All people in this story are made up, the department store is made up, and none of the events that happen in the story ever transpired in real life.
'Dancer smiled and waved at Tiffany as she walked in the door of CJ Nickel. Tiffany smiled back, busy working as switchboard during pre-business hours. 'Dancer glanced at the clock in her department across the way from Catalog. AY! I'm late! Sprinting up the still stilled escalator she made it to the fourth floor in 8 seconds flat. Hitting the employee level in a dead run she held out her time badge, swiping it through the checking in computer without even pausing. Almost colliding with the lounge door as it opened she apologized profusely to Veronica, the hiring manager, for her inexcusable tardiness. Veronica smiled tolerantly and introduced her to the new employee.
" 'Dancer, this is Zelgadis. He'll be working in Shoes, but I need you to show him around down there." 'Dancer shook hands with the purple haired young man and smiled. "Shoes esta facil, I worked there before they moved me downstairs to Watch Repair. You already badged in, no? Good, I start by showing you how ta open. Oye, do you have a tie? Mr. Vinegar, he's the jefe, he says all guy empleados havta wear ties. We best stop by Men's Accessories primero." Grabbing Zelgadis by the hand, she hurriedly lead him to the elevator. "We need ta hurry because the store opens soon." She said, punching the button for the first floor. As the elevator hummed Zelgadis reclaimed his hand from her. She scrutinized him for a moment, then shrugged. "Keep thinking I see you before somewhere . Maybe you shopped here before, si? No? Bueno, maybe elsewhere." The elevator stopped and she lead the way through the maze of the first floor to the tie rack. "Oye, Jordan, we got a newbee. He needs a tie, okay?" Jordan, a little oriental gentlemen, came out of the stock room and glanced at the new employee's dark brown suit and off white shirt. He reached over and pulled out plain brown tie that matched perfectly with the suit. 'Dancer glanced briefly at it once while she filled out the paperwork on the loan of the tie and nodded in agreement. "Ho-kay! We all set! Vamos Zel, we need ta open your dept." Zelgadis, slightly reeling from the speed which 'Dancer spoke and moved, mutely tried to keep up with her as she raced up the escalators to the third floor.
Once at the shoe department 'Dancer carefully (and more slowly) explained the finer points of setting up the register and locating certain shoes. Whenever he answered her questions correctly or made a particularly intelligent comment, she smiled and wondered again why he seemed so familiar. Surely someone with blue skin and a bepebbled face would be relatively easy to place, she thought briefly at one point before giving up all together. When Tiffany came on the intercom and announced that the store was open, 'Dancer patted Zelgadis's shoulder.
"I need ta go ta my departamento now. Pero, if you have some problemos, call me. My number is 852. Bob, the other shoe guy, will be here en half hour, 'k? Bueno. See ya!"
The morning was pretty busy for a Saturday, and it wasn't until she got her break that she thought about the new employee again. Wandering over to Shoes she was dismayed to see he was the only one in the department with a dozen customers. Going over to the register she began ringing up purchases and soothing angry customers as he searched for specific requests in the stock room. She smiled sympathetically at him when they were down to the last customer. "Where's Bob?" she asked, ringing up the total. Zelgadis frowned as he put the boxes into a bag. "He's at lunch." He handed the bag to the customer. "Have a nice day, ma'am. He took lunch without waiting for floater?" Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Idiota. He knows better." She grimaced and glanced at her watch, missing the troubled look that crossed Zelgadis's face. "If he does these again o you get too many peoples, call switchboard, just press 0, and ask for additional customer service. Someone come soon after ta help you. I gotta go back ta my departmento now." She called over her shoulder as she headed down the escalator.
Downstairs there was score of people waiting in line at Catalog. As she walked to her department, she noticed a small girl holding onto the leg of her mother. The girl's large coffee eyes silently took in what going on around her, and 'Dancer was struck by how much the girl looked like a child from her village in Colombia. Strange, the girl almost looked like her as a child. 'Dancer absently touched her own black hair, remembering.
" 'Dancer, if you don't have anybody, we could use your help." Candy, the catalog department manager, said from across the corridor. "Voy!" 'Dancer called back, glancing over a the crowded counter. Tiffany was helping two little old Japanese women as Candy handled an order for a Latino family. Shaylah and Alice were wrapping gifts and Randal was looking up another man's CJ Nickel's account. Standing in the middle of the corridor, arguing with Nelly, the customer service representative, was a man in a worn trenchcoat. 'Dancer mentally snorted. Arguing with Nelly was like ramming your head against a brick wall.
