"So, 'Dancer." Zelgadis said softly, his features highlighted by the shadows and flickering firelight.
"Zel... I... " Words failed her again and the tension between the two of them was almost tangible. 'Dancer took one hesitant step, then ran to him, flinging her arms around the chimera.
Zelgadis stood shocked for a moment, then tightened his arms around her, the relief breaking over him as intense as pain. He was forgiven. Completely forgiven. He closed his eyes and thanked whatever nameless gods watching over him. The months of wondering, of self doubt and self loathing were suddenly concluded in her one gesture. 'Dancer had forgiven him. For a time he held her, reveling in the sweet release, but gradually came to notice that his left shoulder was growing increasingly wet.
"Wh-what's wrong?" He asked as she sobbing quietly.
"I'm sorry." She wept. "I'm so sorry, I promised you I'd help you and I stopped you. I stopped you from getting your cure."
"Stop that right now." Zelgadis gave her a little shake. "You did what you had to. I can't fault you for that." 'Dancer wiped her face on a sleeve and searched his gaze.
"You don't hate me?" She asked in a small voice. Zelgadis stared at her in amazement. All these months, all his dark moments, and it hadn't occurred to him that she would feel terrible guilt about her choice. In a flash of hindsight he realized that he should have known that's exactly how she'd react, worrying to the point of making herself sick that she had made the wrong choice.
"I did, at first." He admitted, slowly. "But then I realized what you had saved me from, and I stopped." He didn't add that that was when he really started hating himself, but 'Dancer must have guessed because her sad eyes seemed to darken.
"I never blamed you." She hiccupped. Zelgadis smiled forlornly at her.
"You won't have." He pushed a lock of white hair out of her face and wondered what calamity prompted her to crop her singular vanity, her hair. "You've always understood me." He studied her for a long moment as she regained her composure, then asked the question he's been wanting to ask her since she embraced him.
"Er, negrita," She smiled a little at the term of endearment, "when did you get wings?"
Amelia went back to her room, a twist of emotions she wasn't sure she fully understood. First was anger, and it was directed at 'Dancer, who very freely did what Amelia had wanted to do for a long time, comfort Zelgadis. Second was horrible guilt, for having spied on them in the first place, followed by something that could only be described as nausea, the sort that comes with knowing some terrible secret. Except she didn't really know what the secret was, only that it had been something that had clearly scarred the two in the common room. Rolling over in bed she tried hard not to cry, telling herself sternly that she knew Zelgadis had what her sister Garcia would have called 'a history'... somehow she never thought that it would have included another woman. Tears trickled down into the pillow as the young princess prayed vainly for sleep.
"Morning Amelia! Gee, you look awful. Are you feeling okay?" Lina asked when Amelia came down to breakfast the following morning. The princess didn't say anything, just sat down between Lina and Gourry and fiddled with her porridge.
Across the room there was a choked gasp as one man tried to fight the honey he had been pouring into his porridge. The sweetener had caught hold of the man's knife and was trying to attack him as he fended it off with his fork.
"Maybe it's just the altitude getting to you..." Lina tried again, although it was becoming increasingly obvious that the younger girl wasn't paying attention to what the sorceress was saying.
Behind her a plate shattered as the irate honey began throwing flatware, causing most of the people in the room to duck for cover.
"Excuse me, but has any of you seen-" A saucer of cream caught Selena squarely in the face as she approached the table where Lina, Gourry and Amelia were sitting.
"Oh for crying out loud, can't you people even take care of one measly enchanted condiment?" Lina shouted, handing Selena a napkin to wipe the dairy off her face. Her cat leapt up onto her shoulder and tried to lend a helping tongue.
"What were you saying?" Lina asked the brunette.
"I was wondering if you'd seen my companion 'Dancer." Selena tolerated the white cat for all of several seconds before shooing it off her shoulder.
"What does she look like?" Gourry asked.
"A little taller than me, white hair, a cloak of feathers." Selena responded. "We were sharing a room but she didn't come back last night." Selena glanced at Amelia who had dropped her spoon.
The honey, now surrounded by several children armed with spoons, tried to make a dash for the door.
"I know who she is, I met her yesterday afternoon." Lina said, thinking. "But I haven't seen her since.
"That's funny, Zel didn't go to bed last night either." Gourry remarked. Amelia made a strangled noise and Selena looked at her a second time, this time frowning.
"Freeze arrow!" The honey was caught squarely by the ice spell and promptly froze in place.
"I'll take care of it Pemba." Called a tired voice across the commotion. Selena and Amelia turned recognizing the voice.
