Lina Inverse sat on the stairway of the castle, staring blankly at the lake in front of her.
She sighed deeply.
"Hurry up, Xelloss, and get back here." She muttered.
No sooner than she had spoken then the mazoku priest arrived.
"Did you get it?"
"I did."
"Did he put up a fight?"
"At first. But I was able to persuade him to give in."
"Good job, Xel."
Xelloss bowed low "Anything for you, Miss Lina."
He hands her a small object and Tele-ports away.
Lina is left alone, holding the object in her hand.
When Lina came back to the campsite, Zelgadiss was the only one still awake.
"Where have you been?" he asked her, looking up from the fire.
"None of your business." She said sharply, lying down on the ground.
"You were with Xelloss, weren't you?"
"I said none of your business!!"
Zelgadiss sighed and stood up. With out another word, he left the area.
As soon as he had gone, Lina took the object from her pocket.
She knew that this thing held some kind of power, but she didn't know what.
She yawned softly. I must be tired, she said to herself, closing her eyes.
When she woke up, it was morning. The object was still clasped in her hand.
Amelia was munching away at a piece of fish, and Gourry was cooking more fish, since the first batch was already being finished off. What the...? Gourry can't cook...can he?
Lina sat up. Shoving the object into her pocket, Lina got up and headed to where the food was.
"Lina! You're up!" exclaimed Gourry, putting a fish on a plate and handing it to her.
What the hell? Gourry knows I eat more than this! What's going on?
Lina accepted the fish and ate it. Then she wandered off to go find herself some more food.
Fishing at the lake, she took the object from her pocket and gazed at it thoughtfully. "What is this thing? What is its power?" She sighed deeply. "There must be something...important, something special about it that I'm missing. But what?"
"Hey Lina." Said a voice, disrupting her thoughts
"What?!" she replied angrily, annoyed at being disturbed. She whirled around to see Zelgadiss standing there, looking somewhat offended. "Gee, sorry." He said coldly. "I didn't know I was interrupting anything important. He turned to go. "Wait Zel!" Lina called, running after him. "What?" he stopped but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry Zel. I was just thinking and I wasn't even paying attention. Really, please don't be offended." Zel blinked and looked at her. "It's okay, Lina. I over reacted." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Lina smiled. "What did you want, anyways?" "Well I've decided to give up looking for a cure." "You what?! Why?" "Well think about it. Every lead I go after has been false and if I ever DO become human again, I'll be weak and helpless. I think it's wiser that I just cope with being a chimera." Lina frowned. "Well it's your choice, but I think you're giving up your dream too easily. For all you know, your cure could be waiting for you in the next town and you could be human again within the next two days." "I seriously doubt that, Lina. I've been searching for four years and have come up empty handed. Do you really think that the next two days are really going to be much different?" "I'm just saying 'Don't give up'. Maybe not..." she coughed. "Obsess over it so much, but don't let it slip by." Zel smiled. "I guess that sounds fair." Lina returned the smile. "Come on. I'll go get you some coffee." Zel made a face. "That stuff is bad for you. How about something more healthy? Like...Juice." Lina face faulted. "You don't like coffee anymore? I thought you loved coffee!" Zelgadiss frowned. "Uh...no." he smiled at her. "I think you've been working too hard. You should get some more rest." "Right, Zel." What the hell was going on? Every one had gone bananas! Except Xelloss. This was probably his doing. Lina sighed and followed Zel back to the campsite. Xelloss, if this is your doing, you are going to be one dead Mazoku.
"Amelia-san!" Zelgadiss exclaimed, glomping Amelia and hugging her tightly. Amelia shrieked. "Get away from me! Help! Somebody get this chimera off of me! I am the high princess of Saillunne! Back off or you'll pay with your life!" Zelgadiss whimpered and reluctantly released Amelia. "Why do you turn me away?" he whined, looking extremely pathetic. "You must love me as much as I love you." Amelia growled and whapped him with a piece of firewood, knocking him over. "Get real, you dumb rock. I'm a princess. Don't you think I'm a little bit out of you're league?"