As she crossed the passageway, the man pulled a gun and pointed it at Nelly.
Time seemed to slow. Nelly backed sluggishly away, her eyes widened in fear. "Nnnnnnnnnoooooooo!" The gunman shoved one of the Japanese ladies to one side, waving his weapon around wildly as people screamed and ran for cover. Only the girl with the coffee eyes stood rooted in place, her mother gone. The gunman focused on her, aiming his weapon. 'Dancer moved slowly in front of her, fighting the quicksand of space as she pushed the girl away. A shot rang out and 'Dancer's body jerked, but she stayed upright. Shielding the child that was and wasn't her, she turned and faced the gunman. It was like trying to spin underwater. "Ultimately, when it comes down to it, there is no time to think, only to act." Sensai's words rang in 'Dancer's mind as a bullet slammed into her right shoulder. F-forgive me, Sensai she thought, reeling from the impacted of a third bullet. When it was time to act, I just stood there. She fell slowly, crumpling gracefully on top of the child with shaman's eyes. "Don't move." She whispered to the frightened child in her native tongue. "I'm your shield." The man stood over her, aiming at 'Dancer's head.
"Bbbbbbbbbbbbbblllllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssstttttt" The gunman turned slowly, swinging his gun around. 'Dancer saw the new employee, Zelgadis, dressed in strange wheat colored clothing, his cloak slowly flaring out behind him as he raised cupped empty hands. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh!" A beam of energy shot out from his hands and the gunman erupted in flames. As 'Dancer slipped into darkness, she wondered if Zelgadis was the guide to the next life.
'Dancer was alone in the darkness, wounded, perhaps even dying. Ragged breath after ragged breath was her only indication that she still existed. One brave tear lead the way for the deluge that followed and she shook uncontrollably, wracked by what she couldn't name, sadness the color of coffee eyes. Curled as she was in the fetal position, she noticed the strong arms that held her. Help me! Her mind screamed. Don't leave me alone!
"I'm here, child, I'm here." Words like gentle rain soaked through the turmoil and grief in her mind. The homey scent of moisture off the mountains, fresh turned earth, and sun baked jungle, eased the tremors and one by one her muscles unlocked and relaxed into the embrace of mother darkness.
Spent she slept.
" 'Dancer." A voice, low and urgent, whispered near her ear, roused her from the depths of slumber so deep it could be called death. " 'Dancer can you hear me?" Opening eyes used to darkness for so long was like seeing the world for the first time, so bright, so vibrant, so alive.
" 'Dancer." It was a prayer of thanks giving, murmured on the breath of a sigh. She looked at the owner of the voice. Pale blue skin, dark patches (of rock?), lilac hair, and large luminescent eyes, shining with relief.
"I know you." She said presently, touching his face with salt encrusted fingers. "You are, the guardian of the gateways of life?" She was faintly puzzled. He gripped her hand in his, pushing it away from his face. "No." He shook his head. "I'm Zelgadis. We've been traveling together. Remember?" She closed her eyes briefly, and felt the wide girth of the tree against her back. The sun was warm on her legs. "I am 'Dancer." She murmured, staring into the blue sky. "I...died." She gasped, and began quivering. "No! Please, don't-don't, please don't make me remember!" She wailed, even as the memories rushed back. She clenched her fists and Zelgadis grabbed them to keep her from beating them against the thorny bark of the tree. "NO! I don't want to remember! Just let me- just let me be a child!" She screamed, fighting him. Zelgadis picked her up and dropped her into an icy stream. The cold stunned her completely awake as the water threatened to choke her. Sitting up she coughed and sputtered. Finally in full command of her senses, she glared hatefully up at him. He returned her glare with an unflinching gaze.
"Damn it, Zelgadis, why? Why make me remember?" She spat, sloshing up onto the grassy bank.
"Why do you think?" He asked her as she sat down. Eyes flashing she wrung the water out of her braid, looking as though she wanted to be wringing his neck instead.
"In case you haven't noticed, I don't want to go home. I don't want to face that kind of pain ever again." Absently she rubbed her arm where the feathered serpent tattoo covered a scar. "Do they still hurt?" 'Dancer nodded, gently touching her shoulder. "I should have been dead." She said in a low voice. "I would have been if Alice hadn't hit him over the head with a register." She looked at the tattoo on her arm. "Quetzalcoatl, Phoenix, Cacica Iraca. I had them added to remind me to never give up. But damn it, Zel, it would have been a helluva lot easier without those memories." She stood.
"You'll need you full wits and memories if we've going to break this spell." He said blandly. Something about his calm demeanor frightened her.
