by Alina alinasan@yahoo.com
****************************************************************************
Zelgadis knelt, one gloved hand caressing the top of the hot spring.
His hand sent ripples across its surface, sparkling with the
reflected sunlight that danced through the canopy of tree leaves.

"The famous healing spring of Mypross Island." He whispered reverently.
He removed his gloves, his cowl and cloak, quickly dispensing with the
rest of the garments covering him. "At last, maybe I will return to normal. If I can just find the right spell..."

He sunk into the water, feeling the heat wrap around him, soothing him.
Softly he uttered a few words, his hands tracing an invisible pattern.
He glanced at his hands, waiting to see the blue stone morph into flesh.
Nothing happened. "The curse Rezzo put on me is very complex. I should not
have expected success on my first try." He thought as he began to work
another spell.

A hideous laugh disturbed the soft melody of the wind in the trees, and
disrupted the spell he'd been about to try.

"OH Ha Ha Ha" A woman's voice echoed nearby, growing closer with
every sound.

He put his hands on his ears, his concentration shot. "What?!"" He
said as an image appeared in the water in front of him.

At first, all he could see was flesh. Too rounded to be his own, he
realized it was the reflection of someone behind him. The laugh
came again, louder and more obnoxious with its proximity.

"Oh HA HA HA" She laughed.

The image in the water shuddered with the movement, the peach of skin
blurring with strips of black and purple and the image of a skull
and cross bones, and short black hair framing blue eyes set in
a vaguely familiar face---

It couldn't be...Zelgadis turned, his face a frozen study of equal parts astonishment, horror and embarrassment.

She stood perched on a rock, hands on her hips, arms out, with her
cape flying behind her. Two thin strips of leather seemed to be her
only attire, other than the cape swirling behind her.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized she obviously couldn't
be who he'd feared at first. If the strange costume (or lack thereof)
were not enough to convince him, the overly developed body did. It
wasn't Ameria. However, his troubles were not over, because whoever
she was, she seemed intent on staying.

"What are you doing here?" He said at last, regaining the calm dangerous
tone in his voice that let her know in no uncertain terms he was not
happy about being disturbed.

"OH Ha HA Ha...I have come to use this healing spring to rejuvenate myself"
The woman said. At his shocked expression, she added "I know, its hard to
believe that perfection like myself, the white snake Nahga needs rejuvenation!"

Zelgadis gathered his thoughts, assessing the best way to deal with
a woman obviously a little mad.

She flipped her cape, suddenly appearing in a swim suit,
which (as Zelgadis noted with relief) covered more of her than her
previous attire. Yet his features slid from relief to disbelief as
she knelt and handed him his clothes.

"Come on, out! Out! I'm not bathing with you, golem-boy." She leaned over
bouncily, providing him with a disturbingly close view of herself.

Zelgadis shut his eyes, and growled "I specifically paid to have this
pool to myself for the day. You should leave."

"Ah HA HA HA HA HA!" Nahga laughed as she slid into the pool. "Leave?
You dare suggest the Great Nahga cannot enjoy this spring?! Even Lina Inverse
could not stop me from enjoying a hot spring that is calling my name!"

His eyes flickered open. "Lina?"

"You know her?!" The woman said eagerly gripping his arms with surprising
strength.

He turned an interesting shade of purple as she pushed
him against the rock which she'd stood on. "We're acquainted." He
turned his head to avoid the onslaught of her chest.

"WHERE IS SHE! She tricked me in these hotsprings a few years ago, and I
haven't see her since. She's probably off right now eating something
delicious and having adventures without me!" The woman complained letting
him go with a bump against the rock.

"I have no idea. I travelled with her, but our paths have separated."
Zelgadis explained. "Are you going to leave quietly?"

"Leave!?" The woman sighed and sank into the waters to her shoulders.
"Of course not. I already told you...but I suppose I'll
be nice and let you stay...its no different than having the other
rocks around, I suppose...and I'm used to looking at monsters. "

Zelgadis's face contorted in what must have been a painful way, a few
of his needle sharp hairs embedding themselves in the rocks behind him.
"Then I shall have to make you leave. My task here is too important for
me to let you stand in my way."

She blinked her eyes open with surprise. "Do you wish to fight me!?" She laughed her wacky laugh, and Zelgadis
put his hands to his ears to block out the sound. She would be a
formidable enemy, but he was too close to be stopped.

She sunk so just her head was visible, the resemblance to Ameria
so frightening that Zelgadis almost swallowed water. No, he had
to remember, he'd left that crazy princess-soldier of justice behind.
This woman was just as weird, but he could face her. He nodded.

