Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ To Be Human ❯ Clever Amelia ( Chapter 5 )

Clever Amelia

I struggled against my captors. I had never felt so useless in my whole life -- not even when Hellmaster Phibrizzo had kidnapped Mister Gourry. At least then, I knew Miss Lina would handle things -- with our help, of course. Here, I was alone and Zelgadis was counting on me. Everything was up to me, and I couldn't even handle a few guards without my spells. Some Champion of Justice I was...

Zelgadis... I tried not to cry, like he had told me, but it was hard. He had seemed so despondent in our final moments together, like he was beyond caring if he lived or died. But... he had kissed me... was he doing this out of depression... or out of love?

Either way, I had to save him. Regardless of how he felt about me, I loved him. At first I thought it was just a crush -- a classic case of a good but naive girl falling for someone so different from her sheltered upbringing. But, if that were the case, wouldn't these feelings stop once he left me after defeating Dark Star?

I again tried to break the guard's grip on me, the images of the chimeras I had seen in Copy Rezo's lab in my head. I had commented to Miss Lina and Mister Gourry back then about what kind of person would toy with a human life like that. Now I knew -- if you stopped viewing your creation as a living, feeling being, you could do whatever you wanted to it, without remorse. That must be why Zelgadis hated Rezo so much, not for turning him into a chimera, but for not considering his own wishes... that was why I was so surprised Zelgadis had accepted this unjust offer.

I had to rescue him, if only to remind him someone still sees him as a human being.

I heard footsteps ahead of us. The guards stopped, reaching for their swords.

"Freeze, bandits," a very familiar voice ordered.

"Miss Lina! Mister Gourry!"

Miss Lina stepped forward out of the gloom in the hall. "Now... we can do this two ways. There's the easy way, in which you give us Amelia, and I don't beat you into the ground, and, then," she smiled dangerously, "there's the fun way." Blake stepped forward, drawing his sword. "I'm not afraid of a sorceress, even if she is the Dra-mata."

"What did you call me?" Flames burned in Miss Lina's eyes. "Flare Arrow!" Blake now had more to worry about than me... like putting out his clothing.

"Idiot," Benedick muttered. "Well, well, Miss Inverse. Your reputation lives up to itself -- both your spellcasting and your temper. But you can't do anything to me while I have the princess as my little human shield."

"That's true," Miss Lina conceded. She winked at me. I saw a yellow and blue blur rush past me. Taking Miss Lina's cue, I elbowed my captor backward into the waiting arms of Mister Gourry.

"Got him!" Mister Gourry said.

"Good. Turn him over to the guards," Miss Lina gestured to several Sailoon Palace Guards who had apparently come with them.

"Right," Gourry herded Benedick and Blake, who had finally extinguished his clothing, towards the guards.

"All in a day's work for the beautiful sorcery genius, Lina Inverse," Lina nodded satisfactory. "Hey, where's Zelgadis? We couldn't have beaten him here."

"Miss Lina!" I wailed, trying to get her attention. "We have to save him!"

"Who? Zel?"

I nodded. "They were gonna kill me and start a war, and then Mister Zelgadis showed up and tried to save me, but there were too many for him, and he wasn't expecting a sorceress, so he said he'd let their sorceress dissect him for research if they promised not to hurt me, and we gotta save him!" I'm not sure how much of that Miss Lina actually understood -- I was nearly hysterical and choking back sobs.

"Okay, calm down, Amelia. Did you see where they took him?" Miss Lina put her arm around my shoulders.

"No," I shook my head.

"Well, we'll just have to look in every room," Miss Lina started opening doors. Mister Gourry took the other side of the hall. Half of the guards they had brought led the prisoners outside; the other half followed us.

The third door Mister Gourry opened proved to be the charm -- a Freeze Arrow nearly hit him. Miss Lina was ready -- "Digger Volt!" She strode though the open door. We followed.

It certainly looked like a lab. I saw Faye collapsed on the floor, and Orianna seated by the door. She lifted her hand, going for the sword at her hip. "I don't think so," Gourry pointed his own sword at her.

"Zelgadis!" He was just lying there, like a statue. Or a corpse. He looked like a butterfly pinned to a naturalist's display case. It didn't help that, from the way Faye and Orianna had been talking about him, I knew they regarded Zelgadis as little more than an insect.

I ran over to his body. He had something covering the lower part of his face. I practically tore it off and bent down to check his breathing.

He was still breathing, a shallow rasp I could barely detect. I could smell something on his breath. "Poison. Miss Lina, do you know Dicleary?"