"'Dancer! Great timing! I was just going to go looking for you-who's that?" Selena had rushed over to her companion, but stopped short when she spotted Zelgadis standing next to her. 'Dancer, who was putting the frozen honey into a lidded jar, smiled wearily at her friend.
"Selena, I'd like to introduce you to - "
"Zelgadis-san, you spent the entire night with HER?" Amelia stood with one foot firmly planted on the table top as she glowered down at the chimera, the air around positively shimmered from the heat of her anger. The dining room fell silent. Lina and Gourry looked at each other, flabbergast as 'Dancer and Zelgadis stared at the furious princess. Selena meanwhile turned an unusual shade of red before she hauled off and punched Zelgadis with all the strength she could muster. Then she turned on 'Dancer and shouted.
"What the nine hells is wrong with you? He's the one who broke your heart!" Still seething she pushed past them, as Zelgadis raised a hand. 'Dancer placed a restraining hand on Zelgadis's arm and shook her head slightly.
"First you break innocent hearts and then you spend all night doing who knows what with strangers!" Amelia, Lina noticed, was really getting wound up for one of her LONGER justice speeches. "Zelgadis-san, though we have been travel companions all thi-"
"¡SILENCO!" 'Dancer pointed a finger at Amelia, and amazingly the raven-haired girl fell mute. Zelgadis sighed as the incensed princess began jumping up and down in frustration.
"Cool spell! Will you teach me it?" Lina asked, causing Amelia's jaw to drop.
"Perhaps. May I suggest we adjourn for the time being to my room?" 'Dancer asked, running a gloved hand through her hair.
"Sure." Lina agreed as Gourry wolfed down his breakfast. 'Dancer looked around at the room until she found the face she needed.
"Pemba, if you could kindly see that their food comes to my room?" The innkeeper bobbed her head and 'Dancer lead the way up the stairs, ignoring the stares of the people around them.
Lina ribbed Zelgadis as they marched up the stairs.
"What?" Zelgadis asked shortly.
"You sly dog, not only do you find a pretty girl to spend the night with, you find one with the ability to shut Amelia up." Lina said with a wicked grin.
"Baka! That's not what happened!" Zelgadis snarled at the redhead as Amelia began ineffectively pounding on him. 'Dancer opened the door to her room and waited for the group to file in before she followed, shutting the door behind her.
"Princess, if you promise not to yell I will release the spell." 'Dancer said, as the group made themselves comfortable on the two beds and several chairs scattered around the room. Amelia shot her a dark look, but nodded stiffly.
"Vaya."
Amelia gave a slight yelp as the spell broke.
"Who are you? And where were you last night?!"
"Should have left her gagged." Lina said from her seat on a bed.
"Lina-san! You're so mean!"
"Enough. Let's just get this over with." Zelgadis said in a disgusted tone.
"Sounds good to me." 'Dancer said glancing around. "I know you already, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, and of course Zelgadis." She smiled briefly at him. "And Selena apparently made your acquaintance yesterday."
"Eh? She did?" Gourry asked.
"The lemonade incident." Lina reminded him.
"Oh, her."
"I'm 'Dancer Saisan." 'Dancer continued. "And before you start up again Princess, nothing happened last night that was ...improper."
"So why did you have your arms around him?" Amelia scowled. Lina and Gourry looked on with interest.
"Because she's my sister." Zelgadis said with thinly veiled anger.
"She's your WHAT?" Amelia, Lina and Gourry shouted. There was a knock at the door and Pemba entered with a large tray of food. 'Dancer wandered over to the window and looked out as the others got their food. A warm mug was offered her, and she took it from the innkeeper's son, who winked at her.
"Imp." She said, ruffling his hair. He just ducked and grinned, following him mother out of the room. The others waited for them to leave, then Lina asked,
"Why didn't you tell us sooner that you had a sister Zel-kun?"
"We didn't part on the best of terms." Zelgadis said as 'Dancer sipped her warmed milk.
"If you're siblings, how come you don't have the same last name?" Amelia demanded.
"Amelia!" Lina bonked the princess.
"It's a fair question." 'Dancer said mildly, walking over and pulling a chair up next to the raven-haired girl.
"Different mothers." She pointed to Zelgadis with her mug. "My little brother here is legitimate heir to the name Greyweyrs. I'm not." She smiled faintly at Amelia's horrified look as she took another sip from her cup.
"Bu-but where did you go that kept you out all last night?" Amelia sputtered.