((Authors note: Yes, I DID get that quote from Disney & Pixar's "A bug's life"))
Zelgadiss whimpered. "But I care about you so much! Can't you see that?" Amelia threw the log at him. Lina face faulted again. "Uh...Amelia? Are you feeling okay?" Amelia glared at her. "Shut up, Lina. You just want me to love him so that you can have Gourry for yourself. Well its not going to work, is it, Gourry dear?"
Gourry frowned. "Amelia, I'm married. You know that!" Sylphiel zipped up beside Gourry. "Yeah really, Quit hitting on my husband, you dumb slut." Amelia growled. "Shut up, bitch! He loves me! He only married you because you're legal." "Like hell he loves you! My husband isn't a pedophile!" Amelia glared at Sylphiel and Sylphiel returned the glare. Gourry sweat dropped and held Sylphiel back before she could attack Amelia. Zelgadiss, seeing the opportunity, held Amelia back before she could attack Sylphiel.
Lina blinked. "Okay okay, what the heck is going on here?" "Why, it would appear that Amelia and Sylphiel are having another fight over Gourry." Lina whirled around. "Xelloss!" she face faulted when she saw him. "What on earth?!?" he smiled at her innocently. He was wearing a pink tuxedo and sucking on a lollypop. He wore a pink cowboy hat laced with flowers on his head and carried a funny looking cane with a jeweled heart on the tip.
Zelgadiss looked over and made a squeal of delight. "YAAAAAAAAY!!!! It's Xelly!!!" he released Amelia and ran towards Xelloss, glomping him and hugging him tightly. Xelloss grinned and returned the favor. "How is my little Zel-chan?" he asked, lifting Zel's chin up with his fingertip so he could look into the chimera's eyes. Zelgadiss giggled. "oh Xelly, I've missed you." Lina growled and stormed up to Xelloss, grabbing his ear and twisting it, causing him to whimper in pain. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" she demanded. She yanked him off into the woods before he could protest.
Gourry frowned. "I wonder what Lina's so upset about?" "Who cares?" Zelgadiss said, grinning "I got the lolly!"
"Just what the hell is going on?!" Lina demanded, shoving Xelloss so hard he bumped into a tree. He smiled innocently. "What ever do you mean, Lina-chan?" "You know very well what I mean! Amelia and Sylphiel fighting over Gourry, Amelia rejecting Zelgadiss while he dotes on her, Your stupid get-up!" she gestured to his tuxedo and hat. "What is going on!" Xelloss grinned and moved closer to her. "Don't you understand? I'm the Candy Man. I bring joy and happiness to the world." He raised his eyebrow. "I'd like to know what's wrong with you. You're not acting yourself. Normally you wouldn't even be wearing any clothes by now." Lina growled angrily and stormed off, leaving a somewhat confused Candy Man blinking. "Where are you going?" he called after her. She didn't answer.
Lina sighed. "This whole mess must have something to do with this...object I got from Xelloss. Normal Xelloss, that is. It must have altered reality and mirrored everybody's persona or maybe I was just sent into another dimension." She moaned and massaged her temples. "How do I stop it?" she asked herself, on the verge of crying. "How do I change them back into my friends again?"
She pulled out the object and looked at it again. It was a beautiful talisman, the center stone a deep blue. Runes surrounded the stone, but they were not runes she could read. Did the previous owner have such difficulty with this cursed thing? "Did he put up a fight?" "At first. But I was able to persuade him to give in." What did Xelloss mean by that? Did the owner try to stop him because he knew it reversed reality? Or did Xelloss just threaten to kill him until he handed it over? Should she destroy it? Would it save her friends? Or would it trap them in this state of insanity? Lina screamed in anger and dropped the talisman. "If reason won't let me destroy this damn thing, anger will!"