"All right then!" Nahga stood. ""These hot springs put me in such a good
mood, that I'll be nice and let you try first!" She laughed even louder.

Zel concentrated and let the energy build in his hand. "Flare Arrow" He
yelled, the spell slapping straight into her, a direct hit.

She stumbled but it didn't seem to faze her much, though the edges of
her hair sizzled. "That's all!?" She laughed. "I the great Nahga could not be defeated by that paltry spell...did Lina not warn you of my greatness?"

"She never mentioned you, actually." He said, grabbing for his clothes.

"WHAT? She didn't mention me?" The sorceress looked very taken aback. She
flicked her hand, her skimpy clothing back, showing she was ready for
business. "The Great White Snake NAHGA!?"

Still sitting submerged, but now attired in his soggy clothes, Zelgadis
felt his mood grow darker but he kept his face calm. "Never...though.."
He paused as a thought crossed his mind..."she had mentioned someone who
knew a lot about golemns once, someone she'd called
goldfish---"

"DEMONA CRYSTAL!" The woman's voice rang out and a mist rose all around
him, as he began to feel himself freeze. He broke through it by sheer will as he leapt upwards onto the rock.

"Levitation!" He called allowing his magic to lift him into the air
hovering a few feet above her. Quickly he added "Air Balm" to form
a protective bubble around him, protecting him from the attack.

She looked up and laughed, and intoned "Houl Freeze" as snow appeared
from nowhere along with a bitterly cold wind.

She was tougher than he thought, as he landed on the ground, his spell
broken by the blizzard swirling around them. He couldn't keep on the
defensive. "Dug Houl!" He yelled, bringing one hand down to the ground.

Nahga yelped as she was plopped by one of the magic pillars emerging from
the ground. Losing her balance, she tripped, sprawling down, her cape
over her head.

"Fireball" He called as the orb of fire raced towards her. She somehow
managed to dodge, the fire evaporating some of the water in the rapidly
decreasing pool. Zelgadis noticed this, and momentarily distracted
by this side-effect to their fighting, allowed Nahga to get in
a few words.

"You're very good, but this is it, Golem-boy! Bu u Bu Laima" She shouted,
a huge golemn emerging from the ground.

"Get him!" She said as the golemn lumbered over to Zel. Zel
dodged its first attack easily, but Nahga just laughed. "Zeras Goat!"
As a flood of Jellyfish appeared, swarming over Zelgadis blinding
him. The Golemn's fist smashed into the Jelly-fish covered Zelgadis,
and....

The fist shattered. An ooze covered Zelgadis emerged, as a blast of
light sent Jellyfish flying into the trees, ground and air. "What
kind of spell was that!?" He swore.

"What kind of golemn *are* you?" she asked.

"I'm a chimera!" He yelled. "You can't harm me with that."

"Oh you want something else?" She laughed. "Burst Flare"
as multiple blue balls of light blazed around her, hurdling towards
him.

"You idiot!" He swore as he jumped into the air, clearing the small
swell of water between them. "You're evaporating the pool!" He landed
in front of her. "Didn't you notice what happened when I threw the
Fire Ball!"

"Oh!?" She looked down at the small puddle of water where the pool
had been. "Oh, I forgot...well, if we can't use fire magic, Bomb di Wind!"

Zelgadis felt the pressure of air explode into him as he travelled
backward as if flung by a dragon's sneeze into the trees behind him.
He knocked several over, before he regained his footing and leaped
back to the pool. Or at least, where the pool used to be.

A large muddy pit yawned before him, bordered by slightly wet ground,
and a rather annoyed looking sorceress. Seeing him she
waived and called "Well...I'm done here!" She said turning around.
"Its all yours!"

"You....You....!" Zelgadis shouted as he began chasing after her. "Dam Blast"

Nahga staggered from the blow. "Well if you insist on continuing! Grey
Buster!" As the ball of ice exploded around him, freezing him, she kicked
him."OUCH!"she yelled dancing around on one foot. "You've got skin like
stone..."

"It is." He said.

"You should do something about that!" She exclaimed. "Its very
unattractive!"

His scowl intensified. "I *was* going to use
that hot spring to cure myself, but now...." He felt the anger boil
inside him, the force creating an electrostatic charge that made his
hair stand straight up. "Now you have destroyed my chance..."

"Oh...ah ha ha You are very very naive!" She laughed.
"You should have just told me what you were doing in the beginning."

His eyebrows shot up as he looked at her, the spell dying before
he cast it. "What?"