"To see if there was a copy of the Clair Bible in the Order's library." Zelgadis said sourly. "Which there isn't, but they let us have the run of the library to see if we couldn't find my cure in another book." He glared at Amelia. "You know, the cure I'm looking for."
"I'm sorry." Amelia said softly, turning bright red.
"Forget about it." 'Dancer waved her free hand. "The important thing is that we while we didn't find Zel a cure, we did find a cure for Kendar."
"Who's Kendar?" Gourry asked, looking mystified from behind his pile of plates.
"The innkeeper's son with the busted leg, jellyfish brains." Lina snapped, then looked at 'Dancer. "I thought he couldn't be cured."
"He can and with the princess's help, will be, just as soon as I get some rest. Zel can fill you in on the details." 'Dancer yawned. "Sorry 'bout that. Do you mind terribly if I get some shut eye now? I've been squishing too much into my days. ...You can leave your dirty dishes in here, the cleaning staff will pick them up later." She added, seeing Gourry try to pick up a precarious load.
As they filed out, Zelgadis lingered for a moment more.
"You don't mind that I told them that you're my sister?" He asked her softly in Spanish. 'Dancer shook her head.
"It's easier than explaining what really happened. Besides, we're family in all but blood. ¿sí?" She grinned at him, then pushed him out into the corridor. He stopped her from closing the door.
"And Selena?"
"What about her?"
"Why did she hit me?"
"Diosa." 'Dancer sighed and sagged against the doorframe. "Just stay out of her way for the time being. I'll talk to her when she's healed her hand."
"Her hand?" Zelgadis looked puzzled.
"She broke it when she punched you. Didn't you hear the bones snap?" 'Dancer gave him a bemused smile. "Why do you think I stopped you? She's going to be in enough pain once she calms down."
"What's her problem?" Zelgadis pressed. 'Dancer's smile slipped.
"It's a long story - but the short of it is that she saw me when I had some... waking nightmares, for lack of a better name. She doesn't know what happened between us, only that it hurt me. "'Dancer sighed, seeing the look of pain in his expression. "Listen, I don't blame you, so don't think like that. Selena's just ...herself. I'm sorry." 'Dancer brushed his overlong bangs out of his face. "Please don't accept any challenges from her, she knows just enough magic to be a danger to everyone around her." She smiled encouragingly at him. "Please?"
"Fine." Zelgadis sighed, then frowned at her. "But if she hits me again - "
"You can show her the error of her ways." 'Dancer rubbed her shoulder. "Will you come by and make sure I'm up by sunset?" Zelgadis nodded.
"Dulces sueños." He wished her, before joining the others waiting patiently at the head of the stairs.
"So that's all she needs for the ritual?" Lina asked as Zelgadis outlined 'Dancer's plan. Zelgadis nodded.
"She's really leaving the lion's share of the work to Amelia." Lina pointed out, fiddling with a spoon. Zelgadis shrugged.
"How do you feel about that?" Lina asked the princess.
"It's a simple enough spell. I don't mind doing that." Amelia said, resting her chin on her hands. "But why doesn't she cast it herself?"
"Because she's not miko trained, and doesn't understand the intricacies of holy magic." And because anything stronger than that silencing spell will make her sick. Zelgadis added mentally.
"Oi, Zel, who would she have used if Amelia wasn't here?" Gourry asked, pushing away his last plate. The others stared at him in amazement.
"Nanio? Why are you looking at me?"
"It's just an intelligent question, that's all..." Lina said, a little unnerved.
"Selena probably, since the locals are terrified to try anything." Zelgadis glanced at Amelia. "But she'd prefer to use your experience, seeing as it's much more expansive."
"Trying to butter her up?" Lina asked, earning a glare from Zelgadis.
"Those are her words, not mine." He said icily.
"Ok, ok!" Lina held up her hands. "But she doesn't need us until moonrise, ne? Then let's check out something Xelloss told me in the meantime." Lina recounted her conversation with the Trickster Priest to the others.
"Entropy Peak?" Amelia asked mournfully. "That's the biggest mountain in High Pass! It'll take more than a day to search even a small part of it."
"It might not be a good idea to go exploring with Amelia needing her strength for tonight." Zelgadis pointed out.
"Which why we aren't going today." Lina said, beaming at the others. "But you might have noticed, this place is crawling with pilgrims. One of them must have noticed something as they circumambulated the mountain."
"Er, it's a good idea Lina-san, but no one makes a pilgrimage around Entropy Peak." Amelia said softly.
"Eh? Why not?" Lina asked.
"Because Entropy Peak symbolizes all that is negative in humanity. No one takes a pilgrimage to focus on negativity, it's bad for karma." Amelia elucidated.