Miss Lina walked over to me. "No... usually I'm with someone who knows it. If not you, Sylphiel or Filia or even my old traveling companion. She knew Dicleary -- it cured her hangovers. Why don't you cast it?"

"It's that time of the month." I started to panic. Zelgadis was barley breathing, and each breath he did take was so slow and laborious, I feared it would be his last.

"Hey," Gourry gestured at Orianna. "What'd you do to Zel?"

"Nothing... Faye did everything," she answered levelly.

"Who?"

"Her." Orianna pointed to the body on the floor.

I tried to think. Normally, when Miss Lina and/or I had 'that time of the month', we could depend on Zelgadis for spells, provided the danger wasn't so great to require Miss Lina's powerful spells or my stronger white magic.

I tried to think of other times we were in trouble and couldn't use magic -- learn from experience. Nothing came to mind... except... Miss Lina had had her magic sealed by one of Chaos Dragon King Gaav's servants for a while. That was when she bought her Demon's Blood Talisman's off of Mister Xellos. I remembered they let her cast spells, including a limited amount of white magic that she knew, even with her powers sealed.

"Miss Lina, give me your Demon's Blood Talismans."

"What?"

"Not for keeps. I just need to borrow them."

Miss Lina began to remove them. "I'm not even sure if they work anymore, since we defeated Dark Star."

"We have to try something. He'll die if we don't do anything."

"Fine. Just don't blame yourself. Whatever happens, this is not your fault, Amelia." She handed me the talismans. I slipped the two on my wrists, then clipped the third to my dress's waistline, looping the final one around my neck. I tried not to worry, but... damn it, this was my fault, regardless of what Miss Lina said. If Zelgadis hadn't tried to rescue me, he'd be safe... and I would be dead, and Sailoon would be at war.

Focus, Amelia. Remember your shrine maiden training Right now, there is no doubt, no worry, no recriminations. There is only you and your patient. I began to chant the spell to activate the talismans, as I had seen Miss Lina do countless times before: "Lords of Darkness of the Four Worlds, I call upon you: Grant me all the power you possess." I felt the talismans activate. Suddenly, I felt my magic return to me. I could do this. I could save him. "Dicleary." I touched my hands to his bare chest, willing the poison that had permitted his body out.

Was it working? I had felt the spell go off, but it could be too late. There was no way I could manage a Resurrection spell, even with the talismans. Not only was it that time of the month, I was also still recovering from being unconscious myself. Normally I wouldn't try casting spells at all, but this was an emergency.

"Zelgadis," I whispered, half to him, half to myself. "Don't die. Don't leave me. You hear me, Zelgadis Graywords?" My voice rose in volume and pitch, startling the others in the room. "Don't you leave me! Not like Mommy... or Gracia... or Uncle Randy and Cousin Alfred." I practically collapsed and had to lean on the table to remain standing. I felt the tears start flowing in earnest now, running down my cheeks.

Something brushed my hand. I looked down to see Zelgadis's fingers moving, touching mine. "Zelgadis?"

He opened his eyes. Never was I so happy to see those slate eyes looking at me. He smiled weakly. "I'd make some crack about heaven and angels, but I think that would be cliche."

"Zelgadis!" I would have hugged him, if he wasn't still lying down. "You're alive! Do you know how worried you were making me? What gave you the idea to go charging in there alone? If Miss Lina and Mister Gourry weren't right behind you, you'd be dead right now. Not that I don't appreciate it," I said quickly. "You were very heroic and noble, just like all those princes and heroes out of the story books. But, for the sake of all that's holy, Zelgadis, you scared me when I wasn't sure if my Dicleary spell would be in time. Don't do that again."

"Um... Zel... this is when you say 'yes ma'am' and shut up," Mister Gourry offered.

Zelgadis looked like he was about to retort. He tried to sit up, but he started coughing and had to lie back down again. "You're still weak," I scolded him. "All I did was remove the poison... your body still needs time to heal."

"Yes, ma'am." He shut up.

"I have to get back to the castle. Daddy is probably worried sick about me. I'll take the guards... even with their prisoners, they'll be enough of an escort. You rest. Miss Lina, make sure he doesn't strain himself and use Recovery if he relapses." I stood up. "Oh, better return these," I took off the talismans, set them down, and headed for the door. "See you, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, Zelgadis."

Miss Lina was poking around the room. She held up a bundle. "Hey, Zel? Don't you think you'll be wanting these?" The bundle turned out to be his clothing.

I stared. I had been so worried about his state of health, I hadn't consciously realized his state of dress... or lack thereof. Part of me satisfactorily noted, so that's what a naked man looks like. The rest of me was busy running from the room before Miss Lina could see how red my face had turned.