong with them?! They don't seem to hear anything or think at all, like they are puppets or something!"
"Well Miss Lina you might find this interesting but the people you are fighting are in fact dead." Xellos said with a smile as he floated over Lina's head.
Dead? Rena looked over to the fountain and then she remembered what she had been told. "Dark evil water that turns people into mindless, soulless zombies who are controlled by the person who corrupted the once pure healing water."
"That is correct my dear." A voice spoke from the shadows. All the zombies stopped fighting as a man wearing a dark green cloak emerged from the shadows. The man's face was deathly pale and his eyes beady and glimmering with evil mischief. "But the water can also give a man immortality to a certain degree from the souls that it absorbs." The man darkly chuckled.
Once Rena saw the man's face she knew exactly who he was. His name was Seth Tasar. He was one of the temple followers along with all the others. Rena remembered Tasar very well because he didn't act like all the others. He seemed like he was up to something and none of the other temple followers realized that Tasar wasn't a trustworthy individual.
"So you are the person responsible for all this?!" Lina glared at Tasar.
"Yes I am. These unsuspecting fools didn't realize a thing until it was too late. But I have to say I'm surprised that anyone would know about my dark water." Tasar looked over to Rena with curiosity.
Rena was afraid that Tasar would recognize her and expose her but luckily Tasar didn't seem to remember her.
"Well I know a lot of things that many don't."
"That's interesting. It's going to be a shame to waste a such a mind but oh well." Tasar evilly grinned and all of a sudden his zombies started to attack again. While everyone was being preoccupied with fighting Tasar raised his hands and some of the dark water from the fountain rose into the air and surrounded him. With a movement of his hands, Tasar shot some of the floating water towards Amelia.
"Amelia look out!" Rena screamed.
Amelia looked up and jumped out of the way. "AHHHH!!!! That was close!"
"Everyone, don't let Tasar get you with the water!" Rena warned everyone. Damnit we aren't going to get anywhere fighting like this! All the attacks we do have barely any effect on them that's if we get any direct attacks on them anyway. But since Tasar is the one controlling all I need is to get him down. That's provided I get at him without him getting me with the water. Rena considered the options and decided to go for it. She knocked down a few of the zombies and using her speed she snuck up behind Tasar for an attack.
The zombies who Lina and the others were fighting all of a sudden fell to the ground and disappeared. Everyone looked over to Tasar and they saw that he was laying on the ground with Rena standing over him. Rena pulled her sword out of Tasar's now dead body and as she did Tasar's body disappeared just like the zombies did.
"Well I guess that's over." Zelgadis commented looking around.
Rena just sighed and put her sword back in its sheath.
"Miss Lina! Look at the fountain!" Ameria pointed over to the water. Everyone went and looked to see that the once black water was now crystal clear.
"It's back to normal again?!?! Meaning it's not cursed and it should work now!"
Zel and Zelgadis looked at each other and went to splash themselves with the water. Rena just shook her head. Boy are they going to be in for one big disappointment.
Both chimeras looked at their hands to see that it hadn't worked. Both chimeras crashed to the ground in disappointment.
"What the cure doesn't work?"
"Of course it didn't work Amelia. Just because the water isn't cursed anymore doesn't mean that it has the healing properties that it had before. There was two reasons why this fountain's water had healing properties. One because of it's location, the magical properties to this area affect the water. And two because of the people that ran the temple. With their prayers and magic they made the water healing in nature. Though the people where half the reason the water was healing in nature it should still return to it's healing properties eventually after awhile from the surrounding area." Rena said sagely while leaning against the wall.
"So it will become healing water later on?" Zelgadis and Zel looked at Rena hopefully.
"Yeah..."
"How long?"
"Oh a couple..."
"A couple what? Days? Weeks? Months?"
"...of centuries..."
Both chimeras facefaulted.
"Oh well even if the fountain had its' healing water there's no saying that it would cure both of you. It heals people, but it doesn't heal everything."
Both chimeras sighed.
"Rena is there anything else to see in here?" Lina asked Rena with a somewhat greedy glint to her eyes.
"Like what?" Rena looked at her suspiciously with a raised eyebrow.
"Like I don't know... anything valuable?"
"You mean like treasure?"
"Yeah something like that..."
Everyone sweatdropped.
"Well Lina..." Geeze kinda greedy isn't she? I wonder was I ever greedy like that when I was like her? Hmm... Rena mentally smiled.
"Yeah?"
"No there isn't."
Lina lowered her head in disappointment.
"Anyway I think it's about time that we left this place. So what do you guys say? You want to leave now?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and they started to go back the way they came.
On the way Rena slowed down so that she was the last one in the group and the farthest behind. She stopped to squeeze out the dark water that had gotten splashed on her earlier when she had gone to attack Tasar. I was sure lucky that the water didn't have any effect on me or I'd be one dangerous zombie. Rena smirked to herself and stretched out her somewhat sore arm before catching up with the group.