A week had passed since Zelgadis' reawakening, and they were once again on the road. Rumors of a group of thieves ravaging a village lured the sorceress there, her eyes on the mountains of treasure that they were supposed to hoard. Gourry merely followed cheerfully, happy that Lina hadn't struck him in a while. Ameria anxiously awaited to put the 'evil-doers' to justice, occasionally trying out her revised speeches on her less-than greatful companions.

Only Zelgadis remained outwardly phased by the previous week's events. The blue-skinned chimera spoke even less than usual, and even had stopped making 'comments' on their less-desireable qualities. His light eating habits had regressed further; now he only drank weak tea when the others gouged on enough food to feed a baby dragon for a month.

Ameria and Lina, having tact and respect for the Shamanist's privacy, did not ask about the odd development in their friend's behavior, but each worred about it when he stared into nothingness over the edge of his tea cup.

Gourry, however, having neither tact nor a vast amount of intelligance to understand the chimera's silence, was extremely blunt and almost rude about it.

"Hey, Zel, what's going on?" He asked, uncerimoniously dumping an armfull of wood by the chimera.

"What?" Zelgadis blinked, slightly confused after being suddenly jarred from his trance.

"C'mon, man, you've been looking at that tree for an hour, and I'm sure it's not that interesting." Gourry gave him a look, the kind that all big brothers offer when they know you're in for it when the parents find out.

Zelgadis replied with a sigh, and took off the bracer he had been using to cover the tender flesh of his left wrist.

"Remember how my whole wrist used to be? Right after the bite, how the entire area was normal..." With an air of depressance weighing him down, the shamanist resumed his listless gaze, this time into the fire.

"It's closing up again." Gourry observed, as usual, without tact. "But... hey, Zel, look!" He poked Zelgadis' arm, grinning as the blue hued skin dented and then refilled the displacement.

"Wha - ?" Slightly annoyed at the second disturbance, he turned.

"Your coloring may have faded, but I think you lost some of that stone texture!" Zelgadis blinked at Gourry's declaration, then his slit-pupil eyes narrowed.

"You're not Gourry." He growled maliciously, leaping to his feet. "Reveal your true form." Energy flowed around his fists, the raw power of his combined parts.

"Aww, Zelgadis, you're no fun." The false Gourry danced back, eyes ligght with merriment. "Then again, you never were."

"Xellos..." The growl uttered by the chimera was nearly primal as his stance shifted. "What... what do you want?" He almost staggared as his vision grew hazy.

"Zelgadis!" Zellos, having dropped the facade, rushed forward and caught him as he fell. "The Shatterings are catching up with you. Expending so much energy will weaken you, and you'll need your strength."

"What...?" Zelgadis blinked, trying to clear his gaze.

"Here's that book you wanted so badly." Xellos chuckled, and the shamanist felt something heavy land on his abdomen. "I hope you know what you're doing with it."

"Why are you doing this?" Zelgadis whispered hoarsely.

"That is..." The trickster paused, giving the chimera a glance that could almost have been sumpathetic. "No... you deserve to know. I'll tell you what; survive tonight, and I will explain it all to you in the morning."

"Survive?" A blink, and the Mazoku was gone. But the dizziness soon set in, and gave him no chance to worry about that...