"If that is what you were here for, I can easily turn you
back to human." Nahga laughed. "As long as there is at least one
handful of the healing water left, it is simple for one so skilled
as I am."

Suddenly a half forgotten memory rose in Zelgadis head. "You're
the one...Lina *did* mention you might know something about
curing my condition."

"Of course! I am far superior a sorceress than Lina Inverse, but
particularly in Chimera's. She's got a phobia about studying
them, she's so so so naive! Why, once someone wanted to use
her in this---"

"You're digressing." Zelgadis said. "About the cure?"

"Oh! AH HA HA HA" She laughed confidently. "I simply need
to reach into the source water of the spring, and I can cure you."

"Then lets start."

"OH AH HA HA HA! You think the Great Nahga is a fool?"

"What?" He asked.

"You have to pay me!" She laughed. "This kind of special magic
is not free!"

He hesitated briefly. She *did* mention she was a former travelling
companion of Lina's...it was worth a shot. "How about if I buy you dinner?"
He just hoped he had enough gold for that...

She grabbed his arm above the wrist, dragging him to the hole.
"I accept!" She dipped one hand in the mud where the slowly emerging trickle
of the water, seeped upwards. She muttered an incantation too
quietly for him to catch the words and then she smeared the mud
across his forehead.

He felt something change around him---his skin rippled, then oozed, and
became...mud?

"NAHGA!" He yelled.

"AH HA HA HA!" She said looking at the mud-boy before her. "I must
have done something wrong. ...I think I need *clear* water."

She uttered a spell, blasting the ground to reveal the source of the
spring where the water's last reservoir lay. Only a handful
glimmered amongst the rocks, the rest having been evaporated, blasted
or absorbed in the fighting. "There's not much
left! But this time, I will get it right." She promised. "Trust me...."

Again, he tried to catch the words of the incantation, but he could
just barely make them out. His mud ears didn't seem to hear too well.

His skin tingled and then cooled and heated alternately, he felt the
whisper of her breath as she completed the spell. He
opened his eyes, examining the flesh of his hand.

"It...it worked!" He said amazed.

"Wow, it did!" She exclaimed.
He gave her a rather sour glance. "You had no clue what you
were doing did you?"

She shook her head. "Now about dinner!" She leaned a finger to push
his forehead, and the sensation of someone's hand on his skin
overwhelmed him. He could *feel*. He wished it were someone, anyone
else, but he could *feel*.

"I'm free "He said, as he peered down at his body, feeling his
hair and face with his hands. "Its over..."

"That was a very useful body for attacks and spells ." She
said sighing. "You probably will regret this change."

He shook his head. "Never. To be
fully human is better than to be so powerful."

She opened her mouth to argue, but a squeal cut both of them off.

"Onee-Sama" A voice called as someone leapt and landed upside down, barely
missing the mud. The figure righted itself, dusted its white uniform and
flipped its cape. "I've finally found you!" She said ecstatically.

They both looked. "Ameria!?" They said with identical expressions of
of horror.

She turned to look at Zelgadis, her eyelashes fluttering with delighted
surprise. "Zelgadis! Is that you? Wow...you're
human again! Oh...you're so *handsome* now!"

He could practically see the hearts forming in her eyes as she clasped
her hands. "How lucky I am to find both
my long lost sister and Zelgadis, my fellow fighter
of justice, in one place."

"Sister?" Zelgadis said looking at Nahga.

"Handsome?" Nahga said looking at Zelgadis as he violently shook his head,
one hand making a "she's crazy" sign.

"Isn't this wonderful!"
Ameria skipped towards them. "You're mission is finally over, Zelgadis,
and my dearest sister, I've finally found you. Now we can all return to Sayrune together!""

Nahga screamed, and took off at a high velocity.

"Oh dear! I'll find her later, but I guess its good for us to be
alone for a moment anyway, Zel-chan." Ameria said happily, her
eyes closed as she blushed gathering the courage to say the words
she'd been dreaming of in her young heart. "You
know, I'm old enough to be married and now that you're human--"

Zelgadis took off at an ever faster speed, so fast that the wind
didn't even have time to move when he left.

"Where'd he go?" Ameria asked perplexed, as she opened her eyes,
realizing she was alone.

Far off in the distance, two figures sprinted along the small
narrow backs of recently and hastily summoned rock dragons forming
a bridge to the mainland from the island.

"Change me back! Change me back!' the shorter of the two pleaded,
while the one in the lead shook her head screaming she would
never, ever, ever go back.