"What spell?"
"Memory Loop." He smiled bitterly. "It's a spell that sends a person back to their worst experience. If the memory is bad enough, it can kill the victim. If not, it drives the person insane by repeating itself." 'Dancer shivered. "Why didn't it work on me?" Then she swallowed, her mouth gone dry. "You were there, you saw-" She looked at the ground, beset by confusion.
" 'Dancer, we're not out of this yet." She looked up at him, her face flushed.
"I don't understand." "We were both caught in the spell." He said, even as he underwent a miraculous transformation. "Since we survived your memory, it's my turn." His skin lighten to peach, his eyes turned green, his hair brown. "Wait! Zel! How do I break the spell!" Zelgadis's face was twisted in pain, as if unbecoming a chimera was as painful as being shot. "Change the memory. Don't let it repeat itself." He yanked out his sword.
"Don't fail! I couldn't control what happened last time, I don't think I can control it this time." 'Dancer stumbled away, aware that he no longer recognized her.
"I want to become strong. Strong. Strong." A young man practiced his sword strokes moving forwards five paces, then back five paces. Hiding in the trees off the path where he was practicing Chibi-chan watched her big brother. He's gonna be the best swordsman in the world! She thought excitedly. She hadn't been allowed to watch him in the past, so when she snuck after him today she had been extra careful not to been seen.
Giddy with the forbidden she didn't hear the first chiming of the strange man's staff. When Zelgadis turned suddenly, she leaned as far out to one side as she dared to get a good look at the intruder. His over robes were red, his undergarb white. Chibi-chan nearly gave herself away with her startled gasp. He was blind! Could he be...Rezo, the Red Priest and an ancestor of hers?
"Do you wish to be strong, Zelgadis?" He asked in a quiet, melodious voice. It was such a pretty voice, Chibi-chan thought, glancing at Zelgadis. She shivered when she saw the stricken look on her brother's face. Big brother Zel was afraid of Rezo? Zel wasn't afraid of anything! Rezo must be truly bad if big brother Zel was afraid of him.
"Help me search for the Philosopher's Stone, and I will grant you power beyond imagination." He pointed his staff at Zelgadis. Don't! Chibi-chan wanted to scream. But that would give her away, and then everyone would know that she'd run away from nanny. Shame rooted her to the spot as the stand off continued.
"Don't you want the power?" Rezo asked, in a concerned voice. No big brother, don't! Chibi-chan thought frantically to him. The look on his face changed from fearful to determined as he stared at the Red Priest. A smile crept over Rezo's face. He lowered his staff...
"Don't fail!" An anguished voice cried in her mind. Who was that? And 'Dancer, did it mean her? Who was she?!
"I am 'Dancer!" Memories, jumbled and confused as they were, flooded her mind. Unsteadily she stepped away from the tree. "Don't let it repeat!" 'Dancer looked wildly at Zelgadis. He stood facing the priest, the top of the priest's staff begining to glow red. 'Dancer blinked. Or was the coffee eyed girl who stood facing the glowing staff? Was human Zelgadis looking down the barrel of a gun? Who-!? 'Dancer stepped blindly forward as the two memories overlapped. "Change the memory." "What's past is done." "Ultimately, when it comes down to it, there is no time to think, only to act."
'Dancer didn't think. She threw herself between Zelgadis and Rezo, calling down the rune's power. And lightening with all the strength he hath.
"History changes now!"
'Dancer could taste bitter dirt. Groaning, she heaved the pile of dirt and rocks off of her. As she stood dust flowed off of her like water, billowing into thick clouds that made her choke. The sun poured in through the hole that had once been the roof of some vast cavern. On a charred stone pedestal lay the shattered remains of a blasted crystal. The area was heavy with ozone and 'Dancer covered her mouth with her cloak to keep from inhaling too much stirred up dust. There was a grunt to her left as Zelgadis pushed a large stone slab off of him. 'Dancer helped him up, and then pulled him away from the cloud of thick dust he created when he stood. For a long time neither said a word, both trying to catch their breaths. Finally, 'Dancer brushed a stray hair out of her face and smiled tentatively at him. "If it's any consolation, you're good looking regardless of what form you wear." Zelgadis stared at her in surprise. "How...?" 'Dancer rubbed her shoulder, walking away from him as she turned red. "Lucky guess?" She answered as she began climbing the rubble that reached all the way to the ceiling. "I'm thirsty, and desperately need a bath." She didn't quite turn around, not trusting her flushed look not to be noticed by him. "Let's get outta here." Zelgadis was only too happy to comply.