"Nani? Surely someone, a dark wizard or confused pilgrim has walked around it." Lina argued.
"Maybe..." Amelia didn't sound too hopeful.
"Come on Amelia, we're never going to know if we don't ask." Gourry said. "It can't hurt to try."
"You're right." Amelia smiled weakly.
"We should probably spilt up to cover more ground." Lina mused. "Gourry and I'll check the taverns nearest the road from Entropy Peak, you two should check with the main temple and see if any of the mikos or priests know anything."
Amelia brightened at the prospect of being alone with Zelgadis, until he stood up.
"Fine. We'll meet back here for dinner." His demeanor was nothing short of professional, and Amelia felt her heart sink even lower. He still hadn't forgiven her.
'Dancer woke, feeling something heavy draped over her legs. Cracking an eyelid she saw that it was in fact two somethings, and they were grinning at her. Twisting around on the bed she looked at them.
"What are you two pups grinning about?" She asked the two. They rolled off the bed so she could sit up, and she took the opportunity to scrutinize them carefully. Identical in appearance they looked like 14 year old girls, if 14 year olds had fluffy wolf ears and three tails a piece. The only difference between them was the color of their fur and clothes.
Arcadia, dressed in yellow and with russet fur, winked at her sister Avalon, who had silver fur and wore blue.
"Good news or bad news?"
"Ai... good." 'Dancer knew better than to ask for the bad new first - it was usually something painful in nature that the good news never really made up for.
"We found it, AND it's vacant."
"Really? Excellent! We'll go shortly after moonrise." 'Dancer was on her feet, her wings extended before she realized what she was doing. Avalon's smile faded and shook her head.
"S'not a good idea, 'cuz we aren't the only ones here seeking it."
'Dancer sat back down, and folded her wings down over her shoulder so they looked very much like a cloak.
"Who's the other?" She asked, noting the serious demeanor settling on the two daemons.
"Uncle." Arcadia said softly. 'Dancer shut her eyes for a moment and counted to 10. Then she opened them again and the twins saw anger in her gaze.
"What is he doing here?" She all but spit out.
"Oh, I just thought I'd drop in and visit with my nieces."
There was a scuffle as both daemons dove for cover behind 'Dancer as she turned to face the owner of the voice.
"Guarda." A faint shimmering wall sprang up between the trio and a purple haired priest.
"That's not very nice Wings-chan." Xelloss said smiling at her. "Someone might think that you aren't very please to see me." He let his eyes show dangerously.
"You're not exactly welcome, Trickster Priest. Why are you after Mafellu's Lab?" 'Dancer responded softly.
"Oh, this time I believe you'll be pleased to know that you already know the answer." Xelloss said, smiling even as he held her gaze. 'Dancer fumbled mentally before she realized what he meant.
"Diosa - Lina?! But there's no Claire Bible there - "
"Which you will not tell Lina. Nor will you tell her who I am." Xelloss informed her.
"And what is stopping me?" 'Dancer asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just this." Xelloss reached out with his staff and tapped the shield. It collapsed as Xelloss stepped up to 'Dancer and grabbed her the throat. Avalon and Arcadia cowered back whimpering as 'Dancer gagged.
"I will hunt you and the 'pups' to the ends of this world if you let either fact slip. And I'll enjoy it." He said with a wolfish grin.
"¡Bastardo!" 'Dancer hissed, the world growing dim.
"Do we have an understanding?" He asked, his features slipping back into their habitual smile. 'Dancer hated herself for it, but she agreed.
"Good! It was a pleasant visit, girls." He nodded to the twins as he dropped 'Dancer, then vanished. 'Dancer bit back a yelp of pain as the twins lifted her onto the bed.
"That jerk. Why'd he have to show up now?" She groused as Arcadia cast recovery.
" 'Dancer-dono, don't move!" Arcadia chided. 'Dancer sighed and laid still.
"Avalon, where's Selena?" She finally asked.
"The temple Library."
"Can you go get her?"
The blue garbed daemon shook her head.
"We can't step foot on the temple grounds. They're too charged."
"Sorry, I forgot." 'Dancer shut her eyes for a moment considering her options.
"Fine, we stick to the original plan." She sat up despite the disapproving look it earned her from Arcadia. "We'll need to be quick. Can you pick me up as soon as the sealing ritual gets underway?" The twins nodded.
"Good. My coin pouch is on the table over there-go fill your bellies in the meantime." 'Dancer laid face down and tried to ignore the pain as the twins left.